1.Research advances in drug-induced liver injury
Xue YANG ; Rongfang TU ; Jinhui YANG
Journal of Clinical Hepatology 2020;36(3):509-513
Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) has a complex pathogenesis and obvious individual difference. Early diagnosis and treatment of DILI may achieve good prognosis, but due to a lack of specific clinical symptoms, most cases cannot be identified in the early stage. If no timely treatment is given, DILI may progress to irreversible liver failure with a high mortality rate, and there are no effective therapies for advanced DILI except liver transplantation. Therefore, early diagnosis and treatment are of great importance for patients with DILI. This article summarizes the recent research advances in DILI, including suspected drugs, risk factors, pathogenesis, pathological features, clinical types and manifestations, diagnostic criteria and evaluation, and network database, in order to provide a basis for early diagnosis, clinical typing, treatment guidance, and prognostic evaluation of DILI.
2.Research advances in primary biliary cholangitis with extrahepatic autoimmune diseases
Rongfang TU ; Xue YANG ; Yingmei TANG
Journal of Clinical Hepatology 2020;36(6):1398-1401
Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) is a chronic autoimmune liver disease characterized by progressive destruction of the small intrahepatic bile ducts. Patients with PBC often have extrahepatic autoimmune diseases, which can involve multiple organs and systems including the gastrointestinal tract, lung, rheumatoid immune system, and endocrine system. This article summarizes the research advances in the disease spectrum, pathogenesis, treatment, and prognosis of PBC with extrahepatic autoimmune disease.
3.Expression and clinical significance of the NK cell-activating receptor NKG2D and its ligand in liver tissue of patients with primary biliary cholangitis
Haiyan YU ; Jinxiang WEI ; Haiyan FU ; Yina YANG ; Rongfang TU ; Yingmei TANG
Journal of Clinical Hepatology 2020;36(11):2456-2461
ObjectiveTo investigate the association of the expression of the NK cell-activating receptor NKG2D, its ligand major histocompatibility complex class I chain-related gene A (MICA), and related cytokines [interferon-γ (IFN-γ), interleukin-10 (IL-10), and interleukin-15 (IL-15)] with intrahepatic inflammation in primary biliary cholangitis (PBC). MethodsLiver biopsy specimens were collected from 30 patients with PBC (PBC group), 15 patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB group), and 10 patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD group), who were hospitalized in The Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University from August 2014 to June 2015. The degree of liver inflammation (G) and fibrosis degree (S) of the liver specimens were determined, and immunohistochemistry was used to measure the expression of NKG2D, MICA, IFN-γ, IL-10, and IL-15 in liver tissue (the scores were determined based on the number of cells stained and the degree of staining to evaluate the expression of each marker). A one-way analysis of variance was used for comparison of continuous data between multiple groups, and the t-test was used for comparison between two groups; a Spearman correlation analysis was used to investigate correlation. ResultsIn the PBC group, the expression of NKG2D increased with the degree of inflammation, and the patients with G3-4 inflammation had significantly higher expression than those with G1-2 inflammation (G1 vs G2 vs G3 vs G4: 1.4±0.05 vs 1.56±0.05 vs 1.86±0.11 vs 2.60±0.17, F=150.8, P<0.05); the expression of NKG2D decreased with fibrosis degree (S3 vs S4: 2.30±0.17 vs 1.56±0.05, t=-1.52, P<0.05). In the PBC group, there was no significant difference in MICA between G3 and G4 (0.11±0.01 vs 0.20±0.03, t=-2.20, P>0.05) and between S3 and S4 (0.12±0.02 vs 0.18±0.03, t=-2.64, P>0.05). In the PBC group, there was a significant difference in the expression of IL-15 between the patients with different degrees of inflammation (G1 vs G2 vs G3 vs G4: 0.70±0.10 vs 1.50±0.10 vs 1.93±0.11 vs 2.60±0.17, F=251.3, P<0.05), while there was no significant difference between the patients with different fibrosis degrees (S3 vs S4: 2.00±0.05 vs 2.40±0.30, t=-1.62, P>0.05). In the CHB group, there was a significant difference in the expression of IL-15 between the patients with different degrees of inflammation (G1 vs G2 vs G3: 0.73±0.15 vs 1.96±0.15 vs 2.50±0.17, F=150, P<0.05) and between the patients with different fibrosis degrees (S1 vs S2 vs S3: 0.70±0.10 vs 21.96±0.15 vs 2.50±0.17, F=158.7, P<0.05). In the PBC group, the expression of IL-10 was only observed in the patients with G1 inflammation (0.16±0.01), and in the CHB group, the expression of IL-10 was observed in the patients with G1 and G2 inflammation, with no significant difference (G1 vs G2: 0.19±0.01 vs 0.13±0.01, t=-1.522, P>0.05). In the patients with PBC, the expression of IL-15 in liver tissue was positively correlated with the levels of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) (r=0.241 and 0.407, P=0.014 and 0.045). ConclusionThe NK cell-activating receptor NKG2D affects the degree of intrahepatic inflammation in PBC, and the NKG2D ligand MICA is expressed in the advanced stage of PBC and can downregulate NKG2D. The expression of IL-15 increases with the degree of inflammation in PBC and is positively correlated with the levels of ALP and GGT, suggesting that the activation of NK cells and abnormal secretion of cytokines are involved in the development and progression of PBC and IL-15 may be used as an auxiliary index for the diagnosis of PBC.
4.The role of SENP-1 in chronic intermittent hypoxia induced myocardial injury in rats
Yuanhang Jia ; Xiaowu Tan ; Lin Chen ; Rongfang Tu ; Fang Zhou
Acta Universitatis Medicinalis Anhui 2023;58(10):1666-1672
Objective :
To investigate the effects and mechanism of small ubiquitin-like modifier ( SUMO) specific proteinase-1 (SENP-1) on chronic intermittent hypoxia ( CIH) induced myocardial injury in rats.
Methods :
32 male SD rats were randomly divided into : control group,CIH group,negative control adeno-associated virus interven- tion group (AAV-shNC) and SENP-1 shRNA adeno-associated virus intervention group (AAV-shSENP-1) ,with 8 rats in each group.After 6 weeks of CIH induction,echocardiography was performed.The levels of cardiac troponin I (cTNI) ,creatine kinase MB isoenzyme ( CKMB) ,myoglobin (Mb) ,lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in serum and malondialdehyde (MDA) ,uperoxide dismutases ( SOD) ,glutathione ( GSH) ,interleukin( IL) -1 β , IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α) in myocardial tissue were detected by ELISA.The pathological changes of myocardial tis- sue was observed by HE staining.The reactive oxygen species ( ROS) level in myocardial tissue was detected by DCFH-DA fluorescence probe labeling.The small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) level of hypoxia inducible factor- 1 α (HIF-1 α) protein in myocardial tissue was detected by kit.The mRNA and protein levels of SENP-1 and HIF- 1 α in myocardial tissue were detected by qRT-PCR and Western blot.
Results :
Compared with the control group, the pathological damage of myocardial tissue in CIH group was serious,the levels of left ventricular end diastolic diameter (LVEDD) ,left ventricular end systolic dimension (LVESD) and serum cTNI,CKMB,Mb and LDH signif- icantly increased (P<0. 05) ,and the levels of ROS,MDA,IL-1 β , IL-6,TNF-α and the mRNA and protein levels of SENP-1 and HIF-1α in myocardial tissue also significantly increased (P <0. 05 ) ,while the levels of LVEF, LVFS,serum GSH and SOD significantly decreased (P <0. 05) ,and the SUMOylates level of HIF-1α protein in myocardial tissue also significantly decreased (P <0. 05 ) .Compared with CIH group,AAV-shSENP-1 group had less myocardial pathological damage,the levels of LVEDD,LVESD and serum cTNI,CKMB,Mb and LDH signifi- cantly decreased (P<0. 05) ,and the levels of ROS,MDA,IL-1 β, IL-6,TNF-α and the mRNA and protein levels of SENP-1 and HIF-1α in myocardial tissue also significantly decreased (P<0. 05) ,the levels of LVEF,LVFS,serum GSH and SOD significantly increased (P<0. 05) ,and the SUMOylates level of HIF-1α protein in myocardial tissue also significantly decreased (P<0. 05) .
Conclusion
Inhibition of SENP-1 expression can alleviate CIH induced myocarditis and oxidative stress in rats,improve myocardial injury and cardiac dysfunction,and its mechanism may be related to the improvement of HIF-1α SUMOylates level,thus inhibiting HIF-1α expression.