J Huazhong U Sci Med
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J Huazhong U Sci Med · Apr 2008
Evaluation of left ventricular rotation and twist using speckle tracking imaging in patients with atrial septal defect.
Speckle tracking imaging (STI) was employed to investigate the effect of right ventricular (RV) volume and pressure overload on left ventricular (LV) rotation and twist in 35 patients with atrial septal defect (ASD), 18 of which with pulmonary hypertension, and 21 healthy subjects serving as controls. The peak rotations of 6 segments at the basal and apical short-axises and the average peak rotation and interval time of the 6 segments in the opposite direction during early systolic phase were measured respectively. LV twist versus time profile was drawn and the peak twist and time to peak twist were calculated. ⋯ No significant differences were found in LVEF among the three groups. It was suggested that although RV volume overload due to ASD has no significant effects on LV rotation and twist, LV peak twist is lower in ASD patients with pulmonary hypertension. Thus LV twist may serve as a new indicator of the presence of pulmonary hypertension in ASD patients.
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J Huazhong U Sci Med · Feb 2008
Effect of inhalational anesthetics on cytotoxicity and intracellular calcium differently in rat pheochromocytoma cells (PC12).
Isoflurane, a commonly used inhaled anesthetic, induces apoptosis in rat pheochromocytoma cells (PC12) in a concentration-and time-dependent manner with unknown mechanism. We hypothesized that isoflurane induced apoptosis by causing abnormal calcium release from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) via activation of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) receptors. Alzheimer's presenilin-1 (PS1) mutation increased activity of IP3 receptors and therefore rendered cells vulnerable to isoflurane-induced cytotoxicity. ⋯ Sevoflurane and desflurane at equivalent exposure to isoflurane did not induce similar cytotoxicity or elevation of peak [Ca2+]c in L286V PC12 cells. These results suggested that isoflurane induced cytoxicity by partially causing abnormal calcium release from the ER via activation of IP3 receptors in L286V PC12 cells. Sevoflurane and desflurane at equivalent exposure to isoflurane did not induce similar elevation of [Ca2+]c or neurotoxicity in PC12 cells transfected with the Alzheimer's PS1 mutation.
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J Huazhong U Sci Med · Dec 2007
Association of polymorphisms in angiotensin-converting enzyme and type 1 angiotensin II receptor genes with coronary heart disease and the severity of coronary artery stenosis.
To explore the relation of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) and angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1R) gene polymorphism with coronary heart disease (CHD) and the severity of coronary artery stenosis, 130 CHD patients who underwent coronary angiography were examined for the number of affected coronary vessels (> or = 75% stenosis) and coronary Jeopardy score. The insertion/deletion of ACE gene polymorphism and AT1R gene polymorphism (an A-->C transversion at nucleotide position 1166) were detected by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) in CHD patients and 90 healthy serving as controls. The results showed that DD genotype and of ACE were more frequent in CHD patients than that in control group (38.5% vs 14.4%, P<0.001). ⋯ But the number of affected coronary vessels and the coronary score were significantly greater in the patients with the AT1R-AC genotype than in those with the AA genotype (P<0.05). In conclusion, DD genotype may be risk factor for CHD and MI in Chinese people, and is not responsible for the development of the coronary artery stenosis. The AT1R-C allele may increase the relative risk associated with the ACE-DD genotype, and may be involved in the development of the stenosis of coronary artery.
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J Huazhong U Sci Med · Jun 2007
Effects of activated ACM on expression of signal transducers in cerebral cortical neurons of rats.
To explore the roles of astrocytes in the epileptogenesis, astrocytes and neurons were isolated, purified and cultured in vitro from cerebral cortex of rats. The astrocytes were activated by ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) and astrocytic conditioned medium (ACM) was collected to treat neurons for 4, 8 and 12 h. ⋯ The results showed that the expression of CaMK II, iNOS and AC was increased significantly in the neurons treated with ACM from 4 h to 12 h (P<0.05), and that of iNOS and AC peaked at 8 h and 12 h respectively. It was suggested that there might be some epileptogenic factors in the ACM and such signal pathways as NOS-NO-cGMP, Ca2+/CaM-CaMK II and AC-cAMP-PKA might take part in the signal transduction of epileptogenesis.
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J Huazhong U Sci Med · Jan 2006
Randomized Controlled TrialEffects of morphine, fentanyl and tramadol on human immune response.
Morphine has been reported to suppress human immune response. We aimed to observe the effects of morphine, fentanyl and tramadol on NF-kappa B and IL-2 from both laboratory and clinical perspective. Jurkat cells were incubated with ten times clinically relevant concentrations of morphine, fentanyl and tramadol before being stimulated with PMA. ⋯ Our results showed that the inhibition of morphine on IL-2 was most probably related to its suppression on NF-kappa B. Fentanyl had different effects on human immune response in vitro and in vivo. Tramadol may have immune enhancing effect.