Aging Is Associated With Lower Neuroactive Steroids and Worsened Outcomes Following Cerebral Ischemia in Male Mice.

Ischemic stroke is a leading cause of disability and death, and aging is the main nonmodifiable risk factor. Following ischemia, neuroactive steroids have been shown to play a key role in cerebroprotection. Thus, brain steroid concentrations at the time of injury as well as their regulation after stroke are key factors to consider. Here, we investigated the effects of age and cerebral ischemia on steroid levels, behavioral outcomes, and neuronal degeneration in 3- and 18-month-old C57BL/6JRj male mice. Ischemia was induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion for 1 hour followed by reperfusion (MCAO/R) and analyses were performed at 6 hours after MCAO. Extended steroid profiles established by gas chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry revealed that (1) brain and plasma concentrations of the main 5α-reduced metabolites of progesterone, 11-deoxycorticosterone, and corticosterone were lower in old than in young mice; (2) after MCAO/R, brain concentrations of progesterone, 5α-dihydroprogesterone, and corticosterone increased in young mice; and (3) after MCAO/R, brain concentrations of 5α-reduced metabolites of progesterone, 3α5α-tetrahydrodeoxycorticosterone, and 3ß5α-tetrahydrodeoxycorticosterone were lower in old than in young mice. After ischemia, old mice showed increased sensori-motor deficits and more degenerating neurons in the striatum than young mice. Altogether, these findings strongly suggest that the decreased capacity of old mice to metabolize steroids toward the 5α-reduction pathway comparatively to young mice may contribute to the worsening of their stroke outcomes.

Pregnane steroidogenesis is altered by HIV-1 Tat and morphine: Physiological allopregnanolone is protective against neurotoxic and psychomotor effects.

Pregnane steroids, particularly allopregnanolone (AlloP), are neuroprotective in response to central insult. While unexplored in vivo, AlloP may confer protection against the neurological dysfunction associated with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). The HIV-1 regulatory protein, trans-activator of transcription (Tat), is neurotoxic and its expression in mice increases anxiety-like behavior; an effect that can be ameliorated by progesterone, but not when 5α-reduction is blocked. Given that Tat's neurotoxic effects involve mitochondrial dysfunction and can be worsened with opioid exposure, we hypothesized that Tat and/or combined morphine would perturb steroidogenesis in mice, promoting neuronal death, and that exogenous AlloP would rescue these effects. Like other models of neural injury, conditionally inducing HIV-1 Tat in transgenic mice significantly increased the central synthesis of pregnenolone and progesterone's 5α-reduced metabolites, including AlloP, while decreasing central deoxycorticosterone (independent of changes in plasma). Morphine significantly increased brain and plasma concentrations of several steroids (including progesterone, deoxycorticosterone, corticosterone, and their metabolites) likely via activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal stress axis. Tat, but not morphine, caused glucocorticoid resistance in primary splenocytes. In neurons, Tat depolarized mitochondrial membrane potential and increased cell death. Physiological concentrations of AlloP (0.1, 1, or 10 nM) reversed these effects. High-concentration AlloP (100 nM) was neurotoxic in combination with morphine. Tat induction in transgenic mice potentiated the psychomotor effects of acute morphine, while exogenous AlloP (1.0 mg/kg, but not 0.5 mg/kg) was ameliorative. Data demonstrate that steroidogenesis is altered by HIV-1 Tat or morphine and that physiological AlloP attenuates resulting neurotoxic and psychomotor effects.

Characterization of Mucus-Related Properties of Streptococcus thermophilus: From Adhesion to Induction.

Mucus is a major component of the intestinal barrier involved both in the protection of the host and the fitness of commensals of the gut. Streptococcus thermophilus is consumed world-wide in fermented dairy products and is also recognized as a probiotic, as its consumption is associated with improved lactose digestion. We determined the overall effect of S. thermophilus on the mucus by evaluating its ability to adhere, degrade, modify, or induce the production of mucus and/or mucins. Adhesion was analyzed in vitro using two types of mucins (from pig or human biopsies) and mucus-producing intestinal HT29-MTX cells. The induction of mucus was characterized in two different rodent models, in which S. thermophilus is the unique bacterial species in the digestive tract or transited as a sub-dominant bacterium through a complex microbiota. S. thermophilus LMD-9 and LMG18311 strains did not grow in sugars used to form mucins as the sole carbon source and displayed weak binding to mucus/mucins relative to the highly adhesive TIL448 Lactococcus lactis. The presence of S. thermophilus as the unique bacteria in the digestive tract of gnotobiotic rats led to accumulation of lactate and increased the number of Alcian-Blue positive goblet cells and the amount of the mucus-inducer KLF4 transcription factor. Lactate significantly increased KLF4 protein levels in HT29-MTX cells. Introduction of S. thermophilusvia transit as a sub-dominant bacterium (103 CFU/g feces) in a complex endogenous microbiota resulted in a slight increase in lactate levels in the digestive tract, no induction of overall mucus production, and moderate induction of sulfated mucin production. We thus show that although S. thermophilus is a poor mucus-adhesive bacterium, it can promote mucus pathway at least in part by producing lactate in the digestive tract.

A Role of Endogenous Progesterone in Stroke Cerebroprotection Revealed by the Neural-Specific Deletion of Its Intracellular Receptors.

Treatment with progesterone protects the male and female brain against damage after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). However, in both sexes, the brain contains significant amounts of endogenous progesterone. It is not known whether endogenously produced progesterone enhances the resistance of the brain to ischemic insult. Here, we used steroid profiling by gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) for exploring adaptive and sex-specific changes in brain levels of progesterone and its metabolites after MCAO. We show that, in the male mouse brain, progesterone is mainly metabolized via 5α-reduction leading to 5α-dihydroprogesterone (5α-DHP), also a progesterone receptor (PR) agonist ligand in neural cells, then to 3α,5α-tetrahydroprogesterone (3α,5α-THP). In the female mouse brain, levels of 5α-DHP and 3α,5α-THP are lower and levels of 20α-DHP are higher than in males. After MCAO, levels of progesterone and 5α-DHP are upregulated rapidly to pregnancy-like levels in the male but not in the female brain. To assess whether endogenous progesterone and 5α-DHP contribute to the resistance of neural cells to ischemic damage, we inactivated PR selectively in the CNS. Deletion of PR in the brain reduced its resistance to MCAO, resulting in increased infarct volumes and neurological deficits in both sexes. Importantly, endogenous PR ligands continue to protect the brain of aging mice. These results uncover the unexpected importance of endogenous progesterone and its metabolites in cerebroprotection. They also reveal that the female reproductive hormone progesterone is an endogenous cerebroprotective neurosteroid in both sexes.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The brain responds to injury with protective signaling and has a remarkable capacity to protect itself. We show here that, in response to ischemic stroke, levels of progesterone and its neuroactive metabolite 5α-dihydroprogesterone are upregulated rapidly in the male mouse brain but not in the female brain. An important role of endogenous progesterone in cerebroprotection was demonstrated by the conditional inactivation of its receptor in neural cells. These results show the importance of endogenous progesterone, its metabolites, and neural progesterone receptors in acute cerebroprotection after stroke. This new concept could be exploited therapeutically by taking into account the progesterone status of patients and by supplementing and reinforcing endogenous progesterone signaling for attaining its full cerebroprotective potential.

Molecular phenotyping of multiple mouse strains under metabolic challenge uncovers a role for Elovl2 in glucose-induced insulin secretion.

OBJECTIVE: In type 2 diabetes (T2D), pancreatic ß cells become progressively dysfunctional, leading to a decline in insulin secretion over time. In this study, we aimed to identify key genes involved in pancreatic beta cell dysfunction by analyzing multiple mouse strains in parallel under metabolic stress. METHODS: Male mice from six commonly used non-diabetic mouse strains were fed a high fat or regular chow diet for three months. Pancreatic islets were extracted and phenotypic measurements were recorded at 2 days, 10 days, 30 days, and 90 days to assess diabetes progression. RNA-Seq was performed on islet tissue at each time-point and integrated with the phenotypic data in a network-based analysis. RESULTS: A module of co-expressed genes was selected for further investigation as it showed the strongest correlation to insulin secretion and oral glucose tolerance phenotypes. One of the predicted network hub genes was Elovl2, encoding Elongase of very long chain fatty acids 2. Elovl2 silencing decreased glucose-stimulated insulin secretion in mouse and human ß cell lines. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest a role for Elovl2 in ensuring normal insulin secretory responses to glucose. Moreover, the large comprehensive dataset and integrative network-based approach provides a new resource to dissect the molecular etiology of ß cell failure under metabolic stress.

Plasma Dihydroceramides Are Diabetes Susceptibility Biomarker Candidates in Mice and Humans.

Plasma metabolite concentrations reflect the activity of tissue metabolic pathways and their quantitative determination may be informative about pathogenic conditions. We searched for plasma lipid species whose concentrations correlate with various parameters of glucose homeostasis and susceptibility to type 2 diabetes (T2D). Shotgun lipidomic analysis of the plasma of mice from different genetic backgrounds, which develop a pre-diabetic state at different rates when metabolically stressed, led to the identification of a group of sphingolipids correlated with glucose tolerance and insulin secretion. Quantitative analysis of these and closely related lipids in the plasma of individuals from two population-based prospective cohorts revealed that specific long-chain fatty-acid-containing dihydroceramides were significantly elevated in the plasma of individuals who will progress to diabetes up to 9 years before disease onset. These lipids may serve as early biomarkers of, and help identify, metabolic deregulation in the pathogenesis of T2D.

Combined NADPH oxidase 1 and interleukin 10 deficiency induces chronic endoplasmic reticulum stress and causes ulcerative colitis-like disease in mice.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease affecting the rectum which progressively extents. Its etiology remains unknown and the number of treatments available is limited. Studies of UC patients have identified an unbalanced endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in the non-inflamed colonic mucosa. Animal models with impaired ER stress are sensitive to intestinal inflammation, suggesting that an unbalanced ER stress could cause inflammation. However, there are no ER stress-regulating strategies proposed in the management of UC partly because of the lack of relevant preclinical model mimicking the disease. Here we generated the IL10/Nox1dKO mouse model which combines immune dysfunction (IL-10 deficiency) and abnormal epithelium (NADPH oxidase 1 (Nox1) deficiency) and spontaneously develops a UC-like phenotype with similar complications (colorectal cancer) than UC. Our data identified an unanticipated combined role of IL10 and Nox1 in the fine-tuning of ER stress responses in goblet cells. As in humans, the ER stress was unbalanced in mice with decreased eIF2α phosphorylation preceding inflammation. In IL10/Nox1dKO mice, salubrinal preserved eIF2α phosphorylation through inhibition of the regulatory subunit of the protein phosphatase 1 PP1R15A/GADD34 and prevented colitis. Thus, this new experimental model highlighted the central role of epithelial ER stress abnormalities in the development of colitis and defined the defective eIF2α pathway as a key pathophysiological target for UC. Therefore, specific regulators able to restore the defective eIF2α pathway could lead to the molecular remission needed to treat UC.