Objective To study activation effect of a natural compound baicalein on cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator(CFTR) chloride channel.Methods A cell-based fluorescence assay was used to determine CFTR-mediate iodide influx rate/dt(mmol?L-1?s-1)] activated by baicalein(the concentrations were 0.18,0.55,1.65,5,15,44,133 and 400 ?mol?L-1).Results The Ka of flavonoid baicalein stimulating CFTR was about 16 ?mol?L-1.The half of maximal activity was reached in ten minutes and the activation disappeared in 20 min after baicalein was washed out.The activation of baicalein was not affected obviously under different concentrations of Forsklin(0,20,50 and 100 nmol?L-1)and the activation could be totally inhibited by CFTRinh-172.Conclusion Baicalein can stimulate CFTR-mediated iodide influx in a dose-dependent way and its activity manifests a rapid and reversible characteristic.It might work in both elevating CFTR protein phosphorylation and direct binding way.

Objective: To observe the clinical efficacy of acupuncture plus bloodletting therapy in treating insomnia in people with blood stasis constitution. Methods: Seventy-two patients were randomized into a treatment group and a control group by using the random number table, 36 cases each. The treatment group received acupuncture plus bloodletting therapy, while the control group was intervened by oral administration of estazolam. One-week treatment was taken as a course, for 3 successive courses in total. A follow-up study was conducted 3 months later. The Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) was evaluated before and after the intervention, as well as in the follow-up. The clinical efficacies were also compared. Results: The total effective rate was 88.9% in the treatment group versus 83.3% in the control group, and the between-group difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). After the intervention, the PSQI scores dropped significantly in both groups (both P<0.05); the between-group difference in PSQI score was statistically significant (P<0.05). The follow-up study showed that the between-group difference in the global score of PSQI was statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusion: Acupuncture plus bloodletting therapy can produce a more significant efficacy than oral administration of estazolam in treating insomnia in people with blood stasis constitution.

No abstract available.
Hemangioma*

OBJECTIVETo study the effect of nano-SiO2 on spatial learning and memory.

METHODSTwenty-four male rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: control group (C group), low dose group (L group) and high dose group (H group). The rats were intragastrically administrated with nanometer particles at 25 and 100 mg/kg body weight every day for 4 weeks. After exposure, the ability of learning and memory of rats was tested by Morris water maze, and electrophysiological brain stereotactic method was used to test long-tear potentiation (LTP) in dentate gyrus (DG) of the rats.

RESULTSThe increase rate of body weight in H group was reduced significantly compared with C group ( P < 0.05). In the space exploration experiment of Morris water maze test, the escape latency of H group was longer than that of C group (P < 0.05). The rats of H group spent less time in finding the target quadrant (P < 0.05) . The rate of LP induction of H group was significantly lower than that of C group (P < 0.05). After high fre quency stimulation (HFS), The changes of amplitude of population spike (PS) of L group and H group were lower than those of C group significantly (P < 0.05, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONNano-SiO₂may result in impairment of spatial learning and memory ability by reducing the rate of LTP induction and the increase of PS in hippocampus.

Animals ; Dentate Gyrus ; drug effects ; Long-Term Potentiation ; drug effects ; Male ; Maze Learning ; drug effects ; Memory ; drug effects ; Nanoparticles ; adverse effects ; Rats ; Silicon Dioxide ; adverse effects ; Spatial Learning ; drug effects

The study reports the detection of neuroprotective effect of 10 kinds of coumarin derivatives and explores their possible mechanism. MTT method was used to screen the neuroprotective effect of 10 coumarin derivatives on neurotoxic agents (Aβ25-35 and rotenone) or OGD (oxygen-glucose deprivation). A compound with better protective effect was obtained. Then the effect of this compound on neurotoxic agents on PC12 was detected by the morphological observation. Furthermore, the effect of compound 3 on microglia with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced inflammation was detected. And the inflammatory factor was tested. Finally, direct free radical scavenging ability was detected. Compound 3 was found to be the best compound through three neurons toxic models. Not only compound 3 ameliorated cell viability reduced by three neurons toxic models, but also significantly inhibited the production of inflammatory factor (TNF-α and IL-1β). And its free radical scavenging ability is very good, especially the effect on superoxide anion, which is comparable with vitamin C. The significant scavenging effect of compound 3 on superoxide anion might be the mechanism of the neuroprotection. Compound 3 as a potential neural cell protective agent merits further investigation.
Animals ; Coumarins ; chemistry ; Free Radical Scavengers ; chemistry ; Inflammation ; Microglia ; drug effects ; Neurons ; drug effects ; Neuroprotective Agents ; chemistry ; PC12 Cells ; Rats

To evaluate the differences of Ophiopogonjaponicus from different cultivations, the metabolomics based method was conducted to compare the effects of Hangmaidong and Chuanmaidong (Chinese name) on plasma endogenous metabolites of normal rats. Data were collected by ultra performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF/MS), and were analyzed by multivariate statistical method, such as Principal Component Analysis and Orthogonal Signal Correction Partial Least Square Discriminant Analysis. Results revealed that the plasma metabolites profiling of low and middle dose group of Chuanmaidong were similar to the control group, but different from the high dose group obviously. Meanwhile the high, middle and low dose groups of Hangmaidong were different from control group notably, and the difference is dose dependent. Lysophosphatidylcholines, the possible endogenous metabolites which contribute to the classification most significantly, are closely related to cardiovascular system diseases. Compared with the group of Chuanmaidong, Hangmaidong has greater impact on the plasma metabolic profiling of normal rats. Hangmaidong and Chuanmaidong showed significant differences pharmacodynamically.

Objective To investigate the specific immune responses induced by DNA vaccine com-bined with recombinant adenovirus carrying major outer membrane protein ( MOMP) gene of Chlamydia trachom-atis (Ct) serovar E.Methods Recombinant eukaryotic expression plasmid pVAX 1-MOMP and recombinant adenovirus Ad-MOMP were constructed and purified .Four immunization strategies were designed including DNA immunization (DNA group), recombinant adenovirus immunization (Ad group), DNA prime-recombinant ade-novirus boost regimen ( DNA/Ad group ) and recombinant adenovirus prime-DNA boost regimen ( Ad/DNA group) .Two weeks after the final immunization , vaginal wash specimens , blood samples and spleens were col-lected from all mice for the evaluation of humoral and cellular immune responses .Results Th1 responses and mucosal responses were not found in DNA group .Ad group induced both Th 1 responses and local mucosal re-sponses , and its IgG and IgA levels were significantly higher than those in DNA group .DNA/Ad group and Ad/DNA group induced stronger Th 1 responses and humoral responses than DNA and Ad group .Serum antibodies and mucosal antibodies in DNA/Ad group were higher than those in Ad/DNA group, but Th1 responses in DNA/Ad group were impaired than those in Ad/DNA group.Conclusion The recombinant adenovirus could induce Th1 responses and genital mucosal responses .Combined immunization of DNA/Ad or Ad/DNA showed enhanced specific immune responses in comparison with the single immunization with DNA or Ad .The differ-ences between the two combination methods were that DNA /Ad group stimulated higher levels of specific anti-body responses , while Ad/DNA group produced stronger Th 1 responses .The study provided a reference for the enhancement and development of vaccines against Chlamydia trachomatis in further studies .

Objective To investigate the molecular epidemiology of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in China in 2005.Methods From January to December 2005,395 consecutive and non-repetitive isolates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus were collected from 17 teaching hospitals in 14 cities.The genotypes of SCCmec were determined by multiplex PCR pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE)was used to type the chromosome DNA of MRSA.Muhilocus sequence typing(MLST)was used to type the housekeeping genes.Fifty-three strains were selected for MLST typing according to the antimicrobials susceptibility patterns,PFGE types,SCCmec types and the distribution of the regions.The toxin gene was detected by PCR.Results Among 395 isolates of MRSA,SCCmec Ⅲ,untypeable type and type Ⅱ accounted for 61.5%(243/395),24.3%(96/395)and 14.2%(56/395)respectively.In Shenyang,60.7%(17/28)of the isolates were SCCmec Ⅱ,which was significantly higher than other areas. Twenty-four different types and 42 subtypes were found by PFGE typing.Clone A accounted for 50.1%, existing in 13 teaching hospitals in 12 cities and clone R accounted for 23.5%,existing in 9 teaching hospitals in 8 cities.Six sequence types(ST)were found in these isolates with ST239 and ST5 accounting for 75.5% and 17.0% among these isolates,respectively.The prevalence of pvl gene was 2.5% among 395 isolates of MRSA.Conclusions The most types of SCCmec in China were Ⅲ and Ⅱ,and distribution of SCCmec types differed among regions.MRSA outbreaks caused by epidemic multiple-drug resistant clones occurred in big teaching hospitals in China.Meanwhile,the same PFGE pattern may spread among areas. Several international epidemic MRSA clones may exist in China.

Animals ; Carbon Radioisotopes ; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental ; genetics ; metabolism ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Gene Expression Regulation ; Glucose ; administration & dosage ; metabolism ; Lipid Metabolism ; Liver ; metabolism ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Transcriptome

Objective To observe the expression of Neuropilin (NRP)-1, 2, to calculate micro vessel density (MVD) in colorectal cancer, paraneoplastic tissues, normal tissues, and to investigate the correlation between NRP-1, 2 and MVD to understand the role of NRP-1, 2 in the process of tumor angiogenesis. Methods Expression of NRP-1 and NRP-2 were studied by immunohistochemistry in 66 specimens from colorectal cancer, paraneoplastic tissues and normal tissues. MVD was assessed based on CD105 immunohistochical staining. Results (1) The positive expression of NRP-1, 2 in colorectal cancer, paraneoplastic tissues, normal tissues were 71.2%, 25.8%, 0;80.3%, 15.2%, 0 respectively. There was a statistical difference between them (P<0.05). (2)The quantity of MVD in colorectal cancer, paraneoplastic tissues and normal tissues were 35.682±5.542, 14.485±3.301 and 6.864±1.771 respectively. There was a statistical difference between them (P<0.05). (3) Expression of NRP-1, 2 had a good correlation with the tumor size, infiltrating depth, lymph node metastasis, Dukes stag-ing (P<0.05), but no correlation was found with the tumor position, histological types, differentiation degree and the gender or age of patients (P>0.05). (4) The MVD value had no correlation with the gender or age of patients, tumor size, position, histological types (P>0.05), but had a good correlation with infiltrating depth, lymphatic metastasis and Dukes staging (P<0.05). (5) There was a positive correlation between NRP-1, 2 and MVD value (P<0.01). Conclusion NRP-1, 2 may play an important role in the angiogenesis of the colorectal cancer, and it correlates with the invasion and metastasis of colorectal cancer closely.