0 05) Conclusion Temperature and hemolysis affected the ECP level in different degrees But there was no significant influence of anti coagulation agent on the ECP level It could be concluded from our study that coagulation of the blood was not necessary to the ECP determination

Objective To explore the effects of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 on renal expression of TGFβ1,Smad3 and Smad7.Methods 40 Sprague-Dawley mts were randomized into 4 groups:normal control rats (group A),diabetic nephropathy group (group B),small dose 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D treatment group (0.5 μg · kg-1 · d-1,group C) and large dose 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D treatment group (1 μg · kg-1 · d-1,group D),each group had 10 rats.After 12 weeks,the renal function,blood glucose,glycosylated hemoglobin and the urine trace albumin content of each rats were tested.Results The biochemical indicators in group B were higher than those in group A,(t =-16.566,P ＜0.05;t =-16.949,P ＜0.05;t =-11.844,P ＜0.05;t =-19.778,P ＜0.05;t =-14.013,P ＜ 0.05).Compared with group B,the biochemical indicators and the expression of TGFβ1,Smad3 mRNA reduced in group C and group D,and the expression of Smad7 mRNA increased (F =37.892,P ＜ 0.05;F =70.068,P ＜ 0.05;F =21.95,P ＜0.05;F =77.619,P ＜0.05;F =37.670,P ＜0.05;F =1062.562,P ＜0.05;F =2463.789,P ＜0.05;F =81.745,P ＜ 0.05).There were no significant differences between group C and group D (t =0.538,P＞0.05;t =1.737,P＞0.05;t =0.671,P＞0.05;t =1.763,P ＞0.05;t =0.997,P ＞0.05;t =1.653,P ＞0.05;t=1.543,P＞0.05;t =-1.313,P ＞0.05).Conclusion 1,25-dihydroxyvitamnin D3 has protective effect on diabetic nephropathy rats model,the mechanism may be associated with inhibiting the expression of TGF β1 and Smad3,increasing the expression of Smad7.

Objective To evaluate and compare the value of predicting diseases such as hypertension and arteriosclerosis of the body mass index(BMI) and percent body fat(PBF),so as to provide the basis for evaluation of obesity.Methods Totally 3149 common residents in Jiangsu province were surveyed using the method of stratified and cluster sampling.Effective data included height,weight,PBF,blood pressure and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity(baPWV).Obesity was defined by percent body fat with the evaluation of WHO and ASBP.Areas under ROC curves(AUC)of BMI and PBF were estimated by the nonparametric test and then the two diagnostic tests were compared by predictive value of related diseases.Results(1)Predictive value of BMI to diagnose obesity(defined by PBF):AUC are respectively 0.949(for WHO standard)、0.906(for ASBP standard)in women and 0.864 in men.In age group,the 20-39 years have the highest AUC of BMI to predict obesity.P＜0.01 for above nonparametric tests.(2)According to ROC curves we got the adjusted cut-off points of BMI are respectively 26 kg/m2 in men and 25 kg/m2 in women for WHO standard or 26 kg/m2 in men and 23 kg/m2 in women for ASBP standard,while the specificity of predicting obesity decreased from 90％ ～ 99％ to 76％ ～87％,but the sensitivity significant increased from 17％ ～ 43％ to 78％ ～ 89％;After adjusting the cutoff points of BMI,the value of kappa of prevalence of obesity increased from 0.475 to 0.537 in men and 0.115 to 0.655 in women.(3)To predict hypertension,areas of BMI were 0.688(95％CI:0.656-0.720) in men and 0.745 (95％CI:0.708-0.782) in women,similarly,of PBF were 0.687 (95％CI:0.655-0.718) in men and 0.723(95％CI:0.681-0.764)in women;To predict arteriosclerosis there showed highly consistency that the areas of BMI were 0.613(0.586-0.641)in men and 0.692(95％CI:0.659-0.726)in women,meanwhile,for PBF they were 0.635 (95％CI:0.608-0.663) in men and 0.683 (95％CI:0.648-0.718) in women (P＜0.01).(4) Paired test of the two areas under ROC curves showed that PBF had higher diagnostic value than BMI in men to predict arteriosclerosis(u=2.05,P＜0.05),however,no statistical difference in women(u=0.75,P＞0.05)and in predicting hypertension(u=0.75 to men and u=1.26 to women,P＞ 0.05).Conclusions Using BMI and PBF can all predict hypertension and arteriosclerosis effectively,thus,obesity can be evaluated suitably by both BMI and PBF in large-scale population study,especially in women and youth.Relatively,WHO standard of PBF is more suitable for Chinese population to evaluate obesity than ASBP standard.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the apoptosis inducing effects of ponicidin (PON) on leukemic K562 cells and its mechanisms of action.

METHODK562 cells in culture medium in vitro were given different concentrations of PON (10-50 micromol x L(-1)) for 24, 48 and 72 h. The inhibitory rate of the cells was measured by MTT assay, cell apoptotic rates were detected by flow cytometry (FCM) using Annexin V staining after K562 cells were treated with different concentrations of PON for 72 hours, and cell morphology was observed by Wright-Giemsa staining. Western blot was used to detect caspase-3 and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) expression, and the protein levels in mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways (MAPKs, p-P38, p-ERK and p-JNK) as well as p-AKT and p-P85 in PI3K/AKT signaling pathways were also detected.

RESULTPON (over 30 micromol x L(-1)) could inhibit the growth of K562 cells in both time- and dose-dependent manner. FCM analysis revealed that apoptotic cells were gradually increased in a dose-dependent manner after treatment for 72 hours, and that marked morphological changes of cell apoptosis such as condensation of chromatin was clearly observed by Wright-Giemsa staining after treatment by 50 micromol x L(-1) PON. Western blot showed cleavage of the caspase-3 zymogen protein (32 kD), with the appearance of its 17 kD subunit, and a cleaved 89 kD fragment of 116 kD PARP was also found. Furthermore, Western blotting also showed that expression of p-AKT and p-P85 in PI3K/AKT signaling pathways was downregulated dramatically whereas the expression of p-P38 as well as p-ERK and p-JNK remained unchanged after the cells were treated by PON for 48 h.

CONCLUSIONThe results demonstrate that PON exhibits in vitro anti-leukemia effect by induction of apoptosis in K562 cells, and that PON induced apoptosis in K562 cells mainly related to activation of caspase-3 as well as inactivation of PI3K/AKT signaling pathway via down regulation of the expression of p-AKT and p-P85 protein levels. These results provide strong laboratory evidence for further anti-leukemia trials of PON.

Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Blotting, Western ; Caspase 3 ; metabolism ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Diterpenes ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerases ; metabolism ; Signal Transduction ; drug effects

The paper reported a patient under maintained hemodialysis for 11 years, with a large mass appeared in the right thigh after local injury. The mass was clinically considered as tumoral calcinosis combined with clinical, imaging and pathological findings. Several treatments such as enhancing dialysis adequacy, low calcium dialysate, calcimimetic agent, non-calcium- phosphorus binding agents, parathyroidectomy and intravenous infusion of sodium thiosulfate could not vanish the mass. Finally, the lump was surgically removed. The treatment of tumoral calcinosis in the hemodialysis patient can provide a instruction for similar situations in clinical practice.