Effects of supplemental boron on intestinal proliferation and apoptosis in African ostrich chicks / Efectos del boro suplementario sobre la proliferación intestinal y apoptosis en polluelos de avestruz africana

Boron is an essential trace element which plays an important role in process of metabolism and the function of the tissues. However, the effects of boron on the intestinal cells in African ostrich chicks are poorly reported. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the role of boron on proliferation and apoptosis of the intestinal cells. A total of 36, ten day-old ostrich chicks were randomly divided into six groups and fed on the same basal diet supplemented with 0, 40, 80, 160, 320 and 640 mg/L boric acid in drinking water for 80 days. Proliferatingcell nuclearantigen (PCNA) wasused to test the proliferation indexof intestine in different group byimmunohistochemicalstaining (IHC). Apoptoticcellsofintestinewere detectedbyDutp-biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL) reaction and evaluated by integral optical density (IOD). Results showed that proliferationof intestinal cells significantly increased in groups of 80, 160, 320 and 640 mg/L. TUNEL reaction showed that apoptosis significantly decreased in 80 mg/L groups, while significantly increased in high dose of boron groups (320 and 640 mg/L), especially inepithelium. In conclusion, low dose of boron-supplemented water could promote cell proliferation and depress apoptosis, while high dose of boron could cause intestinal apoptosis and thus we found increased proliferation of intestine cell as a compensatory adaption. These findings may support optimal dosage of boron that could protect the development of ostrich intestine, while high dosage of boron could suppress it, or even has toxic effects on it.

El boro es un elemento esencial que desempeña un importante rol en el proceso del metabolismo y en la función de los tejidos. Sin embargo, existe poca información de los efectos del boro en las células intestinales de polluelos de avestruz Africana. Por lo tanto, este estudio fue diseñado para investigar el papel del boro sobre la proliferación y la apoptosis de las células intestinales. Un total de 36 polluelos de avestruz de diez días se dividieron, aleatoriamente, en seis grupos y se alimentaron con una misma dieta basal suplementada con 0, 40, 80, 160, 320 y 640 mg/L de ácido bórico en agua potable durante 80 días. Se utilizó el antígeno nuclear celular de células en proliferación (PCNA) para probar el índice de proliferación de intestino en diferentes grupos por tinción inmunohistoquímica. Las células apoptóticas del intestino fueron detectadas por dUTP-biotina nick etiquetado para reacción (TUNEL) y evaluadas por la densidad óptica integrada (DOI). Los resultados mostraron que la proliferación de las células intestinales aumentó significativamente en los grupos de 80, 160, 320 y 640 mg /L. La reacción TUNEL mostró que la apoptosis se redujo significativamente en los grupos de 80 mg/L, mientras que el aumento fue significativo en grupos tratados con dosis alta de boro (320 y 640 mg/L), especialmente en el epitelio. En conclusión, la baja dosis de boro en agua suplementada podría promover la proliferación celular y deprimir la apoptosis, mientras que altas dosis de boro podrían provocar apoptosis intestinal y, por lo tanto, se halló una mayor proliferación de las células del intestino como una adaptación compensatoria. Estos hallazgos indican que una dosis óptima de boro podría proteger el desarrollo del intestino del avestruz, mientras que altas dosis de boro podrían suprimirla, o incluso tener efectos tóxicos sobre ella.

Relationship between Aberrant Methylation of FAS Promoter and Biological Behavior of Bladder Urothelial Carcinoma / 华中科技大学学报（医学）（英德文版）

This study examined the promoter methylation of APO-1/CD95 (Fas) gene in bladder urothelial carcinoma and analyzed the relationship between the Fas promoter methylation and the biological behavior of bladder cancer.Promoter methylation of Fas gene was detected by methylation-specific PCR (MSP) in 4 bladder cancer cell lines,50 human bladder urothelial carcinoma samples and 10 normal bladder tissue samples.Correlation of the aberrant methylation of Fas promoter with the clinicopathological parameters was statistically analyzed.The results showed that Fas was down-regulated at both mRNA and protein level in bladder cancer cell lines and tissue samples of bladder urothelial carcinoma.The positive rate of Fas protein expression in bladder urothelial carcinoma was 34.0％(17/50),significantly lower than that in normal bladder tissues (70.0％,7/10) (P＜0.01).Fas promoter methylation was detected,and the positive rate of Fas promoter methylation in bladder urothelial carcinoma was 42.0％ (21/50),which was obviously higher than that in normal bladder tissues (0.0％,0/10)(P＜0.01).The aberrant methylation of Fas promoter was reversely correlated with Fas protein expression (P＜0.05).Furthermore,the positive rates of Fas promoter methylation in high-grade and low-grade bladder urothelial carcinoma were 73.3％ (11/15) and 34.2％ (12/35),respectively,with significant difference shown (P＜0.05).No statistical significance was found in the Fas promoter methylation among different clinical stages of bladder cancer.It was concluded that Fas promoter hypermethylation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of bladder urothelial carcinoma and may serve as a prognostic indicator of bladder urothelial carcinoma.