A TNF-α inhibitor abolishes sepsis-induced cognitive impairment in mice by modulating acetylcholine and nitric oxide homeostasis, BDNF release, and neuroinflammation

Neurodegenerative disorders have a pathophysiology that heavily involves neuroinflammation. In this study, we used lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to create a model of cognitive impairment by inducing systemic and neuroinflammation in experimental animals. LPS was injected intraperitoneally at a dose of 0.5 mg/kg during the last seven days of the study. Adalimumab (ADA), a TNF-α inhibitor, was injected at a dose of 10 mg/kg a total of 3 times throughout the study. On the last two days of the experiment, 50 mg/kg of curcumin was administered orally as a positive control group. Open field (OF) and elevated plus maze tests (EPM) were used to measure anxiety-like behaviors. The tail suspension test (TST) was used to measure depression-like behaviors, while the novel object recognition test (NOR) was used to measure learning and memory activities. Blood and hippocampal TNF α and nitric oxide (NO) levels, hippocampal BDNF, CREB, and ACh levels, and AChE activity were measured by ELISA. LPS increased anxiety and depression-like behaviors while decreasing the activity of the learning-memory system. LPS exerted this effect by causing systemic and neuroinflammation, cholinergic dysfunction, and impaired BDNF release. ADA controlled LPS-induced behavioral changes and improved biochemical markers. ADA prevented cognitive impairment induced by LPS by inhibiting inflammation and regulating the release of BDNF and the cholinergic pathway.

Evaluation of the protective and therapeutic effects of extra virgin olive oil rich in phenol in experimental model of neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis by clinical disease score, ınflammation, apoptosis, and oxidative stress markers

BACKGROUND AND AIM

Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC) is an inflammation-associated ischemic necrosis of the intestine. To investigate the effects of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) on inflammation, oxidative stress, apoptosis, and histological changes in NEC-induced newborn rats.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

24 rats were randomly divided into three groups: control, NEC and NEC + EVOO. NEC induction was performed using hypoxia-hyperoxia, formula feeding, and cold stress. The NEC + EVOO group received 2 ml/kg EVOO with high phenolic content by gavage twice a day for 3 days. 3 cm of bowel including terminal ileum, cecum, and proximal colon was excised.

RESULTS

Weight gain and clinical disease scores were significantly higher in the NEC + EVOO group than in the NEC group (p < 0.001). EVOO treatment caused significant decreases in IL1β, IL6 levels (p = 0.016, p = 0.029 respectively) and EGF, MDA levels (p = 0.032, p = 0.013 respectively) compared to NEC group. Significant decreases were observed in IL6 gene expression in the NEC + EVOO group compared to the NEC group (p = 0.002). In the group NEC + EVOO, the number of Caspase-3 positive cells was found to be significantly reduced (p < 0.001) and histopathological examination revealed minimal changes and significantly lower histopathological scores (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Phenol-rich EVOO prevents intestinal damage caused by NEC by inhibiting inflammation, oxidative stress, apoptosis.

Plasma Ischemia-Modified Albumin Levels and Dynamic Thiol/Disulfide Balance in Sickle Cell Disease: A Case-Control Study

Objective:

Sickle cell disease (SCD), described as a group of inherited blood disorders, affects millions of people throughout the world and is particularly common in the southern part of Turkey. We aimed to determine the relationship between ischemia-modified albumin (IMA) and the dynamic thiol/disulfide balance in SCD.

Materials and Methods:

Fifty-four adult SCD patients and 30 healthy controls were included in the study. The 54 adult patients included 30 (56%) males and 24 (44%) females with a mean age of 28.3±8.4 years (minimum-maximum: 18-46 years). Of the 54 patients, 46 had homozygous sickle cell anemia (HbSS) and 8 had sickle/β-thalassemia (HbS/β+-thalassemia). Fasting blood samples were collected. After centrifugation at 1500×g for 10 min, plasma samples were portioned and stored at -80 °C. IMA levels were determined by albumin cobalt binding test, a colorimetric method. Total and native thiols and disulfide were analyzed with a novel spectrophotometric method.

Results:

We found significantly lower levels of native thiol (-SH) (284.0±86.3 µmol/L), disulfide levels (14.6±7 µmol/L), and total thiols (-SH + -S-S-) (313.0±89.3 µmol/L) in SCD patients compared to healthy controls (respectively 417.0±54.2, 22.7±11.3, and 462.0±58.7 µmol/L). Plasma albumin levels (34.9±7.9 g/L) were lower and IMA levels (13.6±3.1 g/L) were higher in SCD patients compared to controls (respectively 43.5±3.1 and 8.4±1.6 g/L). Plasma albumin levels were strongly correlated with both plasma native (r=0.853; p=0.0001) and total thiols (r=0.866; p=0.0001).

Conclusion:

Decreased plasma native and total thiol levels and increased IMA levels are related to increased oxidative stress and provide an indirect and quick reflection of the oxidative damage in SCD patients.

Biodegradable stents for caustic esophageal strictures: a new therapeutic approach

The treatment of caustic esophageal strictures is a challenging topic. Although traditional therapies have limited efficacy, most of these patients eventually require surgery. Biodegradable (BD) stents are newly designed stents for benign conditions. This is a retrospective case series of seven patients with caustic esophageal stricture. BD esophageal stents were inserted for palliation of dysphagia. The position of the stent was checked at 1, 4, 8, 12 16, 20, and 24 weeks and at the end of follow-up period. The follow-up period was 60 ± 23 (36-102) weeks. Complete dissolution of the stent occurred at 16 ± 4 (12-20) weeks. Three patients had partial/complete relief of dysphagia. The remaining four patients experienced tissue hyperplasia at the edges of the stent and required serial dilations. At the end of follow-up, all patients had partial or complete relief of dysphagia. Although BD stents have some efficiency, tissue hyperplasia is the main limiting factor. Further randomized trials are needed to determine efficiency of BD stents for caustic damage.

A novel assay for discovery and characterization of pro-apoptotic drugs and for monitoring apoptosis in patient sera

We have developed an apoptosis assay based on measurement of a neoepitope of cytokeratin-18 (CK18-Asp396) exposed after caspase-cleavage and detected by the monoclonal antibody M30. The total amount of caspase-cleaved CK18 which has accumulated in cells and tissue culture media during apoptosis is measured by ELISA. The sensitivity is sufficient for use in the 96-well format to allow high-through-put screening of drug libraries. We here describe strategies allowing classification of pro-apoptotic compounds according to their profiles of induction of apoptosis in the presence of pharmacological inhibitors. The time course of induction of CK18 cleavage can furthermore be used to distinguish structurally similar compounds. We propose that compounds that induce rapid CK18 cleavage have mechanisms of actions distinct from conventional genotoxic and microtubuli-targeting agents, and we present one example of an agent that induces almost immediate mitochondrial depolarization and cytochrome c release. Finally, CK18-Asp396 cleavage products are released from cells in tissue culture, and presumably from tumor cells in vivo. These products can be measured in sera from cancer patients. We present evidence suggesting that it will be possible to use the M30-ELISA assay for measuring chemotherapy-induced apoptosis in patient sera, opening possibilities for monitoring therapy.