Background The primary management for nasolacrimal duct obstruction is the combination of lacrimal duct probing with lacrimal duct stent implantation.However,conventional implant is undegradable.New degradable lacrimal duct prosthesis based on biopolymer materials is a research hotspot.Objective This study described herein a preparation method of novel degradable lacrimal duct prosthesis and its application.Methods A new degradable lacrimal tube stent was prepared with compound of poly L lactic acid (PLLA) and polycaprolactone (PCL) (6:4) and 15％ polyethylene glycol (PEG).Thirty-two Japanese rabbits aged 3-4 months were randomized into postoperative 1-week group,postoperative 4-week group,postoperative 8-week group and postoperative 16-week group.The degradable lacrimal tube stents were inserted into the lacrimal ducts of the left eyes of the rabbits.The prosthesis was removed in corresponding time points according to grouping,and the integrity and weight of the prosthesis were evaluated.The mucosal findings of the operative eyes were examined under the endoscope,and the histopathological and inflammatory reaction was observed by hematoxylin & eosin stain.The ultrastructure of the lacrimal mucosal surface was examined under the scanning electron microscope.The use and care of the rabbits complied with the Regulations for the Administration of Affair Concerning Experimental Animals by State Science and Technology Commission.Results The new degradable PLLA:PCL+15％ PEG lacrimal duct stents were smooth,flexible and hydrophilic tubes.The removed tubes were intact in the postoperative 1-week group,however,the rupture of the tubes appeared in the postoperative 4-week group,while discrete pieces of the tubes were seen in the postoperative 16-week group.The weight-loss rates of the tubes were (13.44±6.59)％,(23.96±6.33)％,(55.08-± 6.55) ％ and (78.00±8.74) ％ in the postoperative 1-week group,postoperative 4-week group,postoperative 8-week group and postoperative 16-week group,respectively,and the weight-loss rate of the tubes was significantly higher in the postoperative 16-week group than those in the postoperative 8-week group (q =4.27,P＜0.05).No significant difference was found in the weight-loss rate of the tubes between postoperative 1-week group and postoperative 4-week group (q =1.71,P＞0.05).The edema,hyperemia and mild proliferation of the lacrimal mucosal were exhibited in the eyes of the postoperative 4-and 8-week groups,and the mucosal findings were almost normal in the eyes of the postoperative 16-week group under the endoscope.Histopathological examination showed a large number of inflammatory cells in the postoperative 1-,4-and 8-week groups.However,few inflammatory cells were seen in the postoperative 16-week group.Mucosal folds,microvillus decrease and disorder were displayed in the lacrimal duct of the postoperative 8-week group,and no evident abnormality was seen in the lacrimal duct mucosal surface.No postoperative complication occurred in all the rabbits.Conclusions PLLA:PCL+15％ PEG lacrimal duct stent has an appropriate degradation speed and good biocompatibility after implant in rabbits,and its decay period of mechanical strength could match lacrimal duct healing period.

INDENA SPA Company in Italy is a multi-national company that produces and sells plant extracts. Based on its own re- search advantages in the field of Ginkgo biloba preparation, the company protects its own products market effectively through building patent portfolio around the patents of its opponent. Based on the multi-angle analysis for patent portfolio of G. biloba preparation from the aspects of application time, legal status, technical development route, and patent portfolio layout, this article provides technical reference on research and development of G. biloba preparation, and the author suggest that Chinese applicants learn techniques and layout experiences of other patents fully to enhance the level of research and patent protection level.
Chemistry, Pharmaceutical ; economics ; legislation & jurisprudence ; Ginkgo biloba ; chemistry ; Italy ; Patents as Topic ; Plant Extracts ; chemistry ; economics ; isolation & purification

Adult ; Agriculture ; Female ; Humans ; Lung ; physiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Plastics ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Objective To investigate the role of ski in proliferation of astrocytes and the molecular mechanisms in rats. Methods Astro-cytes were obtained from cerebral cortex of a three-day old rat and cultured in vitro. siRNA targeted to ski and negative control sequences were prepared. The astrocytes were divided into ski-siRNA group, siRNA negative control group and untreated control group, while the spe-cific siRNA targeting ski negative control sequences were transfected into astrocytes with Lipofectamine? RNAiMAX Reagent. The protein levels of ski, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and Cyclin D1 were determined with Western blotting. The proliferation of astrocytes were measured with CCK8 assay. The cell-cycle of astrocytes were analyzed with flow cytometer. Results The protein level of ski (F=38.611, P<0.01), GFAP (F=7.547, P<0.05) and Cyclin D1 (F=3.901, P<0.05) reduced in ski-siRNA group, the proliferation of astrocyte was significantly inhibited since twelve hours after culture (F>30.507, P<0.01), and less cells were in S phase and more in G1/G0 phase (F>48.425, P<0.01), compared with the control groups. Conclusion ski knocking down by siRNA significantly inhibits the proliferation of astro-cytes, which may associate with the down-regulation of Cyclin D1 expression.

Objective To compare the detection efficiency between multiplex RT-PCR method and liquichip technology for screening the viral etiological agents of diarrhea.Methods The development of the multiplex RT-PCR method.A total of 107 feces samples from patients who suffered from diarrhea and attended to Zhujiang Hospital of Southern University from September 2013 to February 2014 were collected and tested in parallel by both multiplex RT-PCR and xTAG Gastrointestinal Pathogen Panel ( xTAG GPP) for Adenovirus, Norovirus genogroupⅠandⅡ, as well as by both multiplex RT-PCR and monoplex RT-PCR for Astrovirus and Sapovirus.To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of multiplex RT-PCR, xTAG GPP and monoplex RT-PCR were used as reference.Kappa coefficient test was used to evaluate the consistency among the methods.The detection limit and accuracy of multiplex RT-PCR were evaluated by detection of serial dilution of positive plasmids and products sequencing for the five viral agents.Results The multiplex RT-PCR showed high consistency with xTAG GPP and monoplex RT-PCR, in which Kappa value was 0.885 and 1.000 respectively( P=0.000 ).Compared to xTAG GPP, the sensitivity and specificity of the multiplex RT-PCR were at average of 80.8%( 21/26 ) and 100%( 295/295 ) respectively.The detection limit and accuracy of multiplex RT-PCR were 104 copies /μl-106 copies/μl.Conclusion The high consistency indicated that both the multiplex RT-PCR and xTAG GPP are useful as a special,sensitive, high throughput and rapid diagnostic tools for the detection of the major viral pathogens related to diarrhea in clinical laboratory.

BACKGROUND:Human amniotic epithelial cells are an important source of cells in regenerative medicine as its multipotentation, but new studies mainly focused on differentiation features and there were little research oneffect of culture in vitro on biological property of amniotic epithelial cells.
OBJECTIVE:To analyze the effects of in vitro culture on growth, cellphenotype and differentiation capacity of human amniotic epithelial cells into cardiomyocyte-like cells, and explore the correlation of primarily cultured human amniotic epithelial cells marker SSEA-4 expression level and the change of biological characteristics of human amniotic epithelial cells.
METHODS:Primarily cultured human amniotic epithelial cells were obtained from amniotic tissues by using the same separation protocol. Human amniotic epithelial cells were cultured in vitro. The proliferation, cellphenotype and the differentiation capacity of human amniotic epithelial cells into cardiomyocyte-like cells were evaluated by means of cellcounting kit-8, flow cytometry and real-time PCR.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The SSEA-4 positive cells in primarily cultured human amniotic epithelial cells from different fetal tissues were between 26.7%-97%, which indicated that there was great individual difference among amniotic tissue samples. Moreover, with passage, the SSEA-4 expression in human amniotic epithelial cells decreased significantly, which did not correlate with the SSEA-4 expression in primarily cultured human amniotic epithelial cells. Results indicated that there was great individual difference in SSEA-4 expression level in primarily cultured human amniotic epithelial cells from different amniotic tissue samples. Thus, it is necessary to set up clinical screening indexes to get samples with higher SSEA-4 expression stably and to control the quality of human amniotic epithelial cells. In addition, during culture period, SSEA-4 expression level was affected by culture conditions. The culture conditions of human amniotic epithelial cells should be optimized to maintain SSEA-4 expression at a high level. In addition, the differentiation capacity of human amniotic epithelial cells into cardiomyocyte-like cells was also affected by individual difference among different samples and culture conditions, which wil be further studied in the future.

AIM:To explore the time-dependent change of Ski protein expression in normal and activated astrocytes in rats.METHODS:The astrocytes were obtained from rat cerebral cortex and cultured in vitro.The astrocytes were treated with LPS and scratch injury for activation.Western blot analysis was used to determine glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and Ski protein levels in activated astrocytes at a series of time points.The indirect immunofluorescence staining method was performed to detect the location of Ski protein in the astrocytes.RESULTS:The protein of GFAP was naturally expressed in the astrocytes, beginning to increase after treated with LPS and scratch injury.Little protein expression of Ski in the normal astrocytes was observed.The Ski protein expression began to increase after treated with 1 mg/L LPS, peaked at 4 d (P<0.05) and then deceased, but was stills higher than that in the normal cells.The protein expression level of Ski after scratch injury was highly consistent with above mentioned.Ski was mainly observed in the nucleus of the normal cells and the cells treated with LPS for 6 d, while it was observed in the cytoplasm 2 and 4 d after treated with LPS.CONCLUSION:The protein of Ski is expressed in the astrocytes, and the expression level is increased in activated astrocytes,mainly located in the nucelus.Ski may plays an essential roles in the processes of activation and proliferation of astrocytes.

Objective To evaluate the value of volume measured by multi-slice spiral CT in preoperative N staging of gastric canc-er.Methods CT data of 1 93 cases of gastric cancer proven pathologically were collected and analyzed.Volume of the tumor was cal-culated in the portal phase,and the correlation between the results and N staging was evaluated.ROC curve was used to get diagnos-tic value to differentiate N stages.Results Intra-observer Kappa value was 0.77 (P < 0.05 ),0.72 (P < 0.05 ),Inter-observer Kappa value was 0.69 (P <0.05).The tumor volume data was positively correlated with different N stages (r=0.568,P <0.05). ROC curve showed that the volume could help differentiate between stage N0 and stage N1 - N3 (cutoff 12.06 cm3 ,sensitivity 55%,specificity 95%),stage N0-N1 and stage N2-N3 (cutoff 22.35 cm3 ,sensitivity 66%,specificity 86%),stage N0-N2 and stage N3 (cutoff 25.95 cm3 ,sensitivity 62%,specificity 89%)respectively.Conclusion The volume of gastric cancer measured by CT plays an important part in predicting lymph node metastasis staging and optimizing individualized clinical strategy for patients.

OBJECTIVETo observe the anti-tumor activity of the ethanol extracts of Solanun lyratum in vitro and in vivo.

METHODIn vitro, the inhibitory effects of ethanol extracts of S. lyratum on proliferation of human hepatoma BEL-7402 cell and gastric carcinoma SGC-7901 cell were measured by MTT colorimetric assay. The mouse tumor model was used to investigate the effects of ethanol extracts on tumor growth.

RESULTThe studies demonstrated that ethanol extracts of S. lyratum inhibited proliferation of BEL-7402 cells and SGC-7901 cells, and the IC50 values on them were (287.40 +/- 5.84) micron x mL(-1) and (176.14 +/- 5.18) microg x mL(-1), respectively. The tumor inhibitory rate of high doses of ethanol extracts on S180 sarcoma-transplanted mice and H22 hepatic cancer were (41.15 +/- 4.54) % and (45.00 +/- 7.37) %, respectively. When the dose of ethanol extracts varied from low to high, it was able to inhibit the growth of S180 sarcoma-transplanted mice and H22 hepatic cancer in a dose-dependent manner.

CONCLUSIONIn tumor inhibitory test, it was shown that the ethanol extracts of S. lyratum may possess significantly inhibitory effect in vitro and in vivo. No acute toxic effect was found in our experiment.

Adenocarcinoma ; pathology ; Animals ; Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; pathology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Ethanol ; Female ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; pathology ; Liver Neoplasms, Experimental ; pathology ; Male ; Mice ; Neoplasm Transplantation ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Sarcoma 180 ; pathology ; Solanum ; chemistry ; Stomach Neoplasms ; pathology

Objective To observe whether the expression of interferon-regulatory factor genes are re- lated to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).Methods The clinical data of 45 SLE patients and 37 normal controls were collected.Total RNA of peripheral blood was extracted and transcripted into cDNA.Sybr green dye based real-time quantitative PCR method was used to compare the expression (indicated as-??Ct value) of IRFI,IRF4,IRF8 in patients with SLE and those in the controls.Results The levels of IRF1,IRF4 and IRF8 mRNA were-3.90?0.19,-8.04?0.25 and 3.60?0.15 respectively in normal controls.In SLE patients, IRF4 mRNA expression was -8.82?0.18,higher than that in normal (P=0.011).But IRF8 mRNA expression was 3.09?0.13,lower than that in normal (P=0.012).Conclusion Abnormal IRF mRNA expression is found in the peripheral blood of SLE patients.IRFs may play roles in the pathogenesis of SLE by affecting the differen- tiation of Th cells.