Objective To evaluate the carotid and left ventricular function changes in patients with subclinical atherosclerosis (SA) using echo-tracking (ET) and three-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (3D-STE).Methods Eighty patients with SA were divided into low-risk group (27 cases),middle-risk group (26 cases) and high-risk group (27 cases) according to the Framingham risk score (FRS).Each of them was examined by echocardiography and carotid ultrasound to obtain the parameters including carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT),stiffness parameter (β),Pressure-strain elastic modulus (Ep),pulse wave conducting velocity(PWVβ),LV peak systolic global longitudinal strain (GLS),LV peak systolic global circumferential strain (GCS),myocardial wall stress (MWS) and left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF) for analysis.The study got approval from the Ethics Committee of Tongji Medical College,Huazhong University of Science and Technology (NO:IORG00371).Results Ep,left atrial volume (LAV) and MWS had significantly differences among the three groups (all P ＜0.05).Compared with low-risk group,cIMT,β,PWVβ were higher and GLS was lower in high-risk group (all P ＜0.05).There were no statistical difference in LVEF and GCS among the three groups (all P ＞ 0.05).β was positively correlated with age and FRS,and negatively correlated with GLS (all P ＜ 0.05).LAV was positively correlated with age and E/e (all P ＜0.05).GLS was negatively correlated with FRS and β (all P ＜ 0.05).MWS was positively correlated with β and SBP,and negatively correlated with LVEF (all P ＜0.01).Conclusions ET combined with 3D-STE could be applied to evaluate the carotid and left ventricular function accurately in patients with subclinical atherosclerosis,and provide scientific bases for establishing intervention strategy.

Objective To reveal the protective effects of atorvastatin against atherosclerosis independent of cholesterol-lowering effect, we investigated the effects of atorvastation on the expression of protein kinase C (PKC) and C-reactive protein in experimental atherosclerosis of rats.Method Fifty female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into normal diet group (n = 10, control group), vitamin D3 injection and high cholesterol diet group (n = 40). After 8 weeks, vitamin D3 injection and high cholesterol diet rats were randomized to receive either atorvastatin (5 mg. kg-1. d-1) (n = 20, atorvastatin group) or normal diet (n = 20, model group). Another eight weeks later, all rats were killed and part of their aortas were examined by light and electron microscope and the left were removed for western blot analysis to measure PKC; At the begin and end of experiment, serumcollected for lipid and C-reactive protein determining determination.Results Cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, triglyceride levels in atorvastatin group were significantly lower than those in model group but higher than control group. The pathologic changes in atorvastatin group were less severe than those in model group, there showed no any pathological changes in control group. The levels of C-reactive protein in model group[(18.64 ± 0.94) mg/L] were higher than those in control group [(9.21 ± 0.21)mg/L] (P<0.05). C-reactive protein levels also differed significantly between control and atorvastatin group (12.52 ± 0.65 mg/L)( P<0.05). PKC levels were significantly higher in model group (7786.12 ± 264.75)and atorvastatin group (4267.57 ± 233.94) than in control group (2468.75 ± 145.53)(all P<0.05). But compared with model group, PKC levels were markedly lower in the atorvastatin group ( P<0.01 ).Conclusions Atorvastatin may be useful not only as a cholesterol-lowering agents but also as anti-arteriosclerotic agent that provide vascular protection by inhibition PKC expression and inflammatory reaction.

Objective To identify the histopathological characteristics of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) with V. vulnificus in mice. Methods Sixteen healthy KM mice (6～8 week old ) divided randomly into two groups, study group ( n =12) and control group ( n =4) The animal model of MODS was established by received either an intraperitioneal, intramuscular subcuneous inoculum of 4.34?10 6 cfu/0.2 ml of V.vulnificus or intraperitioneal injection of a sterile physiological salt solution (control group). Pathological changes of the man organs were individually obsenved in under election microscope (EM). Results Mortality rates exced 100%, 12/12) in study group after inoculums of mice within 4～8 h, while in 0% (0/0) in the control . The detection rate of V. vulnificus were in 100%(12/12) from blood, hearts, lungs, livers, intramuscularly, subcutaneous in the study group, while in 0% (0/4) after sterile saline intraperitioneal injection. The man histopathological changes were :degeneration and necrosis of the parenchyma cells in the different organs;interstitial swelling, mitochondriondrial injure of multiple organs.These changes were especially obvious in the lungs and myocardeum. Conclusions Above pathological changes suggested that results of MODS caused by V. vulnificus septicemia,the multiple organs failure as an important feature of the fatality of V. vulnificus infections,and my be helpful for researchers investigating of V.vulnificus.

ObjectiveBased on ultra performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry（UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS）， the combination of serum pharmacochemistry， response profile of absorbed components in serum， network pharmacology and drug-likeness prediction was used to screen the potential active ingredients of Yanghetang against breast cancer. MethodsUPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS was used to identify the main components in different solvent extracts of Yanghetang， and serum pharmacochemistry was applied to analyze the absorbed components from the serum of female SD rats after 0.5， 1， 2 h of administration. Combined with the response characteristic values of serum drug components obtained from UNIFI 1.8.2， the absorbed prototype components and metabolites were screened to get the absorbed components of Yanghetang with a significant patterns of elimination and growth. Network pharmacology was applied to construct a drug-component-pathway-target-disease network， and molecular docking was performed between absorbed components and key targets of breast cancer， and the drug similarity was analyzed by SwissADME. ResultsForty-two compounds were identified in Yanghetang samples extracted with different solvents， of which 16 compounds were common to the three different extraction solvents（methanol， 50% methanol and water）. The results of drug-containing serum analysis showed that there were 16 absorbed components in serum， including 5 prototypes and 11 metabolites. Network pharmacology results showed that Yanghetang against breast cancer involved 15 key targets such as proto-oncogene tyrosine-protein kinase Src（SRC）， epidermal growth factor receptor（EGFR） and phosphoinositide 3 kinase catalytic alpha polypeptide（PIK3CA）. Molecular docking results showed that 16 potential active ingredients were well combined with the predicted targets. Combined with drug likenesses， 12 compounds in the absorbed components of Yanghetang were considered to have potential for anti-breast cancer activity， mainly including α-pinene and γ-eudesmol and their metabolites， of which one was from Ephedrae Herba， one was from Rehmanniae Radix， and eight were from Cinnamomi Cortex. ConclusionThe chemical components of Yanghetang mainly include polysaccharides， monoterpene glycosides and coumarins， and its prototype components mainly undergo oxidation， hydrolysis and acetylation after entering the blood. Its anti-breast cancer mechanism may be related to the regulation of signaling pathways such as the mitogen-activated protein kinase（MAPK） and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B（PI3K/Akt）. The results of this study can lay a foundation for further exploration of Yanghetang in the treatment of breast cancer.