AIM: To investigate the effects of Chlamydia pneumoniae infection and hyperlipidemia on the expression of NF-?B and AP-1 in the myocardium. METHODS: The indirect immunofluorescence method was used to examine wild C57BL/6J mice infected with Chlamydia pneumoniae and fed with an atherogenic diet. The expression of the subunit of NF-?B, P50, and c-Fos in the murine myocardium was observed. RESULTS: Chlamydia pneumoniae infection and hyperlipidemia induced the activation of NF-?B and AP-1 in murine myocardium. P50 and c-Fos were not detected in the controls, but there were different levels of positive expression in the experiments (P

Objective To explore the clinical significance of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide(NT-proBNP)in the evaluation of cardiac function in patients with severe burns. Methods A total of 78 patients with severe burns in intensive care unit(ICU)in our hospital were selected. Patients were divided into a heart failure group(n = 31)and a non-heart failure group(n = 47)according to the heart failure complication condition. The changes of NT-proBNP level in different time ,heart function index ,relevant index and mortality were compared between the two groups. Results The levels of NT-proBNP ,troponin(CTnT),creatine kinase(CK),creatine kinase isoenzyme (CK-MB),stroke volume index (SVI),cardiac index (CI) and central venous pressure (CVP),and the score of acute physiologic and chronic health conditions(APACHE II)in the heart failure group were shown to be significantly increased than those of the non-heart failure group (P < 0.05). The mean arterial pressure(MAP)in the heart failure group was significantly lower than the non-heart failure group(P < 0.05). Mortality rate in the heart failure group was shown to be significantly higher than the non-heart failure group (P < 0.05). Conclusion Heart failure is a common complication in patients with severe burns. The mortality rate in the population with heart failure is relatively high ,for which NT-proBNP can effectively assess the conditions and prognosis.

Child and adolescent mental disorders are common disorders with various symptoms,and attracting more attention due to the increasing prevalence.Mental disorders,especially the attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and the autism spectrum disorder (ASD),have great influence on the development of children and adolescents.Nowadays,the biomarkers from neuroimaging such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have a great importance on the diagnosis of mental disorders,and machine learning has been proved to be very powerful in the processing for neuroimages.Nowadays,many researchers are focusing on the studies of computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) based on machine learning and neuroimaging.In this review,the technical details of machine learning based CAD of child and adolescent mental disorders are briefly introduced,and the research progress in CAD of ADHD and ASD based on machine learning and structural MRI are summarized.These studies showed that many machine learning methods have been used in the diagnosis of child and adolescent mental disorders,but the relevant methods cannot be applied to clinical diagnosis.Further studies should be conducted to improve the diagnostic ability of machine learning methods from multiple perspectives,and provide an objective and reliable tool for the clinical diagnosis of child and adolescent mental disorders.

OBJECTIVETo study on the feasibility of cutting process of fresh Angelica sinensis.

METHODQualitative and quantitative chemical analysis methods were used to evaluate the quality of different cutting processed A. sinensis.

RESULTThe contents of ligustilide and ferulic acid in the fresh cutting processed were both lower than the traditional cutting process, and the similarity of fingerprints of two different cutting processed A. sinensis were basically above 90%.

CONCLUSIONThe method of cutting process of fresh A. sinensis was not suitable apparently, and the effect on clinical application of these two different cutting processed A. sinensis need more study.

4-Butyrolactone ; analogs & derivatives ; analysis ; Angelica sinensis ; chemistry ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Coumaric Acids ; analysis ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; Technology, Pharmaceutical ; methods

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is the most common clinical type of epilepsy,which is generally available for drug therapy.Surgical operation will be considered when patients developing into refractory epilepsy.Currently,treatment response evaluation is based on the observation of seizure remission in a certain period,and the real-time and objective evaluation is unavailable.With the improvement of MRI technology and image analysis methods,the multimodal MRI has been widely used to assess the effectiveness of TLE treatment.The progresses of multi-modal MRI and its new technique in assessment of epilepsy remission and cognitive function in TLE patients were reviewed in this article.

Liver cancer is a common type of malignant tumor in digestive system. At present, computed tomography (CT) plays an important role in the diagnosis and treatment of liver cancer. Segmentation of tumor lesions based on CT is thus critical in clinical diagnosis and treatment. Due to the limitations of manual segmentation, such as inefficiency and subjectivity, the automatic and accurate segmentation based on advanced computational techniques is becoming more and more popular. In this review, we summarize the research progress of automatic segmentation of liver cancer lesions based on CT scans. By comparing and analyzing the results of experiments, this review evaluate various methods objectively, so that researchers in related fields can better understand the current research progress of liver cancer segmentation based on CT scans.

Overactive bladder (OAB) is the most bothersome symptom in lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). Current pharmacologic treatment aims to inhibit detrusor contraction; however, shows unsatisfied efficacy and high discontinuation rate. LIM kinases (LIMKs) promote smooth muscle contraction in the prostate; however, their function in the bladder smooth muscle remains unclear. Here, we studied effects of the LIMK inhibitors on bladder smooth muscle contraction and proliferation both

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of the chemoprotectant tempol on the anti-tumor activity of cisplatin (DDP). METHODS: The cellular toxicity of tempol in human colon cancer SW480 cells and mouse colon cancer CT26 cells were evaluated using MTT and cell counting kit-8 assays. CalcuSyn software analysis was used to determine the interaction between tempol and DDP in inhibition of the cell viability. A subcutaneous homograft mouse model of colon cancer was established. The mice were randomly divided into control group, tempol group, cisplatin group and tempol + DDP treatment group with intraperitoneal injections of the indicated agents. The tumor size, body weight and lifespan of the mice were measured, and HE staining was used to analyze the cytotoxic effect of the agents on the kidney and liver. Immunohistochemistry and Western blotting were performed to detect the expression of Bax and Bcl2 in the tumor tissue, and TUNEL staining was used to analyze the tumor cell apoptosis. The level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the tumor tissue was determined using flow cytometry. RESULTS: Tempol showed inhibitory effects on the viability of SW480 and CT26 cells. CalcuSyn software analysis showed that tempol had a synergistic anti-tumor effect with DDP (CI < 1). In the homograft mouse model, tempol treatment alone did not produce obvious anti-tumor effect. HE staining showed that the combined use of tempol and DDP alleviated DDP-induced fibrogenesis in the kidneys, but tempol also reduced the anti-tumor activity of DDP. Compared with the mice treated with DDP alone, the mice treated with both tempol and DDP had a significantly larger tumor size ( < 0.01) and a shorter lifespan ( < 0.05). Tempol significantly reversed DDP-induced expression of Bax and Bcl2 in the tumor tissue and tumor cell apoptosis ( < 0.001), and obviously reduced the elevation of ROS level in the tumor tissue induced by DDP treatment ( < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Tempol can attenuate the anti-tumor effect of DDP while reducing the side effects of DDP. Caution must be taken and the risks and benefits should be carefully weighed when considering the use of tempol as an anti-oxidant to reduce the toxicities of DDP.
Animals ; Antineoplastic Agents ; Antioxidants ; Apoptosis ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; Cisplatin ; Cyclic N-Oxides ; pharmacology ; Drug Resistance, Neoplasm ; Humans ; Mice ; Spin Labels