[Interleukin-17-mediated inflammation promotes nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in mice with regulation of M1-type macrophage polarization]

Objective: To study the mechanism of interleukin (IL)-17 in mice with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease for promoting M1-type macrophage polarization to exacerbate liver inflammation, and to provide references for the mechanism of NAFLD occurrence and development. Methods: A mouse model of NAFLD was constructed by high-fat diet. Mice were divided into control group, model group, IL-17 group, and anti IL-17 group. Histopathological changes of the liver were observed by HE staining. The serum levels of ALT and AST in peripheral blood of mice was detected by chemical colorimetry. Macrophages labeled with F4/80-PE, CD11C-FITC was designated as M1-type macrophages, those labeled with F4/80-PE, and CD206-APC was designated as M2-type macrophages. The proportion of M1 and M2 macrophages infiltrated into the liver tissues of mice were measured by flow cytometry. CD168 expression level of liver tissues was detected using immunohistochemistry. Protein and mRNA levels of the marker molecules (iNOS, TNF-alpha and IL-6) of M1 macrophages were detected using ELISA and RT-Q PCR. Western blot was used to detect the protein expression of JAK-STAT signal pathway and the expression level of MCP-1. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and t-test. Results: High-fat diet NAFLD mice model was successfully constructed. IL-17 had increased the proportion of M1 macrophages in mice liver tissues and decreased the proportion of M2 macrophages (P < 0.05). The proportion of M1 and M2 macrophages in the liver tissues of normal mice was 7.9% ± 1.1% and 19.2% ± 1.8%. The proportion of M1 and M2 macrophages in the model group was 17.3% ± 2.5% and 15.0% ± 2.1. The proportion of M1 macrophages (33.8% ± 4.2%) in IL-17 group was higher than model group, while the proportion of M2 macrophages (7.8% + 1.0%) in IL-17 group was lower than model group. Protein and mRNA marker levels of M1 macrophage (iNOS, IL-12, TNFα and IL-6) in liver tissues were significantly higher than model group, control group, and anti-IL-17 group (P < 0.05). The expression levels of JAK1, STAT1, MCP-1, and CD168 in mice liver tissues of IL-17 group had increased (P < 0.05). The levels of aspartate and alanine aminotransferases in peripheral blood of mice in IL-17 group were significantly higher than other three groups (P < 0.05). Conclusion: IL-17 can promote M1-type macrophage polarization, and exacerbates the liver inflammatory response to accelerate the progression of NAFLD in mice.

Dioscorea opposita polysaccharide for treatment of gastric ulcer in rats: Therapeutic effect and influence on expression of bFGFR in gastric mucosa

AIM: To observe the therapeutic effect of Dioscorea opposita polysaccharide on gastric ulcer induced with glacial acetic acid in rats as well as its effect on expression of basic fibroblast growth factor receptor (bFGFR) in the gastric mucosa.

METHODS: Fifty rats were randomly divided into five groups: a control group, a model group, a Dioscorea opposita polysaccharide group, a teprenone group and a Dioscorea opposita polysaccharide plus teprenone group. The healing of gastric ulcer was compared between different groups, and the expression of bFGFR in the gastric mucosa was also compared.

RESULTS: The ulcer index in the Dioscorea opposita polysaccharide group was significantly reduced compared with the model group (P < 0.01). A significant difference was noted in in the expression level of bFGFR between the Dioscorea opposita polysaccharide group and normal group (P < 0.01), while the difference was not statistically significant between the Dioscorea opposita polysaccharide group and teprenone group.

CONCLUSION: Dioscorea opposita polysaccharide has protective effects on the gastric mucosa, and the underlying mechanism may be related to promoting synthesis of bFGFR.

[Expression of vascular growth factors in intestinal tissues in colorectal carcinoma patients with schistosomiasis japonica]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the differences of mRNA quantitation and protein expression of vascular growth factors including platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor (PD-ECGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in intestinal tissues in colorectal carcinoma patients with and without schistosomiasis.

METHODS

Thirty colorectal carcinoma patients with schistosomiasis and 30 colorectal carcinoma patients without schistosomiasis were included in this study. The mRNA quantitation and protein expression of PD-ECGF and VEGF in the normal tissue, peri-carcinoma tissue as well as carcinoma tissue obtained from surgical specimens were detected by qRT-PCR and Western blot.

RESULTS

The mRNA relative quantitations of PD-ECGF in normal tissue, peri-carcinoma tissue and carcinoma tissue in the colorectal carcinoma patients with schistosomiasis were 1.726, 1.766 and 2.729 times to those in the colorectal carcinoma patients without schistosomiasis, respectively. The corresponding ones of VEGF were 2.138, 1.831 and 3.376 times, respectively. The protein expression levels of PD-ECGF and VEGF in normal tissue, peri-carcinoma tissue and carcinoma tissue were higher in the colorectal carcinoma patients with schistosomiasis than in the colorectal carcinoma patients without schistosomiasis.

CONCLUSIONS

The expressions of vascular growth factors including PD-ECGF and VEGF are higher in the colorectal carcinoma patients with schistosomiasis than in the colorectal carcinoma patients without schistosomiasis. Therefore, schistosomiasis may be one of the risk factors of colorectal cancer.

Influence of liver function on the detection of common tumor markers

AIM: To investigate the influence of liver metabolism on the detection of common tumor markers.

METHODS: A total of 845 patients admitted from January 2004 to March 2005 were divided into 3 groups: common disease group (A), benign hepatobiliary and pancreatic disease group (B) and malignant tumor group (C). The correlation between liver function and tumor markers were analyzed retrospectively in the three groups.

RESULTS: The level of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) was significantly higher in group A and B than that in group C (z = -3.917, 2.252; P < 0.01 or 0.05). AFP level had positive correlations with total bilirubin, direct bilirubin and γ-glutamyl transferase (γ-GT) in patients with common diseases (r = 0.082, 0.133, 0.190; P < 0.01 or 0.05). The level of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) was not markedly different between patients with normal liver function and abnormal liver function, and was found positively correlated with γ-GT and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) levels in patients with common disease (r = 0.171, 0.139; both P < 0.01). In group C, the level of carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) was higher in patients with abnormal liver function than that in those with normal liver function (z = -1.973, P < 0.05). Positive correlations were found between CA19-9 level and liver function indexes in the three groups.

CONCLUSION: Obstruction of bile duct may affect CA19-9 detection, and low AFP level correlates with γ-GT; however, hepatic metabolism may not influence CEA detection.

Effects of reflection-induced retardance on the immunity of bulk optic-material current sensors

Reflection-induced phase retardance inside bulk optic-material current sensors makes the state of polarization of the light change, which reduces the immunity of the sensors against electromagnetic interference. These effects are analyzed theoretically for the first time, to our knowledge. A comparison between the theoretical analysis and the experimental results are given.

Polarization-preserving totally reflecting prisms with a single medium layer

When reflectors with layers are used at non-normal incidence, the two planes of polarization generally have different phase shifts. The difference in the shifts is known as phase retardance. For prisms with a single layer, this retardance depends on four factors: prism index, layer index, the ratio of the optical thickness of the layer to the wavelength, and angle of incidence. When the retardance is kept at zero and the reflectance for both p and s components of a polarized light are controlled at almost 100% after reflection, a polarization-preserving total reflection is realized. Polarization-preserving totally reflecting prisms (PPTRP's) have many applications in scientific research and optical engineering. Designers of the PPTRP's need references concerning the phase properties of the PPTRP's. However, few papers can be found in which the effects of the four factors on the retardance of the PPTRP's were investigated and compared thoroughly, although the theory concerned has been known and the influences from some (not all) factors have been reported. Therefore it is still necessary to study the behavior of the PPTRP's from all aspects. The effects of all four factors on the retardance are analyzed and compared from all aspects. A general method of designing PPTRP's is proposed. As an example, a special PPTRP is designed and both theoretical and experiment results are given.