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Gugliandolo E, Macrì F, Fusco R, Siracusa R, Cordaro M, D'amico R, Peritore AF, Impellizzeri D, Genovese T, Cuzzocrea S, Di Paola R, Crupi R. Inhibiting IL-6 in medicine: a new twist to sustain inhibition of his cytokine tin the therapy of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension. Pharmacol Res 2023; 192:106750. [PMID: 37004831 DOI: 10.1016/j.phrs.2023.106750] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2023] [Revised: 03/18/2023] [Accepted: 03/30/2023] [Indexed: 04/03/2023]
Abstract
Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a chronic, progressive disease characterized by an increase in blood pressure in the lungs' arteries. It can occur in a variety of species, including humans, dogs, cats, and horses. To date, PAH has a high mortality rate in both veterinary and human medicine, often due to complications such as heart failure. The complex pathological mechanisms of PAH involve multiple cellular signalling pathways at various levels. IL-6 is a powerful pleiotropic cytokine that regulates several phases of immune response, inflammation, and tissue remodelling. The hypothesis of this study was that the use of an IL-6 antagonist in PAH could interrupt or mitigate the cascade of events that leads to the progression of the disease and the worsening of clinical outcome, as well as tissue remodelling. In this study, we used two pharmacological protocols with an IL-6 receptor antagonist in a monocrotaline-induced PAH model in rats. Our results showed that the use of an IL-6 receptor antagonist had a significant protective effect, ameliorating both haemodynamic parameters, lung and cardiac function, tissue remodelling, and the inflammation associated with PAH. The results of this study suggest that the inhibition IL-6 could be a useful pharmacological strategy in PAH, in both human and veterinary medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Enrico Gugliandolo
- Department of Veterinary Science, University of Messina, Via Giovanni Palatucci, 98168 Messina, Italy.
| | - Francesco Macrì
- Department of Veterinary Science, University of Messina, Via Giovanni Palatucci, 98168 Messina, Italy
| | - Roberta Fusco
- Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Viale Ferdinando Stagno D'Alcontres, 31, 98166 Messina, Italy
| | - Rosalba Siracusa
- Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Viale Ferdinando Stagno D'Alcontres, 31, 98166 Messina, Italy
| | - Marika Cordaro
- Department of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morphofunctional Imaging, University of Messina, 98166 Messina, Italy
| | - Ramona D'amico
- Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Viale Ferdinando Stagno D'Alcontres, 31, 98166 Messina, Italy
| | - Alessio Filippo Peritore
- Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Viale Ferdinando Stagno D'Alcontres, 31, 98166 Messina, Italy
| | - Daniela Impellizzeri
- Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Viale Ferdinando Stagno D'Alcontres, 31, 98166 Messina, Italy
| | - Tiziana Genovese
- Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Viale Ferdinando Stagno D'Alcontres, 31, 98166 Messina, Italy
| | - Salvatore Cuzzocrea
- Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Viale Ferdinando Stagno D'Alcontres, 31, 98166 Messina, Italy.
| | - Rosanna Di Paola
- Department of Veterinary Science, University of Messina, Via Giovanni Palatucci, 98168 Messina, Italy
| | - Rosalia Crupi
- Department of Veterinary Science, University of Messina, Via Giovanni Palatucci, 98168 Messina, Italy
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Nada H, Sivaraman A, Lu Q, Min K, Kim S, Goo JI, Choi Y, Lee K. Perspective for Discovery of Small Molecule IL-6 Inhibitors through Study of Structure–Activity Relationships and Molecular Docking. J Med Chem 2023; 66:4417-4433. [PMID: 36971365 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.2c01957] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/29/2023]
Abstract
Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a proinflammatory cytokine that plays a key role in the pathogenesis and physiology of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, such as coronary heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, and most recently COVID-19. IL-6 and its signaling pathway are promising targets in the treatment of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Although, anti-IL-6 monoclonal antibodies are currently being used in clinics, huge unmet medical needs remain because of the high cost, administration-related toxicity, lack of opportunity for oral dosing, and potential immunogenicity of monoclonal antibody therapy. Furthermore, nonresponse or loss of response to monoclonal antibody therapy has been reported, which increases the importance of optimizing drug therapy with small molecule drugs. This work aims to provide a perspective for the discovery of novel small molecule IL-6 inhibitors by the analysis of the structure-activity relationships and computational studies for protein-protein inhibitors targeting the IL-6/IL-6 receptor/gp130 complex.
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Aliyu M, Zohora FT, Anka AU, Ali K, Maleknia S, Saffarioun M, Azizi G. Interleukin-6 cytokine: An overview of the immune regulation, immune dysregulation, and therapeutic approach. Int Immunopharmacol 2022; 111:109130. [PMID: 35969896 DOI: 10.1016/j.intimp.2022.109130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 30.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2022] [Revised: 07/26/2022] [Accepted: 08/03/2022] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Several studies have shown that interleukin 6 (IL-6) is a multifunctional cytokine with both pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory activity, depending on the immune response context. Macrophages are among several cells that secrete IL-6, which they express upon activation by antigens, subsequently inducing fever and production of acute-phase proteins from the liver. Moreover, IL-6 induces the final maturation of B cells into memory B cells and plasma cells as well as an adaptive role for short-term energy allocation. Activation of IL-6 receptors results in the intracellular activation of the JAK/STAT pathway with resultant production of inflammatory cytokines. Several mechanisms-controlled IL-6 expression, but aberrant production was shown to be crucial in the pathogenesis of many diseases, which include autoimmune and chronic inflammatory diseases. IL-6 in combination with transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) induced differentiation of naïve T cells to Th17 cells, which is the cornerstone in autoimmune diseases. Recently, IL-6 secretion was shown to form the backbone of hypercytokinemia seen in the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-associated hyperinflammation and multiorgan failure. There are two classes of approved IL-6 inhibitors: anti-IL-6 receptor monoclonal antibodies (e.g., tocilizumab) and anti-IL-6 monoclonal antibodies (i.e., siltuximab). These drugs have been evaluated in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, cytokine release syndrome, and COVID-19 who have systemic inflammation. JAK/STAT pathway blockers were also successfully used in dampening IL-6 signal transduction. A better understanding of different mechanisms that modulate IL-6 expression will provide the much-needed solution with excellent safety and efficacy profiles for the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases in which IL-6 derives their pathogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mansur Aliyu
- Department of Immunology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, International Campus, TUMS-IC, Tehran, Iran; Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Clinical Science, College of Health Sciences, Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria
| | - Fatema Tuz Zohora
- Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, Malaysia
| | - Abubakar Umar Anka
- Department of Medical Laboratory Science, College of Medical Sciences, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria
| | - Kashif Ali
- Department of Pharmacy Abdul Wali, Khan University Mardan, Pakistan
| | - Shayan Maleknia
- Biopharmaceutical Research Center, AryoGen Pharmed Inc., Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran
| | - Mohammad Saffarioun
- Biopharmaceutical Research Center, AryoGen Pharmed Inc., Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran
| | - Gholamreza Azizi
- Non-communicable Diseases Research Center, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran.
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Ailioaie LM, Ailioaie C, Litscher G. Implications of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms23084268. [PMID: 35457086 PMCID: PMC9029451 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23084268] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2022] [Revised: 03/30/2022] [Accepted: 04/10/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA) is a serious multifactorial autoinflammatory disease with a significant mortality rate due to macrophage activation syndrome (MAS). Recent research has deepened the knowledge about the pathophysiological mechanisms of sJIA-MAS, facilitating new targeted treatments, and biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs), which significantly changed the course of the disease and prognosis. This review highlights that children are less likely to suffer severe COVID-19 infection, but at approximately 2–4 weeks, some cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) have been reported, with a fulminant course. Previous established treatments for cytokine storm syndrome (CSS) have guided COVID-19 therapeutics. sJIA-MAS is different from severe cases of COVID-19, a unique immune process in which a huge release of cytokines will especially flood the lungs. In this context, MIS-C should be reinterpreted as a special MAS, and long-term protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection can only be provided by the vaccine, but we do not yet have sufficient data. COVID-19 does not appear to have a substantial impact on rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs) activity in children treated with bDMARDs, but the clinical features, severity and outcome in these patients under various drugs are not yet easy to predict. Multicenter randomized controlled trials are still needed to determine when and by what means immunoregulatory products should be administered to patients with sJIA-MAS with a negative corticosteroid response or contraindications, to optimize their health and safety in the COVID era.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Marinela Ailioaie
- Department of Medical Physics, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, 11 Carol I Boulevard, 700506 Iasi, Romania; (L.M.A.); (C.A.)
| | - Constantin Ailioaie
- Department of Medical Physics, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, 11 Carol I Boulevard, 700506 Iasi, Romania; (L.M.A.); (C.A.)
| | - Gerhard Litscher
- Research Unit of Biomedical Engineering in Anesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, Research Unit for Complementary and Integrative Laser Medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Research Center Graz, Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 39, 8036 Graz, Austria
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +43-316-385-83907
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Parums DV. Editorial: Post-Exposure Prophylactic Neutralizing Monoclonal Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 for Individuals at High Risk for COVID-19. Med Sci Monit 2021; 27:e934393. [PMID: 34393218 PMCID: PMC8378223 DOI: 10.12659/msm.934393] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Regulatory authorities, including the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), have accelerated diagnostic and therapeutic approvals during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Accelerated clinical development and approvals have resulted in vaccine programs for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). However, some individuals remain at high risk for the progression of COVID-19. In the US, the FDA has given Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for two neutralizing therapeutic monoclonal antibody 'cocktails,' casirivimab and imdevimab (REGEN-COV), bamlanivimab and etesevimab, and one monotherapy, bamlanivimab, for prophylactic post-exposure therapy in individuals at high risk of progressing to severe COVID-19. Preclinical and clinical studies showed consistent effectiveness of REGEN-COV against current variants of SARS-CoV-2. On 21st November 2020, the FDA approved an initial EUA for REGEN-COV to treat mild to moderate COVID-19 in adults and in children 12 years or older with exposure to SARS-CoV-2 at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19. On 30th July 2021, the FDA updated its EUA for REGEN-COV for emergency use as post-exposure prophylactic to prevent COVID-19 progression in adults and children aged 12 years or older. This Editorial aims to provide an update on accelerated regulatory authorization for post-exposure prophylactic neutralizing monoclonal antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 for individuals at high risk for COVID-19.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dinah V Parums
- Science Editor, Medical Science Monitor, International Scientific Information, Inc., Melville, NY, USA
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