Evaluation of a novel clinical platform for cardiovascular drug development
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ABSTRACT: Objectives –To determine whether inflammation biomarkers can be used as indicators of therapeutic response, an exploratory study was performed to ascertain whether short term improvements in risk parameters will have measureable effects on a pre-defined panel of plaque inflammation biomarkers. Methods and Results – Patients (n=121) with peripheral arterial disease were enrolled into one of three sub-studies based upon the presence of hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, or diabetes. Patients were randomized to 6 weeks of drug treatment vs. placebo and underwent catheter excision of atherosclerotic tissue from one extremity at baseline and the contralateral extremity after treatment. Simvastatin 40mg once daily reduced LDL-C by 43% (p<0.01), losartan 50mg once daily reduced diastolic blood pressure by 4 mm Hg (p=0.099), and pioglitazone 30mg once daily reduced serum glucose by 66mg/dL (p=0.008). Despite these effects, there were no consistent treatment effects on a large panel of plaque protein, RNA and lipid biomarkers. Conclusions – Short term treatment with drugs that improve cardiovascular risk parameters did not result in a measureable reduction in the levels of peripheral arterial plaque inflammation biomarkers. Further studies are required to identify biomarkers that are sufficiently predictive to be used to identify drug candidates for testing in large cardiovascular outcome studies. (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00720577)
Project description:Objectives M-bM-^@M-^STo determine whether inflammation biomarkers can be used as indicators of therapeutic response, an exploratory study was performed to ascertain whether short term improvements in risk parameters will have measureable effects on a pre-defined panel of plaque inflammation biomarkers. Methods and Results M-bM-^@M-^S Patients (n=121) with peripheral arterial disease were enrolled into one of three sub-studies based upon the presence of hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, or diabetes. Patients were randomized to 6 weeks of drug treatment vs. placebo and underwent catheter excision of atherosclerotic tissue from one extremity at baseline and the contralateral extremity after treatment. Simvastatin 40mg once daily reduced LDL-C by 43% (p<0.01), losartan 50mg once daily reduced diastolic blood pressure by 4 mm Hg (p=0.099), and pioglitazone 30mg once daily reduced serum glucose by 66mg/dL (p=0.008). Despite these effects, there were no consistent treatment effects on a large panel of plaque protein, RNA and lipid biomarkers. Conclusions M-bM-^@M-^S Short term treatment with drugs that improve cardiovascular risk parameters did not result in a measureable reduction in the levels of peripheral arterial plaque inflammation biomarkers. Further studies are required to identify biomarkers that are sufficiently predictive to be used to identify drug candidates for testing in large cardiovascular outcome studies. (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00720577) Human peripheral atherosclerosis plaque was extracted from lower extremities, and RNA, lipids and proteins extracted. RNA was analyzed in an Agilent two-color platform.
Project description:Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease linked to elevated blood cholesterol levels. Since cholesterol retention and cholesterol crystals in arterial walls are key pathogenetic factors for atherogenesis, we assessed the therapeutic potential of increasing cholesterol solubility in vivo. Here we show that treatment of murine atherosclerosis with the cyclic oligosaccharide 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (CD), a compound that solubilizes lipophilic substances, reduced atherosclerotic plaque size, cholesterol crystal (CC) load and promoted plaque regression even under continuing Western diet. CD solubilized CC and promoted cholesterylester and oxysterol production in macrophages leading to liver X receptor-mediated transcriptional reprogramming with increased cholesterol efflux and decreased inflammation. CD treatment may thus be used to increase cholesterol solubility and clearance to prevent or treat atherosclerosis.
Project description:Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death, with atherosclerosis a major underlying cause. While often asymptomatic for decades, plaque destabilisation and rupture can arise suddenly and cause acute arterial occlusion or peripheral embolisation resulting in acute myocardial infarction, stroke and lower limb ischaemia. Hard plaques are typically considered as stable, and soft plaques as unstable. Extracellular matrix (ECM) remodelling can result in plaque destabilisation, but the mechanisms that drive the development of unstable lipid-rich plaques with a thin fibrous cap, versus stable fibrotic plaques with a thick cap, are not fully understood. We hypothesised that there would be significant differences in ECM composition between hard (stable) and soft (unstable and rupture-prone) plaques. We identified and quantified >46700 proteins, including 367 ECM proteins, with unprecedented coverage and high reproducibility. We identified 575 proteins with differential abundances between hard (stable) and soft (unstable) plaques. Proteins involved in inflammation and ECM remodeling, including multiple proteases were enriched, and ECM proteins decreased, in soft plaques. These data provide a unique insight into inflammatory mechanisms and ECM remodelling as an explanation for plaque destabilization. Furthermore they provide a first step towards identifying circulating biomarkers for individualised risk profiling of arteriosclerosis.
Project description:Duchenne muscular dystrophy is caused by genetic defects in the gene encoding dystrophin and leads to progressive muscle degeneration. Glucocorticoid steroids are current mainstay pharmacological regimen to decrease muscle inflammation and prolong the ambulatory period in these patients, but daily intake of glucocorticoids like prednisone and deflazacort causes adverse side effects like osteoporosis, adrenal suppression, insulin resistance and obesity. Intermittent steroid dosing has been proposed as alternative to maintain benefits and limit side effects, but a detailed understanding of the mechanisms underpinning the regimen-specific effects in muscle is still missing. Here we explore how once-daily versus once-weekly prednisone (4 week-long treatment) affect the epigenomic landscape in mdx mouse muscle (genetic model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy; DBA/2J background) through H3K27 acetylation profiles.
Project description:To analyze the cause of arterial plaque formation and development, our arteries in patients with normal donors and severe arterial plaques sampling, the transcriptome sequencing, to explore its molecular mechanism.
Project description:Background: Arteriosclerosis (AS) involves arterial inflammation. Using macrophage-based drug delivery system, we aim to enhance local drug concentration, especially for short-lived anti-inflammatory molecules like interleukin-10. Our study intervenes in plaque progression by boosting IL-10 expression in macrophages lentiviral transfection and introducing these anti-inflammatory cells into Apoe-/- mice. Methods: We engineered RAW264.7 cells to overexpress IL-10 (referred to as IL-10M) using lentivirus vectors. Subsequent in vitro experiments were conducted to validate the effects and cellular functions of IL-10M. Fluorescence imaging allowed us to track the localization of IL-10M at atherosclerotic plaque sites after intravenous (IV) injection in Apoe-/- mice. We administered periodic injections of IL-10M at different stages of plaque progression in AS mice to assess its therapeutic impact on plaque advancement. Following the intervention, we collected samples from major organs and serum to evaluate the safety of IL-10M treatment. Results: Our engineered IL-10M exhibits robust IL-10 secretion, maintaining macrophage phagocytic function, and showing a tendency toward an M2 phenotype when exposed to inflammatory stimuli. Upon intravenous IL-10M administration, fluorescence imaging highlights precise plaque localization in both global and cross-sectional aortic regions. Regardless of whether intervention is initiated early or late in plaque progression, we observe significant reductions in plaque area and necrotic core. Importantly, IL-10M intervention does not impact the histological characteristics of the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys, nor does it influence systemic inflammation levels. Conclusion: Our team has devised a novel anti-inflammatory protein delivery system utilizing modified macrophages, which exhibit a remarkable ability to target atherosclerotic plaques, resulting in the reduction of both plaque area and necrotic core. This innovative approach demonstrates favorable safety profiles and holds significant potential as a therapeutic strategy for managing atherosclerosis.
Project description:To analyze the cause of arterial plaque formation and development, our arteries in patients with normal donors and severe arterial plaques sampling, the transcriptome sequencing, to explore its molecular mechanism. This part including the quantification of miRNA.
Project description:The ruminant liver has multiple roles in the dairy cow and many of these are crucial in nutrient supply during lactation. Reduced feed intake alters the expression of many genes and pathways in the liver, inducing a period of negative energy balance. Once-daily milking is a management strategy to reduce the effects of periods of negative energy balance so the objective of this study was to determine if once-daily milking altered hepatic gene transcription during a period of negative energy balance induce by caloric restriction. Multiparous Holstein-Friesian and Holstein-Friesian x Jersey cows (n = 120) were grazed on pasture and milked twice daily (2X) from calving until 34 ± 6 days in milk (mean ± standard deviation). Cows were then allocated to one of four treatments in a 2 x 2 factorial arrangement. Treatments consisted of two milking frequencies (2X or once daily; 1X) and two feeding levels for three weeks: adequately fed (AF), consuming 14.3 kg dry matter intake/cow per d, or underfed (UF) consuming 8.3 kg dry matter intake /cow per d. After the treatment period, all cows were fed to target grazing residuals ? 1600 kg DM/cow per d and milked 2X for 20 wk. Liver tissue was collected from 12 cows per treatment by subcutaneous biopsy at 3 wk relative to treatment start, RNA extracted and transcript abundance of genes quantified.
Project description:The accumulation of lipid-laden macrophages (foam cells) in the arterial wall is a crucial early step in atherosclerotic plaque development. Modified low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is the primary cholesterol source for foam cells, taken up in an unregulated manner through scavenger receptors. This type of cells exhibit reduced migratory capacity while producing elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, thereby promoting inflammation and plaque progression. Still our understanding of the transcriptomic changes during macrophage-to-foam cell conversion remains limited. In this experiment, we aimed to identify genes responsible for the accumulation of cholesterol in human monocyte-derived macrophages exposed to modified and native LDL. The monocyte samples collected from healthy individuals were purified and exposed to modified and native LDLs obtained from plasm of atherosclerotic patients. RNA extracted after 24h of incubation was sequenced with polyA selection. The resulting data was normalised with limma and undergone DEG analysis followed by upstream analysis workflow with TRANSPATH and TRANSFAC databases to discover master regulator molecules.