Identification of aspartame-induced haematopoietic and lymphoid tumours in rats after lifetime treatment
ACTA HISTOCHEMICA
Authors: Tibaldi, Eva; Gnudi, Federica; Panzacchi, Simona; Mandrioli, Daniele; Vornoli, Andrea; Manservigi, Marco; Sgargi, Daria; Falcioni, Laura; Bua, Luciano; Belpoggi, Fiorella
Abstract
Lymphomas and leukaemias involving the lung have in some cases been hard to distinguish from respiratory tract infection in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats from long-term bioassays. In order to differentiate between tumours and immune cell infiltrates, updated pathological criteria and nomenclature were used and immunohistochemistry (IHC) was applied to haematopoietic and lymphoid tissue tumours (HLTs) in the original prenatal long-term Aspartame (APM) study performed by the Ramazzini Institute (RI). All 78 cases of HLTs from treated and control groups were re-examined based on light microscopic morphological characteristics and subjected to a panel of IHC markers including Ki67, CD3, PAX5, CD20, CD68, TdT, CD45, CD14 and CD33. The analysis confirmed the diagnoses of HLTs in 72 cases, identified 3 cases of preneoplastic lesions (lymphoid hyperplasia), and categorized 3 cases as inflammatory lesions. A statistically significant increase in total HLTs (p = 0.006), total lymphomas (p = 0.032) and total leukaemias (p = 0.031) in treated female rats was confirmed (high dose vs control), and a statistically significant linear trend for each HLT type was also observed. After the HLT cases re-evaluation, the results obtained are consistent with those reported in the previous RI publication and reinforce the hypothesis that APM has a leukaemogenic and lymphomatogenic effect.
Extracellular vesicles from adipose-derived stem cells ameliorate ultraviolet B-induced skin photoaging by attenuating reactive oxygen species production and inflammation
STEM CELL RESEARCH & THERAPY
Authors: Xu, Peng; Xin, Yu; Zhang, Zheng; Zou, Xiangyu; Xue, Ke; Zhang, Huizhong; Zhang, Wenjie; Liu, Kai
Abstract
Background: Large numbers of adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) are easily obtained and have been demonstrated to protect against ultraviolet B (UVB)-induced skin photoaging. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) exhibit some of the same effects as the cells from which they originate and have many advantages over stem cells. In particular, their application circumvents many safety concerns associated with cell therapy. Thus, as a cell-free agent, adipose-derived stem cell extracellular vesides (ADSC-EVs) have anti-photoaging potential. However, the protective effects of ADSC-EVs in skin photoaging remain uncertain. Methods: To investigate the effect of ADSC-EVs on mice with UVB-induced photoaging, 150 mu g and 300 mu g ADSC-EVs were subcutaneously injected weekly into photoaging mice for 8 weeks. The protective effect was evaluated by gross assessment and hematoxylin and eosin, Masson's trichrome, and beta-galactosidase staining. Proliferating cell nuclear antigen, CD68, and dihydroethidium staining were performed to evaluate cell proliferation, inflammation infiltration, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, respectively. In vitro, 100 mu g/mL and 200 mu g/mL ADSC-EVs were used to treat photoaging fibroblasts (FBs). beta-galactosidase staining and collagen 1 and matrix metalloproteinase 3 (MMP-3) expression were analyzed to evaluate FB senescence. To explain the protective mechanism of ADSC-EVs, their role in regulating ROS production, antioxidant enzyme expression, cell cycle arrest, and inflammation was evaluated. Results: In vivo, we showed that ADSC-EVs decreased skin wrinkles in mice with UVB-induced photoaging, while promoting epidermal cell proliferation and attenuating macrophage infiltration and ROS production. In vitro, we showed that ADSC-EVs increased FB activity and protected FBs from UVB-induced senescence, attenuated raw 264.7 cell differentiation from M0 to M1 macrophages, reduced intracellular ROS production, promoted antioxidant enzyme expression, and rescued FBs from cell cycle arrest. Conclusion: The anti-photoaging effect of ADSC-EVs was attributed to their ability to attenuate ROS production and the inflammatory response, which are key factors in MMP activation and collagen degradation.