Animals ; Cytokines ; physiology ; Humans ; Immune System ; drug effects ; physiology ; Melatonin ; pharmacology ; Opioid Peptides ; physiology ; Receptors, Melatonin ; physiology ; Stress, Physiological ; immunology ; T-Lymphocytes ; drug effects ; physiology

Objective To investigate the expression and significance of Maspin and IKKα in nasosinusoidal mucosa of rats with fungal rhinosinusitis (FRS).Methods A total of 40 SD rats were used to establish the FRS model, and randomly divided into nasal obstruction group, FRS group, immunosuppressive group and invasive FRS group, 10 rats in each group.Another 10 normal rats were used as control group.Mice in the control group were fed with normal diet.In the nasal obstruction group, the mice had only hemostatic cotton stuffed in the nasal cavity and injection of 0.9% NaCl in the abdominal and nasal cavities.In the FRS group, the mice were injected Aspergillus fumigatus spore suspension into the nasal cavity and 0.9% NaCl i.p.The mice of the immunosuppressive group were given cyclophosphamide i.p.and 0.9% NaCl injection into the nasal cavity.The invasive FRS group was injected with cyclophosphamide i.p.and Aspergillus fumigatus spore suspension into the nasal cavity.The serum levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).The expression of Maspin and IKKα in nasosinusoidal mucosa was detected by immunohistochemical staining.The expression of Maspin mRNA and IKKα mRNA in the nasosinusoidal mucosa was detected by fluorescence quantitative PCR.Results The serum levels of IL-6 and TNF-α in different groups were significantly different (P< 0.05).The level of IL-6 in the FRS group was (69.3 ± 10.9) ng/L, significantly higher than those in the control group, nasal obstruction group, immunosuppressive group and invasive FRS group [(45.2 ± 7.1)ng/L, (46.4 ± 6.7) ng/L, (21.3 ± 4.5) ng/L, and (20.9 ± 4.3 ng/L)] (P < 0.05).The level of TNF-α in the FRS group was (30.4 ± 4.8) ng/L, significantly higher than those in the control group, nasal obstruction group, immunosuppressive group and invasive FRS group [(14.8 ± 2.7) ng/L, (13.9 ± 1.4) ng/L, (7.9 ± 0.6) ng/L, and (7.8 ± 0.4 ng/L)] (P < 0.05).The levels of IL-6 and TNF-α in the control group were significantly higher than those in the immunosuppressive group and invasive FRS group (P< 0.05).There was no significant difference between the immunosuppressive group and the invasive group (P> 0.05).Theresult of immunohistochemical staining showed that the protein expression of Maspin in the FRS group and invasive FRS group was significantly lower than that in the control group, nasal obstruction group and immunosuppressive group, while the expression of IKKα protein was significantly higher than that of control group, nasal obstruction group and immunosuppressive group (P< 0.05).The protein expression of Maspin in the invasive FRS group was significantly lower than that in the FRS group, by contrast, the expression of IKKα protein was significantly higher (P< 0.05).The PCRresult revealed that the expression levels of Maspin and IKKα mRNA were (0.217 ± 0.013) and (0.193 ± 0.012), significantly lower than that in the control, obstruction and immunosuppressive groups [(0.309 ± 0.021), (0.302 ± 0.017), and (0.293 ± 0.02)] (P< 0.05), while the expressions level of IKKα mRNA were significantly higher [(0.319 ± 0.043), (0.384 ± 0.048) vs (0.169 ± 0.015), (0.171 ± 0.018), and (0.175 ± 0.019)] (P< 0.05).Conclusions Down-regulation of Maspin expression after IKKα activation is the main cause of the onset of FRS, which may also be one of the mechanisms of invasive FRS.

OBJECTIVE:To establish a method for content determination of phosphatidylcholine in eustachian tube lavage fluid of patients with secretory otitis media. METHODS:HPLC was used. The samples were pretreated by liquid-liquid extraction. It was performed on the column of Hypersil CN with mobile phase of acetoneitril-methanol-phosphoric acid (100∶10∶0.6,V/V/V)at the flow rate of 1.8 ml/min,the detection wavelength was 205 nm,temperature was 30 ℃ and volume was 20 μl. RESULTS:The lin-ear range of phosphatidylcholine was 11.99-119.9 μg/ml(r=0.999 6);RSDs of precision tests of intra-day and inter-day were no more than 15%;average recovery was 97.54%(RSD=9.36%,n=9);the average content of phosphatidylcholine in eustachian tube lavage fluid of patients was(24.43±3.61)μg/ml. CONCLUSIONS:The method is simple and accurate,and can be used for the content determination of phosphatidylcholine in eustachian tube lavage fluid of patients with secretory otitis media.

The mechanisms of immunosuppression of TWH were studied. The results indicated that TWH was able to reduce the antibody forming cells of splenocytes in mice and to suppress directly the proliferation of B cells to lipopolysaceharide ( LPS ) and to decrease the production of IL-2. Furthermore, TWH was able to produce immu-nosuppressive effect by activiting Ts cells.

Objective To study the effects of neferine on the expression of glutathione S-transferase-pi in vitro and to explore the multi-drug resistance reversing mechanism of neferine.Methods 50% inhibition concentration(IC_(50)) of ADM on K562/A02 was determined by MTT method.The transcription of GST-? gene was detected by semi-quantitative RT-PCR and the expression level of GST-? was determined by Western blot after neferine treatment.Results Neferine remarkably enhanced chemosensitivity to ADM of K562/A02 cells.After neferine treatment in day 1,day 3 and day 5,the relative efficiency of K562/A02 to ADM was 9.6%,41.4% and 10.7%,respectively.Semi-quantitative RT-PCR showed that mRNA transcription of GST-? gene was significantly reduced(P

Objective To evaluate the biocompatibility between bone morphogenetic protein(BMP) composition and bone marrow stem cell (BMSc).Methods Microspheres were prepared with chitosan and sodium alginate, and BMP was enwrapped in the microspheres. The biocompatibility of the composition was examined using cell-culturing method. The BMSc was cultured in combination with microspheres. The extending speed of the cells, the proliferation and alkaline phosphatase activity were tested.Results There were no inhibition on cellular proliferation of BMSc when it was cultured in combination with microspheres in vitro, but ALP activity increased significantly.Conclusion BMP microspheres possessed satisfactory biocompatibility, and could increase the osteogenic capability of BMSc in vitro.

Objective To investigate the effects of neferine on the proliferation and the P-glycoprotein(P-gp) expression of refractory/relapsed acute leukemic cells and to provide experimental evidence for further clinical use. Methods MTT and immunocytochemistry SABC methods were used respectively to observe the alteration of the proliferation and the expression of P-gp in refractory/relapsed acute leukemic cells after treating with neferine. Results The inhibition ratio on acute leukemic cells of neferine adding adriamycin(ADM) group was significantly higher than that of ADM group (P0.05). Conclusion [WTBZ]Neferine can inhibit the proliferation of refractory/relapsed acute leukemic cells, and reduce the P-gp expression of refractory/relapsed acute leukemic cells and consequently reverse multidrug resistance(MDR).

Objective: To study the mechanism of effect of total flavone of rhizoma drynariae in groups with different dosage on osteoblasts cultured in vitro. Methods: To culture osteoblasts with UMA-106-01 osteoblast strain and to observe the activity of ALP and the endosmosis of 3H-TdR. Results: The total flavone of rhizoma drynariae increased the activity of ALP in cells cultured with UMR-106-01 strain. The ALP activities correspondingly changed in the 24h, 48h and 72h, which related to dosage effect and time effect. Among them, the activity in the 48h is the most ideal one. And the amount of endosmosis of the total flavone of rhizoma drynariae to 3H-TdR increased more remarkably in the 48h than that in the 24h and it also related to the time effect. Conclusion: The total flavone of rhizoma drynariae can promote the differentiation and multiplication of osteoblasts.

Vitamin D participates in a variety of biological processes. 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25-(OH)2D]is the active form of vitamin D. Besides its classical role in bone and calcium homeostasis, 1,25-(OH)2D has many non-classical functions such as regulating proliferation and differentiation of cells in various tissues, including tumor cells as well. However, the role of 1,25-(OH)2D in thyroid cancer is not clear yet. There are three integral components of the vitamin D pathway in thyroid cells. These components are the vitamin D receptor, 1α-hydroxylase (CYP27B1), and 24-hydroxylase (CYP24A1). Differences in the expression levels of these components in normal thyroid tissue and thyroid cancer tissue may offer clues and lay the foundation for study of the inhibitory function in the pathogenesis of thyroid cancer.This review focuses on the insights gained in the elucidation of the role of 1,25-(OH)2D pathway in thyroid cancer, one of the most common endocrine malignancies.