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Abd El-Aal SA, El-Sayyad SM, El-Gazar AA, Salaheldin Abdelhamid Ibrahim S, Essa MA, Abostate HM, Ragab GM. Boswellic acid and apigenin alleviate methotrexate-provoked renal and hippocampal alterations in rats: Targeting autophagy, NOD-2/NF-κB/NLRP3, and connexin-43. Int Immunopharmacol 2024; 134:112147. [PMID: 38718656 DOI: 10.1016/j.intimp.2024.112147] [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: 02/22/2024] [Revised: 04/16/2024] [Accepted: 04/20/2024] [Indexed: 06/03/2024]
Abstract
The neuronal and renal deteriorations observed in patients exposed to methotrexate (MTX) therapy highlight the need for medical interventions to counteract these complications. Boswellic acid (BA) and apigenin (APG) are natural phytochemicals with prominent neuronal and renal protective impacts in various ailments. However, their impacts on MTX-provoked renal and hippocampal toxicity have not been reported. Thus, the present work is tailored to clarify the ability of BA and APG to counteract MTX-provoked hippocampal and renal toxicity. BA (250 mg/kg) or APG (20 mg/kg) were administered orally in rats once a day for 10 days, while MTX (20 mg/kg, i.p.) was administered once on the sixth day of the study. At the histopathological level, BA and APG attenuated MTX-provoked renal and hippocampal aberrations. They also inhibited astrocyte activation, as proven by the inhibition of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). These impacts were partially mediated via the activation of autophagy flux, as proven by the increased expression of beclin1, LC3-II, and the curbing of p62 protein, alongside the regulation of the p-AMPK/mTOR nexus. In addition, BA and APG displayed anti-inflammatory features as verified by the damping of NOD-2 and p-NF-κB p65 to reduce TNF-α, IL-6, and NLRP3/IL-1β cue. These promising effects were accompanied with a notable reduction in one of the gap junction proteins, connexin-43 (Conx-43). These positive impacts endorse BA and APG as adjuvant modulators to control MTX-driven hippocampal and nephrotoxicity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah A Abd El-Aal
- Department of Pharmacy, Kut University College, Al Kut, Wasit 52001, Iraq.
| | - Shorouk M El-Sayyad
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, October 6 University, Giza 12585, Egypt
| | - Amira A El-Gazar
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, October 6 University, Giza 12585, Egypt
| | | | - Marwa A Essa
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, October 6 University, Giza 12585, Egypt
| | - Heba M Abostate
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Egyptian Russian University, Badr City, Cairo 11562, Egypt
| | - Ghada M Ragab
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Misr University for Science and Technology, Giza 12585, Egypt
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Zhang W, Cai F, Xu H, Wu Y, Yu XA, Sun L, Zhang T, Yu BY, Zheng X, Tian J. Small-Molecule Photoacoustic Imaging Probe with Aggregation-Enhanced Amplitude for Real-Time Visualization of Acute Kidney Injury. Anal Chem 2022; 94:9697-9705. [PMID: 35767885 DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.2c01106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Acute kidney injury (AKI) has become a growing issue for patients with the extensive use of all kinds of drugs in clinic. Photoacoustic (PA) imaging provides a noninvasive and real-time imaging method for studying kidney injury, but it has inherent shortages in terms of high background signal and low detection sensitivity for exogenous imaging agents. Intriguingly, J-aggregation offers to tune the optical properties of the dyes, thus providing a platform for developing new PA probes with desired performance. In this study, a small-molecule PA probe (BDP-3) was designed and synthesized. We serendipitously discovered that BDP-3 can transform into renal clearable nanoaggregates under physiological conditions. The hydrodynamic diameter of the BDP-3 increased from 0.64 ± 0.11 to 3.74 ± 0.39 nm when the content of H2O increased from 40 to 90%. In addition, it was surprising that such a transforming process can significantly enhance its PA amplitude (2.06-fold). On this basis, PA imaging with BDP-3 was applied as a new method for the noninvasive detection of AKI induced by anticancer drugs, traditional Chinese medicine, and clinical contrast agents in animal models and exhibited higher sensitivity than the conventional serum index test, demonstrating great potential for further clinical diagnostic applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wangning Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of TCM Evaluation and Translational Research, School of Traditional Chinese Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, China
| | - Fangjian Cai
- Jiangsu Co-innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, College of Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu Key Lab of Biomass-based Green Fuels and Chemicals, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China
| | - Haijun Xu
- Jiangsu Co-innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, College of Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu Key Lab of Biomass-based Green Fuels and Chemicals, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China.,School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453002, China
| | - Yan Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of TCM Evaluation and Translational Research, School of Traditional Chinese Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, China
| | - Xie-An Yu
- State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of TCM Evaluation and Translational Research, School of Traditional Chinese Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, China
| | - Lei Sun
- Jiangsu Co-innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, College of Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu Key Lab of Biomass-based Green Fuels and Chemicals, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China
| | - Tiange Zhang
- Institute of Nanophotonics, Jinan University, Guangzhou 511443, China
| | - Bo-Yang Yu
- State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of TCM Evaluation and Translational Research, School of Traditional Chinese Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, China
| | - Xianchuang Zheng
- Institute of Nanophotonics, Jinan University, Guangzhou 511443, China
| | - Jiangwei Tian
- State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of TCM Evaluation and Translational Research, School of Traditional Chinese Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, China
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