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The study, synthesis, and application of nanomaterials in medicine have grown exponentially in recent years. An example of this is the understanding of how nanomaterials activate or regulate the immune system, particularly macrophages. In this work, nanoparticles were synthesized using Rumex hymenosepalus as a reducing agent (AgRhNPs). According to thermogravimetric analysis, the metal content of nanoparticles is 55.5% by weight. The size of the particles ranges from 5–26 nm, with an average of 11 nm, and they possess an fcc crystalline structure. The presence of extract molecules on the nanomaterial was confirmed by UV-Vis and FTIR. It was found by UPLC-qTOF that the most abundant compounds in Rh extract are flavonols, flavones, isoflavones, chalcones, and anthocyanidins. The viability and apoptosis of the THP-1 cell line were evaluated for AgRhNPs, commercial nanoparticles (AgCNPs), and Rh extract. The results indicate a minimal cytotoxic and apoptotic effect at a concentration of 12.5 μg/mL for both nanoparticles and 25 μg/mL for Rh extract. The interaction of the THP-1 cell line and treatments was used to evaluate the polarization of monocyte subsets in conjunction with an evaluation of CCR2, Tie-2, and Arg-1 expression. The AgRhNPs nanoparticles and Rh extract neither exhibited cytotoxicity in the THP-1 monocyte cell line. Additionally, the treatments mentioned above exhibited anti-inflammatory effects by maintaining the classical monocyte phenotype CD14++CD16, reducing pro-inflammatory interleukin IL-6 production, and increasing IL-4 production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic, progressive lung disease. Lesions in the lung epithelium cause alterations in the microenvironment that promote fibroblast accumulation. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) transport proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids, such as microRNAs (miRNAs). The aim of this study was to characterize the differentially expressed miRNAs in the cargo of EVs obtained from the LL97 and LL29 fibroblast cell lines isolated from IPF lungs versus those derived from the CCD19 fibroblast cell line isolated from a healthy donors. We characterized EVs by ultracentrifugation, Western blotting, and dynamic light scattering. We identified miRNAs by small RNA-seq, a total of 1144 miRNAs, of which 1027 were known miRNAs; interestingly, 117 miRNAs were novel. Differential expression analysis showed that 77 miRNAs were upregulated and 68 were downregulated. In addition, pathway enrichment analyses from the Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genomes identified several miRNA target genes in the categories, cell proliferation, regulation of apoptosis, pathways in cancer, and proteoglycans in cancer. Our data reveal that miRNAs contained in EVs cargo could be helpful as biomarkers for fibrogenesis, diagnosis, and therapeutic intervention of IPF.