Small Immunomodulatory Molecules as Potential Therapeutics in Experimental Murine Models of Acute Lung Injury (ALI)/Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS)

Date

2021-03-04

Authors

Shah, Dilip
Das, Pragnya
Acharya, Suchismita
Agarwal, Beamon
Christensen, Dale J.
Robertson, Stella M.
Bhandari, Vineet

ORCID

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

MDPI

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Acute lung injury (ALI) or its most advanced form, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a severe inflammatory pulmonary process triggered by a variety of insults including sepsis, viral or bacterial pneumonia, and mechanical ventilator-induced trauma. Currently, there are no effective therapies available for ARDS. We have recently reported that a novel small molecule AVR-25 derived from chitin molecule (a long-chain polymer of N-acetylglucosamine) showed anti-inflammatory effects in the lungs. The goal of this study was to determine the efficacy of two chitin-derived compounds, AVR-25 and AVR-48, in multiple mouse models of ALI/ARDS. We further determined the safety and pharmacokinetic (PK) profile of the lead compound AVR-48 in rats. METHODS: ALI in mice was induced by intratracheal instillation of a single dose of lipopolysaccharide (LPS; 100 µg) for 24 h or exposed to hyperoxia (100% oxygen) for 48 h or undergoing cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) procedure and observation for 10 days. RESULTS: Both chitin derivatives, AVR-25 and AVR-48, showed decreased neutrophil recruitment and reduced inflammation in the lungs of ALI mice. Further, AVR-25 and AVR-48 mediated diminished lung inflammation was associated with reduced expression of lung adhesion molecules with improvement in pulmonary endothelial barrier function, pulmonary edema, and lung injury. Consistent with these results, CLP-induced sepsis mice treated with AVR-48 showed a significant increase in survival of the mice (80%) and improved lung histopathology in the treated CLP group. AVR-48, the lead chitin derivative compound, demonstrated a good safety profile. CONCLUSION: Both AVR-25 and AVR-48 demonstrate the potential to be developed as therapeutic agents to treat ALI/ARDS.

Description

Citation

Shah, D., Das, P., Acharya, S., Agarwal, B., Christensen, D. J., Robertson, S. M., & Bhandari, V. (2021). Small Immunomodulatory Molecules as Potential Therapeutics in Experimental Murine Models of Acute Lung Injury (ALI)/Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). International journal of molecular sciences, 22(5), 2573. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22052573

Rights

© 2021 by the authors.

License

Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)