Objective To investigate the effect of tigecycline on serum procalcitonin and its efficacy in the treatment of elderly chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and nosocomial infection. Methods 82 elderly patients with COPD with nosocomial infection were selected and randomly divided into two groups with 41 cases of each group, the control group received routine treatment combined with cefoperazone and sulbactam, and the experimental group received routine treatment combined with tigecycline, 2 weeks for a course of treatment. The serum inflammatory factors and laboratory related indexes, clinical efficacy and bacterial clearance were compared after the treatment. Results Compared with control group, the levels of serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), interluekin 6(IL-6) and tumor necrosis factorα(TNF-α) were significantly lower, and the serum levels of PCT and NO were lower(P < 0.05). The total efficacy of experimental group was 90.24%, which was higher than 70.73% in control group (P<0.05). The bacterial clearance rate in the control group was 63.42%, which was lower than the experimental group of 87.80% (P < 0.05). Conclusion Tigecycline in the treatment of COPD and nosocomial infection in elderly patients is curative effective and it can reduce the serum levels of PCT, NO and inflammatory factors with high safety.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of tea polyphenols on cell apoptosis in rat model of cyclosporine-induced chronic nephrotoxicity.

METHODSFour groups of animals in rat model of cyclosporine-induced chronic nephrotoxicity were respectively treated by olive oil (n = 6), tea polyphenols (TP, n = 6), cyclosporine A (CsA, n = 8) and TP plus CsA (n = 8). At the end of 28th day of treatment, all animals were sacrificed and blood was analyzed for blood serum creatinine and creatinine clearance, kidney tissue for pathologic analysis. The TUNEL assay, caspase-3 mRNA expression detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and caspase-3 activity were used for the analysis of cell apoptosis.

RESULTSCsA plus TP ameliorated the CsA-induced decrease of renal function and interstitial fibrosis. There was a significant increase in the number of apoptosis-positive cells in the CsA-vs-CsA plus TP-treated group at four weeks (18.9 +/- 3.3 vs. 7.7 +/- 1.4, P < 0.05). The expression of caspase-3 mRNA and caspase-3 activity of CsA-treated group was significantly higher than that of CsA plus TP-treated group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThese results indicate that antioxidant tea polyphenols significantly inhibit apoptosis of tubular and interstitial cells in rat model of chronic cyclosporine-induced nephrotoxicity, and suggest that the decrease of cell apoptosis exerted by tea polyphenols may be one of mechanisms to protect renal function and tissue structure.

Animals ; Antioxidants ; pharmacology ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Caspase 3 ; Caspases ; genetics ; Cyclosporine ; toxicity ; Flavonoids ; Immunosuppressive Agents ; toxicity ; In Situ Nick-End Labeling ; Kidney ; drug effects ; Male ; Phenols ; pharmacology ; Polymers ; pharmacology ; Polyphenols ; RNA, Messenger ; analysis ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Tea

OBJECTIVETo investigate the inhibitory effect of tea polyphenols on renal cell apoptosis in rat test subjects suffering from cyclosporine A (CsA)-induced chronic nephrotoxicity.

METHODSFour groups of rats with CsA-induced chronic nephrotoxicity were respectively treated with vehicle olive oil, tea polyphenols, CsA and tea polyphenols plus CsA. At the end of the 28th day of treatment, 24 hours urine and blood samples were obtained, and the animals were then sacrificed. The serum and urine samples were analysed for creatinine clearance, and kidney tissue was used for pathologic analysis of renal tubular injury and interstitial fibrosis. The TUNEL assay, apoptosis-related enzyme caspase-3 mRNA detected by RT-PCR, and its enzymatic activity were analysed for the possible detections of cell apoptosis.

RESULTSCsA-treated rats displayed increased apoptosis of the tubular and interstitial cells, in comparison with vehicle-treated controls (18.3 +/- 4.6 vs 4.8 +/- 1.3 cells/mm(2), P < 0.05). In comparison with animals treated by CsA, animals treated with CsA plus tea polyphenols demonstrated significantly improved levels of creatinine clearance (0.12 +/- 0.03 vs 0.22 +/- 0.02 ml.min(-1).100 g(-1) body weight, P < 0.05), tubular injury (2.29 +/- 0.43 vs 1.42 +/- 0.26, P < 0.05), and interstitial fibrosis (2.83 +/- 0.20 vs 1.46 +/- 0.19, P < 0.05), and showed a statistically significant decrease in tubular and interstitial cell apoptosis (18.3 +/- 4.6 vs 7.7 +/- 2.1 cells/mm(2), P < 0.05). The expression of caspase-3 mRNA and caspase-3 activity was significantly higher in the CsA-treated group than that of the CsA plus tea polyphenols (TP)-treated group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThese results suggested that tea polyphenols significantly inhibits apoptosis of the tubular and interstitial cells in rats with cyclosporine-induced chronic nephrotoxicity, and that tea polyphenols may be useful to prevent CsA-associated kidney toxicity.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Cyclosporine ; adverse effects ; Flavonoids ; pharmacology ; Kidney ; pathology ; Kidney Diseases ; chemically induced ; Male ; Phenols ; pharmacology ; Polyphenols ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Tea

OBJECTIVETo study the effects of liver specific antigen (LSA) on liver allotransplantation rejection.

METHODSOrthotopic liver transplantation was performed in this study. Group I: syngeneic control (Wistar-to-Wistar); Group II: acute rejection (SD-to-Wistar). Group III: thymic inoculation of SD rat LSA day 7 before transplantation. The observation of general condition and survival time, rejection grades and the NF-kappaB activity of splenocytes were used to analyze severity of acute rejection and immune state of animals in different groups.

RESULTSThe general condition of group I was fair post transplantation with no sign of rejection. All recipients of group II died within days 9 to 13 post transplantation with median survival time of 10.7 +/- 1.37 days. As for group III, 5 out of 6 recipients survived for a long period with remarkably better general condition than that of group II. Its rejection grades were significantly lower than group II (P<0.05). NF-kappaB activity was only detected in group I between days 5 and 7 after transplantation, whereas high activity of NF-kappaB was detected at all points in group II and low NF-kappaB activity was detected in group III which was significantly lower than that of group II (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSLSA is an important transplantation antigen directly involved in the immunorejection of liver transplantation. Intrathymic inoculation of LSA can alleviate the rejection of liver allotransplantation, grafts survive for a period of time thereby, allowing a novel way to liver transplantation immunotolerance.

Animals ; Cell Separation ; Graft Rejection ; metabolism ; pathology ; Isoantigens ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; Liver ; pathology ; Liver Transplantation ; Male ; NF-kappa B ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Rats, Wistar ; Spleen ; cytology ; metabolism ; Thymus Gland ; physiology

The incidence rate of anxiety and depression is significantly higher in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) than in the general population. The mechanisms underlying dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced depressive-like behaviors are still unclear. We clarified that IBD mice induced by repeated administration of DSS presented depressive-like behaviors. The paraventricular thalamic nucleus (PVT) was regarded as the activated brain region by the number of c-fos-labeled neurons. RNA-sequencing analysis showed that lipocalin 2 (Lcn2) was upregulated in the PVT of mice with DSS-induced depressive behaviors. Upregulating Lcn2 from neuronal activity induced dendritic spine loss and the secreted protein induced chemokine expression and subsequently contributed to microglial activation leading to blood-brain barrier permeability. Moreover, Lcn2 silencing in the PVT alleviated the DSS-induced depressive-like behaviors. The present study demonstrated that elevated Lcn2 in the PVT is a critical factor for DSS-induced depressive behaviors.
Mice ; Humans ; Animals ; Lipocalin-2/genetics* ; Midline Thalamic Nuclei ; Brain ; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos ; Mice, Inbred C57BL