For patients with liver cancer who are not sufficiently fit for surgical resection, radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is an effective and low risk treatment modality; however, the mechanism underlying this procedure is not fully understood. In the present study, a series of experiments were conducted, which demonstrated that RFA therapy stimulates innate antitumor immunity via directly enhancing natural killer (NK) cell cytotoxicity, thus achieving a favorable outcome for patients with liver tumors. It was determined that the percentage of NK cells within the peripheral blood of the rabbits in the RFA treatment groups were significantly higher, compared with the control groups. The levels of interferon-γ and tumor necrosis factor-α in NK cells were also significantly upregulated following thermal coagulation induced via RFA. In addition, RFA enhanced the NK cell receptor, NK group 2D (NKG2D), expression and NK cell antitumor cytotoxicity in hepatic cancer cells. The results indicated that the RFA treatment could effectively eliminate liver tumors via enhancing NK-mediated antitumor activity and NKG2D expression.

Puerarin, an active ingredient of , has a range of pharmacological effects and excellent pharmacodynamic properties. In the present study, the effect of puerarin on angiotensin II-induced aortic aneurysm formation and the potential underlying molecular mechanisms were examined. The results revealed that puerarin significantly suppressed the viability, and induced the apoptosis, of aneurysm-inducing cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, treatment with puerarin significantly suppressed the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) protein in aneurysm cells. Puerarin treatment significantly increased caspase-9 and -3 activity, induced the protein expression of phosphorylated (p)-Jun and inhibited the protein expression of activator protein 1 (AP-1) in aneurysm cells. It was also demonstrated that Puerarin significantly suppressed the reduced nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase activity in aneurysm cells. Therefore, it was demonstrated that puerarin on suppressed the cell growth of angiotensin II-induced aortic aneurysm formation by affecting the rate of apoptosis, the generation of ROS, MMP-2, AP-1 and p-Jun protein expression and NADPH oxidase.

Objective: This paper aims to discuss the protection of recombinant human erythropoietin (r-HuEPO) toward rats with reduced-size liver transplantation for fatty livers. Methods: A total of 48 SD male rats were selected and fed with a high-fat diet to develop fatty liver. Later, the rats were divided into sham-operated, blank control (reduced sized liver transplantation +normal saline), positive control (reduced sized liver transplantation+VES), and study (reduced sized liver transplantation+r-HuEPO) groups, with 12 rats for each group. At 1 and 3 d of intervention, 6 rats from each group were sacrificed to test total bilirubin (TB), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and aspartic transaminase (AST) levels in serum. Liver transplantation tissues were collected to test cell apoptosis and contents of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, superoxide dismutase (SOD), and malondialdehyde (MDA). The pathomorphism of liver transplantation tissues was observed 3 d after intervention. Results: Except for SOCD content, the TB, ALT, and AST levels in serum, as well as TNF-α and MDA contents of the blank control and sham-operated groups at 3 d, are significantly higher than those at 1 d (p<0.05). By contrast, the indices of the research group and positive control group at day 3 are significantly lower than those at day 1 (p<0.05), whereas the SOD content at day 3 is markedly higher than that at day 1 (p<0.05). Significant inter-group differences (p<0.05) were observed. Cell apoptosis values in the positive control, blank control, and sham-operated groups at day 3 were notably higher than that at day 1 (p<0.05), but cell apoptosis in the research team at day 3 was similar to that at day 1 (p>0.05). Significant inter-group differences (p<0.05) were observed. Several small fat droplets can be observed in the research team, whereas hepatic sinusoids and hepatic lobules were clear and accompanied with certain necrosis of liver cells. Conclusion: Through reduced-sized liver transplantation, r-HuEPO can significantly protect the liver functions of rats with fatty liver, relieve liver damage, and inhibit cell apoptosis, which may be related to the decreased TNF-α and MDA contents and increased SOD activity.