Effect of bFGF on promoting angiogenesis in infarct area and improving myocardial fibrosis in mouse myocardial infarction model / 中国病理生理杂志

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.

Effects of hemoglobin oxygenase-1 inhibitor zinc protoporphyrin IX on acute viral myocarditis in mice / 中华儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the role of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and its catalyst carbon monoxide (CO) in the development of myocardial damage and the effects of zinc protoporphyrin IX (ZnPPIX), an inhibitor of HO-1 on myocardium of mice with acute viral myocarditis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 112 inbred male Balb/C mice 4 - 6 weeks of age were divided randomly into 3 groups: the control group (C group, n = 32), the viral myocarditis group (V group, n = 40) and ZnPPIX group (Z group, n = 40). The Z and V groups were inoculated intraperitoneally (i.p.) with 0.1 ml of 10(-4.36) tissue culture infectious dose 50% (TCID(50))/ml Coxsackie virus B3 (CVB(3)) to produce viral myocarditis model on day 0, C group was injected i.p. with virus-free 1640 culture culture medium 0.1 ml at the same time, then operation was done as follows: the mice of group C and group V were injected i.p. with 0.1 ml NS each day. The mice of group Z were injected i.p. with 40 micromol per kilogram of body weight ZnPPIX (HO-1 inhibitor) qod. Eight mice of each group were sacrificed on days 4, 8, 15 and 21, respectively. The blood specimens were collected by taking out the eyeballs to test for the content of carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) using spectrophotometry and cardiac troponin I (cTnI) using chemiluminescent immunoassay. The hearts tissue slides were also stained by immunohistochemistry (IHC) for HO-1 and in situ hybridization (ISH) for HO-1 mRNA. The histological and ultrastructural changes were observed under light and electron microscopes.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>(1) The histopathological changes of myocardial cells: in the V and Z groups myocardial inflammatory cells infiltration reached the peak on day 8, the Z group histopathological scores were significantly lower than those in V group on day 8 (2.40 +/- 0.31 vs. 1.73 +/- 0.24, P < 0.01) and on day 15 (1.78 +/- 0.29 vs. 1.43 +/- 0.23, P < 0.05). No inflammation was present in group C. (2) The changes of serum cTnI level in both V and Z groups were significantly higher than those in C group on day 4, 8 and 15 (P < 0.01). The level in Z group was significantly lower than that in V group on day 4 [(6.074 +/- 1.475) ng/ml vs (7.911 +/- 1.225) ng/ml, P < 0.05] and day 8 [(0.821 +/- 0.294) ng/ml vs (1.480 +/- 0.454) ng/ml, P < 0.05]. (3) The changes of blood COHb level: compared with V group, in Z group the COHb level was lower on day 4 (P < 0.05) and day 15 (P < 0.01) after CVB(3) inoculation. Surprisingly, in Z group COHb level elevated suddenly on day 8 and showed conspicuously higher than that of V group (P < 0.01). (4) The result of HO-1 IHC staining: in both V and Z group myocardial cells had positive expression, while C group did not. (5) The results of HO-1 ISH were similar to those of HO-1 IHC, the A values of group Z was significantly lower than that of group V on day 4, 15 and 21(P < 0.01), but on day 8 it was higher than that of group C (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>HO-1 inhibitor, ZnPP not only could inhibit HO-1 overexpression but also could induce HO-1 expression temporarily and protect against myocardial injury at the early stage of acute viral myocarditis.</p>

Reducing plasma homocysteic acid lowers serum C-reactive protein level in children with Kawasaki disease / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effect of plasma homocysteic acid (HCA) reduction on serum C-reactive protein (CRP) level in children with Kawasaki disease (KD).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Seventy-six children with KD were divided into 2 equal groups for treatment with aspirin and IVIG, or with vitamin B6 and folic acid besides in addition to aspirin and IVIG. Serum CRP level was tested before and after the treatments, and plasma HCA level was also measured after the treatments.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Serum CRP level was comparable between the two groups before the treatment, but significantly reduced after vitamin B6 and folic acid treatment (7.56-/+2.94 mg/L vs 12.23-/+4.16 mg/L, P<0.05). Additional vitamin B6 and folic acid treatment significantly lowered plasma HCA level (4.56-/+1.14 micromol/L vs 7.79-/+1.79 micromol/L, P<0.05), and correlation analysis demonstrated a positive correlation between plasma HCA and serum CRP levels (r=0.697, P<0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Lowering plasma HCA can decrease serum CRP in children with KD to enhance the therapeutic effect.</p>

Changes of Level of Plasma Angiotensin Ⅱ and Cardiac Function after Captopril Treatment in Children with Acute Viral Myocarditis / 实用儿科临床杂志

Objective To explore the changes of plasma angiotensinⅡ (AngⅡ) and cardiac function,and the curative effect of children with acute viral myocarditis (VMC) treated with captopril(CAP).Methods Concentrations of plasma AngⅡ were measured with radio-immunity and cardiac function was detected by Doppler echocardiography for the VMC group (n=60) before and after treatment [the CAP group (n=30), the routine group (n=30) and the control group (n=30)].Results 1. The level of plasma AngⅡ significantly increased and the contractive and diastolic function obviously declined in children with acute VMC. There was a significant difference between VMC group and control group, with a significant correlation between the level of AngⅡand the contractive diastolic function.2. Compared with the level before treatment, the level of AngⅡ decreased and the contractive function obviously ameliorated in two groups; the diastolic function obviously ameliorated in the CAP group and did not ameliorate in the routine group after treatment. In CAP group the level of AngⅡ and the cardiac function significantly improved; there were statistical differences between the two groups after treatment.Conclusions 1.The increase of the plasma AngⅡ was an important factor for decrements of the contractive and diastolic function in acute viral myocarditis.2.It could decrease the concentration of plasma AngⅡ and ameliorate cardiac function in children with acute VMC treated with captopril,which was an effective therapy for acute VMC.

Evaluation of Myocardial Ischemia of Kawasaki Disease at Convalescence Period by Radioactive Nuclide Myocardial Perfusion Imaging / 实用儿科临床杂志

Objective To discuss the clinical value of 99Tcm-sestamibi(99Tcm-MIBI) myocardial perfusion imaging on detecting myocardial ischemia in children with Kawasaki disease(KD) at convalescence period.Methods Twenty-one children wih KD at convalescence period were divided into 2 groups according to results of echocardiography.Four cases with coronary artery dilation,17 cases without coronary artery dilation.All cases accepted dipyridamole stress myocardial perfusion imaging.These patients who had positive results were given rest myocardial perfusion imaging again next day.Results Among 21 cases,9 cases(42.8%) were positive in perfusion imaging.Four cases with coronary artery dilation showed myocardial ischemia in different degree detected by myocardial perfusion imaging.Among 17 cases without coronary artery dilation,5 cases(29.4%) were positive.Conclusions Compared to echocardiography,99Tcm-MIBI myocardial perfusion imaging can objectively evaluate the location,extent and degree of myocardial ischemia of children with KD.It will be a routine test in observing its phase development.