AIM: To investigate the effects of Qiwei Qianliening Tablets(QLN)(Radix paeoniae rubra,Semen Vaccariae,Semen Citri reticulatae,etc) on nonbacterial chronic prostatitis and its anti-inflammatory and analgesia activity. METHODS: Nonbacterial chronic prostatitis model was induced by injecting 25% Xiao Zhiling Injection into the prostate of rat and then coefficent of prostate and pathologic changes were observed.Anti-inflammatory effects were tested by cotton pelle-induced granuloma in rat.Analgesia activity was tested by hot-plate method. RESULTS: QLN inhibited the increase of prostate tissue weight and the histopathology showed resolving prostatitis in QLN-treated groups compared with the controls.Anti-inflammatory activity was confirmed in cotton pelle-induced granoluma in rat and QLN-treated groups extended the licking-paw latency in hot-plate method compared with the controls. CONCLUSION: Qiwei Qianliening Tablets has prevention and treatment effect on experimental nonbacterial chronic prostatitis.

Objective To explore the association between the daily intake of alcohol and blood pressure in Chinese.Methods With the baseline data of the Qingdao Port Health Study,all subjects aged 18 to 54 yrs including all in-service and retired employees in Qingdao port were selected and divided into seven groups according to their daily intake of alcohol: groups of 0,0～,5～,10～,20～,40～ and 60～g alcohol/d,also stratified by ages.The amount of alcohol intake was assessed by a questionnaire.The cross-sectional association between blood pressure and intakes of alcohol was analyzed with general linear model and Logistic regression.Results In the groups of 25～34,35～44,45～54 yrs old both before and after adjustment,systolic and diastolic blood pressure were linearly increased with the amount of alcohol intake from the 0 g/d group to 60～g/d group.In the group of 18～24 yrs old,there was no obvious relationship between BP and alcohol intake.Logistic regression model showed that odds ratios in the groups of 0～g/d,5～g/d,10～g/d,20～g/d,40～g/d and 60～g/d versus the abstainers was 1.05,1.14,1.08,1.24,1.30 and 2.02,respectively,and the prevalence of hypertension in the 20～g/d group was significantly higher than that in the 0 g/d group and groups of low or moderate alcohol intake.Conclusion An increasing and linear relationship between alcohol consumption and blood pressure was established,and alcohol intake ≥20 g /d is an independent risk factor for hypertension.

Objective To investigate the expression changes of Toll-like receptors(TLR) and the signaling pathway function on airway epithelial cells infected with human metapneumovirus(hMPV), and to explore the mechanisms of hMPV-induced airway inflammation. Methods A549 cells were infected with hMPV live or co-cultured with UV-inactivated hMPV in vitro. Growth curve of the virus in A549 cells was established and mRNA expression of TLR were detected by RT-PCR assay and real-time PCR assay at 3, 6, 9, 12, 24 h post infection. IFN-α and TNF-α in the culture supernatants were detected by ELISA. Results hMPV was able to replicate in A549 cell, growing to peak titer of 10~(5.2) TCID_(50)/ml at 3 d after infection. Most of TLR mRNA levels were up-regulated by hMPV infection but not UV-inactivated viruses via RT-PCR assay (P<0.05) after 6 h of stimulation. Real-time PCR assay showed that TLR3-4, TLR7-9 mRNA increased after being infected by hMPV in a time-dependent manner. The expression of IFN-α and TNF-α in the cul-ture supernatants were significantly up-regulated after 24 h infected by hMPV. Conclusion hMPV infection up-regulates the expression of TLR in lung epithelial cells. The inflammatory response to hMPV may associ-ate with part of TLR signal transduction pathway.

Podcast,a versatile web-based technology,has been widely employed in international nursing education.In China,however,it is only applied based on its video-related function.The other functions,such as subscribing,participating,mobile,and sharing learning option have not been fully exploited.The studies on application of podcast demonstrate that it can excite the learning interest,alleviate stress and anxiety,and enhance the preclinical educational experience.Moreover,it facilitates the self-study ability.Therefore the podcast is expected to be applied more widely in the domestic nursing education.

Isoliquiritigenin (ISL) is a flavonoid compound isolated from licorice. It possesses excellent antioxidant and anti-diabetic activities. This study aims to investigate the molecular mechanism underlying the alleviatory effect of ISL on energy metabolism imbalance caused by type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). 8-week-old male C57BL/6J mice were used in in vivo experiments. The high-fat-high-glucose diet combined with intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin was applied to establish T2DM animal model. All animal experiments were performed in accordance with the Institutional Guidelines of Laboratory Animal Administration issued by the Committee of Ethics at Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. HepG2 cells were used in in vitro experiments. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) were used to examine the protein and mRNA levels of mitochondrial function-related targets. The levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) in HepG2 cells were measured by the flow cytometry. Additionally, the molecular docking of ISL and key target proteins was analyzed. It was found that ISL significantly inhibited the activity of mitochondrial respiratory chain complex I and increased the protein levels of uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) in the livers of mice and HepG2 cells. It also obviously decreased the ROS levels and increased the MMP levels in cultured HepG2 cells. In addition, ISL promoted mitochondrial biogenesis by activating proliferator-activated receptor gamma co-activator 1α (PGC-1α) and enhanced mitophagy by upregulating Parkin. It also improved mitochondrial fusion by increasing the mRNA and protein levels of mitofusin 2 (MFN2). In conclusion, ISL alleviates energy metabolism imbalance caused by T2DM through suppression of excessive mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation and promotion of mitochondrial biogenesis, mitophagy, and fusion.

Isoliquiritigenin (ISL) is an active chalcone compound isolated from licorice. It possesses anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative activities. In our previous study, we uncovered a great potential of ISL in treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Therefore, this study aims to reveal the mechanism underlying the alleviatory effects of ISL on T2DM-induced glycolipid metabolism disorder. High-fat-high-sugar diet (HFD) combined with intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ) were used to establish T2DM mice model. All animal experiments were carried out with approval of the Committee of Ethics at Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. HepG2 cells were used in in vitro experiments, and sodium palmitate (SP) was applied to establish insulin resistance (IR) model cells. The effects of ISL on body weight, fasting blood glucose levels, and pathological changes in the livers of mice were examined. Enzyme-linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA) and real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) were applied to detect the regulatory effects of ISL on key targets involved in glucolipid metabolism. Additionally, molecular docking and analytical dynamics simulation methods were used to analyze the interaction between ISL and key target protein. The results indicate that ISL significantly downregulates the transcriptional levels and inhibits the activities of key enzymes involved in gluconeogenesis, including pyruvate carboxylase (PC), phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK), and fructose-1, 6-bisphosphatase (FBP). It also downregulates the transcriptional and protein levels of hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α (HNF4α) and cAMP response element binding protein (CREB), the two transcriptional factors involved in gluconeogenesis. Thus, ISL inhibits hepatic gluconeogenesis in T2DM mice. In addition, ISL reduces total cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG) levels in the livers of T2DM mice. Moreover, ISL downregulates the mRNA levels of lipogenesis genes and upregulates those of genes involved in fatty acid oxidation, lipid uptake, and lipid export. In conclusion, ISL suppresses hepatic gluconeogenesis, promotes lipolysis, and restrains lipogenesis in T2DM mice, thereby improving the abnormal glycolipid metabolism caused by T2DM.

Objective To study the effects of Trichinella spiralis (T.spiralis) infection on mice with oxazolone (OXZ)-induced colitis and the possible immunologic mechanism.Methods Female BALB/c mice at age 6-8 weeks were randomly divided into four groups (A to D).Each mouse in groups B and D was infected with T.spiralis strains.Twenty-one days after T.spiralis infection,the mice in groups A and B were treated with 50％ ethanol solution,while those in groups C and D were treated with OXZ to induce the murine model of colitis.Several parameters including survival rate,disease activity index (DAI),macroscopic damage and histological score,myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity and the expression of cytokines (IFN-γ,IL-4 and IL-10) in colonic and splenic tissues at mRNA and protein levels were measured 3 and 7 days after modeling.Results No significant differences in the survival rate,DAI score,macroscopic damage score,histological score,MPO activity were observed between mice from groups C and D (P＞0.05).Pre-exposing the mice to T.spiralis strains neither alleviated the mucosal damages nor aggravated the condition of colitis.Compared with group C,the expression of IFN-γ on the third day and the expression of IFN-γ,IL-4 and IL-10 on the seventh day at mRNA and protein levels in colon and spleen tissues were significantly increased in mice treated with T.spiralis and OXZ (P＜0.05).The expression of IL-10 at transcriptional level in spleen tissues on the third day was higher than that of group C (P＜0.05).The expression of IL-4 and IL-10 at protein level in colon tissues on the third day were significantly up-regulated as compared with those of group C (P＜0.05).Conclusion The severity of OXZ-induced colitis in the murine model was neither alleviated nor aggravated by pre-exposing the mice to T.spiralis strains.High doses of IL-10 not only weakened the regulatory effects on Th2 responses,but also induced the production of proinflammatory cytokines,resulting in a new drift of Th1/Th2 without aggravating Th2 responses.Further investigation on the mechanism of T.spiralis-induced over-expression of IL-10 should be conducted,which might increase the practicability of using T.spiralis strains against OXZ-induced colitis.

Aim To investigate the lipid-lowering mechanism of Chinese Medicine curcumin.A sterol regulatory report system of LDLR gene expression in HEK-293 cell line was established.Method A green fluorescent protein(GFP) gene was constructed downstream of the sterol regulatory element-1(SRE-1) and the constructed plasmid was introduced into HEK-293 cell line.This SRE-GFP transfected 293 cells were treated with different concentration of curcumin for 2 days.The expression of GFP in the cells was measured by a fluorescence microscope and Flow Cytometry.Results The expression of GFP in SRE-GFP transfected 293 cells was obviously induced by curcumin.Conclusion Curcumin may positively affect the expression of LDLR gene by its influence on SRE-1.

Objective To establish a mouse model for human metapneumovirus (hMPV) infec-tion, and to explore the course of viral replication and pathology and lay ground for vaccine development. Methods BALB/c mice were infected intranasally with hMPV, and sacrificed on day 1,3, 5, 7, 9 and 16 post inoculation. Lungs were used for viral isolation, viral titration by an improved plaque assays, pulmonary histopathology and detection of hMPV mRNA expression by RT-PCR. Results Live viruses were successful-ly isolated from the lungs of infected mice, hMPV replicate well in the lungs and viral titers peaked on the 5th day post inoculation (5.16 ± 1.09)×105 PFU/g, remaining to be detectable on the 9th day post inocu- lation (2.79 ± 1.22)×102 PFU/g. Genomic RNA of hMPV was able to be detected on the 16th day post in-oculation by RT-PCR targeting F gene. Histopathology of lungs was characterized by interstitial pneumonia in particular during 3 ～ 7 days post inoculation. Conclusion hMPV infected BALB/c mice model was success-fully established, hMPV infected mice showed similar patterns of viral replication and pulmonary histopathol-ogy as in infected humans.