Animals ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Female ; Humans ; Metals, Heavy ; analysis ; pharmacology ; Placenta ; chemistry ; drug effects ; physiology ; Pregnancy ; Rats

Objective: To study the periapical microleakage of the root canals filled with four kinds of sealers using two obturation techniques. Methods: Sixty-four extracted first maxillary premolars were randomly divided into four groups. All the root canals were prepared with Protaper rotary instruments and filled with two obturation techniques: warm vertical condensation and cold lateral condensation. Four kinds of sealers included: Cortisomol, nano-zinc oxide, Apexit and calcium hydroxide which were indivi-dually used for four groups. After the teeth were dyed for 7days with Indian ink, dyeing lines were measured with digital camera under steromicroscope to reflect the microleakage. Results: In cold lateral condensation groups, dyeing lines of calcium hydroxide group had an average length of (1.75?0.22) mm, which was significantly longer than that of Cortisomol group (1.40?0.15 mm) and nano-zinc oxide group [(1.56?0.25) mm, P0.05], which were significantly shorter than that of cold lateral condensation groups (P

Objective To select polyethylenimine polymer with proper molecular weight to enhance the gene expression efficiency of Adenovirus (Ad).Methods Ad was resepcitively complexed with PEI-600,PEI-1 800 and PEI 25 000 by electrostatic adsorption.Afterwards,MTT (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay was used to investigate the cytotoxicity of the complexes with a serial concentration,followed by cell transduction assay to select the best amount of PEI with fixed dose of Ad.In the further,the physicochemical characteristics of the optimized complexes,Zeta potential,and size distribution were studied.Results MTT showed the higher the PEI moderate molecular weight was,the greater the cytotoxity was.PEI-25 000 showed a greater cytotoxicity than that of PEI-600 and PEI-1 800.As compared with PEI-600 and PEI-25 000,PEI-1 800 significanlty promoted expression of Ad gene in A549 cells.PEI turned the Zeta potential of Ad from negative to positive charge.Conclusion In the three kinds of polymer/adenovirus compounds,the cytotoxicity of the compound is positively correlated with the polymer molecular weight and concentration.The greater molecular weight the polymer as well as the higher the concentration are,the higher the cytotoxicity is.

Aim To investigate the relationship be-tween phosphoprotein EBP50 and the proliferation of breast cancer in MCF-7 cells. Methods The quali-fied recombinant plasmid sh-EBP50-pGPU6/Neo was transfected into MCF-7 cells with EBP50 knocking down. The expression of EBP50, c-myc, p-ERK1/2, and ERK1/2 was detected by Western blot. The prolif-eration ability of cells was detected by sulforhodamine B assay. Results The EBP50 knocking down plasmid was constructed successfully. MCF-7 cells with EBP50 knocking down had been established successfully. Knocking down of EBP50 increased the proliferation of MCF-7 significantly, and partially augmented the ex-pression of c-myc and phosphorylation of ERK1/2 . However, knocking down of EBP50 did not impact the expression of ERK1/2 . Conclusion EBP50 suppres-ses the proliferation of breast cancer cell through inhib-iting the activity of ERK1/2 in MCF-7 cell line.

Objective To investigate the relationship between plasma leptin levels and obesity,plasma glucose as well as insulin concentrations.Methods Fasting plasma leptin concentrations were measured with IRMA in 171 cases (including 84 type 2 DM,36 IGT,51 NGT;90 men,81 women),and oral glucose tolerance test was done in every case to measure plasma glucose and insulin concentrations.Height,body weight were measured to calculate body mass index (BMI).Results Fasting plasma leptin levels are correlated with BMI( r=0.6772,P

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) refers to tne transition during which epithelial cells undergo the loss of apical-basal polarity, acquisition of migration capability and transformation into mesenchymal cells. EMT induces breast cancer in situ to developing into metastasis and associates with the drug resistence. The multiple elements including signal pathways, transcriptional factors and downstream genes orchestrate the transition. Among them, the transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) signaling pathway plays a key role in the regulation of EMT in breast cancer. And this paper reviews the development of TGF-β signaling pathway induced EMT in breast cancer.
Breast Neoplasms ; metabolism ; Epithelial Cells ; Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition ; Humans ; Signal Transduction ; Transcription Factors ; Transforming Growth Factor beta ; physiology

Objective To evaluate the efficacy of itopride hydrochloride combined with alpha-lipoic acid in treatment of diabetic gastroparesis.Methods One hundred and ten patients with diabetic gastroparesis were randomly assigned to two groups.Sixty patients received α-lipoic acid plus itopride (α-lipoic acid 0.6 g intravenously for 14 d plus itopride 50 mg orally t.i.d), and 50 cases received oral itopride only.The clinical symptoms including postprandial abdominal fullness, belching, acid reflux, anorexia, nausea and vomiting were observed;the gastric emptying rate was tested, and plasma motilin and serum ganstrin levels were measured groups, before and after two weeks of treatment.Results The clinical symptom scores of combination therapy group (4.62 ± 3.46 vs.12.26-± 3.43) and control groups (5.43-± 3.65 vs.12.31-± 3.37) were improved after treatment.The overall effective rate of combination group was 91.6％ and that of itopride therapy group was 78.0％ (x2 =4.098, P ＜ 0.05).Gastric emptying rate of combination group [(76.9 ± 9.7) ％ vs.(37.3 ± 10.2) ％] was increased more markedly than that ofitopridegroup[(57.2-± 10.4)％ vs.(36.8-± 11.2)％] (t =10.221, P ＜0.05).Plasma motilin and serum ganstrin levels in combination group [(640.2 ± 64.4) ng/L vs.(554.0 ± 67.6) ng/L, (152.6 ± 20.3)ng/L vs.(96.8 ± 22.2)ng/L] were reduced more markedly than those in itopride group [(636.3 ±66.4)ng/L vs.(589.4 48.3)ng/L, (153.5-± 19.4) ng/L vs.(120.9 ± 19.7)ng/L] respectively (t =3.100, 5.959, all P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion For patients with diabetic gastroparesis, α-lipoic acid and itopride combination therapy can significantly improve symptoms and gastric emptying rate, decrease motlin and gastrin levels;and the efficacy of combination therapy is better than that of itopride monotherapy.

Objective To establish a method of gas chromatography with head-space sampling for determination of five residual solvents ( acetone, ethyl acetate, isopropanol, dichloromethane, acetonitrile ) in raw material drug of cefotiam hexetil hydrochloride. Methods Agilent DB-624 capillary column(30 m×0.53 mm,3.0 μm)was used,with FID served as detector and DMF as the solvent. Results Linear relationships were obtained for the 5 residual solvents in their respective concentration ranges ( r=0.999 6-0.999 9,n=5) ,and the detection range was from 0.071 to 0.847μg. The stabilities measured as relative standard deviations ( RSD) for the 5 residual solvents were from 0.40% to 2.12% ( n=3) . The average recovery rates were 99.03% to 103.33%,and RSD were 0.54% to 3.41% ( n=3) . Conclusion The method is simple,sensitive and accurate for the residual solvent analysis in raw material drug of cefotiam hexetil hydrochloride.

AIM: To investigate the potential role of 14-3-3 tau in trophoblast cells on invasiveness. METHODS: 14-3-3 tau expression was detected in first-trimester villi, deciduas and human trophoblastic cell line (BeWo) by immunohistochemistry. Small interference RNA (siRNA) targeting 14-3-3 tau was transfected into BeWo cells. The effects of down-regulated 14-3-3 tau on invasion of human trophoblasts cell line BeWo were examined by matrigel invasion assay, and the transcription, translation of E-cadherin and snail were estimated by RT-PCR or Western blotting. U0126 was used to detect the extracellular-signal related kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) function on down-regulation of 14-3-3 tau induced cell invasion. RESULTS: 14-3-3 tau was detected in the invasive trophoblastic cells in the first trimester villi and that invaded to the deciduas. BeWo cells also expressed 14-3-3 tau. Down-regulation of 14-3-3 tau increased the invasive cell-number of BeWo, as well as the expression of snail, and inhibited E-cadherin. U0126 inhibited the enhanced invasiveness in these cells induced by the down-regulation of 14-3-3 tau. CONCLUSION: 14-3-3 tau may regulate the invasiveness of human trophoblastic cells through ERK1/2 signaling pathway.

Objective To investigate T cell receptor(TCR)variable β(BV)chain usage at the maternal-fetal interface and explore the relationship between the skewed TCR BV usage and unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion(BSA).Methods Eighteen cases with unexplained RSA,together with matched 41 women with normal pregnancies in first trimester from Renji Hospital,Shanghai Jiao Tong University were studied.A high-resolution spectrum typing analysis of complementarity-determining region 3 (CDR3)was used to detect and compare the degree and frequency of TCR BV family expression in deciduas between RSA patients and normal controls.Results(1)The expression degree of BV19(0.029±0.031 vs.0.013±0.010,P=0.038)in RSA group showed a higher usage,while BV5.2(0.040±0.035 vs.0.067±0.052,P=0.046)showed a significantly lower usage when compared with normal controls.No significant difference in the expression of the other TCR BV families between RSA and controls were observed(P>0.05).(2),TCR BV2,3,6,and 7 were the four most common BV families in deciduas of patients with RSA and normal controls,whose frequencies were all mors than 50%.In RSA group,higher frequencies of BV15 (33.3%vs.7.3%,P=0.018),BV19(38.9%vs.14.6%,P=0.049)and BV20(33.3%vs.7.3%,P=0.018)were observed;meanuhile lower frequencies of BV4(33.3%vs.65.9%,P=0.026)and BV7 (66.7%vs.92.7%.P=0.018)distributions were observed.The other TCR BV families did not display significantly different freqencies of distribution(P>0.05).Conclusions It is suggested that a significant skewed TCR BV family occurs at the maternal-fetal interface in patients who undergo abortion.The specific skewed usages of TCR BV might be associated with the susceptibility to unexplained pregnancy loss.