OBJECTIVETo investigate the roles of nitric oxide (NO) and eNOS in the pathogenesis of vasovagal syncope (VVS).

METHODSFourteen children with VVS (group A), 10 children with syncope other than vasovagal (group B) and 20 healthy volunteers (group C) were enrolled. Plasma NO levels in groups A and B were determined before and at the termination of the head-up tilt table test (HUT). The G894T polymorphism within the eNOS gene was determined in the three groups.

RESULTSPlasma NO levels in group A increased significantly when syncope attacked from 76.7+/-9.6 micromol/L (before HUT) to 90.0+/-11.4 micromol/L (P<0.05). After the syncope attack was improved, plasma NO level in group A was significantly reduced. There were no statistical differences in plasma NO levels before and after the HUT in group B. Determining the G894T polymorphism within the eNOS gene showed that group A was associated with a higher incidence of the GT gene type as compared to groups B and C (42.9% vs 10%; P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSPlasma NO may be involved in the pathogenesis of VVS. The increased plasma NO level may be associated with the G894T polymorphism of the eNOS gene.

Child ; Humans ; Nitric Oxide ; blood ; physiology ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III ; genetics ; physiology ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Syncope, Vasovagal ; etiology

Reverse transcriptase-PCR experiments suggest that the two clusters of genes potentially involved in the oxidation of reduced sulfur compounds are organized as operons in strain of the acidophilic, chemolithoautotrophic bacterium Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans ATCC 23270, the two clusters of genes including such the ORF of putative sulfate-thiosulfate-molybdate binding proteins, the ORF of putative thiosulfate: quinone oxidoreductase and the ORF of the rhodanese-like protein (P21). Bioinformatic analyses have predicted the possible promoters sequences and the possible +1 start site of transcription for the doxDA operons.

Objective To understand the current situation of iodine deficient disorder(IDD) 10 years after achieving the stage goal of eliminating IDD in Longyan city and to evaluate the effect of prevention and treatment measures, and to provide the basis for the development of control strategies. Methods There were 7 counties in the city, and each county(city, district) was as a unit to carry out the inspection for organization and leadership,iodine salt management, monitoring and control, health education (referred to as the four management indicators)according to "The County-Level Assessment and Evaluation Implementation Detailed Rules of Realizing the Goal to Eliminate IDD in Fujian Province". According to the east, west, south, north and middle positions in each county,a village and a primary school were selected. Forty 8 to 10 year-old students in each school were randomly selected to check thyroid and among them 20 students were collected urine samples to determine urinary iodine. Nine townships were selected in the 7 counties of the city and among which 4 administrative villages were selected in each township. Eight edible salt samples from each household in each administrative village were collected to test salt iodine. Goiter was examined by palpation, the level of urinary iodine was examined by arsenic and cerium spectrophotometry, salt iodine was detected by direct titration. Results The average score of the four management indicators was 94.1 in Longyan city. The adjusted goiter rate of children aged 8 - 10 years old was 1.9%. The median of urinary iodine was 278.6 μg/L, among which less than 100 μg/L accounted for 4.57%(32/700), 100 -＜ 200 μg/L accounted for 24.00%(168/700), 200 - ＜ 300 μg/L accounted for 25.29%(177/700), and higher than 300 μg/L accounted for 46.14%(323/700). The using rate of qualified iodized salt was 98.86%. The coverage rate of iodized salt was 99.50%, the qualified rate of iodized salt was 99.35%, and the rate of non-iodized salt was 0.50%. All the indicators had reached the national standard to eliminate IDD. Conclusions After achieving the stage goal of eliminating IDD, the disease is stable and the effect of control measures are significantly. But the iodine provided has a trend of more than suitable. Therefore, it is reasonable to reduce the current salt iodine content.

Objective To understand the current situation of iodine deficiency diserders(IDD) in Longyan City and to evaluate the effect of prevention and control measures of IDD in order to provide evidence for formulating prevention and control tactics. Methods During the year of 2006 and 2007, the 30 primary schools were screened by population proportion survey(PPS) from the 7 counties of Longyan City. Forty children aged 8-10 years in each school were randomly selected as a group to examine thyroid, and 7 children in each group were selected to measure the urine iodine and the salt iodine at the same time. The goiter rote, the median urinary iodine, the consumption rate of qualified iodized salt, the iodine salt coverage rate, the rate of qualified iodized salt and the non-iodized rate were detected. Results The goiter rate of children aged 8-10 years old in Longyan City was 0.94%(79/8438). The median urinary iodine was 259.12 μg/L. The consumption rate of qualified iodized salt was 97.86% (1462/1494). The iodine salt coverage rate was 99.46%(1486/1494). The rate of qualified iodized salt was 98.38 (1462/1486), and the non-iodized rate was 0.54% (8/1494). Conclusions All indicators have reached the national standard of eliminating IDD in Longyan City.

OBJECTIVETo explore the effect of retinoblastoma binding protein 2 (RBP-2), a histone H3K4 demethylase, on osteogenic differentiation of human adipose-derived stromal cell (hASC).

METHODSAccording to the GenBank sequence information of RBP-2, four different small interfering RNAs (siRNA) targeting RBP-2 gene were designed and the corresponding short hairpin RNAs (shRNA) were cloned into pLL 3.7 lentivirus RNA interference vector. The lentivirus with RBP-2-siRNA was packaged in 293T cells. The effective sequence was examined and selected by Western blotting and real-time PCR. The lentiviruses with efficient knockdown effects were used to infect hASC. On the 14th day after osteogenic differentiation, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activities of hASC were quantitatively tested and at the same time, ALP staining and alizarin red staining were performed to assess the difference of osteogenic differentiation between the knockdown group and the control group.

RESULTSThe recombinant lentivirus siRNA targeting RBP-2 was successfully constructed and the expression of RBP-2 mRNA and protein were dramatically suppressed by infection with RBP-2-siRNA lentivirus. On the 14th day after osteogenic induction, ALP activity of hASC in the knockdown group [(299.2 ± 22.7), (224.3 ± 17.7) U/g] was much stronger than that in the control group [(129.9 ± 12.9) U/g, P < 0.05] and the same result was achieved for the ALP staining and alizarin red staining.

CONCLUSIONSThe constructed RBP-2-siRNA lentivirus could markedly decrease the expression of RBP-2 and promote osteogenic differentiation of hASC. It indicated that RBP-2 can repress the osteogenic differentiation of hASC.

Adipose Tissue ; cytology ; Adult ; Alkaline Phosphatase ; metabolism ; Cell Differentiation ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cells, Cultured ; Female ; Gene Knockdown Techniques ; HEK293 Cells ; Humans ; Lentivirus ; Osteogenesis ; Osteosarcoma ; pathology ; RNA Interference ; RNA, Messenger ; metabolism ; RNA, Small Interfering ; Retinoblastoma-Binding Protein 2 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Stromal Cells ; cytology ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo observe and compare the protective effect of garlic oil against carbon tetrachloride (CCL)-induced acute liver injury.

METHODSThe experiments include 4 preventive groups and 2 therapeutic groups. In every preventive and therapeutic group, the mice were randomized into 6 groups with 15 each, including one negative control group, one solvent control group, one CCl4 model group and 3 garlic oil groups (25, 50, and 100 mg/kg body weight). Before given a single gavage of CCl4 (80 mg/kg), the mice were pretreated with garlic oil by gavage in preventive group 1 (30 days, once daily), preventive group 2 (5 days, once daily), preventive group 3 (ahead of 2 h, once), preventive group 4 (immediately, once) or the vehicle (corn oil, 10 ml/kg) in solvent control group. In therapeutic groups, the mice were gavaged garlic oil 2 h (once, in therapeutic 1) or for 5 days (once daily, in therapeutic 2) after administration CCl. After 24 h of the last administration, blood was collected and centrifuged at 2500 r/min at 4 degrees C for 10 min, and serum was removed to measure ALT and AST activities. The liver was dissected, weighed to calculate the liver coefficient (relative liver weight). At the same time, the liver samples were studied by histological examinations.

RESULTSCompared with negative group, the liver coefficient and the activities of ALT and AST in serum of model group were increased remarkably (P < 0.01). Compared with CCl model group, the liver coefficient and the activities of ALT and AST in serum were decreased significantly (P < 0.01) by garlic oil dose-dependently in each preventive group. Simultaneously, histological assessment showed that garlic oil effectively alleviated hepatocyte injuries induced by CCl4. Comparing the preventive effects of garlic oil in every group, it was better in preventive group 3 than others. However, all indexes and histological examinations in therapeutic group 1 did not show the difference with those of CCl4 model group. In therapeutic group 2, all indexes recovered after 5 d of CCl4 administration.

CONCLUSIONSGarlic oil can prevent acute liver injury induced by CCl4 and the effect is better in ahead of 2 h group than others.

Alanine Transaminase ; metabolism ; Animals ; Aspartate Aminotransferases ; metabolism ; Carbon Tetrachloride Poisoning ; drug therapy ; prevention & control ; Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury ; drug therapy ; prevention & control ; Garlic ; Liver ; metabolism ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred Strains ; Plant Oils ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use

The theories and clinical and experimental studies about reinforcing-reducing manipulation of twirling rotating the needle in recent 15 years are reviewed and a brief account of manipulation methods, mechanisms and effects of reinforcing-reducing manipulation of twirling-rotating the needle is given, and it is indicated that the following several aspects in the studies at present need to be completed. Standardization and establishment of national standard of acupuncture manipulation must be enforced; quantitative parameters of acupuncture manipulation and mechanisms of acupuncture reinforcing-reducing of twirling-rotating the needle need to be further studied.
Acupuncture Therapy ; methods ; Humans ; Needles ; Rotation

Objective To establish a UPLC-MS/MS method for determination of 10 anti-rheumatic constituents illegally added in Chinese traditional medicine and health products preparation.Methods The column was ACQUITY UPLC BEHC18 (50 mm× 2.1 mm,1.7 μm),The mobile phase was acetonitrile-Ammonium acetate solution (containing 0.1％ Acetic acid) with gradient elution at a flow rate of 0.3 mL/min.The ion source was electrospray ionization (ESI),Multiple-reaction monitoring (MRM) was performed to identify and quantify 10 anti-rheumatic constituents.Results 10 linear calibration curves were obtained with r ≥ 0.996 1.The recoveries were determinated at three concentration and ranged from 92.5％ to 101.8％.The precision of the method was shown by RSD (n =5) ranged from 0.9％ to 3.1％.The ranges of limit of detection were from 0.001 5 to 0.018 μg,and quantitation were from 0.004 5 to 0.55 μg.The illegally added chemicals were detected with 10 batches of 27 batches of samples.Conclusion The method were simple,sensitivity,accurate,and can be used to detect Anti-rheumatic constituents illegally added in Chinese traditional medicine and health products.

Objective:To observe the effects of Chinese herbal compound'Jisuikang'on the phagocytosis of microglia and the regeneration of injured neurons in co-culture system.Methods: Prepared drug serum of 'Jisuikang′ and isolated and identified the primary neuron and microglia.The neuron cells were induced apoptosis by glutamic acid and the microglia cells were predisposed by drug serum of'Jisuikang'.Then,the co-culture system of injured neurons and microglia cells was established.24 h and 96 h after co-culture,engulfment of neuron debris by microglia cells and regeneration of injured neurons were observed by immunofluorescence double labeling method.Results: 24 h after co-culture,middle and high dose of'Jisuikang' showed greater phagocytic percentage and phagocytic index than that of control.In comparison of LPS,high dose of'Jisuikang' showed no significant difference.96 h after co-culture,first grade of neuritis of middle and high dose of'Jisuikang' were more than that of control,and there were no significant difference in comparison of LPS.Neuritis' mean length per cell of middle and high dose of'Jisuikang' were larger than that of con-trol.Neuritis' mean length per cell of high dose of'Jisuikang' showed significant difference in comparison of LPS.Conclusion:Traditional Chinese medicine compound'Jisuikang'may enhance engulfment of neuron debris by microglia to improve local microenvi-ronment,which promote the repair and regeneration of injured neurons.

AIMTo determine the exact roles of prolactin (PRL) in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and supply experimental basis for clinical treatment of RA, and to investigate the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) in the synovium of adjuvant arthritis rats.

METHODSForty rats were divided into four groups (n = 10): (1) Normal control group (group A); (2) Adjuvant arthritis control group (group B); (3) Hyperprolactinemic adjuvant arthritis group (group C); (4) Hypoprolactinemic adjuvant arthritis group (group D). The content of PRL in the serum was detected by radio-immunoassay method. The activity of MMP-9 was analyzed by gelatin zymography. The alteration of MMP-9 immunoreactivity were investigated by means of immunohistochemistry in the synovium of all groups. The expressions of MMP-9 were investigated by Western blot in the synovium of all groups.

RESULTSCompared with group A, the activity and expression of MMP-9 of group B in the synovium were highly increased. The activity and expression of MMP-9 in the synovium were the most distinctive in group C. Compared with group B, the activity and expression of MMP-9 in the synovium were decreased in group D, but still higher than group A.

CONCLUSIONThe present results indicated that PRL might involved in the pathogenesis of RA by regulating the secretion of MMP-9 in the synovium.

Animals ; Arthritis, Experimental ; metabolism ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; physiopathology ; Male ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Prolactin ; blood ; physiology ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Synovial Membrane ; metabolism