Biological mechanisms for the effects of lipopolisacharide Escherichia coli on the central nervous system cells

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Natural Science Disciplines, Institute of Education and Management, West Kazakhstan Innovative Technological University, Uralsk, Kazakhstan

2 Research Scientist, “NAUCHNYI HOLDING” LLP, Almaty, Kazakhstan

3 Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Geography, Abai Kazakh National Pedagogical University, Almaty, Kazakhstan

4 Municipal State Institution “Center for Support of Children in Need of Special Social Services No. 1” of the Education Department of Almaty, Kazakhstan

5 Department of Pharmaceutical and Toxicological Chemistry, Asfendiyarov Kazakh National Medical University, Almaty, Kazakhstan

6 Department of Oncology, Asfendiyarov Kazakh National Medical University, Almaty, Kazakhstan

10.22124/cjes.2026.10028

Abstract

The main activator of the inflammation response Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) demonstrates an enormous influence on cells of the central nervous system. The aim of the current investigation is to understand the molecular and cellular mechanisms of action of LPS on neurons, microglia, and astrocytes. Experimental design was in vitro. Isolation of cells from brain tissues of Wistar rats and their cultivation was carried out in three groups including control, low-concentration LPS treatment (100 ng mL-1), and high-concentration LPS treatment (1000 ng mL-1). All manipulations lasted for 24 hours and were repeated in triplicates. The viability of cells was estimated by means of the MTT assay, activity of antioxidant enzymes – by spectrophotometrically, and the inflammatory genes expression was estimated with the help of quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR). Inflammation proteins’ concentration was estimated with ELISA. Analysis of results was carried out with One-Way ANOVA with post-hoc Tukey’s test. It has been shown that viability of neurons has reduced from 98.4% to 61.3% at the high concentration. The lowest sensitivity have demonstrated microglia with viability reduction from 97.8% to 72.5%. The activity of superoxide dismutase reduced from 42.6 to 24.8 U mg-1 protein, whereas the level of malondialdehyde increased from 1.24 to 4.92 nmol mg-1 protein. There was a 8.76 fold increase in the gene expression of TNF-α and its level also increased from 12.4 to 82.4 pg mL-1. From the correlation matrix, the most correlated (with a coefficient of 0.88) parameters were TNF-α and IL-1β. Malondialdehyde showed a correlation of 0.84 with TNF-α, whereas superoxide dismutase showed a correlation of -0.68 with TNF-α. All of these coefficients were significant at the 0.01 level. From the correlation network, the central node was found to be malondialdehyde and the protective node superoxide dismutase. According to the results, LPS, when it activates TLR4, sets off a chain reaction that involves inflammation and oxidative responses leading to neuronal damage. Targeting both pathways at the same time is an efficient approach in future treatments. This framework can be used to understand the mechanisms involved in neuroinflammatory diseases and to find new therapeutic targets.

Keywords

References

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Caspian Journal of Environmental Sciences
Volume 24, Issue 4
October 2026
Pages 1139-1146

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