Cholecystokinin octapeptide improves cardiac function by activating Cholecystokinin octapeptide receptor in endotoxic shock rats

AIM: To explore the effect of sulfated cholecystokinin octapeptide (sCCK-8) on cardiac functions and its receptor mechanism in endotoxic shock (ES) rats. METHODS: The changes of the mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR), the left ventricular pressure (LVP) and the maximal/minimum rate of LVP (±LVdp/dt max) were measured by using physiological record instrument in eight groups of rats. The expression of cholecystokinin-A receptor (CCK-AR) and cholecystokinin-B receptor (CCK-BR) mRNA of myocardium in ES rats was examined by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). RESULTS: (1) Low doses of sCCK-8 (0.4 μg/kg) caused tachycardia (441±27, normal control 391±22 s/min) and slight increase in MAP, LVP and ±LVdp/dtmax (16.96±1.79, 18.21±1.69 and +768.85±31.28/-565.04±27.71 kPa, respectively, all P<0.01), while medium doses (4.0 μg/kg) and high doses of sCCK-8 (40 μg/kg) elicited bradycardia and marked increase in MAP, LVP and ±LVdp/dtmax (17.29±1.63, 19.46±2.57 and +831.46±22.57/-606.08 ±31.32; 17.46±1.08, 19.83±2.91 and +914.52±35.95/ -639.15±30.23 kPa, respectively, all P<0.01). Proglumide (1.0 mg/kg), a nonselective antagonist of CCK-receptor (CCK-R), significantly inhibited the pressor effects of sCCK-8 (15.96±1.38, 17.36±0.66 and +748.18±19.29/-512.12±14.39 kPa, respectively, all P<0.01), whilst reversing the bradycardiac responses. (2) High doses of LPS (8 mg/kg) elicited marked decrease in MAP, LVP and ±LVdp/dtmax. (7.16±0.59, 7.6±0.68 and +298.01±25.52/ -166.96±19.25 kPa, respectively, all P<0.01). Pretreatment with sCCK-8 (40 μg/kg) could reverse the decline of cardiac functions (10.71±0.45, 11.7±1.26 and +446.04±67.18/ -347.90±36.98 kPa, respectively, all P<0.01), while proglumide could cause further decline of cardiac function in ES rats (4.71±0.67, 5.58±1.25 and +226.48±15.84/ -142.83±20.23 kPa, respectively, all P<0.01). (3) CCK-A/BR mRNAs were expressed in myocardium of control rats. Gene expression of CCK-AR and CCK-BR significantly increased in myocardium of ES rats. The increase of CCK-AR mRNA induced by LPS began at 0.5 h, peaked at 2 h, kept a high level at 6 h and declined at 12 h, respectively. Similar to CCK-AR mRNA, the expression of CCK-BR mRNA peaked at 2 h and kept a high level at 6 h, but it did not change at the first 0.5 h and was stable at a high level at 12 h. CONCLUSION: The above results indicate that endogenous and exogenous sCCK-8 may significantly improve cardiac function and intractable hypotension of ES rats, which was likely related to high expression of CCK-A/BR in myocardium induced by LPS.

Regulatory effects of phospholipase A_2 inhibitors on platelet activating factor in endotoxic shock in rabbits

The regulatory effects of phospholipase A2(PLA2) inhibitors, chloroquine and dexamethasone, on the activity of blood PLA2 and its related lipid mediators during endotoxic shock were observed in rabbits. The rabbits were randomized into 4 groups as follows : The normal control (NC) group consisted of 12 rabbits with sham injection . the endotoxic shork (ES) group of 31 rabbits, the chloquine pretreated (CQ) group of 16 rabbits receiving 3 mg/kg of chlorqouine and the dexamethasone-pretreated (DM) group of 10 rabbits receiving 5 mg/kg of dexamethasone. Blood was sampled before and 5 and 30 min, 1 ,3, 5 and 8 h after the administration of endotoxin for the determination of PLA2, platelet activating factor (PAF) , TXB2 and 6-keto-PGF1α. In addrtion, changes of mean arterial pressure (MAP) and respiratory rate (RR) were also carefully recorded. It was found that the activities of PLA2 and PAF and the levels of TXB2 and 6-keto-PGF1α. were significantly increased after the infusion of endotoxin. CQ and DM markedly suppressed the activities of PLA2 and PAF. The inhibition of CQ on TXB2 and 6-keto-PGF1α was greater than that of DM. Besides, CQ and DM could increase the survival rate of the animals from 48% to 75% (CQ group) and 70% (DM group). These findings suggest that PLA2 inhibitors such as CQ and DM can significantly attenuate the formation of shock mediators such as PLA2, PAF, TXB2 and 6-keto-PGF1α, and so improve the prognosis of the victims of endotoxic shock.

Gene Delivery of SOCS3 Protects Mice from Lethal Endotoxic Shock

Suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 （SOCS3） was reported as a feedback inhibitor of cytokine receptor signaling by inhibiting the JAK-STAT signal transduction pathway. We sought to test the anti-endotoxic septic shock effect of liposome mediated gene delivery of SOCS3 in a lethal endotoxic shock mouse model. BALB/c mice were injected intraperitoneally with 200μg pcDNA3.1-SOCS3 cationic liposomes, while pcDNA3.1-IL-10 and empty vector as positive and negative control respectively. Forty-eight hours after gene delivery, mice were challenged with 4 μg of E.coli 0127：B8 LPS and 18 mg D-GaIN administered i.p. 90 min later, serum TNF-α level was determined. Survival over the next 48 h was evaluated. Peritoneal macrophages from survival mice were stimulated in vitro with 1 μg/ml LPS for 18 h, and the supernatants were harvested for determination of the amount of TNF-α. We found that gene delivery of SOCS3 significantly increase the mouse survival rate from 27.8 ± 9.6% of control group to 61.1 ± 9.6% （p 〈 0.01）. In comparison with control group （218 ± 13 pg/ml） and sham delivery group （219 ± 22 pg/ml）, gene delivery of SOCS3 reduced the level of serum TNF-α （68 ± 9 pg/ml） significantly （p 〈 0.01）. Furthermore, gene delivery of SOCS3 displayed the capacity of prevention of tolerance of peritoneal macrophages to LPS. These findings suggest that gene delivery of SOCS3 mediated by liposome is a promising approach for endotoxic septic shock treatment. Cellular ＆ Molecular Immunology.

Role of Nuclear Transcription Factor-кB in Endotoxin induced Shock in Rats

Summary: To investigate the role of NF-κB in endotoxic shock in rats, the model of endotoxin-shock rats was induced by intravenous infusion of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). 1 h, 2 h, 4 h and 6 h after LPS injection, the activation of NF-κB in blood mononuclear cells and the content of TNF-α and IL-6 in plasma was detected by enzyme-linked immunoadsordent assay (ELISA). The level of mean arterial pressure (MAP) and the histopathological changes of lung and liver were also observed. The activation of NF-κB in mononuclear cells increased 1 h after LPS injection and reached its peak 2 h after the injection, and its level was higher than that of normal group. The level of TNF-α was increased 1 h after the infusion and peaked 2 h after the injection, and its level was higher than that of normal group after LPS infusion. The content of IL-6 increased gradually with time, the IL-6 level was higher than that of normal group after LPS injection. MAP was decreased gradually with time and its level was lower than that of normal group after LPS injection. Pathological examination showed that endotoxic shock could cause pulmonary alveolar hemorrhage, edema and infiltration of inflammatory cell in lung tissue and congestion, edema, capillary dilation and inflammatory cell infiltration in liver tissue. It is concluded that NF-κB can up-regulate the expression of TNF-α and IL-6 in plasma and play an important role in endotoxin-induced shock in rats.