Shenfu Injection alleviates sepsis-associated lung injury by regulating HIF-1α / 中国中药杂志

Shenfu Injection(SFI) is praised for the high efficacy in the treatment of septic shock. However, the precise role of SFI in the treatment of sepsis-associated lung injury is not fully understood. This study investigated the protective effect of SFI on sepsis-associated lung injury by a clinical trial and an animal experiment focusing on the hypoxia-inducing factor-1α(HIF-1α)-mediated mitochondrial autophagy. For the clinical trial, 70 patients with sepsis-associated lung injury treated in the emergency intensive care unit of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University were included. The levels of interleukin(IL)-6 and tumor necrosis factor(TNF)-α were measured on days 1 and 5 for every patient. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction(RT-qPCR) was performed to determine the mRNA level of hypoxia inducible factor-1α(HIF-1α) in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMCs). For the animal experiment, 32 SPF-grade male C57BL/6J mice(5-6 weeks old) were randomized into 4 groups: sham group(n=6), SFI+sham group(n=10), SFI+cecal ligation and puncture(CLP) group(n=10), and CLP group(n=6). The body weight, body temperature, wet/dry weight(W/D) ratio of the lung tissue, and the pathological injury score of the lung tissue were recorded for each mouse. RT-qPCR and Western blot were conducted to determine the expression of HIF-1α, mitochondrial DNA(mt-DNA), and autophagy-related proteins in the lung tissue. The results of the clinical trial revealed that the SFI group had lowered levels of inflammatory markers in the blood and alveolar lavage fluid and elevated level of HIF-1α in the PBMCs. The mice in the SFI group showed recovered body temperature and body weight. lowered TNF-α level in the serum, and decreased W/D ratio of the lung tissue. SFI reduced the inflammatory exudation and improved the alveolar integrity in the lung tissue. Moreover, SFI down-regulated the mtDNA expression and up-regulated the protein levels of mitochondrial transcription factor A(mt-TFA), cytochrome c oxidase Ⅳ(COXⅣ), HIF-1α, and autophagy-related proteins in the lung tissue of the model mice. The findings confirmed that SFI could promote mitophagy to improve mitochondrial function by regulating the expression of HIF-1α.

Expression of CXCR4 in gastric cancer and its relationship with patient prognosis / 第二军医大学学报

Objective To discuss the relationship of CXCR4 expression with clinical pathology, post-operative metastasis, recurrence and prognosis of gastric cancer patients. Methods A total of 141 gastric cancer tissues and the corresponding adjacent tissues were taken from patients who were treated in the Department of General Surgery, The Affiliated Provincial Hospital of Anhui Medical University between November 2007 to November 2008. Immunohistochemistry was performed to detect the CXCR4 expression in the gastric cancer tissues and adjacent tissues, the relationship of CXCR4 expression with clinical pathology of the patients was analyzed. The relationship of CXCR4 expression with recurrence and prognosis was analyzed based on a 3 year-follow-up. Results The positive rate of CXCR4 was 60 3% (85/141) in gastric cancer tissues, which was significantly higher than that in the corresponding adjacent tissues 26. 2% (37/141, P<0. 05). CXCR4 expression in the gastric cancer tissues was positively correlated with the TNM stage, depth of invasion, invasion of the pancreas capsule, and lymphatic metastasis (P<0 05). Logistic multivariate regression analysis showed that lymphatic metastasis and recurrence after surgery were correlated with the expression of CXCR4 in gastric cancer tissues(P<0. 05). The 3-year survival rate of patients with CXCR4 expression was significantly lower than patients without CXCR4 expression(43. 1% vs 56. 6%,P<0 05). Conclusion CXCR4 is over-expressed in gastric cancer tissues, and the expression is positively correlated with the lymphatic metastasis and recurrence after surgery. CXCR4 positive patients have a lower survival rate than patients without CXCR4 expression, all these makes CXCR4 a possible molecular marker for lymphatic metastasis, postoperative recurrence and prognosis in gastric cancer.