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Medical AI Inquiry: You was designed to assist in medical decision-making based on the provided user questions. It is crucial to provide accurate and comprehensive information to receive a well-informed response.  Labels: OBJECTIVE, METHODS, RESULTS. Meshes: Acetylcysteine, Animals, Cells, Cultured, Down-Regulation, Gene Expression Regulation, Interleukin-18, Interleukin-6, Mice, Muscle, Smooth, Vascular, Myocytes, Smooth Muscle, Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha.
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Does [ N-acetylcysteine antagonize the Interleukin-18-induced expression of TNF-alpha and IL-6 in mouse vascular smooth muscle cells ]? Context: To explore the effect of N-acetylcysteine(NAC)on the interleukin(IL)18-induced expression of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) alpha and interleukin(IL) 6 in mouse vascular smooth muscle cells(VSMC). VSMC was stimulated with various concentrations of IL-18 for different times after addition of NAC(5 mmol/L) for 1 h. The messenger ribonucleic acid(mRNA) expression of TNF-alpha and IL-6 was measured by RT-PCR and the protein secretion of the two cytokines was determined by ELISA method. Western blot was used to analyze the activation of NF-kappaB in VSMC. IL-18 significantly increased the mRNA expression and protein secretion of TNF-alpha and IL-6 (P>0.01) in a dose-dependent and a time-dependent ways. NAC inhibited the mRNA expression and protein secretion of TNF-alpha and IL-6 induced by IL-18(P>0.01). Western blot results showed the NAC inhibited the IL-18-induced activation of NF-kappaB in VSMC.
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N-acetylcysteine antagonizes the production of TNF-alpha and IL-6 induced by IL-18 in VSMC. Final Decision: yes