Assessing the Role of Nrf2/GPX4-Mediated Oxidative Stress in Arsenic-Induced Liver Damage and the Potential Application Value of Rosa roxburghii Tratt [Rosaceae]

Analysis of the Protective Effects of Rosa roxburghii-Fermented Juice on Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Acute Lung Injury in Mice through Network Pharmacology and Metabolomics

Acute lung injury, a fatal condition characterized by a high mortality rate, necessitates urgent exploration of treatment modalities. Utilizing UHPLS-Q-Exactive Orbitrap/MS, our study scrutinized the active constituents present in Rosa roxburghii-fermented juice (RRFJ) while also assessing its protective efficacy against LPS-induced ALI in mice through lung histopathological analysis, cytokine profiling, and oxidative stress assessment. The protective mechanism of RRFJ against ALI in mice was elucidated utilizing metabolomics, network pharmacology, and molecular docking methodologies. Our experimental findings demonstrate that RRFJ markedly ameliorates pathological injuries in ALI-afflicted mice, mitigates systemic inflammation and oxidative stress, enhances energy metabolism, and restores dysregulated amino acid and arachidonic acid metabolic pathways. This study indicates that RRFJ can serve as a functional food for adjuvant treatment of ALI.

LC-MS based untargeted metabolomics studies of the metabolic response of Ginkgo biloba extract on arsenism patients

Arsenic is an environmentally ubiquitous toxic metalloid. Chronic exposure to arsenic may lead to arsenicosis, while no specific therapeutic strategies are available for the arsenism patients. And Ginkgo biloba extract (GBE) exhibited protective effect in our previous study. However, the mechanisms by which GBE protects the arsenism patients remain poorly understood. A liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) based untargeted metabolomics analysis was used to study metabolic response in arsenism patients upon GBE intervention. In total, 39 coal-burning type of arsenism patients and 50 healthy residents were enrolled from Guizhou province of China. The intervention group (n = 39) were arsenism patients orally administered with GBE (three times per day) for continuous 90 days. Plasma samples from 50 healthy controls (HC) and 39 arsenism patients before and after GBE intervention were collected and analyzed by established LC-MS method. Statistical analysis was performed by MetaboAnalyst 5.0 to identify differential metabolites. Multivariate analysis revealed a separation in arsenism patients between before (BG) and after GBE intervention (AG) group. It was observed that 35 differential metabolites were identified between BG and AG group, and 30 of them were completely or partially reversed by GBE intervention, with 14 differential metabolites significantly up-regulated and 16 differential metabolites considerably down-regulated. These metabolites were involved in promoting immune response and anti-inflammatory functions, and alleviating oxidative stress. Taken together, these findings indicate that the GBE intervention could probably exert its protective effects by reversing disordered metabolites modulating these functions in arsenism patients, and provide insights into further exploration of mechanistic studies.

Retracted: Assessing the Role of Nrf2/GPX4-Mediated Oxidative Stress in Arsenic-Induced Liver Damage and the Potential Application Value of Rosa roxburghii Tratt [Rosaceae]

[This retracts the article DOI: 10.1155/2022/9865606.].

p53-Mediated Mitochondrial Translocation of EI24 Triggered by ER Stress Plays an Important Role in Arsenic-Induced Liver Damage via Activating Mitochondrial Apoptotic Pathway

Chronic arsenic poisoning is a public health problem worldwide. In addition to skin lesions, the detrimental effect of arsenic poisoning on liver damage is one of the major issues. Our previous studies demonstrated that endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and p53 were associated with arsenic-induced liver damage. Literature has shown that EI24 is involved in hepatocyte hypertrophy; however, the underlying role and mechanism in arsenic-induced liver damage have not been fully elucidated. In this study, we explored the role of ER stress, p53, and EI24 as well as the regulatory relationship in arsenic poisoning populations and L-02 cells treated with distinct concentration NaAsO2 (2.5, 5, 10, and 20 μM). Results showed that as with arsenic dose increment, expression levels of ER stress key proteins GRP78, ATF4, and CHOP were significantly enhanced. Additionally, p53 expression in nucleus, p53 phosphorylation at Ser15 and Ser1392, and p53 acetylation at lys382 were significantly increased in NaAsO2-treated L-02 cells. ER stress inhibitor 4-phenylbutyric acid (4-PBA) decreased the expression of p53 phosphorylation at Ser 392, p53 acetylation at lys382, and p53 expression in nucleus. Additionally, in 5 μM NaAsO2 condition, p53 inhibitor pifithrin-α (PFT-α) aggravated 5 μM NaAsO2-induced GRP78, ATF4, and CHOP expressions, cell apoptosis, and protein-SH consumption. But in 20 μM NaAsO2 condition, PFT-α attenuated NaAsO2-induced cell apoptosis. Further results showed that 20 μM NaAsO2 facilitated translocation of EI24 from ER to mitochondrion and interaction with VDAC2, leading to activate mitochondrial apoptotic pathway, but not observed in the 5-μM NaAsO2 group. Moreover, PFT-α and 4-PBA inhibited 20 μM NaAsO2-induced EI24 expression in mitochondrion. Collectively, our results indicated that arsenic induced p53 activation via ER stress, under relatively low NaAsO2 concentration, NaAsO2-triggered p53 activation protected cells from apoptosis by alleviating ER stress. Another finding was that under relatively high NaAsO2 concentration, NaAsO2-activated p53 facilitated EI24 mitochondrial translocation and caused mitochondrial permeability increase, which represented a switch of p53 from a benefit role to pro-apoptosis function in NaAsO2-treated cells. The study contributed to in-depth understanding the mechanism of arsenic-induced liver damage and providing potential clues for following study.

Reduced Peripheral Blood Mitochondrial DNA Copy Number as Identification Biomarker of Suspected Arsenic-Induced Liver Damage

Arsenic (As) can cause liver damage and liver cancer and is capable of seriously affecting human health. Therefore, it is important to identify biomarkers of arsenic-induced liver damage. Mitochondria are key targets of hepatotoxicity caused by arsenic. The mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNAcn) is the number of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copies in the genome. mtDNA is vulnerable to exogenous chemical attacks, thus causing mtDNAcn to change after exposure to environmental pollutants. Therefore, mtDNAcn can serve as a potential marker to identify and assess the risk of diseases caused by exposure to environmental pollutants. In this study, we selected 272 arsenicosis patients (155 cases without liver damage and 117 cases with liver damage) and 218 participants not exposed to arsenic (155 cases without liver damage and 63 cases with liver damage) as subjects to investigate the correlation between peripheral blood mtDNAcn and arsenic-induced liver damage, as well as the ability of peripheral blood mtDNAcn to identify and assess the risk of arsenic-induced liver damage. Peripheral blood mtDNAcn in patients with arsenic-induced liver damage is significantly decreased and negatively correlated with serum ALT, AST, and GGT levels. The decrease of peripheral blood mtDNAcn was associated with an increased risk of arsenic-induced liver damage. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis indicated that peripheral blood mtDNAcn could specifically identify patients with liver damage in the arsenicosis group. The decision tree C5.0 model was established to identify arsenicosis in all patients with liver damage. Peripheral blood mtDNAcn was included in the model and played the most important role in the identification of arsenic-induced liver damage. This study provided a basis for the identification and evaluation of arsenic-induced liver damage by peripheral blood mtDNAcn, indicating that peripheral blood mtDNAcn is expected to be a potential biomarker of arsenic-induced liver damage, and provides clues for exploring the mechanism of arsenic-induced liver damage from mitochondria damage.

Depletion of S-adenosylmethionine induced by arsenic exposure is involved in liver injury of rat through perturbing histone H3K36 trimethylation dependent bile acid metabolism

Long-term exposure to arsenic, a common environmental pollutant, can induce various types of liver injury, but the mechanism and treatment measures remain unclear. This study constructed a rat model of arsenic-induced liver injury, with methyl group donor S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) supplementation and Rosa roxburghii Tratt juice intervention, to explore the epigenetic mechanism and intervention method of arsenic-induced liver injury from the perspective of hepatic bile acid metabolism. The results showed that arsenic exposure induced the accumulation of total bile acids (TBA) in the liver and serum of rats, and the abnormalities in liver function and liver histopathology. Arsenic reduced histone H3K36 trimethylation (H3K36me3) in the liver via consuming methyl group donor SAM. The reduction of H3K36me3 was involved in arsenic-induced bile acid accumulation by inhibiting the transcription of negative feedback regulators Fxr and Fgfr4 for hepatic bile acid synthesis. SAM supplementation reversed arsenic-induced bile acid accumulation and liver injury by reactivating H3k36me3-dependent transcription of Fxr and Fgfr4. Moreover, this study found that Rosa roxburghii Tratt juice could rescue arsenic-induced SAM consumption, recover H3K36me3-dependent negative feedback regulation of hepatic bile acid synthesis, and alleviate arsenic-induced bile acid accumulation and liver injury. In conclusion, arsenic exposure perturbed H3K36me3-dependent hepatic bile acid metabolism via depleting SAM, thereby inducing hepatic bile acid accumulation and liver injury, which was ameliorated by the supporting effect of Rosa roxburghii Tratt juice on SAM. This study contributes to understanding the mechanism of arsenic-induced liver injury from the perspective of SAM-dependent epigenetics, providing new insight into its prevention and treatment.

Neurodegenerative Proteinopathies Induced by Environmental Pollutants: Heat Shock Proteins and Proteasome as Promising Therapeutic Tools

Environmental pollutants' (EPs) amount and diversity have increased in recent years due to anthropogenic activity. Several neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) are theorized to be related to EPs, as their incidence has increased in a similar way to human EPs exposure and they reproduce the main ND hallmarks. EPs induce several neurotoxic effects, including accumulation and gradual deposition of misfolded toxic proteins, producing neuronal malfunction and cell death. Cells possess different mechanisms to eliminate these toxic proteins, including heat shock proteins (HSPs) and the proteasome system. The accumulation and deleterious effects of toxic proteins are induced through HSPs and disruption of proteasome proteins' homeostatic function by exposure to EPs. A therapeutic approach has been proposed to reduce accumulation of toxic proteins through treatment with recombinant HSPs/proteasome or the use of compounds that increase their expression or activity. Our aim is to review the current literature on NDs related to EP exposure and their relationship with the disruption of the proteasome system and HSPs, as well as to discuss the toxic effects of dysfunction of HSPs and proteasome and the contradictory effects described in the literature. Lastly, we cover the therapeutic use of developed drugs and recombinant proteasome/HSPs to eliminate toxic proteins and prevent/treat EP-induced neurodegeneration.

Inhibition of Histone H3K18 Acetylation-Dependent Antioxidant Pathways Involved in Arsenic-Induced Liver Injury in Rats and the Protective Effect of Rosa roxburghii Tratt Juice

Arsenic is a common environmental toxicant. Long-term arsenic exposure can induce various types of liver injury, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear, so effective prevention and treatment measures are unknown. This study aims to explore the mechanism of arsenic-induced rat liver injury based on the histone H3K18 acetylation-dependent antioxidant pathway and to identify the role of a medicinal and edible resource, Rosa roxburghii Tratt juice, in combating it. Hepatic steatosis and inflammatory cell infiltration were observed in rats exposed to different doses of NaAsO₂ using histopathological measurement. Increased 8-OHdG and MDA in liver tissue corroborated hepatic oxidative damage. We further found that a reduction in H3K18ac in the liver showed a dose-response relationship, with an increase in the NaAsO₂ treatment dose, and it was remarkably associated with increased 8-OHdG and MDA. The results of ChIP-qPCR identified that the decreased enrichment of H3K18ac in promoters of the Hspa1a and Hspb8 genes culminated in the inhibition of the genes' expression, which was found to be involved in the aggravation of hepatic oxidative damage induced by arsenic. Notably, Rosa roxburghii Tratt juice was found to reduce 8-OHdG and MDA in the liver, thereby alleviating the histopathological lesions induced by arsenic, which was modulated by recovering the H3K18ac-dependent transcriptional activation of the Hspa1a and Hspb8 genes. Taken together, we provide a novel epigenetics insight into clarifying the mechanism of arsenic-induced liver injury and its rescue by Rosa roxburghii Tratt juice.

Quercetin Alleviates Acrylamide-Induced Liver Injury by Inhibiting Autophagy-Dependent Ferroptosis

Acrylamide (ACR) generated in carbohydrate-rich foods during thermal processing has been demonstrated to exhibit hepatotoxicity. As one of the most consumed flavonoids with diet, quercetin (QCT) possesses the ability to protect against ACR-induced toxicity, albeit its mechanism is unclear. Herein, we discovered that QCT alleviated ACR-induced elevated levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), AST, and ALT in mice. RNA-seq analysis revealed that QCT reversed the ferroptosis signaling pathway upregulated by ACR. Subsequently, experiments indicated that QCT inhibited ACR-induced ferroptosis through the reduction of oxidative stress. With autophagy inhibitor chloroquine, we further confirmed that QCT suppressed ACR-induced ferroptosis by inhibiting oxidative stress-driven autophagy. Additionally, QCT specifically reacted with autophagic cargo receptor NCOA4, blocked the degradation of iron storage protein FTH1, and eventually downregulated the intracellular iron levels and the consequent ferroptosis. Collectively, our results presented a unique approach to alleviate ACR-induced liver injury by targeting ferroptosis with QCT.

Identification of biomarkers for risk assessment of arsenicosis based on untargeted metabolomics and machine learning algorithms

BACKGROUND

Long-term exposure to inorganic arsenic may lead to arsenicosis. There are, however, currently no validated metabolic biomarkers used for the identification of arsenicosis risk. This study aims to identify metabolites associated with arsenicosis and establish prediction models for risk assessment based on untargeted metabolomics and machine learning algorithms.

METHODS

In total, 105 coal-borne arsenicosis patients, with 35 subjects in each of the mild, moderate, and severe subgroups according to their symptom severity, and 60 healthy residents were enrolled from Guizhou, China. Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometer (UHPLC-MS/MS) was utilized to acquire the plasma metabolic profiles of the studied subjects. Statistical analysis was used to identify disease-associated metabolites. Machine learning algorithms and the identified metabolic biomarkers were resorted to assess the arsenicosis risk.

RESULTS

A total of 143 metabolic biomarkers, with organic acids being the majority, were identified to be closely associated with arsenicosis, and the most involved pathway was glycine, serine, and threonine metabolism. Comparative analysis of metabolites in arsenicosis patients with different symptom severity revealed 422 altered molecules, where disrupted metabolism of beta-alanine and arginine demonstrated the most significance. For risk assessment, the model established by a single biomarker (L-carnosine) could undoubtedly discriminate arsenicosis patients from the healthy. For classifying arsenicosis patients with different severity, the model established using 52 metabolites and linear discriminate analysis (LDA) algorithm yielded an accuracy of 0.970-0.979 on calibration set (n = 132) and 0.818-0.848 on validation set (n = 33).

CONCLUSION

Altered metabolites and disrupted pathways are prevalent in arsenicosis patients; The disrupted metabolism of one carbon and dysfunction of antioxidant defense system may partially be causes of the systematic multi-organ damage and carcinogenesis in arsenicosis patients; Metabolic biomarkers, combined with machine learning algorithms, could be efficient for risk assessment and early identification of arsenicosis.

Recent Advances on Main Active Ingredients, Pharmacological Activities of Rosa roxbughii and Its Development and Utilization

Rosa roxburghii tratt (R. roxburghii) is an important plant resource that is widely distributed in the southwest of China and favored by consumers due to its high nutritional value and healthy functions. Meanwhile, it is a traditional edible and medicinal plant in China. With the deepening research of R. roxburghii, more and more bioactive components and its health care and medicinal value have been discovered and developed in recent years. This review summarizes and discusses the recent advances on main active ingredients such as vitamin, protein, amino acid, superoxide dismutase, polysaccharide, polyphenol, flavonoid, triterpenoid and mineral, and pharmacological activities including antioxidant activity, immunomodulatory activity, anti-tumor activity, glucose and lipid metabolism regulation, anti-radiation effect, detoxification effect, and viscera protection of R. roxbughii, as well as its development and utilization. The research status and existing problems of R. roxburghii development and quality control are also briefly introduced. This review ends with some suggestions on the perspectives and directions for future research and potential applications of R. roxbughii.

Neuroprotection of Kaji-Ichigoside F1 via the BDNF/Akt/mTOR Signaling Pathways against NMDA-Induced Neurotoxicity

Kaji-ichigoside F1 (KF1), a natural oleanane-type triterpenoid saponin, is the main active constituent from Rosa roxburghii. In the southwest regions of China, particularly in Guizhou Province, this plant was used as a Miao ethnic medicine to prevent and treat dyspepsia, dysentery, hypoimmunity, and neurasthenia. In the present study, the neuroprotective effect of KF1 was evaluated against N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-induced neurotoxicity in vivo and in vitro. An NMDA-induced PC12 cell neurotoxicity assay showed that KF1 effectively improved cellular viability, inhibited the release of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and reduced cell apoptosis. Furthermore, KF1-treated NMDA-induced excitotoxicity mice displayed a remarkable capacity for improving spatial learning memory in the Y-maze and Morris water maze tests. In addition, KF1 increased the levels of the neurotransmitters 5-hydroxytryptamine, dopamine, and monoamine oxidase and reduced the calcium ion concentration in the hippocampus of mice. Hematoxylin and eosin and Nissl staining indicated that KF1 effectively reduced the impairment of neurons. Furthermore, Western blot assays showed that KF1 decreased NMDAR1 expression. In contrast, the NMDAR2B (NR2B), glutamate receptor (AMPA), TrkB, protein kinase B (AKT), mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), PSD95, and synapsin 1 were upregulated in NMDA-induced PC12 cells and an animal model. These results suggest that KF1 has a remarkable protective effect against NMDA-induced neurotoxicity, which is directly related to the regulation of the NMDA receptor and the activation of the α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-propionic acid receptor (AMPAR) and BDNF/AKT/mTOR signaling pathways.

Ferroptosis, a Rising Force against Renal Fibrosis

Ferroptosis is a type of programmed cell death characterized by iron overload, oxidative stress, imbalance in lipid repair, and mitochondria-specific pathological manifestations. Growing number of molecular mechanisms and signaling pathways have been found to be involved in ferroptosis progression, including iron metabolism, amino acid metabolism, lipid metabolism, and energy metabolism. It is worth noting that ferroptosis is involved in the progression of fibrotic diseases such as liver cirrhosis, cardiomyopathy, and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and inhibition of ferroptosis has acquired beneficial outcomes in rodent models, while studies on ferroptosis and renal fibrosis remains limited. Recent studies have revealed that targeting ferroptosis can effectively mitigate chronic kidney injury and renal fibrosis. Moreover, myofibroblasts suffer from ferroptosis during fiber and extracellular matrix deposition in the fibrotic cascade reaction and pharmacological modulation of ferroptosis shows great therapeutic effect on renal fibrosis. Here, we summarize the latest molecular mechanisms of ferroptosis from high-quality studies and review its therapeutic potential in renal fibrosis.

Liver Regeneration: Changes in Oxidative Stress, Immune System, Cytokines, and Epigenetic Modifications Associated with Aging

The regenerative capacity of the liver decreases with increase in age. In recent years, studies in mice have found that the regenerative capacity of the liver is associated with changes in the immune system of the liver, cytokines in the body, aging-related epigenetic modifications in the cell, and intracellular signaling pathways. In the immune system of the aging liver, monocytes and macrophages play an important role in tissue repair. During tissue repair, monocytes and macrophages undergo a series of functional and phenotypic changes to initiate and maintain tissue repair. Studies have discovered that knocking out macrophages in the liver during the repair phase results in significant impairment of liver regeneration. Furthermore, as the body ages, the secretion and function of cytokines undergo a series of changes. For example, the levels of interleukin-6, transforming growth factor-alpha, hepatocyte growth factor, and vascular endothelial growth factor undergo changes that alter hepatocyte regulation, thereby affecting its proliferation. In addition, body aging is accompanied by cellular aging, which leads to changes in gene expression and epigenetic modifications. Additionally, this in turn causes alterations in cell function, morphology, and division and affects the regenerative capacity of the liver. As the body ages, the activity of associated functional proteins, such as CCAAT-enhancer-binding proteins, p53, and switch/sucrose nonfermentable complex, changes in the liver, leading to alterations in several signaling pathways, such as the Hippo, PI3K-Akt, mTOR, and STAT3 pathways. Therefore, in recent years, research on aging and liver regeneration has primarily focused on the immune system, signaling pathways, epigenetic changes of senescent cells, and cytokine secretion in the liver. Hence, this review details the roles of these influencing factors in liver regeneration and impact of aging-related factors.