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Expression of Th17 and CD4+ CD25+ T regulatory cells in peripheral blood of acute leukemia patients and their prognostic significance

Wed, 16 Nov 2016 00:00:00 GMT

Title: Expression of Th17 and CD4+ CD25+ T regulatory cells in peripheral blood of acute leukemia patients and their prognostic significance Authors: Xiang, Mingli; Guo, Li; Ma, Yan; Li, Yi Abstract: To discuss the expression of T helper cell 17 (Th17) cells and CD4+ CD25+ Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Treg) in peripheral blood (PB) of patients with acute leukemia (AL), and to explore the relationship between them and disease prognosis. 40 patients diagnosed with acute leukemia in The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from July 2012 to August 2014 were selected as the observation group. Meanwhile, 40 healthy people were taken as the control group. Flow Cytometry Method (FCM) was used to detect the level of Th17 cells and CD4+ CD25+ Foxp3+ cells in peripheral blood of the two groups, and enzyme-linked immuno sorbent assay (ELISA) method was used to test the level of IL17 and TGF-β in peripheral blood of two groups; reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was adopted to analyze the mRNA levels of RORγT and Foxp3 in peripheral blood. In addition, we examined the levels of Th17 and CD4+ CD25+ Foxp3+ cells and associated factor levels in patients with remission after AL chemotherapy. the Th17 cells (CD3+ CD4+ IL-17+ ) in acute leukemia patients accounted for (1.51±0.27)%, which was significantly higher than that of control group (0.36±0.23)%, with statistical significance (t=20.51, P<0.001); the percentage of CD4+ CD25+ Foxp3+ cells in AL patients was (3.37±0.48)%, which was significantly higher than that of control group of (1.26±0.27)%, with statistical significance (t=24.23, P<0.001); the serum levels of IL-17 and TGF-β in AL patients were (28.12±6.33) pg/ml and (38.41±8.44) pg/ml respectively, which were all significantly higher than that of control group of (14.41±6.21) pg/ml and (24.49±7.42) pg/ml, with statistical significance (t=7.83, P<0.001; t=7.83, P<0.001); the RORγT mRNA and Foxp3 mRNA levels in AL patients were all significantly higher than that of control group, with statistical significance (t=12.27, P<0.001; t=7.89, P<0.001). In addition, compared with before chemotherapy, the levels of Th17 cells and CD4+ CD25+ Foxp3+ cells, and the serum levels of IL-17 and TGF-β in acute leukemia patients all decreased significantly after 6 months of chemotherapy, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.001). Th17 cells, CD4+ CD25+ Foxp3+ cells and their secretory proteins IL-17, TGF-β and transcription factors were significantly increased in AL patients. Therefore, regular detection of peripheral blood Th17 and Treg cells, as well as their secretory proteins are useful for monitoring the immune status and prognosis of patients.

Anti-proliferative and apoptosis inducing potential of hydroalcoholic Achillea wilhelmsii C. Koch extract on human breast adenocarcinoma cell lines MCF-7 and MDA-Mb-468

Wed, 16 Nov 2016 00:00:00 GMT

Title: Anti-proliferative and apoptosis inducing potential of hydroalcoholic Achillea wilhelmsii C. Koch extract on human breast adenocarcinoma cell lines MCF-7 and MDA-Mb-468 Authors: Galavi, Hamid Reza; Saravani, Ramin; Shahraki, Ali; Ashtiani, Mojtaba Abstract: Achillea wilhelmsii C. Koch contains a variety of components such as flavonoid. The previous studies showed that flavonoid has anti-cancer properties. The aim of the present study was to determine the anti-proliferative and apoptosis-inducing potential of hydroalcoholic Achillea wilhelmsii C. Koch extract (HAWE) on MCF-7 and MDA-Mb-468 human breast carcinoma cell lines. The anti-proliferative activity of HAWE was evaluated using MTT, flowcytometry by annexin V/PI double staining, and caspase-3 activity. The results of MTT showed that the ED50 of MCF-7 and MDA-Mb-468 was 25μg/ml of HAWE, 48h after treatment. Flowcytometry by annexin V/PI showed that HAWE induced late apoptosis in MCF-7 and early apoptosis in MDA-Mb-468. In addition, the caspase-3 colorimetric method showed that caspase-3 increased in the MDA-Mb-468 after treatment with HAWE. This study found that the hydroalcoholic extract of Achillea wilhelmsii C. Koch induced apoptosis in both the MCF-7 and MDA-Mb-468 human breast carcinoma cell lines.

Beneficial effects of sitagliptin and metformin in non-diabetic hypertensive and dyslipidemic patients

Wed, 16 Nov 2016 00:00:00 GMT

Title: Beneficial effects of sitagliptin and metformin in non-diabetic hypertensive and dyslipidemic patients Authors: Hussain, Mazhar; Atif, Moazzam Ali; Ghafoor, Muhammad Bilal Abstract: Obesity, dyslipidemia and hypertension are major risk factors for cardiovascular disease and its associated complications. To evaluate the beneficial effects of sitagliptin and metformin in non-diabetic dyslipidemic and hypertensive patients. A prospective randomized clinical trial was conducted on 70 newly diagnosed dyslipidemic patients with BMI ≥ 25 and blood pressure ≥130/80 at outpatient clinic of medical unit-1 of sheikh medical college /hospital Rahim Yar Khan. They were divided in to three groups each containing 35 patients; First group served as a healthy control while second and third study groups were given tablet sitagliptin 50mg and tab metformin 850mg respectively twice a day for twelve weeks. After three months treatment with sitagliptin and metformin there was significant reduction in body weight (Sitagliptin 6.5% vs Metformin 7.65%) and BMI (Sitagliptin 2.2% vs Metformin 2.8%) with p ≤0.05. Metformin caused a significant reduction in blood pressure with p ≤0.05 (i.e. SBP 9.9% & DBP 6.4%) while sitagliptin caused a highly significant p ≤0.01 reduction in blood pressure (i.e. SBP 15.8% & DBP 12.2%). There was significant improvement in lipid profile with sitagliptin p≤0.05. The percent reduction in value of TC, TG and LDL-C was 20.2%, 13.8% and 23.7% while HDL-C value was increased 11.2% respectively. There was highly significant improvement in lipid profile with metformin p≤0.01. The percent reduction in value of TC, TG and LDL-C was 27.8%, 28.2% and 40.4% while HDL-C value was increased 16.8% respectively. Both drugs improve cardiometabolic risk factors independently in non-diabetic patients

Quercetin inhibits human sperm functions by reducing sperm [Ca2+]i and tyrosine phosphorylation

Wed, 16 Nov 2016 00:00:00 GMT

Title: Quercetin inhibits human sperm functions by reducing sperm [Ca2+]i and tyrosine phosphorylation Authors: Liang, Xiaolei; Xia, Zhili; Yan, Jiexi; Wang, Yiqing; Xue, Shilong; Zhang, Xuehong Abstract: Quercetin is widely known as potent natural antioxidant and scavenger of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide both in vitro and in vivo. Quercetin has a wide range of biological functions and health-promoting effects. There are more and more interests in the addition of this flavonol to various traditional food products. However, the in vitro toxicity of quercetin to mature human sperm remains unknown. In this study, we investigated the in vitro effects of quercetin on human sperm functions. The results showed that the total sperm motility were significantly inhibited compared to the controls following exposure to 100, 200 and 400µM quercetin for 6 and 12h; quercetin did not affect human sperm viability. The acrosome reaction and capacitation induced by progesterone were dose-dependently inhibited by quercetin. Furthermore, quercetin induced a significantly decrease of human sperm [Ca2+]i after 2 min above 50 µM, and dose-dependently decreased the protein-tyrosine phosphorylation of human sperm. Our results indicated that quercetin may decrease sperm [Ca2+]i, suppresse tyrosine phosphorylation, and subsequently inhibit sperm functions.