Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.2.1.31 (beta-glucuronidase)
 7,680 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

This study examined the properties and responsiveness to cytokines of macrophages purified from normal and nephritic glomeruli to ascertain whether macrophages activated in vivo develop programmed unresponsiveness to cytokines as do bone marrow-derived macrophages in vitro when activated by interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), interleukin-4 (IL-4), or transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta). Macrophages from normal glomeruli did not generate nitric oxide (NO) spontaneously but only after treatment with IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha. NO generation by these macrophages was abrogated by administering IL-4, TGF-beta, or TNF-alpha before but not after IFN-gamma treatment. Glomerular macrophages also expressed beta-glucuronidase, which was increased by TGF-beta and decreased by IFN-gamma and TNF. By contrast, glomerular macrophages from rats with nephrotoxic nephritis did not express beta-glucuronidase even after exposure to TGF-beta. Furthermore, they generated NO spontaneously, and this spontaneous generation of NO was not suppressed by IL-4, TGF-beta, or TNF-alpha. Systemic treatment of nephritic rats with IL-4 reduced NO generation by 40% but did not prevent activation, which is similar to the effect of IL-4 on bone marrow-derived macrophages in vitro when given simultaneously with IFN-gamma. We conclude that macrophages infiltrating inflamed glomeruli have developed programmed unresponsiveness to activating cytokines. This may enable them to function appropriately in the complex conditions within an inflammatory focus.
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PMID:Macrophages from inflamed but not normal glomeruli are unresponsive to anti-inflammatory cytokines. 1062 78

The anti-cancer drug cyclophosphamide (CYP) is nephrotoxic besides being urotoxic thereby limiting its clinical utility. Since the nephrotoxicity of CYP is less common compared to its urotoxicity, not much importance has been given for the study of mechanism of CYP-induced nephrotoxicity. The aim of the present study is to investigate the possible role of lysosomal enzymes in CYP-induced renal damage. Adult female Wistar rats weighing 200-250 g were used for the study. The rats were administered single-intraperitoneal injection of CYP at the dose of 150 mg/kg body wt and sacrificed at various time intervals 6, 16 or 24 h after the dose of CYP. The control rats were administered saline alone. Nephrotoxicity was assessed by measuring plasma creatinine and urea and histopathology of the kidney. The kidney was weighed and used for the assay of lysosomal enzymes namely acid phosphatase, beta-glucuronidase and N-acetylglucosaminidase and total protein content. Histologically, the CYP-treated rat kidneys showed progressive renal damage with increase in time after treatment. Glomerular nephritis, cortical tubular vacuolization and interstitial edema were observed in the CYP-treated rats. Surprisingly, a significant drastic decrease (instead of an increase) in the activities of lysosomal enzymes was observed in the kidneys of CYP-treated rats at 16 and 24 h as compared with the control. A highly significant increase (270%) in protein content was observed in the kidneys of the CYP-treated rats as compared with the control. Decrease in the activities of lysosomal protein digestive enzymes may contribute to CYP-induced renal damage. The accumulation of abnormal amounts of the protein in the kidney may be due at least in part to defect in lysosomal enzyme activity and contribute to renal damage.
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PMID:Effect of cyclophosphamide treatment on selected lysosomal enzymes in the kidney of rats. 1768 19