Formation, Signaling and Occurrence of Specialized Pro-Resolving Lipid Mediators-What is the Evidence so far?

Formation of specialized pro-resolving lipid mediators (SPMs) such as lipoxins or resolvins usually involves arachidonic acid 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO, ALOX5) and different types of arachidonic acid 12- and 15-lipoxygenating paralogues (15-LO1, ALOX15; 15-LO2, ALOX15B; 12-LO, ALOX12). Typically, SPMs are thought to be formed via consecutive steps of oxidation of polyenoic fatty acids such as arachidonic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid or docosahexaenoic acid. One hallmark of SPM formation is that reported levels of these lipid mediators are much lower than typical pro-inflammatory mediators including the monohydroxylated fatty acid derivatives (e.g., 5-HETE), leukotrienes or certain cyclooxygenase-derived prostaglandins. Thus, reliable detection and quantification of these metabolites is challenging. This paper is aimed at critically evaluating i) the proposed biosynthetic pathways of SPM formation, ii) the current knowledge on SPM receptors and their signaling cascades and iii) the analytical methods used to quantify these pro-resolving mediators in the context of their instability and their low concentrations. Based on current literature it can be concluded that i) there is at most, a low biosynthetic capacity for SPMs in human leukocytes. ii) The identity and the signaling of the proposed G-protein-coupled SPM receptors have not been supported by studies in knock-out mice and remain to be validated. iii) In humans, SPM levels were neither related to dietary supplementation with their ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid precursors nor were they formed during the resolution phase of an evoked inflammatory response. iv) The reported low SPM levels cannot be reliably quantified by means of the most commonly reported methodology. Overall, these questions regarding formation, signaling and occurrence of SPMs challenge their role as endogenous mediators of the resolution of inflammation.

Accounting for Time: Circadian Rhythms in the Time of COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated novel approaches and collaborative efforts across multiple disciplines. It is known that various aspects of our physiology and response to pathogens are under tight clock control. However, the assimilation of circadian biology into our clinical and research practices is still evolving. Using a focused review of the literature and original analyses of the UK Biobank, we discuss how circadian biology may inform our diagnostic and therapeutic strategies in this pandemic.

Guidelines for the design and conduct of human clinical trials on ingestion-time differences - chronopharmacology and chronotherapy - of hypertension medications.

Current hypertension guidelines fail to provide a recommendation on when-to-treat, thus disregarding relevant circadian rhythms that regulate blood pressure (BP) level and 24 h patterning and medication pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. The ideal purpose of ingestion-time (chronopharmacology, i.e. biological rhythm-dependent effects on the kinetics and dynamics of medications, and chronotherapy, i.e. the timing of pharmaceutical and other treatments to optimize efficacy and safety) trials should be to explore the potential impact of endogenous circadian rhythms on the effects of medications. Such investigations and outcome trials mandate adherence to the basic standards of human chronobiology research. In-depth review of the more than 150 human hypertension pharmacology and therapeutic trials published since 1974 that address the differential impact of upon-waking/morning versus at-bedtime/evening schedule of treatment reveals diverse protocols of sometimes suboptimal or defective design and conduct. Many have been "time-of-day," i.e. morning versus evening, rather than circadian-time-based, and some relied on wake-time office BP rather than around-the-clock ambulatory BP measurements (ABPM). Additionally, most past studies have been of too small sample size and thus statistically underpowered. As of yet, there has been no consensual agreement on the proper design, methods and conduct of such trials. This Position Statement recommends ingestion-time hypertension trials to follow minimum guidelines: (i) Recruitment of participants should be restricted to hypertensive individuals diagnosed according to ABPM diagnostic thresholds and of a comparable activity/sleep routine. (ii) Tested treatment-times should be selected according to internal biological time, expressed by the awakening and bed times of the sleep/wake cycle. (iii) ABPM should be the primary or sole method of BP assessment. (iv) The minimum-required features for analysis of the ABPM-determined 24 h BP pattern ought to be the asleep (not "nighttime") BP mean and sleep-time relative BP decline, calculated in reference to the activity/rest cycle per individual. (v) ABPM-obtained BP means should be derived by the so-called adjusted calculation procedure, not by inaccurate arithmetic averages. (vi) ABPM should be performed with validated and calibrated devices at least hourly throughout two or more consecutive 24 h periods (48 h in total) to achieve the highest reproducibility of mean wake-time, sleep-time and 48 h BP values plus the reliable classification of dipping status. (vii) Calculation of minimum required sample size in adherence with proper statistical methods must be provided. (viii) Hypertension chronopharmacology and chronotherapy trials should preferably be randomized double-blind, randomized open-label with blinded-endpoint, or crossover in design, the latter with sufficient washout period between tested treatment-time regimens.

Time-Dependent Hypotensive Effect of Aspirin in Mice.

Objective- Evening but not morning administration of low-dose aspirin has been reported to lower blood pressure in hypertensive patients. The present study was designed to determine whether this phenomenon could be replicated in mice, and if so, whether a time-dependent effect of aspirin on blood pressure was because of alteration of circadian clock function. Approach and Results- We recapitulated the protective effect of aspirin (50 µg/d for 7 days) at zeitgeber time 0 (active-to-rest transit), but not at zeitgeber time 12, on a high-salt diet-induced increase of blood pressure. However, the time of aspirin administration did not influence expression of canonical clock genes or their acetylation. We used mouse Bmal1 and Per2-luciferase reporters expressed in U2OS cells to determine the real-time effect of aspirin on circadian function but found that the oscillation of bioluminescence was unaltered. Timing of aspirin administration also failed to alter urinary prostaglandin metabolites or catecholamines, or the acetylation of its COX-1 (cyclooxygenase-1) target in platelets. Conclusions- The time-dependent hypotensive effect of aspirin in humans has been recapitulated in hypertensive mice. However, this does not seem to reflect a direct impact of aspirin on circadian clocks or on acetylation of platelet COX-1.

CMPF, a Metabolite Formed Upon Prescription Omega-3-Acid Ethyl Ester Supplementation, Prevents and Reverses Steatosis.

Prescription ω-3 fatty acid ethyl ester supplements are commonly used for the treatment of hypertriglyceridemia. However, the metabolic profile and effect of the metabolites formed by these treatments remain unknown. Here we utilized unbiased metabolomics to identify 3-carboxy-4-methyl-5-propyl-2-furanpropanoic acid (CMPF) as a significant metabolite of the ω-3-acid ethyl ester prescription Lovaza™ in humans. Administration of CMPF to mice before or after high-fat diet feeding at exposures equivalent to those observed in humans increased whole-body lipid metabolism, improved insulin sensitivity, increased beta-oxidation, reduced lipogenic gene expression, and ameliorated steatosis. Mechanistically, we find that CMPF acutely inhibits ACC activity, and induces long-term loss of SREBP1c and ACC1/2 expression. This corresponds to an induction of FGF21, which is required for long-term steatosis protection, as FGF21KO mice are refractory to the improved metabolic effects. Thus, CMPF treatment in mice parallels the effects of human Lovaza™ supplementation, revealing that CMPF may contribute to the improved metabolic effects observed with ω-3 fatty acid prescriptions.

Bioactive products formed in humans from fish oils.

Resolvins, maresins, and protectins can be formed from fish oils. These specialized pro-resolving mediators (SPMs) have been implicated in the resolution of inflammation. Synthetic versions of such SPMs exert anti-inflammatory effects in vitro and when administered to animal models. However, their importance as endogenous products formed in sufficient amounts to exert anti-inflammatory actions in vivo remains speculative. We biased our ability to detect SPMs formed in healthy volunteers by supplementing fish oil in doses shown previously to influence blood pressure and platelet aggregation under placebo-controlled conditions. Additionally, we sought to determine the relative formation of SPMs during an acute inflammatory response and its resolution, evoked in healthy volunteers by bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Bioactive lipids, enzymatic epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs), and free radical-catalyzed prostanoids [isoprostanes (iPs)] formed from arachidonic acid and the fish oils, served as comparators. Despite the clear shift from ω-6 to ω-3 EETs and iPs, we failed to detect a consistent signal, in most cases, of SPM formation in urine or plasma in response to fish oil, and in all cases in response to LPS on a background of fish oil. Our results question the relevance of these SPMs to the putative anti-inflammatory effects of fish oils in humans.

Obesity in mice with adipocyte-specific deletion of clock component Arntl.

Adipocytes store excess energy in the form of triglycerides and signal the levels of stored energy to the brain. Here we show that adipocyte-specific deletion of Arntl (also known as Bmal1), a gene encoding a core molecular clock component, results in obesity in mice with a shift in the diurnal rhythm of food intake, a result that is not seen when the gene is disrupted in hepatocytes or pancreatic islets. Changes in the expression of hypothalamic neuropeptides that regulate appetite are consistent with feedback from the adipocyte to the central nervous system to time feeding behavior. Ablation of the adipocyte clock is associated with a reduced number of polyunsaturated fatty acids in adipocyte triglycerides. This difference between mutant and wild-type mice is reflected in the circulating concentrations of polyunsaturated fatty acids and nonesterified polyunsaturated fatty acids in hypothalamic neurons that regulate food intake. Thus, this study reveals a role for the adipocyte clock in the temporal organization of energy regulation, highlights timing as a modulator of the adipocyte-hypothalamic axis and shows the impact of timing of food intake on body weight.

Microsomal prostaglandin e2 synthase-1 modulates the response to vascular injury.

BACKGROUND: Microsomal (m) prostaglandin (PG) E2 synthase (S)-1 catalyzes the formation of PGE2 from PGH2, a cyclooxygenase product that is derived from arachidonic acid. Previous studies in mice suggest that targeting mPGES-1 may be less likely to cause hypertension or thrombosis than cyclooxygenase-2-selective inhibition or deletion in vivo. Indeed, deletion of mPGES-1 retards atherogenesis and angiotensin II-induced aortic aneurysm formation. The role of mPGES-1 in the response to vascular injury is unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS: Mice were subjected to wire injury of the femoral artery. Both neointimal area and vascular stenosis were significantly reduced 4 weeks after injury in mPGES-1 knockout mice compared with wild-type controls (65.6 ± 5.7 versus 37.7 ± 5.1 × 10³ pixel area and 70.5 ± 13.4% versus 47.7 ± 17.4%, respectively; P < 0.01). Induction of tenascin-C, a proproliferative and promigratory extracellular matrix protein, after injury was attenuated in the knockouts. Consistent with in vivo rediversion of PG biosynthesis, mPGES-1-deleted vascular smooth muscle cells generated less PGE2 but more PGI2 and expressed reduced tenascin-C compared with wild-type cells. Both suppression of PGE2 and augmentation of PGI2 attenuate tenascin-C expression and vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation and migration in vitro. CONCLUSIONS: Deletion of mPGES-1 in mice attenuates neointimal hyperplasia after vascular injury, in part by regulating tenascin-C expression. This raises for consideration the therapeutic potential of mPGES-1 inhibitors as adjuvant therapy for percutaneous coronary intervention.

Traditional nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and postmenopausal hormone therapy: a drug-drug interaction?

BACKGROUND: Suppression of prostacyclin (PGI2) is implicated in the cardiovascular hazard from inhibitors of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2. Furthermore, estrogen confers atheroprotection via COX-2-dependent PGI2 in mice, raising the possibility that COX inhibitors may undermine the cardioprotection, suggested by observational studies, of endogenous or exogenous estrogens. METHODS AND FINDINGS: To identify an interaction between hormone therapy (HT) and COX inhibition, we measured a priori the association between concomitant nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), excluding aspirin, in peri- and postmenopausal women on HT and the incidence of myocardial infarction (MI) in a population-based epidemiological study. The odds ratio (OR) of MI in 1,673 individuals and 7,005 controls was increased from 0.66 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.50-0.88) when taking HT in the absence of traditional (t)NSAIDs to 1.50 (95% CI 0.85-2.64) when taking the combination of HT and tNSAIDs, resulting in a significant (p < 0.002) interaction. The OR when taking aspirin at doses of 150 mg/d or more was 1.41 (95% CI 0.47-4.22). However, a similar interaction was not observed with other commonly used drugs, including lower doses of aspirin, which target preferentially COX-1. CONCLUSIONS: Whether estrogens confer cardioprotection remains controversial. Such a benefit was observed only in perimenopausal women in the only large randomized trial designed to address this issue. Should such a benefit exist, these results raise the possibility that COX inhibitors may undermine the cardioprotective effects of HT.

Oxidized derivatives of omega-3 fatty acids: identification of IPF3 alpha-VI in human urine.

Isoprostanes (iPs) are prostaglandin-like molecules derived from autoxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Urinary iP levels have been used as indices of in vivo lipid peroxidation. Thus far, it has only been possible to measure iPs derived from arachidonic acid in urine, because levels of iPs/neuroprostanes (nPs) derived from omega 3-PUFAs have been found to be below detection limits of available assays. Because of the interest in omega3-PUFA dietary supplementation, we developed specific methods to measure nPF4 alpha-VI and iPF3 alpha-VI [derived from 4,7,10,13,16,19-docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and 5,8,11,14,17-eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)] using a combination of chemical synthesis, gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), and liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS). Although nPF4 alpha-VI was below the detection limit of the assay, we conclusively identified iPF3 alpha-VI in human urine by GC/MS and LC/MS/MS. The mean levels in 26 subjects were approximately 300 pg/mg creatinine. Our failure to detect nPF4 alpha-VI may have been due to its rapid metabolism by beta-oxidation to iPF3 alpha-VI, which we showed to occur in rat liver homogenates. In contrast, iPF3 alpha-VI is highly resistant to beta-oxidation in vitro. Thus iPF3 alpha-VI can be formed by two mechanisms: i) direct autoxidation of EPA, and ii) beta-oxidation of nPF4 alpha-VI, formed by autoxidation of DHA. This iP may therefore serve as an excellent marker for the combined in vivo peroxidation of EPA and DHA.

Central and peripheral clocks in cardiovascular and metabolic function.

The molecular circadian clock entrains biological rhythms to a 24-hour schedule. Aspects of cardiovascular physiology and, indeed, the incidence of myocardial infarction and stroke are also subject to diurnal variation. The use of rodent models of disrupted clock function has begun to elucidate the role of the molecular clock in the pathophysiology of cardiovascular and metabolic disease.

Biosynthesis of 15-deoxy-delta12,14-PGJ2 and the ligation of PPARgamma.

15-deoxy-Delta12,14-PGJ2 (15d-PGJ2) has been identified as an endogenous ligand for PPARgamma, inducing adipogenesis in vitro. Additional roles for this molecule in the propagation and resolution of inflammation, ligation of NF-kappaB, and mediation of apoptosis have been proposed. However, quantitative, physiochemical evidence for the formation of 15d-PGJ2 in vivo is lacking. We report that 15d-PGJ2 is detectable using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-mass spectrometry at low picomolar concentrations in the medium of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. However, despite induction of COX-2, production of PGs, including 15d-PGJ2, does not increase during adipocyte differentiation, a process unaltered by COX inhibition. 15d-PGJ2 is detectable as a minor product of COX-2 in human urine. However, its biosynthesis is unaltered during or after COX activation in vivo by LPS. Furthermore, the biosynthesis of 15d-PGJ2 is not augmented in the joint fluid of patients with arthritis, nor is its urinary excretion increased in patients with diabetes or obesity. 15d-PGJ2 is not the endogenous mediator of PPARgamma-dependent adipocyte activation and is unaltered in clinical settings in which PPARgamma activation has been implicated.

Ultrastructural study of acquisition and retention of potato leafroll luteovirus in the alimentary canal of its aphid vector, Myzus persicae Sulz.

The chronology of PLRV acquisition and retention by Myzus persicae was investigated using electron microscopy. Examination demonstrated a rapid translocation of the virus through the intestine into the haemocoel. Indeed, viral particles could be observed in the intestinal epithelial cells, then in the haemocoel, 4 and 8 h, respectively, after their arrival in the lumen of the alimentary canal. However, the virus accumulated in the intestinal epithelial cells. In these cells, the first viral particles were seen enclosed in isometric or tubular isolated vesicles; a few hours later, they were present in tubular aggregated vesicles and also in lysosomes or multivesicular bodies. After a 40 h acquisition period, all studied intestinal epithelial cells exhibited high numbers of viral particles which were consistently distributed throughout these cell structures. When aphids were removed from viral source, viral particles were detected in intestinal lumen for a further three days and in intestinal epithelial cells for a total of eight days. Virus content in these cells began to decrease from the second day. Areas with tubular aggregated vesicles were maintained for seven days following aphid removal from viral source, but progressively became smaller and fewer. The accumulation and the persistence of PLRV in the intestine are discussed.

Visualization of a luteovirus in the vector aphid's body by two gold immunolabelling techniques: a comparative study.

Two gold immunolabelling techniques using electron microscopy were compared to examine the in situ localization of a luteovirus, potato leafroll virus (PLRV), inside its main aphid vector, Myzus persicae SULZ. With Gildow's technique, virus particles were labelled prior to fixation, embedding by injecting PLRV-specific IgGs into the living aphids. This facilitated the detection of extracellular particles located between the basal lamina and plasmalemma by trapping them in aggregates. The heavy coating of particles by antibodies and gold indicated good labelling sensitivity. Isometric virus-like particles were also observed inside the cytoplasm, but they were non decorated because the cell membrane prevented labelling reagents from entering the cell. With the second technique, ultrathin sections were immunolabelled after fixation-embedding. Since PLRV lost its antigenicity when aphid tissues were normally treated for electron microscopy, the successful application of this technique required fixation in 4% formaldehyde before embedding in Lowicryl at low temperature; it was also necessary to use PLRV-specific monoclonal antibodies to eliminate non-specific reactions. In these conditions, all intra- and extra-cytoplasmic virions present on the surface of sections were surrounded by gold particles, but the antibody coating was not discernible, and, because the resin limited the access of markers to antigens, the inner virus particles were not labelled. In conclusion, both techniques must be applied on the same material to give complementary information.