AIM: To investigate the effects of Qiwei Qianliening Tablets(QLN)(Radix paeoniae rubra,Semen Vaccariae,Semen Citri reticulatae,etc) on nonbacterial chronic prostatitis and its anti-inflammatory and analgesia activity. METHODS: Nonbacterial chronic prostatitis model was induced by injecting 25% Xiao Zhiling Injection into the prostate of rat and then coefficent of prostate and pathologic changes were observed.Anti-inflammatory effects were tested by cotton pelle-induced granuloma in rat.Analgesia activity was tested by hot-plate method. RESULTS: QLN inhibited the increase of prostate tissue weight and the histopathology showed resolving prostatitis in QLN-treated groups compared with the controls.Anti-inflammatory activity was confirmed in cotton pelle-induced granoluma in rat and QLN-treated groups extended the licking-paw latency in hot-plate method compared with the controls. CONCLUSION: Qiwei Qianliening Tablets has prevention and treatment effect on experimental nonbacterial chronic prostatitis.

Podcast,a versatile web-based technology,has been widely employed in international nursing education.In China,however,it is only applied based on its video-related function.The other functions,such as subscribing,participating,mobile,and sharing learning option have not been fully exploited.The studies on application of podcast demonstrate that it can excite the learning interest,alleviate stress and anxiety,and enhance the preclinical educational experience.Moreover,it facilitates the self-study ability.Therefore the podcast is expected to be applied more widely in the domestic nursing education.

Objective To explore the association between the daily intake of alcohol and blood pressure in Chinese.Methods With the baseline data of the Qingdao Port Health Study,all subjects aged 18 to 54 yrs including all in-service and retired employees in Qingdao port were selected and divided into seven groups according to their daily intake of alcohol: groups of 0,0～,5～,10～,20～,40～ and 60～g alcohol/d,also stratified by ages.The amount of alcohol intake was assessed by a questionnaire.The cross-sectional association between blood pressure and intakes of alcohol was analyzed with general linear model and Logistic regression.Results In the groups of 25～34,35～44,45～54 yrs old both before and after adjustment,systolic and diastolic blood pressure were linearly increased with the amount of alcohol intake from the 0 g/d group to 60～g/d group.In the group of 18～24 yrs old,there was no obvious relationship between BP and alcohol intake.Logistic regression model showed that odds ratios in the groups of 0～g/d,5～g/d,10～g/d,20～g/d,40～g/d and 60～g/d versus the abstainers was 1.05,1.14,1.08,1.24,1.30 and 2.02,respectively,and the prevalence of hypertension in the 20～g/d group was significantly higher than that in the 0 g/d group and groups of low or moderate alcohol intake.Conclusion An increasing and linear relationship between alcohol consumption and blood pressure was established,and alcohol intake ≥20 g /d is an independent risk factor for hypertension.

Objective To investigate the expression changes of Toll-like receptors(TLR) and the signaling pathway function on airway epithelial cells infected with human metapneumovirus(hMPV), and to explore the mechanisms of hMPV-induced airway inflammation. Methods A549 cells were infected with hMPV live or co-cultured with UV-inactivated hMPV in vitro. Growth curve of the virus in A549 cells was established and mRNA expression of TLR were detected by RT-PCR assay and real-time PCR assay at 3, 6, 9, 12, 24 h post infection. IFN-α and TNF-α in the culture supernatants were detected by ELISA. Results hMPV was able to replicate in A549 cell, growing to peak titer of 10~(5.2) TCID_(50)/ml at 3 d after infection. Most of TLR mRNA levels were up-regulated by hMPV infection but not UV-inactivated viruses via RT-PCR assay (P<0.05) after 6 h of stimulation. Real-time PCR assay showed that TLR3-4, TLR7-9 mRNA increased after being infected by hMPV in a time-dependent manner. The expression of IFN-α and TNF-α in the cul-ture supernatants were significantly up-regulated after 24 h infected by hMPV. Conclusion hMPV infection up-regulates the expression of TLR in lung epithelial cells. The inflammatory response to hMPV may associ-ate with part of TLR signal transduction pathway.

Isoliquiritigenin (ISL) is a flavonoid compound isolated from licorice. It possesses excellent antioxidant and anti-diabetic activities. This study aims to investigate the molecular mechanism underlying the alleviatory effect of ISL on energy metabolism imbalance caused by type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). 8-week-old male C57BL/6J mice were used in in vivo experiments. The high-fat-high-glucose diet combined with intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin was applied to establish T2DM animal model. All animal experiments were performed in accordance with the Institutional Guidelines of Laboratory Animal Administration issued by the Committee of Ethics at Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. HepG2 cells were used in in vitro experiments. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) were used to examine the protein and mRNA levels of mitochondrial function-related targets. The levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) in HepG2 cells were measured by the flow cytometry. Additionally, the molecular docking of ISL and key target proteins was analyzed. It was found that ISL significantly inhibited the activity of mitochondrial respiratory chain complex I and increased the protein levels of uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) in the livers of mice and HepG2 cells. It also obviously decreased the ROS levels and increased the MMP levels in cultured HepG2 cells. In addition, ISL promoted mitochondrial biogenesis by activating proliferator-activated receptor gamma co-activator 1α (PGC-1α) and enhanced mitophagy by upregulating Parkin. It also improved mitochondrial fusion by increasing the mRNA and protein levels of mitofusin 2 (MFN2). In conclusion, ISL alleviates energy metabolism imbalance caused by T2DM through suppression of excessive mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation and promotion of mitochondrial biogenesis, mitophagy, and fusion.

Isoliquiritigenin (ISL) is an active chalcone compound isolated from licorice. It possesses anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative activities. In our previous study, we uncovered a great potential of ISL in treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Therefore, this study aims to reveal the mechanism underlying the alleviatory effects of ISL on T2DM-induced glycolipid metabolism disorder. High-fat-high-sugar diet (HFD) combined with intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ) were used to establish T2DM mice model. All animal experiments were carried out with approval of the Committee of Ethics at Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. HepG2 cells were used in in vitro experiments, and sodium palmitate (SP) was applied to establish insulin resistance (IR) model cells. The effects of ISL on body weight, fasting blood glucose levels, and pathological changes in the livers of mice were examined. Enzyme-linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA) and real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) were applied to detect the regulatory effects of ISL on key targets involved in glucolipid metabolism. Additionally, molecular docking and analytical dynamics simulation methods were used to analyze the interaction between ISL and key target protein. The results indicate that ISL significantly downregulates the transcriptional levels and inhibits the activities of key enzymes involved in gluconeogenesis, including pyruvate carboxylase (PC), phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK), and fructose-1, 6-bisphosphatase (FBP). It also downregulates the transcriptional and protein levels of hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α (HNF4α) and cAMP response element binding protein (CREB), the two transcriptional factors involved in gluconeogenesis. Thus, ISL inhibits hepatic gluconeogenesis in T2DM mice. In addition, ISL reduces total cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG) levels in the livers of T2DM mice. Moreover, ISL downregulates the mRNA levels of lipogenesis genes and upregulates those of genes involved in fatty acid oxidation, lipid uptake, and lipid export. In conclusion, ISL suppresses hepatic gluconeogenesis, promotes lipolysis, and restrains lipogenesis in T2DM mice, thereby improving the abnormal glycolipid metabolism caused by T2DM.

Adipose-tissue mesenchymal stem cells, is one kind of multipotent stem cells, can differentiate into adipogenic, osteogenic, chondrogenic, myogenic cells and so on in vitro and in vivo. Human adipose tissue is plentiful, easily harvested in large quantity with little patient discomfort. Adipose-tissue derived mesenchymal stem cells may be an alternative stem cell source for mesenchymal tissue regeneration and engineering without ethical consideration of embryonic stem cells and severe pain resulted by bone marrow procurement. The research work on adipose-tissue mesenchymal stem cells and future clinical perspectives were reviewed.

Objective To discover the role of interleukin-18(IL-18) and CD_(54) in congestive heart failure(CHF),and evaluate the diagnostic value of IL-18 and CD_(54) in CHF.Methods Blood samples were collected from 52 children with CHF,included 18 cases in classⅡ,17 cases in class Ⅲand 17 cases in class Ⅳ.Fifteen healthy children were normal control group.The levels of IL-18 was(detec-)ted by ELISA method and the expression of CD_(54) was examined by flow cytometry.Results The levels of IL-18 and CD_(54) in CHF were significantly higher than those of control subjects(P0.05),but the levels were respectively significantly higher than that of control subjects(P

OBJECTIVETo observe the clinical efficacy differences among warming-promotion acupuncture, regular acupuncture and psychological care for post-earthquake depression.

METHODSNinety cases of post-earthquake depression in Gansu province were randomly divided into a warming-promotion acupuncture group, a regular acupuncture group and a care group, 30 cases in each one. The psychological treatment was applied in the care group; the regular acupuncture at Baihui (GV 20), Sishencong (EX-HN 1)), Fengchi (GB 20), Shenmen (HT 7), Yang-lingquan (GB 34), Taichong (LR 3) and Sanyinjiao (SP 6) was used in the regular acupuncture group; based on the treatment of regular acupuncture group, the warming-promotion acupuncture was applied in the warming-promotion acupuncture group, once a day. Ten days were taken as one course with an interval of two days between two courses. Totally 3 treatment courses were completed. The Hamilton depression (HAMD) scale before and after treatment in each group was observed while the efficacy was analyzed.

RESULTSAll three treatments were effective for depression. The total cured rate was 86.67% (26/30) in the warming-promotion acupuncture group, which was obviously superior to 50.00% (15/30) in the regular acupuncture group (P < 0.01) and 33.33% (10/30) in the care group (P < 0.001). After the treatment, the score of HAMD was all reduced in three groups, in which the effect in warming-promotion acupuncture group was superior to that in the regular acupuncture group and care group (9.02 +/- 2.37 vs 10.73 +/- 2.28 and 11.05 +/- 2.01, P < 0.05, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe warming-promotion acupuncture has positive effect on post-earthquake depression, which has special effect and is worthy of clinical generalization and application.

Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; instrumentation ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Child ; Depression ; therapy ; Earthquakes ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Needles ; Young Adult