[Changes and significance of inflammatory cytokines in sera of mice chronically infected with larvae of Echinococcus granulosus].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the levels of cytokines in the sera of mice chronically infected with the larvae of Echinococcus granulosus, and explore the mechanisms of immune regulation against parasite infection. METHODS: The protoscoleces were isolated from the livers and lungs of sheep infected with E. granulosus, and then inoculated intraperitoneally to BALB/c mice (2 000 for each mouse), to establish the mouse model of E. granulosus infection. The mice in the control group were injected intraperitoneally with an equal volume of PBS. The sera of both control and infected mice were collected to test the levels of multiple cytokines by using the Cytometric Bead Array (CBA) 5 months post-infection. RESULTS: In contrast to the control group, the multiple cysts were found in the abdominal cavity, livers and lungs of the infected mice. Moreover, the levels of inflammatory cytokines such as IL-17A, IL-6, IFN-γ, MCP-1, IL-12P70 and TNF-α in the sera of the infected mice were significantly higher than those in the control group (t = 2.713-9.255, all P < 0.05) while the levels of anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 were elevated post-infection (t = 3.936, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Higher inflammatory cytokines in the mice chronically infected with the larvae of E. granulosus, may benefit for the limitation of parasite growth.

Anti-apoptosis competence and drug-resistance protein expression of tumor spheres from lung cancer cell line A549 / 肿瘤

Objective: To investigate the anti-apoptosis competence and the expression of glutathione- S-transferase-π (GST-π) of tumor spheres from lung cancer cell line A549. Methods: The tumor spheres were achieved from lung cancer cell line A549 cultured in serum-free medium. The apoptosis rates of both tumor spheres and primary A549 cells after treatment with cisplatin were detected by immunofluorescence assay with Annexin V-FITC+PI and JC-1 stainings, and the expressions of GST-π protein were also examined in the tumor spheres and the primary A549 cells as well as their grafted tumors in nude mice by Western blotting and fluorescence immunohistochemistry, respectively. Results: Immunofluorescence assay showed that the apoptosis rate was significantly higher in tumor spheres than that in primary A549 cells. Compared with the primary A549 cells and their corresponding grafted tumors, the expression levels of GST-π protein were significantly higher in the tumor spheres and their corresponding grafted tumors. Conclusion: Tumor spheres from lung cancer cell line A549 have a strong capability of drug-resistance, which is probably associated with the up-regulated expressions of drug-resistance proteins in these tumor spheres.