Hydrogen Peroxide Preconditioning Promotes Protective Effects of Umbilical Cord Vein Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Experimental Pulmonary Fibrosis

Purpose Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive lung disorder with few available treatments. Mesenchymal stem cell therapy (MSCT), an innovative approach, has high therapeutic potential when used to treat IPF. According to recent data, preconditioning of MSCs can improve their therapeutic effects. Our research focuses on investigating the anti-inflammatory and antifibrotic effects of H2O2-preconditioned MSCs (p-MSCs) on mice with bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis (PF). Methods Eight-week-old male C57BL/6 mice were induced with PF by intratracheal (IT) instillation of bleomycin (4 U/kg). Human umbilical cord vein-derived MSCs (hUCV-MSCs) were isolated and exposed to a sub-lethal concentration (15 pM for 24 h) of H2O2 in vitro. One week following the injection of bleomycin, MSCs or p-MSCs were injected (IT) into the experimental PF. The survival rate and weight of mice were recorded, and 14 days after MSCs injection, all mice were sacrificed. Lung tissue was removed from these mice to examine the myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, histopathological changes (hematoxylin-eosin and Masson\u27s trichrome) and expression of transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1) and alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) through immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining. Results Compared to the PF+MSC group, p-MSCs transplantation results in significantly decreased connective tissue () and collagen deposition. Additionally, it is determined that lung tissue in the PF+pMSC group has increased alveolar space () and diminished expression of TGF-β1 and α-SMA. Conclusion The results demonstrate that MSCT using p-MSCs decreases inflammatory and fibrotic factors in bleomycin-induced PF, while also able to increase the therapeutic potency of MSCT in IPF

Effects of dietary guanidinoacetic acid and betaine supplementation on performance, blood biochemical parameters and antioxidant status of broilers subjected to cold stress

This study was conducted to determine the effects of dietary guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) and betaine supplementation on performance, antioxidant status and biochemical parameters of broilers subjected to cold stress. Based on a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement, 384-day-old male broiler chicks (Cobb) were randomly distributed between four experimental diets (with 8 replicates and 12 birds per replicate) included basal diet (as control) and the basal diet supplemented with 1200 mg/kg GAA; 600 mg/kg betaine and 1200 mg/kg GAA + 600 mg/kg betaine. No significant dietary effects were seen on performance, haematological and blood biochemical parameters including plasma glucose, uric acid, total antioxidant status, lactate, lactate dehydrogenase, red blood cell, haemoglobin, haematocrit and heterophil-to-lymphocyte ratios. However, malondialdehyde (MDA), and the activity of creatine kinase (CK), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) were affected by the experimental diets. Compared with the other groups, betaine supplementation decreased liver MDA level and SOD activity while increased activity of liver GPx and serum CK and decreased serum level of MDA were observed in birds fed the GAA-included diet. Overall, based on the results, it seems that dietary GAA and betaine could have beneficial effects on antioxidant status of broilers subjected to cold stress