Project description:BackgroundDolutegravir (DTG), an integrase strand inhibitor, is currently used as the first-line treatment for HIV. Despite relatively poor tissue penetration, the risk of adverse effects in metabolic and excretory systems should be considered. The trace aminergic system and trace amines are emerging as relevant role players in many chronic diseases that are commonly diagnosed but poorly understood. Trace amines are biogenic amines that are endogenously produced and can also be ingested by the intake of trace amine-rich food. Trace amines are known to differentially regulate inflammatory and neurological outcome.ObjectiveThis study investigated the effects of DTG on the trace amine profile in a wistar rat model.MethodsA total of 24 healthy wistar rats were randomly divided into four experimental groups: male and female controls and male and female DTG-treated. Blood and tissue samples were collected following a 12-week DTG administration study. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectroscopy (LC-MS/MS) was used to determine trace amine concentrations in urine, plasma, brain, and gastrointestinal tissue.ResultsCurrent data illustrate that polyamines differ significantly (p < 0.05) between males and females in various matrices. DTG significantly (p < 0.05) reduced jejunal tyramine and urinary synephrine levels.ConclusionData do not raise major concerns about DTG in the context of the trace amine profile. However, given the importance of the dysregulated trace amine profile in various diseased states, including HIV, current data warrant clinical investigation to further evaluate the significance of DTG-associated effects on the trace amine profile.
Project description:RationaleAlcohol and nicotine co-dependence is common in humans, and nicotine increases alcohol drinking in humans without alcohol use disorder (AUD). Nevertheless, there is little basic research on the interactions between the reinforcing effects of these two drugs.ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to investigate the effects of chronic nicotine injections on oral alcohol self-administration in alcohol non-dependent rats.MethodsAfter stable alcohol self-administration was reached (baseline) and a period without alcohol access, adult male rats were treated with chronic nicotine or saline injections for 105 days during which time they were tested intermittently for alcohol self-administration. There were 3 experimental groups: (1) saline, rats treated with saline for 105 days; (2) early nicotine, rats treated with nicotine for 70 days, and then with saline for 35 days; and (3) late nicotine: rats treated with saline for 35 days, and then with nicotine for 70 days.ResultsOur results indicate that (1) chronic nicotine increases alcohol consumption regardless of whether exposure to alcohol was interrupted (early nicotine) or not (late nicotine) before the start of nicotine treatment, (2) the number of alcohol reinforcements correlates to blood-alcohol levels, and (3) alcohol self-administration rapidly decreases when nicotine is no longer available (early nicotine).ConclusionsThese discoveries may have clinical implications in social drinkers that use nicotine products, in that chronic nicotine can escalate alcohol drinking and cessation of nicotine exposure may decrease alcohol use.
Project description:Metabolic diseases are a worldwide health problem. Insulin resistance (IR) is their distinctive hallmark. For their study, animal models that provide reliable information are necessary, permitting the analysis of the cluster of abnormalities that conform to it, its progression, and time-dependent molecular modifications. We aimed to develop an IR model by exogenous insulin administration. The effective dose of insulin glargine to generate hyperinsulinemia but without hypoglycemia was established. Then, two groups (control and insulin) of male Wistar rats of 100 g weight were formed. The selected dose (4 U/kg) was administered for 15, 30, 45, and 60 days. Zoometry, a glucose tolerance test, insulin response, IR, and the serum lipid profile were assessed. We evaluated insulin signaling, glycogenesis and lipogenesis, redox balance, and inflammation in the liver. Results showed an impairment of glucose tolerance, dyslipidemia, hyperinsulinemia, and peripheral and time-dependent selective IR. At the hepatic level, insulin signaling was impaired, resulting in reduced hepatic glycogen levels and triglyceride accumulation, an increase in the ROS level with MAPK-ERK1/2 response, and mild pro-oxidative microenvironmental sustained by MT, GSH, and GR activity. Hepatic IR coincides with additions in MAPK-p38, NF-κB, and zoometric changes. In conclusion, daily insulin glargine administration generated a progressive IR model. At the hepatic level, the IR was combined with oxidative conditions but without inflammation.
Project description:The Wistar-Furth (WF) rat is protected against chronic renal disease (CRD) following 5/6th ablation/infarction vs. the Sprague-Dawley (SD) rat, and protection was associated with preserved renal nitric oxide (NO) production. This study examined CRD induced with repeated administration of puromycin aminonucleoside (PAN). SD PAN developed nephrotic range proteinuria (>1 g/24 h), and at 15 wk severe renal injury developed and the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was reduced to approximately 10% of sham. Total NO production, renal NO synthase (NOS) activity, and renal neuronal (n) and medullary endothelial (e)NOS abundance were reduced in the SD PAN. WF PAN exhibited less severe initial proteinuria (>400 mg/24 h), which abated within weeks, whereas GFR was normal and injury was minimal at 15 wk. Total NO production and renal NOS activity and abundance were significantly elevated compared with SD PAN. NOS mRNA (nNOS, eNOS, and inducible NOS) was not altered in WF, whereas SD showed significant increases in NOS gene expression with PAN. In conclusion, WF showed resistance to a second model of CRD with maintained renal NOS activity compared with SD.
Project description:The Wistar Audiogenic Rat (WAR) is a model whose rats are predisposed to develop seizures following acoustic stimulation. We aimed to establish the transcriptional profile of the WAR model, searching for genes that help in understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in the predisposition and seizures expression of this strain. RNA-Seq of the corpora quadrigemina of WAR and Wistar rats subjected to acoustic stimulation revealed 64 genes differentially regulated in WAR. We validated twelve of these genes by qPCR in stimulated and naive (nonstimulated) WAR and Wistar rats. Among these, Acsm3 was upregulated in WAR in comparison with both control groups. In contrast, Gpr126 and Rtel1 were downregulated in naive and stimulated WAR rats in comparison with the Wistar controls. Qdpr was upregulated only in stimulated WAR rats that exhibited audiogenic seizures. Our data show that there are genes with differential intrinsic regulation in the WAR model and that seizures can alter gene regulation. We identified new genes that might be involved in the epileptic phenotype and comorbidities of the WAR model.
Project description:Background/aimChronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has become a prominent healthcare issue in recent years. Cigarette smoking (CS) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) are important causative factors for COPD. This study assessed the aberrant lncRNA profiles in the tissue of rats with COPD caused by CS or PM2.5 Materials and Methods: A COPD rat model was developed using CS (CSM) or PM2.5 (PMM), and lung tissue RNA was extracted. The Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopaedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) were used to investigate the correlations between the distinct lncRNAs and mRNA pathways. A coding-non-coding gene co-expression network (CNC) was constructed by establishing connections between differentially expressed long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and messenger RNAs (mRNAs) associated with mitochondrial dysfunction and the inflammatory response.ResultsA quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) experiment was performed to verify the expression of the particular lncRNAs. Microarray analysis of lung tissue from the COPD model revealed that 123 and 444 lncRNAs were substantially raised and reduced in PMM vs. the control group (Ctrl), respectively, as were 621 and 1,178 mRNAs. Meanwhile, 81 and 340 lncRNAs were consistently raised and lowered in CSM vs. Ctrl, respectively, as were 408 and 931 mRNAs. GO enrichment and KEGG pathway analysis indicated that the COPD model was connected to inflammatory responses, mitochondrial dysfunction, and others.ConclusionXR_340674, ENSRNOT00000089642, XR_597045, and XR_340651 were decreased, and XR_592469 was elevated. These lncRNAs were shown to be related to mitochondrial dysfunction in the lung tissue of animals exposed to CS or PM2.5.
Project description:We have previously showed that defatted mealworm fermentation extract (MWF) attenuates alcoholic liver injury by regulating lipid, inflammatory, and antioxidant metabolism in chronic alcohol-fed rats. The current metabolomics study was performed to monitor biochemical events following the administration of MWF (daily for eight weeks) to a rat model of alcoholic liver injury by gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). The levels of 15 amino acids (AAs), 17 organic acids (OAs), and 19 free fatty acids (FFAs) were measured in serum. Analysis of variance (ANOVA), principal component analysis (PCA), and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) were used to compare the levels of 51 metabolites in serum. In particular, 3-hydroxybutyric acid (3-HB), pyroglutamic acid (PG), octadecanoic acid, and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) were evaluated as high variable importance point (VIP) scores and PCA loading scores as determined by PLS-DA and PCA, and these were significantly higher in the MWF and silymarin groups than in the EtOH group. MWF showed a protective effect from alcohol-induced liver damage by elevating hepatic β-oxidation activity, and serum 3-HB levels were significantly higher in the MWF group than in the EtOH control group. Glycine levels were higher in the MWF group than in the EtOH group, and PG levels (related to glutathione production) were also elevated, indicating a reduction in alcohol-related oxidative stress. In addition, MWF is protected from alcohol-induced inflammation and steatosis by increasing serum DHA, palmitic, and octadecanoic acid levels as compared with the EtOH group. These results suggest that MWF might attenuate alcoholic liver disease, due to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects by up-regulating hepatic β-oxidation activity and down-regulating liver FFA uptake.
Project description:Opioid transport into the central nervous system is crucial for the analgesic efficacy of opioid drugs. Thus, the pharmacokinetics of opioid analgesics such as morphine have been extensively studied in systemic circulation and the brain. While opioid metabolites are routinely detected in the vitreous fluid of the eye during postmortem toxicological analyses, the pharmacokinetics of morphine within the retina of the eye remains largely unexplored. In this study, we measured morphine in mouse retina following systemic exposure. We showed that morphine deposits and persists in the retina long after levels have dropped in the serum. Moreover, we found that morphine concentrations (ng/mg tissue) in the retina exceeded brain morphine concentrations at all time points tested. Perhaps most intriguingly, these data indicate that following chronic systemic exposure, morphine accumulates in the retina, but not in the brain or serum. These results suggest that morphine can accumulate in the retina following chronic use, which could contribute to the deleterious effects of chronic opioid use on both image-forming and non-image-forming visual functions.
Project description:Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) is a brominated flame retardant used globally at high volumes, primarily in the epoxy resin of circuit boards. It has been detected in the environment and in humans. The National Toxicology Program found that chronic oral TBBPA treatment of 250mg/kg and higher caused an increased incidence of uterine lesions in female Wistar Han rats. The present laboratory has previously reported changes in gene expression associated with estrogen homeostasis in liver and uterine tissue of adult female Wistar Han rats after five days of gavage with 250mg/kg of TBBPA. Microarray analysis of tissue from these same TBBPA-treated rats was performed to detect additional pathways perturbed by TBBPA. Microarray analysis of uterine tissue detected downregulation of genes in pathways of the immune response following TBBPA treatment. These results, along with validation of associated gene expression changes using droplet digital PCR, are reported here. Our findings suggest mechanisms that may be related to estrogen-mediated immunosuppression.