The effect of taurine on angiotensin II-induced hypertrophy of cultured neonatal rat heart cells (myocytes and nonmyocytes) was examined. Angiotensin II (1-100 nM) alone caused an increase in the rate of protein synthesis of myocytes without changing the rate of DNA synthesis and cell number. It mediated increases in DNA synthesis and cell number in nonmyocytes. Furthermore, at the lower concentration of 1 nM, it induced c-fos and c-jun expression in both cultured myocytes and nonmyocytes. Exposure of the cells to taurine (20 mM) in the absence of angiotensin II had no effect on either hyperplastic growth or immediate early response gene expression by the two types of cultured cardiac cells. However, myocytes pretreated for 24 h with 20 mM taurine exhibited reduced responsiveness to angiotensin II (1 nM), resulting in lower levels of angiotensin II-mediated stimulation in protein synthesis, and immediate early response gene expression was attenuated. Similarly, taurine treatment of nonmyocytes reduced the degree of hyperplastic growth (DNA synthesis and cell number) and immediate early response gene expression stimulated by angiotensin II. Finally, taurine partially prevented the increase in intracellular free calcium [Ca2+]i mediated by angiotensin II in cardiac cells. Our results indicate that taurine is an effective inhibitor of angiotensin II action.
CWI reduced pain on coughing after the day of surgery compared with single-injection TAP block when performed as part of multimodal analgesia in patients undergoing gynecologic laparotomy.
In patients that have undergone liver transplants, a postoperative reduction in the blood flow of the liver graft represents a critical complication. We recently encountered an interesting phenomenon; that is, we found that the rSO level of the liver graft, as measured by NIRS, drops in patients that subsequently require an emergency liver biopsy. An 8-month-old female and an 8-month-old male underwent living donor liver transplants for biliary atresia. In both cases, a reduction in rSO was detected before an emergency liver biopsy was required. As a result of biopsy examinations, both patients were diagnosed with acute graft rejection. NIRS might be useful for graft management during the postoperative period in pediatric patients that undergo liver transplantation. After a liver transplant, a reduction in the rSO of the graft might be indicative of the onset of vascular complications.
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