OBJECTIVETo investigate the impact of hyperglycemia on the hydrogen sulfide (H2S) signaling pathway in rat penile tissue and its relationship with erectile function.

METHODSTwenty healthy male Sprague Dawley (SD) rats aged 8 weeks were randomly divided into groups A (4-week healthy control), B (4-week diabetes mellitus model), C (6-week healthy control) and D (6-week diabetes mellitus model). The rats in groups B and D were injected intraperitoneally with streptozotocin at 50 mg/kg to induce diabetes mellitus, while those in groups A and C with the same volume of normal saline. The animals were killed at 4 (groups A and B) and 6 weeks (groups C and D) after treatment for measurement of the maximal intracavernous pressure/mean arterial blood pressure (ICP(max)/MAP) by electrostimulation, determination of the H2S concentration in the plasma and penile tissue, and detection of the expressions of cystathionine-beta-synthetase (CBS) and cystathionine-gamma-lyase (CSE) in the penile corpus cavernosum by immunohisto- chemistry and Western blot.

RESULTSWith electrostimulation of the pelvic ganglia at 5V and 7 V, ICP(max)/MAP was significantly reduced in groups B (0.19 +/- 0.03 and 0.29 +/- 0.04) and D (0.14 +/- 0.04 and 0.25 +/- 0.04) as compared with A (0.46 +/- 0.07 and 0.68 +/- 0.09) and C (0.43 +/- 0.07 and 0.65 +/- 0.16) (P < 0.05). No statistically significant differences were found in the level of serum testosterone either between groups A and B ([469.19 +/- 126.46] ng/dl vs [359.08 +/- 60.06] ng/dl, P > 0.05) or between C and D ([470.44 +/- 209.28] ng/dl vs [297.01 +/- 96.58] ng/dl, P > 0.05). Groups B and D showed remarkable reduction in the H2S concentration (P < 0.05) and the expressions of CBS and CSE (P < 0.05) in comparison with A and C, and the CBS and CSE expressions were even more significantly decreased in D than in B (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe reduced concentration of H2S and decreased expressions of CBS and CSE in the penile corpus cavernosum of the diabetic rats suggested that the H2S signaling pathway might be involved in hyperglycemia-induced erectile dysfunction.

Animals ; Blood Pressure ; physiology ; Cystathionine gamma-Lyase ; metabolism ; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental ; chemically induced ; metabolism ; Electric Stimulation ; methods ; Erectile Dysfunction ; etiology ; Humans ; Hydrogen Sulfide ; metabolism ; Hyperglycemia ; metabolism ; Lyases ; metabolism ; Male ; Penis ; enzymology ; physiology ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Signal Transduction ; Testosterone ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo investigate the expressions of sphingosine-1-phosphate receptors 1-3 (S1P1- 3) in the corpus cavernosum of castrated male rats and its relationship with the NOS/NO/cGMP and RhoA/Rho kinase signaling pathways.

METHODSWe equally randomized 18 eight-week-old healthy male SD rats into a sham-operation control, a castration, and a testosterone replacement (TR) group and harvested the bilateral testes and epididymides from the rats in the latter two groups, followed by 4 weeks of subcutaneous injection of testosterone propionate at 3 mg per kilogram of the body weight per day for those in the TR group and that of plant oil for those in the control and castration groups. At the age of 12 weeks, we measured the serum testosterone (T) level and maximum intracavernous pressure/mean arterial pressure (ICPmax/MAP) of the animals and determined the expressions of SlP1-3, eNOS, P-eNOS, ROCK1, and ROCK2 in the corpus cavernosum by Western blot and immunohistochemistry.

RESULTSThe serum T level was significantly decreased in the rats of the castration group as compared with those of the control and TR groups ([0.41 ± 0.04] vs [16.01 ± 1.02] and [15.84 ± 1.32] nmol/L, P < 0.01), with no statistically significant difference between the latter two groups. The ICPmax/MAP at 0 V, 3 V, and 5 V electric stimulation was remarkably lower in the rats of the castration group (0.088 ± 0.014, 0.323 ± 0.014, and 0.432 ± 0.012) than in those of the control group (0.155 ± 0.011, 0.711 ± 0. 010, and 0.819 ± 0.024) and TR group (0.153 ± 0.012, 0.696 ± 0.017, and 0.763 ± 0.027) (P < 0.01), with no significant difference between the latter two groups. With GAPDH as internal control, the animals of the castration group showed markedly reduced expressions of S1P1 ([49.99 ± 3.39]%), eNOS ([46.82 ± 3.81]%) , and P-eNOS ([45.42 ± 4.35]%) in comparison with those in the control group ([72.57 ± 3.06], [89.76 ± 3.98], and [82.53 ± 8.92] and TR group ([71.77 ± 4.43], [87.19 ± 4.23], and [79.82 ± 7.38]%) (P < 0.01) , while the expressions of S1P2, S1P3, ROCK1, and ROCK2 were significantly upregulated in the castration group ([82.35 ± 4.13], [61.03 ± 5.14], [74.50 ± 4.02], and [69.83 ± 5.75]%) as compared with those in the control group ([41.67 ± 1.68], [31.66 ± 2.67], [35.69 ± 5.56], and [39.85 ± 7.17]%) and TR group ([42.80 ± 3.87], [32.25 ± 4.22], 38.06 ± 5.21], and [42.36 ± 4.44]%) (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONAndrogen deficiency induces significant reduction of ICPmax/ MAP in male rats, which is possibly associated with the decline of S1P1 in the corpus cavernosum, inhibition of the eNOS/NO/cGMP signaling pathway, increased expressions of S1P2 and S1P3, and activation of the RhoA/Rho kinase signaling pathway.

Animals ; Male ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III ; metabolism ; Orchiectomy ; Penis ; metabolism ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Receptors, Lysosphingolipid ; metabolism ; Testosterone ; blood ; pharmacology ; rho-Associated Kinases ; metabolism

Objective To investigate the distribution of characteristics,clinical manifestations,laboratory parameters and activity index of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and to determine their role in helping to make correct clinical diagnosis and disease the activity evaluation of SLE.Methods Collect the data of 1037 SLE patients of Ningxia Medical University Affiliated Hospital from January 2006 to June 2010.Data were analyzed with t test and Chi-square test.Results Over the past three years,there were more and more patients were admitted year by year.Among the 1037 cases of SLE patients,most of them 20-40 year-old woman,accounting for 67.5％ of the whole patient population,with a male to female ratio was 1:8.26.Joint pain was the most common initial symptom,accounting for 54.3％,followed by skin rash,accounting for 48.2％.Decreased complement C3 level and platelets counts, proteinuria,and positive anti-dsDNA antibody could be used as indicators for early diagnosis of SLE.SLEDAI activity score higher than 9 were presented in 26.0％ of patients.Factors that could impact the final score of SLEADI were fever,arthritis,skin rash,proteinuria,low complement levels,high titers of anti-dsDNA antibody,pleurisy,alopecia,mucosal ulcers,pericarditis,mental illness and decreased platelets count.Patients with active disease had a higher accidence of fever,arthritis,skin rash,lung damage,alopecia,mucosal ulcers,heart damage,mental illness and renal damaged,low complement levels,high level of anti-dsDNA antibody titers and elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate.Conclusion SLE is a multi-system disease with multiple organ involvement,with characteristic clinical symptoms and immunological abnormalities,thus early diagnosis is very important.Understanding the characteristics of the diseases,correct judgement of the disease activity,reasonable and effective treatment all can delay the development of organ damage and improve the prognosis.

Objective To investigate the alterations of serological endothelin(ET) in patients with kawasaki disease(KD) and its relation with coronary dilatation(CAD).Methods Serological ET were measured in 50 cases of patients with KD in acute phase as well as subacute phase; 30 cases of patients with acute febrile infection(IC) in infective phases and 30 healthy children(HC).Results 1.ET in subacute phase significantly increased than that in acute phase.2.In both acute and subacute phases of KD, ET significantly elevated higher than that in HC; and ET in subacute phase significantly elevated than that of IC. 3. Fifty-four percentage patients with KD were complicated with CAD. For CAD subgroup, ET had no difference with CAD subgroup in subacute phase.Conclusion ET has still increases in subacute of KD,which indicates the relation with coronary artery lesion.

Objective To investigate the effects of Xanthoceraside on the learning and memory impairment induced in mire by innacere-broventricular injection of aggregated amyloid β peptide _(1-42)(Aβ_(1-42)). Methods Learning and memory functions in mice were examined us-ing step-through test and water maze test. Biochemical determination of acetylcholinesterase (AchE) and choline acetyl transferase (ChAT) were measured with spectrophotometric melhod. Results Administration of Xanthoceraside reduced number of error and prolonged the laten-cy in step-through test in mice impaired by Aβ_(1-42) (P < 0.05,P< 0.01,respectively). In water maze test,the swimming time decreased in mice treated with Xanthoceraside compared with the model mice impaired by Aβ_(1-42) (P< 0.05,P< 0.01,respectively). The results of bio-chemical determination showed that decrease level of AchE and ChAT in mice impaired by Aβ_(1-42) were significantly ameliorated by Xantho-ceraside administration (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01). Conclusion Xanthoceraside has the effect of improving learning and memory impairment in mice inducel by intracerebroventricular injection of Aβ_(1-42) via enhancing the cholinergic system functions.

Background:Inflammatory bowel disease( IBD)is a group of chronic and non-specific intestinal inflammatory diseases of undetermined origin. Functional impairment of macrophages has been associated with the dysregulation of mucosal immunity in intestinal tract of patients with IBD. Aims:To investigate the correlation of serum levels of macrophage polarization-related cytokines with the development and disease activity of IBD. Methods:A total of 105 IBD patients admitted from May 2013 to May 2014 at Shanghai Ruijin Hospital were recruited,of them 65 were Crohn’s disease (CD)and 40 were ulcerative colitis( UC). Twenty-four patients with colonic polyps were served as controls. Serum samples were obtained and the levels of interleukin-1beta(IL-1β),IL-6,IL-10,IL-13,interferon-gamma(IFN-γ)and inducible nitric oxide synthase(iNOS)were determined by ELISA method. Results:Serum levels of IL-1β,IL-6,IL-10, IL-13 and IFN-γ were significantly higher in CD group than in control group(P < 0. 05),and serum levels of IL-10,IL-13 and IFN-γ were significantly higher in UC group than in control group(P < 0. 05). Logistic regression analysis revealed that serum IL-13(OR = 1. 009,P = 0. 005)and iNOS( OR = 0. 982,P = 0. 013)were correlated with CD,while Spearman correlation coefficient demonstrated a link between serum IL-10 and disease activity of CD(rs = - 0. 432,P =0. 014). No correlations were observed between serum levels of these cytokines and development and disease activity of UC (P > 0. 05). Conclusions:Serum levels of macrophage polarization-related cytokines increase to varying degrees in IBD patients,but these cytokines have no obvious correlations with IBD and its disease activity. Presumably,theses cytokines are only involved in but not the triggers in the development of IBD.

Objective To analyze the clinical characteristics,pathological classification and therapy strategy of rectal carcinoid and its prognostic factors.Methods Forty four patients with rectal carcinoid were diagnosed and treated in Ruijin Hospital Shanghai Jiaotong University from January 2006 to November 2013,among whom 21 patients (19 males and 2 females) were followed-up for 1-7.5 years.The clinical data of these cases were retrospectively analyzed.Results The patients underwent colonoscopy because of changed bowel habits and/or abnormal digital rectal examination,none of them had carcinoid syndrome.Colonoscopy showed that most lesions presented yellowish in color and smooth in surface; the diameter of the tumor was ≤ 1.0 cm in 12 cases (57％) ; the tumors were located at the rectum within 8 cm from anal rim in 17cases (76％); most of them were well differentiated.Immunohistochemistry demonstrated that NSE expression was highly positive.The 1 year-and 3year-survival rate were both 100％.Among 8 cases who were followed up for over 5 year,2 relapsed.Conclusions The digital rectal examination plays a key role in detecting rectal carcinoid.Though prognosis is relatively good,we should keep close following-up to detect the recurrence.The main risk factors influencing the prognosis are tumor size,depth of invasion and clinical stage.The combination measurement of CEA,TSGF,CA19-9 and NSE will either increase the sensitivity or the specificity of early detection.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the levels of secretions from the prostate and seminal vesicles and their association with the expressions of aquaporins (AQP) in the prostatic tissue and seminal vesicles of castrated rats.

METHODSWe randomly divided 18 eight-week-old male SD rats into a control, a castration, and a testosterone (T) replacement group. Four weeks after surgical castration, we detected the plasma T level and measured the volumes of the secretions and the expressions of AQPs 3, 7, and 10 - 12 in the prostate and seminal vesicles of the rats.

RESULTSThe plasma T level was significantly lower in the castrated models ([30. 98 ± 28. 84] ng/dl) than in the rats of the control ([700.78 ± 123.8] ng/dl) and T replacement groups ([688.08 ± 132. 47] ng/dl) (P <0. 05). The castration group, in comparison with the control and T replacement groups, showed remarkably reduced ratios of prostatic secretion volume / prostate weight ([11.1 ± 0.30] vs [2.32 ± 0.61] and [2.13 ± 0.56] %, P <0. 05) and seminal vesicle secretion volume / seminal vesicle weight ( [4. 78 ± 1. 97 ] vs [57. 36 ± 11. 86] and [55. 74 ± 7. 21] %, P < 0. 05). Immunohistochemistry revealed the expressions of AQPs 3 and 7 in the epithelial envelop and cytoplasm and that of AQP 11 the in endothelial envelop and cytoplasm of the prostate and seminal vesicles. Western blot exhibited significantly lower expressions of AQPs 3, 7, and 10 - 12 in the prostate and seminal vesicles of the castrated rats than in the animals of the control and T replacement groups (P <0. 05).

CONCLUSIONSignificant decreases of the secretions from the prostate and seminal vesicles may be related to the reduced expressions of AQPs 3, 7, and 10 - 12 in the prostatic tissue and seminal vesicles in castrated rats.

Animals ; Aquaporins ; metabolism ; Humans ; Male ; Orchiectomy ; Prostate ; metabolism ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Seminal Vesicles ; metabolism ; Testosterone ; blood

AlM:To explore the primary culture conditions for four kinds of lens epithelial cells ( LECs) of rat, rabbit, dog, and human, and measure their growth characteristics.METHODS:The lens capsule or anterior capsular tissue of rat, rabbit, dog and patient were removed by different methods, and they were cut into tiny pieces for primary culture by modified tissue adherent method. The morphological features of four kinds of LECs were observed under an inverted microscope.RESULTS: Four kinds of LECs of rat, rabbit, dog and human could be cultured primarily by tissue adherent method. With the evolution of tissue source, the adherent capacity of LECs gradually strengthened, cells form were changed from irregular polygon to oval, nucleus rounded and cytoplasm enriched gradually. Four kinds of LECs had fibrotic changes after several passages.CONCLUSlON: LECs of rat, rabbit, dog and human can be primarily cultured. This method lays the foundation for the mechanism research of caratact and related fields on the cellular and molecular levels.

OBJECTIVETo analyze the effects of Ling Qi Juan Gan capsule drug-containing serum at different concentrations on the platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-induced proliferative capabilities of and JAK2 and p-STAT3 protein expression in hepatic stellate cells (HSC) using an in vitro system.

METHODSTwenty-five Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into five equal groups for intragastric administration of physiological saline (10 ml/kg; group A), Fufang Biejia Ruangan tablet solution (1.5 g/kg; group B), or Ling Qi Juan Gan capsule solution at low dose (2.125 g/kg; group C1), mid dose (4.25 g/kg; group C2), or high dose (8.5 g/kg; group C3). The post-administration serum isolated from each rat (200 ml/L) was used to treat the HSC-T6 cell line following induction by PDGF (10 ng/ml). At 24, 48 and 72 h post-exposure, the cells' proliferation was measured using the Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) colorimetric assay. In addition, at 24 h post-exposure the expression of JAK2 and p-STAT3 was measured by western blotting (expressed as grey scale intensity). Multiple group comparison of repeated measures data was made by one-way ANOVA with Student-Newman-Keuls post hoc test.

RESULTSCompared to group A, groups C2 and C3 had significantly higher inhibited proliferation at all post-exposure time points examined (24 h: A = 1.550 +/- 0.065, C2 = 1.335 +/- 0.106, C3 = 1.241 +/- 0.205; 48 h: A = 1.311 +/- 0.650, C2 = 1.090 +/- 0.106, C3 = 0.909 +/- 0.191; 72 h: A = 1.039 +/- 0.103, C2 = 0.719 +/- 0.116, C3 = 0.641 +/- 0.110, F = 36.292, all P less than 0.05); in contrast, compared to group A, group C1 showed no inhibition of proliferation at 24 h (1.522 +/- 0.128, P = 0.717) but showed significantly higher inhibition of proliferation at 48 h and 72 h (1.153 +/- 0.183 and 0.753 +/- 0.210, respectively, F = 36.292, P less than 0.05). Compared with group A, all Ling Qi Juan Gan capsule-containing serum-treated groups showed significantly lower expression of both JAK2 (A = 1.605 +/- 0.024 vs. C1 = 1.170 +/- 0.042, C2 = 0.842 +/- 0.036, C3 = 0.555 +/- 0.036, F = 43.091) and p-STAT3 (A = 1.401 +/- 0.030 vs. C1 = 1.229 +/- 0.025, C2 = 0.668 +/- 0.034, C3 = 0.630 +/- 0.026, F = 78.426, all P less than 0.01).

CONCLUSIONLing Qi Juan Gan capsule drug-containing serum can inhibit the proliferation of HSC-T6 cells in a dose-dependent manner and cause an overall decrease in the expression of JAK2 and p-STAT3 in activated HSC, thereby leading to a suppression of the JAK/STAT signal transduction pathway.

Animals ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Hepatic Stellate Cells ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Janus Kinase 2 ; metabolism ; Male ; Platelet-Derived Growth Factor ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; STAT3 Transcription Factor ; metabolism ; Serum ; Signal Transduction ; drug effects