Recombinant human milk fat globule-EGF factor VIII (rhMFG-E8) as a therapy for sepsis after acute exposure to alcohol

MFGE8 regulates the EndoMT of HLMECs through the BMP signaling pathway and fibrosis in acute lung injury

BACKGROUND

To investigate the effects and mechanisms of MFGE8 on LPS-induced endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndoMT) and pulmonary fibrosis in human lung microvascular endothelial cells (HLMECs) and a mouse model of acute lung injury.

METHODS

Serum MFGE8 levels were compared between ARDS patients and controls. In vitro, HLMECs were treated with LPS, siRNA targeting MFGE8, and recombinant human MFGE8 (rhMFGE8).HLMEC morphology, invasion, migration, and EndoMT markers (CD31, ɑ-SMA) were evaluated. BMP/Smad1/5-Smad4 signaling and Snail expression were assessed via immunofluorescence, western blotting, and qRT-PCR. In vivo, rhMFGE8 effects on pulmonary fibrosis and EndoMT were analyzed in a mouse model of acute lung injury.

RESULTS

MFGE8 levels were significantly reduced in ARDS patients, with higher levels correlating to better survival. In vitro, rhMFGE8 improved HLMEC morphology, reduced invasion and migration, and attenuated LPS-induced EndoMT by increasing CD31 and decreasing α-SMA. MFGE8 knockdown increased BMP/Smad1/5-Smad4 signaling and Snail expression, while rhMFGE8 inhibited these effects. In vivo, rhMFGE8 ameliorated pulmonary fibrosis and EndoMT in mice.

CONCLUSIONS

MFGE8 regulates LPS-induced EndoMT in HLMECs via the BMP/Smad1/5-Smad4 pathway and protects against pulmonary fibrosis in acute lung injury, suggesting it as a therapeutic target for ALI and ARDS.

Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) and NETosis in alcohol-associated diseases: A systematic review

Heavy alcohol consumption is implicated in the alteration of the antimicrobial function of neutrophils, such as phagocytosis, chemotaxis, the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), and the occurrence of NETosis. NETosis is an endogenous process of elimination of invading microbes, autoantibodies, and inflammatory elements such as danger-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) and pathogen-associated patterns (PAMPs). However, both exaggeration and suppression of NETosis modulate normal physiological and metabolic processes by influencing events at the molecular and cellular levels. Recent research shows that binge alcohol consumption induces NETosis, leading to tissue damage and inflammation. Binge alcohol consumption, chronic alcohol intake, and alcohol use disorder (AUD) can affect immunity and often lead to alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) and/or other organ damage. Alcohol can lead to detrimental consequences in multiple organs, including the brain, liver, pancreas, and gut. Gut-derived microbial substances, such as endotoxins in the circulation, induce systemic inflammation. Sterile danger signals from damaged cells, cytokines, and prostaglandins act as proinflammatory stimuli and are involved in multiple signaling pathways. The alcohol-induced proinflammatory cytokines chemoattract neutrophils, which interact and coordinate with other immune cells to exaggerate or suppress inflammation within the inflammatory milieu, depending on the alcohol effects. Several proteins, including different receptors, play important roles in the activation and formation of NETs as well as the initiation and execution of NETosis. This review article specifically gathers the current information on NETosis, its biological components, and signaling pathways relating to the formation of NETs and the occurrence of NETosis associated with ALD and AUD in multiorgans, specifically in the brain, liver, and gut. We also briefly describe various therapeutic strategies against AUD-associated NETosis in experimental models and human disease states.

Proteomic Analysis of Chronic Binge Alcohol-Induced Hippocampal and Anterior Cingulate Cortex Neuroadaptations in Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV)-Infected Female Rhesus Macaques

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection produces neurological comorbidities including HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND) and chronic pain. HIV also increases the risk of developing an alcohol use disorder (AUD). With the rising prevalence of AUD in women and people with HIV (PWH), understanding the neurobiological impact of alcohol in these populations is important. We examined proteomic alterations in the hippocampus and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), brain regions critical for cognition and affective pain, in a female rhesus macaque model of chronic binge alcohol administration and SIV infection. Adult female rhesus macaques received either chronic binge alcohol (CBA, 13-14 g/kg/week of alcohol) or water (VEH) via gastric catheter. All animals were inoculated with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIVmac251) and treated with antiretroviral therapy (ART). Brain samples were processed for proteomic analysis, and quantitative discovery-based proteomics identified differentially expressed proteins in both brain regions comparing CBA treatment to VEH. Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) was also used to predict pathway activation. CBA significantly altered 147 proteins in the hippocampus and 176 proteins in the ACC. IPA revealed alterations in 39 canonical pathways in the hippocampus and 62 canonical pathways in the ACC. Fourteen common canonical pathways were enriched in both regions, including synaptogenesis and protein kinase A (PKA) signaling. These discoveries expand our understanding of how alcohol alters proteins of critical signaling pathways in vulnerable brain regions in the context of SIV/HIV infection and may lead to the development of new pharmacological treatment avenues for neurological dysfunction in women with HIV who use alcohol.

Gut Barrier in Critical States of the Body

The intestinal barrier (IB) is a system of diffusion barriers separating the intestinal chyme and blood. The aim of the review is to identify the role of IB dysfunction in the formation of critical states of the body and to substantiate ways to prevent these states. Toxic substances produced by normal intestinal microflora are characterized. The involvement of endotoxin and ammonia in the pathogenesis of sepsis, acute circulatory disorders, secondary acute pulmonary lesions, and acute cerebral insufficiency is shown. Approaches to protect the IB in critical states of the body are proposed.

Secondary Dysfunction of the Intestinal Barrier in the Pathogenesis of Complications of Acute Poisoning

The last decade has been marked by an exponential increase in the number of publications on the physiological role of the normal human gut microbiota. The idea of a symbiotic relationship between the human organism and normal microbiota of its gastrointestinal tract has been firmly established as an integral part of the current biomedical paradigm. However, the type of this symbiosis varies from mutualism to parasitism and depends on the functional state of the host organism. Damage caused to the organism by external agents can lead to the emergence of conditionally pathogenic properties in the normal gut microbiota, mediated by humoral factors and affecting the outcome of exogenous exposure. Among the substances produced by symbiotic microbiota, there are an indefinite number of compounds with systemic toxicity. Some occur in the intestinal chyme in potentially lethal amounts in the case they enter the bloodstream quickly. The quick entry of potential toxicants is prevented by the intestinal barrier (IB), a set of structural elements separating the intestinal chyme from the blood. Hypothetically, severe damage to the IB caused by exogenous toxicants can trigger a leakage and subsequent systemic redistribution of toxic substances of bacterial origin. Until recently, the impact of such a redistribution on the outcome of acute exogenous poisoning remained outside the view of toxicology. The present review addresses causal relationships between the secondary dysfunction of the IB and complications of acute poisoning. We characterize acute systemic toxicity of such waste products of the normal gut microflora as ammonia and endotoxins, and demonstrate their involvement in the formation of such complications of acute poisoning as shock, sepsis, cerebral insufficiency and secondary lung injuries. The principles of assessing the functional state of the IB and the approaches to its protection in acute poisoning are briefly considered.

Melatonin increases bone mass in normal, perimenopausal, and postmenopausal osteoporotic rats via the promotion of osteogenesis

Background

Osteoporosis is a disease threatening the health of millions of individuals. Melatonin is found to be a potential anti-osteoporosis drug. However, whether melatonin plays a role against osteoporosis at different stages of the menopause and the underlying mechanisms are unknown.

Methods

Ovariectomy was utilized as a model of perimenopausal and postmenopausal osteoporosis. A total of 100 mg/kg melatonin, or solvent alone, was added to the drinking water of the rats over 8 weeks. Perimenopausal rats immediately received intervention following ovariectomy while postmenopausal rats received intervention 8 weeks after ovariectomy. All rats underwent overdose anesthesia following intervention after which blood samples and femurs were collected for further analysis. Rat femurs were scanned using micro-CT and examined histologically. The serum levels of melatonin and osteogenic biochemical markers were measured and the expression of osteogenesis-associated genes (Runx2, Sp7) were quantified by real-time quantitative PCR. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and the gene expression (Col1a1, Runx2, Alpl, and Bglap) were measured after bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) were osteogenically induced, both with and without melatonin in vitro. ALP staining and Alizarin Red S staining were used to identify osteogenesis.

Results

Analysis by micro-CT and histological staining demonstrated that bone mass decreased and bone microarchitecture deteriorated over time after ovariectomy. Intervention with melatonin increased bone mass in normal, perimenopausal, and postmenopausal osteoporotic rats. Serum levels of ALP continuously increased after ovariectomy while osteocalcin levels initially rose, then decreased. Melatonin increased the serum levels of ALP and osteocalcin and mRNA expression levels of Runx2 and Sp7 in normal and postmenopausal rats, the opposite of the markers in perimenopausal rats. In vitro study demonstrated that 100 μmol/L melatonin increased the mRNA expression of Col1a1, Runx2, and Alpl three and/or seven days after intervention, and Alpl and Bglap 14 d after intervention. Melatonin increased ALP activity and the extent of ALP and matrix mineralization in the late stage of osteogenesis.

Conclusions

Bone mass continuously decreased after ovariectomy, while melatonin increased bone mass and ameliorated bone metabolism in normal, perimenopausal, and postmenopausal osteoporotic rats due to the induction of osteogenic differentiation in BMSCs.

Precise engineering of neutrophil membrane coated with polymeric nanoparticles concurrently absorbing of proinflammatory cytokines and endotoxins for management of sepsis

Sepsis, ensuing from unrestrained inflammatory replies to bacterial infections, endures with high injury and mortality worldwide. Presently, active sepsis management is missing in the hospitals during the surgery, and maintenance remnants mainly helpful. Now, we have constructed the macrophage bio-mimic nanoparticles for the treatment of sepsis and its management. Biomimetic macrophage nanoparticles containing a recyclable polymeric nanoparticle covered with cellular membrane resulting from macrophages (represented PEG-Mac@NPs) have an antigenic external similar to the cells. The PEG-Mac@NPs, Isorhamnetin (Iso) on the free LPS encouraged endotoxin in BALB/c mice through evaluating the nitric acid, TNF-α, and IL-6. Further, the COX-2 and iNOS expression ratio was examined to recognize the connection of several trails to find the exact mode of action PEG-Mac@NPs and Iso. The outcome reveals that the PEG-Mac@NPs inhibited and LPS triggered the NO production though the macrophages peritoneal. Furthermore, the anti-inflammatory possessions were additionally categorized through the reduction of COX-2 and iNOS protein expressions. Engaging PEG-Mac@NPs as a biomimetic decontamination approach displays potential for refining sepsis patient consequences, possibly in the use of sepsis management.