This study is to evaluate the therapeutic effect of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) on type 2 diabetic mice model and to provide mechanistic insights into its therapeutic effect. Type 2 diabetic animal model was established with high calorie fat diet and low dose streptozotocin (STZ) injection. Mice were then randomized into 5 groups: model control, FGF21 0.25 and 0.05 μmol x kg(-1) x d(-1) groups, insulin treatment group. Ten age-matched normal KM mouse administered with saline were used as normal controls. Serum glucose, insulin, lipid products and the change of serum and liver tissue inflammation factor levels between five groups of mouse were determined. The results showed that blood glucose, insulin, free fatty acids (FFAs), triglycerides, and inflammatory factor average FGF-21 of type 2 diabetes model group and normal control group were significantly higher (P < 0.01), while compared with insulin group, no difference was significant. Average blood glucose, insulin, blood lipid and inflammatory factor of FGF-21 treatment group compared with type 2 diabetes group was significantly lower (P < 0.01) and insulin group has no difference with the model control group. The results of OGTT and HOMA-IR showed that insulin resistance state was significantly relieved in a dose-dependent manner. Thus, this study demonstrates that FGF-21 significantly remits type 2 diabetic mice model's insulin resistance state and participates in the regulation of inflammatory factor levels and type 2 diabetes metabolic disorders.

This study aims to investigate the effects of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF-21) on learning and memory abilities and antioxidant capacity of D-galactose-induced aging mice. Kunming mice (37.1 +/- 0.62) g were randomly divided into normal control group, model group and FGF-21 high, medium and low dose groups (n = 8). Each group was injected in cervical part subcutaneously with D-galactose 180 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1) once a day for 8 weeks. At the same time, FGF-21-treated mice were administered with FGF-21 by giving subcutaneous injection in cervical part at the daily doses of 5, 2 and 1 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1). The normal control group was given with normal saline by subcutaneous injection in cervical part. At seventh week of the experiment, the learning and memory abilities of mice were determined by water maze and jumping stand tests. At the end of the experiment, the mice were sacrificed and the cells damage of hippocampus was observed by HE staining in each group. Reactive oxygen species (ROS), malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase (CAT) and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) in the brain of mice were determined. The results showed that different doses of FGF-21 could reduce the time reaching the end (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05) and the number of touching blind side (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05) in the water maze comparing with the model group. It could also prolong the latency time (P < 0.05) and decrease the number of errors (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05) in the step down test. The result of HE staining showed that FGF-21 could significantly reduce brain cell damage in the hippocampus. The ROS and MDA levels of three different doses FGF-21 treatment group reduced significantly than that of the model group [(5.58 +/- 1.07), (7.78 +/- 1.92), (9.03 +/- 1.77) vs (12.75 +/- 2.02) pmol (DCF) x min(-1) x mg(-1), P < 0.01 or P < 0.05], [(2.92 +/- 0.71), (4.21 +/- 0.81), (4.41 +/- 0.97) vs (5.62 +/- 0.63) nmol x mg(-1) (protein), P < 0.01]. Comparing with the model group, the activities of SOD, GPx, CAT and T-AOC of the three different doses FGF-21 treatment groups were also improved in a dose-dependent manner. This study demonstrates that FGF-21 can ameliorate learning and memory abilities of D-galactose induced aging mice, improve the antioxidant abilities in brain tissue and delay brain aging. This finding provides a theoretical support for clinical application of FGF-21 as a novel therapeutics for preventing aging.

Objective To observe the changes of peripheral blood interleukin-2(IL-2) ,interleukin-4(IL-4) ,interleukin-10(IL-10) ,tumor necrosis factor-alpha(TNF-α) and interferon gamma (IFN-γ) in chronic hepatitis B(CHB) patients with positive e-anti-gen(HBeAg) treated by Bushenqingtou Decoction .Methods 60 cases of CHB with positive HBeAg were randomly divided into the treatment group and the control group ,30 cases in each group .The CHB treatment group received Bushenqingtou Decoction with the treatment course of 48 week ,while the CHB control group did not received the medication therapy .In the beginning and at 48 weeks of treatment ,the blood in the two CHB groups were collected for detecting HBV DNA ,IL-2 ,IL-4 ,IL-10 ,TNF-αand IFN-γ. Results Compared with before treatments ,the levels of IL-2 ,TNF-αand IFN-γafter treatments in the CHB treatment group were obviously increased ,while the levels of HBV DNA ,IL-4 and IL-10 were remarkably decreased (P<0 .01);however ,there were no statistical differences of the various indexes after the treatments in the CHB control group (P>0 .05) .Conclusion Bushenqingtou Decoction could inhibit the replication of HBV DNA in the CHB patients with positive HBeAg and improve the body immune func-tion .

OBJECTIVE： To establish QAMS method for content determination of paeoniflorin， rutin， oroxin B， baicalin and cinnamates in Yanyan tablets. METHODS： HPLC method was adopted. The determination was performed on Hypersil GOLD-C18 column （250 mm×4.6 mm，5 μm） with mobile phase consisted of methanol-0.35％ phosphoric acid solution （gradient elution） at flow rate of 1 mL/min. The detection wavelengths were set at 280 nm （rutin， oroxin B， baicalin， cinnamates） and 230 nm （paeoniflorin）. The column temperature was 30 ℃， and sample size was 10 μL. Using paeoniflorin as internal reference， relative correction factors （RCF） of rutin， oroxin B， baicalin and cinnamates were established. Effects of different chromatogram system， chromatogram column， mobile phase proportion， flow rate and column temperature on relative correction factors were investigated； the chromatographic peaks of the components were located according to the relative retention time. The content of paeoniflorin as internal reference was determined by external standard method， and the other four components were determined by QAMS， and then compared with the results of external standard method. RESULTS： The separation degree of each component to be measured was greater than 1.5. The linear range was 3.97-119.22 μg/mL for paeoniflorin，1.96-58.68 μg/mL for rutin，2.39-71.64 μg/mL for oroxin B， 1.92-57.51 μg/mL for baicalin， 0.54-16.24 μg/mL for cinnamates（r≥0.999 7）， respectively. RSDs of precision， reproducibility and stability tests were all lower than 2％. Average recoveries were 97.20％-98.07％（RSD＜3％，n＝6）. RCFs of rutin， oroxin B， baicalin and cinnamates were 0.554 6，1.815 6，2.489 3 and 5.423 2， using paeoniflorin as internal reference. RSDs of RCF and relative retention time were all lower than 5％ under different chromatogram conditions. Absolut relative error of four components （except for internal reference） in 10 batches of Yanyan tablets sampled by QAMS and external standard method were all less than 1％. The results of the two methods were identical. CONCLUSIONS： The established method is accurate， rapid， efficient and inexpensive， and it can be used for simultaneous determination of 5 indicator components in Yanyan tablet.

BACKGROUNDFarnesoid X receptor (FXR) regulates tumorigenesis, but its clinical significance in gallbladder cancer (GBC) remains unclear. This study investigated its clinical and prognostic significance in GBC patients, as well as its association with the anti-apoptotic protein, myeloid cell leukemia sequence 1 (MCL1) protein.

METHODSFXR and MCL1 expression in 42 primary GBC and 15 normal gallbladder tissues were analyzed by immunohistochemistry. The patients and samples were collected from Ren Ji Hospital from January 2005 to December 2010. Their association with clinicopathologic factors and prognosis, as well as the correlation between FXR and MCL1 protein expression were analyzed by statistical analyses.

RESULTSCompared with normal gallbladder tissues, FXR expression was decreased and MCL1 expression was increased in GBC, during progression of tumor node metastasis (TNM) stage. The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that FXR low-expression and MCL1 over-expression were significantly associated with overall poor survival. Furthermore, multivariate analysis showed that FXR and MCL1 are both prognostic factors for GBC patients. FXR low-expression was significantly correlated with MCL1 over-expression.

CONCLUSIONFXR might be a new molecular marker to predict the prognosis of patients with GBC and a novel therapeutic target.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Disease Progression ; Female ; Gallbladder Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; metabolism ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myeloid Cell Leukemia Sequence 1 Protein ; metabolism ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis ; Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo investigate the mechanisms by which retinoic acid-induced gene G (RIG-G) protein regulates p21 gene expression.

METHODSWestern blot was used to detect the effects of RIG-G protein overexpression on p21 protein expression level in leukemia cell line NB4 cells and the phosphorylation of both c-Jun and JNK in U937 cells. The c-Jun expression plasmid and p21 gene promoter-containing reporter plasmid were co-transfected into 293T cells, to explore the regulatory effect of c-Jun protein on p21 gene expression by luciferase reporter assay.

RESULTSWestern blot showed that the overexpression of RIG-G protein significantly upregulated p21 protein level in the NB4 cells, and the level of p21 protein largely increased along with the induction of endogenous RIG-G protein during the differentiation of NB4 cells treated by all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA). Moreover, the phosphorylation of both c-Jun and JNK decreased in RIG-G-overexpressing U937 cells while total c-Jun and JNK proteins remained unchanged. After using the JNK inhibitor SP600125 to block JNK phosphorylation, the level of c-Jun phosphorylation was still dramatically reduced in the RIG-G-overexpressing U937T-RIG-G cells, compared with the control U937T-pTRE cells. These results indicated that the inhibitory effect of Rig-G protein on c-Jun phosphorylation could not only be through the JNK pathway, but also via some JNK-independent pathways. Luciferase reporter assay showed that when 0.1, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 µg c-Jun-expressing plasmids were respectively transfected into 293T cells, compared with the empty vector-transfected group, the relative luciferase activities were (83.0 ± 1.7)%, (73.7 ± 0.7)%, (68.9 ± 0.9)% and (64.1 ± 0.9)%, indicating that the transcriptional activity of p21 gene could be inhibited by c-Jun protein.

CONCLUSIONSRIG-G protein may suppress the phosphorylation of c-Jun protein through different signal pathways, thereby increasing the expression of p21 gene, arresting the cell cycle and inhibiting the cell growth in U937 cells.

Cell Cycle ; Cell Differentiation ; Cell Line ; Cell Proliferation ; Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p21 ; genetics ; metabolism ; GTP-Binding Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Genes, Reporter ; Phosphorylation ; Signal Transduction ; Transfection ; Tretinoin ; metabolism ; Up-Regulation