Objective To summarize the recent progress in pathogenetic,diagnostic and therapeutic researches on the intestinal barrier dysfunction(IBD) of severe acute pancreatitis(SAP).Methods The advancement of IBD in SAP,which was published recently at home and abroad,was collected and reviewed.Results The pathogenesis of IBD in patients with SAP was complex.Ischemia-reperfusion injury,endotoxin,inflammatory mediators and gastrointestinal hormone played an important role in the process of IBD.There were many ways to detect IBD,and the ratio of lactulose and mannitol,plasma diamine oxidase were relatively ideal markers.Medical therapies,such as treatment of SAP and maintaining the perfusion of intestines,were essential to cure IBD.On this basis,the propulsives,nutritional support and traditional Chinese drugs should be administered reasonably.Conclusions IBD is a sophisticated process of pathophysiology.In recent years,abundant of animal experiments and clinical researches have provided new clue for prevention and cure of IBD,but further researches are still needed on the mechanism of the cells and molecules implicated.

Mac-1,an adhesion molecule expressed on the surface of leukocytes,plays an important role in host-defence function and immunological response.It consists of two noncovalently linked polypeptides known as ?(CD11b) and ?(CD18) subunits.It contains two important domains known as I-domain which recognizes protein ligands and the lectin domain which recognizes polysaccharides.Mac-1 is expressed on nearly all neutrophils,monocytes,eosinophils and NK cells,but less on B cells,T cells and macrophages.Mac-1 functions as both an adhesion molecule for ICAM-1 expressed by stimulated endothelium mediating the diapedesis of leukocytes across the endothelium and a receptor for the iC3b fragment of complement responsible for cytotoxicity to microorganisms or target cells opsonized with iC3b.It can also form a complex with many membrane glycoproteins,functioning as a signal transducing partner for them.An important finding was that soluble ?-glucan could bind to Mac-1 and prime the receptor for cytotoxic function in response to iC3b-opsonized tumors,thus may pave the way for development of ?-glucan-like drugs that could generate Mac-1-dependent cytotoxicity following a humoral response to tumor antigens elicited by vaccines that would cause tumors to be opsonized with Abs and iC3b in cancer immunotherapy.

Animals ; Gene Targeting ; instrumentation ; Genetic Vectors ; chemistry ; genetics ; metabolism ; Humans ; Macromolecular Substances ; chemistry ; Viruses ; chemistry ; genetics ; metabolism

Objectives To explore the status and characteristics of changes in lung function in the elderly in communities of Beijing,and to provide reference for improving the prevention and control of chronic lung disease in the elderly.Methods A stratified,segmented and cluster sampling method was used to investigate 1 144 subjects aged 60 years and over in communities of Beijing (Huairou District,Daxing District rural area and Xicheng District).Health status and pulmonary function were assessed,and characteristics of lung functions and their changes were analyzed in the elderly.Results The average vital capacity(VC)was 2.53L,and forced vital capacity(FVC) was 2.29 L,forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1)was 1.81 L,1 second rate (FEV1/FVC) was 83.42 ％.Static vital capacity was decreased in 1/3 of the elderly,and dynamic vital capacity,including FVC and FEV1,was reduced in about half of the elderly.Ratio of decline in lung function in the elderly was higher in male and in urban area than in women and in rural areas.Ratio of decline in each index of pulmonary ventilation function showed a significantly increased tendency along with the ageing.Lung dysfunction types in the elderly included a restricted (23.5％)and obstructive ventilation disorder (19.7％)and mixed ventilation disorder(12.8％).Conclusions The ratio of decline in lung function in the elderly is increased along with aging,and more significantly higher in female and in urban than in male and in countryside.Restrictive ventilation disorder in the elderly is more often in urban areas,while obstructive ventilation disorder occurs mostly in rural areas.Corresponding measures should be adopted for different groups of people.

OBJECTIVETo study the inhibitory effect of wogonin on the growth and proliferation of breast cancer cells MDA-MB-23, and observe its effect on the adhesion, migration and invasion of MDA-MB-23 cells, in order to further study its molecular mechanism.

METHODMTT assay was used to detect the effect of wogonin on MDA-MB-23 cell growth. Ki-67 assay was adopted to test the effect of wogonin on cell proliferation. Scratch test, adherence test and invasion chamber assay were taken to detect the effect on the migration and invasion abilities of MDA-MB-231 cells. Proliferation and metastasis-related proteins and relevant signaling pathways were detected by Western blotting.

RESULTWogonin could remarkably inhibit the growth and proliferation of MDA-MB-231 cells, significantly inhibit migration, adhesion and invasion abilities of breast cancer cells at a low concentration, and effectively inhibit the expression of Survivin, Bcl-2, ICAM-1, MMP-2, MMP-9 proteins of MDA-MB-231 cells.

CONCLUSIONWogonin could notably inhibit growth and proliferation of breast cancer cells, and inhibit migration, adhesion and invasion of MDA-MB-231 cells. Its invasive and adhesive effects on MDA-MB-231 cells may be related to the decrease in ICAM-1, MMP-2, MMP-9 expressions.

Breast Neoplasms ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Movement ; drug effects ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Female ; Flavanones ; pharmacology ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; drug effects ; Humans ; Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 2 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Neoplasm Invasiveness ; Signal Transduction ; drug effects

Objective To explore the application of related parameters of frailty index,and use this method to evaluate the prognosis of respondents.Methods Evaluations based on the utilization of frailty index was performed in a cohort of 1808 elderly people aged 60 years and above who dwelled in Beijing urban and rural area.And the baseline of this survey started in 2004,and the follow-up procedure was performed at the end of third,fifth and eighth years.The mortality of all individuals was collected and analyzed.Results Along with the increasing age,higher frailly index was expected(r=0.314、0.395、0.405、0.319,P=0.004、0.000、0.000、0.000).Among the same level of frailty index,males,rural dwellers,and elderly people showed a higher death rate than females,urban dwellers and comparatively young individuals.Conclusions The frailty index may be a significant tool for evaluation of prognosis among elderly people.

Objective To study the effects of 8-methoxypsoralen (8-MOP) on a ctivation, proliferation and melanin synthesis of hair-follicle melanocytes. Me thods The cultured human hair follicle melanocytes were treated with various con centrations of 8-MOP(10～500 ?mol/L) in vitro. The effects of 8-MOP were obse rved on cellular morphologic changes, proliferation, tyrosinase activity and mel anin contents of cultured melanocytes. Results Seven days after treatment with 8-MOP(50 ?mol/L), striking changes were found in cellular morphology with many elongated dendrites, and deposition of brown granules in cytoplasm. Tyrosinase a ctivity and melanin contents also remarkably increased in treated cells compared to those in untreated cells(P

Objective To investigate the therapeutic efficacy of HPV16 E7 peptide pulsed dendritic cells (DCs) in recurrent condyloma acuminate (CA). Methods A total of 32 cases of recurrent CA (more than 3 times) were divided into the treatment group and the control group. Patients (11 cases, HPV16 +and HLA A2 +) in the treatment group received treatment with DCs, while the other 21 cases in the control group were treated with interferon. A follow up of 6 months was conducted in all patients. The pathological lesions, the peripheral T cell subpopulations of the patients, and the therapeutic efficacy before and after treatment were observed. Results The size of the lesions became smaller or disappeared in the treatment group. The infiltrated lymphocytes increased, but the koilocytotic cells decreased in the lesions. No significant change in the peripheral T cell subpopulations was found before and after therapy. The recurrence rates in the treatment group and the control group were 18.2% and 61.9%, respectively. Conclusion The therapy by E7 peptide pulsed dendritic cells can improve the local immune status in the skin and reduce the recurrence rate significantly in patients with recurrent CA.

Connexin43 has been shown to play a pivotal role in wound healing process. Wound repair is enhanced by acute downregulation of connexin43, by increasing proliferation and migration of keratinocyte and fibroblast. Angiogenesis is also a central feature of wound repair, but little is known about the effects of connexin43 modulation on functions of endothelial cells. We used connexin43 specific small interference RNA (siRNA) to reduce the expression of connexin43 in human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC), and investigated the effects of connexin43 downregulation on intercellular communication, viability, proliferation, migration and angiogenic activity of HUVEC. Treatment of siRNA markedly reduced the expression of connexin43 by -80% in HUVEC (P < 0.05), and decreased the intercellular communication by -65% (P < 0.05). The viability, proliferation, migration and angiogenic activity of HUVEC decreased significantly (P < 0.05), compared with that of the normal cells. The results suggest that temporally downregulation of connexin43 expression at early stage of wound to inhibit the abnormal angiogenesis characterized with leaky and inflamed blood vessels, maybe a prerequisite for coordinated normal healing process.
Cell Movement ; Cell Proliferation ; Cell Survival ; Connexin 43 ; metabolism ; Down-Regulation ; Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells ; cytology ; Humans ; Neovascularization, Physiologic ; Umbilical Veins ; cytology ; Wound Healing

High mobility group A2 protein (HMGA2), an architectural factor, is highly expressed in various cancer types including lung cancers. It is a candidate target for cancer therapy. RNAi is an effective gene silencing method with low cost and less time-consuming. It is possible to exploit this technology in therapy. Here, 5 siRNAs targeting Hmga2 gene (HMGA2 siRNA1-5) were designed and synthesized. MTT assay, colony formation assay, transwell assay and flow cytometry were used to evaluate the effects of these siRNAs on lung cancer cell lines (NCI-H446 and A549). Results from cell proliferation, clone formation, migration and apoptosis showed that HMGA2 siRNA1, 3, 5 could affect these aspects for both lung cancer cell lines. Among the five siRNAs, HMGA2 siRNA5 showed the greatest inhibition effects. The inhibition effects of HMGA2 siRNA5 are sequence specific and are not due to the induction of interferon response. Taken together, siRNAs targeting Hmga2 gene are potential candidates for lung cancer gene therapy.