Publications by authors named "Nicolette Farman"

Background And Purpose: Delayed wound healing is among the deleterious consequences of over-activation of the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) induced by topical dermocorticoids. The role of dermal inflammation and angiogenesis in the benefits of MR blockade is unknown.

Experimental Approach: Skin wounds were made on C57Bl6 mice after topical pretreatment with the dermocorticoid clobetasol.

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Associating collagen with biodegradable hydrophobic polyesters constitutes a promising method for the design of medicated biomaterials. Current collagen-polyester composite hydrogels consisting of pre-formed polymeric particles encapsulated within a low concentrated collagen hydrogel suffer from poor physical properties and low drug loading. Herein, an amphiphilic composite platform associating dense collagen hydrogels and up to 50 wt% polyesters with different hydrophobicity and chain length is developed.

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Whilst topical steroids represent one of the most frequently administered treatments for skin and hair diseases, predominantly based on their glucocorticoid receptor-mediated anti-inflammatory effects, the mineralocorticoid effects of topical steroids have received surprisingly little attention. However, the role of mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) signaling is now known to extend beyond the kidney, with human skin, including the hair follicle (HF), expressing the MR. Using microdissected female HFs treated ex vivo with MR agonists and antagonists, we sought to determine the effects of MR-mediated signaling in the cutaneous context.

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Skin ulcers resulting from impaired wound healing are a serious complication of diabetes. Unresolved inflammation, associated with the dysregulation of both the phenotype and function of macrophages, is involved in the poor healing of diabetic wounds. Here, we report that topical pharmacological inhibition of the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) by canrenoate or MR small interfering RNA can resolve inflammation to improve delayed skin wound healing in diabetic mouse models; importantly, wounds from normal mice are unaffected.

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Choroidal neovascularization (CNV) is a major cause of visual impairment in patients suffering from wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), particularly when refractory to intraocular anti-VEGF injections. Here we report that treatment with the oral mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) antagonist spironolactone reduces signs of CNV in patients refractory to anti-VEGF treatment. In animal models of wet AMD, pharmacological inhibition of the MR pathway or endothelial-specific deletion of MR inhibits CNV through VEGF-independent mechanisms, in part through upregulation of the extracellular matrix protein decorin.

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We recently demonstrated that blockade of the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) effectively ameliorated GC-induced skin atrophy in healthy human skin explants and epidermal MR knockout mice. However, whether MR blockade improves the therapeutic index of glucocorticoids (GCs) in skin pathology was not investigated. We assessed the effects of GCs, MR antagonists (MRA) or both, in SDS-treated human skin explants.

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The enzyme 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 (11β-HSD2) has an essential role in aldosterone target tissues, conferring aldosterone selectivity for the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) by converting 11β-hydroxyglucocorticoids to inactive 11-ketosteroids. Congenital deficiency of 11β-HSD2 causes a form of salt-sensitive hypertension known as the syndrome of apparent mineralocorticoid excess. The disease phenotype, which ranges from mild to severe, correlates well with reduction in enzyme activity.

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Impaired cutaneous wound healing is a social burden. It occurs as a consequence of glucocorticoid treatment in several pathologies. Glucocorticoids (GC) bind not only to the glucocorticoid receptor but also to the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR), both expressed by keratinocytes.

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The mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) is a member of the nuclear receptor superfamily that transduces the biological effects of corticosteroids. Its best-characterized role is to enhance transepithelial sodium reabsorption in response to increased aldosterone levels. In addition, MR participates in other aldosterone- or glucocorticoid-controlled processes such as cardiovascular homeostasis, adipocyte differentiation or neurogenesis, and regulation of neuronal activity in the hippocampus.

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Central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR) is a major cause of vision threat among middle-aged male individuals. Multimodal imaging led to the description of a wide range of CSCR manifestations, and highlighted the contribution of the choroid and pigment epithelium in CSCR pathogenesis. However, the exact molecular mechanisms of CSCR have remained uncertain.

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Purpose: To evaluate the effect of spironolactone, a mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist, for nonresolving central serous chorioretinopathy.

Methods: This is a prospective, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled crossover study. Sixteen eyes of 16 patients with central serous chorioretinopathy and persistent subretinal fluid (SRF) for at least 3 months were enrolled.

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Activation of the mineralocorticoid receptor has been shown to be deleterious in cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). We have recently shown that lipocalin 2 (Lcn2), or neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), is a primary target of aldosterone/mineralocorticoid receptor in the cardiovascular system. Lcn2 is a circulating protein, which binds matrix metalloproteinase 9 and modulates its stability.

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A major deleterious side effect of glucocorticoids is skin atrophy. Glucocorticoids activate the glucocorticoid and the mineralocorticoid (MR) receptor, both present in the epidermis. We hypothesized that glucocorticoid-induced epidermal atrophy may be related to inappropriate occupancy of MR by glucocorticoids.

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Background: Experimentally, aldosterone in association with NaCl induces cardiac fibrosis, oxidative stress, and inflammation through mineralocorticoid receptor activation; however, the biological processes regulated by aldosterone alone in the heart remain to be identified.

Methods And Results: Mice were treated for 7 days with aldosterone, and then cardiac transcriptome was analyzed. Aldosterone regulated 60 transcripts (51 upregulated and 9 downregulated) in the heart (fold change ≥1.

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Diffuse bronchiectasis is a common problem in respiratory clinics. We hypothesized that mutations in the solute carrier 26A9 (SLC26A9) gene, encoding for a chloride (Cl(-)) transporter mainly expressed in lungs, may lead to defects in mucociliary clearance. We describe two missense variants in the SLC26A9 gene in heterozygote patients presenting with diffuse idiopathic bronchiectasis : p.

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Inappropriate mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) activation is involved in cardiac diseases. Whether and how aldosterone is involved in the deleterious effects of cardiac mineralocorticoid activation is still unclear. Mice overexpressing MR in cardiomyocytes and their controls were treated for 7 days with aldosterone, and cardiac transcriptome was analyzed.

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We have previously shown that the eye is a mineralocorticoid-sensitive organ and we now question the role of mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) in ocular inflammation. The endotoxin-induced uveitis (EIU), a rat model of human intraocular inflammation, was induced by systemic administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Evaluations were made 6 and 24 hours after intraocular injection of aldosterone (simultaneous to LPS injection).

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Central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR) is a vision-threatening eye disease with no validated treatment and unknown pathogeny. In CSCR, dilation and leakage of choroid vessels underneath the retina cause subretinal fluid accumulation and retinal detachment. Because glucocorticoids induce and aggravate CSCR and are known to bind to the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR), CSCR may be related to inappropriate MR activation.

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Mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) activation may be deleterious to the cardiovascular system, and MR antagonists improve morbidity and mortality of patients with heart failure. However, mineralocorticoid signaling in the heart remains largely unknown. Using a pan-genomic transcriptomic analysis, we identified neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL or lipocalin 2) as a strongly induced gene in the heart of mice with conditional and targeted MR overexpression in cardiomyocytes (whereas induction was low in glucocorticoid receptor-overexpressing mice).

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Experimental and clinical studies have shown that aldosterone/mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) activation has deleterious effects in the cardiovascular system; however, the signalling pathways involved in the pathophysiological effects of aldosterone/MR in vivo are not fully understood. Several in vitro studies suggest that Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) plays a role in the cardiovascular effects of aldosterone. This hypothesis remains to be demonstrated in vivo.

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Purpose: Glucocorticoids are used to treat macular edema, although the mechanisms underlying this effect remain largely unknown. The authors have evaluated in the normal and endotoxin-induced uveitis (EIU) rats, the effects of dexamethasone (dex) and triamcinolone acetonide (TA) on potassium channel Kir4.1 and aquaporin-4 (AQP4), the two main retinal Müller glial (RMG) channels controlling retinal fluid movement.

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WNK1 and WNK4 encode two members of the WNK serine-threonine kinase subfamily. Greater WNK1 expression associates with higher BP. A combination of promoters, enhancers, repressors, and insulators regulate WNK1 expression, but whether microRNAs also modulate WNK1 expression is unknown.

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Excess mineralocorticoid signaling is deleterious for cardiovascular functions, as demonstrated by the beneficial effects of mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) antagonism on morbidity and mortality in patients with heart failure. However, the understanding of signaling pathways after MR activation in the heart remains limited. We performed transcriptomic analyses in the heart of double-transgenic mice with conditional, cardiomyocyte-specific, overexpression of the MR (MRcardio mice) or the glucocorticoid receptor (GR; GRcardio mice).

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Background: Glucocorticoids (GC) represent the core treatment modality for many inflammatory diseases. Its mode of action is difficult to grasp, not least because it includes direct modulation of many components of the extracellular matrix as well as complex anti-inflammatory effects. Protein expression profile of skin proteins is being changed with topical application of GC, however, the knowledge about singular markers in this regard is only patchy and collaboration is ill defined.

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