Alnuqaydan Abdullah M, Almutary Abdulmajeed G, Azam Mohd, Manandhar Bikash, De Rubis Gabriele, Madheswaran Thiagarajan, Paudel Keshav Raj, Hansbro Philip M, Chellappan Dinesh Kumar, Dua Kamal
Department of Medical Biotechnology, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Qassim University, Buraidah 51452, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Medical Laboratories, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Qassim University, Buraidah 51452, Saudi Arabia.
Nanomaterials (Basel). 2022 Dec 5;12(23):4312. doi: 10.3390/nano12234312.
Inflammation and oxidative stress are interrelated processes that represent the underlying causes of several chronic inflammatory diseases that include asthma, cystic fibrosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), allergies, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. Macrophages are key initiators of inflammatory processes in the body. When triggered by a stimulus such as bacterial lipopolysaccharides (LPS), these cells secrete inflammatory cytokines namely TNF-α that orchestrate the cellular inflammatory process. Simultaneously, pro-inflammatory stimuli induce the upregulation of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) which catalyzes the generation of high levels of nitric oxide (NO). This, together with high concentrations of reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced by macrophages, mediate oxidative stress which, in turn, exacerbates inflammation in a feedback loop, resulting in the pathogenesis of several chronic inflammatory diseases. Berberine is a phytochemical embedded with potent in vitro anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, whose therapeutic application is hindered by poor solubility and bioavailability. For this reason, large doses of berberine need to be administered to achieve the desired pharmacological effect, which may result in toxicity. Encapsulation of such a drug in liquid crystalline nanoparticles (LCNs) represents a viable strategy to overcome these limitations. We encapsulated berberine in phytantriol-based LCNs (BP-LCNs) and tested the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of BP-LCNs in vitro on LPS-induced mouse RAW264.7 macrophages. BP-LCNs showed potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities, with significant reduction in the gene expressions of TNF-α and iNOS, followed by concomitant reduction of ROS and NO production at a concentration of 2.5 µM, which is lower than the concentration of free berberine concentration required to achieve similar effects as reported elsewhere. Furthermore, we provide evidence for the suitability for BP-LCNs both as an antioxidant and as an anti-inflammatory agent with potential application in the therapy of chronic inflammatory diseases.
炎症和氧化应激是相互关联的过程,是包括哮喘、囊性纤维化、慢性阻塞性肺疾病(COPD)、过敏、糖尿病和心血管疾病在内的几种慢性炎症性疾病的潜在病因。巨噬细胞是体内炎症过程的关键启动者。当受到细菌脂多糖(LPS)等刺激时,这些细胞会分泌炎症细胞因子,即肿瘤坏死因子-α(TNF-α),它协调细胞炎症过程。同时,促炎刺激会诱导诱导型一氧化氮合酶(iNOS)的上调,该酶催化产生高水平的一氧化氮(NO)。这与巨噬细胞产生的高浓度活性氧(ROS)一起介导氧化应激,进而在反馈回路中加剧炎症,导致几种慢性炎症性疾病的发病机制。黄连素是一种具有强大体外抗炎和抗氧化特性的植物化学物质,其治疗应用因溶解度和生物利用度差而受到阻碍。因此,需要大剂量服用黄连素才能达到预期的药理效果,这可能会导致毒性。将这种药物封装在液晶纳米颗粒(LCNs)中是克服这些局限性的可行策略。我们将黄连素封装在基于植烷三醇的LCNs(BP-LCNs)中,并在体外测试了BP-LCNs对LPS诱导的小鼠RAW264.7巨噬细胞的抗氧化和抗炎活性。BP-LCNs显示出强大的抗炎和抗氧化活性,在2.5 µM的浓度下,TNF-α和iNOS的基因表达显著降低,随后ROS和NO的产生也随之减少,该浓度低于其他地方报道的达到类似效果所需的游离黄连素浓度。此外,我们提供了证据,证明BP-LCNs作为抗氧化剂和抗炎剂适用于慢性炎症性疾病的治疗。