Objective To investigate pulmonary function of tidal respiration in late premature infants with non-mechanical ventilation treatment at corrected gestational age of full term. Methods A total of 26 late premature infants with non-mechanical ventilation treatment at corrected gestational age of full term were collected from Qingdao Women and Children′s Hospital between April and December 2013,and saved as the late premature infant group. Also, a total of 31 full term infants with hyperbilirubinemia or neonatal ABO hemolytic disease were recruited and treated as the full term group. Then the parameters of pulmonary func-tion of tidal respiration were compared between the two groups. The late premature infant group was equally allocated into extrauterine growth retardation and non-extrauterine growth retardation groups according to the increase in weight and the ratio of time to peak tidal expiratory flow and total expiratory time(TPEF/TE) and the ratio of expiratory volume at peak tidal expiratory flow and total expiratory volume( VPEF/VE) were respectively compared in these two groups. Another correlation analysis between body weight and TPEF/TE was carried out in the non-extrauterine growth retardation group. Results (1)Gestational age difference had no significant significance between late premature infant group and full term group ( P <0. 05 ) . The body weight[(2. 39 ± 0. 44)kg vs. (3. 21 ± 0. 43) kg] and height[(46. 51 ± 3. 22) cm vs. (50. 16 ± 2. 14) cm] in late premature infant group were still lag behind that in full term group and the difference had significant significance(P<0. 05,respectively). (2)The comparison of parameters of pulmonary function of tidal respi-ration:the TPEF/TE [ ( 41. 74 ± 10. 94 )% vs. ( 48. 17 ± 11. 79 )%] , VPEF/VE [ ( 42. 66 ± 9. 66 )% vs. (48. 31 ± 9. 94)%],VPEF[(8. 02 ± 2. 85) ml vs. (10. 23 ± 3. 56) ml] and minute ventilation[(0. 76 ± 0. 23) L/min vs. (1. 00 ± 0. 44) L/min] in late premature infant group were significantly lower than those in full term group(P<0. 05,respectively). (3)The TPEF/TE and VPEF/VE all had significant significance in both late premature infant group and full term group(late premature infant group:r=0. 958,P=0. 000; full term group:r=0. 950,P=0. 000). (4)The TPEF/TE and VPEF/VE in non-extrauterine growth retardation group were closer to those in full term group. The TPEF/TE and VPEF/VE in extrauterine growth retardation group were lower than those in non-extrauterine growth retardation group(t= -2. 775,-2. 109,P=0. 011, 0. 047). Conclusion Airway(especially small airway) resistance of late preterm infant group is higher than that of term infants. Extrauterine growth retardation influences the airway(especially small airway) resist-ance.

Objective To develop a quality standard for Dongfengju oral liq ui d (DOL). Methods Atalantia buxjfolia, Radix Scrophulariae, Fructus Aurantii in DOL was identified by TLC. Results The obtained TLC spots of Atalantia buxj folia, Radix Scrophulariae, Fructus Aurantii in DOL occurred at the correspond ing positions compared to the controls. Conclusion The method is proved to be simple, sensitive, precise and reproducible and can be used for the quality con trol of DOL.

BACKGROUND: Puerarin, the main effective component of Chinese herb, Radix puerariae, is isoflavone monomer, which can counteract learning and memory impairment induced by scopolamine or D-galactose etc.OBJECTIVE: To investigate the protective effects of puerarin on β-amYloid peptide-induced learning and memory impairment of model mouse of dementia and the changes of superoxide dismutase activity and malondialdhehyde content in brain and blood.DESIGN: Randomized controlled trailSETTING: Department of Pharmacology, Capital University of MedicalSciencesMATERIALS: The experiment was conducted in Departmentof Pharmacology of Capital University of Medical Sciences from March to June 2002.A total of 40 ICR mice were selected and randomly divided into 4 groups:pseudooperation group, dementia model group, puerarin 25 mg/kg group and puerarin 50 mg/kg group, with 10 in each group.METHODS: ①Model preparation: After anaesthesia with pentobarbital sodium, single intraventricular injection of 3 μL β-amyloid peptide was conducted from right side on each mouse in dementia model group, puerarin 25 mg/kg group and puerarin 50 mg/kg group under aseptic manipulation. The same operation was carried out on the mouse in pseudooperation group but without injection of β-amyloid peptide. ②Giving medicine:10 mL/kg physiological saline was intraperitoneally injected into the mouse in pseudooperation group and model group; 25 mL/kg puerarin was intraperitoneally injected to the mouse in 25 mg/kg puerarin group; 50 mL/kg puerarin was intraperitoneally injected to the mouse in 50 mg/kg puerarin group.The medicines were given to each group from the day of model preparation on and behavioral test was carried out 12 days later. ③ Morris water maze examination was used to detect learning and memory ability of the mice.Time for finding the platform (escape latency) in 2 minutes, swimming distance, original angle and search strategy were recorded as learning results.④When the above experiment was finished, anaesthesia with ether was applied to the mice and blood was collected from the orbit to prepare serum.After that, the mice were put to death by decapitation and the tissue of right-brain of the mice were rapidly took out to prepare cerebral homogenate in ice bath, then superoxide dismutase activity and malondialdhehyde content were determined in brain and serum.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: ①Escape latency, swimming distance,search strategy and original angle for the mouse in each group to reach the latform. ②Superoxide dismutase activity and malondialdhehyde content in brain and blood of the mouse in each group.RESULTS: All the 40 mice were involved in result analysis. ① Escape latency and swimming distance were shortened in puerarin 25 mg/kg and 50 mg/kg groups (P ＜ 0.05-0.01). The results of search strategy and original angle indicated that as the number of training days increased, the frequency of randomization+magin strategy gradually decreased; The decreasing rates and extents in pseudooperation group and puerarin 25 mg/kg and 50 mg/kg puerarin were more rapid than that in dementia model group,meanwhile, the increasing rates and extents of frequency of tendency+directness strategy in these groups were more rapid than that in dementia model group. There was no significant difference in original angle between groups (P ＞ 0.05). ② The content of superoxide dismutase increased and that of malondialdhehyde decreased in brain and blood of the model mouse in puerarin 25 mg/kg group andpuerarin 50mg/kg group (P ＜ 0.05 -0.01).CONCLUSION: Puerarin can counteract the neurotoxicity of β-amyloid peptide, which improves learning and memory of model mouse. It is not relevant to the dosage but probably related with elimination of cerebral free radical and improvement of antioxidation activity.

Aim To investigate the role of TGF-β3 in the anti-proliferation effect of ursolic acid(UA)in co-lon cancer cells and the possible molecular mechanism underlying this effect.Methods We introduced crys-tal violet staining,flow cytometry and Western blot as-say to determine the effect of UA on proliferation and apoptosis in HCT1 1 6 cells.The levels of TGF-β3, Smad2 /3 and β-catenin in HCT1 1 6 cell were evaluated by RT-PCR and Western blot.Finally,TGF-β3 inhibi-tor and recombinant adenovirus,and luciferase reporter assay were used to analyze the possible mechanism through which TGF-β3 mediated the anti-cancer effect of UA in HCT1 1 6 cells.Results UA inhibited the proliferation and induced apoptosis apparently in HCT1 1 6 cells.UA down-regulated TGF-β3 both in mRNA and in protein level.Meanwhile,UA decreased the phosphorylation of Smad2 /3 concentration depend-ently,although no significant effect was found on the total protein level of Smad2 /3 in HCT1 1 6 cells.Over-expression of TGF-β3 attenuated the inhibitory effect of UA on the proliferation of HCT1 1 6 cells,while the TGF-β3 inhibitor potentiated this effect. UA sup-pressed the transconduction of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in HCT1 1 6 cells through decreasing the level of β-catenin.Exogenous expression of TGF-β3 increased the level of β-catenin and partly reversed the UA-in-duced decrease of β-catenin.However,TGF-β3 inhib-itor potentiated the inhibitory effect of UA on β-catenin in HCT1 1 6 cells.Conclusion The anti-proliferation activity of UA in colon cancer may be partly mediated through down-regulating TGF-β3 to suppress Wnt/β-catenin signaling at least.

BACKGROUND:Subdermal contraceptive implants as a novel contraceptive method have been extensively used worldwide.OBJECTIVE:To review the research progress in the non-biodegradable and biodegradable long-term subdermal contraceptive implants and to explore their advantages and disadvantages.METHODS:A computer-based search of CNKI,Wanfang,and PubMed (1967-2015) was performed by the first author for relevant articles,using the key words of contraceptive implants,non-biodegradable,biodegradable in Chinese and English,respectively.Initially 240 articles were retrieved,and finally 70 articles were included in result analysis.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Long-term subdermal contraceptive implants that pass through the local capillaries into the blood circulation system can avoid the gastrointestinal absorption,improve the bioavailability of drugs,and reduce adverse drug reactions.According to the performance,there are two kinds of drug carriers,non-biodegradable and biodegradable.Although non-biodegradable implants have been widely used and the contraceptive effect is excellent,the implants must be removed surgically because they cannot be absorbed or metabolized in the body.Significant efforts have been devoted to developing biodegradable implants because they can degrade at the end of use.However,the utility of some biodegradable polymers as drug carriers in implantable applications has been hampered by their shortcomings,and further study on alternative materials is urgently required.

Objective To construct and validate a predictive model based on preoperative inflammatory biomarkers,and to evaluate its ability in predicting the prognosis of patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)after receiving transcatheter arterial chemoembolization(TACE).Methods A total of 544 patients with HCC,who received TACE as the initial treatment at six medical institutions between January 2007 and December 2020,were retrospectively collected.The patients were divided into training cohort(n=376)and validation cohort(n=168).LASSO algorithm and Cox regression analysis were used to screen out the independent influencing factors and to make modelling.The model was validated based on the discrimination,calibration and clinical applicability,and the Kaplan-Meier risk stratification curves were plotted to determine the prognostic differences between groups.The likelihood ratio chi-square value,R2 value,akaike information criterion(AIC)value,C-index and AUROC value of the model were calculated to determine its accuracy and efficiency.Results The training cohort and validation cohort had 376 participants and 168 participants respectively.Multivariate analysis indicated that BCLC,tumor size,number of tumor lesions,neutrophil and prognostic nutritional index(PNI)were the independent influencing factors for postoperative overall survival(OS),with all P being＜0.05;the BCLC grade,tumor size,number of tumor lesions,NLR,PNI and PS score were the independent influencing factors for progression-free survival(PFS),with all P being＜0.05.The C-indexes of the OS and PFS models were 0.735(95％ CI=0.708-0.762)and 0.736(95％ CI=0.711-0.761)respectively,and the external validation was 0.721(95％ CI=0.680-0.762)and 0.693(95％ CI=0.656-0.730)respectively.Ideal discrimination ability of the nomogram was exhibited in time-dependent C-index,time-dependent ROC,and time-dependent AUC.The calibration curves significantly coincided with the ideal standard lines,indicating that the model had high stability and low over-fitting level.Decision curve analysis revealed that there was a wider range of threshold probabilities and it could augment net benefits.The Kaplan-Meier curves for risk stratification indicated that the prognosis of patients varied dramatically between risk categories(P＜0.000 1).The Kaplan-Meier curves for risk stratification indicated that the prognosis of patients varied dramatically among different risk groups(P＜0.000 1).The likelihood ratio chi-square value,R2 value,AIC value,C-index and AUROC value of the model were better than those of other models commonly used in clinical practice.Conclusion The newly-developed prognostic nomogram based on preoperative inflammatory indicators has excellent accuracy as well as excellent prediction effect in predicting the prognosis of patients with unresectable HCC after receiving TACE,therefore,it can be used as an effective tool for guiding individualized treatment and for predicting prognosis.(J Intervent Radiol,2024,33:245-258)

Objective To explore the relationship between non-high density lipoprotein cholesterol(non-HDL-C)level and leptomeningeal collateral circulation in patients with acute middle cerebral artery occlusion.Methods A total of 85 patients with first-onset acute cerebral infarction with middle cerebral artery M1 segment occlusion were enrolled.According to the results of DSA,LMC circulation was assessed by American Society of Interventional and Therapeutic Neuroradiology/Society of Interventional Radiology Collateral Circulation Assess-ment System.All patients were assigned to better LMC circulation group(score 2～4,n = 30)and worse LMC circulation group(score 0～1,n = 55),and the levels of non-HDL-C were compared between the two groups.Results The levels of LDL-C and non-HDL-C in worse LMC circulation group were significantly higher than those of the better LMC circulation group(P = 0.026,P = 0.010).non-HDL-C was an independent risk factor for the worse LMC circulation(OR = 3.019,95%CI:1.053～8.658,P = 0.04).LMC circulatory score of patients was negatively correlated with the levels of non-HDL-C level(r =-0.228,P = 0.036).The AUC of non-HDL-C predicted for the worse LMC circulation was 0.638(95%CI:0.521～0.755,P = 0.036).Conclusions non-HDL-C in patients with acute cerebral infarction was significantly related to worse LMC circulation,and was a risk factor for worse LMC circulation.It is suggested that the higher expression of non-HDL-C could be used to predict worse LMC circulation as a serological indicator.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are expressed in different species and different tissues, and perform different functions, but little is known about their involvement in the synthesis or secretion of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). In general, we have revealed lncRNA‍‒‍microRNA (miRNA)‍‒‍‍messenger RNA (mRNA) interactions that may play important roles in rat primary pituitary cells. In this study, a new lncRNA was identified for the first time. First, we analyzed the gene expression of lncRNA-m18as1 in different tissues and different stages by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and observed the localization of lncRNA-m18as1 with fluorescence in situ hybridization, which indicated that this lncRNA was distributed mainly in the cytoplasm. Next, we used RT-qPCR and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to analyze the regulation of FSH synthesis and secretion after overexpression or knockdown of lncRNA-m18as1 and found that lncRNA-m18as1 was positively correlated with FSH synthesis and secretion. In addition, mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 2 (Smad2) was highly expressed in our sequencing results. We also screened miR-18a-5p from our sequencing results as a miRNA that may bind to lncRNA-m18as1 and Smad2. We used RNA immunoprecipitation-qPCR (RIP-qPCR) and/or dual luciferase assays to confirm that lncRNA-m18as1 interacted with miR-18a-5p and miR-18a-5p interacted with Smad2. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) showed that lncRNA-m18as1 and miR-18a-5p were localized mainly in the cytoplasm. Finally, we determined the relationship among lncRNA-m18as1, miR-18a-5p, and the Smad2/3 pathway. Overall, we found that lncRNA-m18as1 acts as a molecular sponge of miR-18a-5p to regulate the synthesis and secretion of FSH through the Smad2/3 pathway.
Animals ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; Follicle Stimulating Hormone/metabolism* ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence ; MicroRNAs/metabolism* ; RNA, Long Noncoding/metabolism* ; Rats