Aim To investigate estradiol inhibition of neointimal proliferation after rat carotid artery balloon injury. Methods Eight to ten-week-old SD rats (male,n=21,female,n=21) were divided into intact control(n=7),gonadectomy control(n=7) and estradiol (n=7, gonadectomy)groups in each sex. Left carotid artery was not injured with 2.0 F PTCA balloon until estradiol was injected for three days. Rats were killed 2 wk after injury. Neointimal areas and media area, ratios of intimal areas/media areas were measured with computer. Results Male neointimal areas and ratios of intimal areas /media areas in estradiol group were less than those in intact control group significantly(all P0.05). Conclusions Estrdiol inhibits neointimal proliferation after the gonadectomy in rats undergoing carotid artery balloon injury.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the relationship between the second to the fourth digit ratio (2D:4D) and body mass index (BMI) in infertile men of the Han ethnic group in Ningxia.

METHODSUsing anthropometry, we calculated the mean ratio of 2D:4D and BMI of 197 infertile men and 148 normal healthy male controls, followed by analysis of their relationship.

RESULTSThe BMI was correlated positively with the 2D:4D ratio of the left hand in the infertile men (P < 0.05) and in the patients with a higher 2D:4D ratio of the left hand (P < 0.05), but negatively with the 2D:4D ratio of the righ/left (Dr-1) (left: P < 0.01; Dr-l: P < 0.05). The mean 2D: 4D ratio and BMI were both lower in the normal control than in the infertile men, with statistically significant differences in BMI (P < 0.05) and the 2D:4D ratio of the left hand (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThere is a correlation between the 2D:4D ratio and BMI in infertile men.

Body Mass Index ; Case-Control Studies ; Fingers ; anatomy & histology ; Humans ; Infertility, Male ; diagnosis ; Male

OBJECTIVETo research the constituents in needles of Pinus sylvestris.

METHODRepeated column chromatography and preparation HPLC are used for compound isolation, and their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectral data analysis.

RESULTSix compounds, pinifolic acid (1), 15-oxo-8 (17) -labden-18-oic acid (2) , 15-acetoxy-labd-8 ( 17)-en-18-oic acid (3), dehydroabietic acid (4), 7alpha-hydroxydehydroabietic acid (5), 7beta-hydroxydehydroabietic acid (6) were isolated from the needles of P. sylvestris.

CONCLUSIONCompound 3-6 were isolated from the needles of P. sylvestris for the first time, and compound 3 is a new natural product. The petroleum ether and EtOAc extracts showed significant cytotoxic effects to Hela and A549. Compounds 2, 4-6 revealed a positive distinction compared to the control group.

Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Survival ; drug effects ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Diterpenes ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Diterpenes, Abietane ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; HeLa Cells ; Humans ; Molecular Structure ; Pinus sylvestris ; chemistry ; Plant Leaves ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Structure-Activity Relationship

Objective To analyze the clinical characteristics of patients with acute myocardial infarction(AMI) complicated by free wall rupture (FWR) and to define the independent risk factors for FWR. Methods Clinical and angiographic data of 6192 AMI patients admitted to our department between January 1995 and January 2010 were retrospectively reviewed, FWR was confirmed in 43 patients by postmortem examination. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify risk factors for FWR Results Rupture occurred at a median of 3. 58 days after symptom onset. Risk factors associated with FWR were older age, female gender, delayed hospital admission, hypertension at admission and increased serum creatine level。 Although patients with FWR had more single-vessel disease, their in-hospital mortality was very high (97.7％) .Undue physical efforts were documented in 41.9％ patients with FWR. Conclusion Old age, female gender and prolonged time from the onset of symptoms to hospital,hypertension and high level of serum creatine at admission are independent factors of FWR.

Objective To analyze the clinical characteristics of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and coronary artery disease (CAD).Methods Clinical data of 3911 SLE patients were retrospectively analyzed and CAD was diagnosed by coronary angiography in 26 (0.7％ ) SLE patients (10 stable angina pectoris,5 unstable angina pectoris,8 STEMI and 3 non-STEMI).The tradition risk factors,first onset of cardiac events,blood biochemistry index,treatment and activity of SLE,coronary angiographic features were compared with 552 CAD patients without SLE.Results Compared with CAD patients without SLE,CAD patients with SLE were younger [ (50.4 ± 15.2) years vs.(60.6 ± 11.6 ) years,P＜0.01 ],the mean number per patient of Framingham tradition risk factors was less ( 1.11 ± 1.18 vs.2.50 ± 1.28,P ＜0.05 ).CAD patients with SLE were prone to premature coronary artery disease [ 76.9％ (20/26) ],and ACS was the most common manifestation in SLE patients with premature coronary artery disease [ 65.0％ ( 13/20 ) ],the duration of steroid use was significantly longer [ 24.00 ( 3.75,57.00 )months vs.1.00 (0.00,2.00 ) months,P ＜ 0.05 ] and 24 hours total urine protein [ ( 1.93 ± 1.97 ) g vs.(0.76 ±0.75 )g,P ＜0.05] was significantly higher in the ACS patients with SLE than non-ACS patients with SLE.Coronary stenosis was evidenced in most of the SLE patients with CAD [ 76.9％ ( 20/26 ) ] and incidence of coronary thrombotic occlusion was significantly higher in SLE patients with CAD than CAD patients without SLE [ 30.8％ ( 8/26 ) vs.11.8％ ( 65/552 ),P ＜ 0.05 ].Conclusion The incidence of CAD in SLE patients is low and the major form of CAD in SLE patients is premature coronary artery disease and mostly induced by coronary thrombotic occlusion.

α-HgS is the main component of traditional Chinese medicine cinnabar, while β-HgS is the main component of Tibetan medicine Zuotai. However, there was no comparative study on the dissolution and absorption in gastrointestinal tract and bioaccumulation in organs of mercury in Cinnabar, Zuotai, α-HgS and β-HgS. In this study, the dissolution process of the four compounds in the human gastrointestinal tract was simulated to determine the mercury dissolutions and compare the mercury dissolution of different medicines and the dissolution-promoting capacity of different solutions. To explore the absorption and bioaccumulation of cinnabar and Zuotai in organisms, mice were orally administered with clinical equivalent doses cinnabar and Zuotai. Meanwhile, a group of mice was given α-HgS and β-HgS with the equivalent mercury with cinnabar, while another group was given β-HgS and HgCl2 with the equivalent mercury with Zuotai. The mercury absorption and bioaccumulation capacities of different medicines in mice and their mercury bioaccumulation in different tissues and organs were compared. The experimental results showed a high mercury dissolutions of Zuotai in artificial gastrointestinal fluid, which was followed by β-HgS, cinnabar and α-HgS. As for the mercury absorption and bioaccumulation in mice, HgCl2 was the highest, β-HgS was the next, and a-HgS was slightly higher than cinnabar. The organs with the mercury bioaccumulation from high to low were kidney, liver and brain. This study is close to clinical practices and can provide reference for the clinical safe medication as well as a study model for the safety evaluation on heavy metal-containing medicines by observing the mercury dissolution, absorption, distribution and accumulation of mercury-containing medicines cinnabar and zuotai.
Animals ; Brain ; metabolism ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacokinetics ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; metabolism ; Kidney ; metabolism ; Liver ; metabolism ; Male ; Mercury ; chemistry ; pharmacokinetics ; Mercury Compounds ; chemistry ; pharmacokinetics ; Mice ; Solubility

OBJECTIVEThe purpose of this article is to examine the effect of curcumin on the proliferation and metastasis of human tongue squamous cell carcinoma and analyze its mechanism.

METHODSSCC-4 were treated with curcumin of 0, 5, 10, 20, 30, 60, 100 micromol x L(-1) in 24 h. MTT assay, Matrigel invasion assay, flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy were used to examine the effect of curcumin on the growth and metastasis of SCC-4. cDNA microarray and RT-PCR were employed to analyze the expression of genes treated by curcumin.

RESULTSThe results showed that curcumin could concentration-dependently inhibit SCC-4 cell proliferation at the concentration range from 20 to 100 micromol x L(-1). Furthermore, Matrigel invasion assay indicated that curcumin can reduce SCC-4 cell invasion under the dosage of 20, 30, 60 micromol x L(-1). Flow cytometry also showed that curcumin can influence the distribution of cell cycle of SCC-4 cell with the dosage of 20, 30, 60 micromol x L(-1). And the dosage of 30 micromol x L(-1) curcumin could lead to the recruitment of alpha-tubulin. cDNA microarray showed that 87 genes were activated and 198 genes were inhibited with the effect of curcumin. These results were validated by the real time quantitative RT-PCR.

CONCLUSIONAccording to the results, it suggests that curcumin has the potential as the leading compound for anti-cancer proliferation and invasion in oral cancer treatment, and cdc27, EGFR substrate 15, PPAR-alpha and H2A histone may play an important role among this multiple anticancer-targeting ability.

Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; Curcumin ; Humans ; Mouth Neoplasms

OBJECTIVETo evaluate in vitro anti-tumor effect of chemotherapeutic drugs on human gastric cancer cells, and investigate the relationship with Bcl-2 expression.

METHODSSingle cell suspension was prepared from fresh gastric cancer tissue and exposed to taxol (Tax), 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), cisplatin (CDDP), adriamycin (ADM), mitomycin (MMC) respectively for 48 hours. Metabolic activity and inhibitory rate of cells were detected by MTT assay. Expression of Bcl-2 was examined with immunohistochemistry.

RESULTSThe inhibitory rates of cancer cells exposed to chemotherapeutic drugs were different and Tax, 5-FU, CDDP had remarkably higher rates than ADM and MMC. The lower differentiated gastric cancer cells were more sensitive than the higher ones. Positive expression rate of Bcl-2 was 80% and the positive cells showed resistance to 5-FU, ADM and MMC.

CONCLUSIONSChemosensitive testing by MTT assay can constitute the prediction for the application of chemotherapeutic drugs individually. Overexpression of Bcl-2 may contribute to multiple drug-resistance of tumors.

Adult ; Aged ; Antineoplastic Agents ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Cell Survival ; Cisplatin ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Doxorubicin ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor ; Female ; Fluorouracil ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mitomycin ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Mitomycins ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Paclitaxel ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; metabolism ; Stomach Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; pathology ; Tumor Cells, Cultured

OBJECTIVEIt was revealed that t(8; 21) (q22; q22) was one of the most common chromosomal aberrations in acute non-lymphoid leukemia. The translocation was found to be involved in the AML1 gene on the chromosome 21 and the ETO gene on the chromosome 8, and resulted in the formation of AML1/ETO fusion gene on the derivative chromosome 8. The fusion gene was a transcription factor and played a direct role in the leukemogenesis. The translocation was mainly observed in M(2), accidentally in M(4) and M(1) and rarely in MDS. Here we studied the main clinical data in children with acute non-lymphoid leukemia (ANLL) carrying the AML1/ETO fusion gene. In addition, we discussed the significance of the detection of AML1/ETO fusion gene in the diagnosis and prognosis of children with ANLL.

METHODSThe authors investigated 29 patients in our hospital from December 2000 to March 2002. The patients were divided into two groups. Group A included 21 patients, 14 males and 7 females. They were 3.6 to 14 years old and the median was 9. Group B included 8 patients, 6 males and 2 females. They were 0.8 to 14 years old and the median was 6. Diagnosis was made according to FAB and MIC criteria and the expression of AML1/ETO fusion gene was detected with nested RT-PCR. The patients were treated according to DA, DAE or BFM regimen, respectively. The main clinical indexes including age, Hb, white blood count, platelet, blasts in PBC and BM, and time of arrival at complete remission (CR), were compared statistically between the two groups with t test of independent samples.

RESULTSAll the 21 patients in group A were found carrying AML1/ETO, and 17 patients (81%) were classified as M(2), the other 4 cases were of M(2) developed from MDS-RAEB-T, M(4Eo), M(5) and eosinophil leukemia, respectively. Eighteen out of 20 patients whose effects could be assessed reached CR, and the CR ratio was 90%. Two patients in group B were of AML-M(1), 3 M(2), 1 M(3), 1 M(4), and 1 M(5), respectively. None of them was found carrying AML1/ETO. Seven cases reached CR and the ratio was 87.5%. There was no significant difference between the two groups in the above clinical indices.

CONCLUSIONSBetween the two groups of patients there was no significant difference in the above clinical indices. RT-PCR for the detection of AML1/ETO in children with ANLL was quick, convenient and sensitive, and could be regarded as a useful method for the diagnosis and prognosis of ANLL.

Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Core Binding Factor Alpha 2 Subunit ; Female ; Humans ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute ; classification ; drug therapy ; genetics ; Male ; Oncogene Proteins, Fusion ; genetics ; Prognosis ; RNA, Neoplasm ; genetics ; metabolism ; RUNX1 Translocation Partner 1 Protein ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Transcription Factors ; genetics

BACKGROUNDWe have recently reported that RhoA may regulate the invasion and metastasis of breast cancer cells as an upstream signal of ezrin in vitro. In this study, we examined the relationship of RhoA signaling activity with ezrin expression in breast cancer and its prognostic significance in patients with breast cancer.

METHODSParaffin tumor sections of breast cancer were collected retrospectively from 487 patients diagnosed between 2001 and 2004. Immunohistochemical methods were used to detect the expression of RhoA, phosphorylated (activated) RhoA, and ezrin.

RESULTSEzrin overexpression was detectable in 15.2% of 487 invasive breast cancers. The majority (85.1%) of ezrin-overexpressing tumors coexpressed phosphorylated RhoA; 78.8% of tumors with phosphorylated RhoA cooverexpressed ezrin. Patients whose cancers showed overexpression of ezrin or expression of phosphorylated RhoA had shorter survival rates.

CONCLUSIONSRhoA activation is important in human breast cancer due to its upregulation of ezrin; thus, agents that target phosphorylated RhoA may be useful in the treatment of tumors with ezrin overexpression.

Adult ; Aged ; Breast Neoplasms ; chemistry ; mortality ; Cytoskeletal Proteins ; analysis ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Phosphorylation ; Prognosis ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Retrospective Studies ; Signal Transduction ; physiology ; Survival Rate ; rhoA GTP-Binding Protein ; analysis ; physiology