OBJECTIVES Cigarette smoking had been recorded as the main cause of impaired endothelium- dependent vasodilation in smokers by reducing nitric oxide (NO), a production of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS). However, the mechanism of NO impairment via eNOS activity is unclear until now. In this study, cell passage is suggested to be a relevant factor to eNOS expression under cigarette smok...

OBJECTIVES Cellular senescence is a state of irreversible growth arrest induced either by telomere shortening (replicative senescence) or stress. The bronchial epithelial cell is often injured by inhaled toxic substances, such as cigarette smoke. In the present study, we investigated whether exposure to cigarette smoke extract (CSE) induces senescence of bronchial epithelial cells; and Cordycep...

Vitamin E (VE) can effectively prevent occurrence of lung cancer caused by passive smoking in mice. However, whether VE prevents smoking-induced cytotoxicity remains unclear. In this study, a primary culture of embryonic lung cells (ELCs) was used to observe the cytotoxic effects of cigarette smoke extract (CSE), including its influence on cell survival, cell cycle, apoptosis, and DNA damage, a...

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVES In major orthopedic surgery of the lower limbs, continuous spinal anesthesia (CSA) and combined spinal epidural anesthesia (CSE) are safe and reliable anesthesia methods. In this prospective randomized clinical study, the blockading properties and side effects of CSA were compared with single interspace CSE, among patients scheduled for major hip or knee surgery. DESIGN...

PURPOSE We compared conventional spin-echo (CSE) with fast spin-echo (FSE) dual-echo MR images to determine which of these sequences was better able to depict spinal cord abnormalities in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). METHODS CSE and FSE dual-echo MR images were obtained in 37 patients with MS and in six healthy control subjects, all of whom were examined on a 1.0-T MR unit with a ph...

Dendritic cells (DC) are key regulators of immune responses. In the current study, we hypothesized that cigarette smoke-induced aberrance in DC function is an important mechanism by which smokers develop cancer, infection, and allergy--diseases common in smokers. We demonstrate that cigarette smoke extract (CSE) inhibits DC-mediated priming of T cells, specifically inhibiting the secretion of I...

Cigarette smoking is associated with impaired endothelium-dependent vasodilation and reduced nitric oxide (NO) in the exhaled air of smokers. To explore the mechanism for the impairment of NO-mediated vasodilation, we studied the effect of cigarette smoke extract (CSE) on NO synthase (eNOS) activity and content in pulmonary artery endothelial cells (PAEC). Incubation of PAEC with CSE resulted i...

This experiment studied the effect of Cordyceps sinensis extract (CSE) on mice aged by d-galactose and castrated rats to analyse its antiaging effect. Water maze and step-down type avoidance tests were used to examine the effect of CSE on learning and memory. CSE shortened escape latency, prolonged step-down latency and decreased the number of errors in mice aged by d-galactose. The effect of C...

AIMS Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a vasoactive gasotransmitter that is endogenously produced in the vasculature by the enzyme cystathionine γ-lyase (CSE). However, the importance of CSE activity and local H2S generation for ischaemic vascular remodelling remains completely unknown. In this study, we examine the hypothesis that CSE critically regulates ischaemic vascular remodelling involving H2S-d...

According to sociometer theory, self-esteem is an internal monitor of positive social bonds to others. Social exclusion can break or threaten social bonds, which might be reflected by the brain structure of social exclusion regions. Thus, self-esteem might be influenced by structurally individual differences in these regions. It has been suggested that self-esteem can be divided into personal (...