Histochemical studies on intestinal metaplasia adjacent to gastric cardia adenocarcinoma in subjects at high-incidence area in Henan, north China

AIM： To characterize the histochemical type and pattern of intestinal metaplasia （IM） adjacent to gastric cardia adenocarcinoma （GCA） and distal gastric cancer （GC） in Unzhou, Henan Province, China. METHODS： Alcian-blue-periodic acid Schiff and high iron diamine-Alcian blue histochemical methods were performed on 142 cases of IM, including 49 cases of GCA and 93 cases of GC. All the patients were from Linzhou, Henan Province, China, the highest incidence area for both GCA and squamous cell carcinoma. Radio- or chemotherapy was not applied to these patients before surgery. RESULTS： The detection rate of IM in tissues adjacent to GCA tissues was 44.9%, which was significantly lower than that in GC tissues （80.64%, P〈0.01）. The rates of both incomplete small intestinal and colonic IM types identified by histochemistry in GCA tissues （31.82% and 63.64%, respectively） were significantly higher than those in GC （5.33% and 21.33%, respectively, P〈0.01）. CONCLUSION： IM in GCA and GC should be considered as a separate entity. Further research is needed to evaluate whether neoplastic progression of IM is related to its mucin profile in GCA.

Sevoflurane postconditioning reduces myocardial reperfusion injury in rat isolated hearts via activation of PI3K/Akt signaling and modulation of Bcl-2 family proteins

Sevoflurane postconditioning reduces myocardial infarct size.The objective of this study was to examine the role of the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase(PI3K)/Akt pathway in anesthetic postconditioning and to determine whether PI3K/Akt signaling modulates the expression of pro-and antiapoptotic proteins in sevoflurane postconditioning.Isolated and perfused rat hearts were prepared first,and then randomly assigned to the following groups:Sham-operation(Sham),ischemia/reperfusion(Con),sevoflurane postconditioning(SPC),Sham plus 100 nmol/L wortmannin(Sham+Wort),Con+Wort,SPC+Wort,and Con+dimethylsulphoxide(DMSO).Sevoflurane postconditioning was induced by administration of sevoflurane(2.5%,v/v) for 10 min from the onset of reperfusion.Left ventricular developed pressure(LVDP),left ventricular end-diastolic pressure(LVEDP),maximum increase in rate of LVDP(+dP/dt),maximum decrease in rate of LVDP(?dP/dt),heart rate(HR),and coronary flow(CF) were measured at baseline,R30 min(30 min of reperfusion),R60 min,R90 min,and R120 min.Creatine kinase(CK) and lactate dehydrogenase(LDH) were measured after 5 min and 10 min reperfusion.Infarct size was determined by triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining at the end of reperfusion.Total Akt and phosphorylated Akt(phospho-Akt),Bax,Bcl-2,Bad,and phospho-Bad were determined by Western blot analysis.Analysis of variance(ANOVA) and Student-Newman-Keuls' test were used to investigate the significance of differences between groups.The LVDP,±dP/dt,and CF were higher and LVEDP was lower in the SPC group than in the Con group at all points of reperfusion(P<0.05).The SPC group had significantly reduced CK and LDH release and decreased infarct size compared with the Con group [(22.9±8)% vs.(42.4±9.4)%,respectively;P<0.05].The SPC group also had increased the expression of phospho-Akt,Bcl-2,and phospho-Bad,and decreased the expression of Bax.Wortmannin abolished the cardioprotection of sevoflurane postconditioning.Sevoflurane postconditioning may protect the isolated rat heart.Activation of PI3K and modulation of the expression of pro-and antiapoptotic proteins may play an important role in sevoflurane-induced myocardial protection.

Effects of sevoflurane preconditioning and postconditioning on rat myocardial stunning in ischemic reperfusion injury

Ischemic preconditioning and postconditioning distinctly attenuate ventricular arrhythmia after ischemia without affecting the severity of myocardial stunning. Therefore, we report the effects of sevofiurane preconditioning and postconditioning on stunned myocardium in isolated rat hearts. Isolated rat hearts were underwent 20 min of global ischemia and 40 min of reperfusion. After an equilibration period （20 min）, the hearts in the preconditioning group were exposed to sevoflurane for 5 min and next washout for 5 min before ischemia. Hearts in the sevoflurane postconditioning group underwent equilibration and ischemia, followed immediately by sevoflurane exposure for the first 5 min of reperfusion. The control group received no treatment before and after ischemia. Left ventricular pressure, heart rate, coronary flow, electrocardiogram, and tissue histology were measured as variables of ventricular function and cellular injury, respectively. There was no significant difference in the duration of reperfusion ventricular arrhythmias between control and sevoflurane preconditioning group （P=0.195）. The duration of reperfusion ventricular arrhythmias in the sevoflurane postconditioning group was significantly shorter than that in the other two groups （P〈0.05）. ＋（dPIdt）max in the sevoflurane preconditioning group at 5, 10, 15, 20, and 30 min after reperfusion was significantly higher than that in the control group （P〈0.05）, and there were no significant differences at 40 min after reperfusion among the three groups （P〉0.05）. As expected, for a 20-min general ischemia, infarct size in heart slices determined by 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining among the groups was not obvious. Sevofiurane postconditioning reduces reperfusion arrhythmias without affecting the severity of myocardial stunning. In contrast, sevoflurane preconditioning has no beneficial effects on reperfusion arrhythmias, but it is in favor of improving ventricular function and recovering myocardial stunning. Sevoflurane preconditioning and postconditioning may be useful for correcting the stunned myocardium.