Objective To investigate the protective effect of pinacidil on the intestinal mucosa of scalded rats and the mechanism. Methods A total of 24 healthy SD rats were randomly divided into normal control group, burn group, and pinacidil treated group. Rats in burn group and pinacidil treated group were inflicted with 30% TBSA Ⅲ degree burn and resuscitated intraperitoneally with Ringer's solution immediately after burn. Pinacidil was injected intraperitoneally into rats in pinacidil treated group at the dose of 2 mg/kg. Mitochondrial respiratory function intestinal mucosa and levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), maleic dialdehyde (MDA), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in plasma were determined at 6 h after burn. Results Mitochondrial respiratory function control rate (RCR), ST3, and SOD levels in pinacidil treated group were evidently higher than those in the burn group. However, ST4, MDA, and ROS levels in pinacidil treated group were significantly lower than those in the burn group, but ST4 was not significantly different from that in the normal control. Conclusion Pinacidil can attenuate the damage of intestinal mucosa in scalded rats.

Mutagenicity Tests ; methods ; Tobacco Smoke Pollution ; adverse effects

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of simvastatin on the proliferation and apoptosis of prostatic epithelial RWPE-1 cells.

METHODSRWPE-1 cells cultured in vitro were treated with simvastatin at 0, 10, 20, and 40 μmol/L for 24, 48, and 72 hours followed by determination of their proliferation by MTT assay, and their apoptosis by flow cytometry. The mRNA and protein expressions of Bcl-2, Bax, and Cx43 were detected by fluorescence quantitative RT-PCR and Western blot, respectively.

RESULTSAfter 72 hours of treatment with simvastatin at 10, 20, and 40 μmol/L, the inhibition rates of the RWPE-1 cells were (21.07 ± 6.41)%, (34.87 ± 9.65)%, and (47.18 ± 10.88)%, respectively, significantly higher than (1.21 ± 0.54)% in the control group (P < 0.05) and in a dose-dependent manner (P < 0.05); the cell apoptosis rates were (0.066 ± 0.016)%, (0.126 ± 0.023)%, and (0.192 ± 0.025)%, respectively, remarkably higher than (0.015 ± 0.005)% in the control (P < 0.05) and also in a dose-dependent manner (P < 0.05); the mRNA and protein expressions of Bcl-2 were decreasing while those of Bax and Cx43 increasing with the increased concentration of simvastatin (P < 0.05). The expression of Cx43 was correlated negatively with that of Bcl-2 but positively with that of Bax.

CONCLUSIONSimvastatin inhibits the proliferation of prostate epithelial cells and induce their apoptosis by acting on the gap junctional intercellular communication.

Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Connexin 43 ; metabolism ; Drug Administration Schedule ; Epithelial Cells ; drug effects ; physiology ; Humans ; Hypolipidemic Agents ; pharmacology ; Male ; Prostate ; cytology ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; metabolism ; RNA, Messenger ; metabolism ; Simvastatin ; pharmacology ; bcl-2-Associated X Protein ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo determine whether oral statins can delay the progression of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS).

METHODSWe conducted a retrospective cohort study of 50-69-year-old males who came for physical examination in our hospital between January 2003 and December 2008. We designed the inclusion criteria, followed them up for 5 years, and investigated the relationship of oral statins with the clinical progression of BPH and LUTS.

RESULTSTotally, 653 men met the inclusion criteria and were included in this study, of whom 283 were treated with oral statins (group 1) while the other 370 with none (group 2). There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in age and baseline IPSS, Qmax, and prostate volume (PV) (P > 0.05). During the follow-up, 24 cases in group 1 and 35 cases in group 2 were excluded for obvious dys-uria. A gradual increase was observed in IPSS in both groups 1 and 2 year by year from the baseline to the 5th year of follow-up, but significantly lower in the former group (4.27 +/- 1.16, 4.63 +/- 1.05, 5.27 +/- 0.96, 6.41 +/- 1.04, 7.21 +/- 1.21, and 7.93 +/-1.50) than in the latter (4.24 +/- 1.35, 5.26 +/- 1.23, 6.84 +/- 1.20, 8.75 +/- 1.84, 10.82 +/- 3.01, and 12.98 +/- 4.21) (P < 0.01); a gradual decrease was seen in Qmax, though markedly higher in group 1 ([26.56 +/- 2.09], [24.06 +/- 1.94], [21.33 +/- 1.66], [19.24 +/- 1.54], [17.44 +/- 1.53], and [16.27 +/- 1.37] ml/s) than in group 2 ([26.74 +/- 2.40], [23.62 +/- 2.01], [20.63 +/- 1.69], [17.72 +/- 1.48], [14.82 +/- 1.11], and [11.86 +/- 1.24] ml/s) (P < 0.01); and a gradual increase was found in PV, but remarkably smaller in the former group ([19.82 +/- 4.94], [22.60 +/- 4.99], [25.80 +/- 5.20], [27.92 +/- 5.05], [29.11 +/- 5.24], and [29.97 +/- 5.26] ml) than in the latter ([20.21 +/- 4.78], [24.30 +/- 4.98], [28.50 +/- 5.14], [32.84 +/- 4.77], [36.99 +/- 4.78], and [40.90 +/- 4.78] ml) (P < 0.01). Longer medication of statins was associated with better efficacy.

CONCLUSIONOral statins can significantly delay the clinical progression of BPH and LUTS.

Aged ; Humans ; Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors ; therapeutic use ; Longitudinal Studies ; Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms ; drug therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prostatic Hyperplasia ; drug therapy ; Retrospective Studies

Objective To understand the study habits of medical postgraduates in basic cours-es so as to provide references for the reformation of teaching methods. Methods Totally 250 postgra-duates of grade 2010 in our university were investigated with self-made questionnaire. The contents of the questionnaire included basic condition of postgraduates, study methods and suggestions for teaching methods. Rate, percentage and Chi-square test were applied to do statistical analysis. Results Accor-ding to the results of the collected 246 copies of questionnaire, 91.5%(225/246) did not preview lessons before class, 93.5%(230/246) took notes in class, 78.9%(194/246) simply took notes in the book, 60.6%(149/246) preferred more detailed courseware and 27.2%(67/246) reviewed lessons after class. The percentage of simply taking notes in the book of local students (86.5%) was significantly higher than that of army ones (73.2%) (P=0.030), but the percentages of preferring more detailed courseware and reviewing lessons after class of local students were significantly lower than those of army ones (P=0.008, P=0.016). Conclusions The proportion of previewing before class is low among postgrauates. Postgraduates depend heavily on teachers and do not review after class in time. There are differences between local students and army students in taking notes and review habits. It is important to cultivate postgraduates’good study habits.

Maca as one of the star products in the international health care market in recent years, had a wide range of application value and promoted to all over the world. However, the basic research of Maca was not deep, lack of systematic and clear efficacy studies. Market products hype its aphrodisiac effect, which greatly impact more systematic in-depth research and exploration. Therefore, this paper briefly summarizes advance research in recent years including the status quo of the resources, growth cultivation, phytochemical, pharmacological effect and other aspects, which can provide reference for rational development and utilization of Maca.
Animals ; Biomedical Research ; Humans ; Lepidium ; chemistry ; classification ; growth & development ; Plant Extracts ; chemistry ; metabolism ; pharmacology

Adolescent ; Adult ; Blood Transfusion ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pesticides ; poisoning ; Poisoning ; therapy ; Treatment Outcome

Objective This study is about to detect the KCNJ5 gene variations in aldosterone-producing adenoma (APA) with primary hyperaldosteronism (PA),and to investigate the association of the KCNJ5 gene missense mutations with APA and PA.Methods A total of 46 APA tumors and their clinical characteristics were collected from Hypertension Center of the People's Hospital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region,and all the tumors were confirmed by pathology.All the samples of the coding region segments of KCNJ5 were detected by PCR and direct DNA sequencing to compare the different missense mutations in the tumor cells and peripheral blood cells and to analyze the association between the genotype and phenotype.Results Three missense mutations were found in 46 patients with APA:c.451G ＞ C/A (p.G151R) (5/46),c.503T ＞ G (p.L168R) (4/46),c.830T ＞ A (p.S209T) (12/46).S209T,as an unreported somatic mutation was observed.There were no missense mutations detected in the peripheral blood.Sex,age,systolic blood pressure,diastolic blood pressure,duration of hypertension,plasma potassium,urine potassium,aldosterone,plasma renin activity,aldosterone,and plasma renin activity ratio,as well as the rate of positive family history were compared between the mutants and wild-types.Systolic blood pressure and plasma potassium level among G151 R,L168R,and S209T had statistical differences.Systolic blood pressure in G151R was significantly higher than the other two groups,while the plasma potassium level was significantly lower than the other groups.Conclusions Three missense mutations were found in 46 patients with APA.The subjects with mutations had more serious condition than those without mutations after comparing their clinical phenotype.Besides,other different subtypes may exist in PA.

Based on the teaching fact and feature of pharmacy specialty. In this article, curriculum location of general microbiology about object, character, function, content design for the higher vocational colleges were disscused. The result would provide some gist to reform teaching methods for microbiology course.

Glucocorticoids (GC) exert a broad effect on the body and have been extensively used clinically.It is well known now that GC can act via both genomic and nongenomic mechanisms.Genomic effects of GC have been well reviewed elsewhere.Here we focus on the current understanding of nongenomic effects and discuss their biologic significance as well as the remaining problems in this field.