Protective effects of oridonin on the sepsis in mice.

This study aimed to investigate the protective effects of oridonin (ORI) on cecal ligation and puncture (CLP)-induced sepsis in mice. Male C57BL/6 mice weighing 22-30 g and aged 8-10 weeks were randomly assigned to three groups: Sham group, CLP group, or CLP plus ORI group. In the CLP group and ORI group, CLP was induced, and intraperitoneal injection of normal saline and oridonin (100 µg/kg) was conducted, respectively. The survival rate was determined within the following 7 days. The blood, liver, and lung were collected at 24 hours after injury. Hematoxylin-eosin staining of the lung, detection of lung wet-to-dry ratio, and serum cytokines (tumor necrosis factor [TNF]-α and interleukin [IL]-6), and examination of intraperitoneal and blood bacterial clearance were conducted to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy. Results showed that ORI treatment significantly reduced the lung wet-to-dry ratio, decreased serum TNF-α and IL-6, and improved liver pathology compared with the CLP group (p < 0.05). Moreover, the intraperitoneal and blood bacterial clearance increased markedly after ORI treatment (p < 0.05). The 7-day survival rate in the ORI group was also dramatically higher than in the CLP group (p < 0.05). Our findings indicate that ORI can attenuate liver and lung injuries and elevate bacterial clearance to increase the survival rate of sepsis mice.

Gene expression profiling reveals the defining features of monocytes from septic patients with compensatory anti-inflammatory response syndrome.

OBJECTIVES: To characterize the expression profiles of genes in purified monocytes from septic patients during systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and compensatory anti-inflammatory response syndrome (CARS), and then to investigate the potential mechanism of monocyte deactivation. METHODS: Lipopolysaccharides (LPS)-induced cytokine responses, phagocytosis assay and migration assay were performed in monocytes from SIRS patients, CARS patients and healthy volunteers (n = 8). After functional assays, each pair of samples from the same group was pooled into one for gene expression analysis. All new samples (n = 4) were hybridized on NimbleGen human gene expression 12 × 135 K microarrays, and selected genes were validated by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Pathway analysis and Gene Ontology analysis were performed on differentially expressed genes using Agilent GeneSpring (version 11.0). RESULTS: A set of genes related to pro-inflammation, phagocytosis, chemotaxis, antigen presentation, and anti-apoptosis were significantly down-regulated, while some genes associated with pro-apoptosis and anti-inflammation were up-regulated instead on monocytes from CARS patients compared with SIRS patients and healthy volunteers. Monocytes from CARS patients showed impaired production of TNF-α and IL-6, and increased release of IL-10 when stimulated by LPS. Functional analysis confirmed reduced phagocytosis and migratory activity of monocytes from CARS patients. Human leukocyte antigen-DR (HLA-DR) measurements demonstrated decreased expression of HLA-DR on monocytes from CARS patients. CONCLUSION: Monocytes from CARS patients exhibited significant changes in mRNA expression of genes associated with phagocytosis, antigen presentation, inflammatory response, cell migration, and apoptosis, which might cause deactivation of monocytes during CARS.

STY39, a novel alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone analogue, attenuates bleomycin-induced pulmonary inflammation and fibrosis in mice.

Various anti-inflammatory agents have been used to treat acute or chronic lung injury-induced pulmonary fibrosis (PF). However, the efficacy of the available treatments is disappointing, and new therapies are urgently needed. In the current study, we investigated the effect of a novel α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone analog, STY39, on bleomycin (BLM)-induced pulmonary inflammation and fibrosis in mice. C57BL/6 mice received an intratracheal injection of BLM before being treated with STY39 (0.625, 1.25, or 2.5 mg/kg, i.p.) once a day for 14 consecutive days. Various parameters, reflecting the inflammatory reaction, metabolism of extracellular matrix, myofibroblast proliferation, and degree of fibrosis in the lung, were evaluated. We found that STY39 significantly improved the survival of mice with lethal BLM-induced lung injury, limited body weight loss and the increase in the lung index, reduced the mRNA expression of types I and III procollagen and the production of hydroxyproline in the lung, diminished myofibroblast proliferation, and ultimately reduced BLM-induced lung damage. Further investigation revealed that, in a dose-dependent manner, STY39 treatment inhibited leukocyte migration into the lung; reduced the production of TNF-α, IL-6, macrophage inflammatory protein 2, and transforming growth factor ß1 in the lung; and altered the ratio of matrix metalloproteinase 1 to tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase 1. These findings suggest that STY39 attenuates BLM-induced experimental PF by limiting the inflammatory reaction through the inhibition of proinflammatory and profibrosis cytokines and by accelerating the metabolism of extracellular matrix. Therefore, STY39 may be an effective therapy for preventing PF.

A metabonomic approach to early prognostic evaluation of experimental sepsis by (1)H NMR and pattern recognition.

This study proposes an NMR-based metabonomic approach to early prognostic evaluation of sepsis. Forty septic rats receiving cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) were divided into the surviving group and nonsurviving group on day 6, while 20 sham-operated rats served as the control group. Serum samples were collected from septic and sham-operated rats at 12 h after surgery and analyzed using (1)H NMR spectroscopy. Orthogonal partial least squares (OPLS) were applied and showed clustering according to predefined groups, indicating that NMR-based metabolic profiling could reveal pathologic characteristics in the serum of sham-operated, surviving, and nonsurviving septic rats. In addition, six characteristic metabolites including lactate, alanine, acetate, acetoacetate, hydroxybutyrate, and formate, which are mainly involved in energy metabolism, changed markedly in septic rats, especially in the nonsurvivors. Using these metabolites, a predictive model for prognostic evaluation of sepsis was constructed using a radial basis function neural network (RBFNN) with a prediction accuracy of about 87% by test samples. The results indicated that the NMR-based metabonomic approach is a potential technique for the early prognostic evaluation of sepsis.

A metabonomic approach to early prognostic evaluation of experimental sepsis.

OBJECTIVES: Early prognostic evaluation of sepsis is an attractive strategy to decrease the mortality of septic patients, but presently there are no satisfactory approaches. Our goal is to establish an early, rapid and efficient approach for prognostic evaluation of sepsis. METHODS: Forty-five septic rats, induced by cecal ligation and puncture, were divided into surviving (n=23) and nonsurviving group (n=22) on day 6. Serum samples were obtained from septic and sham-operated rats (n=25) at 12h after surgery. HPLC/MS assays were performed to acquire serum metabolic profiles, and radial basis function neural network (RBFNN) was employed to build predictive model for prognostic evaluation of sepsis. RESULTS: Principle component analysis allows a clear discrimination of the pathologic characteristics among rats from surviving, nonsurviving and sham-operated groups. Six metabolites related to the outcome of septic rats were then structurally identified, which included linolenic acid, linoleic acid, oleic acid, stearic acid, docosahexaenoic acid and docosapentaenoic acid. A RBFNN model was built upon the metabolic profile data from rat serum, and a high predictive accuracy over 94% was achieved. CONCLUSIONS: HPLC/MS-based metabonomic approach combined with pattern recognition permits accurate outcome prediction of septic rats in the early stage. The proposed approach has advantages of rapid, low-cost and efficiency, and is expected to be applied in clinical prognostic evaluation of septic patients.