Humans ; Organometallic Compounds ; chemistry ; metabolism ; toxicity

To assess the effect of prostaglandin E_1(PGE_1)on renal blood flow and serum endothelin of liver recipients.Methods PGE_1 was administered in 38 liver recipients at the dose of 0.6?g?kg~(-1)?h~(-1)during liver transplantation and every day after operation.The effects of PGE_1 on serum endothelin concentration and creatinine(Cr)were observed and these indexes were compared with those in the control group(n=18).The renal blood flow resistance indexes(RI)were measured by Doppler ultrasound.Results Cr and RI were significantly lower in PGE1=treated group than those in the control group.PGE_1-treated group also showed a significantly lower serum endothelin concen- tration.Conclusion Administration of PGE_1 in liver recipients can significantly improve the early re- nal function by reducing serum endothelin concentration and dilating renal blood vessels.

Treatment with the combination of Chinese herbs and cytotoxic chemotherapies showed a higher survival rate in clinical trials. In this report, the results demonstrated that the tanshinone II A, a key component of Salvia miltiorrhiza bunge, when it is combined with the cytotoxic drug cisplatin showed synergistic antitumor effects on human prostate cancer PC3 cells and LNCaP cells in vitro. Antiproliferative effects were detected with MTT assay. Cell cycle distribution and apoptosis were detected by flow cytometer. Protein expression was detected by Western blotting. The intracellular concentration of cisplatin was detected by high performance liquid chromatography. The results demonstrated that tanshinone II A significantly enhanced the antiproliferative effects of cisplatin on human prostate cancer PC3 cells and LNCaP cells with the increase of the intracellular concentration of cisplatin. These effects were correlated with cell cycle arrested at S phase and cell apoptosis. The apoptosis might be achieved through death receptor pathway and mitochondrial pathway. Furthermore, the Bcl-2 family members were also involved in this apoptotic process. Collectively, these results indicated that the combination of tanshinone II A and cisplatin had a better treatment effect in vitro not only on androgen-dependent LNCaP cells but also on androgen-independent PC3 cells.
Androgens ; metabolism ; Antineoplastic Agents ; pharmacology ; Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Cell Cycle ; drug effects ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Cisplatin ; pharmacology ; Diterpenes, Abietane ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Drug Synergism ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Male ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Salvia miltiorrhiza ; chemistry

This study is to investigate the antitumor activity of ophiopogonin B (OP-B). MTT assay, flow cytometric analysis, acridine orange staining, Lyso-Tracker Red staining and HeLa-GFP-LC3 transfect cells assay were used to detect the proliferation activity, apoptosis and autophagy of HeLa cells. The results showed that OP-B exerted potent antiproliferative activity on HeLa cells, the cell growth inhibition effect of OP-B was not due to apoptosis and OP-B could induce autophagy of HeLa cells. OP-B also induced the protein expression up-regulation of Beclin-1 and promoted LC3 I transformation LC3 II, which were representative proteins of autophagy. Furthermore, 3-MA, an inhibitor of autophagy, not only inhibited OP-B-mediated autophagy but also almost completely reversed the antiproliferative effect of OP-B, suggesting that the growth inhibition effect of OP-B was autophagy dependent. Western blotting demonstrated that OP-B inhibited the phosphorylation of Akt and its' downstream vital protein, such as mTOR and p70S6K. In addition, OP-B also induced the protein expression up-regulation of PTEN, which is a negative regulation protein for Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. However, OP-B did not affect the protein expression of total Akt. Collectively, the antitumor effects of OP-B were autophagy-dependent via repression Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. Therefore, OP-B is a prospective inhibitor of Akt/mTOR and may be used as an alternative compound to treat cervical carcinoma.
Adenine ; analogs & derivatives ; pharmacology ; Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic ; pharmacology ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins ; metabolism ; Autophagy ; drug effects ; Beclin-1 ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; HeLa Cells ; Humans ; Membrane Proteins ; metabolism ; Microtubule-Associated Proteins ; metabolism ; Ophiopogon ; chemistry ; PTEN Phosphohydrolase ; metabolism ; Phosphorylation ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt ; metabolism ; Ribosomal Protein S6 Kinases, 70-kDa ; metabolism ; Saponins ; pharmacology ; Signal Transduction ; drug effects ; Spirostans ; pharmacology ; TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases ; metabolism ; Up-Regulation

OBJECTIVETo study the distribution and antibiotic resistance of the isolated pathogens from children with infectious diarrhea in Guangzhou.

METHODSThe fecal samples of 2 409 children with infectious diarrhea between January 2006 and December 2007 were collected and cultured. Pathogenic bacterium were isolated and identified by biochemical and serological methods. The antibiotic susceptibilities were tested by the Kirby-Bauer method.

RESULTSA total of 448 isolates of pathogenic bacterium (18.6%) were obtained, including Shigella (n=159), enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (n=141), Salmonella (n=76), Vibrion (n=11), fungus (n=41), and C jejuni (n=20). All of isolates of the three major pathogenic bacterium, Shigella, enteropathogenic Escherichia coli and Salmonella, were susceptible to imipenem and less than 10% of the isolates were resistant to the third generation cephalosporins and beta-lactamase inhibitors. However, the isolates showed a high resistance to ampicillin and sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim (>75%).

CONCLUSIONSShigella, enteropathogenic Escherichia coli and Salmonella were major pathogenic bacterium of diarrhea in children from Guangzhou. The major isolates were susceptible to imipenem, the third generation cephalosporins and beta -lactamase inhibitors, but were resistant to ampicillin and sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim.

Adolescent ; Bacteria ; drug effects ; isolation & purification ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Diarrhea ; drug therapy ; microbiology ; Drug Resistance, Microbial ; Female ; Fungi ; drug effects ; isolation & purification ; Humans ; Infant ; Male

Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains may have some defects in beer production.Purposeful alteration of metabolic pathway with molecular biology techniques after analysis the metabolic fluxes has been a main way of S.cerevisiae breeding.The researchers have done a lot of work on some aspects of S.cerevisiae,such as the substrate utilization,maneuverability,reducing the no use by-products,improve the beer flavor,and got many delightful results,all of this are summarized here.

Copolyesters consisting of 3-hydroxybutyrate (3HB) and 3-hydroxyhexanoate (3HHx) (PHBHHx), a new type of biodegradable material, are receiving considerable attentions recently. The material properties are strongly related to the 3HHx fraction of PHBHHx. As the 3HHx fraction increase, crystallinity and melting point of PHBHHx decrease, flexibility and tractility increase. PHBHHx of different 3HHx fraction can meet different demands of commercial application and research. Aeromonas are the best studied PHBHHx-producing strains. Recent studies have been focused on optimizations of fermentative culture media and culture conditions for low-cost and efficient fermentative production. Aliphatic substrates such as long-chain fatty acid and soybean oil were used in the PHBHHx fermentation as the sole carbon source and energy source. Two-stage fermentation method was also developed for more efficient PHBHHx production. While studies on Aeromonas hydrophila revealed that the monomer composition of PHBHHx could not easily be regulated by fermentative process engineering methods such as changing substrates and fermentative conditions because precursors involved in the PHBHHx synthesis were all from the beta-oxidation pathway. In this study, phbA gene encoding beta-ketothiolase and phbB gene encoding acetoacetyl-CoA reductase were introduced into a PHBHHx-producing strain Aeromonas hydrophila 4AK4 so as to provide a new 3HB precursors synthesis way. phbA gene encodes beta-ketothiolase which can catalyze two acetyl-CoA to form acetoacetyl-CoA; phbB gene encodes acetoacetyl-CoA reductase catalyzing acetoacetly-CoA into 3HB-CoA which is the precursor of 3HB. The introduced novel 3-hydroxybutyrate precursor synthesis pathway allowed the recombinant strain to use unrelated carbon source such as gluconate to provide 3HB precursors for PHBHHx synthesis. Shake-flask experiments were carried out to produce PHBHHx of controllable monomer composition and fermentations in 5 L fermentor were also proceeded for confirmation of these result in large-scale culture. In flask culture, it was possible to reduce the 3HHx mol fraction in PHBHHx from 15 % in the wild type to 3% - 12% in the recombinant by simply changing the ratio of gluconate to lauric acid in the culture media. When lauric acid was used as the sole carbon source, 51.5 g/L Cell Dry Weight (CDW) containing 62 % PHBHHx with 9.7 % 3HHx mol fraction was obtained in 56 hours of fermentation in a 5 liter fermentor. When co-substrates of sodium gluconate and lauric acid (1:1) were used as carbon sources, 32.8 g/L CDW containing 52 % PHBHHx with 6.7% 3HHx mol fraction was obtained in 48 hours of fermentation. These results showed the possibility for fermentative production of PHBHHx with controllable monomer composition.
3-Hydroxybutyric Acid ; metabolism ; Acetyl-CoA C-Acyltransferase ; genetics ; metabolism ; Aeromonas hydrophila ; enzymology ; genetics ; metabolism ; Alcohol Oxidoreductases ; genetics ; metabolism ; Bacterial Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Biotechnology ; methods ; Caproates ; metabolism ; Fermentation ; genetics ; physiology ; Lauric Acids ; metabolism

A variety of ovarian and adrenal diseases can cause elevated levels of androgens in women. This article retrospectively analyzed clinical data of three female patients diagnosed as hyperandrogenism in Tianjin Medical University General Hospital from July 2016 to January 2017 and explored the causes of female hyperandrogenism from different angles.

AIMTo study on synthesis and antibacterial activity evaluation of polyheterocycles.

METHODSThe condensation of 4-amino-3-pyridin-3-yl-4H-[1,2,4] triazole-5-thiol with 2-chloromethyl-5-substituted phenyl-[1,3,4] oxadiazoles gave the corresponding title heterocycle amines, and the in vitro antibacterial activity was primarily evaluated by the method of cup-plate diffusion solution.

RESULTSTwelve novel compounds were synthesized, and their structures were confirmed by IR, 1H NMR, MS and element analysis. Biological screening results demonstrated that most of the compounds prepared showed good antibacterial activity.

CONCLUSIONOxadiazoles incorporting pyridyl triazole ring may be a pharmacophor structure in the molecule for developing antibacterial candidate drugs.

Anti-Bacterial Agents ; chemical synthesis ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Escherichia coli ; drug effects ; Oxadiazoles ; chemical synthesis ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Proteus vulgaris ; drug effects ; Staphylococcus aureus ; drug effects ; Triazoles ; chemical synthesis ; chemistry ; pharmacology

The aim of this study was to investigate how the killer immune globulin-like inhibition receptor (KIR) in match with HLA-Cw impacts on NK cell activity. Mononuclear cells were isolated in 20 ml peripheral blood from 27 healthy persons by Ficoll-Hypaque and purified by NK cell isolation kit. Target cells were mononuclear cells isolated from bone marrow of 30 de novo AML patients. The KIR expression were detected by flow cytometry with antibodies against CD158a, CD158b. The 2 ml of peripheral blood from healthy persons and AML patients were collected, the DNA was extracted by using PROTRANS method, the HLA-Cw and KIR gene were detected by PCR-SSP typing with sequence specific primers. The NK cell cytotoxicity against AML cells was determined by MTT after combination of KIR with HLA-Cw gene. The results indicated that the purity of NK cells was (90.8 +/- 6.08)%. The less the KIR/HLA-Cw matched, the more activity was shown in NK cells. When no match of NK cell/target cell (KIR/HLA-Cw) there was, the cytotoxicity was (50.66 +/- 8.40)%, 1 or 2 matches showed cytotoxicity of (38.28 +/- 6.71)% and (19.74 +/- 4.15)% (p < 0.001). Expression level of KIRs on NK cells also was related with cytotoxicity level (p < 0.001). It is concluded that the interaction between inhibitory KIR and HLA ligands, and also expression level of KIRs on NK cells both impact significantly on NK cell function, that the less match of KIR/HLA-Cw, and the less expression of KIRs on NK cells result in the stronger NK cell cytotoxicity.
Adult ; Female ; Genotype ; HLA-C Antigens ; genetics ; Humans ; Killer Cells, Natural ; immunology ; metabolism ; Male ; Receptors, KIR ; genetics