To explore the effect of lycorine in inducing apoptosis of pulmonary carcinoma cell A549 and its mechanism. In the study, pulmonary carcinoma cell A549 were taken as the experimental subject and processed with different concentrations of lycorine (0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0 and 8.0 μmol x L(-1)). The MTT method was used to observe the cell proliferation. The apoptosis rate of A549 cells was determined by Annexin FITC/PI double staining. The microplate reader was used to detect the activities of Bcl-2, Bax and p53. The changes in mitochondrial membrane potential were measured by the flow cytometry. The expressions of apoptosis-related factors Bcl-2, Bax, p53 and Survivin were determined by Real-time PCR. The results showed that lycorine significantly inhibited the proliferation of A549 cells (P < 0.05), induced the apoptosis on A549 cells (P < 0.05), increased the activities of Bax and p53, reduced Bcl-2 activity and mitochondrial membrane potential, and notably changed the gene expressions of Bcl-2, Bax, p53 and Survivin (P < 0.05). In conclusion, lycorine can induce the apoptosis of A549 cells and be applied to treat pulmonary carcinoma. Its mechanism may be related to the activation of relevant factors in Bcl-2 signaling pathway.
Amaryllidaceae Alkaloids ; pharmacology ; Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic ; pharmacology ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Carcinoma ; drug therapy ; genetics ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; genetics ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Phenanthridines ; pharmacology ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Signal Transduction ; drug effects ; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 ; genetics ; metabolism ; bcl-2-Associated X Protein ; genetics ; metabolism

Objective To observe the effects of hypoxia on the expression of connective tissue growth factor(CTGF)and matrix metalloproteinase 9(MMP-9)in lung fibroblasts at different time points.Methods Fibroblasts were cultured at hypoxic condition 0,1.5,3,6,12 h respectively.CTGF mRNA and MMP-9 mRNA level were detected in each group by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR).The concen- tration of CTGF and MMP-9 protein in fibroblasts supernatant were determined using enzyme-linked im- munosorbent assay(ELISA).Results Hypoxia stimulated fibroblasts increased the level of CTGF mRNA with- in 1.5 h,and the levels remained at a plateau up to 6 h,and then decreased by 12 h.The level of MMP-9 mRNA increased significantly within 3 h,and the levels kept the trend for increasing.ELISA revealed that the levels of both CTGF and MMP-9 protein/cell in medium conditioned by fibroblasts exposed to hypoxia were maximal at 12 h.The level of MMP in the CTGF-Ab treated groups was significantly decreased compared to the untreated groups.Conclusions These findings suggest that hypoxia stimulates fibroblasts to release CTGF as a mitogen factor,which initiates the fibrosis cascade and airway remodeling by regulating the balance of extracellular ma- trix synthesis and degradation via MMP-9 which is secreted by fibroblast cells in response to CTGF.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the clinical effectiveness of transurethral seminal vesiculoscopy (TUSV) combined with finasteride in the treatment of recurrent hemospermia.

METHODSThis study included 32 patients with recurrent hematospermia, with the disease course of 3 months to 4 years. After administration of finasteride at 5 mg/d for 2 weeks, the patients underwent TUSV for both exploration of the causes and treatment, followed by medication with finasteride at the same dose for another 2 weeks. Postoperative follow-up was conducted for observation of the outcomes and complications.

RESULTSTUSV was successfully accomplished in all the 32 cases, which revealed 16 cases of seminal vesiculitis, 10 seminal calculi, 1 seminal vesicle cyst, 2 seminal vesicle polyps, and 3 seminal vesicle abscess. The operative time was 20 to 51 (31.0 +/- 5.2) minutes. Postoperative complications included 1 case of acute epididymitis and 3 cases of breast discomfort within the first 4 weeks. No incontinence, urethral stricture, rectal injury, retrograde ejaculation, and sexual dysfunction occurred postoperatively. All the patients but 1 were followed up for 6 months to 2 years. Twenty-nine of the cases were cured, and 2 experienced recurrence.

CONCLUSIONTransurethral seminal vesiculoscopy combined with finasteride is safe and effective for the treatment of recurrent hemospermia.

Adult ; Endoscopy ; methods ; Finasteride ; therapeutic use ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hemospermia ; therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo investigate the difference in the vulnerability of carotid atherosclerotic plaques in patients with unilateral and bilateral intraplaque hemorrhage (IPH).

METHODSA retrospective analysis was conducted among 44 patients with unilateral IPH (30 cases) or bilateral IPH (14 cases) in the carotid plaques detected by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in our hospital between December, 2009 and December, 2012. The age, maximum wall thickness and incidence of fibrous cap rupture were compared between the two groups.

RESULTSCompared with those with unilateral IPH, the patients with bilateral IPHs had a significantly younger age (66.6∓9.4 years vs 73.7∓9.0 years, P=0.027), a significantly greater maximum plaque thickness (6.3∓1.9 mm vs 5.0∓1.3 mm, P=0.035) and a higher incidence of ulcers (50% vs 13.3%, P=0.025). Logistic regression analysis revealed a significant association between bilateral IPHs and the occurrence of ulcer with an odd ratio (OR) of 6.5 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.5-28.7, P=0.014). After adjustment for gender in Model 1, bilateral IPHs were still significantly associated with presence of ulcer (OR=5.7, 95%CI: 1.1-29.2, P=0.036). But after adjustment for age (P=0.131) or maximum plaque thickness (P=0.139) in model 2, no significant correlation was found between bilateral IPHs and the presence of ulcer.

CONCLUSIONCompared with patients with unilateral IPH, those with bilateral IPHs are at a younger age and have a greater plaque burden and a higher incidence of fibrous cap rupture, suggesting a greater vulnerability of the carotid plaques in patients with bilateral IPHs.

Aged ; Carotid Arteries ; diagnostic imaging ; Carotid Stenosis ; diagnostic imaging ; physiopathology ; Fibrosis ; Hemorrhage ; diagnostic imaging ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Middle Aged ; Odds Ratio ; Plaque, Atherosclerotic ; diagnostic imaging ; Retrospective Studies

BACKGROUND: Iliac screw implantation has no unified standard. Because of the large individual differences, preoperative pelvic three-dimensional (3D) CT reconstruction can measure the diameter, depth and angle of the screws, which increases the placement accuracy. OBJECTIVE: To measure the screw placement-related data by pelvic 3D CT reconstruction, so as to guide the screw placement and improve its accuracy. METHODS: Fifty patients with pelvic lesions or fractures admitted in Shandong Provincial Third Hospital from January 2013 to December 2016 were selected, and the pelvis was scanned with CT and then was reconstructed. The point A (the intersection of S1posterior sacral posterior wall and posterior superior iliac spine) was as the screw placement point, and three paths were measured on the point: posterior superior iliac spine path (AD path); anterior inferior iliac spine path (AC path); top of greater sciatic notch to the acetabular roof (AB path). On the plane of these three pathes, the section was made on the iliac bone, respectively; in each section, the channel for iliac nail was designed. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) In the same path, there was no significant difference in the path length of the screw between male and female patients (P > 0.05). Paired t test showed that the diameter and length depth and angle of the screws were significantly different between AD and AC paths, AC and AD (P < 0.05). (2) There was no significant difference in the inclination angle of the spiral channel between male and female patients (P > 0.05). The inclination angle of the spiral channel and lateral angle at different paths showed significant difference between male and female patients (P < 0.05). (3) To conclude, 3D reconstruction of pelvis CT can be used to measure the length, diameter and angle of the iliac screw, and to guide the surgical treatment.

To investigate the prevalence of drug-resistance mutations, resistance to antiretroviral drugs, and the subsequent virological response to therapy in treatment-naive and antiretroviral-treated patients infected with HIV/AIDS in Henan, China, a total of 431 plasma samples were collected in Queshan county between 2003 and 2004, from patients undergoing the antiretroviral regimen Zidovudine + Didanosine + Nevirapine (Azt+Ddi+Nvp). Personal information was collected by face to face interview. Viral load and genotypic drug resistance were tested. Drug resistance mutation data were obtained by analyzing patient-derived sequences through the HIVdb Program (http://hivdb.stanford.edu). Overall, 38.5% of treatment-naive patients had undetectable plasma viral load (VL), the rate significantly increased to 61.9% in 0 to 6 months treatment patients (mean 3 months) (P＜0.005) but again significantly decrease to 38.6% in 6 to 12 months treatment patients (mean 9 months) (P＜0.001) and 40.0% in patients receiving more than 12 months treatment (mean 16 months) (P＜0.005). The prevalence of drug resistance in patients who had a detectable VL and available sequences were 7.0%, 48.6%, 70.8%, 72.3% in treatment-na(1)ve, 0 to 6 months treatment, 6 to 12 months treatment, and treatment for greater than 12 months patients, respectively. No mutation associated with resistance to Protease inhibitor (PI) was detected in this study. Nucleoside RT inhibitor (NRTI) mutations always emerged after non-nucleoside RT inhibitor (NNRTI) mutations, and were only found in patients treated for more than 6 months, with a frequency less than 5%, with the exception of mutation T215Y (12.8%, 6/47) which occurred in patients treated for more than 12 months. NNRTI mutations emerged quickly after therapy begun, and increased significantly in patients treated for more than 6 months (P＜0.005), and the most frequent mutations were K103N, V106A, Y181C, G190A. There had been optimal viral suppression in patients undergoing treatment for less than 6 months in Queshan,Henan. The drug resistance strains were highly prevalent in antiretroviral-treated patients, and increased with the continuation of therapy, with many patients encountering virological failure after 6 months therapy.

Objective To introduce an optimized practical method of making and detecting pipettes for microinjection.Methods Transfer pipette was made from hard glass capillary. We softened the hard glass capillary by rotating it in a spirit-lamp flame,then moved out from the flame and quickly pulled it into two transfer pipettes.After broken by a grinding wheel,the tip of the pipette was fire-polished by quickly touching the flame to make a fine opening.A hard glass capillary (1.0 mm,ouside diametre)was pulled into two holding pipettes by pipette Puller.The pipette shoulder was broken at desired position with a grinding wheel,then the fine pipette tip opening was heated by a microforge and shrinked into a diameter -15 μm.Injection pipette could be made directly from a capillary with filament by Puller.The solution loaded injection pipette and holding pipette were assembled into the micromanipulator and could be checked before use.We transfered both pipettes into the zygotes media drop,touched the holding pipette with the tip of the injection pipette to make a "suitable"opening.Then we switched injection pipette to the mineral oil and applied injection pressure through the injector to check whether the solution could come out of the tip smoothly and at a proper speed.It could be further verified by pronucleus microinjection of zygotes.Results The results showed that the method introduced in this paper could produce suitable pipettes for zygote microinjection.In particular,the method of detecting the opening of the injection pipette was helpful for achieving high efficiency of zygote microinjection.Conclusion The method introduced here to make and detect pipettes for microinjection is very helpful for establishing a standard microinjection manipulation procedure and improving the efficiency of zygote microinjection.

OBJECTIVEThe strains of Yersinia pestis isolated in different period and different natural foci in China were analyzed.

METHODSTraditional and molecular biological methods were used. Rhamnose fermentation, rRNA gene copy number, nitrite reduction, and the glycerol fermentation were important characters for typing, and pulse field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) profile could reflect the genetic distance between the strains.

RESULTSThe strains could be divided into 15 genetic types by those 6 characters with each of them covered an isolated geographical territories.

CONCLUSIONThe characters of strains were described; the genetic relationship of different types, their evolution, and the forming and shift of plague natural foci were analyzed.

China ; Databases, Genetic ; Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field ; Genetic Drift ; Geography ; Mutation ; Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique ; Yersinia pestis ; classification ; genetics ; isolation & purification

The working principle and development of flexible semiconductor devices based on organic field effect transistor(OFET)technology were introduced.The current research status of OFET-based wearable flexible monitoring devices were reviewed,including biomechanical monitoring devices,tattoo biomonitoring devices and cellular detection devices and etc.The deficiencies of OFET-based wearable flexible monitoring devices were analyzed,and it's pointed out that miniaturization,personalization and diversification were the directions for the development of the future OFET-based wearable flexible moni-toring devices.[Chinese Medical Equipment Journal,2024,45(1):93-100]

OBJECTIVETo study the prevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) like virus in animals at a live animal market of Guanzhou in 2004 before and after culling of wild animal action taken by the local authority, in order to predict the re-emerging of SARS from animal originals in this region.

METHODSAnimals at live animal market were sampled for rectal and throat swabs in triplicate. A single step realtime reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) diagnostic kit was performed for screening SARS-CoV like virus, the manual nested RT- PCR and DNA sequencing were performed for confirmation. Only specimens which tested positive for both of the N and P genes by nested RT-PCR were scored as positive.

RESULTSIn 31 animals sampled in January 5 2004 before culling of wild animals at Guangdong Province, including 20 cats (Felis catus), 5 red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and 6 Lesser rice field rats (Rattus losea), 8 (25.8%) animals were tested positive for SARS-CoV like virus by RT-PCR methods, of which 4 cats, 3 red fox and one Lesser rice field rats were included. However, two weeks after culling of animals and disinfection of the market were implemented, in 119 animals sampled in January 20 2004, including 6 rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus), 13 cats, 46 red jungle fowl (Gallus gallus), 13 spotbill duck (Anas platyrhynchos), 10 greylag goose (Anser anser), 31 Chinese francolin (Franclinus pintadeanus), only rectal swab from one greylag goose was tested positive for SARS-CoV like virus. Furthermore, in 102 animals that including 14 greylag gooses, 3 cats, 5 rabbits, 9 spotbill duck (Anaspoecilorhyncha), 2 Chinese francolin (Franclinus pintadeanus), 8 common pheasant (Phasianus colchicus), 6 pigeons, 9 Chinese muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi), 19 wild boar (Sus scrofa), 16 Lesser rice field rats, 5 dogs, 1 mink (Mustela vison), 3 goats, 2 green peafowl (Pavo muticus) sampled in April, May, June, July, August and November, only rectal swab from one pig was tested positive. However, of 12 and 10 palm civets sampled in November and December including five of which had been at the live animals market for 2 days, none of them was tested positive.

CONCLUSIONThis findings revealed that animals being sampled in April, May, June, July, August and November of 2004, only one rectal swab from a pig was tested positive as SARS-CoV like virus, much lower than the results from the previous year, suggesting that the possibility of re-emerging of human infection from animal origins is low for the winter of 2004-2005.

Animals ; Animals, Wild ; virology ; China ; DNA, Viral ; analysis ; Felidae ; virology ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; SARS Virus ; isolation & purification