Nintedanib regulates intestinal smooth muscle hyperplasia and phenotype in vitro and in TNBS colitis in vivo

Muscular hyperplasia in Crohn's disease strictures: through thick and thin

Fibrostenosing Crohn's disease (CD) represents a challenging clinical condition characterized by the development of symptomatic strictures within the gastrointestinal tract. Despite therapeutic advancements in managing inflammation, the progression of fibrostenotic complications remains a significant concern, often necessitating surgical intervention. Recent investigations have unveiled the pivotal role of smooth muscle cell hyperplasia in driving luminal narrowing and clinical symptomatology. Drawing parallels to analogous inflammatory conditions affecting other organs, such as the airways and blood vessels, sheds light on common underlying mechanisms of muscular hyperplasia. This review synthesizes current evidence to elucidate the mechanisms underlying smooth muscle cell proliferation in CD-associated strictures, offering insights into potential therapeutic targets. By highlighting the emerging significance of muscle thickening as a novel therapeutic target, this review aims to inform future research endeavors and clinical strategies with the goal to mitigate the burden of fibrostenotic complications in CD and other conditions.

Drugst.One - a plug-and-play solution for online systems medicine and network-based drug repurposing

In recent decades, the development of new drugs has become increasingly expensive and inefficient, and the molecular mechanisms of most pharmaceuticals remain poorly understood. In response, computational systems and network medicine tools have emerged to identify potential drug repurposing candidates. However, these tools often require complex installation and lack intuitive visual network mining capabilities. To tackle these challenges, we introduce Drugst.One, a platform that assists specialized computational medicine tools in becoming user-friendly, web-based utilities for drug repurposing. With just three lines of code, Drugst.One turns any systems biology software into an interactive web tool for modeling and analyzing complex protein-drug-disease networks. Demonstrating its broad adaptability, Drugst.One has been successfully integrated with 21 computational systems medicine tools. Available at https://drugst.one, Drugst.One has significant potential for streamlining the drug discovery process, allowing researchers to focus on essential aspects of pharmaceutical treatment research.

The current landscape of antifibrotic therapy across different organs: A systematic approach

Fibrosis is a common pathological process that can affect virtually all the organs, but there are hardly any effective therapeutic options. This has led to an intense search for antifibrotic therapies over the last decades, with a great number of clinical assays currently underway. We have systematically reviewed all current and recently finished clinical trials involved in the development of new antifibrotic drugs, and the preclinical studies analyzing the relevance of each of these pharmacological strategies in fibrotic processes affecting tissues beyond those being clinically studied. We analyze and discuss this information with the aim of determining the most promising options and the feasibility of extending their therapeutic value as antifibrotic agents to other fibrotic conditions.

Drugst.One - A plug-and-play solution for online systems medicine and network-based drug repurposing

In recent decades, the development of new drugs has become increasingly expensive and inefficient, and the molecular mechanisms of most pharmaceuticals remain poorly understood. In response, computational systems and network medicine tools have emerged to identify potential drug repurposing candidates. However, these tools often require complex installation and lack intuitive visual network mining capabilities. To tackle these challenges, we introduce Drugst.One, a platform that assists specialized computational medicine tools in becoming user-friendly, web-based utilities for drug repurposing. With just three lines of code, Drugst.One turns any systems biology software into an interactive web tool for modeling and analyzing complex protein-drug-disease networks. Demonstrating its broad adaptability, Drugst.One has been successfully integrated with 21 computational systems medicine tools. Available at https://drugst.one, Drugst.One has significant potential for streamlining the drug discovery process, allowing researchers to focus on essential aspects of pharmaceutical treatment research.

Effect of Nintedanib Nanothermoreversible Hydrogel on Neovascularization in an Ocular Alkali Burn Rat Model

PURPOSE

To compare the therapeutic effects of different forms of nintedanib ophthalmic preparations on neovascularization corneal alkali burns in rats.

METHODS

Forty rat models of left eye corneal alkali burns were constructed, and the five groups (N = 8) were treated with normal saline, dexamethasone ointment (dexamethasone), 0.2% nintedanib aqueous solution and nintedanib nano thermoreversible hydrogel (NNTH). A slit lamp microscope was used to observe the area of neovascularization. The levels of the inflammatory factors were detected by ELISA. HE staining was performed on the rat corneas. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGFA) was detected by immunohistochemistry, and the expression of corneal VEGFA and CD31 was detected by western blotting. An MTT assay was performed to detect the cytotoxicity of nintedanib on human corneal epithelial cells (HCECs) and human umbilical vein vascular endothelial cells (HUVECs). Cell migration was detected by a cell scratch assay, and the proportion of apoptotic cells was detected by Annexin/PI double staining. Immunofluorescence and western blotting were performed to detect the protein expression of VEGFA and CD31.

RESULTS

NNTH had a stronger inhibitory effect on corneal neovascularization (CNV) in alkali-burned rats while reducing the level of inflammatory factors. NNTH had a longer drug duration of release than nanoformulations in vitro. Nintedanib at low concentrations (<8 μM) had no significant cytotoxicity to HCECs but significantly induced apoptosis and inhibited the expression of VEGFA and CD31 and the migration of HUVECs.

CONCLUSIONS

Nanomorphic thermoreversible hydrogel is superior among the nintedanib ophthalmic preparations, showing better inhibition of CNV in alkali-burned eyeballs and it blocked the migration and proangiogenic ability of HUVECs.