Effect of methylsulfonylmethane on oxidative stress and CYP3A93 expression in fetal horse liver cells

Multilayer omics reveals the molecular mechanism of early infection of Clonorchis sinensis juvenile

BACKGROUND

Clonorchiasis remains a non-negligible global zoonosis, causing serious socioeconomic burdens in endemic areas. Clonorchis sinensis infection typically elicits Th1/Th2 mixed immune responses during the course of biliary injury and periductal fibrosis. However, the molecular mechanism by which C. sinensis juvenile initially infects the host remains poorly understood.

METHODS

The BALB/c mouse model was established to study early infection (within 7 days) with C. sinensis juveniles. Liver pathology staining and observation as well as determination of biochemical enzymes, blood routine and cytokines in blood were conducted. Furthermore, analysis of liver transcriptome, proteome and metabolome changes was performed using multi-omics techniques. Statistical analyses were performed using Student's t-test.

RESULTS

Histopathological analysis revealed that liver injury, characterized by collagen deposition and inflammatory cell infiltration, occurred as early as 24 h of infection. Blood indicators including ALT, AST, WBC, CRP and IL-6 indicated that both liver injury and systemic inflammation worsened as the infection progressed. Proteomic data showed that apoptosis and junction-related pathways were enriched within 3 days of infection, indicating the occurrence of liver injury. Furthermore, proteomic and transcriptomic analysis jointly verified that the detoxification and antioxidant defense system was activated by enrichment of glutathione metabolism and cytochrome P450-related pathways in response to acute liver injury. Proteomic-based GO analysis demonstrated that biological processes such as cell deformation, proliferation, migration and wound healing occurred in the liver during the early infection. Correspondingly, transcriptomic results showed significant enrichment of cell cycle pathway on day 3 and 7. In addition, the KEGG analysis of multi-omics data demonstrated that numerous pathways related to immunity, inflammation, tumorigenesis and metabolism were enriched in the liver. Besides, metabolomic screening identified several metabolites that could promote inflammation and hepatobiliary periductal fibrosis, such as CA7S.

CONCLUSIONS

This study revealed that acute inflammatory injury was rapidly triggered by initial infection by C. sinensis juveniles in the host, accompanied by the enrichment of detoxification, inflammation, fibrosis, tumor and metabolism-related pathways in the liver, which provides a new perspective for the early intervention and therapy of clonorchiasis.

Methylsulfonylmethane Serves as a Donor of Methyl Groups for Methylation of DNA in Human Liver HepaRG Cells

Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), a natural organosulfur compound, is a popular dietary supplement sold both as a single product and as a constituent of multi-ingredient products. It has been postulated that MSM may serve as a donor for methyl groups for various cellular processes; however, studies have yet to demonstrate this. Therefore, the goal of this study was to determine whether or not MSM, supplemented to fully differentiated human HepaRG cells at physiologically-relevant concentrations, can serve as a donor for methyl groups for DNA methylation. For this purpose, methyl groups in the MSM molecule were labeled with deuterium (deuterated) and incorporation of the labeled 5-methylcytosine into the HepaRG cell DNA was evaluated using liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). We report that MSM supplementation resulted in significant incorporation of deuterated product into DNA in a time- and dose-dependent fashion. These changes were not associated with increased 5-methylcytosine content, did not result in changes of DNA methylation or re-distribution of DNA methylation patterns between the retrotransposons LINE-1 and HERV18, and were not associated with cytotoxicity. In conclusion, short-term supplementation with MSM in vitro demonstrates that MSM can serve as a donor of methyl groups for methylation of DNA, but does not affect the levels of DNA methylation globally and does not lead to redistribution of the DNA methylation patterns within the most abundant repetitive elements. Future studies will be needed to validate these findings in vivo and to investigate whether or not MSM can restore normal DNA methylation patterns within the hypomethylated phenotype.

Maizediterpene D from the roots of Zea mays L. alleviates hydrogen peroxide induced oxidative stress and improves cell survival by activation of TrkB/IGF-1R crosstalk pathways

The ent-kaurane diterpenoid enriched fraction (EDEF) of maize root was isolated and purified, and 10 compounds, including 4 ent-kaurane diterpenoids, were isolated and identified. We evaluated their neuroprotective properties in vitro for the first time using an H₂O₂-induced oxidative damage model in SH-SY5Y cells. The results showed that pretreatment with maizediterpene D, a new ent-kaurane diterpenoid isolated from the EDEF, significantly attenuated H₂O₂-induced apoptosis by improving cell survival, reducing ROS production and increasing mitochondrial membrane potential. Mechanistically, the neuroprotective effect of maizediterpene D was confirmed to be related to the dual activation of IGF-1R and BDNF/TrkB crosstalk pathways. Our findings suggest that the EDEF and its active constituent maizediterpene D had good neuroprotective properties and could serve as potential candidates for the development of therapeutic drugs for oxidative stress-related diseases.

Conjugation with Methylsulfonylmethane Improves Hyaluronic Acid Anti-Inflammatory Activity in a Hydrogen Peroxide-Exposed Tenocyte Culture In Vitro Model

Rotator cuff tears (RCTs) and rotator cuff disease (RCD) are important causes of disability in middle-aged individuals affected by nontraumatic shoulder dysfunctions. Our previous studies have demonstrated that four different hyaluronic acid preparations (HAPs), including Artrosulfur^® hyaluronic acid (HA) (Alfakjn S.r.l., Garlasco, Italy), may exert a protective effect in human RCT-derived tendon cells undergoing oxidative stress damage. Recently, methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) (Barentz, Paderno Dugnano, Italy) has proven to have anti-inflammatory properties and to cause pain relief in patients affected by tendinopathies. This study aims at evaluating three preparations (Artrosulfur^® HA, MSM, and Artrosulfur^® MSM + HA) in the recovery from hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress damage in human tenocyte. Cell proliferation, Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH) release, and inducible nitric oxide synthases (iNOS) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) modulation were investigated. In parallel, expression of metalloproteinases 2 (MMP2) and 14 (MMP14) and collagen types I and III were also examined. Results demonstrate that Artrosulfur^® MSM + HA improves cell escape from oxidative stress by decreasing cytotoxicity and by reducing iNOS and PGE2 secretion. Furthermore, it differentially modulates MMP2 and MMP14 levels and enhances collagen III expression after 24 h, proteins globally related to rapid acceleration of the extracellular matrix (ECM) remodelling and thus tendon healing. By improving the anti-cytotoxic effect of HA, the supplementation of MSM may represent a feasible strategy to ameliorate cuff tendinopathies.