Effects of alfacalcidol on mineral density of bone tissue in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

The analysis of antiosteoporotic efficacy of alphacalcidol was made in 50 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). 30 RA patients received alphacalcidol in a dose 0.75-1.0 mcg/day for 12 months. 20 control RA patients did not receive the drug. Mineral density of the bone tissue (MD) of the proximal femur and low back spine was studied using double x-ray absorptiometry at the start of the treatment and 12 months after it. It was established that alphacalcidol stabilizes MD of the neck of the femur and low spine. A significant MD increase was observed in those areas of the proximal femur where cortical bone tissue prevails.     

Features of skin-coincubated macrophages that promote recovery from spinal cord injury

Uncontrolled inflammation is considered to exacerbate the neuronal loss that follows spinal cord trauma. However, controlled inflammation response appears to be beneficial. Skin-coincubated macrophages injected into contused spinal cord of rats resulted in improved motor recovery and reduced spinal cyst formation. The macrophages express elevated levels of cell-surface molecules CD80, CD86, CD54 and MHC-II, markers characteristic of antigen presenting cells (APCs). Additionally, skin-coincubation elevates secretion of interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) and Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), and reduces secretion of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha). We propose that macrophages activated by skin-coincubation bolster neuroprotective immune activity in the spinal cord, making the environment less cytotoxic and less hostile to axonal regeneration.     

Clinical significance of the determination of R-proteins in the ejaculate of patients with chronic prostatitis

Products of cell receptor (R-proteins) catabolic lysis were measured in ejaculate of 121 patients with chronic prostatitis and 15 healthy males. R-protein levels were higher in the patients (U = 172.5; p = 0.047). When immunological indices of the ejaculate (IgA, sIgA, IgG, IgM, interleukin-8) were measured, it was found that in patients with chronic prostatitis there is a positive correlation between concentration of interleukin-8 and content of R-proteins (r = 0.43; p = 0.028). Positive correlation also exists between R-protein content and prostate volume (r = 0.24; p = 0.034) while negative one--between R-proteins concentration and size of the hypoechogenic sites in the prostate (r = -0.25; p = 0.039), between R-proteins in the ejaculate and serum level of fibrinogen B (r = -0.25; p = 0.021). It is inferred that elevation of ejaculate R-protein level occurs in alteration of the prostate. The test for R-proteins in ejaculate can be helpful in detection of early stages of chronic prostatitis.     

体质医学概说

简述了体质医学在西方发展情况以及受重视的原因,并且说明了它在预防疾病和治疗疾病中的重要作用。     

Desensitization of the soluble guanylyl cyclase/cGMP pathway by lipopolysaccharide in rat isolated pulmonary artery but not aorta

Background and purpose:

To investigate the function of soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC)/3′,5′-cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) pathway in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced changes in vascular reactivity of rat isolated pulmonary artery and aorta.

Experimental approach:

Nitric oxide (NO) production, contraction responses to endothelin-1 (ET-1), relaxation responses to sodium nitroprusside (SNP), 8-pCPT-cGMP, BAY412272 and T-0156, SNP-induced cGMP production and expression of sGC_α1, sGC_β1 and 3′,5′-cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE5) proteins were measured in LPS-treated pulmonary and aortic rings from male Wistar rats.

Key results:

In both vessels, LPS (10 μg mL⁻¹, 20 h) increased NO production, which was inhibited by the selective inducible NOS (iNOS) inhibitor 1400W (1 μM). In the aorta, LPS decreased ET-1-induced contractility and this decrease was inhibited by the selective sGC inhibitor ODQ (10 μM) but not by removal of endothelium, or inhibitors of cyclooxygenase (indomethacin, 10 μM) or iNOS (1400W, 1 μM). Furthermore, aortic relaxation responses to the direct sGC activator BAY412272 were enhanced. In the pulmonary artery, SNP (1 nM to 30 μM)-induced relaxation and cGMP production, BAY412272-induced relaxation and sGC_β1 protein expression were decreased, whereas relaxation responses to the PDE5-specific inhibitor T-0156 (0.1–100 nM) were enhanced. Relaxation responses to the phosphodiesterase-resistant cGMP analogue, 8-pCPT-cGMP, and protein expression levels of sGC_α1 and PDE5 were not altered in either vessel.

Conclusion and implications:

LPS caused a selective hypocontractility of rat aorta to ET-1 mediated mainly through NO-independent sGC activation, whereas in the pulmonary artery, the effect of sGC activation was reduced by a decreased protein expression of sGC_β1 together with increased PDE5 activity.     

Mechanism of vagal inhibition of small intestine contraction

The mechanism of inhibition of small intestine contraction in response to weak stimulation of the peripheral end of the vagus nerve cut at the cervical level was studied in experiments on anesthetized dogs. This inhibition can be blocked with arfonade or hexamethonium, atropine, and rausedyl, as well as by combined, but not individual administration of propranolol and dihydroergotoxine. We assume that inhibition is triggered by the release of catecholamines from sympathetic postganglionic terminals in response to activation of their muscarinic receptors induced by acetylcholine released from parasympathetic terminals during excitation. Translated fromByulleten' Eksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 129, No. 2, pp. 135–138, February, 2000     

Kinetics of 1-(2-phenylethyl)-4-phenylaminopiperidine acylation by propionyl chloride in nonaqueous media

The kinetics of 1-(2-phenylethyl)-4-phenylaminopiperidine acylation with propionyl chloride in nonaqueous solutions to form fentanyl hydrochloride have been studied experimentally using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). It is established that the reaction is second order. The kinetics and activation parameters of the reaction have been determined.