BACKGROUND:Endothelial progenitor cells can be used to repair vascular injuries and predict severity of early vascular injuries. These biological characteristics have been recommended to the research of aneurysm, which provide new ideas for studying the occurrence, expansion and early staging diagnosis of aneurysm.
OBJECTIVE:To elaborate the effects of endothelial progenitor cells on the aneurysm in the clinical trials based on the biological characteristics of endothelial progenitor cells, including proliferation, migration, adherence and senescence.
METHODS:A computer-based search of Wanfang, CNKI, Springer, PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Ovid was performed using the keywords of“endothelial progenitor cells, precursor cell, aneurysm, stem cel”. Irrelevant and repetitive articles were excluded, and the result analysis was conducted.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Aneurysms patients display decreased endothelial progenitor cells in the peripheral circulating blood accompanied by functional impairment. After aneurysm-related treatment, the number of endothelial progenitor cells can increase. Application of endothelial progenitor cells can early predict occurrence, development, and rupture of aneurysms, which is also a therapeutic method to prevent aneurysms. How endothelial progenitor cells are used clinical y to prevent occurrence and development of aneurysms is a serious problem to be solved.

Objective To investigate the expression and clinicopathological significance of CXCR4 and HIF-1α protein in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma tissue and explore their correlation.Methods The expression of CXCR4 and HIF-1α protein were assessed by immunohistochemistry SP method in 56 cases with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and in 20 cases with surrounded normal tissue.Results The expressions of CXCR4 and HIF-lα in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma were significantly higher than those in normal tissues[62.50 ％ (35/56) vs 10.00 ％ (2/20); 57.14 ％ (32/56) vs 0(0/20)](x2=16.259,19.740,P ＜0.01).The expression of CXCR4 and HIF-1α were both correlated with invasion depth (x2 =4.736,7.665,P ＜0.05) and lymph node metastasis ( x2 =7.207,6.389,P ＜0.05),and had no correlation with cancer cell differentiation.The expressions of CXCR4 and HIF-lα in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma were positively correlated (r =0.298,P ＜0.05).Conclusion CXCR4 and HIF-1α are highly expressed in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.The two have a close relation to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma growth,invasion and metastasis.

The construction of medical morality is linked closely with medical management.The foundation of micro-regulating model of medical morality can strengthen the management of medical morality,and make up for the deficiencies of the construction of medical morality;meanwhile,it can also enlarge the connatation of medical morality construction.

On time of judging medical futility in departments of oncology, conflicts of interests exist,so more attention should be paid to the principles of rule,investigation,preaching and being public.Concrete methods are as follows:education for medical staff should be continued to make further progress;the advanced opinions of medical behaviours should be presented to guide clinical practice;the departments of oncology should cooperate positively with the ethics committees of hospitals.

Honest-trust plays an important role in the Chinese outstanding morals and culture, however the credit crisis is an outstanding problem in the professional ethics construction. Honest-trust is the soul of professional ethics construction, which is accountable, self-disciplining, honorable and extensive, therefore it should become the important category of the modern medical theory. And it is an effective way to disclose information and set up the honest-trust file for promoting the professional ethics construction.

The folate metabolic pathway plays important roles in cellular physiology by participating in nucleotide synthesis, DNA repair and methylation, and maintenance and stability of the genome. Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is a key regulatory enzyme involved in folate metabolism. Polymorphisms of MTHFR may change the level of homocysteine and affect DNA synthesis and methylation, leading to an increased oxidative stress and disturbed methylation reactions and consequently affecting reproductive function. This article presents an overview on MTHFR gene polymorphisms, proposing that multicentered, large-sample and long-term prospective studies are needed to reveal the relationship between MTHFR gene polymorphisms and infertility.
DNA ; biosynthesis ; DNA Methylation ; DNA Repair ; Folic Acid ; metabolism ; Homocysteine ; metabolism ; Humans ; Infertility ; enzymology ; genetics ; Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase (NADPH2) ; genetics ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Prospective Studies

Biomarkers, Tumor ; Humans ; Kidney ; Kidney Neoplasms ; Neoplasms

Objective To explore the effects of a single bout of aerobic exercise on oxidative stress and total peripheral vascular resistance. Methods 36 prehypertensive patients were divided into aerobic exercise group (n=18) and control group (n=18). The aerobic exercise group performed cycle ergometry at 70% maximal oxygen consumption for 30 min. Total peripheral vascular resistance (TPVR), malondialdehyde (MDA), mean arterial pressure (MAP), vitamin C (VC) and vitamin E (VE) were measured before, immediately, 1 hour and 2 hours after the aerobic exercise. Results There was no significant difference in TPVR, MDA, MAP, VC and VE between two groups before exercise (P>0.05). TPVR was all significantly lower in the aerobic exercise group than in the control group immediately, 1 hour and 2 hours after exercise (P<0.001), and showed a rising trend of recovery. MDA was significantly higher in the aerobic exercise group than in the control group 1 hour and 2 hours after exercise (P<0.05), however there was no significant difference in MDA between two groups immediately after exercise (P>0.05). MAP was significantly lower immediately after exercise in the aerobic exercise group than in the control group (P< 0.001), but there was no significant 1 hour and 2 hours after exercise (P>0.05). There was no significant difference in VC and VE between two groups immediately, 1 hour and 2 hours after exercise (P>0.05). Conclusion The level of oxidative stress increases after a single bout of aerobic exercise, and the TPVR decreases.

A sesquiterpene synthase (AsSS4) full-length open reading frame (ORF) cDNA was cloned from wounded stems of Aquilaria sinensis by RT-PCR method. The result showed that the ORF of AsSS4 was 1,698 bp encoding 565 amino acids. Prokaryotic expression vector pET28a-AsSS4 was constructed and transformed into E. coli BL21 (DE3) pLysS. Recombinant AsSS4 protein was obtained after induction by IPTG and SDS-PAGE analysis with a MW of 64 kD. Enzymatic reactions using farnesyl pyrophosphate showed that recombinant AsSS4 protein purified by Ni-agarose gel yielded five sesquiterpene compounds, cyclohexane, 1-ethenyl-1-methyl-2, 4-bis(1-methylethenyl)-, β-elemene, α-guaiene, α-caryophyllene and δ-guaiene. This paper reported the first cloning and functional characterization of AsSS4 gene from A. sinensis, which will establish a foundation for future studies on the molecular mechanisms of wound-induce agarwood formation in A. sinensis
Alkyl and Aryl Transferases ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Azulenes ; Cloning, Molecular ; DNA, Complementary ; Escherichia coli ; Open Reading Frames ; Polyisoprenyl Phosphates ; Recombinant Proteins ; biosynthesis ; Sesquiterpenes ; metabolism ; Sesquiterpenes, Guaiane ; Thymelaeaceae ; enzymology ; genetics

Abstract: Objective　To explore the antiviral effect of baricitinib in the SARS-CoV-2 infection and influence on cytokine levels. Methods　Calu-3 cells were infected with SARS-CoV-2 at MOI of 0.1, and the levels of inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α and IL-1β), interferon β (IFN-β) and interferon-stimulated gene, IFIT2 in the infected cells were analyzed by qRT-PCR methods. At the same time, Calu-3 cells were infected with SARS-CoV-2 (MOI=0.1) after being treated with baricitinib for 2 hours. Cells were collected at 0, 24, 36, and 48 hours, and analyzed for the mRNA of the above genes in the drug-treated and untreated groups. Results　The mRNA levels of IL-6, TNF-a, IL-1β, IFN-β and IFIT2 in Calu-3 infected by SARS-CoV-2 cells were increased significantly. These cytokines were increased by nearly 100-fold post-infection 48 h compared with the control (P<0.000 1), and continued to increase with the infection time (P<0.001 or P<0.000 1). The increase of IL-8 mRNA level was not as significant as IL-6, TNF-α, IL-8, IL-1β, but it also showed a 2-4 folds increase. Baricitinib does not affect the level of viral RNA in Calu-3 cells after SARS-CoV-2 infection (P>0.05). However, baricitinib can significantly inhibit the up-regulation of IL-6 and TNF-α levels induced by SARS-CoV-2 infection (5.25-fold and 3.90-fold down-regulation, respectively, P<0.01), and has little effect on the levels of IL-8 and IL-1β . In addition, the drug could also significantly down-regulate the increase in IFN-β and IFIT2 levels caused by viral infection (10.51-fold and 90.78-fold down-regulation, respectively, P<0.000 1). Conclusions　Baricitinib inhibits the release of inflammatory cytokines to some extent, but it drastically down-regulates the expression of interferons and interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs), and has limited antiviral effect on SARS-CoV-2. Considering that interferon signal pathways play important roles on viral infection, caution should be exercised when using baricitinib to treat COVID-19 patients.