AB5411 Sigma-AldrichAnti-Nitrotyrosine Antibody

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO) are major pathogenic molecules produced during viral lung infections, including influenza. While fluoroquinolones are widely used as antimicrobial agents for treating a variety of bacterial infections, including secondary infections associated with the influenza virus, it has been reported that they also function as anti-oxidants against ROS and as a NO regulator. Therefore, we hypothesized that levofloxacin (LVFX), one of the most frequently used fluoroquinolone derivatives, may attenuate pulmonary injuries associated with influenza virus infections by inhibiting the production of ROS species such as hydroxyl radicals and neutrophil-derived NO that is produced during an influenza viral infection. The therapeutic impact of LVFX was examined in a PR8 (H1N1) influenza virus-induced lung injury mouse model. ESR spin-trapping experiments indicated that LVFX showed scavenging activity against neutrophil-derived hydroxyl radicals. LVFX markedly improved the survival rate of mice that were infected with the influenza virus in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, the LVFX treatment resulted in a dose-dependent decrease in the level of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (a marker of oxidative stress) and nitrotyrosine (a nitrative marker) in the lungs of virus-infected mice, and the nitrite/nitrate ratio (NO metabolites) and IFN-γ in BALF. These results indicate that LVFX may be of substantial benefit in the treatment of various acute inflammatory disorders such as influenza virus-induced pneumonia, by inhibiting inflammatory cell responses and suppressing the overproduction of NO in the lungs.

In polytrauma patients a thoracic trauma is one of the most critical injuries and an important trigger of post-traumatic inflammation. About 50% of patients with thoracic trauma are additionally affected by bone fractures. The risk for fracture malunion is considerably increased in such patients, the pathomechanisms being poorly understood. Thoracic trauma causes regional alveolar hypoxia and, subsequently, hypoxemia, which in turn triggers local and systemic inflammation. Therefore, we aimed to unravel the role of oxygen in impaired bone regeneration after thoracic trauma. We hypothesized that short-term breathing of 100% oxygen in the early post-traumatic phase ameliorates inflammation and improves bone regeneration. Mice underwent a femur osteotomy alone or combined with blunt chest trauma 100% oxygen was administered immediately after trauma for two separate 3 hour intervals. Arterial blood gas tensions, microcirculatory perfusion and oxygenation were assessed at 3, 9 and 24 hours after injury. Inflammatory cytokines and markers of oxidative/nitrosative stress were measured in plasma, lung and fracture hematoma. Bone healing was assessed on day 7, 14 and 21. Thoracic trauma induced pulmonary and systemic inflammation and impaired bone healing. Short-term exposure to 100% oxygen in the acute post-traumatic phase significantly attenuated systemic and local inflammatory responses and improved fracture healing without provoking toxic side effects, suggesting that hyperoxia could induce anti-inflammatory and pro-regenerative effects after severe injury. These results suggest that breathing of 100% oxygen in the acute post-traumatic phase might reduce the risk of poorly healing fractures in severely injured patients.

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number decreases in animal and human heart failure (HF), yet its role in cardiomyocytes remains to be elucidated. Thus, we investigated the cardioprotective function of increased mtDNA copy number resulting from the overexpression of human transcription factor A of mitochondria (TFAM) or Twinkle helicase in volume overload (VO)-induced HF.Two strains of transgenic (TG) mice, one overexpressing TFAM and the other overexpressing Twinkle helicase, exhibit an approximately 2-fold equivalent increase in mtDNA copy number in heart. These TG mice display similar attenuations in eccentric hypertrophy and improved cardiac function compared to wild-type (WT) mice without any deterioration of mitochondrial enzymatic activities in response to VO, which was accompanied by a reduction in matrix-metalloproteinase (MMP) activity and reactive oxygen species after 8 weeks of VO. Moreover, acute VO-induced MMP-2 and MMP-9 upregulation was also suppressed at 24 h in both TG mice. In isolated rat cardiomyocytes, mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mitoROS) upregulated MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression, and human TFAM (hTFAM) overexpression suppressed mitoROS and their upregulation. Additionally, mitoROS were equally suppressed in H9c2 rat cardiomyoblasts that overexpress hTFAM or rat Twinkle, both of which exhibit increased mtDNA copy number. Furthermore, mitoROS and mitochondrial protein oxidation from both TG mice were suppressed compared to WT mice.The overexpression of TFAM or Twinkle results in increased mtDNA copy number and facilitates cardioprotection associated with limited mitochondrial oxidative stress. Our findings suggest that increasing mtDNA copy number could be a useful therapeutic strategy to target mitoROS in HF.

Iron deficiency is common in inflammatory bowel disease, yet oral iron therapy may worsen the disease symptoms and increase systemic and local oxidative stress. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of oral ferrous sulfate and iron polymaltose complex on inflammatory and oxidative stress markers in colitic rats.Animals were divided into four groups with ten animals each. Rats of three groups received dextran sodium sulfate to induce colitis and animals of two of these groups received 5 mg iron/kg of body weight a day, as ferrous sulfate or iron polymaltose complex, for 7 days. Gross colon anatomy, histology of colon and liver, stainings of L-ferritin, Prussian blue, hepcidin, tumor necrosis factor-α, and interleukin-6, as well serum levels of liver enzymes, inflammatory markers, and iron markers, were assessed.Body weight, gross anatomy, crypt injury and inflammation scores, inflammatory parameters in liver and colon, as well as serum and liver hepcidin levels were not significantly different between colitic animals without iron treatment and colitic animals treated with iron polymaltose complex. In contrast, ferrous sulfate treatment caused significant worsening of these parameters. As opposed to ferrous sulfate, iron polymaltose complex caused less or no additional oxidative stress in the colon and liver compared to colitic animals without iron treatment.Iron polymaltose complex had negligible effects on colonic tissue erosion, local or systemic oxidative stress, and local or systemic inflammation, even at high therapeutic doses, and may thus represent a valuable oral treatment of iron deficiency in inflammatory bowel disease.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are the primary pathogenic molecules produced in viral lung infections. We previously reported on the use of a recombinant human serum albumin (HSA)-thioredoxin 1 (Trx) fusion protein (HSA-Trx) for extending the half-life Trx, an endogenous protein with anti-oxidant properties. As a result, it was possible to overcome the unfavorable pharmacokinetic and short pharmacological properties of Trx. We hypothesized that HSA-Trx would attenuate the enhanced ROS production of species such as hydroxyl radicals by neutrophils during an influenza viral infection. The levels of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine and 3-nitrotyrosine were used as indices of the anti-oxidant activity of HSA-Trx. In addition, the cytoprotective effects of HSA-Trx were examined in PR8 (H1N1) influenza virus-induced lung injured mice. The findings show that HSA-Trx reduced the number of total cells, neutrophils, and total protein in BALF of influenza virus-induced lung injured mice. The HSA-Trx treatment significantly decreased the level of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine and 3-nitrotyrosine, but failed to inhibit inducible nitric oxide synthase expression, in the lungs of the virus-infected mice. On the other hand, Tamiflu(®) treatment also significantly suppressed the production of inflammatory cells and neutrophil infiltration, as well as the protein level in BALF and lung histopathological alterations caused by the influenza virus. The suppressive effect of Tamiflu(®) was slightly stronger than that of HSA-Trx. Interestingly, Tamiflu(®) significantly decreased virus proliferation, while HSA-Trx had no effect. These results indicate that HSA-Trx may be of therapeutic value for the treatment of various acute inflammatory disorders such as influenza-virus-induced pneumonia, by inhibiting inflammatory-cell responses and suppressing the overproduction of NO in the lung.

Mitochondria produce the majority of cellular ATP through oxidative phosphorylation, and their capacity to do so is influenced by many factors. Mitochondrial morphology is recently suggested as an important contributor in controlling mitochondrial bioenergetics. Mitochondria divide and fuse continuously, which is affected by environmental factors, including metabolic alterations. Underscoring its bioenergetic influence, altered mitochondrial morphology is reported in tissues of patients and in animal models of metabolic dysfunction. In this study, we found that mitochondrial fission plays a vital role in the progression of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The development of hepatic steatosis, oxidative/nitrative stress, and hepatic tissue damage, induced by a high-fat diet, were alleviated in genetically manipulated mice suppressing mitochondrial fission. The alleviation of steatosis was recapitulated in primary hepatocytes with the inhibition of mitochondrial fission. Mechanistically, our study indicates that fission inhibition enhances proton leak under conditions of free fatty acid incubation, implicating bioenergetic change through manipulating mitochondrial fission. Taken together, our results suggest a mechanistic role for mitochondrial fission in the etiology of NAFLD. The efficacy of decreasing mitochondrial fission in the suppression of NAFLD suggests that mitochondrial fission represents a novel target for therapeutic treatment of NAFLD.

Since anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity (AIC), a complication of anthracycline-based chemotherapies, is thought to involve iron, concerns exist about using iron for anaemia treatment in anthracycline-receiving cancer patients. This study evaluated how intravenous ferric carboxymaltose (FCM) modulates the influence of iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) and doxorubicin (3-5 mg per kg body weight [BW]) on oxidative/nitrosative stress, inflammation, and cardiorenal function in spontaneously hypertensive stroke-prone (SHR-SP) rats. FCM was given as repeated small or single total dose (15 mg iron per kg BW), either concurrent with or three days after doxorubicin. IDA (after dietary iron restriction) induced cardiac and renal oxidative stress (markers included malondialdehyde, catalase, Cu,Zn-superoxide dismutase, and glutathione peroxidase), nitrosative stress (inducible nitric oxide synthase and nitrotyrosine), inflammation (tumour necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-6), and functional/morphological abnormalities (left ventricle end-diastolic and end-systolic diameter, fractional shortening, density of cardiomyocytes and capillaries, caveolin-1 expression, creatinine clearance, and urine neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin) that were aggravated by doxorubicin. Notably, iron treatment with FCM did not exacerbate but attenuated the cardiorenal effects of IDA and doxorubicin independent of the iron dosing regimen. The results of this model suggest that intravenous FCM can be used concomitantly with an anthracycline-based chemotherapy without increasing signs of AIC.

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is characterized by a deficiency in β cell mass, increased β cell apoptosis, and extracellular accumulation of islet amyloid derived from islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP), which β cells coexpress with insulin. IAPP expression is increased in the context of insulin resistance, the major risk factor for developing T2D. Human IAPP is potentially toxic, especially as membrane-permeant oligomers, which have been observed to accumulate within β cells of patients with T2D and rodents expressing human IAPP. Here, we determined that β cell IAPP content is regulated by autophagy through p62-dependent lysosomal degradation. Induction of high levels of human IAPP in mouse β cells resulted in accumulation of this amyloidogenic protein as relatively inert fibrils within cytosolic p62-positive inclusions, which temporarily averts formation of toxic oligomers. Mice hemizygous for transgenic expression of human IAPP did not develop diabetes; however, loss of β cell-specific autophagy in these animals induced diabetes, which was attributable to accumulation of toxic human IAPP oligomers and loss of β cell mass. In human IAPP-expressing mice that lack β cell autophagy, increased oxidative damage and loss of an antioxidant-protective pathway appeared to contribute to increased β cell apoptosis. These findings indicate that autophagy/lysosomal degradation defends β cells against proteotoxicity induced by oligomerization-prone human IAPP.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is thought to involve inflammatory cells and reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as superoxide anion radical (O2(·-)). There is currently no effective treatment of IPF. We previously developed a human serum albumin (HSA)-thioredoxin 1 (Trx) fusion protein (HSA-Trx) designed to overcome the unfavorable pharmacokinetic and short pharmacological properties of Trx, an antioxidative and anti-inflammatory protein. In this study, we examined the therapeutic effect of HSA-Trx on an IPF animal model of bleomycin (BLM)-induced pulmonary fibrosis. A pharmacokinetic study of HSA-Trx or Trx in BLM mice showed that the plasma retention and lung distribution of Trxc was markedly improved by fusion with HSA. A weekly intravenous administration of HSA-Trx, but not Trx, ameliorated BLM-induced fibrosis, as evidenced by a histopathological analysis and pulmonary hydroxyproline levels. HSA-Trx suppressed active-transforming growth factor (TGF)-β levels in the lung and inhibited the increase of inflammatory cells in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, pulmonary inflammatory cytokines, and oxidative stress markers. An in vitro EPR experiment using phosphate-buffered saline-stimulated neutrophils confirmed the O2(·-) scavenging ability of HSA-Trx. Furthermore, post-treatment of HSA-Trx had a suppressive effect against BLM-induced fibrosis. These results suggest that HSA-Trx has potential as a novel therapeutic agent for IPF, because of its long-acting antioxidative and anti-inflammatory modulation effects.

Polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) produce and release copious amounts of reactive oxygen species (ROS) which target potential bacterial invaders but also contribute to the inflammation-associated organ injuries seen in sepsis. Calprotectin is an immune regulatory protein complex made of S100A8 and S100A9 that inhibits the oxidative metabolism of PMNs in vitro, an effect that can be potentiated by the controlled activation of the protease activated receptor-2 (PAR2). The aim of this study was to test the use of a dual strategy of calprotectin and PAR2 administration to mitigate the deleterious inflammation seen in sepsis. We hypothesized that exogenous calprotectin would protect against the injuries produced by lipopolysaccharides (LPS)-induced endotoxemia and that the controlled activation of PAR2 would potentiate this beneficial effect. Exogenous S100A8 and/or a PAR2 activating peptide (PAR2 AP) were administered in a mouse model of LPS induced endotoxemia. The survival rates as well as markers of inflammation and oxidative damage were measured in the lungs, kidneys, and livers of endotoxemic mice. Mice treated with S100A8 following LPS had less PMN infiltration and less severe histological changes in their lungs, kidneys, and livers. A significantly lower score of oxidative damage in the livers and lungs of S100A8/LPS treated mice was also noted when compared to mice treated with LPS alone. This protective and anti-inflammatory effect of S100A8 was potentiated by the controlled activation of PAR2. Finally, in further support to our hypothesis, the survival rate was almost doubled from 33% to 65% and 63% in mice treated by, respectively, S100A8 and PAR2 AP, whereas 85% of the mice treated with both PAR2 AP and S100A8 survived, a statistically significant higher rate. These results support an anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative, and protective effect of S100A8 in sepsis, and warrant further studies on the role of PAR2.