Glycyrrhizin improves inflammation and apoptosis via suppressing HMGB1 and PI3K/mTOR pathway in lipopolysaccharide-induced acute liver injury.

OBJECTIVE: Acute liver injury (ALI) is mainly characterized by the symptom of metabolic disorders, homeostasis unbalance, and loss of liver function. There are no effective treatment methods at present stage except the liver transplantation. Effective treatment for early ALI is of great significance for the treatment of liver injury thereof. Glycyrrhizin (GL) is a promising inhibitor of the high-mobility group box-1 gene (HMGB1) which is expressed much higher in an inflammatory injury. However, it is not clear whether GL improves ALI via the inhibition of HMGB1. The present study is to probe the function and mechanism of glycyrrhizin on acute liver injury. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The expression of HMGB1 and inflammation in liver macrophages were analyzed. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was used in stimulating the macrophages to activate inflammatory response and recombined human HMGB1 was used to resist the function of GL to explore whether GL acted via the target of HMGB1. Then, LPS injection was utilized to induce ALI in mice, and then we evaluated GL treatment in ALI model. RESULTS: The results showed that the expressions of HMGB1 and inflammatory factors were markedly increased in LPS-activated liver macrophages. GL inhibited the progress of macrophages inflammation by restraining HMGB1, and the administration of GL could reverse the effects of LPS-induced ALI in mice. Moreover, PI3K/mTOR pathway was significantly suppressed by GL application. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that GL prevents inflammation in liver macrophages via inhibition of HMGB1. GL restrains inflammation and cell apoptosis by inhibiting HMGB1 via PI3K/mTOR signaling pathway in ALI. GL may become a novel drug for the therapy of ALI in the future.

Liver Transplantation for Biliary Rhabdomyosarcoma With Liver Metastasis: Report of One Case.

BACKGROUND: Liver transplantation in combination with chemotherapy in postoperative biliary rhabdomyosarcoma recurrence of children was evaluated. METHODS: An 8-year-old girl with biliary rhabdomyosarcoma underwent pancreatico-duodenectomy with postoperative vincristine (VCR), adriamycin (Act-D), and cyclophosphamide (CTX) (VAC chemotherapy) (VCR, 1 mg; Act-D, 0.7 mg; CTX, 1500 mg). Two years later, liver metastasis in the left and right lobes was found and was followed by VAC chemotherapy (CTX, 1800 mg; Act-D, 0.9 mg; VCR, 1.2 mg), with no change of the tumor size. One and a half years later, liver transplantation performed with postoperative pathology confirmed embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma recurrence and was followed by VAC chemotherapy (CTX, 1400 mg; Act-D, 0.7 mg; VCR, 1.9 mg) and immunosuppression treatment. RESULTS: The liver transplantation went well, with no major complications. At the time of this report, the patient had survived for 6 months, with a good quality of life and no tumor recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: For unresectable biliary rhabdomyosarcoma without extra-hepatic metastases, liver transplantation could be an effective treatment. Liver transplantation completely removes the tumor and reduces the long-term side effects of chemotherapy drugs.

Effects and mechanisms of tacrolimus on development of murine Th17 cells.

Tacrolimus (Tac, FK506) is a widely used T-cell-targeted immunosuppression drug known as a calcineurin inhibitor. However, its pharmacologic effects on T-helper type 17 (Th17) cells have not been fully elucidated. Herein, we demonstrate that Tac inhibits Th17 cell differentiation and proliferation, and expression of IL-17 messenger RNA. The proposed mechanism is that Tac inhibits calcineurin and T-cell receptor stimulation-induced cell division. Because Th17 cells participate in allograft rejection, the results of the present study suggest a novel model of immunosuppression effects of Tac. In addition, they provide further implications for the therapeutic immunosuppression effects of Tac on allograft rejection.

[Genetic analysis of dominant earliness of rice genic male sterile line 6442S-7].

F1 progenies of a genic male sterile and early maturing indica line 6442S-7 crossed with sixteen medium or late maturing varieties, such as Minghui 63, shared the same heading date as 6442S-7 under long day and short day, suggesting that 6442S-7 has completely dominant earliness. Segregation of heading dates of the F2 and B1F1 populations indicated that the earliness of 6442S-7 is mainly controlled by two dominant major genes. Whereas, heading dates of F1 progenies of 6442S-7 crossed with other four late maturing varieties, i.e. IR68, Xianguo, 9311, and BG1639, closed to the mid-parent value under long day. In F2 populations of 6442S-7 crossed with each of the four late maturing varieties, F1 from three-way crosses between 6442S-7 and each F1 of Minghui 63 crossed with each of the four late maturing varieties, and F1 from three-way crosses between 6442S-7 and each F1 of crosses between each two of the four late maturing varieties, segregation of heading dates showed that an incompletely diminant allelic suppressor for the dominant earliness of 6442S-7 existed in the late maturing varieties, IR68, Xianguo, 9311, and BG1639. It is considered that dominant earliness genes harbored in 6442S-7 have splendid future in rice improvement.

Observation of sub-Poissonian light in traveling-wave second-harmonic generation.

We report the generation of sub-Poissonian pulses of light by means of traveling-wave second-harmonic generation (SHG) in a type II phase-matched nonlinear crystal. On direct detection, the quantum noise on the output light, which is polarized orthogonally to the input fundamental field, is measured to be below the shotnoise limit by as much as 0.3 +/- 0.2 dB (6 +/- 4%). We show that the input fundamental-power dependence of the measured Fano factor, direct-detection noise as a fraction of the shot-noise limit, is in qualitative agreement with the quantum theory of SHG.

[Synthesis and biological activity of an analogue of active fragment (SP-6) of substance P].

SP-6 was synthesized by solid phase method in 95% purity on HPLC. The data obtained from amino acid analysis and fast atom bombardment were in good agreement with theoretical values. Intravenous injection of SP-6 in rabbits at the dosage of 14.3 micrograms/kg. resulted in blood pressure reduction of 4.4 kPa, i.e. 34% (P < 0.001). When the concentration of SP-6 in Tyrode solution was 5.2 x 10(-4) mg/ml the contraction of rabbit duodenum longitudinal muscle increased by 105%. (P < 0.001). When the concentration was more than 1 x 10(-3) mg/ml, the contractile effect was restrained significantly. Dropping 30 microliters of SP-6 (1 x 10(-3) mg/ml) to toad intestinum tenue mesenteriale in situ, the mesentery arterioles were expanded by 30%.

Long-distance pulse propagation in nonlinear optical fibers by using periodically spaced parametric amplifiers.

We analyze pulse propagation in a nonlinear optical fiber in which linear loss in the fiber is balanced by a chain of periodically spaced, phase-sensitive, degenerate parametric amplifiers. Our analysis shows that no pulse evolution occurs over a soliton period owing to attenuation in the quadrature orthogonal to the amplified quadrature. Evidence is presented that indicates that stable pulse solutions exist on length scales much longer than the soliton period. These pulses are governed by a nonlinear fourth-order evolution equation, which describes the exponential decay of arbitrary initial pulses (within the stability regime) onto stable, steady-state, solitonlike pulses.

Squeezing in traveling-wave second-harmonic generation.

We have analyzed squeezing of the fundamental field by means of traveling-wave, type-II phase-matched, secondharmonic generation, taking into account depletion of the fundamental field and phase mismatch between the fundamental and the harmonic fields. For the phase-matched case we show that the generated squeezing is S = 1 - gamma, where gamma is the harmonic conversion efficiency. In the case of a large phase-mismatch we have identified a new mechanism that generates squeezing. It is the nonlinear phase shift of the fundamental field that is due to the cascaded chi((2)) nonlinearity.

Studies on the ultrastructure of envelope of elementary bodies of Chlamydia trachomatis.

Electron microscopy of purified Chlamydia trachomatis treated by various physical and chemical means shows that the envelope of the elementary bodies (EB) consists of the outer cell wall layer, the inner cell wall layer, and the inner membrane. The outer cell wall layer is mainly made up of granular subunits arranged in a hexagonal pattern and may be called the "mural structural protein layer". It forms together with the inner cell wall layer the rigid cell wall. The inner or protoplasmic membrane is not easily shown in the young EB. In the negatively stained specimen, a frail and easily removable superficial layer is seen adhering to the "mural structural protein layer". But in ultra-thin sections this superficial layer is not shown separately. There are fold-like grooves which are special structures probably related to reproduction. There are seen some EB's in binary fission, and a number of bodies very big in size yet having morphological characteristics of the EB's, which are in various processes of multiplication, such as binary fission, budding, and "multicentered germination". These observations give a challenge to the current opinion that only the initial bodies have the power of reproduction.