AIM:To investigate the effects of high-fat diet on the level of intracellular free calcium ([Ca2+]i) and the activity of angiotensinⅠconverting enzyme (ACE) in alveolar macrophages (AMs) of rabbits. The association between asthma and high-fat diet was also observed. METHODS: Twelve male New Zealand rabbits were medially divided into normal diet group and 1.2% high-cholesterol diet group randomly. 8 weeks later, bronchial alveolar lavage was performed in vitro. [Ca2+]i was determined by Fluo-2/am.The activity of ACE was detected with ultraviolet method. RESULTS: The levels of [Ca2+]i in AMs greatly increased (P

Sixty-eight patients with pneumoconiosis combined with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease underwent large volume lavage in one lung under double cavity tracheal intubation and intravenousinhalant anesthesia. The vital signs of patients were recorded before, 10, 30min after and at the end of lavage. Results showed that the vital signs were stable during the lavage; and after the lavage all patients had relief significantly from the symptoms of dyspnea, polypnea and cough. Our results indicate that general anesthesia with bilateral lung ventilation are a safe and effective method in large volume whole lung lavage for treatment of pneumoconiosis patients combined with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

AIM: To evaluate the role of human angiotensin Ⅱ(AngⅡ) type Ⅰ receptor (AT1R) antisense cDNA (ahAT1) on migration of cultured artery smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). METHODS: Two recombinant adenoviral vectors, Ad/CMV. ahAT1 containing full length antisense cDNA targeting to human AT1R mRNA, and Ad/CMV.LacZ containing LacZ called report gene, were constructed by orientation clone technology and homologous recombination, and then were used to transfect VSMCs in vitro. AT1R expression detected by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry, and migration of VSMCs measured by Boyden's Chamer methods, were compared between transfected and non- transfected VSMCs. RESULTS: Forty-eight hours after Ad/CMV. ahAT1 transfection, the level of AT1R mRNA decreased markedly (50% of control group), and AT1R protein expression was significantly less (P

Objective:To study the effects of the conditioned medium (CM) from human lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549 on the viability and apoptosis of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and the role of PI3K-Akt signaling pathway in the process. Methods:HUVECs were cultured with CM of A549 cells. Cell viability was detected by XTT assay. The morphological changes of HUVECs were analyzed by Hoechst 33258 staining and fluorescence microscopy. The apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry. Expression levels of total Akt and phosphorylated Akt were assessed by Western blotting. PI3K inhibitors wortmannin(WT)and Akt1 siRNA(siAkt1)were used to block PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. The mRNA transcription of Akt subtype was determined by RT-PCR.Results:A549 CM significantly increased cell viability after 24 h treatment (P=0.037) and inhibited apoptosis (P=0.001) of HUVECs. CM time-dependently activated phosphorylation of Akt. Akt was phosphorylated at 15 min after CM treatment and reached the peak at 30 min and then tended to decline. Both WT and siAkt1 blocked the effects of CM. Conclusion:The CM of A549 cells increased the survival and inhibit the apoptosis of HUVECs. Akt1 played a significant role in the process.

Objective To systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of different administration methods of recombinant human endostatin(Endostatin)in the treatment of malignant pleural effusion in non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC),and to provide more evidence-based bases for the clinical standardization of the use of Endostatin beyond the drug specification.Methods PubMed,The Cochrane Library,Web of Science,Embase,ChiCTR,VIP,CNKI,WanFang,and SinoMed databases were searched by computer for randomized controlled trials(RCT)of Endostatin alone or combined with chemotherapy for malignant pleural effusion in NSCLC.Network Meta-analysis was performed using Stata 14.0 software.Results A total of 50 RCTs involving 3 429 patients were included,covering 5 intervention measures.Network Meta-analysis showed that in terms of clinical effectiveness,there was no statistically significant difference between Endostatin(thoracic perfusion)+chemotherapeutic drug(thoracic perfusion or intravenous drip)and Endostatin(intravenous drip)+chemotherapeutic drug(thoracic perfusion or intravenous drip),and Endostatin(thoracic perfusion)and chemotherapeutic drug(thoracic perfusion)(P＞0.05);there were statistically differences between Endostatin(thoracic perfusion)+chemotherapeutic drug(thoracic perfusion or intravenous drip)and Endostatin(thoracic perfusion)[OR=3.44,95％CI(2.29,4.50),P＜0.05],and Endostatin(thoracic perfusion)+chemotherapeutic drug(thoracic perfusion or intravenous drip)and chemotherapeutic drug(thoracic perfusion)[OR=3.78,95％CI(3.16,4.51),P＜0.05](P＜0.05).The surface under the cumulative ranking curve(SUCRA)showed that Endostatin(thoracic perfusion)+chemotherapeutic drug(thoracic perfusion or intravenous drip)＞Endostatin(intravenous drip)+chemotherapeutic drug(thoracic perfusion or intravenous drip)＞Endostatin(thoracic perfusion)＞chemotherapeutic drug(thoracic perfusion)＞chemotherapeutic drug(intravenous drip).In terms of adverse effects,such as gastrointestinal reaction,and reduction of white blood cells and platelets,there was no statistically significant difference among the different interventions(P＞0.05).Conclusion Endostatin either by pleural instillation or combined with first-line chemotherapy drugs significantly improves clinical efficacy in malignant pleural effusion in NSCLC,and it is better and safer with thoracic perfusion efficacy.

Background and objective Matrine, one of the major alkaloid components of the traditional Chinese medicine Sophora roots, has a wide range of pharmacological effects including anti-inflammatory activities, growth inhibition and induction of cell differentiation and apoptosis. Motigen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) has found to be a crucial signaling pathway in endothelial ceils. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of Matrine and MAPK/ERK signal transduction in the inhibition of the proliferation and migration of human umbilical veins en-dothelial cells (HUVECs) induced by lung cancer cells. Methods HUVECs were cultured with A549CM. Mat or PD98059 (i.e PD), specific inhibitor of MAPK/ERK, was added into the A549CM. The proliferation of the HUVECs was measured by cell counting. The migration of the HUVECs was observed by wound healing assay. The expression levels of ERK and p-ERK pro-tein were detected by Western Blot analysis. Results On 24 hours after intervention, the A549CM significantly stimulated the proliferation, migration and expression of p-ERK of HUVECs. Compared with the A549CM group, Mat significantly inhibited the proliferation, migration and p-ERK expression of HUVECs induced by A549CM. While PD only decreased the prolifera-tion and p-ERK expression of HUVECs induced by A549CM PD had no effect in the migration of HUVECs. Conclusion The results demonstrated that Mat and PD98059 can effectively decrease proliferation and expression ofp-ERK of HUVECs induced by A549CM. Furthermore Mat can also inhibit migration of HU-VECs induced by A549CM that did not changed by PD98059. These data implied that suppressing MAPK/ERK signal transduction may play the crucial role in resisting lung cacinoma anglo-genesis with Mat.