By reviewing the latest published papers on palliative care, the article discussed the development and research progress of palliative care for people with advanced cancer, so as to provide reference for the development of palliative care specialty. According to the analysis, it suggested that by means of striving for more government support in both economic and education, raising funds through various channels, perfecting the social insurance system and volunteer′s regimen, promoting group working model, establishing standardized policies and regulations, increasing the publicity of palliative care, palliative care would move forward to a professional and normalized road, so that the people with incurable disease will receive better palliative care to improve the quality of life to the most.

Objective·To investigate the role and mechanism of CaMKKβ in RAW264.7 macrophage M2 polarization induced by interleukin-4 (IL-4).Methods·IL-4 induced RAW264.7 polarization was measured by RT-PCR and ELISA.Western blotting was used to analyze the total and phosphorylated protein levels of CaMKKβ,AMPK,JAK2 and STAT3 during polarization.A lentiviral vector carrying an shRNA targeting the CaMKKβ gene was successfully constructed.The expression of M1 and M2 markers and the expression of phosphorylated AMPK,JAK2,STAT3 were detected by RT-PCR and Western blotting respectively.The protein activity ofAMPK,JAK2 and STAT3 were selectively blocked,and then the effect of IL-4 on macrophage polarization was detected by RT-PCR.Results·IL-4 significantly polarized RAW264.7 cells towards M2 macrophages (P＜0.05),and the phosphorylated protein expression of CaMKKβ,AMPK,JAK2,STAT3 was significantly increased (all P＜0.05).The expression of M2 markers induced by IL-4 was decreased and the phosphorylation ofAMPK,JAK2 and STAT3 was also decreased after knockdown of CaMKKβ by shRNA (all P＜0.05).The polarization of macrophages to M2 was decreased after the activities of AMPK,JAK2 and STAT3 proteins were blocked respectively (all P＜0.05).Conclusion·CaMKKβ promotes IL-4 induced M2 macrophage polarization via activation of AMPK/JAK2/STAT3 pathway.

Aqueous extract of Dracocephalum tanguticum Maxim. (DtM ),when given ig or ip to experimental hypoxia mice,markedly increased their tolerance to normobaric and hypobaric hypoxia. Erythrocyte superoxide dismutasc (SOD ) activity of mice or rats determined at high altitude (animaquing mountain 4700 m above sea level ) showed an elevated dismutation activity of peroxide anions. At an experimentally simulatcd altitude of 6000 m above sea level,determunation of MDA, Hb and Hct showed an obvious reduction of all the abnormally elevated criteria. It is suggested that the antihypoxia activity of DTM may be partly due to its free radical scavenging activity

Objective:To screen the optimal formula and technology of demethoxycurcumin nano-structured lipid carriers. Meth-ods:The encapsulation efficiency as the main investigation index, the single factor exploration and orthogonal design were used to study the main factors affecting the quality of the nanoparticles. The optimal formula and technology were obtained. Results:The optimized parameters were as follows:the ratio of drug to lipid materials was 1 ∶40, the ratio of liquid lipid to total lipid materials was 10%, the amount of surfactants was 4% and the amount of lecithin was 2%. The prepared nanoparticles were spheric and regular. The size dis-tribution of the nanoparticles was narrow with the average particle size of 110nm and PDI of 0. 199. Conclusion:The optimized formula and technology of demethoxycurcumin nano-structured lipid carriers are stable and practicable,which provide reference for the further research of demethoxycurcumin.

Objective To investigate the effects of berberine on cholesterol efflux in THP-1 macrophage derived foam cells, and explore the possible mechanism. Methods HP-1 cells were induced into macrophages by phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), and were treated with acetylated low-density lipoprotein (Ac-LDL) to establish the THP-1 macrophage derived foam cell models. Foam cells were divided into blank control group and berberine (5 to 20 μmol/L) treatment groups according to the way of treatment and berberine concentrations. After treatment for 24 h, flow cytometry was employed to detect AcLDL aggregation, enzymic method was adopted to detect contents of cholesterol and triglyceride, scintillation counting technique was used to detect cholesterol efflux, and effects of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ) antagonist GW9662 pretreatment on cholesterol efflux (pioglitazone as positive control) were analysed. Besides, RT-PCR was applied to detect expression of liver X receptor α (LXRα) and ATP binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) mRNA. ResultsCompared with blank control group, AcLDL aggregation and contents of cholesterol and triglyceride of foam cells in various berberine treatment groups decreased significantly (P＜0.01), while cholesterol efflux increased (P＜0.01) in a dose-dependent manner. After GW9662 pretreatment, there was no significant difference in cholesterol efflux between various berberine treatment groups and control group (P>0.05). Furthermore, expression of LXRα and ABCA1 mRNA of foam cells in various berberine treatment groups was higher than that in blank control group. Conclusion Berberine may increase cholesterol efflux in THP-1 macrophage derived foam cells, the mechanism of which may be associated with activation of PPARγ pathway and increase of expression of LXRα and ABCA1 mRNA.

Objective To evaluate the value of retrospective ECG-gated 256 slices spiral CT technique in the scanning of inferior phrenic artery (IPA).Methods 80 patients with underdone abdominal CTA were divided randomly into two groups (40 patients each)as regular abdominal CTA scanning group and retrospective ECG-gated technique group.And further analysis was done to evaluate the display of IPA branches and the image quality.Results 80 patients were all scanned successfully.40 cases LIPA and 40 cases RIPA were showed in the regular group.80 cases showed 1st level branches of IPA,73 cases with 2nd level,59 cases with 3rd and 43 ca-ses showing 4th level.40 cases LIPA and 40 cases RIPA were showed in ECG-gated group.And the numbers of IPA branches levels were 80,79,71,65,respectively.There is no significant difference in the ability of showing the1st level IPA or their image quality between those two groups (P >0.05);and there is a statistical significance in the ability of showing other levels of IPA and their im-age quality.Conclusion It is feasible that we use retrospective ECG-gated 256 slices spiral CT scanning technique to show the IPA. And it could improve the ability of showing the IPA branches as well as the image quality.

Objective To clone and express the new gene R049 of uropathogenic Escherichia coli 132.and to investigate the immunopmtective effects of the R049 recombinant protein on mice.Methods The pmkaryotic expression system of gene R049 was constructed by directed cloning.Thereafter,the R049 recombinant protein Was expressed and purified by Ni affinity chromatography.Polyclonal antibody was pre-pared by immunizing BALB/c mice with R049 recombinant protein.The R049 recombinant protein and whole bacterial proteins of UPEC132 were analyzed by SDS-PAGE and Western blot.BALB/c mice were im-munized with R049 recombinant protein before challenged by UPECl32 through urinary tract.Then the differences of urine and renal colony counts between immunization group and control group were compared.Results The recombinant strain E coli BL21(DE3)/pET32a-R049 ORF was constructed successfully,and the relative molecular mass of the R049 recombinant protein was 66.9×103 and its purity was up to 95% af-ter purification.The titer of polyclonal antibody wag≥1:102 400 analyzed by indirect ELISA.Both of the R049 recombinant protein and whole bacterial proteins of UPECl 32 were confirmed to show specffic reactions on the antiserunl throughh Western blot.The animal experiments showed the urine and renal colony counts of immunization group were significantly lower than that of the control group(P<0.01,P<0.05).Conclu-sion The new gene R049 of uropathogenic E.coli 132 had immunopmtective effects on mice and the defini-tive mechanism would be needed to further study.

Objective To investigate the interaction between uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) and host uroepithelial cells, define the role uroepithelial cells play in initiating and modulating the host response to infection with UPEC strain. Methods The human bladder transitional epithelial EJ cells were evaluated for their capacities to allow the adherence and invasion by UPEC132, a clinical strain isolated from Tianjin, China, and a cDNA microarray for 22 000 human genes was used to identify the gene expression differences between EJ cells infected with UPEC132 and uninfected EJ cells. Results Microscope observation showed that UPEC132 could adhere to EJ cells with the adherence rate of (73.20 ± 5.26)%. And visualization by confocal microscope revealed that this microorganism could be seen within the cells. EJ cells infected with UPEC132 changed mRNA expression of a total of 29 genes, including 28 genes up-regulated and 1 gene down-regulated. Of these, regulators of growth and proliferation, cytokines, and modulators of apoptotic responses were the most prominent. Conclusion The gene expression profiling of EJ cells is affected by the infection of UPEC strain. The differentially expressed genes may contribute to further investigate the interaction of UPEC and uroepithelial cells.

AIM: To clone and express the gene of SLC24A6, which provide the basis to illuminate the relationship between the SLC24A6 and insulin release. METHODS: The gene expression of SLC24A6 was analyzed in the insulinoma and normal pancreatic tissues by RT-PCR. The full-length cDNA sequence was subcloned into pET32a vector, and induced expression and purified in ROSSET (DE3) strain. At the same time, the ORF of SLC24A6 was cloned into green fluorescence protein vector pEGFP-C3 to study the location of SLC24A6 in the mouse insulinoma ?-TC3 cells. RESULTS: The mRNA expression of SLC24A6 in the human insulinoma tissue was significantly higher than that in normal pancreatic tissue. The fusion protein of SLC24A6 was a 80 kD protein and was purified successfully by prokaryotic vector in ROSSET strain. The localization of SLC24A6 in the mouse insulinoma ?-TC3 cells was located in the membrane of the cells. CONCLUSION: SLC24A6 might be related with insulin release. The prokaryotic expression of SLC24A6 provides the basis for the study on biological function and protein structure, and the location of SLC24A6 in the insulinoma cell will throw light on the relationship with insulin release.

Objective To observe late effect of 60Co radiation accident on eye lens in the victims.Methods Medical observations of eye lens were performed on ten victims accidentally exposed to 60Co sources in four radiation accidents that have occurred from 1986 to 2000 in Henan Province.Pathological changes of the eye lenses were examined by using slit lamp microscopy after mydriasis with compound tropicamide.Results Of these ten victims, Liang in a radiation accident in Kaifeng (in 1986), Mei in Xinxiang (in 1999) and Xu in Xuchang (in 2000) all had typical radiation-induced cataract 2, 3 and 6 years after irradiation, respectively.Follow-up observation of the lens showed the punctate and/or granular opacities present in the eye posterior subcapsular of Yan in Kaifeng accident, Jie in Zhengzhou (1987), and Tian, Yong and Yi in Xinxiang accident, featuring the early changes of radiation-induced cataract, but the posterior subcapsular opacities were not observed in Wang and Min in Xinxiang accident.Conclusions Focus should be on the eye lens as the target organ of radiation exposure in long-term follow-up of victims accidentally exposed to radiation source.Severity of the lens opacity induced by ionizing radiation is closely associated with radiation doses.