Coronary leukocyte activation in relation to progression of coronary artery disease

Leukocyte activation has been linked to atherogenesis, but there is little in vivo evidence for its role in the progression of atherosclerosis. We evaluated the predictive value for progression of coronary artery disease （CAD） of leukocyte activation markers in the coronary circulation. Monocyte and neutrophil CDllb, neutrophil CD66b expression and intracellular neutrophil myeloperoxidase （MPO） in the coronary arteries were determined by flow cytometry in patients undergoing coronary angiography. The primary outcome included fatal and nonfatal myocardial infarction or arterial vascular intervention due to unstable angina pectoris. In total 99 subjects who were included, 70 had CAD at inclusion （26 patients had single-vessel disease, 18 patients had two- vessel disease and 26 patients had three-vessel disease）. The median follow-up duration was 2242 days （interquartile range： 2142-2358）. During follow-up, 13 patients （13%） developed progression of CAD. Monoeyte CDllb, neutrophil CDllb and CD66b expression and intraceilular MPO measured in blood obtained from the coronary arteries were not associated with the progression of CAD. These data indicate that coronary monocyte CDllb, neutrophil CDllb and CD66b expression and intracellular MPO do not predict the risk of progression of CAD.

Natural Products Improve Organ Microcirculation Dysfunction Following Ischemia/Reperfusion-and Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Disturbances:Mechanistic and Therapeutic Views

Microcirculatory disturbances are complex processes caused by many factors,including abnormal vasomotor responses,decreased blood flow velocity,vascular endothelial cell injury,altered leukocyte and endothelial cell interactions,plasma albumin leakage,microvascular hemorrhage,and thrombosis.These disturbances involve multiple mechanisms and interactions among mechanisms that can include energy metabolism,the mitochondrial respiratory chain,oxidative stress,inflammatory factors,adhesion molecules,the cytoskeleton,vascular endothelial cells,caveolae,cell junctions,the vascular basement membrane,neutrophils,monocytes,and platelets.In clinical practice,aside from drugs that target abnormal vasomotor responses and platelet adhesion,there continues to be a lack of multi-target drugs that can regulate the complex mechanistic links and interactions underlying microcirculatory disturbances.Natural products have demonstrated obvious positive therapeutic effects in treating ischemia/reperfusion(I/R)-and lipopolysaccharide(LPS)-induced microcirculatory disturbances.In recent years,numerous research papers on the improvement of microcirculatory function by natural products have been published in international journals.In 2008 and 2017,the first listed author of this review was invited to publish reviews in the journal of Pharmacology&Therapeutics on the improvement of microcirculatory disturbances and organ injury induced by I/R using Salvia miltiorrhiza ingredients and other natural components of compounded Chinese medicine,respectively.This review systematically summarizes the effects,targets of action,and mechanisms of natural products regarding improving I/R-and LPSinduced microcirculatory disturbances and tissue injury.Based on this summary,scientific proposals are suggested for the discovery of new drugs to improve microcirculatory disturbances in disease.

The Influence of Magnetite Nanoparticles on Human Leukocyte Activity

In this contribution the influence of chemically synthesized magnetite particles coated by sodium oleate and PEG （MPEG）, and magnetosomes （MS） was gradually tested on the process of phagocytosis and the metabolic activity （lysozyme and peroxidase activity） in leukocyte. Lysozyme activity is oxygen-independent liquidation mechanisms of engulfed microorganism, peroxidase activity is oxygen-dependent one. The both tested samples MS and MPEG lysed leukocyte cells during incubation. MPEG with concentration 10 and 20 μg/mL lysed almost all leukocytes and their cell viability was in the 14 ± 0.05% range. On the other hand, MS begin to influence leukocytes activity at the concentration of 1 μg/mL and this influence grows with increasing concentration up to 20 μg/mL. MS are more suitable for biological applications than MPEG which are more aggressive material than MS and their using is unavailable for these types of the test mainly for the concentration 10 - 20 μg/mL.