1. Ghrelin is involved in regulating the progression of Echinococcus Granulosus-infected liver lesions through suppression of immunoinflammation and fibrosis.
- Author
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Zhu J, Zhao H, Aierken A, Zhou T, Menggen M, Gao H, He R, Aimulajiang K, and Wen H
- Subjects
- Animals, Mice, Humans, Hep G2 Cells, Liver Cirrhosis parasitology, Liver Cirrhosis immunology, Liver Cirrhosis metabolism, Echinococcosis immunology, Echinococcosis parasitology, Disease Progression, Female, Smad3 Protein metabolism, Smad3 Protein genetics, Inflammation, Transforming Growth Factor beta1 metabolism, Transforming Growth Factor beta1 genetics, Cytokines metabolism, Ghrelin metabolism, Echinococcus granulosus immunology, Liver parasitology, Liver pathology, Liver metabolism
- Abstract
Background: Cystic Echinococcosis (CE) is a zoonotic disease causing fibrosis and necrosis of diseased livers caused by infection with Echinococcus granulosus (E.g). There is evidence that E.g is susceptible to immune escape and tolerance when host expression of immunoinflammation and fibrosis is suppressed, accelerating the progression of CE. Ghrelin has the effect of suppressing immunoinflammation and fibrosis, and whether it is involved in regulating the progression of E.g-infected liver lesions is not clear., Methods: Serum and hepatic Ghrelin levels were observed in E.g-infected mice (4, 12 and 36 weeks) and compared with healthy control groups. Co-localization analysis is performed between protein expression of Ghrelin in and around the hepatic lesions of E.g-infected 12-week mice and protein expression of different hepatic histiocytes by mIHC. HepG2 cells and protoscoleces (PSCs) protein were co-cultured in vitro, as well as PSCs were alone in vitro, followed by exogenously administered of Ghrelin and its receptor blocker, [D-Lys3]-GHRP-6, to assess their regulatory effects on immunoinflammation, fibrosis and survival rate of PSCs., Results: Serum Ghrelin levels were increased in E.g-infected 4- and 12-week mice, and reduced in 36-week mice. E.g-infected mice consistently recruited Ghrelin in and around the hepatic lesions, which was extremely strongly co-localized with the protein expression of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs), T cells and the TGF-β1/Smad3 pathway. The secretion of Ghrelin was increased with increasing concentrations of PSCs protein in HepG2 cells culture medium. Moreover, Ghrelin could significantly inhibit the secretion of IL-2, INF-γ and TNF-α, as well as the expression of Myd88/NF-κB and TGF-β1/Smad3 pathway protein, and promoted the secretion of IL-4 and IL-10. Blocking Ghrelin receptor could significantly inhibit PSCs growth in in vitro experiment., Conclusion: Ghrelin is highly expressed in the early stages of hepatic E.g infection and may be involved in regulating the progression of liver lesions by suppression immunoinflammation and fibrosis., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Zhu et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)
- Published
- 2024
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