Massive loss of cardiac myocytes after myocardial infarction (MI) is a common cause of heart failure. The present study was designed to investigate the improvement of cardiac function in MI rats after embryonic stem (ES) cell transplantation. MI in rats was induced by ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery. Cultured ES cells used for cell transplantation were transfected with the marker green fluorescent protein (GFP). Animals in the treated group received intramyocardial injection of ES cells in injured myocardium. Compared with the MI control group injected with an equivalent volume of the cell-free medium, cardiac function in ES cell-implanted MI animals was significantly improved 6 wk after cell transplantation. The characteristic phenotype of engrafted ES cells was identified in implanted myocardium by strong positive staining to sarcomeric alpha-actin, cardiac alpha-myosin heavy chain, and troponin I. GFP-positive cells in myocardium sectioned from MI hearts confirmed the survival and differentiation of engrafted cells. In addition, single cells isolated from cell-transplanted MI hearts showed rod-shaped GFP-positive myocytes with typical striations. The present data demonstrate that ES cell transplantation is a feasible and novel approach to improve ventricular function in infarcted failing hearts.

Heavy metal contamination in herbal medicines is a global threat to human beings especially at levels above known threshold concentrations. The concentrations of five heavy metals cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), arsenic (As), mercury (Hg) and copper (Cu) were investigated using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) with 1773 samples around the world. According to Chinese Pharmacopoeia, 30.51% (541) samples were detected with at least one over-limit metal. The over-limit ratio for Pb was 5.75% (102), Cd at 4.96% (88), As at 4.17% (74), Hg at 3.78% (67), and of Cu, 1.75% (31). For exposure assessment, Pb, Cd, As, and Hg have resulted in higher than acceptable risks in 25 kinds of herbs. The maximal Estimated Daily Intake of Pb in seven herbs, of Cd in five, of Hg in four, and As in three exceeded their corresponding Provisional Tolerable Daily Intakes. In total 25 kinds of herbs present an unacceptable risk as assessed with the Hazard Quotient or Hazard Index. Additionally, the carcinogenic risks were all under acceptable limits. Notably, As posed the highest risk in all indicators including Estimated Daily Intake, Hazard Index, and carcinogenic risks. Therefore further study on enrichment effect of different states of As and special attention to monitoring shall be placed on As related contamination.

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