Pitavastatin attenuates cisplatin-induced renal injury by targeting MAPK and apoptotic pathways

Pitavastatin induces caspase-mediated apoptotic death through oxidative stress and DNA damage in combined with cisplatin in human cervical cancer cell line

Pitavastatin (PITA) is a 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitor to treat hypercholesterolemia and in recent studies is focused that its potential anti-cancer effect. This study was aimed to elucidate the effect of PITA alone and in combination with cisplatin on cervical cancer cells (HeLa) in vitro. Cytotoxicity of PITA (5-200 μM) was evaluated by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and neutral red uptake (NRU) assays for 24, 48, and 72 h. Cell apoptosis and cell cycle analyses were performed in flow cytometry (0.1-100 μM). The evaluation of genotoxic effects and oxidative DNA damage of PITA (2-200 μM) were performed with standard comet assay, formamidopyrimidine glycosylase (fpg)-modified comet assay, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) activation in HeLa cells. PITA alone reduced cell viability in a dose-dependent manner (20-200, 20-200, and 5-200 μM for 24, 48, and 72 h, respectively, in MTT). The combined treatment of PITA with cisplatin resulted in significantly greater inhibition of cell viability. ROS and DNA damage increased significantly at 100 μM for 4 h and 20 μM for 24 h, respectively. PITA-induced apoptosis, an increased proportion of sub G1 cells, was monitored, and also, it increased the expression of active caspase-9 and caspase-3 and upregulated cleaved poly adenosine diphosphate ribose polymerase (PARP) by western blotting and caspase 3/8/9 multiple assay kit. We conclude that PITA can be used to efficiently cervical cancer studies, and promising findings have been obtained for further studies.

Renoprotective Effect of Pitavastatin against TAA-Induced Renal Injury: Involvement of the miR-93/PTEN/AKT/mTOR Pathway

This research investigated if pitavastatin (Pita) might protect rats' kidneys against thioacetamide (TAA). By altering the PTEN/AKT/mTOR pathway, pitavastatin may boost kidney antioxidant capacity and minimize oxidative damage. Statins have several benefits, including antioxidant and anti-inflammatory characteristics. The principal hypothesis of this study was that Pita can regulate the miR-93/PTEN/AKT/mTOR pathways, which is thought to be responsible for its renoprotective effects. The experiment divided male rats into four groups. Group 1 included untreated rats as the control. Group 2 included rats which received TAA (100 mg/kg intraperitoneally thrice a week for two weeks) to destroy their kidneys. Groups 3 and 4 included rats which received Pita orally at 0.4 and 0.8 mg/kg for 14 days after TAA injections. Renal injury increased BUN, creatinine, and MDA levels and decreased glutathione (GSH) levels. Pitavastatin prevented these alterations. TAA decreased PTEN and increased miR-93, Akt, p-Akt, mTOR, and Stat3 in the kidneys. Pitavastatin also regulated the associated culprit pathway, miR-93/PTEN/Akt/mTOR. In addition, TAA induced adverse effects on the kidney tissue, which were significantly ameliorated by pitavastatin treatment. The findings suggest that pitavastatin can attenuate renal injury, likely by regulating the miR-93/PTEN/Akt/mTOR pathway. This modulation of the pathway appears to contribute to the protective effects of pitavastatin against TAA-induced renal injury, adding to the growing evidence of the pleiotropic benefits of statins in renal health.

Oxidative Damage as a Fundament of Systemic Toxicities Induced by Cisplatin-The Crucial Limitation or Potential Therapeutic Target?

Cisplatin, an inorganic complex of platinum, is a chemotherapeutic drug that has been used for 45 years. Despite the progress of pharmaceutical sciences and medicine and the successful application of other platinum complexes for the same purpose, cisplatin is still the therapy of choice in many cancers. Treatment for testicular, ovarian, head and neck, urothelial, cervical, esophageal, breast, and pulmonary malignancies is still unthinkable without the use of this drug. However, cisplatin is also known for many side effects, of which the most pronounced are nephrotoxicity leading to acute renal failure, neurotoxicity, and ototoxicity. Mechanistic studies have proven that one of the conditions that plays a major role in the development of cisplatin-induced toxicities is oxidative stress. Knowing the fact that numerous antioxidants can be used to reduce oxidative stress, thereby reducing tissue lesions, organ failure, and apoptosis at the cellular level, many studies have defined antioxidants as a priority for investigation as a cotreatment. To investigate the mechanism of antioxidant action in vivo, many animal models have been employed. In the last few years, studies have mostly used rodents and zebrafish models. In this article, some of the most recent investigations that used animal models are listed, and the advantages and disadvantages of such experimental studies are pointed out.

Protective Effects of Simvastatin on Endotoxin-Induced Acute Kidney Injury through Activation of Tubular Epithelial Cells' Survival and Hindering Cytochrome C-Mediated Apoptosis

Increasing evidence suggests that apoptosis of tubular cells and renal inflammation mainly determine the outcome of sepsis-associated acute kidney injury (AKI). The study aim was to investigate the molecular mechanism involved in the renoprotective effects of simvastatin in endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide, LSP)-induced AKI. A sepsis model was established by intraperitoneal injection of a single non-lethal LPS dose after short-term simvastatin pretreatment. The severity of the inflammatory injury was expressed as renal damage scores (RDS). Apoptosis of tubular cells was detected by Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP Nick End Labeling (TUNEL assay) (apoptotic DNA fragmentation, expressed as an apoptotic index, AI) and immunohistochemical staining for cleaved caspase-3, cytochrome C, and anti-apoptotic Bcl-xL and survivin. We found that endotoxin induced severe renal inflammatory injury (RDS = 3.58 ± 0.50), whereas simvastatin dose-dependently prevented structural changes induced by LPS. Furthermore, simvastatin 40 mg/kg most profoundly attenuated tubular apoptosis, determined as a decrease of cytochrome C, caspase-3 expression, and AIs (p  <  0.01 vs. LPS). Conversely, simvastatin induced a significant increase of Bcl-XL and survivin, both in the strong inverse correlations with cleaved caspase-3 and cytochrome C. Our study indicates that simvastatin has cytoprotective effects against LPS-induced tubular apoptosis, seemingly mediated by upregulation of cell-survival molecules, such as Bcl-XL and survivin, and inhibition of the mitochondrial cytochrome C and downstream caspase-3 activation.

The roles of endothelin and its receptors in cigarette smoke-associated pulmonary hypertension with chronic lung disease

Chronic exposure to cigarette smoke is the major risk factor for the development of pulmonary hypertension (PH) with chronic lung disease (i.e. PH group III). The pathogenesis of smoke-associated PH group III in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) involves cigarette smoke exposure-induced damage to lung tissue and dysfunction of pulmonary system with increased synthesis and release of endothelin-1 (ET-1), hypoxia, inflammation, pulmonary vascular remodeling. Many studies have demonstrated that cigarette smoke exposure induces activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signal pathway that leads to up-regulation of ET-1 and its receptors with the receptor-mediated enhanced contraction, proliferation of pulmonary vascular smooth muscle cells, pulmonary vascular remodeling, elevated pulmonary arterial pressure and finally PH group III. This mini-review article aims to summarize the current state of understanding on the roles of cigarette smoke-induced up-regulation of ET-1 and its receptors in the development of PH group III. Understanding the underlying molecular mechanisms that cigarette smoke exposure leads to PH group III may provide a novel strategy for the treatment.