Child ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 ; complications ; Humans ; Male ; Nephrosis, Lipoid ; complications

ObjectiveTo deter mine the sustained attention function of the patients with mild Alzheimer's disease(AD) and mild cognitive impairment(MCI).Methods10 patients with MCI, 10 with mild AD and other 10 healthy elderly controls were tested with Continuous Performance Task(CPT) aimed to assess sustained attention. ResultsCompared with the normal controls, the mild AD patients reacted very more slowly(P<0.001), missed more targets(P<0.05), while that the MCI patients did was as well as the control group. ConclusionThe mild AD patients shows impairment in sustained attention function, but the MCI patients shows a preserved ability of sustained attention function.

Adult ; Humans ; Lead Poisoning ; etiology ; Male

Animals ; Cadmium Radioisotopes ; toxicity ; Female ; Fetal Development ; drug effects ; Fetus ; Maternal-Fetal Exchange ; Pregnancy ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Cyclohexanones ; poisoning ; Ethylene Dichlorides ; poisoning ; Humans ; Infant ; Male

OBJECTIVE: To detect the levels of index related to inflammation such as soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L), neutrophil collagenase-8 (MMP-8), and pregnancy associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A) , lipid peroxidation and autoimmune indexes such as oxidized low density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) and its antibody (ox-LDL Ab) in patients with coronary heart disease, and to investigate its relationship with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). METHODS: Contents of sCD40L, MMP-8, PAPP-A, ox-LDL and ox-LDL Ab in the peripheral blood were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay from 109 patients with coronary heart disease including 36 acute myocardial infarction (AMI), 38 unstable angina pectoris (UAP), and 35 stable angina pectoris (SAP) and 36 controls without coronary heart disease. RESULTS: The levels of each index in the peripheral blood of ACS patients (including AMI and UAP) were higher than those of SAP patients and controls (P < 0.05), and the difference of each index between UAP group and AMI group in ACS patients had no statistical significance (P > 0.05). The levels of each index of SAP patients, except PAPP-A, were all higher than those of controls (P <0.05). All the indexes were helpful in diagnosis of ACS. The area under the ROC curve of each index is between 0.7 and 0.9. CONCLUSION The increase of sCD40L, MMP-8, PAPP-A, ox-LDL and ox-LDL Ab levels in peripheral blood may be related to the pathogenesis of ACS, and can be used as potential markers of unstable atherosclerosis plaque.
Aged ; Angina, Unstable ; blood ; immunology ; Autoantibodies ; blood ; Biomarkers ; blood ; CD40 Ligand ; blood ; Coronary Artery Disease ; blood ; immunology ; Female ; Humans ; Lipoproteins, LDL ; blood ; immunology ; Male ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 8 ; blood ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Infarction ; blood ; immunology ; Pregnancy-Associated Plasma Protein-A ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo explore the role of Compound Danshen Injection (CDI) in regulating the expression of aquaporin 3 (AQP3) in human amnion epithelium cells (hAECs), and to study the relation between c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signal pathway and AQP3.

METHODShAECs were isolated and primarily cultured from term pregnancy with normal amniotic fluid volume and from term pregnancy with oligohydramnios, and then hAECs were further divided into four groups, i.e., the blank control group (A), the SP600125 group (B), the CDI group (C), and the SP600125 +CDI group (D). The cell viability was measured by cell counting kit-8 assay (CCK-8). The expression of total JNK, phosphorylated JNK, and AQP3 were determined by Western blot.

RESULTS(1) In hAECs with normal AFV or with oligohydramnios: There was no statistical difference in the cell viability or the expression of total JNK among the 4 groups (P > 0.05). But there was statistical difference in the expression of p-JNK (P < 0.05). Compared with A group, the expression of p-JNK was obviously down-regulated in B group, but obviously up-regulated in C group (P < 0.05). The expression of p-JNK was significantly lower in D group than in C group, but higher than that in A group or B group (P < 0.05).The AQP3 expression in the hAECs with normal amniotic fluid volume of C group and D group were higher than that in the A group (P < 0.05). However, there was no statistical difference in the AQP3 expression between C group and D group (P > 0.05). In hAECs with oligohydramnios, the expression of AQP3 obviously decreased in B group, but up-regulated in C group (both P < 0.05). The expression of AQP3 was lower in D group than in C group, but higher than in B group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONCDI could regulate the AQP3 expression in hAECs with oligohydramnios via activating the JNK signal pathway.

Amnion ; cytology ; drug effects ; Aquaporin 3 ; metabolism ; Cells, Cultured ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Epithelial Cells ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Female ; Humans ; JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases ; metabolism ; MAP Kinase Signaling System ; physiology

Objective To investigate the pathogenicity of transfusion transmitted virus (TTV) infection and assess the effect of genciclovir on TTV.Methods Serum TTV-DNA from 968 neonates was detected by a nested polymerase chain reaction technique and electropherosis. Alanine aminotrans ferase (ALT) and direct bilirubin (DB) were assayed in neonates with positive TTV-DNA.Genciclovir[10 mg/(kg?d)]was used to treat neonates with TTV-induced hepatitis.Results Among 968 neonates, 38 had positive TTV-DNA (4.0%). All neonates with positive TTV-DNA had normal serum levels of ALT and DB [(24.8?12.0) U/L and (17.6?6.8) ?mo l/L] 3 days after birth;But an elevated ALT and DB level [(95.5?16.4) U/L and (58.2?10.4) ?mol/L] occurred in 15 of them 2 weeks after birth,and were diagnosed as TTV-induced hepatitis.These patients had hypersomnia,jaundice and anorexia. Serum ALT and DB levels recovered to normal range one week after genciclovir therapy in 11 patients,so did the other 4 patients after 2 weeks therapy with genciclovir. Serum TTV-DNAs in all patients became negative 2 weeks after genciclovir therapy.Conclusion TTV infection exists in the neonates, and may be one of important causes of neonatal hepatitis.genciclovir might have a good anti-TTV effect.

Fibrolase is a non-hemorrhagic zinc metalloproteinase isolated from southern copperhead snake venom (Agkistrodon contortrix contortrix) and is capable of degrading fibrin clots resulting from purified fibrinogen or from blood plasma. Alfimeprase, a truncated form of fibrolase, as a clinical agent was successfully completed PhaseII clinical trials.The cDNA of alfimeprase was amplified by recursive PCR, digested with BamHI and HindII, and cloned into pET43.1a, pMALp2X and pMALc2X vectors to generate fusions with NusA, MBP and sMBP(with signal peptide), respectively. Nus/alfimeprase was expressed in soluble form by co-expressing with chaperone FkpA and inducing with1mmol/L IPTG. The fusion protein accounted for about 25 % of total protein following cell lysis. Alfimeprase was successfully purifiesd by Ni-NTA affinity chromatography and cleaved by enterokinase. The results demonstrate the fibrinolytic activity of recombinant alfimeprase using fibrin plate assays and fibrinogen hydrolysis.

Epmedii Folium is a commonly used traditional Chinese drug, and is beneficial for the "liver" and "kidney" s function in Chinese medicine. Recently, the origin of this drug is more complex. Most of the identification studies are emphasized on the species certified by the pharmacopoeia and other related species from the same genus of Epimedium, but few was emphasized on the counterfeit. In this paper, one counterfeit of Epmedii Folium, identified as the dried leaf of Quercus variabilis (Fam. Fagaceae), has been reported based on field investigation, comparing specimen of Epmedii Folium and Q. variabilis,using the macroscopic, microscopic and TmC methods. It is resulted that they could be identified clearly not only by the macroscopic features, such as the vein character and the tooth apex, but also by the microscopic features, such as the vascular bundles of the midrib, the non-glandular hair, the anticlinal wall of the epidermis cell and the calcium oxalate crystal. Furthermore their TLC chromatograms showed also difference. This study will give reference for the identification of Epmedii Folium and the related supervision and inspection work.
China ; Discriminant Analysis ; Epimedium ; anatomy & histology ; chemistry ; Plant Leaves ; anatomy & histology ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; anatomy & histology ; chemistry ; Quercus ; anatomy & histology ; chemistry