Deletion of Galectin‐3 attenuates acute pancreatitis in mice by affecting activation of innate inflammatory cells

Abstract Objectives Galectin-3 is involved in various biological activities, including immune activations and fibrosis. Idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs) are autoimmune diseases of unknown aetiology, often complicated by interstitial lung disease (ILD). The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of galectin-3 in sera and tissues of patients with IIM and assess the associations of galectin-3 with patient characteristics and disease activity. Results Serum galectin-3 levels were significantly higher in IIM patients than in healthy controls. The serum galectin-3 levels positively correlated with serum levels of inflammatory markers and proinflammatory cytokines/chemokines and the Myositis Intention-to-Treat Activity Index. Stratification analysis revealed that patients with IIM-associated ILD (IIM-ILD) had significantly higher levels of serum galectin-3 than those without IIM-ILD. In addition, patients with acute/subacute interstitial pneumonia had significantly higher levels of serum galectin-3 than those with chronic interstitial pneumonia. Furthermore, serum galectin-3 levels in IIM-ILD patients correlated with the radiological assessments of parenchymal lung involvement and treatment response. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that galectin-3 was expressed in inflammatory cells of myositis and dermatitis sections, whereas in ILD sections, galectin-3 was expressed in interstitial fibrosis and inflammatory cells. Conclusion Galectin-3 may be involved in the pathogenesis of inflammatory and fibrotic conditions in IIM and can serve as a potential biomarker of disease activity, especially in patients with IIM-ILD.

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Targeting neutrophil extracellular traps in severe acute pancreatitis treatment

Therapeutic Advances in Gastroenterology ◽

10.1177/1756284820974913 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 ◽

pp. 175628482097491

Author(s):

Jing Hu ◽

Hongxin Kang ◽

Huan Chen ◽

Jiaqi Yao ◽

Xiaolin Yi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Acute Pancreatitis ◽

Severe Acute Pancreatitis ◽

Inflammatory Cells ◽

Neutrophil Extracellular Traps ◽

Multiple Organ ◽

Organ Injury ◽

Normal Tissues ◽

Pathogen Invasion ◽

Extracellular Traps ◽

Abdominal Disease

Severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) is a critical abdominal disease associated with high death rates. A systemic inflammatory response promotes disease progression, resulting in multiple organ dysfunction. The functions of neutrophils in the pathology of SAP have been presumed traditionally to be activation of chemokine and cytokine cascades accompanying the inflammatory process. Recently, since their discovery, a new type of antimicrobial mechanism, neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), and their role in SAP, has attracted widespread attention from the scientific community. Significantly different from phagocytosis and degranulation, NETs kill extracellular microorganisms by releasing DNA fibers decorated with granular proteins. In addition to their strong antimicrobial functions, NETs participate in the pathophysiological process of many noninfectious diseases. In SAP, NETs injure normal tissues under inflammatory stress, which is associated with the activation of inflammatory cells, to cause an inflammatory cascade, and SAP products also trigger NET formation. Thus, due to the interaction between NET generation and SAP, a treatment targeting NETs might become a key point in SAP therapy. In this review, we summarize the mechanism of NETs in protecting the host from pathogen invasion, the stimulus that triggers NET formation, organ injury associated with SAP involving NETs, methods to interrupt the harmful effects of NETs, and different therapeutic strategies to preserve the organ function of patients with SAP by targeting NETs.

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Galectin-3 as a Next-Generation Biomarker for Detecting Early Stage of Various Diseases

Biomolecules ◽

10.3390/biom10030389 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 389 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Akira Hara ◽

Masayuki Niwa ◽

Kei Noguchi ◽

Tomohiro Kanayama ◽

Ayumi Niwa ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Early Stage ◽

Biological Activities ◽

Biological Fluids ◽

Inflammatory Cells ◽

Tumor Formation ◽

Term Outcome ◽

Long Term Outcome ◽

Galectin 3 ◽

Binding Lectin

Galectin-3 is a β-galactoside-binding lectin which is important in numerous biological activities in various organs, including cell proliferation, apoptotic regulation, inflammation, fibrosis, and host defense. Galectin-3 is predominantly located in the cytoplasm and expressed on the cell surface, and then often secreted into biological fluids, like serum and urine. It is also released from injured cells and inflammatory cells under various pathological conditions. Many studies have revealed that galectin-3 plays an important role as a diagnostic or prognostic biomarker for certain types of heart disease, kidney disease, viral infection, autoimmune disease, neurodegenerative disorders, and tumor formation. In particular, it has been recognized that galectin-3 is extremely useful for detecting many of these diseases in their early stages. The purpose of this article is to review and summarize the recent literature focusing on the biomarker characteristics and long-term outcome predictions of galectin-3, in not only patients with various types of diseases, but associated animal models.

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