RESUMO
When searching over associations between congenital ear abnormalities, especially microtia and affiliated deformities like cleft lip or palate and congenital heart diseases, some clinical analysis and genetic theories are found. A 10-year-old boy sent to the plastic surgery hospital was puzzled by a congenital anterior auricular fistula with fluid trace for more than 9 years. The preoperative diagnoses were branchial cleft fistula and congenital left ear deformity with postoperation of TOF. By browsing over studies on genetic concerns and clinical performance, it may be attributed to a possible association between microtia, branchial cleft fistula, and tetralogy of Fallot, though whose fundamental mechanisms remain concerned.
RESUMO
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the effect of Scutellaria baicalensis stem-leaf total flavonoids (SSTF) on cardiocyte apoptosis of neonatal rats induced by hypoxia/reoxygenation and its action of mechanism. METHODS Sixty one to two days old rats, male or female, were selected. Hypoxia/reoxygenation injured model was established in cultured cardiocytes of neonate rats. The cultured neonatal rat cardiocytes were divided into 5 groups, i.e., the normal control group, the hypoxia/reoxygenation injury group (as the model group, cultured cardiocytes were exposed to hypoxia 2 h and subsequently reoxygenated for 4 h), the hypoxia/reoxygenation injury plus 50 mg/L SSTF group (as the low dose SSTF group), the hypoxia/reoxygenation plus 100 mg/L SSTF group (as the middle dose SSTF group), and the hypoxia/reoxygenation plus 200 mg/L SSTF group (as the high dose SSTF group). The cell viability was detected by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) colorimetry. The apoptosis of cardiocytes was determined by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) and the apoptosis rate calculated. The Bcl-2 and Bax protein expressions were determined by immunohistochemistry.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with the normal control group, the cell viability, Bcl-2 protein contents and Bcl-2/Bax decreased, the apoptosis rate and Bax protein contents increased in the model group (all P<0.01). Compared with the model group, the cell viability, Bcl-2 protein contents and Bcl-2/Bax increased, while the apoptosis rate and Bax protein contents decreased in each SSTF treated group (P<0.05, P<0.01). Compared with the low dose SSTF group, significant difference existed in each index of the high dose SSTF group (all P<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>SSTF had protection on hypoxia/reoxygenation induced cardiocyte apoptosis. Its protective mechanism might be correlated with its up-regulation of the expression of Bcl-2 protein ahd down-regulation of the expression of Bax protein.</p>
