EFFECTS OF ELECTROACUPUNCTURE ON EXPRESSION OF INTERCELLULAR ADHESION MOLECULE-1 IN THE RAT OF LOCAL CEREBRAL ISCHEMIA-REPERFUSION

Objective To investigate effects of electroacupuncture （EA） on expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 （ICAM-1） in the rat of local cerebral ischemia-reperfusion. Methods Eighty SD rats were randomly divided into a normal control group, a sham operation group, a model group and an EA treatment group, 20 rats in each group. The thread-obstruction method was used for preparation of ischemia-reperfusion model. Zea-Longa rating criteria were used for evaluation of nervous function disorder; Immunohistochemical SABC method was used for detection of ICAM-1 expression in the microvascular endothelial cell of the ischemic brain region, and ELISA method for the soluble ICAM-1 （slCAM-1） content in peripheral blood. Re. suits After cerebral ischemia-reperfusion, both ICAM-1 expression level in the microvascular endethelium cell of the ischemic brain region and slCAM-1 content in the peripheral blood significantly increased in the model group as compared with the normal group and the sham operation group （P〈0.01）; After EA treatment, the ICAM-1 expression level in the microvascular endothelial cell of the ischemic brain region and slCAM-1 content in the peripheral blood were significantly down-regulated in the EA treatment group as com- pared with the model group （P〈 0.05）. Conclusion After cerebral ischemia-reperfusion, the microvascular endothelial cell of the ischemic brain region releases ICAM-1, which induces inflammatory injury of cerebral tissues; EA treatment can decease the expression of ICAM-1, so as to prevent the brain from the injury.

High level of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 affects prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

AIM: To determine the cut-off value of intercellular adhesion molecule-1(ICAM-1) and assess the correlation of ICAM-1 with clinicopathological features and the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)patients who underwent surgical resection.METHODS: We prospectively collected clinicopathological data from 236 HCC patients who had undergone successful hepatectomy. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was performed to determine the optimal cut-off value of ICAM-1. Enzymelinked immunosorbent assay was used to measure the concentration of ICAM-1 in 236 serum samples isolated from HCC patients and the stratified analysis was used to compare the serum level of ICAM-1 in different HCC subgroups. Immunohistochemistry was performed to test the expression level of the ICAM-1 protein in76 cases of HCC tissues and their adjacent normal liver tissues(ANLT). The survival probability of HCC patients was estimated using Kaplan-Meier plots and differences between the groups were obtained using the log-rank test. Furthermore, independent indicatorsof the prognosis were acquired using a stepwise Cox proportional hazard model to analyze a series of predictors that were associated with disease-free survival(DFS) and overall survival(OS) in HCC patients.RESULTS: Our findings suggested that ICAM-1promotes HCC metastasis and high serum ICAM-1 is significantly associated with alpha-fetoprotein(AFP)(P = 0.022), clinical tumor-node-metastasis stage(P< 0.001), portal vein tumor thrombus(P = 0.005),distant metastasis(P = 0.016) and recurrence(P= 0.034). We further detected the ICAM-1 protein in HCC specimens and found that 56 of 76(73.7%)HCC tissues had ICAM-1 positive staining while only23 of 76(30.3%) ANLT were positively stained(P <0.0001). Survival analysis indicated that HCC patients with increased ICAM-1 concentrations had significantly shorter DFS and OS after resection. A multivariate analysis showed that ICAM-1 > 684 ng/mL was an independent factor for DFS(HR = 1.643; 95%CI:1.125-2.401; P = 0.010) and OS(HR = 1.692; 95%CI:1.152-2.486; P = 0.007).CONCLUSION: ICAM-1 may be a promising serological biomarker for HCC diagnosis and an independent predictor of DFS and OS after surgical resection and may provide a useful reference for the prediction of intra- and extrahepatic metastasis.

Persimmon leaf flavonoid promotes brain ischemic tolerance

Persimmon leaf flavonoid has been shown to enhance brain ischemic tolerance in mice, but its mechanism of action remains unclear. The bilateral common carotid arteries were occluded using a micro clip to block blood flow for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes of ischemic preconditioning, 200,100, and 50 mg/kg persimmon leaf flavonoid or 20 mg/kg ginaton was intragastrically administered per day for 5 days. At 1 hour after the final administration, ischemia/reperfusion models were estab- lished by blocking the middle cerebral artery for 2 hours. At 24 hours after model establishment, compared with cerebral ischemic rats without ischemic preconditioning or drug intervention, plasma endothelin, thrombomodulin and yon Willebrand factor levels significantly decreased and intercel- lular adhesion molecule-1 expression markedly reduced in brain tissue from rats with ischemic pre- conditioning. Simultaneously, brain tissue injury reduced. Ischemic preconditioning combined with drug exposure noticeably improved the effects of the above-mentioned indices, and the effects of 200 mg/kg persimmon leaf flavonoid were similar to 20 mg/kg ginaton treatment. These results indicate that ischemic preconditioning produces tolerance to recurrent severe cerebral ischemia. However, persimmon leaf flavonoid can elevate ischemic tolerance by reducing inflammatory reactions and vascular endothelial injury. High-dose persimmon leaf flavonoid showed an identical effect to ginaton.

Pioglitazone attenuates the severity of sodium taurocholate-induced severe acute pancreatitis

AIM： To determine the effect of pioglitazone, a specific peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ, （PPARγ） ligand, on development of severe acute pancreatitis （SAP） and expression of nuclear factor-kappa B （NF-κB） and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 （ICAM-1） in the pancreas. METHODS： Male Sprague-Dawley （SD） rats （160-200 g） were randomly allocated into three groups （n = 18 in each group）： severe acute pancreatitis group, pioglitazone group, sham group. SAP was induced by retrograde infusion of 1 mL/kg body weight 5% sodium taurocholate （STC） into the biliopancreatic duct of male SD rats. Pioglitazone was injected intraperitoneally two hours piror to STC infusion. Blood and ascites were obtained for detecting amylase and ascitic capacity. Pancreatic wet/dry weight ratio, expression of NF-κB and ICAM-1 in pancreatic tissues were detected by immunohistochemical staining. Pancreatic tissue samples were stained with hematoxylin and eosin （HE） for routine optic microscopy. RESULTS： Sham group displayed normal pancreatic structure. SAP group showed diffuse hemorrhage, necrosis and severe edema in focal areas of pancreas. There was obvious adipo-saponification in abdominal cavity. Characteristics such as pancreatic hemorrhage, necrosis, severe edema and adipo-saponification were found in pioglitazone group, but the levels of those injuries were lower in pioglitazone group than those in SAP group. The wet/dry pancreatic weight ratio, ascetic capacity, serum and ascitic activities of anylase in the SAP group were significantly higher than those in the sham group and pioglitazone group respectively （6969.50 ± 1368.99 vs 2104.67 ± 377.16, 3.99 ± 1.22 vs 2.48 ± 0.74, P 〈 0.01 or P 〈 0.05）. According to Kusske criteria, the pancreatic histologic score showed that interstitial edema, inflammatory infiltration, parenchyma necrosis and parenchyma hommorrhage in SAP group significantly differed from those in the sham group and pioglitazone group （7.17 ± 1.83 vs 0.50 ± 0.55, 7.67 ± 0.82 vs 6.83 ± 0.75, P 〈 0.01, P 〈 0.05. The expression of NF-κB and ICAM-1 in sham group was lower than that in SAP group and pioglitazone group （0.50 ± 0.55 vs 33 ± 1.21, P 〈 0.01）. There was a significant difference in the expression of NF-κB and ICAM-1 between SAP group and pioglitazone group （7.50 ±1.05 vs 11.33 ± 1.75, 0.80 ± 0.53 vs 1.36 ± 0.54, P 〈 0.01 or P 〈 0.05） at 12 h after the induction of pancreatitis. CONCLUSION： Pioglitazone attenuates the severity of SAP. The beneficial effect of pioglitazone is multifactorial due to its anti-inflammatory activities, most likely through the inhibition of ICAM-1 expression and NF-κB activation. Specific ligands of PPARy may represent the novel and effective means of clinical therapy for SAP.