The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of salvianolic acid A (SAA) in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) induced by pristane in BALB/c mice. Lupus mice were established by confirming elevated levels of autoantibodies and IL-6 after intraperitoneal injection of pristane. Mice were then treated with daily oral doses of SAA for 5 months in parallel with mice treated with prednisone and aspirin as positive controls. The levels of autoantibodies were monitored at monthly intervals and nephritic symptoms observed by hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) staining. Western blot analysis of renal tissue was also employed. SAA treatment caused a significant reduction in the levels of anti-Sm autoantibodies and reduced renal histopathological changes and pathological effects. SAA treatment also significantly inhibited the phosphorylation of IKK, IB and NFB in renal tissues of lupus mice. In conclusion, the results suggest that SAA alleviates renal injury in pristane-induced SLE in BALB/c mice through inhibition of phosphorylation of IKK, IB and NFB.

Aim To evaluate the vasorelaxant effect of two new chemical entities, J35242 and J35243, on iso-lated rat thoracic aorta rings as Rho-kinase inhibitors, and further to explore the underlying mechanisms of these two compounds. Methods Isolated rat thoracic aorta rings pre-contracted by KCl or norepinephrine ( NE) were used to evaluate the vasodilatory effect of J35242 and J35243 . Through the interventions of sev-eral tool drugs, the mechanisms of compounds concern-ing endothelium, K+ channels and Ca2+ were studied. Results J35242 and J35243 showed potent relaxant effect on both KCl and NE pre-contracted vessels, and exhibited partial endothelium dependency. L-NAME and Methylene Blue( MB) could influence the relaxant effect of these compounds. Meanwhile, the compounds could inhibit intracellular Ca2+ release and extracellu-lar Ca2+ influx, which indicated that the compounds might block the calcium channels to relax the vessels. In addition, the two compounds probably did not dilate the aorta rings through opening potassium channels. Conclusions J35242 and J35243 have vasorelaxant effects on vessels in vitro and the potency of J35242 is stronger than that of J35243 . The underlying mecha-nisms might be endothelium-dependent. Also the com-pounds might block Ca2+ channels, lowering intracel-lular Ca2+ concentration to relax the vessels.

Salvia miltiorrhiza is dry root or rhizome of the labia-tae plant Salvia miltiorrhiza, whose water-soluble ingredients are recognized as its bioactive components in cardiovascular disea-ses. Based on researches at home and abroad in recent years, this article summarizes pharmacological effect resisting myocardi-al ischemia of Salvia miltiorrhiza ’ s water soluble compounds in multi-level from the prevention, treatment and anti-reperfusion damage, to provide theoretical basis for the research and devel-opment of the active monomers in Salvia miltiorrhiza and com-pound preparations.

Aim To investigate the effect of Salvianol-ic acid A (Sal A)on mice with isoproterenol (ISO)-induced myocardial infraction and its possible mecha-nisms.Methods The mice were subcutaneously in-jected with ISO (8 mg·kg-1 )to induce myocardial in-farction.The myocardial protective effect of Salvianolic acid A was evaluated from mortality rate,electrocardio-gram (ECG),heart function,myocardial infarction in-dex,serum myocardial enzymes and its action mecha-nisms were explored from inflammation,anti-oxidation and cells apoptosis.Results Salvianolic acid A dose-dependently enhanced the heart function of myocardial infarction mice,reduced the heart index,inhibited the myocardial enzyme leakage,showed obvious myocardi-al protection effects.ELISA results showed that Salvi-
anolic acid A could reduce the expression of myocardial inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6(interleukin-6,IL-6),TNF-α(tumornecrosis factor-α,TNF-α).West-ern-blotting confirmed that Salvianolic acid A could in-crease the expression of anti-apoptotic proteins Bcl-2, reduce the expression of apoptosis protein Bax,and raise the phosphorylation level of PI3K and Akt.Con-clusion Salvianolic acid A displays a significant pro-tective effect against isoproterenol-induced myocardial infarction and its mechanism may be related to the in-crease of PI3K/Akt signal pathway and the inhibition of cell apoptosis and inflammatory reaction.

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.

Objective To identify non-tuberculous Mycobacterium(NTM) rapidly with HAIN molecular assay genotype Mycobacterium kit,and investigate the advantages and disadvantages of this method.Methods Seventy-four clinical NTM isolates were collected from hospitals in Zhejiang and Anhui province.Clinical strains were identified with HAIN molecular assay genotype Mycobacterium kit.16S rRNA gene sequencing was used to estimate and compare with this method.Results The results of kit showed that there were thirty-one M.intracellulare strains,twelve M.chelonae strains,eight M.fortuitum strains,six M.kansasii strains,five M.avium strains,three M.smegmatis strains,two M.phlei strains,two M.scrofulaceum strains and one M.gordon strain.Four strains were identified as Mycobacterium without further identification.Eight M.tuberculosis strains were identified correctly too.Compared with 16S rRNA gene sequencing,except for four strains identified as Mycobacterium,others 70 strains got the same results as 16S rRNA gene sequencing,the coincidence was 94.59％,and it could further identify thirteen Mycobacterium chelonae complex and eight Mycobacterium kansasii complex to subspecies M.abscessus and M.kansasii,respectively.If only to identify strains under the identification range of this kit,the coincidence reach to 100％,Conclusion The method of HAIN molecular assay genotype Mycobacterium kit is simple and accurate,the time is shorter and should widely be applied clinically.