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Fritz H Bach

Publications and source records attributed to Fritz H Bach.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Inhaled carbon monoxide prevents graft-induced intimal hyperplasia in swine.

BACKGROUND: Arteriovenous grafts often fail due to stenosis caused by venous anastomotic intimal hyperplasia (IH) and vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation. We examined the effects of inhaled carbon monoxide (CO), a product of heme-oxygenase-1 degradation of heme, on IH in a porcine arteriovenous graft model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighteen Yorkshire pigs were divided into three groups (N = 6/group): (1) CO 100 ppm preoperatively for 1 h; (2) CO 250 ppm preoperatively for 1 h and intraoperatively; and (3) air-treated controls. Animals underwent end-to-side placement of polytetrafluoroethylene grafts connecting the common femoral artery and vein in both groins. Intimal thickness of the venous anastomosis at 30 days was measured blinded. The effect of CO on pig VSMC proliferation was studied in cell culture using [(3)H]thymidine incorporation. RESULTS: Pigs in the group receiving CO 250 ppm showed significantly less IH compared to animals in the group receiving 100 ppm and the air-treated group (267.5 +/- 21.4, 824 +/- 145.8, and 914.8 +/- 133.7 pixels, respectively, P < 0.0001). This effect was not observed when comparing the 100 ppm group to the air-treated group. COHb levels were significantly elevated in the 100 ppm and 250 ppm compared to air-treated pigs (5.8 +/- 0.47, 13.2 +/- 1.0 versus 2.3 +/- 0.11%, respectively, P < 0.001). Oxygen saturation, respiratory rate, and hemodynamics were not significantly different between the groups. CO induced VSMC growth arrest compared to air in vitro (11.9 +/- 4 versus 20.3 +/- 5 10(3) counts/min/well, P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: A single exposure to a low concentration of inhaled CO (250 ppm) confers protection against intimal proliferation of VSMCs when given perioperatively in a clinically relevant model of arteriovenous grafts. These data are the first to suggest, in a clinically relevant model, the potential role for CO in clinical applications.

Administration, Inhalation↗
PubMed2006

Heme oxygenase-1 mediates the anti-inflammatory effects of acute alcohol on IL-10 induction involving p38 MAPK activation in monocytes.

Inflammation and immunoregulatory cytokines play a central role in alcohol-induced liver damage. We previously reported that acute alcohol treatment augments IL-10 and inhibits TNF-alpha production in monocytes. Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), a stress-inducible protein, also regulates IL-10 and TNF-alpha production. Here, we report that augmentation of LPS-induced IL-10 production by alcohol was prevented by inhibition of HO-1 activity. Acute ethanol increased LPS-induced enzyme activity and RNA levels of HO-1, and DNA binding of AP-1, a transcription factor essential in HO-1 regulation. LPS-induced phospho-p38 MAPK levels were augmented by ethanol treatment and the p38 inhibitor, SB203580, prevented both the ethanol-induced increase in IL-10 production and the inhibitory effect of ethanol on TNF-alpha production. Ethanol-induced down-regulation of TNF-alpha production was abrogated by inhibition of HO-1. We found that LPS-induced activation of NF-kappaB, a regulator of TNF-alpha, was inhibited by both ethanol treatment and HO-1 activation, but the ethanol-induced inhibition of NF-kappaB was HO-1 independent. In LPS-challenged mice in vivo, both acute alcohol administration and HO-1 activation augmented IL-10 and inhibited TNF-alpha serum levels. These results show that 1) acute alcohol augments HO-1 activation in monocytes, 2) HO-1 activation plays a role in alcohol-induced augmentation of IL-10 production likely via increased p38 MAPK activation, and 3) HO-1 activation is involved in attenuation of TNF-alpha production by alcohol independent of inhibition of NF-kappaB activation by alcohol. Thus, HO-1 activation is a key mediator of the anti-inflammatory effects of acute alcohol on monocytes.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Carbon monoxide: from the origin of life to molecular medicine.

Carbon monoxide, long considered only as a toxic gas, has recently been shown to mediate potent anti-inflammatory and other salutary effects in rodents when it is used at low doses. Carbon monoxide is one of the products of the degradation of heme by heme oxygenase 1. Until recently, these beneficial effects of carbon monoxide were shown only when it was given before a stress stimulus. Hagazi and colleagues have recently shown that this substance is effective even when it is given after a disease process has started. The effects of low doses of carbon monoxide are complemented by the production of biliverdin and probably also by ferritin, which are additional products of heme degradation.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Heme oxygenase-1 and transplantation tolerance.

Tolerance is the ultimate goal of transplantation: the lack of any need for immunosuppression with long-term survival of the transplanted tissue and a full immunological response to all antigens other than those on the transplant. In honor of my dear friend and colleague, Prof. Dr. Jon van Rood, I summarize here our work in this area making use of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and the products that degradation of heme by HO-1 generates.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Heme oxygenase-1 is essential for and promotes tolerance to transplanted organs.

This investigation focused on obtaining a further understanding of the role of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) in tolerance induction. Hearts from C57BL/6 (H-2b) mice survived long-term when transplanted into BALB/c (H-2d) recipients treated with the tolerance-inducing regimen of anti-CD40L antibody (MR-1) plus donor-specific transfusion (DST). Grafts did not, however, survive long-term in (HO-1-/-) recipients given the same treatment. Similarly, long-term survival induced by DST was ablated when HO-1 activity was blocked by zinc protoporphyrin IX (ZnPPIX). We further asked whether modulation of HO-1 expression/activity could be used to promote the induction of graft tolerance. DST alone (day 0) failed to promote any prolongation of survival of DBA/2 (H-2d) hearts transplanted into B6AF1 (H-2(b,k/d)) recipients. However, long-term survival and (dominant peripheral) tolerance were readily induced when DST was combined with induction of HO-1 expression by cobalt protoporphyrin IX (CoPPIX). HO-1 induction plus DST led to a significant up-regulation of Foxp3, TGF-beta, IL-10, and CTLA4, which suggests a prominent role for CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells (Tregs). In fact, the tolerogenic effect of HO-1 plus DST was dependent on CD4+CD25+ Tregs as suggested by adoptively transferring these cells into irradiated recipients under various regimens. Taken together, these findings show that expression of HO-1 in a graft recipient can be essential for long-term graft survival and for induction of tolerance and that modulation of HO-1 expression/activity can be used therapeutically to synergize in the generation of graft tolerance.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Carbon monoxide orchestrates a protective response through PPARgamma.

Carbon monoxide (CO) suppresses proinflammatory responses in macrophages reacting to LPS. We hypothesize that CO acts by inducing a molecule(s) that suppresses the inflammatory response to subsequent stress. Exposure of macrophages to CO alone in vitro produced a brief burst of mitochondrial-derived ROS, which led to expression of PPARgamma. PPARgamma expression proved essential for mediating the anti-inflammatory effects of CO. Blocking the CO-mediated increase in ROS generation prevented PPARgamma induction, and blocking PPARgamma prevented CO's anti-inflammatory effects. In a model of acute lung injury in mice, CO blocked expression of Egr-1, a central mediator of inflammation, and decreased tissue damage; inhibition of PPARgamma abrogated both effects. These data identify the mitochondrial oxidases as an (perhaps the) initial cellular target of CO and demonstrate that CO upregulates expression of PPARgamma via the mitochondria, which assures that a subsequent stress stimulus will lead to a cytoprotective as opposed to a proinflammatory phenotype.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Bilirubin can induce tolerance to islet allografts.

Induction of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) expression in recipients of allogeneic islets can lead to long-term survival (>100 d) of those islets. We tested whether administration of bilirubin would substitute for the beneficial effects of HO-1 expression in islet transplantation. Administering bilirubin to the recipient (B6AF1) or incubating islets in a bilirubin-containing solution ex vivo led to long-term survival of allogeneic islets in a significant percentage of cases. In addition, administering bilirubin to only the donor frequently led to long-term survival of DBA/2 islets in B6AF1 recipients and significantly prolonged graft survival of BALB/c islets in C57BL/6 recipients. Donor treatment with bilirubin up-regulated mRNA expression of protective genes such as HO-1 and bcl-2 and suppressed proinflammatory and proapoptotic genes including monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 and caspase-3 and -8 in the islet grafts before transplantation. Furthermore, treatment of only the donor suppressed the expression of proinflammatory cytokines including TNF-alpha, inducible nitric oxide synthase, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, and other proapoptotic and proinflammatory genes normally seen in the islets after transplantation. Donor treatment also reduced the number of macrophages that infiltrated the islet grafts in the recipients. Preincubation of betaTC3 cells with bilirubin also protected the cells from lipid peroxidation. Our data suggests that the potent antioxidant and antiinflammatory actions of bilirubin may contribute to islet survival.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Bilirubin: a natural inhibitor of vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation.

BACKGROUND: Bilirubin, a natural product of heme catabolism by heme oxygenases, was considered a toxic waste product until 1987, when its antioxidant potential was recognized. On the basis of observations that oxidative stress is a potent trigger in vascular proliferative responses, that heme oxygenase-1 is antiatherogenic, and that several studies now show that individuals with high-normal or supranormal levels of plasma bilirubin have a lesser incidence of atherosclerosis-related diseases, we hypothesized that bilirubin would have salutary effects on preventing intimal hyperplasia after balloon injury. METHODS AND RESULTS: We found less balloon injury-induced neointima formation in hyperbilirubinemic Gunn rats and in wild-type rats treated with biliverdin, the precursor of bilirubin, than in controls. In vitro, bilirubin and biliverdin inhibited serum-driven smooth muscle cell cycle progression at the G1 phase via inhibition of the mitogen-activated protein kinase signal transduction pathways and inhibition of phosphorylation of the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor protein. CONCLUSIONS: Bilirubin and biliverdin might be potential therapeutics in vascular proliferative disorders.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Heme oxygenase-1 modulates the allo-immune response by promoting activation-induced cell death of T cells.

Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), which degrades heme into three products (carbon monoxide, free iron, and biliverdin), plays a protective role in many models of disease via its anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, and anti-proliferative actions. Overexpression of HO-1 has been shown to suppress immune responses and prolong the survival of allografts; however, the underlying mechanism is not clear. We demonstrate two "new" properties of HO-1 that mediate activation induced cell death (AICD) of allo-antigen-responsive murine CD4+ T cells, resulting in immunomodulation. First, it functions in vivo and in vitro to "boost" the proliferative response of CD4+ T cells to allo-antigens in the early phase of allo-antigen-driven immune responses. This "boosting" effect is accompanied with a significant increase of activation markers and IL-2 production. Second, it exerts a pro-apoptotic effect in those activated T cells after the initial burst of proliferation. We further show that the AICD effect is mediated through the Fas/CD95-FasL signal transduction pathway. Correlating with the above-mentioned findings is the observed prolongation of mouse heart graft survival when HO-1 is expressed in vivo in both donor and recipient. In conclusion, induction of HO-1 expression accelerates clonal deletion of peripheral alloreactive CD4+ T cells by promoting AICD, which is presumably a key mechanism for its immunomodulatory effects such as in prolonging the survival of transplanted organs.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Heme oxygenase-1-generated biliverdin ameliorates experimental murine colitis.

BACKGROUND: Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) seems to have an important protective role in acute and chronic inflammation. The products of heme catalysis, biliverdin/bilirubin, carbon monoxide (CO), and iron (that induces apoferritin) mediate the beneficial effects of HO-1. Blockade of HO-1 activity results in exacerbation of experimental colitis. We tested whether HO-1 has protective effects in the development of colitis and determined that specific enzymatic products of HO-1 are responsible for these effects. METHODS: Colitis was induced by oral administration of dextran sodium sulfate (5%) to C57BL/6 mice for 7 days. HO-1 was up-regulated by cobalt-protoporphyrin (5 mg/kg, intraperitoneally). Biliverdin, exogenous CO, or the iron chelator desferrioxamine was administered to other groups. RESULTS: Cobalt-protoporphyrin treatment resulted in significant up-regulation of HO-1 protein in mucosal and submucosal cells. Induction of HO-1 was associated with significantly less loss of body weight in mice with induced colitis (-12% versus -22% in the control animals, P < 0.001). Development of diarrhea and gastrointestinal hemorrhage was substantially delayed in animals in which HO-1 was induced, and mucosal injury was significantly attenuated. Administration of CO or desferrioxamine alone had no significant effects, whereas enhanced protection with lesser evidence of bowel inflammation was observed with systemic biliverdin administration (50 micromol/kg, 3 times per day, intraperitoneally). CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that heightened HO-1 expression or administration of biliverdin ameliorates dextran sodium sulfate-induced experimental colitis. Novel therapeutic strategies based on HO-1 and/or biliverdin administration may have use in inflammatory bowel disease.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed2005

Protection against ischemia/reperfusion injury in cardiac and renal transplantation with carbon monoxide, biliverdin and both.

Both carbon monoxide (CO) and biliverdin, products of heme degradation by heme oxygenase, have been shown to attenuate ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. We hypothesized in this study that dual-treatment with CO and biliverdin would induce enhanced protective effects against cold I/R injury. Heterotopic heart and orthotopic kidney transplantation were performed in syngeneic Lewis rats after 24-h cold preservation in UW solution. While monotherapy with CO (20 ppm) or biliverdin (50 mg/kg, ip) did not alter the survival of heart grafts, dual-treatment increased survival to 80% from 0% in untreated recipients, with a significant decrease of myocardial injury and improved cardiac function. Similarly, dual-treatment significantly improved glomerular filtration rates of renal grafts and prolonged recipient survival compared to untreated controls. I/R injury-induced up-regulation of pro-inflammatory mediators (e.g. TNF-alpha, iNOS) and extravasation of inflammatory infiltrates were significantly less with dual-treatment than untreated controls. In addition, dual-treatment was effective in decreasing lipid peroxidation and improving graft blood flow through the distinctive action of biliverdin and CO, respectively. The study shows that the addition of byproducts of heme degradation with different mechanisms of action provides enhanced protection against transplant-associated cold I/R injury of heart and kidney grafts.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Donor treatment with carbon monoxide can yield islet allograft survival and tolerance.

Treatment of animals or certain cells with carbon monoxide (CO), a product of heme degradation by heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), has potent anti-inflammatory and antiapoptotic effects that contribute to the survival of transplanted organs. We report here that inducing HO-1 in, or administering CO to, only the donor can be used in a therapeutic manner to sustain the survival of transplanted allogeneic islets. Similar treatments of only the islets or only the recipient are also salutary. Administering CO only to the donor frequently leads to long-term survival of those islets in untreated allogeneic recipients, which are then antigen-specifically tolerant. Several proinflammatory and proapoptotic genes that are strongly induced in islets after transplantation in the untreated situation were significantly suppressed after administering CO to the donor without further treatment. These included tumor necrosis factor-alpha, inducible nitric oxide synthase, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, granzyme B, and Fas/Fas ligand, all of which contribute to the pathogenesis of the rejection of transplanted islets. This correlated with a lesser infiltration of recipient macrophages into the transplanted islets. Our present findings show that induction of HO-1 in, or administration of CO to, only the donor, islets, or the recipient or combinations of such treatments improve allogeneic islet survival.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Carbon monoxide improves cardiac energetics and safeguards the heart during reperfusion after cardiopulmonary bypass in pigs.

Ischemia-reperfusion injury, a clinical problem during cardiac surgery, involves worsened adenosine trisphosphate (ATP) generation and damage to the heart. We studied carbon monoxide (CO) pretreatment, proven valuable in rodents but not previously tested in large animals, for its effects on pig hearts subjected to cardiopulmonary bypass with cardioplegic arrest. Hearts of CO-treated pigs showed significantly higher ATP and phosphocreatine levels, less interstitial edema, and apoptosis of cardiomyocytes and required fewer defibrillations after bypass. We conclude that treatment with CO improves the energy status, prevents edema formation and apoptosis, and facilitates recovery in a clinically relevant model of cardiopulmonary bypass surgery.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗
PubMed2004

Heme oxygenase-1 genotype and restenosis after balloon angioplasty: a novel vascular protective factor.

OBJECTIVES: We investigated the association of the heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) promoter genotype with the inflammatory response and restenosis after balloon angioplasty. BACKGROUND: Heme oxygenase-1, which is induced by balloon angioplasty, can inhibit neointima formation and vascular remodeling. A dinucleotide repeat in the HO-1 gene promoter shows a length polymorphism that modulates HO-1 gene transcription. Short (<25 guanosine thymidine [GT]) repeats are associated with a 10-fold greater up-regulation of HO-1 than are longer repeats. METHODS: We studied 381 consecutive patients who underwent femoropopliteal balloon angioplasty (n = 210) and comparison groups with femoropopliteal stenting (n = 68) and lower limb angiography (n = 103). C-reactive protein (CRP) was measured at baseline, 24, and 48 h. We evaluated patency at six months by duplex sonography and assessed the association of the length of GT repeats in the HO-1 gene promoter with postintervention CRP and restenosis. RESULTS: Restenosis within six months was found in 74 patients (35%) after balloon angioplasty and in 21 patients (31%) after stenting. After balloon angioplasty, carriers of the short length (<25 GT) dinucleotide repeats had a lower postintervention CRP at 24 h (p = 0.009) and 48 h (p < 0.001) and a reduced risk for restenosis (adjusted relative risk 0.43, 95% confidence interval: 0.24 to 0.71, p < 0.001) compared with patients with longer alleles. After stenting or angiography, we found no association between the HO-1 genotype with CRP or restenosis. CONCLUSIONS: The HO-1 promoter genotype that controls the degree of HO-1 up-regulation in response to stress stimuli is associated with the postintervention inflammatory response and the restenosis risk after balloon angioplasty.

Aged↗
PubMed2004

Heme oxygenase-1 modulates the expression of adhesion molecules associated with endothelial cell activation.

Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) cleaves the porphyrin ring of heme into carbon monoxide, Fe2+, and biliverdin, which is then converted into bilirubin. Heme-derived Fe2+ induces the expression of the iron-sequestering protein ferritin and activates the ATPase Fe2+-secreting pump, which decrease intracellular free Fe2+ content. Based on the antioxidant effect of bilirubin and that of decreased free cellular Fe2+, we questioned whether HO-1 would modulate the expression of proinflammatory genes associated with endothelial cell (EC) activation. We tested this hypothesis specifically for the genes E-selectin (CD62), ICAM-1 (CD54), and VCAM-1 (CD106). We found that HO-1 overexpression in EC inhibited TNF-alpha-mediated E-selectin and VCAM-1, but not ICAM-1 expression, as tested at the RNA and protein level. Heme-driven HO-1 expression had similar effects to those of overexpressed HO-1. In addition, HO-1 inhibited the activation of NF-kappaB, a transcription factor required for TNF-alpha-mediated up-regulation of these genes in EC. Bilirubin and/or Fe2+ chelation mimicked the effects of HO-1, whereas biliverdin or carbon monoxide did not. In conclusion, HO-1 inhibits the expression of proinflammatory genes associated with EC activation via a mechanism that is associated with the inhibition of NF-kappaB activation. This effect of HO-1 is mediated by bilirubin and/or by a decrease of free intracellular Fe2+ but probably not by biliverdin or carbon monoxide.

Adenoviridae↗
PubMed2004

Biliverdin, a natural product of heme catabolism, induces tolerance to cardiac allografts.

Biliverdin, a product of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) enzymatic action, is converted into bilirubin, which has been considered a waste product in the past. We now show that administration of biliverdin has a salutary effect in organ transplantation. A brief course of treatment with biliverdin leads to long-term survival of H-2 incompatible heart allografts. Furthermore, those recipients harboring long-surviving (>100 days) allografts were tolerant to donor antigens indicated by the acceptance of second donor strain hearts but not third-party grafts. Treatment with biliverdin decreased intragraft leukocyte infiltration and inhibited T cell proliferation. Likely related to tolerance induction, biliverdin interferes with T cell signaling by inhibiting activation of nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) and nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB), two transcription factors involved in interleukin-2 (IL-2) transcription and T cell proliferation, as well as suppressing Th1 interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) production in vitro. These findings support the potential use of biliverdin, a natural product, in transplantation and other T cell mediated immune disorders.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Heme oxygenase-1-derived carbon monoxide protects hearts from transplant associated ischemia reperfusion injury.

Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) degrades heme into iron, biliverdin, and carbon monoxide (CO). HO-1 expression can be used therapeutically to ameliorate undesirable consequences of ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI), but the mechanism by which this occurs, remains to be established. Rat hearts, exposed to a prolonged period (24 h) of cold (4 degrees C) ischemia, failed to function upon transplantation into syngeneic recipients. Induction of HO-1 expression by administration of cobalt protoporphyrin IX (CoPPIX) to the graft donor restored graft function. Inhibition of HO-1 enzymatic activity, by administration of zinc protoporphyrin (ZnPPIX) at the time of transplantation, reversed the protective effect of HO-1. Exposure of the graft donor as well as the graft (during ischemia) to exogenous CO mimicked the protective effect of HO-1. This was associated with a significant reduction in the number of cells undergoing apoptosis in the graft with no apparent decrease of intravascular fibrin polymerization, platelet aggregation, or P-selectin expression. In conclusion, HO-1-derived CO prevents IRI associated with cardiac transplantation based on its antiapoptotic action. The observation that exposure of the donor and the graft to CO is sufficient to afford this protective effect should have important clinical implications in terms of preventing IRI associated with heart transplantation in humans.

Animals↗