AIM: To evaluate the effect of probing of lacrimal passage combining injecting of US-produced TobraDex eye ointment for the treatment of chronic dacryocystitis.METHODS: For 127 cases (129 eyes) of chronic dacryocystitis, first the pyoid secretion gathered in the lacrimal sac was dashed out, and some TobraDex was injected in the middle of the lacrimal passage once per day, repeated for several times. The lacrimal passage was probed when the secretion of lacrimal sac disappeared essentially. The lacrimal passage and immit TobraDex eye ointment was used once every two days, repeated for 3-4 times.RESULTS: In 126 cases (128 eyes) the lacrimal passage was dredged. Only one case (1 eye) the youthful patient did not recover for the opening ectopia of lacrimonasal duct.During the 3mo-1a random visit the chronic dacryocystitis did not recrudesce in the cases of lacrimal passage dredging.CONCLUSION: It is simple and safe to use the probing of lacrimal passage combining injecting of US-produced TobraDex eye ointment to treat the chronic dacryocystitis. This method has good curative effects and can keep the normal physiological structure of lacrimal passage. It does not need any expensive medical equipment and cost less, therefore is advisable for patients.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of testosterone with varied concentrations on the tPA and PAI-1 mRNA levels of Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC).

METHODSHUVEC within 2 - 3 passages were cultured with testosterone (3, 30, 3 x 10(3), 3 x 10(4) nmol/L) , and the control confluent cells were cultured in the same medium without steroid for 48 hours. RT-PCR was carried out to detect tPA and PAI-1 mRNA levels.

RESULTStPA mRNA level increased, while PAI-1 mRNA levels decreased significantly, at the testosterone concentrations ranging from 3 to 3 x 10(3) nmol/L (P < 0.05). Both tPA and PAI-1 mRNA level decreased obviously of 3 x 10(4) nmol/L group.

CONCLUSIONThe results indicated that testosterone could stimulate tPA gene expression, while decreased PAI-1 mRNA level of HUVEC, which suggested that testosterone might have beneficial effects on preventing male's thrombotic diseases.

Cells, Cultured ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Endothelial Cells ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Endothelium, Vascular ; cytology ; metabolism ; Humans ; Male ; Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor 1 ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Testosterone ; pharmacology ; Tissue Plasminogen Activator ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Umbilical Veins ; cytology

OBJECTIVETo study the effects of Siwu decoction on protein expression of blood deficiency mice induced by cyclophosphamide (CIX) and discuss the possible molecular mechanism on blood enriching function of Siwu decoction.

METHODBlood deficiency mice were established by injecting ip with 250 mg x kg(-1) CTX. Proteomic technologies were applied to identify the different protein.

RESULTSiwu decoction could restore the changes of 12 up-regulated and 3 down-regulated proteins in bone marrow of blood deficiency mice induced by cyclosphosphamide.

CONCLUSIONSiwu decoction could effect expression of proteins which functions including apoptosis, proliferation and differentiation of the haematopoietic stem/progenitor cell. The regulation in the molecular level might be the mechanism of stimulating hematopoiesis in bone marrow fo siwu decocetion.

Actin Depolymerizing Factors ; metabolism ; Anemia ; chemically induced ; metabolism ; pathology ; Animals ; Annexin A1 ; metabolism ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Carbonic Anhydrases ; metabolism ; Cell Differentiation ; drug effects ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Cyclophosphamide ; Drug Combinations ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Fatigue ; chemically induced ; metabolism ; pathology ; Female ; Hematopoietic Stem Cells ; metabolism ; pathology ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Peroxidases ; metabolism ; Peroxiredoxins ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Proteome ; metabolism ; Proteomics ; methods

Dioscin has a wide range of biological effects and broad application prospects. However the studies concerning the toxicology and mechanism of dioscin is small. This article is to study the hepatotoxicity of dioscin and the effect of dioscin treatment on expression of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) mRNA and CYP1A mRNA and protein in HepG2 cells in vitro. Dioscin 0.5-32 µmol · L(-1) exposed to HepG2 cells for 12 h, cell viability was examined by CCK-8 assay and the release rate of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) was to evaluate cell membrane damage. HepG2 cells morphologic changes were quantified by inverted Microscope, and the effect on production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was detected by flow cytometry. The mRNA expression of CYP1A and AhR was evaluated by RT-RCR. The protein expression of CYP1A1 was detected by western blot. The cell viability was significantly inhibited after HepG2 cells were exposed to dioscin 0.5-32 µmol · L(-1). Compared with the control, the LDH release rate and ROS were significantly increased. The expression of CYPlA and AhR mRNA was increased. The expression of CYP1Al protein was increased after dioscin treatment, and resveratrol, an AhR antagonist, could downregulate the expression of CYP1A1. It follows that large doses dioscin has potential hepatotoxicity. The possible mechanism may be dioscin can active aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) and induce the expression of CYP1A.
Cell Survival ; drug effects ; Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury ; etiology ; Cytochrome P-450 CYP1A1 ; genetics ; Diosgenin ; analogs & derivatives ; toxicity ; Hep G2 Cells ; Humans ; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase ; secretion ; RNA, Messenger ; analysis ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; metabolism ; Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon ; genetics

We have observed earlier that testosterone at physiological concentrations can stimulate tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI) gene expression through the androgen receptor in endothelial cells. This study further investigated the impact of testosterone on TFPI levels in response to inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha). Cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells were incubated in the presence or absence of testosterone or TNF-alpha. TFPI protein and mRNA levels were assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. To study the cellular mechanism of testosterone's action, nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappaB) translocation was confirmed by electrophoretic mobility shift assays. We found that after NF-kappaB was activated by TNF-alpha, TFPI protein levels declined significantly by 37.3% compared with controls (P < 0.001), and the mRNA levels of TFPI also decreased greatly (P < 0.001). A concentration of 30 nmol L(-1) testosterone increased the secretion of TFPI compared with the TNF-alpha-treated group. NF-kappaB DNA-binding activity was significantly suppressed by testosterone (P < 0.05). This suggests that physiological testosterone concentrations may exert their antithrombotic effects on TFPI expression during inflammation by downregulating NF-kappaB activity.
Androgens ; pharmacology ; Cells, Cultured ; Down-Regulation ; drug effects ; Drug Combinations ; Endothelium, Vascular ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Lipoproteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; NF-kappa B p50 Subunit ; antagonists & inhibitors ; genetics ; RNA, Messenger ; metabolism ; Testosterone ; pharmacology ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; pharmacology

This study is to elucidate the immunoregulation mechanisms of artesunate (AST) on allergic contact dermatitis (ACD). Pharmacodynamics analyses, HE staining, semi-quantitative RT-PCR and Western blotting were used to explore the effects of AST on the related cytokines, transcription factor and signaling molecule of ACD respectively. The results indicated that topical administration of AST not only reduced the increase of ear swelling, spleen index and inflammatory cells infiltration in ACD mice, but also inhibited remarkably the expression of IFN-gamma, T-bet and NF-kappaB p65. It's suggested that AST could exhibit suppressive effects on inflammatory response and immune function of ACD, which indicates the possibility of developing AST as a novel immunoregulatory agent in the treatment of ACD and other immune-related diseases.
Administration, Topical ; Animals ; Artemisinins ; administration & dosage ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Dermatitis, Allergic Contact ; immunology ; metabolism ; pathology ; Ear ; pathology ; Female ; GATA3 Transcription Factor ; genetics ; metabolism ; Hypersensitivity, Delayed ; drug therapy ; Immunosuppressive Agents ; administration & dosage ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Interferon-gamma ; genetics ; metabolism ; Interleukin-4 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred ICR ; Molecular Structure ; NF-kappa B ; metabolism ; RNA, Messenger ; metabolism ; T-Box Domain Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo study the genetic association of apolipoprotein (apo) E and apoCI gene polymorphisms with coronary heart disease (CHD) in China.

METHODSapoE genotypes were identified by multiplex amplification refractory mutation system (multi-ARMS) and the apoCI promoter polymorphisms were detected by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) in 186 cases with CHD (age: 65.0 +/- 10.5 years) and 350 controls (age: 63.6 +/- 8.3 years). The haplotype frequencies were estimated.

RESULTSThe frequencies of apoE E4/3 genotype (26.9%) and epsilon4 (14.5%) in CHD group were significantly higher than that in the control group (12.6%, 7.0%), P <0.05. The significant difference was also found for the apoCI locus and the CHD group showed higher rate of both for the H2 allele and genotypes, carrying this allele. Estimation of the haplotype frequencies indicated that the association between the apoE-CI haplotype and CHD was significantly strong. The apoE-epsilon4/apoCI-H2 was estimated to be responsible for 9.86% of CHD.

CONCLUSIONWhen the subjects carrying both epsilon4 and H2 alleles, they would have higher risk of suffering from CHD than controls.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Alleles ; Apolipoproteins C ; genetics ; Apolipoproteins E ; genetics ; China ; epidemiology ; Coronary Disease ; blood ; epidemiology ; genetics ; Female ; Genotype ; Haplotypes ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length ; Risk Factors

To study the effect of Siwu decoction on the function and expression of P-glycoprotein (P-gp) in Caco-2 cells. The Real-time quantitative poly-merase chain reaction (Q-PCR) was used to analyze the mRNA expression of MDR1 gene in Caco-2 cells. Flow cytometer was used to study the effect of Siwu decoction on the uptake of Rhodamine 123 in Caco-2 cells, in order to evaluate the efflux function of P-gp. Western blotting method was used to detect the effect of Siwu decoction on the P-gp protein expression of Caco-2 cells. Compared with the blank control group, after Caco-2 incubation with Siwu decoction at concentrations of 3.3, 5.0, 10.0 g x L(-1) for 24, 48, 72 h, the mRNA expression of MDR1 was up-regulated, suggesting the effect of Siwu decoction in inducing the expression of MDR1. After the administration with Siwu decoction in Caco-2 cells for 48 h, the uptake of Rhodamine 123 in Caco-2 cells decreased by respectively 16.6%, 22.1% (P < 0.05) and 45.4% (P < 0.01), indicating that the long-term administration of Siwu decoction can enhance the P-gp efflux function of Caco-2 cells. After the incubation of Caco-2 cells with Siwu decoction for 48 h, the P-gp protein expression on Caco-2 cell emebranes, demonstrating the effect of Siwu decoction in inducing the protein expression of P-gp.
ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Sub-Family B ; genetics ; metabolism ; ATP-Binding Cassette, Sub-Family B, Member 1 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Caco-2 Cells ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Up-Regulation ; drug effects

A RF coil (or probe) is one of the key components in NMR spectrometers and MRI systems, and designing a quality RF coil is a cheaper way to improves the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of systems and image quality. According to different applications there are a variety of RF coils. This article describes high-sensitive micro RF coils used in NMR spectrometers specially for test-tube samples. Their performance has been verified on the desktop MRI systems.
Equipment Design ; Image Enhancement ; instrumentation ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; instrumentation ; Radio Waves

OBJECTIVETo seek a rapid, simple, but effective inquiry method for screening high risk population challenged by schistosomiasis.

METHODSTwo embankment collapsed villages were selected in schistosomiasis epidemic area in Dongting Lake. Information on water exposure was collected through a retrospective study. Data was analyzed by stepwise discriminant analysis.

RESULTSA Fisher's function was established by stepwise discriminant analysis which including 5 variables out of 18. Two hundred and forty-six individuals were discriminated by the function with accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of predicting their current infection status with the results of 87.4%, 84.1% and 89.0% respectively.

CONCLUSIONThe inquiry method might serve as simple, rapid, economic and effective tool for diagnosis in screening high risk population challenged by schistosomiasis in lake communities.

Adult ; China ; epidemiology ; Disasters ; Discriminant Analysis ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Mass Screening ; methods ; Multivariate Analysis ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Assessment ; Rural Health ; Sampling Studies ; Schistosomiasis japonica ; epidemiology ; prevention & control ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Surveys and Questionnaires