Enalapril improves obesity associated liver injury ameliorating systemic metabolic markers by modulating Angiotensin Converting Enzymes ACE/ACE2 expression in high-fat feed mice

Expression levels of ACE and ACE2 in the placenta and white adipose tissue of lean and obese pregnant women

BACKGROUND

This study evaluated the expression of ACE and ACE2 in the placenta and white adipose tissue in lean and obese women, and correlated their levels with anthropometric, clinical, and laboratory parameters, and tissue count of inflammatory cells.

METHODS

A cross-sectional analytical study was performed with 49 pregnant women and their respective newborns. Samples of placenta and adipose tissue were used for measuring mRNA expression for ACE and ACE2 through qRT-PCR. Inflammatory cell counting was performed through conventional microscopy.

RESULTS

An increase in ACE expression and a decrease in ACE2 were observed in the placenta and adipose tissue of women with obesity. ACE2 levels showed a negative correlation with pre-pregnancy BMI and total cholesterol.

CONCLUSION

Maternal obesity can modulate the expression of RAS components in the placenta and white adipose tissue, with ACE2 correlated with pre-pregnancy BMI and total cholesterol.

ER stress improvement by aerobic training or enalapril differently ameliorates pathological cardiac remodeling in obese mice

Overactivation of the classic arm of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is one of the main mechanisms involved in obesity-related cardiac remodeling, and a possible relationship between RAS and ER stress in the cardiovascular system have been described. Thus, the aim of this study is to evaluate if activating the protective arm of the RAS by ACE inhibition or aerobic exercise training could overturn diet-induced pathological cardiac hypertrophy by attenuating ER stress. Male C57BL/6 mice were fed a control (SC) or a high-fat diet (HF) for 16 weeks. In the 8th week, HF-fed animals were randomly divided into HF, enalapril treatment (HF-En), and aerobic exercise training (HF-Ex) groups. Body mass (BM), food and energy intake, plasma analyzes, systolic blood pressure (SBP), physical conditioning, and plasma ACE and ACE2 activity were evaluated. Cardiac morphology, and protein expression of hypertrophy, cardiac metabolism, RAS, and ER stress markers were assessed. Data presented as mean ± standard deviation and analyzed by one-way ANOVA with Holm-Sidak post-hoc. HF group had increased BM and SBP, and developed pathological concentric cardiac hypertrophy, with overactivation of the classic arm of the RAS, and higher ER stress. Both interventions reverted the increase in BM, and SBP, and favored the protective arm of the RAS. Enalapril treatment improved pathological cardiac hypertrophy with partial reversal of the concentric pattern, and slightly attenuated cardiac ER stress. In contrast, aerobic exercise training induced physiological eccentric cardiac hypertrophy, and fully diminished ER stress.

Toward Unified AI Drug Discovery with Multimodal Knowledge

Background: In real-world drug discovery, human experts typically grasp molecular knowledge of drugs and proteins from multimodal sources including molecular structures, structured knowledge from knowledge bases, and unstructured knowledge from biomedical literature. Existing multimodal approaches in AI drug discovery integrate either structured or unstructured knowledge independently, which compromises the holistic understanding of biomolecules. Besides, they fail to address the missing modality problem, where multimodal information is missing for novel drugs and proteins. Methods: In this work, we present KEDD, a unified, end-to-end deep learning framework that jointly incorporates both structured and unstructured knowledge for vast AI drug discovery tasks. The framework first incorporates independent representation learning models to extract the underlying characteristics from each modality. Then, it applies a feature fusion technique to calculate the prediction results. To mitigate the missing modality problem, we leverage sparse attention and a modality masking technique to reconstruct the missing features based on top relevant molecules. Results: Benefiting from structured and unstructured knowledge, our framework achieves a deeper understanding of biomolecules. KEDD outperforms state-of-the-art models by an average of 5.2% on drug-target interaction prediction, 2.6% on drug property prediction, 1.2% on drug-drug interaction prediction, and 4.1% on protein-protein interaction prediction. Through qualitative analysis, we reveal KEDD's promising potential in assisting real-world applications. Conclusions: By incorporating biomolecular expertise from multimodal knowledge, KEDD bears promise in accelerating drug discovery.

Nutritional implications in the mechanistic link between the intestinal microbiome, renin-angiotensin system, and the development of obesity and metabolic syndrome

Obesity and metabolic disorders represent a significant global health problem and the gut microbiota plays an important role in modulating systemic homeostasis. Recent evidence shows that microbiota and its signaling pathways may affect the whole metabolism and the Renin-Angiotensin System (RAS), which in turn seems to modify microbiota. The present review aimed to investigate nutritional implications in the mechanistic link between the intestinal microbiome, renin-angiotensin system, and the development of obesity and metabolic syndrome components. A description of metabolic changes was obtained based on relevant scientific literature. The molecular and physiological mechanisms that impact the human microbiome were addressed, including the gut microbiota associated with obesity, diabetes, and hepatic steatosis. The RAS interaction signaling and modulation were analyzed. Strategies including the use of prebiotics, symbiotics, probiotics, and biotechnology may affect the gut microbiota and its impact on human health.

Renin-angiotensin system modulation through enalapril and/or exercise training improves visceral adiposity in obese mice

INTRODUCTION

Obesity-related metabolic diseases occur as a result of disruptions in white adipose tissue (WAT) plasticity, especially through visceral fat accumulation and adipocyte hypertrophy. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of renin-angiotensin system (RAS) and bradykinin receptors modulation by enalapril treatment and/or exercise training on WAT morphology and related deleterious outcomes.

METHODS

Male C57BL/6 mice were fed either a standard chow or a high-fat (HF) diet for 16 weeks. At the 8th week, HF-fed animals were divided into sedentary (HF), enalapril treatment (HF-E), exercise training (HF-T), and enalapril treatment plus exercise training (HF-ET) groups. Following the experimental protocol, body mass gain, adiposity index, insulin resistance, visceral WAT morphometry, renin-angiotensin system, and bradykinin receptors were evaluated.

RESULTS

The HF group displayed increased adiposity, larger visceral fat mass, and adipocyte hypertrophy, which was accompanied by insulin resistance, overactivation of Ang II/AT1R arm, and favoring of B1R in bradykinin receptors profile. All interventions ameliorated visceral adiposity and related outcomes by favoring the Ang 1-7/MasR arm and the B2R expression in B1R/B2R ratio. However, combined therapy additively reduced Ang II/Ang 1-7 ratio.

CONCLUSION

Our results suggest that Ang 1-7/MasR arm and B2R activation might be relevant targets in the treatment of visceral obesity.

A comprehensive guide to the pharmacologic regulation of angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), the SARS-CoV-2 entry receptor

The recent emergence of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) as a global pandemic has prompted scientists to address an urgent need for defining mechanisms of disease pathology and treatment. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent for COVID-19, employs angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) as its primary target for cell surface attachment and likely entry into the host cell. Thus, understanding factors that may regulate the expression and function of ACE2 in the healthy and diseased body is critical for clinical intervention. Over 66% of all adults in the United States are currently using a prescription drug and while earlier findings have focused on possible upregulation of ACE2 expression through the use of renin angiotensin system (RAS) inhibitors, mounting evidence suggests that various other widely administered drugs used in the treatment of hypertension, heart failure, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemias, coagulation disorders, and pulmonary disease may also present a varied risk for COVID-19. Specifically, we summarize mechanisms on how heparin, statins, steroids and phytochemicals, besides their established therapeutic effects, may also interfere with SARS-CoV-2 viral entry into cells. We also describe evidence on the effect of several vitamins, phytochemicals, and naturally occurring compounds on ACE2 expression and activity in various tissues and disease models. This comprehensive review aims to provide a timely compendium on the potential impact of commonly prescribed drugs and pharmacologically active compounds on COVID-19 pathology and risk through regulation of ACE2 and RAS signaling.