Effects of guluronic acid (G2013) on gene expression of TLR2, TLR4, MyD88, TNF-α and CD52 in multiple sclerosis under in vitro conditions

Mitochondrial dysfunction and inflammasome activation in neurodegenerative diseases: Mechanisms and therapeutic implications

Impaired mitochondrial function is crucial to the pathogenesis of several neurodegenerative diseases. It causes the release of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mtROS), ATP, and cardiolipin, which activate the nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome. NLRP3 inflammasome is an important innate immune system element contributing to neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration. Therefore, targeting the NLRP3 inflammasome has become an interesting therapeutic approach for treating neurodegenerative diseases. This review describes the role of mitochondrial abnormalities and over-activated inflammasomes in the progression of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), Huntington's disease (HD), Multiple sclerosis (MS), Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and Friedrich ataxia (FRDA). We also discuss the therapeutic strategies focusing on signaling pathways associated with inflammasome activation, which potentially alleviate neurodegenerative symptoms and impede disease progression.

The Open, Randomized, Positive Control Clinical Trial of Guluronic Acid (G2013) on SARS-CoV-2 Patients

INTRODUCTION

Recently, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection, with a vast spectrum of clinical and paraclinical symptoms has been a major health concern worldwide. Therapeutical management of COVID-19 includes antiviral and anti-inflammatory drugs. NSAIDs, as the second-line therapy, are often prescribed to relieve the symptoms of COVID-19. The α-L-guluronic acid (G2013) is a non-steroidal patented (PCT/EP2017/067920) agent with immunomodulatory properties. This study investigated the effect of G2013 on the outcome of COVID-19 in moderate to severe patients.

METHODS

The disease's symptoms were followed up during hospitalization and for 4 weeks postdischarge in G2013 and control groups. Paraclinical indices were tested at the time of admission and discharge. Statistical analysis was performed on clinical and paraclinical parameters and ICU admission and death rate.

RESULTS

The primary and secondary outcomes indicated the efficiency of G2013 on COVID-19 patients' management. There were significant differences in the duration of improvement of fever, coughing, fatigue/malaise. Also, a comparison of paraclinical indices at the time of admission and discharge showed significant change in prothrombin, D-dimer, and platelet. As the main findings of this study, G2013 significantly decreased the percentage of ICU admission (control:17 patients, G2013:1 patient) and death (control: 7 cases, G2013:0).

CONCLUSION

These results conclude that G2013 has sufficient potential to be considered for moderate to severe COVID-19 patients, can significantly reduce the clinical and physical complications of this disease, has a positive effect on modulating the coagulopathy process, and aids in saving lives.

Evaluation of G2013 (α-L-guluronic acid) efficacy on PC-3 cells through inhibiting the expression of inflammatory factors

Given multiple treatment strategies for prostate cancer, its mortality rate is still high; therefore, novel treatment strategies seem necessary. G2013 or α-L-guluronic acid is a new patented drug with immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory properties. This study aimed to evaluate the property of G2013 on inflammatory molecules involved in tumorigenesis of prostate cancer. MTT assay was used to assess the effect of the drug on the proliferation of PC-3 cells. Expression of interleukin 8 (IL-8), Nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB), myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MYD-88), cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2), matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), and MMP-9 genes were studied in the PC-3 cells treated with 25 (low dose) or 50 (high dose) µg/mL of G2013 for 24 h using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) technique. Protein expression of NF-κB and protein activities of MMP-2 and MMP-9 were assayed using flow cytometry and gelatin zymography, respectively. The expression of COX-2 (p = 0.007 at low dose), MMP-2 (p = 0.023 at low dose, p = 0.002 at high dose), NF-κB (p = 0.004 at low dose) and IL-8 (p < 0.0001 in both doses) genes, NF-κB protein (p < 0.0001 in both doses), and MMP-2 activity (p < 0.0001 in both doses) were significantly reduced in the presence of G2013 as compared to the control group. Cancer cell proliferation was also inhibited under 10-500 µg/mL G2013 treatment. Our results revealed that G2013 has the potential to inhibit PC-3 cell proliferation and reduce the expression of tumour-promoting mediators, COX-2, MMP-2, NF-κB, and IL-8 involved in the progression and metastasis of prostate cancer.

The effects of guluronic acid (G2013), a new emerging treatment, on inflammatory factors in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis patients under in vitro conditions

BACKGROUND

Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) results from the accumulation of fatty acids in the liver. The elevated production of pro-inflammatory factors is the reason for the hyper inflammation in NASH. The α-L-Guluronic acid (G2013), a new member of NSAID family, is a plant-originated agent with immunomodulatory properties. The current study investigated the effects of G2013 on inflammatory factors in PBMCs of NASH patients.

METHODS

PBMCs of 14 NASH patients and 14 healthy controls were isolated and cultured. The patient's cells were treated with low (5 µg/mL) and moderate (25 µg/mL) doses of G2013 alongside the diclofenac optimum dose (3 µg/mL). The expression and secretion levels of variables were assessed by real-time PCR and ELISA, respectively.

RESULTS

Findings indicated that the expression levels of TLR4 and NF-κB, as well as the secretion levels of TNF-α and IL-6 cytokines, were significantly elevated in NASH patients compared to healthy individuals. The expression levels of TLR4 and NF-κB were strikingly downregulated in treated cells of patients in both low and moderate doses of G2013. A considerable reduction was obtained in the secretion level of IL-6 using both low and moderate doses of G2013 and in the secretion level of TNF-α using the moderate dose of G2013.

CONCLUSION

The results indicated that G2013 could meaningfully decrease the expression and secretion levels of evaluated factors (TLR4, NF-κB, TNF-α, and IL-6) in PMBCs of NASH cases. Since there is no effective treatment for NASH patients, we hope that G2013 would be a promising immunomodulatory agent in reducing inflammation and improvement of patients.

Cerebrospinal fluid cells immune landscape in multiple sclerosis

Background

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a potentially devastating autoimmune neurological disorder, which characteristically induces demyelination of white matter in the brain and spinal cord.

Methods

In this study, three characteristics of the central nervous system (CNS) immune microenvironment occurring during MS onset were explored; immune cell proportion alteration, differential gene expression profile, and related pathways. The raw data of two independent datasets were obtained from the ArrayExpress database; E-MTAB-69, which was used as a derivation cohort, and E-MTAB-2374 which was used as a validation cohort. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified by the false discovery rate (FDR) value of < 0.05 and |log2 (Fold Change)|> 1, for further analysis. Then, functional enrichment analyses were performed to explore the pathways associated with MS onset. The gene expression profiles were analyzed using CIBERSORT to identify the immune type alterations involved in MS disease.

Results

After verification, the proportion of five types of immune cells (plasma cells, monocytes, macrophage M2, neutrophils and eosinophils) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were revealed to be significantly altered in MS cases compared to the control group. Thus, the complement and coagulation cascades and the systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) pathways may play critical roles in MS. We identified NLRP3, LILRB2, C1QB, CD86, C1QA, CSF1R, IL1B and TLR2 as eight core genes correlated with MS.

Conclusions

Our study identified the change in the CNS immune microenvironment of MS cases by analysis of the in silico data using CIBERSORT. Our data may assist in providing directions for further research as to the molecular mechanisms of MS and provide future potential therapeutic targets in treatment.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12967-021-02804-7.