Objective: To investigate the benzo[a]pyrene ( B[a]P ) diolepoxide ( BPDE )-DNA adduct levels in offspring rats with intrauterine exposure to B[a]P, and examine the effects of BPDE-DNA adduct levels on pancreatic functional impairment and glucose metabolism in offspring rats. Methods: Forty pregnant rats were randomly divided into the blank control group, standard-dose group, low-dose group, medium-dose group and high-dose group (daily dose of 0, 2, 200, 800, 1 600 μg/kg B[a]P, respectively), of 8 animals in each group. Rats in the B[a]P treatment groups were administered by oral gavage with a mixture of B[a]P and corn oil at a dose of 0.2 mL/100 g body weight since day 1 of pregnancy until 21 days after delivery, while rats in the blank control group were given the same volume of coin oil by oral gavage. The BPDE-DNA adduct levels were measured and the pancreatic development was observed in the offspring rats 2 and 21 days and 12 weeks after birth, and the correlation between pancreas volume index and dose of exposure to B[a]P was examined using Spearman's rank correlation analysis. In addition, glucose metabolism was measured in offspring rats 12 months after birth using glucose tolerance test ( GTT ) and insulin tolerance test ( ITT ). Results: There was no abnormal appearance, death, abortion or preterm birth in pregnant or offspring rats in the five groups, and no significant differences were seen in activity, diet, drinking water or mental status in rats. The greatest level of BPDE-DNA adducts was measured in offspring rats 2 days after birth, with median levels ( interquartile range ) of 1 089.60 ( 586.10 ) to 1 405.49 ( 346.47 ) pg/mL, and no BPDE-DNA adducts were found in offspring rats 12 weeks after birth. The pancreas volume index correlated negatively with the dose of exposure to B[a]P in offspring rats 2 ( rs=-0.620, P=0.001 ) and 21 days after birth ( rs=-0.801, P=0.001 ). Hypoplasia of pancreas with loose tissues was seen in offspring rats 2 days after birth, while well pancreatic development was found in offspring rats 12 weeks after birth, with tight exocrine portion. GTT showed an increase in glucose levels in offspring rats in all five groups following abdominal injection of glucose and declined 30 min post-injection ( F=365.578, P<0.001 ), and ITT showed a tendency towards a decline in glucose levels in offspring rats in all five groups ( F=461.215, P<0.001 ). Conclusions The levels of BPDE-DNA adducts in offspring rats increase with the dose of intrauterine B[a]P exposure, and insulin resistance and impaired glucose tolerance occur 12 months post-exposure to B[a]P. Intrauterine B[a]P exposure affects pancreatic development in offspring rats and causes abnormal glucose metabolism in adult offspring rats.

Objective: To observe the effects of perinatal exposure to benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) on the expression of pancreatic duodenal homeobox-1 (PDX-1) and mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) and mitochondrial DNA copy number in offspring mice, and to explore the role of maternal exposure to B[a]P in the pancreatic function damage of offspring mice. Methods: Forty pregnant rats were randomly divided into the control group, the lowest dose group (2 μg/kg), the low dose group (200 μg/kg), medium dose group (800 μg/kg) and high dose group (1 600 μg/kg), with 8 rats in each group. From day 1 of pregnancy, each exposed group was given 0.2 mL/100 g body weight of B[a]P and corn oil mixture by gavage once a day until 3 weeks after delivery, while the control group was given the same dose of corn oil. The pancreatic tissue of three-week-old mice were collected after abdominal anesthesia for insulin immunohistochemical detection. The protein and mRNA expression levels of PDX-1 and TFAM, as well as mitochondrial DNA copy number were detected. Spearman rank correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between B[a]P exposure dose and the above indicators. Results: The insulin-positive area ratio and average optical density of insulin in the medium and the high dose groups were significantly lower than those in the control group (all P<0.05). The insulin-positive area ratio and average optical density of insulin were negatively correlated with the B[a]P dose (rs=-0.862 and -0.858, both P<0.05). The protein expression levels of PDX-1 and TFAM in the high dose group were significantly lower than those in the control group (both P<0.05). The protein expression levels of PDX-1 and TFAM were negatively correlated with the B[a]P dose (rs=-0.756 and -0.799, both P<0.05). The mRNA expression levels of PDX-1 and mitochondrial DNA copy number in the medium and high dose groups were significantly lower than those in the control group, and the mRNA expression level of TFAM in the high dose group was significantly lower than that in the control group (all P<0.05). The mRNA expression levels of PDX-1, TFAM, and mitochondrial DNA copy number were negatively correlated with the B[a]P dose (rs=-0.722, -0.550 and -0.840, all P<0.05). Conclusion Perinatal exposure to B[a]P can induce the damage of islet β cells in offspring rats, which may be related to the decreased expression of PDX-1 and TFAM and the copy number of mitochondrial DNA.

The macroporous resin separation technology has been mainly applied in the enrichment of saponins, flavonoids, alkaloids and other ingredients, and used in the removal of heavy metal impurities and pesticide residues in recent years. This paper focuses on the synthesis of the new-type macroporous adsorption resin LKS-11 according to the molecular structure characteristics of procymidone. Specifically, the selective absorptive property and other advantages of macroporous resin were utilized to analyze the procymidone removal efficiency in ginseng extracts from different sources. The type of macroporous resins, absorptive property and desorption conditions were observed respectively by static and dynamic adsorption methods to determined the optimum process conditions. According to the results, LKS-11 showed a good absorptive property to procymidone in ginseng extracts and provided a theoretical basis for studies on the removal of procymidone residues from ginseng extracts by using macroporous adsorption resin. Because of no secondary pollution on samples, low production and operation costs, high procymidone removal efficiency and high product recovery rate, this method is suitable to be applied in production.
Adsorption ; Bridged Bicyclo Compounds ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Chromatography ; instrumentation ; methods ; Drug Contamination ; prevention & control ; Drug Residues ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Fungicides, Industrial ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Panax ; chemistry ; Plant Extracts ; chemistry ; Porosity ; Resins, Synthetic ; chemistry

Thirty-four cases out of 830 children with diarrhea were confirmed to be positive of fecal cryptosporidial oocysts with IFA technique and monoclonal antibodies in a period of 2 years. These 34 cases could be diagnosed as cryptosporidial enteritis. Their age ranged from 4 months to 7. 6 years with an average of 2. 5?1. 7 years. The stool was frothy and watery in appearance. High incidence occurred form June to September. Determination of PHA skin test, LBT and serum Ig was performed on 27 patients before, during and after the treatment of Astragalus membranaceus Bunge and Sophora flavescens Ait ( 2 traditional Chinese herb medicines). It was found that diarrhea lasted 10. 9?7. 1 days and oocyst shedding lasted 21. 5? 12. 3 days. Before treatment) PHA skin test showed an erythema of 7. 9?2. 4 mm in diameter, and LBT value was 48. 7%?10. 1% and they returned to normal after treatment.It is suggested that hot safrain-methylene blue stain and modified acid-fast stain of the stool be performed in those children with diarrhea of unknown etiology as a routine screening for cryptosporidial oocysts. The 2 Chinese herb medicines may have a repelling effect on the parasites and be. helpful to the cell immunity of the patients. Asymptomatic carriers of cry-tosporidial oocysts may be the source of infection.

Functional constipation (FC) is a common functional bowel disorder disease that affects life quality of a large number of people. This study aimed to explore the impact of different intensities of electro-acupuncture (EA) treatment for FC patients. Totally, 111 patients with FC meeting the Rome III criteria were randomly assigned to different intensities of EA groups (low and high intensity of EA groups) and medicine-controlled (MC) group. In EA groups, patients were treated with EA at quchi (LI11) and shangjuxu (ST37) bilaterally for 4 weeks, 5 times/week in the first 2 weeks, and 3 times/week in the last 2 weeks. In MC group, 5 mg mosapride citrate was administered orally 3 times/day for 4 weeks. Spontaneous bowel movement frequency each day was recorded using a constipation diary. Self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) and self-rating depression scale (SDS) were used to assess the patients' psychological state. Cortisol (CORT), substance P (SP), and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) were evaluated at baseline and at the end of 4 weeks after treatment. As compared with the baseline, there was statistically significant increase in stool frequency every week (P<0.01), but there was no statistically significant difference among the three groups. As compared with the baseline, after 4 weeks of EA therapy, the scores of SDS and serum levels of CORT were decreased significantly in low intensity of EA group (P<0.01), and the serum levels of SP and VIP were increased significantly (P<0.05); the scores of SAS and SDS and serum levels of CORT were decreased significantly in high intensity of EA group (P<0.05), and the serum levels of SP and VIP were increased significantly (P<0.05); the serum levels of CORT and VIP were increased significantly in MC group (P<0.05). As compared with MC group, after 4 weeks of treatment, the serum levels of SP were signifcicantly increased in low intensity of EA group (P<0.01). Low and high intensities of EA could increase the stool frequency, improve the FC patient's anxiety and depression, reduce the serum levels of CORT, and increase the serum levels of SP and VIP effectively. It is concluded that both low and high intensities of EA are effective for FC patients, but there is no significant difference between the low and high intensities of EA.

To control the quality of Maca, the quality standard was established in this study. According to the methods recorded in the Appendix of Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2010 Edition), the water, extract, total ash, acid insoluble substance, and heavy metals inspections in Lepidium meyenii were carried out. N-benzyl-9Z, 12Z-octadecadienamide in L. meyenii was identified by TLC, and it was determined by HPLC. The results showed that the N-benzyl-9Z, 12Z-octadecadienamide identification of TLC was a strong mark and specificity. In content determination experiment, the linearity of N-benzyl-9Z, 12Z-octadecadienamide was in the range of 0.01-2 microg (r = 0.9998), and the average recovery (n=9) was 99.27% (RSD 2.0%). The methods were simple, accurate, with good reproducibility. It is suitable for quality control L. meyenii.
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Chromatography, Thin Layer ; methods ; Lepidium ; chemistry ; Plant Extracts ; chemistry

Objective To evaluate the value of ultrasound (US) in assessment knee joint inflammation in patients with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis(JRA).Methods US scans of the knees obtained in 30 children at clinically active stage; JRA was compared with those obtained in 30 healthy children and 10 JRA patients in clinical remission.Results Changes in synovial membrane thickness and presence of fluid in suprapatellar bursa showed statistically significant differences between JRA patients with active disease and the other subjects.Alterations in contour of the articular cartilage were demonstrated in 10 knees of patients with JRA.Conclusion US is a simple sensitive and reliable methods for the assessment and monitoring of knee joint involvement in JRA.

Ultrasonic microbubbles were used to open blood-brain barriers (BBB) with a reversed and limited behavior feature in the study, which could improve the brain-targeted delivery of anti-tumor drugs. The glioma rat model was prepared. Low-frequency ultrasound was combined with microbubbles to affect the permeability of BBB compared with the permeability of independently administered Evans blue (EB) crossing BBB. Time point and length of ultrasound were investigated whether they affect the permeability of BBB and the damage of brain tissue. The effect of the growth time of glioma on BBB permeability was explored. Only glioma had a very little impact on BBB permeability. However, ultrasonic microbubbles opened the BBB with the features of temporary, limited and reversed behavior and improved EB and magnetic resonance imaging contrast agent penetrating BBB. A length of 30 s ultrasound is appropriate for opening BBB and no damage of brain tissue. Drugs should be injected before ultrasound so that they enter into brain as BBB opening. Ultrasonic microbubbles can open BBB effectively and safely, which improve drugs penetrating BBB under proper time point and length.
Animals ; Blood-Brain Barrier ; Contrast Media ; Drug Delivery Systems ; Glioma ; drug therapy ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Microbubbles ; Permeability ; Rats ; Ultrasonics

OBJECTIVEIt is demonstrated that excessive activation of NF-κB is central to the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Zinc finger protein A20 (A20) is a key player in the negative feedback regulation of NF-κB signaling in response to multiple stimuli and has been described as central gatekeeper in inflammation and immunity. Mice genetically deficient in A20 develop severe intestinal inflammation and have increased susceptibility to dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis. Few studies have been done to explore the role of A20 in the pathogenesis of IBD. To clarify the relationship between intestinal inflammation and the expression level of A20 in IBD patients, the expression level of A20 and a series of inflammatory cytokines, such as NF-κB, IL-6, and IL-8, in children with IBD and controls were examined.

METHODTerminal ileal mucosal samples were obtained via endoscopy. Fifty-seven mucosal samples were divided into 4 groups: normal control group (n = 16), IBD remission group (n = 12), IBD active group (n = 13) and non-IBD enteritis group (n = 16). According to disease activity index scores, the IBD patients were divided into IBD remission group and IBD active group. Normal control group was consisted of patients with functional bowel disorders or intestinal polyps. Non-IBD enteritis was defined as changes in which endoscopy and histological examination showed inflammatory changes but could not be diagnosed as IBD. Real-time PCR was adopted for detecting the mRNA levels of A20, IL-6 and IL-8. Meanwhile immunohistochemistry was performed to measure the expression of A20 and NF-κB.

RESULT(1) The expression of A20 and NF-κB were very low in normal control group, but significantly up-regulated in IBD active group and non-IBD enteritis group (P < 0.01 for both); (2) Compared with normal control group, expression of NF-κB [(9.35 ± 4.84)% vs. (0.57 ± 0.44)%, P < 0.01], IL-6 (t' = 1.34, P > 0.05), IL-8 (t = 1.38, P > 0.05) increased in IBD remission group, while the expression of A20 in both mRNA (t = 1.03, P > 0.05) and protein levels [(0.36 ± 0.18)% vs. (0.87 ± 0.29)%, P < 0.01] decreased; (3) Compared with non-IBD enteritis group, although the expression of NF-κB [(24.17 ± 11.27)% vs. (55.29 ± 21.84)%, P < 0.01], IL-6 (t = 2.22, P < 0.05), IL-8 (t = 2.97, P < 0.01) were highly increased in IBD active group, the expression of A20 in both mRNA(t = 2.26, P < 0.05) and protein levels [(29.23 ± 11.70)% vs. (16.81 ± 5.90)%, P < 0.01]significantly decreased; (4) The expression of IL-6, IL-8 were similar in IBD remission group and non-IBD enteritis group (both P > 0.05), but the expression of A20 was much lower in both mRNA (t = 4.42, P < 0.01) and protein levels [(29.23 ± 11.70)% vs. (0.47 ± 0.25)%, P < 0.01] in IBD remission group.

CONCLUSIONThe results demonstrate that there is an excessive inflammatory response but insufficient up-regulation of A20 expression in IBD patients. Low levels expression of A20 may play an important role in the pathogenesis of IBD.

Case-Control Studies ; Child ; Endopeptidases ; metabolism ; Female ; Humans ; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases ; metabolism ; pathology ; Interleukin-6 ; metabolism ; Interleukin-8 ; metabolism ; Intestinal Mucosa ; metabolism ; pathology ; Male ; NF-kappa B ; metabolism

Quite recently,among new emerging contaminants,pharmaceutical and personal care products(PPCPs)and their active metabolites are an emerging environmental issue,due to their presence in the aquatic environment and potential for impacts on wildlife and humans.Carbamazepine is one of the most frequently and at the relatively high concentration levels detected pharmaceuticals in surface water and even in drinking water.Moreover,this drug has displayed high chronic ecotoxicity.A strain of carbamazepine-degrading bacterium was isolated from activated sludge treating pharmaceutical wastewater in Suzhou,China.It was identified as Acinetobacter sp.HY-7,based on biochemical test,16S rRNA and gyrB gene se-quence analysis.Strain HY-7 could grow in liquid mineral salt medium with carbamazepine as sole source of carbon,nitrogen and energy.HPLC analysis revealed the carbamazepine degradation percentage by HY-7 after 10 days was 48% at pH 6.0 and 25?C.Among carbamazepine and the similar structure compounds,in-dole,catechol,naphthalene,anthracene could also be utilized by strain HY-7 for growth,which exhibited a very broad substrate profile.