Tei index in preeclampsia pregnant women and its correlation with the degree of endothelial injury and hypertension

Objective:To study the Tei index in preeclampsia pregnant women and its correlation with the degree of endothelial injury and hypertension.Methods: A total of 98 preeclampsia pregnant women who were treated in our hospital between May 2014 and July 2016 were divided into mild preeclampsia group (n=62) and severe preeclampsia group (n=36), and 50 normal pregnant women who received antenatal care in our hospital during the same period were selected as normal control group. Ultrasound Tei index as well as the levels of serum endothelial injury indexes and hypertension-related indexes were compared among three groups of pregnant women, and the correlation of Tei index with endothelial injury and hypertension level in preeclampsia pregnant women was further evacuated.Results: Tei index levels in mild preeclampsia group and severe preeclampsia group were higher than that in normal control group, and the Tei index level in severe preeclampsia group was higher than that in mild preeclampsia group. Serum VEGF contents in mild preeclampsia group and severe preeclampsia group were lower than that in the normal control group while sFlt-1, MMP-1 and PAR-1 contents were higher than those in normal control group, 24 h SBP, 24 h DBP, dSBP, dDBP, nSBP and nDBP levels were higher than those in normal control group, and the changes in above indexes in severe preeclampsia group were higher than those in mild preeclampsia group. The Pearson test showed that the Tei index level in preeclampsia pregnant women was directly correlated with endothelial injury and hypertension level.Conclusion: Tei index increases in preeclampsia pregnant women, and its level is directly correlated with endothelial injury and hypertension level.

COX-2, MMP-7 expression in oral lichen planus and oral squamous cell carcinoma

Objective: To observe cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 expression in normal oral mucosa (NOM), oral lichen planus (OLP) and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and explore its significance in the incidence of oral cancer. Methods: The immunohistochemical method and RT-PCR method were applied to detect the expression of COX-2 and MMP-7 in 10 cases with NOM, 33 cases of with OLP and 38 cases with OSCC. Results: The expression of COX-2 mRNA in OSCC tissues (68.4%, 26/38) was significantly higher than in the OLP (24.2%, 8/33) and NOM (0.0%, 0/10) ( P<0.01). The expression of MMP-7 mRNA in OSCC tissues (65.8%, 25/38) was significantly higher than in the OLP (30.3%, 10/33) and NOM (0.0%, 0/10) ( P<0.01). The expression of MMP-7 in OLP was significantly higher than in the NOM ( P<0.05). There was no significant expression of COX-2 protein in NOM, and the positive rate was 42.4% (14/33) and 89.5% (34/38) in OLP and OSCC group, respectively. The COX-2 expression in cancer tissues was significantly higher than in NOM and OLP ( P<0.05). The MMP-7 protein expression in cancer tissues (84.2%, 32/38) was significantly higher than in NOM (10.0%, 1/10) and in OLP (42.4%, 14/33), and the positive rate in OLP was significantly higher than in NOM ( P<0.01). The COX-2 expression was associated with clinical stage ( P<0.05), the MMP-7 expression was associated with clinical stage and lymph node metastasis ( P<0.05). The expressions of COX-2 and MMP-7 mRNA were positively correlated with OSCC. Conclusions: The abnormal expressions of COX-2 and MMP-7 are closely related to the biological behavior of OSCC, the MMP-7 may be induced by COX-2, and further lead to the invasion and metastasis of OSCC.

New ent-kaurane diterpenes with chiral epoxyangelate moieties from Wedelia prostrata

Four new ent-kaurane diterpenes with chiral epoxyangelate moieties, (2′R,3′R)-3 a- (2′,3′-epoxyangeloyloxy)-kaur-16-en-19-oic acid (1), (2′S,3′S)-3 a- (2′,3′-epoxyangeloyloxy)-kaur-16-en-19-oic acid (2), (2′S,3′R)-3 a- (2',3'-epoxyangeloyloxy)-kaur-16-en-19-oic acid (3) and (2′R,3′S)-3α- (2′,3'-epoxyangeloyloxy)-kaur-16-en-19-oic acid (4), along with eight known diterpenes (5-12), were isolated from Wedelia prostrata. The absolute configurations of the new structures were determined by X-ray crystallography,ECD calculations and chemical methods. All compounds were evaluated for their cytotoxicity activities on human HepG-2 cells,with IC_(50) values of 11.72 ±0.22 μmol/L to 54.75±1.12 μmol/L.