[Protective effect of tanshinol on the hepatopulmonary syndrome in rat].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the mechanism of tanshinol on alleviate the inflammatory injury of lung tissue in rat hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS). METHODS: SD rats were randomly divided into normal control group (n = 8), hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS) group (n = 11) and tanshinol intervention group (n = 9). HE staining was used to observe the histopathology changes of pulmonary and hepatic tissues, and to count the number of macrophages in lung tissues. The activity of alanine transferase (ALT) and concentrations of endotoxin, tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-alpha) and homocystein (Hcy) in plasma were detected. The concentrations of TNF-alpha, nitric oxide (NO) and malondialdehyde (MDA) and the activity of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in the lung tissues were measured, respectively. RESULTS: Thickened alveolar septum and increased macrophages were observed in lungs in HPS rat. After administered with tanshinol, the pulmonary pathological changes were alleviated and the number of macrophages in lung tissue was decreased compared with HPS group. The activity of ALT and the concentrations of endotoxin, TNF-alpha and Hcy in plasma ,and TNF-alpha, iNOS, NO and MDA in lung tissue in HPS group were higher than those of normal control group; meanwhile, those tanshinol group were less those that of HPS group. CONCLUSION: Tanshinol may play an important role in delaying the development of HPS through protecting liver or directly antagonizing the effect of intestinal endotoxemia so as to alleviate the inflammatory reaction in lung tissue.

[Establishment and biological characteristics of lung cancer cell line XWLC-05].

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: The incidence of lung cancer is high at Xuanwei, Yunnan Province, at where the mortality rate of this disease in women is the highest in China. This study was to establish a Xuanwei woman lung adenocarcinoma cell line, and provide an in vitro experimental model for the study of preventing and treating lung cancer. METHODS: The cells derived from a surgical specimen of a woman patient with lung cancer were primarily cultured. The biological characteristics of the cell line were studied with light and electron microscopes, determination of doubling time and growth curve, culturing in soft agar, flow cytometry (FCM), chromosome and G-band detection, c-12 multiple tumor markers detection, and inoculation in mice. RESULTS: Morphologic study, proliferation dynamics, and invasive growth showed that the cultured cells have malignant characteristics. Their chromosome numbers ranged from 55 to 69, with a mode number of 60-63. The tumor formation rate in mice was 100% after axillary transplantation of the cells; the morphology of the tumor cells was similar to that of the pathologic specimen of the patient. The cell line was named XWLC-05. CONCLUSION: According to the newest rules of establishing a cell line in vitro, XWLC-05 is proved to be a new cell line of human lung adenocarcinoma.