Role of mesenchymal stem cells on cornea wound healing induced by acute alkali burn

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of subconjunctivally administered mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) on corneal wound healing in the acute stage of an alkali burn. A corneal alkali burn model was generated by placing a piece of 3-mm diameter filter paper soaked in NaOH on the right eye of 48 Sprague-Dawley female rats. 24 rats were administered a subconjunctival injection of a suspension of 2×10(6) MSCs in 0.1 ml phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) on day 0 and day 3 after the corneal alkali burn. The other 24 rats were administered a subconjunctival injection of an equal amount of PBS as a control. Deficiencies of the corneal epithelium and the area of corneal neovascularization (CNV) were evaluated on days 3 and 7 after the corneal alkali burn. Infiltrated CD68(+) cells were detected by immunofluorescence staining. The mRNA expression levels of macrophage inflammatory protein-1 alpha (MIP-1α), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were analyzed using real-time polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR). In addition, VEGF protein levels were analyzed using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). MSCs significantly enhanced the recovery of the corneal epithelium and decreased the CNV area compared with the control group. On day 7, the quantity of infiltrated CD68(+) cells was significantly lower in the MSC group and the mRNA levels of MIP-1α, TNF-α, and VEGF and the protein levels of VEGF were also down-regulated. However, the expression of MCP-1 was not different between the two groups. Our results suggest that subconjunctival injection of MSCs significantly accelerates corneal wound healing, attenuates inflammation and reduces CNV in alkaline-burned corneas; these effects were found to be related to a reduction of infiltrated CD68(+) cells and the down-regulation of MIP-1α, TNF-α and VEGF.

Enhance the resolution of photonic crystal negative refraction imaging by metal grating

The resolution of imaging is limited by the missing of high-frequencies information. The superlens employing negative refraction can compensate for these components. But for the directional coupling of Bloch waves and the low coupling efficiency of large-angle waves, the resolution of subwavelength imaging is not satisfactory. However, the subwavelength metallic grating can produce high-order diffracted waves carrying a lot of high-frequencies information. Therefore, this structure is used to inhibit the zero-order diffraction and enhance the high-order diffraction to achieve super-resolution.

Wortmannin inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis of MCF-7 breast cancer cells

OBJECTIVE

The present study aimed to explore the effects of wortmannin in the proliferation and apoptosis of human breast cancer MCF-7 cells.

METHODS

The authors treated cells with 0, 1, 6.25, 12.5, 25, and 50 nM wortmannin for 24, 48, and 72 hours. Inhibition of proliferation was measured by cell counting kit-8 assay (CCK8). Apoptosis was detected with Annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyanate/propidium iodide double staining by flow cytometry. Additionally, expression of proteins involved in the PI3K pathway, specifically total Akt, phosphorylated Akt (p-Akt), and NF-kappaB was detected by Western blotting following 24 hours of wortmannin exposure.

RESULTS

Higher doses (6.25, 12.5, 25, and 50 nM) of wortmannin significantly inhibited proliferation of MCF-7 cells after 24, 48, and 72 hours of exposure compared with control MCF-7 cells incubated with DMSO alone in DMEM (p < 0.05). This inhibition increased with concentration and duration of treatment. Similarly, wortmannin at 6.25, 12.5, 25, and 50 nM concentrations significantly increased apoptosis of MCF-7 cells following 24 hours of exposure (p < 0.05). Western blotting revealed that increasing concentrations of wortmannin (6.25, 12.5, 25, and 50 nM, 24 hours) increasingly reduced expression of p-Akt and NF-kappaB; however, expression of total Akt was unaffected at any concentration of wortmannin.

CONCLUSIONS

Wortmannin inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis of MCF-7 cells in a dose and time-dependent manner, likely through down-regulation of PI3K/Akt signaling and NF-kappaB protein expression.

First Report of Black Spot Caused by Boeremia exigua var. exigua on Field Pea in Australia

Black spot is a major disease of field pea (Pisum sativum L.) production across southern Australia. Known causal agents in Australia include one or more of Mycosphaerella pinodes (Berk. & Bloxam) Vestergr., Phoma medicaginis var. pinodella (L.K. Jones), Ascochyta pisi Lib., or P. koolunga (Davidson, Hartley, Priest, Krysinska-Kaczmarek, Herdina, McKay & Scott) (2), but other pathogens may also be associated with black spot symptoms. Black spot generally occurs on most plants and in most pea fields in Western Australia (W.A.), and during earlier winter/spring surveys of blackspot pathogens, some isolates were tentatively allocated to P. medicaginis var. pinodella despite different cultural characteristics on potato dextrose agar (PDA). Recently, single-spore isolations of a single culture each from an infested pea crop at Medina, Moora, and Mt. Barker in W.A. were made onto PDA. A PCR-based assay with TW81 and AB28 primers was used to amplify from the ITS-5.8S rDNA region. Purified DNA products were sequenced for the three isolates and then BLASTn was used to compare sequences with those in GenBank. Our sequences (GenBank Accession Nos. JN37743, JN377439, and JN377438) had 100% nucleotide identity with P. exigua Desm. var. exigua accessions (GI13385450, GI169894028, and GI189163921), an earlier synonym of what is now known as Boeremia exigua var. exigua ([Desm.] Aveskamp, Gruyter & Verkley) (1). Davidson et al. (2) used the same primers to identify P. koolunga, but none of our isolates were P. koolunga. A suspension of 10⁷ conidia ml^-1 of each representative isolate was inoculated onto foliage of 15-day-old field pea cv. Dundale plants and maintained at >90% relative humidity for 72 h postinoculation. Control plants inoculated with just water remained symptomless. Brown lesions were evident by 8 to 10 days postinoculation and mostly 1 to 3 mm in diameter. B. exigua var. exigua was readily reisolated from infected leaves. Isolates have been lodged in the W.A. Culture Collection Herbarium maintained at the Department of Agriculture and Food W.A. (Accession Nos. WAC13500, WAC13502, and WAC13501 from Medina, Moora, and Mt. Barker, respectively). Outside Australia, its synonym P. exigua var. exigua is a known pathogen of field pea (4), other legumes including common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) (4) and soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.) (3), and is known to produce phytotoxic cytochalasins. In eastern Australia, P. exigua var. exigua has been reported on common bean (1930s and 1950s), phasey bean (Macroptilium lathyroides [L.] Urb.) and siratro (M. atropurpureum (DC.) Urb.) (1950s and 1960s), mung bean (Vigna radiata [L.] Wilczek.) (1960s), ramie (Boehmeria nivea [L.] Gaudich.) (1939), potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) (1980s), and pyrethrum (Tanacetum cinerariifolium [Trevir.] Schultz Bip.) (2004 and 2007) (Australian Plant Pest Database). To our knowledge, this the first report of B. exigua var. exigua on field pea in Australia, and because of its potential to be a significant pathogen on field pea, warrants further evaluation. References: (1) M. M. Aveskamp et al. Stud. Mycol. 65:1, 2010. (2) J. A. Davidson et al. Mycologia 101:120, 2009. (3) L. Irinyi et al. Mycol. Res. 113:249, 2009. (4) J. Marcinkowska. Biul. Inst. Hod. Aklim. Rosl. 190:169, 1994.

A two-stage support-vector-regression optimization model for municipal solid waste management - a case study of Beijing, China

In this study, a two-stage support-vector-regression optimization model (TSOM) is developed for the planning of municipal solid waste (MSW) management in the urban districts of Beijing, China. It represents a new effort to enhance the analysis accuracy in optimizing the MSW management system through coupling the support-vector-regression (SVR) model with an interval-parameter mixed integer linear programming (IMILP). The developed TSOM can not only predict the city's future waste generation amount, but also reflect dynamic, interactive, and uncertain characteristics of the MSW management system. Four kernel functions such as linear kernel, polynomial kernel, radial basis function, and multi-layer perception kernel are chosen based on three quantitative simulation performance criteria [i.e. prediction accuracy (PA), fitting accuracy (FA) and over all accuracy (OA)]. The SVR with polynomial kernel has accurate prediction performance for MSW generation rate, with all of the three quantitative simulation performance criteria being over 96%. Two cases are considered based on different waste management policies. The results are valuable for supporting the adjustment of the existing waste-allocation patterns to raise the city's waste diversion rate, as well as the capacity planning of waste management system to satisfy the city's increasing waste treatment/disposal demands.

First Report of Phoma herbarum on Field Pea (Pisum sativum) in Australia

Black spot disease on field pea (Pisum sativum) in Australia is generally caused by one or more of the four fungi: Mycosphaerella pinodes (anamorph Ascochyta pinodes), Phoma medicaginis var. pinodella (synonym Phoma pinodella), Ascochyta pisi, and Phoma koolunga (1,2,4). However, in 2010 from a field pea blackspot disease screening nursery at Medina, Western Australia, approximately 25% of isolates were a Phoma sp. that was morphologically different to Phoma spp. previously reported on field pea in Western Australia, while the remaining 75% of isolates were either M. pinodes or P. medicaginis var. pinodella. Single-spore isolations of 23 isolates of this Phoma sp. were made onto potato dextrose agar. A PCR-based assay with the TW81 and AB28 primers was used to amplify from the 3' end of 16S rDNA, across ITS1, 5.8S rDNA, and ITS2 to the 5' end of the 28S rDNA. The DNA products were sequenced and BLAST analyses were used to compare sequences with those in GenBank. In each case, the sequence had ≥99% nucleotide identity with the corresponding sequence in GenBank for P. herbarum. Isolates also showed morphological similarities to P. herbarum as described in other reports (e.g., 3). The relevant information for a representative isolate has been lodged in GenBank (Accession No. JN247437). The same primers were used by Davidson et al. (2) to identify P. koolunga, but none of our 23 isolates were P. koolunga. A conidial suspension of 10⁷ conidia ml^-1 from a single-spore culture was spray inoculated onto foliage of 10-day-old Pisum sativum cv. Dundale plants maintained under >90% relative humidity conditions for 72 h postinoculation. Symptoms evident by 11 days postinoculation consisted of pale brown lesions that were mostly 1.5 to 2 mm long and 1 to 1.5 mm wide. Approximately 50% of lesions showed a distinct chlorotic halo extending 1 to 2 mm outside the boundary of the lesion. P. herbarum was readily reisolated from infected foliage. A culture of this representative isolate has been lodged in the Western Australian Culture Collection Herbarium maintained at the Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia (Accession No. WAC13499). Outside of Australia, P. herbarum, while generally considered a soilborne opportunistic pathogen, has been reported on a wide range of species, including field pea (3). Molecular analysis of historical isolates collected from field pea in Western Australia, mostly in the late 1980s, did not show any incidence of P. herbarum, despite this fungus being reported on alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and soybean (Glycine max) in Western Australia in 1985 (Australian Plant Pest Database). In Western Australia, this fungus has also been recorded on a Protea sp. in 1991 and on Arabian pea (Bituminaria bituminosa) in 2010 (Australian Plant Pest Database). To our knowledge, this is the first report of P. herbarum as a pathogen on field pea in Australia. These previous reports of P. herbarum on other hosts in Western Australia and the wide host range of P. herbarum together suggest the potential for this fungus to be a pathogen on a wider range of genera/species than field pea. References: (1) T. W. Bretag and M. Ramsey. Page 24 in: Compendium of Pea Diseases and Pests. 2nd ed. The American Phytopathologic Society, St Paul, MN, 2001. (2) J. A. Davidson et al. Mycologica 101:120, 2009. (3) G. L. Kinsey. Phoma herbarum. No 1501. IMI Descriptions of Fungi and Bacteria, 2002. (4) T. L. Peever et al. Mycologia 99:59, 2007.

Bag-of-features based medical image retrieval via multiple assignment and visual words weighting

Bag-of-features based approaches have become prominent for image retrieval and image classification tasks in the past decade. Such methods represent an image as a collection of local features, such as image patches and key points with scale invariant feature transform (SIFT) descriptors. To improve the bag-of-features methods, we first model the assignments of local descriptors as contribution functions, and then propose a novel multiple assignment strategy. Assuming the local features can be reconstructed by their neighboring visual words in a vocabulary, reconstruction weights can be solved by quadratic programming. The weights are then used to build contribution functions, resulting in a novel assignment method, called quadratic programming (QP) assignment. We further propose a novel visual word weighting method. The discriminative power of each visual word is analyzed by the sub-similarity function in the bin that corresponds to the visual word. Each sub-similarity function is then treated as a weak classifier. A strong classifier is learned by boosting methods that combine those weak classifiers. The weighting factors of the visual words are learned accordingly. We evaluate the proposed methods on medical image retrieval tasks. The methods are tested on three well-known data sets, i.e., the ImageCLEFmed data set, the 304 CT Set, and the basal-cell carcinoma image set. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed QP assignment outperforms the traditional nearest neighbor assignment, the multiple assignment, and the soft assignment, whereas the proposed boosting based weighting strategy outperforms the state-of-the-art weighting methods, such as the term frequency weights and the term frequency-inverse document frequency weights.

[Association between polymorphisms of interleukin-6 gene promoter and breast cancer]

AIM

To study possible association between three single nucleotide polymorphisms (-597G/A, -572C/G and -174G/C) of interleukin-6 (IL-6) gene promoter and breast cancer.

METHODS

Genomic DNA was isolated from the venous blood leukocytes from 176 unrelated patients with breast cancer and 200 healthy unrelated females (control group). Polymorphisms of -597G/A, -572C/G and -174G/C, were genotyped by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphisms (PCR-RFLP). SPSS 11.5 software was employed for statistical analysis and the association of IL-6 polymorphisms with breast cancer was evaluated by x(2); test.

RESULTS

There was significant differences in both allele and genotype frequencies of -572C/G in case group compared with control group. The allele G of -572C/G was significantly higher in cancer patients than the controls(x(2);=15.438, P<0.01).

CONCLUSION

There is an association between -572C/G polymorphism and breast cancer risk. The females with G allele of -572C/G are susceptible to breast cancer compared with non-carrying females.

[Effects of rotational tillage during summer fallow on wheat field soil water regime and grain yield]

In 2007-2010, a field experiment was conducted to study the effects of different rotational tillage practices during summer follow on the soil water regime and grain yield in a winter wheat field in Southern Ningxia arid area. Three treatments were installed, i.e., T1 (no-tillage in first year, subsoiling in second year, and no-tillage in third year), T2 (subsoiling in first year, notillage in second year, and subsoiling in third year), and CT (conventional tillage in the 3 years). Through the three years of the tillage practices, the soil water storage efficiency in treatments T1 and T2 was increased averagely by 15.2% and 26.5%, respectively, as compared to CT. In treatments T1 and T2, the potential rainfall use rate was higher, being 37.8% and 38.5%, respectively, and the rainfall use efficiency was increased averagely by 9.9% and 10.7%, respectively, as compared to CT. Rotational tillage during summer fallow could decrease the soil ineffective evaporation significantly, and save the soil water effectively in wheat growth season. At early growth stage, the water storage in 0-200 cm soil layer in treatments T1 and T2 was increased averagely by 6.8% and 9. 4%, as compared to CT; at jointing, heading, and filling stages, the water storage in 0-200 cm soil layer in treatments T1 and T2 had a significant increase, giving greater contribution to the wheat yield than the control. Different rotational tillage practices increased the water consumption by wheat, but in the meantime, increased the grain yield and water use efficiency. In treatments T1 and T2, the water consumption by wheat through the three years was increased averagely by 5.2% and 6.1%, whereas the grain yield and the water use efficiency were increased averagely by 9.9% and 10.6%, and by 4.5% and 4.3%, respectively, as compared to CT. Correlation analysis showed that in Southern Ningxia arid area, the soil water storage at sowing, jointing, heading, and filling stages, especially at heading stage, could have significant effects on the winter wheat grain yield.

Subwavelength imaging by a graded-index photonic-crystal flat lens in a honeycomb lattice

The left-handed behavior of a photonic-crystal flat lens with a graded index in a honeycomb lattice is proposed and theoretically studied. The performance of the flat superlens imaging of this structure has been demonstrated by finite-difference time-domain simulations. The full width at half-maximum of the image decreases to 62% compared to that of the image of a photonic-crystal slab without a graded index. The evanescent waves can be amplified and propagate to the far-field range. The image is not limited to be near the interface. The canalization effect of this structure is analyzed, and the tolerance of the edge cut of the graded-index structure is pretty good.

Realization of a subwavelength focused spot without a longitudinal field component in a solid immersion lens-based system

In a solid immersion lens (SIL)-based system, we predict theoretically that, by using the illumination of an azimuthally polarized beam with helical phase (APH), the subwavelength focusing can be simultaneously realized both in SIL and the third medium in spite of the presence of an air gap between the SIL and the third medium, which is not easily achieved in the case of the illumination of linearly, circularly, and radially polarized beams. For the APH illumination, the field in the focal region of the multilayered medium has no longitudinal component, and the on-axis intensity of the focused spot is nonzero. The APH illumination extends the capacity of SIL in realizing a supersmall focused spot, which is useful in microscopy, near-field optics, recording optics, and lithographic optics.

Clinicopathological analysis of 39 patients with corneal tumor

PURPOSE

Corneal tumors are rare in clinical practice. There was a paucity of data on the incidence of various corneal tumors, their clinical and pathological features and surgical management, especially on large patient samples.

METHODS

The medical records of 39 patients with corneal tumors referred to Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, China from Jan 1,1996 to Dec 31,2002 were reviewed retrospectively.

RESULTS

Of the 39 cases with corneal tumors, 31 were males and 8 were females. The right eye was affected in 24 cases and the left one in 15 cases. The mean age at diagnosis was 45.7 years, ranged from 3 to 88 years. Squamous cell carcinoma was the most common tumor in the cornea (18 cases, 46.15%), followed by pigmented naevus (12 cases,30.77 %), papillary epithelioma (3 cases, 7.69%), melanoma (1 case, 2.56%), oncosis hyperplasia(1 case, 2.56%) , inverting papilloma (1 case, 2.56%）, primary acquired melanosis (1 case, 2.56%) amyloid degeneration (1 case, 2.56%) inflammatory pseudotumor (1 case, 2.56%）. They arose most commonly in the limbal region. All tumors were unilaterally involved. Squamous cell carcinoma of the cornea usually appears as a whitish, rough, irregular lesion or a telangiectatic, gelatinous epibulbar mass. Nevus in the cornea generally becomes clinically apparent in the first or second decade of life and the lesion may enlarge or more deeply pigmented afterwards. The corneal tumors were completely excised microsurgically in 22 cases. Six cases were treated with surgical resection combined with amniotic membrane graft. Three cases with surgical excision plus transfer of conjunctival flap. Two cases with surgical excision plus lamellar keratoplasty. Two cases with surgical excision plus cryosurgery. Two cases with orbital exenteration. One case with enuleation. One case with incision biopsy and observation.

CONCLUSION

Squamous cell carcinoma and nevus, the most common corneal tumors, accounted for 76.92% of all cases. The therapeutic outcomes depended upon early pathologic diagnosis and early surgical management.

Therapeutic efficacy of FTY720 in a rat model of NK-cell leukemia

NK-cell leukemia is a clonal expansion of NK cells. The illness can occur in an aggressive or chronic form. We studied cell lines from human and rat NK-cell leukemias (aggressive NK-cell leukemia) as well as samples from patients with chronic NK-cell leukemia to investigate pathogenic mechanisms. Here we report that Mcl-1 was overexpressed in leukemic NK cells and that knockdown of Mcl-1 induced apoptosis in these leukemic cells. In vitro treatment of human and rat NK leukemia cells with FTY720 led to caspase-dependent apoptosis and decreased Mcl-1 expression in a time- and-dose-dependent manner. These biologic effects could be inhibited by blockade of reactive oxygen species generation and the lysosomal degradation pathway. Lipidomic analyses after FTY720 treatment demonstrated elevated levels of sphingosine, which mediated apoptosis of leukemic NK cells in vitro. Importantly, systemic administration of FTY720 induced complete remission in the syngeneic Fischer rat model of NK-cell leukemia. Therapeutic efficacy was associated with decreased expression of Mcl-1 in vivo. These data demonstrate that therapeutic benefit of FTY720 may result from both altered sphingolipid metabolism as well as enhanced degradation of a key component of survival signaling.

[Pharmacokinetics of sulfamethoxazole in healthy Han volunteers living at plain and in native Han and Tibetan healthy volunteers living at high altitude]

The paper is to report the pharmacokinetics of sulfamethoxazole in healthy Han volunteers living at plain (PH) and native Han and Tibetan healthy volunteers living at high altitude (HNH and HNT). After healthy volunteers were administrated orally cotrimoxazole tablets, plasma concentration of sulfamethoxazole and metabolite N4-acetylsulfamethoxazole was determined by RP-HPLC, and plasma concentration-time data were analyzed by DAS 2.0 software to get the related pharmacokinetic parameters. The main pharmacokinetic parameters t(1/2) of sulfamethoxazole in PH, HNH and HNT were, respectively, 9.30 +/- 1.11, 10.99 +/- 1.23 and 10.44 +/- 1.05 h; tmax were 1.4 +/- 0.3, 2.0 +/- 1.1 and 1.8 +/- 0.4 h; Cmax were 94.42 +/- 15.26, 89.33 +/- 7.67 and 87.43 +/- 11.61 micro x mL(-1); AUC(0-t) were 1202.5 +/- 238.3, 1 434.7 +/- 193.9 and 1302.8 +/- 103.0 microg x h x mL(-1); AUC(0-infinity) were 1240.7 +/- 255.3, 1511.5 +/- 211.9 and 1363.9 +/- 116.5 microg x h x mL(-1); CL were 1.01 +/- 0.22, 0.81 +/- 0.12 and 0.89 +/- 0.08 L x h(-1) x kg(-1); V were 13.27 +/- 1.73, 12.81 +/- 2.15 and 13.28 +/- 1.20 L x kg(-1). Sulfamethoxazole pharmacokinetic parameters of HNH and HNT were significantly different from that of PH. The t(1/2) was significantly higher and the CL was significantly lower in HNH and HNT than that in PH, and the AUC(0-infinity) was significantly lower in HNT compared with HNH. This study found significant changes in the disposition of sulfamethoxazole under the special environment of high altitude hypoxia. This finding may provide some references for clinical rational application of sulfamethoxazole in HNH and HNT.

Effect of Single-Injection versus Continuous Local Infiltration Analgesia after Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study

In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, single-centre study, 80 patients (American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status I — III) received postoperative single-injection local infiltration analgesia (SLIA), continuous local infiltration analgesia (CLIA) or placebo (control group). Intravenous patient-controlled morphine was used as rescue analgesia. The CLIA group showed lower postoperative visual analogue scale (VAS) pain scores from 8 to 48 h at rest and from 16 to 48 h during activity compared with the SLIA group. The CLIA group also had significantly lower consumption of morphine from 24 to 48 h postoperatively versus the SLIA group. Patient satisfaction was higher, and maximum flexion of the knee on postoperative days 7 and 90 was greater, in the CLIA group compared with the SLIA group. CLIA provided prolonged superior analgesia and was associated with more favourable functional recovery and patient satisfaction compared with SLIA.

Optimization of regional economic and environmental systems under fuzzy and random uncertainties

Environmental problems associated with socio-economic development have been growing concerns faced by many regional and/or national authorities. However, effective planning may encounter difficulties since uncertainties existing in a number of impact factors and pollution-related processes are often not well acknowledged and reflected. This study advances an interval-fuzzy chance-constrained programming (IFCP) method for planning regional economic and environmental systems, where uncertainties presented as intervals, fuzzy sets and probability distributions can be tackled. The developed method is applied to a real-world case for economic and environmental planning in the New Binhai District in the Municipality of Tianjin, China. Two scenarios based on multiple environmental constraints are examined. The results can help identify desired alternatives for planning regional development strategies, where compromised schemes are provided under an integrated consideration of economic efficiency and environmental protection under multiple uncertainties.

[Andrographolide inhibits extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 signaling pathway in activated macrophages]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the effects of andrographolide on extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) signaling pathway and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) expression in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated macrophages.

METHODS

LPS-activated mouse peritoneal macrophages were cultured in media with different concentrations of andrographolide. Cytotoxicity of andrographolide was detected by cell counting kit-8. The macrophages were lysed, and then expressions of phosphorylated ERK1/2, JNK and p38 and nuclear factor-κB inhibitor (IκBα) protein were detected by Western blotting and TNF-α mRNA expression was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Supernatants of the macrophages were used to detect content of TNF-α protein by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

RESULTS

Andrographolide at 1-100 μg/mL showed no cytotoxicity on LPS-activated mouse peritoneal macrophages. Andrographolide inhibited ERK1/2 phosphorylation in LPS-activated murine peritoneal macrophages, which was concentration-dependent (P<0.01). Andrographolide at 1-25 μg/mL had no effects on phosphorylation levels of JNK and p38 and IκBα degradation in LPS-stimulated mouse peritoneal macrophages. In activated macrophages, TNF-α expression was inhibited by 12 μg/mL andrographolide and 20 μmol/L PD98059 (inhibitor of ERK1/2 signaling pathway) at both mRNA expression and protein secretion levels.

CONCLUSION

In LPS-activated macrophages, andrographolide may inhibit the expression of TNF-α by inhibiting ERK1/2 signaling pathway.