Lipogenesis from n-butyrate in colonocytes

Cell membranes of colonic epithelial cells (CEC) in ulcerative colitis show structural abnormalities which are specific to the disease and which suggest impaired lipogenesis in CECs. Lipogenesis from [1-¹⁴C]-n-butyrate, the chief oxidative fuel of colonic epithelial cells, was measured in isolated CECs under control conditions, with or without glucose and in the presence of mercaptoacetate, a major reducing agent in the colonic lumen- Glucose significantly (p < 0.01) stimulated lipogenesis from [1-¹⁴C]-butyrate which was reversed by 5 mM mercaptoacetate. Mercaptoacetate significantly diminished CEC thiolase activity (EC 2.3.1.9). 5-Aminosalicylic acid reversed the adverse effects of mercaptoacetate in the saponifiable fraction of extracted lipids. Changes in lipogenesis due to colonic luminal reducing agents would affect the barrier function of CECs a feature relevant to the disease process of ulcerative colitis.     

Picroside III,an Active Ingredient of Picrorhiza scrophulariiflora,Ameliorates Experimental Colitis by Protecting Intestinal Barrier Integrity

This study aims to explore the protective effects of Picroside III, an active ingredient of Picrorhiza scrophulariiflora, on the intestinal epithelial barrier in tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) induced Caco-2 cells and dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) induced colitis in mice. Results show that Picroside III significantly alleviated clinical signs of colitis including body weight loss, disease activity index increase, colon shortening, and colon tissue damage. It also increased claudin-3, ZO-1 and occludin expressions and decreased claudin-2 expression in the colon tissues of mice with colitis. In vitro, Picroside III also significantly promoted wound healing, decreased the permeability of cell monolayer, upregulated the expressions of claudin-3, ZO-1 and occludin and downregulated the expression of claudin-2 in TNF-α treated Caco-2 cells. Mechanism studies show that Picroside III significantly promoted AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) phosphorylation in vitro and in vivo, and blockade with AMPK could significantly attenuate the upregulation of Picroside III in ZO-1 and occludin expressions and the downregulation of claudin-2 expression in TNF-α treated Caco-2 cells. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that Picroside III attenuated DSS-induced colitis by promoting colonic mucosal wound healing and epithelial barrier function recovery via the activation of AMPK.     

水罐疗法联合白头翁汤灌肠对溃疡性结肠炎患者Th1/Th2免疫平衡及肠黏膜屏障功能的影响

摘要 目的：探讨水罐疗法联合白头翁汤灌肠对溃疡性结肠炎（UC）患者Th1/Th2免疫平衡及肠黏膜屏障功能的影响。方法：选取2020年2月~2022年5月期间湖南中医药大学第一附属医院收治的UC患者100例。根据随机数字表法分为对照组（n=50）和研究组（n=50）。对照组患者接受白头翁汤灌肠,研究组在此基础上接受水罐疗法。对比两组疗效、中医证候评分、Th1/Th2免疫平衡及肠黏膜屏障功能变化情况。结果：研究组的总有效率明显高于对照组（P<0.05）。治疗后,两组里急后重、身热不扬、腹泻黏液脓血便、小便短赤、肛门灼热、腹痛、口干口苦等症状评分均降低,且研究组低于对照组同期（P<0.05）。治疗后,两组Th1/Th2相关指标白介素（IL）-2、γ-干扰素（IFN-γ）均降低,且研究组较对照组低;IL-4、IL-10均升高,且研究组较对照组高（P<0.05）。治疗后,两组肠黏膜屏障功能指标二胺氧化酶（DAO）、D-乳酸（D-LA）均降低,且研究组低于对照组同期（P<0.05）。结论：水罐疗法联合白头翁汤灌肠治疗UC患者,总有效率高,可缓解中医证候,疗效显著,对调节患者的Th1/Th2免疫平衡及肠黏膜屏障功能具有重要作用。     

不同发病时期溃疡性结肠炎患者肠道菌群差异及对血清TLRs/NFκB和SOCS3 及Cingulin蛋白水平的影响

目的分析溃疡性结肠炎(UC)患者不同发病时期肠道菌群的差异,同时研究菌群变化及对患者血清TLRs/NFκB、SOCS3、Cingulin蛋白水平的影响。方法选取2015年5月至2017年2月在我院确诊的UC患者为研究对象。将活动性溃疡性结肠炎(AUC)患者和缓解性溃疡性结肠炎(RUC)患者按病情不同分为AUC组(48例)和RUC组(42例)。选取同期在我院发现的结肠息肉患者作为对照组(50例)。对3组患者的肠道菌群分布、Cingulin蛋白表达量、肠黏膜中TLRs/NFκB的表达量和外周血中SOCS3及TNFα水平进行对比。结果UC患者(AUC组及RUC组)肠道大肠埃希菌数量高于对照组,双歧杆菌数量低于对照组;同时RUC组患者肠道乳杆菌数量低于对照组,差异均有统计学意义(均P<0.05)。AUC、RUC组患者结肠组织中Cingulin蛋白的表达量分别为145.06±18.06和122.09±9.07,均显著高于对照组的85.17±8.17;同时AUC、RUC组患者结肠组织中Cingulin蛋白表达量的差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。AUC组和RUC组患者病変肠黏膜中TLR2、TLR4、TLR5、TLR9、NFκB的mRNA表达量均显著高于对照组,同时AUC组患者病変肠黏膜中TLR2、TLR4、TLR5、TLR9、NFκB的mRNA表达量高于RUC组,差异均有统计学意义(均P<0.05)。RUC组患者外周血SOCS3水平高于对照组,AUC组和RUC组患者外周血TNFα水平显著高于对照组,差异均有统计学意义(均P<0.05)。结论TNFα、SOCS3可能参与UC的病程,其在UC患者中存在高表达现象,可导致人体肠道菌群出现紊乱,最终引发人体多部位的炎症应激反应。     

Revealing mechanism of Caulis Sargentodoxae for the treatment of ulcerative colitis based on network pharmacology approach

Objective: The traditional Chinese medicine Caulis Sargentodoxae is widely used in the treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC), but the mechanism remains unknown. The present study aims to reveal its effective components, targets and pathways through network pharmacology and bioinformatics approaches.Materials and methods: Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP) was used to identify effective components. The ligand-based targets prediction was achieved through SwissTargetPrediction and TargetNet. UC-related targets were identified using Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) data and DisGeNET. The common targets of disease and components were constructed and analyzed by PPI network. Lastly, Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses are used to explain the functions of these common targets. Components-Targets-Pathways network was visualized and analyzed to further reveal the connection between the components and targets.Results: Eight active components and 102 key targets were identified to play an important role in UC. These targets were related to regulation of protein serine/threonine kinase activity, positive regulation of cell motility, response to molecule of bacterial origin, response to toxic substance, ERK1 and ERK2 cascade, peptidyl-tyrosine modification, inositol lipid-mediated signaling, cellular response to drug, regulation of inflammatory response and leukocyte migration. Moreover, HIF-1 signaling pathway and PI3K-Akt signaling pathway were the key targets involved in UC-related signaling pathways.Conclusion: The eight active components of Caulis Sargentodoxae mainly play a therapeutic role for UC through synergistic regulation of HIF-1 signaling pathway and PI3K-Akt signaling pathway.     

The Citrobacter rodentium Mouse Model: Studying Pathogen and Host Contributions to Infectious Colitis

This protocol outlines the steps required to produce a robust model of infectious disease and colitis, as well as the methods used to characterize Citrobacter rodentium infection in mice. C. rodentium is a gram negative, murine specific bacterial pathogen that is closely related to the clinically important human pathogens enteropathogenic E. coli and enterohemorrhagic E. coli. Upon infection with C. rodentium, immunocompetent mice suffer from modest and transient weight loss and diarrhea. Histologically, intestinal crypt elongation, immune cell infiltration, and goblet cell depletion are observed. Clearance of infection is achieved after 3 to 4 weeks. Measurement of intestinal epithelial barrier integrity, bacterial load, and histological damage at different time points after infection, allow the characterization of mouse strains susceptible to infection.The virulence mechanisms by which bacterial pathogens colonize the intestinal tract of their hosts, as well as specific host responses that defend against such infections are poorly understood. Therefore the C. rodentium model of enteric bacterial infection serves as a valuable tool to aid in our understanding of these processes. Enteric bacteria have also been linked to Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBDs). It has been hypothesized that the maladaptive chronic inflammatory responses seen in IBD patients develop in genetically susceptible individuals following abnormal exposure of the intestinal mucosal immune system to enteric bacteria. Therefore, the study of models of infectious colitis offers significant potential for defining potentially pathogenic host responses to enteric bacteria. C. rodentium induced colitis is one such rare model that allows for the analysis of host responses to enteric bacteria, furthering our understanding of potential mechanisms of IBD pathogenesis; essential in the development of novel preventative and therapeutic treatments.     

Repeated H2O2 exposure drives cell cycle progression in an in vitro model of ulcerative colitis

The production of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) drives tumourigenesis in ulcerative colitis (UC). Recently, we showed that H₂O₂ activates DNA damage checkpoints in human colonic epithelial cells (HCEC) through c‐Jun N‐terminal Kinases (JNK) that induces p21^WAF1. Moreover, caspases circumvented the G1/S and intra‐S checkpoints, and cells accumulated in G2/M. The latter observation raised the question of whether repeated H₂O₂ exposures alter JNK activation, thereby promoting a direct passage of cells from G2/M arrest to driven cell cycle progression. Here, we report that increased proliferation of repeatedly H₂O₂‐exposed HCEC cells (C‐cell cultures) was associated with (i) increased phospho‐p46 JNK, (ii) decreased total JNK and phospho‐p54 JNK and (iii) p21^WAF1 down‐regulation. Altered JNK activation and p21^WAF1 down‐regulation were accompanied by defects in maintaining G2/M and mitotic spindle checkpoints through adaptation, as well as by apoptosis resistance following H₂O₂ exposure. This may cause increased proliferation of C‐cell cultures, a defining initiating feature in the inflammation‐carcinoma pathway in UC. We further suggest that dysregulated JNK activation is attributed to a non‐apoptotic function of caspases, causing checkpoint adaptation in C‐cell cultures. Additionally, loss of cell‐contact inhibition and the overcoming of senescence, hallmarks of cancer, contributed to increased proliferation. Furthermore, there was evidence that p54 JNK inactivation is responsible for loss of cell‐contact inhibition. We present a cellular model of UC and suggest a sinusoidal pattern of proliferation, which is triggered by H₂O₂‐induced reactive oxygen species generation, involving an interplay between JNK activation/inactivation, p21^WAF1, c‐Fos, c‐Jun/phospho‐c‐Jun, ATF2/phospho‐ATF2, β‐catenin/TCF4‐signalling, c‐Myc, CDK6 and Cyclin D2, leading to driven cell cycle progression.