Neuroprotective effect of Shenqi Fuzheng injection pretreatment in aged rats with cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury.

Shenqi Fuzheng injection is extracted from the Chinese herbs Radix Astragali and Radix Codonopsis. The aim of the present study was to investigate the neuroprotective effects of Shenqi Fuzheng injection in cerebral ischemia and reperfusion. Aged rats (20-22 months) were divided into three groups: sham, model, and treatment. Shenqi Fuzheng injection or saline (40 mL/kg) was injected into the tail vein daily for 1 week, after which a cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury model was established. Compared with model rats that received saline, rats in the treatment group had smaller infarct volumes, lower brain water and malondialdehyde content, lower brain Ca(2+) levels, lower activities of serum lactate dehydrogenase and creatine kinase, and higher superoxide dismutase activity. In addition, the treatment group showed less damage to the brain tissue ultrastructure and better neurological function. Our findings indicate that Shenqi Fuzheng injection exerts neuroprotective effects in aged rats with cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury, and that the underlying mechanism relies on oxygen free radical scavenging and inhibition of brain Ca(2+) accumulation.

[Effects of essential periodontal treatment on serum level of sCD40L and periodontal clinical parameters in patients with moderate to severe periodontitis at high risk of stroke].

PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of periodontal treatment on patients with moderate to severe periodontitis at high risk of stroke, by detecting the level of serum soluble cell differentiation antigen 40 ligand (sCD40L) before and after periodontal non-surgical treatment. METHODS: Seventy-six patients with moderate to severe periodontitis at high risk of stroke were collected and randomly divided into 2 groups, 40 patients in group A received essential periodontal treatment + routine maintenance therapy, 36 cases in group B only received routine maintenance therapy. Another 36 patients with moderate and severe periodontitis were selected as group C, and received essential periodontal treatment. Bleeding on probing (BOP), periodontal probing depth (PD) and attachment loss (AL) in 6 loci were examined by the same dentists, and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect the level of serum sCD40L before treatment and 3 months after treatment. The data were analyzed by SPSS 17.0 software package. RESULTS: Compared with pre-treatment, serum level of sCD40L and periodontal clinical indexes of the three groups decreased. Compared with group B, serum SCD40L in group A significantly decreased(P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Periodontal treatment can reduce the serum level of sCD40L in patients with moderate to severe periodontitis at high risk of stroke, and improve the patient's inflammatory state. To a certain extent, periodontal treatment may reduce the risk of high-risk stroke population to develop stroke.

[The relationship between chronic periodontitis and the instability of carotid atherosclerotic plaque by serum level of MMP-9, MCP-1 and MMP-7].

PURPOSE: To study the serum level of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), matrix metalloproteinase-7(MMP-7) and monocyte chemo attractant protein-1(MCP-1) in patients with chronic periodontitis in whom the stability of carotid atherosclerotic plaque is affected. METHODS: One hundred and twenty-nine patients were collected from People's Hospital of Liaoning Province, and divided into 3 groups. Group A (healthy group): 32 cases; Group B (periodontitis group): 31 cases; Group C (periodontitis with carotid atherosclerosis plaque group): 66 cases. According to carotid atherosclerotic plaque stability, Group C was further divided into carotid atherosclerotic plaque stable subgroup (C1, 30 cases) and unstable subgroup (C2, 36 cases). Each patient received periodontal examination, and serum levels of MMP-9, MMP-7, MCP-1 were assayed by ELISA. The data was statistically analyzed with SPSS19.0 software package. RESULTS: The age, gender, drinking and smoking history in each group had no significant difference (P>0.05). The periodontal baseline status in group B was worse than group A, in group C was worse than group B and in group C2 was worse than group C1, and the differences were significant (P<0.05). Serum level of MMP-9, MCP-1 and MMP-7 in group C was significantly higher than in group B and group A (P<0.05), and in group B were significantly higher than group A (P<0.05), in group C2 was significantly higher than in group C1 (P<0.05). Serum level of MMP-9, MCP-1 and MMP-7 were correlated with carotid atherosclerotic plaque stability (r=0.989, P<0.05; r=0.605, P<0.05; r=0.389, P<0.05, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Serum inflammatory cytokines MMP-9, MMP-7 and MCP-1 are associated with the development of periodontitis. The serum inflammatory cytokines MMP-9, MCP-1, MMP-7 as mediating factors may indicate the severity of periodontal disease and affect the stability of carotid atherosclerotic plaques.

[Levels of IL-8,IL-10 in patients with chronic periodontitis and coronary heart disease].

PURPOSE: To detect the level of interleukin-8 (IL-8) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) in serum and gingival crevicular fluid in patients with chronic severe periodontitis (CP) and coronary heart disease (CHD) and investigate the relationship between CP and CHD. METHODS: Thirty patients with CHD and CP(group A), twenty-five patients with only CP(group B) and thirty healthy controls (group C) were included in this study. Gingival crevicular fluid and serum IL-8, IL-10 levels were detected by ELISA. SPSS 11.5 software package was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: The periodontal indexes including bleeding on probing and probing depth were significantly different among the 3 groups. In group A and B, the level of IL-8 in gingival crevicular fluid and serum were significantly lower, whereas the IL-10 level was significantly higher, in comparison to those in group C (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: IL-8 and IL-10 may be associated with the pathogenesis of periodontitis and CHD. There may be a relationship between CHD and CP.

[Expression of CXC chemokine ligand 16 and chemokine receptor 6 in periodontal tissues of patients with moderately severe periodontitis].

PURPOSE: To investigate the expression and localization of CXCLl6 and its receptor CXCR6 in gingival tissues of patients with chronic periodontitis and analyze the roles in the occurrence and development of periodontitis. METHODS: Gingival tissues with moderately severe periodontitis were collected from 39 patients treated in People's Hospital of Liaoning Province. Forty persons with healthy gingiva were used as control. The age of the enrolled subjects ranged from 35 to 74 years old. Immunohistochemical technique was applied to detect the expression and localization of CXCLl6 and CXCR6 protein gingival tissues of all subjects. The data was analyzed with SPSS 15.0 software package. RESULTS: Compared with normal group, the expression of CXCLl6 and CXCR6 were significantly up-regulated in patients with periodontitis (P<0.05). There was a positive relationship between the protein expression of CXCLl6 and CXCR6 in gingival tissues of patients with periodontitis (r=0.580, P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: CXCLl6 and CXCR6 may be involved in the development of chronic periodontitis. The expression of CXCLl6 and CXCR6 may work coordinately to promote the development of chronic periodontitis.

[The influence of COX-2 depressant in angiogenesis of oral squamous cell carcinoma].

PURPOSE: To investigate the COX-2 depressant on cell apoptosis and angiogenesis of oral squamous cell carcinoma. METHODS: RT-PCR and Western blotting were used to detect the effect of NS-398, the COX-2 inhibitor on mRNA and protein expression of VEGF and Survivin in oral squamous carcinoma cell line Tca8113. SPSS11.5 software package was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: NS-398 could down-regulate the expression of VEGF and Survivin in Tca8113 in a time-dependent manner. CONCLUSIONS: NS-398 could down-regulate the expression of VEGF and survivin in Tca8113 and plays an important role in cell apoptosis and angiogenesis of oral squamous cell carcinoma.

[The inhibitive effect of COX-2 inhibitor NS-398 on cancer cell growth of human tongue squamous cell carcinoma].

PURPOSE: To investigate the inhibitive effect of COX-2 inhibitor NS-398 on cancer cell growth of human tongue squamous cell carcinoma. METHODS: MTT assay was used to study the inhibitive effect of NS-398 on the growth of Tca8113 cells, and to investigate the time-effect relationship and dose-effect relationship between NS-398 and Tca8113 cells. The effect of NS-398 on cell cycle changes of Tca8113 was studied by flow cytometry (FCM). The statistical date were analysed by SAS 8.1 software. Student's t test and repeated-measure ANOVA were used to analyze the date. RESULTS: The Tca8113 cell culture median contained 0, 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 200 micromol/L NS-398, and individually cultured for 48, 72, 96, 120 hours. The inhibitive effect increased with the time prolonging and the concentration increasing. The effect was most obvious with 150 micromol/L NS-398 cultured for 96 hours (concentration: P<0.05, time: P<0.001). NS-398 can cause great increase of Tca8113 cells in G0/G1 phase, while cells in G2/M phase decreased, and cells arrested in G0/G1 phase (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: NS-398 can inhibit the growth of Tca8113 cells. The inhibitive effect of NS-398 on Tca8113 cells is dose-dependent and time-dependent, and this effect may be related to the inhibition of cell circle growth. NS-398 may play an important role in the treatment of oral squamous cell carcinoma.

[The expressions of cyclooxygenase-2 (Cox-2),VEGF in oral squamous cell carcinoma and precancerous lesions and their significances].

PURPOSE: To determine expression of Cox-2 in oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and oral leukoplakia and the relation to VEGF. METHODS: Immunohistochemical staining was used to quantify Cox-2 and VEGF expressions in specimens from 48 patients with oral SCC (including 20 well differentiated cases, 16 moderately differentiated cases and 12 low differentiated cases), 35 patients with oral leukoplakia (epithelial dysplasia), and 20 patients with normal oral mucosa. All specimens were analyzed by conformation quantitative assay system, their stain-strength was calculated. Statistical analysis of ANOVA and linear correlation was performed using SAS statistical software. RESULTS: The expressions of Cox-2 and VEGF increased significantly as the progression of oral mucosa from normal to oral leukoplakia and oral SCC. The expression of Cox-2 reached peak in well differentiated SCC (0.167+/-0.004), and its expression decreased sharply as differentiation became poor. On the other hand, the expression of VEGF reached peak in well differentiated carcinoma (0.143+/-0.014). The expressions of Cox-2 and VEGF had negative correlation in differently differentiated SCC tissues (r=0.649, P<0.001). CONCLUSION: The expressions of Cox-2 and VEGF were significantly up-regulated in the early carcinogenesis of oral mucosa, and they may be influenced each other. Thus, they were important in the carcinogenesis and progression of oral SCC.