BACKGROUND:Brain natriuretic peptide, an important serum marker for diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases, is crucial for risk factor analysis of cardiovascular diseases.
OBJECTIVE: To analyze the relationship between brain natriuretic peptide and hemodynamic parameters before and after coronary artery bypass grafting.
METHODS:Thirty patients with coronary heart disease undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting were selected, including 13 patients with left ventricular ejection fraction≥ 50% (normal heart function) and 17 patients with left ventricular ejection fraction < 50% (cardiac insufficiency). Levels of plasma brain natriuretic peptides were detected at 1 day before transplantation, 7 hours, 1, 3, 5, 7 days after transplantation, and then the correlation between plasma brain natriuretic peptide levels and hemodynamic parameters was analyzed before and after coronary artery bypass grafting.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Preoperative and postoperative levels of plasma brain natriuretic peptides were significantly lower in the patients with left ventricular ejection fraction≥ 50% than those with left ventricular ejection fraction < 50%; while in each group, the level of brain natriuretic peptides was remarkably increased after coronary artery bypass grafting (P < 0.05 orP< 0.001). Preoperative brain natriuretic peptide levels were positively correlated with New York Heart Association classification grading, left atrial diameter and left ventricular diameter (r=0.61;r=0.34;r=0.67), but negatively correlated with echocardiographic left ventricular ejection fraction and cardiac output (r=-0.75;r=-0.70). The postoperative peak level of brain natriuretic peptides was positively correlated with New York Heart Association classification grading, echocardiographic left ventricular end diastolic diameter and pulmonary artery pressure (r=0.72;r=0.70;r=0.45). These findings indicate that the plasma level of brain natriuretic peptides before coronary artery bypass grafting shows a good correlation with left ventricular ejection fraction and left ventricular end diastolic diameter, which accurately reflect the state of cardiac function before coronary artery bypass grafting.

Stem cells and progenitor cells are the cells of origin for multi-cellular organisms and organs. They play key roles during development and their dysregulation gives rise to human diseases such as cancer. The recent development of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology which converts somatic cells to stem-like cells holds great promise for regenerative medicine. Nevertheless, the understanding of proliferation, differentiation, and self-renewal of stem cells and organ-specific progenitor cells is far from clear. Recently, the Hippo pathway was demonstrated to play important roles in these processes. The Hippo pathway is a newly established signaling pathway with critical functions in limiting organ size and suppressing tumorigenesis. This pathway was first found to inhibit cell proliferation and promote apoptosis, therefore regulating cell number and organ size in both Drosophila and mammals. However, in several organs, disturbance of the pathway leads to specific expansion of the progenitor cell compartment and manipulation of the pathway in embryonic stem cells strongly affects their self-renewal and differentiation. In this review, we summarize current observations on roles of the Hippo pathway in different types of stem cells and discuss how these findings changed our view on the Hippo pathway in organ development and tumorigenesis.
Animals ; Cell Differentiation ; Cell Proliferation ; Drosophila ; Drosophila Proteins ; metabolism ; Humans ; Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins ; metabolism ; Mesenchymal Stem Cells ; cytology ; metabolism ; Neoplastic Stem Cells ; cytology ; metabolism ; Nuclear Proteins ; metabolism ; Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases ; metabolism ; Signal Transduction ; Stem Cells ; cytology ; metabolism ; Transcription Factors ; metabolism

Objective:To investigate the effects of Commelina communis L. on hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R)-induced apoptosis of myocardial cells and expression of inflammatory factors through regulating NADPH oxidase 4 (Nox4). Methods:H9c2 cells were subjected to H/R to establish the injury model. These cells were then treated with different concentrations of Commelina communis L. extract. Cell activity and apoptosis were measured by MTT method and flow cytometry, respectively. Superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA) and lactate dehydrofenase (LDH) levels were detected. ELISA was performed to detect TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 levels. Western blot was used to detect the expression of Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax), cysteine-containing aspartic protease 3 (Caspase-3) and Nox4. Real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) was used to measure the expression of Nox4 at mRNA level. H9c2 cells were transfected with si-Nox4 and subjected to H/R. Changes in the activity and apoptosis of H9c2 cells, and the expression of SOD, MDA, LDH and inflammatory factors were observed after inhibiting Nox4 expression. H9c2 cells transfected with pcDNA3.1-Nox4 were treated with Commelina communis L. extract and subjected to H/R to evaluate the effects on the cell activity and apoptosis, as well as the expression of SOD, MDA, LDH and inflammatory factors. Results:The survival rate and SOD activity of H9c2 cells exposed to H/R were significantly reduced, but the apoptosis rate, the levels of Caspase-3, Bax protein, MDA, LDH TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6, and the expression of Nox4 at both mRNA and protein levels were dramatically increased ( P<0.05). As with inhibition of Nox4 expression, Commelina communis L. extract at the concentrations of 10 μg/ml and 20 μg/ml could obviously increase the survival rate and SOD activity of H9c2 cells after H/R exposure, and reduce the apoptosis rate and the expression of Caspase-3, Bax protein, MDA, LDH TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6, as well as Nox4 expression at mRNA and protein levels ( P<0.05). Overexpression of Nox4 reversed the effects of Commelina communis L. extract on promoting cardiomyocyte cell activity and SOD activity, inhibiting cell apoptosis, and downregulating the expression of Caspase-3, Bax protein, MDA, LDH, TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 in the H/R injury model. Conclusions:Commelina communis L. could protect against H/R-induced myocardial cell injury, improve cell activity, and inhibit cell apoptosis and the expression of inflammatory factors through regulating Nox4 expression.

OBJECTIVE:To investigate clinical efficacy and safety of Miao medicine Jinyin huashi granules combined with western medicine in the treatment of chronic calculous cholecystitis(CCC). METHODS:A total of 120 CCC patients in our hospi-tal during Jan. 2014-Jan. 2016 were randomly divided into control group and observation group,with 60 cases in each group. Con-trol group was given 50％ Magnesium sulfate solution 10 mL orally before meal,tid;amoxicillin 0.5 g orally,tid+Racanisodamine tablets 10 mg,tid+Compound dantong tablets 1 slice,tid,after meal. Observation group was additionally treated with Miao medi-cine Jinyin huashi granules 15 g,tid,on the basis of control group. Both groups were treated for consecutive 4 weeks. Clinical effi-cacies,the improvement of upper abdominal pain,nausea and greasy,calculus were observed in 2 groups. The thickness of gall-bladder,serum levels of IL-2 and IL-5,mRNA and protein expression of CYP7A1 and B-UCT were compared between 2 groups before and after treatment. The occurrence of ADR was recorded in 2 groups. RESULTS:Total response rate of observation group was 96.67％,which was significantly higher than 88.33％ of control group,with statistical significance (P<0.05). One d and one week after treatment,the improvement rates of upper abdominal pain were 63.33％ and 81.67％ in observation group, which were significantly than 36.67％ and 50.00％ of control group,with statistical significance(P<0.05). There was no statisti-cal significance in the improvement rate of nausea or greasy after treatment between 2 groups(P>0.05). The stone-free rate of ob-servation group was 33.33％ and significantly higher than 11.67％ of control group,with statistical significance(P<0.05). Before treatment,there was no statistical significance in the thickness of gallbladder wall,serum levels of IL-2 or IL-15,mRNA and pro-tein expression of CYP7A1 or B-UCT between 2 groups(P>0.05). After treatment,the thickness of gallbladder wall,serum lev-els of IL-2 and IL-15 were all decreased significantly in 2 groups,while mRNA and protein expression of CYP7A1 and B-UCT were increased significantly;observation group was significantly better than control group,with statistical significance (P<0.05). There was no statistical significance in the incidence of ADR between 2 groups(P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS:Miao medicine Jinyin huashi granules combined with western medicine show significant therapeutic efficacy for CCC,can effectively improve right upper quadrant pain,nausea and greasy,decrease serum levels of IL-2 and IL-5 and up-regulate mRNA and protein expression of CYP7A1 and B-UCT with good safety.