OBJECTIVETo study the protective effect and mechanism of salvianolic acid B (Sal B) on glutamate-induced excito-toxicity.

METHODGlutamate-induced PC12 cell injury model was established to detect the cell survival rate by MTT, the leakage rate of lactic dehydrogenases using LDH, and the cell apoptosis by using AO/EB double staining for fluorescence microscope and PI single staining flow cytometry which was also used to detect the content of intracellular reactive oxygen species. The expression of Caspase-3 protein was also detected by the Western blotting method.

RESULTSal B is proved to inhibit glutamate-induced PC12 cells from injury and prevent them from releasing LDH within the range from 50 micromol x L(-1) to 200 micromol x L(-1). Meanwhile, Sal B has an effect on significantly reducing the expression of inhibit glutamate-induced active Caspase-3 protein, inhibiting accumulated glutamate-induced ROS and decreasing PC12 cell apoptosis rate within the range from 50 micromol x L(-1) to 200 micromol x L(-1).

CONCLUSIONThe study proves that Sal B prevented against glutamate-induced cell injury via inhibiting ROS formation and Caspase-3 pathway-dependent apoptosis in PC12 cells.

Action Potentials ; drug effects ; Animals ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Benzofurans ; pharmacology ; Caspase 3 ; metabolism ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists ; pharmacology ; Glutamic Acid ; adverse effects ; Lactate Dehydrogenases ; metabolism ; PC12 Cells ; Pheochromocytoma ; metabolism ; Rats ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; metabolism

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) preconditioning on the expression of liver protein kinase 1 (LKB1), adenosine 5'-monophosphate (AMP)-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase (PFK2) in cardiomyocytes of rats with acute myocardial ischemia (AMI), so as to explore its mechanisms underlying cardioprotective effect. METHODS: Thirty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into sham-operation, model and EA pretreatment groups (n＝10 rats per group). The AMI model was established by ligation of the left anterior descending branch of coronary artery. Before modeling, EA preconditioning (2 Hz/15 Hz, 1 mA) was applied to bilateral "Neiguan"(PC6) for 30 min, once daily for 14 days. Histopathological changes of myocardium was observed by microscope after H．E. staining. The level of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in serum was detected by ELISA. The expression of autophagy-associated proteins and mRNAs as LKB1, AMPKa1, AMPKa2 and PFK2 were detected by Western blot and real-time PCR, respectively. RESULTS: Compared with the sham-operation group, serum LDH content, and expression levels of myocardial AMPKa2 and PFK2 proteins and mRNAs were significantly up-regulated (P<0.01), and those of LKB1 and AMPKa1 proteins and mRNAs were increased in the model group (P<0.05). Following the intervention, serum LDH were apparently down-regulated (P<0.01), and expression levels of myocardial LKB1, AMPKa1 and PFK2 proteins and mRNAs were apparently up-regulated (P<0.01), but that of AMPKa2 protein and mRNA was remarkably down-regulated in the EA group (P<0.01). H．E. staining showed cell swelling, disordered arrangement of myocardial fibers with obvious rupture, interstitial bleeding and inflammatory infiltration, which was relatively milder in the EA preconditioning group. CONCLUSION: EA pretreatment can trigger LKB1/AMPK/PFK2 signaling pathway in AMI rats, which may contribute to its cardioprotective effect against ischemic myocardial injury by activating autophagy of cardiomyocytes.　.

The aim of this paper was to observe the effect of gambogenic acid on angiogenesis of lung cancer and its preliminary mechanism. After culturing lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells, the conditioned medium was treated with gambogenic acid and then used to culture human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) to establish the indirect contact cell co-culture system. A two-dimensional culture model of HUVEC was established with matrigel to observe the effect of gambogenic acid on angiogenesis. DAPI staining was used to observe the morphological changes in HUVEC cells after treatment with gambogenic acid under the fluorescence microscope. Annexin V-FITC/PI staining and flow cytometry analysis were used to determine gambogenic acid's effect on HUVEC cell apoptosis rate. The protein expressions of PI3K, p-PI3K, Akt, p-Akt were measured by Western blot. PTEN-siRNA was transfected into cells, and RT-PCR was used to detect the expression levels of PI3K and Akt genes. Gambogenic acid can significantly inhibit angiogenesis, and its inhibitory effect was dose-dependent. DAPI staining showed apoptotic morphological features of HUVEC cells under fluorescence microscope. Annexin V-FITC/PI staining showed that gambogenic acid induced apoptosis in HUVECs. The results of Western blot showed that the expressions of p-PI3K and p-Akt protein were down-regulated with gambogenic acid, while the expressions of PI3K and Akt protein was insignificant. The results of RT-PCR indicated that the expressions of PI3K and Akt protein were up-regulated by PTEN siRNA. Gambogenic acid can inhibit angiogenesis in lung cancer in vitro, and the mechanism of inhibiting angiogenesis may be related to the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.
A549 Cells ; Apoptosis ; Coculture Techniques ; Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells ; drug effects ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Neovascularization, Pathologic ; pathology ; PTEN Phosphohydrolase ; genetics ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases ; metabolism ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt ; metabolism ; Transfection ; Xanthenes ; pharmacology

AIM: To investigate the protective mechanism of gastrodin against hydrogen peroxide (H

OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinical efficacy of Pi needle percutaneous multi-segmental fasciotomy as a minimally invasive treatment for Dupuytren's contracture.

METHODSSixteen patients(25 fingers: 4 middle fingers, 12 ring fingers, 9 little fingers) were involved in the study, including 11 males and 5 females. There were 2 cases on both hands and 14 cases of single hand disease, including 8 cases of left hand and 6 cases of right hand. The age ranged from 48 to 79 years old, with a mean age of 58.5 years old. The duration of the disease ranged from 1 to 15 years, with a mean time of 5.5 years. There were 12 cases of physical labor, 4 cases of non physical labor, with no family history of palmar fascial contracture. There were 9 cases of tobacco and alcohol addicts, 6 cases with hypertension history, and 3 cases of diabetes mellitus. According to Meyerding classification, 1 case was stage 0, 1 case was stage I, 10 cases were stage II, 4 cases were stage III and 0 case was stage IV. The postoperative function of Dupuytren's contracture patients was evaluated according to Adam efficacy evaluation criteria.

RESULTSThe time of incision healing time ranged from 7 to 14 days, 10 days on average. The 3 fingers incision skin cracked 3 to 4 mm during the loosening process, and 14 days after dressing changed, no skin necrosis and wound infection complication occurred. After treatment, fascia contracture of 24 fingers completely or almost disappeared. Limited extension of metacarpophalangeal joint and interphalangeal joint ranged from 0 to 10 degrees, 22 fingers showed normal function of finger extension, 2 fingers had more than 75% elongation function, and 1 finger recurred. According to the evaluation of Adam evaluable standard of curative effect on the postoperative function of Dupuytrens's contracture: 22 fingers got an excellent result, 2 fingers good and 1 finger recurred. The patients were satisfied with the results of the treatment.

CONCLUSIONSPi needle percutaneous multi-segmental fasciotomy for the treatment of Dupuytren's contracture is a simple, minimally invasive and effective method.

ObjectiveTo observe the protective effect of Didang Xianxiong decoction on the kidneys of diabetic rats， its regulation on the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase （PI3K）/protein kinase B （Akt） signaling pathway， and its influence on podocyte apoptosis and explore the mechanism of Didang Xianxiong decoction in improving diabetic nephropathy. MethodThe diabetic model was established by a single intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin （STZ） solution of 55 mg·kg^-1. The successfully replicated model rats were randomly divided into the model group， Didang Xianxiong decoction group （8.10 g·kg^-1）， Xiao Xianxiongtang group （4.05 g·kg^-1）， Didangtang group （4.05 g·kg^-1）， and alagebrium （ALT-711） group （3 mg·kg^-1）， with six rats in each group. In addition， six rats were included in the blank group. After continuous administration for eight weeks， hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining was used to observe the pathological changes in rats' kidney tissue. Masson staining was used to observe the degree of collagen deposition. Periodic acid-Schiff （PAS） staining was used to observe basement membrane lesions， and immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of phosphorylation （p）-PI3K and p-Akt proteins in rats' kidney tissue. The terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling （TUNEL） method was used to detect podocyte apoptosis. Real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction （Real-time PCR） was used to detect the mRNA expression of PI3K and Akt in rats' kidney tissue. Western blot was used to detect the protein expression of PI3K， p-PI3K， Akt， p-Akt， B-cell lymphoma 2 （Bcl-2）， Bcl-2-associated X protein （Bax）， phosphorylation glycogen synthase kinase-3β （p-GSK-3β）， and Caspase-3 in the kidney tissue. ResultCompared with the normal group， the model group had compensatory expansion of glomeruli， proliferation of mesangial cells， a large amount of collagen deposition in the mesangial stroma， thickening of the basement membrane， decreased mRNA expression of PI3K and Akt， and inhibition of PI3K and Akt protein phosphorylation （P<0.01）. It also underwent enhanced apoptotic signaling， decreased expression of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 （P<0.01）， and increased expression of Bax， p-GSK-3β， and Caspase-3 （P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， Didang Xianxiong decoction significantly improved kidney tissue pathology， increased mRNA expression of PI3K and Akt （P<0.01）， significantly up-regulated phosphorylation levels of PI3K and Akt proteins （P<0.01） and Bcl-2 expression （P<0.01）， downregulated the expression of Bax， p-GSK-3β， and Caspase-3 （P<0.01）， and weakened podocyte apoptotic signaling. ConclusionDidang Xianxiong decoction may promote the activation of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway， inhibit podocyte apoptosis， and thus slow down the progression of diabetic nephropathy.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of Naoluo Xintong Decoction (NLXTD) on pyroptosis and angiogenesis of brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMECs) and explore the possible mechanisms in rats with oxygen-glucose deprivation/ reperfusion (OGD/R). METHODS: Rat BMECs with or without caspase-1 siRNA transfection were cultured in the presence of 10% medicated serum from NLXTD-treated rats (or blank serum) and exposed to OGD/R. CCK-8 assay, Transwell chamber assay, and tube formation assay were used to assess proliferation, migration, and tube-forming abilities of the cells. The activity of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in the culture supernatant was determined using a commercial assay kit, and the levels of inflammatory factors IL-1β and IL-18 were detected with ELISA. The cellular expressions of pro-caspase-1, caspase-1, NLRP3, Gasdermin D, and angiogenesis-related proteins VEGF and VEGFR2 were detected using Western blotting. RESULTS: The BMECs showed obvious injuries after OGD/R exposure. Compared with the blank serum, the medicated serum significantly improved the cell viability, migration ability, and lumen-forming ability (P < 0.01) and lowered the levels of IL-1β and IL-18 and the LDH release (P < 0.01) of the cells with OGD/R exposure. Western blotting showed that in the BMECs exposed to OGD/R, the medicated serum strongly upregulated the expression of VEGF and VEGFR2 proteins (P < 0.01) and reduced the protein expressions of pro-caspase-1, caspase-1, NLRP3, and Gasdermin D (P < 0.01), and transfection of the cells with caspase-1 siRNA further promoted the expressions of VEGFR2 protein in the cells (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION NLXTD can improve the proliferation, migration, and tube- forming ability and promote angiogenesis of BMECs with OGD/R injury probably by inhibiting the caspase-1/Gasdermin D pathway in pyroptosis, alleviating cell injury, and upregulating the expressions of VEGF and VEGFR2.
Animals ; Rats ; Endothelial Cells ; Caspase 1 ; Gasdermins ; Interleukin-18 ; NLR Family, Pyrin Domain-Containing 3 Protein ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; Reperfusion Injury ; Brain ; Angiogenic Proteins ; Glucose

In this study, multivariate statistical analysis was applied to characterize the flowability of different types of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), and the visualization of R language was used to explore the intrinsic correlation on its performances. To verify the operability of multivariate statistical analysis, we compared the results of the conventional methods such as repose angle method, Hausner ratio method, Carr's index method and the parameter a of Kawakita equation to determine whether there are significant differences between the conventional ones and multivariate statistical analysis. Moreover, the fillibility and compressibility were characterized by parameters 1/b of Kawakita equation and the means of pressure-tensile strength and compressibility curve method, respectively. The data was analyzed through R language for visualizing the correlation among the performance parameters of MCC. The flowability of the series of microcrystalline cellulose PH (MCCPH) were superior to the series of microcrystalline cellulose WJ (MCCWJ), the compressibility of MCCPH-302 was optimum, and the flowability and fallibility of MCCPH-102 were better than others. The results of conventional methods were consistent with multivariate statistical analysis. The fillibility was positively correlated with flowability, both negatively correlated with compressibility by analyzing correlation coefficient diagram, which was statistically significant (P<0.01). It is reasonable that adopting multivariate statistical analysis to character the flowability of powders, which is more objective than the traditional approach. The correlation visualization of performance parameters of powders provides convenience for screening preparation material via the visualization of R language.

Aim To investigate the relation between the effect of geniposide (GE) in improving angiogenesis in arthralgia spasm syndrome collagen induced arthritis (CIA) rats and the modulation of heat shock proteins 70 (HSP70) release. Methods A CIA model was constructed by multiple intradermal injections of complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) and an equal volume mixture of chicken type II collagen (CCII) into the dorsal and caudal root regions of rats, on the basis of which a rheumatic fever stimulus was given to build up a moist heat arthralgia spasm syndrome in CIA rats. After successful modeling, the groups were randomly grouped, and the administered groups were gavaged with GE (60, 120 mg · kg

Heart failure is a complex clinical syndrome，which is the final result of compensatory failure of heart injury caused by various reasons. Long-term persistent cardiac stress leads to mitochondrial dysfunction，which in turn further damages cardiomyocytes and leads to disease progression. Timely removal of damaged mitochondria in cardiomyocytes and maintaining a good living environment of viable mitochondria is not only an effective means to protect cardiomyocytes，but also a new way to prevent and treat heart failure and ventricular remodeling. Mitochondrial quality control is a series of cellular activities for mitochondria to maintain their structural and functional stability，including oxidative stress response，regulation of mitochondrial dynamics，mitochondrial autophagy，intracellular calcium regulation and so on. Traditional Chinese medicine（TCM） mostly uses drugs of replenishing Qi and activating blood circulation in the treatment of chronic heart failure，and Qi and mitochondria are similar in function. According to TCM，the performance of the body as "static，descending and inhibitory" in the case of Qi deficiency can also be compared with the energy defect of mitochondria. The classical method of tonifying qi and activating blood circulation in TCM can be applied here. In recent years，TCM takes mitochondria as the target and carries out many related experimental studies from the point of view of myocardial energy supply. It is found that Chinese herbs for replenishing Qi and activating blood circulation can participate in regulating the quality control mechanism of intracellular mitochondria with multiple targets and links. It is proved by experiments that Chinese herbs for replenishing Qi and activating blood circulation can exert myocardial protective effect through this mechanism.