[The Establishment of Tunica Media-induced Systemic Inflammatory Responses Animal Model].

OBJECTIVE: To establish animal model of tunica media-induced systemic inflammatory responses and verify the stability of established model. METHODS: Tunica media of aorta was captured from C57/BL6 mouse donor, followed by the intervention of homogenization. After centrifugation, the supernatant was harvested and injected into the acceptor of C57/BL6 mouse to mimic the featured pathological changes induced by the exposure of tunica media with circulation. ELISA assay was used to detect the levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). RESULTS: The levels of TNF-α, IL-6 in the model group were significant higher than those in the control group (P<0.05). There were two peak values of both TNF-α and IL-6 identified at 3 h and 24 h after the injection of supernatant in the model group. CONCLUSION: The exposure of tunica media to circulation may induce systemic inflammatory responses.

[The Association Between Bone Morphogenic Protein-4 and in-situ Saphenous Vein Graft Pathology in Diabetic Patients Undergoing Coronary Revascularization].

OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to assess the expression levels of bone morphogenic protein-4 (BMP4) in saphenous veins harvested from diabetic patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), and to investigate its association with in-situ morphological and pathological changes within the venous wall. METHODS: From January 2013 to December 2014, forty patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and risk factors matched non-DM controls (n =40) were enrolled prospectively. Of the 40 DM patients, 24 had noninsulin-dependent diabetes (NIDM) and the remaining 16 had insulin-dependent diabetes (IDM). Segments of saphenous vein without surgical dilatation from these 80 patients were obtained. Vessel wall characteristics were evaluated by hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining, and the expression and distribution of BMP4 was assessed by Western blot assay and immunohistochemistry analysis. RESULTS: The intimal and medial thickness of the saphenous veins harvested from DM patients were higher than those from non-DM controls. Compared with non-DM patients, the expression level of BMP4 was significantly elevated in diabetic veins ( P<0.05), and BMP4 was highly expressed in smooth muscle cells located in the medial layer. Moreover, the expression levels of BMP4 in diabetic veins were significantly correlated with intimal thickness (r =0.655, P<0.01), intimal area (r =0.684, P<0.01), medial thickness (r =0.642, P<0.01) and medial area (r =0.692, P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The pre-existing intimal and medial hyperplasia were significantly correlated with the high expression levels of BMP4 in saphenous veins harvested from diabetic patients, implying a potential role of BMP4 in the progression of vein graft stenotic diseases in this cohort of post-CABG patients. Future studies were warranted in investigating novel therapeutic strategy targeting at BMP4 for improving long-term vein graft patency.

One-Stage Hybrid Procedure to Treat Aortic Coarctation Complicated by Intracardiac Anomalies in Two Adults.

The traditional approach for treating aortic coarctation with intracardiac anomalies in adults is surgery using 2 surgical incisions or a two-stage hybrid method with a peripheral artery pathway that requires intervention. This paper reports a one-stage hybrid procedure to treat this type of congenital heart disease using 1 surgical incision combined with an ascending aorta puncture intervention approach as transaortic intervention approach. Here, we present 2 aortic coarctation cases; 1 complicated by ventricular septal defect and patent ductus arteriosus, and another complicated by an incomplete atrioventricular septal defect and mitral valve cleft. Both were successfully treated by our one-stage hybrid approach.

[Establishment and evaluation of extracorporeal circulation model in rats].

OBJECTIVE: To establish an extracorporeal circulation (ECC) rat model, and evaluate the inflammatory response and organ injury induced in the model. METHODS: SD rats were anesthetized and cannulated from right common carotid artery to left femoral vein to establish the bypass of extracorporeal circulation. Then the rats were randomly divided into ECC group and sham group. The rats in ECC group were subjected to extracorporeal circulation for 2 hours and then rest for 2 hours, while the rats in sham group were only observed for 4 hours without extracorporeal circulation. After that, blood routine examination, blood gas analysis, the measurement of pro-inflammatory factors in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and lung tissue were performed to evaluate the lung injury induced by ECC. Circulating endothelial cells were also calculated by flow cytometry to assess the vascular endothelial injury. RESULTS: At 2 hours after ECC, red blood cell counts in both groups kept normal, while leukocyte and neutrophil counts, plasmatic tumor necrosis factor-a level and neutrophil elastase level, circulating endothelial cells in the rats of ECC group were significantly higher than those in sham group. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and water content in lung of the ECC rats were also significantly higher, while the oxygenation index was significantly lower. Neutrophil infiltration was also observed in lung tissues with increased thickness of alveolar membrane in ECC group. CONCLUSION: The ECC model established from right common carotid artery to left femoral vein in our study can successfully induce systemic inflammatory response, and acute lung injury associated with inflammation.