Objective:To investigate the distribution characteristics of syndrome types of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in essential hypertension and to explore the distribution rule of TCM syndromes. Methods: A multicenter, large-sample survey method of clinical epidemiology was applied to choose the patients with essential hypertension from North, Middle, and South China. A questionnaire was designed and filled in, then 477 untreated patients with first-diagnosed essential hypertension were selected and the information was recorded into FileMaker database. A cluster analysis method was utilized to study the TCM syndrome distribution rule of essential hypertension. Results: Two-step cluster analysis was done from 3 to 7 clusters. Seven clusters were appropriate, which included deficiency of heart and kidney qi, hyperactivity of liver-yang, deficiency of yin and yang, stagnation of phlegm-dampness, phlegm-heat (subtype of stagnation of phlegm-dampness), blood stasis obstructing collaterals, and other syndromes. The symptoms presenting high percentage in each cluster were more significant in TCM theory. The syndromes of hyperactivity of liver-yang (24.1%) and stagnation of phlegm-dampness (27.1%) presented the high percentages, and deficiency of heart and kidney qi (10.1%), deficiency of yin and yang (8.4%), and blood stasis obstructing collaterals (9.0%) presented the low percentages. Conclusion: As compared with the current syndrome differentiation criteria, two-step cluster analysis results not only include the syndromes of deficiency of yin and yang, hyperactivity of liver-yang, stagnation of phlegm-dampness, but also cover qi deficiency and blood stasis.

BACKGROUND:In recent years, with the use of new immunosuppressive agents, the survival rate of renal graft is greatly improved, but accompanied by lots of side effects and unchanged long-term graft survival. Mesenchymal stem cel s (MSCs) have aroused people’s great interest, while their efficacy in kidney transplantation remains controversial.
OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the efficacy of MSCs transplantation on post-transplant renal graft function with a systematic review.
METHODS:PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library database, the Cochrane Central Register of Control ed Trials, Wanfang database and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) were searched until November 2015. Revman 5.3 was used for statistical analysis.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:A total of 6 randomized control ed trials were included, including 1 166 patients. Meta-analysis results showed that at 1, 2 weeks and 1 month after kidney transplantation, the posttransplantation estimated glomerular filtration rates in the MSC-treated group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P<0.05). At 1, 3, 6, 12 months after kidney transplantation, the posttransplantation serum creatinine levels showed no significant difference between the MSC-treated group and the control group (P>0.05). To conclude, MSC-based immunosuppression regimen is superior to current standard immunotherapy in improving renal graft function in the early stage after kidney transplantation, but the clinical efficacy is diminished in the later period. Therefore, further investigation using large-scale randomized control ed trials is warranted.

Background Researches showed that femtosecond laser corneal small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) was used in the correction of myopia and myopic astigmatism due to its fast recovery,good shortterm efficacy and few complications.However,few research focused on its long-term efficacy.Objective Thisstudy was to evaluate the effectiveness,safety,predictability,stability and complications of SMILE.Methods A serial cases-observational study was carried out under the approval of Ethic Committee of Henan Eye Institute and informed consent of patients.Sixty-seven eyes of 34 patients with myopia and myopic astigmatism were included in Henan Eye Institute from January to June 2013.All the patients received SMILE and followed-up for 2-year duration.The uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA),best corrected visual acuity (BCVA),automatic optometry,intraocular pressure and corneal topography were examined before surgery and 1 day,1 week,1 month,3 months,1 year and 2 years after surgery and calculated the spherical equivalent (SE).The long-term efficacy of SMILE included effective index (preoperative BCVA/postoperative UCVA),safety index (postoperative BCVA/ preoperative BCVA),predictability (linear regression analysis between actual SE and attempted SE) and refractive stability (SE changes at postoperative time points).Results The preoperative BCVA was ≥ 20/20 in 60 eyes with the percentage of 89.55％.UCVA≥ 20/20 were found in 61 eyes and 60 eyes in postoperative 3 months and 2 years respectively (91.04％ and 89.55％).The effective index was 1.038±0.182 and 1.029±0.231 in postoperative 3 months and 2 years respectively,showing an insignificant difference between them (t =0.400,P ＞ 0.05).Compared with the preoperative BCVA,8.96％ (6/67) and 10.45％ (7/67) eyes lost 1 line at 3 months and 2 years after surgery,respectively.The safety indexes were 1.141±0.193 and 1.312±0.242 at 3 months and 2 years after surgery,with no significant difference between them (t =0.414,P＞0.05).A linear correlation was found between actual SE and attempted SE both at postoperative 3 months and 2 years,with the linear regression equations of Y=0.897 1X-0.440 8 (R2 =0.914 2,P＜0.05) and Y =0.893 7X-0.382 3 (R2 =0.915 7,P＜0.05),respectively.The SE was (0.013±0.578),(-0.033±0.489),(-0.106±0.508),(-0.103±0.375),(-0.154±0.518) and (-0.147±0.366)D 1 day,1 week,1 month,3 months,1 year and 2 years after surgery,respectively,and there were no significant difference among different time points (F =0.185,P =0.176).Eighteen in the 67 eyes occurred opaque bubble layer after surgery.Diffuse lamellar keratitis appeared in 6 eyes and punctate keratitis was in 2 eyes.These complications were cured 1 month after administration of drugs.Conclusions SMILE is good in effectiveness,safety,predictability and refreactive stability and has fewer complications during 2-year following-up.

OBJECTIVETo discover and identify differentially expressed genes associated with colorectal adenoma formation and the role of RegIV in colorectal adenoma differentiation.

METHODSA subtracted cDNA library was constructed with cDNAs that were isolated from either the normal mucosa or adenoma tissue of a single patient. Suppressive subtractive hybridization (SSH) combined with virtual northern blotting was used to characterize differentially expressed genes and contigs were assembled by electronic cloning (in silico cloning) with the EST database. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR was performed in 9 colorectal adenomas.

RESULTSThe amino acid sequence was determined with open reading frame (ORF) prediction software and was found to be 100% homologous to the protein product of RegIV (a novel gene isolated from a large inflammatory bowel disease library). RegIV was found to be highly expressed in all of the adenoma samples (9/9) compared with the normal mucosa samples, while 5/6 cases showed RegIV to be more strongly expressed in adenocarcinoma.

CONCLUSIONRegIV may play an important role in the initiation of colorectal adenoma differentiation, and its detection may be useful in the early diagnosis of colorectal adenoma formation.

Adenoma ; genetics ; metabolism ; Blotting, Northern ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; genetics ; metabolism ; Humans ; Lectins, C-Type ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Nucleic Acid Hybridization ; Pancreatitis-Associated Proteins ; Prognosis ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction

Islet transplantation is one of the effective therapies for diabetes mellitus. Nevertheless, multiple issues still exist, such as shortage of donors and adverse reactions caused by long-term use of immunosuppressants, which limit the islet survival post-transplantation. Microencapsulated islet transplantation may overcome these difficulties to certain extent, whereas many factors, such as the destruction of immune isolation microenvironment within the microcapsules and insufficient supply of oxygen and nutrients, constrain the application of microencapsulated islet transplantation in clinical practice. In recent years, how to enhance the effect of microencapsulated islet transplantation has been gradually studied. The application of stem cells in microencapsulated islet transplantation has steadily become a research hot spot. Therefore, the optimizing strategies for microencapsulated islet transplantation and the application of stem cells in microencapsulated islet transplantation were reviewed, and the potential improvement techniques of microencapsulated islet transplantation were investigated in this article, aiming to provide reference for further clinical application of microencapsulated islet transplantation.

Objective To evaluate the effect of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) coated-islets on instant blood-mediated inflammatory reaction (IBMIR) after islet transplantation. Methods MSC labeled with tracer and human islets were placed into an ultra-low adsorption cell culture dish, shaken and mixed twice at an interval of 0.5 h, and then incubated at 37 ℃ and 5% CO₂ for 24 h to obtain MSC-coated islets. The coating effect of MSC and in vitro function of the islets were assessed. A blood circulation tube-shaped model was established in vitro. In the blank control group, 0.2 mL of islet culture solution was added. In the islet group, 800 islet equivalent quantity (IEQ) of uncoated islets were supplemented. In the MSC-coated islets group, 800 IEQ of MSC-coated islets were added, and circulated for 60 min at 37 ℃. A portion of 0.5 mL blood sample was taken for routine blood test at 0, 30 and 60 min, respectively. After 60 min circulation, the blood sample was filtered with a 70 μm filter to collect plasma, blood clots and islets. Blood clots and islets were subject to hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining and immunohistochemical staining. Morphological changes and the aggregation of CD11b-positive cells surrounding the islets were observed. The contents of plasma thrombin-antithrombin complex (TAT), tissue factor (TF), C3a, C5b-9, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1 and IL-8 were determined by enzyme-linked immune absorbent assay. Results After 24 h co-incubation, the islets were coated by MSC, with a coating degree of approximately 80%. In the islet and MSC-coated islet group, a large quantity of neutrophils and monocytes were observed surrounding the blood clots and islets, and the quantity of CD11b-positive cells in the MSC-coated islet group was less compared with that in the islet group. After co-incubation with the whole blood for 0, 30 and 60 min, the quantity of platelets, neutrophils and monocytes was declined in the MSC-coated and islet groups, and gradually decreased over time. Compared with the blank control group, the quantity of platelets, monocytes and neutrophils was lower, whereas the TF content was higher in the MSC-coated islet group. Compared with the islet group, the quantity of platelets, monocytes and neutrophils was higher, whereas the TAT and TF contents were less in the MSC-coated islet group, the differences were statistically significant (all P < 0.05). Compared with the blank control group, the expression levels of C3a, C5b-9, IL-6, TNF-α and IL-8 were up-regulated in the MSC-coated islet group. Compared with the islet group, the expression levels of C3a, C5b-9, IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, IL-8 and MCP-1 were down-regulated in the MSC-coated islet group, and the differences were statistically significant (all P < 0.05). Conclusions MSC-coated islets may reduce the exposure of islet TF in the blood and prevent the incidence of IBMIR during the coagulation response stage, thereby mitigating the injury and loss of islet allograft in the early stage of islet transplantation.

Objective To identify the key genes and targeted protection methods affecting the survival of human islets. Methods Using bioinformatics method, the gene expression profile (GSE53454) was selected through screening and comparison from Gene Expression Omnibus(GEO) database. GEO2R tool was employed to screen the differentially expressed gene(DEG) between the human islets exposed (exposure group) and non-exposed (non-exposure group) to interleukin (IL)-1β and interferon (IFN)-γ for 24, 48 and 72 h, respectively. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses were performed by DAVID. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed by STRING and Cytoscape apps. Results A total of 69 up-regulated DEGs and 2 down-regulated DEGs were identified. GO analysis showed that during the biological process, DEGs were enriched in the aspects of virus defense and inflammatory response. In cellular components, DEGs were significantly enriched in extracellular space, outside plasma membrane and extracellular regions. Regarding molecular functions, DEGs were significantly enriched in chemokine activity and cytokine activity. KEGG analysis revealed that DEGs were mainly enriched in multiple signaling pathways, such as cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, virus protein-cytokine and cytokine-receptor interaction, etc. Ten key genes (STAT1, CXCL10, IRF1, IL6, CXCL9, CCL5, CXCL11, ISG15, CD274, IFIT3) with high connectivity were selected by STRING analysis, all of which were significantly up-regulated in human islets exposed to IL-1β and IFN-γ. Six genes (STAT1, CXCL10, CXCL9, CXCL11, CCL5, IL6) were screened by KEGG enrichment analysis, mainly in Toll-like receptor signaling pathway. Conclusions STAT1, CXCL10, CXCL9, CXCL11, CCL5 and IL6 are the key genes affecting the survival of human islets, which are mainly enriched in Toll-like receptor signaling pathway and act as important targets for islet protection.

Rutin-degrading enzymes (RDE) can degrade rutin into poorly water soluble compound, quercetin, and cause the bitter taste in tartary buckwheat. In the present study RDE from Yu 6-21 tartary buckwheat seeds was purified by ammonium sulphate precipitation, followed by hydrophobic interaction chromatography on Phenyl Sepharose CL-4B, ion exchange chromatography on CM-Cellulose and gel filtration chromatography on Sephadex G-150. Purified RDE showed single band with molecular weight of 66 kDa on SDS-PAGE. The optimum pH and temperature of RDE were 5.0 and 50 ℃ respectively. The Km was 0.27 mmol/L, and the Vmax was 39.68 U/mg. The RDE activity could be inhibited by Cu²⁺, Zn²⁺, Mn²⁺ and EDTA, and showed tolerance to 50% methanol (V/V). The N terminal sequence (TVSRSSFPDGFLFGL) was obtained by Edman degradation method and 15 internal peptide sequences were determined by MALDI-TOF-MS (matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry). These results established the foundations for identification of the candidate gene of RDE via transcriptome data and further studying RDE biological function.

Objective:To compare the accuracy and stability between corneal topography-guided femtosecond laser-assisted laser in situ keratomileusis (FS-LASIK) and small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) for myopic astigmatism by vector analysis.Methods:A non-randomized controlled clinical trial was performed.One hundred and twenty patients (214 eyes) with myopic astigmatism who underwent the FS-LASIK or SMILE in Henan Eye Hospital from January 2020 to July 2020 were enrolled.The patients were divided into FS-LASIK group (58 cases, 105 eyes) and SMILE group (62 cases, 109 eyes) according to different surgeries.The visual acuity, refraction, intraocular pressure and corneal topography were examined before and 1 week, 1 month and 3 months after operation.The results of vector analysis between the two groups were compared, including target induced astigmatism vector (TIA), surgically induced astigmatism vector (SIA), magnitude of error (ME), angle of error (|AE|), difference vector (|DV|), correction index (CI), and index of success (IOS) 3 months after operation.This study protocol adhered to the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by an Ethics Committee of Henan Eye Hospital (No.HNEECKY-2020[25]). Written informed consent was obtained from each patient before operation.Results:Three months after surgery, no astigmatism was found in 11 eyes (10.5%), and with the rule (WTR) astigmatism was in 23 eyes (21.9%), and against the rule (ATR) and oblique astigmatism were in 71 eyes (67.6%) in FS-LASIK group.In SMILE group, no astigmatism was detected in 35 eyes (32.1%), and WTR astigmatism was in 58 eyes (53.2%), and ATR and oblique astigmatism were in 16 eyes (14.7%), showing a statistically significant difference between them ( χ2 =48.20, P<0.05). The postoperative SIA, |AE|, |DV|, CI and IOS values in the SMILE group were lower than those in the FS-LASIK group, showing statistically significant differences between them (all at P<0.05). The ME was -0.20 (-0.37, 0.00)D in FS-LASIK group and 0.20 (0.00, 0.25)D in SMILE group.Within 3 months after operation, there was no significant difference in ME among different time points in the FS-LASIK group (all at P>0.05) and in spherical equivalent (SE) among different time points in the SMILE group (all at P>0.05). There was significant difference in the results of vector analysis among different time points in the two groups (all at P<0.05). Conclusions:Both FS-LASIK and SMILE are effective in the correction of myopic astigmatism.Astigmatism is slightly overcorrected by FS-LASIK and slightly undercorrected by SMILE.The axial error is smaller and the SE is more stable after SMILE within 3 months postoperatively.

The modern bio-fermentation industry requires design and creation of efficient microbial cell factories for directed conversion of raw materials to target products. The main criteria for assessing the performance of microbial cell factories are their product synthesis capacity and stability. Due to the deficiencies of plasmids in gene expression such as instability and being easy to lose, integration of genes into chromosome is often a better choice for stable expression in microbial hosts. To this end, chromosomal gene integration technology has received much attention and has developed rapidly. In this review, we summarize the recent research progresses of chromosomal integration of large DNA fragments in microorganisms, illustrate the principles and features of various technologies, highlight the opportunity brought by the CRISPR-associated transposon systems, and prospect future research direction of this technology.
Chromosomes ; Plasmids ; DNA ; Cloning, Molecular ; Fermentation