Therapeutic effects of salidroside vs pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate against severe acute pancreatitis in rat.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the therapeutic effectiveness of salidroside (Sal) and pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC) against severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) in a rat model. METHODS: Rat models of SAP were established by retrograde infusion of sodium taurocholate solution. SAP rats were randomly divided into 6 groups: SAP 3 h group, SAP 24 h group, low-dose Sal treatment group (Sal L+S), middle-dose Sal treatment group (Sal M+S), high-dose Sal treatment group (Sal H+S) and PDTC treatment group (PDTC+S). The serum amylase, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) levels were determined by optical turbidimetry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The expression of Beclin-1, microtubule-associated protein light chain 3II (LC3 II ), lysosome associated membrane protein 2 (LAMP2), interleukin-1 receptor associated kinase 1 (IRAK1) inhibitor α of nuclear transcription factor-kB (IkBα), nuclear transcription factor-kB 65 (p65) in the pancreas tissues were detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blot, while the pIkBα and p-p65 levels were detected by Western blot. Pathological changes of the pancreas and all the other indexes were observed at 3 and 24 h after operation. RESULTS: The serum IL-10 level, IkBα and LAMP2 levels in Sal M+S, Sal H+S and PDTC+S groups were higher than those in SAP 24 h group, while all the other indexes in these three groups were all lower significantly than those in SAP 24 h group. There was no significant difference in all indexes between Sal H+S and PDTC+S groups. CONCLUSION: High-dose Sal has an effectively therapeutic effect on SAP in rats, which was similar to PDTC.

Profile of the RNA in exosomes from astrocytes and microglia using deep sequencing: implications for neurodegeneration mechanisms.

Glial cells play an important role in signal transduction, energy metabolism, extracellular ion homeostasis and neuroprotection of the central nervous system. However, few studies have explained the potential effects of exosomes from glial cells on central nervous system health and disease. In this study, the genes expressed in exosomes from astrocytes and microglia were identified by deep RNA sequencing. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis indicated that several pathways in these exosomes are responsible for promoting neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease. Gene ontology analysis showed that extracellular exosome, mitochondrion and growth factor activity were enriched in exosomes from the unique astrocyte group, while extracellular exosome and mitochondrion were enriched in exosomes from the unique microglia group. Next, combined with the screening of hub genes, the protein-protein interaction network analysis showed that exosomes from astrocytes influence neurodegenerative diseases through metabolic balance and ubiquitin-dependent protein balance, whereas exosomes from microglia influence neurodegenerative diseases through immune inflammation and oxidative stress. Although there were differences in RNA expression between exosomes from astrocytes and microglia, the groups were related by the hub genes, ubiquitin B and heat shock protein family A (Hsp70) member 8. Ubiquitin B appeared to be involved in pleiotropic regulatory functions, including immune regulation, inflammation inhibition, protein catabolism, intracellular protein transport, exosomes and oxidative stress. The results revealed the clinical significance of exosomes from glia in neurodegenerative diseases. This study was approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of Nantong University, China (approval No. S20180102-152) on January 2, 2018.

Combretastatin A-4 efficiently inhibits angiogenesis and induces neuronal apoptosis in zebrafish.

Cis-stilbene combretastatin A-4 (CA-4) and a large group of its derivant compounds have been shown significant anti-angiogenesis activity. However the side effects even the toxicities of these chemicals were not evaluated adequately. The zebrafish model has become an important vertebrate model for evaluating drug effects. The testing of CA-4 on zebrafish is so far lacking and assessment of CA-4 on this model will provide with new insights of understanding the function of CA-4 on angiogenesis, the toxicities and side effects of CA-4. We discovered that 7-9 ng/ml CA-4 treatments resulted in developmental retardation and morphological malformation, and led to potent angiogenic defects in zebrafish embryos. Next, we demonstrated that intraperitoneal injection of 5, 10 and 20 mg/kg CA-4 obviously inhibited vessel plexus formation in regenerated pectoral fins of adult zebrafish. Interestingly, we proved that CA-4 treatment induced significant cell apoptosis in central nervous system of zebrafish embryos and adults. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that the neuronal apoptosis induced by CA-4 treatment was alleviated in p53 mutants. In addition, notch1a was up-regulated in CA-4 treated embryos, and inhibition of Notch signaling by DAPT partially rescued the apoptosis in zebrafish central nervous system caused by CA-4.

Pathological and ultrastructural observations and liver function analysis of Eimeria stiedai-infected rabbits.

To study the pathogenicity of Eimeria stiedai, sporulated oocysts were given orally to coccidian-free two-month-old New Zealand rabbits(1000±20g). After 30days, blood samples from the rabbit hearts were collected for routine blood tests, liver functions and four characteristics of blood coagulation. Additionally, specimens of the liver, bile duct and duodenum were collected to observe the changes in pathology and ultrastructure. E. stiedai severely restricted the growth and development of rabbits. Blood tests showed that glutamine transferase (GGT) and serum cholinesterase (ChE) were significantly different from the non-infected controls. Other extremely significant differences were observed in the biochemical indices of routine blood tests, liver function and four blood coagulation characteristics, indicating that the liver functions were significantly affected. Staining showed that, compared with the negative control group, the liver, bile duct and duodenum contained significant numbers of lesions, and organs and cell structures suffered severe damage in ultrastructure, which greatly affecting bodily functions. E. stiedai-infected rabbits model was successfully established, which might provide a theoretical basis for research on the pathogenesis of rabbit coccidia, and the diagnosis and prevention of coccidiosis in rabbits.

Identification of causative pathogens in mouse eyes with bacterial keratitis by sequence analysis of 16S rDNA libraries.

The clone library method using PCR amplification of the 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene was used to identify pathogens from corneal scrapings of C57BL/6-corneal opacity (B6-Co) mice with bacterial keratitis. All 10 samples from the eyes with bacterial keratitis showed positive PCR results. All 10 samples from the normal cornea showed negative PCR results. In all 10 PCR-positive samples, the predominant and second most predominant species accounted for 20.9 to 40.6% and 14.7 to 26.1%, respectively, of each clone library. The predominant species were Staphylococcus lentus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus epidermidis. The microbiota analysis detected a diverse group of microbiota in the eyes of B6-Co mice with bacterial keratitis and showed that the causative pathogens could be determined based on percentages of bacterial species in the clone libraries. The bacterial species detected in this study were mostly in accordance with results of studies on clinical bacterial keratitis in human eyes. Based on the results of our previous studies and this study, the B6-Co mouse should be considered a favorable model for studying bacterial keratitis.

Identification of QTLs for weight and cross-sectional area on cervical enlargement of spinal cord in mice.

Two inbred strains of mice, A/J, C57BL/6J and F2 intercross progenies,were used for QTL mapping for weight and cross-sectional area on cervical enlargement of spinal cord in mice. 13 QTLs located on Chromosome 2, 4, 8, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19 and X, respectively, for these two traits were found. Six QTLs were responsible for the cord weight, four for the cross-sectional area and three for both. Among 13 QTLs, three QTLs (P < 0.01) termed SC1 (located near D15Mit158) ,SC2 (DXMit140) and SC3 (DXMit64) accounted for 24%, 19% and 15% of the total variance in weight phenotype, and -3.78, 3.41 and 2.06 mg additive effect, respectively. The P value of other QTLs is between 0.01 and 0.05. SC1 is only one QTL that responsible for both weight and cross-sectional area in three QTLs above. This study revealed the location of major QTLs related size of spinal cord in mice, and may be helpful in fine mapping and ultimate identification of candidate genes.