The NLRP3 Inflammasome as a Novel Player of the Intercellular Crosstalk in Metabolic Disorders

The combination of obesity and type 2 diabetes is a serious health problem, which is projected to afflict 300 million people worldwide by 2020. Both clinical and translational laboratory studies have demonstrated that chronic inflammation is associated with obesity and obesity-related conditions such as insulin resistance. However, the precise etiopathogenetic mechanisms linking obesity to diabetes remain to be elucidated, and the pathways that mediate this phenomenon are not fully characterized. One of the most recently identified signaling pathways, whose activation seems to affect many metabolic disorders, is the “inflammasome,” a multiprotein complex composed of NLRP3 (nucleotide-binding domain and leucine-rich repeat protein 3), ASC (apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD), and procaspase-1. NLRP3 inflammasome activation leads to the processing and secretion of the proinflammatory cytokines interleukin- (IL-) 1β and IL-18. The goal of this paper is to review new insights on the effects of the NLRP3 inflammasome activation in the complex mechanisms of crosstalk between different organs, for a better understanding of the role of chronic inflammation in metabolic disease pathogenesis. We will provide here a perspective on the current research on NLRP3 inflammasome, which may represent an innovative therapeutic target to reverse the detrimental metabolic consequences of the metabolic inflammation

A Nitric Oxide-Donor Furoxan Moiety Improves the Efficacy of Edaravone against Early Renal Dysfunction and Injury Evoked by Ischemia/Reperfusion

Edaravone (5-methyl-2-phenyl-2,4-dihydro-3H-pyrazol-3-one, EDV) is a free-radical scavenger reduces organ ischemic injury. Here we investigated whether the protective effects of EDV in renal ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury may be enhanced by an EDV derivative bearing a nitric oxide- (NO-) donor furoxan moiety (NO-EDV). Male Wistar rats were subjected to renal ischemia (45 minutes), followed by reperfusion (6 hours). Administration of either EDV (1.2–6–30 µmol/kg, i.v.) or NO-EDV (0.3–1.2–6 µmol/kg, i.v.) dose-dependently attenuated markers of renal dysfunction (serum urea and creatinine, creatinine clearance, urine flow, urinary N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase, and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin/lipocalin-2). NO-EDV exerted protective effects in the dose-range 1.2–6 µmol/kg, while a higher dose (30 µmol/kg) was needed to obtain protection by EDV. Both EDV and NO-EDV modulated tissue markers of oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation. NO-EDV, but not EDV, activated endothelial NO synthase (NOS) and blunted I/R-induced upregulation of inducible NOS, secondary to modulation of Akt and NF-κB activation, respectively. Besides NO-EDV administration inhibited I/R-induced IL-1β, IL-18, IL-6, and TNF-α overproduction. Overall, these findings demonstrate that the NO-donor moiety contributes to the protection against early renal I/R injury and suggest that NO-donor EDV codrugs are worthy of additional study as innovative pharmacological tools.Fil: Chiazza, Fausto. Universitã â  Di Torino; ItaliaFil: Chegaev, Konstantin. Università  Di Torino; ItaliaFil: Rogazzo, Mara. Universitã â  Di Torino; ItaliaFil: Cutrin, Juan Carlos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones Cardiológicas (i); ArgentinaFil: Beneti, Elisa. Universita di Torino; ItaliaFil: Lazzarato, Loretta. Universita di Torino; ItaliaFil: Fruttero, Roberta. Universita di Torino; ItaliaFil: Collino, Massimo. Universita di Torino; Itali