Intrastriatal Gene Transfer of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Rescues Dopaminergic Neurons in a Rat Parkinson's Disease Model

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic progressivegerontic disease, which is characterized by the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in substantia nigra. Efforhas been made to find effective treatment to arrest oslow down the degeneration of dopaminergic neuronsOnce regarded as an endothelial cell-specific factorvascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), in recenyears, was unexpectedly found to be a critical player inneurodegeneration, and have direct neurotrophic andneuroprotective effects…     

Dynamic Expression of Tumor Necrosis Factor-α and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Rat Model of Pulmonary Emphysema Induced by Smoke Exposure

In order to explore the roles of tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α) and vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) in the pathogenesis of pulmonary emphysema,male Wistar rats were randomized into group A1,group A2.5 and group A4,each with smoke exposure for 1 month,2.5 months or 4 months,respectively.Group B1,group B2.5 and group B4 were used as non smoking controls at corresponding time points.TNF-α in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid(BALF) and expression of VEGF in lung tissue was determined by ELISA or by SABC immunohistochemistry assay either.Lung slices were stained with hematoxylin and eosin(HE).Results showed that in animal with smoke exposure the mean linear interceptor(Lm),an index of pulmonary emphysema and the content of TNF-α in BALF increased gradually,on contrary,the expression of VEGF in lung tissue decreased(P<0.05).This phenomenon was not obvious in animals without smoke exposure.Lm was negatively correlated to the VEGF expression(γ=-0.81,P<0.01) and positively correlated to TNF-α concentration(γ = 0.52,P<0.004),which implies that smoke exposure decreased the expression of VEGF and increased the expression of TNF-α.It is plausible to speculate that the imbalance of TNF-α and VEGF may play an important role in the pathogenesis of smoke-induced pulmonary emphysema.     

Effects on the Tumor Specific Growth Factor and Tumor Necrosis Factor α in Rats' Precancerous Lesion of Primary Hepatocellular Carcinoma by Direct Moxibustion at Ganshu(BL 18) Acupoint

Objective: To investigate the effect of direct moxibustion at Ganshu(BL18) on the serum concentrations of tumor specific growth factor(TSGF) and tumor necrosis factor α(TNF-α) in a rat model with precancerous lesion of primary hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC), so as to explore the mechanism of moxibustion underlying improvement of HCC. Methods: Sixty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into control group(n=10), model group(n=20), prevention group 1(n=15) and prevention group 2(n=15). The normal rats were injected with physiological saline as blank control. At the same time, the rats of other three groups were injected with diethylnitrosamine to establish the HCC model. Direct moxibustion with grain-sized moxa was applied to bilateral Ganshu acupoint of the rats in the prevention group 1(1 treatment course, 20 days) and prevention group 2(2 treatment courses, 40 days), 5 doses for each acupoint, 0.5 mg/dose, once every other day. At each time point(before model establishment, the end of 1st course prevention, the end of 2nd course prevention and the end of model establishment), serum levels of TSGF and TNF-α were detected using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: Compared with the control group, there was a remarkably increase of serum TSGF and TNF-α contents in the model group at the end of the experiment(P0.05). At the end of the 1st course of direct moxibustion, the contents of serum TSGF and TNF-α of rats in the prevention group 1 were significantly increased compared with that of the model group(P0.05). At the end of the 2nd course of direct moxibustion, serum TSGF and TNF-α levels of rats in the model group were higher than the normal group with significantly difference(P0.05), and the levels of TSGF and TNF-α in the prevention group 2 were significantly reduced in comparison with the model group(P0.05). Conclusion: It was possible that direct moxibustion could inhibit precancerous lesion and postpone hepatocarcinogenesis, and the therapeutic effect of two courses were better than one course.     

Effect of Kang’ ai Injection (康艾注射液) on serum level of soluble interleukin-2 receptor and vascular endothelial growth factor in patients with esophageal carcinoma during radiotherapy

Objective： To observe the effect of Kang＇ai Injection （康艾注射液, KAI） on serum level of soluble interleukin-2 receptor （sIL-2R） and vascular endothelial growth factor （VEGF） in patients with esophageal carcinoma （EC） during radiotherapy （RT）, and to investigate its synergistic effect with RT and its influence on immunological function of the body. Methods： One hundred and seventy patients with EC, who had missed the chance of surgical operational therapy, were assigned to the treated group （90 cases） and the RT group （80 cases）, and at the same time a control group consisting of 80 inpatients without tumors was set up. Patients in the RT group were treated with RT alone but KAI was given additionally to those in the treated group, with 50 ml given once per day via intravenous dripping, 15 days as one course, and 2 courses administered in total. The immediate therapeutic efficacy and changes of serum slL-2R and VEGF levels were observed, and the effect of KAI on patients＇ quality of life （QOF） was evaluated by Karnofsky scoring. Results： In 16 patients of the treated group it was completely remission （OR）, in 54 partially remission （PR）, in 18 it was stabilized disease （SD） and in 2 progressive disease （PD）, with the total effective rate （CR ＋ PR） as 77.8%, while in those of the control group it was 12, 46, 18, 4 and 72.5%, respectively, the immediate therapeutic efficacy in the treated group was somewhat better than that in the RT group, but showed no statistical significance （P〉0.05）. Serum levels of slL-2R and VEGF in all the patients before treatment were higher than those in the control group, which were decreased after treatment in both groups （P〈0.05）, but the improvement in the treated group was better than that in the RT group, showing significant difference （P〈0.05）, and patients＇ QOF improved more significantly in the former as well （62.2 % vs 40.0%, P〈 0.05）. Conclusion： KAI in combination with RT in treating patients with EC could enhance the immunological function of patients, improve their QOF and enhance their sensitivity to RT.