The effects of sympathetic neurotransmitters and adrenergic receptors on liver fibrosis in murine schistosomiasis / 中华肝脏病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effects of sympathetic neurotransmitters and adrenergic receptors on liver fibrosis in murine schistosomiasis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Mice were infestated with schistosoma by means of pasting cercariae on their abdomens. Thirty mice were randomly divided into a control group and a model group. Hematoxylin eosin and Van Gieson staining were used to view the histopathology of their livers. Immunofluorescence histochemistry and laser scanning confocal fluorescence microscopy were used to measure the a1A and beta2 adrenergic receptors in livers of the two groups of mice. High performance liquid chromatography-electrochemical detector (HPLC-ECD) was used to determine the concentration of norepinephrine (NE) and dopamine (DA) in the plasma of the mice.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Immunofluorescence histochemistry showed that a1A and beta2 receptors were present in hepatocytes and hepatic sinusoids of the livers of the mice of the two groups, but there were many more in the livers of the schistosoma infected mice (t=-2.888; t=-6.648) (P<0.05). The results of HPLC-ECD showed that the levels of NE and DA in the model group were higher than those of the control group (t=-3.372; t=-4.428) (P<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Sympathetic neurotransmitters and adrenergic receptors may participate in liver fibrogenesis in mice infected with schistosoma.</p>

Changes of plasma adrenomedullin level during the process from chronic bronchitis to chronic cor-pulmonale / 中国医学科学院学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the relationship between the plasma adrenomedullin (ADM) levels and the extent of chronic cor-pulmonale and its underlying diseases, and explore the role of ADM in these diseases.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Totally 26 patients with chronic bronchitis, chronic bronchitis accompanied with obstructive pneumonectasia or chronic cor-pulmonale were included respectively as clinical test group T1, T2 and T3; 26 normal people and 14 patients with pneumonia were chosen as control groups (group C1 and C2). Plasma concentration of ADM in every selected individual had been measured with specific radioimmunoassay.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Levels of plasma ADM in T3 were significantly higher than those in T2, and T2 than T1, C1 and C2 (P < 0.05), but there were no obvious difference between T1 and C1, between T1 and C2 (P > 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Plasma ADM levels can reflect the severity of the above series of diseases.</p>