Objective Cancer, a disease induced by abnormally regulated cell growth and apoptosis, is imposing a global threat to human health.This study was to explore the effects of Chinese herbal extracts ( CHE) in inducing the apoptosis and inhibiting the proliferation of human lung cancer cells. Methods Human lung cancer A549 cells were divided into a negative control, a high-dose CHE (680 ng/mL), a medium-dose CHE (340 ng/mL), and a low-dose CHE (170 ng/mL) group.The inhibitory effect of CHE on the proliferation of the lung cancer cells was detected by CCK8 and LDH assays, the apoptosis of the cells was assessed by fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry, and the expressions of hTERT mRNA, cleaved caspase-3 and cleaved PARP were deter-mined by RT-PCR and Western blot. Results CHE inhibited the proliferation of the A549 cells with an IC50 value of 510 ng/mL. Treatment with high-dose CHE for 48 hours significantly suppressed the proliferation of the cells, induced the release of LDH, and promo-ted the apoptosis of the cells by 72.3%.RT-PCR and Western blot showed that 24-hour treatment with medium-dose CHE reduced the expression of hTERT mRNA by 4 times that of the negative control and up-regulated the expressions of cleaved caspase-3 and cleaved
PARP. Conclusion Chinese herbal extracts can induce cell apoptosis by decreasing the expression of hTERT mRNA and increasing those of the cleaved caspase 3 and cleaved PARP proteins.

Objective To investigate the effect of focal cerebral ischemic preconditioning (IPC) on brain edema and the expression of nuclear factor-?B( NF-?B) and its target gene MMP-9. Methods Forty-five SD rats were divided into 3 groups in which control group received sham surgery only, and the other two groups received 2 hours of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) followed by 22 hours of reperfusion with or without 10 minutes of IPC 3 days before. Brain water content, expression of NF-?B and MMP-9 mRNA were evaluated in each group by wet-dry weight method, immunohistochemistry staining and RT-PCR. Results Compared with the SS group, there was a lower NF-?B immunoreactivity and MMP-9 mRNA level (16 098.2?1 265.3 vs 23 565.8?1 978.4,50.7% vs 84.1%, P

Objective To investigate the therapeutic effect of the Hubei Wingnut ( Malus hapehensis ) leaf decoction (MHD) against conjunctivitis infected with human simplex virus type I (HSV-1). Methods Malus hupehcnsis decoction was used as the active treatment and ribavirin ( RBV) eye drop was used as the positive control. Both of the Vero cells and rabbit eye conjunctiva were infected with HSV-1. The effect and mechanism of the MHD on viral replication was determined by observing the cytopathic effect ( CPE) . The efficacy of MHD at different doses on the rabbit viral conjunctivitis was examined by pathological changes of eye conjunctiva tissues. Results MHD did not inhibit the proliferation of HSV-1 in vitro. The inflammatory reactions of rabbit viral conjunctivitis caused by HSV-1 were obviously attenuated or disappeared after treatment with MHD at 6 kg·L-1 and 3 kg·L-1 for 7 consecutive days,compared with the negative control of 0. 9% NaCl. The curative rate of MHD at the middle and high doses was 83. 3% and 100. 0%, respectively. Conclusion MHD has the potential for treating eye conjunctivitis caused by HSV-1 by relieving inflammation.

Objective To explore the relationship between serum uric acid(SUA) levels and metabolic syndrome(MS) in middle-aged and elderly people,and to investigate the impacts of age and gender on the relationship between SUA and MS.Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out in general population aged over 35 years in rural area of Yiling District,Yichang City in 2007.All subjects were investigated by using the standardized questionnaire,physical and biochemical examinations.MS was defined according to the diagnostic criteria of the latest Chinese guidelines.All subjects were divided into different subgroups based on quartiles of SUA levels and age(35-44 years old,45-59 years old,over 60 years old).The relationship of MS with age and SUA levels were investigated.Results 9354 subjects consisted of 3883 males and 5471 females were included in this study.The percentage of subjects aged over 60 years was 21.1％ in men and 17.4％ in women.The prevalence of MS from the first quartile to the fourth quartile were 3.8％,5.5％,7.9％,15.2％ in males,and 3.1％,5.5％,7.9％,16.7％ in females,respectively.The SUA levels was positively correlated with MS in both sexes after adjusting for other confounding factors.By analyzing associated-subgroups based on age and SUA levels,logistic regression analysis showed that the risk of MS was significantly increased with aging and SUA levels in female subjects.The association between age and MS was significantly weaker in men than in women.Conclusions There is a positive correlation between SUA levels and MS.The associations of MS with age and SUA levels are more closely in women than in men.The risk of MS may be highest in middle-aged and elderly women with high level of SUA.

Objective To investigate the effects of rotating pulsed magnetic field on platelet derived growth factor a (PDGF-A) expression in periodontal tissue during tooth movement. Methods 30 white rabbits were random divided into 6 groups with 5 rabbits each group,including groups of 1,3,5,7,14 and 21 days. Under anesthesia condition by 2% pentobarbital sodium,the stainless coil springs were fixed between the first maxillary molar and the incisor producing the force of 80g. The experimental group was treated by rotating pulsed magnetic field and the force, the control group was only treated by t he force. The expression of PDGF-A was half-quantitatively investigated through immunohistochemical analysis. Results The expression of PDGF-AA in the experimental group enhanced apparently compared with that in the control group. There were significant differences among the 5,7, and 14day groups (5. 28 ± 0. 14 vs 2. 03 ±0. 18,7.63±0.27 vs 2. 84 ±0. 12,3.52 ±0. 16 vs 1.65 ±0.03;8.10±0.13 vs 4. 30 ±0. 21,13. 27 ±0. 31 vs 6.47 ± 0.15,5.66 ± 0.22 vs 3. 15 ± 0. 27, P ＜ 0. 05). The expression of PDGF-AA of 7 day group was higher than that of other groups. Conclusion Rotating pulsed magnetic field promotes the expression of PDGF-A in the periodontal tissue and alveolar bone remodeling.

Objective To observe the effect of focal cerebral ischemic preconditioning on the expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and to investigate the significance of astrocyte activation in cerebral ischemic tolerance.Methods Thirty-six healthy male SpragueDawley rats were randomly divided into reischenmic,ischemic and control groups (n = 12 in each group) after ischemic preconditioning.The former two groups received 10 minutes middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) preconditioning or sham operation 3 days before the 2-hour MCAO.The rats were killed 24 hours after the second MCAO.The control group only receivedthe two sham operations with an interval of three days.The infarct volume,histopathological changes,and GFAP expression in each group were compared.Results The infarct volume after ischemic preconditioning in the reischenmic and ischemic groups was 136.85 ± 14.51 mm3and 281.37 ± 29.93 mm3 respectively.The former was significantly reduced 53.15%compared to the latter (P =0.007).At the same time,neuronal degeneration and necrosis was reduced significantly,and GFAP expression was upregulated significantly (the mean absorbance for immunohistochemical staining in both groups was 102.66 ± 8.39 and 86.28 ± 6.19respectively,P = 0.009) after ischemic preconditioning in the reischemic group.Conclusions Focal ischemic preconditioning may induce brain ischemic tolerance and promote GFAP expression.The activation of astrocytes may be one of the mechanisms of cerebral ischemic tolerance.

0.05).The effect on dispelling edema,shortening wound-healing time and reducing exudate was better in group A than that in group B(P

Objective To study the effects of social isolation (SI)on the spatial and nonspatial cognitive ability in mice.Methods The postnatal 21 day kunming mice were divided into control group,SI 2 weeks group,SI 4 weeks group,SI 8 weeks group and SI 2 weeks gregarious group according to randomized block design,with ten animals each.SI 2 weeks group,SI 4 weeks group and SI 8 weeks group were isolated for 2,4 and 8 weeks respectively,SI 2 weeks gregarious group would be housed under normal grouped housing condition after 2 weeks isolation until adult,the relative control groups were the same age as the relative SI and SI gregarious group.All animals were measured the spatial and nonspatial cognitive ability by carrying the object recognition test(ORT) and object location test (OLT) after the treatment.Results In the ORT,compared to the relative control group,the discrimination index in the SI 2 weeks group,SI 4 weeks group and SI 8 weeks group ( ( - 0.03 ± 0.003 ),( - 0.11 ±0.02) and( - 0.21 ± 0.02 ) respectively) were strikingly lower than the relative control group ( ( 0.29 ± 0.03 ),(0.13±0.07) and (0.09 ±0.03) respectively) (P＜0.05).In the OLT,compared to the relative control group,the discrimination index in the SI 2 weeks group,SI 4 weeks group and SI 8 weeks group( ( -0.15 ±0.02),( -0.30± 0.02),( - 0.32 ± 0.02 ) respectively ) were strikingly lower than the relative control group ( (0.33 ± 0.02 ),(0.41 ± 0.03 ),(0.27 ± 0.04)respectively)(P＜ 0.05 ),while the SI 2 weeks gregarious group with the resocialization to the normal housing condition showed no change.Conclusions 2 weeks,4 weeks and 8 weeks isolation on mice lead to the spatial and nonspatial cognition deficits,while the resocialization to the normal housing condition could recover the damage.

Objective To evaluate the effect of endoscopic management of foreign bodies in the upper digestive tract. Methods Clinical data and endoscopic treatment methods of 41 patients were retrospectively analyzed from October 2014 to May 2016. Patients with incomplete medical records were excluded. Results Foreign bodies in the upper digestive tract occurred high frequency in elderly. 53.6% of the foreign bodies were located in the esophagus. Date stones was the main type of foreign bodies (56.1%). 41 cases with foreign bodies in digestive tract were successfully extracted, while 1 case occurred perforation. Conclusion Endoscopic management of gastrointestinal foreign bodies is safe and effective.