Calf Spleen Extractive Injection (CSEI), a small peptides enriched extraction, induces human hepatocellular carcinoma cell apoptosis via ROS/MAPKs dependent mitochondrial pathway

Drug-Related Problems in Bariatric Surgery: a Retrospective Study

BACKGROUND

With the rapid increase of bariatric surgery worldwide, drug-related problems (DRPs) in this area seem to be rising. This study aimed to investigate the incidence and characteristics of DRPs in patients undergoing bariatric surgery.

METHODS

Medication records for patients who underwent bariatric surgery were analysed retrospectively between January 2019 and December 2020 in our center. We classified and analysed DRPs using the Pharmaceutical Care Network Europe classification (PCNE version 9.0). Rating severity of these DRPs was based on the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (NCC MERP) classification. Continuous variables were analysed by Student's t-test, and categorical variables were compared using the chi-square test. One-way ANOVA was used to compare the numbers of DRPs.

RESULTS

Totally 347 patients were reviewed, and 760 DRPs were identified with an average of 2.19 ± 1.36 DRPs for each patient. The most common DRPs were problems related to perioperative antibiotics accounting for 29.47%, 25.62% and 14.34% for hepatoprotection and proton-pump inhibitors (PPI), respectively. The leading causes of DRPs were inappropriate medications for antibiotics, hepatoprotection, ancillary drugs and PPI. 89.34% of the DRPs were rated at severity categories B-D (which means potential adverse reactions that may occur), whereas 10.66% were rated as categories E-H. There were relations between DRPs and older (32.22 ± 9.29 vs. 29.11 ± 6.53 years), fewer concomitant surgeries (1.89 ± 1.25 vs. 2.99 ± 1.31), longer postoperative fasting time (PFT) (1.18 ± 0.55 vs. 1.06 ± 0.24 days) and more comorbidities (6.71 ± 2.63 vs. 5.23 ± 1.46) (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

The incidence of DRPs in the perioperative period of bariatric surgery is high. Patients with fewer concomitant surgeries and longer PFT are prone to DRPs. It is necessary for clinical pharmacists to participate in medication monitoring and reviewing to facilitate enhanced recovery after bariatric surgery.

Clinical Efficacy of Laparoscopic Billroth II Subtotal Gastrectomy Plus Lienal Polypeptide Injection for Gastric Cancer

Objective

To evaluate the clinical efficacy of laparoscopic Billroth II subtotal gastrectomy plus lienal polypeptide injection for gastric cancer.

Methods

Between May 2018 and January 2021, 110 patients with gastric cancer treated in Jingzhou First People's Hospital were recruited and assigned via the random number table method to either an observation group or a control group, with 55 patients in each group. All patients received laparoscopic Billroth II subtotal gastrectomy, and the observation group additionally received lienal polypeptide injection. Outcome measures include surgical indexes, clinical efficacy, and adverse events.

Results

The patients in the observation group had significantly less intraoperative hemorrhage volume, smaller surgical wounds, shorter time lapse before passing gas and hospital stay, and longer operation time than those in the control group (P < 0.001). The observation group showed significantly higher efficacy than the control group (P=0.001). The observation group had a significantly lower incidence of toxic side effects and adverse events than the control group (P < 0.05). After treatment, the CD3+ and CD4+ levels were significantly elevated and the CD8+ level was decreased, with higher CD3+ and CD4+ levels and lower CD8+ levels in the observation group than in the control group (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

In the treatment of patients with gastric cancer, laparoscopic Billroth II subtotal gastrectomy plus lienal polypeptide injection features promising efficacy, improves the immune function of patients, effectively reduces the occurrence of toxic side effects and adverse reactions, with less trauma and rapid recovery, which shows good potential for use in clinical application.

Anticancer Effects and Mechanisms of Action of Plumbagin: Review of Research Advances

Plumbagin (PLB), a natural naphthoquinone constituent isolated from the roots of the medicinal plant Plumbago zeylanica L., exhibited anticancer activity against a variety of cancer cell lines including breast cancer, hepatoma, leukemia, melanoma, prostate cancer, brain tumor, tongue squamous cell carcinoma, esophageal cancer, oral squamous cell carcinoma, lung cancer, kidney adenocarcinoma, cholangiocarcinoma, gastric cancer, lymphocyte carcinoma, osteosarcoma, and canine cancer. PLB played anticancer activity via many molecular mechanisms, such as targeting apoptosis, autophagy pathway, cell cycle arrest, antiangiogenesis pathway, anti-invasion, and antimetastasis pathway. Among these signaling pathways, the key regulatory genes regulated by PLB were NF-kβ, STAT3, and AKT. PLB also acted as a potent inducer of reactive oxygen species (ROS), suppressor of cellular glutathione, and novel proteasome inhibitor, causing DNA double-strand break by oxidative DNA base damage. This review comprehensively summarizes the anticancer activity and mechanism of PLB.

A prospect of cell immortalization combined with matrix microenvironmental optimization strategy for tissue engineering and regeneration

Cellular senescence is a major hurdle for primary cell-based tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Telomere erosion, oxidative stress, the expression of oncogenes and the loss of tumor suppressor genes all may account for the cellular senescence process with the involvement of various signaling pathways. To establish immortalized cell lines for research and clinical use, strategies have been applied including internal genomic or external matrix microenvironment modification. Considering the potential risks of malignant transformation and tumorigenesis of genetic manipulation, environmental modification methods, especially the decellularized cell-deposited extracellular matrix (dECM)-based preconditioning strategy, appear to be promising for tissue engineering-aimed cell immortalization. Due to few review articles focusing on this topic, this review provides a summary of cell senescence and immortalization and discusses advantages and limitations of tissue engineering and regeneration with the use of immortalized cells as well as a potential rejuvenation strategy through combination with the dECM approach.

Nox4-dependent ROS production is involved in CVB3-induced myocardial apoptosis

Viral myocarditis is a cardiovascular disease that seriously affects human health. Its mechanism is not clear. Coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) is a member of the picornavirus family and is the leading cause of viral myocarditis. Our group tested the genes in a mouse model of CVB3 virus infection and confirmed that the NADPH oxidase gene had a high expression trend in the acute phase of infection. Whether Nox4, the homologue of NADPH oxidase, participates in the process of viral myocarditis has not been reported. In this study, we found increased expression of Nox4 in viral myocarditis in vivo and in vitro. DPI is a non-specific inhibitor of Nox4 that improved CVB3-induced myocarditis after injection in vivo. DPI also inhibited intracellular ROS release and apoptosis in vitro. Our data indicated that Nox4-dependent ROS production was involved in CVB3-induced myocardial apoptosis.

Exendin-4 relieves the inhibitory effects of high glucose on the proliferation and osteoblastic differentiation of periodontal ligament stem cells

BACKGROUND

With the impaired regenerative potential in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM), Periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs) are regarded as an attractive source of stem cells for periodontal cytotherapy. Recent studies have shown that Exendin-4 (Ex-4) exerts cell-protective effects and bone remodeling ability on many types of cells. The aim of this study was to investigate whether Ex-4 alleviates the inhibition of high glucose on the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of PDLSCs.

METHODS

PDLSCs were incubated in medium supplemented with 5.5 mM d-glucose (NG), 30 mM d-glucose (HG), NG plus Ex-4, and HG plus different concentration (1, 10, 20, 100 nM) of Ex-4 respectively. Cell proliferation was detected by CCK-8 assay and cell cycle analysis. Osteogenesis was assessed by Alizarin Red S staining and evaluation of the mRNA expression of Runx2, ALP and Osx at day 7, 14 and 21. Intracellular level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was detected using 5-(and-6)-chloromethyl-2',7'-dichlorodihydro-fluorescein diacetate (CMH2DCF-DA).

RESULTS

The proliferation ability, mineralized nodules forming capacity and the mRNA expression of Runx2, ALP and Osx of PDLSCs in HG group were decreased, the ROS level was increased compared to NG group. With the treatment of Ex-4, the HG-inhibited proliferation ability and osteogenic differentiation ability of PDLSCs were significantly reversed, the HG-increased ROS level could be down-regulated. Moreover, Ex-4 enhanced the osteogenic differentiation of normal PDLSCs.

CONCLUSIONS

Ex-4 alleviates the inhibitory effect of HG on the proliferation and osteoblastic differentiation of PDLSCs, and has a significant enhance in the osteoblastic differentiation of normal PDLSCs, giving new insights into the possible therapeutic method of diabetic periodontitis.

Quinalizarin Induces Apoptosis through Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS)-Mediated Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) and Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 (STAT3) Signaling Pathways in Colorectal Cancer Cells

BACKGROUND Quinalizarin (1,2,5,8-tetrahydroxyanthraquinone) exhibits potentially useful anticancer effects by inducing apoptosis in several types of cancer, but its underlying mechanism of action remains unknown. The present study examined the effects of quinalizarin on the induction of cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), other underlying mechanisms, and its role in modifying colorectal cancer cell lines. MATERIAL AND METHODS The MTT assay was used to evaluate the viability of SW480 and HCT-116 cells that had been treated with quinalizarin and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). Cell cycle arrest and apoptosis were analyzed by flow cytometry. Western blotting was used to investigate the mitochondrial pathway; Akt, MAPK, and STAT3 signaling pathways were also investigated. The relationship between ROS generation and apoptosis was analyzed by flow cytometry and western blotting. RESULTS The results indicated that quinalizarin significantly inhibits the viability of SW480 and HCT-116 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Quinalizarin induced SW480 cell cycle arrest at G2/M by regulating cyclin B1 and CDK1/2. The apoptosis-related protein expression levels of p-p53, Bad, cleaved caspase-3, cleaved PARP and p-JNK were increased in quinalizarin-treated cells, while protein expression levels Bcl-2, p-Akt, p-ERK, and p-STAT3 were decreased. Quinalizarin induced apoptosis in colorectal cancer cells by regulating MAPK and STAT3 signaling pathways via ROS generation. CONCLUSIONS Quinalizarin induces apoptosis via ROS-mediated MAPK/STAT3 signaling pathways.

Calf Spleen Extractive Injection protects mice against cyclophosphamide-induced hematopoietic injury through G-CSF-mediated JAK2/STAT3 signaling

Calf Spleen Extractive Injection (CSEI), extracted from the spleen of healthy cows (within 24 hours of birth), is a small-peptide-enriched extraction and often used as an ancillary agent in cancer therapy. This study evaluated the hematopoietic function of CSEI and its underlying mechanisms, principally in CHRF, K562 cells, BMNCs and a mouse model of cyclophosphamide (CTX)-induced hematopoietic suppression. CSEI promoted the proliferation and differentiation of CHRF and K562 cells, activated hematopoietic- and proliferation-related factors RSK1p90, ELK1 and c-Myc, and facilitated the expression of differentiation- and maturation-related transcription factors GATA-1, GATA-2. In the mice with hematopoietic suppression, 3 weeks of CSEI administration enhanced the bodyweights and thymus indices, suppressed the spleen indices and strongly elevated the production of HSPCs, neutrophils and B cells in bone marrow, ameliorated bone marrow cellularity, and regulated the ratio of peripheral blood cells. Proteome profiling combined with ELISA revealed that CSEI regulated the levels of cytokines, especially G-CSF and its related factors, in the spleen and plasma. Additional data revealed that CSEI promoted phosphorylation of STAT3, which was stimulated by G-CSF in both mice spleen and cultured BMNCs. Taken together, CSEI has the potential to improve hematopoietic function via the G-CSF-mediated JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway.

Astaxanthin mitigates cobalt cytotoxicity in the MG-63 cells by modulating the oxidative stress

Background

With the re-popularity of metal-on-metal (MoM) bearing in recent years, the cobalt toxicity has been a cause for concern in the total hip replacement surgery by both physicians and patients.

Methods

MG-63 cell line was cultured in vitro and incubated with cobalt (II) chloride (CoCl₂) and/or with astaxanthin (ASX) for 24 h. MTT assay was conducted to evaluate the cell viability after cobalt exposure and ASX treatment. Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis was performed to examine the reactive oxygen species (ROS) level. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was adopted to determine the mRNA levels of related targets. And western blot analysis was used to examine the protein expressions. One-way ANOVA with posttest Newman-Keuls multiple comparisons was adopted to analysis all the obtained data.

Results

In the current study, ASX exhibited significant protective effect against the Co(II)-induced cytotoxicity in MG-63 cell line. We also found that ASX protected the cells against Co-induced apoptosis by regulating the expression of Bcl-2 family proteins. Besides, heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) could be activated by Co exposure; ASX treatment significantly inhibited HO-1 activation, suppressing the oxidative stress induced by Co exposure. Moreover, c-Jun N-terminal Kinase (JNK) phosphorylation was shown to participate in the signaling pathway of the protective effect of ASX. However, knockdown of JNK expression by siRNA transfection or JNK inhibitor SP600125 treatment did not affect the protective effect of ASX against cobalt cytotoxicity in MG-63 cells.

Conclusions

ASX mitigated cobalt cytotoxicity in the MG-63 cells by modulating the oxidative stress. And ASX could be a promising therapy against cobalt toxicity in the hip articulation surgery.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40360-017-0166-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.