[Effect of atorvastatin on LOX-1 and eNOS expression in collateral vessels of hypercholesterolemic rats].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of atorvastatin on the expression of lectin- like oxLDL receptor 1 (LOX-1) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) in collateral vessels of hypercholesterolemic rats. METHODS: Forty male SD rats were randomized equally into 4 groups: femoral ligation group (L), hypercholesterolemia + femoral ligation group (HL), hypercholesterolemia+atorvastatin+femoral ligation group (AL), and hypercholesterolemia+normal saline+femoral ligation group (NL). The rats in the latter 3 groups were fed atherogenic diet for 8 weeks. At the end of the 8 weeks, the rats were subjected to femoral artery ligation with or without intraperitoneal injection of atorvastatin (AL group) or saline (NL group). Two weeks later, all the rats were euthanized and the expressions of LOX-1 and eNOS in the collateral vessels were detected with immunofluorescence assay. In the in vitro experiment, cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were transfected with LOX-1 siRNA followed by treatment with oxLDL and/or atorvastatin. The expressions of LOX-1 and eNOS in the cells were detected with realtime PCR and Western blotting, and the cellular NO production was examined with Griess assay. RESULTS: The collateral vessels of rats with normal feeding expressed LOX-1, which was significantly increased in the collateral vessels of hypercholesterolemic rats; atorvastatin treatment significantly lowered LOX-1 expressions in the hypercholesterolemic rats. In normally fed rats, the growing collateral vessels exhibited strong eNOS expressions, which were lowered in hypercholesterolemic rats and enhanced after atorvastatin treatment. In the cell experiment, HUVECs with oxLDL treatment showed a high LOX-1 expression and a low eNOS expression, and atorvastatin treatment of the cells down-regulated LOX-1 and up-regulated eNOS expressions. Inhibition of LOX-1 mediated by a specific LOX-1 siRNA abolished the effect of oxLDL stimulation on eNOS expression in the cells. CONCLUSIONS: Both hypercholesterolemia and oxLDL can induce endothelial dysfunction and impair collateral vessel growth via the LOX-1/eNOS pathway in rats, and atorvastatin treatment can restore the LOX-1/eNOS pathway to promote the growth of the collateral vessels, suggesting the potential of atorvastatin as a therapeutic agent to promote repair of collateral vessel injuries in ischemic diseases.

The Changes of Neurocognitive Function in Early Stage in Patients with First-Episode Schizophrenia / 现代生物医学进展

Objective:To evaluate the changes of neurocognitive function in early stage in patients with first-episode schizophrenia.Methods:In this study,73 cases of patients with first-episode schizophrenia (research group) and 75 cases of health person (control group) were selected from January 2015 to January 2016 in our hospital.The neurocognitive function was evaluated by neuro-psychological testing tool and the data between two group were compared.Results:Scores of delayed recall,total recall,3 trial,2 trial and 1 trial of research group were lower than those of control group in BVMT-R test,and the difference was statistically significant (P＜0.05).In HVLT-R test,the scores of total delay,3 trial and 2 trial of research group were significantly lower than those of control group (P＜0.05).The consuming time of dominant hands and subdominant hands in pegboard tasks were significantly higher in research group than in control group (P＜0.05).Conpletion time of connection test A,color connection 1 and 2 in connection test of research group were significantly higher than those of control group (P＜0.05).Attempt number and correct number in research group in PASAT test were significantly lower than in control group (P＜0.05).Number of search errors in research group was higher than in control group,while number of search correct,search total score and digital sign score were significantly lower than in control group (P＜0.05).Total number of words,color and color / word count in research group were lower than in control group in Stroop color word test,and the difference was statistically significant (P＜0.05).WMS-Ⅲ test results between two group had no significant difference (P＞0.05).Conclusion:The neurocognitive function in early stage in patients with first-episode schizophrenia has been extensively damaged.