Increased intestinal production of alpha-defensins in aged rats with acute pancreatic injury

Autor(es)

Gomes Cunha, Debora Maria ^[1] ; Koike, Marcia Kiyomi ^[1] ; Frediani Barbeiro, Denise ^[1] ; Barbeiro, Hermes Vieira ^[1] ; Hamasaki, Mike Yoshio ^[1] ; Coelho Neto, Guilherme Tude ^[1] ; Cesar Machado, Marcel Cerqueira ^[1] ; da Silva, Fabiano Pinheiro ^[1]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Dept Emergency Med, BR-01246000 Sao Paulo - Brazil

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: Experimental Gerontology; v. 60, p. 215-219, DEC 2014.
• Citações Web of Science: 12

Resumo

Acute pancreatitis is a life-threatening situation, frequently associated with uncontrolled local and systemic inflammation, and aging is associated with a worst prognosis. Antimicrobial peptides are ancient molecules that belong to innate immunity, produced by epithelial and immune cells, and are able to trigger a myriad of effector responses. We have hypothesized that antimicrobial peptides could play an important role during serious pancreatic injury. To investigate our hypothesis, alpha-defensin-5, alpha-defensin-7 and CRAMP gene expression levels were measured in the intestinal tissue of old and young rats submitted to chemical pancreatic damage. We found significantly higher levels of alpha-defensin-5 and alpha-defensin-7, but not CRAMP, in the samples from old mice. This increase was not associated with a worse systemic inflammatory response. We conclude that alpha-defensins may have a pivotal role during acute pancreatitis and that the elderly develops a more severe local, but not systemic inflammatory process. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 09/17731-2 - Marcadores de infecção em pacientes críticos
• Beneficiário: Fabiano Pinheiro da Silva
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Jovens Pesquisadores