Objective To investigate the feasibility of induction of experimental chronic pancreatitis rat model with L-arginine.Methods Animals were randomly divided into control group,arginine 12 h group,arginine 24 h group and arginine 7 d group with 10 rats in each group.L-arginine solution was intraperitoneally injected twice with an interval of 1 h.Serum amylase and glucose levels at corresponding time points were detected and histopathological scores of pancreas were evaluated.Collagen in pancreas was stained with Van Gieson method.Results Serum amylase levels were (1 634±890 ) U/L,( 3 872±2 676 ) U/L,( 3 307±2 197)U/L and (1 561±304) U/L in control group,arginine 12 h group,arglnine 24 h group and arginine 7 d group,respectively.The serum amylase level in arginine 7 d group was significantly lower than those in arginine 12 h group and arginine 24 h group (P ＜ 0.05 ).There was no significant difference in serum glucose level among all the groups.Histopathological scores were 0.8±0.4,5.1±2.6,6.5±2.2 and 4.5±1.6,respectively.The histopathological score of arginine 7 d group was significantly lower than those in arginine 24 h group (P ＜ 0.05 ).Obvious collagen could be found in pancreatic parenchyma in arginine 7 d group,while little collagen was found in pancreatic tissue in control,arginine 12 h and arginine 24 h groups.Conclusions Injection of L-arglnine induced fibrosis in pancreatic parenchyma and proliferation of tubular complex 7 days later,and it could be used for chronic pancreatitis model induction.

To construct the recombinant vector Pact-EGFP, the Act-1 core promoter region was amplified from the pUCm-T/Act-1 and subcloned into pEGFP-4.1 vector (derived from pEGFP-N1 with the removal of human cytomegalovirus immediate early promoter), by restriction enzymes Bgl II and Hind III. Transfection of Pact-EGFP vector into Vero cell by liposome indicated that Act-1 core promoter regulated the expression of EGFP gene in lower level in Vero cells. After Pact-EGFP microinjection into the gonad of Caenorhabditis elegans with pRF4 as a gene marker, green fluorescence was detected in the cortex, vice cortex and the pharyngeal of C. elegans. According to the locations, two different transgene lines were separated. The expression level of EGFP expressed in C. elegans was more than that in Vero cell. Some unique motifs might exist in Act-1 core promoter region of C. elegans, which was closely related to the expression level of EGFP. These results lay the foundation for the further research on gene function of parasitic nematodes using C. elegans.
Animals ; Caenorhabditis elegans ; genetics ; metabolism ; Cercopithecus aethiops ; Connexin 43 ; genetics ; Green Fluorescent Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Organisms, Genetically Modified ; Peptide Fragments ; genetics ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; genetics ; Transcription, Genetic ; Vero Cells

Objective: To evaluate the using value of FibroTouch and six serological models in detecting the degree of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B, in an attempt to provide reference for accurate diagnosis. Methods: Two hundred and fifty-eight cases with chronic hepatitis B admitted to Xixi Hospital of Hangzhou from September 1, 2015 to September 1, 2017 were selected. All patients underwent liver histopathological examination and FibroTouch measurement to determine liver stiffness (LSM). Serum biochemical parameters were detected and the scoring values of six serological models were calculated. SAS 9.4 statistical software was used for statistical analysis, and the correlation between FibroTouch and the six serological models was analyzed by Spearman correlation. The diagnostic value of FibroTouch and six serological models was analyzed by receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) based on liver histopathological findings. Results: The median LSM of 258 cases with chronic hepatitis B was 9.4 (6.5-13.8) kPa. In the six serological models, the median value of aspartate transaminase to platelet ratio index (APRI), FIB-4 index, S-index, Forn’s index, PRPindex, and FIB-5 were 0.42 (0.28-0.62), 1.27 (0.78-2.03), 0.11 (0.07-0.20), 6.95 (5.89-8.51), 0.000 8 (0.000 6-0.000 9),and 38.59 (36.28-40.97). FibroTouch had positive correlation with APRI, FIB-4, S-index, Forn’s index, PRP, fibrosis stage (r= 0.73,P< 0.001) and inflammation grade, and had negative correlation with FIB-5, and both had statistical significance. The area under curve (AUC) of FT-LSM at S≥2, S≥3, S = 4 were 0.89, 0.90 and 0.85, respectively, which was significantly higher than serological models (P< 0.001). The AUC of S-index model at S≥2, S≥3, S = 4 were higher than other five serological models. Conclusion The diagnostic performance of FibroTouch is significantly better than serological model. S-index model has the best diagnostic performance in the six serological models, and the combination of S-index and FT-LSM may better diagnose the grading of liver fibrosis, and thus can be applied and promoted in clinic.

Insulin-like peptides(ILPs)play a crucial role in the biological processes of nematode metabolism,signal transduction,and developmental processes,representing potential therapeutic targets for nematode infections in animals.In order to explore the specific role of ILPs in nematode development and infection,genome-wide identification,sequence and evolution analysis of the ILPs coding genes were conducted on Haemonchus contortus(H.contortus);transcriptional levels of these ILPs coding genes among developmental stages were determined by a real-time quantitative PCR method;recombinant ILPs were produced in prokaryotic system for polyclonal antibody prep-aration and Western blot analysis;indirect immunofluorescence localization experiment was used to reveal the tissue distribution of ILPs at different developmental stages.It was showed that the number of ILPs coding genes in H.contortus were significantly reduced compared with that of Caenorhabditis elegans,namely three members of ILPs coding genes exhibiting antagonistic fea-tures;the highest transcriptional levels of ILPs coding genes was detected in the infective third stage larvae of H.contortus;ILPs were found dominant in the intestine and hypodermis of the in-fective larvae of this parasitic nematode.In this study,three genes encoding antagonistic ILPs were identified in H.contortus,they might play a role in regulating the development and infection processes.The finding lay a foundation for the study of nematode hypobiosis(larval diapause)in animals and the screening of potential intervention targets.