Animals ; Diet ; Female ; Follicle Stimulating Hormone ; blood ; Glucose ; metabolism ; Gonadal Steroid Hormones ; blood ; Hemorheology ; Lipid Metabolism ; physiology ; Luteinizing Hormone ; blood ; Progesterone ; blood ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Temperature

Animals ; Blood Glucose ; metabolism ; Body Weight ; Diet ; Female ; Lipids ; blood ; Male ; Oxidation-Reduction ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Temperature

Objective: To study the health effects of selenium tea on cardiovascular system. Methods : Four groups of Wistar rats were fed standard diet and water, standard diet and selenium tea , high fat diet and water ,high fat diet and selenium tea respectively. Twelve weeks later, the plasma apoA , apoB, body weight, whole blood viscosity , plasma viscosity , and hematorcrit were determined while plasma fibrinogen and inhibition of erythrocyte aggregation were calculated. Results: At the end of the experiment ,the plasma apoA level of selenium tea groups was significantly higher than that of control group, while the ratio of apoB/apoA was significantly lower than that of control group. Selenium tea decreased the whole blood viscosity, plasma viscosity and inhibited erythrocyte aggregation and body weight. Conclusion: Selenium tea could significantly improve the lipoprotein metabolism and hermorrheology and decrease body weight of the rats fed high fat diet.

Aims: VraSR and GraSR were shown to be important in conferring intermediate vancomycin resistance in VISA. Nevertheless, the exact mechanism modulated by these systems leading to the development of VISA remains unclear. We employed a proteomic approach to determine the VraS and GraR regulons and subsequently derive the possible vancomycin resistance regulatory pathway(s) in the Mu50 lineage of Staphylococcus aureus. Methodology and results: Staphylococcus aureus strains Mu50Ω, Mu50Ω-vraSm and Mu50Ω-vraSm-graRm are isogenic strains with ascending levels of vancomycin resistance. Total proteins were extracted from the 3 strains and trypsin digested prior to protein isolation and identification by LC-ESI MS/MS and PLGS 2.4. Expression profiles of resulting proteins were analyzed using Progenesis LC/MS software. Differential expression profiles revealed 3 regulons, each controlled by VraS (Mu50Ω-vraSm vs Mu50Ω), GraR (Mu50Ω-vraSm-graRm vs Mu50Ω-vraSm) and VraS-GraR (Mu50Ω-vraSm-graRm vs Mu50Ω), respectively. The regulon down-regulated by VraS in Mu50Ω-vraSm were proteins associated with virulence (MgrA, Rot, and SarA), while GraR up-regulated resistance-associated proteins (TpiA, ArcB and IsaA) in Mu50Ω-vraSm-graRm. The VraS-GraR regulon mediated both up-regulation of resistance-associated proteins (ArgF, ArcB, VraR and SerS) and down-regulation of virulence-associated protein GapB. Conclusion, significance and impact of study: Down-regulation of virulence- in concert with up-regulation of resistance-associated proteins appears to be integral for development of intermediate-vancomycin resistance in the Mu50 lineage of S. aureus.
Staphylococcus aureus

The event-related potential (ERP) is considered as one of the most effective methods to study and analyze objectively human mental activity based on nerve electrophysiology. At present, ERP is not only used in the study of lie detection, but also in the clinical medicine for the cognitive assessment on patients with cerebrovascular disease, dementia or traumatic brain injury and auxiliary diagnosis of mental illness. With the further development of ERP detection technology, it would have a wider application prospect in the field of forensic medicine.
Evoked Potentials/physiology* ; Forensic Medicine/trends* ; Humans

Objective: To genotypically characterize methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains isolated from medical and surgical wards in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC) in 2009. Methods: MRSA strains were collected and molecularly typed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Results:PFGE typing on 180 MRSA isolated in UKMMC identified 5 pulsotypes (A-E) and 6 singletons, where pulsotypes B and C were suspected to be divergent clones originating from a single ancestor. This study also showed that most MRSA strains were isolated from swab (119 isolates), followed by blood (22 isolates), tracheal aspirate (11 isolates) and sputum (10 isolates). On the other hand, urine and bone isolates were less, which were 4 and 1 isolates, respectively. The distribution of different pulsotypes of MRSA among wards suggested that MRSA was communicated in surgical and medical wards in UKMMC, with pulsotype B MRSA as the dominant strain. Besides, it was found that most deceased patients were infected by pulsotype B MRSA, however, no particular pulsotype could be associated with patient age, underlying disease, or ward of admittance. Conclusions: Five pulsotypes of MRSA and 6 singletons were identified, with pulsotype B MRSA as the endemic strains circulating in these wards, which is useful in establishment of preventive measures against MRSA transmission.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To evaluate the expression of CXC motif chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) in the tissues of patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma (hilar-CCA) and to investigate the cell proliferation and frequency of neural invasion (NI) influenced by RNAi-mediated CXCR4 silencing. METHODS: An immunohistochemical technique was used to detect the expression of CXCR4 in 41 clinical tissues, including hilar-CCA, cholangitis, and normal bile duct tissues. The effects of small interference RNA (siRNA)-mediated CXCR4 silencing were detected in the hilar-CCA cell line QBC939. Cell proliferation was determined by MTT. Expression of CXCR4 was monitored by quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analysis. The NI ability of hilar-CCA cells was evaluated using a perineural cell and hilar-CCA cell coculture migration assay. RESULTS: The expression of CXCR4 was significantly induced in clinical hilar-CCA tissue. There was a positive correlation between the expression of CXCR4 and lymph node metastasis/NI in hilar-CCA patients (p<0.05). Silencing of CXCR4 in tumor cell lines by siRNA led to significantly decreased NI (p<0.05) and slightly decreased cell proliferation. CONCLUSIONS: CXCR4 is likely correlated with clinical recurrence of hilar-CCA. CXCR4 is involved in the invasion and proliferation of human hilar-CCA cell line QBC939, indicating that CXCR4 could be a promising therapeutic target for hilar-CCA.
Aged ; Bile Duct Neoplasms/metabolism/*pathology ; Bile Ducts, Intrahepatic/metabolism/*pathology ; Case-Control Studies ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; Cholangiocarcinoma/metabolism/*pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Invasiveness ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local/metabolism/pathology ; RNA Interference/*physiology ; RNA, Small Interfering/metabolism ; Receptors, CXCR4/antagonists & inhibitors/*metabolism ; Tumor Cells, Cultured

In this study, we explored the mechanism of Huganning tablet (HGNP) in the treatment of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) based on network pharmacology and computer-aided drug design. Firstly, the potential ingredients and targets of HGNP were identified from TCMSP database, Swiss Target Prediction database, Chinese pharmacopoeia (2015) and literatures, and then the targets of HGNP intersected with NAFLD disease targets that obtained in GeneCards database to acquired potential targets. The bioconductor bioinformatics package of R software was used for gene ontology (GO) enrichment and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis. The network of “potential ingredient-key target-pathway” was formed in Cytoscape software to study the interactions between potential ingredients of HGNP, key targets, pathways and NAFLD. Based on the results of network pharmacology, the molecular docking analysis of the key targets and potential active ingredients in HGNP tablets with top degree in the network was conducted using Discovery Studio 2020 software, followed by molecular dynamics simulations, binding free energy calculation, drug-likeness properties analysis and ADMET (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and toxicity) properties prediction. In vitro, HepG2 cells were used to establish steatosis model, and the effects of five key compounds on hepatocyte steatosis were analyzed by oil red O staining and triglyceride (TG) content determination. The results showed that 141 ingredients and 151 potential targets were obtained. A total of 2 526 items and 151 pathways were identified by GO and KEGG enrichment analysis. The molecular docking suggested that five components, isorhamnetin, salvianolic acid B, emodin, resveratrol and rhein, exhibited strong binding ability with key targets [retinoic acid receptor RXR-alpha (RXRA), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta (GSK3B), serine/threonine-protein kinase 1 (AKT1)]. It was further verified that isorhamnetin and salvianolic acid B bind to key targets with good structural stability and binding affinity based on molecular dynamics simulations and binding free energy calculations. The drug-likeness properties, pharmacokinetic properties and toxicity of five key compounds were more comprehensively analyzed through drug-likeness properties analysis and ADMET properties prediction. In vitro, all five compounds, isorhamnetin, salvianolic acid B, emodin, resveratrol, and rhein, improved hepatocyte steatosis of HepG2 cells, confirming the reliability of the present study. In conclusion, based on network pharmacology, computer-aided drug design and in vitro validation, this study investigated the mechanism of HGNP for the treatment of NAFLD at multiple levels and provided a basis for its clinical application.

To develop a cell-penetrating chimeric apoptotic peptide AVPI-LMWP/DNA co-delivery system for cancer therapy, we prepared the AVPI-LMWP/pTRAIL self-assembled complexes containing a therapeutic combination of peptide drug AVPI and DNA drug TRAIL. The chimeric apoptotic peptide AVPI-LMWP was synthesized using the standard solid-phase synthesis. The cationic AVPI-LMWP could condense pTRAIL by electrostatic interaction. The physical-chemical properties of the AVPI-LMWP/pTRAIL complexes were characterized. The cellular uptake efficiency and the inhibitory activity of the AVPI-LMWP/pTRAIL complexes on tumor cell were also performed. The results showed that the AVPI-LMWP/pTRAIL complexes were successfully prepared by co-incubation. With the increase of mass ratio (AVPI-LMWP/DNA), the particle size was decreased and the zeta potential had few change. Agarose gel electrophoresis showed that AVPI-LMWP could fully bind and condense pTRAIL at a mass ratio above 15:1. Cellular uptake efficiency was improved along with the increased ratio of W(AVPI-LMWP)/WpTRAIL. The in vitro cytotoxicity experiments demonstrated that the AVPI-LMWP/pTRAIL (W:W = 20:1) complexes was significantly more effective than the pTRAIL, AVPI-LMWP alone or LMWP/pTRAIL complexes on inhibition of HeLa cell growth. Our studies indicated that the AVPI-LMWP/pTRAIL co-delivery system could deliver plasmid into HeLa cell and induce tumor cell apoptosis efficiently, which showed its potential in cancer therapy using combination of apoptoic peptide and gene drugs.
Antineoplastic Agents ; chemistry ; Cell-Penetrating Peptides ; chemistry ; DNA ; chemistry ; Drug Delivery Systems ; HeLa Cells ; Humans ; Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; Particle Size ; Plasmids

OBJECTIVETo genotypically characterize methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains isolated from medical and surgical wards in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC) in 2009.

METHODSMRSA strains were collected and molecularly typed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE).

RESULTSPFGE typing on 180 MRSA isolated in UKMMC identified 5 pulsotypes (A-E) and 6 singletons, where pulsotypes B and C were suspected to be divergent clones originating from a single ancestor. This study also showed that most MRSA strains were isolated from swab (119 isolates), followed by blood (22 isolates), tracheal aspirate (11 isolates) and sputum (10 isolates). On the other hand, urine and bone isolates were less, which were 4 and 1 isolates, respectively. The distribution of different pulsotypes of MRSA among wards suggested that MRSA was communicated in surgical and medical wards in UKMMC, with pulsotype B MRSA as the dominant strain. Besides, it was found that most deceased patients were infected by pulsotype B MRSA, however, no particular pulsotype could be associated with patient age, underlying disease, or ward of admittance.

CONCLUSIONSFive pulsotypes of MRSA and 6 singletons were identified, with pulsotype B MRSA as the endemic strains circulating in these wards, which is useful in establishment of preventive measures against MRSA transmission.

Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field ; Evolution, Molecular ; Hospitals ; Malaysia ; epidemiology ; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Staphylococcal Infections ; epidemiology ; microbiology