Pre-medication and renal pre-conditioning: a role for alprazolam, atropine, morphine and promethazine

Opioids and the kidney: two sides of the same coin

Renal dysfunction, including acute renal failure (ARF) and chronic kidney disease (CKD), continues to present significant health challenges, with renal ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) being a pivotal factor in their development and progression. This condition, notably impacting kidney transplantation outcomes, underscores the urgent need for innovative therapeutic interventions. The role of opioid agonists in this context, however, remains a subject of considerable debate. Current reviews tend to offer limited perspectives, focusing predominantly on either the protective or detrimental effects of opioids in isolation. Our review addresses this gap through a thorough and comprehensive evaluation of the existing literature, providing a balanced examination of the dualistic nature of opioids' influence on renal health. We delve into both the nephroprotective and nephrotoxic aspects of opioids, dissecting the complex interactions and paradoxical effects that embody the "two sides of the same coin" phenomenon. This comprehensive analysis is vital for understanding the intricate roles of opioids in renal pathophysiology, potentially informing the development of novel therapeutic strategies for preventing or treating hypoxic kidney injury.

Exploration of the shared gene signatures and biological mechanisms between ischemia-reperfusion injury and antibody-mediated rejection in renal transplantation

BACKGROUND

Antibody-mediated rejection (ABMR) plays a crucial role in graft loss during allogeneic renal transplantation. In renal transplantation, ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) is unavoidable, serves as a major contributor to acute rejection, and is linked to graft loss. However, the mechanisms underlying IRI and ABMR are unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the shared genetic characteristics and biological mechanisms between IRI and ABMR.

METHODS

Gene expressions for IRI (GSE43974) and ABMR (GSE129166 and GSE36059) were retrieved from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. The shared differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of IRI and ABMR were identified, and subsequent functional enrichment analysis was performed. Immune cell infiltration in ABMR and its relationship with the shared DEGs were investigated using the CIBERSORT method. Random forest analysis, a protein-protein interaction network, and Cytoscape were used to screen hub genes, which were subsequently subjected to gene set enrichment analysis, miRNA prediction, and transcription factors analysis. The survival analysis was performed through Kaplan-Meier curves. Finally, drug compound prediction was performed on the shared DEGs using the Drug Signature Database.

RESULTS

Overall, 27 shared DEGs were identified between the renal IRI and ABMR groups. Among these, 24 genes exhibited increased co-expression, whereas none showed decreased co-expression. The shared DEGs were primarily enriched in the inflammation signaling pathways. Notably, CD4 memory T cells were identified as potential critical mediators of IRI, leading to ABMR. Tumor necrosis factor alpha-induced protein 3 (TNFAIP3), interferon regulatory factor 1 (IRF1), and early growth response 2 (EGR2) were identified as key components in the potential mechanism that link IRI and ABMR. Patients undergoing renal transplantation with higher expression levels of TNFAIP3, IRF1, and EGR2 exhibited decreased survival rates compared to those with lower expression levels.

CONCLUSION

Inflammation is a key mechanism that links IRI and ABMR, with a potential role played by CD4 memory T cells. Furthermore, TNFAIP3, IRF1, and EGR2 are implicated in the underlying mechanism between IRI and ABMR.

A Systematic Review of the Anti-Inflammatory and Immunomodulatory Properties of 16 Essential Oils of Herbs

Background

Inflammation is a host defense mechanism in the body after it is infected and damaged. If inflammation is not treated in time, then it may cause a variety of diseases, such as cancer and autoimmune diseases. Herbal essential oils are natural extracts that can suppress inflammation effectively and are expected to be used in therapeutic drugs for anti-inflammatory diseases in the future. Aim of the review. We review the anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects of essential oils derived from 16 herbs. Materials and methods. We searched the literature of the fields of anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory herbal essential oil activity published in English within the past five years via databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, and The Web of Science).

Results

A total of 1932 papers were found by searching, and 132 papers were screened after removing duplicates and reading article titles. Fifteen articles met the requirements to be included in this review. Among those selected, 11 articles reported in vivo research results, and 10 articles showed research results.

Conclusion

Essential oils extracted from herbs can reduce inflammation by regulating the release of inflammatory cytokines involved in multiple signalling pathways. Herbal essential oils are expected to be developed as anti-inflammatory drugs.

Nanomaterial integration into the scaffolding materials for nerve tissue engineering: a review

The nervous system, which consists of a complex network of millions of neurons, is one of the most highly intricate systems in the body. This complex network is responsible for the physiological and cognitive functions of the human body. Following injuries or degenerative diseases, damage to the nervous system is overwhelming because of its complexity and its limited regeneration capacity. However, neural tissue engineering currently has some capacities for repairing nerve deficits and promoting neural regeneration, with more developments in the future. Nevertheless, controlling the guidance of stem cell proliferation and differentiation is a challenging step towards this goal. Nanomaterials have the potential for the guidance of the stem cells towards the neural lineage which can overcome the pitfalls of the classical methods since they provide a unique microenvironment that facilitates cell-matrix and cell-cell interaction, and they can manipulate the cell signaling mechanisms to control stem cells' fate. In this article, the suitable cell sources and microenvironment cues for neuronal tissue engineering were examined. Afterward, the nanomaterials that impact stem cell proliferation and differentiation towards neuronal lineage were reviewed.

Conditioned medium obtained from human amniotic membrane-derived mesenchymal stem cell attenuates heart failure injury in rats

OBJECTIVES

Heart failure (HF) is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Due to beneficial effects of stem cells, paracrine secretion of them has recently been used by researchers. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of intravenous injection (IV) of conditioned medium (CM) of human amniotic membrane-derived mesenchymal stem cell (MSC-CM) on HF.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Male Wistar rats (n=35, 180 g) were randomly divided into five groups: sham, HF, HF+MSC-CM, HF+culture medium and HF+phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). To induce HF, isoproterenol (170 mg/kg/d) was injected subcutaneously for 4 consecutive days. After 28 days, induction of HF was evaluated by echocardiography. A day after echocardiography, 50 μg culture medium/5 ml PBS in HF+culture medium group, 50 μg MSC-CM/5 ml PBS in HF+MSC-CM group and 5 ml PBS in HF+PBS group were injected two times for 4 successive days. The echocardiography was performed 4 weeks after the last injection of isoproterenol. To evaluate the fibrosis, morphology, and cardiac function, Trichrome Masson's staining, Hematoxylin and Eosin staining and echocardiography were performed, respectively.

RESULTS

CM significantly increased fractional shortening and ejection fraction, and also significantly decreased apoptotic nuclear condensation. Moreover, significant decreased level of fibrosis and increased level of angiogenesis was observed in the treatment group (P<0.05).

CONCLUSION

Our results indicated that IV injection of CM has therapeutic effects on HF by reducing fibrosis and preventing the progression of failure due to its paracrine effects.

Targeting necroptotic cell death pathway by high-intensity interval training (HIIT) decreases development of post-ischemic adverse remodelling after myocardial ischemia / reperfusion injury

Regulated necrosis (necroptosis) plays a pivotal role in the extent of cardiomyocyte loss and the development of post-ischemic adverse remodelling and cardiac dysfunction following myocardial I/R injury. Although HIIT has been reported to give rise to cardioprotection against MI, but the detailed knowledge of its molecular targets for treatment of MI is still not available. The LAD of Male Wistar rats was occluded to induce MI for 30 min and reperfusion for eight weeks. We investigated the effect of long-term HIIT for eight weeks on lipid peroxidation, SOD activity and GSH content using ELISA assay. Cardiac function, fibrosis, and infarct size were assessed by echocardiography, Masson's trichrome and Evans Blue/TTC dual staining respectively. The expressions of gene markers of myocardial hypertrophy, fibrosis and key mediators of necroptosis were measured using RT-PCR and western blotting assay respectively. The results indicated that HIIT reduced lipid peroxidation, infarct size and improved endogenous antioxidant system and heart function. Significant decreases in mRNA levels of procollagen α1(I), α1(III), and fibronectin1were observed following HIIT. Moreover, that HIIT significantly decreased the expression of key mediators of necroptosis induced by MI (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences in β-MHC mRNA level in different groups. The findings of study suggest that HIIT might exert cardioprotective effects against post-ischemic adverse remodeling through targeting necroptosis process. Likewise, cardioprotective effects of HIIT in coping with myocardial I/R injury may be associated with RIP1-RIP3-MLKL axis. These findings establish a critical foundation for higher efficiency of exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation post-MI and future research.

Hesperidin improves the follicular development in 3D culture of isolated preantral ovarian follicles of mice

IMPACT STATEMENT

It has been stated that hesperidin has many pharmacological effects, such as anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, antimicrobial activity, and anti-carcinogenic activity; but hesperidin and its derivatives have been under investigation as anti-fertility factors for a very long time. However, our results show that hesperidin can improve mice follicular growth and maturation during in vitro 3D culture. Hesperidin as an antioxidant factor could enhance the mRNA expression levels of two important genes involved in folliculogenesis, PCNA, and FSH-R. Our results prove for the first time that hesperidin not only has deleterious effects on follicular development but can also increase rates of in vitro fertilization and embryo development.

Mesenchymal stem cells from human amniotic membrane differentiate into cardiomyocytes and endothelial-like cells without improving cardiac function after surgical administration in rat model of chronic heart failure

Introduction: Human amnion-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hAMSCs) have been used in the treatment of acute myocardial infarction. In the current study, we investigated the efficacy of hAMSCs for the treatment of chronic model of myocardial ischemia and heart failure (HF) in rats. Methods: Male Wistar rats weighing between 250 to 350 g were randomized into three groups: sham, HF control and HF+hAMSCs. For HF induction, animals were anesthetized and underwent left anterior descending artery ligation. In HF+hAMSCs group, 2×106 cells were injected into the left ventricular muscle four weeks post ischemia in the border zone of the ischemic area. Cardiac function was studied using echocardiography. Masson's trichrome staining was used for studying tissue fibrosis. Cells were transduced with green fluorescent protein (GFP) coding lentiviral vector. Immunohistochemistry was used for detecting GFP, vascular-endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and troponin T markers in the tissue sections. Results: Assessment of the cardiac function revealed no improvement in the myocardial function compared to the control HF group. Moreover, tissue fibrosis was similar in two groups. Immunohistochemical study revealed the homing of the injected hAMSCs to the myocardium. Cells were stained positive for VEGF and troponin T markers. Conclusion: injection of hAMSCs 4 weeks after ischemia does not improve cardiac function and cardiac muscle fibrosis, although the cells show markers of differentiation into vascular endothelial cells and cardiomyocytes. In sum, it appears that hAMSCs are effective in the early phases of myocardial ischemia and does not offer a significant advantage in patients with chronic HF.