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Mechanisms by which the resin monomer 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) induces hypersensitivity reactions in humans are not well-established, nor have the direct effects of HEMA on cell death been fully characterized. The objective of this study was to establish whether HEMA is capable of inducing apoptotic cell death, and whether differences exist in the levels of apoptotic death induced by HEMA in cells obtained from healthy individuals and from patients with established HEMA hypersensitivity. HEMA induced apoptotic death in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells (PBMCs) obtained from both healthy and HEMA-sensitized patients and in the murine RAW cells in a dose-dependent manner. However, induction of cell death by HEMA was lower in PBMCs obtained from patients in comparison with healthy individuals. Studies reported in this paper demonstrate that HEMA induces apoptotic death, and that decreased susceptibility of lymphocytes to HEMA-mediated death might be an important mechanism for the generation and persistence of hypersensitivity reactions in patients.

Codeine, a 3-methylmorphine, and other related opioids have been implicated in androgen suppression, although the associated mechanisms remain unclear. Therefore, the objective of the current study was to elucidate the in vivo molecular mechanisms underlying codeine-induced androgen suppression. This study made use of twenty-one healthy male rabbits, distributed into three groups randomly, control and codeine-treated groups. The control had 1ml of normal saline daily p.o. The codeine-treated groups received either 4mg/kg b.w of codeine or 10mg/kg b.w of codeine p.o. for six weeks. Reproductive hormonal profile, testicular weight, testicular enzymes, oxidative and inflammatory parameters, testicular DNA fragmentation, histological examination and apoptosis marker were evaluated to examine the effects of codeine use. Oral administration of codeine resulted in testicular atrophy and alterations in testicular histomorphology, elevated testicular enzymes, and suppression of circulatory and intra-testicular testosterone. These changes were associated with a marked rise in oxidative markers and decline in the activities of testicular enzymatic antioxidants, as well as oxidative DNA damage, inflammatory response, testicular DNA fragmentation, and caspase-dependent apoptosis (p<0.05). In conclusion, chronic codeine use resulted in testicular degeneration and testosterone suppression, which is attributable to TNF-α/nitric oxide-/oxidative stress-mediated caspase-dependent apoptotic testicular cell death and loss of testicular function.

Studies on human intestinal injury induced by acute exposure to γ-radiation commonly rely on use of animal models because culture systems do not faithfully mimic human intestinal physiology. Here we used a human Gut-on-a-Chip (Gut Chip) microfluidic device lined by human intestinal epithelial cells and vascular endothelial cells to model radiation injury and assess the efficacy of radiation countermeasure drugs in vitro. Exposure of the Gut Chip to γ-radiation resulted in increased generation of reactive oxygen species, cytotoxicity, apoptosis, and DNA fragmentation, as well as villus blunting, disruption of tight junctions, and compromise of intestinal barrier integrity. In contrast, pre-treatment with a potential prophylactic radiation countermeasure drug, dimethyloxaloylglycine (DMOG), significantly suppressed all of these injury responses. Thus, the human Gut Chip may serve as an in vitro platform for studying radiation-induced cell death and associate gastrointestinal acute syndrome, in addition to screening of novel radio-protective medical countermeasure drugs.

A natural predominant flavanone naringenin, especially abundant in citrus fruits, has a wide range of pharmacological activities. The search for antiproliferative agents that reduce skin carcinoma is a task of great importance. The objective of this study was to analyze the anti-proliferative and apoptotic mechanism of naringenin using MTT assay, DNA fragmentation, nuclear condensation, change in mitochondrial membrane potential, cell cycle kinetics and caspase-3 as biomarkers and to investigate the ability to induce reactive oxygen species (ROS) initiating apoptotic cascade in human epidermoid carcinoma A431 cells. Results showed that naringenin exposure significantly reduced the cell viability of A431 cells (p<0.01) with a concomitant increase in nuclear condensation and DNA fragmentation in a dose dependent manner. The intracellular ROS generation assay showed statistically significant (p<0.001) dose-related increment in ROS production for naringenin. It also caused naringenin-mediated epidermoid carcinoma apoptosis by inducing mitochondrial depolarization. Cell cycle study showed that naringenin induced cell cycle arrest in G0/G1 phase of cell cycle and caspase-3 analysis revealed a dose dependent increment in caspase-3 activity which led to cell apoptosis. This study confirms the efficacy of naringenin that lead to cell death in epidermoid carcinoma cells via inducing ROS generation, mitochondrial depolarization, nuclear condensation, DNA fragmentation, cell cycle arrest in G0/G1 phase and caspase-3 activation.

Adrenomedullin (ADM) exerts anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects in Leydig cells. However, the role and mechanism of ADM in the pyroptosis of Leydig cells are poorly understood. This study first showed the protective effects of ADM on the pyroptosis and biological functions of Leydig cells exposed to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) by promoting autophagy. Primary rat Leydig cells were treated with various concentrations of LPS and ADM, together with or without N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) or 3-methyladenine (3-MA). Cell proliferation was detected through CCK-8 and BrdU incorporation assays, and ROS level was measured with the DCFDA assay. Real-time PCR, western blot, immunofluorescence, transmission electron microscopy, TUNEL and flow cytometry were performed to examine ADM’s effect on the pyroptosis, autophagy and steroidogenic enzymes of Leydig cells and AMPK/mTOR signalling. Like NAC, ADM dose-dependently reduced LPS-induced cytotoxicity and ROS overproduction. ADM also dose-dependently ameliorated LPS-induced pyroptosis by reversing the increased expression of NLRP3, ASC, caspase-1, IL-1β, IL-18, GSDMD, caspase-3, caspase-7, TUNEL-positive and PI and active caspase-1 double-stained positive rate, DNA fragmentation and LDH concentration, which could be rescued via co-incubation with 3-MA. ADM dose-dependently increased autophagy in LPS-induced Leydig cells, as confirmed by the increased expression of LC3-I/II, Beclin-1 and ATG-5; decreased expression of p62 and autophagosomes formation; and increased LC3-II/LC3-I ratio. However, co-treatment with 3-MA evidently decreased autophagy. Furthermore, ADM dose-dependently rescued the expression of steroidogenic enzymes, including StAR, P450scc, 3β-HSD and CYP17, and testosterone production in LPS-induced Leydig cells. Like rapamycin, ADM dose-dependently enhanced AMPK phosphorylation but reduced mTOR phosphorylation in LPS-induced Leydig cells, which could be rescued via co-incubation with 3-MA. In addition, pyroptosis was further decreased, and autophagy was further promoted in LPS-induced Leydig cells upon co-treatment with ADM and rapamycin. ADM may protect the steroidogenic functions of Leydig cells against pyroptosis by activating autophagy via the ROS–AMPK–mTOR axis.

DNA methylation is one of the most important epigenetic modifications in the regulation of gene transcription. The current gold standard to study this modification is bisulfite sequencing. Although multiple commercial bisulfite treatment kits provide good conversion efficiencies, DNA loss and especially DNA fragmentation remain troublesome. This hampers DNA methylation profiling of long DNA sequences. Here, we explored the performance of twelve commercial bisulfite kits by an in-depth comparison of DNA fragmentation using gel electrophoresis, qPCR and digital PCR, DNA recovery by spectroscopic measurements and digital PCR and conversion efficiency by next generation sequencing. The results show a clear performance difference between the bisulfite kits, and depending on the specific goal of the study, the most appropriate kit might differ. Moreover, we demonstrated that digital PCR is a valuable method to monitor both DNA fragmentation as well as DNA recovery after bisulfite treatment.

Acetaminophen (APAP) overdose is the predominant cause of acute liver failure in the United States. Toxicity begins with a reactive metabolite that binds to proteins. In rodents, this leads to mitochondrial dysfunction and nuclear DNA fragmentation, resulting in necrotic cell death. While APAP metabolism is similar in humans, the later events resulting in toxicity have not been investigated in patients. In this study, levels of biomarkers of mitochondrial damage (glutamate dehydrogenase [GDH] and mitochondrial DNA [mtDNA]) and nuclear DNA fragments were measured in plasma from APAP-overdose patients. Overdose patients with no or minimal hepatic injury who had normal liver function tests (LTs) (referred to herein as the normal LT group) and healthy volunteers served as controls. Peak GDH activity and mtDNA concentration were increased in plasma from patients with abnormal LT. Peak nuclear DNA fragmentation in the abnormal LT cohort was also increased over that of controls. Parallel studies in mice revealed that these plasma biomarkers correlated well with tissue injury. Caspase-3 activity and cleaved caspase-3 were not detectable in plasma from overdose patients or mice, but were elevated after TNF-induced apoptosis, indicating that APAP overdose does not cause apoptosis. Thus, our results suggest that mitochondrial damage and nuclear DNA fragmentation are likely to be critical events in APAP hepatotoxicity in humans, resulting in necrotic cell death.

The present study aimed to elucidate the cell death mechanism in Leishmania donovani upon treatment with KalsomeTM10, a new liposomal amphotericin B. We studied morphological alterations in promastigotes through phase contrast and scanning electron microscopy. Phosphatidylserine (PS) exposure, loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and disruption of mitochondrial integrity was determined by flow cytometry using annexinV-FITC, JC-1 and mitotraker, respectively. For analysing oxidative stress, generation of H2O2 (bioluminescence kit) and mitochondrial superoxide O2- (mitosox) were measured. DNA fragmentation was evaluated using terminal deoxyribonucleotidyl transferase mediated dUTP nick-end labelling (TUNEL) and DNA laddering assay. We found that KalsomeTM10 is more effective then Ambisome against the promastigote as well as intracellular amastigote forms. The mechanistic study showed that KalsomeTM10 induced several morphological alterations in promastigotes typical of apoptosis. KalsomeTM10 treatment showed a dose- and time-dependent exposure of PS in promastigotes. Further, study on mitochondrial pathway revealed loss of mitochondrial membrane potential as well as disruption in mitochondrial integrity with depletion of intracellular pool of ATP. KalsomeTM10 treated promastigotes showed increased ROS production, diminished GSH levels and increased caspase-like activity. DNA fragmentation and cell cycle arrest was observed in KalsomeTM10 treated promastigotes. Apoptotic DNA fragmentation was also observed in KalsomeTM10 treated intracellular amastigotes. KalsomeTM10 induced generation of ROS and nitric oxide leads to the killing of the intracellular parasites. Moreover, endocytosis is indispensable for KalsomeTM10 mediated anti-leishmanial effect in host macrophage. KalsomeTM10 induces apoptotic-like cell death in L. donovani parasites to exhibit its anti-leishmanial function.

The cytotoxic potential of ammonium-based deep eutectic solvents (DESs) with four hydrogen bond donors, namely glycerine (Gl), ethylene glycol (EG), triethylene glycol (TEG) and urea (U) were investigated. The toxicity of DESs was examined using In Vitro cell lines and In Vivo animal model. IC50 and selectivity index were determined for the DESs, their individual components and their combinations as aqueous solutions for comparison purposes. The cytotoxicity effect of DESs varied depending on cell lines. The IC50 for the GlDES, EGDES, UDES and TEGDES followed the sequence of TEGDES< GlDES< EGDES< UDES for OKF6, MCF-7, A375, HT29 and H413, respectively. GlDES was selective against MCF-7 and A375, EGDES was selective against MCF-7, PC3, HepG2 and HT29, UDES was selective against MCF-7, PC3, HepG2 and HT29, and TEGDES was selective against MCF-7 and A375. However, acute toxicity studies using ICR mice showed that these DESs were relatively toxic in comparison to their individual components. DES did not cause DNA damage, but it could enhance ROS production and induce apoptosis in treated cancer cells as evidenced by marked LDH release. Furthermore, the examined DESs showed less cytotoxicity compared with ionic liquids. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that combined In Vitro and In Vivo toxicity profiles of DESs were being demonstrated, raising the toxicity issue of these neoteric mixtures and their potential applicability to be used for therapeutic purposes.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the therapeutic efficacy of individual or combined doses of dehydro-epiandrosterone (DHEA) and quercetin in ameliorating some biochemical indices in liver of CuO-NPs intoxicated-rats. CuO-NPs (50 nm) was administered as a daily oral dose 100 mg/kg for 2 weeks to rats followed by the fore-mentioned antioxidants for 1 month. We highlighted the therapeutic effect of DHEA and quercetin against CuO-NPs toxicity through monitoring the alteration of liver enzyme activity, antioxidant defense mechanism, necrosis, apoptosis, histopathological alterations, and DNA damage. The rats given CuO-NPs only showed marked significant elevation in liver enzymes, alteration in oxidant-antioxidant balance and an elevation in the hepatic inflammatory marker; tumor necrosis factor-α. Additionally, over expression of both caspase-3 and Bax proteins were detected. Whereas, Bcl2 was down regulated and DNA fragmentation was elevated. Moreover, Histopathological examination of hepatic tissue reinforced the previous biochemical results. Co-treatment with either DHEA, quercetin alone or in combination ameliorated the deviated parameters with variable degrees against CuO-NPs toxicity in rat. In conclusion, our findings suggested that the aforementioned treatments exert therapeutic effect in CuO-NPs toxicity by diminishing oxidative stress, mRNA gene expression and hepatic tissues DNA damage.