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International Journal of Molecular... May 2021All nations which have undergone a nutrition transition have experienced increased frequency and falling latency of chronic degenerative diseases, which are largely... (Review)
Review
All nations which have undergone a nutrition transition have experienced increased frequency and falling latency of chronic degenerative diseases, which are largely driven by chronic inflammatory stress. Dietary supplementation is a valid strategy to reduce the risk and severity of such disorders. Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) is an endocannabinoid-like lipid mediator with extensively documented anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antimicrobial, immunomodulatory and neuroprotective effects. It is well tolerated and devoid of side effects in animals and humans. PEA's actions on multiple molecular targets while modulating multiple inflammatory mediators provide therapeutic benefits in many applications, including immunity, brain health, allergy, pain modulation, joint health, sleep and recovery. PEA's poor oral bioavailability, a major obstacle in early research, has been overcome by advanced delivery systems now licensed as food supplements. This review summarizes the functionality of PEA, supporting its use as an important dietary supplement for lifestyle management.
Topics: Amides; Animals; Anti-Inflammatory Agents; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; Dietary Supplements; Endocannabinoids; Ethanolamines; Humans; Inflammation; Inflammation Mediators; Neuroprotective Agents; Pain; Palmitic Acids
PubMed: 34069940
DOI: 10.3390/ijms22105305 -
Methodist DeBakey Cardiovascular Journal 2023Vasoplegia is a condition characterized by persistent low systemic vascular resistance despite a normal or high cardiac index, resulting in profound and uncontrolled... (Review)
Review
Vasoplegia is a condition characterized by persistent low systemic vascular resistance despite a normal or high cardiac index, resulting in profound and uncontrolled vasodilation. Vasoplegia may occur due to various conditions, including cardiac failure, sepsis, and post-cardiac surgery. In the cardiac cohort, multiple risk factors for vasoplegia have been identified. Several factors contribute to the pathophysiology of this condition, and various mechanisms have been proposed, including nitric oxide, adenosine, prostanoids, endothelins, the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, and hydrogen sulfide. Early identification and prompt management of vasoplegia is crucial to prevent development of shock. This review expands upon the different vasopressors used in management of vasoplegia, including catecholamines such as norepinephrine, dopamine, epinephrine, phenylephrine, and other agents including vasopressin, methylene blue, angiotensin II, hydroxocobalamin, vitamin C, thiamine, and corticosteroids (ie, hydrocortisone). It also emphasizes the importance of conducting further research and making advancements in treatment regimens for vasoplegia.
Topics: Humans; Vasoplegia; Epinephrine; Norepinephrine; Phenylephrine; Sepsis
PubMed: 37547893
DOI: 10.14797/mdcvj.1245 -
Gut Oct 2023Ample evidence exists for the role of abnormal gut microbiota composition and increased gut permeability ('leaky gut') in chronic inflammation that commonly co-occurs in...
OBJECTIVE
Ample evidence exists for the role of abnormal gut microbiota composition and increased gut permeability ('leaky gut') in chronic inflammation that commonly co-occurs in the gut in both obesity and diabetes, yet the detailed mechanisms involved in this process have remained elusive.
DESIGN
In this study, we substantiate the causal role of the gut microbiota by use of faecal conditioned media along with faecal microbiota transplantation. Using untargeted and comprehensive approaches, we discovered the mechanism by which the obese microbiota instigates gut permeability, inflammation and abnormalities in glucose metabolism.
RESULTS
We demonstrated that the reduced capacity of the microbiota from both obese mice and humans to metabolise ethanolamine results in ethanolamine accumulation in the gut, accounting for induction of intestinal permeability. Elevated ethanolamine increased the expression of microRNA- by enhancing ARID3a binding on the miR promoter. Increased decreased the stability of zona occludens-1 () mRNA, which in turn, weakened intestinal barriers and induced gut permeability, inflammation and abnormalities in glucose metabolism. Importantly, restoring ethanolamine-metabolising activity in gut microbiota using a novel probiotic therapy reduced elevated gut permeability, inflammation and abnormalities in glucose metabolism by correcting the ARID3a// axis.
CONCLUSION
Overall, we discovered that the reduced capacity of obese microbiota to metabolise ethanolamine instigates gut permeability, inflammation and glucose metabolic dysfunctions, and restoring ethanolamine-metabolising capacity by a novel probiotic therapy reverses these abnormalities.
TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER
NCT02869659 and NCT03269032.
Topics: Mice; Animals; Humans; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Mice, Obese; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental; Inflammation; Obesity; Glucose; Permeability; MicroRNAs; Ethanolamines
PubMed: 36948576
DOI: 10.1136/gutjnl-2022-327365 -
International Journal of Molecular... Oct 2020Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA, -hexadecanoylethanolamide) is an endogenous compound belonging to the family of -acylethanolamines. PEA has anti-inflammatory and analgesic... (Review)
Review
Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA, -hexadecanoylethanolamide) is an endogenous compound belonging to the family of -acylethanolamines. PEA has anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties and is very well tolerated in humans. In the present article, the basal pharmacology of PEA is reviewed. In terms of its pharmacokinetic properties, most work has been undertaken upon designing formulations for its absorption and upon characterising the enzymes involved in its metabolism, but little is known about its bioavailability, tissue distribution, and excretion pathways. PEA exerts most of its biological effects in the body secondary to the activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α (PPAR-α), but PPAR-α-independent pathways involving other receptors (Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid 1 (TRPV1), GPR55) have also been identified. Given the potential clinical utility of PEA, not least for the treatment of pain where there is a clear need for new well-tolerated drugs, we conclude that the gaps in our knowledge, in particular those relating to the pharmacokinetic properties of the compound, need to be filled.
Topics: Amides; Analgesics; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; Biological Availability; Ethanolamines; Gene Expression Regulation; Humans; PPAR alpha; Palmitic Acids; Receptors, Cannabinoid; Tissue Distribution
PubMed: 33114698
DOI: 10.3390/ijms21217942 -
Biological Psychiatry May 2022The locus coeruleus (LC)-noradrenergic system is the main source of noradrenaline in the central nervous system and is involved intensively in modulating pain and... (Review)
Review
The locus coeruleus (LC)-noradrenergic system is the main source of noradrenaline in the central nervous system and is involved intensively in modulating pain and stress-related disorders (e.g., major depressive disorder and anxiety) and in their comorbidity. However, the mechanisms involving the LC that underlie these effects have not been fully elucidated, in part owing to the technical difficulties inherent in exploring such a tiny nucleus. However, novel research tools are now available that have helped redefine the LC system, moving away from the traditional view of LC as a homogeneous structure that exerts a uniform influence on neural activity. Indeed, innovative techniques such as DREADDs (designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs) and optogenetics have demonstrated the functional heterogeneity of LC, and novel magnetic resonance imaging applications combined with pupillometry have opened the way to evaluate LC activity in vivo. This review aims to bring together the data available on the efferent activity of the LC-noradrenergic system in relation to pain and its comorbidity with anxiodepressive disorders. Acute pain triggers a robust LC stress response, producing spinal cord-mediated endogenous analgesia while promoting aversion, vigilance, and threat detection through its ascending efferents. However, this protective biological system fails in chronic pain, and LC activity produces pain facilitation, anxiety, increased aversive memory, and behavioral despair, acting at the medulla, prefrontal cortex, and amygdala levels. Thus, the activation/deactivation of specific LC projections contributes to different behavioral outcomes in the shift from acute to chronic pain.
Topics: Anxiety; Chronic Pain; Depressive Disorder, Major; Humans; Locus Coeruleus; Norepinephrine
PubMed: 35164940
DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2021.11.023 -
The Journal of Allergy and Clinical... Mar 2023The Global Initiative for Asthma recommends that low-dose inhaled corticosteroid (ICS)/formoterol be preferred to short-acting beta-agonists as reliever therapy in... (Review)
Review
The Global Initiative for Asthma recommends that low-dose inhaled corticosteroid (ICS)/formoterol be preferred to short-acting beta-agonists as reliever therapy in adolescents and adults with asthma, across the range of asthma severity. This recommendation represents the most fundamental change in asthma management for many decades. In this commentary, we review the rationale for combination ICS/formoterol therapy, the evidence on which this recommendation has been made, the limitations in the evidence, the practical issues relevant to the implementation of ICS/formoterol reliever-based regimens in clinical practice, and the emerging evidence for the efficacy and safety of combination ICS/salbutamol reliever therapy regimens.
Topics: Adult; Adolescent; Humans; Formoterol Fumarate; Budesonide; Bronchodilator Agents; Anti-Asthmatic Agents; Asthma; Adrenal Cortex Hormones; Drug Therapy, Combination; Administration, Inhalation; Ethanolamines
PubMed: 36639054
DOI: 10.1016/j.jaip.2023.01.002 -
Cardiovascular Drugs and Therapy Oct 2022Bisoprolol and nebivolol are highly selective β-adrenoceptor antagonists, with clinical indications in many countries within the management of heart failure with... (Review)
Review
Therapeutic Properties of Highly Selective β-blockers With or Without Additional Vasodilator Properties: Focus on Bisoprolol and Nebivolol in Patients With Cardiovascular Disease.
Bisoprolol and nebivolol are highly selective β-adrenoceptor antagonists, with clinical indications in many countries within the management of heart failure with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (HFrEF), ischaemic heart disease (IHD), and hypertension. Nebivolol has additional vasodilator actions, related to enhanced release of NO in the vascular wall. In principle, this additional mechanism compared with bisoprolol might lead to more potent vasodilatation, which in turn might influence the effectiveness of nebivolol in the management of HFrEF, IHD and hypertension. In this article, we review the therapeutic properties of bisoprolol and nebivolol, as representatives of "second generation" and "third generation" β-blockers, respectively. Although head-to-head trials are largely lacking, there is no clear indication from published studies of an additional effect of nebivolol on clinical outcomes in patients with HFrEF or the magnitude of reductions of BP in patients with hypertension.
Topics: Adrenergic beta-Antagonists; Benzopyrans; Bisoprolol; Cardiovascular Diseases; Ethanolamines; Heart Failure; Humans; Hypertension; Myocardial Ischemia; Nebivolol; Stroke Volume; Vasodilator Agents; Ventricular Function, Left
PubMed: 34106365
DOI: 10.1007/s10557-021-07205-y -
Mitochondrial Uncoupling Induces Epigenome Remodeling and Promotes Differentiation in Neuroblastoma.Cancer Research Jan 2023The Warburg effect is the major metabolic hallmark of cancer. According to Warburg himself, the consequence of the Warburg effect is cell dedifferentiation. Therefore,...
UNLABELLED
The Warburg effect is the major metabolic hallmark of cancer. According to Warburg himself, the consequence of the Warburg effect is cell dedifferentiation. Therefore, reversing the Warburg effect might be an approach to restore cell differentiation in cancer. In this study, we used a mitochondrial uncoupler, niclosamide ethanolamine (NEN), to activate mitochondrial respiration, which induced neural differentiation in neuroblastoma cells. NEN treatment increased the NAD+/NADH and pyruvate/lactate ratios and also the α-ketoglutarate/2-hydroxyglutarate (2-HG) ratio. Consequently, NEN treatment induced promoter CpG island demethylation and epigenetic landscape remodeling, activating the neural differentiation program. In addition, NEN treatment upregulated p53 but downregulated N-Myc and β-catenin signaling in neuroblastoma cells. Importantly, even under hypoxia, NEN treatment remained effective in inhibiting 2-HG generation, promoting DNA demethylation, and suppressing hypoxia-inducible factor signaling. Dietary NEN intervention reduced tumor growth rate, 2-HG levels, and expression of N-Myc and β-catenin in tumors in an orthotopic neuroblastoma mouse model. Integrative analysis indicated that NEN treatment upregulated favorable prognosis genes and downregulated unfavorable prognosis genes, which were defined using multiple neuroblastoma patient datasets. Altogether, these results suggest that mitochondrial uncoupling is an effective metabolic and epigenetic therapy for reversing the Warburg effect and inducing differentiation in neuroblastoma.
SIGNIFICANCE
Targeting cancer metabolism using the mitochondrial uncoupler niclosamide ethanolamine leads to methylome reprogramming and differentiation in neuroblastoma, providing a therapeutic opportunity to reverse the Warburg effect and suppress tumor growth. See related commentary by Byrne and Bell, p.167.
Topics: Animals; Mice; beta Catenin; Cell Differentiation; Cell Line, Tumor; Epigenome; Ethanolamine; Ethanolamines; Hypoxia; Neuroblastoma; Niclosamide; Warburg Effect, Oncologic; Mitochondria
PubMed: 36318118
DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-22-1029 -
Chest Sep 2023In the phase 3 MANDALA trial, as-needed albuterol-budesonide pressurized metered-dose inhaler significantly reduced severe exacerbation risk vs as-needed albuterol in... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
BACKGROUND
In the phase 3 MANDALA trial, as-needed albuterol-budesonide pressurized metered-dose inhaler significantly reduced severe exacerbation risk vs as-needed albuterol in patients with moderate-to-severe asthma receiving inhaled corticosteroid-containing maintenance therapy. This study (DENALI) was conducted to address the US Food and Drug Administration combination rule, which requires a combination product to demonstrate that each component contributes to its efficacy.
RESEARCH QUESTION
Do both albuterol and budesonide contribute to the efficacy of the albuterol-budesonide combination pressurized metered-dose inhaler in patients with asthma?
STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS
This phase 3 double-blind trial randomized patients aged ≥ 12 years with mild-to-moderate asthma 1:1:1:1:1 to four-times-daily albuterol-budesonide 180/160 μg or 180/80 μg, albuterol 180 μg, budesonide 160 μg, or placebo for 12 weeks. Dual-primary efficacy end points included change from baseline in FEV area under the curve from 0 to 6 h (FEV AUC) over 12 weeks (assessing albuterol effect) and trough FEV at week 12 (assessing budesonide effect).
RESULTS
Of 1,001 patients randomized, 989 were ≥ 12 years old and evaluable for efficacy. Change from baseline in FEV AUC over 12 weeks was greater with albuterol-budesonide 180/160 μg vs budesonide 160 μg (least-squares mean [LSM] difference, 80.7 [95% CI, 28.4-132.9] mL; P = .003). Change in trough FEV at week 12 was greater with albuterol-budesonide 180/160 and 180/80 μg vs albuterol 180 μg (LSM difference, 132.8 [95% CI, 63.6-201.9] mL and 120.8 [95% CI, 51.5-190.1] mL, respectively; both P < .001). Day 1 time to onset and duration of bronchodilation with albuterol-budesonide were similar to those with albuterol. The albuterol-budesonide adverse event profile was similar to that of the monocomponents.
INTERPRETATION
Both monocomponents contributed to albuterol-budesonide lung function efficacy. Albuterol-budesonide was well tolerated, even at regular, relatively high daily doses for 12 weeks, with no new safety findings, supporting its use as a novel rescue therapy.
CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION
ClinicalTrials.gov; No.: NCT03847896; URL: www.
CLINICALTRIALS
gov.
Topics: Humans; Child; Budesonide; Formoterol Fumarate; Metered Dose Inhalers; Administration, Inhalation; Asthma; Albuterol; Double-Blind Method; Bronchodilator Agents; Treatment Outcome
PubMed: 37003355
DOI: 10.1016/j.chest.2023.03.035 -
Advances in Therapy May 2022Inhaled corticosteroid (ICS)-containing therapies are the mainstay of pharmacological management of asthma. They can be administered alone or in combination with a... (Review)
Review
Inhaled corticosteroid (ICS)-containing therapies are the mainstay of pharmacological management of asthma. They can be administered alone or in combination with a long-acting bronchodilator, depending on asthma severity, and may also be supplemented with short-acting bronchodilators for as-needed rescue medication. Adherence to asthma therapies is generally poor and characterized by underuse of ICS therapies and over-reliance on short-acting bronchodilators, which leads to poor clinical outcomes. This article reviews efficacy versus systemic activity profiles for various dosing regimens of budesonide (BUD) and fluticasone propionate (FP). We performed a structured literature review of BUD and FP regular daily dosing, and BUD/formoterol (FOR) as-needed dosing, to explore the relationship between various dosing patterns of ICS regimens and the risk-benefit profile in terms of the extent of bronchoprotection and cortisol suppression. In addition, we explored how adherence could potentially affect the risk-benefit profile, in patients with mild, moderate, and moderate-to-severe asthma. With a specific focus on BUD or FP-containing treatments, we found that regular daily ICS and ICS/long-acting β-agonist (LABA) dosing had a greater degree of bronchoprotection than as-needed BUD/FOR dosing or BUD/FOR maintenance and reliever therapy (MART) dosing, and still maintained low systemic activity. We also found that the benefits of regular daily ICS dosing regimens were diminished when adherence was low (50%); the shorter duration of bronchoprotection observed was similar to that seen with typical as-needed BUD/FOR usage. These findings have implications for aiding clinicians with selecting the most suitable treatment option for asthma management, and subsequent implications for the advice clinicians give their patients.
Topics: Administration, Inhalation; Adrenal Cortex Hormones; Anti-Asthmatic Agents; Asthma; Bronchodilator Agents; Budesonide; Budesonide, Formoterol Fumarate Drug Combination; Drug Combinations; Ethanolamines; Fluticasone; Formoterol Fumarate; Humans
PubMed: 35284999
DOI: 10.1007/s12325-022-02092-7