Oxidative stress plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of acute pancreatitis (AP). Isoliquiritigenin (ISL) is a flavonoid monomer with confirmed antioxidant activity. However, the specific effects of ISL on AP have not been determined. In this study, we aimed to investigate the protective effect of ISL on AP using two mouse models. In the caerulein-induced mild acute pancreatitis (MAP) model, dynamic changes in oxidative stress injury of the pancreatic tissue were observed after AP onset. We found that ISL administration reduced serum amylase and lipase levels and alleviated the histopathological manifestations of pancreatic tissue in a dose-dependent manner. Meanwhile, ISL decreased the oxidative stress injury and increased the protein expression of the Nrf2/HO-1 pathway. In addition, after administering a Nrf2 inhibitor (ML385) or HO-1 inhibitor (zinc protoporphyrin) to block the Nrf2/HO-1 pathway, we failed to observe the protective effects of ISL on AP in mice. Furthermore, we found that ISL mitigated the severity of pancreatic tissue injury and pancreatitis-associated lung injury in a severe acute pancreatitis model induced by L-arginine. Taken together, our data for the first time confirmed the protective effects of ISL on AP in mice via inhibition of oxidative stress and modulation of the Nrf2/HO-1 pathway.

Regulatory T cell (Treg)-mediated immunosuppression represents one of the crucial tumor immune evasion mechanisms and is a main obstacle for successful tumor immunotherapy. Hypoxia, a common feature of solid tumors, has been associated with potentiated immunosuppression, decreased therapeutic response, malignant progression and local invasion. Unfortunately, the link between hypoxia and Treg-mediated immune tolerance in gastric cancer remains poorly understood. In our study, Tregs and hypoxia inducible factor-1α were found to be positively correlated with each other and were increased with the tumor progression. A subsequent in vitro study indicated that supernatants derived from gastric cancer cells under hypoxic condition, could induce the expression of Foxp3 via TGF-β1. These findings confirmed the crucial role of Tregs as a therapeutic target in gastric cancer therapy and provided helpful thoughts for the design of immunotherapy for gastric cancer in the future.

BackgroundPatients could develop endocrine and exocrine pancreatic insufficiency after acute pancreatitis (AP), but the morbidity, risk factors and outcome remain unclear. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the incidence of endocrine and exocrine pancreatic insufficiency after AP and the risk factors of endocrine pancreatic insufficiency through a long-term follow-up investigation.MethodsFollow-up assessment of the endocrine and exocrine function was conducted for the discharged patients with AP episodes. Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) and faecal elastase-1(FE-1) test were used as primary parameters. Fasting blood-glucose (FBG), fasting insulin (FINS), glycosylated hemoglobin HBA1c, 2-h postprandial blood glucose (2hPG), Homa beta cell function index (HOMA-β), homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and FE-1 were collected. Abdominal contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) was performed to investigate the pancreatic morphology and the other related data during hospitalization was also collected.ResultsOne hundred thirteen patients were included in this study and 34 of whom (30.1%) developed diabetes mellitus (DM), 33 (29.2%) suffered impaired glucose tolerance (IGT). Moreover, 33 patients (29.2%) developed mild to moderate exocrine pancreatic insufficiency with 100μg/g50%, WON and insulin resistance were the independent risk factors of new onset diabetes after AP.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12876-017-0663-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background and Purpose Pyroptosis is a lytic form of pro‐inflammatory cell death characterised as caspase 1 dependent with canonical NLRP3 inflammasome‐induced gasdermin D (GSDMD) activation. We aimed to investigate the role of acinar pyroptotic cell death in pancreatic injury and systemic inflammation in AP. Experimental Approach Pancreatic acinar pyroptotic cell death pathway activation upon pancreatic toxin stimulation in vitro and in vivo was investigated. Effects of pharmacological (NLRP3 and caspase‐1 inhibitors), constitutive (Nlrp3−/−, Casp1−/− and Gsdmd−/−) and acinar cell conditional (Pdx1CreNlrp3Δ/Δ and Pdx1CreGsdmdΔ/Δ) genetic inhibition on pyroptotic acinar cell death, pancreatic necrosis and systemic inflammation were assessed using mouse AP models (caerulein, sodium taurocholate and l‐arginine). Effects of Pdx1CreGsdmdΔ/Δ versus myeloid conditional knockout (Lyz2CreGsdmdΔ/Δ) and Gsdmd−/− versus receptor‐interacting protein 3 (RIP3) inhibitor were compared in CER‐AP. Key Results There was consistent pyroptotic acinar cell death upon pancreatic toxin stimulation both in vitro and in vivo, which was significantly reduced by pharmacological or genetic pyroptosis inhibition. Pdx1CreGsdmdΔ/Δ but not Lyz2CreGsdmdΔ/Δ mice showed significantly reduced pyroptotic acinar cell death, pancreatic necrosis and systemic inflammation in caerulein‐AP. Co‐application of RIP3 inhibitor on Gsdmd−/− mice further increased protection on caerulein‐AP. Conclusion and Implications This work demonstrates a critical role for NLRP3 inflammasome and GSDMD activation‐mediated pyroptosis in acinar cells, linking pancreatic necrosis and systemic inflammation in AP. Targeting pyroptosis signalling pathways holds promise for specific AP therapy.