Objective To investigate the effects of vitamin E (VE) on renal ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury of rats.Methods A total of 18 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into sham-operated group,I/R group,VE + I/R group,and each group of 6 rats.All the animals were killed at the end of 24 h of reperfusion.Nephridial tissue were examined by light microscopy,and the level of blood urea nitrogen(BUN) and serum creatinine (SCr) were measured.The protein expressions of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) were detected by Western blotting.Results Compared with sham-operated group,tubulointerstitial pathological injury in I/R group was significantly aggravated,which was shown by HE and PAS stain.Compared with I/R group,the degree of morphological changes as well as renal dysfunction in VE + I/R group were obviously lessened.Meanwhile,the levels of BUN,SCr in I/R group,VE + I/R group were (10.13 ± 2.14) mmol/L and (7.67 ± 1.63) mmol/L,(80.33 ±7.15) μmol/L and (63.67 ±5.40) μ mol/L,significantly higher than those in shamed-operated group ((3.85 ± 0.21) mmol/L,(48.67 ± 3.61) μmol/L;P ＜ 0.05).And the level of BUN and SCr in VE + I/R group were significant lower than those in I/R group(P ＜0.05).Western Blotting showed that the protein expressions of TNF-α in VE + I/R group were obviously lower compared with those in group of I/R without VE treatment (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Vitamin E can attenuate over-expressions of TNF-α in kidney following I/R,thus protect against structural damages and renal dysfunction in I/R rat models.

Aim Toinvestigatethepro-angiogenic effects of Danshensu derivative ADTM and explore its underlying possible signaling pathway using zebrafish embryosasinvivomodels.Methods Theangiogenesis activities of ADTM were determined in experimental models of normal and VEGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitorⅡ(VRI )-induced vascular defective zebrafish embry-os.Embryos were treated with various concentrations (50,100,200 μmol · L-1 ) of ADTM for indicated time.The diameter and the numbers of endothelial cells of zebrafish SIVs were evaluated,respectively.In VRI model,the number of intact and defective ISVs in each zebrafish embryo was counted.The total RNA of zebrafish embryos was extracted and transcriptional profiling was analyzed by deep sequencing.Quantita-tive real-time PCR(qPCR)was performed to 4 genes selected from transcriptional profiling to validate the data collected from transcriptome analysis.Results ADTMsignificantlyincreasedsubintestinalvessels (SIVs)diameter in a concentration-dependent manner in normal zebrafish as well as restored VRI-induced blood vessels defect in VRI-exposed zebrafish. The transcriptome data analysis demonstrated that 19 signif-icantly changed genes were mapped to insulin signaling pathway.The qPCR data are in good agreement with those obtained by deep sequencing and support the consistency between the two methods for determining relative expression levels in the zebrafish model.Con-clusion Inzebrafishmodel,ADTMexhibitsthe effects of angiogenesis and blood vessel restoration. The underlying mechanism may be involved in the acti-vation of insulin signaling pathway.

Objective To study the hemoprotective effects of a rotary magnetic field (RMF) to radiation-injured mice. Methods 132 male BALB/c mice were randomly divided into four groups: a normal group (N), a magnetic treatment group (M), an irradiation group(R) and an irradiation combining magnetic treatment group (R + M). Mice in the N group received no treatment. Mice in the R and R + M groups received total body irradiation with 6.0 Gy 60Co γ/rays. Mice in the M and R + M groups were treated with a RMF for one and half an hour at a time, twice a day, totally for 30 days. The survival rate was observed for 30 days. On days 0, 5, 9, 15, 21, 30, the subjects' peripheral blood cells were counted. On day 9, 23 and 30, the number of bone marrow nucleated cells (BMNCs), colony forming unit-spleen (CFU-S), spleen-body ratio, the cell cycle and apoptosis of bone marrow cells were measured. The pathological sectioning of the femur was performed and the expression level of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP2/4) in the bone marrow was evaluated. Results ①No mice died in the N and M group. The RMF treatment increased the survival rate and survival days among the irradiated mice (P < 0.01). ②The RMF treatment increased the number of blood cells in their peripheral blood of the R + M group. ③The number of BMNCs, CFU-S and the proportation of G2 + M stage in the R + M were markedly higher than that of the R group, but the proportation of the apoptosis was lower than that of the R group on the 9th day (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the spleen index in the R + M group was also higher than that of the R group on the 23rd day (P < 0.05). ④RMF could improve the expression level of BMP2/4 in the radiation-injued mice. Conclusion The RMF treatment had an obvious protective effect against the effects of irradiation and it accelerated the recovery of hematopeiesis and the hematopoietic microenvironment in mouse bone marrow.

Objective To construct eukaryotic expression vector encoding rat IMD gene and deliver it into rat renal tissue via ultrasound-mircobubbles. Methods IMD gene was inserted into pCDNA3.1 ( + )between Hind Ⅲ and EcoRI enzyme sites. The recombinant plasmid designated as IMD-pCDNA 3.1 wasconfirmed by restrictive enzyme digestion and sequencing. Eighteen male Wistar rats were randomized into 3groups, which were treated with no transfection, empty vector transfection and IMD transfection, respectively, in renal tissue via ultrasound-microbubbles. RT-PCR and Western blotting were applied to detect the expression level of IMD. Results Enzyme- digestion and sequencing data showed that IMD-pCDNA 3.1 was correctly constructed. The differences in ALT, AST, BUN and SCr were not significant; No obvious damage in the glomerular, tubular and interstitial was observed in all the treated groups;Compared with non-transfection group and empty vector-transfection group, IMD mRNA and protein expression in IMD transgenic renal tissue were significantly increased. Conclusion IMD-pCDNA 3.1 expression vector was successfully constructed and well expressed in rat kidney.

Objective To investigate the effect of intermedin (IMD) on renal ischemia/ reperfusion (I/R) injury after the up-regulation of IMD. Methods A total of 24 healthy Wistar male rats were randomly divided into four groups,sham-operated group,I/R group,IMD gene transfection +I/R group and empty plamid +I/R group.All the animals were killed at the end of 24 h of reperfusion.Histological changes and renal function were estimated.The expression and site of IMD were determined by Immunohistochemistry method,semi-quantitative RT-PCR and Western blotting.The protein expressions of endothelin 1 (ET-1),tumor necrosis factor αt (TNF-α) were detected by Western blotting. Results Compared with sham-operated group,tubulointerstitial pathological injury was significant aggravated in I/R group (7.6±2.3) and empty plamid +I/R group (7.0±1.8),and such injury was improved in IMD+I/R group (1.5±0.8) (P＜0.05).Compared with I/R group and empty plamid +I/R group,the renal dysfunction of IMD +I/R group was obviously lessened [BUN:(7.73±1.03) mmol/L vs (10.13±2.14) mmol/L,(9.77±1.92) mmol/L; Scr:(58.50±3.27) μmol/L vs (80.33±7.15) μmol/L, (75.67±7.58) μmol/L,all P＜0.05].IMD expression was weak in the plasma of tubulointerstitial cells in sham-operated group,and was up-regulated in I/R group. Compared with I/R group, immunohistochemical IMD expression increased obviously (262.03±67.89 vs 175.57±48.06,P＜0.01).The mRNA expression of IMD in IMD+I/R group was up-regulated significantly by 60.7％,66.1％ and the protein expression of IMD in IMD+I/R group increased significantly by 51.4％,55.9％ as compared to I/R and empty plasmid +I/R group.Meanwhile,the protein expressions of ET-1 and TNF-αt in IMD+I/R group were obviously lower compared with those in I/R group (ET-1:0.08±0.02 vs 0.17±0.02; TNF-α:0.21±0.04 vs 0.35± 0.02,all P＜0.05). Conclusion IMD gene transfected into kidneys of rats prior to I/R surgery can attenuate the over-expressions of both ET-1 and TNF-o in I/R injured rat kidneys as well as the damages to the structure and function of the kidneys.

Objective To investigate the protective effect of intermedin(IMD)on renal ischemia reperfusion injury(IRI)and its mechanism. Methods A total of twenty-four male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups: control group, IRI group, empty plasmid group and IMD group. After remove of right kidney, plasmid was transfected into the kidney by ultrasonic microbubbles technology, and IRI model was made after 1 week. Renal pathology was observed by PAS staining. Renal tissue superoxide dismutase(SOD), myeloperoxidase(MPO), caspase-3 activity, and malondialdehyde(MDA)content were detected by colorimetric method. The intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1(ICAM-1), endothelin 1(ET-1)and P-selection expression of renal tissue were detected by immunohistochemical method. Apoptosis of renal tubular cell was detected by TUNEL.Results Compared with control group, tubulointerstitial pathological injury was significant aggravated in IRI group(P<0.01);compared with IRI group, IMD pretreatment significantly alleviated the degree of renal injury(P<0.01). Compared with control group, in IRI group, SOD activity was significantly decreased(P<0.05), MPO activity, caspase-3 activity, MDA production and the expression of ICAM-1, P-selection, ET-1 were increased significantly(all P< 0.01). Compared with IRI group, IMD pretreatment significantly increased SOD activity(P <0.05), decreased the MPO activity, caspase-3 activity, MDA production and the expression of ICAM-1, P-selection, ET-1 (all P<0.01). The apoptosis rate of renal tubular epithelial cells in IRI group was significantly higher than that in control group(34.83%±8.75% vs 3.33%±0.47%, P<0.01), while the apoptosis rate of IMD group(20.67%±7.71%)was significantly lower than that of IRI group. There was no difference of above indexes between empty plasmid group and IRI group. Conclusions IMD pretreatment protects against renal IRI. The mechanism may be at least partly related to the clearance of oxygen free radicals, the improvement of lipid peroxidation, inflammatory cell infiltration and cell apoptosis, leading to the decrease of the production of reactive oxygen species caused by oxidative stress.

Objective To study the clinical significance of the injury and functional change of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis after acute severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the rats.Methods A total of 60 adult healthy male Spraque-Dawley rats were randomly (random number) divided into 3 groups (n =20 in each group):sham operation group,model group and treatment group.The TBI models of rats were established by Feeney' s method.A low dose of dexamethasone (0.6 mg/kg) was injected into the abdominal cavity 20 minutes,24 hours and 48 hours after injury in treatment group,while rats of sham operation group and model group received equal volume of normal saline instead.All the rats were injected 1 μg adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) into the abdominal cavity.The related parameters were detected at four time points,3 hours,12 hours,24 hours and 72 hours after cerebral contusion.The plasma corticosterone (CORT) and ACTH levels were measured by chemiluminescence.The hypothalamic,pituitary and adrenal of the rats were taken out for observing interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) expression detecting by immunohistochemical techniques at 72nd hour after TBI.One-way ANOVA and SNK-q test were used to analyze the results with SPSS 17.0 software package.Results The levels of ACTH and CORT on 3rd hour of model group raised remarkably compared with that of sham operation group,then they reduced gradually.The levels of CORT were lower than that of sham operation group at every time points after ACTH stimulation test (P ＜0.05 or P ＜0.01).The levels of CORT at all time points of treatment group were changed remarkably compared with that of model group.However,the ACTH levels of treatment group on 24 h increased slightly than that of model group.And the tendency of them was similar to model group (P ＜ 0.05 or P ＜ 0.01).The number of the hypothalamus and pituitary cells which express IL-6 and TNF-α in model group was more significantly increased when compared with that in sham operation group (P ＜ 0.01),while the number of this kind of cell in treatment group was significantly decreased than that in model group (P ＜ 0.01).The number of the adrenal cortex cells which express IL-6 in treatment group was more significantly decreased when compared with that in model group (P＜ 0.01),while the number of this kind of cell in model group was significantly increased than that in sham operation group (P ＜ 0.01).However,there was no significant difference of the TNF-α between all the groups (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusions Functional change of adrenal occurs early in the severe acute traumatic brain injury rats,and the response of adrenal to ACTH decreased as time goes by.Low-dose,short-course dexamethasone can delay the pathological changes,reduce the inflammatory response of HPA axis and increase the sensitivity of adrenal response to ACTH.

BACKGROUND: There is a great debate but little research addressing the cell suspension obtained from the digested mantle tissues can effective amplify and form pearl sac in vitro, thus producing pearl. OBJECTIVE: To establish an effective technique and method of in vitro separation and culture of mantle of the pearl oyster (Pinctada martensii), and to determine the optimal method of forming pearl sac with the intact structure and secretion function, thus producing pearl. DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING: Single sample observation was performed at the School of Basic Medicine, Guangxi Traditional Chinese Medical University, between August and December in 2008. MATERIALS: Pearl oyster (Pinctada martensii) aged 1.0 2.0 years, were offered by Yingpan Pearl Industrial Co., Ltd. Of Beihai City, China; the self-modified marine shellfish balanced salt solution; the self-prepared concha pteriae serum and concha pteriae body fluid; keratinocyte growth factor was purchased from Sigma, USA. METHODS: The mantle of pearl oyster (Pinctada martensii) was digested with 2.5 g/L trypsin, the harvested cells were cultured using M199 medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum and supplemented with 10 μg/L keratinocyte growth factor, 10% self-prepared concha pteriae serum and concha pteriae body fluid. The cultivation was performed for 30 days. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Cell growth characteristics and growth state. RESULTS: The pearl mantle epithelial cells cultured in vitro were shown to proliferate rapidly, secrete productively, and the muscle cells showed a great proliferation, finally encapsulated the mantle epithelial cells to form pear sac with the intact structure and strong secretion function. CONCLUSION: Using the modified culture technology and culture system, the addition of keratinocyte growth factor can obtain the well growing and secreting pearl sac during in vitro culture of mantle cells.

Objective: To explore the relationship between fragmented QRS complex(fQRS) and coronary collateral circulation(CCC) in patients with chronic total occlusion(CTO)lesion without prior myocardial infarction. Methods: This retrospective study analyzed 238 consecutive patients with CTO lesion in one of the major coronary arteries from May 2014 to October 2015 in our department. Patients were divided into poor CCC group (grade 0 and 1, 58 cases) and good CCC group(grade 2 and 3, 180 cases) based on Rentrop′s classification of CCC. The fQRS was defined as the presence of an additional R wave or notching of R or S wave or the presence of fragmentation in two contiguous electrocardiogram leads corresponding to a major coronary artery territory. Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the relationship between CCC and fQRS on electrocardiogram. Results: Compared with good CCC group, patients in poor CCC group had older age((65.2±8.9)years old vs. (60.3±10.1) years old, P=0.03), higher plasma glucose ((7.22±3.00) mmol/L vs.(6.31±1.83)mmol/L, P=0.04), and lower left ventricular ejection fraction ((45.2±11.4)% vs. (51.2±13.5)%, P=0.02). None of patients had Rentrop grade 0, the presence of fQRS on ECG in patients with Rentrop grade 1, grade 2, and grade 3 CCC was 69.0% (40/58), 48.6% (35/72) , and 19.4% (21/108), respectively (P<0.01). The presence of fQRS were higher in poor CCC group than in good CCC group (69.0%(40/58)vs. 31.1%(56/180), P<0.01), and number of leads with fQRS were higher in poor CCC group than in good CCC group (3(0, 4)vs.0(0, 3), P<0.01). Multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that poor CCC growth in patients with CTO lesion without prior myocardial infarction was independently related to the presence of fQRS (OR=3.659, 95%CI 1.619-8.217, P<0.01). Conclusion Poor CCC in patients with CTO lesion without prior myocardial infarction is independently related to the presence of fQRS on electrocardiogram.