Objective To study the renal protective effects of superfine powder of Rhodiola rosea in diabetic nephropathy (DN)rats.Methods The DN rats model was established by one side nephrectomy and intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin(STZ).Then rats were randomly divided into 6 groups:sham-operation group,model group,Rhodiola rosea common powder groups(3 g/kg·d-1),and superfine powder of low,medium and high dose groups (0.75、1.5、3.0 g/kg·d 1),10 rats in each group.Rats were given the relevant drugs respectively for 7 weeks.Finally the levels of fasting blood glucose (FBG),serum total cholesterol (STC),blood urea nitrogen (BUN),creatinine (Cr) and urinary protein (Upro) were detected.The kidney tissue was taken for histopathological observation.Results Compared with DN modelgroup [FBG,STC,BUN,Cr and Upro was (24.78±3.66)mmol/L,(4.07±1.32)mmol/L,(22.36±2.54)mmol/L,(86.78±7.47) μmol/L,(50.23±6.82)mg respectively],the rats in DN model group after treatment with common and superfine powder (medium and high dose groups) of Rhodiola rosea appeared different levels of improvement ofFBG [(18.67±2.74) mmol/L,(17.21 ±3.17)mmol/L,(15.48±2.46) mmol/L],STC [(3.33±0.87) mmol/L,(3.42 ± 0.74) mmol/L,(3.21 ±0.92)mmol/L],BUN [(15.43±2.04)mmol/L,(16.56±1.85)mmol/L,(12.44±1.36)mmol/L],Cr [(66.17 ± 4.43) μmol/L,(68.42 ± 5.06) μmol/L,(61.33±4.21)μmol/L] and Upro [(37.47±5.64) mg、(35.66 ± 4.72) mg,(27.37± 3.92) mg],P＜ 0.05.The pathologic changes of kidney tissue were improved,too.Conclusion Rhodiola rosea has a good renal protective effect in rats with DN.Furthermore,the superfine powder is more effective than the common powder in renal protective effects.

Objective To investigate the role of r-aminobutyric acid B receptor in the development of liver fibrosis.Methods Thirty-two Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were divided into four groups including a control group,a model group,a baclofen group,and a CGP35348 group.Liver fibrosis was then induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4).Baclofen and CGP35348 treatment were carried out after the formation of liver fibrosis,followed by complete extraction of the eyeball to obtain blood sample to test liver function.Liver tissue specimens were cut and stored for histological staining,histochemistry,real-time polymerase chain-reaction (RT-PCR),and western blot analysis.Results Histological staining indicated that the degree of liver fibrosis was more severe in the CGP35348 group than in the baclofen group (P＜0.001).The levels of alanine transaminase (ALT),aspartate aminotransferase (AST),gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT),total bilirubin (TBil),and direct bilirubin (DBil) were significantly lower in the baclofen group than in the CGP35348 group (P＜0.01).The levels of ALT,AST,GGT,TBil,and DBil were significantly higher in the CGP35348 group than in the model group (P＜0.05).Immunofluorescence results show that the hepatic cell migration was inhibited in the baclofen group.Western blot results showed that the expression levels of α-SMA protein were significantly lowered in the baclofen group when compared to that of the CGP35348 group and model group (P＜0.01).Conclusion GABAB receptor might play a role in the liver protection by inhibition of migration of hepatic cells in liver fibrosis.Further studies into the mechanism behind this function are further needed and may be a potential source of future anti-fibrotic treatment.

Objective To summarize clinical outcomes of interventional therapy on children with common congenital heart diseases(CHD).Methods A retrospective study was conducted.One hundred and fourteen patients with CHD were selected as our subjects,who underwent catheter interventional therapy in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from Jan.2004 and Dec.2012.The size of occluder was chose according to intraoperative echocardiography or cardiac imaging measurements,and occluder was released under assisted monitoring by subtraction angiography or cardiac ultrasound.Results There are all together 112 patients got the therapy successfully,2 cases failed(occluder detachment),and the success rate of operation was 98.2％.After the success of interventional,echocardiography examination showed that 11 cases were with star point across shunt,but the function of the around valve was not affected.One months after operation,echocardiography examination showed star point across shunt of 11 cases were disappeared,and no occluder was shifted as well as no thrombosis formed.Three months after operation,chest radiograph showed pulmonary congestion decreases and heart shadow was shrink.Thirty-eight cases were with three tricuspid regurgitation before operation and 32 cases were without reflux at 3 months after operation,and 6 cases relieved significantly.The patients were followed up for 6 months or 3 years,activity endurance was significantly improved than that before operation.No occluder was shiftand hemolysis and arrhythmia occurred.Meanwhile,No thrombosis or embolism occurred.Conclusion Interventional treatment for children with congenital heart disease is proved as a safe,effective methods and it have broad prospects in clinical application.

AIM: To investigate the effects of octreotide (Oct) on the proliferation and extracellular matrix (ECM) synthesis in hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). METHODS: HSCs were isolated from normal male Sprague-Dawley rat liver by a combination of pronase-collagenase perfusion and density gradient centrifugation. The concentration of 2.5 ?g/L transforming growth factor ?1 (TGF?1) was used in all the experiment settings. Oct at concentrations of 0.01 mg/L ,0.1 mg/L,1 mg/L and 10 mg/L,respectively,or 0.01 mg/L Oct + TGF?1,0.1 mg/L Oct+TGF?1,1 mg/L Oct+TGF?1,10 mg/L Oct+TGF?1 were respectively added to the cultured HSCs. Effects of Oct on HSC proliferation and ECM synthesis were respectively determined by MTT method,-TdR and -proline incorporation,or radioimmunoassay. RESULTS: Oct inhibited MTT intake by cultured hepatic stellate cells and down-regulated -TdR incorporation,compared with control group. The concentrations of hyaluronic acid,laminin,collagen type IV in the culture supernatant and -proline incorporation in HSCs were decreased by Oct. TGF?1 obviously up-regulated proliferation and ECM synthesis in cultured HSCs,and Oct significantly blocked these actions. CONCLUSION: Oct inhibited proliferation and ECM synthesis in cultured HSCs,and elicited the effects of anti-hepatofibrogenesis.

OBJECTIVETo examine the expression changes of activin beta A, beta C, beta E and follistatin mRNA in the development of rat hepatic fibrosis induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl(4)).

METHODSHepatic fibrosis was induced in rats by subcutaneous injections of 40% carbon tetrachloride oily solution for a period of 1 to 7 weeks. After carbon tetrachloride injection of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 weeks, the 6-12 rats were killed every time. The kinetics of activin beta A, beta C, beta E and follistatin mRNA expression were assessed by the semi-quantity RT-PCR.

RESULTSActivin beta A, beta C, beta E and follistatin mRNA could be detected in normal rat livers. After CCl(4) injection for 2 or 3 weeks, beta A mRNA was transiently decreased and became undetectable, then increased gradually. After CCl injection for 6 and 7 weeks, beta A mRNA level was significantly higher than controls (P<0.01). beta C mRNA could be detected after CCl(4) injection for 1 to 4 weeks and was significantly increased after 5 weeks over controls (P<0.05). beta E mRNA could not be detected after CCl(4) injection for 1 to 5 weeks, but significantly increased after CCl(4) injection for 6 or 7 weeks compared with controls (P<0.01). Except for normal rat liver, no follistatin mRNA was detected in rats after CCl(4) injection.

CONCLUSIONSActivins and follistatin have different expression changes in the development of hepatic fibrosis and the imbalance of activins and follistatin expression may involve in the formation of hepatic fibrosis.

Activins ; genetics ; Animals ; Carbon Tetrachloride ; Follistatin ; Gene Expression ; Inhibin-beta Subunits ; genetics ; Liver Cirrhosis, Experimental ; chemically induced ; genetics ; pathology ; Male ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction

Purpose: C-X-C motif chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) and integrin αvβ6 play important roles in the malignant progression of multiple cancers. However, it remains unclear whether the expression of one or both proteins in breast cancer (BC) is of clinical significance. In this study, we investigated the expression of CXCR4 and integrin αvβ6 in BC tissues and their correlation with clinicopathological characteristics, including survival. Methods: CXCR4 and αvβ6 expression in 111 BC tissues was examined by immunocytochemistry. Correlations between the expression of the 2 proteins and patient clinicopathological characteristic were investigated using the Kaplan–Meier method and the Cox proportional hazards model. Results: CXCR4 and αvβ6 were overexpressed in BC tissue compared with normal breast tissue. Overexpression of both molecules was related to lymph node status (p = 0.013 and p = 0.022, respectively). αvβ6 overexpression was also associated with tumor size (p = 0.044). A positive correlation was detected between the expression of CXCR4 and αvβ6 (r = 0.649, p = 0.001), and co-overexpression of both molecules was associated with tumor size (p = 0.018) and lymph node metastasis (p = 0.015). Kaplan–Meier analysis revealed that overexpression of CXCR4, αvβ6, or both molecules was associated with short overall survival (OS; p < 0.001, p < 0.001, and p = 0.009, respectively) and disease-free survival (DFS; p < 0.001, p = 0.005, and p = 0.019, respectively). Multivariate analysis indicated that lymph node metastasis was an independent prognostic factor for unfavorable OS and DFS (p = 0.002 and p = 0.005, respectively), whereas co-overexpression of CXCR4 and αvβ6 was an independent prognostic factor only for OS (p = 0.043). Conclusion CXCR4 and αvβ6 may play synergistic roles in the progression of BC, and co-targeting of CXCR4 and αvβ6 could be a potential strategy for the prevention and treatment of BC.

Early weaned piglets suffer from oxidative stress and enteral infection, which usually results in gut microbial dysbiosis, serve diarrhea, and even death. Rice bran oil (RBO), a polyphenol-enriched by-product of rice processing, has been shown to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties both in vivo and in vitro. Here, we ascertained the proper RBO supplementation level, and subsequently determined its effects on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced intestinal dysfunction in weaned piglets. A total of 168 piglets were randomly allocated into four groups of seven replicates (42 piglets each group, (21±1) d of age, body weight (7.60±0.04) kg, and half males and half females) and were given basal diet (Ctrl) or basal diet supplemented with 0.01% (mass fraction) RBO (RBO1), 0.02% RBO (RBO2), or 0.03% RBO (RBO3) for 21 d. Then, seven piglets from the Ctrl and the RBO were treated with LPS (100 μg/kg body weight (BW)) as LPS group and RBO+LPS group, respectively. Meanwhile, seven piglets from the Ctrl were treated with the saline vehicle (Ctrl group). Four hours later, all treated piglets were sacrificed for taking samples of plasma, jejunum tissues, and feces. The results showed that 0.02% was the optimal dose of dietary RBO supplementation based on diarrhea, average daily gain, and average daily feed intake indices in early weaning piglets. Furthermore, RBO protected piglets against LPS-induced jejunal epithelium damage, which was indicated by the increases in villus height, villus height/crypt depth ratio, and Claudin-1 levels, as well as a decreased level of jejunal epithelium apoptosis. RBO also improved the antioxidant ability of LPS-challenged piglets, which was indicated by the elevated concentrations of catalase and superoxide dismutase, and increased total antioxidant capacity, as well as the decreased concentrations of diamine oxidase and malondialdehyde in plasma. Meanwhile, RBO improved the immune function of LPS-challenged weaned piglets, which was indicated by elevated immunoglobulin A (IgA), IgM, β‍‍-defensin-1, and lysozyme levels in the plasma. In addition, RBO supplementation improved the LPS challenge-induced dysbiosis of gut microbiota. Particularly, the indices of antioxidant capacity, intestinal damage, and immunity were significantly associated with the RBO-regulated gut microbiota. These findings suggested that 0.02% RBO is a suitable dose to protect against LPS-induced intestinal damage, oxidative stress, and jejunal microbiota dysbiosis in early weaned piglets.
Male ; Female ; Swine ; Animals ; Lipopolysaccharides/toxicity* ; Antioxidants/pharmacology* ; Rice Bran Oil ; Dysbiosis ; Dietary Supplements ; Diarrhea/veterinary* ; Weaning ; Body Weight

Objective:To study the risk factors, diagnosis and treatment of transient hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia (HH) in newborns.Methods:From January 2016 to December 2020, newborns with transient HH (HH group) admitted to our hospital were enrolled in this retrospective nested case-control study. Newborns with similar gestational age (GA) (differences of GA<2 w) without HH were matched with 1∶2 ratio as the non-HH group. Clinical characteristics of the two groups were compared and the risk factors and therapeutic results of HH in newborns were analyzed using SPSS 20.0 statistical software.Results:A total of 39 cases were included in the HH group and 75 cases were matched in the non-HH group. The proportion of small for gestational age (SGA) [51.3%(20/39) vs. 32.0%(24/75)], the amount of amino acids (AA) in intravenous infusion[1.0(0.0,1.0) g/(kg·d) vs. 0.0(0.0,1.0) g/(kg·d)], the incidence of hypoglycemia [(4.3±1.9) times vs. (3.6±1.3) times] and the maximum glucose infusion rate (GIR)[(8.3±2.5) mg/(kg·min) vs. (7.4±1.1) mg/(kg·min)] in the HH group were higher than the non-HH group (all P<0.05). The platelet count in the HH group were lower than the non-HH group [(186.9±60.9)×10 9/L vs. (215.3±61.7)×10 9/L, P<0.05]. SGA ( OR=2.535, 95% CI 1.077~5.971), the amount of intravenous AA ( OR=2.180, 95% CI 1.029~4.619) and the maximum GIR ( OR=1.405, 95% CI 1.088~1.815) were independent risk factors for transient HH. In the HH group, 28/39 cases were treated with Diazoxide or Octreotide and the therapeutic effects were good with few adverse drug reactions (ADR). 37/39 cases were recovered within 28 d of birth and the other 2 cases were recovered at 2.5 m and 3.5 m, respectively. Conclusions:SGA, the amount of intravenous AA and higher GIR are risk factors for transient HH in newborns. Diazoxide or Octreotide are effective with few ADR in the treatment of transient HH. Most patients will recover from transient HH in 2 w to 3 m.

Objective:To study the clinical value of bladder stimulation technique (BST) for clean-catch urine collection in late newborns.Methods:From November 2020 to March 2022, relatively stable late newborns hospitalized in the Department of Neonatology of our hospital were enrolled in the prospective randomized controlled trial. The newborns were assigned into BST group and control group. In BST group, urine was collected using BST (suprapubic tapping alternating with lumbosacral massage for 5 min) 20~30 min after feeding and specimen were collected using urine bag before and after BST. In the control group, urine was collected using urine bag method. The urine collection was considered successful if >1 ml of urine not contaminated by faeces were collected within 60 min. The t-test and χ 2 test were used for data analysis. Results:A total of 231 late newborns were included with 117 cases in BST group and 114 in control group. The rate of successful urine collection in BST group was higher than control group (65.8% vs. 39.4%).The time needed for successful urine collection [(30.2±8.5) min vs. (40.7±12.9) min], the incidences of faeces contamination (2.5% vs. 21.1%) and urine contamination (11.7% vs. 26.7%) in BST group were all significantly lower than control group(all P<0.05). Male and female newborns in BST group had similar success rates of urine collection (65.6% vs. 66.0%). Male newborns in BST group had similar urine contamination rate with control group (9.5% vs. 11.5%) and female newborns in BST group had significantly lower urine contamination rate than control group (14.3% vs. 47.4%, P<0.05). Urine was successfully collected in 71 newborns in BST group with median duration of BST for 81 (61,132) s. No adverse effects were observed except for transient consolable crying. Conclusions:Compared with urine bag collection method, BST improves successful urine collection rates and reduces the time needed for urine collection and urine contamination rates (especially for females).

Objective:To study the efficacy and safety of oral acetaminophen or high-dose ibuprofen as rescue treatment after failure of conservative management in very preterm infants (VPIs) with haemodynamically significant patent ductus arteriosus (hsPDA).Methods:From May 2020 to November 2022, VPIs with hsPDA (gestational age<32 weeks and age 4~6 d) admitted to NICU of our hospital were prospectively enrolled. The rescue treatment was initiated if hsPDA still exist after 3~4 d of conservative management. The infants were randomly assigned into acetaminophen group (oral acetaminophen 15 mg/kg, once every 6 h for 3 d) and high-dose ibuprofen group (oral ibuprofen 20 mg/kg for the first dose, 10 mg/kg each dose after 24 h and 48 h). Before and after rescue treatment, the following were recorded: echocardiography, complete blood count, biochemistry, B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), fecal occult blood test (FOBT) and transcranial Doppler ultrasound. Urine output and complications were also examined. SPSS 20.0 was used for statistical analysis.Results:A total of 36 cases were in the acetaminophen group and 37 in the high-dose ibuprofen group. The two groups showed similar efficacy as rescue treatment [80.6% (29/36) vs. 78.4% (29/37), P>0.05]. No significant differences existed in the incidences of upper gastrointestinal bleeding, positive FOBT, oliguria, stage Ⅱ-Ⅲ necrotizing enterocolitis and stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ intraventricular hemorrhage between the two groups ( P>0.05). After rescue treatment, the serum cystatin C in high-dose ibuprofen group was higher [(1.72±0.29) mg/L vs. (1.58±0.26) mg/L] and 24-hours urine output was lower [(3.1±1.0) ml/(kg·h) vs. (3.7±0.7) ml/(kg·h)] than the acetaminophen group (all P<0.05). No significant differences existed in serum creatinine, platelet count, BNP, alanine aminotransferase and total serum bilirubin between the two groups ( P>0.05). Conclusions:After failure of early conservative management in VPIs with hsPDA, when initiated within 7-10 d after birth, rescue treatment with oral acetaminophen or high-dose ibuprofen has a similar efficacy of 80%, and both drugs are safe. Oral high-dose ibuprofen may have a greater effect on renal function than acetaminophen.