Antihypertensive Agents ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Hypertension ; therapy ; Practice Guidelines as Topic

Humans ; Hypertension ; diagnosis ; therapy ; National Institutes of Health (U.S.) ; Practice Guidelines as Topic ; United States

Aristolochic Acids ; adverse effects ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; adverse effects ; Humans ; Plants, Medicinal ; Quality Control ; Research Design

Allyl Compounds ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; toxicity ; Animals ; Antioxidants ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; toxicity ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; toxicity ; Garlic ; chemistry ; toxicity ; Humans ; Phytotherapy ; adverse effects ; Sulfides ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; toxicity

Purpose:To explore the effects of stem cell factor(SCF) in combination with erythropoietin (EPO) on erythropoiesis in patients with anemia associated with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). Methods:Bone marrow (BM) mononuclear cells (MNC) from NHL patients and normal simples were cultured for 7 consecutives days in the presence or absence of SCF, EPO, and SCF+EPO in liquid medium. Erythropoiesis was analyzed by calculating the fraction of recovered erythroid cells and by flow cytometry. Results:Cultures stimulated with SCF+EPO contained a marked increased fractions of recovered erythroid cells compared to cells cultured in EPO alone in NHL simples (P

Aim To investigate the effect of selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor, NS-398, on cell apoptosis in leukemia cell line K562 cells and its underlying mechanism. Methods Apoptotic cell percentage was examined by flow cytometry(FCM). The protein expression of Bcl-2 and Caspase-3 was detected by Western blot, and the activity of Caspase-3 was checked by FCM. Results NS-398 induced the cell apoptosis in K562 cells in a dose-dependent manner. After NS-398 treatment, the expression of Bcl-2 protein was downregulated, whereas the expression of Caspase-3 protein was upregulated. Moreover,the activity of Caspase-3 was increased in a dose-dependent way after NS-398 treatment. Conclusion Selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor,NS-398,significantly induced apoptosis in K562 cells. The underlying mechanism might be related to the downregulation of Bcl-2 and the activation of Caspase-3.

Objective To study the expression of protein kinase B (Akt/PKB) isoforms in the gastrocnemius muscle of rats at different ages. Methods The expression levels of mRNA and protein of three Akt isoforms in the gastrocnemius muscle of 30-month-old and 6-month-old rats were detected respectively by RT-PCR and Western blotting. Data were analyzed statistically. Results (1) The levels of Akt1 and Akt2 mRNA in the 30-month-old rats was significantly higher than those in the 6-month-old rats (t=7.124, P=0.000; t=2.598, P=0.021), however, no significant difference was found in the level of Akt3 mRNA between the two groups (t=0.460, P=0.653) . (2) The level of Akt-Thr308 phosphorylation in the 30-month-old rats was significantly lower than that in the 6-month-old rats (t=-9.861, P=0.000), while the level of Akt2 protein in the 30-month group was significantly higher than that in the younger rats (t=7.522, P=0.000). No significant differences were detected in the levels of Akt1 and Akt3 proteins between the two groups (t=0.469, P=0.646; t=0.058, P=0.955). Conclusion The expression levels of three Akt isoforms in the gastrocnemius muscle of rats change with age, suggesting that the three isoforms of Akt have different functions in the gastrocnemius muscle metabolism of rats at different ages.

Aim To observe the correlation between the TPL's suppression on myofibrolbasts(MFBs)activation and TGF-β1/ERK/Smad3 pathway by performing in vivo and in vitro experiments.Methods In vitro model of MFBs activation was set up by stimulating fibroblasts with TGF-β1,and in vivo model of MFBs activation in radiated lung tissue was built by thoracic radiation on C57BL/6 mice.MFBs activation was analyzed by detecting the expression of α-SMA(using RT-PCR and Western blot)and Col Ⅰ(using RT-PCR and ELISA methods).The levels of p-ERK,p-Smad3(Ser208)and p-Smad3(Ser423)were measured by Western blot.ERK siRNA and Smad3 siRNA were used to observe the status of ERK and Smad3 in MFBs activation.Results TGF-β1 activated p-ERK/p-Smad3(Ser208)and p-Smad3(Ser423),increased the expression of α-SMA and synthesis of Col Ⅰ,which indicated MFBs activation.siRNA knockdown assay showed that both ERK and Smad3 were involved in regulating the levels of α-SMA and Col Ⅰ,and ERK influenced MFBs transformation possibly through its phosphorylation of Smad3(Ser208).TPL treatment inhibited the phosphorylation activation of ERK,Smad3(Ser208),Smad3(Ser423)in vitro and in vivo,therefore significantly reduced the level of α-SMA and Col Ⅰ,and the number of activated MFBs was decreased.Conclusion TPL mitigates radiation-induced pulmonary fibrosis by inhibiting the activation of MFBs,which is partly through suppressing TGF-β1/ERK/Smad3 pathway.