OBJECTIVETo investigate the mechanism of how curcumin improves pulmonary vascular remodeling associated with chronic pulmonary arterial hypertension.

METHODSThe model of chromic hypoxia hypercapniapulmoary remodeling was made. Twenty-four male rats were randomly divided into 4 groups (n = 6): group I (normoxia control group), group II (hypxia and hypercapnia model group), group II (disodium cromoglycate control group), group IV (curcumin treated group). The last 3 group rats were put in a hypoxia cabin where the concentrate of O2 was 8% - 11% and the concentrate of CO2 was 3% - 5%, for 8 h a day and lasting 4 w in total. Group III rats were intraperitoneally injected with disodium cromoglycate (20 mg/kg) and group IV rats were administrated with curcumin by gavage (150 mg/kg). The morphological changes of pulmonary vessel walls and the ultrastructure of mast cells were observed by the optics microscope and the transmission electron microscope. Mast cells and its degranulation state were measured by toluidine blue staining and immunohistochemistry. Data were expressed as means ± SD (standard deviation) and analyzed with SPSS17.0 software.

RESULTS(1) By optics microscopy observation, the value of WA/TA was significantly higher in II group than other groups (P < 0.05). (2) Electron microscope showed that the endothelial cells of pulmonary arterioles in III and IV group were near to I group and the proliferation of pulmonary arterial media smooth cell layer and collagen fibers in adventitia was much lighter than those in II group. The membrane of mast cells was more intact in I, III, IV group than II group. (3) The number of mast cells, the degranulation rate of master cells and the number of positive tryptase stained cells in II group were significantly more than those in other groups. (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONCurcumin may inhibit the remodeling of pulmonary vessel induced by chronic hypoxia hypercapnia by mast cell regulation.

Animals ; Cell Degranulation ; Curcumin ; pharmacology ; Hypercapnia ; physiopathology ; Hypertension, Pulmonary ; drug therapy ; Hypoxia ; physiopathology ; Lung ; pathology ; Male ; Mast Cells ; physiology ; ultrastructure ; Pulmonary Artery ; drug effects ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Vascular Remodeling ; drug effects

Objective:To investigate the impact of hospital-based nutritional practices on weight gain in neonates during the immediate postoperative period.Methods:It is a retrospective study of 45 neonates who underwent modified systemic-to-pulmonary artery shunt in Huai'an First People's Hospital.We reviewed the weight-for-age Z-score (WAZ score) at the time points of the date of surgery,transfer from cardiac intensive care unit (CICU) to general ward,and day of hospital discharge.Caloric intake (calories/kg/day) and total fluid intake (ml/kg/day) at different time points were measured too.We also reviewed the initiation time of enteral feeding and CICU stay (days) postoperatively.Results:An overall median WAZ score decrease of-1.3 (IQR-1.7 to-0.7) from time of shunt palliation to hospital discharge.A length of stay of ＞5 days in the CICU,initiation of enteral feeding beyond the postoperative days (POD) 5 and the severity of diseases were significantly associated with a great mean difference in WAZ score(P ＜ 0.001,P ＜ 0.001,P =0.003).Conclusion:The nutrition support in immediate postoperative period is substantially lower than what is needed;initiation time of enteral feeding,a length of stay ＞ 5 days in the CICU and the severity of diseases were independent predictors of a greater change in WAZ score.

Objective To observe the influences of dexmedetomidine (DEX) on efficacy,inflammatory factors,liver and kidney functions in severe sepsis patients with acute lung and kidney injury.Methods A total of 60 severe sepsis patients with acute lung and kidney injury were randomly divided into treatment group and control group,30 cases in each group.Patients in two groups were maintained with regular treatment.Patients in treatment group were received DEX injection 1 μg · kg-1 · h-1 for early sedative treatment.While,patients in control group were received propofol injection for early sedative treatment.They were treated for 48 h.Time of mechanical ventilation,intensive care unit (ICU) stay time,and duration of continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) were recorded.Liver and kidney functions indexes and the levels of inflammatory factors in two groups before and after treatment were detected.Results ICU stay time and duration of CRRT in control group were (96.32 ± 13.51),(61.30 ±9.85)h,had significant difference with those in treatment group,which were (76.18 ± 11.32),(52.93 ± 9.21) h (P ＜ 0.01).After operation,the levels of procalcitonin,C reactive protein,interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor in treatment group were(2.05 ±0.39),(56.36 ±9.94),(78.72 ± 11.33),(17.56 ±4.07)ng · L-1,had significant differences with those in eontrol group,which were (2.43 ±0.24),(79.91 ± 12.55),(92.07 ± 12.55),(24.41 ±4.25) ng · L-1 (all P ＜ 0.01).After operation,the levels of alanine aminotransferase,aspartate transaminase,alkaline phosphatase,total bilirubin,blood urea nitrogen and serum creatinine in treatment group were (21.37 ± 4.73) U·L-1,(29.61 ±6.97)g · L-1,(67.27 ±7.26)U · L-1,(11.36 ±2.91)μmol · L-1,(7.03 ±2.03) mmol· L-1,(87.98 ±10.56)μmol · L-1,had significant difference with those in control group,which were (30.46±6.44)U· L-1,(38.60 ±7.53)g · L-1,(71.75 ±8.41)U · L-1,(14.72 ±2.29)μmol · L-1,(10.07 ± 3.12) mmol · L-1,(123.73 ± 11.74) μmol · L-1 (all P ＜ 0.05).There was no significant adverse drug reaction in two groups.Conclusion Compared with propofol,dexmedetomidine has better clinical effect for severe sepsis patients with acute lung injury by improving the inflammatory factors and protecting organ.

Gas chromatography (GC) is mainly used to detect the levels of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), but with the deepening of research,the drawbacks of GC have become more and more obvious in the fields of food,chemical engineering and clinical application. The analysis on existing research results showed that ultra performance convergence chromatography (UPC²) was appropriate for the analysis of lipid metabolism. The UPC² is a new kind of chromatographic separation technology developed in recent five years and the level of SCFAs is associated with the research on multiple diseases. Therefore,application of UPC² in the detection of SCFAs would be helpful for the scholars at home and abroad to carry out deeper researches,and also helpful to guide the treatment for various metabolic disorders. In this paper,the researches on SCFAs in recent ten years were reviewed; the shortcomings of GC and liquid chromatography (LC) in the detection of SCFAs were reviewed; the development process,basic characteristics and research status of UPC² at home and abroad were introduced; feasibility and innovation of UPC² in the detection of SCFAs were summarized. Pretreatment methods for UPC² application to the detection of SCFAs in feces or serum were collected; the problems that should be noticed during the process of sample pretreatment were pointed out; meanwhile, an research outlook on methodology of UPC² application in the detection of SCFAs was conducted. The effects of extracting solvent,mobile phase,and auxiliaryt solvent on chromatographic behavior as well as the physicochemical property, type and choice of UPC² chromatographic column were mainly discussed in this paper. In addition, the choices of basic modifier,acid modifier,and salinity modifier were briefly outlined, in order to provide efficient,simple,environmental,and economic detection technologies for the research on SCFAs, and provide better reference solutions for the rapid detection of massive clinical samples.