Expression of triggering receptor-1 in myeloid cells of mice with acute lung injury

BACKGROUND： Myeloid cell （TREM-1） is an important mediator of the signal transduction pathway in inflammatory response. In this study, a mouse model of acute lung injury （ALl） by intraperitoneal injection of lipopolysaccharide （LPS） was established to observe the expression pattern of TREM-1 in lung tissue and the role of TREM-1 in pulmonary inflammatory response to ALl.METHODS： Thirty BALB/C mice were randomly divided into a normal control group （n=6） and an ALl group （n=24）. The model of ALl was made by intraperitonal injection of LPS in dose of 10 mg/ kg. Specimens from peripheral blood and lung tissue were collected 6, 12, 24 and 48 hours after LPS injection. RT-PCR was used to detect TREM-1 mRNA, and ELISA was employed for detection of TREM-1 protein and TNF-a protein, and HE staining was performed for the pathological Smith lung scoring under a light microscope.RESULTS： The expressions of TREM-1 mRNAin lung tissue and blood of the ALl group 6, 12, 24, and 48 hours after injection of LPS were higher than those in the control group. The levels of TREM- 1 protein and the levels of TNF-a protein in lung tissue of the ALl group 6, 12, 24, and 48 hours after LPS injection were higher than those of the control group; the level of TREM-1 protein peaked 12 hours after LPS injection, but it was not significantly correlated with the expression of TREM-1 mRNA （P=0.14）; the TNF-a concentration was positively correlated with TREM-1 levels in lung tissue and with Smith pathological score （r=0.795, P=0.001 ：r=0.499, P=0.034）, but not with the expression of TREM-1 mRNA （P=0.176）.CONCLUSION： The expression of TREM-1 mRNA in lung tissue of mice with ALl is elevated, and the expression of TREM-1 mRNA is related to the level of TNF-a and the severity of inflammatory response to ALl. The expressions of the TREM-1 gene are not consistent with the levels of TREM-1 protein, suggesting a new functional protein involved in immune regulation.

Prostate cancer volume associates with preoperative plasma levels of testosterone that independently predicts high grade tumours which show low densities(quotient testosterone/tumour volume)

Objective:To investigate potential associations of preoperative total testosterone(TT)with tumor volume(TV)and grade of prostate cancer(PCa).Methods:Patients who were under medications impacting on the hypothalamic-pituitaryadrenal-testis-prostate axis were excluded.TT was measured preoperatively at least 1 month after biopsies and TV was calculated on the removed prostate specimen.Other continuous variables included total prostate specific antigen(PSA),percentage of positive cores(Pt)and weight(W)of the removed prostate.Patients were categorized according to the pathologic Gleason score(pGS)in 3 groups(pGS 6,7 and>7).Invasion of the seminal vesicles was coded as seminal vesicle invasion(SVI).Results:The median levels of TT were significantly and increasingly higher from pGS 6(14.7 nmol/L)to pGS 7(15.0 nmol/L)and pGS>7(18.8 nmol/L).The median values of TV were also detected significantly and increasingly higher from pGS 6(5.6 mL)to pGS 7(8.1 mL)and pGS>7(14.8 mL).The median preoperative levels of PSA were also increasing from pGS 6(5.9 μg/L)to pGS 7(6.2 μg/L)and pGS>7(7.7 μg/L).There was a significant and positive correlation of TV to PSA,TT and Pt.Multiple linear regression analysis showed that TV was significantly and independently predicted by TT,PSA and Pt.High grade PCa(pGS>7)independently associated with TV,TT,Pt and SVI.The median density values of TT relative to TV(quotient TT/TV)significantly decreased from pGS 6(2.6 nmol/L/mL)to pGS 7(1.9 nmol/L/mL)and pGS>7(1.4 nmol/L/mL).The median density values of PSA relative to TV(quotient PSA/TV)also significantly decreased from pGS(1.1 μg/L/mL)to pGS 7(0.7 μg/L/mL)and pGS>7(0.6 μg/L/mL).Conclusion:The investigation shows that TT relates to volume and grade of PCa;moreover,the density of TT relative to TV inversely associates with rate of increase of cancer that depends on the grade of the tumour.