Remifentanil induces autophagy and prevents hydrogen peroxide-induced apoptosis in Cos-7 cells

Remifentanil attenuates sepsis-induced intestinal injury by inducing autophagy

Remifentanil (RFT), extensively used for general anesthesia, is a synthetic ultra-short-acting opioid used as an anti-inflammatory oxidant to alleviate a plethora of diseases. This study was designed to determine whether RFT would provide protective effects on sepsis-induced intestinal injury.The determination of cell viability and inflammation of LPS-treated IEC-6 cells influenced by RFT was conducted by Cell counting Kit-8 (CCK-8), RT-qPCR, and western blot, while the detection of LDH, diamine oxidase (DAO), and intestinal-type fatty acid binding proteins (I-FABP) was conducted for determining the intestinal cytotoxicity in these cells. The apoptosis of these cells was detected by TUNEL, with autophagy-related protein expression measured by western blot to confirm whether autophagy was activated. Finally, the aforementioned assays were conducted again after 3-Methyladenine (3-MA), an autophagy inhibitor, was used on these cells to investigate whether RFT exerted its effects on LPS-treated IEC-6 cells via modulation of autophagy.RFT alleviates LPS-induced IEC-6 cell inflammation, cytotoxicity and apoptosis, and autophagy-related proteins were expressed at higher levels when RFT was used on these cells. Nevertheless, further treatment of 3-MA weakened the restorative impacts of RFT on the inflammation, cytotoxicity and apoptosis of these cells.To conclude, this paper is the first to present evidence that RFT attenuates sepsis-induced intestinal injury by inducing autophagy, which will provide instructions for the future investigations into the use of RFT in treatment of intestinal injury.

Remifentanil ameliorates lung injury in neonate rats with acute respiratory distress by down-regulating TIMP1 expression

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a critical clinical disease characterized by diffuse inflammation of lung parenchyma and refractory hypoxemia. Remifentanil has been reported to act as an anti-inflammatory antioxidant in a variety of diseases. However, whether Remifentanil has a protective effect in ARDS and its mechanism remains to be further studied. This study was designed to investigate the effects of Remifentanil on ARDS in neonate rats. In this study, we established the model of acute respiratory distress in neonate rats. To study the effects of Remifentanil on ARDS through a series of in vitro and in vivo experiments. Furthermore, the overexpression vector of recombinant tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase 1 (TIMP1) was injected into the neonate rat before the operation to explore the effect of TIMP-1 overexpression on acute respiratory distress rats through the above experiments. Remifentanil reduced lung injury in rats with acute respiratory distress, reduced inflammation, oxidative stress and tissue cell apoptosis in rats with acute respiratory distress. Remifentanil inhibited the expression of TIMP-1 in rats with acute respiratory distress, and TIMP-1 overexpression inhibited the protective effect of Remifentanil on rats with acute respiratory distress. Remifentanil can reduce lung injury and inflammatory response in young mice with acute respiratory distress and play a protective role by down-regulating the expression of TIMP-1.

Celastrol protects human retinal pigment epithelial cells against hydrogen peroxide mediated oxidative stress, autophagy, and apoptosis through sirtuin 3 signal pathway

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), one of the most common causes of visual impairment, often occurrs in the elderly in developed countries. Oxidative stress, autophagy, and apoptosis of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells play roles in the pathogenesis of AMD. In the current study, the protective effect of celastrol against hydrogen peroxide (H₂ O₂ )-induced oxidative stress and apoptosis was investigated using a human RPE cell line (ARPE-19). H₂ O₂ inhibited ARPE-19 cells' survival and autophagy and induced their oxidative stress and apoptosis. Compared with the H₂ O₂ group, 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay showed that celastrol increased ARPE-19 cells' survival in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Further, studies have suggested that celastrol has antioxidative stress and antiapoptosis effects in H₂ O₂ -treated ARPE-19 cells. Also, cell autophagy is activated by celastrol in H₂ O₂ -treated ARPE-19 cells. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and Western blot showed that celastrol elevated the messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein expression of sirtuin 3 (SIRT3) in H₂ O₂ -induced ARPE-19 cells. Inhibition of the level of SIRT3 by SIRT3 small interfering RNA (siRNA) reversed the effects of celastrol on oxidative stress, autophagy, and apoptosis in H₂ O₂ -induced ARPE-19 cells. In conclusion, these observations suggest that celastrol activates the SIRT3 pathway in RPE cells and protects against H₂ O₂ -induced oxidative stress and apoptosis.