Influence of ecoimmunonutrition supplement on intestinal mucosa morphology and gut barrier function in rats after operative stress / 中华胃肠外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effects of ecoimmunonutrition supplement on intestinal microecology, epithelial tight junctions, and barrier function in rats with surgical stress.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Seventy SD rats after surgical trauma were randomly divided into four groups:(1) placebo group,(2)total parenteral nutrition(TPN) group,(3)enteral nutrition(EN) group and (4)ecoimmunonutrition (EEN)group respectively. Rats received isocaloric and isonitrogenous nutrition. Nutrients were administered via the neck vein and the needle jejunostomy for five days. The homogenated tissues of liver, lung, and mesenteric lymph nodes were cultured to determine the bacterial translocation rate. The transmembrane binding proteins(occludin) was measured by immunohistochemistry. The ultrastructure and morphology of intestinal epithelial tight junctions in the intestine were observed by electron microscope. The feces in cecum was cultured for anaerobic bacterial growth and analysed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The amounts of lactobacteria and bifidobacteria in EEN group were significantly higher than those in TPN group(P<0.05). The expression levels of occludin in the intestine was significantly higher in EEN group than that in TPN and EN group. Furthermore, the intestinal epithelial tight junction and microvilli of EEN group were more intact compared with those of TPN group. The bacterial translocation rates of liver, lung and mesenteric lymph nodes were significantly lower in EEN and EN group than those in TPN group(P<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Application of ecoimmunonutrition can protect intestinal mucosal barrier in rats with operative stress, increase the expression of occludin, maintain the gut epithelial tight junction, and eliminate gut bacterial translocation.</p>

Expressed sequence tags analysis of a liver tissue cDNA library from a highly inbred minipig line / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Porcine liver performing efficient physiological functions in the human body is prerequisite for successful liver xenotransplantation. However, the protein differences between pig and human remain largely unexplored. Therefore, we investigated the liver expression profile of a highly inbred minipig line.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A cDNA library was constructed from liver tissue of an inbred Banna minipig. Two hundred randomly selected clones were sequenced then analysed by BLAST programme.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Alignments of the sequences showed 44% encoded previously known porcine genes. Among the 56% unknown genes, sequences of 72 clones had high similarities with known genes of other species and the similarities to human were mostly above 0.80. The other 40 clones showing no similarity to genes in National Centre for Biotechnology Information are newly discovered, expressed sequence tags specific to liver of inbred Banna minipig. Twenty-two of the 200 clones had full length encoding regions, 38 complete 5' terminal sequences and 140 complete 3' terminal sequences.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>These newly discovered expression sequences may be an important resource for research involving physiological characteristics and medical usage of inbred pigs and contribute to matching studies in xenotransplantation.</p>

Studies on the enhancement of DC vaccine to mouse Lewis lung cancer by CpG oligonucleotides / 中华肿瘤杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate whether CpG ODN can affect the antitumor responses of DC-tumor cell vaccine against Lewis lung cancer.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>CpG oligonucleotides 1826 (ODN 1826) were used to promote maturation of DCs in vitro. By fusing DCs with Lewis lung carcinoma L3-8 cells, DC-based tumor cell vaccines were developed. To determine the immune responses to the vaccines, T cell proliferation and cytotoxicity were done in vitro. Therapeutic and prophylactic immunization with DC vaccines were performed in C57BL/6 mice bearing Lewis lung carcinoma.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Bone marrow cells cultured in the presence of GM-CSF and IL-4 plus additional ODN 1862 appeared typical morphology of DCs. FACS analyses showed that the mean fluorescence index (MFI) of CD40 expression of DCs stimulated with and without CpG ODN was 24 and 11, respectively, and that of CD86 expression was 75 and 33, respectively. IL-12 secreted by DCs cultured with ODN 1826 was 10-fold as high as that without ODN 1826. Significant T-cell proliferation and T cell-mediated cytotoxicity against L3-8 was induced in vitro. Marked inhibition of tumor growth in L3-8 bearing mice was observed upon prophylactic and therapeutic immunizations with the vaccine.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>CpG ODN can enhance the antitumor responses of DC vaccine by promoting DC maturation.</p>

Enhancement of the bystander effect by tanshinone IIA in HSV-tK/GCV system is related to expression of connexin 43 mRNA / 中华肿瘤杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate enhancement of the bystander effect by tanshinone IIA (Tan) in HSV-tK/GCV system and the correlation with expression of connexin 43 mRNA.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The cytotoxic effect in HSV-tK/GCV in cervical carcinoma cell line ME180 (ME) and ME/TK was examined by MTT assays. Cx43 mRNA expression was detected by fluor-quantitative RT-PCR.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Tan markedly increased sensitivity of ME/TK cells for GCV in HSV-tK/GCV system. In the presence of 2 micro g/ml GCV, compared with the absence of Tan (0 mol/L), an obvious decrease in survival rate was seen at any given mixture of ME and ME/TK cells exposed to 1.3 x 10(-9) mol/L Tan. Statistics showed significant difference (P < 0.05). However, enhancement of bystander mediated cell killing occurred only in the range of Tan concentrations used (1.3 x 10(-8), 1.3 x 10(-9) mol/L). RT-PCR showed that the ratio of relative copy number of Cx43 mRNA increased by 8.83 and 8.47-fold in ME cells exposed to 1.3 x 10(-8) and 1.3 x 10(-9) mol/L Tan, respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>For the first time we report that in cervical carcinoma ME180 cell line, Tan possesses a remarkable enhancing role on the bystander effect in the HSV-tK/GCV system. It is associated with up-regulation of Cx43 mRNA expression.</p>