Objective To study the changes and correlation of serum interleukin-17,-6 and-8 (IL-17,IL-6 and IL-8),c-reactive protein (CRP),tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD),and discuss the role and clinical significance of these factors in the occurrence and development of COPD.Methods 100 COPD patients were selected (COPD group),and 50 healthy elderly people in the same period in outpatient medical examination were served as control (control group).The levels ofIL-17,IL-6 and IL-8,CRP,TNF-α in serum were detected with ELISA method.Results The serum levels of IL-17,IL-6,IL-8,CRP and TNF-α of patients in COPD group were higher than those in the control group (P ＜ 0.01),and of patients with acute aggravating period were higher than those of patients with stable period (P ＜ 0.05 or P ＜ 0.01).Pearson correlation analysis showed there were positive correlations among IL-17,IL-6,IL-8,CRP and TNF-α (P ＜ 0.05) Conclusion The serum levels of IL-17,IL-6,IL-8,CRP and TNF-α of COPD patients have abnormal increased,and will increase with the rise of the illness severity.The above factors may be involved in the airway in patients with acute inflammatory reaction and the development process.

BackgroundIt is important to measure the corneal curvature, anterior chamber depth (ACD) and axial length accurately for calculating IOL power. The interchange outcomes from different measuring methods and apparatus will cause unreliable IOL power. ObjectiveThe present study was to compare the differences of corneal curvature, anterior chamber depth (ACD) measured by IOLMaster and Orbscan Ⅱbefore and after laser in situ keratomileusis(LASIK) and further compare the axial length measured by IOLMaster and A-ultrasound. Methods One hundred and thirty eyes from 65 consecutive myopic patients before LASIK and 56 eyes of 28 cases with 1-month follow-up duration after LASIK in Henan Eye Institute were enrolled in this study. The K value, ACD between IOLMaster and Orbscan Ⅱ as well as results of axial length between IOLMaster and A-ultrasound were compared by using paired t test. The agreements of the measured values among IOLMaster, Orbscan Ⅱ and A-ultrasound were evaluated using Bland-Altman plot. ResultsBefore LASIK,the K value measured by IOLMaster,Orbscan Ⅱ were ( 43.32 ± 1.52 ) D and ( 42.99 ± 1.45 ) D respectively with the difference value of( 0. 33 ±0. 03 ) D, showing a significant difference(t=10. 380,P=0.000) and a positive relation between them(r=0.971,P=0.000). After LASIK,the K value measured by IOLMaster, Orbscan Ⅱwere(39. 02±2. 14) D and ( 38.91 ±2. 04) D with the difference value (0. 12±0. 33 ) D, presenting a significant differences between them (t =2.715, P =0.009). Bland-Altman plots indicated the disagreement in K value and uninterchangeable. Before LASIK, the ACD measured by IOLMaster,Orbscan Ⅱ and A-ultrasound were ( 3.72 ± 0. 22 ) mm, ( 3.69 ±0. 22 ) mm and ( 3.75± 0.27 )mm respectively and no significant differences were found between them (P ＞ 0. 05 ). Axial length measured by IOLMaster significantly prolonged in comparison with A-ultrasound(25.59± 1. 01 mm vs 25.22±0.99 mm ) , and the difference was( -0. 37 ±0. 30 ) mm, showing significant difference ( t =- 14. 098, P =0. 000 ) and positive correlation ( r =0. 954, P =0. 000 ). Axial length values measured by IOLMaster were ( 25.54 ± 1.05 ) mm in preoperation and ( 25.48 ± 1.01 ) mm in postoperation with the difference (0.052±0. 412)mm, showing statistically insignificant difference between them (t=0. 946,P=0. 348). ConclusionsKeratometries measured by IOLMaster,Orbscan Ⅱ are much more different. Therefore,these two methods are not recommended to use interchangely. ACD measured by IOLMaster,Orbscan Ⅱ and A ultrasound are proved to obtain the similar results and is clinically interchange. Axial length measured by IOLMaster is longer than that measured by A-ultrasound.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the biocompatibility of polyurethane-BaFe(12)O(19) magnetic composite microsphere as a new endovascular embolization material.

METHODSThe biocompatibility of BaFe(12)O(19) particle was evaluated in vitro using Ames test, cell toxicity test, acute and subacute systemic toxicity test, hemolysis test, bleeding time and clotting time test and blood clotting function assay.

RESULTSAmes test showed that the MR values of this particle leaching solution were all less than 2 without mutagenicity. Cell toxicity test showed that leaching solution at different concentrations had grade I toxicity on L929 cells. Acute and subacute systemic toxicity test showed that the experimental animals had good general condition without obvious pathological abnormality. The hemolysis rate of experimental group was 2.43%, which met the ISO standard (no more than 5%). The bleeding time and clotting time in mice were comparable between the experimental group and control group (P>0.05). There were no significant differences in blood clotting function between experimental group and control group (P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe material has no obvious toxicity or mutagenicity, and does not cause hemolysis or hemopexis or affect the bleeding time and clotting time. Polyurethane-BaFe(12)O( 19) particle possesses satisfactory biocompatibility.

Animals ; Barium Compounds ; chemistry ; toxicity ; Biocompatible Materials ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Embolization, Therapeutic ; instrumentation ; Ferric Compounds ; chemistry ; toxicity ; Microspheres ; Polyurethanes ; chemistry ; toxicity ; Toxicity Tests

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the association between two single nucleotide polymorphisms located in the promoter of transforming growth factor-β1 receptor 2 (TGFBR2) gene and hypertension in Han Chinese population.

METHODSThe subjects were recruited from the population of cluster sampling survey for essential hypertension (EH) in two townships of Yixing city, Jiangsu province in 2009. Overall, 2012 patients with hypertension and 2116 age (± 2 years) and sex-matched unrelated controls were selected. Epidemiological data, physical measurements results and serum glucose and lipid biomarker were collected and detected. Linkage disequilibrium (LD) analysis were applied and two tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (tagSNP) in 5' upstream of TGFBR2 gene (rs6785358, -3779A/G; rs764522, -1444C/G) were selected for genotyping and analyzing for the association with hypertension.

RESULTSThe frequencies of AA, AG, GG in case and control of rs6785358 were 1455 (72.3%), 517 (25.7%), 40 (2.0%) and 1582 (74.8%), 490 (23.2%), 43 (2.0%) respectively, and CC, CG, GG of rs764522 were 1524 (75.7%), 464 (23.1%), 24 (1.2%) and 1654 (78.2%), 436 (20.6%), 26 (1.2%) respectively. SNP rs764522 was significantly associated with EH and OR (95%CI) were 1.17 (1.01 - 1.36) (P < 0.05) in dominant model after adjustment for confounding factors such as age, sex, glucose, lipids, smoking and alcohol drinking. Further stratification analysis by age, sex, smoking and alcohol drinking indicated that individuals carrying G allele (CG/GG genotype) of SNP rs764522 had higher susceptibility to EH than CC genotype (OR = 1.21, 95%CI: 1.01 - 1.45) (P < 0.05) in ≥ 55 years group. No statistical significance was detected in the distribution of genotypes and allele frequencies for SNP rs6785358 between cases and controls (P > 0.05). Haplotype analysis showed that no significant frequency difference of haplotype structured by rs6785358 and rs764522 was found between cases and controls (P > 0.05), and no significant blood pressure change was found between genotype variations of rs6785358 and rs764522 (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSNP rs764522 of TGFBR2 gene is associated with increased risk of EH in elderly Han Chinese population.

Aged ; Female ; Gene Frequency ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Genotype ; Haplotypes ; Humans ; Hypertension ; epidemiology ; genetics ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases ; genetics ; Receptors, Transforming Growth Factor beta ; genetics

Adult ; Aged ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; genetics ; pathology ; Female ; Gene Expression ; Humans ; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins ; genetics ; Liver Neoplasms ; genetics ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo investigate the changes of p38MAPK expression in a rat model of Alzheimer disease (AD).

METHODSSeventy-two adult SD rats were randomized equally into 4 groups, and a single-dose injection of Abeta25-35 (dementia group), normal saline (saline group), SB203580 (inhibitor group), or DMSO (inhibitor control group) was administered into the lateral cerebral ventricle. Y-maze tast was performed to evaluate the behavioral changes of the rats after the injections, and on days 4, 7 and 14 after the injection, p38MAPK expression in the hippocampal CA1 area was measured by means of immunohistochemistry.

RESULTSOn days 7 and 14 following Abeta25-35 injection, the training times, error number and total reaction time were significantly higher in dementia group than in saline group (P<0.05), but all these indices were significantly lowered in the inhibitor group as compared with the dementia group (P<0.05). Immunohistochemistry revealed obvious p38 expression in the dementia group 4 days after Abeta25-35 injection, which increased significantly with the passage of time (P<0.01). The gray scale in the inhibitor group was significantly higher than that in the dementia group (P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONp38MAPK activation in the hippocampal CA1 area is an event that persists during the entire course of Abeta25-35-induced AD in rats, and the inhibitor SB203580 prevents p38MAPK expression and improves the learning and memory abilities of the rats.

Alzheimer Disease ; chemically induced ; enzymology ; metabolism ; Amyloid beta-Peptides ; administration & dosage ; toxicity ; Animals ; Hippocampus ; drug effects ; enzymology ; Immunohistochemistry ; Male ; Maze Learning ; drug effects ; Peptide Fragments ; administration & dosage ; toxicity ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases ; biosynthesis

OBJECTIVETo investigate the expression feature of peroxiredoxin III in cervical lesions and to further understand the mechanism for cervical cancer development/progression.

METHODSExpression of peroxiredoxin III was immunohistochemically detected in cervical cancer. In addition, cervical epithelia were transfected with recombinant adeno-associated virus vector containing human papillomavirus 16 E6/E7 and peroxiredoxin III expression was detected by quantitative real time PCR and Western blotting.

RESULTSPeroxiredoxin III was significantly up-regulated in cervical cancer tissues. Nevertheless, expression of peroxiredoxin III remained unchanged in cervical epithelial cells after transfection.

CONCLUSIONIt seems that Prx III is not related to cervical cancer initiation. Up-regulation of peroxiredoxin III in cervical cancer might be an active response to oxidative stress in malignant cells, which protects against oxidatiton-induced apoptosis.

Cervix Uteri ; metabolism ; Female ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Human papillomavirus 16 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Oncogene Proteins, Viral ; genetics ; metabolism ; Papillomavirus E7 Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Peroxiredoxins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Repressor Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Up-Regulation ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms ; genetics ; metabolism ; virology

Recently many reports have described that recombinant baculovirus could serve as a new gene transfer vehicle for mammalian cells with many unique advantages. In this study, the constructed recombinant baculovirus BacV-CMV-EGFPA containing the enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) gene driven by CMV promoter was used to explore the feasibility of improving the efficiencies of transduction experiment in CV-1 cells by centrifugal method. Refer to the centrifugal transduction protocol of recombinant lentivirus, CV-1 cells were incubated with the culture supematant of Sf-21 cells infected by BacV-CMV-ECFPA (moi = 30) and then centrifuged at 600g for 1 h at RT, reporter gene transfer and expression efficiencies were analyzed by flow cytometry (FCM) 48h post transduction. Results showed that centrifugal method can achieve higher gene delivery and expression efficiencies than transduction by simple virus-cell mixing for 4h at 27 t with least impairment to cell viability. The centrifugal transduction protocol was further optimized by testing different centrifugal times, post-centrifugation incubation times and surrounding solutions. We found that centrifugation at 600g for 1 h at RT is sufficient to achieve the highest transduction efficiencies in target cells and PBS is more suitable than other surrounding solutions. Compared with previous protocol in which tranduction occurs for 4 - 8h at 27 degrees C, centrifugal method developed in this study could achieve more higher transduction efficiencies in more shorter time. Nine different mammalian cell lines (CV-1, 293FT, HepG2, 293T, CHO, C127, MT4, H9, Molt-4) were used to investigate the feasibility of delivering exogenous genes into different mammalian cells with the BacV-CMV-EGFPA supernatant (moi = 30) at 600g for 1h in PBS surrounding solution at RT. Results showed that most mammalian cell lines used in this study could be effectively transduced with recombinant baculoviruses by centrifugal method, and more higher and satisfactory transduction efficiencies could be achieved in primate adherent culture cells than in suspended culture cells. These results show that the baculovirus centrifugal transduction protocol have notable advantages: more rapid, efficient and nontoxic, and could be easily used in daily common experiments.
Animals ; Baculoviridae ; genetics ; CHO Cells ; Cell Line ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Centrifugation ; methods ; Cricetinae ; Cricetulus ; Feasibility Studies ; Flow Cytometry ; Genetic Vectors ; genetics ; Green Fluorescent Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Hep G2 Cells ; Humans ; Microscopy, Fluorescence ; Recombinant Fusion Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Reproducibility of Results ; Spodoptera ; Transduction, Genetic ; methods

OBJECTIVETo study the inhibitory effect of Fuzheng Yiliu Granule (FYG) on hepatocellular cancer (HCC) and investigate the mechanism mediating its bioactivity.

METHODSH22 tumor-bearing ICR mice were treated with FYG [3.6 g/(kg·d)] for 5 days. Tumor volume and tumor weight, percentages of CD3(+), CD4(+), CD8(+), and natural killer (NK) cells in peripheral blood, tumor apoptosis and serum levels of interleukin-2 (IL-2), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were evaluated. FYG-containing serum was prepared from SD rats treated for 7 days [high dose 3.6 g/(kg·d); middle dose 1.8 g/(kg·d); low dose 0.9 g/(kg·d)]. Cell cycle, cell viability, and apoptosis were evaluated after HepG2 cell line was cultured in FYG-containing serum for 48 h. The levels of IL-2 and TNF-α in FYG-containing serum were also determined.

RESULTSFYG produced a potent antitumor effect (P<0.01) and induced marked apoptosis of the tumor tissue (P<0.05). Mice treated with FYG had higher percentages of CD3(+) and CD4(+) (P<0.05), and more NK cells (P<0.01) in the peripheral blood than those in the animals treated with normal saline. Mice receiving FYG had the highest serum levels of IL-2 and TNF-α (P<0.01). High-dose FYG-containing serum significantly decreased HepG2 cell viability, inhibited cell proliferation (P<0.05), and induced apoptosis (P<0.01). In addition, the levels of IL-2 and TNF-α of high-dose-containing serum were higher than the blank serum (P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONFYG could inhibit HCC growth by regulating immune function and inducing apoptosis of tumor cells in vivo and in vitro.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; blood ; immunology ; pathology ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Cell Survival ; drug effects ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Hep G2 Cells ; Humans ; Interleukin-2 ; biosynthesis ; Liver Neoplasms ; blood ; immunology ; pathology ; Lymphocyte Count ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred ICR ; Rats ; Serum ; Tumor Burden ; drug effects ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; biosynthesis ; Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays

OBJECTIVETo investigate the expression of Redox factor-1(Ref-1) in rats with Alzheimer's disease (AD).

METHODSAD rat model was established by a single injection of beta-amyloid peptide (Abeta25-35) into the lateral cerebral ventricle of rats. Y-shape maze task was conducted to check the ethology. At 4th, 7th and 14th day after injection, Ref-1 expression in hippocampus CA1 area was detected by immunohistochemistry.

RESULTThe numbers of repeated learning and error and the total reaction time in AD group were significantly higher than those in control group at 7th and 14th day after injection of Abeta25-35 (P<0.05). At 4th day after injection of Abeta25-35, the Ref-1 expression was increased with time prolongation in AD group(P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONInjection of Abeta25-35 in lateral cerebral ventricle can decrease the learning and memory abilities of rats, and results also indicate that Ref-1 expression in hippocampus may be involved in the development of AD.

Alzheimer Disease ; chemically induced ; metabolism ; Amyloid beta-Peptides ; administration & dosage ; Animals ; DNA-(Apurinic or Apyrimidinic Site) Lyase ; metabolism ; Hippocampus ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Male ; Maze Learning ; drug effects ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley