Hyaluronan (HA) is a glycosaminoglycan constituent of extracellular matrix. In its native form HA exists as a high molecular weight polymer, but during inflammation lower molecular weight fragments accumulate. We have identified a collection of inflammatory genes induced in macrophages by HA fragments but not by high molecular weight HA. These include several members of the chemokine gene family: macrophage inflammatory protein-1 ␣ , macrophage inflammatory protein-1 ␤ , cytokine responsive gene-2, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, and regulated on activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted. HA fragments as small as hexamers are capable of inducing expression of these genes in a mouse alveolar macrophage cell line, and monoclonal antibody to the HA receptor CD44 completely blocks binding of fluorescein-labeled HA to these cells and significantly inhibits HA-induced gene expression. We also investigated the ability of HA fragments to induce chemokine gene expression in human alveolar macrophages from patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and found that interleukin-8 mRNA is markedly induced. These data support the hypothesis that HA fragments generated during inflammation induce the expression of macrophage genes which are important in the development and maintenance of the inflammatory response.

Adult, male, unmedicated twins received antipyrine orally under carefully controlled environmental conditions. Relative contributions of genetic and environmental factors to 2-fold interindividual variations in rate constants for formation of the three main antipyrine metabolites were compared. Heritabilities for rate constants for formation of4-hydroxyantipyrine, Ndemethylantipyrine, and 3-hydroxymethylantipyrine were 0.88, 0.85, and 0.70, respectively. These results suggest that each molecular form of cytochrome P-450 that converts antipyrine to a different metabolite exhibits genetically controlled interindividual variations in activity. Unrelated adult male subjects whose environments were also carefully controlled exhibited highly reproducible rate constants for formation of antipyrine metabolites. Because the rate constant for metabolite formation sensitively detects certain variations in the gene product, it should be used in future pharmacogenetic studies on rates of production of multiple metabolites from a single parent drug.In 1968, causes of large interindividual variations in rates of antipyrine (AP) decay in normal adults were identified in monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins (1). Interindividual variations in AP clearance were maintained mainly by genetic factors. The twins lived in different households under nearly basal conditions with respect to multiple environmental factors capable of altering rates of AP clearance. In contrast to large interindividual variations, AP clearance in a given subject was highly reproducible, provided that no significant environmental perturbations occurred.The twin study reported 13 years ago measured only plasma AP kinetics (1). Because AP is degraded through multiple reactions catalyzed by enzymes independently influenced by numerous genetic and environmental factors, each metabolic pathway needs to be investigated separately. This approach, which was the objective of the present study, permitted a more specific estimate of gene activity than did the earlier study.In several species, including man, three primary metabolites ofAP have been identified: 3-hydroxymethyl-AP, N-demethyl-AP, and 4-hydroxy-AP (2-5). Each metabolite is formed by a separate hepatic cytochrome P450-mediated monooxygenase (6, 7). Conjugation then occurs to varying extents with glucuronide, rendering products even more water soluble and hence more easily excreted in urine where metabolites are identified (2-8). In the present study, under carefully controlled environmental conditions, the relative roles of heredity and environment in controlling large interindividual variations in rates of hepatic formation of each AP metabolite were assessed in twins by using new sensitive techniques for metabolite detection. These data were used to test different pharmacokinetic models of AP elimination. MATERIALS AND METHODSSelection of Subjects. Ten unrelated subjects, 10 pairs of MZ twins, and 10 pairs of DZ twins between the ages of 16 and 35 yr without previous serious illness were obta...

The function of chemokine receptors on structural cells is only partially known. We previously reported the expression of a functional CCR3 receptor on airway epithelial cells (EC). We speculated that CCR3 might drive wound repair and expression of inflammatory genes in epithelium. The human airway EC lines BEAS-2B, 16-HBE, and primary bronchial EC were used to test the effect of in vitro challenge with the CCR3 ligands CCL11/eotaxin, CCL24/eotaxin-2, or CCL26/eotaxin-3 on 1) wound repair, using an established wound model; 2) cell proliferation and chemotaxis, using specific fluorometric assays; and 3) gene expression, using pathway-specific arrays for inflammatory and profibrotic cytokines, chemokines, and chemokine receptor genes. Agonist specificity was tested by cell pretreatment with an AstraZeneca CCR3 antagonist (10−8 – 10−6 M). CCL24 challenge significantly accelerated epithelial wound closure, with similar effects exerted by CCL11 and CCL26. This effect was time dependent, submaximal at 1 nM, and comparable in potency to epidermal growth factor. CCL24 induced a concentration-dependent increase in EC proliferation and chemotaxis, with significant effects observed at 10 nM. The AstraZeneca compound selectively inhibited these CCL24-mediated responses. CCL11 induced the up-regulation of several profibrogenic molecules such as fibroblast growth factor 1 and 5 and of several CC and CXC chemokines. Epithelial immunostaining for CCR3 was stronger in bronchial biopsies of asthmatics displaying marked inflammatory changes than in nondiseased samples. Epithelial CCR3 participates in key functions for wound repair, amplifies the expression of profibrogenic and chemokine transcripts, and appears up-regulated in inflamed asthmatic airways.

The advantages and limitations of the 2 most commonly used methods to investigate interindividual pharmacokinetic variations are reviewed. The first method is based on pharmacokinetic comparisons made after repeated administration of a model drug such as antipyrine, before, during and after imposition of a carefully controlled environmental perturbation. A principal virtue of the test is the use of each subject as a control. Subjects are usually under near basal conditions with respect to factors capable of altering hepatic drug-metabolising capacity. Exceedingly sensitive, the test yields highly reproducible results. It has been useful as a research tool in identifying environmental factors for which dose-response curves can be generated and compared. However, the test requires careful selection and control of subjects, and it may be hazardous to extrapolate results to subjects under different, non-basal, environmental conditions. This method most frequently involves antipyrine as the test compound, but other drugs can and have been used. The results disclose that many host factors that influence antipyrine disposition also affect the disposition of other drugs metabolised by hepatic mixed-function oxidases. Recent refinement of the antipyrine test involves measurement of the rate constant for formation of each of the 3 main metabolites of antipyrine. Sensitivity and specificity of the test are increased through examination of the effect of each factor on a separate hepatic cytochrome P-450. Due to the labouriousness of this procedure and its requirement for several days of urine collection from each subject, metabolite analysis will probably remain an experimental method not applicable for screening populations. The second method involves a particular model based on multiple regression analysis. Relying on correlations with historical data of a qualitative nature, previous applications of this method have been retrospective, rather than prospective. Several such correlations could not be confirmed in normal subjects under the conditions of a controlled prospective experiment. Thus, prospective studies need to be performed to check results obtained with this method. The model used appears to enjoy certain advantages, including speed, simplicity, and ease of execution.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)