Objective Apaf-1 is a key factor involved in activating the Caspase system in apoptosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the significance of Apaf-1 on the apoptosis process induced by chemotherapeutic agent. Methods We established Apaf-1 hyper- and hypo- expression system by transferred sense and anti-sense Apaf-1 cDNA into cultured AGS cell line. And meanwhile human cyt-c, Apaf-1, caspase-3, bax, and bcl-2 gene expressions were measured by RT-PCR method. Results Cyt-c, caspase-3, and bax gene expressions increased significantly after sense Apaf-1 transfection. On the contrary, anti-sense Apaf-1 transfer has minus effects on cyt-c, caspase-3, and bax gene expressions. No significant changes have been found on bcl-2 gene expression after transfection process.Conclusions Cyt-c pathway may play an important role in the apoptosis induced by chemotherapeutic drugs. The early expression of cyt-c and Apaf-1 may be the key procedure of cyt-c release from mitochondria and of caspases activation.

BACKGROUND: There are so many experimental and clinical researches on levels of nitrogen monoxide (NO) in serum and endothelins in plasma of patients with stroke; however, ratio and significance between them are still unclear.OBJECTIVE: To observe dynamic changes of levels of NO in serum and endothelins in plasma of patients with stroke.DESIGN: Case-controlled observation.SETTING: Neurological Department and Clinical Neurological Laboratory of the Second Hospital affiliated to Suzhou University.PARTICIPANTS: A total of 216 patients with acute cerebral infarction including 133 males and 83 females and 112 cases with cerebral hemorrhage including 68 males and 44 females were selected from Neurological Department of the Second Hospital affiliated to Suzhou University from September 1999 to December 2001. Another 106 subjects including 63males and 43 females were regarded as healthy control group.METHODS: Contents of NO in serum and endothelins in plasma were measured on 328 patients with stroke and 106 healthy subjects in the courses of 1-3 days, 1, 2, 4, 8 and 12 weeks with nitrate reductase and radio-immunity methods, respectively.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Contents of NO in serum and endothelins in plasma; ratio between NO in serum and endothelins in plasma (NO/endothelins).RESULTS: ① As compared with those in the control group, content of NO in serum of patients with cerebral infarction and cerebral hemorrhage was decreased and reached the lowest value during acute period (within 1-3 days), and then increased gradually and closed to the normal level at about 4 weeks. In addition, content of endothelins in plasma was increased obviously during acute period, reached the peak at 2 weeks, and then decreased gradually. The level was still high at stage of recovery and closed to normal value within 4-8 weeks. ② As compared with that in the control group, NO/endothelins was decreased in cerebral infarction group at the courses of 1-3 days (P ＜ 0.05), reached the lowest value at 1 week (P ＜ 0.001), and increased to the normal level at 2 weeks. Moreover,NO/endothelins was remarkably decreased in cerebral hemorrhage group at the courses of 1-3 days (P ＜ 0.001), reached the lowest value at 1week (P ＜ 0.001), and increased gradually. The changes of course were great and the level reached above normal value at 8 weeks. There was significant difference of dynamic changes of NO/endothelins between cerebral hemorrhage group and cerebral infarction group (P ＜ 0.05).CONCLUSION: NO and endothelins play an important role in onset and development of ischemic cerebrovascular disease and hemorrhagic cerebrovascular disease, and their contents are related to prognosis.

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of tulobuterol patch in the treatment of acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(AECOPD) in the elderly. Methods Totally 165 elderly patients with moderate to severe AECOPD were divided into trial group and control group randomly.83 patients of trial group were treated with tulobuterol patch,2 mg once a day,and fluticasone inhalation 250 μg twice a day; 82 patients of control group were treated with inhalation of salmeterol/fluticasone 250 μg/50 μg twice a day.Basic therapy was the same in two groups. Results After 10-14 days' treatment,forced expiratory volume in one second(FEV1),peak expiratory flow (PEF),6-min walking distance and symptom scores were ( 1.30 ± 0.31 ) L,(245.3 ± 56.1 ) L/min,(263.0±53.2)m,(33.2±12.1)scores in trial group,and (1.21±0.23)L,(213.9±58.4) L/min,(230.0±45.6)m,(37.8± 14.5) scores in control group,respectively.The lung function,6 minute walk distancc and symptom score were improved (t=2.120,3.521,4.279,2.212,all P＜0.05).The frequencies of rescue medication,waking-up suffocating at night and the days of hospital stay were deceased significantly in trial group as compared with control group[(2.5 ± 0.6) time/d,( 1.8 ± 0.5)time/week,(12.9±1.6)dvs.(2.90.8) time/d,(2.2±0.7) time/week,(14.1±1.8) d,t=3.610,4.219,4.524,all P＜0.05].The incidence of adverse reactions was not significant difference between two groups[8 cases(9.6％)vs.7 cases(8.5％),P＞0.05] and the adverse reactions were mild.Conclusions Tulobuterol patch is a newly formulated,effective and safe medication for the treatment of acute exacerbation of AECOPD.

Objective To explore the application of CO2 as an insufflation agent in patients under-going colonoscopy by comparing carbon dioxide(CO2 )and air.Methods Consecutive 681 patients who un-derwent conventional colonoscopy from January to May in 2014 at endoscopy center of our hospital were in-cluded.The patients were randomly divided into the air group and CO2 group.The gas flow,capacity,oper-ation time,PaCO2 and abdominal pain during and 20 min,40 min,1 h,2 h,12 h,24 h after colonoscopy were recorded.The safety and advantages of CO2 in the colonoscopy were analyzed.Results The intubation time of CO2 group was significantly shorter than that of air group (P <0.05),but there was no significant difference in endoscopy withdrawal time between the two groups (P >0.05).There was also no difference in air flow and the total volume between the two groups (P >0.05).PaCO2 of two groups were within the nor-mal range.PaCO2 during examination was significantly higher than that before and 20 minutes after examina-tion (P <0.05),but the PaCO2 between the two groups showed no significant difference (P >0.05).The abdominal pain scores during and 20 min,40 min,1 h,2 h after the examination of air group were signifi-cantly higher than those of CO2 group (P <0.05),but they were not 12h and 24h after the examination (P>0.05).Conclusion CO2 is safe and could reduce abdominal discomfort after colonoscopy,which is suit-able for clinical application.

Objective To study the preventive effects of rh ub arb and dexamethasone(DXM) on stress ulcer. Methods A total of 80 healthy SD rats were made into stress ulcer animal model with tend cold. They were randomly assigned into four groups, including normal control group(20) , DXM intervention group(20), rhubarb intervention group(20) and rhubarb & DXM i ntervention group(20).All of them were observed for the incidence of stress ulce r. Results The stress ulcer incidence were the same in DXM stress ulcer group and normal control group. The stress ulcer incidence in rhuba rb and DXM group was the lowest. Conclusion The DXM doesn't increase the incidence of stress ulcer, while the rhubarb with DXM does decreas e the incidence of stress ulcer.

Objective To test the pathogeny of Vibrio cholerae strains of the epidemic in Jinzhou of Hubei Province.Methods Traditional methods of biochemistry,immobihzation test,string test and typing of blood serum were used to test the 6 strains isolated.The virulence gene which was cholera enterotoxin (ct) was detected by PCR.The whole genome DNA finger print of confirmed strains was analyzed by pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) after digestion respectively with two enzymes Not Ⅰ and Sfi Ⅰ.The DNA fingerprints were analyzed for clusters.Results The 6 strains of Vibrio cholerae were all O139 by traditional laboratory tests;virulence gene was detected in all 6 strains.The banding pattern was the same in the two maps of PFGE.The results of cluster analysis showed that the similarity coefficient of the six strains was 100％.Conclusion The epidemic of Vibrio cholerae is caused by the same pathogenic bacterium which is O139.

Objective To investigate the correlation between the plasm homocysteine (Hcy) levels and cystathionine β synthase (CBS) T833C gene polymorphism in Xinjiang Kazakh with essential hypertension. Methods 239 Kazak patients with hypertension (hypertension group) and 206 with normotensive (control group) were selected for the study. Amplification Refractory Mutation System (ARMS) was used to analyze the polymorphism of CBS gene T833C, TT, TC and CC genotypes and the various sites of T, C allele frequencies in research group and the control group. Results Plasma of Hcy level was higher in the hypertensive group than those of control group, the difference was significant (P<0.05), and the individual plasma of Hcy with TC gene was higher than that with TT gene. The C allele frequencies was significantly higher in EH group than that in controls in Xinjiang Kazakh population, and the difference was significant (P<0.05). The risk of EH group in individuals carrying TC genetype was 2.39 times higher than in individuals carrying TT genetype (OR = 2.39, 95%CI:1.125 ~5.076, P = 0.02). Conclusion Elevated Hcy level may be a risk factor of Kazakhs hypertension in Xinjiang. The Cystathionine β synthase gene of T833C polymorphism may be associated with essential hypertension in Kazak people in Xinjiang.

Objective To study the expression of matrix metalloproteinase(MMP)-2,9 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase(TIMP)-1,2 protein in human endometrial carcinoma tissue and its relation to the invasion and metastasis of endometrial carcinoma. Methods Immunocytochemistry and zymography techniques were used to measure the MMP-2,MMP-9,TIMP-1,TIMP-2 protein levels and activities in endometrial carcinoma tissue of 37 patients and control group composed of 7 normal postmenstrual endometrial samples. Results The MMP-2,MMP-9,TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 proteins mainly expressed in endometrial carcinoma cells, glandular cells and endothelial cells. The strongly positive expression proportions of MMP-2,9 and TIMP-1 proteins in grade Ⅲ carcinoma cells were respectively 73%, 20% and 67%, which were higher than those in gradeⅡ (13%, 0, 27%) and gradeⅠ (0) ones ( P

AimTo study the effects of glipizide and met formin on the serum IGF-1,IGF-2 in patients with type Ⅱ diabetes mellitus; Methods The effect of glipizide(n ＝ 40) and metformin(n ＝ 25) on serum IGF-1, IGF-2 in patients with type Ⅱ diabetes mellitus were compared with self- controlled study. Results In metformin-treated patients ,there were not significantly changes in fasting IGF-1 and IGF-2 concentrations, In glipizide-treated patients, there were markedly increased IGF-1 concentrations(181.8+ 104.5) vs (209.0+ 88.2) ng· ml-1(P＜0.05) while serum IGF-2 was not change. There was a significant reduction of blood glucose in two groups at the end of treatment(both P＜0.01), but C-peptide level was markedly increased(P＜0.05) only in glipizide-treatedpatients.Conclusion The changes of IGF-1 is markedly different between metformin-treated and glipizide-treated patients with type Ⅱ diabetes mellitus.

Objective To investigate the effects of downstream regulatory element antagonist modulator (DREAM) on the expression of glutamate transporter-1 (GLT-1) in spinal cord in rats with bone cancer pain and morphine tolerance.Methods Sixty female healthy Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats weighing 200 ～230 g were randomly divided into tow groups,group Ⅰ cancer pain (CP,n =48) and group Ⅱ Sham (S,n =12).Cancer pain in each group was produced by inoculation of syngenetic Walker 256 rat mammary gland carcinoma cells (5 × 105) to left tibia.Pain threshold to mechanical stimulus was measured before (baseline) and after the surgical procedure.From 14 d to 18 d after the inoculation of carcinoma cells,36 rats from group CP received subcutaneous injection of morphine at 3 times per day with doses increasingly from 10 mg/kg initially to 20 mg/kg,30 mg/kg,40 mg/kg,and 60 mg/kg.Equal volume of normal saline was applied to the 12 rats left in group CP.On 19th day after the carcinoma cells inoculation once subcutaneous injection of morphine at 3mg/kg was performed in all rats in group CP.From the next day,the rats in group CP ever receiving injections of morphine for 5 days were randomized into thre subgroups,including subgroups morphine tolerance (MT,n =12),vehicle (V,n =12),and RNAi (R,n =12).They were injected intrathecally with 20 μl of normal saline (NS),10 μl vehicle plus 10 μ1 NS,and 10 μ1 of DREAM-shRNA plus l0 μ1 NS,respectively,once a day for 5 days.Focusing on the affected limb,mechanical pain threshold was measured one day before surgery (T0),and at day7 (T1),day 14 (T2),day 18 (T3),day 19 (T4),day21 d (T5),day 25 (T6),and day 28 (T7) after surgery.The animals were sacrificed at day 28 after the procedure.The lumbar 4 segments in rats were removed for detection of DREAM and GLT-1.Results The mechanical threshold was significantly decreased at T1 compared to the baseline in all groups,returned to the baseline at T2 ～ T7 in group S,at T4 in group CP,and at T2 in group MT,V,and R,but remained low at T5 ～T7 in group CP,and at T3 ～T7 in group MT,V,and R.Compared to that at T1,it was decreased at T2 ～T3 and T5 ～ T7 in group CP,at T4 ～ T7 in group MT and V,and at T4 ～ T5 in group R,going back to the baseline at T4 in group CP and at T2 in group MT,V and R,and increased at T6 ～ T7 in group R.Compared to that in group S,the mechanical threshold in group CP,MT,V and R was decreased,and lower at T2 in group CP and at T4 in group MT,V and R.Compared to that in group CP,the mechanical threshold was significantly higher at T2 ～ T3 but lower at T4 in group MT,V,and R,decreased at T5 in group R and at T5 ～ T7 in group MT and V.The mechanical threshold was increased at T6 ～ T7 in group R and higher than that in groups MT and V.The expression of DREAM,compared to that in group S,was down-regulated in other groups.Compared to group CP,increment was shown in groups MT and V,and decrease was exhibited in group R.It was cut down in group R compared to that in groups MT and V.Compared to group S,GLT-1 was decreased in other groups.It was down-regulated in groups MT,V and R compared to group CP.Conclusions DREAM is involved in the development of allodynia after morphine tolerance in rats with bone cancer pain.No evidence in this study supports a link between DREAM and GLT-l in spinal cord.