The present study investigates the vasodilative action of carbon monoxide on rat pulmonary artery in vitro. After isolation of the pulmonary artery rings (PAR) from Wistar rats, an ACh concentration-response curve was generated; the PARs were incubated with the NOS inhibitor L-NAME (30 micromol/L, n=10) or the heme oxygenase inhibitor ZnPPIX (10 micromol/L)+L-NAME (30 micromol/L, n=10) for 30 min. After that, a second ACh concentration-response curve was elicited. Other isolated PARs were randomly divided into two groups: endothelium-intact group (n=8) and endothelium-denuded group (n=8). The effect of exogenous carbon monoxide (CO) on pulmonary arterial vessel tone was observed. The results showed that ACh induced a concentration-dependent pulmonary vasorelaxation. This relaxation disappeared after endothelium was denuded. The ACh induced relaxation was attenuated after pretreatment with 30 micromol/L L-NAME, and attenuated further after pretreatment with 10 micromol/L ZnPPIX+30 micromol/L L-NAME. Exogenous carbon monoxide relaxed pulmonary artery in both the endothelium-intact group and the endothelium-denuded group. These data suggest that ZnPPIX inhibits ACh induced endothelium-dependent pulmonary artery relaxation and that CO is an endothelium-derived relaxation factor, and exogenous CO can relax pulmonary artery.
Acetylcholine ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Carbon Monoxide ; pharmacology ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Endothelium, Vascular ; drug effects ; Heme Oxygenase (Decyclizing) ; antagonists & inhibitors ; In Vitro Techniques ; NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester ; pharmacology ; Nitric Oxide Synthase ; antagonists & inhibitors ; Protoporphyrins ; pharmacology ; Pulmonary Artery ; drug effects ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Vasodilation ; drug effects

In recent years a huge amount of clinical studies have proved that fluctuant hypertension could aggravate the damage of target organs and increase the incidence of acute cardio-/cerebrovascular events, when compared with stable hypertension [increased mean artery blood pressure (MBP)]. How to prevent and treat fluctuant hypertension and its damage of target organs has become one of the hot and difficult problems in the field of hypertension studies all over the world. Hypertensive patients often suffer from thromboembolic target organ damage. Platelet activation plays a key role in this progress, but its concrete mechanisms have not been clearly clarified. Based on the in-depth discussions on progress of fluctuant hypertension, its relationship with platelet activation and blood stasis syndrome of Chinese medicine (CM) in recent three years, we proposed, under the fluctuant hypertensive state, the prethrombotic state has occurred in the organisms, i.e., a pathological state featured by platelet activation, liable to have vulnerable thrombopoiesis, and accompanied by endothelial dysfunction. Blood stasis syndrome might occupy an important position in CM syndrome typing of fluctuant hypertension. Herbs for activating blood circulation and removing stasis might have an extensive application prospect.
Humans ; Hypertension ; blood ; prevention & control ; Integrative Medicine ; Platelet Activation

OBJECTIVETo study the effect of embelin on proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis of HL-60 cells and explore its possible mechanism.

METHODSDifferent concentration of embelin were used to treat HL-60 cells. Cell growth curve was analysed by MTT assay, cell apoptosis by Annexin V/PI double staining and JC-1 dye. The differentiation of HL-60 cells was evaluated by expression of CD33, CD34, CD11b and CD14. Bone marrow cells (BMC) from nine patients with acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (ANML) were also studied.

RESULTSEmbelin induced differentiation of HL-60 cells with significant increase of CD14 and CD11b expression at 33.97µmol/L for 3 days (P < 0.01). Embelin induced apoptosis of HL-60 cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner, the apoptosis rates were (9.23 ± 0.05)%, (25.86 ± 0.30)% and (39.03 ± 0.07)% respectively at 339.67 µmol/L of embelin for 12-, 24- and 48-hours treatment (P < 0.05); the apoptosis rates were (0.07 ± 0.03)%, (7.43 ± 0.30)%, (14.01 ± 0.01)%, (25.52 ± 0.03)% and (39.15 ± 0.01)% respectively at 10.19, 33.97, 101.90, 339.67 and 1019.02 µmol/L of embelin for 24-hours culture (P < 0.05). Clusters of differentiation antigen on BMC from three acute promyelocytic leukemia patients showed significant changes at 33.97 µmol/L of embelin treatment for 3 days. Embelin induced apoptosis of BMCs from all the nine ANML patients at 33.97 µmol/L for 24 hour.

CONCLUSIONEmbelin can inhibit proliferation and induce differentiation and apoptosis of HL-60 cells. The mechanism may be related to mitochondrial apoptosis pathway. Embelin at subtoxic concentration doesn't promote leukemia BMC differentiation, but at 339.67 µmol/L induces apoptosis of these cells.

Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Cell Differentiation ; drug effects ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; HL-60 Cells ; Humans ; Leukemia, Promyelocytic, Acute ; metabolism

Objective To observe the T helper 1 and T helper 2(Th1/Th2)balance and possible association to vascular endothelial cells iniury in patients with acute coronary syndromes(ACS).Methods Forty patients with ACS and l 8 patients with stable angina pectoris(SAP)were included in this study.The concentrations of T helper 1/T helper 2 sabsets related cytokines in plasma were evaluated bv ELISA Kits.Cytotoxic activity of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs)or PBMCs depleted CD+ T cells against human umbilical vein endothelial cells(HUVECs)were evaluated by Cr51 cytotoxicity assay.Results Concentrations of T helper 1 related cytokines IFN-γ and IL-2 were significantly higher[IFN-γ:(131.2±42.2)ng/L vs.(47.6±20.2)ng/L;IL-2:(83.7 4±21.3)ng/L vs.(46.2±16.7)ng/I.,all P<0.05]while T helper 2 related cytokine IL-10 concentration was significantly lower[(1 6.7 ±4.3)ng/L vs.(27.5±5.5)ng/L.P<0.05 ] in patients with ACS compared to those in SAP patients.Cytotoxic activity of PBMCs against HUVECs in patients with ACS was also significantly higher than that in patients with SAP (28.84%±4.20% vs.20.28%±2.71%,P<0.05).Conclusions In patients with ACS.Th1 related cytokines were significantly upregulated while Th2 related cytokines were significantly downregulated.This imbalante of Th1/Th2 accelerated PBMCs mediated endothelium iniury in patients with ACS.

Objective To investigate the effects of fosinopril sodium pre-treatment combined with ischemic postconditioning on rat serum and myocardial oxidative stress and proinflammatory cytokines post ischemia/reperfusion. Methods Sixty Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into sham group ( n = 15 ) , ischemia/reperfusion group ( 30 minutes in situ occlusion of the left anterior descending artery followed by 1 hour nitrotetrazolium blue chloride staining, SOD content was examined by colorimetric method, MDA content was detected using thiobarbituric acid method, serum levels of Interleukin-1α (IL-lα), Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-α) were examined by radioimmunoassay, IL-lα, IL-6 and TNF-α levels of myocardial tissue were detected by ELISA. Results Compared with I/R group, myocardial enzymes and infarction size were significantly decreased ( P < 0. 05, P < 0.01) , serum SOD content was increased and MDA content was decreased (allP<0.01), serum and myocaidial levels of IL-1α, IL-6 and TNF-α were significantly reduced (P<0. 05,P<0.05, P<0.01) in IPoC group. Compared with IPoC group, fosinopril sodium pretreatment further reduced infarction size and myocardial enzyme CK-MB ( P < 0.05 ) , increased SOD content ( P < 0. 05 ) while reduced serum IL-6 and myocaidial tissue TNF-a (P <0. 05, P <0.01). Conclusion Pretreatment with fosinopril sodium enhanced the protective effect of IPoC on rat myocardium underwent I/R injury, possibly by reducing oxidative stress and early inflammatory reaction.

Myeloproliferative neoplasm is a clonal hematopoietic stem cell disease, which is often complicated by coagulation dysfunction, manifested as thrombosis and bleeding tendency. The mechanism of coagulation dysfunction in myeloproliferative neoplasm is unclear, which may be the result of multiple factors, such as proliferation and activation of leukocyte, abnormality of platelet and its receptors, JAK2V617 F mutation, vWF consumption and drugs. High-risk patients should be assessed to prevent and reduce adverse events.

BACKGROUNDBladder recurrent disease is still a challenge in the treatment of upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC). This controlled study aims to investigate the efficacy of early clipping of the distal ureter prior to nephroureterectomy (NU) to prevent bladder recurrence after UTUC.

METHODSPatients with clinical diagnosis of UTUC were subjected to open trans-peritoneal NU and were randomly divided into two groups. One group received modified NU: clipping the distal ureter prior to NU; while the other group underwent traditional standard NU. Subsequent bladder recurrence was the primary endpoint.

RESULTSFrom January 2007 to December 2009, 85 eligible cases were enrolled in this study. Modified NU and standard NU were performed on 42 and 43 patients, respectively. Operation time ((215.73 ± 21.26) minutes vs. (220.19 ± 15.35) minutes), blood loss ((105.15 ± 11.32) ml vs. (110.12 ± 9.07) ml), transfusion event (11.20% vs. 9.78%), and the in-patient time (10.0 days vs 9.5 days) were not significant between the two groups. After a median follow-up of 28 months (5 - 60), six (14.3%) cases who received modified NU had bladder recurrence, which was significantly lower compared with 15 (34.9%) patients from the group that underwent standard NU (P = 0.026). In univariate and multivariate analysis, tumor grade (HR 4.33, 95%CI 2.66 - 6.30, P = 0.01) and operation type (HR 2.35, 95%CI 1.53 - 3.48, P = 0.041) were independent risk factors for subsequent bladder recurrence after UTUC.

CONCLUSIONSClipping the distal ureter at the beginning of NU significantly reduces bladder recurrence after UTUC. It is reasonable to conclude that clipping the distal portion of ureter trans-peritoneal is an effective surgical procedure for the treatment of UTUC.

Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; prevention & control ; Nephrectomy ; methods ; Ureter ; surgery ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms ; surgery

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVEThe most effective therapy against renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is surgical treatment; however, there have been few large-scale studies that focused on the oncological outcome of this disease in China. The aim of the current study was to report the clinicopathological results and cancer-specific survival (CSS) rate in RCC patients after surgical treatment in our center.

METHODSWe retrospectively analyzed the clinicopathological data of 336 RCC patients who underwent radical or partial nephrectomy between 1999 and 2006. Of the 336 patients, 226 were male and 110 were female; the median age was 51 years. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to identify the independent prognostic predictors for this cohort of RCC patients.

RESULTSDuring follow-up, the overall 5-year CSS rate was 81.4%. The 5-year CSS rates for patients with stage-I, -II, -III, and -IV RCC were 94.7%, 88.9%, 68.8%, and 19.3%, respectively. The patients with T1N0M0 (T1) and T2N0M0 (T2) tumors had similar survival curves. For patients with T1 category tumor, the survival rate did not differ significantly between the radical nephrectomy and nephron-sparing surgery groups. For the 21 patients with metastasis confined to the local lymph nodes, the 5-year survival rate was 31.6% after radical nephrectomy and lymph node dissection. For the 15 patients with vena caval tumor thrombus, the 5-year survival rate was 52.5% after radical nephrectomy and tumor thrombus extirpation. Multivariate Cox regression showed that stage was an independent predictor for CSS (hazard ratio, 3.359; P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONSFor localized RCC, the oncological outcome of this cohort is comparable to that reported in the Western literature. For some patients with locally advanced RCC, aggressive surgical treatment can lead to better long-term survival. However, the prognosis of the patients with metastasis still needs to be improved.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell ; pathology ; surgery ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Cohort Studies ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Kidney Neoplasms ; pathology ; surgery ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; Neoplasm Staging ; Neoplastic Cells, Circulating ; Nephrectomy ; methods ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVEPatients with clinical stage I seminoma accounts for 70%-80% of patients with this disease. This study was to analyze the relationship between different therapeutic methods and the prognosis of this disease.

METHODSThe data of all patients with clinical Stage I seminoma treated by multi-disciplinary approach from 1999 to 2008 in Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center were analyzed. The patients were divided into 3 groups based on the treatment they received after orchiectomy: 30 patients treated with chemotherapy, 8 with radiotherapy, and 20 under surveillance. The prognosis of different treatment groups was evaluated.

RESULTSAmong the 58 patients with stage I seminoma, 57 were followed up successfully. The median follow-up time was 50 months (range, 8-115 months). No relapse or metastasis was seen in the chemotherapy group. One patient relapsed in the radiotherapy group. Four patients had metastasis of retroperitoneal lymph node in the surveillance group. The disease-free survival was higher in the chemotherapy group than that in the surveillance group (P=0.005). There was no significant difference in the relapse-free survival between the surveillance group and the radiotherapy group (P=0.364).

CONCLUSIONSChemotherapy is a safe and effective treatment for patients with Stage-1 seminoma after radical orchidectomy.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; therapeutic use ; Bleomycin ; therapeutic use ; Cisplatin ; therapeutic use ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Disease-Free Survival ; Etoposide ; therapeutic use ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; Neoplasm Staging ; Orchiectomy ; methods ; Retrospective Studies ; Seminoma ; drug therapy ; pathology ; radiotherapy ; surgery ; Testicular Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; pathology ; radiotherapy ; surgery ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

Aged ; Antineoplastic Agents ; administration & dosage ; Cystectomy ; Humans ; Infusions, Intra-Arterial ; Male ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; Pelvic Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms ; surgery