Full text
| |
| Author(s): |
Adriana Bulgarelli
Total Authors: 1
|
| Document type: | Doctoral Thesis |
| Press: | São Paulo. |
| Institution: | Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Conjunto das Químicas (IQ e FCF) (CQ/DBDCQ) |
| Defense date: | 2010-05-21 |
| Examining board members: |
Raul Cavalcante Maranhão;
Pedro Silvio Farsky;
Ligia Ferreira Gomes;
Silvya Stuchi Maria Engler;
José Carlos Nicolau
|
| Advisor: | Raul Cavalcante Maranhão |
| Abstract | |
Methotrexate (MTX) is the most frequently used drug for rheumatoid arthritis treatment. The incidence of vascular disease in these patients is lower when treated with MTX. However, few studies have been done using MTX for atherosclerosis treatment. In previous studies, we showed that, after injection into blood stream, a cholesterol-rich nanoparticle (LDE) binds to low density lipoprotein receptors (LDLr) and concentrates in tissues with intense cell proliferation such as atherosclerosis. LDE may thus carry drugs directed against those tissues reducing the toxicity of chemotherapeutic agents. For stable association with LDE, a lipophylic methotrexate derivative was used. The purpose of this study was to test MTX associated to LDE (LDE-MTX) in rabbits with atherosclerosis and investigate their anti-inflammatory effects on inflammatory mediators. Atherosclerosis was induced in rabbits by cholesterol rich diet during eight weeks. After 4 weeks from the introduction of the atherogenic diet, 4 groups of 10 animals were treated with LDE-MTX (LDE-MTX group), commercial MTX (commercial MTX Group), LDE (LDE control group) and saline solulion (Saline control group). MTX dose in both preparations was 4mg/kg/week during 4 additional weeks. LDE-MTX group showed superior tolerability with pronouncedly lesser hematologic toxicity in comparison to commercial MTX (p< 0.001). By morphometric analysis, both LDE-MTX and commercial MTX treatment groups showed a pronounced reduction of lesion area compared with Saline control group (66-76% respectively) (p<0001). By microscopy, intimal width at aortic arch and thoracic segments was reduced by 67% and 75% in LDE-MTX group compared to Saline control group, respectively (p<0.05). Commercial MTX group showed a reduction of 81% and 92% at aortic arch and thoracic segments compared to Saline control group, respectively (p<0.05). Presence of macrophages in intima layer at aortic arch was reduced by 59% and 57% (p<0.001) in LDE-MTX and commercial MTX groups while at thoracic segments was diminished by 37% and 38% (p=0.016) compared to Saline control group, respectively. MMP-9 percentage was diminished by 48% in both treated groups at aortic arch (p=0.0003) while at thoracic segment, LDE-MTX and commercial MTX reduced by 54% and 66% (p<0.0001) compared to Saline control group, respectively. Furthermore, MMP-9 percentage also diminished at abdominal segment in LDE-MTX group (68%) and commercial MTX (70%) when compared to Saline control group (p=0,016). When compared to LDE control group, both treated groups had similar percentage reduction in all morphometric analysis. In vivo studies, the expression of 5 inflammatory genes was downregulated (TNF-α, MCP-1, IL-1β, IL-18 and MMP-12) and 1 was upregulated (IL-10) when rabbits with induced atherosclerosis were treated with LDE-MTX. Besides, 5 inflammatory genes were downregulated (TNF-α, VAP-1, IL-1β, CXCL2 e TLR2) and 1 was upregulated (TGF-β1) when human endothelial cell line (HUVEC) was treated with both MTX preparations. Therefore, MTX can be an effective drug for atherosclerosis treatment and associated to LDE, side effects of this chemotherapeutic agent can be minimized. (AU) | |