Objective To prepare quercetin liposomes and establish a method for determination of its entrapment efficiency.Methods The film dispersion-homogenizing method was used to prepare quercetin liposomes.The formulation was optimized on the basis of orthogonal design and its entrapment efficiency was performed by the protamine sedimentation method.Results The optimal conditions were found to be cholesterol-egg phospholipid=1:3,quercetin-vehicle = 1:40,homogenization pressure 103.4 MPa for three times.The average entrapment efficiency of the optimized nano-liposomes was 92.1%.Conclusion The film dispersion-homogenizing method could be used to prepare quercetin liposomes.The protamine sedimentation method is convenient,accurate,and suitable for the determination of the entrapment effi- ciency of quercetin liposomes.

Objective To investigate the prognostic value of red cell distribution width (RDW) and relationship between RDW and severity of critical illness patients and prognostic role of RDW.Methods This was a prospective observational and diagnostic test study.From February 2011 to May 2013,196 medical patients in ICU were enrolled to study.Blood samples were taken within 24 hrs after admission to ICU for blood routine test and other chemical routine test,including RDW.Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation Ⅱ (APACHE Ⅱ) score were also calculated.The patients were divided into survival group (n =126) and death group (n =70) based on their hospital outcomes.Differences in RDW levels and APACHE Ⅱ score between survival and death groups were compared with One-way ANOVA.The correlation between RDW and APACHE Ⅱ score were analyzed by Spearman correlation test.Receiver operator curve (ROC) test was used to determine the predictive value of RDW and APACHE Ⅱ for hospital death.Results Both RDW level and APACHE Ⅱ score were significantly higher in death group than those in survival group,whichwere (13.35 ±2.21) vs.(11.34 ±1.32) and (20.43 ±6.41) vs.(13.94 ±6.77) respectively (both P ＜ 0.01).RDW significantly correlated with APACHE Ⅱ score (r =0.309,P ＜0.01).To predict hospital death area under curve (AUC) of ROC curve by RDW and APACHE Ⅱ score were 0.792 (0.725,0.860) and 0.754 (0.686,0.822) respectively.The best cut-off value was determined by Yoden Index were 12.35 for RDW and 17.5 for APACHE Ⅱ score.The Accuracy of prediction was 76.5％ and 70.4％ respectively.In addition,all the 12 paticnts whose RDW level ＞ 15.4 were dead.Conclusion RDW level at admission to ICU correlate well with the severity of critical illness.RDW level has an additional predictive value for the prognosis of critical ill patients.

[ ABSTRACT] AIM:To explore the effects of eplerenone on the expression and activity of aortic endothelial nitric oxide synthase ( eNOS) in high salt-induced hypertensive rats .METHODS: Male Wistar rats (4 week old, weighting 50~60 g) were randomly divided into control group , high-salt diet group and eplerenone group .The rats in control group were fed with ordinary rodent animal diet , the rats in high-salt group and eplerenone group were exposed to 5%salt diet for 16 weeks and administrated with the same dosage of saline or eplerenone (40 mg? kg-1? d-1 ) by gavage for 4 weeks, re-spectively.Systolic blood pressure (SBP) was measured by tail-cuff every 2 weeks.The rats were sacrificed after 16 weeks and the thoracic aorta was collected .The aldosterone content in the aorta was measured by ELISA .The protein levels of mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) and eNOS were determined by Western blot.The activitie of constitutive NOS (cNOS) was measured by chemocolorimetry .The protein localization of eNOS , neuronal nitric oxide synthase ( nNOS) and MR was observed by immunohistochemistry .RESULTS: A process of 8-week high-salt diet increased SBP gradually .SBP in the rats exposure to high salt for 16 weeks was significantly higher than that in control group ( P<0.05 ) .After 4 weeks of eplerenone treatment, SBP in the rats was significantly lower than that before treatment (P<0.05).Compared with control group, the aldosterone content in the aorta were significantly increased in high-salt diet group and eplerenone group ( P<0.05), the expression level of MR also increased significantly (P<0.05).Compared with control group, both eNOS pro-tein expression (P<0.05) and cNOS activity in high-salt diet group were significantly decreased (P<0.05).The protein expression of eNOS as well as cNOS activity in aorta increased significantly in eplerenone group compared with high -salt diet group (P<0.05).CONCLUSION:Aldosterone content in aorta of high-salt-induced hypertensive rats increases signifi-cantly .Aldosterone attenuates the protein expression of eNOS and reduces the enzyme activity through the activation of min -eralocorticoid receptor .The selective mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist eplerenone enhances the protein expression of eNOS and its activity , thereby improves eNOS function .

AIM: To investigate the expression of vitamin D3 up-regulated protein 1 (VDUP1) in peripheral eosinophils of asthma patients and its relation with eosinophil activation.METHODS: 10 normal volunteers and 31 mild to moderate asthma patients were selected. Symptom severity, pulmonary function index, induced sputum eosinophil counts were recorded. Then, gene and protein expressions of VDUP1 and ?-actin were evaluated by RT-PCR and Western blotting, respectively. In addition, eosinophils were incubated with IL-5, both VDUP1 and ?-actin were amplified by RT-PCR. The eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) of supernatant and serum were also detected by ELISA assay. RESULTS: There was a significant decrease in expression of VDUP1 in asthma attack patients without treatment compared with normal volunteers and patients in remission. In contrast, no significant difference between the patients in remission and normal volunteers was observed. In patients with asthma attacks, a negative relationship between expression intensity of VDUP1 and EOS% in induced sputum and serum ECP concentration was also observed. The expression of VDUP1 in eosinophils was decreased by IL-5 stimulation, simultaneously, the ECP in supernatant was increased. CONCLUSION: The expression of VDUP1 in eosinophils decreases in asthma patients, and is negatively associated with serum ECP and induced sputum EOS%. EOS activation by IL-5 may be related to VDUP1 pathway.

OBJECTIVETo explore the expression change of stem cell-derived neural stem/progenitor cell supporting factor (SDNSF) gene in the injuried spinal cord tissues of rats, and the relation between the expressions of SDNSF and nestin.

METHODSThe spinal cord contusion model of rat was established according to Allen's falling strike method. The expression of SDNSF was studied by RT-PCR and in situ hybridization (ISH), and the expression of nestin was detected by immunochemistry.

RESULTSRT-PCR revealed that SDNSF mRNA was upregulated on day 4 after injury, peaked on day 8-12, and decreased to the sham operation level on day 16. ISH revealed that SDNSF mRNA was mainly expressed in the gray matter cells, probably neurons, of spinal cord. The immunohistochemistry showed that accompanied with SDNSF mRNA upregulation, the nestin-positive cells showed erupted roots, migrated peripherad and proliferation on the 8-day slice. However, the distribution pattern of these new cells was different from that of SDNSF-positive cells.

CONCLUSION(1) SDNSF is expressed in the gray matter of spinal cord. The expression of SDNSF mRNA in the spinal cord varies with injured time. (2) The nestin-positive cells proliferate accompanied with spinal cord injury repair, but do not secrete SDNSF.

Analysis of Variance ; Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Female ; Gene Expression Regulation ; physiology ; In Situ Hybridization ; methods ; Intermediate Filament Proteins ; metabolism ; Nerve Tissue Proteins ; metabolism ; Nestin ; RNA, Messenger ; biosynthesis ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; methods ; Spinal Cord Injuries ; metabolism ; Time Factors ; Vesicular Transport Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is an inflammatory disease of the pancreas. Its pathogenesis is not only related to abnormal activation of trypsinogen, but also related to calcium overload, mitochondrial dysfunction, impaired autophagy and endoplasmic reticulum stress. However, the mechanism has not been fully elucidated and needs to be further studied. Currently, there is no effective treatment for AP. It is difficult to prevent the loss of pancreatic function. An in-depth understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms of AP may help to identify the potential therapeutic targets. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to review recent advances in the mechanism of AP in order to provide more research direction for treatment.

Adult ; Aged ; Ankle ; blood supply ; Arteries ; Diabetic Foot ; diagnosis ; physiopathology ; Elbow ; blood supply ; Female ; Foot ; blood supply ; Humans ; Laser-Doppler Flowmetry ; Male ; Middle Aged

OBJECTIVETo investigate the activation of nuclear factor kappaB (NF-KB) and the influence of puerarin on it after cerebral ischemia-reperfusion in rats.

METHODCerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury was induced by 90 min of middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion and followed by 2, 6, 12, 24, 72 h reperfusion. Puerarin or saline was intra-peritoneally injected 1h before MCA occlusion and then the drugs were administered once every six hours. The infarct volume and brain edema were determined by TTC stain. Level of NF-kappaB P65 subunit was determined by immunohistochemistry and western blot.

RESULTImmunohistochemistry revealed the translocation of NF-kappaB. A time course of NF-kappaB induction in brain showed that NF-kappaB P65 subunit obviously increased at 6 h, peaked at 24 h and then decreased by 72 h post-reperfusion. Puerarin decreased the level of NF-kappaB at 24, 72 h after reperfusion. There was a decrease trend in brain infarct volume between puerarin and control.

CONCLUSIONNF-kappaB is translocated and its level is increased after ischemia-reperfusion. Puerarin may attenuate the ischemia-reperfusion injury through inhibition of NF-kappaB activation.

Animals ; Blotting, Western ; Brain ; drug effects ; metabolism ; pathology ; Immunohistochemistry ; Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery ; complications ; Isoflavones ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Male ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Pueraria ; chemistry ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reperfusion Injury ; etiology ; physiopathology ; Transcription Factor RelA ; metabolism

Malignant tumors usually have no obvious clinical symptoms in the early stage. Most patients are already in the advanced stage when they are diagnosed. Some patients have lost the opportunity for operation, resulting in poor prognosis. Therefore, how to find the best therapeutic target for such patients and improve the prognosis of patients has gradually become the focus of scholar′s attention. Recently, Kruppel-like factor (KLF) is a transcriptional regulator that can bind to the target DNA, and its family plays an important role in the occurrence and development of malignant tumors. It has also been confirmed that the KLF family affects the proliferation, differentiation and migration of tumor cells, but the specific mechanism is still not fully elucidate. Consequently, in order to further explored the effect of the KLF family on tumors, this study intends to briefly review the roles and regulatory mechanisms of the KLF family in the cell proliferation, differentiation and migration of malignant tumors, hoping to provide new target for the biological treatment of tumors.

Exosomes are extracellular vesicles containing DNA, RNA and protein. They participate in intercellular communication and play an important role in tumor growth and metastasis. Exosomes exist in a variety of body fluids. Blood, urine and cerebrospinal fluid can be separated and extracted. Exosomes derived from tumor cells have the characteristics of tumor cells. Studies have shown that exosomes are involved in many processes of tumorigenesis and development, including information transmission between tumor cells, invasion and metastasis of tumor cells. Exosomes can also be used as carriers to deliver drugs to target cells, which has the potential of targeted therapy. In the process of tumor treatment, drugs can be designed based on the targeted recognition characteristics of exosomes, so as to improve the bioavailability of anti-tumor drugs, reduce adverse reactions and enhance the therapeutic effect. The research and application of exosomes are very challenging. There is a huge heterogeneity in the types, sizes and sources of exosomes, and the production mechanism is also very complex. This paper reviews the extraction and identification methods of exosomes, and reviews the clinical application of tumor derived exosomes.