Prophylactic Anti-inflammation Inhibits Cigarette Smoke-induced Emphysema in Guinea Pigs

In this study, the effect of prophylactic anti inflammation on the development of smoke induced emphysema was investigated. Young male guinea pigs aged 1.5 - 2 months (weighing 198.3±26.9 g) were randomly divided into 4 groups: group A (cigarette smoke exposure only), group B (cigarette smoke exposure plus pentoxifylline rich (PTX, 10 mg/d) forage feeding), group C (cigarette smoke exposure plus intermittent cortical steroid injection (Triamcinolone acetonide, 3 mg, im, every three weeks) and control group (group D: animals with sham smoke exposure, raised under the same conditions). Animals in group A, B and C were exposed to smoke of cigarettes for 1 to 1.5 h twice a day, 5 days a week. All animals were killed at the 16th week and followed by morphometrical analysis of the midsagittal sectioned lung slices. Smoke exposure of 16 weeks resulted in visible emphysematous development in Group A but not in Group B and C. It was evidenced by the indicator of air space size, mean linear intercept (L m): 120.6±16.0 μm in Group A; 89.8±9.2 μm in Group B and 102.4±17.7 μm in Group C. The average L m in either group B or group C was shorter than that in Group A (ANOVA and Newman Keuls test, F=8.80, P =0.0002) but comparable to that (94.8±13.2 μm) in group D ( P >0.05). It is concluded that long term prophylactic anti inflammation inhibits pulmonary emphysema induced by cigarette smoking in the guinea pigs.

Epigallocatechin-3-gallate Alleviates Cognitive Deficits in APP/PS1 Mice

Alzheimer's disease(AD)shows cognitive impairments in clinic,which is multifactorial with different etiopathogenic mechanisms such as A|3 deposition,neuroinflammation and neuronal dystrophy involved.Therefore,multi-targets drugs with neuroprotective,anti-amyloidogenic and anti-inflammatory properties will be effective in AD treatment.Epigallocatechin-3-gallate(EGCG)possesses a broad spectrum of pharmacological activities in the prevention and treatment of multiple neurodegenerative diseases.In the present study,we showed that oral administration of EGCG(50 mg/kg)for 4 months significantly attenuated the cognitive deficits in APP/PS1 transgenic mice,which served as AD model.Moreover,EGCG induced an improvement in dendritic integrity and expression levels of synaptic proteins in the brain of APP/PS 1 mice.And EGCG exerted obvious anti-inflammatory effects,which was manifested by alleviating microglia activation,decreasing pro-inflammatory cytokine(IL-β)and increasing anti-inflammatory cytokines(IL-10,IL-β).Furthermore,p-amyloid(AP)plaques were markedly reduced in the hippocampus of 6-month old APP/PS 1 mice after EGCG treatment.In conclusion,these findings indicate that EGCG improves AD-like cognitive impairments through neuroprotective,anti-amyloidogenic and anti-inflammatory effects,thus is a promising therapeutic can didate for AD.

The anti-inflammatory feature of glucagon-like peptide-1 and its based diabetes drugs-Therapeutic potential exploration in lung injury

Since 2005,GLP-1 receptor(GLP-IR)agonists(GLP-IRAs)have been developed as therapeutic agents for type 2 diabetes(T2D).GLP-IR is not only expressed in pancreatic islets but also other organs,especially the lung.However,controversy on extra pancreatic GLP-IR expression still needs to be further resolved,utilizing different tools including the use of more reliable GLP-IR antibodies in immune-staining and co-immune-staining.Extra-pancreatic expression of GLP-IR has triggered extensive investigations on extra-pancreatic functions of GLP-1RAs,aiming to repurpose them into therapeutic agents for other disorders.Extensive studies have demonstrated promising anti-infammatory features of GLP-IRAs.Whether those features are directly mediated by GLP-IR expressed in immune cells also remains controversial.Following a brief review on GLP-1 as an incretin hormone and the development of GLP-IRAs as therapeutic agents for T2D,we have summarized our current understanding of the antiinflammatory features of GLP-IRAS and commented on the controversy on extra-pancreatic GLP-IR expression.The main part of this review is a literature discussion on GLP-IRA utilization in animal models with chronic airway diseases and acute lung injuries,including studies on the combined use of mesenchymal stem cell(MSC)based therapy.This is followed by a brief summary.

Clinical and Experimental Study on Treatmentof MidLate Stage Rheumatoid Arthritis with Shuguan Granules ( 舒关冲剂)

Objective: To explore the therapeutic mechanism of Shuguan Granule (舒关冲剂, SGG) in treating mid late stage rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods: Based on the principle of reinforcing Kidney to treat arthritis, removing phlegm to relieve stasis, two SGG, Shuguan Wenjing (SW) and Shuguan Qingluo (SQ) were prepared and used to treat 44 and 43 mid late stage patients of RA respectively. The clinical results were compared with those of Wangbi Granule. Animal experiments on the effect of these two SGG were conducted. Results: The total effective rate of the SW, SQ and control group was 88.64%, 93.02% and 73.17% respectively. Results of experimental studies in rats with adjuvant induced arthritis showed that the two SGG obviously raise the level of serum superoxide dismutase, and lowered the levels of serum interleukin 1, plasma prostaglandin E 2 and thromboxane B 2, as compared with the model group, the difference was significant ( P <0.05, P <0.01). Conclusion: The two SGG have a comprehensive function of anti inflammatory, analgesic, antioxidatory, antihypercoagulatory and immunoregulatory effect.