Objective To investigate the effect of resveratrol on alveolar epithelial sodium channel in acute lung injury mice and the potential mechanism.Methods Twenty-four C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into control group, LPS group, RES group and PP242(mTORC inhibitor) group with 6 mice in each group.The pathological changes in lung tissue were evaluated by HE staining;the concentrations of total protein in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were assessed by BCA (bicinchoninic acid).The levels of inflammatory cytokines in BALF were determined by ELISA.The proportions of polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN) in BALF were detected by Flow Cytometry.The transcription levels of α-ENaC mRNA were assessed by qPCR while the protein levels of α-ENaC and p-GSK1 were measured by Western blot.Results 1)Compared with mice in control group, severe pathological lung injury changes were observed in mice of LPS group, with increased total protein levels, PMN proportions,levels of inflammatory cytokines in BALF (P<0.05), accompanied by down-regulated level of α-ENaC and p-SGK1 in lung tissues (P<0.05).2)Compared with mice in LPS group, resveratrol significantly reversed lung injury triggered by LPS, decreased total protein levels, PMN proportions, levels of inflammatory cytokines in BALF (P<0.05), with down-regulated levels of α-ENaC and p-SGK1 in lung tissues (P<0.05).3)However, PP242 prevented beneficial effects of RES on ALI.Conclusions Up-regulation of α-ENaC expression via activation of SGK1 takes part in the protective effects of RES on LPS-induced ALI in mice.

The comorbidity of pain and depression is common. Both disorders might share common neuroanatomical and molecu-lar mechanisms. Recent studies have found that the brain-de-rived neurotrophic factor( BDNF) ,which plays an important role in the process of pain-depression comorbidity, has gradually be-come a hot topic and target of treatment. The article mainly sum-marizes the mechanism underlying comorbid pain and depres-sion,as well as the significance of blood BDNF in diagnosis and treatment of pain and depression.

Objective To summerize the experience in diagnosis and surgical treatment for hilar cholangiocarcinoma in recent years.Methods 86 consecutive cases of hilar cholangiocarcinoma were surgically treated in this hospital from Jan. 1992 to Oct. 1998. Results The tumor resection rate was 37%(32/86) in this series. The postoperative morbidity and mortality rate were 47% and 7% respectively. The median survival time in palliative resection group was 16 months and the 1-year, 3- year, 5-year survival rate was 63%,21%,15% respectively. For curative resection,the median survival time was 19 months and the 1-year, 3- year, 5-year survival rate was 80%,35%,25% respectively( P =0 038). For drainage group, the median survival time was 5 months and the 1-year, 3- year, 5-year survival rate was 28%,8 4%,5% respectively.Conclusion Early diagnosis, improvement of patients′ general preoperative condition and the surgical expertise may help in increasing the curative resection rate and reducing postoperative morbidity and mortality rate, which are keys to prolong patients′ survival.

[ ABSTRACT] AIM:To investigate the effect of adipolin/CTRP12 in LPS-induced acute respiratory distress syn-drome (ARDS) and its potential regulation on alveolar epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) in mice.METHODS:C57BL/6J mice (n=40) were randomly divided into control group, LPS group, adipolin group and wortmannin (PI3K inhibitor) group with 10 mice in each group using random number table.The pathological changes of the lung tissues were evaluated by HE staining.The alveolar fluid clearance ( AFC) was measured by Evans blue-marked albumin, and the concentrations of total protein in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid ( BALF) were assessed by bicinchoninic acid ( BCA) method.In BALF, the levels of IL-1βand TNF-αwere determined by ELISA, and the activity of myeloperoxidase ( MPO) was detected by an MPO assay kit.The total cell counts and polymorphonuclear neutrophil ( PMN) counts in the BALF were analyzed by Gi-emsa staining.The mRNA levels of α-ENaC were assessed by qPCR, while the protein levels of α-ENaC and p-Akt were determined by Western blot.RESULTS: Compared with control group, the classic ARDS pathological changes were ob-served in the mice in LPS group, manifesting by severe pathological lung injury (P<0.05), increases in W/D weight rati-o, total protein levels, cell counts, MPO activitiy, and IL-1βand TNF-αlevels in the BALF, and decrease in AFC ( P<
0.05), accompanied by down-regulated levels of α-ENaC and p-Akt in the lung tissues (P<0.05).The deteriorating effects triggered by LPS were significantly reversed by administration of adipolin.However, PI3K inhibitor wortmannin can-celed the beneficial effects of adipolin on LPS-induced ARDS, as evidenced by aggravated lung injury, increased levels of W/D weight ratio, protein levels, cell counts, MPO activity, and IL-1βand TNF-αlevels in the BALF (P<0.05), and decreased levels of AFC,α-ENaC and p-Akt in the lung tissues.CONCLUSION:Adipolin protects against LPS-induced ARDS in the mice by up-regulatingα-ENaC and enhancing AFC via PI3K/Akt signal pathway.

The traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) theory of "treating heart and brain diseases with same methods (Nao Xin Tong Zhi: NXTZ)" has great significance to the treatment of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. It has been proven effective by a great deal of clinical researches. However, the underlying mechanism for this theory is still unclear. To provide insights into the potential mechanism of "NXTZ", this study attempts to deeply investigate the mechanism from two representative cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, coronary heart disease (CHD) and cerebral apoplexy. First, various data resources were integrated to obtain different types of biomedical entities including drugs, targets, pathways and diseases. Then, three different approaches including text mining, biological network and enrichment analysis were utilized to recognize the potential common features between CHD and cerebral apoplexy, and the corresponding functions of drugs which could treat both diseases, thus unveiling the mechanism of NXTZ.
Brain ; drug effects ; Coronary Artery Disease ; drug therapy ; genetics ; metabolism ; Databases, Bibliographic ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Heart ; drug effects ; Humans ; Stroke ; drug therapy ; genetics ; metabolism

Animals ; Cells, Cultured ; Electrophysiology ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred Strains ; Neurons ; physiology ; Potassium Channels ; physiology ; Spiral Ganglion ; physiology

Adult ; Altitude ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Female ; Humans ; Janus Kinase 2 ; genetics ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mutation ; Polycythemia ; diagnosis ; ethnology ; genetics

Huperzine A is a promising drug to treat Alzheimer's disease (AD). To date, its biosynthetic pathway is still unknown. Lysine decarboxylase (LDC) has been proposed to catalyze the first-step of the biosynthesis of huperzine A. To identify and characterize LDCs from Huperzia serrata, we isolated two LDC fragments (LDC1 and LDC2) from leaves of H. serrata by RT-PCR and then cloned them into pMD 19-T vector. Sequence analysis showed that LDC1 and LDC2 genes shared 95.3% identity and encoded the protein of 212 and 202 amino acid residues respectively. Thus, we ligated LDC genes into pET-32a(+) to obtain recombinant expressing vectors pET-32a(+)/LDC1 and pET-32a(+)/LDC2 respectively. We further introduced two expression vectors into Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) and cultured positive colonies of E. coli in liquid LB medium. After inducing for 4 hours with 260 μg/mL IPTG at 30 degrees C, soluble recombinant Trx-LDC1 and Trx-LDC2 were obtained and isolated for purification using a Ni-NTA affinity chromatography. We incubated purified recombinant proteins with L-lysine in the enzyme reaction buffer at 37 degrees C and then derived the reaction products using dansyl chloride. It was found that both Trx-LDC1 and Trx-LDC2 had decarboxylase activity, could convert L-lysine into cadaverine by way of thin layer chromatography assay. Further, bioinformatics analysis indicated that deduced LDC1 and LDC2 had different physicochemical properties, but similar secondary and three-dimensional structures.
Carboxy-Lyases ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Cloning, Molecular ; Escherichia coli ; metabolism ; Genetic Vectors ; Huperzia ; enzymology ; genetics ; Lysine ; metabolism ; Plant Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Recombinant Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics

Objective To further investigate the threshold value and the dose-effect relationship of infrasound on the rat pallium, and to observe the effects on the pallium's ultrastructure. Methods Rats were exposed to 16 Hz, 90 dB infrasound for 2 hours daily. With a transmission electron microscope, changes in the ultrastructure of the cortex of the rats' parietal lobes were observed 2 hours, 3 days and 7 days after the treatment. Results There were no changes in the ultrastructure of the pallium in rats which had been exposed for 7 days or 14 days. Denaturation appeared when the rats had been exposed for 21 days, 28 days or 35 days. Denaturation become more serious as the exposure time increased beyond 21 days. Denaturation and damage gradually returned to normal with time after exposure. Conclusion 16 Hz, 90 dB infrasound exposure over an extended time may cause denaturation and other changes in the ultrastructure of the pallium in rats. Such changes can return to normal with time.

Objective To obtain the comprehensive information of the normal peroneal nerve by high resolution ultrasonography.Methods The cross-sectional area was measured by observing the traveling law of peroneal nerve as well as its ultrasonographic features,choosing the polyline level of popliteal and the peroneal nerve around the fibular neck as measurement point.Results There was no significance on statistics in differences of the above-mentioned cross-sectional area.The overall mean of its peroneal nerve were (0.139 ± 0.043)cm2 and (0.114 ± 0.032)cm2 resectively; and its peroneal nerve among men seems a little bit wider than that among women,the old wider than the youth.It was positively correlated with height and weight(r =0.569,0.625,respectively,both P ＜0.05).Conclusions The high-resolution ultrasound can show the form and shape of the peroneal nerve,thus providing diagnostic criteria in quantity by measuring its normal cross-sectional area.