Objective To study the mechanism of pregnancy immune tolerance induced by adoptive transferring of FasL gene-modified dendritic cells(DC). Methods The mouse models of spontaneous abortion(CBA/J ? DBA/2) and normal pregnancy(CBA/J ? BALB/c) were established.Five different experimental groups were included: mice of normal pregnancy(CBA/J?BALB/c)(n=17),served as control group;mice of spontaneous abortion without treatment(CBA/J?DBA/2)(n=37),mice injected with DC culture medium(DCCM)(n=25);mice immunized with empty plasmid pcDNA3.1-DC(n=6);and mice immunized with pcDNA3.1-FasL-DC(n=5).Embryo resorption rates of pregnant mice in each groups were observed.Annexin V-FITC was used to detect the apoptosis of T cells.Immunohistochemical staining(SABC) was used to detect the expression of FasL in decidual membranes of pregnant mice. ResultsThe embryo resorption rate of mice immunized with FasL-DC was decreased significantly as compared with that of mice of spontaneous abortion without treatment,DCCM group and immunized with pcDNA3.1-DC(P0.05). Conclusion The decreased apoptosis rate of peripheral T cells and the reduced expression of FasL in decidual membranes may be an important mechanism for the pathogenesis of abortion.Adoptive transfer of FasL gene-modified DC may induce pregnancy immune tolerance by increasing FasL expression of maternal-fetal interface and decreasing embryo resorption rate.

OBJECTIVETo offer evidences for quality control of medicinal plant of Dactylicapnos scandens.

METHODPharmacognostic studies were carried out through field collection, morphological and microscopic characteristics, and TLC.

RESULTObservation and description of the experimentation were made.

CONCLUSIONDactylicapnos scandens can be identified from Genus of Dactylicapnos which has the similar morphological characteristics. The morphological and microscopic characteristics and the results of TLC can be used as evidences for quality control of this medicinal plant.

Chromatography, Thin Layer ; Papaveraceae ; anatomy & histology ; chemistry ; Pharmacognosy ; Plant Leaves ; anatomy & histology ; Plant Roots ; anatomy & histology ; Plant Stems ; anatomy & histology ; Plants, Medicinal ; anatomy & histology ; chemistry ; Quality Control

The brain-gut peptide ghrelin, a endogenous ligand for the growth hormone secretagogue hormone receptor, is mainly produced by gastric cells in the periphery, regulating energy metabolism via stimulating the appetite. Inside the brain, ghrelin is mainly expressed in the pituitary and in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus, regulating the synthesis and secretion of neuropeptides that are correlated with feeding behavior, reproduction, and stress responses. Recently, more and more researches focused on the regulating roles of ghrelin on learning and memory, and mood regulation have indicated that ghrelin may inhibit neuronal apoptosis, improve cognitive function, and regulate the activities of neuroendocrine systems such as the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis and the hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal axis thus get involved in the pathogenesis of neuropsychiatric diseases. The aim of this review is to summarize the main findings in this field, with the purpose of promoting further studies on the role of ghrelin in the brain.
Apoptosis ; Brain ; metabolism ; pathology ; physiology ; Ghrelin ; metabolism ; physiology ; Humans ; Learning ; Memory ; Neurons ; pathology ; Parkinson Disease ; metabolism ; pathology ; physiopathology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the changes in contents of cycloxygenase-2 (COX-2) and its downstream effectors in rat's myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) model and observe the effects of precondition with GBE50 (Ginkgo biloba extract 50) and Salviae miltiorrhizae (SM) on them.

METHODSRat's I/R model was established by 30-min left anterior descending coronary artery occlusion followed with 60-min reperfusion. Animals were divided into the model control group, the sham-operated group and the tested groups (received 1-week precondition with GBE50 and SM respectively via intragastric infusion before modeling). COX-2 mRNA expression in myocardium was detected by real-time PCR; contents of thromboxane B2 (TXB2) and 6-keto-prostaglandin F1alpha (6-keto-PGF1alpha) were measured by radioimmunoassay.

RESULTSThe mRNA expression of COX-2 in the model group was obviously higher than that in the sham-operated group (P < 0.001), while that in the tested groups was down-regulated significantly (P < 0.01), and the content of TXB2 as well as the ratio of TXB2/PGF1alpha was reduced significantly (P < 0.05). Besides, SM also showed the up-regulation effect on 6-keto-PGF1alpha content in myocardium (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONCOX-2 affects the myocardium through thromboxane A2 and prostacyclin after I/R; both GBE50 and SM can inhibit the production of COX-2, but they may act in different paths.

6-Ketoprostaglandin F1 alpha ; metabolism ; Animals ; Cyclooxygenase 2 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Ginkgo biloba ; chemistry ; Ischemic Preconditioning, Myocardial ; methods ; Male ; Myocardial Ischemia ; physiopathology ; Myocardial Reperfusion Injury ; metabolism ; pathology ; Myocardium ; metabolism ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Salvia miltiorrhiza ; chemistry ; Thromboxane B2 ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of maternal deprivation on the activity of hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, acute stress response and the sex hormone receptors expression in hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) in female rats.

METHODSMaternal deprivation model was induced in female Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. Foot shock was given at different stages of estrus cycle during the adulthood. Plasma estradiol, testosterone and adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) levels were determined by radioimmunoassay; and plasma corticosterone level was measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. The expression of androgen receptor (AR) and estrogen receptor (ER-β) in the hypothalamic PVN was detected by immunohistochemistry.

RESULTSDecreased plasma ACTH and corticosterone levels were found in the proestrus of female rats with maternal deprivation (P=0.012 and P=0.019, respectively). A significant down-regulation (P=0.008) of PVN-AR, but not PVN-ER-β expression was found in female rats with maternal deprivation.

CONCLUSIONMaternal deprivation may reduce the HPA axis activity in female SD rats, which is closely correlated with the fluctuation of the circulating sex hormones. The androgen in the hypothalamus seems to play a more important role than the estrogen in this procedure.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone ; blood ; Animals ; Corticosterone ; blood ; Estradiol ; blood ; Female ; Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System ; physiopathology ; Maternal Deprivation ; Paraventricular Hypothalamic Nucleus ; metabolism ; Pituitary-Adrenal System ; physiopathology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Receptors, Androgen ; metabolism ; Receptors, Estrogen ; metabolism ; Stress, Physiological ; Testosterone ; blood

OBJECTIVEGlucocorticoid can induce apoptosis by regulating some genes' expression, but its effect on the pro-apoptotic protein Puma in leukemia remains unclear. This study was designed to investigate the effect of glucocorticoid on the expression of Puma in glucocorticoid-induced apoptosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells in vitro.

METHODSLeukemia cells from acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients were transplanted into the immunodeficient mice. The transplanted leukemia cells were collected and then were treated with dexamethasone at the final concentration of 1 microM. The expression of Puma protein and mRNA in leukemia cells after dexamethasone treatment was detected by Western Blot and real-time quantitative PCR. A drug sensitive test was performed by MTT assay.

RESULTSThe leukemia cells which came from the patients who had good clinical outcomes were sensitive to dexamethasone, while the ones from the patients who had poor clinical outcomes were resistant to dexamethasone in vitro. The sensitivity to dexamethasone in vitro between the resistant and sensitive leukemia cells was significantly different (P < 0.05). No upregulation of Puma protein and mRNA was detected in resistant and sensitive leukemia cells after dexamethasone treatment.

CONCLUSIONSGlucocorticoid can not upregulate the expression of Puma in glucocorticoid-induced apoptosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells in vitro.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins ; analysis ; genetics ; Dexamethasone ; pharmacology ; Gene Expression Regulation, Leukemic ; drug effects ; Humans ; Mice ; Neoplasm Transplantation ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma ; metabolism ; pathology ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins ; analysis ; genetics ; RNA, Messenger ; analysis ; Transplantation, Heterologous

Neuronal histamine is crucially involved in a number of physiological functions as well as in neuropsychiatric diseases. Determination of histamine in biological samples is thus of importance in the clinical studies. The aim of this review is to summarize the progress or effort made in this field, with focus on the high-performance liquid chromatography.
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Histamine ; analysis ; cerebrospinal fluid ; Humans

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effect of integrative Chinese and western medicine (ICWM) in treating severe a cute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

METHODSSixty SARS patients were diagnosed and observed according to the universal standard, and divided into the ICWM group (n = 31, treated with ICWM) and the control group (n = 29, treated by conventional western medicine alone).

RESULTSICWM showed better effect than that of western medicine alone in improving clinical symptoms, promoting the absorption of inflammation in lung, increased oxygen saturation (P < 0.01) and decreased the dosage of corticoid used (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe effect of ICWM is better than that of simple western medicine in treating SARS.

Adult ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Methylprednisolone ; therapeutic use ; Middle Aged ; Phytotherapy ; Ribavirin ; therapeutic use ; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ; drug therapy ; immunology ; Single-Blind Method

BACKGROUNDChemokines and their receptors have been a research focus in transplantation immunology. Chemokines and their receptors play a role in lymphocyte recruitment and differentiation process. This study aimed to observe whether IL-4 and IL-10 may regulate the expression of chemokine receptors CCR3, CCR5 and CXCR3 on CD4(+) T cells in CBA/JxDBA/2 mouse model and to explore the role of CCR3, CCR5, CXCR3 in immune tolerance in pregnancy.

METHODSThe mouse model of spontaneous abortion (CBA/JxDBA/2) and the normal pregnant mouse model (CBA/JxBALB/c) were used. CBA/JxDBA/2 mice were injected with IL-4 (CBA/JxDBA/2-IL-4), IL-4 and IL-10 (CBA/JxDBA/2-IL-4+IL-10), or normal saline (CBA/JxDBA/2-NS) as a control. The expression of CCR3, CCR5 and CXCR3 on CD4(+) T cells from mouse peripheral blood was measured by the double-labelled FCM method, and the embryo resorption rate was also examined.

RESULTSThe embryo resorption rate in the CBA/JxDBA/2 group without any treatment was significantly higher than that in the CBA/JxBALB/c group (17.9% vs 3.7%, P < 0.01). The embryo resorption rate in the CBA/JxDBA/2 group immunized with IL-4 or IL-4 together with IL-10 was significantly decreased, compared with that in the control and NS groups respectively. CCR3 expression on CD4(+) T cells in the CBA/JxDBA/2 group without any treatment was significantly lower than that in the CBA/JxBALB/c group (0.3738 +/- 0.3575 vs 1.2190 +/- 0.2772, P < 0.01); both CCR5 (3.0900 +/- 1.5603 vs 1.2390 +/- 0.6361, P < 0.01) and CXCR3 (2.4715 +/- 0.9074 vs 0.9200 +/- 0.5585, P < 0.01) expressions on CD4(+) T cells of the CBA/JxDBA/2 group without any treatment were significantly higher than those of the CBA/JxBALB/c group. Significant up-regulation of CCR3 and down-regulation of CXCR3 were found in the CBA/JxDBA/2 group treated with IL-4 (CCR3: 2.0360 +/- 0.6944, CXCR3: 1.3510 +/- 0.5263, P < 0.01) or IL-4 and IL-10 (CCR3: 1.8160 +/- 1.0947, CXCR3:1.0940 +/- 0.7168, P < 0.01). Because of the CCR5, IL-4 and IL-10 (1.9400 +/- 0.8504 vs 3.0900 +/- 1.5603, P < 0.05), but IL-4 alone (2.5310 +/- 1.3595 vs 3.0900 +/- 1.5603, P > 0.05) treatment significantly decreased the expression of CCR5 in CBA/JxDBA/2.

CONCLUSIONSThe abnormal expression of CCR3, CCR5 and CXCR3 on CD4(+) T cells may play an important role in the pathogenesis of spontaneous abortion. The pregnancy immune tolerance may be induced through selective induction of CCR3, CCR5 and CXCR3 expressions by IL-4 together with IL-10.

Animals ; CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Cells, Cultured ; Embryo Loss ; metabolism ; Embryo, Mammalian ; Female ; Interleukin-10 ; pharmacology ; Interleukin-4 ; pharmacology ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Pregnancy ; Receptors, CCR3 ; metabolism ; Receptors, CCR5 ; metabolism ; Receptors, CXCR3 ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo observe the treatment effect and toxicity of nonmyeloablative allogeneic stem cell transplantation (NST) for hematologic diseases.

METHODSA total of 243 hematologic diseases patients received HLA-identical NST were enrolled in this study from 9 transplant centers of NST Cooperative Group in China. Nonmyeloablative conditioning regimen was based on fludarabine (Flud), rabbit anti-human thymocyte globulin (ATG), cyclophosphamide (CTX) (FAC), and plus cytarabine or busulfan (BU) etc. Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis included cyclosporin A (CsA) and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF).

RESULTSAmong the 243 patients, 219 (90.1%) achieved full donor chimerism (FDC), 2(0.8%) engraftment failure. 78 (32.1%) had mixture chimerism (MC) at 4 weeks after NST, out of which 56 switched to FDC, 16 remained MC and 6 (2.5%) developed graft rejection. The incidence of acute GVHD was 34.2%, including 6.6% of grade III-IV acute GVHD. Chronic GVHD developed in 78 (32.1%) patients. The follow-up durations were 3 - 99 months, 162 (66.7%) were still alive and the overall survival rates were 76.5%, 73.9%, 70.7%, and 27.8% for MDS/SAA, chronic myeloid leukemia, acute leukemia at first remission, and refractory or relapsed leukemia, respectively.

CONCLUSIONSThe nonmyeloablative allogeneic stem cell transplantation based on FAC conditioning results in sustained engraftment and mild aGVHD, providing a new feasible curative therapy for hematology diseases.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; China ; Female ; Graft vs Host Disease ; prevention & control ; Hematologic Diseases ; surgery ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; methods ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Transplantation Conditioning ; methods ; Transplantation, Homologous ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult