血管内皮舒张因子在氧自由基所致慢性缺氧大鼠肺内动脉收缩中的作用

以黄嘌岭(X)-黄嘌呤氧化酶(XO)系统产生氧自由基,应用微量生物测定法观察慢性缺氧(5000m,10d)对大鼠氧自由基所致肺内动脉收缩的影响及内皮舒张因子(EDRF)在其中的作用。慢性缺氧大鼠有内皮的肺内动脉环对氧自由基的收缩反应较正常环境中的对照动物明显增强,加入EDRF灭活剂还原型血红蛋白(RHb)后更加显著;而加入超氧化物歧化酶(铜锌SOD)后则减弱,甚至消除。反之,不论加入RHb或SOD对氧自由基所致去内皮肺内动脉环的收缩反应均无明显影响。上述结果表明慢性缺氧引起肺内动脉收缩增强与EDRF有密切关系:慢性缺氧可能使EDRF的作用减弱,肺内动脉对氧自由基的反应性增强。表示EDRF及其与氧自由基的关系在慢性缺氧性肺动脉高压的形成中可能具有十分重要的意义。     

抗氧化剂丹酚酸A对缺氧鼠肺内动脉ACh舒张反应的影响

应用微量生物测定法观察了丹酚酸A(salvinolic acid A,Sal.A)对慢性缺氧(5000m,10d)大鼠(200～300g)肺内动脉ACh舒张反应的影响,并对其机制进行了初步探讨。实验发现,慢性缺氧可明显减弱大鼠肺内动脉ACh(10~(-8)～10~(-4)mol/L)舒张反应(P<0.01～0.001),在浴槽内先加入Sal.A(10~(-4)mol/L),缺氧鼠肺内动脉ACh舒张反应明显增强(P<0.01),而在浴槽内同时加入血管内皮舒张因子(EDRF)灭活剂phenidon(5×10~(-5)mol/L),则Sal.A上述增强缺氧鼠肺内动脉ACh舒张反应的作用消失。此外,本实验还发现,在以黄嘌呤(X,10~(-4)mol/ L)-黄嘌呤氧化酶(XO,0.01U/ml)系统产生氧自由基损伤正常大鼠肺内动脉ACh舒张反应的基础上,Sal.A(10~(-4)mol/L)同样可明显减弱氧自由基对大鼠肺内动脉ACh舒张反应的损伤作用。结果表明,Sal.A可消除氧自由基对肺血管内皮细胞释放的EDRF的破坏作用而具有保护慢性缺氧鼠肺内动脉ACh舒张反应的作用。     

慢性缺氧对肺动脉内皮依赖性和非内皮依赖性舒张反应的影响

本实验用生物测定法观察了模拟海拔5000m高度连续缺氧20d对大鼠肺动脉内皮依赖性和非内皮依赖性舒张反应的影响。结果显示慢性缺氧明显抑制了肺内和肺外动脉对乙酰胆碱、ATP、硝普钠和异丙肾上腺素舒张反应的敏感性和反应性。在浓度为10~(-6)mol/L时,缺氧组大鼠肺内动脉对乙酰胆碱、硝普钠和异丙肾上腺素的舒张反应分别只有对照组大鼠的61.3％、75.9％和61.7％,对浓度为1.8×10~(-5)mol/L的ATP的舒张反应只有对照组大鼠的64.9％。研究表明,ATP和乙酰胆碱主要是通过内皮舒张因子使肺动脉产生内皮依赖性舒张反应,硝普钠和异丙肾上腺素分别通过直接激活血管平滑肌细胞鸟苷酸环化酶和β受体使血管产生非内皮依赖性舒张反应。缺氧同时抑制了肺动脉内皮依赖性和非内皮依赖性舒张反应,提示慢性缺氧可能抑制了正常肺内舒血管活性物质的生理作用。     

急性缺氧所致大鼠肺动脉内皮依赖性收缩反应

本实验初步证实,急性缺氧可使大鼠肺动脉产生内皮衍生收缩因子,并对其性质作了初步探讨。急性缺氧可使离体大鼠肺内和肺外动脉产生收缩反应,当灌流液氧分压从约17.3kPa降低到4kPa时(pH7.40～7.48),肺内和肺外动脉的基础张力分别比原来静息张力增加了37.5±5.1mg(n=4)和33.2±1.9mg(n=6);当氧分压恢复到约17.3kPa时,肺动脉基础张力也降到缺氧前的静息张力水平,即肺内动脉约300mg,肺外动脉约400mg。去掉内皮细胞后,急性缺氧引起的肺动脉收缩反应消失。消炎痛、去甲二氢愈创木脂酸、阿托品和酚妥拉明均不能阻断急性缺氧所致大鼠肺动脉内皮依赖性收缩反应。急性缺氧可诱发大鼠肺动脉内皮细胞产生释放非花生四烯酸环氧酶和脂氧酶代谢产物的内皮衍生收缩因子。     

慢性缺氧对大鼠肺动脉内皮依赖性舒张反应及cGMP含量的影响

本实验观察了慢性缺氧对大鼠肺动脉内皮依赖性舒张反应和肺动脉内环磷酸鸟苷(cGMP)含量的影响。乙酰胆碱(ACh)和三磷酸腺苷(ATP)可使正常大鼠的离体肺动脉产生内皮依赖性舒张反应,其舒张作用不受消炎痛的影响,但被甲烯蓝完全抑制。慢性缺氧明显减低了 ACh 和 ATP 诱发的大鼠肺内和肺外动脉的内皮依赖性舒张反应。当 ACh 浓度为10~(-6)mol/L 时,缺氧组大鼠肺内和肺外动脉舒张百分数分别为对照组的61.3%和59.2%;当 ATP浓度为1.8×10~(-5)mol/L 时,缺氧组大鼠肺内和肺外动脉舒张反应分別为对照组的64.9%和55.3%。慢性缺氧也减低了硝普钠(SNP)诱发的大鼠肺动脉非内皮依赖性舒张反应。慢性缺氧显著减低了大鼠肺动脉内 cGMP 的含量。缺氧组和对照组大鼠肺动脉内 cGMP 的基础含量分别是51.9±5.7 pmol/g wet wt.(n=14)和84.9±9.7 pmol/g wet wt.(n=14),p<0.01;经 10~(-7)mol/L ACh 刺激后分别是91.4±7.3 pmol/g wet wt.(n=5)和240.8±30.6pmol/g wet wt.(n=5),p<0.01。慢性缺氧可能抑制了肺动脉平滑肌细胞胞浆中可溶性鸟苷酸环化酶,从而减低了肺动脉对内皮舒张因子和 SNP 的舒张反应性。     

生长抑素对氧自由基引起的离体胃粘膜细胞损伤的保护作用及其机制

采用pronase—EDTA法分离大鼠胃粘膜细胞,将黄嘌呤氧化酶(xanthineoxidase,XO)—黄嘌呤(xanthine,X)氧自由基生成系统加入培养液诱发细胞的损伤。观察到预先加入生长抑素可以剂量依赖性地减轻XO—X引起的细胞死亡和乳酸脱氢酶的漏出;同时抑制XO—X引起的细胞脂质过氧化水平的升高,并翻转细胞膜流动性及溶血性卵磷脂与卵磷脂比值的变化。上述结果提示,生长抑素对氧自由基引起的胃粘膜细胞损伤可能具有直接的保护作用,其机制似与防止质膜的脂质过氧化并从而保护细胞膜免受损伤有关。     

川芎嗪对慢性缺氧大鼠肺动脉和主动脉的离体舒张作用

用生物测定法观察了川芎嗪对慢性缺氧大鼠肺动脉和主动脉环的舒张效应,并与乙酰胆碱的舒血管作用进行了比较。结果表明:川芎嗪对慢性缺氧大鼠肺动脉和主动脉的舒张作用均与平原组无明显差异。慢性缺氧明显减低了乙酰胆碱诱发的肺动脉内皮依赖性舒张反应,但不影响川芎嗪对肺血管的舒张作用。提示川芎嗪对肺血管的舒张作用不依赖于内皮。川芎嗪对肺动脉的舒张作用明显大于体动脉。这些特性有利于川芎嗪对肺动脉高压的治疗。     

埃他卡林对低氧暴露大鼠脑和肺微动脉选择性扩张作用

目的:研究低氧暴露对大鼠脑和肺微动脉内皮功能的影响以及埃他卡林(Ipt)对以上微动脉的扩张作用特征。方法:将雄性SD大鼠随机分为2组,常压常氧组(control)和低氧暴露组(hypoxic),后者置于常压低氧暴露舱内(O27.8%)8 h。分离大鼠管径为(204±5)μm的脑基底动脉、肺微动脉组织,利用DMT微血管张力测定仪在6nmol/L内皮素-1(ET-1)致血管预收缩条件下,利用乙酰胆碱(ACh)考察微动脉内皮功能及观察不同浓度Ipt对脑和肺微动脉张力变化的影响。结果:与常压常氧组对比,10-5 mol/L乙酰胆碱(ACh)对低氧暴露脑肺微动脉扩张率显著降低(P0.05);新型ATP敏感性钾通道开放剂Ipt在(10-11~10-3)mol/L对低氧暴露肺微动脉呈剂量依赖性扩张作用,明显强于对常压常氧组(P0.01),在(10-11~10-3)mol/L对低氧暴露脑微动脉呈剂量依赖性扩张作用,但与常压常氧组相比无显著差异。结论:低氧暴露可导致脑基底动脉和肺微动脉内皮功能受损,Ipt具有选择性增强扩张低氧暴露肺微动脉的作用,但不影响以上条件低氧暴露后脑基底动脉的扩张作用,提示该药可应用于改善低氧暴露所致的肺微血管收缩,为Ipt发展为新型治疗肺动脉高压的药物提供理论基础。     

巯基物质在氧自由基损伤离体胃粘膜细胞中的作用

本文用离体胃粘膜细胞研究了细胞内流基物质在活性氧诱发细胞损伤中的作用。实验采用pronase-EDTA法分离大鼠胃粘膜细胞并进行短期孵育,以黄嘌呤氧化酶(XO)-黄嘌呤(X)系统产生氧自由基损伤细胞。实验结果表明,用XO-X损伤胃粘膜细胞时,细胞存活率显著降低,乳酸脱氨酶(LDH)漏出量增多,同时细胞内非蛋白质巯基(NPSH)和蛋白质巯基(PSH)含量均不同程度地下降;N-乙基顺丁烯二酰亚胺(NEM)在耗竭细胞内NPSH和PSH的同时,引起细胞死亡和LDH漏出增加,这一作用与NEM的作用时间和浓度是显著依从关系;在细胞孵育液中预先加入含-SH的化合物还原型谷胱甘肽(GSH)或半胱胺,可剂量依赖性地减轻XO-X引起的细胞损伤。上述结果提示,胃粘膜细胞内的巯基物质在自身防御机制中具有重要作用,氧自由基损伤胃粘膜细胞的机制之一可能与破坏细胞内巯基的稳态有夫。     

肾上腺髓质素的降压作用及其在组织中分布的观察

本实验用电生理和免疫组化方法观察了肾上腺髓质素（ａｄｒｅｎｏｍｅｄｕｌｌｉｎ,ＡＭ）对正常和高血压大鼠血压的影响和对主动脉环张力的作用以及ＡＭ在一些组织中的分布特点。结果显示ＡＭ对高血压大鼠的降压幅度远大于正常鼠;对主动脉环张力的降低作用具有剂量依赖性和内皮依赖性;ＡＭ免疫组化反应除在嗜铬细胞瘤和肾上腺髓质细胞内呈阳性反应外,在肺、肾和心肌组织内都显示出不同程度的阳性。提示ＡＭ在机体血压和循环调节中具有重要作用。     

A Unique Protease Cleavage Site Predicted in the Spike Protein of the Novel Pneumonia Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Potentially Related to Viral Transmissibility

正Dear Editor,In December 2019, a novel human coronavirus caused an epidemic of severe pneumonia(Coronavirus Disease 2019,COVID-19) in Wuhan, Hubei, China(Wu et al. 2020; Zhu et al. 2020). So far, this virus has spread to all areas of China and even to other countries. The epidemic has caused 67,102 confirmed infections with 1526 fatal cases     

Curcuminoids as inhibitors of thioredoxin reductase: A receptor based pharmacophore study with distance mapping of the active site

Curcumin is the yellow pigment of turmeric that interacts irreversibly forming an adduct with thioredoxin reductase (TrxR), an enzyme responsible for redox control of cell and defence against oxidative stress. Docking at both the active sites of TrxR was performed to compare the potency of three naturally occurring curcuminoids, namely curcumin, demethoxy curcumin and bis-demethoxy curcumin. Results show that active sites of TrxR occur at the junction of E and F chains. Volume and area of both cavities is predicted. It has been concluded by distance mapping of the most active conformations that Se atom of catalytic residue SeCYS498, is at a distance of 3.56 from C13 of demethoxy curcumin at the E chain active site, whereas C13 carbon atom forms adduct with Se atom of SeCys 498. We report that at least one methoxy group in curcuminoids is necessary for interation with catalytic residues of thioredoxin. Pharmacophore of both active sites of the TrxR receptor for curcumin and demethoxy curcumin molecules has been drawn and proposed for design and synthesis of most probable potent antiproliferative synthetic drugs.     

Comparative morphology of the carpel in the Liliaceae: Hewardieae, Petrosavieae, and Tricyrteae

The young pistils in the melanthioid tribes, Hewardieae, Petrosavieae and Tricyrteae, are uniformly tricarpellate and syncarpous. They lack raphide idioblasts. All are multiovulate, with bitegmic ovules. The Petrosavieae are marked by the presence of septal glands and incomplete syncarpy. Tepals and stamens adhere to the ovary in the Hewardieae and the Petrosavieae but not in the Tricyrteae. Two vascular bundles occur in the stamens of the Hewartlieae and Tricyrtis latifolia. Ventral bundles in the upper part of the ovary of the Hewardieae are continuous with compound septal bundles and placental bundles in the lower part. Putative ventral bundles occur in the alternate position in the Tricyrteae and putative placental bundles in the opposite. position in the Petrosavieae. The dichtomously branched stigma in each carpel of the Tricyrteae is supplied by a bifurcated dorsal bundle.     

Enterovirus 71 3C proteolytically processes the histone H3 N-terminal tail during infection

Highlights
1. The N-terminal tail of histone H3 is specifically cleaved during EV71 infection.
2. Viral protease 3C is identified as a protease responsible for proteolytically processing the N-terminal H3 tail.
3. Our finding reveals a new epigenetic regulatory mechanism for Enterovirus 71 in virus-host interactions.     

Detection of EBV and HHV6 in the Brain Tissue of Patients with Rasmussen’s Encephalitis

Rasmussen’s encephalitis (RE) is a rare pediatric neurological disorder, and the exact etiology is not clear. Viral infection may be involved in the pathogenesis of RE, but conflicting results have reported. In this study, we evaluated the expression of both Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and human herpes virus (HHV) 6 antigens in brain sections from 30 patients with RE and 16 control individuals by immunohistochemistry. In the RE group, EBV and HHV6 antigens were detected in 56.7% (17/30) and 50% (15/30) of individuals, respectively. In contrast, no detectable EBV and HHV6 antigen expression was found in brain tissues of the control group. The co-expression of EBV and HHV6 was detected in 20.0% (6/30) of individuals. In particular, a 4-year-old boy had a typical clinical course, including a medical history of viral encephalitis, intractable epilepsy, and hemispheric atrophy. The co-expression of EBV and HHV6 was detected in neurons and astrocytes in the brain tissue, accompanied by a high frequency of CD8⁺ T cells. Our results suggest that EBV and HHV6 infection and the activation of CD8⁺ T cells are involved in the pathogenesis of RE.     

Perinatal Vertical Transmission of Chikungunya Virus in Ruili,a Town on the Border between China and Myanmar

正Dear Editor,Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), an arbovirus in the family of Togaviridae, genus Alphavirus, is transmitted by the A.aegyptii or A. albopictus mosquito, and causes disease in humans characterized by fever, rash, and arthralgia (Silva and Dermody 2017; Suhrbier 2019). It was first reported in 1953 in Tanzania, and caused only a few outbreaks and sporadic cases in Africa and Asia in last century. However, in the epidemic in 2004, CHIKV acquired mutations that conferred enhanced transmission by the A. albopictus mosquito(Schuffenecker et al. 2006). Since then, it has successively caused outbreaks in Africa, the Indian Ocean, South East Asia, the South America, and Europe (Zeller et al. 2016).     

Development of a Novel Reverse Transcription Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Method for Rapid Detection of SARS-CoV-2

In conclusion, the novel visual RT-LAMP assay is a simple, rapid, and sensitive approach for detection of SARS-CoV-2, and it is ready for application in primary care and community hospitals or health care centers, and even patients' own houses in response to the current SARS-CoV-2 epidemic because the assay does not require sophisticated equipment and skilled personnel. Furthermore, it is also ready to be used in fields for screening samples from wild animals and environments to facilitate the identification of potential intermediate hosts that mediate the cross-species transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from bats to humans.