ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the killing effect of dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma on tumor cells and to analyze the DBD-induced apoptosis mechanism.Methods Thiazolyl blue tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay method was used to detect the killing effect of low temperature plasma on the cytotoxicity of normal spleen leukocytes and acute promyelocytic leukemia cells (LT-12) at different doses.The changes of reactive oxygen species (ROS) level were measured after plasma treatment.The cell apoptosis rate was detected by Annexin V/PI double staining at different doses.The expression of apoptosis-related genes and proteins was detected by qRT-PCR and Western Blot.Results MTT results showed that the killing effect of plasma treatment was dose-dependent and time-dependent.The cell survival rate after 8 hours of treatment decreased from 98％ to 63％ with the dose increasing from 30 s to 240 s.The survival rate decreased from 78％ (2 h) to 39％ (24 h) after the treatment with a same dose (e.g.240 s).Annexin V/PI double staining results demonstrated that the plasma effect can induce apoptosis,and the apoptosis rate was not only positively correlated with the plasma dose,but also with the post-plasma time.The longer the post-plasma time,the higher was the apoptosis rate.The apoptotic rate of the 60 s dose treatment after 12 h was 48％ that increased to 55.3％ with the dose of 120 s.The production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) detected by flow cytometry also showed a time correlation of the plasma treatment.After the plasma treatment,the ROS level immediately increased to 1.24 times,and sharply increased to 5.39 times after 20 h post-plasma.The experimental results of qRT-PCR and Western blot showed that the expression of the genes and proteins of Caspase family and Bcl-2 family was very active at 8 to 12 h post-plasma treatment.Conclusions Low-temperature plasma can effectively kill tumor cells,and apoptosis is the main mechanism of death.The molecular mechanism of apoptosis of tumor cells induced by low temperature plasma was preliminary confirmed.
ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the in vivo killing effects of nanosecond pulsed electric fields on mouse breast cancer in tumor bearing BALB/c mice. Methods Twenty four BALB/c mice models with subcutaneous EMT-6 breast cancer were prepared and divided into experimental group and control group (n=12). In experimental group, the mice were treated by the pulsed electric fields with peak voltage of 700 V/cm, rise times of 57 ns, durations of 70μs and duty ratio of 50%on the tumor tissue with two parallel electrodes under anaesthesia. One hundred pulses were given and the energy was just 9.75 J with effective action period of 7 ms. Tumor volume, animal weight and histopathologic changes after 1, 3, 5 and 7 d were observed after irreversible electroporation. Results The tumor volume in experimental group increased more slowly than that in control group, especially at the 1-3 d after treatment with a standstill. Histopathological examination results showed that the tumor tissue had obvious coagulation necrosis and tissue edema after electrical stimulation treatment, and mass vacuole like structure appeared in tumor tissue from the third day after treatment and vascular injury occurred at the early stage. Conclusions In the given field conditions, steep pulsed electric field has inhibitory effect on tumor growth. In order to achieve more ideal tumor therapy effect, further studies on steep pulse dose are needed.
ABSTRACT
Laser has been used in the treatment of glaucoma for more than twenty years.Its main applications include laser peripheral iridoplasty,laser trabeculoplasty,laser sclerostomy,and laser cyclophotocoagulation. Other applications such as C02 laser filtering surgery and photodynamic therapy(PDT)have just started.In this paper,a review is provided on the present applications of lasers in the treatment of glaucoma including choice of laser,indications,surgery approach and efficacy.The prospect of the future application is also discussed.