Bonafini Clara, Marzotto Marta, Bellavite Paolo
Department of Medicine, University of Verona, Italy.
Department of Medicine, University of Verona, Italy.
Homeopathy. 2017 May;106(2):103-113. doi: 10.1016/j.homp.2017.03.003. Epub 2017 Apr 8.
Zinc is an important metal in body homeostasis. Zinc in soluble form (Zn) and homeopathic Zincum metallicum were tested in macrophages and astrocytes in order to investigate its potential toxic or therapeutic effects. We evaluated cell viability (WST assay), cytokine production such as tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin 10 (IL-10) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and nitric oxide release by Griess reaction. The effect of zinc-depletion and high zinc pre-treatments on the cell adaptation capability was also investigated. In THP-1 macrophage cell line and in human primary macrophages, Zn at sub-toxic doses (30 μM) caused stimulation of TNF-α and IL-10 with different dynamics reaching the maximum peak at the zinc concentration 100 μM, before the cell death. Highest doses (300 μM) impaired dramatically cell vitality. Similar effects on cell viability were obtained also in C6 astrocytes, where Zn slightly increased the nitric oxide release only in cells activated by one of the pro-inflammatory stimuli used in our cellular model (interferon gamma plus TNF-α). Zinc depletion markedly reduced IL-10 production and cell viability. Zincum metallicum did not cause toxicity in any cell type and showed some small stimulation in WST assay that was statistically significant in a few experimental conditions.
锌是体内稳态中的一种重要金属。为了研究其潜在的毒性或治疗作用，我们对可溶形式的锌（Zn）和顺势疗法的金属锌在巨噬细胞和星形胶质细胞中进行了测试。我们通过酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）评估细胞活力（WST测定）、细胞因子产生，如肿瘤坏死因子α（TNF-α）和白细胞介素10（IL-10），并通过格里斯反应评估一氧化氮释放。还研究了锌缺乏和高锌预处理对细胞适应能力的影响。在THP-1巨噬细胞系和人原代巨噬细胞中，亚毒性剂量（30μM）的锌会刺激TNF-α和IL-10，且动态变化不同，在锌浓度达到100μM时达到最大峰值，之后细胞死亡。最高剂量（300μM）会显著损害细胞活力。在C6星形胶质细胞中也获得了类似的细胞活力影响，其中锌仅在由我们细胞模型中使用的一种促炎刺激（干扰素γ加TNF-α）激活的细胞中略微增加一氧化氮释放。锌缺乏显著降低IL-10产生和细胞活力。金属锌在任何细胞类型中均未引起毒性，并且在WST测定中显示出一些小的刺激，在少数实验条件下具有统计学意义。
