Publications by authors named "Heliang Liu"

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is implicated in the pathogenesis of silicosis. High mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) has been found to induce EMT in fibrotic diseases. Previous studies have revealed a critical role of HMGB1 in silicosis, whereas the detail mechanisms still obscure.

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Article Synopsis
  • Rosacea is a chronic skin condition that can lead to fibrosis, but the detailed mechanisms of this fibrosis, especially in later stages, are not well understood.
  • The study investigated the role of IL-17A-neutralizing antibodies in treating rosacea-like lesions in mice, finding they helped reduce skin damage and inflammation.
  • Results showed that these antibodies decreased several inflammatory and fibrosis-related factors, indicating they may effectively inhibit processes that contribute to rosacea-related skin issues.
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Silicosis is a disease characterized by lung inflammation and fibrosis caused by long-term inhalation of free silicon dioxide (SiO). Recent studies have found that a large number of lymphatic hyperplasia occurs during the occurrence and development of silicosis. miRNAs play an important role in lymphangiogenesis.

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Background: Silicosis presents a significant clinical challenges and economic burdens, with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) emerging as a potential therapeutic avenue. However, the precise effects and mechanisms of TCM in treating silicosis remain uncertain and subject to debate.

Objective: The study aims to elucidate the therapeutic role and mechanisms of the Yang-Yin-Qing-Fei Decoction (YYQFD) and its key component, paeoniflorin, in silicosis using a murine model.

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Silicosis is a common occupational disease caused by the long-term inhalation of large amounts of silica dust. Lipid metabolism plays an important role in the progression of silicosis, but its contributing mechanism remains unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the differential lipid metabolites and active metabolic pathways in silicosis rat lung tissue.

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Exposure to crystalline silica leads to health effects beyond occupational silicosis. Exercise training's potential benefits on pulmonary diseases yield inconsistent outcomes. In this study, we utilized experimental silicotic mice subjected to exercise training and pharmacological interventions, including interleukin-17A (IL-17A) neutralizing antibody or clodronate liposome for macrophage depletion.

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Silicosis is a refractory pneumoconiosis of unknown etiology that is characterized by diffuse lung fibrosis, and microRNA (miRNA) dysregulation is connected to silicosis. Emerging evidence suggests that miRNAs modulate pulmonary fibrosis through autophagy; however, its underlying molecular mechanism remains unclear. In agreement with miRNA microarray analysis, the qRT-PCR results showed that miR-29a-3p was significantly decreased in the pulmonary fibrosis model both in vitro and in vivo.

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Article Synopsis
  • Silicosis is an incurable occupational disease caused by inhaling silica dust over a long period, and existing treatment methods are ineffective.
  • Researchers analyzed transcriptomic data from silica-exposed rats to identify 426 differential genes related to silicosis and found significant involvement of lipid metabolism and atherosclerosis in its progression.
  • The study suggests that specific genes and pathways linked to lipid metabolism might offer new insights into the mechanisms behind silicosis and potential avenues for further research.
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Rosacea is a chronic inflammatory skin disease whose late manifestations have not yet been clearly reported in animal models. The objective of this study is to describe the skin lesions and major histopathological changes in a rosacea-like phenotype in mice induced by prolonged LL-37 administration and furthermore, to assess the potential of long-term LL-37 administration in inducing irreversible rosacea-like skin lesion models. Balb/c mice were continuously injected intradermally with LL-37 every 12 h to induce a rosacea-like phenotype.

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Silicosis is a refractory disease. Previous studies indicate that damaged alveolar epithelial cells act as a driver in pulmonary fibrosis. Our results show that epithelial cells that acquire the mesenchymal phenotype are associated with the pathogenesis of silicosis.

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Inorganic arsenic is a well-known environmental toxicant and carcinogen, and there is overwhelming evidence for an association between this metalloid poisoning and hepatic diseases. However, the biological mechanism involved is not well characterized. In the present study, we probed how inorganic arsenic modulates the hepatic polarization of macrophages, as well as roles of PTEN-induced kinase 1 (PINK1)/Parkin-mediated mitophagy participates in regulating the metalloid-mediated macrophage polarization.

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Silicosis is a common occupational disease characterized by lung inflammation, fibrosis and pulmonary dysfunction caused by long-term inhalation of free SiO. Cell foaming and the change of CyPA have been observed in SiO-induced macrophages, but the specific mechanism of CyPA in SiO-induced foam cells remains poorly understood. The purpose of this study is to explore the mechanism of CyPA in SiO-induced macrophage foaming and its effect on silicosis.

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Purpose: Most of the existing studies focus on the early inflammation of rosacea, with few interventions on the later development of fibrosis and the relationship between thalidomide and rosacea. The purpose of this study was to construct a long-term induction model and explore the effects of thalidomide on the later stage of inflammation and early stage of fibrosis in rosacea.

Patients And Methods: BALB/c male mice were randomly divided into four groups: control group, control plus thalidomide group, LL-37 group and LL-37 plus thalidomide group, Intradermal and intraperitoneal injections were given.

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Mechanisms of silicosis, caused by the inhalation of silica are still unclear, and the effect of sex on silicosis has rarely been reported. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether sex affects the silicotic lesions and the progressive fibrotic responses in silicosis. Our study showed that sex had no significant effect on the area of silicon nodules and the collagen deposition after a one-time bronchial perfusion of silica.

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The major cause of silicosis is the inhalation of silica in the occupational environment. Despite some anatomical and physiological differences, rodent models continue to be an essential tool for studying human silicosis. For silicosis, the classic pathological process needs to be inducible via the inhalation of freshly generated quartz particles, which means specifically inducing human occupational disease.

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From the two perspectives of intestinal flora and plasma metabolomics, the mechanism of occurrence and development of pneumoconiosis was explored to provide a new target for the prevention and treatment of pneumoconiosis. In this study, 16S ribosome DNA (16SrDNA) gene sequencing technology was used to analyze the differences in intestinal flora of each research group through operational taxonomic units (OUT) analysis, cluster analysis, principal component analysis (PCA), partial least square discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), and other analytical methods were used to analyze the differences in plasma metabolites between the study groups. Metabonomics analysis showed that the plasma metabolites of pneumoconiosis patients were significantly different from those of normal people.

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Quercetin exerts anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and other protective effects. Previous studies have shown that senescent cells, such as fibroblasts and type II airway epithelial cells, are strongly implicated in the development of pulmonary fibrosis pathology. However, the role of senescent macrophages during silicosis remains unclear.

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Mechanisms of silicosis have yet to be clarified, and pathological conditions are inaccurately described in some experimental studies on silicosis. This study was aimed at describing initial lesions in silicosis, as observed in rats with silica exposure via inhalation, and major histopathologic alterations. Male Wistar rats were exposed to silica for 24 weeks.

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Silicosis is a fibrotic disease caused by long-term inhalation of SiO particles that currently has no effective treatment. Earlier studies have suggested that pulmonary lymphatic vessels play a key role in the transport of silica but have not address the long-term effects of altered pulmonary lymphatic drainage on silicosis. Here, we investigated the impact of impaired pulmonary lymphatic drainage on silicosis.

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Silicosis is the most prevalent occupational disease in China. It is a form of pulmonary fibrosis caused by the inhalation of silicon particles. As there is no cure for the potentially lethal and progressive condition, the treatment of silicotic fibrosis is an important and difficult problem to address.

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Silicosis is a global problem, and it has brought about great burdens to society and patients' families. The etiology of silicosis is clear, preventable, and controllable, but the onset is hidden and the duration is long. Thus, it is difficult to diagnose it early and treat it effectively, leaving workers unaware of the consequences of dust exposure.

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Background: Silicosis is a chronic occupational pulmonary disease characterized by persistent inflammation and irreversible fibrosis. Considerable evidences now indicate that S100 calcium-binding protein A4 (S100A4) has been associated with fibrotic diseases. However, the role of S100A4 in silicosis is still unclear.

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Glycolysis and ER stress have been considered important drivers of pulmonary fibrosis. However, it is not clear whether glycolysis and ER stress are interconnected and if those interconnections regulate the development of pulmonary fibrosis. Our previous studies found that the expression of LDHA, a key enzyme involved in glycolysis, was increased in silica-induced macrophages and silicotic models, and it was closely related to silicosis fibrosis by participating in inflammatory response.

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Skin fibrosis, which is characterized by fibroblast proliferation and increased extracellular matrix, has no effective treatment. An increasing number of studies have shown that microRNAs (miRNAs/miRs) participate in the mechanism of skin fibrosis, such as in limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis and pathological scarring. The objective of the present study was to determine the role of miR-411-3p in bleomycin (BLM)-induced skin fibrosis and skin fibroblast transformation.

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Glycolytic reprogramming is an important metabolic feature in the development of pulmonary fibrosis. However, the specific mechanism of glycolysis in silicosis is still not clear. In this study, silicotic models and silica-induced macrophage were used to elucidate the mechanism of glycolysis induced by silica.

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