Objective To explore the effect of nerve growth factor(NGF) in the lower respiratory tract and the visceral afferent system of asthmatic guinea pigs. Methods By means of immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization combined with the micro-image analysis to investigate the alterations of NGF immunoreactivity and mRNA expression in asthmatic guinea pig. Results The positive NGF immunoreactivity was increased in airway epithelia,C-7-T-5 spinal ganglia and correspondent spinal dorsal horn in the asthmatic guinea pigs compared with the controls(P

Objective To explore the expression of NF-?B in C-7-T-5 spinal ganglia and possible mechanism of treating asthma with dexamethsone. Methods The alterations of NF-?B activity and its mRNA expression were investigated by means of immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization histochemistry combined with the micro-image analysis in C-7-T-5 spinal ganglia in the asthmatic and dexamethsone-treated guinea pigs. Results The NF-?B immunoreactivity was found mainly in cytoplasm and weakly in nucleus,its mRNA was expressed weakly in C-7-T-5 spinal ganglia in the control groups.The NF-?B immunoreactivity was more in nucleus and less in cytoplasm,the expression of its mRNA increased significantly in C-7-T-5 spinal ganglia in the asthmatic group compared with the control groups(P0.05).Conclusion The present results indicate that NF-?B in C-7-T-5 spinal ganglia might be involved in the pathogenesis of the bronchial asthma,and inhibiting the expression and activity of NF-?B in C-7-T-5 spinal ganglia might be one of the mechanisms of treating the bronchial asthma with dexamethsone.

AIM: To study the expression of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-?B) in the L 1-L 4 spinal ganglions of adjuvant arthritis (AA) rats, to explore the neuroendocrinoimmunological mechanism of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS: The expression of the NF-?B protein was detected by immunohistochemistry method and the alteration of the active NF-?B protein (nuclear protein) was investigated by Western blotting analysis. RESULTS: The expression of NF-?B protein in L 1-L 4 spinal ganglions of AA rats was much higher than that in the healthy controls ( P