Life sciences
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Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the leading causes of opportunistic and hospital-acquired infections worldwide, which is frequently linked with clinical treatment difficulties. Ibuprofen, a widely used non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, has been previously reported to exert antimicrobial activity with the specific mechanism. We hypothesized that inhibition of P. aeruginosa with ibuprofen is involved in the quorum sensing (QS) systems. ⋯ The antibiofilm and anti-QS activity of ibuprofen suggest that it can be a candidate drug for the treatment of clinical infections with P. aeruginosa.
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Hypoxic pulmonary hypertension (HPH) is a serious and potentially devastating disorder of the pulmonary circulation with complicated mechanisms. Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) has been revealed to participate in HPH development. This study aimed to explore how lncRNA Tug1 affected the pulmonary vascular remodeling in HPH. ⋯ Moreover, lncRNA Tug1 silencing was observed to attenuate the pulmonary vascular remodeling in HPH mice through the Foxc1-mediated NOTCH signaling pathway. Taken conjointly, silencing of lncRNA Tug1 down-regulated the Foxc1 expression by binding to miR-374c, thereby inhibiting the proliferation and migration, while promoting apoptosis of PASMCs to impede pulmonary vascular remodeling in HPH via the Notch signaling pathway. This study provided novel therapeutic insights for treating HPH.
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Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by symptoms that include social communication impairments, interaction deficits, and repetitive and stereotyped behaviors. Recent studies have suggested that imbalanced cytokine levels are associated with impaired behavioral outcomes in individuals with ASD. VGX-1027 is a potent immunomodulatory compound that has shown promise for the treatment of several neuroinflammatory disorders. ⋯ Additionally, VGX-1027 treatment resulted in a substantial decrease in IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, IFN-γ, and NF-κB p65 production, but increased IL-10 production in CD4+ T cells. Moreover, this agent was also found to significantly decrease IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, IFN-γ, COX-2, and NOS2 levels and increase IL-10 expression at the protein and mRNA level in brain tissues. Based on results using BTBR mice, our data provide the first evidence that VGX-1027 could potentially be used for the amelioration of autism-like symptoms.
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To assess the role of glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK3β) and β-catenin in the protection of ischemic injury by dexmedetomidine (Dex). ⋯ Our data suggested that treatment with Dex reduced cerebral injury in rats exposed to cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) by the activation of the PI3K/AKT/GSK3β pathways as well the activation of downstream Wnt/β-catenin pathway. And the Wnt/β-catenin pathway may play an important role in the protection against cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury in rats.