Increased oxidative stress and damage in patients with chronic bacterial prostatitis.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether chronic bacterial prostatitis (CBP) increases oxidative stress and damage in patients with CBP, and to explore its possible mechanism. METHODS: Eighty patients with CBP and 80 healthy adults as controls were enrolled in a case-control study, in which levels of nitric oxide (NO), vitamin C (VC), and vitamin E (VE) in plasma, as well as malondialdehyde (MDA), activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT) in erythrocytes were determined by spectrophotometry. RESULTS: Compared with the average values of NO, VC, VE, MDA, SOD, and CAT in the healthy control group, those of plasma NO and erythrocyte MDA in the CBP group were significantly increased (P < 0.001), and those of plasma VC and VE as well as erythrocyte SOD and CAT in the CBP group were significantly decreased (P < 0.001). Findings from partial correlation analysis for course of the disease and NO, VC, VE, MDA, SOD, and CAT in 80 patients with CBP, adjusted for age, suggested that with prolonged course of the disease, values of NO and MDA were gradually increased (P < 0.001), and those of VC, VE, SOD, and CAT were gradually decreased (P < 0.05-0.001). The findings from stepwise regression analysis for course of the disease and NO, VC, VE, MDA, SOD, and CAT in CBP group suggested that the model of stepwise regression was Y = -19.1160 + 0.3112MDA + 0.0337NO, F = 22.1734, P < 0.001, r = 0.6045, P < 0.001. The findings from the reliability analysis for VC, VE, SOD, CAT, NO, and MDA in the CBP group showed that the reliability coefficients' alpha (6 items) was 0.7195, P < 0.0001, and the standardized item alpha was 0.9307, P < 0.0001. CONCLUSION: There exist increased oxidative stress and damage induced by chronic bacterial prostatitis in patients, and such a phenomenon is closely related to the course of disease.

Potential oxidative stress in children with chronic constipation.

AIM: To investigate the potential oxidative stress in children with chronic constipation and to explore its mechanisms. METHODS: Seventy children with chronic constipation and 70 age- and sex-matched healthy children were enrolled in a randomized controlled study. Plasma levels of vitamins C and E, activities of superoxide dismutase and catalase and lipoperoxide level in erythrocytes were determined by spectrophotometry. RESULTS: Compared with healthy children whose vitamin C, vitamin E, superoxide dismutase, catalase and lipoperoxide were 58.35+/-14.42 micromol/L, 27.15+/-6.55 micromol/L, 2 206+/-171 U/(g.Hb), 327.3+/-82.2 K/(g.Hb) and 19.18+/-4.27 nmol/(g.Hb) respectively, the levels of vitamin C, vitamin E, the activity of superoxide dismutase, and catalase in the children with chronic constipation significantly decreased [46.59+/-11.51 micromol/L, 20.65+/-4.80 micromol/L, 1943+/-147 U/(g.Hb) and 269.3+/-67.8 K/(g.Hb), respectively P<0.01], while the lipoperoxide significantly increased [25.22+/-5.01 nmol/(g.Hb), P<0.01]. With a prolonged course of disease, the levels of vitamin C, vitamin E, the activity of superoxide dismutase and catalase in the children with chronic constipation gradually decreased, while the level of lipoperoxide gradually increased. CONCLUSION: Chronic constipation can cause potential oxidative stress in children.

[Study on function of decoction for invigorating the kidney and improving blood circulation on rabbits blood stasis model].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of decoction for invigorating the kidney and improving blood circulation to thrombosis on rabbits blood stasis model. METHOD: Thirty rabbits were randomly divided into normal group, model group, heavy dose group, slight dose group and xue shuan ning group. Tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA), plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI), fibrinogen (Fbg) and D-dimer (DD) were investigated after those rabbits had been treated. One was selected randomly from each group to observe pathological changes. RESULT: There was significant difference in t-PA, PAI, Fbg and DD between normal group and other groups (P < 0.01). Among groups of heavy dose, slight dose, xue shuan ning and model, the statistical differences were significant, as well as among groups of heavy dose, slight dose and xue shuan ning (P < 0.05). However, there was no statistical difference between heavy dose group and slight dose group (P > 0.05). The pathological changes in model group were most serious, and those in xue shuan ning were less serious. There were slight pathological change in heavy dose group and light dose group. CONCLUSION: Models were made successfully. Heavy dose group and slight dose group have stronger effect on thrombosis than xue shuan ning group.

[The study of yi-shen-huo-xue fang's effects on expression of GMP-140 and cleaning out the oxygenic free radicle on rabbits blood stasis model].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of Yi-Shen-Huo-Xue Fang on expression of GMP-140 and cleaning out the oxygenic free radicle on rabbits blood stasis model. METHOD: Thirty rabbits were divided randomly into five groups as the normal group, model group, large dose of "Yi-Shen-Huo-Xue Fang" group, small dose of "Yi-Shen-Huo-Xue Fang" group and "Xue-Shuan-Xin-Mai-Ning" group. After being treated respectively, granule membrane protein 140(GMP-140), erythrocyte sueroxide dismutase (E-SOD), erythrocyte lipid peroxide(E-LPO), plasma lipid peroxide(P-LPO) were checked up. RESULT: The GMP-140, E-SOD, E-LPO, P-LPO in normal control were compared with those in model groups, With the difference(P < 0.01), model control group was compared with large dose group and small dose group (P < 0.01), with "Xue-Shuan-Xin-Mai-Ning" group(P < 0.05), large dose group was compared with "Xue-Shuan-Xin-Mai-Ning" group(P < 0.05), and large dose group were compared with small dose group (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The model was made successfully. Large dose group, small dose group and "xue-shuan-xin-mai-ning" group can inhibit expression of GMP-140, enhence SOD activity and decrease LPO content on blood stasis rabbit model. Large dose group and small dose group have stronger effect than "xue-shuan-xin-mai-ning" group.

In-vitro promoted differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells towards hepatocytes induced by salidroside.

OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to investigate whether salidroside can induce differentiation of rat mesenchymal stem cells (rMSCs) towards hepatocytes in vitro and the mechanism of hepatic differentiation of rMSCs. METHODS: rMSCs were subject to hepatic differentiation. One, two and three weeks later, the expression of alpha fetoprotein (AFP) and albumin (ALB), cytochrome P450 (CYP450)-dependent activity and inducibility, cellular uptake of low density lipoprotein (LDL) and urea synthesis were assessed and the hepatic differentiation of rMSCs was evaluated. In order to unravel the mechanism of hepatic differentiation of rMSCs in vitro, inhibitors of extracellular regulated kinase1/2 (ERK1/2), phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) and p38 were applied. When the process of hepatic differentiation was completed, special proteins of hepatic differentiation were detected and blocking of inhibitors was evaluated. KEY FINDINGS: Salidroside significantly induce differentiation of rMSCs towards hepatocytes. Differentiated rMSCs have typical functional hepatic characteristics. The results also showed that the ERK1/2 and PI3K signalling pathways play important roles in the regulatory effects of salidroside on hepatic differentiation of rMSCs and are involved in cell fate determinations, while the p38 signalling pathway does not. CONCLUSIONS: Salidroside can induce differentiation of rMSCs towards hepatocytes in vivo, and the ERK1/2 or PI3K signalling pathway underlie the process of hepatic differentiation.