Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene is one of major candidate genes with genetic susceptibility to stroke. However, its correlation with stroke remains controversial. The relationship between gene polymorphism and stroke also cannot be determined. A specific branch in the ACE phylogenic tree may replace the insertion/deletion polymorphic site as a risk marker of stroke for association study.

Objective To observe the effect of herbal treatment to strengthen spleen,tonify kidney,invigorate blood flow and dissolve phlegm plus Rosiglitazone on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) with insulin resistance (IR).Methods The 90 cases were randomized into 3 groups:blank group of 29 cases;western medicine group of 32 cases,treated with Rosiglitazone;treatment group of 29 cases treated with herbal medicine plus Rosiglitazone.The changes in liver function,blood lipid,fasting blood glucose (FBG),fasting insulin (FIN),insulin resistance index (IRI),serum leptin and adiponcetin were observed.Results In the treatment group,changes of liver function,blood lipid,FBG,FIN,IRI,serum leptin and adiponcetin compared after treatment was significant (P

AIM: To investigate the effect of purifried L-amino acid oxidase (LAO) from bungarus fasciatus snake venom on apoptosis and growth of HUVCE cell line. METHODS: The L-amino acid oxidase was purified by SP-sepharose HP column followed by Heperin-Sepharose (FF) column. The homogeneity of the preparation was examined by SDS-PAGE and the molecular weight of LAO was determined by SDS-PAGE and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) gel-filtration. The MTT assay was used to detect the viability of cells. Flow cytometry and laser confocal microscopy were used to identiyfy the cell cycle and apoptotic morphology after cells treated with LAO. RESULTS: An L-amino acid oxidase (BF-LAO) was successfully purified from the venom of bungarus fasciatus. It showed a single band in SDS-PAGE under both reduced and non-reduced conditions. The apparent molecular weight was determined to be 60 kD by SDS-PAGE and 70 kD by HPLC gel filtration. LAO inhibited growth and induced apoptosis of HUVCE cell line in a dose-dependent manner after 12 h incubation, with the 50% inhibitory concentration (IC_ 50 ) being of 2.8 mg/L. Flow cytometry and laser confocal microscope showed a typical apoptotic peak and morphological changes of these cells. CONCLUSION: The L-amino acid oxidase from bungarus fasciatus snake venom could inhibit the HUEVC cell growth and induce the cell apoptosis.

Objective To investigate the potential influence of TNF on the expression of protease activated receptor (PAR)-1,2,3 and 4 by using P815 mast cells. Methods After being challenged with various concentrations of TNF for 2 h, 6 h and 16 h, the P815 mast cells were treated with or without Triton X-100 and the PAR expressions were detected by flow cytometry and immunofluorescent microscopy. Results Compared with the corresponding controls, TNF concentration-dependently upregulated expressions of PAR-2 and PAR-4 both in Triton X-100-treated and the untreated groups, but had no significant effect on the expression of PAR-1 and PAR-3. Moreover, no significantly different expressions of TNF-induced PAR-1, 2, 3 were observed between Triton X-100-treated and the untreated groups, whereas Triton X-100-treated PAR-4 expressions were significantly enhanced by TNF compared with the Triton X-100-untreated ones. Conclusion TNF can up-regulate PAR-2, 4 expression of P815 mast cells but has little effect on the expression of PAR-1, 3 correspondingly. And Triton X-100 treatment had no significant effect on TNF-modulated expression of PARs in P815 mast cells.

Objective To investigate the prevalence and risk factors of intracranial vertebrobasilar artery stenosis. Methods By cluster sampling, adult Han people were recruited from residential communities. Medical history was documented and body height, body weight, waist circumference, hip circumference and blood pressure were measured. Venous blood samples were collected to determine serum fasting glucose, total cholesterol and triglycerides concentrations. Intracranial vertebrobasilar artery stenosis was diagnosed with transcranial Doppler. The SPSS 11.0 software package was used for data analysis. Results Among 1035 people conforming to the inclusion criteria, intracranial vertebrobasilar artery stenosis was found in 58 (5.6%), 17 with left VA stenosis, 23 with right VA stenosis and 30 with BA stenosis.Univariate analysis showed that subjects with diabetes mellitus had a significantly higher prevalence ( 10. 3% ) of intracranial vertebrobasilar artery stenosis (χ2 = 6. 221, P = 0. 013 ) and the mean systolic blood pressure (( 131.1 ± 25.5) mm Hg, 1 mm Hg = 0. 133 kPa) in the subjects with stenosis was significantly higher than those without (3.2%, ( 124. 1 ± 21.6) mm Hg) (t = 2. 228, P = 0. 026). Logistic regression indicated that diabetes mellitus and systolic blood pressure were independent risk factors for intracranial vertebrobasilar artery stenosis ( diabetes mellitus: OR = 3. 305, P = 0. 023; elevated systolic blood pressure 1 mm Hg: OR = 1. 012, P =0. 047). Conclusions This study demonstrated a considerably high prevalence of intracranial vertebrobasilar artery stenosis in a southern Chinese population. Diabetes mellitus and systolic blood pressure play potent roles in intracranial vertebrobasilar artery stenosis.

A new method for chiral separation and purity inspection of landiolol hydrochloride and its stereoisomers was developed by ultra-performance convergence chromatography ( UPC2 ) . The mobile phase was the mixture of supercritical CO2 and methanol/n-butyl alcohol/acetonitrile (1:1:1, V/V) plus 0. 5%NH3?H2O. The separation was carried out on the Daicel CHIRALPAK? IF column (150 mm × 4. 6 mm, 3 μm) with a flow rate of 2. 8 mL/min at 50℃ using 223 nm as detection wavelength. Under the optimized experimental conditions, for R,R-stereoisomer, R,S-stereoisomer and S,R-stereoisomer, the detection limits (LOD, S/N=3) were 0. 3, 0. 4 and 0. 3 mg/L, the linear ranges were 2-300 mg/L, 5-300 mg/L and 2-300 mg/L, the recoveries of spike samples were 103. 4%±2. 5%, 91. 8%±2. 5% and 101. 7%±1. 5%, and the injection repeatabilities were 0. 06%, 0. 09% and 0. 08% (n=6), respectively. The experimental results demonstrate that the UPC2-based method can be used for the analysis and determination of landiolol hydrochloride and its stereoisomers.

This paper analyzes the current situation of constructing postgraduate education quality assurance systems worldwide, and explores the specific path of constructing a "seven-in-one" medical postgraduate education quality assurance system. The system should be constructed according to the education practice in military medical universities and consider the following aspects: first-class students, first-class teaching, first-class tutors, first-class disciplines, first-class management, first-class culture, and first-class achievements. The system should be constructed by enrollment reform and innovation, teaching method reform, tutor team construction, discipline construction, cultural atmosphere creation, and emphasis on cultivating achievements.

This article elaborates how to facilitate the cultivation reform of medical graduate innovation ability from four perspectives: graduates, colleges or universities, supervisors and the society. Graduates should focus on studying high-quality academic papers, participate in various academic competitions, and actively apply for research projects; universities should innovate education philosophy, optimize curriculum system, create innovation-stimulating cultural atmosphere, establish quality supervision mechanism; supervisors should set a good example for their students, maintain a harmonious relationship with students, take the responsibility of fostering virtue though education and organize excellent supervisor team; and the society should support universities to realize "industry-education collaboration".

Objective To investigate the possible presence of radiation brain injury (RBI) in vascular injury and blood-brain barrier (BBB) damage.Methods Seventy 8 weeks old male BALB/C mice were randomly divided into irradiation group and control group;mice in the two groups received whole-brain exposure with a single dose of 10 Gy irradiation or sham irradiation.Tissue samples were taken 1,7,30,90 and 180 days after irradiation (7 mice in each time point per group);HE staining was used to observe the microvascular morphology and density changes;immune-fluorescence staining was used to visualize the differential expressions of factor Ⅷ related antigen (vWF) and zonulaoccludens-1 (ZO-1).Results Micro-vascular disorders began to appear from the first day of irradiation,deteriorating with time extension gradually.After the X-ray irradiation exposure,the protein expressions of vWF and ZO-1 in the irradiation group were significantly decreased as compared with those in the control group 1,7,30,90 and 180 days after irradiation (vWF:23.17±2.93 vs 15.80±2.39,21.25±2.33 vs 11.60±2.3,19.78±2.16 vs 8.20±1.64,17.21±3.31 vs 6.00±2.12 and 16.98±1.92 vs 3.80±2.59;ZO1:26.17±3.31 vs 15.40±1.82,23.20±2.93 vs 12.00±1.58,20.88±2.20 vs 9.10±2.55,18.32±1.87 vs 6.20±1.92 and 17.50±1.91 vs 2.40±1.52,P＜0.05);besides,the decreased expression ofvWF and ZO-1 in the irradiation group showed a time-depended manner,with significant differences between each two time points (P＜0.05).Conclusion X-rays may induce persistent micro-vascular injury and destroyed BBB tight junctions,which may be closely related to the occurrence and development of RBI.

Objective To investigate the effect of bevacizumab (BVZ) on cerebral vessel and blood brain barrier changes in whole-brain irradiation mice.Methods Seventy-five male mice aged 6-7 weeks were randomly divided into normal control group,BVZ group and radiation group (n=25).Mice firom normal control group were without whole-brain irradiation or drug administration.Mice from BVZ group and radiation group were accepted fractionated cranial irradiation at a total dose of 30 Gy by X-ray.Mice from BVZ group and radiation group were intraperitoneally injected with 10 mg/kg BVZ solution or equivalent normal saline (10 weeks continuously) at the beginning of the first X-ray whole-brain irradiation.Eleven weeks after the first irradiation,HE staining was used to observe cerebrovascular pathological changes;Western blotting was used to test vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) protein expression;Evan Blue (EB) staining was used to assess the blood-brain barrier damage,and immunofluorescence staining was used to test the yon willebrand factor (vWF) and tight junction protein-1 (ZO-1) expressions.Results The VEGF protein expression level and brain tissue EB content ([9.66±0.73] μg/mL) in the normal control group were significantly increased as compared with those in the radiation group and BVZ group ([16.90±2.15] μg/mL and [12.29±0.96] μg/mL,P＜0.05),but ZO-1/vWF ratio (0.92±0.08) in normal control group was significantly decreased as compared with that in the radiation group and BVZ group (0.46±0.18 and 0.75±0.11,P＜0.05).As compared with the radiation group,BVZ group had significantly reduced VEGF protein expression and EB level in the brain tissues,and had significantly increased ZO-1/vWF ratio (P＜0.05).Conclusion BVZ decreases the quantity of VEGF in brain tissues and alleviates the continuous damage of the brain vessels and blood brain barrier in whole-brain irradiation mice.