Hemin Treatment Abrogates Monocrotaline-Induced Pulmonary Hypertension

Treatment of rats with monocrotaline (MCT), a pyrrolizidine alkaloid plant toxin, is known to cause pulmonary hypertension (PH), and it has been used as a useful experimental model of PH. Recent findings suggested that pulmonary inflammation may play a significant role in the pathogenesis of MCT-induced PH. We also demonstrated that, following MCT administration to rats, there was a significant and sustained increase in the pulmonary expression of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), which is known to be induced by various oxidative stresses, including inflammation and free heme, and is thought to be essential in the protection against oxidative tissue injuries. In this study, we administered hemin (ferriprotoporphyrin chloride, 30 mol/kg b.w., subcutaneously), a potent inducer of HO-1, every 3 days to rats following subcutaneous administration of MCT (60 mg/kg) and examined its effect on MCT-induced PH and pulmonary inflammation. MCT administration caused pulmonary arterial wall thickening with marked elevation of right ventricular pressure, in association with prominent pulmonary inflammation as revealed by the increase in gene expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and the number of infiltrated neutrophils in the lung. In contrast, hemin treatment of MCT-administered animals, which led to a further increase in pulmonary HO-1 mRNA expression, significantly ameliorated MCT-induced PH as well as tissue inflammation. These findings suggest that hemin treatment ameliorates MCT-induced PH possibly mediated through induction of pulmonary HO-1 which leads to the attenuation of pulmonary inflammation

Mesas de Trabajo de Aplicaciones: Salud

Se llevaron a cabo diversas mesas de trabajo en las que se abordaron diversos temas. En la mesa de Experiencias del Centro de Telemedicina Asiático se explicó las principales características del centro de trabajo y algunas de las actividades que ha realizado. La mesa de trabajo sobre el Uso de las TICs para el aprendizaje de la Medicina, expuso la incidencia de la Sociedad de la Información o Sociedad del Conocimiento en el campo de la medicina. Por su parte, la mesa de Uso de Interfaces Tangibles en la Enseñanza de Lectura a Niños con Síndrome de Down expuso la propuesta de un sistema tangible con Realidad Aumentada para apoyar la enseñanza de la lectura a niños con SD y por último, la mesa de Uso de Metadatos en Aplicaciones en el Área de Salud expuso la utilidad de la información y su aplicación y desarrollo en el área de la salud