Objective To assess mucin gene expression in Barrett's esophagus.Methods Mucin core protein-MUC1,MUC2,MUC3,MUCSAC and MUC6 were detected by immunohistochemistry.The re- lationship between mucin expression and magnification-endoscopic characteristics,pathohistologic epithelial types of Barrett's esophagus was analyzed.Results Mild expression of MUC1 was predominantly found in the superficial epithelium of both gastric and specialised intestinal metaplasia.In a small number of specimens, mild expression of MUC1 was also noted in glands.Strong MUC2 expression was noted only in the goblet cells in Barrett's oesophagus.MUC3 was expressed in the superficial columnar cells of specialized intestinal metaplasia with or without globlet cells but not in gastric metaplasia of the oesophagus.In some specimens MUC3 was expressed in the vacuolus of the globlet cells and the lumen of gland.Strong staining of MUCSAC was noted in the columnar epithelium of both gastric metaplasia and specialized intestinal metaplasia in Barrett's oesophagus,as well as expressed in the cytoplasm and vacuolus of the globlet cells in some speci- mens.Expression of MUC6 protein was detected at the basement of the crypts in gastric metaplasia and spe- cialised Barrett's glands.Expression of MUC2 and MUC3 protein was found much higher in villous or irregu- lar pit pattern than that in dot or rod pit pattern(P

Objective To evaluate the efficacy of telephone visit for discharged postpartum women.Methods Two hundred and twenty postpartum women in Hefei city were randomly selected and divided into two groups.The parturient in the control received routine guidance.In addition to the routine guidance,parturient in the experimental group received telephone visits every week for 4 weeks.The effects were evaluated in the sixth week after discharge.Results Knowledge understanding for the two groups also showed significant difference (89.3％ and 58.4％ for the experimental group and control group respectively; x2 =29.21,P＜0.01 ).Health care and quality of life were improved for the parturient in the experimental group than those in the control group ( P ＜ 0.01 ).Conclusions Telephone visit help the parturient master knowledge and skill for caring and improve their quality of life.

The dynamic changes of germination percentage, germination potential, thousand-seed weight, antioxidase activity in Desmodium styracifolium seeds with different storage time were tested, and electrical conductivity, contents of soluble sugar, soluble protein, starch in seed leach liquor were also determined in order to reveal the mechanism of seed deterioration. The results as the following. (1) The germination percentage, germination potential and thousand-seed weight of D. styracifolium seeds declined, while the seed coat color darkened with the extension of storage time. (2) The activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) decreased with the prolongation of storage period. The SOD activity declined fastest in 1,095-1,185 d of storage, while the POD activity declined significantly in 365-395 d of storage. (3) The electrical conductivity and the contents of soluble sugar, starch in seed leach liquor increased, while the content of soluble protein declined with the extension of storage time. (4) Correlation analysis indicated that the germination percentage, germination potential and thousand-seed weight of D. styracifolium seeds have a significantly positive correlation with SOD and POD activity, while have a significantly negative correlation with the electrical conductivity, contents of soluble sugar and starch. It can be concluded that during the storage of D. styracifolium seeds, physiological and biochemical changes including decrease in antioxidase activity, rise in electrical conductivity, degradation effluent of soluble sugar and starch, degradation of soluble protein were the main factors leading to the seed deterioration.
Color ; Fabaceae ; chemistry ; enzymology ; growth & development ; metabolism ; Germination ; Peroxidases ; metabolism ; Plant Proteins ; metabolism ; Seeds ; chemistry ; enzymology ; growth & development ; metabolism ; Starch ; metabolism ; Superoxide Dismutase ; metabolism ; Time Factors

Moderate drought stress has been found to promote the accumulation of active ingredients in Glycyrrhiza uralensis root and hence improve the medicinal quality. In this study, the transcriptomes of 6-month-old moderate drought stressed and control G. uralensis root (the relative water content in soil was 40%-45% and 70%-75%, respectively) were sequenced using Illumina HiSeq 2000. A total of 80,490 490 and 82 588 278 clean reads, 94,828 and 305,100 unigenes with N50 sequence of 1,007 and 1,125 nt were obtained in drought treated and control transcriptome, respectively. Differentially expressed genes analysis revealed that the genes of some cell wall enzymes such as β-xylosidase, legumain and GDP-L-fucose synthase were down-regulated indicating that moderate drought stress might inhibit the primary cell wall degradation and programmed cell death in root cells. The genes of some key enzymes involved in terpenoid and flavonoid biosynthesis were up-regulated by moderate drought stress might be the reason for the enhancement for the active ingredients accumulation in G. uralensis root. The promotion of the biosynthesis and signal transduction of auxin, ethylene and cytokinins by moderate drought stress might enhance the root formation and cell proliferation. The promotion of the biosynthesis and signal transduction of abscisic acid and jasmonic acid by moderate drought stress might enhance the drought stress tolerance in G. uralensis. The inhibition of the biosynthesis and signal transduction of gibberellin and brassinolide by moderate drought stress might retard the shoot growth in G. uralensis.
Droughts ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ; Glycyrrhiza uralensis ; genetics ; Plant Roots ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Stress, Physiological ; Transcriptome

OBJECTIVETo elucidate the molecular mechanism of Wendan Tang in prevention of lipid metabolism disorder in adult rats.

METHODOn the basis of hyperlipidemia rat models, triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC) in serum, activities of lipase (LA), lipoprotein lipase (LPL), hepatic lipase (HL) in liver, parts of hemogram and hepatic LDLR mRNA levels were investigated 21 days after the feeding of atherogenic diet.

RESULTWendan Tang significantly reduced the serum TG, TC and increased the activity of LPL and LA, but caused no chang in HL. The result of RT-PCR test showed that high fat and high cholesterol feeding could significantly induce the reduction of LDLR mRNA levels, while Wendan Tang could increase hepatic LDLR density.

CONCLUSIONWendan Tang can prevent disorder of lipid metabolism by regulating TC, TG, LDL-c through upregaulation of LDLR transcription level and improving antioxidant ability.

Animals ; Drug Combinations ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Female ; Hyperlipidemias ; blood ; metabolism ; prevention & control ; Lipid Metabolism ; Liver ; metabolism ; Male ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; RNA, Messenger ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Rats ; Receptors, LDL ; biosynthesis ; genetics

Aim To investigate the protective effect of Qi ZhiXiaoke granules ( QZXK ) on nerve injury using zebrafish and nerve cell injury models. Methods The nerve injury model was established using wild zebrafish AB line, 72 hours after fertilization treated with 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1 , 2 , 3 , 6-four pyridine ( MPTP ) .Then QZXK of different doses were administered for three days,and the trajectory of the zebrafish behavior was recorded and analyzed. Neuroblastoma PC12 cells were incubated with different concentrations of QZXK and MPTP,and the cell viability of PC12 cells was de-tected by MTT. The mitochondrial membrane potential and expression of apoptosis related protein Caspase3 were measured by kits. Results Compared with con-trol group,MPTP reduced the movement distance of ze-brafish,and with the increase of concentration, QZXK promoted the movement distance and reversed the swimming behavior abnormality of zebrafish. Compared with control group, QZXK could inhibit the apoptosis induced by MPTP and promote the cell viability of PC12 cells with MPTP. QZXK improved the membranepotential and decreased the expression of Caspase3 . Conclusions QZXK exerts neuroprotective effect in the process of nerve injury induced by MPTP. The mechanism may be related with inhibiting apoptosis of neural cells. These experiment provides experimental and theoretical foundation for QZXK promoting cogni-tive function.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of interferon -alpha1b (IFN-alpha1b) on hepatic intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) expression and serum HBV DNA in patients with chronic hepatitis B.

METHODSBefore and 6 months after IFN-alpha1b treatment, liver biopsy was performed in patients with chronic hepatitis B to detect the expression of ICAM-1 in the liver tissues using immunohistochemistry. Serum HBV load was detected with real-time fluorescence polymerase chain reaction.

RESULTCAM-1 expression in the liver tissue was significantly down-regulated after IFN treatment in patients with severe and moderate chronic hepatitis B (P<0.05). No significant variation was noted in the expression of ICAM-1 in the livers of patients with mild chronic hepatitis B after the treatment (P>0.05). In the patients weakly positive for ICAM-1 expression (+), serum HBV DNA varied scarcely after the treatment (P>0.05), while in the patients with strong ICAM-1 positivity (++, +++, or ++++), significant variation of serum HBV DNA occurred after the treatment (P<0.05 or P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe therapeutic effect of IFN-alpha1b is associated with the expression of ICAM-1 in the hepatocytes, and its expression might enhance the effects of IFN on HBV DNA in patients with chronic hepatitis B.

Adolescent ; Adult ; DNA, Viral ; blood ; Female ; Hepatitis B virus ; drug effects ; genetics ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; blood ; drug therapy ; virology ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 ; biosynthesis ; Interferon-alpha ; therapeutic use ; Liver ; drug effects ; metabolism ; virology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; methods ; Viral Load ; Young Adult

2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid ; analogs & derivatives ; toxicity ; Animals ; Epididymis ; growth & development ; metabolism ; Female ; HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Herbicides ; toxicity ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Spermatozoa ; drug effects ; growth & development ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo study the stress changes of maxillary central incisor restored with or without fiber post using three dimensional finite element method, and analysis the role of fiber post in determining the stress distribution in dentin.

METHODSThree dimensional finite element models of maxillary central incisor with various remaining tooth structure were established by spiral CT, Mimics software and ANSYS software. Test samples were restored with all-ceramic crown and fiber post all-ceramic crown, respectively. The von Mises stress and maximal tensile stress of dentin were recorded.

RESULTSThe stress level in dentin of maxillary central incisor restored with fiber post all-ceramic crown was smaller than that restored with all-ceramic crown, the stress distribution of both were similar.

CONCLUSIONThe apply of fiber post can reduce the stress level in dentin of maxillary central incisor and decrease the risk of tooth breakage, but not change the stress pattern.

Dental Porcelain ; Dentin ; Finite Element Analysis ; Humans ; Incisor ; Post and Core Technique ; Tooth, Nonvital

To develop a Huntington’s disease(HD) cell model in vitro to screen drugs targeting the aggregation of polyQ,different length of CAG repeat fragments were amplified by random primer PCR, identified by DNA sequencing and were fused to the N-terminus of CAT in the pCAR system respectively which had been constructed and identified before. Recombinant plasmids were transformed into and induced to express in the host E.coli. SDS-PAGE and chloramphenicol resistance test were done to determine the solubility of the polyQ and chloramphenicol resistance levels of the fusions. With different length of CAG repeat fragments cloned and expressed in the CAT-fusion protein reporting system, it is found that when the length of the fragments increased over 40, their encoding polyQ expressed as insoluble protein and chloramphenicol resistance levels are lower, while under 40, the polyQ expressed as soluble ones and chloramphenicol resistance levels are higher. A in vitro HD model that could minimize the pathological process of the HD thus has been developed. With which by measure the recombinant bacteria’s resistance to chloramphenicol, the polyQ’ solubility and folding state in vitro by quality and quantity could be determined. Thus this model can be used to screen drugs or bioactivity materials that can inhibit aggregation of the polyQ, which thereby shedding new light on the prevent, diagnosis and therapy of HD.