Ethyl acetate fraction of flavonoids from Polygonum hydropiper L. modulates pseudorabies virus-induced inflammation in RAW264.7 cells via the nuclear factor-kappa B and mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways.

Pseudorabies virus (PRV) infection leads to severe inflammatory responses and tissue damage, and many natural herbs exhibit protective effects against viral infection by modulating the inflammatory response. An ethyl acetate fraction of flavonoids from Polygonum hydropiper L. (FEA) was prepared through ethanol extraction and ethyl acetate fractional extraction. An inflammatory model was established in RAW264.7 cells with PRV infection to evaluate the anti-inflammatory activity of FEA by measuring cell viability, nitric oxide (NO) production, reactive oxygen species (ROS) release, and mRNA expression of inflammatory factors, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). Its functional mechanism was investigated by analyzing the phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of key proteins in the nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways. Our findings indicate that PRV induced inflammatory responses in RAW264.7 cells, and the responses were similar to that in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated cells. FEA significantly suppressed NO synthesis and down-regulated both expression and secretion of COX-2, iNOS, and inflammatory cytokines (P<0.05 or P<0.01). FEA also reduced NF-κB p65 translocation into the nucleus and decreased MAPK phosphorylation, indicating that the NF-κB/MAPK signaling pathway may be closely related to the inflammatory response during viral infection. The findings suggested the potential pharmaceutical application of FEA as a natural product that can treat viral infections due to its ability to mitigate inflammatory responses.

Expression of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 in CCL4-induced rat liver fibrosis.

The renin angiotensin system (RAS) plays a major role in liver fibrosis. A novel homologue of angiotensin converting enzyme, ACE2, was identified as a negative regulator of RAS as it degrades Ang II to Ang1-7. We investigated in vivo the expression of ACE2 in liver fibrosis. We evaluated the relationship between biochemical variables and liver tissue expression of ACE2, the correlation between a histological assessment of liver fibrosis and liver tissue expression of ACE2. Male SD rats were randomly divided into a CCL4 group which received injections of CCL4 and the control group which received injections of olive oil. Liver pathology was examined by H&E and Sirius red staining, and real-time PCR was performed to determine the gene expression levels of ACE2 and ACE. Real-time PCR analysis revealed that ACE2 mRNA was higher at the two-, four-, and six-week time points, respectively (p<0.01). Similarly, hepatic ACE mRNA was significantly increased after CCL4 injection. There was a significant correlation between ACE and ACE2 gene expression (r=0.750, P<0.001). ACE2 gene expression strongly correlated with ALT (r=0.669, P<0.0001) and AST levels (r=0.815, P<0.0001). There was a significant correlation between circulating ACE2 and histological scores of liver fibrosis. ACE2 and ACE gene expression correlated with the ISHAK score (r=0.850, P<0.001; r=0.806, P<0.001). There was a significant relationship between ACE2 gene expression and the degree of liver fibrosis. ACE2 plays a crucial role in liver fibrogenesis.

[Expression of Toll-like receptor 3 on peripheral blood dendritic cells in HBeAg positive patients with chronic hepatitis B].

OBJECTIVE: To elucidate the roles of Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) on dendritic cells (DCs) in HBV infection. METHODS: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated from 48 healthy volunteers (HV) and 50 chronically HBV-infected patients (CH). DCs were induced and proliferated in a culture medium with rhGM-CSF and rhIL-4. We stimulated DCs with poly I:C and then TLR3, HLA-DR, and CD86, and CD1a expressions were examined by flow cytometry at 0 h, 12 h, 24 h and 48 h. The mRNA expressions of TLR3 were quantified by real-time PCR. RESULTS: TLR3 expression on DCs before the poly I:C stimulation and afterwards on the 12 h, 24 h, and 48 h were 69.2%+/-20.4%, 76.0%+/-18.6%, 78.2%+/-19.5% and 85.5%+/-6.9% respectively in the CH group, and 70.8%+/-11.2%, 67.5%+/-20.9%, 86.3%+/-14.7%, 68.6%+/-16.9% in the HV group. The expressions of TLR3 were up-regulated significantly at 24 h and 48 h after stimulation with poly I:C in the HV group, and in the CH group they were not significantly increased at 24 h but obviously increased at 48 h. The mRNA expressions of TLR3 increased significantly at 12 h in the HV groups, and at 48 h in CH group. The rate of CD86 expressions increased after poly I:C stimulation, and the increased rates were 12.6%+/-9.8%, 23.8%+/-20.0%, 20.7%+/-14.3% in the CH group, and 31.0%+/-25.0%, 43.4%+/-24.7%, 44.6%+/-25.5% in the HV group at 12 h, 24 h and 48 h after poly I:C stimulation. There was a marked increase of the expression level of CD86 in the HV group. In contrast, the level was only slightly increased in the CH group (31.0% vs 12.6%). The differences between the two groups were significant at 24 h and 48 h. No significant differences were detected in HLA-DR and CD1a between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: The increase of expression level of TLR3 is slower in the CH group than that in the HV group. A marked increase of the expression level of CD86 is observed in the HV group. Our results suggest that abnormal expression of TLR3 and CD86 may relate to the persistence of HBV infection.

Patients with chronic hepatitis B infection display deficiency of plasmacytoid dendritic cells with reduced expression of TLR9.

Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a complex interaction between replicating noncytopathic virus and dysregulatory host antiviral immunity. Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) contribute to innate antiviral immunity via secreting type I interferons. Toll-like receptor (TLR) 9 is involved in major pattern recognition receptors expressed in pDCs. The frequency of pDCs and TLR9 expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) was determined, using flow cytometry. IFN-alpha production by PBMC was evaluated in vitro in the presence of cytidine phosphate guanosine (CpG) with/without pDCs. The correlation between TLR9, pDCs frequency and viral load was also evaluated. TLR9 expression in pDCs in chronic HBV patients was significantly ( approximately 50%) reduced, supported by approximately 70% reduction of TLR9 mRNA, in comparison to healthy controls, correlating with the impairment of IFN-alpha production in vitro. Furthermore, pDCs frequency in these patients was substantially reduced ( approximately 30%), inversely correlating with serum ALT levels and HBV viral load. HBsAg and HBcAg were detected by immunohistochemistry in pDCs in chronic HBV patients. We conclude that HBV infection results in reduced frequency of circulating pDCs and their functional impairment via inhibiting the expression of TLR9. These data may provide useful information in both basic research and clinical treatment of chronic HBV infection.