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Aim Human periodontitis is associated with overactivation of complement, which is triggered by different mechanisms converging on C3, the central hub of the system. We assessed whether the C3 inhibitor Cp40 inhibits naturally-occurring periodontitis in non-human primates. Materials and Methods Non-human primates with chronic periodontitis were intra-gingivally injected with Cp40 either once (5 animals) or three times (10 animals) weekly for six weeks followed by a 6-week follow-up period. Clinical periodontal examinations and collection of gingival crevicular fluid and biopsies of gingiva and bone were performed at baseline and during the study. A one-way repeated measures ANOVA was used for data analysis. Results Whether administered once or three times weekly, Cp40 caused a significant reduction in clinical indices that measure periodontal inflammation (gingival index and bleeding on probing), tissue destruction (probing pocket depth and clinical attachment level) or tooth mobility. These clinical changes were associated with significantly reduced levels of pro-inflammatory mediators and decreased numbers of osteoclasts in bone biopsies. The protective effects of Cp40 persisted, albeit at reduced efficacy, for at least six weeks following drug discontinuation. Conclusion Cp40 inhibits pre-existing chronic periodontal inflammation and osteoclastogenesis in non-human primates, suggesting a novel adjunctive anti-inflammatory therapy for treating human periodontitis.

Key Points The complement opsonin C3dg, which is found on PNH erythrocytes of patients under anti-C5 therapy, can bind to complement receptor 3 (CR3). Interaction of C3dg with CR3 on activated monocytes induces erythrophagocytosis, thereby corroborating a model of extravascular hemolysis.

Sepsis continues to result in high morbidity and mortality. General anesthesia is often administered to septic patients, but the impacts of general anesthesia on host defense are not well understood. General anesthesia can be given by volatile and intravenous anesthetics. Our previous in vitro study showed that volatile anesthetic isoflurane directly inhibits leukocyte function-associated antigen-1 (LFA-1) and macrophage-1 antigen (Mac-1), critical adhesion molecules on leukocytes. Thus, the role of isoflurane exposure on in vivo LFA-1 and Mac-1 function was examined using polymicrobial abdominal sepsis model in mice. As a comparison, intravenous anesthetic propofol was given to a group of mice. Wild type, LFA-1, Mac-1, and adhesion molecule-1 knockout mice were used. Following the induction of polymicrobial abdominal sepsis by cecal ligation and puncture, groups of mice were exposed to isoflurane for either 2 or 6 h, or to propofol for 6 h, and their outcomes were examined. Bacterial loads in tissues and blood, neutrophil recruitment to the peritoneal cavity and phagocytosis were studied. Six hours of isoflurane exposure worsened the outcome of abdominal sepsis (P < .0001) with higher bacterial loads in tissues, but 2 h of isoflurane or 6 h of propofol exposure did not. Isoflurane impaired neutrophil recruitment to the abdominal cavity by inhibiting LFA-1 function. Isoflurane also impaired bacterial phagocytosis via complement receptors including Mac-1. In conclusion, prolonged isoflurane exposure worsened the outcome of experimental polymicrobial abdominal sepsis and was associated with impaired neutrophil recruitment and bacterial phagocytosis via reduced LFA-1 and Mac-1 function.

A number of retrospective studies have suggested that choice of anesthetic drugs during surgical tumor resection might affect tumor recurrence/ metastasis, or outcome of patients. The recent study showed that volatile anesthetics-based general anesthesia was associated with the worse outcomes than intravenous anesthetics-based general anesthesia. However, the underlying mechanism is yet to be determined. Because natural killer (NK) cells are implicated as important immune cells for tumor recurrence/ metastasis in the perioperative period, we examined the effect of different anesthetics on NK cell-mediated tumor cytotoxicity. Because adhesion molecule leukocyte function-associated antigen-1 (LFA-1) is functionally important in NK cells and is inhibited by commonly used volatile anesthetics isoflurane and sevoflurane, we hypothesized that these anesthetics would attenuate NK cell-mediated cytotoxicity. Using human NK cell line NK92-MI cells and tumor cell line K562 cells as a model system, we performed cytotoxicity, proliferation, conjugation and degranulation assays. Lytic granule polarization was also assessed. We showed that isoflurane, sevoflurane and LFA-1 inhibitor BIRT377 attenuated cytotoxicity, and reduced conjugation and polarization, but not degranulation of NK cells. Our data suggest that isoflurane and sevoflurane attenuated NK cell-mediated cytotoxicity at least partly by their LFA-1 inhibition in vitro. Whether or not isoflurane and sevoflurane attenuate NK cell-mediated tumor cytotoxicity in patients needs to be determined in the future.

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Trauma-induced hemorrhagic shock (HS) plays a decisive role in the development of immune, coagulation, and organ dysfunction often resulting in a poor clinical outcome. Imbalanced complement activation is intricately associated with the molecular danger response and organ damage after HS. Thus, inhibition of the central complement component C3 as turnstile of both inflammation and coagulation is hypothesized as a rational strategy to improve the clinical course after HS.Applying intensive care conditions, anaesthetized, monitored, and protectively ventilated non-human primates (NHP; cynomolgus monkeys) received a pressure-controlled severe HS (60 min at MAP 30 mmHg) with subsequent volume resuscitation. Thirty min after HS, animals were randomly treated with either an analog of the C3 inhibitor compstatin (i.e., Cp40) in saline (n = 4) or with saline alone (n = 4). The observation period lasted 300 min after induction of HS.We observed improved kidney function in compstatin Cp40-treated animals after HS as determined by improved urine output, reduced damage markers and a tendency of less histopathological signs of acute kidney injury. Sham-treated animals revealed classical signs of mucosal edema, especially in the ileum and colon reflected by worsened microscopic intestinal injury scores. In contrast, Cp40-treated HS animals exhibited only minor signs of organ edema and significantly less intestinal damage. Furthermore, early systemic inflammation and coagulation dysfunction were both ameliorated by Cp40.The data suggest that therapeutic inhibition of C3 is capable to significantly improve immune, coagulation and organ function and to preserve organ-barrier integrity early after traumatic HS. C3-targeted complement inhibition may therefore reflect a promising therapeutic strategy in fighting fatal consequences of HS.

General anesthesia has been the requisite component of surgical procedures for over 150 yr. Although immunomodulatory effects of volatile anesthetics have been growingly appreciated, the molecular mechanism has not been understood. In septic mice, the commonly used volatile anesthetic isoflurane attenuated the production of 5-lipoxygenase products and IL-10 and reduced CD11b and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 expression on neutrophils, suggesting the attenuation of TLR4 signaling. We confirmed the attenuation of TLR4 signaling in vitro and their direct binding to TLR4-myeloid differentiation-2 (MD-2) complex by photolabeling experiments. The binding sites of volatile anesthetics isoflurane and sevoflurane were located near critical residues for TLR4-MD-2 complex formation and TLR4-MD-2-LPS dimerization. Additionally, TLR4 activation was not attenuated by intravenous anesthetics, except for a high concentration of propofol. Considering the important role of TLR4 system in the perioperative settings, these findings suggest the possibility that anesthetic choice may modulate the outcome in patients or surgical cases in which TLR4 activation is expected.-