The antagonism of two strains B1 and B2 of Bacillus spp. against pea root rot pathogen Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. pisi was studied. The result of pairing culture showed that B1 and B2 strains of Bacillus spp. had strong antifungal activity to the pathogen. The colonial color of the pathogen changed from gray to white, aerial hyphas increased and entangled into group after treatment with the cell-free fermentational filtrate of B1 or B2. Observation under optical microscope showed that hyphas and spores of the pathogen swelled and distorted with concentrated cytoplasm after treatment, the spores could not germinate or germinated abnormally . A lot of vesicles appeared at the top of the hyphas, and the hyphas stopped growing and broke finally, their cytoplasm spilled from the cell. The cell-free fermentational filtrate of B1 or B2 strains contained 1795.53?g/mL and 1345.93?g/mL protein respectively, from which two antifungal proteins of 103.5 kD (B1 ) and 127.6 kD (B2) were purified.

Objective To study the effects of salt sensitivity on evolution of blood pressure and develope- ment to hypertension from adolescents to youth.Methods A baseline survey was carried out in 4623 adolescents aged 6-15 years old in Hanzhong rural area in 1987,310 of them were recruited for determination of salt sensitiv- ity using the tests of oral saline load and furosemide sodium-volume depletion.Salt sensitivity (SS) were diag- nosed in 101 while 209 subjects as no-sah sensitivity (NSS).This cohort of adolescents were followed up for av- erage 18 years.Results The response rate for this cohort of adolescents was 71.9%.At the end of follow up period,BP in subjects with baseline SS was higher in youth than that in NSS (SBP:122.9?13.1 vs 117.3?12.4, P

Child ; Child Welfare ; Education, Medical, Continuing ; Humans ; Pediatrics ; education

Dysentery, Bacillary ; epidemiology ; Humans ; Molecular Epidemiology ; Shigella ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo observe the clinical efficacy difference between segmentation scraping and conventional acupuncture for cervical spondylosis (CS) so as to provide effective treatment method.

METHODSEighty-five cases of cervical type of CS were randomly divided into a scraping group (44 cases) and an acupuncture group (41 cases). The segmentation scraping therapy was used in the scraping group. The scraping group was treated with focusing on scraping the head and joint part of neck and occiput in the upper cervical spine injury, and focusing on scraping the lower section of cervical and shoulder in the lower cervical spine injury, once every seven days, totally for 3 times. In the acupuncture group, Fengchi (GB 20),Wangu (TE 5), Tianzhu (BL 10),Neck-Jiaji (EX-B 2), etc. were selected,once daily,for 15 days. The visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to evaluate the immediate analgesic effect after the first treatment and the clinical efficacy was observed after the end of treatment.

RESULTSAfter the first treatment, the score of VAS was decreased significantly in the scaping group (P < 0.01), but there was no significant difference in the acupuncture group compared with those before treatment (P > 0.05); the score of VAS in the scaping group after the first treatment was lower than that in the acupuncture group (3.66 +/- 0.74 vs 5.43 +/- 0.35, P < 0.01). Compared with before treatment, the scores of VAS were decreased significantly after treatment in two groups (both P < 0.01), but without significant difference between two groups (P > 0.05); the effective rate was 95.5% (42/44) in the scaping group and 87.8% (36/41) in the acupuncture group, the curative effects were similar (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONBoth of scraping and acupuncture therapies have good analgesic effect for cervical spondylosis, and overall effects are similar, but the immediate analgesic effect of scraping thrapy is better than that of conventional acupuncture.

Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Neck Pain ; therapy ; Spondylosis ; therapy ; Treatment Outcome

It was estimated that about 428 species of genus Corydalis are distributed all worldwide, with about 298, especially 10 groups and 219 species being uniquely spread in China. The genus Corydalis have been widely employed as folk medicines in China, especially as traditional Tibetan medicines, for treatment of fever, hepatitis, edema, gastritis, cholecystitis, hypertension and other diseases. The phytochemical studies revealed that isoquinoline alkaloids are its major bioactive ingredients. The extensive biological researches suggested its pharmacological activities and clinic applications against cardiovascular diseases and central nervous system, antibacterial activities, analgesic effects, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidation and anti-injury for hepatocyte, and so on. As an effort in promoting the research of pharmacodynamic ingredients, this article presents an overview focusing on the distribution, phytochemical and pharmacological results of Corydalis species that have been applied in traditional Tibetan medicinal, hopefully to provide a reference for the new Tibetan medicine development from Corydalis plant resource.
Alkaloids ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Anti-Infective Agents ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Corydalis ; chemistry ; classification ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Mice ; Molecular Structure ; Phytotherapy

Baculoviridae ; genetics ; metabolism ; Phylogeny ; Viral Proteins ; chemistry ; classification ; genetics ; metabolism

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the culture of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) from peripheral blood in patients with coronary heart diseases (CHD) before and after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), and to observe the cells shape and determine the cell number and proliferation activity. METHODS: Ninety-five patients were divided into a CHD group(n=65) and a control group (n=30). The mononuclear cells were isolated from peripheral blood of patients with CHD before, right after and 4 days after PCI by Ficoll-density centrifugation. The isolated cells were cultured in RPMI1640 medium supplemented with VEGF165 and bFGF.EPCs were characterized as adherent cells of double positive for DiL-acLDL uptake and FITC-UEA-I binding by direct fluorescent staining under a fluorescence microscope. The EPCs specific surface mark CD34 and KDR were assessed by fluorescence activated cell sorter analysis. The cell shapes were analysed and the number of colony-forming units(CFU) was counted by phase-contrast microscope. RESULTS: The number of EPCs reduced in patients with CHD before the PCI, but the cell number was significantly increased in patients with CHD after the PCI, and the number reduced in patients with CHD 4 days after the PCI. How-ever, the number of CFUs did not change in patients before and after the PCI. CONCLUSION PCI can increase endothelial progenitor cells in patients after the PCI; but 4 days after the PCI, this increase will not exist.
Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary ; Cell Adhesion ; Cell Count ; Cell Movement ; Cells, Cultured ; Coronary Disease ; blood ; therapy ; Endothelial Cells ; pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Stem Cells ; pathology

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the prognostic significance of various clinicopathologic parameters in gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST), and to study the frequency of c-kit exon 11 mutations in this tumor.

METHODSOne hundred and fifty-six cases of gastric or small intestinal GIST were retrieved from the archival files of the Department of Pathology, Chinese PLA General Hospital. The clinical features, site of occurrence, tumor diameter, mitotic index, coagulative tumor necrosis, and risk grade were studied and analyzed statistically. Tumor DNA was extracted and c-kit exon 11 was amplified. Upon detection by denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography, the amplified exon 11 was sequenced.

RESULTSFor the 83 cases of gastric GIST studied, the mean age of patients was 55.4 years. Follow-up information was available in 62 cases, with 17 cases having local recurrence or distant metastasis. The 5-year survival rate was 66.5% +/- 17.1%. For the 73 cases of small intestinal GIST studied, the mean age of patients was 50.6 years. Follow-up information was available in 43 cases, with 22 cases having local recurrence or distant metastasis. The 5-year survival rate was 61.8% +/- 18.3%. In general, for gastric GIST, age younger than 50 years (P = 0.046), advanced clinical stage (P = 0.0001), large tumor size (P = 0.0001), high mitotic index (P = 0.0001), presence of coagulative tumor necrosis (P = 0.0001), and high risk grade (P = 0.004) were associated with lower survival rate. COX hazard proportional model revealed that advanced clinical stage (P = 0.001), large tumor size (P = 0.001), high mitotic index (P = 0.002) and high risk grade (P = 0.018) indicated worse prognosi. For small intestinal GIST, advanced clinical stage (P = 0.010) and presence of coagulative tumor necrosis (P = 0.036) were associated with lower survival rate. Advanced clinical stage was an independent prognostic factor. A total of 25 cases harbored c-kit mutations. The frequency of c-kit mutations was 32% and 22.5% for gastric and small intestinal GIST respectively. For gastric GIST, c-kit mutations occurred mainly in patients older than 50 years. In contrast, c-kit mutations in small intestinal GIST occurred in the age group of 40 to 49 years.

CONCLUSIONSFor gastric GIST, advanced clinical stage, tumor diameter, mitotic index and risk grade are the main prognostic indicators. For small intestinal GIST, advanced clinical stage and presence of coagulative tumor necrosis indicate poor prognosis. In general, small intestinal GIST is more frequently associated with metastasis and tumor relapse than gastric GIST. The occurrence of c-kit mutations also correlates with age of patients.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Bone Neoplasms ; secondary ; DNA, Neoplasm ; genetics ; Disease-Free Survival ; Exons ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors ; genetics ; pathology ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; secondary ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mutation ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; Neoplasm Staging ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit ; genetics ; Survival Rate ; Tumor Burden ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo study whether aristololactam I (AL-I) can enter renal proximal tubular epithelial cells and the situation of intracellular distribution and accumulation.

METHODCultured human renal proximal tubular epithelial cell line (HK-2) was used as the subject. Intracellular fluorescence from AL-I and its distribution are examined by fluorescence microscopy after a treatment with different concentration of AL-I, the intracellular accumulation of AL-I was also investigated by incubated cells in AL-I -free medium for 48 h after washing-out the media containing AL-I.

RESULTAfter treatment of AL-I (concentration from 5 microg x mL(-1) to 20 microg x mL(-1)), glaucous fluorescence could be observed inside renal proximal tubular epithelial cells at 0.5 h, and the fluorescence distributed only in cytoplasm while not be observed in nuclei. Moreover, the fluorescence of AL-I could be kept in cytoplasm for more than 48 h after washing out the media containing AL-I .

CONCLUSIONAL-I is able to enter renal proximal tubular epithelial cells in short time and accumulate in cytoplasm, but not enter nuclei. This property may contribute to the cytotoxic mechanism of renal injury induced by AL-I, which may partially explain the persistent renal toxicity of AAs and its metabolites in the development of aristolochic acid nephropathy.

Animals ; Aristolochic Acids ; metabolism ; toxicity ; Cell Line ; Cell Nucleus ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Cytoplasm ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Epithelial Cells ; cytology ; drug effects ; metabolism ; pathology ; Humans ; Kidney Diseases ; metabolism ; pathology ; Kidney Tubules, Proximal ; cytology ; pathology ; Microscopy, Fluorescence