Serum non-esterified fatty acids to albumin ratio increased significantly in children with nephrotic syndrome / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To analyze serum levels of non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) and albumin (ALB) in children with nephrotic syndrome (NS) and investigate the clinical significance of altered serum NEFA to ALB ratio in children with NS in acute and remission phases.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Serum levels of NEFA and ALB were measured in 55 NS children in acute phase, in 33 NS children in remission and in 122 healthy control children, and the ratio of NEFA to ALB was calculated. The other lipid/lipoprotein and renal function parameters were also analyzed in these children.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with the healthy control children, children with NS had a significantly decreased serum ALB level (t=11.152, P<0.001) and a significantly increased NEFA to ALB ratio (t=4.991, P<0.001). Compared with NS children in remission, those in acute phase showed a significantly decreased ALB (Z=7.822, P<0.001) and an increased NEFA to ALB ratio (t=4.991, P<0.001). In all the NS children, NEFA to ALB ratio was positively correlated with the levels of TC (r=0.564, P<0.001), TG (r=0.444, P<0.001), LDL-C (r=0.625, P<0.001), urea (r=0.437, P<0.001), creatinine (r=0.278, P=0.013), and uric acid (r=0.397, P<0.001), while negatively correlated with the level of total protein (r=-0.461, P<0.001). Multiple linear regression analyses showed that NEFA to ALB ratio was independently associated with serum urea levels (β=0.703, P=0.001; adjusted R=0.494) after adjustment of other related factors.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Serum NEFA to ALB ratio is significantly increased in NS children in close association with impaired kidney function, and may function as a novel parameter for assessing the development of NS.</p>

Regulating effects of whole-body vibration on protein expression of p-GSK3β in bone marrow cells of ovariectomized osteoporosis rats / 生理学报

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of whole-body vibration on Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in bone marrow cells of ovariectomized osteoporosis rats. Thirty-six healthy 3-month old female Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into the following three groups by body weight: sham-operation (Sham), ovariectomized (OVX), and OVX whole-body vibration (WBV) groups. Ten weeks after ovariectomization, the rats of WBV group received vibration treatment (90 Hz, 15 min) twice per day. At the end of 8-week vibration, the whole-body bone mineral density (BMD) and body composition were detected by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) in vivo. The protein expressions of β-catenin and p-GSK3β in both bone marrow cells and bone marrow stromal cells were detected by Western blot. The results showed that, compared with OVX group, WBV group showed decreased fat mass and fat mass content, as well as increased lean body mass content. The BMD of the proximal tibia in WBV group was significantly higher than that in OVX group, however, there was no difference of BMD in whole-body and other positions between the two groups. The β-catenin expression in bone marrow stromal cells showed no difference between OVX and WBV groups. The p-GSK3β expression of bone marrow cells was increased in WBV group compared with that in OVX group, whereas bone marrow stromal cells from two groups did not exhibit the difference of the p-GSK3β expression. These results suggest that whole body vibration can stimulate the protein expression of p-GSK3β in bone marrow cells of ovariectomized osteoporosis rats, which could improve the bone loss induced by ovariectomization.

CTGFsiRNA ameliorates retinal cells apoptosis in the streptozotocin-induced diabetic rat / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)

·AIM: To detect the effect of CTGF on the apoptosis in the diabetic retina with small interfering RNAs (siRNA) targeting with CTGF. ·METHODS: A total of 60 rats were divided into six groups including control group, diabetic 4,8,12,16 weeks group, and interference group. Diabetic rats were induced by STZ intra-peritoneal. At 4, 8, 12, 16 weeks after diabetic setting up, retinas were obtained from control, diabetic rats and diabetic animals treated by intravitreal injection of CTGFsiRNA to suppress the expression of CTGF mRNA. Retinal cells apoptosis was detected by Tunnel staining and mRNA expression of CTGF was analyzed by RT-PCR.·RESULTS: The levels of CTGF and the apoptosis in the retinas of diabetic rats were significantly higher than those in the controls. Apoptosis occurred at 4 weeks after a diabetic model setting up, became serious with the diabetes developing, while CTGF elevated at 8 weeks. The cell apoptosis counts increased to 25.8cells/mm2 at 24 weeks of diabetes. SiRNA-mediated inhibition of CTGF mRNA resulted in a significant decrease in apoptosis. Significant correlations were found between CTGF and apoptosis in the retina.·CONCLUSION: These results suggest that CTGF might be involved in retinal cells apoptosis which is a characteristic of early diabetic retina. siRNA targeting CTGF seems to have the advantage of ameliorating retinal cells lost.

Effects of macrophage migration inhibitory factor on glucocorticoid release and glucocorticoid receptor in rats / 中华麻醉学杂志

Objective To investigate the effects of macmphage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) on glucocorticoid (GC) re]ease and glucocorticoid recer (GR) in mts.Methods Test Ⅰ Thirty-two male SD rats weighing 250-300 g were randomly divided into 4 groups(n=8 each):control group(C),low dose recombinant MIF (rMIF) group (rMIF-L),middle dose rMIF group (rMIF-M) and high dose rMIF group (rMIF-H).The animals received l ml normal saline via the right femoral vein in group C.The animals received rMIF50.100 and 200 ng in l ml normal saline though right femoral vein in group rMIF-L,rMIF-M or rMIF-H respectively.Blood samples were taken from left femoral artery immediately before inection(T0,baseline),and at 5 min,3 h,6 h.12 h and 24 h after injection of rMIF(T1-5) for determination of serum concentration of corticosterone.Test Ⅱ Primary cultured neonate rat(2-3 days)myocardial ceils were randomly divided into 3 groups(n=24 each):group C,group rMIF-L and group rMIF-M.The ceUs in group C,rMIF-L and rMIF-M wefe incubated with DMEM.rMIF 50 ng+DMEM and rMIF 100 ng+DMEM for 3 h respectively.The expression of GR and HsPg0 wag determined by Western blot.ResuBs Test Ⅰ The serum concentration of corticosterone was signifieemily higher in the other 3 groups than in group C at T1-5(P<0.05).The sertlm concentration of corticostemne was significantly increased at T1-5 in group rMIF-L,rMIF-M and rMIF-H compared with the baseline values(P<0.05).Test Ⅱ HSP90 expresion was significantly lower in the other two groups than in group C(P<0.05).Them was rio signifieanf difference in HSP90 expression between group rMIF-L and group rMIF-M(P>0.05).There was no significant difference in GR expression among the 3 groups ( P > 0.05). Conclusion MIF druing sepsis can weaken GR function through down-regulating HSP9O expression, resulting in CC resistance.

Polydatin attenuates ischemia/reperfusion-induced apoptosis in myocardium of the rat / 生理学报

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of polydatin on apoptosis induced by ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) in rat myocardium and to explore the underlying mechanism. Adult male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into control, I/R and polydatin (50 mumol/L) groups. On the Langendorff apparatus, isolated rat heart was subjected to 30-min global ischemia followed by 60-min reperfusion. TUNEL labeling and flow cytometric techniques were used for the measurement of apoptosis and the expression of Bcl-2 and Bax protein in cardiomyocytes of rat. The results showed: (1) Compared with those in the control group, the number of TUNEL-positive cells and apoptosis rate were increased in I/R group; (2) Compared with that in the I/R group, the number of TUNEL-positive cells was significantly decreased in the polydatin group [(18.1+/-4.0)% vs (35.1+/-5.4)%, P<0.01]; (3) Apoptosis rate assayed by flow cytometry in I/R group was significantly higher than that in polydatin group [(15.43+/-4.55)% vs (8.66+/-3.18)%, P<0.01]; (4) Expression level of Bax protein was higher in I/R group than that in polydatin group (P<0.05), while the level of Bcl-2 protein and Bcl-2/Bax ratio were higher in polydatin group than those in I/R group (P<0.05, P<0.01), respectively. The results obtained suggest that polydatin exerts an inhibitory effect on I/R-induced apoptosis through increasing Bcl-2 protein expression and decreasing Bax protein expression in myocardium of the rat.

Changing trends of the expression of TIMP-4 in mouse ovary during pregnant and postpartum period / 中国应用生理学杂志

<p><b>AIM</b>The changes of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-4 (TIMP-4) expression in mouse ovary during pregnant and postpartum period were studied to investigate the role of TIMP-4 in corpus luteum (CL).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>RT-PCR was used to deter mine the change of TIMP-4 mRNA and indirect immunofluorescence was used to observe the change of TIMP-4 protein. The expression of TIMP-4 mRNA was observed in various periods throughout the stage of pregnancy and postpartum day 1.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The expression of TIMP-4 was gradually enhanced from day 1 to day 8, reached a maximal expression at day 8, while decreased at day 11 and to the lowest level at postpartum day 1. Indirect immunofluorescence results further indicated that TIMP-4 protein was localized to CL and theca-intera cells in various periods throughout the pregnancy and postpartum day 1. In addition, the change pattern of TIMP-4 protein agreed with that of the TIMP-4 mRNA in pregnancy CL.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The expression of TIMP-4 in mouse ovary during pregnancy and postpartum is in spatio-temporal pattern and it may be involved in the formation and function maintain of CL during pregnancy in mice.</p>

Comparison of the effects of chronic intermittent hypobaric hypoxia and continuous hypobaric hypoxia on hemodynamics in rats / 生理学报

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of chronic intermittent hypobaric hypoxia (IHH) and chronic continuous hypobaric hypoxia (CHH) on hemodynamics under basic normoxia and acute hypoxia conditions and to find the difference of two types of chronic hypoxia. Forty adult male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into 5 groups: Control group (CON), 28 days IHH group (IHH28), 42 days IHH group (IHH42), 28 days CHH group (CHH28) and 42 days CHH group (CHH42). The rats in IHH groups were treated with intermittent hypoxia (11.1% O2) mimicking 5 000 m altitude in a hypobaric chamber for 28 or 42 d, 6 h a day, respectively. The rats in CHH groups lived in the hypobaric chamber with the same degree of hypoxia like IHH rats except half an hour in normoxia each day for feeding and cleaning. The body weight of rats was measured once a week. The parameters in hemodynamics, such as mean artery blood pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR), left ventricular systolic pressure (LVSP), maximum change rate of left ventricular pressure (+/-LVdP/dt(max)) were recorded under basic normoxia and acute hypoxia conditions through catheterization technique. The superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) content in myocardium of rats were measured by biochemical method. The weights of whole heart, left and right ventricles were measured separately. The results showed: (1) The basic HR and MAP in CHH42 rats were lower than those in CON, IHH and CHH28 rats (P<0.05). (2) IHH showed a cardioprotection against acute hypoxia and reoxygenation injury, manifested as the result that the changes of HR, MAP, LVSP, and +/- LVdP/dt(max) were smaller than those in CON rats during acute hypoxia and reoxygenation. CHH showed a rather strong cardioprotection during acute hypoxia, manifested as the result that the decreases of HR, MAP, LVSP, and +/- LVdP/dt(max)were much smaller, but it did damage during reoxygenation, manifested as the result that the recovery of hemodynamics was the worst among three groups (P<0.05). (3) The antioxygenation of heart was increased in both IHH and CHH rats compared with that in CON rats manifested by the increased SOD activity and decreased MDA content (P<0.05, P<0.01). (4) IHH had no effect on heart weight, but CHH rats showed an obvious right ventricular hypertrophy compared with CON and IHH animals (P<0.01). The result indicates that IHH can induce a more effective cardioprotection with no much side effect, which might have a potential value for practical use.

Significance of C4d deposition in the follicular lymphoma / 中华血液学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the significance of C4d deposition in follicular lymphoma (FL).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The deposition of C4d was detected in samples from 133 cases of lymphoma by immunohistochemistry and FL was studied by the double stainings of CD35/C4d, CD21/C4d and Bcl-2/C4d,respectively.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Among the 26 FL tissues, irregular C4d deposition was seen in 19 tumor tissues. Double staining for CD35, CD21 or Bcl-2 showed the C4d deposition was around the follicular dendritic cells (FDC). There was no significant difference between the positive rate of C4d and the degree of lymphoma. No deposition was found in the diffuse areas of FL and other type lymphomas.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>C4d deposition around the follicular dendritic cell in the neoplastic follicles is a specific indicator of follicular lymphoma.</p>

The suppression of melatonin on mouse oocyte in vitro maturation of mouse / 中国应用生理学杂志

<p><b>AIM</b>To study whether melatonin has effect on oocyte maturation of mouse in vitro.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Mouse oocytes were cultured in maturation medium, HX-medium, or HX-medium supplemented with FSH, and the effects of MT on meiotic maturation of mouse oocyte were examined.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>(1) MT at all doses of 0.1 g/L, 0.02 g/L, 0.4 g/L or 0.8 g/L inhibited the formation of PB1 in CEO cultured in maturation medium and had no effect on GVBD. (2) MT could delay GVBD and the extrusion of PB1 in CEOs of mouse oocytes by dynamic curves. In contrast to the control, GVBD and PB1 extrusion of oocytes in the treated groups had been delayed by 8-10 hours and 3-4 hours respectively. (3) MT inhibited the effect of FSH on resumption of meiosis, but no effect on the formation of PB1. (4) MT and HX had cooperation effects on spontaneous oocyte maturation in CEO, but not in DO.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>MT is able to affect mouse oocyte maturation and the regulation mechanisms may be related to cumulus cells.</p>