Objective To assess the mutagenicity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs) extracted from the atmospheric particulates collected from different aerodynamic sizes,seasonal variation and the sampled sites,and to detect the effect of these factors on the mutagenic activity of PAHs.Methods PAHs were extracted from the atmospheric particulates(PM10 and PM2.5) collected from two different sites,business area and industrial area(summer and winter respectively).The mutagenicity of these PAHs samples was evaluated by the Salmonella mutagenicity assay(Ames assay),using Salmonella typhimurium strains TA98 and TA100 with and without metabolic activation(S9).Each sample was assayed in three doses(125,250 and 500?g per plate).Results All samples induced the number of revertants to be higher measured with TA98 with and without S9 mix.The level of specific mutagenic activity measured with strain TA98 was higher than TA100.Metabolic activation with the S9 fraction increased the mutagenicity of the industrial area samples studied for the strain TA98.All groups showed a good dose-response relationship of mutagenicity(P

Trace amount of molybdenum was measured by polarography in serum from 105 healthy adults and 159 patients with Keshan disease. Geometric mean molybdenum concentration in normal serum was found to be 6.2ng/ml (range: 1.5-25.0ng/ml), in serum of patients with latent and chronic type, the average level was 5.7ng/ml and 5.8ng/ml respectively (range: 1.7-33.7 ng/ml)There was no statistically significant difference between the molybdenum concentrations found in patients and healthy adults.In 80-85% samples the range of molybdenum concentration was found to be 3-11ng/ml.There was no significant difference between the molybdenum concentrations found in different age groups and sexes.

Diabetic mellitus induced erectile dysfunction (DIED) is a common complication of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), which seriously affects the physical and mental health of male T2DM patients. The occurrence of DIED involves a variety of pathophysiological changes such as vascular tissue, nerve, endocrine and so on. But the traditional treatment of erectile dysfunction is not ideal for DIED. Glucagon like peptide (GLP)- 1 receptor agonist has been widely used as a new drug for the treatment of diabetes, and the representative drugs are exenatide and liraglutide. Existing research shows that it can improve endothelial cell function, neuropathy and sex hormone secretion, reduce body weight and insulin resistance. Therefore, these drugs may be a new choice for patients with DIED.

BACKGROUND: During vascular dementia, ischemia, hypoxia, energy expenditure, abnormal metabolism of neurons, decrease of generation of Adenosine Triphosphate and disorder of ionic environment in and out of cells are observed in brain tissue, which can cause abnormal release of monoamine transmitter.OBJECTIVE: To probe into effect of shenma yizhi capsule on content of monoamine transmitter in brain tissue of rat models with vascular dementia induced by multiple cerebral infarction.DESIGN: Randomized controlled study.SETTING: Pathological and Physiological Department o Liaoning Basic Medical Institute.MATERIALS: Totally 96 Wistar rats of either gender,aged 8-12 months, weighing 270-500 g, were selected. METHODS: The experiment was completed in the Pathological and Physiological Department of Vocational-technical College, Liaoning College of Traditional Chinese Medicine from April to July 2001. All rats of either gender were divided into 6 groups with 16 in each group. Wistar rats in 5 groups were injected with cruor embolus in internal carotid artery to make animal model of vascular dementia induced by multiple cerebral infarction.After modeling, rats were randomly divided into 3.2 g/kg, 1.6 g/kg and 0.8 g/kg shenma yizhi capsule groups (shenma yizhi capsule was extracted from ginseng and tall gastrodia tuber with 2.7 g raw materials and provide by Xiyuan Hospital of Chinese Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine),positive control group and dementia control group. Animals without modeling were regarded as normal control group. Rats in each dosage group were perfused with the corresponding dosage of shenma yizhi capsule; rats in positive control group were perfused with 1 mg/kg hydergine dihydroergotoxine; rats in dementia control group and normal control group were perfused with the same volume of saline solution. One week after modeling, rats were medicated once a day for 6 weeks. Content of monoamine transmitter was measured with high performance liquid chromatograpy.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Content of monoamine transmitter such as levarterenol, adnephrin, dopamine, indoleacetic acid, homovanillic acid and 5-serotonin.RESULTS: Nine rats died because of self-body quality and environmental change, and totally 87 animals entered the final analysis. Content of levarterenol of rats in dementia control group was lower than that in normal control group [(0.40±0.23), (0.70±0.14) ng/g, t=2.712, P ＜ 0.01]; content of levarterenol of rats of 3.2 and 1.6 g/kg dosage groups was higher than that of dementia control group [(0.57±0.09), (0.58±0.19), (0.40±0.23) ng/g,t=2.211, P ＜ 0.05], but was lower than that of normal control group. Content of levarterenol of rats of 0.8 g/kg dosage group was lower than that of normal control group [(0.48±0.23) ng/g, t=2.213, P ＜ 0.05], but was higher than that of dementia control group and positive control group [(0.41 ±0.19) ng/g]. Differences of other neurotransmitters were not significant.CONCLUSION: Content of levarterenol in brain tissue of rats of dementia control group is decreased obviously, but shenma yizhi capsule can increase content of levarterenol in brain tissue of rats. The mechanism of shenma yizhi capsule on treating vascular dementia is possibly related with increasing content of levarterenol in brain tissue.

Objective To determine the expression of adapter protein p66Shc in mediating alveolar epithelial cells induced by hyperoxia and to explore their relationship.Methods A549 cells were cultured in vitro and divided randomly into a control group and a hyperoxia group.The hyperoxia group was exposed to a mixture of oxygen(O2,900 mL/L) and carbon dioxide(CO2,50 mL/L) for 10 min,then cultured in a closed environment.The changes in morphology were observed under inverted microscope after exposure to oxygen or air for 24 hours.The cell apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry (FC) after 24 hours.And the expression of p66Shc was detected by immunohistochemical method after 24 hours.The correlation of the changes in mitochondrial membrane potential and p66Shc protein expression was analyzed by using Bivariate correlation analysis.Results 1.Under inverted microscopy,A549 cells from the air group significantly increased,stuck to each other tightly and grew very quickly.Their adhesion was better,multy-angle oblate and many cells were in division phase.Compared with the control group,the changes in morphology of A549 were remarked and obvious than those in the hyperoxia group.The cells grew slowly,their counts decreased and the cell morphology changed from typical multi-angle oblate to round or ellipse.2.Compared with the control group,after 24 h,in hyperoxia group of A549 cells,red fluorescence decreased,and green fluorescence enhanced.3.Compared with the controls (0.057 664 88 ± 0.006 517 84),the expression of p66Shc (0.123 600 50 ± 0.004 227 23) was significantly increased in the hyperoxia group(t =-24.006,P ＜ 0.001).4.The decline of membrane potential was negatively correlated with the increased expression of p66Shc protein (R =-0.988,P ＜ 0.001).Conclusions The hyperoxia induction could significantly increase in injured mediating alveolar epithelial cells induced by hyperoxia,the expression of p66Shc increases,the membrane potential declined,and they exhibit a negative correlation.So p66Shc may be involved in the process of high oxygen damage to human alveolar epithelial cells.

Objective Mitochondrial dysfunction, cell energy metabolism, and oxidative stress play important roles in sepsis-induced acute brain injury.This study was to investigate the effects of Xingnaojing Injection (XNJ) on brain mitochondrial oxidative stress in rats with lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced sepsis.Methods Totally, 252 male SD rats were randomly divided into a normal control group, 3 LPS-induced sepsis model groups (LPS 6, 24, and 48 h), and 3 XNJ treatment groups (XNJ 6, 24, and 48 h), with 36 in each group.After treatment, the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) was monitored by flow cytometry and the levels of manganese superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO), and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) were determined by chromatometry.Results The MMP was significantly increased in the XNJ 6 h group as compared with the LPS 6 h group (0.80±0.11 vs 0.54±0.19, P<0.05).In the LPS and XNJ groups, the levels of MDA and NOS reached the peak at 6 hours and then dropped gradually, while those of NO and Mn-SOD rose to the peak at 24 hours followed by a gradual fall.Statistically significant differences were observed in the levels of MDA, NOS and NO between the LPS 6h and XNJ 6 h groups (P<0.05), as well as in those of NOS, NO and Mn-SOD between the LPS 24 h and XNJ 24 h groups (P<0.05).Conclusion Xingnaojing Injection can elevate the level of the brain mitochondrial membrane potential, improve anti-oxidation indexes in the mitochondria, and protect brain mitochondria in sepsis rats.

No abstract available.
Humans ; Technetium Tc 99m Disofenin* ; Ultrasonography*

Adult ; Female ; Hemangioma ; pathology ; Humans ; Mesoderm ; pathology ; Placenta ; pathology ; Placenta Diseases ; pathology ; Pregnancy ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVE In this study we explored the role of Epac1-Rap1 pathway in the acute myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury (MIRI) in vitro and in vivo. METHODS An acute myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury model was established by the ligation of left anterior descending coronary. Myocardial architecture, fibers and apoptosis was evaluated by the Masson trichrome staining, Sirius red staining and TUNEL assay.H9c2 cells were subjected to hypoxia for 5 h followed by 1-h reoxygen-ation in vitro.Cell viability was measured by MTT assay and cellular injury was evaluated by measuring the release of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). Western blot, real-time PCR and immunofluorescence were used to detect the expressions of Epac1 and relative downstream molecules.RESULTS Myocardial IR-induced cardiac apoptosis and accumulation of Epac1 and Rap1 in rat IR injury model.Direct Epac activation by 8-CPT(8-(4-chlorophenylthio)-2′-O-methyl-cAMP)exacerbated cardiomyocyte death and dysfunction following hypoxia-reoxygenation(H/R),selective activation of Epac in response to H/R was evident which enriched for cytosolic/membrane proteins and mRNA. Harmacological inhibitor of Epac (ESI-09)significantly ameliorated myocardial injury with the decline of Epac expression.Epac inhibitor and agonist studies also implicated the effect of Rap1, which is downstream of Epac in this pathway. The expression of Rap1 elevated when activated by Epac agonist and was blocked by Epac inhibitor. The same result was true for myocyte CaMK-II and intracellular calcium ions activation.Moreover,ESI-09 also increased ERK1/2 phosphorylation. CONCLUSION Our study reveal that Epac1/Rap1 signaling pathway is involved in the pathogenesis of myocardial I/R injury in rats,which provides evidence on the development of therapeutic strategies target this pathway for myocardial I/R injury.

Objective: To investigate the influence of TGF-β and IFN-γ on the proliferation, migration and invasion of melanoma cells. Methods: Melanoma cells were cultured in vitro. When tumor cells were confluent about 80% degree, cytokines were added into cell culture media. The concentration of TGF-β and IFN-β was 5ng/mL and 10ng/mL, respectively. Melanoma cells were divided into free-cytokine group, TGF-β group,IFN-γ group, TGF-β and IFN-γ group. Tumor cells in each group were then incubated for 8h, 16h, 24h, 32h,40h and 48h, respectively. After incubation, fixing and staining with SRB, the optical densities and percentage viability were then determined by absorption at 540 nm (A 540). The scarification of tumor cells in each group on the surface was created by a 2001μL pipette tube. The motility of tumor cells in each group was assessed by measuring the distance between scarifications. The speed of the scuffing closure was monitored after 12h.The invasive ability of melanoma cells was observed by transwell cultivation. The tumor cells that invaded through the Matrigel and adhered to the bottom of the outside membrane were determined by absorption at 595 nm (A595). Gelatin zymography assay was used to examine the levels of matrix metalloproteinases-2 (MMP-2) and matrix metalloproteinases-9 (MMP-9) activity when the tumor cells were treated with cytokines after 24h. MMP-2 and MMP-9 activity was demonstrated by gradation in the sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacryl-amide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) gelatin. MMP-2 and MMP-9 activity was determined by Image analy-sis Software. Results: TGF-β promoted the proliferation, migration and invasion of melanoma cells (P<0.05).However, IFN-γ inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion of melanoma cells (P<0.05). The effect weakened or disappeared when both of them were used (P>0.05). Conclusion: In vitro, TGF-β may affect the inhibitory effect of IFN-γ on the proliferation, migration and invasion of melanoma cells. This study provided a better understanding of the relationship between tumor and inflammatory factors and established a good ba-sis for future research.