Intestinal barrier function Research Papers (original) (raw)

2025, Biochemistry

In this study the interaction of the antimicrobial peptide clavanin A with phosphatidylcholine bilayers is investigated by DSC, NMR, and AFM techniques. It is shown that the peptide interacts strongly and specifically with the lipids, resulting in increased order-disorder phase transition temperatures, phase separation, altered acyl chain and headgroup packing, and a drastically changed surface morphology of the bilayer. These results are interpreted in terms of clavanin-specific interactions with lipids and are discussed in the light of the different mechanisms by which clavanin A can destroy the barrier function of biological membranes. † This study has been carried out with financial support from the Commission of the European Communities, Agriculture and Fisheries (FAIR) specific RTD program, CT97-3135, and the Division of Chemical Sciences of NWO.

2025, Autism Insights

Is gastrointestinal disease more prevalent in children with autism? There are arguments favoring both sides of the controversy. We present data collected from the medical history of a recent Autistic Genetic Resource Exchange (AGRE) database of autistic children and their siblings, demonstrating that autistic children may be significantly more susceptible to overall GI disease, as well as chronic diarrhea and constipation specifically. Many autistic children have GI disease, however, whether this disease is significantly increased in children with autism is still being debated.

2025, Lasers in Medical Science

Skin represents an interface between internal and external environment; it protects human body by regulating the water loss and the maintenance of body temperature, defending against irritant and pathogen agents, and against physical, chemical, and UV damage. It provides to essential physiological functions, such as the important antioxidant defense capacity; its protective/defensive function is performed by a high number of proteins, and shows important functions in maintenance of skin barrier homeostasis. Keratinocytes and fibroblasts play a pivotal role to determine or prevent skin aging in response to intrinsic or extrinsic stimuli, modulating cytokines and several biochemical factors. Non-ablative technologies are playing an increasing role in the management of skin aging, inducing a dermal remodeling without a visible epidermal damage. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of Qswitched 1064 Nd-YAG laser (Medlite Conbio C6 Nd-YAG laser, Cynosure USA) in skin barrier function, analyzing the constituents which are strongly altered in aging skin. Particularly, we evaluated the expression of filaggrin, TGase, HSP70, and aquaporins, on HaCaT cells. The expression of proinflammatory cytokines has been investigated too. As a second step of the study, we analyzed the modulation of the rejuvenation molecular markers on human skin fibroblasts (HDFs) stimulated with keratinocytes conditioned medium (KCM). Our results demonstrated that Q-switched 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser acts on the skin barrier function, increasing the expression of aquaporins, filaggrin, TGase, and HSP70, modulating the proinflammatory cytokines. In fibroblasts stimulated with keratinocytes conditioned medium (KCM) and irradiated with Q-switched 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser, we can observe a reduction of MMP-1 and an increase in procollagen, collagen type I, and elastin. Our results highlight that Q-switched 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser treatment could represent an effective weapon to fight skin aging.

2025, Revista Matemática Complutense

In this paper we analyse the existence of principal eigenvalues and eigenfunctions for a family of eigenvalue problems described by a system consisting in two partial differential equations involving p-Laplacians. Next, we study the asymptotic behaviour, as p → ∞, of the sequence of principal eigenfunctions and we show that, passing eventually to a subsequence, it converges uniformly to a certain limit given by a pair of continuous functions. Moreover, we identify the limiting equations which have as solutions the limiting functions.

2025, Toxicology in Vitro

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L'archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d'enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés.

2025, Numerische Mathematik

In this paper, we are concerned with the conjugate gradient methods for solving unconstrained optimization problems. It is well-known that the direction generated by a conjugate gradient method may not be a descent direction of the objective function. In this paper, we take a little modification to the Fletcher-Reeves (FR) method such that the direction generated by the modified method provides a descent direction for the objective function. This property depends neither on the line search used, nor on the convexity of the objective function. Moreover, the modified method reduces to the standard FR method if line search is exact. Under mild conditions, we prove that the modified method with Armijo-type line search is globally convergent even if the objective function is nonconvex. We also present some numerical results to show the efficiency of the proposed method.

2025, Journal of Translational Gastroenterology

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an idiopathic intestinal inflammatory condition affecting the ileum, colon, and rectum, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. Clinical symptoms include abdominal pain, diarrhea, and even bloody stools. The intestinal barrier is the first line of defense between the intestinal tract and the external environment, and maintaining its stability is essential for intestinal health. On one hand, it enables the digestion and absorption of water and nutrients; on the other, it plays a crucial role in reducing the absorption of toxins and the invasion of pathogens. Damage to the intestinal barrier has become one of the most important factors in the onset and progression of IBD. However, there is currently no literature that systematically reviews the mechanisms of the intestinal barrier in the pathogenesis of IBD and the factors influencing it. In this paper, we aimed to systematically elaborate on the role of the intestinal barrier in IBD through the perspectives of oxidative stress, intestinal flora, and cellular autophagy. Our goal was to explore the mechanisms of the intestinal barrier in IBD more deeply and to provide new insights for the diagnosis and treatment of IBD. This article will summarize the composition of the intestinal barrier, the factors affecting it, and strategies to protect it.

2025, International Journal of Applied Pharmaceutics

Dengue Virus Infection (DVI) is a major health concern in tropical regions, including Indonesia, with symptoms ranging from mild to severe. Genetic factors, such as Toll-Like Receptor 4 Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms (TLR4 SNPs), influence disease severity. Severe DVI is associated with a cytokine storm and elevated Lipopolysaccharides (LPS), suggesting microbial translocation due to increased intestinal permeability. Antibiotics reduce gut bacterial populations but may worsen permeability. Kaempferia galanga, an herbal medicine with antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties, presents a potential therapeutic approach. This review explores the role of microbial translocation and Toll-like receptors in DVI pathogenesis and the potential of Kaempferia galanga in mitigating these effects. A narrative review was conducted using literature from PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar with the keywords "microbial translocation," "TLR4," "Kaempferia galanga," "herbal medicine," and "immune modulation" without publication year restrictions. DVI triggers immune cell activation and proinflammatory cytokine production, leading to increased intestinal permeability and microbial translocation. LPS in the bloodstream activates immunocytes via TLR4, amplifying cytokine production and worsening inflammation. While TLR4 SNPs do not directly influence this process, TLR4 expression is involved. Kaempferia galanga exhibits antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties that reduce intestinal permeability, thereby limiting microbial translocation. This, in turn, decreases TLR4 activation by LPS, mitigating the cytokine storm. DVI-induced cytokine production increases intestinal permeability, facilitating microbial translocation and systemic inflammation. LPS activates TLR4, driving cytokine release independently of TLR4 SNPs. Kaempferia galanga may inhibit this process through its antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties, offering a promising therapeutic strategy.

2025, Circulation Research

Thrombin mediates changes in endothelial barrier function and increases endothelial permeability. A feature of thrombin-enhanced endothelial hyperpermeability is contraction of endothelial cells (ECs), accompanied by formation of focal adhesions (FAs). Recently, a G protein-coupled receptor kinase-interacting protein, GIT1, was shown to regulate FA disassembly. We hypothesized that GIT1 modulates thrombin-induced changes in FAs. In human umbilical vein ECs (HUVECs), thrombin recruited GIT1 to FAs, where GIT1 colocalized with FAK and vinculin. Recruitment of GIT1 to FAs was dependent on activation of the small GTPase RhoA, and Rho kinase, as demonstrated by adenoviral transfection of dominant-negative RhoA and treatment with Y-27632. Thrombin stimulated GIT1 tyrosine phosphorylation with a time course similar to FAK phosphorylation in a Rho kinase-and Src-dependent manner. Depletion of GIT1 with antisense GIT1 oligonucleotides had no effect on basal cell morphology, but increased cell rounding and contraction of HUVECs, increased FA formation, and increased FAK tyrosine phosphorylation in response to thrombin, concomitant with increased endothelial hyperpermeability. These data identify GIT1 as a novel mediator in agonist-dependent signaling in ECs, demonstrate that GIT1 is involved in cell shape changes, and suggest a role for GIT1 as a negative feedback regulator that augments recovery of cell contraction. (Circ Res. 2004;94:1041-1049.

2025, M S-medecine Sciences

2025

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of energy sources (broken rice and cassava) and standardized ileal digestibility sulfur amino acids to lysine ratio (SID SAA: Lys ratio) in diets on growth performance, nutrients digestibility and intestinal morphology of piglets. One hundred and twenty eight castrated male weaning pigs (Large White x Landrace x Duroc; initial BW, 6.67 ± 0.05 kg) were randomly divided into 8 treatments with 4 replications of 4 pigs. The experimental design was a 2 x 4 factorial treatment arrangement in Completely Randomized Design. Main effects were 2 energy sources (broken rice and cassava) and 4 ratios of SID SAA: Lys (45, 56, 64 and 72 percentage). Piglets fed with broken rice had higher ADG, ADFI and digestibility of DM and OM than those fed with cassava diet (P<0.01). Increasing SID SAA: Lys ratios linearly improved FCR (P=0.01). Consequently, to maintain the identical growth rate, dietary level of SID SAA: Lys ratio of piglets fed with cassav...

2025, Transplantation

Background. Intestinal transplantation (ITx) faces many challenges due to the complexity of surgery and to the multiple immunological reactions that lead to the necessity of rigorous follow-up for early detection of acute cellular rejection (ACR). Our aim was to determine the kinetics of ACR using an experimental ITx model, with emphasis in the characterization of the process using different approaches, including the use of functional assays of absorptive and barrier function. Methods. ITx in rats conducting serial sampling was performed. Clinical monitoring, graft histology, proinflammatory gene expression, and nitrosative stress determination were performed. Also, glucose absorption, barrier function using ovalbumin translocation, and contractile function were analyzed. Results. The model used reproduced the different stages of ACR. Allogeneic ITx recipients showed signs of rejection from postoperative day (POD) 5, with increasing severity until 12 POD. Histological evaluation showed mild rejection in early sampling and severe rejection at late stages, with alterations in all graft layers. IL-6, CXCL 10, IFNg, and nitrite plasmas levels showed behavior coincident with histopathology. Remarkably, allogeneic grafts showed a marked alteration of glucose absorptive capacity from POD 5 that was sustained until endpoint. Coincidently, barrier function alteration was evidenced by luminal ovalbumin translocation to serum. Contractile function was progressively impaired along ACR. Conclusions. Glucose absorption and barrier function are altered at early stages of ACR when histological alterations or gene expression changes were much subtle. This observation may provide simple evaluation tools that could be eventually translated to the clinics to contribute to early ACR diagnosis.

2025, Zoologischer Anzeiger - A Journal of Comparative Zoology

A phylogeographic analysis of eight species complexes of European reptiles was performed using different molecular methods. While mitochondrial genes (mainly cytochrome b sequences) enabled conclusions about phylogeography and differentiation, additional application of bisexually inherited markers provided information about speciation stages. As species with similar distribution patterns in southern and Central Europe were selected, matching phylogeographic patterns are useful for drawing general conclusions: (1) The species complexes are in different stages of speciation. In some cases, cryptic species were detected. (2) Highest genetic diversity occurs in southern Europe, the Near East and the Caucasus, regions corresponding with glacial refuges in the Iberian, Apennine and Balkan Peninsulas as well as in Turkey and the Caucasus. Often, several microrefugia must have existed in close neighbourhood. Additional microrefugia were located in southern France and in the Carpathian Basin. (3) North Africa and the Middle East did not serve as glacial refuges for Central or northern European lineages and are typically inhabited by independent clades. (4) Evidence for multiple range retractions and expansions, which were postulated for the times of Pleistocene climatic oscillations, could be found in the Balkans, but in Central Europe their traces have been wiped out by the last glacial. Only the Holocene invasion has left imprints in the genomes from this area. (5) Central and northern Europe were recolonized from Balkan and Pontic refugia in the Holocene.

2025, Circulation Research

Subtle elevations in cAMP localized to the plasma membrane intensely strengthen endothelial barrier function. Paradoxically, pathogenic bacteria insert adenylyl cyclases (ACs) into eukaryotic cells generating a time-dependent cytosolic cAMP-increase that disrupts rather than strengthens the endothelial barrier. These findings bring into question whether membrane versus cytosolic AC activity dominates in control of cell adhesion. To address this problem, a mammalian forskolin-sensitive soluble AC (sACI/II) was expressed in pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells. Forskolin stimulated this sACI/II construct generating a small cytosolic cAMP-pool that was not regulated by phosphodiesterases or G ␣s . Whereas forskolin simultaneously activated the sACI/II construct and endogenous transmembrane ACs, the modest sACI/II activity overwhelmed the barrier protective effects of plasma membrane activity to induce endothelial gap formation. Retargeting sACI/II to the plasma membrane retained AC activity but protected the endothelial cell barrier. These findings demonstrate for the first time that the intracellular location of cAMP synthesis critically determines its physiological outcome. (Circ Res. 2006;98:675-681.

2025, PLOS ONE

Airway epithelial damage is a common feature in respiratory diseases such as COPD and has been suggested to drive inflammation and progression of disease. These features manifest as remodeling and destruction of lung epithelial characteristics including loss of small airways which contributes to chronic airway inflammation. Histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) has been shown to play a role in epithelial function and dysregulation, such as in cilia disassembly, epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) and oxidative stress responses, and has been implicated in several diseases. We thus used ACY-1083, an inhibitor with high selectivity for HDAC6, and characterized its effects on epithelial function including epithelial disruption, cytokine production, remodeling, mucociliary clearance and cell characteristics. Primary lung epithelial air-liquid interface cultures from COPD patients were used and the impacts of TNF, TGF-β, cigarette smoke and bacterial challenges on epithelial function in th...

2025, PLOS Pathogens

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a leading cause of seafood-borne gastroenteritis in many parts of the world, but there is limited knowledge of the pathogenesis of V. parahaemolyticus-induced diarrhea. The absence of an oral infection-based small animal model to study V. parahaemolyticus intestinal colonization and disease has constrained analyses of the course of infection and the factors that mediate it. Here, we demonstrate that infant rabbits oro-gastrically inoculated with V. parahaemolyticus develop severe diarrhea and enteritis, the main clinical and pathologic manifestations of disease in infected individuals. The pathogen principally colonizes the distal small intestine, and this colonization is dependent upon type III secretion system 2. The distal small intestine is also the major site of V. parahaemolyticus-induced tissue damage, reduced epithelial barrier function, and inflammation, suggesting that disease in this region of the gastrointestinal tract accounts for most of the diarrhea that accompanies V. parahaemolyticus infection. Infection appears to proceed through a characteristic sequence of steps that includes remarkable elongation of microvilli and the formation of V. parahaemolyticusfilled cavities within the epithelial surface, and culminates in villus disruption. Both depletion of epithelial cell cytoplasm and epithelial cell extrusion contribute to formation of the cavities in the epithelial surface. V. parahaemolyticus also induces proliferation of epithelial cells and recruitment of inflammatory cells, both of which occur before wide-spread damage to the epithelium is evident. Collectively, our findings suggest that V. parahaemolyticus damages the host intestine and elicits disease via previously undescribed processes and mechanisms.

2025, Skin Pharmacology and Physiology

Introduction: Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) is gaining increasing importance as a medical or cosmetic treatment for various indications. The technology is best suited to the treatment of surfaces such as the skin and is already used in wound care and, in exemplary case studies, the reduction of superficial tumors. Several plasma sources have been reported to affect the skin barrier function and potentially enable drug delivery across or into plasma-treated skin. Objective: In this study, this effect was quantified for different plasma sources in order to elucidate the influence of voltage rise time, pulse duration, and power density in treatments of fullthickness skin. Methods: We compared three different dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs) as to their permeabilization efficiency using Franz diffusion cell permeation experiments and measurements of the transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) with full-thickness human excised skin. Results: We found a significant reduction of the TEER for all three plasma sources. Permeation of the hydrophilic sodium fluorescein molecule was enhanced by a factor of 11.7 (low power) to 41.6 (high power) through µs-pulsed DBD-treated skin. A smaller effect was observed after treatment with the ns-pulsed DBD. Conclusions: The direct treatment of excised human full-thickness skin with CAP, specifically a DBD, can lead to pore formation and enhances transdermal transport of sodium fluorescein.

2025, Asian Journal of Dairy and Food Research, Volume 44 Issue 2 (April 2025)

Background: Celiac disease (CD) is an autoimmune disease characterized by chronic inflammation that essentially affects the small intestine and is caused by food that contain gluten. This research aimed to explore the impact of interleukin 21 (IL-21) and interleukin 23 (IL-23) on development the Celiac disease in Iraqi patients. Methods: Forty adults have CD were enrolled in the study with age range between 15-60 years with an average age of 36.60±2.03 years. The diagnosis of the disease was confirmed by serological examinations and intestinal endoscopy in Gastroenterology and Liver Teaching Hospital in the Medical City Hospital in Baghdad and a forty healthy subjects were included in this study as control group with age range between 16-59 years with an average age of 32.22±1.97 years. The blood serum were examined for Anti tissue transglutaminase (tTG) IgA and IgG (IgA ant-tTG and IgG ant-tTG) and anti-DGP IgA (IgA ant-DGP) antibodies as well as IL-21 and IL-23 by using enzyme-linked immunoassay technique ((ELISA). Also, the gene expression of IL-21 and IL-23 in peripheral blood of Iraqi CD patients was determined by using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) assay. Result: The results showed that serum levels of anti-tTG (IgA, IgG) and anti-gliadin (IgA) antibodies were significantly higher in CD patients than in control (25.13±1.12, 19.86±1.13, and 32.01±2.36 vs. 12.62±1.04, 6.83±0.82 and 21.59±1.44 U/ml, respectively; p<0.01). In addition, IL-21 and IL-23 serum level was increased in CD patients with high significant differences (490.02±20.46 and 565.22±22.84 vs 106.87±4.23 and 256.03±13.52 pg/ml; p<0.01), respectively. The results of gene expression revealed the level of IL-21 and IL-23 was increased significantly by 3.33±0.35 and 2.83±0.27 fold change in CD patients in comparison to control.

2025, Journal of Animal Science

Specific pig breeds with unique characteristics have been developed, and the current study sought to characterize some of these differences. Using modified Ussing chambers, electrophysiological mucosal transport of D-glucose, L-Gln, L-Pro, L-Arg, L-Thr, and glycylsarcosine was assessed in small intestinal tissues (duodenum, jejunum, ileum) taken from Yorkshire-based hybrid (BW = 142.4 ± 2.0 kg; mean age = 8 mo) and Meishan (BW = 65.8 ± 0.8 kg; mean age = 6 mo) female pigs after 4 h of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) exposure. Gilts were randomly assigned to control (saline infusion; n = 6 Yorkshires, n = 5 Meishans) or LPS (n = 7 Yorkshires, n = 5 Meishans) groups. Therefore, treatments were arranged in a 2 (breed) × 2 (LPS infusion) factorial. Four hours after infusions, pigs were euthanized, and intestinal segment samples were removed. Glucose transport in the ileum was decreased

2025

Yazışma Adresi /Correspondence: Mustafa İcer, Department of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Dicle University, 21280, Diyarbakır, Turkey Email: drmicer@gmail.com Geliş Tarihi / Received: 15.10.2015, Kabul Tarihi / Accepted: 17.11.2015 Copyright © Dicle Tıp Dergisi 2015, Her hakkı saklıdır / All rights reserved Dicle Tıp Dergisi / 2015; 42 (4): 525-527 Dicle Medical Journal doi: 10.5798/diclemedj.0921.2015.04.0622

2025, Cell and Tissue Research

2025, British Journal of Nutrition

Saponins are naturally occurring amphiphilic molecules and have been associated with many biological activities. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether soya saponins trigger the onset of soyabean-induced enteritis in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.), and to examine if dietary soya saponins increase the epithelial permeability of the distal intestine in Atlantic salmon. Seven experimental diets containing different levels of soya saponins were fed to seawater-adapted Atlantic salmon for 53 d. The diets included a fishmeal-based control diet, two fishmeal-based diets with different levels of added soya saponins, one diet containing 25 % lupin kernel meal, two diets based on 25 % lupin kernel meal with different levels of added soya saponins, and one diet containing 25 % defatted soyabean meal. The effect on intestinal morphology, intestinal epithelial permeability and faecal DM content was examined. Fish fed 25 % defatted soyabean meal displayed severe enteritis, wher...

2025, The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology

The recent identification of loss-of-function mutations in the structural protein filaggrin as a widely replicated major risk factor for eczema sheds new light on disease mechanisms in eczema, a disease that had heretofore largely been considered to have a primarily immunologic etiopathogenesis. The filaggrin gene (FLG) mutation findings are consistent with a recently proposed unifying hypothesis that offers a mechanistic understanding of eczema pathogenesis synthesizing a heritable epithelial barrier defect and resultant diminished epidermal defense mechanisms to allergens and microbes, followed by polarized T H 2 lymphocyte responses with resultant chronic inflammation, including autoimmune mechanisms. Although compelling evidence from genetic studies on FLG implicates perturbed barrier function as a key player in the pathogenesis of eczema in many patients, much is still unknown about the sequence of biologic, physicochemical, and aberrant regulatory events that constitute the transition from an inherited barrier defect to clinical manifestations of inflammatory eczematous lesions and susceptibility to related atopic disorders. The exact contribution of FLG to the wider atopic story, factors modifying FLG expression, and the role of other barrier proteins remain to be delineated. In this review we highlight recent advances in our understanding of the FLG genetics in the cause of eczema and related complex diseases.

2025, Springer eBooks

We denoise HARDI (High Angular Resolution Diffusion Imaging) data arising in medical imaging. Diffusion imaging is a relatively new and powerful method to measure the 3D profile of water diffusion at each point. This can be used to reconstruct fiber directions and pathways in the living brain, providing detailed maps of fiber integrity and connectivity. HARDI is a powerful new extension of diffusion imaging, which goes beyond the diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) model: mathematically, intensity data is given at every voxel and at any direction on the sphere. However, HARDI data is usually highly contaminated with noise, depending on the b-value which is a tuning parameter preselected to collect the data. Larger b-values help to collect more accurate information in terms of measuring diffusivity, but more noise is generated by many factors as well. So large b-values are preferred, if we can satisfactorily reduce the noise without losing the data structure. We propose a variational method to denoise HARDI data by denoising the spherical Apparent Diffusion Coefficient (sADC), a field of radial functions derived from the data. We use vectorial total variation regularization, an L 1 data fidelity term and the logarithmic barrier function in the minimization. We present experiments of denoising synthetic and real HARDI data.

2025, Intelligent Industrial Systems

The use of three-phase voltage inverters (DC to AC converters) is frequently met in the electric power system, such as in the connection of photovoltaics with the rest of the grid. The paper proposes a nonlinear feedback control method for three-phase inverters, which is based on differential flatness theory and a new nonlinear filtering method under the name Derivative-free nonlinear Kalman Filter. First, it is shown that the inverter's dynamic model is a differentially flat one. This means that all its state variables and the control inputs can be written as functions of a single algebraic variable which is the flat output. By exploiting differential flatness properties it is shown that the inverter's model can be transformed to the linear canonical (Brunovsky's) form. For the latter description the design of a state feedback controller becomes possible, e.g. using pole placement methods. Moreover, to estimate the non-measurable state variables of the linearized equivalent of the inverter, the Derivative-free nonlinear Kalman Filter is used. This consists of the Kalman Filter recursion applied on the linearized inverter's model and of an inverse transformation that is based on differential B G. Rigatos

2025, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology

Background: The bronchial epithelial cells of airways are subject to recurrent environmental injury throughout the life of an individual. Recently, a high incidence of asthma has been reported in inner-city children. The increased incidence of asthma in innercity children is thought to be caused, in part, by frequent exposure to allergens of the common household pest the cockroach. Objective: We sought to investigate whether cockroach extract antigen (CrAg) induces vascular permeability factor, also known as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and whether it increases permeability in bronchial airway epithelial cells (BAECs). Methods: We estimated CrAg-induced VEGF release in BAECs by using an ELISA and VEGF mRNA expression by using an RT-PCR reaction. The influence of CrAg on BAEC barrier function was estimated by measuring electrical resistance with an electric cell substrate impedance-sensing system. Results: Our results demonstrate that CrAg induces VEGF release in BAECs in a time-dependent manner. The VEGF induction was also confirmed by means of VEGF mRNA expression in CrAg-stimulated BAECs. CrAg decreased electrical resistance across BAEC monolayers. The maximum decrease in electrical resistance was noticed 6 hours after activation and reached a plateau thereafter. Neutralizing antibodies to VEGF significantly inhibited the decrease in BAEC electrical resistance caused by CrAg. Conclusions: These data suggest that CrAg induces VEGF release in BAECs and alters bronchial airway permeability. (J Allergy Clin Immunol 2002;110:589-95.

2025, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology

Background: Asthma is a complex disease involving gene and environment interactions. Although atopy is a strong predisposing risk factor for asthma, local tissue susceptibilities are required for disease expression. The bronchial epithelium forms the interface with the external environment and is pivotally involved in controlling tissue homeostasis through provision of a physical barrier controlled by tight junction (TJ) complexes. Objectives: To explain the link between environment exposures and airway vulnerability, we hypothesized that epithelial TJs are abnormal in asthma, leading to increased susceptibility to environmental agents. Methods: Localization of TJs in bronchial biopsies and differentiated epithelial cultures was assessed by electron microscopy or immunostaining. Baseline permeability and the effect of cigarette smoke and growth factor were assessed by measurement of transepithelial electrical resistance and passage of fluorescently labeled dextrans. Results: By using immunostaining, we found that bronchial biopsies from asthmatic subjects displayed patchy disruption of TJs. In differentiated bronchial epithelial cultures, TJ formation and transepithelial electrical resistance were significantly lower (P < .05) in cultures from asthmatic donors (n 5 43) than from normal controls (n 5 40) and inversely correlated with macromolecular permeability. Cultures from asthmatic donors were also more sensitive to disruption by cigarette smoke extract. Epidermal growth factor enhanced basal TJ formation in cultures from asthmatic subjects (P < .01) and protected against cigarette smoke-induced barrier disruption (P < .01). Conclusions: Our results show that the bronchial epithelial barrier in asthma is compromised. This defect may facilitate the passage of allergens and other agents into the airway tissue, leading to immune activation and may thus contribute to the end organ expression of asthma. (

2025, Cell and Tissue Biology

2025, American Journal of Physiology-Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology

Increased pulmonary endothelial cGMP was shown to prevent endothelial barrier dysfunction through activation of protein kinase G (PKGI). Vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein (VASP) has been hypothesized to mediate PKGIbarrier protection because VASP is a cytoskeletal phosphorylation target of PKGIexpressed in cell-cell junctions. Unphosphorylated VASP was proposed to increase paracellular permeability through actin polymerization and stress fiber bundling, a process inhibited by PKGI-mediated phosphorylation of Ser157and Ser239. To test this hypothesis, we examined the role of VASP in the transient barrier dysfunction caused by H2O2in human pulmonary artery endothelial cell (HPAEC) monolayers studied without and with PKGIexpression introduced by adenoviral infection (Ad.PKG). In the absence of PKGIexpression, H2O2(100–250 μM) caused a transient increased permeability and pSer157-VASP formation that were both attenuated by protein kinase C inhibition. Potentiation of VASP Ser157phos...

2025, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

2025, Journal of Housing for The Elderly

This study describes home environmental features, safety issues, and health-related modifications in a community dwelling sample of 82 elderly people with dementia. Main barriers to the accessibility of the homes were steps, both inside and outside the house. The majority of the caregivers had made home modifications, which pertained mainly to physical limitations. Home modifications to support cognitive deficits were made to a lesser extent. The main barrier to the implementation of home modifications to accommodate the care recipient's memory loss was skepticism about their usefulness. Regarding the removal of physical barriers, financial constraints were most frequently mentioned.

2025, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

ABSTRACTBackgroundEnvironmental enteric dysfunction (EED) is thought to increase the risk of micronutrient deficiencies, but few studies adjust for dietary intakes and systemic inflammation.ObjectiveWe tested whether EED is associated with micronutrient deficiency risk independent of diet and systemic inflammation, and whether it mediates the relation between intake and micronutrient status.MethodsUsing data from 1283 children in the MAL-ED (Etiology, Risk Factors, and Interactions of Enteric Infections and Malnutrition and the Consequences for Child Health) birth cohort we evaluated the risk of anemia, low retinol, zinc, and ferritin, and high transferrin receptor (TfR) at 15 mo. We characterized gut inflammation and permeability by myeloperoxidase (MPO), neopterin (NEO), and α-1-antitrypsin (AAT) concentrations from asymptomatic fecal samples averaged from 9 to 15 mo, and averaged the lactulose:mannitol ratio z-score (LMZ) at 9 and 15 mo. Nutrient intakes from complementary foods ...

2025, Journal of Translational Medicine

The Receptor for Advanced Glycation Endproducts [RAGE] is an evolutionarily recent member of the immunoglobulin super-family, encoded in the Class III region of the major histocompatability complex. RAGE is highly expressed only in the lung at readily measurable levels but increases quickly at sites of inflammation, largely on inflammatory and epithelial cells. It is found either as a membrane-bound or soluble protein that is markedly upregulated by stress in epithelial cells, thereby regulating their metabolism and enhancing their central barrier functionality. Activation and upregulation of RAGE by its ligands leads to enhanced survival. Perpetual signaling through RAGE-induced survival pathways in the setting of limited nutrients or oxygenation results in enhanced autophagy, diminished apoptosis, and (with ATP depletion) necrosis. This results in chronic inflammation and in many instances is the setting in which epithelial malignancies arise. RAGE and its isoforms sit in a pivota...

2025, Scientific Reports

Three-dimensional (3D) tissue-engineered models of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) recapitulate in vivo shear stress, cylindrical geometry, and cell-ECM interactions. Here we address four issues associated with BBB models: cell source, barrier function, cryopreservation, and matrix stiffness. We reproduce a directed differentiation of brain microvascular endothelial cells (dhBMECs) from two fluorescently labeled human induced pluripotent stem cell lines (hiPSCs) and demonstrate physiological permeability of Lucifer yellow over six days. Microvessels formed from cryopreserved dhBMECs show expression of BBB markers and maintain physiological barrier function comparable to non-cryopreserved cells. Microvessels displaying physiological barrier function are formed in collagen I hydrogels with stiffness matching that of human brain. The dilation response of microvessels was linear with increasing transmural pressure and was dependent on matrix stiffness. Together these results advance capab...

2025, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

2025, Revista Lasallista De Investigacion

2025, Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism

Nicotine (1.75 mg/kg s.c.) was administered to rats to raise local CBF (lCBF) in various parts of the brain, test the capillary recruitment hypothesis, and determine the effects of this increase in lCBF on local solute uptake by brain. lCBF as well as the local influx rate constants ( K1) and permeability-surface area ( PS) products of [14C]antipyrine and [14C]-3- O-methyl-d-glucose (30MG) were estimated by quantitative autoradiography in 44 brain areas. For this testing, the finding of significantly increased PS products supports the capillary recruitment hypothesis. In 17 of 44 areas, nicotine treatment increased lCBF by 30–150%, K1 of antipyrine by 7–40%, K1 of 30MG by 5–27%, PS product of antipyrine by 0–20% (mean 7%), and PS product of 30MG by 0–23% (mean 8%). Nicotine had no effect on blood flow or influx in the remaining 27 areas. The increases in lCBF and K1 of antipyrine were significant, whereas those in K1 of 30MG and in PS for both antipyrine and 30MG were not statistica...

2025, Systematic Reviews in Pharmacy

Background: The treatment selection in acne vulgaris (AV) is difficult due to challenging assessing severity; therefore, it should depend on a proper history, physical examination, previous treatment and response to treatment. Aims: The aim of this study is to investigate the differences in sebum composition and skin pH in patients with moderate to severe acne vulgaris to identify lipid markers in comparison with the apparently healthy group and to study the effects of isotretinoin or azithromycin on the level lipid profile, liver enzymes, in addition to sebum composition. Methods and Material: This study was conducted on sixty women patients with AV and thirty, apparently healthy individuals as a control group. The patients were allocated into two groups, A and B, group A was given 500 mg of azithromycin taken on alternative days for 3 months and group B was given 40mg/day isotretinoin for 3 months. Before and after therapy serum cholesterol, TG, ALP, ALT, GGT, creatinine additiona...

2025, Journal of Hepatology

Background & Aims-Sterile inflammation resulting in alcohol hepatitis (AH) occurs unpredictably after many years of excess alcohol intake. The factors responsible for the development of AH are not known but mitochondrial damage with loss... more

2025, Journal of hepatology

Sterile inflammation resulting in alcohol hepatitis (AH) occurs unpredictably after many years of excess alcohol intake. The factors responsible for the development of AH are not known but mitochondrial damage with loss of mitochondrial function are common features. Hcar2 is a G-protein coupled receptor which is activated by β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB), and the relevance of the BHB-Hcar2 pathway in alcoholic liver disease is not known. We tested if loss of BHB production can result in increased liver inflammation. We further tested if BHB supplementation can protect in AH through interaction with Hcar2, and the immune and cellular basis for protection. Humans with AH have reduced hepatic BHB, and inhibition of BHB production in mice aggravated ethanol induced AH, with higher serum ALT levels, increased steatosis and greater neutrophil influx. Conversely supplementation of BHB had the opposite effects with reduced ALT levels, reduced steatosis and neutrophil influx. This therapeutic effe...

2025, World Journal of Gastroenterology

Author contributions: Gnewuch C, Langmann T and Rogler G contributed equally to this work by interpreting the results and writing the manuscript; Gnewuch C and Liebisch G contributed development of analytical methods and bile acid quantification; Gnewuch C performed bile acid and statistical analysis; Dieplinger B, Mueller T, Haltmayer M, Dieplinger H, Zahn A, Stremmel W and Rogler G contributed study material and patient data; Schmitz G initiated, conceived the study and organized funding.

2025, International Journal of Cosmetic Science

2025, Archives of Dermatological Research

Reports in the literature suggest that the permeability of a wound dressing to water transport is an important variable in the healing of superficial wounds. Factors that influence skin hydration during barrier repair, therefore, are important in the optimization of wound treatments. In this study, the effects of semipermeable films on human skin following a standardized wound (tape stripping) were evaluated using measurements of transepidermal water loss (TEWL), skin hydration, rate of moisture accumulation, and erythema. Wounds treated with semipermeable films underwent more rapid barrier recovery than either unoccluded wounds or wounds under complete occlusion. Barrier films that produced intermediate levels of skin hydration during recovery produced the highest barrier repair rates. The results support the hypothesis that semipermeable wound dressings augment barrier repair and skin quality by providing an optimized water vapor gradient during the wound healing process. The choice of wound dressing is discussed within the larger context of the design of vapor-permeable fabrics (smart materials) and the new fields of corneotherapy and comfort science.

2025, Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine

In this study we have measured the in tensity of serum emission at 450 nm (emis sion of NAD(P)H) for patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Changes in emission of serum in UV-visible range for patients with CFS are compared to other laboratory tests. Results of our analysis demonstrated that: -Bioenergetics measured by serum emission averaged 20% lower in patients than controls. -Serum emission intensity correlated with the concentration of coenzyme Q10 in serum. -Antibodies to infections Candida albicans and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) were elevated in 71%-85% of patients. -There was no correlation between the level of serum emission or energy metabolism and the level of antibodies in serum. -Fatigue was not caused by an under ac tive thyroid; 75% of patents had hormone free T3 in normal range. -Pyrroles concentration in urine was higher than the normal range and correlated in versely with serum emission (R=0.6).

2025, Journal of Investigative Dermatology

2025

Nutritional intervention using probiotic fermented dairy product has emerged as a promising therapeutic strategy to curb inflammatory bowel diseases. The present study was aimed to investigate the prophylactic capability of probiotic Lactobacillus fermentum (LF:MTCC-5898) fermented whey on impaired barrier function in DSS induced mice. Probiotic fermented whey (PFW) consumption improved the symptoms of colitis-associated with intestinal inflammation by significantly (p < 0.01) diminishing the percent loss in body weight, disease activity index and spleen index with improvement in colon length and weight besides hematological and histopathological score. Likewise, pre-treatment with PFW improved the barrier integrity (p < 0.01) in contrast to leaky condition induced by DSS administration characterized with increased permeability of FITC-dextran (451 ± 225.1) across epithelium. PFW consumption also provided the gut immune protection that occurred via significant increase (p <...

2025, Molecular Nutrition & Food Research

ScopeResistant starches (RSs) are classically considered to elicit health benefits through fermentation. However, it is recently shown that RSs can also support health by direct immune interactions. Therefore, it has been hypothesized that the structural traits of RSs might impact the health benefits associated with their consumption.Methods and resultsEffects of crystallinity, molecular weight, and chain length distribution of RSs are determined on immune Toll‐like receptors (TLRs), dendritic cells (DCs), and T‐cell cytokines production. To this end, four type‐3 RSs (RS3) are compared, namely Paselli WFR, JD150, debranched Etenia, and Amylose fraction V, which are extracted from potatoes and enzymatically modified. Dextrose equivalent seems to be the most important feature influencing immune signaling via activation of TLRs. TLR2 and TLR4 are most strongly stimulated. Especially Paselli WFR is a potent activator of multiple receptors. Moreover, the presence of amylose, even to resi...

2025, Experimental Lung Research

Proteinases contribute to the pathogenesis of various lung diseases, partly through activating cell surface receptors by limited proteolytic cleavage. The authors provide evidence that in primary cultures of distal lung epithelia, basolateral protease-activated receptor 1 activation rapidly reduces transepithelial resistance but does not alter paracellular permeability to small uncharged solutes. Changes in transepithelial resistance were partially blocked by ion transport inhibitors and were completely blocked by placing cells in low chloride buffer. In vivo studies did not reveal enhanced lung permeability in response to pulmonary or intravenous administration of protease-activated receptor 1 activators. This information is relevant as strategies to inhibit protease-activated receptor 1 signaling are considered in order to preserve lung epithelial barrier function.