Tacrolimus protects vascular endothelial cells from injuries caused by Ox-LDL by regulating endoplasmic reticulum stress.

OBJECTIVE: To study the protective effect of tacrolimus on endothelial cells under the action of oxidized low-density lipoprotein (Ox-LDL), and to explore the mechanism of tacrolimus in protecting endothelial cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were used and they were divided into the blank group, tacrolimus group, ox-LDL injury group, and tacrolimus + ox-LDL (tacrolimus treatment) group, for treatment. The cell viability was detected via methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay; the cytotoxic response was detected via lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release assay, and the proportion of apoptotic cells was detected via flow cytometry. Moreover, the releases of superoxide dismutase (SOD), reactive oxygen species (ROS), were detected, and the expression levels of apoptosis-related molecules, and the endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS)-related molecules were detected via polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Western blotting. RESULTS: Ox-LDL could significantly reduce the viability of endothelial cells, increase the cytotoxicity and induce the apoptosis, while tacrolimus could effectively reduce such a toxic effect in a dose-dependent manner (p<0.05). Also, tacrolimus could significantly reduce the oxidative stress response of cells caused by ox-LDL and the expressions of ERS-related proteins, and protect the cells from oxidative stress injury (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Tacrolimus regulates ERS of endothelial cells to reduce ox-LDL-induced injuries.

Quantitative hepatitis B core antibody levels in the natural history of hepatitis B virus infection.

We previously demonstrated that pretreatment quantitative anti-hepatitis B core protein (qAnti-HBc) levels can predict the treatment response for both interferon and nucleoside analogue therapy, but the characteristics of qAnti-HBc during chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remain poorly understood. To understand this issue, the qAnti-HBc levels were evaluated in individuals with past HBV infection, occult HBV infection and chronic HBV infection in the immune tolerance phase, immune clearance phase, low-replicative phase and hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-negative hepatitis phase. Individuals with hepatitis B surface antigen (n = 598, 3.74 ± 0.90 log10 IU/mL) had significantly higher (p < 0.001, approximately 1000-fold) serum qAnti-HBc levels than those who had occult HBV, and serum qAnti-HBc levels were significantly higher in the occult HBV group than in the past HBV infection group (p < 0.001). qAnti-HBc levels were positively correlated with alanine aminotransferase levels (R = 0.663, p < 0.001), and subjects with an abnormal alanine aminotransferase level had a higher qAnti-HBc level (p < 0.001). Serum qAnti-HBc level varied in different phases of HBV infection, as determined by host immune status. Serum qAnti-HBc level is strongly associated with hepatitis activity in subjects with chronic HBV infection.

Acupuncture for stroke: evidence of effectiveness, safety, and cost from systematic reviews.

OBJECTIVE: To provide an overview of evidence from systematic reviews and meta-analysis on the effectiveness, safety, and cost of acupuncture for stroke. METHODS: Two authors selected the articles according to inclusion and exclusion criteria, and 2 authors extracted data from the reviews. Potentially relevant systematic reviews were searched through the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, AMED, CISCOM, Chinese Biological Medicine Database (CBMD), Chinese Scientific Journal Database (VIP), Chinese periodicals in the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and Chinese Evidence-Based Medicine Database. The evidence was based on the reviews and meta-analysis. RESULTS: Nine articles were indentified: 1 focused on acute stroke; 1 focused on subacute or chronic stroke; 5 focused on stroke (the interval after stroke onset was variable in these studies); and 2 addressed dysphagia after stroke. There is a split among reviewers regarding the effectiveness of acupuncture for stroke recovery. The most reliable evidence showed that there was no clear benefit of acupuncture for stroke patients in acute, subacute, or chronic stages. There was not a single economic analysis of acupuncture for treatment of stroke. CONCLUSIONS: Acupuncture treatment seems to be relatively safe. The evidence for the effectiveness of acupuncture for stroke was inconclusive, mainly due to poor methodological quality and small samples. For future research, further high-quality, randomized controlled trials with long-term follow-up are needed, as well as economic analysis.

[Left ventricular end-systolic pressure-dimension relation and its sensitility to the positive inotropic factor in the anesthetized open-chest dogs].

Left ventricular end-systolic pressure-dimension relation (ESPDR) was generated by the transient occlusion of the inferior vena cava (IVC) or thoracic aorta (AO) in 13 anesthetized open-chest dogs, while the left ventricular pressure was measured by a TP-200T pressure transducer and the anterior-posterior dimension was measured by a pair of ultrasonic crystal implanted in the endocardium and recorded by a Sonomicrometer. The results showed that: (1) the ESPDR was shown to be linear, unaltered by preload or afterload changes; (2) dobutamine produced a significant increase in the slope (Emax) of the ESPDR-IVC and ESPDR-AO relations, without remarkable effect on the dimension-axis intercept (Do). However, the change in Emax was more significant for ESPDR-IVC (174.43 +/- 23.48%, n = 18), as compared with that for the ESPDR-AO (71.02 +/- 12.46%, n = 12); (3) Do of the ESPDR-AO relation was smaller than that of the ESPDR-IVC both under control and during dobulamine infusion. We conclude that the linear ESPDR can be derived in the anesthetized open-chest dogs either by caval occlusion or by aortic occlusion, and the slope appears to reflect left ventricular contractility. However, techniques used to generate the ESPDR may influence results, including the Do and the sensitivity of Emax to the inotropic state.

Trousseau's syndrome in the head and neck.

Thromboses in Trousseau's syndrome are typically confined to the vascular system of the extremities and viscera. The authors report a case of sequential bilateral internal and external jugular-vein thromboses secondary to this paraneoplastic hypercoagulable state. The etiologies of commonly encountered head and neck venous thromboses are infection, trauma, and obstruction. This article purports that head and neck venous thromboses without a proximal inflammatory or mechanical cause may be the initial manifestation of an occult malignancy. Upon establishing the presence of a hypercoagulable state, further evaluation may lead to the early diagnosis of such an occult malignancy.

Cervical abscess caused by Salmonella infection.

A 69-year-old man had an abscess in the neck caused by Salmonella hador (enteritidis) infection. Salmonella infection of the head and neck are rare, and often occur in association with Salmonella infection in other parts of the body. The patient described may have had seeding to the neck from previous gastrointestinal infection. Treatment by drainage of the abscess and oral administration of ampicillin was successful. To the authors' knowledge, this is the sixth case of pure Salmonella infection of the head and neck reported in the world literature.