{"title":"Celastrol ameliorates lupus by promoting apoptosis of autoimmune T cells and preventing autoimmune response in MRL/lpr mice","authors":"Tianhong Xie, Hongliang Rui, Huiqiang Liu, Xin Liu, Xiang Liu, Ping Li","doi":"10.1136/lupus-2023-001057","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Objective Celastrol is a bioactive constituent extracted from Tripterygium wilfordii (thunder god vine). It has been demonstrated to have a therapeutic effect on experimental disease models for chronic inflammatory and immune disorders. In the present study, we investigated whether and how celastrol exerts a regulatory effect on the autoimmune response in MRL/lpr mice. Methods We performed an in vivo study to determine the therapeutic effects of celastrol in MRL/lpr mice and then further investigated the underlying mechanism of celastrol in the regulation of the autoimmune response in MRL/lpr mice. Results Celastrol showed a therapeutic effect in MRL/lpr mice by preventing the enlargement of the spleen and lymph nodes, alleviating renal injury, and reducing the levels of ANA and anti-double-stranded DNA antibodies. Furthermore, celastrol suppressed the in vivo inflammatory response in MRL/lpr mice by reducing the serum levels of multiple cytokines, including interleukin (IL)-6, tumour necrosis factor (TNF) and interferon (IFN)-γ, and the production of multiple antibody subsets, including total IgG, IgG1 and IgG2b. In vitro, celastrol reduced anti-CD3 antibody stimulation-induced T helper 1 and TNF-producing cells in CD4+ T cells of MRL/lpr mice. In addition, celastrol significantly affected B cell differentiation and prevented the generation of plasma cells from B cells in MRL/lpr mice by reducing the frequency of activated and germinal centre B cells. Celastrol treatment also affected T cell differentiation and significantly reduced central memory T cell frequencies in MRL/lpr mice. Importantly, celastrol treatment specifically promoted apoptosis of CD138+ but not CD138− T cells to suppress autoimmune T cell accumulation in MRL/lpr mice. Conclusions Celastrol exerted therapeutic effects on lupus by specifically promoting apoptosis of autoimmune T cells and preventing the progression of autoimmune response. Data are available upon reasonable request.","PeriodicalId":18126,"journal":{"name":"Lupus Science & Medicine","volume":"42 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7000,"publicationDate":"2024-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Lupus Science & Medicine","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1136/lupus-2023-001057","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"RHEUMATOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objective Celastrol is a bioactive constituent extracted from Tripterygium wilfordii (thunder god vine). It has been demonstrated to have a therapeutic effect on experimental disease models for chronic inflammatory and immune disorders. In the present study, we investigated whether and how celastrol exerts a regulatory effect on the autoimmune response in MRL/lpr mice. Methods We performed an in vivo study to determine the therapeutic effects of celastrol in MRL/lpr mice and then further investigated the underlying mechanism of celastrol in the regulation of the autoimmune response in MRL/lpr mice. Results Celastrol showed a therapeutic effect in MRL/lpr mice by preventing the enlargement of the spleen and lymph nodes, alleviating renal injury, and reducing the levels of ANA and anti-double-stranded DNA antibodies. Furthermore, celastrol suppressed the in vivo inflammatory response in MRL/lpr mice by reducing the serum levels of multiple cytokines, including interleukin (IL)-6, tumour necrosis factor (TNF) and interferon (IFN)-γ, and the production of multiple antibody subsets, including total IgG, IgG1 and IgG2b. In vitro, celastrol reduced anti-CD3 antibody stimulation-induced T helper 1 and TNF-producing cells in CD4+ T cells of MRL/lpr mice. In addition, celastrol significantly affected B cell differentiation and prevented the generation of plasma cells from B cells in MRL/lpr mice by reducing the frequency of activated and germinal centre B cells. Celastrol treatment also affected T cell differentiation and significantly reduced central memory T cell frequencies in MRL/lpr mice. Importantly, celastrol treatment specifically promoted apoptosis of CD138+ but not CD138− T cells to suppress autoimmune T cell accumulation in MRL/lpr mice. Conclusions Celastrol exerted therapeutic effects on lupus by specifically promoting apoptosis of autoimmune T cells and preventing the progression of autoimmune response. Data are available upon reasonable request.
期刊介绍:
Lupus Science & Medicine is a global, peer reviewed, open access online journal that provides a central point for publication of basic, clinical, translational, and epidemiological studies of all aspects of lupus and related diseases. It is the first lupus-specific open access journal in the world and was developed in response to the need for a barrier-free forum for publication of groundbreaking studies in lupus. The journal publishes research on lupus from fields including, but not limited to: rheumatology, dermatology, nephrology, immunology, pediatrics, cardiology, hepatology, pulmonology, obstetrics and gynecology, and psychiatry.