Fenvalerate induces oxidative hepatic lesions through an overload of intracellular calcium triggered by the ERK/IKK/NF-κB pathway

Strictosamide ameliorates LPS-induced acute lung injury by targeting ERK2 and mediating NF-κB signaling pathway

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Acute lung injury (ALI) ranks among the deadliest pulmonary diseases, significantly impacting mortality and morbidity. Presently, the primary treatment for ALI involves supportive therapy; however, its efficacy remains unsatisfactory. Strictosamide (STR), an indole alkaloid found in the Chinese herbal medicine Nauclea officinalis (Pierre ex Pit.) Merr. & Chun (Wutan), has been found to exhibit numerous pharmacological properties, particularly anti-inflammatory effects.

AIM OF THE STUDY

This study aimes to systematically identify and validate the specific binding proteins targeted by STR and elucidate its anti-inflammatory mechanism in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced ALI.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Biotin chemical modification, protein microarray analysis and network pharmacology were conducted to screen for potential STR-binding proteins. The binding affinity was assessed through surface plasmon resonance (SPR), cellular thermal shift assay (CETSA) and molecular docking, and the anti-inflammatory mechanism of STR in ALI treatment was assessed through in vivo and in vitro experiments.

RESULTS

Biotin chemical modification, protein microarray and network pharmacology identified extracellular-signal-regulated kinase 2 (ERK2) as the most important binding proteins among 276 candidate STR-interacting proteins and nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB) pathway was one of the main inflammatory signal transduction pathways. Using SPR, CETSA, and molecular docking, we confirmed STR's affinity for ERK2. In vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrated that STR mitigated inflammation by targeting ERK2 to modulate the NF-κB signaling pathway in LPS-induced ALI.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings indicate that STR can inhibit the NF-κB signaling pathway to attenuate LPS-induced inflammation by targeting ERK2 and decreasing phosphorylation of ERK2, which could be a novel strategy for treating ALI.

Multi-functional bandage - bioactive glass/metal oxides/alginate composites based regenerative membrane facilitating re-epithelialization in diabetic wounds with sustained drug delivery and anti-bactericidal efficacy

Chronic wounds, especially diabetic, foot and pressure ulcers are a major health problem affecting >10 % of the world's populace. Calcium phosphate materials, particularly, bioactive glasses (BG), used as a potential material for hard and soft tissue repair. This study combines nanostructured 45S5 BG with titania (TiO2) and alumina (Al2O3) into a composite via simple sol-gel method. Prepared composites with alginate (Alg) formed a bioactive nanocomposite hydrogel membrane via freezing method. X-ray diffraction revealed formation of two phases such as Na1.8Ca1.1Si6O14 and β-Na2Ca4(PO4)2SiO4 in the silica network. Fourier transformed InfraRed spectroscopy confirmed the network formation and cross-linking between composite and alginate. <2 % hemolysis, optimal in vitro degradation and porosity was systematically evaluated up to 7 days, resulting in increasing membrane bioactivity. Significant cytocompatibility, cell migration and proliferation and a 3-4-fold increase in Collagen (Col) and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) expression were obtained. Sustained delivery of 80 % Dox in 24 h and effective growth reduction of S. aureus and destruction of biofilm development against E. coli and S. aureus within 24 h. Anatomical fin regeneration, rapid re-epithelialization and wound closure were achieved within 14 days in both zebrafish and in streptozotocin (STZ) induced rat in vivo animal models with optimal blood glucose levels. Hence, the fabricated bioactive membrane can act as effective wound dressing material, for diabetic chronic infectious wounds.

Curcumin protects against fenvalerate-induced neurotoxicity in zebrafish (Danio rerio) larvae through inhibition of oxidative stress

Fenvalerate (FEN), a typical type II pyrethroid pesticide, is widely used in agriculture. FEN has been detected in the environment and human body. However, the neurotoxicity of FEN has not been well elucidated. This study aimed to explore the mechanisms underlying FEN-induced neurotoxicity using the zebrafish (Danio rerio) model. We also investigated whether curcumin (CUR), a polyphenol antioxidant that exhibits neuroprotective properties, can prevent FEN-induced neurotoxicity. Here, zebrafish embryos were exposed to 0, 3.5, 7 and 14 μg/L of FEN from 4 to 96 h post fertilization (hpf) and neurotoxicity was assessed. Our results showed that FEN decreased the survival rate, heart rate, body length and spontaneous movement, and increased malformation rate. FEN caused neurobehavioral alterations, including decreased swimming distance and velocity, movement time and clockwise rotation times. FEN also suppressed neurogenesis in transgenic HuC:egfp zebrafish, reduced cholinesterase activity and downregulated the expression of neurodevelopment related genes (elavl3, gfap, gap43 and mbp). In addition, FEN enhanced oxidative stress via excessive reactive oxygen species and antioxidant enzyme inhibition, then triggered apoptosis by upregulation of apoptotic genes (p53, bcl-2, bax and caspase 3). These adverse outcomes were alleviated by CUR, indicating that CUR mitigated FEN-induced neurotoxicity by inhibiting oxidative stress. Overall, this study revealed that CUR ameliorated FEN-induced neurotoxicity via its antioxidant, indicating a promising protection of CUR against environmental pollutant-induced developmental anomalies.

Pesticides as a risk factor for cognitive impairment: Natural substances are expected to become alternative measures to prevent and improve cognitive impairment

Pesticides are the most effective way to control diseases, insects, weeds, and fungi. The central nervous system (CNS) is damaged by pesticide residues in various ways. By consulting relevant databases, the systemic relationships between the possible mechanisms of pesticides damage to the CNS causing cognitive impairment and related learning and memory pathways networks, as well as the structure-activity relationships between some natural substances (such as polyphenols and vitamins) and the improvement were summarized in this article. The mechanisms of cognitive impairment caused by pesticides are closely related. For example, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and neuroinflammation can constitute three feedback loops that interact and restrict each other. The mechanisms of neurotransmitter abnormalities and intestinal dysfunction also play an important role. The connection between pathways is complex. NMDAR, PI3K/Akt, MAPK, Keap1/Nrf2/ARE, and NF-κB pathways can be connected into a pathway network by targets such as Ras, Akt, and IKK. The reasons for the improvement of natural substances are related to their specific structure, such as polyphenols with different hydroxyl groups. This review's purpose is to lay a foundation for exploring and developing more natural substances that can effectively improve the cognitive impairment caused by pesticides.

Impact of Glyphosate on the Development of Insulin Resistance in Experimental Diabetic Rats: Role of NFκB Signalling Pathways

Glyphosate, an endocrine disruptor, has an adverse impact on human health through food and also has the potential to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS), which can lead to metabolic diseases. Glyphosate consumption from food has been shown to have a substantial part in insulin resistance, making it a severe concern to those with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). However, minimal evidence exists on how glyphosate impacts insulin-mediated glucose oxidation in the liver. Hence the current study was performed to explore the potential of glyphosate toxicity on insulin signaling in the liver of experimental animals. For 16 weeks, male albino Wistar rats were given 50 mg, 100 mg and 250 mg/kg b. wt. of glyphosate orally. In the current study, glyphosate exposure group was linked to a rise in fasting sugar and insulin as well as a drop in serum testosterone. At the same time, in a dose dependent fashion, glyphosate exposure showed alternations in glucose metabolic enzymes. Glyphosate exposure resulted in a raise in H₂O₂ formation, LPO and a reduction in antioxidant levels those results in impact on membrane integrity and insulin receptor efficacy in the liver. It also registered a reduced levels of mRNA and protein expression of insulin receptor (IR), glucose transporter-2 (GLUT2) with concomitant increase in the production of proinflammatory factors such as JNK, IKKβ, NFkB, IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α as well as transcriptional factors like SREBP1c and PPAR-γ leading to pro-inflammation and cirrhosis in the liver which results in the development of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Our present findings for the first time providing an evidence that exposure of glyphosate develops insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes by aggravating NFkB signaling pathway in liver.

Agave tequilana Counteracts Chronic Hypertension and Associated Vascular Damage

Systemic arterial hypertension (SAH) is a health problem of great importance worldwide, and endothelial dysfunction underlies SAH development. This condition's main characteristics include vasoconstriction, inflammation, oxidative stress, and procoagulant and proliferative states. This study's objective was to evaluate the antihypertensive, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant effects of the whole extract and fractions of Agave tequilana in a murine model of SAH. SAH was induced in male ICR or CD-1 (Strain obtained from animals from Charles River Laboratories, Massachusetts) mice by intraperitoneal administration of angiotensin II (AGII) (0.1 μg/kg) for 4 weeks, and then A. tequilana treatments were co-administered with AGII. At the end of the experiment, systolic and diastolic blood pressure were measured and the kidneys were dissected to quantify interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, IL-10, and malondialdehyde (MDA). The whole extract and the fractions of A. tequilana were chemically characterized using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The results indicate that the whole extract (At-W) and At-AcOEt fraction treatment are the most efficient in lowering blood pressure, although all the treatments had an immunomodulatory effect on the cytokines evaluated and an antioxidant effect on lipid peroxidation. Finally, the chromatographic profile shows that the integral extract and fractions of A. tequilana contained phytol (M)3,7,11,15-Tetramethyl-2-hexadecen-1-ol; 9,12-octadecadienoic acid; hentriacontane; 9,19-cyclolanost-24-en-3-ol,(3b); t-sitosterol; and stigmasta-3,5-dien-7-one.

Restraint stress induces uterine microenvironment disorder in mice during early pregnancy through the β2-AR/cAMP/PKA pathway

During pregnancy, uterus undergoes the environment adaptation as part of a program of development. In the world, one in four people worldwide suffer from mental illness, especially pregnant women. β-Adrenergic receptor (β-AR) is an important regulator that converts environmental stimuli into intracellular signals in mice uterus. CD-1 (ICR) mice undergone restraint stress, which was a case in model to simulate the psychological stress. The plasma and implantation sites in uterus were obtained and examined. PCR analysis demonstrated that β₂-AR expression levels in embryo day (E) 3, 5 and 7 were kept at a significantly higher level (p < 0.05) under restraint stress and higher than β₁-AR and β₃-AR in different gestation ages. The β₂-AR protein levels were obviously increased (p < 0.05) due to the markedly elevated norepinephrine (NE) concentration (p < 0.05). In our previous study, restraint stress can induce the apoptosis and inflammation. Also, the matrix metalloprotein-9 (MMP-9) was decreased significantly (p < 0.05) under restraint stress. Meanwhile, Caspase3, p-NF-κB p65 and p-ERK1/2 were obviously increased (p < 0.05) in the work. In vitro studies showed that the p-ERK1/2 and Caspase-3 levels were raised (p < 0.05) after β₂-AR was activated. However, they were decreased when PKA was blocked. The protein levels of Caspase-3 were reduced when ERK and NF-κB were blocked (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the β₂-AR/cAMP/PKA pathway promoted apoptosis and affected the development of the uterus through the ERK and NF-κB signaling pathway. The findings of this study may provide evidence for female reproduction under psychological stress.

Pharmacological inhibition of MELK restricts ferroptosis and the inflammatory response in colitis and colitis-propelled carcinogenesis

INTRODUCTION

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD), is a group of chronic recurrent and incurable gastrointestinal diseases with an unknown etiology that leads to a high risk of developing colitis-associated colorectal cancer (CRC).

OBJECTIVES

In this study, we measured the expression characteristics of MELK in IBD and CRC tissues and explored the regulatory effect of OTSSP167 (a MELK-selective inhibitor) on the mice models of colitis and colitis-associated carcinogenesis and analyzed the specific molecular mechanisms.

METHODS

DSS-induced colitis and colitis-associated carcinogenesis (CAC) model were treated with MELK inhibitor OTSSP167 then the fight against effect of OTSSP167 in the clinical symptoms of colitis and CAC was measured. In addition, underlying mechanism of OTSSP167 treatment in vitro and vivo including anti-ferroptosis and anti-inflammatory response effect was further explored.

RESULTS

We found that pharmacological inhibition of MELK was indicated to significantly alleviate the inflammatory response in mice with colitis, reduce intestinal damage, and effectively inhibit the occurrence and progression of colitis-propelled carcinogenesis, which was closely related to the regulation of gut microbial composition, and OTSSP167-mediated fecal microbiota transplantation effectively alleviated DSS-induced colitis. In addition, OTSSP167 treatment obviously inhibited ferroptosis in the intestinal tissue and suppressed macrophage infiltration and M1 polarization, which reduced the secretion of pro-inflammatory factors. Further exploration of the molecular mechanism revealed that OTSSP167 inhibited AKT/IKK/P65 and ERK/IKK/P65 signaling cascades both in vivo and in vitro, which may help alleviate intestinal inflammation and control the occurrence of cancer.

CONCLUSION

Our findings lay a theoretical foundation for the use of OTSSP167 as a treatment for IBD and its inhibition of the occurrence of colitis-associated carcinogenesis; additionally, MELK may be a potentially effective target molecule, thus providing more options for clinical treatment.

Ameliorative effects of tropisetron on liver injury in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of tropisetron on liver injury induced by diabetes. Thirty-five male Wistar rats were assigned to five groups (n = 7): control (C), tropisetron (T), diabetic (D), diabetic + tropisetron (D + T) and diabetic + glibenclamide (D + G). Diabetic rats were treated with tropisetron (3 mg/kg body weight/day) or glibenclamide (1 mg/kg/day) for two weeks. Liver from diabetic rats exhibited a significant increase in alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), cholesterol (Chol), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and atherogenic index, and a significant decrease in liver glycogen, serum albumin and high-density lipoprotein. Treatment with tropisetron significantly abrogated diabetes-induced perturbation in these parameters. These effects were equipotent with glibenclamide, suggesting that tropisetron treatment is associated with a hepatoprotective effect against diabetic injury. Therefore, the results of this study manifested the significance of using tropisetron as a promising remedial agent to improve diabetic complications.

Inhibition of ASIC1a-Mediated ERS Improves the Activation of HSCs and Copper Transport Under Copper Load

Hepatolenticular degeneration (HLD) is an autosomal recessive genetic disease caused by the toxic accumulation of copper in the liver. Excessive copper will disrupt the redox balance in cells and tissues, causing ischemia, hypoxia, and inflammation. Acid-sensitive ion channel 1a is a cationic channel activated by extracellular acid and allowing Ca²⁺ and Na⁺ to flow into cells. Its expression appears in inflammation, arthritis, fibrotic tissue, and damaged environment, but its role in hepatolenticular degeneration has not been studied. This study established a Wistar rat model of high copper accumulation and used CuSO₄ to induce the activation of HSC-T6 in an in vitro experiment. In vivo, Wistar rats were examined to determine the serum copper concentration, serum ALT and AST activities, and liver copper accumulation, and liver tissue HE staining and immunohistochemical analyses were conducted. The expression of ASIC1a, α-SMA, Collagen-Ι, GRP78, XBP1, ATP7B, and CCS were detected. Besides, immunofluorescence technology can detect the expression of the phosphorylated protein in vitro. It is suggested that ASIC1a is involved in the quality control of the endoplasmic reticulum, which degrades mutant ATP7B and increases the accumulation of copper. After blocking or silencing the expression of ASIC1a, ELISA can detect the level of inflammatory factors, the expression of endoplasmic reticulum stress-related factors, and ATP7B was improved in a higher copper environment reduction of copper deposition was observed in liver Timm’s staining. Collectively, we conclude that ASIC1a is involved in the HSC activation induced by copper accumulation and promotes the occurrence of hepatolenticular fibrosis.

β-Sitosterol Circumvents Obesity Induced Inflammation and Insulin Resistance by down-Regulating IKKβ/NF-κB and JNK Signaling Pathway in Adipocytes of Type 2 Diabetic Rats

β-sitosterol (SIT), the most abundant bioactive component of vegetable oil and other plants, is a highly potent antidiabetic drug. Our previous studies show that SIT controls hyperglycemia and insulin resistance by activating insulin receptor and glucose transporter 4 (GLUT-4) in the adipocytes of obesity induced type 2 diabetic rats. The current research was undertaken to investigate if SIT could also exert its antidiabetic effects by circumventing adipocyte induced inflammation, a key driving factor for insulin resistance in obese individuals. Effective dose of SIT (20 mg/kg b.wt) was administered orally for 30 days to high fat diet and sucrose induced type-2 diabetic rats. Metformin, the conventionally used antidiabetic drug was used as a positive control. Interestingly, SIT treatment restores the elevated serum levels of proinflammatory cytokines including leptin, resistin, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) to normalcy and increases anti-inflammatory adipocytokines including adiponectin in type 2 diabetic rats. Furthermore, SIT decreases sterol regulatory element binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c) and enhances Peroxisome Proliferator–activated receptor-γ (PPAR-γ) gene expression in adipocytes of diabetic rats. The gene and protein expression of c-Jun-N-terminal kinase-1 (JNK1), inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa-B kinase subunit beta (IKKβ) and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) were also significantly attenuated in SIT treated groups. More importantly, SIT acts very effectively as metformin to circumvent inflammation and insulin resistance in diabetic rats. Our results clearly show that SIT inhibits obesity induced insulin resistance by ameliorating the inflammatory events in the adipose tissue through the downregulation of IKKβ/NF-κB and c-Jun-N-terminal kinase (JNK) signaling pathway.

L-theanine suppresses the metastasis of prostate cancer by downregulating MMP9 and Snail

Prostate cancer (PCa) is a very prevalent male-specific malignancy; most PCa patients eventually die as a result of metastasis. L-theanine (C7H14N2O3), a nonprotein amino acid derivative from green tea leaves, has been demonstrated to act as an anticarcinogen through proapoptotic and antiproliferative effects. However, the antimetastatic effect of L-theanine in tumor cells and its underlying mechanism are still unclear. Here, we found that L-theanine could suppress invasion, migration, and increase cell-cell adhesion of prostate cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. We also found that L-theanine could inhibit the epithelial-mesenchymal transition process in PCa. Our study revealed that L-theanine could downregulate MMP9, N-cadherin, Vimentin, Snail, and upregulate E-cadherin. Furthermore, L-theanine suppressed the transcription of MMP9 and Snail by significantly inhibiting the ERK/NF-κB signaling pathway and the binding activity of p65 to the promoter regions of MMP9 and Snail. All of these findings suggest that L-theanine has therapeutic potential for metastatic PCa and may be considered a promising candidate for antimetastatic therapy of prostate cancer.