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Objective To establish a mouse model of aorta dissection (AD) by β-aminopropionitrile (BAPN) in drinking water + subcutaneously pumped angiotensin II (Ang II) infusion.Methods Forty 3-week-old C57B1/6J male mice were randomly divided into two groups.All animals received 0.1 g/kg/d BAPN in drinking water for 4 weeks.Then the BAPN drinking + saline infusion group and BAPN drinking + Ang II infusion group received continuous saline or Ang II (1,000 ng/kg/min) infusion, respectively, via subcutaneous osmotic minipump for 72 hour.The mice were restricted in a noninvasive computerized tail-cuff system and their arterial systolic blood pressure and heart rate were monitored.Autopsy was performed if a mouse died during the experiment.At the end of the experiment, mice were sacrificed by injection with an overdose of sodium pentobarbital and the aortas were harvested.The formation of aortic false lumen was observed by pathology using hematoxylin-eosin staining.Results The overall incidence of AD in the BAPN drinking administration +Ang II infusion group was 95%, whereas the incidence of AD in the BAPN drinking administration +saline infusion group was only 5%.The mortality from dissecting aneurysm rupture was 24% in the BAPN drinking administration +Ang II infusion group during the experiment.Pathological examination of the aortic cross-sections clearly showed the formation of blood-filled false lumens induced by Ang II.Conclusions A mouse model with high incidence of aortic dissection is successfully established.
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Objective To assess the value of real-time myocardial contrast echocardiography (RTMCE) and intermittent triggered myocardial contrast echocardiography (ITMCE) in the detection of myocardial no-reflow phenomenon after reperfusion in acute myocardial infarction on mini-swine models. Methods Thirty close-chest mini-swines were used to create acute myocardial infarction and reperfusion model through interventional method. RTMCE and ITMCE were performed at baseline, 2 h after occlusion of left anterior descending coronary artery and 3 h after reperfusion. The myocardial perfusion defects after occlusion was measured as risk area (RA) and that after reperfusion was measured as no-reflow area (NRA). NRA/RA was calculated and compared with pathological findings. Results The whole study protocol was successfully performed in 27 mini-swines. NRA/RA obtained from RTMCE, ITMCE and pathological staining was (47.94±21.29)%, (38.20±21.04)% and (30.07±14.62)% , respectively. NRA/RA had no significant difference by ITMCE and pathological staining (P=0.124), RTMCE and ITMCE (P=0.071). The correlation coefficient of RTMCE and staining was 0.700 (P<0.001), ITMCE and staining was 0.765 (P<0.001), RTMCE and ITMCE was 0.897 (P<0.001). The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy in the detection of myocardial no-reflow was 100%, 58.33% and 79.17% for RTMCE, 91.67%, 73.33% and 81.48% for ITMCE. Conclusion Both RTMCE and ITMCE could be used as noninvasive methods to reveal the myocardial perfusion and quantitatively detect myocardial no-reflow after reperfusion therapy.
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Objective To investigate the relationship of the expression of phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase(PI3K)subunits,P85 and P110 to the pathogenesis of psoriasis.Methods Immunohistochemical staining for P85 and P110 was performed in the tissue specimens from patients with psoriasis(n=30),chronic dermatitis(n=20),seborrheic keratosis(n=20),squamous cell carcinoma(n=20),basal cell carcinoma(n=30)and normal human controls(n=10).The absorbance of immunostained tissue was quantified with image analysis system (Q550CW,Leica,Manheim,Germany).Statistical analysis was carried out by ANOVA,Results Among these groups,a significant difference was observed in the expression level of P110 in the epidermis(F=35.64,P＜0.01),as well as in that of P85(F=59.98,P＜0.01)and P110(F=323.23,P＜0.01)in the lymphocytes infiltrating the lesion.Increased expression of P110 was found in the epidermis of psoriatic lesions compared with the lesions in the other disorders,whereas no significant difference was noticed among the other disorders.In the case of P85 and P110 expression in the lesion-infiltrating lymphocytes infiltrating the lesion,psoriasis and squamous cell carcinoma significantly differed from the other disorders,while no difference was observed between psoriasis and squamous cell carcinoma (P＞0.05).Conclusions The high expression of P110 might be closely correlated to the hyperproliferation of keratinocytes;but filrther study is needed to clarify the relationship of increased expression of P85 and P110 to the activation and proliferation of lymphocytes in psoriatic lesions.
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Objective To investigate the significance of Akt in the pathogenesis of psoriasis.Methods Tissue specimens were obtained from involved and uninvolved skin of 30 patients with progressive psoriasis vulgaris and normal skin of 20 human controls.Immunohistochemistry.immunobloting and kinase activity assay were performed to detect the expressions of Akt and phosphorylated Akt as well as Akt activities in these specimens.Immunostaining intensity Was assessed by optical density detection and the results of immunobiot and activity assay by grey scanning.Statistical analyses were performed by variance analysis and student's t test.Results As immunohistochemistry revealed.there was no significant difierence in Akt protein expression among normal epidermis,psoriatic epidermis and uninvolved epidermis(F=0.611,P＞0.05):the level of phosphorylated Akt in psoriatic epidermis was significantly higher than that in normal epidermis and psoriatic uninvolved epidermis(F=19.081.P＜0.01).while no significant difierence was observed between normal epidermis and psoriatic uninvolved epidermis (t=0.624.P＞0.05).Immunoblot showed a significant difierence in phosphorylated Akt(t=237.75.P＜0.01)but not in Akt(t=1.378,P＞0.05)between psoriatic involved epidermis and normal epidermis.In comparison with normal epidermis,the activity of Akt in psoriatic involved epidermis was increased significantly(t=138.44 1.P＜0.0 1).Conclusion The overproliferation of psoriatic keratinocytcs may be associated with increased activation of Akt.