Background and purpose: The previous work of this study has showed that the treatment of liver cancer cells with emodin could induce endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and apoptosis. Given the cross-talk between ER stress and autophagy, this study aimed to investigate whether blockage of autophagy, a defense mechanism against environmental stress, could improve the killing effect of emodin on liver cancer cells. Methods: The CYTO-ID auto-phagy detection kit and Western blot were used to determine autophagy in liver cancer cells. After combined treatment with chloroquine (CQ) and emodin, cancer cell survival was analyzed by ATPlite assay and clonogenic assay. Apoptosis was detected by both flow cytometry analysis and Western blot. Results: Autophagy could be induced in liver cancer cells after treatment with emodin. Inhibition of autophagy significantly increased growth-inhibitory effect of emodin on both HepG2 and Huh7 cancer cells. The combination treatment with CQ and emodin promoted remarkable apoptosis in liver cancer cells, evidenced by the increase in the percentage of cells in sub-G1 phase and the higher expression lever of cleaved caspase-3. Conclusion: Therapeutically targeting autophagy is capable of enhancing cytotoxicity of emodin in liver cancer cell lines.

Objective To investigate the effect of simvastatin on prothrombotic state in OSAS patients with hypertension without hyperlipemia. Methods Eighty OSAS patients with hypertension without hyperlipemia were enrolled from Jan-uary 2011 to June 2014,and randomly divided into simvastatin group(40 cases)and conventional group(40 cases)(oral taken simvastatin or placeb once every night in addition of routine antihypertensive drugs).Forty healthy subjects were also recruited as control.All cases were followed up for eight weeks. Serum holesterol,nitric oxide(NO),emdothelin-1(ET-1),von Willebrand-factor(vWF) and tissue-type plasminogen activator(t-PA) levels were determined in each case before and after eight weeks orsuvastatin medication. Results Before treatment NO,t-PA levels in simvastatin group and conventional group were lower than the healthy group,ET-1, vWF levels were higher than those of control group,the differences were statistically significant(P<0.05). After treatment NO,t-PA levels in simvastatin group and conventional group increased compared with before treatment,but simvastatin group increased more significantly,ET-1,vWF levels in simvastatin group and conventional group were lower than before treatment,but simvastatin group they were more significantly lower, with statistically significant difference (P<0.05). Conclusion In patients of OSAS pa-tients with hypertension without hyper-lipemia,simvastatin can increase plasma NO,t-PA concentration and decrease ET-1,vWF concentration and thus to improve the prothrombotic status.