The nature of renal tubular cell injury in ischemic acute renal failure includes not only cell death (necrosis or apoptosis) but also sublethal injury causing cell dysfunction. The role of intracellu- lar calcium, calcium - dependent enzymes calpain, nitric oxide, phospholipase A2, loss of tubule cell polarity and tubular obstruction in the pathophysiology of the renal tubular cell injury during hypoxia/ischemia is described. The effects of vascular factors, infiltrating activited leukocytes, apoptosis and growth factors on renal tubular cell injury are discussed. Potential mechanisms that tubular injury leads to a profound fall in glomerular filtration rate are proposed.

Animals ; Carboxylic Ester Hydrolases ; metabolism ; Chickens ; Drosophila ; Enzyme Activation ; Humans ; Mice ; Nervous System Diseases ; chemically induced ; enzymology ; physiopathology ; Organophosphate Poisoning ; Phosphorylation

Objective To investigate the impact of alterations within the space of Disse micro- environment on the migration of hepatic stellate cells(HSC) during the process of liver fibrosis,and to ex plore the novel mechanism of liver fibrosis from the view of cell migration.Methods A modified in vitro Boyden chamber system to partially mimic in vivo microenvironment of Disse space of normal and liver fibrosis was employed.The effects of fibrogenetic growth factors on the migration of HSC in liver fibrosis were observed via cell migration and cell proliferation experiments.Results Enhanced platelet-derived growth factor(PDGF)-BB,transforming growth factor(TGF)-?1 and/or epithelial growth factor(EGF) in liver fibrosis resulted in an increase in migratory capacity of activated HSC.The enhanced migration of HSCs induced by PDGF-BB was partially associated with their increased proliferation,while,TGF-?1 or EGF-induced migration was proliferation independent.The elevation of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) or vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF)during liver fibrosis had no effect on the migration of HSCs.Conclusions The study provides valuable insights into the role of space of Disse microenvironment in regulating HSC migratory behavior.TGF-?1,PDGF-BB and EGF,which increased in liver fibrosis, could induce the migration of activated HSC.However,bFGF or VEGF has no such kind of effect,al- though they also increased during liver fibrosis.

Objective To investigate the effect of chronic stress on the expression of uncoupling protein 4 (UCP4) and Bcl-2 protein in hippocampal neurons of rat depression model.Methods Rat depression models were established by chronic unpredicted mild stress.All rats were randomly assigned to 2 groups:control group and model group.Flow cytometry was applied to detect the apoptosis rate and mitochondrial membrane potential.The level of LDH was measured by enzymes labelling instrument.The number of neurons was measured by immunohistochemistry.The expression of UCP4 and Bcl-2 protein was measured by Western blotting.Results After chronic stress,the apoptosis rate((4.35±0.19) ％)and LDH activity ((445.50±91.70) U/mg) in hippocampal tissue in the model group was significantly higher than the control group((0.34±0.06) ％,(167.20±63.40)U/mg).Compared to control group,the number of hippocampal neurons ((72.50±4.25) vs (45.30±2.54)) and the mitochon drial membrane potential decreased in the model group.The expressions of UCP4 and Bcl-2 protein in hippocampal tissue were significantly lower than the control group.Conclusion Chronic unpredicted mild stress can lead to apoptosis in rat hippocampal neurons,which is related with decline of mitochondrial membrane potential and low expression of UCP4 and Bcl-2 protein.

Acute Coronary Syndrome ; therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Phytotherapy

Fifteen novel 5-substituted-2-(pyridyl)benzothiazole compounds were designed and synthesized by simple hydrolization and condensation reaction of the 2-amino-5-substituent benzothiazole. Activities of these synthesized compounds were evaluated on Bcap-37, HCT-15 and HepG2 tumor cells in vitro by standard MTT assay. 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) was used as the positive control. The results revealed that most of the new compounds had potent effects on Bcap-37, HCT-15 and HepG2 tumor cells, and had no or less effect on 293T and L02 normal cells. Particularly, compounds 1c and 2e exhibited better activities on HCT-15 and HepG2 cells with IC50 values of 41.59 and 38.65 micromol x L(-1), and 1i showed excellent activities on Bcap-37 and HepG2 cells with IC50 values of 46.63 and 23.51 micromol x L(-1), respectively. The structure-activity relationship of 5-substituted-2-(pyridyl)benzothiazole compounds were also discussed preliminarily.

Andrology and gynecology have a similar or the same theoretical basis in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Andrology has a history of less than 3 decades in China, while TCM gynecology has developed for over a thousand years. The development of andrology could be greatly promoted with the guidance of the theories and prescriptions of gynecology.
Andrology ; China ; Gynecology ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional

Objective To investigate the mechanism of automatic processing of cartoon facial expressions by using event-related potential(ERP).Methods Sixteen healthy volunteers (7 males and 9 females) were recruited for this study.The subjects were instructed to mentally count green faces (targets) and ignore the red ones (non-targets) including standard neutral expressions and deviant emotional expressions.Thirty two channels electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded by Neuroscan Nuamps System.The amplitudes of mismatch negativity (MMN) were analyzed.Results (1) MMN1:the amplitudes were(-0.570 ± 0.076) μV (TP7/TP8),(-0.840 ±0.119) μV(A1/A2) ,(-1.199 ±0.105)μV(T5/T6) ,(-1.184 ±0.102)μV(O1/O2).There was a significant main effect of site (F(3,45) = 8.340, P ＜ 0.05 ) and an interaction of orientation × hemisphere (F(1,15) =11.977, P＜0.05).( 2 ) MMN2: the amplitudes were (-0.469 ± 0.126 ) μV ( TP7/TP8 ), (-1.014 ± 0.255 ) μV(A1/A2) ,(-1.071 ±0.182)μV(T5/T6), (-0.915 ±0.178)μV (O1/O2).There was a significant main effect of orientation (F(1,15) = 7.232, P ＜ 0.05 ) and interactions of orientation × type (F(1,15) = 6.458, P ＜ 0.05 )and orientation × hemisphere(F(1,15) = 11.907, P＜0.05 ).Conclusion Cartoon emotional faces elicit expressionrelated MMN indexing automatic processing.The MMN amplitude is right-lateralized and larger for negative than positive expression.

Central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) is characterized by serous detachment of the sensory retina as a consequence of the focal leakage of fluid from the choriocapillaries to subretinal space through a defect of the retinal pigment epithelium(RPE). The exact cause of CSC is not well unknown. Psychological stress is thought to contribute to CSC, but the physiologic mechanisms are unclear. It is hypothesized that psychological stress can induce CSC through the mechanism of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) system. Psychological stress can adversely affect HPA axis and causes glucocorticoid levels to elevate. Increased glucocorticoids constrict choroid vessels, which leads to ischemia of choroids and damage vascular endothelial cells, thus causing vasopermeability to increase. RPE dysfunction will occur as a result of abnormalities in the choroidal circulation. The large molecules including protein may enter the subretinal space through the damaged vessels and RPE.

AIM: To investigate the effects of pioglitazone on corneal neovascularization(CNV)induced by alkali burnin rats and on expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (b-FGF).METHODS: CNV was induced by alkaline burn in rats which were then administered pioglitazone subconjunctivally.Corneal angiogenesis was evaluated and observed with a slit lamp microscope and the VEGF and b-FGF level were determined by immunohistochemistry and Western blot at different intervals.RESULTS: The CNV of the rats was shown two days after alkaline burn, and reached its highest level in 7-10 days. The mean values of the area and length of neovascularization and the VEGF and b-FGF levels in the pioglitazone-treated group were significantly lower than those in the control group at various time.CONCLUSTON: Local application of pioglitazone could remarkably inhibit CNV, probably by means of downregulation of VEGF and b-FGF expression.