Project description:The regulatory role of microRNAs (miRNAs) is mainly mediated by their effect on protein expression and is recognized in a multitude of pathophysiological processes. In recent decades, accumulating evidence has interest in these factors as modulatory elements of cardiovascular pathophysiology. Furthermore, additional biological processes have been identified as new components of cardiovascular disease etiology. In particular, inflammation is now considered an important cardiovascular risk factor. Thus, in the present review, we will focus on the role of a subset of miRNAs called inflamma-miRs that may regulate inflammatory status in the development of cardiovascular pathology. According to published data, the most representative candidates that play functional roles in thromboinflammation are miR-21, miR-33, miR-34a, miR-146a, miR-155, and miR-223. We will describe the functions of these miRNAs in several cardiovascular pathologies in depth, with specific emphasis on the molecular mechanisms related to atherogenesis. We will also discuss the latest findings on the role of miRNAs as regulators of neutrophil extracellular traps and their impact on cardiovascular diseases. Overall, the data suggest that the use of miRNAs as therapeutic tools or biomarkers may improve the diagnosis or prognosis of adverse cardiovascular events in inflammatory diseases. Thus, targeting or increasing the levels of adequate inflamma-miRs at different stages of disease could help mitigate or avoid the development of cardiovascular morbidities.
Project description:Psychiatric disorders are significantly common complications among patients suffering from inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). Affective temperament is a concept of core personality traits, which can decribe the vulnerability to mood disorders, therefore its evaluation might convey useful information about patients' mental status in autoimmune disorders. The aim of the study was to evaluate the affective temperament in patients with Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) as characteristic features of these diseases, but also in the clinical course and the severity of anxiety and depression.Due to our knowledge this is the first study of this kind. The study enrolled 130 patients with IBD, including 68 with CD and 62 with UC. We used TEMPS-A to evaluate affective temperament and HADS scales to assess the intensity of depressive and anxiety symptoms. Harvey Bradshaw scale, Crohn's Disease Activity Index (CDAI) and Mayo Score were used to evaluate clinical severity of the diseases. We observed significantly higher prevalence of depressive, cyclothymic and anxiety temperaments in CD patients compared to the control group. Harvey Bradshaw scale, CDAI and Mayo Self Report showed statistically significant outcomes, including significant positive correlations with depressive, cyclothymic and anxiety subscales of TEMPS-A, and negative correlation with the hyperthymic temperament in CD subjects. Our findings indicate significant differences between CD and UC due to temperament traits, and suggest distinct pathogenesis of mood disorders in IBD.
Project description:Plastic bronchitis is a rare complication of a variety of respiratory diseases and congenital heart disease surgery, particularly Fontan procedure. Bronchial casts with rubber-like consistency develop acutely and may cause severe life-threatening respiratory distress. The management of plastic bronchitis is yet not well defined. Early intermittent, self-administered nebulization of tissue plasminogen activator was found to be effective in preventing deterioration of acute respiratory symptoms in a patient with primary ciliary dyskinesia and recurrent cast formation. Further investigation into new therapeutic strategies for this devastating disease is advocated.
Project description:Although cellular senescence may be a protective mechanism in modulating proliferative capacity, fibroblast senescence is now recognized as a key pathogenic mechanism in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). In aged mice, abundance and persistence of apoptosis-resistant senescent fibroblasts play a central role in nonresolving lung fibrosis after bleomycin challenge. Therefore, we investigated whether quercetin can restore the susceptibility of senescent IPF fibroblasts to proapoptotic stimuli and mitigate bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in aged mice. Unlike senescent normal lung fibroblasts, IPF lung fibroblasts from patients with stable and rapidly progressing disease were highly resistant to Fas ligand (FasL)-induced and TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL)-induced apoptosis. Senescent IPF fibroblasts exhibited decreased expression of FasL and TRAIL receptors and caveolin-1, as well as increased AKT activation, compared with senescent normal lung fibroblasts. Although quercetin alone was not proapoptotic, it abolished the resistance to FasL- or TRAIL-induced apoptosis in IPF fibroblasts. Mechanistically, quercetin upregulated FasL receptor and caveolin-1 expression and modulated AKT activation. In vivo quercetin reversed bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis and attenuated lethality, weight loss, and the expression of pulmonary senescence markers p21 and p19-ARF and senescence-associated secretory phenotype in aged mice. Collectively, these data indicate that quercetin reverses the resistance to death ligand-induced apoptosis by promoting FasL receptor and caveolin-1 expression and inhibiting AKT activation, thus mitigating the progression of established pulmonary fibrosis in aged mice. Therefore, quercetin may be a viable therapeutic option for IPF and other age-related diseases that progress with the accumulation of senescent fibroblasts.
Project description:RATIONALE:There is increasing evidence that aberrant processes occurring in the airways may precede the development of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF); however, there has been no prior confirmatory data derived from imaging studies. OBJECTIVES:To assess quantitative measures of airway wall thickness (AWT) in populations characterized for interstitial lung abnormalities (ILA) and for IPF. METHODS:Computed tomographic imaging of the chest and measures of AWT were available for 6,073, 615, 1,167, and 38 participants from COPDGene (Genetic Epidemiology of COPD study), ECLIPSE (Evaluation of COPD Longitudinally to Identify Predictive Surrogate Endpoints study), and the Framingham Heart Study (FHS) and in patients with IPF from the Brigham and Women's Hospital Herlihy Registry, respectively. To evaluate these associations, we used multivariable linear regression to compare a standardized measure of AWT (the square root of AWT for airways with an internal perimeter of 10 mm [Pi10]) and characterizations of ILA and IPF by computed tomographic imaging of the chest. RESULTS:In COPDGene, ECLIPSE, and FHS, research participants with ILA had increased measures of Pi10 compared with those without ILA. Patients with IPF had mean measures of Pi10 that were even greater than those noted in research participants with ILA. After adjustment for important covariates (e.g., age, sex, race, body mass index, smoking behavior, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease severity when appropriate), research participants with ILA had increased measures of Pi10 compared with those without ILA (0.03 mm in COPDGene, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.02-0.03; P < 0.001; 0.02 mm in ECLIPSE, 95% CI, 0.005-0.04; P = 0.01; 0.07 mm in FHS, 95% CI, 0.01-0.1; P = 0.01). Compared with COPDGene participants without ILA older than 60 years of age, patients with IPF were also noted to have increased measures of Pi10 (2.0 mm, 95% CI, 2.0-2.1; P < 0.001). Among research participants with ILA, increases in Pi10 were correlated with reductions in lung volumes in some but not all populations. CONCLUSIONS:These results demonstrate that measurable increases in AWT are consistently noted in research participants with ILA and in patients with IPF. These findings suggest that abnormalities of the airways may play a role in, or be correlated with, early pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis.
Project description:Bone marrow contains endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) that, upon pro-angiogenic stimuli, migrate and differentiate into endothelial cells (ECs) and contribute to re-endothelialization and neo-vascularization. There are currently no reliable markers to characterize EPCs, leading to their inaccurate identification. In the past, we showed that, in a panel of tumors, some cells on the vessel wall co-expressed CD14 (monocytic marker) and CD31 (EC marker), indicating a putative differentiation route of monocytes into ECs. Herein, we disclosed monocytes as potential EPCs, using in vitro and in vivo models, and also addressed the cancer context. Monocytes acquired the capacity to express ECs markers and were able to be incorporated into blood vessels, contributing to cancer progression, by being incorporated in tumor neo-vasculature. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) push monocytes to EC differentiation, and this phenotype is reverted by cysteine (a scavenger and precursor of glutathione), which indicates that angiogenesis is controlled by the interplay between the oxidative stress and the scavenging capacity of the tumor microenvironment.
Project description:Equine insect bite hypersensitivity (IBH) is the most common skin disease affecting horses. It is described as an IgE-mediated, Type I hypersensitivity reaction to salivary gland proteins of Culicoides insects. Together with Th2 cells, epithelial barrier cells play an important role in development of Type I hypersensitivities. In order to elucidate the role of equine keratinocytes in development of IBH, we stimulated keratinocytes derived from IBH-affected (IBH-KER) (n = 9) and healthy horses (H-KER) (n = 9) with Culicoides recombinant allergens and extract, allergic cytokine milieu (ACM) and a Toll like receptor ligand 1/2 (TLR-1/2-L) and investigated their transcriptomes. Stimulation of keratinocytes with Culicoides allergens did not induce transcriptional changes. However, when stimulated with allergic cytokine milieu, their gene expression significantly changed. We found upregulation of genes encoding for CCL5, -11, -20, -27 and interleukins such as IL31. We also found a strong downregulation of genes such as SCEL and KRT16 involved in the formation of epithelial barrier. Following stimulation with TLR-1/2-L, keratinocytes significantly upregulated expression of genes affecting Toll like receptor and NOD-receptor signaling pathway as well as NF-kappa B signaling pathway, among others. The transcriptomes of IBH-KER and H-KER were very similar: without stimulations they only differed in one gene (CTSL); following stimulation with allergic cytokine milieu we found only 23 differentially expressed genes (e.g. CXCL10 and 11) and following stimulation with TLR-1/2-L they only differed by expression of seven genes. Our data suggests that keratinocytes contribute to the innate immune response and are able to elicit responses to different stimuli, possibly playing a role in the pathogenesis of IBH.
Project description:Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a disease related to AT2 cell. We used flow cytometry to analyze the epithelial component of donor and IPF lungs. From the live cells, we first excluded the CD31PosCD45Pos and then selected the EPCAMPos cells for further analysis using the human AT2 cell marker HTll-280 and the surface marker PD-L1. Our data indicate that, the bona fide differentiated AT2 cells (HTll-280High PD-L1Neg), were drastically reduced in the context of IPF. More interestingly, the number of HTll-280Low/Neg PD-L1High was drastically increased, suggesting that HTll-280Low PD-L1High epithelial cells could represent a pool of progenitors linked to the deficient AT2 lineage. The aim of this experiment is further characterization of AT2 and PDL1+ cells in donor and IPF.