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Colon Ascendens Stent Peritonitis CASP - a Standardized Model for Polymicrobial Abdominal Sepsis
Published on: December 18, 2010
Agmatine ameliorates sepsis-related intestinal injury via the AhR-STAT3-IL-10 pathway
Junhua Pan1, Lianfang Gan2, Yaying Chen3
1College of Pharmacy, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, China; School of Hainan Provincial Drug Safety Evaluation Research Center, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, China; Guangdong Zhaoqing Aviation Vocational College, Zhaoqing, China.
Background:
Sepsis-related intestinal injury is essential in multi-organ dysfunction induced by the systemic inflammatory response. Agmatine (AGM) has anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, and immunomodulatory properties. However, no reports of AGM alleviating sepsis-related intestinal injury have been found. Therefore, this study intends to investigate the protective effects of AGM on sepsis-related intestinal injury and its potential mechanism.
Methods:
We first established a sepsis model by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or cecum ligation perforation (CLP), and then used H&E staining, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and TUNEL to examine the pathological changes in rat intestines after AGM treatment. ELISA was used to detect expression levels of inflammatory factors in ileal tissues and biochemical indexes of infectionin in serum. TNF-α induced Caco-2 cell inflammation model was established in vitro, and cell activity and proliferative capacity were detected by CCK8 and EdU after AGM treatment. The Caco-2 cell inflammation model with high or low expression of Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) was established, and whether AGM exerts anti-inflammatory effects via AhR/STAT3/IL-10 pathway was investigated using molecular docking, Co-IP, and Western Blot.
Results:
The histopathological staining demonstrated that AGM significantly reduced intestinal injury and the content of inflammatory factors IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α, improved systemic infection and the survival rate of septic mice, and restored intestinal barrier function in CLP rats. In vitro, AGM improved cell viability and proliferative capacity of the Caco-2 cell inflammation model. AGM inhibits inflammatory factor expression by activating AhR, decreasing HIF-1 protein expression, and activating the STAT3/IL-10 signaling pathway.
Discussion And Conclusion:
AGM has the potential to ameliorate sepsis-related intestinal injury via the AhR-STAT3-IL-10 pathway, thereby offering theoretical basis for clinical treatment of sepsis.
