EGF receptor plays a role in the mechanism of glutamine-mediated prevention of alcohol-induced gut barrier dysfunction and liver injury (original) (raw)

Epidermal Growth Factor Protects the Liver Against Alcohol-Induced Injury and Sensitization to Bacterial Lipopolysaccharide

Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 2002

Background: Whereas the role of proinflammatory cytokines in the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver disease has been at the forefront of investigation, a possible role for anti-inflammatory cytokines in this disease has received little attention. This study investigated (1) the hepatic protective effect of an anti-inflammatory cytokine, epidermal growth factor (EGF), against deleterious effects of alcohol and sensitization to bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and (2) the possible mechanisms that underlie such protection.

Glutamine supplementation attenuates ethanol-induced disruption of apical junctional complexes in colonic epithelium and ameliorates gut barrier dysfunction and fatty liver in mice

The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, 2016

Previous in vitro studies showed that glutamine (Gln) prevents acetaldehyde-induced disruption of tight junctions and adherens junctions in Caco-2 cell monolayers and human colonic mucosa. In the present study, we evaluated the effect of Gln supplementation on ethanol-induced gut barrier dysfunction and liver injury in mice in vivo. Ethanol feeding caused a significant increase in inulin permeability in distal colon. Elevated permeability was associated with a redistribution of tight junction and adherens junction proteins and depletion of detergent-insoluble fractions of these proteins, suggesting that ethanol disrupts apical junctional complexes in colonic epithelium and increases paracellular permeability. Ethanol-induced increase in colonic mucosal permeability and disruption of junctional complexes were most severe in mice fed Gln-free diet. Gln supplementation attenuated ethanol-induced mucosal permeability and disruption of tight junctions and adherens junctions in a dose-dependent manner, indicating the potential role of glutamine in nutritional intervention to alcoholic tissue injury. Gln supplementation dosedependently elevated reduced-protein thiols in colon without affecting the level of oxidizedprotein thiols. Ethanol feeding depleted reduced protein thiols and elevated oxidized protein thiols. Ethanol-induced protein thiol oxidation was most severe in mice fed Gln-free diet and absent in mice fed Gln-supplemented diet, suggesting that antioxidant effect is one of the likely mechanisms involved in Gln-mediated amelioration of ethanol-induced gut barrier dysfunction. Ethanol feeding elevated plasma transaminase and liver triglyceride, which was accompanied by histopathologic lesions in the liver; ethanol-induced liver damage was attenuated by Gln supplementation. These results indicate that Gln supplementation ameliorates alcohol-induced gut and liver injury.

Mast cell stabilizator and antioxidant effects of epidermal growth factor (EGF) on gastric mucosal injury induced by ethanol in rats

The Chinese journal of physiology, 2005

The role of epidermal growth factor (EGF), a polypeptide containing 53 amino acids, on protection and repair of ethanol-induced gastric mucosal injury was investigated in rats. In addition, the effects of EGF on the gastric damage were evaluated histopathologically. We used 48 Spraque-Dawley rats which were divided into [corrected] three groups as control rats, ethanol treated rats and ethanol+EGF treated rats. The ethanol group was given a gastric gavage containing 1 ml of 80% ethanol (v/v) prepared in distilled water. EGF (100 microg/kg) was given by intragastric gavage 30 min before the administration of ethanol. We studied histopathological evaluation and the histochemical heterogeneity of mast cells and its degree of degranulation. Besides, gastric tissue malondialdehyde (MDA), protein sulfhydryl groups (SH), and protein carbonyl levels were measured. EGF treatment stabilized mast cells degranulation and had lower polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNL) infiltration, ulcer index, h...

Host Factors in Dysregulation of the Gut Barrier Function during Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease

International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2021

Chronic alcohol consumption and alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) represent a major public health problem worldwide. Only a minority of patients with an alcohol-use disorder (AUD) develop severe forms of liver disease (e.g., steatohepatitis and fibrosis) and finally progress to the more advanced stages of ALD, such as severe alcohol-associated hepatitis and decompensated cirrhosis. Emerging evidence suggests that gut barrier dysfunction is multifactorial, implicating microbiota changes, alterations in the intestinal epithelium, and immune dysfunction. This failing gut barrier ultimately allows microbial antigens, microbes, and metabolites to translocate to the liver and into systemic circulation. Subsequent activation of immune and inflammatory responses contributes to liver disease progression. Here we review the literature about the disturbance of the different host defense mechanisms linked to gut barrier dysfunction, increased microbial translocation, and impairment of live...

Alcohol, Signaling, and ECM Turnover

Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 2010

Alcohol is recognized as a direct hepatotoxin, but the precise molecular pathways that are important for the initiation and progression of alcohol-induced tissue injury are not completely understood. The current understanding of alcohol toxicity to organs suggests that alcohol initiates injury by generation of oxidative and nonoxidative ethanol metabolites and via translocation of gut-derived endotoxin. These processes lead to cellular injury and stimulation of the inflammatory responses mediated through a variety of molecules. With continuing alcohol abuse, the injury progresses through impairment of tissue regeneration and extracellular matrix (ECM) turnover, leading to fibrogenesis and cirrhosis. Several cell types are involved in this process, the predominant being stellate cells, macrophages, and parenchymal cells. In response to alcohol, growth factors and cytokines activate many signaling cascades that regulate fibrogenesis. This mini-review brings together research focusing on the underlying mechanisms of alcohol-mediated injury in a number of organs. It highlights the various processes and molecules that are likely involved in inflammation, immune modulation, susceptibility to infection, ECM turnover and fibrogenesis in the liver, pancreas, and lung triggered by alcohol abuse.

Alcoholic liver disease and the gut-liver axis

World journal of gastroenterology: WJG, 2010

Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is one of the leading causes of liver diseases and liver-related death worldwide. Of the many factors that contribute to the pathogenesis of ALD, gut-derived lipopolysaccharide (LPS) plays a central role in induction of steatosis, inflammation, and fibrosis in the liver. In this review, we discuss the mechanisms by which alcohol contributes to increased gut permeability, the activation of Kupffer cells, and the inflammatory cascade by LPS. The role of the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) complex in LPS recognition and the importance of the TLR4-induced signaling pathways are evaluated in ALD.

Alcohol binge disrupts the rat intestinal barrier: the partial protective role of oleoylethanolamide

British Journal of Pharmacology

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Chronic alcohol consumption alters the gut-brain axis, but little is known about alcohol binge episodes on the functioning of the intestinal barrier. We investigated the influence of ethanol binges on bacterial translocation, gut inflammation and immunity, and tight junction (TJ) structure and the ability of the biolipid oleoylethanolamide (OEA) to prevent ethanol binge-induced intestinal barrier dysfunction. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH OEA was injected i.p. before repeated ethanol administration by oral gavage. Plasma, spleen, liver and mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN) were collected in sterile conditions for determination of bacterial load. Immune/inflammatory parameters, TJ proteins and apoptotic markers were determined in colonic tissue by RT-PCR and Western blotting. TJ ultrastructure was examined by transmission electron microscopy. KEY RESULTS Ethanol binges induced bacterial translocation to the MLN (mainly) and spleen. Colonic tissues showed signs of inflammation, and activation of innate (Toll-like receptor-4) and adaptive (IgA) immune systems and TJ proteins (occludin and claudin-3) were decreased after ethanol binges. Pretreatment with OEA reduced intestinal inflammation and immune activation and partially preserved the TJ structure affected by alcohol binges but had no effect on alcohol-induced apoptosis. Ultrastructural analyses of colonic TJs revealed dilated TJs in all ethanol groups, with less electron-dense material in non-pretreated rats. The protective effects of i.p. OEA did not reduce bacterial translocation to the MLN. However, intragastric OEA administration significantly reduced plasma LPS levels and bacterial translocation to the MLN. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS OEA-based pharmacotherapies could potentially be useful to treat disorders characterized by intestinal barrier dysfunction, including alcohol abuse.

Occludin deficiency promotes ethanol-induced disruption of colonic epithelial junctions, gut barrier dysfunction and liver damage in mice

Biochimica et biophysica acta, 2015

Disruption of epithelial tight junctions (TJ), gut barrier dysfunction and endotoxemia play crucial role in the pathogenesis of alcoholic tissue injury. Occludin, a transmembrane protein of TJ, is depleted in colon by alcohol. However, it is unknown whether occludin depletion influences alcoholic gut and liver injury. Wild type (WT) and occludin deficient (Ocln(-/-)) mice were fed 1-6% ethanol in Lieber-DeCarli diet. Gut permeability was measured by vascular-to-luminal flux of FITC-inulin. Junctional integrity was analyzed by confocal microscopy. Liver injury was assessed by plasma transaminase, histopathology and triglyceride analyses. The effect of occludin depletion on acetaldehyde-induced TJ disruption was confirmed in Caco-2 cell monolayers. Ethanol feeding significantly reduced body weight gain in Ocln(-/-) mice. Ethanol increased inulin permeability in colon of both WT and Ocln(-/-) mice, but the effect was 4-fold higher in Ocln(-/-) mice. The gross morphology of colonic muco...

Hepatocyte growth factor protects hepatocytes against oxidative injury induced by ethanol metabolism

Free Radical Biology and Medicine, 2009

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is involved in many cellular responses, such as mitogenesis and apoptosis protection; however, its effect against oxidative injury induced by ethanol metabolism is not well understood. The aim of this work was to address the mechanism of HGF-induced protection against ethanolgenerated oxidative stress damage in the human cell line VL-17A (cytochrome P450 2E1/alcohol dehydrogenase-transfected HepG2 cells). Cells were pretreated with 50 ng/ml HGF for 12 h and then treated with 100 mM ethanol for 0-48 h. Some parameters of oxidative damage were evaluated. We found that ethanol induced peroxide formation (3.3-fold) and oxidative damage as judged by lipid peroxidation (5.4-fold). Damage was prevented by HGF. To address the mechanisms of HGF-induced protection we investigated the cellular antioxidant system. We found that HGF increased the GSH/GSSG ratio, as well as SOD1, catalase, and γ-glutamylcysteine synthetase expression. To explore the signaling pathways involved in this process, VL-17A cells were pretreated with inhibitors against PI3K, Akt, and NF-κB. We found that all treatments decreased the expression of the antioxidant enzymes, thus abrogating the HGF-induced protection against oxidative stress. Our results demonstrate that HGF protects cells from the oxidative damage induced by ethanol metabolism by a mechanism driven by NF-κB and PI3K/Akt signaling.