Abstract

AimsThe use of methotrexate (MTX), a classical immunosuppressant and anti-cancer agent, is associated with multiple organ toxicities, including the intestinal injury. Components of the renin-angiotensin system are expressed in the intestinal epithelium and mucosal immune cells where they provoke pro-inflammatory and pro-oxidant action. The present study was conducted to investigate the potential ability of perindopril (PER), an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI), to attenuate MTX-induced intestinal injury with emphasis on the role of the pro-inflammatory TLR4/NF-κB and c-Fos/c-Jun pathways alongside PPAR-γ and SIRT1 cytoprotective signals. Materials and methodsThe intestinal injury was induced by a single-dose injection of 20 mg/kg of MTX i.p at the end of the 5th day. PER was administrated once daily in a dose of 1 mg/kg, i.p, for five days before MTX and five days later. ResultsHerein, perindopril attenuated the intestinal injury as seen by lowering the histopathological aberrations and preserving the goblet cells in villi/crypts. These beneficial actions were associated with downregulating the expression of the pro-inflammatory angiotensin II, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 cytokines, alongside upregulating the anti-inflammatory angiotensin (1–7) and IL-10. At the molecular level, perindopril downregulated the TLR4/NF-κB and c-Fos/c-Jun pathways in inflamed intestine of rats. Moreover, it attenuated the pro-oxidant events by lowering intestinal MDA and boosting GSH, SOD, and GST antioxidants together with PPAR-γ and SIRT1 cytoprotective signals. The aforementioned findings were also highlighted using molecular docking and network pharmacology analysis. ConclusionsPerindopril demonstrated notable mitigation of MTX-induced intestinal injury through suppression of TLR4/NF-κB and c-Fos/c-Jun pathways alongside the augmentation of PPAR-γ/SIRT1 cytoprotective signals.

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