The changes of retinal nuclear DNA content in rats after death was detected and the relationship between degradation of retinal nuclear DNA and postmortem interval (PMI) was analyzed. Ninety healthy adult SD rats, female, weighing 250±10 g, were randomly divided into 15 groups. At 20 °C, the retinal cells were withdrawn every 2 h within 0 to 28 h after death and stained with Feulgen-Vans. Index of density (ID), integral absorbance (IA) and average absorbance (AA) in retinal nucleus were analyzed by image analysis system. And the obtained data were subjected to linear regression analysis by using SPSS12.0 software. The results showed that in retinal nucleus, AA and IA were gradually declined with the prolongation of PMI, while ID had an increased tendency. Within 28 h after PMI, the regression equations were as follows: Y_AA=−0.009X_AA+0.590 (R²=0.949), Y_IA=−0.097X_IA+18.903 (R²=0.968), Y_ID=0.122X_ID+2.246 (R²=0.951). It was concluded that retinal nuclear DNA after death in rats was degraded gradually and had a good correlation with PMI.

In order to investigate the expression of CD40 in endothelial cells (ECs) in a variety of injured conditions and the interventional role of Andrographitis Paniculata isolate (API₀₁₃₄), the thoracic aorta ECs of guinea pigs were cultured in vitro until the third passage, incubated in the presence of media containing xanthine oxidase (XO) and xanthine (Xan) which produced oxygen free radical (OFR group); oxidized-LDL (ox-LDL group); XO, Xan and API₀₁₃₄ (OFR+API₀₁₃₄ group); or ox-LDL and API₀₁₃₄ (ox-LDL+API₀₁₃₄ group). The expression of CD40 in ECs was detected by immunofluorescence assay and reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR). The results showed as compared with the control group, the expression of CD40 in ECs in OFR group and ox-LDL group was increased (P<0.01), but attenuated significantly in OFR+ API₀₁₃₄ group and ox-LDL+API₀₁₃₄ group (P<0.05). It was suggested that API₀₁₃₄ could protect atherosclerosis by inhibiting the expression of CD40 molecule in injured ECs.

The effects of salvia miltiorrhiza Bge (SMB) on left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and the expression of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in the left ventricle of spontaneously hypertensive rats and the action mechanism were investigated. Normal Wistar-kyoto (WKY) rats were used as negative control, and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) were randomly assigned to receive placebo or SMB. SMB (1 g/kg·d) was injected intraperitoneally for 12 weeks. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and left ventricular mass index (LVMI) were measured. HE, VG and immunohistochemical staining combined with computed morphometry were employed to evaluate the cardiomyocyte size, diameter, the collagen volume fraction (CVF), perivascular circumferential area (PVCA), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) expression in the left ventricular tissue. The results showed, as compared with WKY rats, the SBP, LVMI, cardiomyocyte size, diameter, CVF, PCVA, and TNF-α expression were increased markedly in the 20-week-old spontaneously hypertensive rats. SMB decreased LVMI (P<0.01), size of cardiomyocytes (P<0.01), collagen volume fraction (P<0.01), perivascular circumferential area (P<0.01), and TNF-α expression (P<0.01), but had no effect on SBP (P>0.05). It was suggested that chronic administration of SMB could inhibit and reverse the development of LVH in spontaneously hypertensive rats independent of BP. TNF-α may be involved in the reversal mechanism of LVH by SMB.

To investigate the effect of the Ginkgo Biloba Extract (GBE) on the asthma and examine its possible mechanisms, 75 asthma patients were divided into 4 groups and the patients were respectively treated with fluticasone propionate for 2 weeks or 4 weeks, or treated with fluticasone propionate plus GBE for 2 weeks or 4 weeks. Fifteen healthy volunteers served as healthy controls. Sputum inhalation with inhaling hypertonic saline (4%–5%) was performed. Lung ventilatory function and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) were measured. The numbers of different cells in induced sputum were calculated. The expression of PKCα in the cells was immunocytochemically detected and the percentages of positive cells in different cells were counted. Interleukin-5 (IL-5) in sputum supernatants was detected with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The percentage of eosinophils, lymphocytes, PKCα positive inflammatory cells and the concentration of IL-5 in asthmatic patients were higher than those in the controls (P<0.05), and the eosinophils, lymphocytes, positive expression of PKCα and the level of IL-5 were significantly decreased in asthmatic patients after they were treated with fluticasone propionate or fluticasone propionate plus GBE. However, they were still significantly higher than those of the controls. Compared to the group treated with glucocorticosteroid for 2 weeks, no significant decrease was found in the percentage of eosinophils, lymphocytes, PKCα positive inflammatory cells and the IL-5 in the supernatant of induced sputum. Compared with the group treated with glucocorticosteroid for 2 or 4 weeks, significant decrease in the same parameters was observed in the group treated with fluticasone propionate and GBE for 4 weeks. The IL-5 level in the supernatant of induced sputum was positively correlated with the percentage of PKCα-positive inflammatory cells and the percentage of eosinophils in the induced sputum in asthma patient groups respectively (n=150, r= 0.83, P<0.01; n=150, r=0.76, P<0.01). The FEV1 was negatively correlated with the percentage of PKCα-positive inflammatory cells and the IL-5 levels in supernatant of induced sputum in asthma patients respectively (n=150, r=−0.77, P<0.01; n=150, r= −0.64, P<0.01). It is concluded that GBE could significantly decrease the infiltration of inflammatory cells such as eosinophils and lymphocytes in the asthmatic airway and relieve the airway inflammation. GBE may decrease the activation of the PKCα in the inflammatory cells and thereby decrease the IL-5 level in induced sputum. GBE may be used as a complement to the glucocorticosteroid therapy for asthma.

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 A_2.5 and group A₄, each with smoke exposure for 1 month, 2.5 months or 4 months, respectively. Group B₁, group B_2.5 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.

In order to evaluate the efficacy of traditional paeonia extract paeoniflorin against optic nerve crush, 16 Brown Norway rats were divided into two groups at random, with 8 rats in each group. In paeoniaflorin-treated group, 2 mg paeoniaflorin (total volum: 1 mL) was injected into rat’s peritoneum one time a day for a period of 8 days. Rats in untreated group were given a single dose of vehicle. The optic nerve was crushed by a special forceps for 30 s in the left eye and a sham procedure was performed in the right eye on the 2nd day after the first injection. The retrograde fluorogold labeling of ganglion cells was conducted 5 days after optic nerve crush. The whole retina was flat-mounted thereafter. The ganglion cells that survived the crush were counted under fluorescent microscope by using an automatic counting software. As compared with the contralateral eye, the survival rate of ganglion cells in the left eye increased from 40.22% to 64.53% with a significant difference found between them (t=2.55, P=0.023). The results suggested that the paeonia extract paeoniflorin possessed a protective effect against optic nerve crush.