AIM:To determine intestinal permeability, the serum tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α level and urine nitric oxide (NO) metabolites are altered in liver cirrhosis (LC) with or without ascites. METHODS: Fifty-three patients with LC and 26 healthy control subjects were enrolled in the study. The intestinal permeability value is expressed as the percentage of polyethylene glycol (PEG) 400 and 3350 retrieval in 8-h urine samples as determined by high performance liquid chromatography. Serum TNF-α concentrations and urine NO metabolites were determined using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Greiss reaction method, respectively. RESULTS: The intestinal permeability index was significantly higher in patients with LC with ascites than in healthy control subjects or patients with LC without ascites (0.88 ± 0.12 vs 0.52 ± 0.05 or 0.53 ± 0.03, P < 0.05) and correlated with urine nitrite excretion (r = 0.98). Interestingly, the serum TNF-α concentration was significantly higher in LC without ascites than in control subjects or in LC with ascites (198.9 ± 55.8 pg/mL vs 40.9 ± 12.3 pg/mL or 32.1 ± 13.3 pg/mL, P < 0.05). Urine nitrite excretion was significantly higher in LC with ascites than in the control subjects or in LC without ascites (1170.9 ± 28.7 μmol/L vs 903.1 ± 55.1 μmol/L or 956.7 ± 47.7 μmol/L, P < 0.05). CONCLUSION:Increased intestinal macromolecular permeability and NO is probably of importance in the pathophysiology and progression of LC with ascites, but the serum TNF-α concentration was not related to LC with ascites.

Abstract.The abnormal accumulation and activation of the receptor tyrosine kinase, Recepteur d'Origine Nantais (RON), has been implicated in tumorigenesis and metastasis in epithelial tumors including gastric cancer. This study examined whether the sequence-specific small interfering RNA (siRNA) suppression of the RON expression could induce apoptotic cell death, and investigated the involved molecular mechanisms. Sequence-specific siRNA effectively suppressed the RON expression at both the mRNA and protein levels. Silencing of the RON expression significantly inhibited gastric cancer cell proliferation and induced apoptosis in a time-dependent manner. The induction of apoptosis was confirmed by the ladder-patterned DNA fragmentation, the presence of cleaved and condensed nuclear chromatin and the increased number of annexin V-positive cells. RONtargeted siRNA effectively inhibited the constitutive nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activation as revealed by an altered electrophoretic mobility shift. In agreement with this, silencing of the RON expression resulted in a decrease in the nuclear level of the p65 subunit of NF-κB. The transfection of siRNA, which blocked the RON expression, also caused a change in the ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 in a manner that favored apoptosis. The siRNA silencing of RON induced cytochrome c release and the activation of caspase-8 and caspase-9. These results indicate that RON-targeted siRNA could be therapeutically efficacious by inducing cell apoptosis through the modulation of the NF-κB and Bcl-2 family in gastric cancer cells.