Background: Some nanoparticles are known to induce endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and lead to cell death. Results: Silver nanoparticles induce ATF-6 degradation, leading to activation of the NLRP-3 inflammasome and pyroptosis. Conclusion: ATF-6 is an important target to silver nanoparticles. Significance: Our results provide a new link between ER stress and activation of the NLRP-3 inflammasome.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

β-Sitosterol inhibited either myeloperoxidase and adenosine deaminase activity or IL-1β and TNF-α levels. This effect seemed to be mediated by the calcium uptake in activated neutrophils in a time- and concentration-dependent manner through L-type voltage dependent calcium channels, intracellular calcium, phosphoinositide kinase-3, and microtubule modulation.

No abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-inflammatory efficacy of an aqueous extract (AE), and its butanolic (BuOH) and aqueous residual (AR) fractions, derived from the rhizome of Solidago chilensis in inflammation caused by carrageenan in mice. Solidago chilensis Meyen rhizome was extracted using hot water at 90 degrees C under infusion. The extract was filtered and lyophilized. Part of the aqueous extract was fractionated with n-BuOH, resulting in butanolic (BuOH) and aqueous residual (AR) fractions. Adult Swiss mice were used in the in-vivo experiments. We evaluated the effect of rhizome aqueous extract of Solidago chilensis and these two derived fractions on the inflammation induced by carrageenan in the mouse model of the air pouch. The aqueous extract and its derived fractions significantly inhibited leucocytes, neutrophils, exudation, myeloperoxidase and adenosine deaminase activity, as well as nitric oxide, interleukin-1 beta (IL-1beta), neutrophil chemokine (KC) and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) levels (P < 0.05). Indometacin and dexamethasone inhibited all the studied inflammatory parameters (P < 0.01) with the exceptions that indometacin did not inhibit TNF-alpha levels and dexamethasone did not inhibit KC levels (P > 0.05). These results indicate that Solidago chilensis has a significant anti-inflammatory action on acute inflammatory responses and that its inhibitory activity may be due not only to the inhibition of proinflammatory mediators, but also to the inhibition of leucocyte infiltration.

The use of nanoparticles (NPs) has increased in the past few years in various fields, including defence, aerospace, electronics, biology, medicine, and so forth. and in applications such as diagnostic technology, bioimaging, and drug/gene delivery. Thus, human exposure to NPs and nanomaterials is unavoidable and will certainly expand in the future resulting in a growing interest in nanotoxicology, the study of toxicity of nanomaterials. A number of studies have reported the effects of NPs in respect to pulmonary inflammation by investigating in vitro activation of pulmonary cells with NPs and in vivo in a variety of models in which neutrophils appear to be the predominant leukocyte cell type in lungs and in bronchoalveolar lavages following inhalation or intratracheal instillation of NPs. Despite the fact that several studies have reported an increased number of neutrophils, the literature dealing with the direct activation of neutrophils by a given NP is poorly documented. This paper will summarize the current literature in this latter area of research and will end with a perspective view in which our laboratory will be involved in the following years.