Glycyrrhizin attenuates hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury by suppressing HMGB1-dependent GSDMD-mediated kupffer cells pyroptosis.

Gasdermin D (GSDMD), a genetic substrate for inflammatory caspases, plays a central role in pyroptosis of macrophages and release of interleukin­1ß (IL-1ß), but was mainly referred to microbial infection. High mobility group box-1 (HMGB1), served as an alarm molecule during various pathological process, has been widely recognized to be involved in liver ischemia-reperfusion (I/R). Glycyrrhizin, a natural anti-inflammatory and antiviral triterpene in clinical use, was recently referred to have ability to prevent I/R induced liver injury by inhibiting HMGB1 expression and activity. However, the mechanisms responsible for damage amelioration subsequently to HMGB1 inhibition during liver I/R remain enigmatic. This study was designed to explore the functional role and molecular mechanism of glycyrrhizin in the regulation of I/R induced liver injury. We found that liver I/R promotes GSDMD-mediated pyroptotic cell death of Kupffer cells, which was inhibited by glycyrrhizin. Interestingly, endogenous HMGB1, not exogenous one, was involved in hypoxia-reoxygenation (H/R) induced pyroptosis. Moreover, GSDMD knockdown protects kupffer cells against H/R induced pyroptosis in vitro. Here, we report, for the first time, that glycyrrhizin attenuated tissue damage and kupffer cells pyroptosis during liver ischemia-reperfusion injury (LIRI) and identify a previously unrecognized HMGB1- dependent GSDMD- mediated signaling pathway in the mechanism of kupffer cells pyroptosis induced by H/R. Our findings provide the first demonstration of GSDMD-determined pyroptotic cell death responsible for I/R induced release of IL-1ß and this would provide a mandate to better understand the unconventional mechanisms of cytokine release in the sterile innate immune system.

Alterations of digestive enzyme activities, intestinal morphology and microbiota in juvenile paddlefish, Polyodon spathula, fed dietary probiotics.

The effects of dietary supplementation of probiotics on digestive enzymes activities, intestinal morphology and microbiota in juvenile paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) were studied. A total of 400 fish were reared in two cages and fed with a basal diet (control group, CG) or diet supplemented with commercial probiotics (treatment group, TG) for 80 days. Enzymes activities analysis indicated that protease and α-amylase activities increased (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05) in TG. Light microscopy observation demonstrated the decrease of wall thickness and muscularis thickness in foregut (P < 0.01), the increase of those in hindgut (P < 0.05), the increase of folds height in foregut (P < 0.01) and midgut in TG (P < 0.05). DGGE results of PCR-amplified 16S rRNA confirmed that the richness and diversity of intestinal microbial species increased in TG. The similarity between the commercial bacteria product and intestinal microbiota of TG were higher than the microbiota from CG. The quantities of bacterium, Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Fusobacteria, present an increasing trend from foregut to hindgut both in two groups. To our knowledge, this is the first in vivo study to reveal the effect of dietary probiotics on intestinal digestive enzymes activities, morphology and microbiota in paddlefish.