Alogliptin is a novel dipeptide peptidase-4 inhibitor approved for the treatment of type 2 diabetic mellitus.Numerous clinical studies showed that alogliptin alone or in combination with other oral antidiabetic drugs or insulin can substantially control the level of plasma glucose and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in type 2 diabetic patients.12.5 to 25 mg alogliptin alone once daily reduced HbA1c by 0.56％ to 0.59％ ; while combination with other antidiabetic agents resulted additional HbA1c lowering of 0.4％ to 0.8％.Alogliptin was well tolerated,with low incidence of hypoglycemia and no weight gain.Furthermore,alogliptin displayed no extra cardiovascular risk in patients with cardiovascular diseases.

Recombinant human brain natriuretic peptide(rhBNP) is a synthetic peptide,its role is similar to endogenous brain natriuretic peptide,with effects on expanding blood vessel,diuretic,natriuretic,anti-sympathetic nervous system,decreasing plasma aldosterone and endothelin,also with characteristic of depress urization while neither speeding up the heart rate,nor activating the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system.A number of studies had confirmed that recombinant human brain natriuretic peptide was effective in the treatment of Congestive Heart Failure(CHF),it could effectively improve the cardiac function,reduce the cardiac load and reverse left ventricular remodeling.It is now put on to market and applied in clinical treatment of Congestive Heart Failure.The article introduces rhBNP pharmacologic action,the relationship with CHF,and the research progress on the treatment of CHF.

BACKGROUND:Recently, there is more and more attention on uric acid (UA), especially the correlation with cardiovascular disease in the filed of epidemiology; however, researches of the effect of UA on endothelial cells are lack based on cytology.OBJECTIVE:To explore the effects of UA in different concentrations on human umbilical vein endothelial cells line (ECV304), malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO) and 3-(4,5-dimethyl thiazole-2)-2, 5-diphenyl thiazolyl blue (MTT)in vitro.DESIGN: Randomized controlled study based on ECV304.5ETTING: Department of Endocrine, Xijing Hospital, the Fourth Military Medical University of Chinese PLA.MATERIALS:ECV304 was provided by Department of Immunology, the Fourth Military Medical University of Chinese PLA; DMEM Iow-glucose medium by Gibco Company, USA; bovine serum by Beijing Yuanheng Shengma Biotechnology Researching Institute; trypsin by Gibco Company, USA; MTT by Huamei Company; dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) analytical pure by Tianjin Bodi Chemical Engineering Co. Ltd.; UA by Sigma Company; NO kit and MDA kit by Nanjing Jiancheng Company; ordinary invert microscope and enzyme-linked immune detector IX70 invert microscope by Olympus, Japan;enzyme-linked immune detector by Eastern China Electron Tube Factory.METHODS: The experiment was carried out in Department of Endocrine and Burning, the Fourth Military Medical University of Chinese PLA from December 2003 to April 2004. Resuscitation, culture, regeneration and inoculation of endothelia cells were undertaken Cell Culture published by Situ et al. Endothelia cells were cultured with non-serum DMEM for 24hours so as to maintain synchronization at the phase of G0/G1 and divided into 4 groups, including control group, low-concentration UA group, moderate-concentration UA group and high-concentration UA group. Each group was divided into 3time points, including 24 hours, 48 hours and 72 hours with 8 samples in each time point. Samples were added with 5％serum medium containing 0 mmol/L, 0.1 mmol/L, 0.2 mmol/L and 0.4 mmol/L UA in control group, low-concentration UA group, moderate-concentration UA group and high-concentration UA group, respectively, and incubated in box with the volume fraction of 0.05 CO2 at 37 ℃. Twenty-four hours later, MDA and MTT were detected; additionally, MTT was detected once more after 48 and 72 hours.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Proliferation of ECV304 and content of NO and MDA.RESULTS:With the increasing concentration of UA, content of MDA was decreased to (2.97±0.05),(2.89±0.09),(2.78±0.10) and (2.44±0.03) μmol/L, respectively; content of NO was (6.86±1.41), (12.5±2.7), (18.9±1.8) and (21.1±1.4) μ mol/L. Absorbencies of NO and MTT were increased and proliferation was increased remarkably at 48 hour.CONCLUSION: A which is characterized by anti-oxidation may promote proliferation of vascular endothelia cells and release of NO.

Objective To discuss the difference of levels of serum and urinary iodine and thyroid function in painless thyroiditis patients and other thyroiditis patients.Methods The patients who were preliminary diagnosed as having higher level of serum thyroid hormone were divided into Graves' disease group,subacute thyroiditis group and painless thyroiditis group.Then all the patients were divided into another two groups according to the level of autoantibody.The value of serumal thyroid hormone and serumal iodine and urinary iodine were measured and the relationship between the groups and the value were observed.Results There was close relationship between serum T 3,T 4,urinary iodine and the types of thyrotoxicosis.Conclusion The morbidity of painless thyroiditis is not uncommon.Clinical situation,serumal iodine,urinary iodine and serumal thyroid hormone may be useful for clinical diagnosis and differential diagnosis of painless thyroiditis.

The change in pancreatic A- and B-cells in Chinese hamsters with spontaneous hereditary diabetes mellitus were investigated with specific immunohistochemical and image analyzing methods. A variety of pathological changes of the islets and change in number and distribution of the pancreatic A- and B-cells were found in diabetic Chinese hamsters. Microscopic examination revealed that the intensity of staining reaction of pancreatic B-cells varied greatly and the number of A-cells increased in this model. The results of image analysis showed that the range of the average optical density of B-cell staining was 54.4% wider than that in the control and the percentage of the glucagon positive immunoreactive area in the islet was significantly higher in diabetic Chinese hamsters(31.6?13.2%)than in the controls(21. 8?7.5%). These findings suggest that the islet cytology of this diabetic model changes significantly.

Objective:To observe the regulative effects of different concentrations of glucose on the expressions of osteoprotegerin(OPG),the ligand of osteoprotegerin(OPGL) and the related cytokines[tumor necrosis factor related apoptosis inducing ligand(TRAIL),macrophage colony-stimulating factor(M-CSF) and transforming growth factor ?(TGF-?)] in osteosarcoma MG63 cells.Methods:The expressions of OPG,OPGL,M-CSF,TRAIL and TGF-? mRNA was examined by reverse transcriptase(RT)-PCR.Results:High concentration glucose up-regulated the expression of OPGL,M-CSF and TRAIL but down-regulated OPG and TGF-? expression in the MG63 cells.Conclusion:One of the key pathogenetic factors of diabetic osteoporosis is that high concentration glucose leads to the down-regulated expression of OPG and TGF-? but the up-regulated expression of some bone-resorbing cytokines such as OPGL,M-CSF and TRAIL in osteoblasts,then stimulates osteoclast differentiation and activity,which potentiates bone resorption and bone loss.

Objective To investigate the expression of TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand(TRAIL) and TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand receptor(TRAILR) in thyroid carcinoma. Methods Expression and distribution of TRAIL and TRAILR in thyroid tissues from 13 patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma, 3 patients with follicular thyroid carcinoma and 5 normal necrospy subjects were studied by immunohistochemical methods. Results TRAIL and all of TRAILR immunoreactivity was observed in both thyroid tissues from papillary thyroid carcinoma and follicular thyroid carcinoma. TRAILR4 was expressed highly in all thyroid carcinoma tissues but weakly in normal thyroid tissues.Conclusion TRAIL and all of TRAILR were present in thyroid tissues of papillary thyroid carcinoma and follicular thyroid carcinoma. Expression of TRAIL, TRAILR1 and TRAILR2 by thyrocytes in thyroid carcinoma may induce their apoptosis through autocrine or paracrine. Thyroid carcinoma cells were sensitive to TRAIL-inducing apoptosis despite expression of both decoy receptors. [

Objective To detect the existence of gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptors(GnRH-R) in rat liver,and to supply morphological evidence for studying the functional significance of the GnRH in hepatocyte. Methods Immunohistochemical SABC method and in situ hybridization with a digoxigenin labeled probe were used to study the localization of GnRH-R in the livers of five rats. Results The rat hepatocytes were found with the GnRH-R immunoreactivity and GnRHR mRNA hybridization signals.The GnRH-R immunoreactive substance was distributed in the cytoplasm of all positive cells,with immuno-negative nuclei.The GnRHR mRNA hybridization signals were also detected in the cytoplasm of all positive cells but not in the nuclei.Hepatocytes in different parts of liver lobules showed different intensity of GnRH-R immunoreactivity and GnRH-R mRNA hybridization signals.Conclusion The rat hepatocyte may express GnRH-R.The hepatocytes in different parts in liver lobules exhibit different levels of GnRH-R expression.

Objective To investigate the relationship between the level of serum uric acid(SUA) and carotid atherosclerosis in male patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM). Methods A collection of 579 male T2DM patients with or without carotid atherosclerosis were grouped based on quartiles of SUA. Age, SUA, smokers, duration, body mass index(BMI), blood pressure, total cholesterol(TC), triglyceride(TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C), blood urea nitrogen(BUN), creatinine(Cr), and HbA1C were determined in all subjects. The plaques in carotid arteries and intima-media thickness(IMT) were measured with high-resolution ultrasound. Results BMI, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, TG, and Cr showed a gradual increase, while HDL-C and HbA1C showed a gradual decrease according to the higher SUA quartiles in male T2DM(P＜0.05). Nevertheless, the detectable rates of smokers, duration, age, TC, LDL-C, and BUN had no relationships with the SUA quartiles(P＞0.05). The detectable rate of carotid atherosclerosis and the thickness of carotid plaque were positively associated with the levels of SUA in male patients with T2DM(P＜0.05). However, intima-media thickness of carotid arteries did not illustrate the correlation with the levels of SUA in male T2DM patients(P＞0.05). Age, HbA1C, and SUA were independent factors of carotid atherosclerosis in these patients by logistic regression(P＜0.05). Conclusion The levels of SUA seems to be associated with the occurrence and development of carotid atherosclerosis in male patients with T2DM.

Objectives:To determine the expressions of decoy receptors (DcR1 and DcR2) of TRAIL in carcinoma of endometrium. Methods:The expressions of DcR1 and DcR2 in endometrium tissues from 13 carcinoma of endometrium and 7 normal endometrium were detected by immunohistochemical staining.Results: The expressions of DcR1 and DcR2 in carcinoma of endometrium were much lower than in normal endometrium. Conclusions:The decreasing of DcR1 and DcR2 in carcinoma of endometrium may be concerned with its pathogenesis, which may be related to the prevention of endometrium from carcinomatous change.