ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) is a crucial regulator of energy metabolism in many organs including the heart. Lovastatin is widely used in prevention and treatment of coronary heart disease and is a drug with substantial metabolic influences. Our study aimed to determine the activities of the lactate dehydrogenase A and B (LDHA and LDHB) genes following lovastatin treatment. METHODS: The rat myocardial cell line H9c2(2-1) in culture was exposed to 100 nmol/L lovastatin for 24 hours or for five days. The functions of the LDHA and LDHB genes were examined at the transcriptional (mRNA) level with quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (Q-RT-PCR), and at the translational (protein) level with immunoblotting. RESULTS: When compared with control levels, the LDHA mRNA went up by (151.65 ± 16.72)% (P = 0.0132) after 24 hours and by (175.28 ± 56.54)% (P = 0.0366) after five days of lovastatin treatment. Although 24 hours of lovastatin treatment had no significant effects on LDHB mRNA levels, when the treatment was extended to five days, LDHB mRNA levels were significantly down-regulated to (63.65 ± 15.21)% of control levels (P = 0.0117). After 24 hours of treatment with lovastatin, there were no significant changes in protein levels of either LDHA or LDHB. When treatment time was extended to five days, the protein levels of LDHA were up-regulated by (148.65 ± 11.81)% (P = 0.00969), while the protein levels of LDHB were down-regulated to (64.91 ± 5.47)% of control levels (P = 0.0192). CONCLUSIONS: Lovastatin affects gene activities of LDHA and LDHB differently, which may reveal novel pharmacological effects of lovastatin.
Subject(s)
L-Lactate Dehydrogenase/metabolism , Lovastatin/pharmacology , Myocytes, Cardiac/drug effects , Myocytes, Cardiac/enzymology , Animals , Anticholesteremic Agents/pharmacology , Blotting, Western , Cell Line , Isoenzymes/genetics , Isoenzymes/metabolism , L-Lactate Dehydrogenase/genetics , Lactate Dehydrogenase 5 , Rats , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain ReactionABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Glucocorticoid signaling exerts major roles in inflammation, metabolism and depression, which are three crucial factors accompanying or underlying coronary heart disease. Although accumulating evidence indicates the influence of glucocorticoids on the pathology and treatment of coronary heart disease, there is still a dearth of pharmaceutical mechanisms for this relationship. This study aimed to investigate the influence of drug treatment on glucocorticoid receptor levels in coronary heart disease. METHODS: Eighty hospitalized patients (average age (59.0 +/- 7.5) years, 46 male and 34 female) with coronary heart disease were categorized into four groups with 20 members in each according to one of the four drugs they were treated with. The four drugs were: nitrated derivative isosorbide dinitrate, the beta-adrenergic receptor blocker metoprolol, the calcium antagonist nifedipine, and the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor lovastatin. Glucocorticoid receptor protein levels of peripheral blood lymphocytes were tested using immunoblotting analysis before and after one month of treatment. RESULTS: Immunoblotting analysis showed increased glucocorticoid receptor levels after treatment with metoprolol and nifedipine. There were no statistically significant changes of glucocorticoid receptor levels after treatment with isosorbide dinitrate or lovastatin, although there were trends of up-regulation of glucocorticoid receptor expression after both treatments. CONCLUSIONS: Both the beta-blocker and the calcium blocker can increase glucocorticoid receptor levels after chronic administration. This effect suggests a mechanism for their anti-inflammatory and other therapeutic roles for coronary heart disease and comorbid disorders.
Subject(s)
Coronary Disease/drug therapy , Coronary Disease/metabolism , Receptors, Glucocorticoid/metabolism , Aged , Blotting, Western , Female , Humans , Isosorbide Dinitrate/therapeutic use , Lovastatin/therapeutic use , Male , Metoprolol/therapeutic use , Middle Aged , Nifedipine/therapeutic useABSTRACT
Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is a necessary factor in the development of cervical cancer. A new HPV screening method, "Human Papillomavirus Genotyping (HPG)", was developed to detect 29 HPV genotypes distribution in China. The utility of HPG was compared to Hybrid Capture 2 High-Risk HPV DNA test (HC2), and it was determined that the HPG test had been proven to be a more credible and sensitive screening HPV method than the HC2 test. HPV16, HPV 52, HPV 56, and HPV 58 were the four most common HPV genotypes in women who have suffered chronic cervicitis or abnormal vaginal bleeding in China. HPV 16 (28.57%) and 18 (17.86%) were more likely to infect multiple HPV genotypes than other HPV genotypes. Age group more than 50 years had a higher risk than other age groups.
