Harnessing the Benefits of Neuroinflammation: Generation of Macrophages/Microglia with Prominent Remyelinating Properties.

Excessive inflammation within the CNS is injurious, but an immune response is also required for regeneration. Macrophages and microglia adopt different properties depending on their microenvironment, and exposure to IL4 and IL13 has been used to elicit repair. Unexpectedly, while LPS-exposed macrophages and microglia killed neural cells in culture, the addition of LPS to IL4/IL13-treated macrophages and microglia profoundly elevated IL10, repair metabolites, heparin binding epidermal growth factor trophic factor, antioxidants, and matrix-remodeling proteases. In C57BL/6 female mice, the generation of M(LPS/IL4/IL13) macrophages required TLR4 and MyD88 signaling, downstream activation of phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase/mTOR and MAP kinases, and convergence on phospho-CREB, STAT6, and NFE2. Following mouse spinal cord demyelination, local LPS/IL4/IL13 deposition markedly increased lesional phagocytic macrophages/microglia, lactate and heparin binding epidermal growth factor, matrix remodeling, oligodendrogenesis, and remyelination. Our data show that a prominent reparative state of macrophages/microglia is generated by the unexpected integration of pro- and anti-inflammatory activation cues. The results have translational potential, as the LPS/IL4/IL13 mixture could be locally applied to a focal CNS injury to enhance neural regeneration and recovery.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The combination of LPS and regulatory IL4 and IL13 signaling in macrophages and microglia produces a previously unknown and particularly reparative phenotype devoid of pro-inflammatory neurotoxic features. The local administration of LPS/IL4/IL13 into spinal cord lesion elicits profound oligodendrogenesis and remyelination. The careful use of LPS and IL4/IL13 mixture could harness the known benefits of neuroinflammation to enable repair in neurologic insults.

Metabolic Framework for the Improvement of Autism Spectrum Disorders by a Modified Ketogenic Diet: A Pilot Study.

The ketogenic diet (KD) can improve the core features of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in some children, but the effects on the overall metabolism remain unclear. This pilot study investigated the behavioral parameters in relation to blood metabolites and trace elements in a cohort of 10 typically developed controls (TC) and 17 children with ASD at baseline and following 3 months of treatment with a modified KD regimen. A nontargeted, multiplatform metabolomic approach was employed, including gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. The associations among plasma metabolites, trace elements, and behavior scores were investigated. Employing a combination of metabolomic platforms, 118 named metabolites and 73 trace elements were assessed. Relative to TC, a combination of glutamate, galactonate, and glycerol discriminated ASD with 88% accuracy. ASD had higher concentrations of galactose intermediates, gut microbe-derived trimethylamine N-oxide and N-acetylserotonin, and lower concentrations of 3-hydroxybutyrate and selenium at baseline. Following 3 months of KD intervention, the levels of circulating ketones and acetylcarnitine were increased. KD restored lower selenium levels in ASD to that of controls, and correlation analysis identified a novel negative correlation between the changes in selenium and behavior scores. Based on the different behavior responses to KD, we found that high responders had greater concentrations of 3-hydroxybutyrate and ornithine, with lower galactose. These findings enhance our current understanding of the metabolic derangements present in ASD and may be of utility in predicting favorable responses to KD intervention.

Multimodal peripheral fluid biomarker analysis in clinically isolated syndrome and early multiple sclerosis.

BACKGROUND: Increasing evidence suggests that various inflammatory, immunological and metabolic pathways are altered in the clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) of multiple sclerosis (MS). Moreover, recent diagnostic criteria have made possible the very early diagnosis of MS. We evaluated multiple fluid biomarkers in people with early MS and CIS. METHODS: We measured blood levels of cytokines, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), serum metabolomics and immune cell immunophenotyping in participants in the Trial of Minocycline in a Clinically Isolated Syndrome of Multiple Sclerosis. RESULTS: When compared with healthy controls, people with early MS/CIS had higher levels of eotaxin, MCP-3, IL-1 receptor antagonist, IL-1ß, IL-9 and IP-10, as well as MMPs 1, 8 and 9. In metabolomics analysis, the alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism and the synthesis and degradation of ketone bodies pathways were altered compared to healthy controls. There were no differences in lymphocyte subpopulation numbers. Out of all these biomarkers, only MMP-1 was able to differentiate between early MS and CIS, and was found to correlate with lesion volume and gadolinium enhancing lesions on MRI. CONCLUSION: The immunological and metabolic profile of CIS and early MS is remarkably similar, supporting that these are a continuum of a common underlying pathophysiological process.

HMDB: the Human Metabolome Database.

The Human Metabolome Database (HMDB) is currently the most complete and comprehensive curated collection of human metabolite and human metabolism data in the world. It contains records for more than 2180 endogenous metabolites with information gathered from thousands of books, journal articles and electronic databases. In addition to its comprehensive literature-derived data, the HMDB also contains an extensive collection of experimental metabolite concentration data compiled from hundreds of mass spectra (MS) and Nuclear Magnetic resonance (NMR) metabolomic analyses performed on urine, blood and cerebrospinal fluid samples. This is further supplemented with thousands of NMR and MS spectra collected on purified, reference metabolites. Each metabolite entry in the HMDB contains an average of 90 separate data fields including a comprehensive compound description, names and synonyms, structural information, physico-chemical data, reference NMR and MS spectra, biofluid concentrations, disease associations, pathway information, enzyme data, gene sequence data, SNP and mutation data as well as extensive links to images, references and other public databases. Extensive searching, relational querying and data browsing tools are also provided. The HMDB is designed to address the broad needs of biochemists, clinical chemists, physicians, medical geneticists, nutritionists and members of the metabolomics community. The HMDB is available at: www.hmdb.ca.

Investigation of selective cytotoxicity and determination of ligand induced apoptosis of a new acenaphtho [1,2-b] quinoxaline derivative.

Several new acenaphtho[1,2-b]quinoxaline derivatives were prepared by the reaction of o-phenylenediamines with acenaphthenequinones. The response of different carcinoid cell lines to these compounds were evaluated by MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) assay and trypan blue exclusion tests. The cytotoxicity of 3,4-dinitroacenaphtho[1,2-b]quinoxaline (IIId) on the tested cell lines was confirmed by both tests. Furthermore, the MTT test showed a significant difference (p < 0.05) between the cytotoxicity of this compound on malignant cell lines of Caco-2, HT-29, T47D and non malignant mouse fibroblast cell line of NIH-3T3. An apoptosis inducing effect of compound IIId on K562 cells was detected by flow cytometry using Annexin-V-fluorescein isothiocyanate (AnV-FITC) and propidium iodide (PI) staining. The apoptosis induction (PI-/AnV+) in treated K562 cells was significantly (p < 0.01) more at 0.5 microg/ml concentration of compound IIId in comparison to all other concentrations of this compound and also doxorubicin (CAS 25316-40-9) (250 nM).

Metabolic footprinting study of white spruce somatic embryogenesis using NMR spectroscopy.

White spruce is an important commercial species for reforestation. The success in its propagation through somatic embryogenesis is well documented; however the physiological processes involved are poorly understood and remain unoptimized. The variable quality embryos generated in vitro from the same genotype suggest control at the protein and metabolite level. In order to probe metabolic changes, we have conducted a "metabolic footprinting" study, whereby culture media from growing cells was quantitatively analyzed to determine which metabolites were consumed and excreted. Such experiments are advantageous in that there is no need to quench cellular metabolism or extract intracellular metabolites through time-consuming protocols. In this paper we demonstrate the application of the footprinting assay to somatic embryo cells of white spruce (Picea glauca) using 1D (1)H NMR spectroscopy. We have surveyed embryogenesis metabolism in two types of media, maintenance (MN) and maturation (MT). MN medium does not result in shoot apical meristem (SAM) formation, while MT medium induces the necessary changes leading to fully developed somatic embryos. The two types of media were easily distinguished using metabolomics analysis, namely multivariate pattern recognition statistics (orthogonal partial least squares discriminatory analysis). From this analysis, we have identified numerous compounds involved with branched chain amino acid pathways such as valine and isoleucine. These results are explained on the basis of known metabolic pathways implicated in plant and animal developmental processes, and ultimately implicate altered CoA biosynthesis.

An inflammatory arthritis-associated metabolite biomarker pattern revealed by 1H NMR spectroscopy.

Rheumatoid arthritis, a debilitating, systemic inflammatory joint disease, is likely accompanied by alterations in circulating metabolites. Here, an 1H NMR spectroscopy-based metabolomics approach was developed to establish a metabolic 'biomarker pattern' in a model of rheumatoid arthritis, the K/BxN transgenic mouse. Sera obtained from arthritic K/BxN mice (N = 15) and a control population (N = 19) having the same genetic background, but lacking the arthritogenic T-cell receptor KRN transgene, were compared by 1H NMR spectroscopy. A unique method was developed by combining technologies such as ultrafiltration to remove proteins from serum samples, quantitative 'targeted profiling' of known metabolites, pseudo-quantitative profiling of unknown resonances, a supervised O-PLS-DA pattern recognition analysis, and a metabolic-pathway based network analysis for interpretation of results. In total, 88 spectral features were profiled (59 metabolites and 28 unknown resonances). A highly significant subset of 18 spectral features (15 known compounds and 3 unknown resonances) was identified (p = 0.00075 using MANOVA) that we term a 'metabolic bioprofile'. We identified metabolites relating to nucleic acid, amino acid, and fatty acid metabolism, as well as lipolysis, reactive oxygen species generation, and methylation. Pathway analysis suggested a shift from metabolites involved in numerous reactions (hub-metabolites) toward intermediates and metabolic endpoints associated with arthritis. The results attest to the metabolic complexity of systemic inflammation and to the power of the experimental approach for identifying a wide variety of disease-associated marker candidates. The diagnostic and prognostic implications of monitoring a spectrum of metabolic events simultaneously using serum samples is discussed with respect to the potential for individualized medicine.