Cooperative modulation of gastrointestinal mucosal defence by prostaglandins and nitric oxide

John L. Wallace, PhD

Clin Invest Med 1996; 19 (5): 346-51.

[résumé]


Dr. Wallace is director of the Intestinal Disease Research Unit, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alta.

Reprint requests to: Dr. John L. Wallace, Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Dr. NW, Calgary AB T2N 4N1; fax 403 270-3353; wallacej@acs.ucalgary.ca


Contents


Abstract

The role of prostaglandins as mediators of gastrointestinal mucosal defence has been recognized for more than two decades. However, there is renewed interest in the potent actions of this group of fatty acids in modulating the mucosal immune system and inflammatory responses. Moreover, there is a rapidly growing body of evidence that nitric oxide is another important mediator of mucosal defence and the mucosal immune system. In this review, the effects of prostaglandins and nitric oxide on specific aspects of mucosal immunocyte function (e.g., mast cell reactivity) are reviewed, as is the evidence that these two groups of endogenous mediators cooperate in the modulation of mucosal defence.


Résumé

Depuis plus de deux décennies, le rôle des prostaglandines en tant que médiatrices de la protection muqueuse gastro-intestinale a été reconnu. Par contre, on note un intérêt accru au sujet des actions puissantes de ce groupe d'acides gras dans la modulation du système immunitaire muqueux et des réponses inflammatoires. De plus, il apparaît de plus en plus clairement que l'oxide nitreux est un autre médiateur important du système immunitaire muqueux et de la protection muqueuse gastro-intestinale. Dans cet article, nous revisons les effets des prostaglandines et de l'oxide nitreux sur certains aspects fonctionnels des immunocytes muqueux (par exemple, la réactivité des mastocytes) de même que les données suggérant que ces deux groupes de médiateurs endogènes collaborent à la modulation de la défense muqueuse.

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Introduction

The gastrointestinal tract is exposed daily to a variety of noxious substances, ranging from digestive juices (acid, enzymes and bile) to bacterial toxins. The ability of the mucosa to withstand damage is attributable to a complex mucosal defence system, which includes epithelial secretions (mucus and bicarbonate), rapid epithelial turnover, mucosal microcirculation and the mucosal immune system. It has been suggested that the mucosa of the intestine is in a state of "controlled inflammation," continuously defending against breaches of the epithelium by microbes or microbial products. Loss of control of the inflammatory response can lead to an inappropriate recruitment of phagocytes into the mucosa and, in turn, to mucosal injury. Prostaglandins and nitric oxide, along with several cytokines (e.g., interleukin-10), appear to play crucial roles in regulating the immune response to injury in the gastrointestinal tract as well as in modulating several of the other components of mucosal defence.

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Mucosal "alarm cells"

Even in the absence of overt inflammation, the mucosa of the gastrointestinal tract contains a substantial number of immunocytes, including neutrophils, eosinophils, mast cells and macrophages. The number of these cells varies considerably along the length of the digestive tract. To some extent, this variation reflects the number of luminal microbes in each region. As they do on other external surfaces (e.g., skin, lungs and the urogenital tract), some of these immunocytes, particularly mast cells and macrophages, play an important role as "alarm cells." These cells sense the entry of foreign matter or antigen into the lamina propria and respond by releasing soluble mediators and cytokines that initiate a defensive inflammatory response to prevent the foreign matter from gaining access to the systemic circulation. Many of the inflammatory mediators and cytokines that are released exert chemotactic effects on leukocytes, resulting in their recruitment into the region where the immunocytes have been activated. For example, mast cell activation, which occurs when the cells are exposed to antigen to which the organism has previously been sensitized, leads to the release of mediators such as platelet-activating factor, histamine and leukotrienes. These mediators alter mucosal blood flow and vascular permeability. In the cases of platelet-activating factor and leukotriene B4, eosinophils and neutrophils respectively are recruited from the vasculature into the tissue. Although migration of leukocytes into the tissue is primarily a defensive response, it can result in substantial injury. The alterations in mucosal blood flow stimulated by these mediators may also adversely affect the resistance of the mucosa to injury induced by luminal irritants. This has been demonstrated in experimental models of the following mast cell-derived mediators: histamine, platelet-activating factor, peptido-leukotrienes, tumour necrosis factor (TNF) and endothelin.[1-6] Macrophages can also produce many of these inflammatory mediators and, therefore, can influence mucosal integrity. Moreover, both mast cells and macrophages can act as cytotoxic cells, using nitric oxide or TNF to kill other cells. Although the primary targets of these cytotoxic cells would ordinarily be microbes, these cells can also damage the tissue of the host in some circumstances.

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Modulation of mucosal immunocytes by prostaglandins

Prostaglandins can modulate the activity of many immunocytes, including macrophages and mast cells. The effects of prostaglandins or prostaglandin synthesis inhibitors on TNF release from macrophages have been extensively studied, primarily by Kunkel and colleagues.[7,8] Prostaglandin E2 is a potent inhibitor of TNF release and gene expression in macrophages. On the other hand, inhibitors of endogenous prostaglandin synthesis can increase the release of TNF.[5,9,10] For example, administration of ulcerogenic doses of indomethacin results in a significant increase in serum TNF levels in rats.[5,11] It has been suggested that TNF is responsible for producing at least a portion of the tissue injury observed after administration of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).[5,11] Prostaglandins can also regulate the release of other cytokines, including interleukin-1 and interleukin-8, from macrophages.[12,13]

The inhibitory effects of prostaglandins on cytokine and mediator release are also evident when mast cells are considered. For example, Raud[14] demonstrated that prostaglandins could partially suppress acute mast cell-dependent inflammation. With the use of isolated mast cells from the peritoneum and the intestinal mucosa, Hogaboam and associates[15] demonstrated that several prostaglandins dose-dependently inhibited the release of mediators such as histamine, platelet-activating factor and TNF. The prostaglandins were found to be extremely potent modulators of mast cell reactivity. Inhibitory effects were observed at concentrations as low as 10-11 mol/L. The suppression of mast cell reactivity by prostaglandins may contribute to the well-documented cytoprotective effects of these agents.[16]

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Neutrophils as effectors of mucosal injury

Neutrophil infiltration into a tissue is a hallmark of inflammation. Although migration of neutrophils from the vasculature into the mucosa is primarily aimed at preventing entry of foreign material into the systemic circulation, neutrophils can also produce considerable injury to the host tissue. Indeed, neutrophils have been implicated in the damage associated with various disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, including gastropathy due to NSAIDs,[17] ischemia-reperfusion injury[18] and colitis.[19,20] These cells can further cause mucosal injury by amplifying the inflammatory response through the release of several chemotaxins (e.g., leukotriene B4) and reactive oxygen metabolites. Once again, prostaglandins serve an important modulatory role by down-regulating several neutrophil functions that contribute to inflammation and injury. For example, prostaglandins can inhibit neutrophil adherence to the vascular endothelium, thereby preventing the emigration of neutrophils from the vascular space.[21­23] Prostaglandins also suppress the generation of superoxide anion and the release of proinflammatory mediators (e.g., leukotriene B4 and interleukin-8).[24­29] The hypothesis that prostaglandins are important physiological regulators of neutrophil adherence is supported by the observation that NSAIDs caused an increase in the number of neutrophils adhering to the vascular endothelium and that this increase could be prevented by administering exogenous prostaglandins.[22,23,30]

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Nitric oxide as a modulator of mast cell reactivity

Studies conducted during the past few years have pointed to a very important role played by nitric oxide as a modulator of mast cell reactivity, yet another function in which there is an overlap with the prostaglandins. By modulating mast cell reactivity, nitric oxide may influence several other gastrointestinal functions, including acid secretion and the barrier properties of the epithelium.

Kubes, Suzuki and Granger[31] first described neutrophil adherence to the vascular endothelium after blockade of nitric oxide synthesis. Initially, the interpretation of this observation was that removal of a tonically produced mediator (nitric oxide) that can inhibit neutrophil function leads to neutrophil adherence. However, careful examination of their mesenteric venule preparations in rats led Kubes and colleagues to another conclusion. They noted the presence of mast cells in close apposition to the mesenteric venules. When inhibitors of nitric oxide synthase were administered, the mast cells appeared to degranulate.[32] This process was then proven through measurement of serum levels of a protease specific to mucosal mast cells in rats.[33] Inhibition of nitric oxide synthase resulted in more than a doubling of the serum levels of this protease, and the release could be prevented by pretreating the rats with mast cell stabilizers.[33] The effect of blockade of nitric oxide synthase on leukocyte adherence could be mimicked by inducing mast cell degranulation with compound 48/80.[34] Interestingly, blockade of nitric oxide synthesis resulted in significant changes in intestinal epithelial barrier function.[33,35] Kanwar and associates[33] demonstrated that permeability of the intestinal epithelium increased markedly after blockade of nitric oxide synthase, and that this could be reversed by pretreating the rats with mast cell stabilizers or receptor antagonists for histamine (H1) and platelet-activating factor, both of which could be released by mast cells. Kubes[35] also demonstrated that exogenous nitric oxide administration (i.e., provision of a nitric oxide donor) prevented the epithelial barrier dysfunction induced by blockade of endogenous nitric oxide synthesis.

Taken together, these studies suggest a role for nitric oxide as a modulator of mast cell reactivity, which in turn can influence both the vascular endothelium and the intestinal epithelium. The role of nitric oxide as a modulator of mast cell reactivity was further examined by Hogaboam and associates.[15] The release of platelet-activating factor and nitric oxide from peritoneal mast cells was examined with the use of an in vitro system in which aggregation of rabbit platelets was used as a bioassay for both mediators. The investigators found that mast cells spontaneously released nitric oxide under these conditions. Moreover, exposure of the mast cells to the cytokine interleukin-1 led to a rapid and profound increase in nitric oxide release. This release appeared to exert feedback inhibition of the release of platelet-activating factor from the mast cell, which is consistent with the findings of Kanwar and associates[33] that blockade of nitric oxide synthesis led to release of platelet-activating factor. Others have demonstrated that exposure of mast cells to exogenous nitric oxide diminishes histamine release.[36] It has also been suggested that nitric oxide plays a role in the regulation of gastric acid secretion.[37] This raises the possibility that nitric oxide-induced modulation of histamine release from mast cells has physiological relevance to the regulation of acid secretion. It is noteworthy in this regard that interleukin-1, which Hogaboam and associates[15] demonstrated to be a potent stimulus of nitric oxide release from mast cells, has been shown to inhibit gastric-acid secretion through a nitric oxide-dependent pathway.[37]

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Nitric oxide and mucosal defence

During the past few years, researchers have generated a considerable body of evidence that nitric oxide is an important mediator of mucosal defence, performing many of the same functions as the prostaglandins but also acting in a cooperative manner with prostaglandins to increase the resistance of the mucosa to injury. Indeed, recent evidence suggests that in circumstances in which the production of one of these mediators is suppressed there are compensatory increases in the production of the other. Furthermore, there is evidence that nitric oxide and prostaglandins can modulate the expression of enzymes responsible for the synthesis of one another.[38,39]

Both nitric oxide and prostaglandins exert cytoprotective effects in experimental models of ulcer.[16,40,41] Nitric oxide may exert these effects through mechanisms similar to those of the prostaglandins (i.e., stimulation of mucus and bicarbonate secretion, maintenance of mucosal blood flow, etc.). Suppression of nitric oxide synthesis greatly increases the susceptibility of the gastrointestinal mucosa to injury.[41] On the other hand, administration of nitric oxide or nitric oxide donors reduces the severity of experimental gastric damage[40­44] and the severity of intestinal damage associated with endotoxic shock.[45] Elevation of mucosal nitric oxide synthesis through administration of low doses of endotoxin has recently been shown to increase the resistance of the mucosa to injury induced by an irritant.[46]

As mentioned earlier, there appears to be cooperation between the nitric oxide and prostaglandin arms of mucosal defence. For example, in impaired nitric oxide-mediated vasodilation in the gastric mucosa, there is a compensatory increase in the reactivity of the gastric microcirculation to prostaglandins. When the gastric epithelium is exposed to an irritant, one of the most rapid and important responses is an increase in mucosal blood flow. The aim of this hyperemic response is to remove, dilute and buffer any back-diffusing toxins or acid. This response is mediated by sensory afferent neurons just beneath the epithelium, which are activated by the back-diffusing acid. These neurons release the vasodilator, calcitonin gene-related peptide, which then dilates submucosal arterioles through a nitric oxide-dependent pathway. In experimental portal hypertension, the hyperemic response of the gastric microcirculation to topical application of an irritant is impaired,[47] and as a result the stomach is much more susceptible to injury induced by irritants.[48] However, this impairment of the nitric oxide-dependent vasodilation pathway is to some extent compensated for by a hyper-responsiveness to prostaglandins.[47,49]

The major clinical problem with the use of NSAIDs to treat inflammatory conditions is that suppression of mucosal prostaglandin synthesis leads to significant tissue damage and bleeding. Since nitric oxide exerts many of the same actions as prostaglandins to maintain mucosal integrity, NSAID derivatives that include a nitric oxide-releasing moiety have been developed. These drugs have the anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antithrombotic and antipyretic properties of native NSAIDs but spare the gastrointestinal tract.[50­52] The nitric oxide released maintains gastric blood flow and inhibits the leukocyte adherence that is stimulated by the NSAID portion of the molecule.[50,51] Nitric oxide is a potent vasodilator. The amount released from these new nitric oxide-NSAIDs is enough to protect the mucosa but not enough to affect systemic arterial blood pressure.[50]

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Conclusions

Although there is some redundancy in the roles of prostaglandins and nitric oxide in mediating the various components of mucosal defence, such as bicarbonate secretion and mucosal blood flow, there is also some cooperation between these two groups of mediators. For example, prolonged suppression of the synthesis of one class of mediator appears to lead to either greater production of or reactivity to the other class. Both prostaglandins and nitric oxide exert important immunomodulatory activities, which may be extremely important when the mucosa is inflamed. In the case of the novel nitric oxide-releasing NSAID derivatives, the similarity in the actions of prostaglandins and nitric oxide in modulating mucosal defence may be exploited in the design of drugs with reduced gastrointestinal toxicity.

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Acknowledgements

Dr. Wallace is a Medical Research Council of Canada (MRC) Senior Scientist, an Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Scientist and holder of the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of Canada Chair in Intestinal Disease Research. The author is supported by grants from the MRC and from the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of Canada. The publication of this article was supported in part by a grant from the Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec. The author would like to thank the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of Canada for its sponsorship of the invited speakers' program.

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