Search

Background: Exposure to air pollution is associated with worldwide morbidity and mortality. Diesel exhaust (DE) emissions are important contributors which induce vascular inflammation and metabolic disturbances by unknown mechanisms. We aimed to determine molecular pathways activated by DE in the liver that could be responsible for its cardiometabolic toxicity., Methods: Apolipoprotein E knockout (ApoE KO) mice were exposed to DE or filtered air (FA) for two weeks, or DE for two weeks followed by FA for 1 week. Expression microarrays and global metabolomics assessment were performed in the liver. An integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic analytical strategy was employed to dissect critical pathways and identify candidate genes that could dissect DE-induced pathogenesis. HepG2 cells were treated with an organic extract of DE particles (DEP) vs. vehicle control to test candidate genes., Results: DE exposure for 2 weeks dysregulated 658 liver genes overrepresented in whole cell metabolic pathways, especially including lipid and carbohydrate metabolism, and the respiratory electron transport pathway. DE exposure significantly dysregulated 118 metabolites, resulting in increased levels of triglycerides and fatty acids due to mitochondrial dysfunction as well as increased levels of glucose and oligosaccharides. Consistently, DEP treatment of HepG2 cells led to increased gluconeogenesis and glycogenolysis indicating the ability of the in-vitro approach to model effects induced by DE in vivo. As an example, while gene network analysis of DE livers identified phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase 1 (Pck1) as a key driver gene of DE response, DEP treatment of HepG2 cells resulted in increased mRNA expression of Pck1 and glucose production, the latter replicated in mouse primary hepatocytes. Importantly, Pck1 inhibitor mercaptopicolinic acid suppressed DE-induced glucose production in HepG2 cells indicating that DE-induced elevation of hepatic glucose was due in part to upregulation of Pck1 and increased gluconeogenesis., Conclusions: Short-term exposure to DE induced widespread alterations in metabolic pathways in the liver of ApoE KO mice, especially involving carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, together with mitochondrial dysfunction. Pck1 was identified as a key driver gene regulating increased glucose production by activation of the gluconeogenesis pathway., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethical approval: Animal procedures were approved by the Animal Care and Use Committees of the University of Washington and UCLA. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Air pollution is a prominent cause of cardiopulmonary illness, but uncertainties remain regarding the mechanisms mediating those effects as well as individual susceptibility. Macrophages are highly responsive to particles, and we hypothesized that their responses would be dependent on their genetic backgrounds. We conducted a genome-wide analysis of peritoneal macrophages harvested from 24 inbred strains of mice from the Hybrid Mouse Diversity Panel (HMDP). Cells were treated with a DEP methanol extract (DEPe) to elucidate potential pathways that mediate acute responses to air pollution exposures. This analysis showed that 1247 genes were upregulated and 1383 genes were downregulated with DEPe treatment across strains. Pathway analysis identified oxidative stress responses among the most prominent upregulated pathways; indeed, many of the upregulated genes included antioxidants such as Hmox1, Txnrd1, Srxn1, and Gclm, with NRF2 (official gene symbol: Nfe2l2) being the most significant driver. DEPe induced a Mox-like transcriptomic profile, a macrophage subtype typically induced by oxidized phospholipids and likely dependent on NRF2 expression. Analysis of individual strains revealed consistency of overall responses to DEPe and yet differences in the degree of Mox-like polarization across the various strains, indicating DEPe × genetic interactions. These results suggest a role for macrophage polarization in the cardiopulmonary toxicity induced by air pollution., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Jesus A. Araujo reports financial support was provided by National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. May Bhetraratana reports financial support was provided by National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Aldons J. Lusis reports financial support was provided by National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. Xia Yang reports financial support was provided by National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. May Bhetraratana reports a relationship with California Air Resources Board that includes: employment. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Rationale: The cellular and molecular landscape and translational value of commonly used models of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) are poorly understood. Single-cell transcriptomics can enhance molecular understanding of preclinical models and facilitate their rational use and interpretation. Objectives: To determine and prioritize dysregulated genes, pathways, and cell types in lungs of PAH rat models to assess relevance to human PAH and identify drug repositioning candidates. Methods: Single-cell RNA sequencing was performed on the lungs of monocrotaline (MCT), Sugen-hypoxia (SuHx), and control rats to identify altered genes and cell types, followed by validation using flow-sorted cells, RNA in situ hybridization, and immunofluorescence. Relevance to human PAH was assessed by histology of lungs from patients and via integration with human PAH genetic loci and known disease genes. Candidate drugs were predicted using Connectivity Map. Measurements and Main Results: Distinct changes in genes and pathways in numerous cell types were identified in SuHx and MCT lungs. Widespread upregulation of NF-κB signaling and downregulation of IFN signaling was observed across cell types. SuHx nonclassical monocytes and MCT conventional dendritic cells showed particularly strong NF-κB pathway activation. Genes altered in SuHx nonclassical monocytes were significantly enriched for PAH-associated genes and genetic variants, and candidate drugs predicted to reverse the changes were identified. An open-access online platform was developed to share single-cell data and drug candidates (http://mergeomics.research.idre.ucla.edu/PVDSingleCell/). Conclusions: Our study revealed the distinct and shared dysregulation of genes and pathways in two commonly used PAH models for the first time at single-cell resolution and demonstrated their relevance to human PAH and utility for drug repositioning.

Exposure to ambient particulate matter has been shown to promote a variety of disorders, including cardiovascular diseases predominantly of ischemic etiology. However, the mechanisms linking inhaled particulates with systemic vascular effects, resulting in worsened atherosclerosis, are not well defined. We assessed the potential role of macrophages in translating these effects by analyzing gene expression patterns in response to diesel exhaust particles (DEP) at the average cell level, using Affymetrix microarrays in peritoneal macrophages in culture (in vitro), and at the individual cell level, using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) in alveolar macrophages collected from exposed mice (in vivo). Peritoneal macrophages were harvested from C57BL/6J mice and treated with 25 μg/mL of a DEP methanol extract (DEPe). These cells exhibited significant (FDR < 0.05) differential expression of a large number of genes and enrichment in pathways, especially engaged in immune responses and antioxidant defense. DEPe led to marked upregulation of heme oxygenase 1 (Hmox1), the most significantly upregulated gene (FDR = 1.75E-06), and several other antioxidant genes. For the in vivo work, C57BL/6J mice were subjected to oropharyngeal aspiration of 200 μg of whole DEP. The gene expression profiles of the alveolar macrophages harvested from these mice were analyzed at the single-cell level using scRNA-seq, which showed significant dysregulation of a broad number of genes enriched in immune system pathways as well, but with a large heterogeneity in how individual alveolar macrophages responded to DEP exposures. Altogether, DEP pollutants dysregulated immunological pathways in macrophages that may mediate the development of pulmonary and systemic vascular effects., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Macrophages polarize into heterogeneous proinflammatory M1 and antiinflammatory M2 subtypes. Heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) protects against inflammatory processes such as ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI), organ transplantation, and atherosclerosis. To test our hypothesis that HO-1 regulates macrophage polarization and protects against IRI, we generated myeloid-specific HO-1-knockout (mHO-1-KO) and -transgenic (mHO-1-Tg) mice, with deletion or overexpression of HO-1, in various macrophage populations. Bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) from mHO-1-KO mice, treated with M1-inducing LPS or M2-inducing IL-4, exhibited increased mRNA expression of M1 (CXCL10, IL-1β, MCP1) and decreased expression of M2 (Arg1 and CD163) markers as compared with controls, while BMDMs from mHO-1-Tg mice displayed the opposite. A similar pattern was observed in the hepatic M1/M2 expression profile in a mouse model of liver IRI. mHO-1-KO mice displayed increased hepatocellular damage, serum AST/ALT levels, Suzuki's histological score of liver IRI, and neutrophil and macrophage infiltration, while mHO-1-Tg mice exhibited the opposite. In human liver transplant biopsies, subjects with higher HO-1 levels showed lower expression of M1 markers together with decreased hepatocellular damage and improved outcomes. In conclusion, myeloid HO-1 expression modulates macrophage polarization, and protects against liver IRI, at least in part by favoring an M2 phenotype.

Student-run free clinics (SRFCs) have become important contributors not only to improve access to primary-care services for homeless and uninsured populations but also to enhance health sciences student education. In order for SRFCs to reliably provide high quality healthcare services and educationally benefit students, it is imperative to assess client perceptions of the quality of care provided. The objective of this study was to evaluate the delivery of healthcare services through a client satisfaction questionnaire at the University of California, Los Angeles Mobile Clinic Project (UCLA MCP). From 2012 to 2015, 194 questionnaires that addressed demographic information, satisfaction with services and client outcomes were analysed. Satisfaction scores were evaluated on a four-point scale and differences in the composite satisfaction scores were assessed using Mann-Whitney U-tests. Half (50%) of the client respondents report that UCLA MCP is their primary source of health care (MCP primary care clients), while 81.3% reported that the clinic improved access to other healthcare resources. Overall, clients are highly satisfied with their experiences (Range: 3.5-3.9) and 62% have recommended our services to others. While MCP primary-care clients report significantly higher satisfaction scores than non-primary-care clients on average (p < 0.01), the mean composite scores for all subgroups are consistently high. The UCLA MCP clients perceive the clinic to provide high-quality healthcare services. This article presents a framework that may help other SRFCs evaluate clients' perception of the quality of their care, an essential building block for effective physician-client relationships.

Background: Chronic electronic (e) cigarette users have increased resting cardiac sympathetic nerve activity and increased susceptibility to oxidative stress. The purpose of the present study is to determine the role of nicotine versus non-nicotine constituents in e-cigarette emissions in causing these pathologies in otherwise healthy humans., Methods and Results: Thirty-three healthy volunteers who were not current e-cigarette or tobacco cigarette smokers were studied. On different days, each participant used an e-cigarette with nicotine, an e-cigarette without nicotine, or a sham control. Cardiac sympathetic nerve activity was determined by heart rate variability, and susceptibility to oxidative stress was determined by plasma paraoxonase activity. Following exposure to the e-cigarette with nicotine, but not to the e-cigarette without nicotine or the sham control, there was a significant and marked shift in cardiac sympathovagal balance towards sympathetic predominance. The decrease in high-frequency component and the increases in the low-frequency component and the low-frequency to high-frequency ratio were significantly greater following exposure to the e-cigarette with nicotine compared with exposure to the e-cigarette without nicotine or to sham control. Oxidative stress, as estimated by plasma paraoxonase, did not increase following any of the 3 exposures., Conclusions: The acute sympathomimetic effect of e-cigarettes is attributable to the inhaled nicotine, not to non-nicotine constituents in e-cigarette aerosol, recapitulating the same heart rate variability pattern associated with increased cardiac risk in multiple populations with and without known cardiac disease. Evidence of oxidative stress, as estimated by plasma paraoxonase activity, was not uncovered following acute e-cigarette exposure., (© 2017 The Authors. Published on behalf of the American Heart Association, Inc., by Wiley.)

The "Splenocardiac Axis" describes an inflammatory signaling network underlying acute cardiac ischemia, characterized by sympathetic nerve stimulation of hematopoietic tissues, such as the bone marrow and spleen, which then release proinflammatory monocytes that populate atherosclerotic plaques, thereby promoting ischemic heart disease. Electronic (e) cigarettes, like tobacco cigarettes trigger sympathetic nerve activation, but virtually nothing is known about their influence on hematopoietic and vascular tissues and cardiovascular risks. The objective of this study was to determine if the Splenocardiac Axis is activated in young adults who habitually use either tobacco or e-cigarettes. In otherwise healthy humans who habitually use tobacco cigarettes or e-cigarettes (not both), we used 18 F-flurorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computer tomography (FDG-PET/CT) to test the hypothesis that tobacco or e-cigarettes increased metabolic activity of the hematopoietic and vascular tissues. FDG uptake in the spleen increased from nonuser controls (1.62 ± 0.07), to the e-cigarette users (1.73 ± 0.04), and was highest in tobacco cigarette smokers (1.82 ± 0.09; monotone P  = 0.05). Similarly, FDG uptake in the aorta increased from the nonuser controls (1.87 ± 0.07) to the e-cigarette users (1.98 ± 0.07), and was highest in tobacco cigarette smokers (2.10 ± 0.07; monotone P  = 0.04). FDG uptake in the skeletal muscle, which served as a control tissue, was not different between the groups. In conclusion, these findings are consistent with activation of the Splenocardiac Axis by emissions from tobacco cigarettes and e-cigarettes. This activation suggests a mechanism by which tobacco cigarettes, and potentially e-cigarettes, may lead to increased risk of future cardiovascular events., (© 2017 The Authors. Physiological Reports published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Physiological Society and the American Physiological Society.)

Importance: Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) have gained unprecedented popularity, but virtually nothing is known about their cardiovascular risks., Objective: To test the hypothesis that an imbalance of cardiac autonomic tone and increased systemic oxidative stress and inflammation are detectable in otherwise healthy humans who habitually use e-cigarettes., Design, Setting, and Participants: Cross-sectional case-control study of habitual e-cigarette users and nonuser control individuals from 2015 to 2016 at the University of California, Los Angeles. Otherwise healthy habitual e-cigarette users between the ages of 21 and 45 years meeting study criteria, including no current tobacco cigarette smoking and no known health problems or prescription medications, were eligible for enrollment. Healthy volunteers meeting these inclusion criteria who were not e-cigarette users were eligible to be enrolled as control individuals. A total of 42 participants meeting these criteria were enrolled in the study including 23 self-identified habitual e-cigarette users and 19 self-identified non-tobacco cigarette, non-e-cigarette user control participants., Main Outcomes and Measures: Heart rate variability components were analyzed for the high-frequency component (0.15-0.4 Hz), an indicator of vagal activity, the low-frequency component (0.04-0.15 Hz), a mixture of both vagal and sympathetic activity, and the ratio of the low frequency to high frequency, reflecting the cardiac sympathovagal balance. Three parameters of oxidative stress were measured in plasma: (1) low-density lipoprotein oxidizability, (2) high-density lipoprotein antioxidant/anti-inflammatory capacity, and (3) paraoxonase-1 activity., Results: Of the 42 participants, 35% were women, 35% were white, and the mean age was 27.6 years. The high-frequency component was significantly decreased in the e-cigarette users compared with nonuser control participants (mean [SEM], 46.5 [3.7] nu vs 57.8 [3.6] nu; P = .04). The low-frequency component (mean [SEM], 52.7 [4.0] nu vs 39.9 [3.8] nu; P = .03) and the low frequency to high frequency ratio (mean [SEM], 1.37 [0.19] vs 0.85 [0.18]; P = .05) were significantly increased in the e-cigarette users compared with nonuser control participants, consistent with sympathetic predominance. Low-density lipoprotein oxidizability, indicative of the susceptibility of apolipoprotein B-containing lipoproteins to oxidation, was significantly increased in e-cigarette users compared with nonuser control individuals (mean [SEM], 3801.0 [415.7] U vs 2413.3 [325.0] U; P = .01) consistent with increased oxidative stress, but differences in high-density antioxidant/anti-inflammatory capacity and paraoxonase-1 activity were not significant., Conclusions and Relevance: In this study, habitual e-cigarette use was associated with a shift in cardiac autonomic balance toward sympathetic predominance and increased oxidative stress, both associated with increased cardiovascular risk.

Background: Exposure to ambient ultrafine particulate matter (UFP) is a well-recognized risk factor for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. However, little is known about the effects of air pollution on gastrointestinal disorders., Objective: We sought to assess whether exposure to ambient UFP (diameter < 180 nm) increased free fatty acids and lipid metabolites in the mouse small intestine., Methods: Ldlr-null mice were exposed to filtered air (FA) or UFP collected at an urban Los Angeles, California, site that was heavily affected by vehicular emissions; the exposure was carried out for 10 weeks in the presence or absence of D-4F, an apolipoprotein A-I mimetic peptide with antioxidant and anti-inflammation properties on a high-fat or normal chow diet., Results: Compared with FA, exposure to UFP significantly increased intestinal hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acids (HETEs), including 15-HETE, 12-HETE, 5-HETE, as well as hydroxyoctadecadienoic acids (HODEs), including 13-HODE and 9-HODE. Arachidonic acid (AA) and prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) as well as some of the lysophosphatidic acids (LPA) in the small intestine were also increased in response to UFP exposure. Administration of D-4F significantly reduced UFP-mediated increase in HETEs, HODEs, AA, PGD2, and LPA. Although exposure to UFP further led to shortened villus length accompanied by prominent macrophage and neutrophil infiltration into the intestinal villi, administration of D-4F mitigated macrophage infiltration., Conclusions: Exposure to UFP promotes lipid metabolism, villus shortening, and inflammatory responses in mouse small intestine, whereas administration of D-4F attenuated these effects. Our findings provide a basis to further assess the mechanisms underlying UFP-mediated lipid metabolism in the digestive system with clinical relevance to gut homeostasis and diseases.