AIM: To investigate the effects of pretreatment of captopril on the infarct size and myocardial cell apoptosis in rabbits. METHODS: Rabbits were randomly divided into sham-operated control group (SO), acute infarct group (AI) and captopril pretreatment group (CP). The rabbits of CP group were treated with captopril (25 mg?kg -1 .d -1 ) for 1 week before harvest. The left circumflex branch of coronary (LCX) was ligated to develop acute ischemic model. The systolic and diastolic function of left ventricle(LV) was measured before and at 15, 30, 60 min after ligating LCX, and the blood viscosity and hematocrit before and at 60 min after ligating LCX were measured also. 6 hours later LCX ligation, the hearts were harvested for determining the infarction size, which was expressed as the ratio of infarct area to the total ischemic area, and evaluating apoptosis index expressed as the percentage of myocardial cells with TUNEL positive staining. RESULTS: 1.Compared with AI group, captopril pretreatment significantly reduced the infarction size (16 60%?0.94% vs 36.24%?1.94%, P

BACKGROUND: The commonly used culture methods for primary intervertebral disc cells are type Ⅱcol agenase alone digestion method, and type Ⅱ col agenase combined trypin digestion method. However, the acquired cells are few. OBJECTIVE: To acquire nucleus pulposus cells from human degenerative intervertebral disc using a systemic and simplified method. METHODS: Nucleus pulposus cells were isolated and cultured. The morphology of nucleus pulposus cells was observed under inverted phase contrast microscope every day. Primary and subcultured cellsuspension was applied for the determination of cel viability using trypan blue staining. The cel growth was detected with MTT assay. The cel morphology was observed under laser confocal microscopy. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Nucleus pulposus cells were successful y isolated from from human degenerative intervertebral disc using the improved method, and cells were subcultured to passage 3. Primary cells were fusiform shaped, while cells at passage 1 and 2 were triangle or polygonal, which were similar to fibroblasts. When cells almost reached the confluence, the cells showed slabstone-like appearance. Trypan blue staining showed that, the primary cel viability was 99%, and passage 3 cells had 93%-95% viability. The proliferation of nucleus pulposus cells gradual y decreased as the generation increased. Compared with passage 1 cells, passage 2 and 3 cells at logarithmic phase trended to be smoother. The cel morphology observed under laser confocal microscopy was similar to the results under phase contrast microscope. The improved simple method can successful y acquire a variety of cells from human degenerative intervertebral disc, and these cells show fine biological properties.

Mutagenicity Tests ; methods ; Tobacco Smoke Pollution ; adverse effects

OBJECTIVETo provide a theoretical basis for the further development of new drugs, the analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects and the liver function in mice of anthocyanin from Ligustrum vicaryi were investigated.

METHODSThe 240 experimental mice were splitted equally for 6 kinds of experiments and 40 rats in each kind of experiment were divided into 5 groups (n = 8): normal saline control group (NS); aspirin control group (Asp); high-concentration anthocyanin group (HA); medium-concentration anthocyanin group (MA); low-concentratior anthocyanin group (LA). The analgesia effect of anthocyanin at different concentration was detenmined by hot-plate test and acetic acid writhin test, and the anti-inflammatory effect of anthocyanin was performed by ear edema, ahdomen capillary permeability and cotton granuloma. The activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) and the contents of nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) in blood serum were determined, and the activities of SOD, T-AOC and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) in liver were measured, while the histological changes of liver tissue were observed.

RESULTSThe pain threshold of mice was enhanced and the times of twist body wa decreased by medium-concentration and high-concentration anthocyanin. The activity of SOD was increased and the conentrs of NO and PGE were reduced in blood serum. High-concentration anthocyanin inhibited the ear swelling , the increase of celiac capillary permeability and th granuloma hyperplasia, and increased the activities of SOD and T-AOC while decreased the content of PGE2. The activities of SOD, T-AOC. GSH-PX were increased in liver, but the morphology of liver tissues in each group had no significant changes.

CONCLUSIONAnthocyanin Ligustrum vicaryi has definite anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects, which is related to increasing the antioxidant capacity and decreasing th contents of NO and PGE2, and has not obvious damage to liver in the range of experimental concentration.

Analgesics ; chemistry ; Animals ; Anthocyanins ; pharmacology ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents ; chemistry ; Antioxidants ; metabolism ; Aspirin ; pharmacology ; Dinoprostone ; metabolism ; Edema ; Fruit ; chemistry ; Glutathione Peroxidase ; metabolism ; Ligustrum ; chemistry ; Liver ; drug effects ; Mice ; Nitric Oxide ; Superoxide Dismutase ; metabolism

The antitussive activity assay for the root extraction of Disporum cantoniense was carried out with coughing mice induced by ammonia liquor. The results showed that the ethanol and water extractions of D. cantoniense possess strong antitussive activity, and the high dose of the former was better than positive control, and then the constituents of the ethanol extraction were separated and purified by various modern chromatographic techniques. Their structures were identified by physico-chemical properties and spectroscopic data. As a result, eight compounds were isolated and identified as stigmast-4-en-3-one(1), (22E, 24R)-ergosta-5, 7, 22-trien-3beta-ol(2), obtucarbamate A(3), obtucarbamate B(4), neotigogenin(5), azo-2, 2'-bis[Z-(2,3-dihydroxy-4-methyl-5-methoxy) phenyl ethylene] (6),dimethyl {[carbonylbis (azanediyl)] bis( 2-methyl-5, 1-phenylene) j dicarbamate (7) , and quercetin-3-O-pB-D-glucopyranoside(8). All compounds were isolated from this plant for the first time, and the result of bioactivity-directed isolation showed that compounds 3, 4, and 6 had obvious effect on antitussive activity, and compound 6 had the same level as positive control.
Animals ; Antitussive Agents ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Ethanol ; chemistry ; Female ; Liliaceae ; chemistry ; Male ; Mice

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of miRNA-101 on the expression of the enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EXH2) in human androgen-independent prostated cancer LNCaP cells.

METHODSWe divided LNCaP cells into a blank control, a negative control, and a miRNA-l01 transfection group, constructed the vector by transfecting synthetic miRNA-101 mimics into the LNCaP cells, and evaluated the efficiency of transfection by fluorescence microscopy. Then we determined the expression level of EZH2 mRNA by qRT-PCR in the three groups of cells and that of the EZH2 protein in the negative control and transfection groups by Western blot.

RESULTSGreen fluorescence signals were observed in over 70% of the LNCaP cells in the transfection group after 24 hours of transfection. At 72 hours, the expression of miRNA-101 was significantly upregulated in the transfected cells (P < 0.01), that of EZH2 mRNA was remarkably lower in the transfection group (0.01 ± 0.10) than in the blank control (0.95 ± 0.40) and negative control (0.86 ± 0.30) groups (both P < 0.01), and that of the EZH2 protein was increased in the negative control but decreased in the transfection group with the extension of culture time.

CONCLUSIONmiRNA-101, with its inhibitory effect on the expression of EZH2 in LNCaP cells, is a potential biotherapeutic for prostate cancer.

Androgens ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Enhancer of Zeste Homolog 2 Protein ; Genetic Vectors ; Humans ; Male ; MicroRNAs ; physiology ; Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; metabolism ; RNA, Messenger ; metabolism ; Transfection

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the roles of different housing environments in neurological function,cerebral metabolism,cerebral infarction and neuron apoptosis after focal cerebral ischemia.Twenty-eight Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into control group (CG) and cerebral ischemia group,and the latter was further divided into subgroups of different housing conditions:standard environment (SE) subgroup,individual living environment (IE) subgroup,and enriched environment (EE) subgroup.Focal cerebral ischemia was induced by the middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO).Beam walking test was used to quantify the changes of overall motor function.Cerebral infarction and cerebral metabolism were studied by in vivo magnetic resonance imaging and 1H-magnetic resonance spectra,respectively.Neuron necrosis and apoptosis were detected by hematoxylin-eosin and TUNEL staining methods,respectively.The results showed that performance on the beam-walk test was improved in EE subgroup when compared to SE subgroup and IE subgroup.Cerebral infarct volume in IE subgroup was significantly larger than that in SE subgroup (P＜0.05) and EE subgroup (P＜0.05) on day 14 after MCAO.NAA/Cr and Cho/Cr ratios were lower in MCAO groups under different housing conditions as compared to those in CG (P＜0.05).NAA/Cr ratio was lower in IE subgroup (P＜0.05) and higher in EE subgroup (P＜0.05) than that in SE subgroup.NAA/Cr ratio in EE was significantly higher than that in IE subgroup (P＜0.05).Cho/Cr ratio was decreased in MCAO groups as compared to that in CG (P＜0.05).A significant decrease in normal neurons in cerebral cortex was observed in MCAO groups as compared to CG (P＜0.05).The amount of normal neurons was less in IE subgroup (P＜0.05),and more in EE subgroup (P＜0.05) than that in SE subgroup after MCAO.The amount of normal neurons in EE subgroup was significantly more than that in IE subgroup after MCAO (P＜0.05).The ratio of TUNEL-positive neurons in EE was significantly lower than that in SE subgroup (P＜0.05) and IE subgroup (P＜0.05).Correlation analysis showed that the beam walking test was negatively correlated with NAA/Cr ratio (P＜0.05).Cerebral infarct volume was negatively correlated with both NAA/Cr ratio (P＜0.01) and Cho/Cr ratio (P＜0.01).The amount of normal cortical neurons was positively correlated with both NAA/Cr ratio (P＜0.01) and Cho/Cr ratio (P＜0.05).The TUNEL-positive neurons showed a negative correlation with both NAA/Cr ratio (P＜0.01) and Cho/Cr ratio (P＜0.01).This study goes further to show that EE may improve neurological functional deficit and cerebral metabolism,decrease cerebral infarct volume,neuron necrosis and apoptosis,while IE may aggravate brain damage after MCAO.

Objective To study the gait of children with spastic cerebral palsy (SCP) using plantar pressure measurement (PPM).Methods Twenty SCP children and 84 healthy children were recruited,and PPM was used to compare their gait cycle time,cadence,and standardized gait cycle parameters.Results Compared with the control group,gait cycle times in the SCP group were obviously prolonged,and their cadence was significantly slower.The side support phase and swing time in the SCP group were shorter,while the double support phase was longer than that of children in the control group.Conclusion PPM can be used to assess the gait of SCP children efficiently.

Objective To observe the perioperative management of cardiac surgery and extracorporeal circulation method in patients with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency(G6PD).Methods Ten patients with G6PD deficiency underwent uneventful cardiac surgery procedures between January 2005 and December 2010.Twenty patients who had non-G6PD deficiency were as a control group,the selected conditions were the same gender,age,body mass,the risk of heart disease surgery.The preoperative management in patients with G6PD deficiency mainly focused on avoiding the drugs implicated in haemolysis,reducing the surgical stress,using moderate hypothermia extracorporeal circulation and enhancing blood conservation.Observed indicators included the assisted ventilation time,urine volume,the drainage volume of chest tube,the amount transfusion of red blood cells and plasma,the level of hemoglobin and serum total bilirubin in the 2nd day after surgery,ICU stay.Results Compared with the control group,patients with G6PD deficiency had no significant difference in duration of ventilation after the operation,drainage,urine,Hgb,bilirubin levels,and blood transfusion[(9.3 ± 4.5)h vs (8.6 ± 5.7)h,(2100 ±670)ml vs (1950 ± 490) ml,(253 ± 146)ml vs (260 ± 120)ml,(1.3 ± 1.0)U vs (1.8 ± 1.2)U,(96 ± 25)g/L vs (99 ± 12)g/L,and (24 ± 8)μmol/L vs (27 ± 1 l)μmol/L,t =0.978,2.032,1.257,0.891,2.182,2.271,and 1.329,all P ＞ 0.05].The duration of ICU discharge was significantly longer in the glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficient group[ (2.6 ± 0.6)d vs (1.8 ± 1.5)d,t =2.704,P ＜ 0.05].Conclusions Cardiac surgery can be performed safely in patients with G6PD deficiency with enhanced perioperative management.

Objective To study the immune responses of Th1 and Th2 subsets of T cells in 26 children with mycoplasma pneumo-niae pneumonia(MPP).Methods ELISA was used to detect the levels of interferon- ?( IFN- ?) and interleukin-4(IL-4) in the serum in 12 healthy children as normal controls and 26 patients of acute stage as acute stage MPP group, 9 of whom in recovery stage were as recovery stage MPP group. Results IFN - ? level in acute stage MPP group was significant higher than that in normal controls (P 0.05); and IFN - 7/IL - 4 ratio was significant higher than that in normal controls( P0.05).Conclusion Thl responses increase and Th2 responses decrease in children with MPP,and this kind of response persists during the recovery stage.