Hepatic myelopathy is one of special category changes of nervous system,which was secondary to the end-stage hepatic diseases and is a syndrome of myeleterosis.It usually occurred after portosystemic shunt surgery or collateral circulation of portosystemic vein.The prognosis of hepatic myelopathy is poor,and the progression of this disease is slow.Surgical approaches such as dissociation of colon and anastomosis of ileum and rectum aimed at reducing the absorption of toxic substance and thus to breakdown the blood ammonia and improve the symptoms of nervous system,but the effects are not satisfactory.The clinical data of 1 patient with hepatic myelopathy who received liver transplantation at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University in April 2012 were retrospectively analyzed.The clinical symptoms and physical signs were improved,and muscle strength was effectively recovered in the patient.Liver transplantation might be an effective method for the treatment of hepatic myelopathy.

Leaf senescence is considered as one of important factors to decrease ornamental values of foliage plants. In the attempt to study and understand the molecular mechanism of leaf senescence, a senescent leaf cDNA library of Coleus blumei was constructed and a small EST library was obtained. According to the sequence of an EST fragment with a cystathionine beta synthase (CBS) domain, a novel leaf senescenceassociated gene (SAG) full-length cDNA encoding a CBS-domain-containing protein, denoted Cbcbs, was rapidly cloned using a strategy of RACE combined with cDNA library. The full length of the Cbcbs gene was 859 bp long (accession No. EF076754) and contained a 609 bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding a 202amino acid protein. One stop codon (TAA) was found in 5' UTR and one possible polyadenylation signal,AATAAA, and a pentanucleotide motif, ATTTA, were found in 3' UTR. The CbCBS contained a predicted mitochondrial targeting peptide in the N-terminal region, two conserved and intact CBS domains, four casein kinase Ⅱ (CK Ⅱ) phosphorylation sites, three protein kinase c (PKC) phosphorylation sites and one tyrosine sulfation (TS) site. Sequence comparisons and phylogenetic analysis showed that CbCBS was a novel senescence or stress-associated protein. The prediction analysis of secondary structure and three dimensional structure of CbCBS suggested that the chief function of the protein was decided by the CBS domain pair. The expression pattern of Cbcbs in leaves was analyzed by RT-PCR. It was demonstrated that Cbcbs gene was a senescence-associated gene (SAG) and expressed in all leaf stages, young stage (Y) being the lowest and terminal senescence stage (S3) being the highest, and was upregulated along with the leaf senescence.Function analysis showed that the mature CbCBS maybe acts as a sensor of cellular energy status and directly or indirectly regulates cellular energy levels to increase ATP content in mitochondria during periods of metabolic stress of senescent leaves.

OBJECTIVETo establish a method for simultaneous determination of 54 elements in whole blood by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).

METHODSThe whole blood sample was digested with nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide in a water bath at 90°C, and then analyzed by ICP-MS with 0.1% ethanol as an matrix-matching agent.

RESULTSA good linear relationship was achieved when the concentrations of the 54 elements in whole blood were in the standard range (all r >0.999). The recovery rate of the sample plus the standard was between 80% and 106%, and the relative standard deviation was less than 5%. The standard material of whole blood was determined and the results met the certification requirements.

CONCLUSIONThe method is simple, rapid, sensitive, and accurate. It is applicable for simultaneous determination of multi-elements in a large number of whole blood samples.

Blood Chemical Analysis ; methods ; Humans ; Mass Spectrometry

One hundred and ten patients with primary hepatocellular carcinoma underwent hepatectomy from 2005 to 2010.Different methods of hepatic exclusion were applied in the surgery,including 54 patients with total hepatic vascular exclusion,22 with half hepatic vascular exclusion and 34 with regional hepatic vascular exclusion.The recovery of postoperative liver function was retrospectively analyzed.The results showed that the postoperative liver function of regional hepatic vascular exclusion [ALT(311 ± 80) U/L,total bilirubin (TB) (22.2 ± 8.3) μmoL/L at 1 st day and ALT (58 ± 17) U/L,TB (11.3 ± 3.1)μmol/L at 7th day] was better than that of total hepatic vascular exclusion [ALT(874 ±299)U/L,TB (42.9± 19.1) μmol/L at 1st day (P＜0.05) and ALT (108-±52)U/L,TB (14.6±9.2) μmol/L at 7th day] (P ＜ 0.05,＞ 0.05),indicating that regional hepatic vascular exclusion can effectively reduce hepatic injury during the operation and promote recovery of liver function after operation.

Using RACE with a Fagopyrum dibotrys callus cDNA library, one clone, named FdMYBP1, encoding a putative R2R3 MYB protein was identified. FdMYBP1 appeared to be a full-length cDNA of 1159 bp encoding a protein of 265 amino acids. Through structure and property analysis of FdMYBPI with bioinformational methods, it was found that the amino acid sequence of FdMYBP1 showed great homology to other MYBP with the R2R3 repeat region in the N-terminus. Southern blot analysis indicated that FdMYBP1 belongs to a single copy gene in F. dibotrys genomes. The FdMYBP1 gene has the same classic characters with other MYBP and probably involved in the pathway of flavonoid metabolisms.
Cloning, Molecular ; Fagopyrum ; genetics ; metabolism ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Plant Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myb ; genetics ; metabolism

The fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, is able to discriminate visual landmarks and form visual long-term memory in a flight simulator. Studies focused on the molecular mechanism of long-term memory have shown that memory formation requires mRNA transcription and protein synthesis. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying the visual learning paradigm. The present study demonstrated that both spaced training procedure (STP) and consecutive training procedure (CTP) would induce long-term memory at 12 hour after training, and STP caused significantly higher 12-h memory scores compared with CTP. Label-free quantification of liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and microarray were utilized to analyze proteomic and transcriptomic differences between the STP and CTP groups. Proteomic analysis revealed 30 up-regulated and 27 down-regulated proteins; Transcriptomic analysis revealed 145 up-regulated and 129 down-regulated genes. Among them, five candidate genes were verified by quantitative PCR, which revealed results similar to microarray. These results provide insight into the molecular components influencing visual long-term memory and facilitate further studies on the roles of identified genes in memory formation.
Animals ; Conditioning (Psychology) ; physiology ; Drosophila Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Drosophila melanogaster ; genetics ; metabolism ; physiology ; Flight, Animal ; physiology ; Gene Expression Profiling ; methods ; Memory ; physiology ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; Proteomics ; methods ; Time Factors ; Vision, Ocular ; physiology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of fuzheng quxie granule (FQG) on immune cells and cytokines in populations with respiratory viral infection.

METHODSFifty-nine patients were randomly divided into 3 groups, that is, 19 patients treated with conventional western medicine (WM) plus FQG in the treated group, 19 patients treated with conventional western medicine alone in the WM group, and 21 patients treated with FQG alone in the TCM group. The levels of T lymphocyte subsets, interleukine-2,4,6,10 (IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interferon-gamma (INF-gamma) and Th1/Th2 were determined before treatment, and at the end of 1st and 2nd week of treatment respectively.

RESULTSBefore treatment, levels of TNF-alpha, IL-2, IL-6, IL-10 and INF-gamma in all patients were significantly higher than normal range (P < 0.05). After being treated for 1 week, the levels of serum TNF-alpha, IL-6, and IL-10 were significantly decreased in all groups (P < 0.05), serum IL-2 and INF-gamma decreased to the normal level in the WM group, but in the treated and the FQG group by the end of the 2nd week, the two indexes still remained at the rather higher level (P < 0.05). The ratio of Th1 and Th2 in the treated group and the FQG group increased significantly by the end of 2nd week, reached the level higher than that in the WM group and that before treatment (P < 0.05). No significant difference in, T lymphocytes subsets (CD3+ , CD4+ , CD8+) and percentage of B and NK cells before and after treatment was found in all the 3 groups.

CONCLUSIONFQG can positively regulate the immune function of patients with respiratory tract viral infection in certain degree.

Adult ; Aged ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Interleukin-10 ; blood ; Interleukin-6 ; blood ; Killer Cells, Natural ; immunology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Phytotherapy ; Respiratory Tract Infections ; drug therapy ; immunology ; virology ; T-Lymphocyte Subsets ; immunology ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; metabolism ; Virus Diseases ; drug therapy ; immunology

Objective: To investigate the clinicopathologic features and grading of adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) of the breast. Methods: Sixteen cases of ACC of the breast were analyzed and graded according to the previous report. Immunohistochemical (IHC) staining was used to detect the immunophenotype, Ki-67 proliferative index and expression of EZH2, and the association with tumor grade and outcome was analyzed. Results: Of the 16 cases, 11 were grade Ⅰ, with the epithelial and myoepithelial cells being arranged into tubular and cribriform structure with no solid component; three were grade Ⅱ, which were composed of mixed tubular, cribriform and solid component (<30%); and two were grade Ⅲ, which showed mainly solid component (>90%) and the tumor cells showed basaloid features with scanty cytoplasm and hyperchromatic nuclei, and mitotic count was>5/10 HPF. Immunophenotypically, the epithelial cells expressed CK7, CK8/18 and CD117; the myoepithelial cells expressed p63 and CK5/6; while the basaloid cells were positive for CK5/6 and CD117.Tubular and cibriform ACC showed low Ki-67 and EZH2 expression, while the two cases of solid variant with basaloid features showed high level of Ki-67 and EZH2 expression. Follow-up data were available in 13 cases with a median follow-up period of 42 months. Lung metastasis occurred after 12 months in one grade Ⅱ case and the patient died of disease after 34 months. Vertebral metastasis occurred after 12 months in one grade Ⅲ case and axillary lymph node metastasis occurred in another grade Ⅲ case. All other patients were free of disease at the end of the follow-up periods. Conclusions ACC shows morphologic spectrum varying from low to high grade, the latter can may give rise to local and distant metastasis. ACC should not be regarded simply as low malignant potential, and should be graded for optimal treatment.

Objective To investigate the molecular characteristics of dengue virus serotype 2 (DENV2) in Guangzhou during 2001-2015,and analyze the E gene of the strains isolated,the phylogenetic tree and molecular clock were constructed to know about the evolution of the strains.Methods The serum samples of the patients were detected by real time PCR,and positive samples were used to isolate dengue virus by using C6/36 cells.The E gene of the isolated strains were sequenced.The phylogenetic tree was constructed by using software Mega 4.0,and the molecular clock was drawn by using software BEASTv1.8.2.Results Twenty-six dengue virus strains were isolated between 2001 and 2015.They were all clustered into 2 genotypes,i.e.cosmopolitan genotype and Asian genotype Ⅰ.The strains isolated in Guangzhou shared high homology with Southeast Asian strains.The cosmopolitan genotype was divided into 2 sub-genotype at about 46 and 35 years ago.The substitution rate of dengue virus serotype 2 in Guangzhou was 7.1 × 10-4 per year per site.Conclusions There were close relationship between the Guangzhou strains and Southeast Asian strains.Guangzhou was at high risk of imported dengue fever,outbreak of dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome.There might be two ways of introduction of cosmopolitan genotype.The substitution rate of the strains in Guangzhou was similar to that in the neighbor countries.

Aristolochic acid (AA), extracted from Aristolochiaceae plants, plays an essential role in traditional herbal medicines and is used for different diseases. However, AA has been found to be nephrotoxic and is known to cause aristolochic acid nephropathy (AAN).AA-induced acute kidney injury (AKI) is a syndrome in AAN with a high morbidity that manifests mitochondrial damage as a key part of its pathological progression. Melatonin primarily serves as a mitochondria-targeted antioxidant. However, its mitochondrial protective role in AA-induced AKI is barely reported. In this study, mice were administrated 2.5 mg/kg AA to induce AKI. Melatonin reduced the increase in Upro and Scr and attenuated the necrosis and atrophy of renal proximal tubules in mice exposed to AA. Melatonin suppressed ROS generation, MDA levels and iNOS expression and increased SOD activities in vivo and in vitro. Intriguingly, the in vivo study revealed that melatonin decreased mitochondrial fragmentation in renal proximal tubular cells and increased ATP levels in kidney tissues in response to AA. In vitro, melatonin restored the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) in NRK-52E and HK-2 cells and led to an elevation in ATP levels. Confocal immunofluorescence data showed that puncta containing Mito-tracker and GFP-LC3A/B were reduced, thereby impeding the mitophagy of tubular epithelial cells. Furthermore, melatonin decreased LC3A/B-II expression and increased p62 expression. The apoptosis of tubular epithelial cells induced by AA was decreased. Therefore, our findings revealed that melatonin could prevent AA-induced AKI by attenuating mitochondrial damage, which may provide a potential therapeutic method for renal AA toxicity.