Co-administration of Phycocyanobilin and/or Phase 2-Inducer Nutraceuticals for Prevention of Opiate Tolerance

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (20) ◽  
pp. 2250-2254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark F. McCarty ◽  
Simon Iloki-Assanga

Chronic use of opiates for control of chronic pain is complicated by the development of tolerance and hyperalgesia, and hence usually entails dose escalation and diminished efficacy. Our evolving understanding of the mechanisms mediating induction of morphine tolerance may enable discovery of adjunct measures which can prevent this tolerance; this essay proposes that certain nutraceuticals may have utility in this regard. Considerable evidence now points to an obligate role for production of peroxynitrite and other oxidants in the dorsal horn in development of morphine tolerance. Various isoforms of NADPH oxidase are the chief source of the superoxide which gives rise to these oxidants. Since heme oxygenase, via its products bilirubin and carbon monoxide, functions as a physiological inhibitor of various isoforms of NADPH oxidase, phase 2-inducing nutraceuticals with blood brain-barrier permeability such as lipoic acid, an effective inducer of heme oxygenase-1, may have potential for prevention of morphine tolerance; indeed, this has been demonstrated in a mouse study. The phycocyanobilin (PhyCB) chromophore of spirulina, a structural analog of biliverdin, shares bilirubin’s ability to inhibit NAPDH oxidase complexes; hence, administration of spirulina or of PhyCB-enriched spirulina extracts merits evaluation in rodent models of morphine tolerance. Uric acid quenches peroxynitrite-derived radicals, and its plasma level can be boosting via supplementation with inosine; indeed, administration of inosine has been shown to counteract development of hyperalgesia in rodents. If practical doses of these agents can be shown to prevent morphine tolerance and hyperalgesia in rodents, their use as adjuvants to clinical opiate therapy should be assessed.

Cancer ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 118 (13) ◽  
pp. 3433-3445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa M. Singh ◽  
Mary E. Irwin ◽  
Yin Gao ◽  
Kechen Ban ◽  
Ping Shi ◽  
...  

Circulation ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 130 (suppl_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Wenzel ◽  
Heidi Rossmann ◽  
Christian Müller ◽  
Sabine Kossmann ◽  
Canan Simsek ◽  
...  

Background: Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) confers protection to the vasculature and suppresses inflammatory properties of monocytes and macrophages. It is unclear how HO-1 activity and expression determine the extent of vascular dysfunction in mice and humans. Methods and results: Decreasing HO activity was parallelled by decreasing aortic HO-1, eNOS and phospho-eNOS (ser1177) protein expression in HO-1 deficient mice, whereas aortic expression of nox2 showed a stepwise increase in HO-1+/- and HO-1-/- mice as compared to HO-1+/+ controls. Aortic superoxide formation increased depending on the extent of HO-1 deficiency and was blunted by the PKC inhibitor chelerythrine, indicating activation of the NADPH oxidase. When subjected to disease models of vascular dysfunction - angiotensin II-infusion (ATII, 0.1mg/kg/d for 7d), streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus and aging - HO-1 deficient mice showed an increased vascular dysfunction (shown by isometric tension studies) that was inversely correlated with HO activity. In a primary prevention population based cohort (the Gutenberg Health Study, GHS), we assessed length polymorphisms of the HO-1 promoter region, established a bipolar frequency pattern of allele length (long vs short repeats) in 4937 individuals and found a moderately significant association with flow mediated dilation of the brachial artery (FMD) in individuals with arterial hypertension. Monocytic HO-1 mRNA expression was positively correlated with CD14 expression indicating proinflammatory monocytes (p<0.001) and inversely with FMD in 733 hypertensive individuals of the GHS. ATII-infused HO-1+/+ mice had a significant infiltration of proinflammatory CD11b+Ly6Chi monocytes into the aortic wall, which was sharpely increased in HO-1+/- and HO-1-/- mice, providing a mechanistic link of the monocyte phenotype determined by HO-1 and vascular dysfunction in arterial hypertension. Conclusions: We here present evidence that HO activity and expression and inversely correlates with vascular dysfunction and NADPH oxidase mediated oxidative stress in mice and humans. We conclude, that HO-1 is a regulator of vascular function in hypertension via determining the phenotype of inflammatory circulating and infiltrating monocytes.


2007 ◽  
Vol 293 (3) ◽  
pp. E645-E655 ◽  
Author(s):  
Subbiah Pugazhenthi ◽  
Leonid Akhov ◽  
Gopalan Selvaraj ◽  
Maorong Wang ◽  
Jawed Alam

Curcumin (diferuloylmethane), a component of turmeric, has been shown to have therapeutic properties. Induction of phase 2 detoxifying enzymes is a potential mechanism through which some of the actions of curcumin could proceed. Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), an antioxidant phase 2 enzyme, has been reported to have cytoprotective effects in pancreatic β-cells. Curcumin on further purification yields demethoxy curcumin (DMC) and bisdemethoxy curcumin (BDMC). The objective of the present study was to determine the mechanism by which these purified curcuminoids induce HO-1 in MIN6 cells, a mouse β-cell line. Demethoxy curcuminoids induced HO-1 promoter linked to the luciferase reporter gene more effectively than curcumin. The induction was dependent on the presence of antioxidant response element (ARE) sites containing enhancer regions (E1 and E2) in HO-1 promoter and nuclear translocation of nuclear factor-E2-related factor (Nrf2), the transcription factor that binds to ARE. Curcuminoids stimulated multiple signaling pathways that are known to induce HO-1. Inhibition of specific signaling pathways with pharmacological inhibitors and cotransfection experiments suggested the involvement of phosphotidylinositol 3-kinase and Akt. Real-time quantitative RT-PCR analysis showed significant elevation in the mRNA levels of HO-1 and two other phase 2 enzymes, the regulatory subunit of glutamyl cysteine ligase, which is needed for the synthesis of glutathione, and NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase, which detoxifies quinones. DMC and BDMC induced the expression of HO-1 and translocated Nrf2 to nucleus in β-cells of mouse islets. Our observations suggest that demethoxy curcuminoids could be used to induce a cellular defense mechanism in β-cells under conditions of stress as seen in diabetes.


Hypertension ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 48 (5) ◽  
pp. 950-957 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fan Jiang ◽  
Sarah J. Roberts ◽  
Srinivasa raju Datla ◽  
Gregory J. Dusting

2006 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. e78
Author(s):  
Fan Jiang ◽  
Sarah J. Roberts ◽  
Srinivasa Raju Datla ◽  
Gregory J. Dusting

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