Defensins, a family of 3-4 KD cationic peptides, have been found recently in the cytoplasmicgranules of human, rabbit, guinea pig and rat polymorphonuclear neutrophils and rabbit alveolarmacrophages. The defence roles of these molecules, such as antimicrobial activity, viral inactiva-tion, tumor cell cytotoxicity, chemotactic and opsonic actions, etc. have been adequately studied.In order to investgate the role of Defensins in the neutrphil-mediated pathological process ofsome diseases, we isolated and purified human neutrophil Defensins. By using Sephadex G100and Bio-gel P10 gel filtration chromatography, the purified molecules were obtained. The puritywas identified by AU-PAGE,SDS-PAGE, and amino acid composition analysis. In vitro fugicidalactivity of the purified human neutrophil Defensins against Candida albicans was also examined.When incubated with 33 Mol concentration of human Defensins, more than 90% of Candida,al-bicans were killed in the methylene blue assay system.

The status quo and application of acupuncture therapy in Oman is introduced in this article. The gene -ral medical condition of Oman is comparatively backward. Function of local traditional medicine is limited. Indications of acupuncture in Oman are various pain syndromes and motor impairment after stroke. However, it is lack of systematic training and management of acupuncture practitioners. And the number of acupuncture clinic is comparatively inadequate. Therefore, qualified acupuncture training, publicity and cooperation with international organizations are highly recommended in the future.
Acupuncture Therapy ; trends ; Humans ; Oman

Antirheumatic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; drug therapy ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Etanercept ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Methotrexate ; therapeutic use ; Phytotherapy ; Prednisone ; therapeutic use ; Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor ; therapeutic use

Notch signal pathway is closely related to the organism's development and a variety of cancers. Current models available for screening modulators of Notch signal pathway all use mouse Notch protein as substrates and those models which use human Notch protein have not been reported. To make the screen results much more reliable, the authors cloned a truncated form of human Notch1 called N100, and built the screening models for the use of it instead of mouse Notch protein. The models included an in vitro screening model based on the purified gamma-secretase enzyme and a cell model using luciferase reporter system. The screening models then have been verified by the known modulators of Notch signal pathway and the IC50 values have been obtained. The verified models can be used to screen modulators of human Notch signaling pathway effectively and it can lay the foundation for finding new modulators of this kind effectively.
Amyloid Precursor Protein Secretases ; Animals ; Drug Evaluation, Preclinical ; methods ; Humans ; Luciferases ; Mice ; Receptors, Notch ; antagonists & inhibitors ; Signal Transduction

In recent years, with the further study of cell biology and genetics, the role of autophagy in bronchial asthma is becoming more and more obvious. Especially in the aspects of genetic factors, oxidative stress and environment, autophagy regulation may directly affect the occurrence and development of asthma, which may become a new direction of asthma treat-ment. In this review we will discuss what is autophagy, and the relationship between autophagy and asthma.

Case teaching is one of the important means to improve teaching effect in the process of pharmacology teaching. According to the teaching object, teaching objectives and requirements to build one useful teaching case library about pharmacology, which can be used and shared for a long time, is the premise of case teaching in pharmacology. According to the actual situation of case teach-ing in our university, this study researched and explored the background of case library building, the basic principles of case compilation, the establishment of team, the teacher-led and the student-oriented processes of case building, and the process of sorting and summarizing cases in the case library build-ing, which promotes the reform in the pharmacology case teaching, improves teaching quality, and also provides a reference for other universities or schools and disciplines on teaching case library building.

Metabonomics is an important part of systems biology. Many research shows that metabonomics has an poten?tial incomparable advantages in clinical diagnosis. When human body was stimulated by exogenous or endogenous factor, it could respond throughalteration of low molecular weight metabolites. Therefore, researches of the dynamic changes of com?plex metabolites could explore the pathological or physiological changes in the body. With advance of modern technologies nuclear magnetic resonance and chromatography couple to mass spectrometer are widely applied to the metabonomics. Now, comprehensive analysis the dynamic changes of patients in vivo then setting up relationship between biomarkers and related diseases become possible through the application of Metabolomics in clinical. Finally, we discuss the realization of disease diagnosis by metabolome analysis.

Notch signal pathway is closely related to the organism's development and a variety of cancers. Current models available for screening modulators of Notch signal pathway all use mouse Notch protein as substrates and those models which use human Notch protein have not been reported. To make the screen results much more reliable, the authors cloned a truncated form of human Notch1 called N100, and built the screening models for the use of it instead of mouse Notch protein. The models included an in vitro screening model based on the purified gamma-secretase enzyme and a cell model using luciferase reporter system. The screening models then have been verified by the known modulators of Notch signal pathway and the IC50 values have been obtained. The verified models can be used to screen modulators of human Notch signaling pathway effectively and it can lay the foundation for finding new modulators of this kind effectively.

BACKGROUND: The filling compactness can not be guaranteed due to apparatus retention in traditional lateral condensation.The warm gutter filling can achieve good results because of the easy changeable of gutta-percha in softening states.OBJECTIVE: To compare the warm gutta-percha fillings (Obtura Ⅱ and BeeFill 2 in1 filling) and cold lateral compacted gutta-percha with the bypassing root canal preparation in the intracanal separated instrument of oval canal.METHODS: Firstlythe 60 oval root canals of fiat mandibular central incisors were randomly divided into three groups, with 20 teeth in each group. After that, the root canal was filled with BeeFill 2 in1, Obtura Ⅱ condensation, and lateral condensation.The percentage of void at 5-mm to root tip versus cress section area was observed under a scanning electron microscope.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Under in vitro condition, the difference of percentage of void area versus root canal area between the Obtura Ⅱ condensation group and the lateral condensation group had significance (P=0.013), and the similar difference could be found between the BeeFill 2 in1 condensation group and the lateral condensation group (P=0.014), but the difference had no significance between the BeeFill 2 in1 condensation group and the Obtura Ⅱ condensation group (P=0.088).The results revealed that the root canal can be sealed accurately when establish hypass root next to the separated instrument and filled with BeeFill 2 in1 warm gutter filling.

Objective To investigate the characteristics of the clinic manifestations and the electromyogram changes in patients with chronic N2hexane intoxication. Methods The clinic manifestations, the electromyography and nerve conduction velocities were analyzed in 9 patients with N2hexane intoxi2 cation. Results The main clinical manifestations of the disease were acroparesthesia and asthenia, especially in legs. The abnormality rate of electromyography in patients with N2hexane intoxication was 100%. The conduction velocity of the sensory nerve and the motor nerve decreased at a rate of 33.33% and 88.89% respectively. The distal latencies were prolonged( 100% ). The denervated electromyogram was 33.33%. Conclusion The main clinical manifestations of the disease were Peripheral neuropathy. The chronic N2hexane intoxication mainly led to the imparement, especially in the distal region of the motor nerve in legs,and the damages of the nerve could be related to the duration of exposure to N2hexane.