ABSTRACT
AIM:To investigate the protective effect of basic fibroblast growth factor(bFGF)on the heart of mice with myocardial infarction and its mechanism.METHODS:The model of myocardial infarction was established by the ligation of left anterior descending artery of C57/B6 mice(8～12 weeks old)after lateral thoracotomy.The mice were divided into sham operation group ,myocardial infarction group and bFGF administration group.bFGF at 0.5μg was intra-peritoneally injected on alternate days after myocardial infarction for 7 d.Cardiac Doppler ultrasonography was used to de-tect cardiac function after myocardial infarction for 28 d,and left ventricular end-diastolic diameter ,left ventricular end-systolic diameter,left ventricular ejection fraction and left ventricular shortening fraction(LVFS)were used to evaluate cardiac function.After myocardial infarction for 28 d,the mice were sacrificed and the hearts were collected for preparing pathological sections.The degrees of myocardial fibrosis and angiogenesis in the myocardial infarction area were observed. Western blot was used to detect the indicators of angiogenesis.RESULTS:The results of Masson staining showed that bF-GF administration significantly reduced myocardial fibrosis at 28 d after myocardial infarction.Cardiac ultrasound data showed that cardiac functions in myocardial infarction group were poorer than those in sham group ,and bFGF administration significantly improved cardiac functions.Immunofluorescence staining showed that neovascularization in myocardial infarc -tion area of bFGF administration group was more than that in myocardial infarction group.The results of Western blot showed that bFGF activated AKT/HIF-1α/VEGF signaling pathway.CONCLUSION:Intraperitoneal injection of bFGF reduces myocardial fibrosis and improves cardiac function in myocardial infarction mice.bFGF may promote angiogenesis by activating AKT/HIF-1α/VEGF signaling pathway.
ABSTRACT
In this study, the inhibitory effect of human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hUCMSC) on interleukin-17 (IL-17) production in peripheral blood T cells from patients with spondyloarthritis (SpA) were investigated, in order to explore the therapeutic potential of hUCMSC in the SpA. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNC) were isolated from patients with SpA (n = 12) and healthy subjects (n = 6). PBMNC were cultured in vitro with hUCMSC or alone. The expression of IL-17 in CD4(+) T cells or γ/δ T cells were determined in each subject group by flow cytometry. IL-17 concentrations in PBMNC culture supernatants were measured by ELISA. The results indicated that the proportion of IL-17-producing CD4(+) T cells and IL-17-producing γ/δ T cells of SpA patients were 4.5 folds and 5 folds of healthy controls [CD3(+)CD4(+)IL-17(+) cells (3.42 ± 0.82)% vs (0.75 ± 0.25)%, P < 0.01; CD3(+)γδTCR(+)IL-17(+) cells (0.30 ± 0.10)% vs (0.06 ± 0.02)%, P < 0.01]. After co-culture of PBMNC in patients with hUCMSC, the increased proportions of CD3(+)CD4(+)IL-17(+) cells and CD3(+)γδTCR(+)IL-17(+) cells in SpA patients were inhibited significantly by hUCMSC [CD3(+)CD4(+)IL-17(+) cells (3.42 ± 0.82)% vs (1.81 ± 0.59)% (P < 0.01); CD3(+)γδTCR(+)IL-17(+) cells (0.30 ± 0.10)% vs (0.16 ± 0.06)% (P < 0.01]. In response to phytohemagglutinin (PHA, 1 µg/ml), PBMNC from SpA patients secreted more IL-17 than that from healthy control [(573.95 ± 171.68) pg/ml vs (115.53 ± 40.41) pg/ml (P < 0.01)]. In the presence of hUCMSC, PBMNC of SpA patients produced less amount of IL-17 [(573.95 ± 171.68) pg/ml vs (443.20 ± 147.94) pg/ml, (P < 0.01)]. It is concluded that the IL-17 production in peripheral blood T cells from SpA patients can be inhibited by hUCMSC, which have therapeutic potential for SpA.