Title:Cocaine Administration Protects Gut Mucosa Barrier and Reduces Plasma Level of TNF-α
Volume: 11
Author(s): Xiaoyu Fu, Chuanxiu Bian, Anna Kruyer, Zejun Zhou, Zhenwu Luo, Azizul Haque, Amanda Wagner, Sylvia Fitting, Catrina Robinson, Aimee McRae-Clark, Davide Amato*, Wei Jiang*Ren Lang
Affiliation:
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, 29425 USA
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston 29425, USA
- Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
- Divison of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston 29425, USA
Keywords:
Cocaine, gut, permeability, systemic, inflammation, tight junction.
Abstract:
Background: Cocaine affects not only the central nervous system but also systemic immunity.
The role of cocaine in gut mucosal integrity is not fully understood.
Methods: Here we evaluated the effect of cocaine use on gut endothelial permeability and system inflammation
in rats that self-administered cocaine or saline and humans using immunohistochemistry,
qPCR, ELISA, and Transepithelial/transendothelial electrical resistance (TEER).
Results: Cocaine administration maintained intact and undisturbed intestinal mucosal structures, increased
tight junction claudin 1 and 2 mRNA expression, and decreased plasma TNF-α levels, compared
to the control group, at the end of the study in rats. Further, cocaine treatment decreased gut endothelial
permeability in a dose-dependent manner in human epithelial Caco-2 cells in vitro. Consistently,
chronic cocaine users exhibited decreased plasma levels of TNF-α compared with non-drug users
in vivo. However, plasma IL-6 levels were similar between cocaine use and control groups both in
humans and rats in vivo.
Conclusion: Our results from both human and rat studies in vivo and in vitro suggest that cocaine use
may exert a protective effect on the integrity of gut mucosa and suppresses plasma TNF-α levels. This
study may provide information on some beneficial effects of cocaine use on gut endothelial cells integrity
and systemic inflammation.