ABSTRACT
AIM: To study the chloride channel activity [ICl_(Ca)] in vascular smooth cells of the spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). METHODS: The vascular beds of mesenteric arteries were isolated from the pentobarbital anesthetized rats and perfused with 37 ℃ PSS at a constant flow rate. The vasoconstriction response to norepinphrine (NE) was determined by changes in perfused pressure. The strips of the rat arteries were mounted in an organ chamber filled with 37 ℃ PSS and the vascular tension was measured. RESULTS: (1) The contractile responses of mesenteric arteries to NE in SHR were greater than that in Wistar rats. (2) The inhibitory magnitude of the contractile response by niflumic acid in SHR was significantly less than that in Wistar rats and showed dose-dependent manner. (3) Decreasing the extracellular Cl~- concentration increased the contractile response to NE significantly and the amplitude of enhanced contractile response in SHR was greater than that in Wistar rats. CONCLUSION: It can be concluded that NE-induced contraction is enhanced in SHR, which is partly due to an increase in Cl~- efflux through the Ca~(2+)-activated Cl~- channels. The chloride channel activity may increase in association with the elevation of vascular tone and blood pressure.
ABSTRACT
AIM: To examine whether ischemic preconditioning (IPC) can protect against apoptosis in CA1 subfield of hippocampus following reperfusion of a lethal ischemia in rats and explore the role of IPC by inhibiting the expression of p53 in this process. METHODS: Wistar rats were used in the experiment. A global ischemia/reperfusion model was induced by 4-vessel occlusion. The rats were divided into the following three groups randomly: (1) ischemic preconditioning group (IPC group); (2) ischemia/reperfusion group (IR group); (3) control group. The histopathological changes, the percentage of apoptosis and the expression of p53 gene in CA1 region of rat hippocampus were examined by HE staining, FCM, RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry techniques. RESULTS: The neuronal density of CA1 region in IPC group [(217?9)/0.72 mm2] was significantly higher than that in IR group [(29?5)/0.72 mm2, P
ABSTRACT
AIM: To investigate the changes of bcl-2, bax expression and neuron apoptosis of cerebral cortex in lymphostatic encephalopathy of rats. METHODS: The model of lymphostatic encephalopathy was established by occluding and removing both the shallow and deep cervical lymph nodes in rats. The animals were sacrificed at 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 and 14 days after operation. HE staining was used to observe the structure of brain tissues and TUNEL staining was used to detect in situ cell apoptosis. The expressions of bcl-2 and bax were examined by RT-PCR. RESULTS: Cerebroedema appeared at the second day and was the most serious at the 5th day after blockage of cervical lymphatics. The number of TUNEL positive cells and the expression of bax began to increase at the 2nd day, reached a peak at the 5th day and dropped to control level at the 14th day. The expression of bcl-2 began to increase at the 1st day, reached a peak at the 5th day and dropped to control level at the 7th day. The increasing extent of bax was higher than that of bcl-2. CONCLUSION: The blockage of cervical lymphatics can lead to lymp[JP2]hostatic encephalopathy. Apoptosis is the main form of neuron death in the cortex and has relation to the increasing expression of bcl-2 and bax. [JP]