Objectives: The objectives of this study were to determine basic oral pharmacokinetics, and assess safety and analgesic efficacy of a cannabidiol (CBD) based oil in dogs with osteoarthritis (OA).Methods: Single-dose pharmacokinetics was performed using two different doses of CBD enriched (2 and 8 mg/kg) oil. Thereafter, a randomized placebo-controlled, veterinarian, and owner blinded, cross-over study was conducted. Dogs received each of two treatments: CBD oil (2 mg/kg) or placebo oil every 12 h. Each treatment lasted for 4 weeks with a 2-week washout period. Baseline veterinary assessment and owner questionnaires were completed before initiating each treatment and at weeks 2 and 4. Hematology, serum chemistry and physical examinations were performed at each visit. A mixed model analysis, analyzing the change from enrollment baseline for all other time points was utilized for all variables of interest, with a p ≤ 0.05 defined as significant.Results: Pharmacokinetics revealed an elimination half-life of 4.2 h at both doses and no observable side effects. Clinically, canine brief pain inventory and Hudson activity scores showed a significant decrease in pain and increase in activity (p < 0.01) with CBD oil. Veterinary assessment showed decreased pain during CBD treatment (p < 0.02). No side effects were reported by owners, however, serum chemistry showed an increase in alkaline phosphatase during CBD treatment (p < 0.01).Clinical significance: This pharmacokinetic and clinical study suggests that 2 mg/kg of CBD twice daily can help increase comfort and activity in dogs with OA.
The identification of easily measured, accurate diagnostic biomarkers for active tuberculosis (TB) will have a significant impact on global TB control efforts. Because of the host and pathogen complexities involved in TB pathogenesis, identifying a single biomarker that is adequately sensitive and specific continues to be a major hurdle. Our previous studies in models of TB demonstrated that exosomes, such as those released from infected macrophages, contain mycobacterial products, including many Mtb proteins. In this report, we describe the development of targeted proteomics assays employing multiplexed multiple reaction monitoring mass spectrometry (MRM-MS) in order to allow us to follow those proteins previously identified by western blot or shotgun mass spectrometry, and enhance biomarker discovery to include detection of Mtb proteins in human serum exosomes. Targeted MRM-MS assays were applied to exosomes isolated from human serum samples obtained from culture-confirmed active TB patients to detect 76 peptides representing 33 unique Mtb proteins. Our studies revealed the first identification of bacteria-derived biomarker candidates of active TB in exosomes from human serum. Twenty of the 33 proteins targeted for detection were found in the exosomes of TB patients, and included multiple peptides from 8 proteins (Antigen 85B, Antigen 85C, Apa, BfrB, GlcB, HspX, KatG, and Mpt64). Interestingly, all of these proteins are known mycobacterial adhesins and/or proteins that contribute to the intracellular survival of Mtb. These proteins will be included as target analytes in future validation studies as they may serve as markers for persistent active and latent Mtb infection. In summary, this work is the first step in identifying a unique and specific panel of Mtb peptide biomarkers encapsulated in exosomes and reveals complex biomarker patterns across a spectrum of TB disease states.
The cell envelope of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is complex and diverse; composed of proteins intermingled in a matrix of peptidoglycan, mycolic acids, lipids, and carbohydrates. Proteomic studies of the Mtb cell wall have been limited; nonetheless, the characterization of resident and secreted proteins associated with the cell wall are critical to understanding bacterial survival and immune modulation in the host. In this study, the cell wall proteome was defined in order to better understand its unique biosynthetic and secretion processes. Mtb cell wall was subjected to extraction with organic solvents to remove noncovalently bound lipids and lipoglycans and remaining proteins were solubilized with either SDS, Guanidine-HCl, or TX-114. These extracts were analyzed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and mass-spectrometry and resulted in the identification of 234 total proteins. The lipoproteome of Mtb, enriched in the TX-114 extract, was further resolved by multidimensional chromatography and mass spectrometry to identify an additional 294 proteins. A query of the 528 total protein identifications against Neural Network or Hidden Markov model algorithms predicted secretion signals in 87 proteins. Classification of these 528 proteins also demonstrated that 35% are involved in small molecule metabolism and 25% are involved in macromolecule synthesis and degradation building upon evidence that the Mtb cell wall is actively engaged in mycobacterial survival and remodeling.
Tuberculosis (TB) is the deadliest infectious disease worldwide. One obstacle hindering the elimination of TB is our lack of understanding of host-pathogen interactions. Exosomes, naturally loaded with microbial molecules, are circulating markers of TB. Changes in the host protein composition of exosomes from Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb)-infected cells have not been described, can contribute to our understanding of the disease process, and serve as a direct source of biomarkers or as capture targets to enrich for exosomes containing microbial molecules. Here, the protein composition of exosomes from Mtb-infected and uninfected THP-1-derived macrophages was evaluated by tandem-mass-spectrometry and differences in protein abundances were assessed. Our results show that infection with Mtb leads to significant changes in the protein composition of exosomes. Specifically, 41 proteins were significantly more abundant in exosomes from Mtb-infected cells; 63% of these were predicted to be membrane associated. Thus, we used a novel biotinylation strategy to verify protein localization, and confirmed the localization of some of these proteins in the exosomal membrane. Our findings reveal another important scenario where Mtb could be influencing changes in host cells that unveil new features of the host-pathogen interaction and may also be exploited as a source of biomarkers for TB.
Metabolic responses to hypoxia play important roles in cell survival strategies and disease pathogenesis in humans. However, the homeostatic adjustments that balance changes in energy supply and demand to maintain organismal function under chronic low oxygen conditions remain incompletely understood, making it difficult to distinguish adaptive from maladaptive responses in hypoxia-related pathologies. We integrated metabolomic and proteomic profiling with mitochondrial respirometry and blood gas analyses to comprehensively define the physiological responses of skeletal muscle energy metabolism to 16 days of high-altitude hypoxia (5260 m) in healthy volunteers from the AltitudeOmics project. In contrast to the view that hypoxia down-regulates aerobic metabolism, results show that mitochondria play a central role in muscle hypoxia adaptation by supporting higher resting phosphorylation potential and enhancing the efficiency of long-chain acylcarnitine oxidation. This directs increases in muscle glucose toward pentose phosphate and one-carbon metabolism pathways that support cytosolic redox balance and help mitigate the effects of increased protein and purine nucleotide catabolism in hypoxia. Muscle accumulation of free amino acids favor these adjustments by coordinating cytosolic and mitochondrial pathways to rid the cell of excess nitrogen, but might ultimately limit muscle oxidative capacity Collectively, these studies illustrate how an integration of aerobic and anaerobic metabolism is required for physiological hypoxia adaptation in skeletal muscle, and highlight protein catabolism and allosteric regulation as unexpected orchestrators of metabolic remodeling in this context. These findings have important implications for the management of hypoxia-related diseases and other conditions associated with chronic catabolic stress.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.