OBJECTIVE To investigate the current situation and epidemiological features of syphilis among inpatients in our hospital since 2003.METHODS This study was retrospective.The data were obtained from the inpatients′ files from Jan 2003 to May 2006,All patients with syphilis were analyzed with epidemiological methods.RESULTS Of the 127 586 inpatients screened for syphilis,740(0.58%) were positive,in which 13 were congenital syphilis,371 were latent syphilis and 356 were dominant syphilis.The yearly syphilis positive rate steadily increased,especially the proportion of latent syphilis,being higher among male(0.70%) than female(0.49%)(OR=1.47).The syphilis positive rate of the elder was higher than that of the younger.The syphilis occurred in all departments and all age groups.CONCLUSIONS There is a need for a routine syphilis screening among all inpatients in order to prevent the misdiagnosis of syphilis among them,especially for the latent syphilis.This could be benefit for the latent syphilis patients to get treatment earlier and minimize the spreading of syphilis.

Objective: To study the changes of andrographolides in the drying process of the extract of Andrographis paniculata Nees. Methods: HPLC method was applied to analyze andrographolide and 14 deoxy 11, 12 didehydroandrographolide in the process. Results: The content of andrographolide descended rapidly in the whole drying process, while the content of 14 deoxy 11, 12 didehydroandrographolide ascended at first 12 hours, declined in content was slowly to follow. Conclusion: Baking temperature is not the only main factor to stimulate the transformation of andrographolide and 14 deoxy 11, 12 didehydroandrographolide.

Objective To explore the dose-dependent and time-dependent effect of docetaxel on the expression of mammalian eukaryotic initiation factor 3 subunit A (eIF3a) in lung cancer cell line. Methods The human lung cancer cell line A549 was treated with gradient concentrations of docetaxel for different time. Real-time PCR and Western blot were used to detect mRNA and protein expression levels of eIF3a and α-tubulin, respectively. Results Docetaxel did not affect α-tubulin expression at either mRNA level or protein level. When A549 cells were treated with high concentration of docetaxel (30 μg/L), the expression level of eIF3a mRNA tended to increase in a time-dependent manner. Protein expression level of α-tubulin was not associated with eIF3a expression significantly in cells treated by docetaxel.Conclusion Docetaxel could slightly increase the expression of eIF3a mRNA, and eIF3a does not regulate the expression of α-tubulin in A549 cells treated by docetaxel.

Objective To construct the bait expression plasmid pGBKT7-GR of glucocorticoid receptor(GR)binding domain.Methods The fragments of GR binding domain was amplified by RT-PCR,and then was cloned into pMD18-T.After being verified by sequencing,it was subcloned into the bait expression vector pGBKT7.Then the bait vector pGBKT7-GR was transformed into AH109 yeast cells and the expression of the bait protein was analyzed by Western blot.Toxicity and self-activation of the bait protein were detected.Results GR binding domain was amplified and cloned into pMD18-T and pGBKT7 successfully.The bait vector was transformed into AH109 yeast cells successfully,without toxicity or self-activation.The expression of the bait protein was confirmed by Western blot.Conclusion The successful construction of bait expression vector of glucocorticoid receptor binding domain lays the foundation for constructing small molecule ligand yeast three-hybrid system.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of antiviral agents in treating of severe acute respiratory syndrome(SARS). METHODS Based on the particular data (including medical history,examiuations and treatments) of 1702 patients of with SARS which were offered by the Health Bureau of Guangdong Province,the inpact factors of death and the course of diseases of SARS were retrospectively analyzed with unifactorial and multifactors statistic analysis methods. RESULTS It did not show any signs that the death rate could be decreased by the six antiviral agents in common use,but vidarabine could help to shorten the course of disease(OR=1.399,P=0.025),while oseltamivir might be prolonged the course of disease(OR=0.708,P=0.000). CONCLUSIONS The data showed that the effect of the six antiviral agents for curing SARS is limited,and a new antiviral treatment for SARS should be explored further.

Objective:To investigate the distribution of aldose reductase (AR) C-106T genetic polymorphism in Chinese Han population and its association with the risk for essential hypertension (EH).Methods:The AR C-106T polymorphism was genotyped in 148 Chinese EH patients and 137controls by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP).The genotype distribution between groups was contrasted by x2- test and the degree of genetic association was evaluated by 95％ confidence interval (CI).Results:Frequency of the variant AR C-106T allele was 13.9％ (95％ CI:11.2％-16.6％) in the controls,which was significantly lower than that in the Japanese (18.4％ in 712 individuals,P=0.0063),the Australians (37.9％ in 240 individuals,P＜0.0001) and the Brazilians (34.7％ in 62individuals,P＜ 0.0001).The frequency ofAR C-106T allele was 11.7％ (95％ CI:7.9％-15.5％)in the EH patients.No significant difference in the allele frequency was observed between the EH patients and the controls (P=0.147).Conclusion:There is obvious racial difference in the distribution of AR C-106T polymorphism.The polymorphism is not associated with the risk for EH.

Aldose reductase is a member of aldehyde-keto reductase superfamily widely existing in the kidney, adrenal gland, lens, retina, nerve, heart, placenta, brain, skeletal muscle, testis, blood vessels, lung, liver, et al. It is a reduced nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH)-dependent enzyme catalyzing the reduction of various aldehydes and ketones to the corresponding alcohol. It is involved in many oxidative stress diseases, cell signal transduction and cell proliferation process as well as diabetes complications. In recent years, some progress has been made in research of the activity and gene regulation of aldose reductase and the relation with many common diseases.
Aldehyde Reductase ; antagonists & inhibitors ; metabolism ; physiology ; Animals ; Cell Proliferation ; Diabetes Complications ; drug therapy ; enzymology ; Enzyme Inhibitors ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Oxidative Stress ; Rhodanine ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Signal Transduction ; Thiazolidines ; therapeutic use

Hyperlipidemia is one of the most important risk factors for atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases. It is the main effect of lipid-lowering drugs to reduce the plasma low-density lipoprotein or to enhance high-density lipoprotein. Niemann-Pick C1 like 1 protein (NPC1L1), acyl-coenzyme A: cholesterol acyltransferases (ACAT), ATP binding cassette transporter G member 5 and member 8 (ABCG5/G8), microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP), monoacylglycerol acyltransferase, diacylglycerol acyltransferases (MAGT), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR), farnesoid X receptor (FXR), and proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) play key roles in the metabolism of lipid, which are regarded as the targets of anti-hyperlipidemia drugs and evidence for clinic choice of lipid-lowering drugs. These proteins are considered as breakthrough points for new lipid-lowering drug development.
Binding Sites ; Humans ; Hyperlipidemias ; drug therapy ; Hypolipidemic Agents ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Lipid Metabolism ; drug effects ; Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear ; drug effects

BACKGROUND: There is a growing recognition that the adipose tissue is an endocrine organ that secretes signaling molecules such as adiponectin and resistin. The peroxisome proliferator activated receptor γ (PPARγ) is expressed in high levels in the adipose tissue. Thiazolidinediones are selective PPARγ agonists with insulin-sensitizing properties. It has been postulated that thiazolidinediones such as rosiglitazone exert their pharmacodynamic effects in part through modulation of resistin (implicated in insulin resistance) and adiponectin (an insulin-sensitizing molecule) expression subsequent to activation of PPARγ. There are conflicting data, however, on the biological direction in which resistin expression is modulated by PPARγ agonists and whether an increase in adiponectin expression can occur in the face of an upregulation of resistin. METHODS: Using the murine 3T3-L1 adipocytes as a model, we evaluated the changes in resistin and adiponectin gene expression after vehicle, rosiglitazone (10 μmol/L, a PPARγ agonist), GW9662 (5 μmol/L, a selective PPARγ antagonist) or GW662 and rosiglitazone co-treatment.RESULTS: In comparison to vehicle treatment, rosiglitazone increased the average adiponectin and resistin mRNA expression by 1.66- and 1.55-fold, respectively (P＜0.05). Importantly, GW9662 also upregulated adiponectin expression (by 1.57-fold, P＜0.05) but did not influence resistin expression (P＞0.05). Co-treatment with rosiglitazone and GW9662 maintained the adiponectin upregulation (1.87-fold increase from vehicle, P＜0.05) while attenuating resistin upregulation (1.31-fold increase from vehicle, P＜0.05) induced by rosiglitazone alone (1.55-fold increase from vehicle, P＜0.05). CONCLUSION: This study presents new evidence that adiponectin transcript is upregulated with both a PPARγ agonist (rosiglitazone) and antagonist (GW9662), while GW9662 co-treatment does not block rosiglitazone-induced adiponectin upregulation. These data collectively suggest that biological mechanisms independent from PPARγ may underlie thiazolidinedione pharmacodynamics on adiponectin expression. Moreover, increased adiponectin expression by GW9662, in the absence of an upregulation of resistin expression, lends further support on the emerging clinical potential of PPARγ antagonists in treatment of insulin resistance. Decreased resistin expression may not be crucial for the insulin-sensitizing effect of rosiglitazone. These findings may serve as a foundation for future dose-ranging and time-course studies of thiazolidinedione pharmacodynamics on adipocytokine expression in human adipocytes.

Objective:To investigate the dynamic expression and spatial distribution of P2X7 receptor in pilocarpine-induced epileptic rat hippocampus.Methods:Status epilepticus (SE) model of rats was established by intraperitoneal injection with chloride lithium and pilocarpine.Rat brain tissue and hippocampus were collected at 1,3,7,14,28 days after SE.The protein expression of P2X7 receptor in rat hippocampus was detected by Western blot.The distribution of P2X7 receptor in hippocampal sub-region was analyzed by immunohistochemistry.Results:Bilateral forelimb clonus appeared at (33.9±12.3 min after intraperitoneal injection with pilocarpine.The protein expression of P2X7 receptor was increased at 1d after SE,while it was decreased gradually from 3 d to minimum at 7 d,then it was elevated continuously to 28 d.Among them,the expression of P2X7 receptor was increased significantly at 1,14 and 28 d post-SE (P＜0.05).Immunohistochemical staining showed that P2X7 receptor was detected in all areas.The expression pattern of P2X7 receptor in hippocampal DG and CA3 area was consistent with protein expression,but its expression in hippocampal CA1 area was not significantly changed after SE.Conclusion:The expression of P2X7 receptor in post-SE hippocampus is in a time-dependent manner and spatial specificity.P2X7 receptor might be involved in the development of chronic epilepsy.