This study was aimed to observe the protective effect of extract from Rhizoma A nemones Raddeanae (RAR) on hepatic fibrosis induced by porcine serum in rats. A total of 68 SD rats were randomly divided into 5 groups, which were the normal group, model group, RAR group, extraction of RAR (EXRAR) group, Fu-Zheng Hua-Y u(FZHY) group. Each rat was intraperitoneally injected with 0.5~0.6 ml of porcine serum twice a week for 15 suc-cessive weeks to establish liver fibrosis model. Intragastric administration was given after the model was successfully established. The FZHY group was given FZHY capsule (0.525 g·kg-1). The RAR group was given RAR decoction (0.7 g·kg-1). The EXRAR group was given EXRAR (0.071 g·kg-1). The model group and normal group were given e-qual amount of physiological saline. The medication was given once a day. And the treatment course was 8 weeks. At the end of the 23th week, rats were sacrificed. Contents of SOD and MDA in blood serum were assayed. The protein expressions of α-SMA and TGF-β1 in liver tissues were detected by SABC. The results showed that compared with the model group, content of MDA decreased in the EXRAR group, RAR group and FZHY group (P<0.05), and content of SOD increased obviously (P<0.05). In the model group, expression of α-SMA and TGF-β1 increased, with dark brown dyeing and diffusion area. Expression area and strength of the FZHY group, RAR group, and EXRAR group were ob-viously weak with tasteless interval dyeing and no formation of typical pseudolobule in comparison with the model group. The color rendering index showed that compared with the model group, the protein expression of α-SMA and TGF-β1 decreased obviously in liver tissues of the FZHY group, EXRAR group, and RAR group (P< 0.05). It was concluded that RAR and its extract had a good antifibrosis effect. And the EXRAR had basically the same antifibrosis effect as RAR. It was assumed that the possible mechanism was related with the inhibiting of hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation and the expression of TGF-β1 as well as the resisting of lipid peroxidation.

Biopsy ; Eosine Yellowish-(YS) ; Gastric Mucosa ; microbiology ; pathology ; Helicobacter Infections ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Helicobacter pylori ; isolation & purification ; Hematoxylin ; Humans ; Silver Staining ; Staining and Labeling ; methods

Objective To detect the level of serum syndecan-1 in patients with oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTSCC),and to investigate the effect of serum syndecan-1 in OTSCC diagnosis and disease progression assessment.Methods The serums of a total of 65 OTSCC patients (OTSCC group) and 74 healthy subjects (control group) were collected from March 2015 to June 2017 in the Fourth Hospital of Xi'an.Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect the level of serum syndecan-1.Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was conducted to evaluate the diagnostic value of serum syndecan-1 in OTSCC and its disease progression.Results The level of serum syndecan-1 in OTSCC group was significantly lower than that in the control group [(91.87 ± 33.18) ng/ml vs.(162.32 ± 51.16) ng/ml,t =1.977,P =0.002].The serum syndecan-1 levels of different TNM stage (F =3.536,P =0.025),tumor invasive depth (F =1.254,P =0.039) and lymph node metastasis (t =2.420,P =0.018) in OTSCC group had statistically significances.ROC curve analysis showed that 95.54 ng/ml serum syndecan-1 [area under the curve (AUC) =0.944,P ＜ 0.001,95％ CI:0.915-0.974] was the cut-off value of OTSCC diagnosis,and 74.54 ng/ml of lymph node metastasis in OTSCC diagnosis (AUC =0.783,P ＜ 0.001,95％ CI:0.697-0.867).Conclusion Serum syndecan-1 level is markedly decreased in patients with OTSCC,and is valuable to diagnose OTSCC or its lymph node metastasis,which is worthy of clinical application.

Objective To construct plasmid vectors of calmodulin(CaM)Mg2+binding site mutants,and to express,purify and identify the mutant proteins. Methods Three kinds of cDNAs coding for the mutated CaM were cloned into pGEX?6P?3 plasmid vectors. These recombinant plasmids were transfected into Escherichia coli BL21 to express GST fusion proteins of CaM mutants. The fusion proteins were purified with Glutathione?Sep?harose 4B beads and PreScission protease. Results Both enzyme digestion analysis and DNA sequence identification proved the successful con?struction of the CaM mutant plasmids. SDS?PAGE results showed the high purity of each CaM mutant protein. The concentrations of three CaM mu?tants were around 1.0 mg/mL. Conclusion Prokayotic expression vectors of CaM Mg2+binding site mutants were successfully developed,and the eli?gible CaM mutant proteins were obtained. This study provided an important basis for further study on CaM’s biological function.

Objective To investigate the changes of peripheral blood tacrolimus concentration and lymphocyte subsets in the uterus transplant recipient,and provide the evidence for monitoring the immune status after uterus transplantation.Methods The peripheral blood tacrolimus concentrations of the uterus transplant recipient during 1 year after transplantation were measured with the microparticle enzyme immunoassay (MEIA).Meanwhile,the whole blood cell counts and lymphocyte subsets were determined by the blood analyzer and flow cytometer,respectively.Results The blood tacrolimus concentrations of the uterus transplant recipient in the first month and second month after transplantation were (13.51 ± 3.92) ng/mL and (15.58 ± 1.19) ng/mL,respectively.The lymphocyte absolute counts were normal before transplantation.At the fifth day after transplantation,the counts of CD3 + T lymphocytes,CD4 + T lymphocytes,CD8 + T lymphocytes and NK cells and the ratio of CD4/CD8 were significantly decreased.One week after transplantation,the counts of CD4 + T lymphocytes were recovered to the normal range and maintained,but its recovery was slower than that of CD8 + T lymphocytes.The ratio of CD4/CD8 ranged from 0.4 to 0.8 during 10 days after transplantation,and increased and maintained between 0.8 and 1.1 after that.The counts of NK cells increased gradually from the 10th day after transplantation,but still did not recover to the level before transplantation even at the 20th day after transplantation.However,the counts and percentages of B lymphocytes did not decrease but increased at the fifth day after transplantation,and recovered to normal gradually from the 10th day after transplantation.There was no significant correlation between the CD3 + T lymphocyte count and blood tacrolimus concentration.Conclusion The dynamic changes of blood lymphocyte subsets and tacrolimus concentration exist in the uterus transplant recipient,which need to be further verified by a large amount of clinical data.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the stress level during parachuting training by salivary biomarker and to study the dynamic characteristics.

METHODSTwenty recruits of military parachuting training completed 8 trainings in a month. The saliva samples were collected at 2 h and 1h before boarding and at 0.5 h after landing on the 1st, 4th and 7th trainings. The levels of cortisol, chromogranin A and α-amylase in saliva samples were detected.

RESULTSThe concentrations of cortisol, chromogranin A and activity of α-amylase increased significantly from pre-boarding to landing during 3 trainings. The concentrations of cortisol, chromogranin A and activity of α-amylase at 2 h before boarding and at 0.5 h after landing decreased significantly with the training times. However, the changes of 3 biomarkers at 1 h before boarding among 3 trainings were not significant.

CONCLUSIONThe levels of stress increased significantly for 20 recruits from pre-boarding to landing during parachuting trainings. The stress levels of 20 recruits before boarding and after landing significantly decreased with parachuting training times.

Aviation ; Biomarkers ; analysis ; Chromogranin A ; analysis ; Humans ; Hydrocortisone ; analysis ; Male ; Saliva ; chemistry ; Stress, Psychological ; Young Adult ; alpha-Amylases ; analysis

OBJECTIVETo study the chemical constituents possessing cytotoxicity activity from Elaeagnus pungens.

METHODThe constituents were separated through repeated chromatographic methods and their structures were elucidated by spectral analysis.

RESULTFive compounds were isolated from the ethyl acetate ether extract of leaves of E. pungens. Their structures were elucidated as 4-hydroxybenzoic acid (1), 3, 3'-dimethoxyquercetin (2), caffeic acid methyl ester (3), methyl 3, 4-dihydroxybenzoate (4), spingic acid (5), 4-methoxylbenzoic acid (6), 3-methylkaempferol (7), kaempferol-3-O-beta-D-glucoside (8), dausosterol (9).

CONCLUSIONCompounds 1-8 were isolated from this plant for the first time.

Caffeic Acids ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Elaeagnaceae ; chemistry ; HeLa Cells ; cytology ; Humans ; Kaempferols ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Parabens ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Plant Leaves ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Quercetin ; analogs & derivatives ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology

OBJECTIVETo investigate plasma endothelin-1 (ET-1) level in patients with prostate cancers and its clinical significance.

METHODSPlasma ET-1 level was measured by radioimmunoassay in 31 patients of prostate cancer (23 with non-HRPC, 8 with HRPC) and 26 patients of BPH.

RESULTSCompared with each other of the ET-1 level, there were no significant difference among the BPH group,non-HRPC group and HRPC group. No significant difference was found either between bone metastasis (BM) and non- BM, between high and middling differentiation prostate cancer group, as well as in different PSA level groups (P >0.05). But the ET-1 level in low differentiation prostate cancer was notably lower than those of the high and middle respectively (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONTo detect plasma endothelin-1 (ET-1) level is not a useful method to evaluate the development and the prognosis of prostate cancer.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Endothelin-1 ; blood ; Humans ; Male ; Prognosis ; Prostatic Hyperplasia ; blood ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; blood ; Radioimmunoassay

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of curcumin (Cur) on radiosensitivity of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell CNE-2 and its mechanism.

METHODThe effect of curcumin on radiosensitivity was determined by the clone formation assay. The cell survival curve was fitted by Graph prism 6. 0. The changes in cell cycle were analyzed by flow cytometry (FCM). The differential expression of long non-coding RNA was detected by gene chip technology. Part of differentially expressed genes was verified by Real-time PCR.

RESULTAfter 10 micro mol L-1 Cur had worked for 24 h, its sensitization enhancement ratio was 1. 03, indicating that low concentration of curcumin could increase the radiosensitivity of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells; FCM displayed a significant increase of G2 phase cells and significant decrease of S phase cells in the Cur combined radiation group. In the Cur group, the GUCY2GP, H2BFXP, LINC00623 IncRNA were significantly up-regulated and ZRANB2-AS2 LOC100506835, FLJ36000 IncRNA were significantly down-regulated.

CONCLUSIONCur has radiosensitizing effect on human nasopharyngeal carcinoma CNE-2 cells. Its mechanism may be related to the changes in the cell cycle distribution and the expression of long non-coding IncRNA.

Cell Cycle ; drug effects ; radiation effects ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Survival ; drug effects ; radiation effects ; Curcumin ; pharmacology ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; drug effects ; radiation effects ; Humans ; RNA, Long Noncoding ; genetics ; Radiation Tolerance ; drug effects

OBJECTIVETo establish a mouse fibroblastic cell line stably transfected with PC-1 gene, and using such cell line to investigate tumor development and progression imposed by the ectopic expression of PC-1 gene.

METHODSEukaryotic expression vector pcDNA3.1(-)/myc-his-pc-1 was transfected into mouse fibroblast cell line NIH3T3 by lipofectamine. Stable transfectants were selected by G418. The integration and expression of ectopic PC-1 gene were analyzed by PCR and RT-PCR. Cytomorphological analysis, MTT, soft agar colony formation and nude mice tumorigenesis assay were used to evaluate the effects of PC-1 gene expression on tumor development and progression.

RESULTSNIH 3T3 cell lines stably expressing PC-1 gene were successfully established and confirmed by PCR and RT-PCR analyses of the integration and expression of ectopic PC-1 gene. Comparing with the parental cell line and cells transfected with control vector, the PC-1 gene transfectants acquired several phenotypes of transformed cells: increasing growth rate, ability to grow and form cell colonies on soft agar, and becoming tumorigenic in nude mice.

CONCLUSIONEctopic expression of PC-1 gene in NIH3T3 cells can induce malignant transformation of mouse fibroblastic cells both in vitro and in vivo.

Animals ; Cell Line, Transformed ; Cell Transformation, Neoplastic ; Gene Expression ; Genes, Neoplasm ; physiology ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Nude ; NIH 3T3 Cells ; Neoplasm Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; physiology ; RNA, Messenger ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Random Allocation ; Transfection