Open Access

Effects of ghrelin on the apoptosis of human neutrophils in vitro

  • Authors:
    • Bin Li
    • Mian Zeng
    • Haichong Zheng
    • Chunrong Huang
    • Wanmei He
    • Guifang Lu
    • Xia Li
    • Yanzhu Chen
    • Ruijie Xie
  • View Affiliations

  • Published online on: July 6, 2016     https://doi.org/10.3892/ijmm.2016.2668
  • Pages: 794-802
  • Copyright: © Li et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is characterized by lung inflammation and the diffuse infiltration of neutrophils into the alveolar space. Neutrophils are abundant, short-lived leukocytes that play a key role in immune defense against microbial infections. These cells die via apoptosis following the activation and uptake of microbes, and will also enter apoptosis spontaneously at the end of their lifespan if they do not encounter pathogens. Apoptosis is essential for the removal of neutrophils from inflamed tissues and for the timely resolution of neutrophilic inflammation. Ghrelin is an endogenous ligand for the growth hormone (GH) secretagogue receptor, produced and secreted mainly from the stomach. Previous studies have reported that ghrelin exerts anti-inflammatory effects in lung injury through the regulation of the apoptosis of different cell types; however, the ability of ghrelin to regulate alveolar neutrophil apoptosis remains largely undefined. We hypothesized that ghrelin may have the ability to modulate neutrophil apoptosis. In this study, to examine this hypothesis, we investigated the effects of ghrelin on freshly isolated neutrophils in vitro. Our findings demonstrated a decrease in the apoptotic ratio (as shown by flow cytometry), as well as in the percentage of cells with decreased mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) and in the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT)-mediated dUTP-biotin nick‑end labeling-positive rate, accompanied by an increased B-cell lymphoma 2/Bax ratio and the downregulation of cleaved caspase-3 in neutrophils following exposure to lipopolysaccharide (100 ng/ml). However, pre-treatment with ghrelin at a physiological level (100 nM) did not have a notable influence on the neutrophils in all the aforementioned tests. Our findings suggest that ghrelin may not possess the ability to modulate the neutrophil lifespan in vitro.
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September-2016
Volume 38 Issue 3

Print ISSN: 1107-3756
Online ISSN:1791-244X

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Copy and paste a formatted citation
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Spandidos Publications style
Li B, Zeng M, Zheng H, Huang C, He W, Lu G, Li X, Chen Y and Xie R: Effects of ghrelin on the apoptosis of human neutrophils in vitro. Int J Mol Med 38: 794-802, 2016.
APA
Li, B., Zeng, M., Zheng, H., Huang, C., He, W., Lu, G. ... Xie, R. (2016). Effects of ghrelin on the apoptosis of human neutrophils in vitro. International Journal of Molecular Medicine, 38, 794-802. https://doi.org/10.3892/ijmm.2016.2668
MLA
Li, B., Zeng, M., Zheng, H., Huang, C., He, W., Lu, G., Li, X., Chen, Y., Xie, R."Effects of ghrelin on the apoptosis of human neutrophils in vitro". International Journal of Molecular Medicine 38.3 (2016): 794-802.
Chicago
Li, B., Zeng, M., Zheng, H., Huang, C., He, W., Lu, G., Li, X., Chen, Y., Xie, R."Effects of ghrelin on the apoptosis of human neutrophils in vitro". International Journal of Molecular Medicine 38, no. 3 (2016): 794-802. https://doi.org/10.3892/ijmm.2016.2668