Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0729233 (Thoracic)
 6,478 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptides (PACAP27 and PACAP38) are members of the VIP/secretin/glucagon family of peptides and have diverse neuroregulatory effects in sympathoadrenal cell development and function. PACAP peptides regulate rat superior cervical ganglion (SCG) neuron catecholamine and neuropeptide Y content and secretion, and promote sympathoneuroblast survival through activation of specific PACAP1 receptor isoforms. In examining the potential sources of PACAP regulating the SCG, PACAP expression was identified in rat preganglionic neurons in the intermediolateral cell column (IML) of the thoracic spinal cord which provide primary afferent projections to this sympathetic ganglion. Thoracic spinal cord segments (T1-4) contained approximately 17 pmol PACAP38 immunoreactivity/g tissue wet weight. Reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction of cDNA from microdissected thoracic spinal cord using primers specific for rat neuronal proPACAP identified proPACAP mRNA expression in the IML; the results correlated with neurons labeled for proPACAP mRNA by in situ hybridization histochemistry and implicated PACAP biosynthesis in IML neurons. To demonstrate directly proPACAP transcript expression in preganglionic projection neurons to the SCG, the ganglion was decentralized and the sympathetic trunk immersed in fluorogold to identify sympathetic preganglionic neurons by retrograde labeling. Cryosections of spinal cord segments containing preganglionic neuron fluorogold labeled neurons were processed subsequently for in situ hybridization histochemical localization of proPACAP mRNA using a digoxigenin-labeled riboprobe; IML neurons were examined for fluorogold and digoxigenin/alkaline phosphatase product dual labeling. More than half of the preganglionic projection neurons to the SCG expressed PACAP mRNA, consistent with the postulate that PACAP peptides released from a subpopulation of thoracic IML preganglionic neurons may be physiological anterograde modulators of sympathetic SCG function.
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PMID:Pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP) expression in sympathetic preganglionic projection neurons to the superior cervical ganglion. 973 69

Thoracic radiotherapy is a mainstay of the treatment for lung, esophageal, and breast cancers. Radiation-induced pulmonary injury (RIPI) is a common side effect of thoracic radiotherapy, which may limit the radiotherapy dose and compromise the treatment results. However, the current strategies for RIPI are not satisfactory and may induce other side effects. Chinese medicines (CMs) have been used for more than a thousand years to treat a wide range of diseases, including lung disorders. In this review, we screened the literature from 2007 to 2017 in different online databases, including China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chongqing VIP, Wanfang, and PubMed; summarized the effectiveness of CMs in preventing and treating RIPI; explored the most frequently used drugs; and aimed to provide insights into potential CMs for RIPI. Altogether, CMs attenuated the risk of RIPI with an occurrence rate of 11.37% vs. 27.78% (P < 0.001) compared with the control groups. We also found that CMs (alone and combined with Western medical treatment) for treating RIPI exerted a higher efficacy rate than that of the control groups (78.33% vs. 28.09%, P < 0.001). In the screened literature, 38 CMs were used for the prevention and treatment of RIPI. The top five most frequently used CMs were Astragali Radix (with a frequency of 8.47%), Ophiopogonis Radix (with a frequency of 6.78%), Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizome (with a frequency of 5.08%), Paeoniae Radix Rubra (with a frequency of 5.08%), and Prunellae Spica (with a frequency of 5.08%). However, further high-quality investigations in CM source, pharmacological effects and underlying mechanisms, toxicological aspects, and ethical issues are warranted. Taken together, CMs might have a potential role in RIPI prevention and treatment and still have a long way to investigate.
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PMID:Chinese Medicines for Preventing and Treating Radiation-Induced Pulmonary Injury: Still a Long Way to Go. 3161 88