Animals ; Arrestins ; metabolism ; Hypoxia ; metabolism ; Male ; Prefrontal Cortex ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled ; metabolism ; beta-Arrestin 1 ; beta-Arrestins

Objective To study the effect of local mild hypothermia on the expression of matrix metallopro- teinases-2/9 (MMP-2/9) and brain edema in experimental intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) in rat. Methods One hundred and forty-five Wistar rats were randomly divided into a normothermia sham-operation (NSO) group ( n = 15 ), a normothermia intracerebral hemorrhage (NICH) group (n = 75 ) and a mild hypotbermia intracerebral hemor- rhage (MHICH) group (n = 75). Autologous arterial blood was stereotaxically injected into the right caudate nucleus of the rats of the NICH and MHICH groups to make intracerebral hemorrhage model. The rats in the MHICH group were then subjected to 4 hours of local mild hypothermia, while those in the NICH group were under the room temper- ature. The brain water content, permeability of brain-blood barrier (BBB) and expressions of MMP-2/9 were meas- ured by immunohistochemistry method at 6 h, 24 h, 72 h, 5 d and 7 d after operation. Results In NICH group, the brain water content, permeability of BBB and expression of MMP-9 all began to increase at 6 h and peaked at 3 d after injection of blood and still higher than the NSO group at 7 d. The expression of MMP-2 only began to increase little at 24 h and peaked at 5 d after operation and remained highly expressed at 7 d. In the MHICH group, the chan- ges of brain water content, permeability of BBB and expression of MMP-9 were similar to those of the NICH group, but the extent of changes was significantly lower at the every time point. In NICH group and MHICH group, MMP-9 expression was positively correlated with both the brain water content and the permeability of BBB, but MMP-2 ex- pression was not correlated with them. Conclusion Mild hypothermia might protect BBB against injury caused by ICH and relieve brain edema and inflammation reaction through inhibiting the expression of MMP-2/9.

Pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic (PK-PD) modeling was used to characterize the antipyretic and anti-inflammatory effects in rats of Rhein, a major component in rhubarb. Twenty-four healthy male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly into four groups, of 6 each. The rats in first group were injected intravenously with lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 100 microg x kg(-1)). The second group rats were given rhubarb decoction (RD, 1.54 g x kg(-1)) by oral administration alone. The rats belonging to third group were administered orally RD 30 min after LPS injection. The rest rats were given normal saline only as control group. Orbital sinus blood sampling was collected at different time points. The Rhein and NO concentration in plasma and body temperature (BT) were measured. Relevant data of PK-PD modeling were performed with Kinetica 5. 0. 11. RD could suppress the rise in BT and plasma NO concentration. The antipyretic and anti-inflammatory responses were best described by a Sigmod-E(max) model. Delay between exposure and response was accounted for by a transit compartment model with two parallel transit compartment chains. The results showed that some parameters such as t1/2, C(max) and AUC were significantly increased in rats treated with LPS, compared to those in rats treated with normal saline. The EC50 for antipyretic effect and decrease of plasma NO concentration was respectively equal to 114.1, 90.80 microg x L(-1). The E(max) for antipyretic effect was about 111% of that for increase in BT after LPS injection. The E(max) for anti-inflammatory action was close to 8.399% of that for elevated NO level after modeling. Meanwhile, there was a difference in pharmacokinetic process of Rhein between the impact of normal saline and LPS. So, it can be concluded that the targets of regulating NO production and BT after RD administration may be at the same location. Not only do that, the antipyretic effect induced by RD maybe completely manifest through reducing the plasma concentration of NO.
Animals ; Antipyretics ; administration & dosage ; pharmacokinetics ; Body Temperature ; drug effects ; Disease Models, Animal ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; pharmacokinetics ; Fever ; blood ; chemically induced ; drug therapy ; Kinetics ; Lipopolysaccharides ; adverse effects ; Male ; Nitric Oxide ; blood ; Rats ; Rheum ; chemistry

Animals ; Cell Culture Techniques ; methods ; Cell Line ; Cell Proliferation ; Hepatocytes ; cytology ; metabolism ; Humans ; Liver ; cytology ; Liver Diseases ; therapy ; Liver, Artificial ; Mice ; Recombination, Genetic ; Simian virus 40 ; genetics ; Telomerase ; genetics ; metabolism ; Transfection ; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 ; biosynthesis

OBJECTIVEAs the intrauterine environment can affect childhood growth and development, this study aims to understand the relationship between birth gestational age, birth weight and physique development in 9 to 15-year-old children by a cross sectional investigation in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province.

METHODSA total of 7194 9 to 15-year-old school children were classified according to birth gestational age and birth weight: small for gestational age (SGA), appropriate for gestational age (AGA) and large for gestational age (LGA). Their heights and weights were measured. Parents completed a questionnaire.

RESULTSThe prevalence of SGA was 6.23% (448 cases), and 5.13% of children in the SGA group did not undergo "catch-up growth" (lower than -2 SD). The mean height in these children at various stages was significantly lower than in the AGA group (P<0.05). The prevalence of LGA was 18.06% (1299 cases). A total of 179 children (13.78%) were found to be overweight and 57 children (4.39%) were found to be obese in the LGA group. The mean weight in the LGA group at various stages was significantly higher than in the AGA group (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSHeight and weight development in children born SGA and LGA are different from normal children. More attention should be given to aspects of height and weight development in these school children.

Adolescent ; Birth Weight ; Body Height ; Body Weight ; Child ; Child Development ; Female ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Small for Gestational Age ; growth & development ; Male

WRKY transcription factors are novel transcriptional regulatory factors, which play an important role in regulating plant development, metabolism and other physiological processes. In this study, a new Dendrobium officinale WRKY transcription factor, designated as DoWRKY1 was cloned by using RT-PCR and RACE (GenBank Accession No. KF953910). Bioinformatic analysis demonstrated that, the full-length cDNA of DoWRKY1 was 1,704 bp. And DoWRKY1 contained a 1,629 bp open reading frame (ORF) that encoding a peptide of 542 amino acid residues. The putative DoWRKY1 protein contained two conserved WRKY domains and it belonged to the group I WRKY family protein. Yeast one-hybrid experiment showed that DoWRKY1 had transcriptional activation ability in yeast, and it could activate the expression of downstream report genes (His3 and Ade2). Semi-quantitative RT-PCR experiment showed that DoWRKY1 expressed in roots, stems, leaves and protocorm-like bodies. Real-time qRT-PCR proved that DoWRKY1 could be induced by methyl jasmonate (MeJA) and chitosan (Chitosan), and the expression level of this gene can reach the expression peak at 2 h and 1 h, respectively. These results are useful for further determination of the regulation function of this gene in secondary metabolism of D. officinale.
Cloning, Molecular ; Dendrobium ; genetics ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ; Plant Proteins ; genetics ; Transcription Factors ; genetics

Diathesis education and innovative ability cultivating of students are a new position in higher education.Exploring experiment was applied in medical undergraduates of grade 2004 for enhancing integrative diathesis and cultivating innovative spirit and ability of students.It was proved that application of exploring experiment could increase adequately learning fervor and interest of students.Teaching quality of microbiological experiment was enhanced accordingly.Application of exploring experiment was useful supplement and attempt of traditional teaching mode.

Quality education and innovative ability cultivation of students are a new position in higher education.Exploring exper- iment was applied in teaching of microbiological experiment for enhancing integrative diathesis and cultivating innovative spirit and ability of students.The practice has been proved that learning fervor of students was increased adequately.Unaided operation abili- ty,integrative analysis ability and innovative idea were enhanced,too.Accordingly,teaching quality of microbiological experiment was improved.

Objective To evaluate the CT findings of pancreatic carcinoid tumors.Methods The CT imaging data of five patients with pancreatic carcinoid tumors confirmed by pathology were retrospectively analyzed.Results The tumors ranged in maximum diameter from 2.0 to 11.0 cm with a mean of 6.4 cm. On unenhanced CT,the tumors were slightly hypodense relative to the pancreatic parenchyma,homogenous in 2 cases,and heterogenous in 3 cases.One tumor showed calcification.After contrast material injection, the solid component of the tumor showed marked heterogenous enhancement on the arterial phase scanning in 3 cases,and mild heterogenous enhancement in 2 cases.The degree of tumor enhancement was less intense than the surrounding pancreatic parenchyma due to necrosis of various degree,which led to the cystic appearance of the tumor in 1 ease.On the portal phase scanning,all tumors showed marked enhancement similar to that of the pancreatic parenchyma.On the delayed phase scanning,the degree of enhancement was more intense than the surrounding pancreatic parenchyma in 1 case.Liver metastases with retroperitoneal lymphadenopathy and peripancreatic vessels invasion were seen in 1 case.No dilatation of the biliary tract or pancreatic duct was present.Conclusion The CT features of pancreatic carcinoid tumors included infrequent dilatation of the biliary tract or pancreatic duct and unusual vascular involvement,calcification within the mass,marked enhancement similar to that of the surrounding pancreatic parenchyma during the portal phase scanning and more intense during the delayed phase scanning.

Adenocarcinoma ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Cardia ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Esophagogastric Junction ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Humans ; Neoplasm Staging ; Receptor, ErbB-2 ; metabolism ; Sirtuin 1 ; metabolism ; Stomach Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Survival Rate