Association of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit alpha-4 polymorphisms with smoking behaviors in Chinese male smokers / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>It has been reported that the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit α4 gene (CHRNA4) might be associated with smoking behaviors in the previous studies. Up to now, there are few reports on the relationship between CHRNA4 and smoking initiation. In this study, we tried to explore the role of two polymorphisms in CHRNA4 (rs1044396 and rs1044397) in smoking initiation and nicotine dependence in Chinese male smokers.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Nine hundred and sixty-six Chinese male lifetime nonsmokers and smokers were assessed by the Fagerström test for nicotine dependence (FTND), smoking quantity (SQ) and the heaviness of smoking index (HSI). All subjects were divided into four groups based on their tobacco use history and the FTND scores. The polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) was performed to find two polymorphisms of CHRNA4 in these subjects.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The χ(2) test showed that rs1044396 was significantly associated with smoking initiation (χ(2) = 4.65, P = 0.031), while both rs1044396 and rs1044397 were significantly associated with nicotine dependence (χ(2) = 5.42, P = 0.020; χ(2) = 7.58, P = 0.005). Furthermore, the T-G (3.9%) haplotype of rs1044396-rs1044397 showed significant association with smoking initiation (χ(2) = 6.30, P = 0.012) and the C-G haplotype (58.9%) remained positive association with nicotine dependence (χ(2) = 8.64, P = 0.003) after Bonferroni correction. The C-G haplotype also significantly increased the HSI (P = 0.002) and FTND scores (P = 0.001) after Bonferroni correction.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>These findings suggest that CHRNA4 may be associated with smoking initiation and the C-G haplotype of rs1044396-rs1044397 might increase the vulnerability to nicotine dependence in Chinese male smokers.</p>

Effects of taurine on NOS activity in myocardium and plasma of hemorrhagic shock resuscitation in rabbits / 中国应用生理学杂志

<p><b>AIM</b>To investigate the effect of taurine on nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity and nitric oxide products (NO2 /NO3 ) content in myocardium and plasma during shock resuscitation.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Twenty-four rabbits were divided randomly into 3 groups (n=8): control group, shock group, taurine group. The model of hemorrhagic shock resuscitation was used. The activities of nitric oxide synthase (NOS), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and the contents of nitric oxide products (NO2- /NO3-) in plasma were observed before shock and shock 1.5 hours, after resuscitation 1 hour, 2 hours and 3 hours. The activities of NOS and the contents of NO2-/NO3- in myocardium homogenate were measured after resuscitation 3 hours. Meanwhile, pathologic samples treated routinely.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>(1) During resuscitation, the activities of NOS, LDH and the contents of NO2- /NO3- in plasma of shock group were significantly higher than that of before shock and shock 1.5 hours (P < 0.01). (2) After resuscitation 3 hours, the activity of NOS and the contents of NO2- / NO3 in myocardium of shock group were significantly higher than that of control group (P < 0.01). The cardiac myocyte appeared edema, fatty degeneration. (3) All the changes of above mentioned could be attenuated by intravenous injection taurine (40 mg/kg) (P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>These results suggest that the NOS activation and NO release may mediated myocardium injury induced by shock resuscitation, taurine can ameliorate the myocardium injury, which may be related to decreasing the generation of NO.</p>

Relationship between lung injury induced by hemorrhagic shock/reperfusion and nitric oxide and beneficial effect of taurine / 中国应用生理学杂志

<p><b>AIM</b>To approach the relationship between lung injury induced by shock/reperfusion and nitric oxide as well as the beneficial effect of taurine.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Twenty four rabbits were divided randomly into 3 groups (n = 8): control group, shock group, taurine group. The model of lung injury induced by shock/reperfusion was used. The activities of nitric oxide synthase (NOS), superoxide dismutase (SOD), the contents of malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide products (NO2-/NO3-) in plasma and lung homogenate, lung wet/dry weight, lung water content, lung permeability index, and protein content in the pulmonary alveolar lavage fluid were measured. Meanwhile, pathologic samples treated routinely.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>(1) At 3 hours after reperfusion, the activities of SOD in plasma and lung homogenate decreased markedly, but the other indexes above mentioned were increased significantly compared with the control group (P < 0.01). (2) A close correlation was shown between MDA content and NO2-/NO3- content in plasma and lung. Furthermore, the content of NO2-/NQ3- in lung homogenate showed strong positive correlation with the lung injury parameters. (3) Taurine (40 mg x kg(-1) i.v.) could attenuate all the changes above mentioned at the same time points of reperfusion.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>NO may play an important role in lung injury induced by shock/reperfusion. Taurine can ameliorate the lung injury, mechanism of which may be related to decreasing the generation of NO and anti-lipoperoxidation.</p>