High HIF-1α expression genotypes in oral lichen planus

Non-Coding RNAs as Potential Targets for Diagnosis and Treatment of Oral Lichen Planus: A Narrative Review

Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic inflammatory disease that is characterized by the infiltration of T cells into the oral mucosa, causing the apoptosis of basal keratinocytes. OLP is a multifactorial disease of unknown etiology and is not solely caused by the malfunction of a single key gene but rather by various intracellular and extracellular factors. Non-coding RNAs play a critical role in immunological homeostasis and inflammatory response and are found in all cell types and bodily fluids, and their expression is closely regulated to preserve normal physiologies. The dysregulation of non-coding RNAs may be highly implicated in the onset and progression of diverse inflammatory disorders, including OLP. This narrative review summarizes the role of non-coding RNAs in molecular and cellular changes in the oral epithelium during OLP pathogenesis.

Association of hypoxia inducible factor 1-Alpha gene polymorphisms with multiple disease risks: A comprehensive meta-analysis

HIF1A gene polymorphisms have been confirmed the association with cancer risk through the statistical meta-analysis based on single genetic association (SGA) studies. A good number SGA studies also investigated the association of HIF1A gene with several other diseases, but no researcher yet performed statistical meta-analysis to confirm this association more accurately. Therefore, in this paper, we performed a statistical meta-analysis to draw a consensus decision about the association of HIF1A gene polymorphisms with several diseases except cancers giving the weight on large sample size. This meta-analysis was performed based on 41 SGA study’s findings, where the polymorphisms rs11549465 (1772 C/T) and rs11549467 (1790 G/A) of HIF1A gene were analyzed based on 11544 and 7426 cases and 11494 and 7063 control samples, respectively. Our results showed that the 1772 C/T polymorphism is not significantly associated with overall disease risks. The 1790 G/A polymorphism was significantly associated with overall diseases under recessive model (AA vs. AG + GG), which indicates that the A allele is responsible for overall diseases though it is recessive. The subgroup analysis based on ethnicity showed the significant association of 1772 C/T polymorphism with overall disease for Caucasian population under the all genetic models, which indicates that the C allele controls overall diseases. The ethnicity subgroup showed the significant association of 1790 G/A polymorphism with overall disease for Asian population under the recessive model (AA vs. AG + GG), which indicates that the A allele is responsible for overall diseases. The subgroup analysis based on disease types showed that 1772 C/T is significantly associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) under two genetic models (C vs. T and CC vs. CT + TT), skin disease under two genetic models (CC vs. TT and CC + CT vs. TT), and diabetic complications under three genetic models (C vs. T, CT vs. TT and CC + CT vs. TT), where C allele is high risk factor for skin disease and diabetic complications (since, ORs > 1), but low risk factor for COPD (since, ORs < 1). Also the 1790 G/A variant significantly associated with the subgroup of cardiovascular disease (CVD) under homozygote model, diabetic complications under allelic and homozygote models, and other disease under four genetic models, where the A is high risk factor for diabetic complications and low risk factor for CVD. Thus, this study provided more evidence that the HIF1A gene is significantly associated with COPD, CVD, skin disease and diabetic complications. These might be the severe comorbidities and risk factors for multiple cancers due to the effect of HIF1A gene and need further investigations accumulating large number of studies.

Reveals of quercetin's therapeutic effects on oral lichen planus based on network pharmacology approach and experimental validation

Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a localized autoimmune disease of the oral mucosa, with an incidence of up to 2%. Although corticosteroids are the first-line treatment, they cause several adverse effects. Quercetin, a naturally occurring compound, has fewer side-effects and provides long-term benefits. Besides, it has powerful anti‑inflammatory activities. Here, we combined network pharmacology with experimental verification to predict and verify the key targets of quercetin against OLP. First, 66 quercetin-OLP common targets were analyzed from various databases. The protein–protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed. Topology analysis and MCODE cluster analysis of common targets were conducted to identify 12 key targets including TP53, IL-6 and IFN-γ and their connections. Gene functions and key signaling pathways, including reactive oxygen species metabolism, IL-17 pathway and AGE-RAGE pathway, were enriched by Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis. Then, in vitro experiments showed that quercetin interfered with Th1/Th2 balance by acting on IL-6 and IFN-γ to modulate the immune system in treating OLP. Quercetin considerably affected the apoptosis and migration of T lymphocytes in OLP patients. Our study reveals the potential therapeutic targets and signaling pathways of quercetin associated with OLP, and establishes the groundwork for future clinical applications.

Differences in Tolerance to Hypoxia: Physiological, Biochemical, and Molecular-Biological Characteristics

Hypoxia plays an important role in the development of many infectious, inflammatory, and tumor diseases. The predisposition to such disorders is mostly provided by differences in basic tolerance to oxygen deficiency, which we discuss in this review. Except the direct exposure of different-severity hypoxia in decompression chambers or in highland conditions, there are no alternative methods for determining organism tolerance. Due to the variability of the detection methods, differences in many parameters between tolerant and susceptible organisms are still not well-characterized, but some of them can serve as biomarkers of susceptibility to hypoxia. At the moment, several potential biomarkers in conditions after hypoxic exposure have been identified both in experimental animals and humans. The main potential biomarkers are Hypoxia-Inducible Factor (HIF)-1, Heat-Shock Protein 70 (HSP70), and NO. Due to the different mechanisms of various high-altitude diseases, biomarkers may not be highly specific and universal. Therefore, it is extremely important to conduct research on hypoxia susceptibility biomarkers. Moreover, it is important to develop a method for the evaluation of organisms' basic hypoxia tolerance without the necessity of any oxygen deficiency exposure. This can contribute to new personalized medicine approaches' development for diagnostics and the treatment of inflammatory and tumor diseases, taking into account hypoxia tolerance differences.

Dependence of the severity of the systemic inflammatory response on resistance to hypoxia in male Wistar rats

Purpose

The aim of the study was to characterize the severity of the systemic inflammatory response induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in animals with different resistance levels to hypoxia.

Materials and methods

Two to three months old male Wistar rats (220–240 g) were divided according to hypoxia tolerance in a hypobaric chamber. After a month, they were injected intraperitoneally with Escherichia coli LPS at a dose of 1.5 mg/kg. After 3, 6 and 24 hours of LPS injection, we studied the levels of IL-1β, C-reactive protein (CRP) and TGF-β in the serum, the expression of Hif-1α and Nf-kb in the liver, morphological disorders in the lung and ex vivo production of IL-10 by splenic cells activated by ConA.

Results

In the early periods after the injection of LPS, increase in Nf-kb expression in the liver was observed only in the rats susceptible to hypoxia. After 6 hours of LPS injection, the number of neutrophils in the interalveolar septa of the lungs of rats susceptible to hypoxia was higher than in tolerant rats. This points to the development of more pronounced LPS-induced inflammation in the rats susceptible to hypoxia and is accompanied by increased expression of Hif-1α in the liver after 6 hours of LPS administration, serum IL-1β level after 3 hours and CRP level after 24 hours. The production of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 by the spleen was significantly decreased after 6 hours of LPS injection only in the animals tolerant to hypoxia. After 24 hours of LPS injection, a significant decrease in serum TGF-β level occurred in the rats tolerant to hypoxia in comparison with the control group, which improved the survival rates of the animals.

Conclusion

We have demonstrated the differences in the severity of the LPS-induced inflammatory response in male Wistar rats with different resistance levels to hypoxia. Rats susceptible to hypoxia are characterized by a more pronounced inflammatory response induced by LPS.

Topical pimecrolimus versus betamethasone for oral lichen planus: a randomized clinical trial

OBJECTIVES

Oral lichen plans (OLP) is a potentially malignant inflammatory mucocutaneous disease. CD133 is an investigated surface marker for cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) that may be involved in tumor initiation in head and neck carcinomas. We compared short-term clinical effectiveness of topical pimecrolimus as selective inflammatory cytokine release inhibitor with betamethasone cream for erosive/atrophic OLP and investigated the influence of this therapy on CD133 expression.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Thirty patients were randomly assigned into two equal groups to receive topical pimecrolimus (group I) or betamethasone (group II) four times daily for 4 weeks. A marker lesion in each patient were assessed at baseline using clinical score (CS) and visual analog scale (VAS) then at 1, 2, and 4 weeks and after 4 weeks of treatment-free period. CD133 expression was detected in pre- and post-treatment immunostained sections.

RESULTS

Both drugs showed a reduction in CS, VAS, and CD133 expressions after treatment termination (p < 0.001). Pimecrolimus-treated lesions showed significant higher 1st week reduction in severity (33.1% (22.2)), pain score (57.53% (14.27)), less recurrence in follow-up period and less CD133 expression by the end of the 1st 4 weeks compared with betamethasone.

CONCLUSION

Pimecrolimus showed earlier clinical response and less recurrence rate compared with standard topical corticosteroid in symptomatic OLP lesions, and both treatment reduced CD133-positive CSC population.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

The study proved the benefits of topical pimecrolimus in early management of painful lesions of OLP and its ability to inhibit CSCs, suggesting a possible role in reducing risk of malignant transformation.

Leptin receptor polymorphism Gln223Arg (rs1137101) in oral squamous cell carcinoma and potentially malignant oral lesions

The purpose of this study was to assess the LEPR gene Gln223Arg polymorphism (rs1137101) in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and in potentially malignant oral lesions (PMOL) in comparison to normal oral mucosa in a Brazilian population. Smokers (n = 89) were selected from a representative sample of 471 individuals from the general population of Montes Claros, Brazil. Participants were age and gender matched to patients with OSCC (n = 25) and oral epithelial dysplasia (n = 25). We investigated the LEPR Gln223Arg polymorphism (A>G; rs1137101) in these groups. Genotype variants were assessed by RFLP-PCR, using MspI (HPAII) restriction endonuclease. The institutional review board of the Universidade Estadual de Montes Claros approved the study (process number 2667/2011). Written informed consent for this study was obtained from all participants. The GG genotype (Arg223Arg) appears to be the more relevant polymorphic variant in OSCC. It occurred, approximately, twice as frequently in OSCC patients than in the general population. In contrast, the A allele in its homozygosis form (Gln223Gln) is significantly associated with the development of PMOL; 80% of the samples from the PMOL group exhibit AA genotype. Our findings suggest new insights regarding LEPR gene variations in the development of OSCC and PMOL.