Cathelicidin LL-37 restoring glucocorticoid function in smoking and lipopolysaccharide-induced airway inflammation in rats

Abstract. Background. Glucocorticoids have been widely used to treat patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Nevertheless, corticosteroid insensitivity is a major barrier to the effective treatment of COPD and its mechanism remains unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the effect...

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Main Authors: Jian-Zhen Weng, Yan Wang, Tie-Ying Sun, Xin Chen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer 2019-03-01
Series:Chinese Medical Journal
Online Access:http://journals.lww.com/10.1097/CM9.0000000000000107
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spelling doaj-63498296ad4745b28fcb5dea030234b02020-12-02T07:45:48ZengWolters KluwerChinese Medical Journal0366-69992542-56412019-03-01132556957610.1097/CM9.0000000000000107201903050-00009Cathelicidin LL-37 restoring glucocorticoid function in smoking and lipopolysaccharide-induced airway inflammation in ratsJian-Zhen Weng0Yan Wang1Tie-Ying Sun2Xin Chen3Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Beijing Hospital, National Center of Gerontology, Beijing 100730, China.Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Beijing Hospital, National Center of Gerontology, Beijing 100730, China.Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Beijing Hospital, National Center of Gerontology, Beijing 100730, China.Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Beijing Hospital, National Center of Gerontology, Beijing 100730, China.Abstract. Background. Glucocorticoids have been widely used to treat patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Nevertheless, corticosteroid insensitivity is a major barrier to the effective treatment of COPD and its mechanism remains unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of cathelicidin LL-37 on corticosteroid insensitivity in COPD rat model, and to explore the involved mechanisms. Methods. COPD model was established by exposing male Wistar rats to cigarette smoke combined with intratracheal instillation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Inhaled budesonide and LL-37 were consequently applied to COPD models separately or collectively to confirm the effects on inflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor [TNF]-α and transforming growth factor [TGF]-β) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and lung tissue histopathological morphology. Expression of histone deacetylase-2 (HDAC2) and phosphorylation of Akt (p-AKT) in lung were also measured. Results. Briefly, COPD model rats showed an increased basal release of inflammatory cytokines (lung TNF-α: 45.7 ± 6.1 vs. 20.1 ± 3.8 pg/mL, P < 0.01; serum TNF-α: 8.9 ± 1.2 vs. 6.7 ± 0.5 pg/mL, P = 0.01; lung TGF-β: 122.4 ± 20.8 vs. 81.9 ± 10.8 pg/mL, P < 0.01; serum TGF-β: 38.9 ± 8.5 vs. 20.6 ± 2.3 pg/mL, P < 0.01) and COPD related lung tissue histopathological changes, as well as corticosteroid resistance molecular profile characterized by an increase in phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt (0.5 ± 0.1 fold of control vs. 0.2 ± 0.1 fold of control, P = 0.04) and a decrease in HDAC2 expression and activity (expression: 13.1 ± 0.4 μmol/μg vs. 17.4 ± 1.1 μmol/μg, P < 0.01; activity: 1.1 ± 0.1 unit vs. 1.4 ± 0.1 unit, P < 0.01), compared with control group. In addition, LL-37 enhanced the anti-inflammatory effect of budesonide in an additive manner. Treatment with combination of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) and LL-37 led to a significant increase of HDAC2 expression and activity (expression: 15.7 ± 0.4 μmol/μg vs. 14.1 ± 0.9 μmol/μg, P < 0.01; activity: 1.3 ± 0.1 unit vs. 1.0 ± 0.1 unit, P < 0.01), along with decrease of p-AKT compared to budesonide monotherapy (0.1 ± 0.0 fold of control vs. 0.3 ± 0.1 fold of control, P < 0.01). Conclusions. This study suggested that LL-37 could improve the anti-inflammatory activity of budesonide in cigarette smoke and LPS-induced COPD rat model by enhancing the expression and activity of HDAC2. The mechanism of this function of LL-37 might involve the inhibition of PI3K/Akt pathway.http://journals.lww.com/10.1097/CM9.0000000000000107
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Jian-Zhen Weng
Yan Wang
Tie-Ying Sun
Xin Chen
spellingShingle Jian-Zhen Weng
Yan Wang
Tie-Ying Sun
Xin Chen
Cathelicidin LL-37 restoring glucocorticoid function in smoking and lipopolysaccharide-induced airway inflammation in rats
Chinese Medical Journal
author_facet Jian-Zhen Weng
Yan Wang
Tie-Ying Sun
Xin Chen
author_sort Jian-Zhen Weng
title Cathelicidin LL-37 restoring glucocorticoid function in smoking and lipopolysaccharide-induced airway inflammation in rats
title_short Cathelicidin LL-37 restoring glucocorticoid function in smoking and lipopolysaccharide-induced airway inflammation in rats
title_full Cathelicidin LL-37 restoring glucocorticoid function in smoking and lipopolysaccharide-induced airway inflammation in rats
title_fullStr Cathelicidin LL-37 restoring glucocorticoid function in smoking and lipopolysaccharide-induced airway inflammation in rats
title_full_unstemmed Cathelicidin LL-37 restoring glucocorticoid function in smoking and lipopolysaccharide-induced airway inflammation in rats
title_sort cathelicidin ll-37 restoring glucocorticoid function in smoking and lipopolysaccharide-induced airway inflammation in rats
publisher Wolters Kluwer
series Chinese Medical Journal
issn 0366-6999
2542-5641
publishDate 2019-03-01
description Abstract. Background. Glucocorticoids have been widely used to treat patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Nevertheless, corticosteroid insensitivity is a major barrier to the effective treatment of COPD and its mechanism remains unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of cathelicidin LL-37 on corticosteroid insensitivity in COPD rat model, and to explore the involved mechanisms. Methods. COPD model was established by exposing male Wistar rats to cigarette smoke combined with intratracheal instillation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Inhaled budesonide and LL-37 were consequently applied to COPD models separately or collectively to confirm the effects on inflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor [TNF]-α and transforming growth factor [TGF]-β) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and lung tissue histopathological morphology. Expression of histone deacetylase-2 (HDAC2) and phosphorylation of Akt (p-AKT) in lung were also measured. Results. Briefly, COPD model rats showed an increased basal release of inflammatory cytokines (lung TNF-α: 45.7 ± 6.1 vs. 20.1 ± 3.8 pg/mL, P < 0.01; serum TNF-α: 8.9 ± 1.2 vs. 6.7 ± 0.5 pg/mL, P = 0.01; lung TGF-β: 122.4 ± 20.8 vs. 81.9 ± 10.8 pg/mL, P < 0.01; serum TGF-β: 38.9 ± 8.5 vs. 20.6 ± 2.3 pg/mL, P < 0.01) and COPD related lung tissue histopathological changes, as well as corticosteroid resistance molecular profile characterized by an increase in phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt (0.5 ± 0.1 fold of control vs. 0.2 ± 0.1 fold of control, P = 0.04) and a decrease in HDAC2 expression and activity (expression: 13.1 ± 0.4 μmol/μg vs. 17.4 ± 1.1 μmol/μg, P < 0.01; activity: 1.1 ± 0.1 unit vs. 1.4 ± 0.1 unit, P < 0.01), compared with control group. In addition, LL-37 enhanced the anti-inflammatory effect of budesonide in an additive manner. Treatment with combination of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) and LL-37 led to a significant increase of HDAC2 expression and activity (expression: 15.7 ± 0.4 μmol/μg vs. 14.1 ± 0.9 μmol/μg, P < 0.01; activity: 1.3 ± 0.1 unit vs. 1.0 ± 0.1 unit, P < 0.01), along with decrease of p-AKT compared to budesonide monotherapy (0.1 ± 0.0 fold of control vs. 0.3 ± 0.1 fold of control, P < 0.01). Conclusions. This study suggested that LL-37 could improve the anti-inflammatory activity of budesonide in cigarette smoke and LPS-induced COPD rat model by enhancing the expression and activity of HDAC2. The mechanism of this function of LL-37 might involve the inhibition of PI3K/Akt pathway.
url http://journals.lww.com/10.1097/CM9.0000000000000107
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