肺动脉高压的抗炎治疗

由各种因素引起的肺动脉高压的根本问题是肺血管重构,但其发病机制尚未完全清楚.炎症反应在肺动脉高压的发病机制中扮演了重要角色已成为共识.近年来,应用多种抗炎药物疗法干预肺动脉高压取得了许多关键进展,为临床治疗提供了新的途径.本文拟就肺动脉高压发病过程中的免疫紊乱及抗炎药物治疗的临床应用及研究现状进行综述.     

内皮素1在急性呼吸窘迫综合征炎症反应中的作用

目前认为,炎症反应是急性呼吸窘迫综合征(acute respiratory distress syndrome,ARDS)发病的重要机制.许多研究证明,内皮素1在ARDS炎症反应中发挥促炎作用.本综述通过回顾内皮素系统的研究进展,阐述内皮素1的炎症作用在ARDS的病理生理学机制、通透性肺水肿及肺动脉高压形成中的作用,及内皮素受体拮抗剂的应用现状.     

甲状腺疾病相关肺动脉高压发病机制研究进展

肺动脉高压发病率高,预后差,严重影响患者的生存质量,呼吸和免疫等系统疾病与该病的发生和发展密切相关,相关研究较多.近年研究发现甲状腺疾病患者出现肺动脉高压的情况并不少见,免疫功能异常、炎症反应、血流动力学异常及低氧状态在疾病的发生过程中起到重要作用,具体机制尚不明确,现主要对相关发病机制进行综述.     

微小RNA在肺动脉高压发病机制中的研究进展

肺动脉高压是一种致命性疾病,缺氧、炎症、遗传等各种病因导致肺血管重塑、肺动脉压力升高,最终导致右心衰竭,甚至死亡.但目前对肺动脉高压的发病机制并不清楚,尚无治愈肺动脉高压的药物.近年来,微小RNA在许多疾病病理和生理过程中发挥的作用引起了人们的关注,许多研究表明微小RNA有逆转肺血管重塑,从而治愈肺动脉高压的可能.本文就研究较多的微小RNA在肺动脉高压的发病机制,尤其是参与血管重塑的几条通路的研究进展作一综述.     

炎症在慢性阻塞性肺疾病相关肺动脉高压发病机制中的作用的研究进展

慢性阻塞性肺疾病(COPD)是以气道、肺实质、肺血管慢性炎症为主要特征的慢性肺疾病.肺动脉高压是COPD的主要并发症.近年来新的研究表明,COPD相关肺动脉高压的主要发病机制除缺氧外,炎症介质如白介素16、C反应蛋白、肿瘤坏死因子α、内皮素1等及炎症细胞如中性粒细胞、T淋巴细胞、巨噬细胞、肥大细胞等也起重要作用.     

肺动脉高压治疗过程中抗凝药物应用的研究进展

肺动脉高压是一组以肺血管阻力持续增加为特征的临床综合征,其发病机制复杂,预后差。有研究表明原位血栓形成及凝血功能紊乱在肺动脉高压的发病机制中起着重要作用,是肺动脉高压发生发展的重要机制之一。但目前关于抗凝药物在肺动脉高压中的应用始终无统一的结论,本文就肺动脉高压治疗过程中应用抗凝药物的病理学和生理学基础及目前抗凝药物在肺动脉高压应用情况及最新进展展开综述。     

IL-21与COPD发病机制的研究进展

IL-21是近年来发现的一种细胞因子,主要由活化的 CD4+T 细胞产生,在 Th17细胞中大量分泌,IL-21与其受体结合后,参与免疫应答与炎症反应.COPD是一种由吸烟所诱发的 T 细胞介导的炎症及自身免疫性的疾病.COPD的发病机制复杂,其中免疫失衡在 COPD发生发展中起着重要作用,多种细胞因子的变化与 COPD有关,IL-21就是其中的一种.本文就 IL-21与 COPD 的气道炎症、肺气肿、肺动脉高压的发病机制的研究作一综述.     

白三烯与肺动脉高压的研究进展

白三烯作为重要的炎症介质具有广泛的生理及病理效应,并可使血管收缩,动脉平滑肌细胞增殖,与慢性肺源性心脏病的发生发展有密切关系,临床研究及动物实验证实其介入了肺动脉高压的形成.对白三烯在肺动脉高压发病机制中的作用进行深入研究可能成为今后研究的热点,并为肺动脉高压的治疗提供新的思路.     

舒利迭治疗COPD伴有肺动脉高压患者的疗效观察

肺动脉高压（Pulmonary Hypertension,PH）是一组由异源性疾病和不同发病机制引起的以肺血管阻力进行性升高为特征的病理生理综合征。PH是慢性阻塞性肺疾病（Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,COPD）最常见的并发症,肺动脉压力多为轻到中度升高。近来,随着对COPD肺部和全身炎症及其相关机制研究的不断深入,炎症反应在COPD相关PH发病机制中的作用逐渐受到人们的重视。本文探讨舒利迭治疗慢性阻塞性肺疾病合并肺动脉高压的临床疗效。     

肺动脉高压发病机制的进展带来临床治疗的革命

肺动脉高压发病机制的研究,包括离子通道机制、血管内皮功能舒缩因子失衡机制、炎症机制以及遗传基因学机制等方面取得了重大进展.由此,开发了一系列针对肺动脉高压发病机制的新型药物,如前列环素衍生物、内皮素受体拮抗剂、5型磷酸二酯酶抑制剂、鸟苷酸环化酶激活剂等,使肺动脉高压临床治疗发生了翻天覆地的变化.当然,要想从根本上治愈肺动脉高压,仍然任重而道远.肺动脉高压发病机制的进展带来临床治疗的革命是转化医学的光辉典范之一.     

The immunoneuroendocrine role of melatonin

Abstract: A tight, physiological link between the pineal gland and the immune system is emerging from a series of experimental studies. This link might reflect the evolutionary connection between self-recognition and reproduction. Pinealectomy or other experimental methods which inhibit melatonin synthesis and secretion induce a state of immunodepression which is counteracted by melatonin. In general, melatonin seems to have an immunoenhancing effect that is particularly apparent in immunodepressive states. The negative effect of acute stress or immunosuppressive pharmacological treatments on various immune parameters are counteracted by melatonin. It seems important to note that one of the main targets of melatonin is the thymus, i.e., the central organ of the immune system. The clinical use of melatonin as an immunotherapeutic agent seems promising in primary and secondary immunodeficiencies as well as in cancer immunotherapy. The immunoenhancing action of melatonin seems to be mediated by T-helper cell-derived opioid peptides as well as by lymphokines and, perhaps, by pituitary hormones. Melatonin-induced-immuno-opioids (MHO) and lymphokines imply the presence of specific binding sites or melatonin receptors on cells of the immune system. On the other hand, lymphokines such as -γ-interferon and interleukin-2 as well as thymic hormones can modulate the synthesis of melatonin in the pineal gland. The pineal gland might thus be viewed as the crux of a sophisticated immunoneuroendocrine network which functions as an unconscious, diffuse sensory organ.     

Changes in connexin43, the gap junction protein of astrocytes, during development of the rat pineal gland

Abstract: The abundance of gap junctions between rat pineal astrocytes formed by connexin43 (Cx43) was studied during development. Levels and distribution of Cx43 were measured by immunoblotting and indirect immunofluorescence, respectively. The amount of Cx43 in cells located within the gland was low until about the 7th postnatal day and increased to adult values between the 14th and 21st days postpartum. Although astrocytes, recognized by their vimentin immunoreactivity, were scarce before birth, they were abundant by the 7th postnatal day suggesting that the low levels of Cx43 found at this age corresponded to a low expression of this protein. Localization of the immunoreactivity to Cx43 and vimentin showed a close correlation, indicating that mature or immature pineal astrocytes form gap junctions made of Cx43. Since Cx43 levels attained their adult values at about the time the innervation and the functional state of the gland reached maturity (2–3 weeks after birth), it is proposed that astrocyte gap junctions are involved in the function of the adult rat pineal gland.     

Response of rat pineal melatonin to calcium, magnesium, and lithium is circadian stage dependent

Abstract: Herein we documented the response of pineal melatonin production to electrolytes known to be effective on pineal function in view of a possible circadian stage dependence. We studied the release of melatonin by perifused rat pineal glands at 2 different circadian stages corresponding to the middle of the light and dark periods, i.e., respectively, 7 and 19 HALO (Hours After Light Onset, L:D = 12:12). The initial efflux rates were, as expected, much higher in the perifusates of glands removed from rats sacrificed during the dark phase than of those removed during the light phase. After 3 hr of perifusion, melatonin release reached similar levels which were found constant up to the 8th hr of perifusion, whatever the circadian stage. Perifusion of the glands with physiological concentrations for the rat of calcium (5.2 mmol/1) and magnesium (1.34 mmol/1) resulted in a stimulatory effect on the pineal glands removed from rats sacrificed in the middle of the dark period (19 HALO), whereas no effects were observed on the pineal glands removed from rats sacrificed during the light (7 HALO). Lithium (0.28 and 0.55 mmol/1) was ineffective on melatonin release in pineal glands removed 7 and 19 HALO. Our results show differences in the initial efflux rates of melatonin and in the response of perifused pineal glands to calcium and magnesium according to the circadian stage.     

Conservative management of perforated duodenal diverticulum： A case report and review of the literature

Duodenal diverticula are a relatively common condition. They are asymptomatic, unless they become complicated, with perforation being the rarest but most severe complication. Surgical treatment is the most frequently performed approach. We report the case of a patient with a perforated duodenal diverticulum, which was diagnosed early and treated conservatively with antibiotics and percutaneous drainage of secondary retroperitoneal abscesses. We suggest this method could be an acceptable option for the management of similar cases, provided that the patient is in good general condition and without septic signs.     

Presence of immunoreactive growth hormone and prolactin in the ovine pineal gland

Abstract: The use of antisera raised against bovine growth hormone (GH) and ovine prolactin (PRL) enabled the detection of related immunoreactive (ir) sequences of proteins in ovine pineal tissue. The isolation of PRL-like ir-material was accomplished using a 0.25 M ammonium sulphate (pH 5.5) extraction followed by ethanol precipitation, whereas the resulting 2.0 M ammonium sulphate (pH 7.0) precipitate contained a GH-like immunoreactivity. Gel chromatography of the GH-like immunoreactivity (Sephadex G-100) indicated the presence of several GH-like fragments ranging in the M_r range of 7,000 to 55,000. Analyses of the PRL-like ir-material found in pineal tissue on HPLC using a TSK 545-DEAE column led to the resolution into a single peak of immunoreactivity. A single peak of activity was also observed following chromatofocusing and hydrophobic interaction chromatography of the ir-peak from the TSK 545-DEAE column. The PRL-like ir-material inhibited the binding of [¹²⁵I]ovine PRL-S14 to anti-ovine PRL antibodies without showing an affinity for binding to anti-rat PRL or anti-bovine GH antibodies. Scatchard analysis of the binding of pineal PRL-like ir-material and pituitary ovine PRL-S14 to liver membranes from day-20 pregnant rats revealed similar affinity constants (K_a of 4.7 ± 0.2 × 10⁹ M^-1). In addition, the replication of Nb 2 Node rat lymphoma cells was stimulated by pineal PRL-like ir-material, an effect known to be specific for lactogenic hormones. The pineal PRL-like immunoreactivity appeared on sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gels as a single major band of M_r 24,000. The functional status of PRL-and GH-like ir-material in the ovine pineal remains to be determined, but evidence is presented that the overall protein synthesis rate of the rat pineal responded to circulating concentrations of PRL.     

Microbiology of human immunodeficiency virus anorectal disease

PURPOSE: Individuals who are seropositive for the human immunodeficiency virus are at high risk for opportunistic infection and anorectal disorders. Little prospective information is available regarding anorectal pathogens in these patients. METHODS: One hundred sixty-three HIV-seropositive patients presented to the colorectal clinic between 1989 and 1992. Forty-seven (29 percent) patients were thought to have an infectious process and were prospectively studied using a standardized multiculture protocol. RESULTS: Mean age was 33 (range, 19–59) years. All were male; high-risk behavior accounted for 87 percent of HIV transmissions. Presenting complaints included anorectal pain (79 percent), pus per anum (28 percent), and blood per anum (26 percent). Examination revealed perianal tenderness (60 percent), condyloma (38 percent), perianal ulcers (38 percent), and anal fissures (34 percent). Sixty-six sets of cultures were performed; 28 patients had one set, 15 had two sets, and 4 had three sets. Thirty-two of these 47 patients (68 percent) had positive cultures including herpes (50 percent), cytomegalovirus (25 percent),Neisseria gonorrhoeae (16 percent), chlamydia (16 percent), acidfast bacilli (2 percent), and others (9 percent). Six of 32 patients with positive cultures had more than one organism cultured. Sixteen (50 percent) patients with positive cultures were treated medically, 8 (25 percent) were treated surgically and 8 (25 percent) were treated with both modalities. Sixty-one procedures were performed on 17 patients for condylomata. Eighteen patients had 20 procedures for abscesses, 50 percent of whom had positive cultures for other than common bowel flora; all improved. Fourteen patients underwent 33 procedures for perianal fistulas.Mycobacterium fortuitum was cultured from one patient who required 13 procedures for abscesses and fistulas. Forty-five (96 percent) patients were followed for an average of 12.5 months ±2.9 SEM (range, 1–94 months). Symptoms were improved or resolved in 22 of 32 (69 percent) patients with positive cultures and in 11 of 13 (84 percent) with negative cultures. CONCLUSIONS: Specific pathogens may often be identified in human immunodeficiency virus-seropositive patients with anorectal disorders if aggressively sought. Although patients without specific pathogens identified may be expected to improve with planned empiric treatment, positive identification allows more directed therapy.