Water-soluble pristine C60 fullerene attenuates acetaminophen-induced liver injury

Curdlan-Decorated Fullerenes Mitigate Immune-Mediated Hepatic Injury for Autoimmune Hepatitis Therapeutics via Reducing Macrophage Infiltration

Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a severe immune-mediated inflammatory liver disease whose standard of care is immunosuppressive treatment with inevitable undesired outcomes. Macrophage is acknowledged to aggravate liver damage, providing a promising AIH therapeutic target. Accordingly, in this study, a kind of curdlan-decorated fullerene nanoparticle (Cur-F) is fabricated to alleviate immune-mediated hepatic injury for treating AIH via reducing macrophage infiltration in a concanavalin A (Con A)-induced AIH mouse model. After intravenous administration, Cur-F primarily distributes in liver tissues, efficiently eliminates the excessive reactive oxygen species, significantly attenuates oxidative stress, and subsequently suppresses the nuclear factor kappa-B-gene binding (NF-κB) signal pathway, resulting in the lowered production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and the balancing of the immune homeostasis with the prevention of macrophage infiltration in the liver. The regulation of hepatic inflammation contributes to inhibiting inflammatory cytokines-induced hepatocyte apoptosis, decreasing the serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) contents and thus ameliorating immune-mediated hepatic injury. Notably, there is no detectable toxicity to the body. Our findings may open up novel avenues for AIH based on curdlan and fullerene materials.

Insights on drug and gene delivery systems in liver fibrosis

Complications of the liver are amongst the world's worst diseases. Liver fibrosis is the first stage of liver problems, while cirrhosis is the last stage, which can lead to death. The creation of effective anti-fibrotic drug delivery methods appears critical due to the liver's metabolic capacity for drugs and the presence of insurmountable physiological impediments in the way of targeting. Recent breakthroughs in anti-fibrotic agents have substantially assisted in fibrosis; nevertheless, the working mechanism of anti-fibrotic medications is not fully understood, and there is a need to design delivery systems that are well-understood and can aid in cirrhosis. Nanotechnology-based delivery systems are regarded to be effective but they have not been adequately researched for liver delivery. As a result, the capability of nanoparticles in hepatic delivery was explored. Another approach is targeted drug delivery, which can considerably improve efficacy if delivery systems are designed to target hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). We have addressed numerous delivery strategies that target HSCs, which can eventually aid in fibrosis. Recently genetics have proved to be useful, and methods for delivering genetic material to the target place have also been investigated where different techniques are depicted. To summarize, this review paper sheds light on the most recent breakthroughs in drug and gene-based nano and targeted delivery systems that have lately shown useful for the treatment of liver fibrosis and cirrhosis.

Role of gambogenic acid in regulating PI3K/Akt/NF-kβ signaling pathways in rat model of acute hepatotoxicity

The purpose of this study is to investigate the protective effect of gambogenic acid (GA) in acetaminophen (APAP)-induced hepatotoxicity in rat models. GA (10 mg/kg) was administered intraperitoneal (i.p.) to rats for 7 consecutive days followed by APAP (500 mg/kg) single dose (i.p.) on the final day after GA administration. The levels of MDA, GSH, SOD, CAT, GPx, GST, ALP, AST, ALT, proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6), apoptosis markers (caspase-3 and -9, Bax, Bcl-2), 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE), and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) were evaluated. Results exhibited protective effects of GA by inhibiting inflammation, preventing oxidative stress and apoptosis in APAP-induced liver. Histopathological changes caused by APAP were attenuated, protein expressions of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/Akt) were upregulated, and nuclear factor-kappa β (NF-kβ) was downregulated by GA. In summary, GA significantly exerted anti-inflammatory and antiapoptotic effects against APAP-induced hepatotoxicity potentially through regulation of PI3K/Akt and NF-kβ signaling pathways.

Therapeutic effect of curcumin and C60 fullerene against hyperglycemia-mediated tissue damage in diabetic rat lungs

Increasing evidence suggests that diabetes also targets lung tissues resulting in structural and physiological abnormalities. The present study evaluated the impact of pristine C60 fullerene (C60) against diabetes-induced lung damage for the first time. The objective was to evaluate the impacts of Curcumin (Cur), C60 and C60 fullerene+Curcumin (C60 + Cur) combination on oxidative stress (MDA, GSH, CAT, GST, Retinol, α-tocopherol), apoptosis (Caspase-3, Bcl-2), cholesterol and fatty acid profile (16:0,18:0,18:1,18:2, 22:4, 22:6) against changes in the lung tissue of diabetic rats. Streptozotocin (STZ) was used for inducing diabetes with Cur, C60 and C60 + Cur combination administered for eight weeks to treat diabetic and control rats. Increased oxidative stress, apoptosis and significant changes in cell structure were observed in the lung tissues of diabetic rats. The combination of Cur, C60 and C60 + Cur reduced oxidative stress in the lung tissue of diabetic rats while increasing the antioxidant defense capacity of the tissue, exhibiting tissue protective properties against apoptosis. The diabetic rats displayed favorable properties against lipotoxicity-induced tissue damage due to the increase in the fatty acid and cholesterol levels in lung tissue. It was observed that Cur, C60 and C60 + Cur combination displays protective effects against hyperglycemia induced oxidative damage to lung tissue. Oxidative stress, prevention of lipid and cholesterol accumulation, and weakening of lung apoptosis may be associated with these effects.

Water-Soluble Pristine C60 Fullerene Inhibits Liver Alterations Associated with Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Rat

Excessive production of reactive oxygen species is the main cause of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) initiation and progression. Water-soluble pristine C₆₀ fullerene is a powerful and non-toxic antioxidant, therefore, its effect under rat HCC model and its possible mechanisms were aimed to be discovered. Studies on HepG2 cells (human HCC) demonstrated C₆₀ fullerene ability to inhibit cell growth (IC₅₀ = 108.2 μmol), to induce apoptosis, to downregulate glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, to upregulate vimentin and p53 expression and to alter HepG2 redox state. If applied to animals experienced HCC in dose of 0.25 mg/kg per day starting at liver cirrhosis stage, C₆₀ fullerene improved post-treatment survival similar to reference 5-fluorouracil (31 and 30 compared to 17 weeks) and inhibited metastasis unlike the latter. Furthermore, C₆₀ fullerene substantially attenuated liver injury and fibrosis, decreased liver enzymes, and normalized bilirubin and redox markers (elevated by 1.7–7.7 times under HCC). Thus, C₆₀ fullerene ability to inhibit HepG2 cell growth and HCC development and metastasis and to improve animal survival was concluded. C₆₀ fullerene cytostatic action might be realized through apoptosis induction and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase downregulation in addition to its antioxidant activity.

Effects of fullerene C60 supplementation on gut microbiota and glucose and lipid homeostasis in rats

The effects of twelve weeks of supplementation with fullerene C₆₀ olive/coconut oil solution on a broad spectrum of parameters in rats were examined. The tissue bioaccumulation of C₆₀ was shown to be tissue-specific, with the liver, heart, and adrenal glands being the organs of the greatest, and the kidney, brain, and spleen being the organs of the smallest accumulation. C₆₀ did not change aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, and alkaline phosphatase serum activities level, nor the damage of liver cells DNA. There were no effects of fullerene on prooxidant-antioxidant balance in the liver, kidney, spleen, heart, and brain, nor any visible harmful effects on the liver, heart, aorta, spleen, kidney, and small intestine histology. Fullerene changed the gut microbiota structure towards the bacteria that ameliorate lipid homeostasis, causing a serum triglycerides concentration decrease. However, C₆₀ significantly increased the insulin resistance, serum ascorbate oxidation, and brain malondialdehyde and advanced oxidation protein products level. The deteriorative effects of C₆₀ on the brain and serum could be attributed to the specific physicochemical composition of these tissues, potentiating the C₆₀ aggregation or biotransformation as the key element of its pro-oxidative action.

Water-Soluble Pristine C60 Fullerenes Inhibit Liver Fibrotic Alteration and Prevent Liver Cirrhosis in Rats

Liver cirrhosis is an outcome of a wide range of liver chronic diseases. It is attributed to oxidative stress; therefore, antioxidant usage could be a promising treatment of that. So, exploring the impact of effective free radical scavenger pristine C₆₀ fullerenes on liver fibrosis and cirrhosis and their ability to interact with main growth factor receptors involved in liver fibrogenesis was aimed to be discovered. We used N-diethylnitrosamine/carbon tetrachloride-induced simulations of rat liver fibrosis (10 weeks) and cirrhosis (15 weeks). Pristine C₆₀ fullerene aqueous colloid solution (C₆₀FAS) was injected daily at a dose of 0.25 mg/kg throughout the experiment. Liver morphology and functional and redox states were assessed. C₆₀ fullerenes' ability to interact with epidermal, vasoendothelial, platelet-derived, and fibroblast growth factor receptors (EGFR, VEGFR, PDGFR, and FGFR, respectively) was estimated by computational modeling. We observed that C₆₀FAS reduced the severity of fibrosis in fibrotic rats (0.75 vs. 3.0 points according to Ishak score), attenuated the hepatocyte injury, normalized elevated blood serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and mitigated oxidative stress manifestation in liver tissue restoring its redox balance. When applied to cirrhotic animals, C₆₀FAS reduced connective tissue deposition as well (2.4 vs. 5.4 points according to Ishak score), diminished ALP and LDH (by 16% and 61%), and normalized conjugated and nonconjugated bilirubin, restoring the liver function. Altered liver lipid and protein peroxides and glutathione peroxidase activity were also leveled. Within a computer simulation, it was shown that C₆₀ fullerenes can block hinge prohibiting ATP binding for EGFR and FGFR and thus blocking associated signal pathways. This ability in addition to their antioxidant properties may contribute to C₆₀ fullerene's antifibrotic action. Thus, C₆₀FAS may have a substantial therapeutic potential as an inhibitor of liver fibrosis and cirrhosis.