ABSTRACT
As a result of the global industrial revolution, contamination of the ecosystem by heavy metals has given rise to one of the most important ecological and organismic problems, particularly human, early developmental stages of fish and animal life. The bioaccumulation of heavy metals in fish tissues can be influenced by several factors, including metal concentration, exposure time, method of metal ingestion and environmental conditions, such as water temperature. Upon recognizing the danger of contamination from heavy metals and the effects on the ecosystem that support life on earth, new ways of monitoring and controlling this pollution, besides the practical ones, had to be found. Diverse living organisms, such as insects, fish, planktons, livestock and bacteria can be used as bioindicators for monitoring the health of the natural ecosystem of the environment. Parasites have attracted intense interest from parasitic ecologists, because of the variety of different ways in which they respond to human activity contamination as prospective indices of environmental quality. Previous studies showed that fish intestinal helminths might consider potential bioindicators for heavy metal contamination in aquatic creatures. In particular, cestodes and acanthocephalans have an increased capacity to accumulate heavy metals, where, for example, metal concentrations in acanthocephalans were several thousand times higher than in host tissues. On the other hand, parasitic infestation in fish could induce significant damage to the physiologic and biochemical processes inside the fish body. It may encourage serious impairment to the physiologic and general health status of fish. Thus, this review aimed to highlight the role of heavy metal accumulation, fish histopathological signs and parasitic infestation in monitoring the ecosystem pollutions and their relationship with each other.
ABSTRACT
Extensive degeneration of articular cartilage (AC) is a primary event in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis (OA) and other types of joint and bone inflammation. OA results in the loss of joint function, usually accompanied by severe pain, and are the most common type of arthritis, affecting more than 10% of adults. The characteristic signs of OA are progressive cartilage destruction and, eventually, complete loss of chondrocytes. A key enzyme responsible for these degenerative changes in cartilage is matrix metalloproteinase-13 (MMP-13), which is thought to be a major contributor to the degenerative process occurring during OA pathogenesis. The aim of the present review is to shed light on the general role of MMPs, with special emphasis on MMP-13, in the induction of OA and the general basis of OA treatment. The pathogenic mechanism of this highly prevalent disease is not clear, and no effective disease-modifying treatment is currently available. Any updated information about OA treatment in human patients will also benefit companion animals such as horses and dogs, which also suffer from OA. Selective inhibition of MMP-13 seems to be an attractive therapeutic strategy.
Subject(s)
Cartilage, Articular/pathology , Extracellular Matrix/pathology , Matrix Metalloproteinases/immunology , Osteoarthritis/pathology , Animals , Cartilage, Articular/drug effects , Cartilage, Articular/immunology , Cartilage, Articular/metabolism , Drug Discovery , Extracellular Matrix/drug effects , Extracellular Matrix/immunology , Extracellular Matrix/metabolism , Humans , Matrix Metalloproteinase 13/analysis , Matrix Metalloproteinase 13/immunology , Matrix Metalloproteinase 13/metabolism , Matrix Metalloproteinase Inhibitors/pharmacology , Matrix Metalloproteinase Inhibitors/therapeutic use , Matrix Metalloproteinases/analysis , Matrix Metalloproteinases/metabolism , Osteoarthritis/drug therapy , Osteoarthritis/immunology , Osteoarthritis/metabolismABSTRACT
This study was undertaken to identify and characterize the globally expressed microRNAs (miRNAs) involved in interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß)-induced joint damage and to predict whether miRNAs can regulate the catabolic effects in osteoarthritis (OA) chondrocytes. Out of 1347 miRNAs analyzed by microarrays in IL-1ß-stimulated OA chondrocytes, 35 miRNAs were down-regulated, 1 miRNA was up-regulated, and the expression of 1311 miRNAs remained unchanged. Bioinformatics analysis showed the key inflammatory mediators and key molecular pathways are targeted by differentially expressed miRNAs. Novel miRNAs identified could have important diagnostic and therapeutic potentials in the development of novel therapeutic strategies for pain managements in OA.
