Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of long-term disability in the United States. Even in comparatively mild injuries, cognitive and behavioral symptoms can persist for years, and there are currently no established strategies for mitigating symptoms in chronic injury. A key feature of TBI-induced damage in acute and chronic injury is disruption of metabolic pathways. As neurotransmission, and therefore cognition, are highly dependent on the supply of energy, we hypothesized that modulating metabolic activity could help restore behavioral performance even when treatment was initiated weeks after TBI. We treated rats with pioglitazone, a FDA-approved drug for diabetes, beginning 46 days after lateral fluid percussion injury and tested working memory performance in the radial arm maze (RAM) after 14 days of treatment. Pioglitazone treated TBI rats performed significantly better in the RAM test than untreated TBI rats, and similarly to control animals. While hexokinase activity in hippocampus was increased by pioglitazone treatment, there was no upregulation of either the neuronal glucose transporter or hexokinase enzyme expression. Expression of glial markers GFAP and Iba-1 were also not influenced by pioglitazone treatment. These studies suggest that targeting brain metabolism, in particular hippocampal metabolism, may be effective in alleviating cognitive symptoms in chronic TBI.

Interruption of bile acid (BA) homeostasis has been hypothesized for a variety of liver diseases and for drug-induced liver injury (DILI). Consequently, BA is gaining increasing prominence as a potential biomarker. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of troglitazone (TZN, associated with severe DILI), pioglitazone (PZN, rarely associated with DILI), and acetylsalicylic acid (ASA, or aspirin, not associated with DILI), on the in-vitro BA homeostasis in hepatocytes co-cultured with non-parenchymal cells by monitoring the disposition of 36 BAs. Cells were supplemented with 2.5 µM D4-cholic acid (D4-CA), D4-chenodeoxycholic acid (D4-CDCA), D4-lithocholic acid (D4-LCA), D4-deoxycholic acid (D4-DCA), D4-ursodeoxycholic acid (D4-UDCA) and hyodeoxycholic acid (HDCA). Concentration-time profiles of BAs were used to determine AUC from supernatant, lysate or bile compartments, in the presence or absence of TZN, PZN or ASA. When applicable, IC50 describing depletion of individual BAs was calculated, or accumulation greater than 200% of DMSO control was noted. Thiazolidinediones significantly altered the concentration of glycine and sulfate conjugates; however, more BAs were impacted by TZN than with PZN. For commonly shared BAs, TZN exhibited 3- to 13-fold stronger inhibition than PZN. In contrast, no changes were observed with ASA. Modulation of BA disposition by thiazolidinediones and ASA was appropriately differentiated. Particularly for thiazolidinediones, TZN was more potent in interrupting BA homeostasis, and when also considering its higher dose, may explain differences in their clinical instances of DILI. This is one of the first work which comprehensively evaluated the disposition of primary and secondary BAs along with their metabolites in an in vitro system. Differing degree of BA homeostasis modulation was observed with various perpetrators associated with varying clinical instances of DILI. These data indicate that in vitro systems such as hepatocyte co-cultures may be a promising tool to gain detailed insight into how drugs effect BA handling to further probe into the mechanism of DILI related to BA homeostasis.

Diabetic patients suffer from impaired wound healing. In this study, the anti-diabetic drug, Pioglitazone hydrochloride (PG), was loaded in three-dimensional (3D) composite scaffolds (SC) designed to be applied topically for the management of diabetic wounds. Hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) of different molecular weight (E5, K4M or K15M) were used, in different ratios, with chitosan (CS) for the preparation of the 3D-SC. Investigations to examine the prepared SCs revealed that SC-F3 composed of CS /HPMC E5 (2:1) attained the highest porosity (99.12±5.01), highest water absorption capacity % (300.09± 20.20), and attained the fastest drug release profile (p <0.05), with release kinetics following the diffusion model. SEM microphotographs showed the highly porous structure of SC-F3. According to the modified Draize test, the selected 3D-SC (the medicated as well as the unmedicated) showed to be safe for skin application (PII =0). During the in-vivo studies, both the selected PG-loaded SC and the unmedicated SC showed a significant improvement in the healing process compared to the untreated group, this was evidenced by the measurement of wound contraction % [627 % and 467 %, respectively, p <0.05], as well as the level of some biomarkers (TNF-α, VEGF and MMP-9). PG-loaded SC had a significantly better effect than the unmedicated SC (p <0.05). Histopathological studies confirmed the complete tissue regeneration and healing process after the use of the selected PG-loaded scaffolds. The current study presents a feasible approach to support diabetic wound healing using a simple and safe formulation.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is an endocrine disease that is common in women in their reproductive period. Patients with this disease suffer from anovulation and hyperandrogenism. Ovulation induction with exogenous gonadotropin often causes ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome because many small antral follicles pause in their growth. Treatment with insulin sensitizers is reportedly effective for both anovulation associated with PCOS, and suppression of excessive follicular growth; however, the underlying mechanism of action remains unknown. Although pioglitazone is known as an insulin sensitizer, it also has a potent modulator of cell growth and apoptosis irrespective of insulin resistance. To clarify the effect of pioglitazone on follicular growth, we performed in vitro culture of murine preantral follicles. Secondary follicles (100-160 μm in diameter) isolated from 6-week-old ICR mice were individually cultured for 13 days. Culture conditions were as follows: 1) follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH; 33 mIU/mL; control), 2) FSH plus dihydrotestosterone (DHT; 500 ng/mL), 3) FSH plus pioglitazone (5 ng/mL), and 4) FSH plus DHT/pioglitazone. Survival rate and follicle diameter were evaluated, and concentrations of estradiol (E2) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in culture media were measured. mRNA expression of various growth-promoting factors and Vegf within follicles were also assessed. Although no significant differences were observed with regard to survival rate, follicle diameters on day 13 were significantly different.Compared with the control group, the DHT group showed enhanced growth, while groups administered pioglitazone showed stagnation of the accelerated growth induced by DHT. Although DHT treatment enhanced the expression of bone morphogenetic protein 2 (Bmp2) mRNA, pioglitazone exposure suppressed induction of Bmp2 mRNA by DHT. Vegf mRNA and protein expression were also significantly reduced when pioglitazone was added to culture media containing DHT.Administration of pioglitazone negatively affected follicular growth and VEGF levels, which may suppress excessive follicular growth and prevent ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome.

The aim of this study was to examine whether a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-γ agonist could affect cadmium (Cd)-induced cytotoxicity via the increased expression of megalin, one of the uptake pathways, using renal epithelial LLC-PK1 cells. The treatment with 1 µM Cd for 24 h was not cytotoxic; however, when the cells were pretreated with 0.1 µM pioglitazone for 12 h and then exposed to 1 µM Cd for 24 h, significant accumulation of Cd and cytotoxicity were detected, with an increase in megalin mRNA expression. In addition, pretreatment with pioglitazone significantly increased the Cd-induced generation of hydrogen peroxide and cell apoptosis. The augmented Cd-induced cytotoxicity and apoptosis on preincubation with pioglitazone were inhibited by prior treatment with GW 9662 (PPAR-γ antagonist). These findings suggest that a PPAR-γ agonist could augment Cd-induced oxidative injury and cell apoptosis, possibly dependent on the expression level of the uptake pathway.