Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.6.1.2 (alanine aminotransferase)
26,722 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Role of platelet-activating factor (PAF) as a potential mediator of hepatic pathophysiology was investigated using a rat model of obstructive jaundice. Over a 1-wk course of bile duct ligation, a sixfold increase in tissue levels of PAF (1.57 +/- 0.43 ng/g vs. control 0.24 +/- 0.08 ng/g) occurred in the liver, whereas no change was observed in PAF levels in plasma. Concomitantly, endotoxin was detected in portal blood drawn from jaundiced rats, and antagonism of the putative effect of endotoxin by neomycin plus polymyxin B reduced local PAF concentrations in livers from jaundiced animals. Induction of neutropenia failed to alter the elevated hepatic PAF concentrations. Moreover, a large quantity of PAF was released spontaneously from Kupffer cells isolated from livers derived from jaundiced rats but not from endothelial cells or hepatocytes from the same animals. An in vitro study using cultured Kupffer cells from normal rats indicated that Kupffer cells secreted a significant amount of PAF in response to lipopolysaccharide challenge; pretreatment of cells with polymyxin B prevented this stimulated PAF release. Treatment of animals with either of two PAF receptor antagonists (BN 52021 and WEB 2170) partially prevented the increase in tissue levels of eicosanoids and O2-derived free radicals and partially alleviated liver injury as judged by the appearance of glutamate-pyruvate transaminase in the plasma of jaundiced rats. The present study indicates 1) that endogenous PAF may be an important signaling mediator for the hepatic inflammatory alterations associated with short-term bile duct ligation and 2) that the interaction of Kupffer cells with portal endotoxin is the mechanism by which PAF is produced locally.
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PMID:Role of platelet-activating factor in hepatic responses after bile duct ligation in rats. 144 33

Alpha-naphthylisothiocyanate (ANIT) is a cholangiolitic hepatotoxicant that causes periportal edema, hepatic parenchymal and biliary epithelial cell necrosis, and cholestasis in the rat. A hallmark of ANIT hepatotoxicity is periportal inflammation that includes neutrophil infiltration. Neutrophils are requisite for the expression of ANIT-induced liver injury; however, the mechanism(s) of neutrophil accumulation in the liver and the role of these cells in ANIT hepatotoxicity is incompletely understood. Platelet activating factor (PAF) is a proinflammatory agent that is both a chemoattractant for and an activator of neutrophils. Therefore, we evaluated the role of PAF in ANIT-induced liver injury. Rats were treated with the PAF receptor antagonist, WEB 2086 (WEB), to determine if it afforded protection from ANIT hepatotoxicity. In a separate study, a combination of WEB and the leukotriene synthesis inhibitor, Zileuton (ZIL), was used to address the possible interaction of PAF and leukotrienes in ANIT-induced liver injury. Treatment of rats with WEB, alone or in combination with Zileuton, did not attenuate ANIT-induced liver injury as assessed by increases in plasma alanine aminotransferase or gamma-glutamyl transferase activities. In addition, neither treatment ameliorated ANIT-induced cholestasis assessed as increased plasma bilirubin concentration. These results suggest that PAF, alone or in combination with products of 5-lipoxygenase, does not contribute to ANIT-induced liver injury.
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PMID:Platelet activating factor receptor blockade alone or in combination with leukotriene synthesis inhibition does not ameliorate alpha-naphthylisothiocyanate-induced hepatotoxicity. 861 9

The intravenous administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to rats results in liver lesions characterized by the infiltration of both platelets and neutrophils into the liver and by midzonal hepatocellular necrosis. The liver injury is dependent on neutrophils, platelets and the coagulation system, as removal or inhibition of any of these components inhibits the development of hepatocellular necrosis. Platelet activating factor (PAF) and the cysteinyl leukotrienes (LTs) are potent inflammatory lipids that are critical for the development of some LPS-mediated alterations. To test the hypothesis that PAF, alone or in combination with LTs, contributes to the development of liver injury during LPS exposure, we conducted studies with the PAF receptor antagonist, WEB 2086, and the 5-lipoxygenase inhibitor, Zileuton. Female, Sprague-Dawley rats were pretreated with WEB 2086 (10 mg/kg, i.p.) alone or with Zileuton (40 mg/kg, p.o.) 1 h before the administration of LPS (4 mg/kg, i.v.) or its saline vehicle. Treatment with WEB 2086, alone or in combination with Zileuton, did not inhibit LPS-mediated hepatic neutrophil infiltration or liver injury, as assessed by histologic evaluation and increases in plasma alanine aminotransferase activity. Pretreatment with these agents also had no effect on the activation of the coagulation system or on the thrombocytopenia induced by LPS. These results suggest that PAF, alone or in combination with 5-lipoxygenase products, is not a critical mediator of LPS-induced hepatocellular injury in this model.
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PMID:Neither platelet activating factor nor leukotrienes are critical mediators of liver injury after lipopolysaccharide administration. 923 96

The inhibitory effects of YM264, a selective platelet activating factor (PAF) receptor antagonist, and 2-(3-methylsulfonylamino-2-oxo-6-phenyl-1,2-dihydro-1-pyridyl)-N-( 3,3,3-trifluoro-1-isopropyl-2-oxopropyl)acetamide (compound 1), a neutrophil elastase inhibitor, on mortality, and pancreatic, hepatic, renal and pulmonary dysfunction were evaluated in a rat model of multiple organ failure (MOF) accompanying acute pancreatitis. MOF was produced by intraperitoneal injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 30 mg/kg) in rats with cerulein-induced pancreatitis. LPS dose-dependently increased the mortality in rats with or without pancreatitis. The threshold dose which produced death in rats without pancreatitis was 30 mg/kg. This same dose evoked death in more than 40% of rats with pancreatitis. Time-course changes in serum enzyme and organ myeloperoxidase (MPO) levels were first examined in rats with induced MOF, and the results were compared with those in rats treated with only LPS or cerulein. Pancreatic weight, and serum amylase and lipase levels significantly increased in rats with cerulein-induced pancreatitis despite the presence or absence of LPS, but recovery of these pancreatic dysfunctions was slower in the group given LPS. However, serum GOT, GPT, BUN and creatinine levels were significantly elevated only in MOF rats. In the MOF rats, the MPO level in the lung was significantly elevated and arterial oxygen pressure was decreased, indicating that infiltration of neutrophils into the lung might be involved in pulmonary dysfunction. However, the MPO levels in the pancreas and kidney in the MOF rats were not remarkably different from those in normal rats. The inhibitory effects of YM264 and compound 1 on mortality and organ dysfunction were examined in this MOF model. The 24-h survival rate for rats prophylactically and therapeutically treated with an intravenous infusion of YM264 at 0.1 mg/kg h was significantly higher than that of controls. The 24-h survival rate for rats treated prophylactically by intravenous infusion of 2 mg/kg h of compound 1 was significantly higher than that of control, whereas a beneficial dose of compound 1 was 5 mg/kg h in therapeutically treated rats. Prophylactic treatment with YM264 (0.1 mg/kg h) and compound 1 (2 mg/kg h) ameliorated organ dysfunction in rats with MOF. In conclusion, pancreatic, hepatic, renal and pulmonary dysfunctions are observed in this rat MOF model. The PAF receptor antagonist and neutrophil elastase inhibitor reduce the mortality rate in rats with MOF due to their inhibitory effects on organ dysfunction, indicating that PAF and neutrophil elastase may play important roles in the development of MOF. These results in the present model are largely consistent with those in patients with MOF, indicating that this model is suited for MOF in humans and may be used as a model to test new therapeutic approaches.
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PMID:Protective effects of a PAF receptor antagonist and a neutrophil elastase inhibitor on multiple organ failure induced by cerulein plus lipopolysaccharide in rats. 975 12

Excessive nitric oxide (NO) generated by hepatic cells in response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and inflammatory substances (e.g., platelet-activating factor [PAF]) is a key contributor to the pathophysiological outcomes observed in the liver during sepsis. In rats subjected to liver-focused endotoxemia, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) levels in the intact liver were elevated by 6 hours; cell-specific expression of iNOS messenger RNA (mRNA) was Kupffer cells (KCs), endothelial cells, and hepatocytes. Elevated serum alanine transaminase (ALT) levels at 6 hours confirmed hepatic damage. Pretreatment of endotoxemic rats with PAF receptor antagonists BN 50739 or WEB 2170 reduced serum ALT and iNOS mRNA levels in the intact liver. Pretreatment of cultured KCs with BN 50739 or WEB 2170 inhibited both LPS and PAF-induced iNOS mRNA formation. In addition, LPS-induced iNOS protein levels in KCs pretreated with BN 50739 or WEB 2170 were decreased. Exposure of KCs to either LPS or PAF caused the translocation of the p65 subunit of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB) into the nucleus and this process was attenuated by BN 50739 and WEB 2170. There was concomitant inhibition of LPS-dependent degradation of the inhibitory protein IkappaBalpha and increase in intracellular Ca(2+) in KC treated with BN 50739 or WEB 2170. Also, in KCs, LPS was able to induce iNOS mRNA expression independent of CD14. This response was inhibited by pretreatment of KCs with either BN 50739 or WEB 2170. Our findings indicate that PAF receptor antagonists convey protection against hepatocellular injury accompanied by a decrease in nitric oxide (NO) formation in the livers of endotoxemic rats.
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PMID:Suppression of lipopolysaccharide-induced nitric oxide synthase expression by platelet-activating factor receptor antagonists in the rat liver and cultured rat Kupffer cells. 1053 42

Platelet activating factor (PAF) is an ubiquitous phospholipid that acts as a mediator of numerous pathophysiological conditions, including hepatotoxicity. The present study has been conducted to evaluate the eventual role of the platelet activating factor in post-acetaminophen intoxication of liver, using ginkgolide B, BN52021, a selective PAF receptor antagonist. One group of rats was treated with a toxic dose of acetaminophen (APAP) (3.5 g/kg b.w.) (control group) and a second one with the same dose of APAP followed by a dose of ginkgolide B, BN52021 (10 mg/kg b.w.) (BN52021-treated group). The animals were killed at 8, 16, 24, 32 and 40 h after treatment. APAP was found to cause an acute hepatic injury, evident by alterations of biochemical (serum enzymes: ALT, AST and ALP) and liver histopathological (degree of inflammation and apoptosis) indices, which was followed by liver regeneration evident by three independent indices ([3H] thymidine incorporation into hepatic DNA, liver thymidine kinase activity and hepatocyte mitotic index). Hepatic levels of malondialdehyde and serum cholesterol/HDL cholesterol fraction were also measured as parameters of oxidant-antioxidant balance. The protected effects of ginkgolide B were qualified during post treatment time by: (1) reduction of oxidative stress, (2) high decrease of hepatic injury, and (3) decrease of regenerating activity. These results indicate that PAF may play an important role in APAP-induced liver injury and regeneration, and that the use of ginkgolide B attenuates liver damage providing important means of improving liver function following acetaminophen intoxication.
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PMID:Platelet activating factor (PAF) antagonism with ginkgolide B protects the liver against acute injury. importance of controlling the receptor of PAF. 1793 19