Hycanthone Inhibits Inflammasome Activation and Neuroinflammation-Induced Depression-Like Behaviors in Mice

An Amphibians-Derived Protein Provides Novel Biotherapeutics for Various Wounds Treatment

Acute burns and chronic wounds frequently fail to heal owing to various reasons. Most drugs currently used for wound therapy in clinical practice have notable drawbacks, making their application a substantial concern. For instance, anti-inflammatory drugs can exert multisystem toxicity, and cellular therapies are costly and difficult to retain. In recent years, natural functional proteins derived from animals and plants have gained increasing attention owing to their unique biological activities, low cost, and broad application prospects in wound therapy. Herein, we isolated a new protein (JH015Y) from amphibians and demonstrated its excellent wound repair and regeneration properties compared with those of epidermal growth factor, both in vitro and in vivo. JH015 protein increased the proliferative ability of human keratinocytes and skin fibroblasts by 47.73 and 41.40%, respectively. In vivo, the medium-dose (0.5 mg/dose) groups of JH015Y protein demonstrated accelerated wound healing from day 4, with wound healing rates 1.26, 1.27, and 1.14 times that of the blank group in acute wounds, burn wounds, and diabetic ulcer, respectively. Histological analysis of Masson-stained sections indicated that the JH015Y protein contributed to collagen deposition on the wound surface, markedly reduced inflammatory cell infiltration, and exhibited low biological toxicity. Accordingly, the JH015Y protein is a promising biotherapeutic agent for accelerated wound repair and regeneration.

Stimulation of microneedles alleviates pathology of Parkinson's disease in mice by regulating the CD4+/CD8+ cells from the periphery to the brain

Introduction

Immune dysfunction is a major cause of neuroinflammation and accelerates the progression of Parkinson's disease (PD). Numerous studies have shown that stimulation of specific acupuncture points (acupoints) can ameliorate PD symptoms. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether attaching microneedles to acupoints would improve PD pathology by recovering immune dysfunction.

Methods

The PD mouse model was induced by intrastriatal injection of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA), and microneedle patches (MPs) or sham patches (SPs) were attached to GB20 and GB34, representative acupoints for treating PD for 14 days.

Results

First, the behavioral experiment showed that motor disorders induced by 6-OHDA were significantly improved by MP. Simultaneously, 6-OHDA-induced dopaminergic neuronal death and brain neuroinflammation decreased. Conversely, SP had no effect on behavioral disorders, neuronal death, or neuroinflammation. Measurement results from flow cytometry of immune cells in the brain and blood revealed a disruption in the CD4+/CD8+ ratio in the 6-OHDA group, which was significantly restored in the MP group. The brain mRNA expression of cytokines was significantly increased in the 6-OHDA group, which was significantly decreased by MP.

Discussion

Overall, our results suggest that the attachment of MPs to GB20 and GB34 is a new method to effectively improve the pathology of PD by restoring peripheral and brain immune function.

Integrated network pharmacology and transcriptomics to reveal the mechanism of Passiflora against depressive disorder: An observational study

Relevant studies have pointed out that Passiflora could relieve depressive disorder (DD) related symptoms, such as anxiety and insomnia, but its mechanism in DD has not been reported. In this study, DD-related transcriptome data was extracted from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Subsequently, 50 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened by "limma," and the enrichment analysis of these DEGs revealed that they were associated with neuro-inflammatory-related signaling pathways, including IL-17, TNF, NF-kappa B, etc signaling pathways. Then, CCDC58, CXCL5, EGR1, LOC101929855, SCML1, and THBS1 were screened as biomarkers of DD by the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) analysis. Moreover, Harmaline, Harmine, Quercetin, and Kaempferol were the key chemically active ingredients of Passiflora. Noticeable, THBS1 and Quercetin were connected closely. In addition, the quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) confirmed that the key biomarkers (EGR1 and THBS1) were significantly lowly expressed in DD samples. In summary, we identified 2 key biomarkers of DD and 4 key chemically active ingredients of Passiflora. The potential mechanism of antidepressant effect of DD associated with neuro-inflammatory responses and neurotransmitter function. These might related to the synergistic activity of its key active ingredients with TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, etc, which work with EGR1 and THBS1 to regulate IL-17, NF-kappa B, TNF, etc signaling pathways. These findings might help to deepen the understanding of the mechanism of Passiflora in clinical treatment of DD.

GSP1-111 Modulates the Microglial M1/M2 Phenotype by Inhibition of Toll-like Receptor 2: A Potential Therapeutic Strategy for Depression

Neuroinflammation plays a vital role in neurodegenerative diseases and neuropsychiatric disorders, and microglia and astrocytes chiefly modulate inflammatory responses in the central nervous system (CNS). Toll-like receptors (TLRs), which are expressed in neurons, astrocytes, and microglia in the CNS, are critical for innate immune responses; microglial TLRs can regulate the activity of these cells, inducing protective or harmful effects on the surrounding cells, including neurons. Therefore, regulating TLRs in microglia may be a potential therapeutic strategy for neurological disorders. We examined the protective effects of GSP1-111, a novel synthetic peptide for inhibiting TLR signaling, on neuroinflammation and depression-like behavior. GSP1-111 decreased TLR2 expression and remarkably reduced the mRNA expression of inflammatory M1-phenotype markers, including tumor necrosis factor (TNF)α, interleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-6, while elevating that of the M2 phenotype markers, Arg-1 and IL-10. In vivo, GSP1-111 administration significantly decreased the depression-like behavior induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in a forced swim test and significantly reduced the brain levels of M1-specific inflammatory cytokines (TNFα, IL-1β, and IL-6). GSP1-111 prevented the LPS-induced microglial activation and TLR2 expression in the brain. Accordingly, GSP1-111 prevented inflammatory responses and induced microglial switching of the inflammatory M1 phenotype to the protective M2 phenotype. Thus, GSP1-111 could prevent depression-like behavior by inhibiting TLR2. Taken together, our results suggest that the TLR2 pathway is a promising therapeutic target for depression, and GSP1-111 could be a novel therapeutic candidate for various neurological disorders.

The association between polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons exposure and neuropsychiatric manifestations in perimenopausal women: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Increasing evidence shows that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) exposure may adversely affect human health. However, the links between combined exposure to PAHs and neuropsychiatric manifestations in perimenopausal women remain unclear.

METHODS

To explore these relationships further, we used the data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) of the 2005-2012 cycles. After filtering, five hundred forty-seven perimenopausal women aged 45-55 years were included in our analysis. Eight PAHs metabolites were measured to represent PAHs exposure in the body. In our study, depression, sleep disorders, and frequent mental distress (FMD) were used to describe the neuropsychiatric manifestations. Because of the bivariate correlations among PAHs compounds, principal component analysis (PCA) was conducted to achieve the dimension reduction process of PAHs compounds. To figure out if there is a relationship between urinary PAH metabolites and outcomes, multiple logistic regression, restricted cubic splines (RCS), and the Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) were used.

RESULTS

The findings showed that urinary PAHs concentrations in a certain range were related to neuropsychiatric manifestations. In detail, the results of logistic regressions, RCS, and BKMR all indicated that urinary PAHs were positively correlated with depression. In addition, the results of principal components regression and RCS showed associations between urinary PAHs and the risk of FMD or sleep disorders, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Exposure to PAHs was linked to neuropsychiatric manifestations in perimenopausal women, but more pertinent researches are required to understand the connections fully.