Garlic-derived exosome-like nanovesicles as a hepatoprotective agent alleviating acute liver failure by inhibiting CCR2/CCR5 signaling and inflammation

Abstract

Acute liver failure (ALF) is a life-threatening clinical syndrome mostly induced by viral infections or drug abuse. As a novel therapeutic adjuvant or delivery vehicle, plant-derived exosome-like nanovesicles (PELNVs) have been extensively studied in recent years. This study aimed to develop garlic-derived exosome-like nanovesicles (GaELNVs) in order to ameliorate liver injury induced by LPS/D-GalN in mice, inhibit inflammatory eruption and reduce inflammatory cells infiltration. The results showed that treatment with GaELNVs improved liver pathology and reduced the levels of soluble inflammatory mediators IL-6, IL-1β and TNF-α in the serum of ALF mice. GaELNVs reversed the upregulation of Cleaved Caspase-9, Cleaved Caspase-3, p53 and Bax expression and decreased Bcl2 activation caused by D-GalN/LPS, and inhibited NF-κB p65 expression and translocation to the nucleus. Meanwhile, treatment with GaELNVs resulted significant reduction in NLRP3 activation and Caspase-1 maturation, as well as decrease in the release of the inflammatory mediator IL-18. Additionally, an upregulation of the expression of proteins related to energy metabolism and autophagy occurrence including Foxo3a, Sirt1, and LC3-II was detected in the liver. Oral administration of GaELNVs also led to significant alteration in the expression of F4/80 and CD11b in the liver. Furthermore, the detection of chemokines in mouse liver tissue revealed that GaELNVs exhibited minimal reduction in the expression of CCL2, CCL3, CCL5 and CCL8. The decreased expression of CCR2 and CCR5 in the liver suggests that GaELNVs have the ability to decrease the recruitment of monocytes from the circulation to the liver. A reduction in the infiltration of F4/80^loCD11b^hi monocyte-derived macrophages into the liver was also observed. This study provides novel evidence that GaELNVs can ameliorate inflammatory eruptions and hinder the migration of circulating monocytes to the liver, as well as decrease macrophage infiltration by inhibiting CCR2/CCR5 signaling. Consequently, GaELNVs hold promise as a novel therapeutic agent for clinical management of liver disease.

Keywords: Acute liver failure; CC2/CCR5 signaling; Chemokine; Garlic-derived exosome-like nanovesicles; Macrophage infiltration.