Objective:To analyze the relationship between plasma level of cortistatin(CST) and coronary heart disease(CHD) and the factors that influence the level of CST.Methods: Plasma levels of CST were measured using ELISA method.The clinical data and the levels of CST of 40 healthy subjects and 39 CHD patients before and 1 d after percutaneous coronary intervention(PCI) were compared.And the factors that influenced the CST level were analyzed.Results: The CST levels of CHD group before or 1 d after PCI were significantly higher than those of the control group(1.97?1.12 and 2.01?0.77 vs 1.21?0.27,P0.05);There was no correlation between CST levels and fasting blood glucose(FBG),high sensitivity C-reactive protein(hsCRP),left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF),severity of lesions of coronary arteries or history of hypertension;The levels of triglyceride(TG) and total cholesterol(TCHOL) negatively correlated with CST levels(?=-2.594,P

Objective: To determine the role of cross-talk between calcineurin-dependent signal transduction pathway and protein kinase C (PKC), mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and protein kinase A (PKA) in airway remodeling in asthma. Methods: Male guinea pigs were sensitized with intraperitoneal injections of ovabumin (OVA), then treated with cyclosporin A (CsA,5 mg/kg), an inhibitor of calcineurin, then inhaled OVA for 2 weeks 14 days later. Activities of calcineurin, PKC, MAPK, and PKA were was analyzed by phosphorylation and dephosphorylation. In primary cultures of rat airway smooth muscle cells (ASMC), activities of calcineurin, PKC, MAPK, and cross-talk induced by urotensin Ⅱ (UⅡ), a recently identified strong mitogen, were measured. Results: (1) The activities of calcineurin, MAPK and PKC increased by 19% (P0.05). (4) CsA 10 -6 mol/L inhibited UⅡ-stimulated PKC activity by 14% (P0.05). Conclusion:The signal transduction pathways between calcineurin and other protein kinases such as PKC, MAPK and PKA have cross-talk in airway remodeling in asthma.

AIM:To study lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated secretion of endothelin-1 (ET-1) and adrenomedullin (Adm) from human vascular endothelial cells (HVEC) and its mechanism. METHODS:In cultured HVEC, LPS was used to stimulate ET-1 and Adm secretion from HVEC. The contents of ET-1 and Adm in medium were determined by radioimmunoassay. RESULTS:LPS stimulated secretion of ET-1 and Adm from HVEC in time-dependent and concentration-dependent manner. The ratio of secreted ET-1 to Adm was not changed compared with the control group. The increase of ET-1 could be inhibited by inhibitor of extracellular signal-regulated protein kinases (PD098059) and inhibitor of P38 kinase (SB202190)（P＜0.01）, while the increase of Adm could only be inhibited by SB202190（P＜0.05）, both had no response to inhibitor of protein kinase C (H7), inhibitor of calmodulin (W7), inhibitor of calcineurin (cyclosporin A) and inhibitor of Ca2+ (nicardipine)（P＞0.05）.CONCLUSION:ERKs and P38 signal pathways may play an important role in the secretion of ET-1 from LPS -stimulated HVEC, while only P38 kinase signal pathway is invovled in the secretion of Adm.

AIM: To investigate the effect of endothelin (ET), angiotensin II (AngII) and homocysteine (Hcy) on C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) synthesis and release. METHODS: Human endothelial cell was cultured; CNP was measured by radioimmunoassay method. RESULTS: ET and AngII could augment CNP synthesis in human endothelial cells. Compared with control group, 10-9,10-8,10-7 mol/L ET and Ang II increased CNP content of endothelial cells by 1%(P＞0.05), 49%(P＜0.05),117%(P＜0.01) and 137% (P＜0.01),165%(P＜0.01),201%(P＜0.01),respectively. A great dose of ET and Ang II also stimulated CNP release from cultured human endothelial cells. Hcy had no effect on CNP synthesis, but 10-9，10-8,10-7 mol/L Hcy enhanced CNP release from cultured human endothelial cells by 17%(P＞0.05),84%(P＜0.01) and 555%(P＜0.01), respectively. CONCLUSION: ET, AngII and Hcy might be involved in the synthesis and release of human endothelial cell CNP.

Objective: To study the effect of urotensin(U Ⅱ) on nitric oxide synthase(NOS)/nitric oxide(NO) system in rat aorta. Methods: The aortic slices were incubated in vitro. The medium nitrite content, vascular NOS activities and cGMP content were measured. Results: After incubation of aorta for 1.5－3.0 h, UⅡ(10－9－10－7　mol*L－1) increased nitrite production ( 14.8%－80.9%, P<0.01) in dose-dependent manner. U Ⅱ significantly stimulated the total NOS activities, mainly activated constitutive NOS (P<0.05 or P<0.01), however, the inducible NOS activities were not altered (P>0.05). Incubation of aortic slices with U Ⅱ (10－9－10－7 mol*L－1) increased vascular cGMP content in dose-dependent manner. Co-incubation vascular tissue with U Ⅱ and　GN-L-nitro-arginine, an inhibitor of NOS, obviously inhibited the U Ⅱ-induced NOS activation, NO production and cGMP formation. Conclusion: The results suggest that U Ⅱ can activate the vascular NOS/NO pathway, increasing tissue NO production and cGMP content.

AIM　To investigate effect of urotensin Ⅱ (UⅡ)on proliferation of aort a smooth muscle cells （ASMC）of rat and study the signal transduction pathway o f it. METHODS　In cultured ASMC of rat, UⅡ was used to stimulate proliferation of these cells and levels of ［3H］-TdR incorporation were used to evaluate the speed of DNA synthesis, and different inhibitors were used to s tudy the action of different signal transduction pathway of mitogenic effect of UⅡ on VSMC. RESULTS　1×10-9～1×10-7 mol*L- 1 UⅡ caused marked concentration-dependent increasing of ［3H］-TdR i ncor poration of ASMC. ［3H］-TdR incorporation of 1×10-9,1×10-8 and 1×10-7 mol*L-1 UⅡ were 22%（P<0.05）, 57%（P<0.01）and 65%（P<0.01）higher than control. Nicardipine, H7, W7 and PD98059 , which are inhibitors of calcium channel, PKC, CaM-PK and MAPK respectively, inhibited the effects of UⅡ obviously, with the inhibitory rate by 55%（P< 0.01）, 27%（P<0.01）,18%（P<0.05）and 16%（P<0.05）respectively . CONCLUSION　UⅡ is a strong mitogen for VSMC and the mitogenic e ffect of UⅡ is probably mediated by Ca2+, PKC, CaM-PK and MAPK signal tr ansduction pathway.

Objective. The present study investigated the role of calcineurin in angiotensin II(AngII) induced cardiac myocyte hypertrophy of rats. Method. The primary cardiac myocytes were cultured under the standard conditions. The calcineurin activity in AngII treated cardiomyocytes was tested by using PNPP;protein synethsis rate was assessed by 3H leucine incorporation; atrial natriuretic factor(ANF) Mrna level was determined by Northern blot analysis. Cell viability was estimated by lactate dehydrogenase(LDH) levels in cultured medium and by dyed cell numbers. Result. After stimulation of 10,100 and 1 000nmol/L of AngII, calcineurin activities in the cardiomyocytes were increased by 13％ ,57％ (P< 0.05) and 228％ (P< 0.01) respectively, compared with control group. Cyclosporin A(CsA), a specific inhibitor of calcineurin, markedly inhibited the calcineurin activity and decreased the 3H leucine incorporation in AngII treated cardiomyocytes in a dose dependent manner. It was also found that CsA slightly reduced the Mrna level of ANF gene in AngII stimulated cardiomyocytes. Conclusion. During AngII induced cardiac myocyte hypertrophy, calcineurin signal pathway is activated, and inhibition of the pathway can attenuate AngII induced cardiac myocyte hypertrophy, which suggests that the calcineurin signal pathway may play an important role in AngII induced myocardial hypertrophy of rats.

Objective. To study the redistribution of endothelin-1 (ET-1) receptors in two subcellular organelles , the sarcolemmal membrane and the light vesicle, of rat heart during the progression of sepsis. Methods. Sepsis was induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). ET1 receptor was assayed by using [125I]-ET1 binding. Marker enzyme activities, protein yield, and dry-to-wet weight ratio of cardiac membranes were measured. Results. Septic rat heart exhibited two distinct phases: an initial hyperdynamic phase( 9h after CLP; early stage of sepsis) followed by a hypodynamic (18h after CLP, late stage of sepsis) phase. [125I]-ET1 binding study showed that during early stage of sepsis, the Bmax of ET1 receptors was increased by 30％ in sarcolemma but decreased by 19％ in light vesicles, while during late stage of sepsis, the Bmax was decreased by 24％ in sarcolemma but increased by 38％ in light vesicles.The total binding of sarcolemma and light vesicles was increased by 25％ during early stage of sepsis but decreased by 17％ during late stage of sepsis. Conclusions. These data indicated that ET1 receptors in the rat heart were externalized from light vesicles to sarcolemmal membranes during early hyperdynamic phase while internalized from surface membranes to intracellular compartment during late hypodynamic phase of sepsis.

Objective. In a model of rat cardiac hypertrophy, the changes in the distribution of ET-1 receptors in two subcellular fractions, the sarcolemma and the light vesicles during myocardial hypertrophy were studied. Methods. Cardiac hypertrophy was produced by placing a constricting clip around the suprarenal abdominal aorta of rats, and ET-1 receptor was assayed with radioactive analysis method. Results. It was found that plasma and ventricular ET-1 levels increased significantly on week 2 and week 4 of pressure overload. ET-1 binding studies showed that during myocardial hypertrophy, the maximum binding capacity (Bmax) was increased by 41％ (P<0.01) and 65％ (P< 0.01) in sarcolemma in H-2 week and H-4 week groups, but was decreased by 24％ (P< 0.01) and 21％ (P< 0.01) in light vesicles. The sum of Bmax of sarcolemmal and light vesicle fractions was increased by 33％ (P< 0.01) and 57％ (P< 0.01) in group H-2 week and H-4 week, respectively. ? Conclusion. ET-1 receptors in rat heart were externalized from light vesicles to sarcolemma, which may contribute to the development of myocardial hypertrophy.

AIM: To observe whether metallothionein plays a role in cardiac protective effect of basic fibroblast growth factor on anoxic/reperfusion (A/R) injury in cultured cardiomyocytes and study the possible mechanism of cardiac protection by bFGF.METHODS: The present study made the model of myocyte A/R injury after having a 24 h incubation by bFGF( 10-10、10-9、10-s mol/L) and bFGF( 10-9 mol/L) + PD098059 respectively. We measured the levels of MT and MDA in myocytes, and the changes of LDH and protein in cultured medium. We also counted the number of viable cell in groups. RESULTS: The contents of myocardial MT were significantly increased after treatment by bFGF. The levels of MT in I0-l0 mol/L、10-9 mol/L and 10-8 mol/L bFGF treated groups increased 54 %、 62%、 76% respectively, compared with the A/R group, and the number of viable cell were also greatly increased, LDH and protein leakage in cultured medium and MDA contents in myocyte were dramatically decreased in bFGF treated groups. All the protection were completely disappeared with the inhibition of MT production with PD098059, theinhibitor of mitogen- activated protein kinase(MAPK). CONCLUSION: MT involves in the protection of bFGF in cultured cardiomyocytes. It might be related with activation of MAPKase.