Interleukin-10 level is associated with post-stroke depression in acute ischaemic stroke patients

BACKGROUND

Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is a pathophysiological factor in acute ischaemic stroke (AIS) and is relevant to mood disorders after stroke. We evaluated the predictive value of IL-10 in patients with post-stroke depression (PSD).

METHODS

A total of 350 stroke patients were recruited at baseline, and 151 AIS patients were screened and completed a 1-month follow-up. Serum IL-10 levels were measured within 24 h of admission. We used the 17-item Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD-17) to evaluate depression symptoms; PSD was defined as an HAMD score ≥ 7.

RESULTS

Fifty-one (33.8%) patients showed a more serious stroke degree, larger infarction volume, and poorer daily life activities and prognosis (P < 0.05) and were diagnosed with PSD at the 1-month follow-up. Their IL-10 level decreased significantly compared to the non-PSD group (P < 0.001). After adjusting for confounders, IL-10 could be used as an independent predictor for PSD with an adjusted odds ratio (OR) of 0.615 (95% CI 0.410-0.923, P = 0.019). In addition, the optimal cut-off value of IL-10 was 0.615 pg/mL based on an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.692 (95% CI 0.604-0.781, P < 0.001), demonstrating that IL-10 could predict the occurrence of PSD. Moreover, IL-10 was an indicator of stroke severity, living ability, and functional outcomes (P < 0.05).

LIMITATIONS

IL-10 was only measured upon admission; dynamic changes need to be further monitored. This was also a single-centre study with a relatively small sample.

CONCLUSIONS

Lower IL-10 levels may be used to predict PSD.

[FOXD2-AS1 is corelated with clinicopathological parameter of laryngeal carcinoma and promote cancer cell proliferation]

Objective: To investigate the expression and clinical significance of long non-coding RNA FOXD2-AS1 in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma and its effect on cancer cell proliferation. Method: Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction(RT-qPCR) was used to detect the expression of FOXD2-AS1 in 85 cases of laryngeal carcinoma. One-way ANOVA was used to determine relationships between its expression and clinicopathological parameters of laryngeal carcinoma. The prognostic significance of FOXD2-AS1 in head and neck cancer was explored using bioinformatics technology. SiRNA was used to interfere the expression of FOXD2-AS1 in TU686 laryngeal carcinoma cells. MTT and clonal formation assay were used to investigate the biological effect of FOXD2-AS1. MicroRNA binding to FOXD2-AS1 was investigated using double luciferase assay. Result: The expression of FOXD2-AS1 in laryngeal cancer tissues was significantly higher than that in normal tissues(t=10.012, P<0.05), and was associated with T staging of laryngeal cancer(χ=6.41, P=0.016). There were no relationships between FOXD2-AS1 expression and age, sex, smoking history, primary site of tumor and lymph node metastasis(N staging). Survival analysis of head and neck tumors in the TCGA database using GEPIA showed poor prognosis in patients with high FOXD2-AS1 expression(P=0.048). Suppressing FOXD2-AS1 via siRNA in TU686 cells decreased clonal formation ability(t=8.053, P<0.05) and MTT assay confirmed that interference of FOXD2-AS1 down regulated proliferation activity of TU686 cells(t=9.337, P<0.05). Double luciferase assay showed that FOXD2-AS1 could directly bind to miR-206, thus inhibiting the expression of miR-206. Further MTT assay indicated that inhibiting miR-206 attenuated the suppressing effect of si-FOXD2-AS1 on the proliferation of TU686 cells. Conclusion: FOXD2-AS1 is corelated with clinicopathological parameter of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma and promotes cancer cell proliferation through targeting miR-206.

Studies on the calcium antagonistic action of tetrandrine: X VI. Hemodynamic effects of tetrandrine on conscious rats

Hemodynamic study of tetrandrine (Tet) in conscious rats showed that 15 mg/kg i.v. lowered BP, LVSP, +/- dp/dtmax, and (dP/dt)P-1. The degree of diminutions was nearly equal to that of BP during the initial period, while the LVEDP was elevated. But all these parameters (except -dp/dtmax) recovered gradually and earlier than BP, and LVEDP decreased to a level slightly lower than that of control. These results indicate that the hypotensive action of Tet is mainly due to its inhibition of cardiac contractility at the early period, but due to vasodilatation in the later stage. The HR was slowed down abruptly followed by a reflex acceleration, and than a gradual but sustained decrease in HR supervened with i.v. Tet. When large dose (40 mg/kg) of Tet i.v. caused a cardiac standstill with the R wave of ECG persisting for a few minutes, it means that an excitation-contraction decoupling occurred as that found on isolated myocardial preparation treated with verapamil and Tet.

Abnormal epithelial cell energy metabolism influences pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease

Etiology and pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are not clear, but colonic mucosal damage is known to be a critical factor. In recent decades, many studies suggest that interfering with the energy metabolism of epithelial tissue could result in the widening of intestinal epithelial cell gap, increased bacterial translocation across the epithelium, decreased mucus secretion, and intestinal mucosal barrier dysfunction. Bacteria and antigens adhere to the intestinal mucosa, enter into the lamina propria, activate inflammation, and initiate the pathogenesis of IBD. The lack of energy fuel butyrate and mitochondrial dysfunction are the causes of abnormal energy metabolism of the intestinal epithelium. Improving energy metabolism and protection of mitochondrial function can alleviate the seriousness of IBD, reduce recurrence, and provides a new strategy for the treatment of IBD.

Blocking action of berberine on various receptors in rat anococcygeus muscle

The contractile responses of rat anococcygeus muscle to phenylephrine, acetylcholine and 5-hydroxytryptamine in relation to berberine and to their specific antagonists were studied separately. The effects of phenylephrine and acetylcholine were blocked by berberine as well as by atropine. But the alpha-blocking action of atropine was exhibited only at high concentration. The anococcygeus muscle response to phenylephrine was competitively inhibited by berberine with a PA2 value of 6.4. The contraction induced by acetylcholine was competitively inhibited by atropine (PA2 = 8.7), whereas berberine, which differs basically from atropine, shifted the dose-response curve for acetylcholine non-parallelly to the right with its maximal response reduced concomitantly. Its pD2(1) value was 4.6. This suggests that the antagonistic action of berberine may be exerted non-specifically through a site beyond the M-cholinergic receptor. Berberine also relaxed the contraction of anococcygeus muscle induced by 5-hydroxytryptamine. The contractile responses to histamine and isoprenaline were seen only at high concentration. In addition, the response to isoprenaline was little affected by propranolol in our experiment.

[Blocking effects of benzyltetrahydropalmatine on delayed rectified K+ currents expressed in Xenopus oocytes and in toad oocytes]

The effects of benzyltetrahydropalmatine (BTHP) on delayed rectified K+ currents (Ik) expressed in Xenopus oocytes and Ik of toad (Bufo bufo gargarizans) oocytes were studied. The Ik expressed in Xenopus oocytes was measured after microinjection of mRNA isolated from carp fish (C anratus L.) brains with double -microelectrode voltage clamp technique. The maximum and mean value of Ik expressed in Xenopus oocytes were 600 nA and 360 +/- 104 nA, respectively. BTHP reduced the current amplitude of Ik expressed in Xenopus oocytes in 10-1000 mumol.L-1 dose-dependently, EC50 was 29 mumol.L-1. Also, the reduction of Ik of toad oocytes was 9.1%, 29.1%, 54.7% and 68.6% by BTHP 10, 30, 100 and 1000 mumol.L-1, respectively, EC50 was 33 mumol.L-1. The results showed that BTHP possesses an inhibitory effect on Ik, the main ion mechanism of antiarrhythmic action of BTHP.

[Proteomic analysis of lacrimal gland adenoid cystic carcinoma with high-grade transformation]

Objective: To analyze the protein expression differences of lacrimal gland adenoid cystic carcinoma (LACC) with high-grade transformation (HGT). Methods: Experimental study. A total of 8 paraffin tissue samples were collected in Tianjin Medical University Eye Hospital from December 2012 to January 2019. According to pathological examination, the samples were divided into the LACC group and the LACC-HGT group, with 4 cases in each group. The LACC group included 2 male samples and 2 female samples, with an average age of 53 years. The LACC-HGT group included 2 male samples and 2 female samples, with an average age of 44 years. Primary cells were cultured from fresh tumor tissue. Isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification techniques were used to screen the differentially expressed proteins between the two groups, and bioinformatics analysis was conducted for the differentially expressed proteins. Microarray was used to screen differentially expressed mRNAs between LACC and LACC-HGT primary cells. The mass spectrum data were intersected with mRNA microarray data, and quantitative real-time (qRT) PCR was performed to verify the results. Proteomics and microarray data were compared using the independent sample t test. The qRT-PCR data were compared pairwise by one-way analysis of variance. Results: A total of 105 HGT-related differential proteins were detected in this study, including 50 up-regulated proteins and 55 down-regulated proteins. The significantly up-regulated proteins included hemoglobin subunit beta, hemoglobin subunit alpha 1, and collagen type Ⅵ alpha 2 chain; the significantly down-regulated proteins included Cereblon, adenosylhomocysteinase like 2, and ribosomal protein L39 pseudogene 5. Gene ontology analysis results showed that the LACC-HGT differential proteins were mainly located in the cytoplasm, vesicle cavity, and extracellular matrix, had organic acid binding and molecular carrier activity, and participated in the regulation of extracellular matrix composition, immunity, inflammation, apoptosis, and other biological processes. Pathway analysis showed that the LACC-HGT differential proteins were mainly involved in signal pathways such as mitogen-activated protein kinase signal pathway and extracellular matrix proteoglycans and glycan metabolism signal pathway. Protein complex prediction analysis screened out 4 up-regulated protein complexes and 1 down-regulated protein complex. There were 15 LACC-HGT differential proteins that overlapped with mRNA chip differential genes, of which 6 were tumor-related proteins including collagen type XIV alpha 1 chain (COL14A1), EMAP like 4 (EML4), inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor heavy chain 4 (ITIH4), NDRG family member 2 (NDRG2), osteoglycin (OGN) an Ras homolog family member C (RhoC). The main function was the movement and migration of tumor cells. The qRT-PCR results showed that the relative expression levels of COL14A1, EML4, ITIH4, NDRG2, OGN, and RhoC in primary LACC-1, LACC-2, LACC-HGT-1, and LACC-HGT-2 cells were significantly different (F=1 675.98, 38.53, 27.37, 16.47, 13.38, 25.22, all P<0.01). For example, the relative expression of COL14A1 in primary LACC-HGT-1 (16.09±0.51) and LACC-HGT-2 (9.96±0.34) cells was significantly higher than that in primary LACC-1 (1.00±0.13) and LACC-2 (0.67±0.08) cells (all P<0.05). Conclusion: There are differentially expressed proteins between LACC-HGT and LACC, among which COL14A1, EML4, ITIH4, NDRG2, OGN, and RhoC may play an important role in LACC-HGT and can be used as potential targets of LACC-HGT in further study. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2021, 57: 531-539).

[Effects of dauricine on slow action potentials in myocardium]

The effects of dauricine were examined on the slow action potentials induced by both high K+ (24 mmol/L) or TTX (40 mumol/L) in guinea pig papillary muscles and in sinoatrial node cells of rabbit. Dauricine 40 mumol/L decreased the maximal upstroke velocity (Vmax) of slow action potentials and prolonged the action potential duration at 50% repolarization (APD50). Bay K 8644 (50 nmol/L) increased the amplitude and Vmax of slow action potentials, which were antagonized by dauricine (40 mumol/L). An inhibitory influence of dauricine on the action potential amplitude was observed in papillary muscles superfused with Tyrode's solution containing high K+ and in rabbit sinoatrial node cells, but it was not with TTX. The resting potentials of the 3 slow action potentials were not affected by dauricine. The results suggest that dauricine possesses calcium-antagonistic effect.

[Effects of benzyltetrahydropalmatine on delayed after depolarization and triggered activity and rabbit His-bundle electrogram]

Standard microelectrode techniques were used to study the effects of benzyltetrahydropalmatine (BTHP) on ouabain-induced delayed after depolarization (DAD) and triggered activity in isolated guinea pig papillary muscles. The results indicate that ouabain-induced DAD and triggered activity were abolished by BTHP 100 mumols/L. In anesthetized rabbit ECG heart rates were reduced in a dose-dependent manner from its control value of 288 +/- 14 to 261 +/- 14 (5 mg/kg) and 226 +/- 36 bpm (BTHP 10 mg/kg). P-R interval was prolonged. In His-bundle electrogram, H-V interval and V duration were not affected, but A-H interval was prolonged from 41 +/- 3 to 45 +/- 5 ms.