Gene/Protein
Disease
Symptom
Drug
Enzyme
Compound
Pivot Concepts:
Gene/Protein
Disease
Symptom
Drug
Enzyme
Compound
Target Concepts:
Gene/Protein
Disease
Symptom
Drug
Enzyme
Compound
Query: UNIPROT:P43026 (
lipopolysaccharide
)
62,215
document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)
Epidemiological studies show a markedly increased risk of
cerebral palsy
following the combined exposure of infection and birth asphyxia. However, the underlying mechanisms of this increased vulnerability remain unclear. We have examined the effects of a low dose of bacterial endotoxin on hypoxic--ischaemic injury in the immature brain of rats. Bacterial endotoxin (
lipopolysaccharide
0.3 mg/kg) was administered to 7-day-old rats 4 h prior to unilateral hypoxia--ischaemia and the neurological outcome was determined 3 days later. Rectal temperature and cerebral blood flow was measured during the study and the expression of CD14 and toll-like receptor-4 mRNA in the brain was examined. We found that a low dose of endotoxin dramatically sensitizes the immature brain to injury and induces cerebral infarction in response to short periods of hypoxia--ischaemia that by themselves caused no or little injury. This effect could not be explained by a reduction in cerebral blood flow or hyperthermia. In association with the sensitization of injury we found an altered expression of CD14 mRNA and toll-like receptor-4 mRNA in the brain. These results suggest that the innate immune system may be involved in the vulnerability of the immature brain following the combination of infection and hypoxia--ischaemia.
...
PMID:Bacterial endotoxin sensitizes the immature brain to hypoxic--ischaemic injury. 1128 7
Damage to the white matter in the brain during development can lead to
cerebral palsy
(CP), a heterogeneous group of clinical syndromes that results in life-long disorders of movement and posture. Periventricular leukomalacia (PVL) is a pathological process within the white matter characterized by oligodendrocyte loss and is associated with the development of CP. Clinically, CP and PVL are associated with intrauterine infection and inflammation, but mechanisms involved are not well understood. We developed a model of intrauterine inflammation in Lewis and Fischer 344 rats to study the effects of intrauterine inflammation on developing glia. Pregnant rats were intracervically injected with
lipopolysaccharide
(
LPS
) at 15 days of gestation (E15) and a dose of
LPS
that caused low fetal mortality was determined. At E20, treated fetuses had increased TUNEL(+) nuclei and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha-immunoreactive areas within the brains. In a second series of animals allowed to survive until postnatal day 21 (PND 21), immunostaining was performed against several glial markers. Staining for the oligodendrocyte-specific proteins 2', 3'-cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase (CNP) and myelin proteolipid protein (PLP) was decreased in treated pups compared to shams within the corpus callosum, a white matter structure used as a representative area of developing white matter. Treated pups had activated astrocytes lining cerebral blood vessels, as observed by glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) staining, while sham pups did not. Activated microglia were not detected using OX42 as a cell marker. Our model of intrauterine inflammation causes increased TUNEL and TNF-alpha staining early after injury, suggesting increased apoptotic cell death, possibly by cytokine-related mechanisms.
...
PMID:Effects of intrauterine inflammation on developing rat brain. 1240 11
Intrauterine infection has been linked to neurologic injury in preterm infants. However, a reproducible model of white matter injury in the preterm fetus in a long gestation species that can be monitored in utero is currently unavailable. Thus, our objective was to determine the effects of bacterial endotoxin (
lipopolysaccharide
, LPS) on physiologic and inflammatory responses and brain structure in the preterm ovine fetus. At 0.7 of gestation, six catheterized fetuses received three to five intravenous injections of LPS (1 micro g/kg) over 5 d; seven fetuses served as controls. Fetal responses were monitored and brain tissue examined 10-11 d after the initial LPS injection. After LPS on d 1 and 2, fetuses became transiently hypoxemic and hypotensive and blood IL-6 levels were increased, but these responses were smaller or absent after subsequent LPS exposures. Neural injury was observed in all LPS-exposed fetuses, most prominently in the cerebral white matter. Injury ranged from diffuse subcortical damage to periventricular leukomalacia, and in the brainstem the cross-sectional area of the corticospinal tract was reduced by 30%. Thus, repeated exposure of the preterm ovine fetus to LPS causes neuropathology resembling that of
cerebral palsy
and provides a robust model for exploring the etiology, prevention, and treatment of white matter damage.
...
PMID:White matter injury after repeated endotoxin exposure in the preterm ovine fetus. 1243 74
Interleukin-10 markedly reduces production of proinflammatory cytokines by activated microglia or macrophages and downregulates the expression of activating molecules on these cells. In studies performed in adults or in cell cultures, interleukin-10 protected against hypoxic-ischemic neuronal death and against
lipopolysaccharide
-mediated oligodendrocyte cell death. Furthermore, it was recently shown that interleukin-10 counteracts metabolic and microcirculatory effects of hypoxia-ischemia in the perinatal pig brain. Intracerebral injection of the glutamatergic analogue ibotenate to newborn mice induces cortical plate and white matter lesions mimicking the brain damage associated with
cerebral palsy
, and pretreatment with proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1-beta or with interleukin-9 significantly exacerbates these lesions. The present study evaluated the influence of interleukin-10 on ibotenate-induced brain lesions in newborn mice under basal conditions or after exposure to cytokines. Intraperitoneal injection of interleukin-10 for 3 days following ibotenate significantly reduced the size of excitotoxic brain lesions. Intraperitoneal injection of neutralizing anti-interleukin-10 antibody for 3 days following ibotenate had no detectable effect and no difference in ibotenate-induced brain lesion size was found between wild type pups and pups deleted for the interleukin-10 gene, suggesting that endogenous interleukin-10 in newborn mice may have limited effects. Co-administration of intracerebral ibotenate and interleukin-10 had no detectable effect, arguing against a direct neuroprotective effect of interleukin-10 on neurons. While pretreatment with intraperitoneal interleukin-10 alone had no detectable effect on excitotoxic brain lesions, interleukin-10 given with interleukin-1-beta pretreatment blunted the toxic effects of interleukin-1-beta. On the other hand, combined pretreatment with IL-9 and anti-IL-10 antibody largely reversed the exacerbating effect of IL-9 on excitotoxic brain lesions. Altogether, these data suggest that, in newborn mice, exogenous interleukin-10 can be neuroprotective when acting in an inflammatory context.
...
PMID:Effects of interleukin-10 on neonatal excitotoxic brain lesions in mice. 1264 45
Perinatal infections are a risk factor for fetal neurological pathologies, including
cerebral palsy
and schizophrenia. Cytokines that are produced as part of the inflammatory response are proposed to partially mediate the neurological injury. This study investigated the effects of intraperitoneal injections of
lipopolysaccharide
(
LPS
) to pregnant rats on the production of cytokines and stress markers in the fetal environment. Gestation day 18 pregnant rats were treated with
LPS
(100 microg/kg body wt i.p.), and maternal serum, amniotic fluid, placenta, chorioamnion, and fetal brain were harvested at 1, 6, 12, and 24 h posttreatment to assay for
LPS
-induced changes in cytokine protein (ELISA) and mRNA (real-time RT-PCR) levels. We observed induction of proinflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1 beta, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) as well as the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 in the maternal serum within 6 h of
LPS
exposure. Similarly, proinflammatory cytokines were induced in the amniotic fluid in response to
LPS
; however, no significant induction of IL-10 was observed in the amniotic fluid.
LPS
-induced mRNA changes included upregulation of the stress-related peptide corticotropin-releasing factor in the fetal whole brain, TNF-alpha, IL-6, and IL-10 in the chorioamnion, and TNF-alpha, IL-1 beta, and IL-6 in the placenta. These findings suggest that maternal infections may lead to an unbalanced inflammatory reaction in the fetal environment that activates the fetal stress axis.
...
PMID:Maternal LPS induces cytokines in the amniotic fluid and corticotropin releasing hormone in the fetal rat brain. 1498 88
Periventricular leukomalacia (PVL), the dominant form of brain injury in premature infants, is characterized by diffuse white matter injury and is associated with
cerebral palsy
(CP). Maternal and placental infections are major causes of prematurity and identifiable etiology of PVL and CP. Here we have evaluated the therapeutic efficacy of N-acetylcysteine (NAC), a potent antioxidant and precursor of glutathione, to attenuate
lipopolysaccharide
(
LPS
)-induced white matter injury and hypomyelination in the developing rat brain, an animal model of PVL. Intraperitoneal pretreatment of pregnant female rats with NAC (50 mg/kg), 2 hr prior to administration of
LPS
at embryonic day 18 (E18), attenuated the
LPS
-induced expression of inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-1beta, and inducible nitric oxide synthase in fetal rat brains. There were significantly reduced numbers of TUNEL(+) nuclei coimmunostained for platelet-derived growth factor-alphaR(+) [a surface marker for oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs)] at E20 in the subventricular zone of fetal rat brain in the NAC +
LPS
group compared with the untreated
LPS
group. Interestingly, immunostaining for O4 and O1 as markers for late OPCs and immature oligodendrocytes demonstrated fewer O4(+) and O1(+) cells in the
LPS
group compared with the NAC +
LPS
and control groups. Consistent with O4(+)/O1(+) cell counts, the expression of myelin proteins such as myelin basic protein, proteolipid protein, and 2'3'-cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase, including transcription factors such as MyT1 and Gtx, was less in the
LPS
group at late postnatal days, indicating severe hypomyelination in the developing rat brain when compared with NAC +
LPS
and control groups. Collectively, these data support the hypothesis that NAC may provide neuroprotection and attenuate the degeneration of OPCs against
LPS
evoked inflammatory response and white matter injury in developing rat brain. Moreover, these data suggest the possible use of NAC as a treatment for pregnant women with maternal or placental infection as a means of minimizing the risk of PVL and CP.
...
PMID:N-acetylcysteine prevents endotoxin-induced degeneration of oligodendrocyte progenitors and hypomyelination in developing rat brain. 1538 35
Intrauterine infection induces an intra-amniotic inflammatory response involving the activation of a number of cytokines and chemokines which, in turn, may trigger preterm contractions, cervical ripening and rupture of the membranes. Infection and cytokine-mediated inflammation appear to play a prominent role in preterm birth at early gestations (<30 weeks). The role of infection/inflammation in preterm birth in Europe has been incompletely characterised. The rate of preterm birth in Sweden is lower, and the rate of chorioamnionitis, bacterial vaginosis (BV), neonatal sepsis, and urinary tract infections during pregnancy is lower compared with the USA. In a Swedish population of women with preterm labour or preterm premature rupture of the membranes (PPROM) <34 weeks of gestation, microorganisms were detected in the amniotic fluid in 25% of women with PPROM and in 16% of those in preterm labour. Nearly half of these women had intra-amniotic inflammation defined as elevated interleukin-6 (IL-6) and IL-8, and there was a high degree of correlation between cytokine levels and preterm birth or the presence of microbial colonisation. These data do not support the hypothesis that infection-related preterm birth is less frequent in northern Europe than elsewhere. The intra-amniotic inflammatory response has also been associated with white matter injury and
cerebral palsy
. We find that in experimental models, induction of a systemic inflammatory response using
lipopolysaccharide
activates toll-like receptors (TLRs), which produce either white matter lesions or increase brain susceptibility to secondary insults. Recently, IL-18 in umbilical blood was shown to correlate with brain injury in preterm infants and IL-18 deficiency in mice decreases CNS vulnerability.
...
PMID:Role of cytokines in preterm labour and brain injury. 1571 88
We developed an original rat model for neonatal brain lesions whereby we explored the sequential effects of infectious and hypoxic-ischemic aggressions. We investigated the influence of combined exposure to prenatal infection with neonatal hypoxic-ischemic insult. Infectious effect was produced by administrating
lipopolysaccharide
(
LPS
) intraperitoneally to pregnant rats starting on embryonic day 17. Hypoxia-ischemia (H/I) was induced in the pups at postnatal day 1 (P1) by ligature of the right common carotid artery followed by exposure to hypoxia (8% O(2)) for 3.5 h. Animals were randomized into four groups: (1) control group: pups born to mothers subjected to intraperitoneal saline injection; (2)
LPS
group: pups exposed in utero to
LPS
; (3) H/I group: pups exposed to postnatal hypoxia after ligation of the right carotid artery, and (4) H/I plus
LPS
group: in utero exposure to
LPS
followed by postnatal hypoxia after ligation of the right carotid artery. Neuropathological findings in pups examined at P3 and P8 showed that groups 2, 3, and 4 presented a pattern of neuronal injury similar to those characterized as 'selective neuronal necrosis' within the context of human perinatal encephalopathy. Neuronal cellular injuries were particularly seen in the neocortex, mainly in parasagittal areas. The extent of neuronal cell injury in the brain of rats exposed to postnatal H/I was significantly increased by antenatal exposure to
LPS
. This animal model provides an experimental means to explore the respective roles of anoxic and infectious components in the pathogenesis of perinatal brain lesions and consequent
cerebral palsy
.
...
PMID:Neuronal injuries induced by perinatal hypoxic-ischemic insults are potentiated by prenatal exposure to lipopolysaccharide: animal model for perinatally acquired encephalopathy. 1604 47
Chorioamnionitis increases the risk of preterm labour and is associated with adverse neonatal outcomes including
cerebral palsy
. Tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) derived from the gestational tissues (placenta, fetal membranes and maternal decidua) is thought to play a pivotal role in the induction of cytokine response in chorioamnionitis. Tumour necrosis factor-alpha converting enzyme (TACE) is essential for the release of TNF-alpha. Our aim was to determine whether the expression of TACE is increased in human gestational tissues from pregnancies complicated by chorioamnionitis, and whether
lipopolysaccharide
(
LPS
) causes increased expression of TACE in the human gestational tissues in vitro. The immunostaining of TACE was generally more intense, in particular in the syncytiotrophoblast and stromal cells, in villous samples from pregnancies complicated by chorioamnionitis than those from normal pregnancies. Increased immunoreactivity of TACE was also noted in the amnion and choriodecidua. In parallel, there was an increased infiltration of monocytes/macrophages within the villous stroma and choriodecidua. As a complement to our in vivo findings,
LPS
significantly increased the levels of mRNA and protein of TACE in a dose-dependent response in villous and fetal membrane explant cultures. Together, our results imply a potential role of TACE in the pathogenesis of chorioamnionitis.
...
PMID:Tumour necrosis factor-alpha converting enzyme in human gestational tissues from pregnancies complicated by chorioamnionitis. 1637 86
Animal models have assisted in understanding the mechanisms of brain injury underlying
cerebral palsy
. Nevertheless, no such models replicate every aspect of the human disease. This review summarizes the classic and more recent studies of the neuropathology of human perinatal brain injury most commonly associated with
cerebral palsy
, for use by researchers and clinicians alike who need to analyze published animal models with respect to their fidelity to the human disorder. The neuropathology underlying
cerebral palsy
includes white-matter injury, known as periventricular leukomalacia, as well as germinal matrix hemorrhage with intraventricular extension, and injury to the cortex, basal ganglia, and thalamus. Each has distinctive features while sharing some risk factors, such as prematurity and/or hypoxia-ischemia in the perinatal period. Periventricular leukomalacia consists of diffuse injury of deep cerebral white matter, with or without focal necrosis. Recent work directly in human postmortem tissue has focused on the role of free radical injury, cytokine toxicity (especially in light of the epidemiologic association of periventricular leukomalacia with maternofetal infection), and excitotoxicity in the development of periventricular leukomalacia. Premyelinating oligodendrocytes, which predominate in periventricular regions during the window of vulnerability to periventricular leukomalacia (24-34 postconceptional weeks), are the targets of free radical injury, as determined by immunocytochemical markers of lipid peroxidation and protein nitration. This maturational susceptibility can be attributed in part to a relative deficiency of superoxide dismutases in developing white matter. Microglia, which respond to cytokines and to bacterial products such as
lipopolysaccharide
via Toll-like receptors, are increased in periventricular leukomalacia white matter and can contribute to cellular damage. Indeed, several cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor-a and interleukins 2 and 6, as well as interferon-g, have been demonstrated in periventricular leukomalacia. Preliminary work suggests a role for glutamate receptors and glutamate transporters in periventricular leukomalacia based on expression in human developing oligodendrocytes. Germinal matrix hemorrhage, with or without intraventricular hemorrhage, occurs in premature infants and can coexist with periventricular leukomalacia. Studies in human germinal matrix tissue have focused on maturation-based vascular factors, such as morphometry and expression of molecules related to the structure of the blood-brain barrier. Gray-matter injury, seen more commonly in term infants, includes cortical infarcts and status marmoratus. Subtle cortical injury overlying periventricular leukomalacia is the subject of current interest as a possible substrate for the cognitive difficulties seen in patients with
cerebral palsy
. In summary, it is hoped that work in human tissue, in conjunction with experimental animal models, will lead to eventual therapeutic or preventive strategies for the perinatal brain injury underlying
cerebral palsy
.
...
PMID:Neuropathologic substrate of cerebral palsy. 1641 40
1
2
3
4
5
Next >>