Pterostilbene exerts cytotoxicity on activated hepatic stellate cells by inhibiting excessive proliferation through the crosstalk of Sirt1 and STAT3 pathways

Pterostilbene (PTE), a natural analogue of resveratrol, abundantly exists in blueberries and grapes and has several beneficial potentials against oxidative stress, inflammation, and cancer. In current study, we investigated the effects of PTE on hepatic fibrosis in vitro and in vivo. Activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) is an initiating event in the initiation of hepatic fibrosis. MTT assay revealed that PTE (3.125-12.5 μM) displayed cytotoxicity on activated HSCs, no cytotoxicity on AML-12 and quiescent HSCs. PTE significantly inhibited the expressions of α-SMA, collagen Ⅰ and TIMP-1/MMP13 ratio; suppressed inflammatory cascade activation to reduce inflammatory cytokines release, such as Caspase-1, IL-1β and IL-6. PTE activated Sirt1 and decreased STAT3 phosphorylation, functioning as SRT1720 and Niclosamide. Sirt1 deficiency significantly elevated p-STAT3 expression, while STAT3 deficiency resulted in Sirt1 increasing and inhibited fibrosis and inflammatory cytokines expressions. In mice with hepatic fibrosis induced by thioacetamide (TAA), PTE significantly decreased ALT and AST activities, reduced fibrosis markers, STAT3 phosphorylation and activated Sirt1 expression. PTE showed cytotoxicity on activated HSCs to ameliorate hepatic fibrosis via regulating fibrogenesis, energy metabolism and inflammation and targeting the crosstalk of Sirt1 and STAT3. In conclusion, PTE could be potentially beneficial as a natural plant metabolite in preventing and treating hepatic fibrosis.

Involvement of the Restoration of Cerebral Blood Flow and Maintenance of eNOS Expression in the Prophylactic Protective Effect of the Novel Ferulic Acid Derivative FAD012 against Ischemia/Reperfusion Injuries in Rats

Tissue plasminogen activator, aiming to restore cerebral blood flow (CBF), has been used for acute ischemic strokes in clinics; however, its narrow therapeutic time window remains a serious concern. To develop novel prophylactic drugs to alleviate cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injuries, ferulic acid derivative 012 (FAD012) was synthesized and showed comparable antioxidant properties to ferulic acid (FA) and probably possesses the potent ability to cross the blood-brain barrier. A more potent cytoprotective effect of FAD012 against H2O2-induced cytotoxicity in PC12 cells was also observed. In vivo toxicity was not observed in rats given a long-term oral administration of FAD012, indicating its good tolerability. A one-week-course oral administration of FAD012 significantly alleviated middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO)-induced cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injuries in rats, accompanied by the restoration of CBF and endothelial nitrogen oxide synthetase (eNOS) expression. Treatment with FAD012 significantly restored the cell viability and eNOS expression damaged by H2O2, used to mimic MCAO-triggered oxidative stress, in rat brain microvascular endothelial cells. Our findings suggested that FAD012 protected the viability of vascular endothelium and maintained eNOS expression, ultimately contributing to the restoration of CBF, and may provide a rationale for the development of FAD012 into an effective prophylactic drug for patients at high risk of stroke.

Enhanced Cytotoxic Effects of Arenite in Combination with Active Bufadienolide Compounds against Human Glioblastoma Cell Line U-87

The cytotoxicity of a trivalent arsenic derivative (arsenite, As^III) combined with arenobufagin or gamabufotalin was evaluated in human U-87 glioblastoma cells. Synergistic cytotoxicity with upregulated intracellular arsenic levels was observed, when treated with As^III combined with arenobufagin instead of gamabufotalin. Apoptosis and the activation of caspase-9/-8/-3 were induced by As^III and further strengthened by arenobufagin. The magnitude of increase in the activities of caspase-9/-3 was much greater than that of caspase-8, suggesting that the intrinsic pathway played a much more important role in the apoptosis. An increase in the number of necrotic cells, enhanced LDH leakage, and intensified G₂/M phase arrest were observed. A remarkable increase in the expression level of γH2AX, a DNA damage marker, was induced by As^III+arenobufagin. Concomitantly, the activation of autophagy was observed, suggesting that autophagic cell death associated with DNA damage was partially attributed to the cytotoxicity of As^III+arenobufagin. Suppression of Notch signaling was confirmed in the combined regimen-treated cells, suggesting that inactivation of Jagged1/Notch signaling would probably contribute to the synergistic cytotoxic effect of As^III+arenobufagin. Given that both As^III and arenobufagin are capable of penetrating into the blood-brain barrier, our findings may provide fundamental insight into the clinical application of the combined regimen for glioblastoma.

Comparison of contrast-enhanced ultrasound and contrast-enhanced computed tomography for the diagnosis of cervical lymph node metastasis in squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity

Early detection of cervical lymph node metastasis (CLNM) from squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the oral cavity remains challenging. This prospective study was performed to evaluate the ability of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) to detect CLNM from oral cavity SCC. Additionally, its diagnostic value was compared with that of contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT). Forty-eight consecutive patients with SCC of the oral cavity were enrolled. All subjects were examined preoperatively with both CEUS and CECT. Subsequently, neck dissections were performed for these patients, and cervical lymph nodes separated from the surgical specimens were assessed histologically. The diagnostic performance of these two examinations was compared based on the results of histopathology. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and Youden index for CEUS and CECT were 69.39% vs. 44.90%, 94.71% vs. 97.12%, 89.88%% vs. 87.16%, 75.56% vs. 78.57%, 92.92% vs. 88.21%, and 64.10% vs. 42.02%, respectively. A significant difference was observed in terms of sensitivity (P=0.024) and Youden index (rate difference 22.08%, 95% confidence interval 2.72-41.44%). Therefore, CEUS appears to be a promising diagnostic tool that is superior to CECT for detecting CLNM from SCC of the oral cavity, with a higher sensitivity.

Characterization of 6-bromoferulic acid as a novel common-use matrix for matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry

RATIONALE

Ferulic acid (FA) is a standard matrix used for analyzing proteins. In this study, the ability of a halogenated FA to serve as an effective MALDI matrix was investigated. Various halogenated FAs were synthesized, and the characteristics and performance of each were compared with those of the standard matrices α-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid (CHCA) and 2,5-dihydrobenzoic acid (DHBA).

METHODS

The abilities of 6-bromoferulic acid (6-BFA), ferulic acid (FA), and eight other halogenated FA derivatives to ionize eight synthetic peptides were examined. Absorption measurements, MM2 structure optimizations, and proton affinity (PA) calculations were also performed for 6-BFA and FA. The suitabilities of these compounds as matrices for matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) for lipids, sugar chains, polymers, cyanocobalamin, synthetic peptides, and tryptic peptides originating from two types of serum proteins were also tested.

RESULTS

The 6-position of FA was found to be the best site for introducing a bromine because the generated compound allowed facile detection of cyanocobalamin and several peptides. 6-BFA exhibited good sensitivity for large peptides (3-5 kDa) and peptides containing acidic amino acids or proline. 6-BFA was also shown to be a suitable matrix for tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) analysis when using MALDI time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) with a quadrupole ion trap (QIT) system.

CONCLUSIONS

The properties of 6-BFA as a MALDI matrix differed from those of DHBA and CHCA. 6-BFA appears to be a useful matrix for de novo sequencing using MALDI-QIT-TOF-MS.

Difference in resting-state fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation between bipolar depression and unipolar depression patients

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the difference in fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF) of localized brain activities in the resting-state between bipolar depression and unipolar depression patients and to find biological markers that differentiate the two groups of patients.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Thirteen patients with bipolar depression, 15 patients with unipolar depression, and 16 healthy control subjects that were matched in age and years of education were subjected to 3.0 T resting-state functional magnetic resonance scans. The values of whole brain fALFF were calculated and statistical analysis was performed.

RESULTS

The fALFF-values of the right inferior temporal gyrus, left cerebellar posterior lobe, right middle temporal gyrus, left inferior frontal gyrus/insula, right inferior frontal gyrus/insula, left lingual gyrus and right middle temporal gyrus of the three groups showed significant differences (p < 0.05). Compared with the healthy control (HC) group, the fALFF-values of the unipolar depression (UD) patient group significantly increased in the right superior temporal gyrus, left insula, left inferior frontal gyrus, right inferior frontal gyrus, right supramarginal gyrus and right medial frontal gyrus but significantly decreased in the right medial occipital gyrus, left frontal lobe, right superior parietal lobule; the fALFF-values of the bipolar depression (BD) patient group significantly decreased in the left cerebellum posterior lobe, right lingual gyrus, left lingual gyrus, right middle temporal gyrus, left middle temporal gyrus, and left superior frontal gyrus and significantly increased in the right inferior frontal gyrus and left insula compared to those of the HC group; compared with those of the UD group, the fALFF-values of the BD group significantly decreased in the left middle occipital gyrus, right middle temporal gyrus, left middle frontal gyrus, and left medial frontal gyrus.

CONCLUSIONS

The brain activities of BD and UD patients in the resting-state exhibit abnormalities, which differ between the two groups of patients.

The alteration of Id-1 and TSP-1 expression in mucoepidermoid carcinoma associated with its clinical features and prognosis

Expression of Id-1 (inhibitors of DNA binding/differentiation protein 1) and TSP-1 (thrombospondin-1) in mucoepidermoid carcinoma and their relationship to pathological features and prognosis was studied. Moderately and poorly differentiated groups had significantly higher Id-1 positive expression rate (p<0.05) than well differentiated carcinoma. Stages III-IV showed significant increase of Id-1 positive expression rate (p<0.05) compared with stages I and II. Id-1 positive expression was significantly higher in patients with cervical lymph node metastasis or relapse at 5 years (p<0.05). After that, patients with negative Id-1 expression had significantly higher tumor-free survival than patients with positive expression (p<0.05). Correlation between the expression of Id-1 and TSP-1 in mucoepidermoid carcinoma was negative (p<0.05). Poorly differentiated groups show significantly lower TSP-1 positive expression rate than well differentiated groups (p<0.05). No significant differences of TSP-1 positive expression were detected with clinical stage. TSP-1 positive expression was significantly lower in patients with cervical lymph node metastasis or relapse at 5 years (p<0.05). After 5 years, patients with positive TSP-1 expression had significantly higher tumor-free survival than patients with negative TSP-1. Positive Id-1 expression is associated with high malignancy/poor prognosis; positive TSP-1 expression is associated with low malignancy/good prognosis. Protein expression status may help assess tumor malignancy and patient prognosis.

Odontogenic tumours: a retrospective study of 1642 cases in a Chinese population

A total of 1642 odontogenic tumour cases retrieved from the files of the College of Stomatology, Sichuan University, China were retrospectively analyzed for gender, age, tumour site and relative frequency of various types, and the data compared with that of previous reports. The final diagnosis in each case was based on the WHO 2005 histopathological classification of odontogenic tumours. Of these tumours 1592 (97.0%) were benign and 50 (3.0%) were malignant. Ameloblastoma (40.3%) was the most frequent type, followed by keratocystic odontogenic tumour (35.8%), odontoma (4.7%) and odontogenic myxoma (4.6%). The mean age of the patients was 32.1, with a wide range (3-84 years). The male-female ratio and maxilla-mandible ratio were 1.4:1 and 1:4.0, respectively. Ameloblastoma and keratocystic odontogenic tumours, important indications of extensive surgical procedures, are not considered rare in this Chinese population, whereas odontoma is uncommon.

[Immunohistochemical findings on liver tissue in patients with hepatitis C]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the distributions and infer relations of HCV antigens in the liver tissues.

METHODS

Immunohistochemical techniques as polyclonal antibody to HCV, monoclonal antibody to HCV - NS3 and monoclonal antibody to HCV - NS5 were used to detect HCV antigens in 107 patients with hepatitis C.

RESULTS

HCV antigens in liver tissues were identified on these three kinds of antibodies. The positive rates were 38.3%, 28.0% and 52.3% respectively. The positive granules were located in the cytoplasma of liver cells. The distributions of positive cells were scattered, diffusive and clustered. No obvious anatomic association was observed between the expression of HCV - NS3 and inflammatory reaction. HCV - NS5 positive cells were more commonly seen around or in the flammatory focci.

CONCLUSION

The expressions of various components of HCV were demonstrated in different concentrations. The expressions of HCV - NS5 might be related to the pathogenesis of hepatitis C.

[Pathologic changes of lymphatic capillaries after injection of U14 cells in rat tongue perineoplastic area]

OBJECTIVE

1. To establish a model of neck lymphatic metastasis of cancer by injecting tumor cells into the rat tongue; 2. To observe the relationship between pathologic changes of perineoplastic lymphatic in different stages of implanted tumor growth and lymphatic metastasis of tumor cells.

METHODS

60 Kunming rats with injection of 5 x 10(6) U14 tumor cells into each rat tongue were chosen and randomized into 6 groups. In every 5 days, specimens of rat tongues with implanted tumor and neck lymph nodes with possible metastatic tumor cells were removed from each group of rats. Cryosections of rat tongue were processed with a modified enzyme-histochemical staining technique, using 5'-nucleotidase with HE to demonstrate lymphatic capillaries. Attention was paid to pathologic change of lymphatic capillaries in perineoplastic area of rat tongue in different growth stages of implanted tumor. Routing wax sections of lymph nodes processed with HE staining were examined under light microscopy to determine whether there were any metastasis tumor cells.

RESULTS

1. Metastasis to neck lymph nodes could be observed 15 days later after injection of U14 tumor cells into rat tongue. The situation of metastasis of lymph nodes varied greatly from tumor cells in bundle within marginal sinus to complete occupation of lymph nodes by U14 cells. 2. Tumor cells penetrated the lymphatic capillary by passing singly or in clumps between endothelial cells or through some destroyed endothelia. A great number of lymphatic with dilated cavity was found nearby the tumor tissue which facilitated tumor cells to enter the lymphatic cavity. 3. There were much more amount of lymphatic capillaries with dilated cavity around tumor mass comparing with that of normal tongue of the control group rats, and the number of lymphatic capillaries with opening cavity tend to increase with growth of implanted tumor.

CONCLUSION

Direct and objective view of lymphatic capillaries can be obtained by means of the modified enzyme-histochemical staining technique, using 5'-nucleotidase with HE to demonstrate lymphatic capillaries; A great number of lymphatic capillaries with dented cavity in normal physical state are forced to be dilated during process of tumor growth, thus in turn increase the possibility for tumor cells to penetrate the lymphatic capillary by passing singly or in clumps between endothelial cells.

[Study of superinfection of HBV and HCV]

OBJECTIVES

To understand the situation in hepatitis B patients coinciding with HCV and to explore its influence on HCV on the replication of HBV.

METHODS

Using ELISA, 712 hepatitis B patients were tested for serum anti-HCV and markers of HBV.

RESULTS

Of the 712 patients, anti-HCV positive rate was 14.47% with the highest 48.98% in patients with severe hepatitis and the lowest 3.25% in patients with acute hepatitis. Markedly different anti-HCV positive rates (P < 0.001) in patients of different clinical stages were discovered. The more severe the case with longer the course, the higher the anti-HCV positive rates. In patients with superinfection of HBV and HCV, serum HBsAg, HBeAg and anti-HBcIgM positive rates were lower than those in patients with hepatitis B (P < 0.001, P < 0.001 and P < 0.05) but the anti-HBe positive rates were higher. All the differences showed an obvious statistical significance.

CONCLUSION

Hepatitis B coinciding with HCV infection is responsible for the deterioration of the disease and towards its formation of its chronic phase as well as for the inhibition of HBV replication.

[Study on hepatitis G virus infection]

OBJECTIVE

To find out the situation of HGV infection in Shandong Province, and to explore the relations between HGV infection and HCV or HBV infection.

METHODS

Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to determine the serum anti-HGV in 1,082 patients with viral hepatitis, 77 patients with non A-E hepatitis and 361 blood donors.

RESULTS

53 patients whose serum anti-HGVs were positive (positive rate: 3.49%) were noticed. The anti-HGV positive rate (8.93%) in patients with Hepatitis C was remarkably higher than that (3.32%) in patients with Hepatitis B (chi 2 = 8.80, P < 0.01). The anti-HGV positive rate (4.82%) in patients with chronic hepatitis was significantly higher than that (0.79%) in patients with acute hepatitis (chi 2 = 10.79, P < 0.01). The anti-HGV positive rate (8.00%) in patients with severe hepatitis was obviously higher than that in patients with acute hepatitis (chi 2 = 10.23, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

The manifestations of HGV infection can be expressed as virus-carriers, subclinical infection or various clinical types. Patients with Hepatitis C were more subjective to be overlapped with HGV than the patients with Hepatitis B; moreover, HCV or HBV infection superinfected with HGV is associated with exacerbation of patients' condition and the formation of chronic infection.

Odontogenic tumors. A demographic study of 759 cases in a Chinese population

Seven hundred fifty-nine cases of odontogenic tumors retrieved from the files of College of Stomatology, West China University of Medical Sciences were classified according to the World Health Organization's Histological Classification of Odontogenic Tumors and compared with similar reports from other countries. Among these cases, 93.9% of the tumors were benign and 6.1% were malignant. Ameloblastomas predominated (58.6%) with a predilection for the mandible, while odontomas, generally regarded as the most frequent odontogenic tumor in North America, only accounted for 6.7%, the fourth most common tumor in this series. The mandible and the maxilla were divided into eight anatomic regions, and the distribution of each odontogenic tumor type amongst these regions was recorded. The relative incidence of each tumor type, patient age and gender were also compared with data from other selected large series. Geographic differences were noted in the relative incidence of ameloblastoma, odontoma and malignant odontogenic tumors among the Chinese/African, North American and Turkish/German groups. Ameloblastoma and malignant odontogenic tumors are not considered rare in a Chinese population.

[Study of HDV infection in Shandong province]

To understand the situation of HDV infection in Shandong province and to explore the relationship between HDV and HBV infections, 2681 samples infected with HBV were tested for serum anti-HDV with enzyme linked immunosorbent assay, in Shandong. Among them, 207 (7.72%) were found to be anti-HDV positive. Anti-HDV positive rates in HBsAg carriers and in hepatitis B patients were 3.16% and 13.15%, respectively. A significant difference (P < 0.001) was noticed between the two groups. In the second group, anti-HDV positive rates in patients with chronic active hepatitis and severe hepatitis were both higher than those in patients with acute hepatitis and chronic persistent hepatitis and the difference was significant (P < 0.001). The longer the history and the more severe the condition the higher of the anti-HDV positive rate was seen. The results indicated that the combined and over-lapping HDV infections were both responsible for the chronic status of hepatitis B and its deterioration.