Objective: To study the attenuating effect of angiotensin I type 1 receptor antagonist losartan and an-giotensin converting enzyme inhibitor captopril on aortic atherosclerosis in rabbits. Methods: Thirty-one male New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into 5 groups:control group,high cholesterol diet group,losartan group, captopril group and combined drug administration groupdosartan+captopril). The animals were killed after 16 weeks and the serum total cholesterol ,triglyceride, high and low density cholesterol .atherosclertic ratio,endothelin,NO,plaque area percentage,aortic cholesterol content and vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) apoptosis were determined. Results:The plaque area percentage,aortic cholesterol contents and endothelin levels of 3 drug treatment groups were significantly lower than that of high cholesterol group,NO contents and VSMC apoptosis were significantly higher. Conclusion:Losartan and captopril can attenuate aortic atherosclerosis induced by high cholesterol diet .combined administration of the 2 drugs at low doses are more effective. The mechanism may be related to the protection of endothelial function and the effect on apoptosis of VSMC.

Background and purpose: Factor that binds to the inducer of short transcripts of human immuno-deficiency virus-1 (FBI-1) in a variety of malignant tumors showed high expression levels, which may be closely related to tumor proliferation and differentiation, angiogenesis, metastasis, but its relationship with breast cancer has not been fully elucidated. The purpose of this study was to investigate the expression of FBI-1 in breast cancer cells, and to study the effect of FBI-1 gene expression on the proliferation of breast cancer cells and its possible mechanism. Methods:Real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RTFQ-PCR) and Western blot analysis were applied to detect FBI-1 expression in normal human mammary epithelial cell line MCF-10A and breast cancer cell MCF-7. RNA interference method was used to down-regulate FBI-1 expression in MCF-7 cells. The cell proliferation was measured by CCK-8 kit and colony formation assay. RTFQ-PCR and Western blot were used to detect the expression of FBI-1 and NF-κBp65 in MCF-7 cells before and after the interference of FBI-1 expression. Results: The expression of FBI-1 was higher in breast cancer cells than that in normal human mammary epithelial cells (P<0.05). The effects of FBI-1 down-regulation inhibited proliferation in MCF-7 cells (P<0.05). At the same time, after inhibition of FBI-1, the NF-κBp65 mRNA and protein expression levels were significantly decreased (P<0.05). Conclusion: FBI-1 is highly expressed in breast cancer cells. Down-regulated FBI-1 expression can inhibit the proliferation of breast cancer cells,and its mechanism may be related to the inhibition of NF-κB signaling pathway.

Objective To examine the kinetics of plasma S100A12 and soluble receptor for advanced glycation end products (sRAGE) in infants and young children undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass ( CPB),and to investigate whether they could protective the occurrence of noninfectious pulmonary complication (NPC) after cardiac surgery.Methods This was a case-control study.The subjects included all children aged ＜3 years old who underwent cardiac surgery with CPB during the period from June 1st to July 31st 2011.The patient who showed pulmonary inflammation or had abnormal liver or renal function before surgery was excluded.The remain patients were divided into 2 groups according to whether they had developed NPC postoperatively.Twenty patients were grouped into NPC because they developed the complications of pleural effusion,chylothorax,partial lung collapse,pulmonary hypertensive crisis,airway disorders,pneumothorax,pneumomediastinum,or phrenic nerve palsy.Forty patients were categorized into the no-NPC group.Plasma concentrations of S100A12 and sRAGE were measured using ELISA at baseline,before CPB,immediately after CPB,1 h,12 h and 24 h after operation.Differences concentrations between two groups were analyzed with t test.A stepwise logistic regression analysis was used to indentify the independent risk factor for NPC.A P value ＜0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results Plasma levels of S100A12 and sRAGE dramatically increased immediately after CPB ( P ＜ 0.01 ).The levels of sRAGE dropped to lower than baseline level (P ＜0.05),while S100A12 was still at high level 24h after operation (P ＜0.01 ).Levels of S100A12 and sRAGE immediately after CPB in NPC group were significantly higher than the no-NPC group (P ＜ 0.05).Twenty-four hours after operation,levels of S100A12 were still higher in NPC group than no-NPC (P ＜ 0.01 ),while levels of sRAGE were similar in the two groups ( P ＞ 0.05 ).In the stepwise logistic regression analysis,plasma S100A12 level immediately after CPB remained as a independently predictor for postoperative NPC (OR =1.042,95％ CI:1.010 ～ 1.076,P =0.011 ).Levels of S100A12 immediately after CPB were positively associated with mechanical ventilation time ( r =0.47,P ＜ 0.01 ),duration of surgical Intensive Care Unit ( r =0.407,P =0.002) and hospital stay ( r =0.421,P =0.01 ).Conclusions Plasma levels of S100A12 and sRAGE were significantly increased immediately after CPB and the elevated plasma S100A12 immediately after CPB served as an early reliable biomarker of the occurrence and the prognosis of NPC after CPB in infants and young children.

BACKGROUNDThis study was designed in an attempt to determine the influence of neoadjuvant chemotherapy on estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (Her-2), and Ki-67 expressions in patients with breast cancer.

METHODSPre- and post-neoadjuvant chemotherapy, paired-tumor specimens from 103 patients with breast cancer administrated with anthracycline or anthracycline combined taxane regimen were collected. Immunohistochemical staining for ER, PR, Her-2, and Ki-67 was performed by the DAKO EnVision method.

RESULTSAmong the 103 cases, five patients (4.9%) had a complete response (CR), 82 (79.6%) partial response (PR), 15 (14.6%) stable disease (SD), and one (0.9%) progressive disease (PD), yielding an overall response rate (CR + PR) of 84.5%. Nine patients achieved pathological CR. There was a significant decrease in the average index of Ki-67 postneoadjuvant chemotherapy, compared with that before chemotherapy (24.1% vs. 39.7%, P < 0.001). After neoadjuvant chemotherapy, the changes of Ki-67 in different subtypes of breast cancer were different (P < 0.001), and these changes correlated with response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (P < 0.001). No significant changes in immunohistochemical expression were observed for ER, PR and Her-2.

CONCLUSIONSNeoadjuvant chemotherapy apparently reduced Ki-67 index in primary breast carcinomas, but profiles for ER, PR and Her-2 were not significantly different before and after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The change of Ki-67 correlated with molecular subtypes and response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy, suggesting that Ki-67 index was a surrogate marker to predict the treatment response of neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Adult ; Aged ; Anthracyclines ; therapeutic use ; Breast Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; therapy ; Bridged-Ring Compounds ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; In Vitro Techniques ; Ki-67 Antigen ; metabolism ; Middle Aged ; Neoadjuvant Therapy ; Receptor, ErbB-2 ; metabolism ; Receptors, Estrogen ; metabolism ; Receptors, Progesterone ; metabolism ; Taxoids ; therapeutic use ; Young Adult