Acute Aluminum Sulfate Triggers Inflammation and Oxidative Stress, Inducing Tissue Damage in the Kidney of the Chick

Selenium Deficiency Promotes the Expression of LncRNA-MORC3, Activating NLRP3-Caspase-1/IL-1β Signaling to Induce Inflammatory Damage and Disrupt Tight Junctions in Piglets

Selenium (Se), as a trace element, is widely found in animals in the form of selenomethionine, which can provide nutrition to the body and has anti-inflammatory effects to prevent inflammatory damage in animals. In the past decade, there have been many studies on piglet diseases caused by selenium deficiency; however, under Se deficiency, the relationship between LncRNA-MORC3, inflammatory injury, and tight junctions in piglets has not yet been studied. We established piglet selenium deficiency models divided into three groups and obtained small intestinal tissues after 35 days of feeding. Small intestinal epithelial IPEC-J2 cells were divided into three groups, and samples were collected after 24 h of culture for qPCR and Western blot experiments. First, we found that Se deficiency led to an increase in LncRNA-MORC3 expression in piglets in vivo and in vitro. We found that the binding site of NLRP3 on LncRNA-MORC3 and the expression trends of both were the same: Se deficiency increased the secretion of NLRP3 and the expression levels of the inflammatory factors Caspase-1, ASC, IL-1β, IL-17, IL-6, IL-10, and TNF-α, which are related to the NLRP3-Caspase-1/IL-1β signaling pathway. At the same time, Se deficiency decreased the expression levels of the tight junction factors ZO-1, Z0-2, Occludin, E-cadherin, and ZEB-1. This result showed that the tight junctions were disrupted. Herein, we demonstrated that Se deficiency promotes the expression of both LncRNA-MORC3 and inflammatory factors in piglets to activate the NLRP3-Caspase-1/IL-1β signaling pathway and disrupt tight junctions. Ultimately, these factors lead to inflammatory damage in piglet small intestinal tissues.

Acute Aluminum Sulfate Triggers Inflammation and Oxidative Stress, Inducing Tissue Damage in the Kidney of the Chick

In this study, a total of 20 7-day-old chicks were randomly divided into an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group was administered aluminum sulfate (Al₂(SO₄)₃) once by gavage, and the control group was sacrificed after 24 h of fasting with distilled water. Serum and kidney tissue samples from both groups were collected and compared using hematoxylin-eosin staining (H&E) and microscopy. The Paller scores increased (p < 0.01) for biochemical kidney function, redox-related indicators, and mRNA expression of nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2) downstream related genes. The results showed that in the kidneys of the experimental group, renal tubular epithelial cells appeared to swell, and there was necrosis and shedding; the blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and uric acid (UA) decreased, serum creatinine (CREA) increased; nitric oxide (NO), glutathione (GSH), and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents increased; NO synthase (NOS), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzyme activities increased; tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 (TNF-R1), tumor necrosis factor receptor 2 (TNF -R2), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB), and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) mRNA expression levels increased (p < 0.05 or p < 0.01); Nrf2, glutathione S-transferase A3 (GSTA3), glutathione-S-transferase mu-1 (GSTM1), glutathione synthetase (GSS), glutamate cysteine ligase (GCLC and GCLM), quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1), and Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap1) mRNA expression levels decreased (p < 0.05 or p < 0.01) compared to the control group. Acute aluminum poisoning can cause obvious pathological changes in the structure of the kidney tissue of the chick, resulting in damage to the kidney function, as well as triggering inflammation and oxidative stress in the kidney.