The concentration of 1.8 ng/ml platelet activating factor (PAF) caused the elevation of pulmonary vascular permeability and a steady increase of lung weight gain (LWG) in isolated perfused rat lung. The LWG, fluid filtration coefficient and extravasation amount of T-1824 labelled albumin were lower of 89. 2%, 70. 9% and 75. 5%, respectively, in PAF perfusion without Ca2+ group than those in PAF perfusion with Ca2+ group, within 35 min. Mean pulmonary capillary pressure and pulmonary arterial pressure decreased from + 0.725 ? 0.389 kPa and +1.187 ? 0.320 kPa to -0.708 ? 0.315 kPa and - 0.025 ? 0.279 kPa, respectively. Calcium free perfusate without PAF slightly increased vascular permeability in isolated rat lungs. The results suggest that PAF-induced rat lung injury depends on the existence of extracellular calcium ion.

Purpose:To investigate the expression of VEGF and its prognostic significance in ampullary carcinoma.Methods:22 resected tumor specimens from patients with ampullary carcinoma were immunohistochemically stained for VEGF and CD34 (surrogate for vessels) by streptavidin-peroxidase (S-P) method. Results:Expression of VEGF in tumor tissue was found in 50% cases of patients with ampullary carcinoma. The mean MVD for the entire group was 26.4?12.8. A significantly higher MVD(35.0?9.6) was observed in the tumors with positive VEGF expression compared with tumors with negative VEGF expression(17.7?9.3)( P

Shenqi mixture tonic (C. A. mixture )is a compounded Chinese herb preparation composed of Codnopsis pilosula (Franch. )Nannf., Astragalus membranaceus Bge. and Polygonum multiflorum Thunb. Its antiaging effect was studied on 24 months old SD rats. The body weight, food intake,cardiac capacity and activities ofbrain monoamine oxidase-B(MAO-B)and red blood cell superoxide dismutase (SOD)were estimated to assess its antiaging effect. Results indicated that after feeding C. A. mixture for a fixed time the activity of MAO-B was decreased and that of red blood cell SOD increased obviously. Calorie production and cold resistant capabbility of the aged animals were improved significantly though there were no gain in body weight. In addition ,the cardiac capacity was enhanced. From the above results it can be concluded that C. A. mixture possesses evident antiaging effect

One patient with congenital epidermolysis bullosa combined with pachyonychia was reported, and followed up for 11 years. The pedigree of the patient was investigated, and the loci of HLA-A, B antigens of 16 members of the pedigree were determined. The results showed that there were 60 members in the pedigree, among them 24 members had different kinds of skin diseases : 4 cases of epidermolysis bullosa combined with pachyonychia, 9 eases of albopapuloid form of epidermolysis hullosa combined with pachyonychia, 2 cases of icthyosis and 9 cases of pachyonychia simplex. The result of HLA-A, B antigens analysis of 16 members of the pedigree showed no evidence of the genes of these patients linked with HLA-A, B antigens.

Intravenous administration of E. coli endotoxin (2mg/kg) caused a persistent increase in platelet activating factor (PAF) contents in arterial blood and bronchoalveolar fluid (BALF). Meanwhile phospholipase A2(PLA2) activity in serum and BALF was elevated and mean arterial blood pressure declined. The total cell number, expecially polymorphonuclear leukocytes and lymphocytes, and protein concentration in BALF were markedly increased 6 h after endotoxin injection. Lung index and extravascular lung water content of endotoxin-treated animals were significantly highter than those of controls. Pretreatment with PAF receptor antagonist SRI 63-441 blocked the increase in PLA, activity and attenuated endotoxin-induced hypotension and acute lung injury. The results suggest that PAF mediates endotoxin-induced lung injury, and leukocyte activation by PAF and the subsequent release of oxygen metabolites and lysoenzymes are important intermediate mechanisms leading to high permeability pulmonary edema.

[ ABSTRACT] AIM:To determine the role of transcription factor Bach1 in the functions of human microvascular en-dothelial cells ( HMVECs ) .METHODS: Bach1 siRNA was transfected into HMVECs to knock down the expression of Bach1.In vitro endothelial cell tube formation assay in Matrigel culture was used as a surrogate assay for angiogenic poten-tial.Migration of HMVECs was determined by using Transwell chambers.Cell proliferation was measured by CCK-8 assay. Real-time PCR, Western blotting, and ELISA were employed to determine mRNA expression and protein level.Reporter as-say was performed to determine vascular endothelial growth factor ( VEGF) transcriptional activity.RESULTS:Knockdown of Bach1 expression in HMVECs led to an increase in the tube formation and increased endothelial cell migration ability, whereas it has little effect on cell proliferation.Bach1 silencing increased the mRNA and protein expression of heme oxygen-ase-1 (HO-1), and enhanced VEGF transcriptional activation, and mRNA and protein expression.CONCLUSION:Bach1 silencing increases HO-1 and VEGF expression, thus promoting the cell migration and tube formation of HMVECs, indicating that Bach1 is a repressor for angiogenesis.

Objective To evaluate the activity of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) gene transduced endothelial cells (EC) and the cell retention on graft vessel. MethodsKG1 EC were transduced with pseudotyped vectors carrying genes coding for either the wild type tPA or mutant tPA. The supernatants were collecteJPd and assayed for tPA activity in the presence and absence of fibrin. Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) vessel grafts were seeded with EC, and then exposed to an in vitro flow system for 1 h. The number of EC on grafts were counted and the retention of EC were evaluated. ResultsWT5”BZ The tPA activity of the nontransduced EC was (1 5?1 0) IU/ml, while that of wild type tPA gene transduced EC increased to (30.0?8 0) IU/ml, mutant type tPA gene transduced EC increased to (14.1?1 0) IU/ml( P

The metastasis in which the cancer cells degrade the extracellular matrix (ECM) and invade to the sur-rounding and far tissues of the body is the leading cause of mortality in cancer patients. With a lot of advancement in the field, yet the biological cause of metastasis are poorly understood. The microfluidic system provides advanced technology to reconstruct a variety of in vivo-like environment for studying the interactions between tumor cells (TCs) and endothelial cells (ECs). This review gives a brief account of both two-dimensional models and three-dimensional microfluidic systems for the analysis of TCs-ECs co-culture as well as their applications to anti-cancer drug screening. Furthermore, the advanced methods for analyzing cell-to-cell interactions at single-cell level were also discussed.

Objective To investigate the role and mechanism of low-dose aspirin concurrent with IFN-a in inducing hepatocellular carcinoma apoptosis in BEL-7402 cells. Methods BEL-7402 cells were cultured and treated with IFN-α,or low dose aspirin or both.MTT and flow cytometry were used to measure the cell proliferation and apoptosis after treatment with a singular drug or the combined regiment.The expressions of the apoptosis-related proteins were detected by Western blot.Results MTT assay revealed after IFN α administration alone or combined with aspirin treatment for 48 h,the proliferation ratio of the IFN-α or aspirin group were 82.45％ ± 1.71％ and 83.22％ ±2.26 ％,compared with the control group.The group which received the combined therapy had a proliferation ratio of 69.84 ％ ±1.18 ％,which was significantly lower than the single groups (P＜0.05).The flow cytometry revealed that the apoptosis ratio in IFN-α group and aspirin group were 14.78 ％ ±1.93％ and 14.00％±0.61％,respectively,while the IFN-α + aspirin group was 21.68％±1.28％,which was also significantly higher than that of the single groups (P＜0.05).Western blot detected that IFN-α and aspirin (1 mmol/L) could promote caspase-3 and caspase-9 protein expressions,and when the two drugs were combined,caspase-3 and caspase-9 were also significantly activated.IFN-α alone or combined with aspirin can promote the expression of pro-apoptotic protein Bax (P＜0.05),while the anti-apoptotic proteins expression of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xl did not change significantly (P＞0.05).Conclusions Low-dose aspirin can cooperate with IFN-α in inhibiting the BEL-7402 cell growth and inducing the cell apoptosis by activating and increasing caspase-3 and caspase-9 levels,which may be related to the increased expression of pro-apoptotic protein Bax.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the quality of life in patients who underwent laparoscopic and open cholecystectomy for chronic cholecystolithiasis.

METHODSA prospective survey was made on 25 patients receiving laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC group) and 26 patients receiving open cholecystectomy (OC group). The quality of life was measured with the gastrointestinal quality of life index (GLQI) preoperatively, and at 2, 5, 10 and 16 weeks after the operation.

RESULTSThe mean preoperative GLQI scores of all dimensions of the quality of life were 112.5 and 110.3 in the LC and OC groups respectively. In the LC group, the quality of life was not considerably reduced at 2 weeks after operation, with a mean GLQI score of 110. There was a significant improvement both in total mean score and in the aspects of symptomatology, emotional and physiological status from 5 to 16 weeks after LC operation. In the OC group, the GLQI score reduced to 102.0 at 2 weeks after surgery (P < 0.05). There were significant reductions in the aspects of symptomatology, physiological and social status as well. The GLQI scores reached to the preoperative level of 115.6 at 10 weeks after the operation (P > 0.05). The patients experienced significant improvements of GLQI at 16 weeks after OC operation (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05). The LC group showed better GLQI scores than did the OC group for up to 10 weeks postoperatively (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSLC is betler or more rapidly than OC is improving the quality of life postoperatively. The assessment of the quality of life is valuable for measuring the outcome of surgical treatment.

Adult ; Cholecystectomy ; psychology ; Cholecystectomy, Laparoscopic ; psychology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prospective Studies ; Quality of Life