Objective:To evaluate the impact of health education intervention on promoting rural residents to join new rural cooperative medical system(NCMS)and their intention of joining NCMS based on Health Belief Model in project areas in Henan and Jilin Provinces.Methods:Quasi-experiment study was used to evaluate intervention impact.Following the evidence-based approach,according to needs assessment,a half-year health education intervention was implemented among farmers in the experimental counties in Henan and Jilin Provinces respectively.A questionnaire survey was conducted among farmers in intervention and control counties before and after intervention,and intervention impact was evaluated by comparing the indicators' changes in intervention and control counties.Results:After health education intervention,the knowledge level of farmers in two intervention counties increased by 29.0% and 37.8% respectively,their scores of perceived threatens of health risk and perceived barriers of joining NCMS among the respondents were decreased.Meanwhile,their score of perceived benefit of joining NCMS were increased,and the rate of willingness to join NCMS increased remarkably in both intervention counties.Conclusion:Health education was effective and helpful in increasing farmer's knowledge,understanding and cognitive level of NCMS,and it should play an important role for the sustainable development of NCMS.

objective To assess the effect of aldosterone on the production of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9)and collagen Ⅳ in culture supematants of podocytes and the possible molecular mechanisms involved in the influence of aldosterone on the synthesis and degradation of extracellular matrix produced by podocytes. Methods Podecytes were treated with aldosterone at the concentration of 10-11, 10-9, 10-7 mol/L respectively. Cultured podocytes were examined at 24, 48 and 72 hours respectively. Spironolactone, a receptor antagonist of aldosterone, was added to observe the blocking effect on aldosterone. An inhibitor of TGF-β1 receptor was used to determine whether the effect of aldosterone on podocytes were mediated through TGF-β1 system. The enzymatic activities of MMP-2 and MMP-9 were assayed by gehtin zymography. Collagen Ⅳ 0.5 chain and TGF-β1 proteins released into culture supematants were assessed by Western blot and ELISA analysis. The adhesion rate of podocytes was monitored by flow cytometry. Results Aldosterone increased the activities of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in a dose- and time-dependent manner (P<0.05). Aldosterone decreased the level of collagen Ⅳ or5 chain protein in culture supernatants (P<0.05). Meanwhile, the expression of TGF-β1 was also increased (P<0.05). Spironolactone completely abolished the above-mentioned changes(P< 0.05). Blockage of TGF-β1 signaling with SB431542 prevented the aldosterone-induced upregulation of MMP-2 and MMP-9 as well as the downregulation of the collagen Ⅳ α5 chain protein and the adhesion rate of podocytes (P<0.05). Conclusions Aldosterone increases the activities of MMP-2 and MMP-9 but decreases the expression of collagen Ⅳ α5 chain and the adhension rate of podocytes possibly via TGF-β1 signaling pathway. Such alterations may contribute to glomerular podocyte injury associated with the GBM abnormality caused by the imbalance between matrix synthesis and degradation.

PurposeAdrenal schwannoma is rare and quite difficult to diagnose before operation. This paper aims to analyze the CT findings of adrenal schwannoma to improve the recognition and diagnosis of this disease.Materials and Methods The CT findings of 6 patients with adrenal schwannomas proved by operation and pathology were retrospectively analyzed.Results Four schwannomas were located in the right adrenal and 2 in the left adrenal. The tumors, with diameters ranging from 3.0 cm to 6.4 cm, mean (4.5±1.3) cm, had well-defined margin. The densities of all the masses were close to or slightly lower than those of kidneys on plain scan images, with mean CT attenuation value of (32±7) HU. Three masses showed homogeneous density and the other 3 were mildly heterogeneous with patches of lower density. All the 6 schwannomas were enhanced mildly or moderately after intravenous administration of contrast material and showed gradual enhancement mode. They showed mild homogeneous or flocculent enhancement on arterial phase and had gradual progress on venous and delayed phases. The mean increase of CT attenuation value was (13±2) HU on arterial phase, (18±4) HU on venous phase and (23±4) HU on delayed phase. Only 1 mass showed some patches of cystic degeneration without enhancement inside.Conclusion Adrenal schwannoma should be included in the differential diagnosis of solid nonfunctioning adrenal tumors. Features such as relatively homogeneous mass, mild to moderate enhancement and gradual enhancement mode after contrast enhancement are possibly the unique CT manifestations of adrenal schwannoma.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the immunoregulation and short-term therapeutic effects of super-selective intra-arterial chemotherapy combined with Fuzheng Kang'ai Granules, a compound Chinese herbal medicine, on patients with late gastric cancer. METHODS: Forty patients with late gastric antrum cancer were randomly divided into study group and control group. Patients in the study group were orally administered Fuzheng Kang'ai Granules 48 hours after the first super-selective left gastric artery chemotherapy with high-dose drugs (EAP regime: VP(16) 100 mg/m(2) + epirubicin 60 mg/m(2) + carboplatin 200 mg/m(2)), while patients in the control group were only administered the same local artery chemotherapy as in the study group. RESULTS: The short-term therapeutic efficacy in the study group and control group were 82.5% and 57.5% respectively (P<0.01). The occurrence rates of side effects in the study group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P<0.01). The Karnofsky score of life quality of the study group was obviously higher than that of the control group after treatment (P<0.05). The half survival time and one year survival rate in the study group and control group were (24.9 +/- 1.36) month, 70% (28/40) and (13.7 +/- 0.72) month, 35% (14/40) respectively. They were significantly improved in the study group compared with the control group (P<0.01). The levels of cytokines interleukin 2 (IL-2), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) after treatment in the study group were significantly higher than those before treatment (P<0.05 or P<0.01), as well as than those after treatment in the control group (P<0.01). On the other hand, the level of immune inhibitory factor soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R) after treatment in the study group was lower than that before treatment, as well as than that after treatment in the control group (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The super-selective intra-arterial chemotherapy combined with Fuzheng Kang'ai Granules has good short-term therapeutic efficiency and few side effects for patients with late gastric antrum cancer. It can significantly improve the life quality, extend the survival period, and improve the survival rate in patients with late gastric antrum cancer, which may be due to the up-regulation of the immune regulating factors such as IL-2, TNF-alpha, IFN-gamma and down-regulation of the immune inhibitory factor sIL-2R.

To investigate the effects of albumin on the production of matrix metalloproteinases-2 (MMP-2) and matrix metalloproteinases-9 (MMP-9) in podocytes. Podocytes were treated with bovine serum albumin (BSA) at the concentration of 0.1, 0.5, 1, 2 g/L, respectively. Conditioned media were harvested 12, 24, 48 and 72 h after the treatment. The expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 was assayed by gelatin zymography, RT-PCR and Western blotting analysis. Our results showed that in comparison with the control group, BSA increased the expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 mRNA and protein in a dose- and time-dependent manner (P<0.05). Meanwhile, the enzymatic activities of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in the culture supernatants of podocytes were also increased (P<0.05). It is concluded that albumin up-regulated the expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 at gene and protein levels in a time- and dose-dependent manner.

Eukaryotic expression vectors carrying the small hairpin RNA (shRNA) for TRPC6 mRNA were constructed, and the effects of knocking-down TRPC6 on puromycin aminonucleoside (PAN)-induced apoptosis of mouse podocytes were observed. Two eukaryotic expression vectors containing small hairpin structure targeting TRPC6 named pGCsi-TRPC6A and pGCsi-TRPC6B were designed and synthesized. The plasmids were transfected into conditionally immortalized murine podocyte cell line by liposome. The changes in the TRPC6 mRNA and protein expression were observed by RT-PCR and Western blot after 48 h. Cultured podocytes were divided into four groups: control group, PAN treatment group, PAN treatment+shRNA transfection group, and PAN treatment+ negative control group. The expression of Bax and Bcl-2 mRNA and proteins was detected by RT-PCR and Western-blot respectively. The apoptotic rate of podocytes was measured by flow cytometry. The results showed that the expression of TRPC6 mRNA and protein was decreased in the podocytes when transfected with pGCsi-TRPC6A, and pGCsi-TRPC6B. The expression of Bax was increased, and that of Bcl-2 was decreased at protein and mRNA levels in the podocytes after treated with PAN for 48 h. These changes was attenuated by knocking-down TRPC6. Knocking-down TRPC6 could effectively decrease the PAN-induced apoptosis of podocytes. It was concluded that TRPC6 may play an important role in the PAN-induced apoptosis of podocytes. Knocking-down TRPC6 gene could effectively prevent the podocytes from apoptosis induced by PAN.

To investigate the protective effects of eplerenone on adriamycin-induced renal injury and the possible mechanisms involved, 36 male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into control group, adriamycin nephropathy (AN) group and eplerenone-treated group (100 mg·kg(-1)·d(-1) eplerenone). Blood pressure, 24-h urinary protein, serum potassium, sodium and creatinine were measured 28 days after adriamycin injection (a single tail intravenous injection of 6.5 mg/kg adriamycin). The morphological changes of renal tissues were observed by light and electron microscopy. Immunohistochemistry and Western blotting were performed to examine the expression of TGF-β(1) and desmin in renal cortex. The results showed that 28 days after adriamycin injection, there were no significant changes in the level of serum potassium, sodium, creatinine concentrations and blood pressure values in the rats of the three groups. Meanwhile, the 24-h proteinuria excretion in the AN group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P<0.01), but that in the eplerenone-treated group was substantially reduced when compared with that in the AN group (P<0.05). Mild mesangial cell proliferation and matrix expansion, diffuse deformation and confluence of foot processes in podocytes were found in the AN group. By contrast, rats in the eplerenone-treated group exhibited obvious attenuation of these morphological lesions. The protein expression of TGF-β(1) and desmin in the AN group was markedly up-regulated in contrast to that in the control group (P<0.01), whereas that in the eplerenone-treated group was much lower than in the AN group (P<0.05). It was concluded that eplerenone may ameliorate the proteinuria and the development of pathological alteration in adriamycin-induced nephropathy presumably via the inhibition of cytokine release, and restore the morphology of podocytes independent of its blood pressure-lowing effects.

Objective To study the effect of overexpression of TRPC6 on Ang Ⅱ-induced apoptosis of mouse podocytes in vitro and to explore the possible mechanisms. Methods Mouse TRPC6 cDNA eukaryotie expression vector pEGFP-NI-mTRPC6 was transfected to conditionally immortalized routine podocyte cell line by liposome. The fluorescent microscopy was used to examine the expression of EGFP after 24 hours. The change of TRPC6 protein expression was observed by Western-blot. Podocytes were treated by different concentrations of Ang Ⅱ. The podocyte intracellular calcium concentration was measured with laser-scanning con_focal microscope. The expression of Bax and Bcl-2 mRNA was assessed by RT-PCR and the expression of Bax and Bcl-2 protein was measured by Western-blot. The apoptotic ratio of podocytes was monitored by flow cytometry and Hoechst staining. Results About 35% of the cells expressed EGFP. An up-regulation of protein expression of TRPC6 was detected in podocytes when transfected with pEGFP-N1-mTRPC6 (P<0.01). The overexpression of TRPC6 promoted the Ang Ⅱ-induced influx of extracellular calcium and elevated the expression of Bax but decreased the expression of Bcl-2 (P<0.01, P<0.05). The apoptotic ratio of podocyte was (2.50±0.72)% when treated by low-dose Ang Ⅱ (10-10 mol/L), and it was increased to (4.33±0.45)% when transfected with pEGFP-N1-mTRPC6 (P <0.05 ). Transfection with pEGFP-NI-mTRPC6 increased apoptosis rate from (15.46± 1.40)% to (18.33±0.87)%(P<0.01) by high-dose Ang Ⅱ (10-6 mol/L). Conclusion TRPC6 plays an important role in the Ang Ⅱ-induced apoptosis of podocytes by promoting the influx of extraeellular calcium, which leads to the apoptosis cascade initiation.

Objective To access the effects of aldosterone (ALD) and its receptor antagonist- spironolactone (SPI) on the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and apoptosis in podocytes and to explore the possible mechanism involved. Methods Conditionally immortalized mouse podocytes were divided into control group, ALD group, SPI group and SPI +ALD group. The level of ROS production and the expression of nephrin protein were assayed by fluorescent spectrophotometry and indirect immunofluorescence technology. The apoptosis rate of podocytes was monitored by flow cytometry. The expression of bax and bcl-2 mRNA and protein was detected by RT-PCR and Western blotting methods. The anti-oxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC)was applied to determine whether the effects of ALD on podocytes were mediated by ROS pathway.Results Compared with the control group, ALD significantly increased ROS production in podocytes (P＜0.05). SPI completely abolished the above-mentioned effect of ALD (P＜0.05). ALD induced the down-regulation of the expression of nephrin and the up-regulation of podocytes apoptosis (P＜0.05), which was accompanied with the elevated expression of bax mRNA and protein and the reduced expression of bcl-2 mRNA and protein (P＜0.05). SPI or NAC prevented the above-mentioned changes induced by ALD (P＜0.05). Conclusion ALD increases theexpression of pro-apoptotic factor (bax) but decreases the expression of anti-apoptotic factor (bcl-2)to induce podocytes apoptosis through the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) possibly via the mechanisms involving ROS pathway.

Animals ; Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor ; pharmacology ; Cell Movement ; drug effects ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Cells, Cultured ; Chick Embryo ; Chorioallantoic Membrane ; blood supply ; Endothelial Cells ; cytology ; drug effects ; physiology ; Female ; Humans ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Neovascularization, Physiologic ; drug effects ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; pharmacology