Clinical Medicine ; methods ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Holistic Health ; Humans ; Integrative Medicine ; methods ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods

Objective To explore the change of nerve growth factors(NGF) through the blood brain barrier(BBB) after distal intravenous injection of mannitol into the experimental rats and the effect of exogenous NGF on the expression of growth associated protein-43 in hypoxic-ischemic brain.Methods One hundred cases of 7 days rats were divided into 2 units.One unit was divided into 3 groups:treatment group,control group and sham operated group,20 rats in each group.The other unit was divided into 4 groups:mannitol and NGF treated group,NGF treated group,control group,and sham operated group,there were 10 rats in each group.The model rats with perinatal hypoxic-ischemic brain damage(HIBD) rats were prepared by ligation of left common carotid artery with a temporary systemic hypoxia(inhaling 80 mL/L O2 and 920 mL/L N2).The sections of brains were processed by immunochemistry with antibodies against GAP-43,and the study and memory ability of rats were tested by maze test.The effect of osmotic opening of BBB on the facilitation of NGF′s passage was tested by ELISA.Results The expression of GAP-43 increased after NGF treatment,and the differences were remarkable(P

Proteomics, which has been widely used in life science, is an emerging discipline following genomics. It can help to explore the pathogenic mechanism and early onset marker of Bacillus anthracis, playing an important part in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of B.anthracis. In this paper,the application of proteomics in the research of B.anthracis is reviewed.

OBJECTIVETo explore the feasibility of in vitro chondrogenesis by co-culture of chondrocytes and adipose-derived stromal cells (ADSCs) so as to confirm the hypothesis that chondrocytes can provide chondrogenic microenvironment to induce chondrogenic differentiation of ADSCs.

METHODSHuman ADSCs and porcine auricular chondrocytes were in vitro expanded respectively and then were mixed at the ratio of 7:3 (ADSCs: chondrocytes). 200 microl mixed cells (5.0 x 10(7)/ml) were seeded onto a polyglycolic acid/polylactic acid (PGA/PLA) scaffold, 8 mm in diameter and 2 mm in thickness, as co-culture group. Chondrocytes and ADSCs with the same cell number were seeded respectively onto the scaffold as positive control group and negative control group. 200 microl chondrocytes (1.5 x 10(7)/ml) were seeded as low concentration chondrocyte group. There were 6 specimens in each group. All specimens were harvested after in vitro culture for 8 weeks in DMEM plus 10% FBS. Gross observation, histology, immunohistochemistry, wet weight measurement and glycosaminoglycan (GAG) quantification were used to evaluate the results. Multiple-sample t-test statistics analysis was done to compare the difference of wet weight and glycosaminoglycan(GAG) content between the groups.

RESULTSCells in all groups had fine adhesion to the scaffold and could secrete extracellular matrix. In co-culture group and positive control group, cell-scaffold constructs could maintain the original size and shape during in vitro culture. At 8 weeks, cartilage-like tissue formed in gross appearance and histological features, and abundant type II collagen could be detected by immunohistochemistry. Wet weight and glycosaminoglycan(GAG) content of co-culture group were respectively (174 +/- 12) mg and (7.6 +/- 0.4) mg. There were respectively 75% (P < 0.01) and 79% (P<0.01) of those of positive control group. In negative control group, however, constructs shrunk gradually without mature cartilage lacuna in histology. In low concentration chondrocyte group, constructs also shrunk obviously with small amount of cartilage formation at the edge area of the construct, and wet weight was (85 +/- 5) mg, which was 37% (P<0.01) of that of positive control group.

CONCLUSIONSChondrocytes can provide chondrogenic microenvironment to induce chondrogenic differentiation of ADSCs and thus promote the in vitro chondrogenesis of ADSCs.

Adipocytes ; cytology ; Animals ; Cell Differentiation ; Cells, Cultured ; Chondrocytes ; cytology ; Coculture Techniques ; Humans ; Swine ; Tissue Engineering ; methods ; Tissue Scaffolds

OBJECTIVETo investigate the association of the micronucleus (MN) formation in lymphocytes from patients with the malignant degrees of colorectal cancer.

METHODSThe MN test in capillary blood lymphocytes was conducted in 112 patients randomly selected from in-hospital patients before therapy. Experimental data were analyzed by SPSS (v.10.1) software.

RESULTSThe differences in the frequency of MN between 7 pathological types of colorectal cancers and controls were statistically significant (P<0.01). The frequency of MN increased with the decrease of the histological differentiation in colorectal cancer, and the statistically significant differences were seen between low differentiation group and the other differentiation groups in colorectal cancers.

CONCLUSIONThere is a significant correlation between MN formation and the malignant degrees of colorectal cancer, and MN formation will be a useful biomarker for the identification of malignant degrees of colorectal cancer before operation or for the screening of high risk subgroup.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; blood ; genetics ; pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Lymphocytes ; metabolism ; pathology ; Male ; Micronucleus Tests ; methods ; Middle Aged

OBJECTIVETo assess the therapeutic efficacy and adverse effects of endogenetic field hyperthermia (EFH) in combination with L-OHP /LV / 5-FU in the treatment of advanced gastric cancer.

METHODSThis study included 147 surgical patients with stage II-IV gastric cancer, who received postoperative chemotherapy with FOLFOX (L-OHP 85 mg /m square, 3 h intravenous infusion, followed by infusion of LV at 200 mg /m square in 2 h, intravenous injection of 5-Fu at 400 mg /m square, and intravenous infusion of 5-FU at 3000 mg /m square in 48 h). Eight treatment cycles (each lasting for 14 days) were administered. In 68 cases randomly selected from the cohort, EFH was performed on the first and third days (treatment group), but not in the other 79 cases (control group).

RESULTSThe response rate was 68.4% in the treatment group and 36.4% in the control group, showing significant difference between them (P<0.05). The 1-year survival rate was 88.2% in the treatment group, similar to the rate of 81.0% in the control group (P< 0.05), but the 3, 5-year survival rates in treatment group (67.6% and 30.9%) was significantly higher than those in the control group (47.6% and 15.4%, P<0.05). The adverse effects were similar between the two groups.

CONCLUSIONEFH combined with the chemotherapeutic regimen FOLFOX might improve the therapeutic effect of stage II-IV gastric cancer without obviously increasing the adverse effects.

Adult ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; therapeutic use ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Female ; Fluorouracil ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Hyperthermia, Induced ; Leucovorin ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Organoplatinum Compounds ; therapeutic use ; Stomach Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; pathology ; surgery ; therapy ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo investigate the factors that affect the prognosis of primary gastrointestinal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (PGI-NHL).

METHODSThe clinical data of 116 patients with pathologically confirmed PGI-NHL we treated from January 1993 to December 2003 were analyzed retrospectively. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used for analyzing the survival of the patients, and Log-rank test was performed to compare the survival rates in relation to different prognostic factors.

RESULTSThe 3-year and 5-year survival rates of the patients were 63.8% (74/116) and 48.2% (40/83), respectively. Univariate analysis revealed that the factors affecting the prognosis of the patients included the presence of B symptom, tumor size, clinical stage, pathological type, depth of invasion, and treatment methods. The patients with B symptom, tumor size no less than 10 cm, advanced clinical stage (stages III(E) and IV(E)), T-cell type, and invasion beyond the serosa who received only surgical management had poorer prognosis than those free of B symptom with tumor size <10 cm, early clinical stage (stages I(E) and II(E)), B-cell type, and submucosal or serosal invasion managed with chemotherapy alone or in combination with surgery. Multivariate analysis showed that B symptom, tumor size no less than 10 cm, advanced clinical stage (stages III(E) and IV(E)), T-cell type, invasion beyond the serosa, and surgery alone were independently associated with poor prognosis.

CONCLUSIONThe tumor size, clinical stage, pathological type, treatment methods are the independent factors affecting the prognosis of patients with PGI-NHL.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Child ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; mortality ; pathology ; Humans ; Kaplan-Meier Estimate ; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin ; diagnosis ; mortality ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Young Adult

Investigation of the pharmacokinetics of paeonol microemulsion, microemulsion-based gels and marketed paeonol ointments by the skin-blood synchronous microdialysis coupled with LC/MS is reported in this study. The microdialysis systems were established by linear probes and concentric circles probes. In vivo recovery of paeonol in skin is (69.7 +/- 4.8) % and in blood is (51.6 +/- 7.2)%. The paeonol microemulsion, microemulsion-based gels and marketed paeonol ointments were administered to rats. PBS (pH 7.4) served as perfused solution. The perfusion rate was 5 microL x mL(-1) and the microdialysis samples were collected every 20 min intervals. The paeonol concentration in perfused solution was determined by LC/MS. The results showed that paeonol microemulsion and microemulsion-based gels significantly raised the drug concentrations in skin more than that of paeonol ointments. The paeonol microemulsion-based gels has similar bioavailability as the paeonol ointments in blood, but its blood drug concentrations were steadier. The paeonol microemulsion-based gels may be developed into a new preparation for dermis eczema. The skin-blood synchronous microdialysis technique proved to be a new method for the pharmacokinetics study of transdermal delivery systems.
Acetophenones ; administration & dosage ; blood ; metabolism ; pharmacokinetics ; Administration, Cutaneous ; Animals ; Biological Availability ; Chromatography, Liquid ; Drug Delivery Systems ; Emulsions ; Gels ; Male ; Mass Spectrometry ; Microdialysis ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Skin ; metabolism ; Skin Absorption

OBJECTIVETo identify the genes differentially expressed in leukemia cell apoptosis induced by recombinant soluble tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis inducing ligand (rsTRAIL).

METHODSSuppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were used for the cloning and identification of the genes differentially expressed in the apoptotic Jurkat cells induced by TRAIL. Slot blot and Northern blot were used for the expression pattern analysis of the genes. Automatic DNA sequencing was used for DNA sequence analysis.

RESULTSSix cDNA fragments differentially expressed in the Jurkat leukemia cells treated with TRAIL were found, in which four were inhibited and two were activated during the Jurkat cell apoptosis treated with TRAIL. Among which the five genes of A14, X1, D1, A23 and C5 were found at the first time by DNA sequencing and GeneBank database searching. So that they were registered in GeneBank as AW731601, AW731602, AW731603, AW731604 and BE239235, respectively. It was found that the gene D1 was expressed higher in Jurkat leukemia cells and MCF-7 breast cancer cells than that in K562 leukemia, 825 gastric cancer and 7721 liver cancer cells.

CONCLUSIONSFive novel cDNA fragments were found, and among which D1 might be a tumor specific gene.

Antineoplastic Agents ; pharmacology ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; genetics ; Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Humans ; Leukemia, T-Cell ; genetics ; pathology ; Ligands ; Membrane Glycoproteins ; pharmacology ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; TNF-Related Apoptosis-Inducing Ligand ; Tumor Cells, Cultured ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; pharmacology

OBJECTIVETo design a platform for microarray data analysis and processing in the browser/server mode running in Linux operating system.

METHODSBased on the Apache HTTP server, the platform, programmed with Perl language, integrated R language and Bioconductor packages for processing and analysis of the input data of oligonucleotide arrays and two-color spotted arrays. Users were allowed to submit data and parameter configurations to the platform via the web page, and the results of analysis were also returned via the web page.

RESULTSWith an easy operation and high performance, the platform fulfilled the functions of processing, quality assessment, biological annotation and statistical analysis of the data from oligonucleotide arrays and two-color spotted arrays. Using the platform, we analyzed the gene expression profiles in Mtb-stimulated macrophages of three clinical phenotypes, namely latent TB (LTB), pulmonary (PTB) and meningeal (TBM), and obtained valuable clues for identifying tuberculosis susceptibility genes. We also analyzed the effect of INH treatment on Mycobacterium tuberculosis gene expression in various dormancy models, such as hypoxia and KatG mutant, and found that a set of genes responded to INH treatment during exponential growth but not in dormancy, and that the overall number of differentially regulated genes was reduced in the cells in low metabolic state.

CONCLUSIONThe platform we have constructed integrates comprehensive resources, and with a user-friendly interface, allows direct result visualization to facilitate microarray data analysis.

Computational Biology ; methods ; Databases, Genetic ; Gene Expression Profiling ; methods ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Humans ; Macrophages ; metabolism ; microbiology ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis ; genetics ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; Software ; Tuberculosis ; genetics ; immunology ; User-Computer Interface