• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.52-66
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• 2001

Background : NF-${\kappa}B$ is the most important transcriptional factor in IL-8 gene expression. Triptolide is a new compound that recently has been shown to inhibit NF-${\kappa}B$ activation. The purpose of this study is to investigate how triptolide inhibits NF-${\kappa}B$-dependent IL-8 gene transcription in lung epithelial cells and to pilot the potential for the clinical application of triptolide in inflammatory lung diseases. Methods : A549 cells were used and triptolide was provided from Pharmagenesis Company (Palo Alto, CA). In order to examine NF-${\kappa}B$-dependent IL-8 transcriptional activity, we established stable A549 IL-8-NF-${\kappa}B$-luc. cells and performed luciferase assays. IL-8 gene expression was measured by RT-PCR and ELISA. A Western blot was done for the study of $I{\kappa}B{\alpha}$ degradation and an electromobility shift assay was done to analyze NF-${\kappa}B$ DNA binding. p65 specific transactivation was analyzed by a cotransfection study using a Gal4-p65 fusion protein expression system. To investigate the involvement of transcriptional coactivators, we perfomed a transfection study with CBP and SRC-1 expression vectors. Results : We observed that triptolide significantly suppresses NF-${\kappa}B$-dependent IL-8 transcriptional activity induced by IL-$1{\beta}$ and PMA. RT-PCR showed that triptolide represses both IL-$1{\beta}$ and PMA-induced IL-8 mRNA expression and ELISA confirmed this triptolide-mediated IL-8 suppression at the protein level. However, triptolide did not affect $I{\kappa}B{\alpha}$ degradation and NF-$_{\kappa}B$ DNA binding. In a p65-specific transactivation study, triptolide significantly suppressed Gal4-p65T Al and Gal4-p65T A2 activity suggesting that triptolide inhibits NF-${\kappa}B$ activation by inhibiting p65 transactivation. However, this triptolide-mediated inhibition of p65 transactivation was not rescued by the overexpression of CBP or SRC-1, thereby excluding the role of transcriptional coactivators. Conclusions : Triptolide is a new compound that inhibits NF-${\kappa}B$-dependent IL-8 transcriptional activation by inhibiting p65 transactivation, but not by an $I{\kappa}B{\alpha}$-dependent mechanism. This suggests that triptolide may have a therapeutic potential for inflammatory lung diseases.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.8-17
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• 2006

Purpose : We describe the changes of rat glomerular epithelial cells when exposed to high levels of glucose and advanced glycosylation endproducts(AGE) in the in vitro diabetic condition. We expect morphological alteration of glomerular epithelial cells and permeability changes experimentally and we may correlate the results with a mechanism of proteinuria in DM. Methods : We made 0.2 M glucose-6-phsphate solution mixed with PBS(pH 7.4) containing 50 mg/mL BSA and pretense inhibitor for preparation of AGE. As control, we used BSA. We manufactured and symbolized five culture dishes as follows; B5 - normal glucose(5 mM) + BSA, B30 - high glucose(30 mM) + BSA, A5 - normal glucose(5 mM) + AGE, A30 - high glucose(30 mM) + AGE, A/B 25 - normal glucose(5 mM) + 25 mM of mannitol(osmotic control). After the incubation period of both two days and seven days, we measured the amount of heparan sulfate proteoglycan(HSPG) in each dish by ELISA and compared them with the B5 dish at 2nd and 7th incubation days. We observed the morphological changes of epithelial cells in each culture dish using scanning electron microscopy(SEM). We tried the permeability assay of glomerular epithelial cells using cellulose semi-permeable membrane measuring the amount of filtered BSA through the apical chamber for 2 hours by sandwich ELISA. Results : On the 2nd incubation day, there was no significant difference in the amount of HSPG between the 5 culture dishes. But on the 7th incubation day, the amount of HSPG increased by 10% compared with the B5 dish on the 2nd day except the A30 dish(P<0.05). Compared with the B5 dish on the 7th day the amount of HSPG in A30 and B30 dish decreased to 77.8% and 95.3% of baseline, respectively(P>0.05). In the osmotic control group (A/B 25) no significant correlation was observed. On the SEM, we could see the separated intercellular junction and fused microvilli of glomerular epithelial cells in the culture dishes where AGE was added. The permeability of BSA increased by 19% only in the A30 dish on the 7th day compared with B5 dish on the 7th day in the permeability assay(P<0.05). Conclusion: We observed not only the role of a high level of glucose and AGE in decreasing the production of HSPG of glomerular epithelial cells in vitro, but also their additive effect. However, the role of AGE is greater than that of glucose. These results seems to correlate with the defects in charge selective barrier. Morphological changes of the disruption of intercellular junction and fused microvilli of glomerular epithelial cells seem to correlate with the defects in size-selective barrier. Therefore, we can explain the increased permeability of glomerular epithelial units in the in vitro diabetic condition.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.308-322
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• 1996

Background : Neutrophils are considered to play critical roles in the development of acute respiratory distress syndrome. Histamine, which is distributed abundantly in lung tissue, increases the rolling of neutrophills via increase of P-selectin expression on the surface of endothelial cells and is known to have some interrelationships with IL-1, IL-8 and TNF-$\alpha$. We studied to investigate the effect of the histamine on the acute lung injury of the rats induced by intratracheal insufflation of TNF-$\alpha$ which has less potency to cause lung injury compared to IL-1 in rats. Methods : We intratracheally instilled saline or TNF(R&D, 500ng), IL-1(R&D, 50ng)or histamine of varius dose(1.1, 11 and $55\;{\mu}g/kg$) with and without TNF separately in Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 270-370 grams. We also intratracheally treated IL-1(50ng) along with histamine($55\;{\mu}g/kg$). In cases, there were synergistic effects induced by histamine on the parameters of TNF-induced acute lung injury, antihistamines(Sigma, mepyramine as a $H_1$ receptor blockade and ranitidine as a $H_2$ receptor blockade, 10 mg/kg in each)were co-administered intravenously to the rats treated TNF along with histamine($1.1\;{\mu}g/kg$) intratraeheally. Then after 5 h we measured lung lavage neutrophil numbers, lavage cytokine-induced neutrophil chemoattractants(CINC), lung myeloperoxidase activity(MPO) and lung leak. We also intratracheally insufflated TNF with/without histamine($11\;{\mu}g/kg$), then after 24 h measured lung leak in rats. Statistical analyses were done by Kruskal-Wallis nonparametric ANOVA test with Dunn's multiple comparison test or by Mann-Whitney U test. Results : We found that rats given TNF, histamine alone(11 and $55\;{\mu}g/kg$), and TNF with histamine(l.1, 11, and $55\;{\mu}g/kg$) intratracheally had increased (p<0.05) lung MPO activity compared with saline-treated control rats. TNF with histamine $11\;{\mu}g/kg$ had increased MPO activity (P=0.0251) compared with TNF-treated rats. TNF and TNF with histamine(1.1, 11, and $55\;{\mu}g/kg$) intratracheally had all increased (p<0.05) lung leak, lavage neutophil numbers and lavage CINC activities compared with saline. TNF with histamine $1.1\;{\mu}g/kg$ had increased (p=0.0367) lavage neutrophil numbers compared with TNF treated rats. But there were no additive effect of histamine with TNF compared with TNF alone in acute lung leak on 5 h and 24 h in rats. Treatment of rats with the $H_1$ and $H_2$ antagonists resulted in inhibitions of lavage neutrophil accumulations and lavage CINC activity elevations elicited by co-treated histamine in TNF-induced acute lung injury intratracheally in rats. We also found that rats given IL-1 along with histamine intratracheally did not have increase in lung leak compared with IL-1 treated rats. Conclusion : Histamine administered intratracheally did not have synergistic effects on TNF-induced acute lung leak inspite of additive effects on increase in MPO activity and lavage neutrophil numbers in rats. These observations suggest that instilling histamine intratracheally would not play synergistic roles in neutrophil-mediated acute lung injury in rats.