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All-trans Retinoic Acid-incorporated Glycol Chitosan Nanoparticles Regulate Macrophage Polarization in Pg-LPS-Induced Inflammation

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Abstract

Objective

The occurrence and development of inflammation are closely correlated to the polarization of macrophages. All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) has been proven to promote the polarization of macrophages from M1 to M2, but this lacks an effective carrier to participate in the biological response. The present study aims to determine whether retinoic acid-incorporated glycol chitosan (RA-GC) nanoparticles can regulate macrophage polarization in Porphyromonas gingivalis-lipopolysaccharide (Pg-LPS)-induced inflammation.

Methods

Mouse 264.7 cell lines were treated with 1 µg/mL Pg-LPS to induce inflammation. After the effects of ATRA and RA-GC on the activity of macrophages were detected by CCK-8 assay, cells induced with Pg-LPS were assigned to the blank control group (GC) nanoparticles without ATRA, and experimental groups (GC nanoparticles loaded with different concentrations of ATRA: 1, 10 and 100 µg/mL). The effects of RA-GC on inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-10 and IL-12 in macrophages were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Subsequently, the effects of GC nanoparticles loaded with/without ATRA on macrophage polarization in an inflammatory environment were detected by RT-PCR and Western blotting.

Results

The results revealed that RA-GC had no significant effect on macrophage activity. However, RA-GC could effectively inhibit the Pg-LPS-induced inflammatory factor expression in macrophages. Meanwhile, the experimental results confirmed that RA-GC could downregulate the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) (a marker of M1 macrophages) and upregulate the expression of mannose receptor and Arginase-1 (a marker of M2 macrophages) in a dose-dependent manner.

Conclusion

The present study confirms that RA-GC can promote the M2 polarization of macrophages in an inflammatory environment, and proposes this as a promising target for the clinical treatment of Pg-LPS-related diseases.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fujian Provincial Hospital, Shengli Clinical College of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350001, China

    Tian-rong He & Yi Lin

  2. The State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Basic Science of Stomatology (Hubei-MOST) & Key Laboratory for Oral Biomedical Ministry of Education, School & Hospital of Stomatology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430075, China

    Xiu-yu Tang, Qi Yan, Xin-yu Wu & Bin Shi

Authors
  1. Tian-rong He
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  2. Xiu-yu Tang
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  3. Qi Yan
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  4. Xin-yu Wu
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  5. Bin Shi
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  6. Yi Lin
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Bin Shi or Yi Lin.

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The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest in this work.

Additional information

The study was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province (No. 2018J01245).

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He, Tr., Tang, Xy., Yan, Q. et al. All-trans Retinoic Acid-incorporated Glycol Chitosan Nanoparticles Regulate Macrophage Polarization in Pg-LPS-Induced Inflammation. CURR MED SCI 42, 974–980 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11596-022-2602-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11596-022-2602-8

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