Composite tissue allotransplantation is a new option in reconstruction surgery,but the immunological rejection is accepted as an public medical problem after surgery.As the number of composite tissue allotransplantation increases,postoperative immunosuppression becomes the new hot.This article will illustrate and summarize the progess of postoperative immunesuppression.

CardiovascuIar disease is the number one cause for morbidity and mortaIity worIdwide. Possi-biIities for new therapies in the emerging fieId of cardiac signaIIing prompted extensive research on myocardiaI re-modeIIing over the past decades. In this review,we as-sembIe an overview of the recent findings on the muIti-functionaI enzyme,p21-activated kinase 1( Pak1),a member of a serine/ threonine protein kinase famiIy in the heart,particuIarIy its cardiac protective effects. We pres-ent a modeI for Pak1 signaIing that provides a mecha-nism for specificaIIy affecting cardiac ceIIuIar processes. We discuss its cardiac protective effects such as anti-hy-pertrophy,anti-ischaemic injury and roIe in maintaining ventricuIar Ca2+ homeostasis and eIectrophysioIogicaI stabiIity under physioIogicaI, β-adrenergic and hyper-trophic stress conditions.We aIso discuss the potentiaIs of Pak1 activation by naturaIIy occurring sphingosine and its anaIogues FTY720,and bioactive peptides designed to diminish Pak1 auto-inhibition as noveI thera-peutics for major cardiovascuIar diseases.

To screen potential hamster chymase 2 inhibitors, a high-throughput screening (HTS) model was established. Recombinant hamster chymase 2 with active form was cloned and expressed in E. coli. The HTS model with total volume of 50 microL in 384-well microplate was based on fluorescence analysis and was proved sensitive as well as specific (Z' = 0.84). A total of 40 080 samples (including 28 060 compounds and 12 020 natural products) were screened, and 613 samples with inhibition greater than 90% were selected for further rescreening. Finally, compounds J16647 and J16648 were identified with high inhibitory activity on chymase 2, and whose IC50 values were 0.823 and 0.690 micromol x L(-1), respectively.

To screen potential human soluble protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) inhibitors, a high-throughput screening (HTS) model in 384-well microplate with total volume of 50 microL was established. Recombinant PTP1B was cloned and expressed in E. coli. with its specific substrate 4-nitrophenyl phosphate disodium salt hexahydrate (PNPP). The HTS model was based on enzyme reaction rate with enhanced sensitivity and specificity (Z' = 0.78). A total of 24,240 samples were screened, among them 80 samples with inhibition greater than 70% were selected for further rescreening. Finally, six compounds with high inhibitory activity were identified, whose IC50 values were 21.58, 18.39, 15.37, 11.92, 37.27, and 36.61 microg x mL(-1), separately. The results indicated that the method was stable, sensitive, reproducible and also suitable for high-throughput screening.

To screen potential human soluble epoxide hydrolase (hsEH) inhibitors, a high-throughput screening model in 384-well microplate with total volume of 50 microL was established. Recombinant hsEH was cloned and expressed in E. coli. and its specific substrate PHOME was synthesized. The HTS model was based on fluorescence analysis with enhanced sensitivity and specificity (Z' = 0.65). A total of 47 360 samples (including 25 040 compounds and 22 320 natural products) were screened, of which 950 samples with inhibition greater than 80% were selected for further rescreening. Finally, two compounds with high inhibitory activity were identified, whose IC50 value were 8.56 and 4.31 micromol x L(-1), separately. The results indicated that the method was stable, sensitive, reproducible and also suitable for high-throughput screening.

Objective To develop and validate a simple,rapid,sensitive,and reproducible HPLC method for simultaneous determination of baicalein and its metabolite baicalin in dog plasma and for the subsequent pharmacokinetic study after iv administration to dogs.Methods An accurate and reproducible HPLC-UV method was developed and validated for simultaneous determination of baicalein and baicalin in dog plasma,using luteolin as internal standard.The analytes were separated by an Agilent Zorbax SB-C<,18> column(250 mm×4.6 mm,5μm)and the column temperature was maintained at 40 ℃.The mobile phase was a binary mixture of acetonitrile and water(27:73),containing 0.05% phosphoric acid in water,with a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min.The UV detector was set al 276 nm.Results Linear relationships were validated over the range of 0.05-25 μg/mL for baicalein and 0.05-20 μg/mL for baicalin.The intra-and inter-day precision values for all samples were within 8.0%,using relative standard deviation.This method was successfully applied to the pharmacokinetic studies in dogs after iv administration of baicalein.Baicalein was converted to baicalin quickly.Cmax values were 21.13 μg/mL at 0.05 h for baicalein and 1.57 μg/mL at 0.5 h for baicalin,areas under the plasma concentration-time curve were 4.97 h.μg/mL for baicalein and 0.63 h.μtg/mL for baicalin,and the elimination half-life is 0.50 h for baicalein and 0.75 h for baicalin,respectively.Conclusion The method is able and sufficient to be used in drug metabolism and pharmacoklnetic studies of baicalein.

This study is to investigate the effect of total flavonoids of Uygur medicine bugloss (BTF) on rats with myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury, and to explore the mechanisms by which it acts. Left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery in rats was occluded for 30 min followed by 4 h reperfusion. Meanwhile, BTF dissolved in saline was administered intraperitoneally at dosage of 10, 30 and 50 mg x kg(-1). Electrocardiograph, infarction index, serum myocardial enzymes and heart function were determined to evaluate the effect of BTF. Some other observations were carried out to explore whether inhibiting inflammation and apoptosis is involved in the mechanisms underlying BTF. Our results showed that in ischemia/reperfusion injured rats BTF could dose-dependently reduce myocardial infarction index and myocardial enzyme leakage, and enhance heart function, indicating that it possesses significant cardio protection. ELISA analysis showed that BTF could decrease the content of myocardial inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1beta, IL-6 and TNF-alpha. Western-blotting confirmed that BTF could increase the expression of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 and reduce the expression of proapoptosis protein Bax. Further more, the phosphorylation level of PI3K and Akt was upregulated by BTF treatment. BTF can protect rat against myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury. Anti-inflammation and inhibition of apoptosis through upregulating PI3K/Akt signal pathway may contribute to the protective effect of BTF.

Salvianolic acid A is a water-soluble component from Danshen, which is frequently used in traditional Chinese medicine. High performance liquid chromatography was often used to analyze content of salvianolic acid A. The yield of salvianolic acid A increased by the technological improvement of extraction and separation. Salvianolic acid A possessed multiple pharmacological activities, including antioxidants, myocardial ischemic protection, antithrombatic, neuroprotection, anti fibrosis, prevention of diabetes and complications. Recently, preliminary pharmacokinetics characteristics of salvianolic acid A were clarified. Based on the research literature and study work from author's laboratory, this review will focus on recent developments concerning the chemistry, pharmacology and pharmacokinetic of salvianolic acid A, and prospect further research.
Animals ; Biomedical Research ; Caffeic Acids ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Drug Therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Lactates ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Molecular Structure ; Salvia miltiorrhiza ; chemistry

Objective To evaluate the effect of different kind of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) therapy in treating Kawasaki disease (KD) and preventing cardiac consequences (coronary artery lesion, CAL). Methods A questionnaire form and guideline for KD diagnosis were sent to 50 hospitals providing pediatric medical care in Shanghai. The data from a total of 1 682 KD patients were collected. It included 1 064 males and 618 females from 1998 through 2008 in Shanghai. The average age of the KD patients was (2.57±2.33) years old (0.1-18.8 years).The patients had been divided into 6 groups for different IVIG therapy, which included 1 g/kg once, 2 g/kg once, 0.4-0.5 g/kg five times, 1 g/kg twice, 2 g/kg twice and others. SAS 6.12 software was used for statistical analysis. Results In all KD patients, the patients treated with IV1G in 5th-10th day of illness has the least cardiac complication and CAL incidence and the group with IVIG therapy of 1 g/kg twice also has the least cardiac complication and CAL incidence. Conclusions The best doses of IVIG in treating KD is 1 g/kg twice and the IVIG therapy should be used in 5th-10th day of KD illness.

Objective To explore and verify the protective and therapeutic effects and possible mechanisms of Zukamu granules on hypoxia alone and hypoxia+Su5416-induced hypoxic pulmonary hypertension(HPH)in mice.Methods Multiple databases and related literature were used to collect the active ingredients data in Zukamu granules and the HPH-related targets were predicted and obtained.The network construction and enrichment analysis were performed.The HPH mouse models were es-tablished by two-week hypoxia and four-week hypoxia+Su5416 induction,and the relevant indicators and the main pharmacodyna-mic indexes such as right ventricular pressure were tested.Masson staining was used to observe the pathological changes in lung tissues,and Western blotting was used to detect the expression levels of bax,bcl-2,PI3K,p-PI3K,eNOS,and HIF-1α in lung tis-sues.Results A total of 167 active ingredients of Zukamu granules were screened,with 179 intersecting targets with HPH,in-cluding targets like PIK3CA and HIF-1.The validation experimental results showed that Zukamu granules could significantly re-duce right ventricular systolic pressure and right ventricular hypertrophy in HPH mice,and down-regulate the expression of bcl-2 and HIF-1α and up-regulate the expression of bax,PI3K,p-PI3K and eNOS in mice lung tissues.Conclusion Zukamu gran-ules may act against HPH by modulating bax/bcl and PI3K-eNOS/HIF-1α signaling pathways.