The enzyme-inhibitor model and the sugar tolerance mouse model were used to evaluate the relationship between the inhibition rate of enzyme activity and concentration of Hippophae rhamnoides L. subsp. chinensis Rousi polysaccharide (HRP). The inhibitory patterns of enzyme and dose-dependent effects of HRP's effect on blood glucose using acarbose tablets as control were also examined. The mechanism underlying hypoglycemic effects of HRP was discussed. The results showed: in the enzyme-inhibitor model, the inhibitory activity of different concentrations of HRP (9.80, 19.60, 39.20, 78.40, 156.80 and 312.50 mg x L(-1)) on alpha-glucosaminidase (AG) inhibitory activity were 6.62%, 18.02%, 33.26%, 48.23%, 62.11%, 76.31%, 90.12%, IC50 was 31.59 mg x L(-1). The inhibitory rate of 25.00 x 10(3) mg x L(-1) acarbose tablets was only 64.87%, and IC50 was 10.75 x 10(3) mg x L(-1). In the sugar tolerance mouse model, different doses of HRP (240, 480, 960 mg x kg(-1)) tended to decrease levels of blood glucose compared with control group (acarbose tablets 375 mg x kg(-1)) at 15, 30, 60 and 120 min. It's further confirmed that HRP is a kind of competitive inhibitor of AG activity. Its inhibition rate increases with the increase of concentration in normal mice, and it subsequently improves the sugar tolerance showing the effect of reducing blood sugar.

AIM: To study the effects of taurine at different doses on renal oxidative stress and inflammation induced by paraquat in rats.METHODS: Male SD rats (n=48) were randomly divided into 4 groups: negative control group, paraquat group, paraquat + low-dose taurine group, and paraquat + high-dose taurine group.The serum levels of creatinine and urea nitrogen were detected by a biochemical analyzer.The levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were measured by colorimetry.The plasma concentrations of IL-6 and intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1 were detected by ELISA.Renal reactive oxygen species (ROS) was checked by fluorescence probe dihydroethidium (DHE).The protein levels of renal p-P38 MAPK, p-ERK1/2 and p-JNK were determined by Western blot.The mRNA expression of TNF-α, IL-6 and TGF-β1 was detected by real-time PCR.RESULTS: Serum creatinine and urea nitrogen increased after paraquat poisoning, and decreased after feeding with taurine in poisoned rats, with better result in high-dose taurine group.Taurine reduced the oxidative stress and inflammation in the renal tissue, and also reduced the protein levels of p-JNK, p-ERK1/2 and p-P38 in the kidney of paraquat-poisoned rats.CONCLUSION: Taurine attenuates renal injury induced by paraquat poisoning in rats.The mechanism may be related to reducing renal MAPK activity, oxidative stress and inflammatory response.

As a common postoperative complication after gastrointestinal tumor surgery, the diarrhea adversely affects the recovery and the life quality of the patients. The occurrence of diarrhea is closely related to the operations and the perioperative treatments. Meanwhile,the gastrointestinal microecological disorders are found to be involved. In this article,the author will make a systemic review on the related factors and their treatments of the postoperative diarrhea after gastrointestinal tumor surgery, and mainly discuss the microecological issues involved in these processes.

Abstract:To compare the morphology of spinal cord between healthy adolescents with adolescent Chiari malformation type I (CMI) patients and investigate the impact of syringomyelia on the morphology of spinal cord in CMI patients.Methods:The clinical and radiological data of 292 CMI patients diagnosed by our center between June 2012 and March 2019 were retrospectively reviewed. Among them 15 CMI patients without syringomyelia were recruited in the CM group. Among the remaining 277 CMI patients, 274 patients had syringomyelia below the C 3-4 intervertebral disc. According to the principle of best matching, CMI patients with syringomyelia were selected with the closest age to the CM group (±18 months), and 30 CMI patients with syringomyelia were included in the CMS group according to a ratio of 1∶2. Thirty healthy adolescents were enrolled as the control group (NC group) in the same way. The anteroposterior diameters of spinal cord at C 2 (DSCO-C 2), spinal canal at C 2 (DSCA-C 2), midbrain-pontine junction (DPJ), the distance between the tip of cerebellar tonsils and the foramen magnum (AB) and the maximal diameter of the syrinx (D-syrinx) were measured on MRI. All radiographic parameters were measured twice independently by two spine surgeons, and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) were determined to demonstrate intra- and inter-observer reliability. One-way ANOVA and SNK- q test were used to compare the above radiographic parameters and age between CM, CMS and NC group. The distribution of genders was compared between the three groups using Chi-square tests. Pearson correlation analysis were conducted to demonstrate the relationship between radiographic parameters in CM and CMS group. Results:ICC ranged between 0.91 and 0.95 in the current study, demonstrating "excellent" reliability of radiographic measurements. No significant difference was noted regarding age and the distribution of genders among the three groups. Patients in CM and CMS groups showed similar DSCO-C 2 values ( P=0.254), both of which were significantly lower than that in NC group ( P<0.001). DSCA-C 2 in CMS group was significantly larger than that in CM ( P=0.003) and NC ( P<0.001) groups, while no significant difference was found between the CM and NC groups ( P=0.216). Moreover, DPJ in CMS group was significantly lower than that in CM group ( P<0.001) and NC group ( P<0.001). There was no significant difference in AB between CM and CMS groups ( P=0.948). DSCO-C 2 was significantly positively correlated with DSCA-C 2 in CMS group ( r=0.906, P<0.001), while AB, D-syrinx, DSCO-syrinx, DSCA-syrinx and DPJ were not significantly correlated with DSCA-C 2. There were significant correlations observed between DPJ and other radiographic parameters in the CMS group (all P>0.05). Significant positive correlation between DSCO-C 2 and DPJ was observed in CM group ( r=0.703, P=0.005). There was no significant correlation between DSCO-C 2 and DSCA-C 2 and DPJ in NC group (all P>0.05). Conclusion:CMI adolescents have significant atrophic change of cervical spinal cord and midbrain-pontine junction compared with healthy adolescents, regardless of the existence of syrinx. Moreover, syrinx in CMI patients indicated more obvious atrophic change of midbrain-pontine junction and dilated spinal canal compared with isolated CMI patients.

Objective:To investigate the radiographic risk factors related to the occurrence of distal adding-on (AO) in posteriorly treated Lenke modifier C adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) patients with the apical vertebra of the lumbar curve (L-AV) selected as the lowest instrumented vertebra (LIV).Methods:Seventy-three Lenke modifier C AIS patients were analyzed with a minimum of 2-year follow-up after posterior spinal fusion surgery with L-AV selected as LIV. Patients were grouped according to the occurrence of distal AO. Radiographical parameters were measured as follows: Cobb angle, curve flexibility and AV translation of the thoracic curve and lumbar curve, L-AV rotation and tilt, coronal balance, Harrington stable zone on anteroposterior (AP) film and concave bending film, L-AV derotation and L-AV/AV+1 disc opening or closing on convex bending film, etc. The Scoliosis Research Society-22 (SRS-22) score was used to evaluate clinical outcomes. Radiographic and clinical parameters were statistically analyzed between the two groups.Results:There were 23 patients in AO group and 50 patients in non-AO group. Preoperatively, the AO group had proximal L-AV, lower flexibility of the thoracic curve, coronal imbalance shifted to the convex side of the lumbar curve, lower Harrington stable zone on AP film and concave bending film, and less L-AV/AV+1 disc opening on convex bending film compared to non-AO group. The logistic regression revealed that the flexibility of the thoracic curve, coronal balance, Harrington stable zone on concave bending film, and L-AV/AV+1 disc opening or closing on convex bending film were significant predictors of distal AO. Specifically, the flexibility of the thoracic curve >40.0%, coronal balance< 19.6mm, and Harrington stable zone on concave bending film >77.8% might be optimal thresholds for selecting L-AV as LIV. At the final follow-up, AO group had larger lumbar curves and lower correction rates. No difference was found in the SRS-22 between the two groups.Conclusion:For Lenke modifier C AIS patients, LIV might be considered to stop at L-AV if there were good flexibility of the thoracic curves, coronal balance, L-AV/AV+1 disc opening on convex bending film, and large Harrington stable zone on concave bending film.

Objective To investigate the effect of ERH gene knockdown on the proliferation and apoptosis of human bladder cancer T24 cells. Methods T24 cells infected by lentivirus with interference on ERH gene sequence were cloned to establish stable T24 cells clone in ERH gene suppression. The expression of ERH mRNA gene in bladder cancer was detected by using quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). The effects of ERH knockout on the cell proliferation and apoptosis were examined by using methylthiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay, colony formation assay and flow cytometry. The effect of ERH knockout on the tumorigenic effect of T24 cells in vivo was verified by subcutaneous tumor formation in nude mice. Results After lentiviral transfection, qPCR results showed that the knockdown effect of ERH mRNA in ERH normal group (untreated T24 cells) was better than that in ERH gene knockdown group, and the difference was statistically significant [(1.006±0.126) vs. (0.079±0.007); t=12.72, P=0.0002]. After knocking out ERH gene, MTT assay showed that the proliferation ability of T24 cells in ERH gene knockdown group was weakened compared with ERH normal group, and the difference was statistically significant [A490 value: (0.13±0.00) vs. (0.66±0.01);t=104.61, P<0.0001]. Colony formation assay indicated that the ability of clone in ERH normal group was weakened compared with ERH gene knockdown group [(10.5 ±1.2) vs. (196.4 ±4.0); t= 73.63, P< 0.0001]. Flow cytometry showed that the cell apoptosis rate in ERH gene knockdown group was higher than that in ERH normal group [(11.0 ±0.5) ％ vs. (4.2 ±0.5) ％; t= 16.06, P<0.0001]. Imaging results of subcutaneous tumor formation in nude mice showed that the total fluorescence intensity of the tumor area in ERH gene knockdown group was (4.67 ±0.59) × 1010 μW/cm2, and the corresponding part in ERH normal group was (9.54±4.20) × 1010μW/cm2 (t=3.64, P=0.0051);tumor weight in ERH gene knockdown group was (0.80±0.62) g, and in ERH normal group was (1.79±0.71) g (t=3.33, P=0.0037). Conclusion ERH gene knockout can inhibit the proliferation of human bladder cancer T24 cells, and promote the cell apoptosis.

Background As emerging environmental contaminants with ecological risks, flame retardants (FRs) exhibit obvious toxicity and persistence. In recent years, as FRs have been widely detected in indoor environments and human samples, the human health risks after FRs exposure are of great concern. Objective To systematically understand the topic evolution, research status, progress, and development trends on the toxicity and health effects of FRs on humans worldwide. Methods We retrieved the literature regarding toxicity of FRs and their effects on human health through the Web of Science database from 2000 to 2020, screened and processed the literature using Endnote software, and analyzed annual publications, important citations, and authors. CiteSpace and VOSviewer were employed to draw co-citation network, keyword co-occurrence network, and keyword clustering map for bibliometric visualization analysis. Results From 2000 to 2020, 472 international papers on toxic effects and human health impacts of FRs were published. In terms of publication years, FRs-related research was mainly divided into three stages: the infancy and exploration stage (2001—2006), when the research on the toxic effects of FRs was just starting; the growth stage (2007—2015), when the risk assessments of FRs on human health were conducted; and the acceleration stage (2016—), when the studies have shifted to the mechanism of FRs damage to human health. In this field, China published the largest number of published articles in the world (177 papers), but the intermediary centrality (reflecting academic influence) was only 0.19, far lower than that of European and American countries such as the Netherlands (0.78), Britain (0.51), and Germany (0.44). Among the top 10 research institutions in terms of the number of articles published, the Chinese Academy of Sciences topped the list with 49 articles. Van der Veen and other researchers had a strong influence on the research of the toxic effects of phosphorous FRs since their papers published in 2012 were cited 1319 times and in the most prominent node in the literature co-citation network. The high-frequency keywords in the literature on the human health effects of FRs were polybrominated diphenyl ethers (217 times), brominated FRs (166 times), toxicity (147 times), FRs (102 times), exposure, polychlorinated biphenyls, in vitro experiment, plasticizer, etc. Through keyword clustering and co-occurrence analyses, it was found that current research is systematically exploring the toxic mechanism of FRs from a perspective integrating pollution source-exposure route-final receptor of pollutants, and is evaluating the environmental health risks via different exposure routes. The visualized bibliometric analysis findings suggested that future studies understand the underlying mechanisms of various cell damage caused by FRs toxicity, identify the key factors of change and their relationships, aiming to provide a scientific basis for targeted prevention of health effects of FRs. Conclusion The research hotspots on the toxic effects of FRs and their effects on human health have changed over time, and the breadth and depth have been increasing. The toxic effects of brominated/phosphorus FRs have always been the mainstream direction in this field. Further studies will focus on the molecular mechanisms of human toxicity after FRs exposure.