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Najafi Z, Moosavi Z, Baradaran Rahimi V, Hashemitabar G, Askari VR. Evaluation of Anti-Nociceptive, Anti-Inflammatory, and Anti-Fibrotic effects of noscapine against a rat model of Achilles tendinopathy. Int Immunopharmacol 2024; 130:111704. [PMID: 38382264 DOI: 10.1016/j.intimp.2024.111704] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2023] [Revised: 02/06/2024] [Accepted: 02/13/2024] [Indexed: 02/23/2024]
Abstract
During tendinopathy, prolonged inflammation results in fibrosis and the adherence of tendons to the adjacent tissues, causing discomfort and movement disorders. As a natural compound, noscapine has several anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic properties. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the effects of noscapine against a rat model of tendinopathy. We created a surgical rat model of Achilles tendon damage to emulate tendinopathy. Briefly, an incision was made on the Achilles tendon, and it was then sutured using an absorbable surgical thread. Immediately, the injured area was topically treated with the vehicle, noscapine (0.2, 0.6, and 1.8 mg/kg), or dexamethasone (0.1 mg/kg) as a positive control. During the 19-day follow-up period, animals were assessed for weight, behavior, pain, and motor coordination testing. On day 20th, the rats were sacrificed, and the tendon tissue was isolated for macroscopic scoring, microscopic (H&E, Masson's trichrome, Ki67, p53) analyses, and cytokine secretion levels. The levels of macroscopic parameters, including thermal hyperalgesia, mechanical and cold allodynia, deterioration of motor coordination, tendon adhesion score, and microscopic indices, namely histological adhesion, vascular prominence and angiogenesis, and Ki67 and p53 levels, as well as fibrotic and inflammatory biomarkers (IL-6, TNF-α, TGF-β, VEGF) were significantly increased in the vehicle group compared to the sham group (P < 0.05-0.001 for all cases). In contrast, the administration of noscapine (0.2, 0.6, and 1.8 mg/kg) attenuated the pain, fibrosis, and inflammatory indices in a dose-dependent manner compared to the vehicle group (P < 0.05-0.001). Histological research indicated that noscapine 0.6 and 1.8 mg/kg had the most remarkable healing effects. Interestingly, two higher doses of noscapine had impacts similar to those of the positive control group in both clinical and paraclinical assessments. Taken together, our findings suggested that noscapine could be a promising medicine for treating tendinopathies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zohreh Najafi
- Division of Biotechnology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran; Pharmacological Research Center of Medicinal Plants, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
| | - Zahra Moosavi
- Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
| | - Vafa Baradaran Rahimi
- Pharmacological Research Center of Medicinal Plants, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran; Department of Cardiovascular Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
| | - Gholamreza Hashemitabar
- Division of Biotechnology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.
| | - Vahid Reza Askari
- Applied Biomedical Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran; Pharmacological Research Center of Medicinal Plants, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
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Amaral A, Cebola N, Szóstek-Mioduchowska A, Rebordão MR, Kordowitzki P, Skarzynski D, Ferreira-Dias G. Inhibition of Myeloperoxidase Pro-Fibrotic Effect by Noscapine in Equine Endometrium. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24043593. [PMID: 36835008 PMCID: PMC9959736 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24043593] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2022] [Revised: 02/06/2023] [Accepted: 02/09/2023] [Indexed: 02/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Myeloperoxidase is an enzyme released by neutrophils when neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are formed. Besides myeloperoxidase activity against pathogens, it was also linked to many diseases, including inflammatory and fibrotic ones. Endometrosis is a fibrotic disease of the mare endometrium, with a large impact on their fertility, where myeloperoxidase was shown to induce fibrosis. Noscapine is an alkaloid with a low toxicity, that has been studied as an anti-cancer drug, and more recently as an anti-fibrotic molecule. This work aims to evaluate noscapine inhibition of collagen type 1 (COL1) induced by myeloperoxidase in equine endometrial explants from follicular and mid-luteal phases, at 24 and 48 h of treatment. The transcription of collagen type 1 alpha 2 chain (COL1A2), and COL1 protein relative abundance were evaluated by qPCR and Western blot, respectively. The treatment with myeloperoxidase increased COL1A2 mRNA transcription and COL1 protein, whereas noscapine was able to reduce this effect with respect to COL1A2 mRNA transcription, in a time/estrous cycle phase-dependent manner (in explants from the follicular phase, at 24 h of treatment). Our study indicates that noscapine is a promising drug to be considered as an anti-fibrotic molecule to prevent endometrosis development, making noscapine a strong candidate to be applied in future endometrosis therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Amaral
- CIISA—Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon, 1300-477 Lisbon, Portugal
- Associate Laboratory for Animal and Veterinary Sciences (AL4AnimalS), 1300-477 Lisbon, Portugal
- Department of Zootechnics, School of Sciences and Technology (ECT), University of Évora, 7002-554 Évora, Portugal
- Comprehensive Health Research Centre (CHRC), 7000-811 Évora, Portugal
- Correspondence:
| | - Nélio Cebola
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universidade Lusofona, 1749-024 Lisbon, Portugal
- Veterinary Teaching Hospital of the University of Extremadura, 10003 Cáceres, Spain
| | - Anna Szóstek-Mioduchowska
- Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research, Polish Academy of Science, 10-748 Olsztyn, Poland
| | - Maria Rosa Rebordão
- CIISA—Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon, 1300-477 Lisbon, Portugal
- Associate Laboratory for Animal and Veterinary Sciences (AL4AnimalS), 1300-477 Lisbon, Portugal
- Polytechnic of Coimbra, Coimbra Agriculture School, Bencanta, 3045-601 Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Paweł Kordowitzki
- Department of Basic and Preclinical Sciences, Institute for Veterinary Medicine, Nicolaus Copernicus University, ul. Gagarina 1, 87-100 Torun, Poland
| | - Dariusz Skarzynski
- Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research, Polish Academy of Science, 10-748 Olsztyn, Poland
| | - Graça Ferreira-Dias
- CIISA—Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon, 1300-477 Lisbon, Portugal
- Associate Laboratory for Animal and Veterinary Sciences (AL4AnimalS), 1300-477 Lisbon, Portugal
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Witkowski M, Duliban M, Rak A, Profaska-Szymik M, Gurgul A, Arent ZJ, Galuszka A, Kotula-Balak M. Next-Generation Sequencing analysis discloses genes implicated in equine endometrosis that may lead to tumorigenesis. Theriogenology 2022; 189:158-166. [PMID: 35760027 DOI: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2022.06.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2022] [Revised: 06/14/2022] [Accepted: 06/14/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Endometrosis is a periglandular fibrosis associated with dysfunction of affected glandular epithelial cells that is the most common cause of reduced fertility in mares, although it is not fully understood. The etiology of the disease is still partially unknown. This study focuses on understanding the genetic mechanisms potentially underlying endometrosis in mares using the Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technique. Endometrial samples, used in the study, were obtained in the anestrus phase both from healthy mares and those diagnosed with endometrosis. The NGS data were analyzed for gene involvement in biological processes and pathways (e.g. STAR, KOBAS-I, STRING, and ClustVis software). Bioinformatic analysis revealed differential expression of 55 transcripts. In tissues with endometrosis, most genes displayed upregulated expression. The protein-protein interaction analysis disclosed a substantial transcript network including transcripts related to metabolism e.g. sulfur metabolism (SELENBP1), ovarian steroidogenesis, steroid hormone biosynthesis, and chemical carcinogenesis (CYP1B1), COXs (COX4I1, COX3, UQCRFS1) as well as transcripts related to immune response e.g. MMP7, JCHAIN, PIGR, CALR, B2M, FCGRT. Interestingly, the latter has been previously linked with various pathologies including cancers in the female reproductive system. In conclusion, this study evaluated genes that are not directly impacted by sex hormone feedback, but that create a metabolic and immune environment in tissues, thus influencing fertility and pregnancy in mares with endometrosis. Moreover, some of the identified genes may be implicated in tumorigenesis of endometrial lesions. These data may be useful as a starting point in further research, such as the development of targeted strategies for rapid diagnosis and/or prevention of this pathology based on gene and protein-protein interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Witkowski
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology with Andrology and Animal Reproduction Biotechnology, University Centre of Veterinary Medicine JU-UA, University of Agriculture in Krakow, Mickiewicza 24/28, 30-059, Krakow, Poland; Equine Hospital on the Racing Truck, Sluzewiec, Pulawska 266, 02-684, Warszawa, Poland
| | - M Duliban
- Department of Endocrinology, Institute of Zoology and Biomedical Research, Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Gronostajowa 9, 30-387, Krakow, Poland.
| | - A Rak
- Department of Physiology and Toxicology of Reproduction, Institute of Zoology and Biomedical Research, Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Gronostajowa 9, 30-387, Krakow, Poland
| | - M Profaska-Szymik
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology with Andrology and Animal Reproduction Biotechnology, University Centre of Veterinary Medicine JU-UA, University of Agriculture in Krakow, Mickiewicza 24/28, 30-059, Krakow, Poland
| | - A Gurgul
- Center for Experimental and Innovative Medicine, University of Agriculture in Krakow, Redzina 1c, 30-248, Krakow, Poland
| | - Z J Arent
- Department of Animal Infectious Diseases and Food Hygiene, University Centre of Veterinary Medicine JU-UA, University of Agriculture in Krakow, Mickiewicza 24/28, 30-059, Krakow, Poland
| | - A Galuszka
- Department of Animal Anatomy and Preclinical Sciences, University Centre of Veterinary Medicine JU-UA, University of Agriculture in Krakow, Mickiewicza 24/28, 30-059, Krakow, Poland
| | - M Kotula-Balak
- Department of Animal Anatomy and Preclinical Sciences, University Centre of Veterinary Medicine JU-UA, University of Agriculture in Krakow, Mickiewicza 24/28, 30-059, Krakow, Poland.
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