Humans ; Ankle ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Stroke

Objective: To construct a polycistron tandem repeated Echistatin (Ecs) gene. Methods: Three Ecs genes with independent initiation and termination codon were ligated tandem through restriction enzyme sites after amplified with 3 pairs of primers using pMD18T-Ecs as template. The polycistron Ecs gene was inserted into pET30a and expressed in E.coli BL21(DE3) with IPTG induction. The expression results were identified by 18% SDS-PAGE and Western blot. Results: The expression of Ecs polycistron was accomplished with 18% expression level of total protein determined by SDS-PAGE and Western blot. Conclusion: The successful expression of Ecs polycistron provided a new method for the preparation of low molecular weight protein.

Humanin(HN,its analogue [Gly14]-Humanin,HNG)was originally identified as an endogenous peptide that protects neuronal cells from apoptosis induced by various types of Alzheimer's disease-related insults.But the relative low content of this peptide in its natural sources limits its further characterization.An expression vector pET32a/HNG was corstructed and transformed it into E.coli BL21 trxB(DE3).HNG was expressed as a fusion protein in the soluble fraction and was purified by nickel affinity chromatography.Subsequently,the purified fusion protein was cleaved by enterokinase and was further purified by reverse-phase HPLC.A 23 mg recombinant HNG(rHNG)from 1 L bacterial culture was purified.The molecular weight of rHNG determined by ESI-MS was 2876.5 Da which was the expected size for correctly processed peptide.The N-terminal amino acid sequence of rHNG determined by Edman degradation method is identical to the theoretical sequence.Neuroprotective bioassay studies of rHNG exhibited its potential neuroprotective effect comparable to that of the natural HNG peptide.

Medicinal values and their chemical bases of Paris (Trilliaceae) are reviewed. Paris plants include 40 species and varieties. Among them, 18 ones are medicinal plants with similarity in traditional uses. Fourteen species have been studied phytochemically, which led to isolation of 207 compounds including 121 steroidal saponins. These saponins are major active constituents from Paris plants, which can explain the traditional uses of the plants to treat cancer, malignant boil, bleeding, gastritis, and so on. The similarity in medicinal uses and chemical constituents of Paris plants implies the possibility of resource substitution among these species. It is worth to further investigate Paris plants in chemical constituents, pharmacological activity, biological property, and toxicology.
Animals ; Drug Therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Magnoliopsida ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry

Humanin (HN, its analogue [Gly14]-Humanin, HNG) was originally identified as an endogenous peptide that protects neuronal cells from apoptosis induced by various types of Alzheimer's disease-related insults. But the relative low content of this peptide in its natural sources limits its further characterization. An expression vector pET32a/HNG was corstructed and transformed it into E. coli BL21 trxB (DE3). HNG was expressed as a fusion protein in the soluble fraction and was purified by nickel affinity chromatography. Subsequently, the purified fusion protein was cleaved by enterokinase and was further purified by reverse-phase HPLC. A 23 mg recombinant HNG (rHNG) from 1 L bacterial culture was purified. The molecular weight of rHNG determined by ESI-MS was 2876.5 Da which was the expected size for correctly processed peptide. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of rHNG determined by Edman degradation method is identical to the theoretical sequence. Neuroprotective bioassay studies of rHNG exhibited its potential neuroprotective effect comparable to that of the natural HNG peptide.

Human xanthine oxidase is considered to be a target for therapy of hyperuricemia. Cichorium intybus is a Chinese plant medicine which widely used in Xinjiang against various diseases. In order to screen the inhibitors of xanthine oxidase from C. intybus and to explore main pharmacological actions of cichory a compound collection of C. intybus was built via consulting related references about chemical research on cichory. The three-dimensional crystal structure of xanthine oxidase (PDB code: 1N5X) from Protein Data Bank was downloaded.. Autodock 4.2 was employed to screen the inhibitors of xanthine oxidase from cichory 70 compounds were found to possess quite low binding free energy comparing with TEI (febuxostat). C. intybus contains constituents possessing potential inhibitive activity against xanthine oxidase. It can explain the main pharmacological actions of cichory which can significantly lower the level of serum uric acid.
Chicory ; chemistry ; Databases, Protein ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Enzyme Inhibitors ; chemistry ; Humans ; Molecular Docking Simulation ; Molecular Structure ; Xanthine Oxidase ; antagonists & inhibitors ; metabolism

Objective To investigate the safety and efficacy of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) combined with extracting blood from hemangiomas guided with CEUS for treating hepatic cavernous hemangiomas (HCH).Methods Data of 55 patients with 77 lesions of HCH underwent CEUS guided RFA combined with extracting blood from hemangiomas during January 2010 to December 2016 were retrospectively analyzed.Conventional ultrasound and CEUS were performed before therapy,in order to obtain the size and blood supply information of lesions,also performed immediately after treatment and 3 months later to calculate the volume of hemangiomas and the rate of hemangiomas after the treatment,as well as the rate of non-blood supply 3 months after the treatment.Then statistical analysis was done.Results The mean operation time was (31.53±15.89)min,and the blood extracting from hemangiomas was (135.36± 68.13)ml.There was positive correlation between the volume of hemangiomas before treatment and the blood extracting from hemangiomas (r=0.722,P＜0.05).No serious complication occurred among 55 cases,while mild complications happened in 9 cases (9/55,16.36 ％).The volume of hemangiomas decreased immediately and 3 months after treatment (both P＜0.05),and the rate of hemangiomas reducing was (48.76±32.58) ％ and (22.37±35.73) ％,respectively.The rate of non-blood supply 3 months after treatment was 96.10％ (74/77).Conclusion CEUS-guided RFA combined with extracting blood from hemangiomas is an effective and safe method,which has potential to become a first-line therapy.

Objective: To investigate the effects of simulated-thermobaric explosive gas on the respiration and nervous system in rats. Methods: 70 of SPF SD rats were randomly divided into four thermobaric explosive gas groups, two restoration observation groups and control group from April to August in 2018. The exposure time of in four thermobaric explosive gas groups were 3.75, 7.5, 15.0 and 30 min, respectively. The restoration observation groups were designed to observe for 30 and 120 min after exposure thermobaric explosive gas 30 min. The bloods were collected and analyzed at the end of exposure and recovery observation. The endogenous carbon monoxide (CO) , nitric oxide (NO) , glutamic acid (GLU) , acetylcholinesterase (AchE) and dopamine (DA) were detected in brain tissues, respectively. Results: The blood gas index (pH, PCO₂, PO₂, COHb, O₂Hb, MeHbt) and blood electrolytes (Na⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺ and Cl^-) in exposure groups have significant differences with these in control (P<0.05) . The pH value decreased with the exposure time longer. However, it basically returned to normal level when terminating exposure for 120 min. The concentration of PCO₂, MeHb and CoHb increased first and then decreased with the exposure time extension. Conversely, The PO₂ and O₂Hb decreased first and then increased with the exposure time longer. The concentration of endogenous CO, GLU, and AchE decreased and NO increased in exposure group 4 and the restoration observation group 1 compared with those in control (P<0.01) . In addition, there were pathological changes in lung and brain tissue of exposure group, such as inflammatory cell infiltration and edema. Conclusion The blood gas index, electrolytes, neurotransmitter, histopathology of lung and brain were changed to various degrees by thermobaric bomb gas exposure. These findings would provide some beneficial support for evaluating the damage effect of thermobaric bomb gas on organisms.

OBJECTIVETo observe the correlation between the decline of cognitive function and the level of plasma homocysteine in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD).

METHODSThirty six AD patients were selected from hospitals in Tianjin. The enrolled patients were in accord with the diagnosis criteria. Thirty two control subjects were corresponding patients without AD in the period. Blood samples were extracted from each subject to determine the levels of homocysteine (Hcy) and folate. Cognitive status was evaluated by the mini- mental state examination (MMSE) and clinical dementia rating scale (CDR).

RESULTSThe mean value of serum Hcy concentration [(17.51 +/- 5.62) micromol/L] of AD group was higher than that of control group [(12.38 +/- 4.25)micromol/L]. The serum [(5.17 +/- 1.76) microg/L] and diet folate [(206.94 +/- 44.51) microg/d] concentration of AD group were lower than those of control group [(7.92 +/- 2.22) microg/L, (259.74 +/- 41.92) microg/ d]. The incidence of hyperhomocysteinemia in AD group (64%) was higher than that in control group (22%). A significant relation between Hcy concentrations and the CDR was observed. With the increase of Hcy concentrations the CDR raised, and with the increase of Hcy concentrations the MMSE decreased.

CONCLUSIONHyperhomocysteinemia is one of the risk factors inducing the onset of AD. There is a significant negative correlation between Hcy levels and cognitive levels in AD group. Folate deficiency is an important reason to cause elevated Hcy levels in AD.

Alzheimer Disease ; blood ; etiology ; Case-Control Studies ; Folic Acid ; blood ; Homocysteine ; blood ; Humans ; Hyperhomocysteinemia ; blood ; complications

BACKGROUNDPulmonary hypertension (PH) is a set of pathophysiological syndromes characterized by increased pulmonary artery pressure and pulmonary vascular resistance, resulting in increased right ventricular afterload. The left and right ventricles interact through hemodynamics. What impact will PH have on synchronization and function of the left ventricle (LV)? The aim of this study was to evaluate the synchronization of the left ventricular wall motion and left ventricular function in patients with varying degrees of PH using velocity vector imaging (VVI) technology.

METHODSSixty patients with chronic PH served as the experimental group, and 20 healthy volunteers served as the control group. According to the different degrees of pulmonary artery systolic pressure, the experimental group was divided into three groups: mild, moderate, and severe PH groups. The time to peak systolic longitudinal velocity (Tvl), the peak systolic longitudinal velocity (Vsl), the peak diastolic longitudinal velocity (Vel), the peak systolic longitudinal strain (Sl), and strain rate (SRl) in 18 segments were measured in each group.

RESULTSTvl in the control group and each group with PH was reduced from basal to apical segment, and in control group Tvl in various segments of the same wall and in different walls showed no significant difference (P > 0.05). With increase in pulmonary artery pressure, Tvl values measured showed an increasing trend in groups with PH. In groups with PH, Vsl and Vel of each wall were reduced sequentially from basal to apical segments, showing gradient change; Vsl and Vel values measured showed a decreasing trend with increase in pulmonary artery pressure, in which the differences of Vel values measured in the control group and the mild PH group were statistically significant (P < 0.01), and the differences between other groups were statistically significant (P < 0.01). In groups with PH, Sl and SRl in basal segment and the middle segment of each wall were decreased; the difference between groups was statistically significant (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSAsynchronization of the LV and decreased left ventricular function were present in patients with chronic PH; VVI technology can accurately evaluate left ventricular function in patients with PH, and indicators such as Tvl, Vsl, and Vel are valuable.

Adult ; Aged ; Echocardiography ; Elasticity Imaging Techniques ; Female ; Heart Ventricles ; diagnostic imaging ; physiopathology ; Humans ; Hypertension, Pulmonary ; diagnostic imaging ; physiopathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Ventricular Function, Left ; physiology