Catalase overexpression attenuates angiotensinogen expression and apoptosis in diabetic mice.

Increased generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) leads to oxidative stress in diabetes. Catalase is a highly conserved heme-containing protein that reduces hydrogen peroxide to water and oxygen and is an important factor decreasing cellular injury owing to oxidative stress. Hyperglycemic conditions increase oxidative stress and angiotensinogen gene expression. Angiotensinogen conversion to angiotensin II leads to a furtherance in oxidative stress through increased generation of reactive oxygen species. In this study, we utilized mice transgenically overexpressing rat catalase in a kidney-specific manner to determine the impact on ROS, angiotensinogen and apoptotic gene expression in proximal tubule cells of diabetic animals. Proximal tubules isolated from wild-type and transgenic animals without or with streptozotocin-induced diabetes were incubated in low glucose media in the absence or presence of angiotensin II or in a high-glucose media. Our results show that the overexpression of catalase prevents the stimulation of ROS and angiotensinogen mRNA in tubules owing to elevated glucose or angiotensin II in vitro. Additionally, overexpression of catalase attenuated ROS generation, angiotensinogen and proapoptotic gene expression and apoptosis in the kidneys of diabetic mice in vivo. Our studies point to an important role of ROS in the pathophysiology of diabetic nephropathy.

RAS blockade decreases blood pressure and proteinuria in transgenic mice overexpressing rat angiotensinogen gene in the kidney.

Angiotensinogen (ANG) is the sole substrate of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS). Clinical studies have shown that RAS activation may lead to hypertension, a major cardiovascular and renal risk factor. To delineate the underlying mechanisms of hypertension-induced nephropathy, we generated transgenic mice that overexpress rat ANG (rANG) in the kidney to establish whether intrarenal RAS activation alone can evoke hypertension and kidney damage and whether RAS blockade can reverse these effects. Transgenic mice overexpressing renal rANG were generated by employing the kidney-specific, androgen-regulated protein promoter linked to rANG cDNA. This promoter targets rANG cDNA to renal proximal tubules and responds to androgen stimulation. Transgenic mice displayed kidney-specific expression of rANG, significantly increased blood pressure (BP) and albuminuria in comparison to non-transgenic littermates. Administration of losartan (an angiotensin II (type 1)-receptor antagonist) or perindopril (an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor) reversed these abnormalities in transgenic animals. Renal injury was evident on examination of the kidneys in transgenic mice, and attenuated by losartan and perindopril treatment. We conclude that the overproduction of ANG alone in the kidney induces an increase in systemic BP, proteinuria, and renal injury. RAS blockers prevent these abnormalities. These data support the role of the intrarenal RAS in the development of hypertension and renal injury.

Demonstration of a fusion mechanism between a fluid bactericidal liposomal formulation and bacterial cells.

It was previously demonstrated that fluid liposomal-encapsulated tobramycin, named Fluidosomes, was successful in eradicating mucoid Pseudomonas aeruginosa in an animal model of chronic pulmonary infection, whereas free antibiotic did not reduce colony-forming unit (CFU) counts (C. Beaulac et al., Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 40 (1996) 665-669; C. Beaulac et al., J. Antimicrob. Chemother. 41 (1998) 35-41). These liposomes were also shown to be bactericidal in in vitro tests against strong resistant P. aeruginosa 64 microg/ml). The time needed to reach the maximal fusion rate was about 5 h for the resistant strain comparatively to much shorter time for the sensitive strain. The specific characteristics of Fluidosomes could help overcome bacterial resistance related to permeability barrier and even enzymatic hydrolysis considering the importance of synergy in the whole process of antibiotic resistance.

Aerosolization of low phase transition temperature liposomal tobramycin as a dry powder in an animal model of chronic pulmonary infection caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Eradication of mucoid Pseudomonas aeruginosa in an animal model of chronic pulmonary infection has been previously demonstrated following the intratracheal administration of Fluidosomes, a low phase transition temperature (low T(C)) liposomal tobramycin preparation administered in liquid form (Beaulac et al., Antimicrob. Agents Chemother., 40, 665-669, 1996). In the present work, the same liposomal formulation was administered as a dry powder aerosol to an animal model of chronic pulmonary infection in view of a possible clinical development in cystic fibrosis patients. Chronic infection was established by intratracheal administration of 10(5) cfu of a mucoid variant of P. aeruginosa, PA 508, prepared in agar beads. Sixteen hours after one aerosol treatment, the cfu counts performed on lungs (pair) treated with liposomal tobramycin were of 4.31x10(5) cfu/lungs comparatively to 1.32x10(8) and 3.02x10(8) cfu/lungs respectively in untreated and in lungs treated with free antibiotic. Considering the quantity of liposome-tobramycin that has reached the lungs, the results suggest that aerosolization of low T(C) liposomal tobramycin used as a dry powder preparation could be an effective way of treating chronic pulmonary infection caused by Pseudomonas.

Evaluation of the pulmonary and systemic immunogenicity of Fluidosomes, a fluid liposomal-tobramycin formulation for the treatment of chronic infections in lungs.

In previous studies, we have developed a fluid bactericidal liposomal formulation containing tobramycin, called Fluidosomes, which has been shown to be highly bactericidal both in in vitro and in in vivo studies against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and other related and unrelated bacteria. One foreseeable application of these Fluidosomes is the treatment of chronic pulmonary infections in cystic fibrosis patients colonized with P. aeruginosa and other related bacteria. Considering the capacity of some liposomal preparations to play an adjuvant role in vaccines, the non-immunogenicity of Fluidosomes has to be demonstrated. The systemic and local immunogenicity of Fluidosomes were assessed by effectuating repeated intraperitoneal (i.p.) and intratracheal (i.t. ) immunizations in BALB/c mouse. No significant mucosal and serum immune responses against Fluidosomes and/or tobramycin were detected as compared with preimmune sera. These data suggest that Fluidosomes could be administered repeatedly without adverse immune responses to control chronic pulmonary infections in cystic fibrosis.

In-vitro bactericidal efficacy of sub-MIC concentrations of liposome-encapsulated antibiotic against gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria.

It has been shown previously that tobramycin encapsulated in fluid liposomes (composed of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) and dimyristoylphosphatidylglycerol (DMPG)) eradicated mucoid Pseudomonas aeruginosa in an animal model of chronic pulmonary infection. Exponential cultures of P. aeruginosa, Stenotrophomonas maltophila, Burkholderia cepacia, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were treated with (i) free tobramycin, (ii) sub-MIC tobramycin encapsulated in DPPC/DMPG liposomes, (iii) control liposomes without antibiotic or (iv) control liposomes combined with free tobramycin. Bacterial colonies were counted 0, 1, 3, 6 and 16 h after addition of antibiotic. After 3 h, the growth of B. cepacia, E. coli and S. aureus was reduced 129, 84 and 566 times respectively in cultures treated with encapsulated antibiotic compared with those treated with free antibiotic. Six hours and 16 h after treatment, the maximal reduction of growth between strains treated with liposome-encapsulated tobramycin and free tobramycin was 84, 129, 166, 10(5) and 10(4) times respectively for P. aeruginosa, B. cepacia, E. coli, S. maltophilia and S. aureus. The liposomes were stable at 4 degrees C and at room temperature for the whole period studied. At 37 degrees C, equivalent stability was observed for the first 16 h of the study. Administration of antibiotic encapsulated in DPPC/DMPG liposomes may thus greatly improve the management of resistant infections caused by a large range of microorganisms. The strong bactericidal activity of the encapsulated antibiotic at sub-MIC doses of the strains tested cannot be explained only as a result of prolonged residence time of liposome-encapsulated tobramycin and the resulting release of entrapped antibiotic at the bacterial site; rather, direct interaction of chemoliposomes and bacteria, probably by a fusion process, may explain the bactericidal effect of the sub-MIC antibiotic doses used.

Aminoglycoside detection using a universal ELISA binding procedure onto polystyrene microtiter plates in comparison with HPLC analysis and microbiological agar-diffusion assay.

The use of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the detection of aminoglycosides has been hindered due to low molecular weight compound adsorption to solid phases. Here, we describe an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay based on the treatment of polystyrene microtiter plates with Alcian blue prepared in acetic acid prior to coating with the antibiotic. Whereas no detection of tobramycin was possible on commercially treated or untreated enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay plates, the Alcian blue treatment permitted detection of 0.025 and 0.05 microg ml(-1) of tobramycin respectively using 0.05 and 0.1% of Alcian blue with a coefficient of variation of 1.85 and 7.69%, respectively. Comparative studies of five tobramycin samples of unknown quantity using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and high-performance liquid chromatography gave equivalent results while those done via microbiological agar-diffusion assay were an overestimation of the actual quantity. The use of the Alcian blue pretreatment enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay procedure has permitted, in previous studies, the measure of antibodies against synthetic peptides and phospholipids. Subsequently, our demonstration of the sensitivity and reliability of this method in the quantification of tobramycin strongly suggests that the use of Alcian blue pretreatment in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay can be applied universally to avert molecule immobilization problems on solid phases.