Role of metabolism in monocrotaline-induced immunotoxicity in C57BL/6 mice

Hematological and Serum Biochemical Changes and Their Prognostic Value in Horses Spontaneously Poisoned by Crotalaria spectabilis

Determining the prognosis of poisoning by plants containing pyrrolizidine alkaloids is usually challenging. This study aimed to identify important prognostic parameters that can determine the severity of spontaneous poisoning by Crotalaria spectabilis in horses. Blood samples from 42 horses spontaneously poisoned by oats contaminated with C. spectabilis seeds were evaluated. Complete blood counts (CBC) and serum biochemical tests [urea, creatinine, total protein, albumin, total and direct bilirubin concentrations, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), γ-glutamyl transferase (GGT), and creatine kinase (CK) activities] were performed. Horses were followed up for 12 months to determine the long-term survival rate; after 12 months, they were divided into two groups: survivors (n = 30) and non-survivors (n = 12). Horses spontaneously poisoned with C. spectabilis had higher levels of urea, globulin, bilirubin (total, direct, and indirect), AST, GGT, and CK than the reference values. Non-survivor horses showed significantly higher (p < 0.05) values of hemoglobin, GGT, and direct bilirubin than the survivor horses. Horses with serum GGT activity higher than 95 U/l had 14.0 times the risk of death compared to animals showing activities equal to or lower than this value, whereas horses with serum direct bilirubin concentration higher than 0.6 mg/dl (10.26 μmol/L) had 5.78 times the risk of death compared to the others. In summary, serum GGT activity and direct bilirubin concentration may be useful prognostic indicators for assessing the severity of C. spectabilis-poisoned horses.

Endothelial fate mapping in mice with pulmonary hypertension

BACKGROUND

Pulmonary endothelial injury triggers a reparative program, which in susceptible individuals is characterized by neointima formation, vascular narrowing, and the development of pulmonary arterial hypertension. The neointimal cells in human pathological plexiform lesions frequently coexpress smooth muscle α-actin and the endothelial von Willebrand antigen, creating a question about their cellular lineage of origin.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Experimental pulmonary hypertension with neointima formation develops in C57Bl/6 mice subjected to left pneumonectomy followed 1 week later by jugular vein injection of monocrotaline pyrrole (20 μg/μL and 1 μL/g; group P/MCTP). Compared with the group vehicle, by day 35, group P/MCTP developed higher right ventricular systolic pressure (54±5 versus 25±2 mm Hg; P<0.01) and right ventricular hypertrophy (0.58±0.16 versus 0.26±0.05; P<0.01). Transgenic vascular endothelial-cadherin Cre recombinase or Tie-2 Cre mice were intercrossed with mTomato/mGreen fluorescent protein double-fluorescent Cre reporter mice to achieve endothelial genetic lineage marking with membrane-targeted green fluorescent protein. In control mice, few endothelial lineage-marked cells lining the lumen of small pulmonary arteries demonstrate expression of smooth muscle α-actin. Concurrent with the development of pulmonary hypertension, endothelial lineage-marked cells are prominent in the neointima and exhibit expression of smooth muscle α-actin and smooth muscle myosin heavy chain. Human pulmonary arterial hypertension neointimal lesions contain cells that coexpress endothelial CD31 or von Willebrand antigen and smooth muscle α-actin.

CONCLUSION

Neointimal cells in pulmonary hypertension include contributions from the endothelial genetic lineage with induced expression of smooth muscle α-actin and smooth muscle myosin heavy chain.

A process-based review of mouse models of pulmonary hypertension

Genetically modified mouse models have unparalleled power to determine the mechanisms behind different processes involved in the molecular and physiologic etiology of various classes of human pulmonary hypertension (PH). Processes known to be involved in PH for which there are extensive mouse models available include the following: (1) Regulation of vascular tone through secreted vasoactive factors; (2) regulation of vascular tone through potassium and calcium channels; (3) regulation of vascular remodeling through alteration in metabolic processes, either through alteration in substrate usage or through circulating factors; (4) spontaneous vascular remodeling either before or after development of elevated pulmonary pressures; and (5) models in which changes in tone and remodeling are primarily driven by inflammation. PH development in mice is of necessity faster and with different physiologic ramifications than found in human disease, and so mice make poor models of natural history of PH. However, transgenic mouse models are a perfect tool for studying the processes involved in pulmonary vascular function and disease, and can effectively be used to test interventions designed against particular molecular pathways and processes involved in disease.

Pulmonary oxidative stress is increased in cyclooxygenase-2 knockdown mice with mild pulmonary hypertension induced by monocrotaline

The aim of this study was to examine the role of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and downstream signaling of prostanoids in the pathogenesis of pulmonary hypertension (PH) using mice with genetically manipulated COX-2 expression. COX-2 knockdown (KD) mice, characterized by 80–90% suppression of COX-2, and wild-type (WT) control mice were treated weekly with monocrotaline (MCT) over 10 weeks. Mice were examined for cardiac hypertrophy/function and right ventricular pressure. Lung histopathological analysis was performed and various assays were carried out to examine oxidative stress, as well as gene, protein, cytokine and prostanoid expression. We found that MCT increased right ventricular systolic and pulmonary arterial pressures in comparison to saline-treated mice, with no evidence of cardiac remodeling. Gene expression of endothelin receptor A and thromboxane synthesis, regulators of vasoconstriction, were increased in MCT-treated lungs. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and lung sections demonstrated mild inflammation and perivascular edema but activation of inflammatory cells was not predominant under the experimental conditions. Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) expression and indicators of oxidative stress in lungs were significantly increased, especially in COX-2 KD MCT-treated mice. Gene expression of NOX-4, but not NOX-2, two NADPH oxidase subunits crucial for superoxide generation, was induced by ∼4-fold in both groups of mice by MCT. Vasodilatory and anti-aggregatory prostacyclin was reduced by ∼85% only in MCT-treated COX-2 KD mice. This study suggests that increased oxidative stress-derived endothelial dysfunction, vasoconstriction and mild inflammation, exacerbated by the lack of COX-2, contribute to the pathogenesis of early stages of PH when mild hemodynamic changes are evident and not yet accompanied by vascular and cardiac remodeling.

Characterization of a murine model of monocrotaline pyrrole-induced acute lung injury

Background

New animal models of chronic pulmonary hypertension in mice are needed. The injection of monocrotaline is an established model of pulmonary hypertension in rats. The aim of this study was to establish a murine model of pulmonary hypertension by injection of the active metabolite, monocrotaline pyrrole.

Methods

Survival studies, computed tomographic scanning, histology, bronchoalveolar lavage were performed, and arterial blood gases and hemodynamics were measured in animals which received an intravenous injection of different doses of monocrotaline pyrrole.

Results

Monocrotaline pyrrole induced pulmonary hypertension in Sprague Dawley rats. When injected into mice, monocrotaline pyrrole induced dose-dependant mortality in C57Bl6/N and BALB/c mice (dose range 6–15 mg/kg bodyweight). At a dose of 10 mg/kg bodyweight, mice developed a typical early-phase acute lung injury, characterized by lung edema, neutrophil influx, hypoxemia and reduced lung compliance. In the late phase, monocrotaline pyrrole injection resulted in limited lung fibrosis and no obvious pulmonary hypertension.

Conclusion

Monocrotaline and monocrotaline pyrrole pneumotoxicity substantially differs between the animal species.

Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids—Genotoxicity, Metabolism Enzymes, Metabolic Activation, and Mechanisms

Pyrrolizidine alkaloid-containing plants are widely distributed in the world and are probably the most common poisonous plants affecting livestock, wildlife, and humans. Because of their abundance and potent toxicities, the mechanisms by which pyrrolizidine alkaloids induce genotoxicities, particularly carcinogenicity, were extensively studied for several decades but not exclusively elucidated until recently. To date, the pyrrolizidine alkaloid-induced genotoxicities were revealed to be elicited by the hepatic metabolism of these naturally occurring toxins. In this review, we present updated information on the metabolism, metabolizing enzymes, and the mechanisms by which pyrrolizidine alkaloids exert genotoxicity and tumorigenicity.

Heme oxygenase-1 reduces murine monocrotaline-induced pulmonary inflammatory responses and resultant right ventricular overload

Monocrotaline (MT), a pyrrolizidine alkaloid, causes pulmonary hypertension (PH) in rats and is widely utilized to analyze the pathophysiology of PH. However, a murine PH model with which transgenic animals may be used has not been established. To establish a murine MT-induced PH model, we administered different amounts of MT and determined the extent of right ventricular (RV) overload and PH. We also examined the expression of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), a potential antistress protein in MT-treated animals, and evaluated the functional role of HO-1 by administering an HO-1 inhibitor. Significant pulmonary inflammation and RV hypertrophy were observed when mice were given 600 mg/kg weight of MT weekly for 8 weeks. In addition, elevated RV pressure and induction of HO-1 in lung and RV were observed with this dose of MT. Interestingly, inhibition of HO activity promoted inflammatory changes in the lung and the resultant RV hypertrophy. HO-1 may play defensive roles against murine MT-induced pulmonary inflammation and the resultant RV overload.

Pyrrolizidine poisoning: a neglected area in human toxicology

Pyrrolizidine poisoning in humans is regarded by most clinical toxicologists as of little relevance. However, a number of individual case studies in the West and some severe cases of mass poisoning by contaminated grains have led to increased interest in these alkaloids. The increasing use of herbal remedies, some of which contain toxic pyrrolizidines, suggests that the incidence of pyrrolizidine poisoning is likely to increase. In this review the authors describe the chemistry and metabolism of pyrrolizidine alkaloids, the salient features of pyrrolizidine poisoning, and the methods available for detection of these compounds in human fluids.