Objective: To study the effect of ?- carotene(?-C) on lipid peroxidation and RBC-membrane fluidity of rats inflicted with alloxan. Methods: Forty-four 2mo-old Wistar rats were randomly divided into 4 groups and fed with basal diet (group A and B), basal diet + vitamin E (200 mg/kg) (C) and basal diet+? carotene (200 mg/kg) (D) for 4 w respectively. Then, alloxon (3%) was injected intraperitoneally except group A, which was injected with normal saline. After 48 h the rats were killed and a series of indices were examined. Results: After injected with alloxan, Na +,K +-ATPase and GSH-Px activity, RBC-membrane fluidity in rats fed with diets C,D were markedly increased while MDA levels were decreased. Conclusion: ?-C and V E can decrease lipid peroxidation and increase the stability of RBC-membrane in rats inflicted with alloxan.

Objective To investigate the mechanism of anti-aging effect of Yangyan Quban particles on the aging skin. Methods With the dose of D-galactose 1000 mg/(kg?d) by sc administration to the female mice for 42 days, the aging model was established. The mice received Yangyan Quban particles (6.68, 3.34, 1.67 g/kg) by ig administration at the same time of injecting D-galactose. Forty-two days later, the dorsal skin samples were collected to determine glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity and serum estradiol (E2) contents, and the influence on uterus, ovary, skin dry and wet weight and the amount of water intake were studied. Results Compared with the aged model mice, the GSH-Px activity and E2 contents in the mice treated with Yangyan Quban particles were increased remarkably, especially the medium is the best dose (P

Objective To investigate the pharmacological actions related with therapeutic effect and indications of crude and processed semen cassiae,and to compare the differences between them.Methods Serum contents of ALT and AST were determined in acute liver injury mice induced by CCl4,the intestinal propulsion of Evans blue was measured in normal mice and in constipation mice,and stool properties,defecation latency and defecate amounts in constipation mice were also investigated.Results Both crude and processed semen cassiae showed obvious liver-protective effects,and decreased the contents of ALT and AST in serum,but processed semen cassiae was better than crude in protecting liver.Both of them increased the intestinal propulsion in normal and constipation mice,improved the stool properties,shortened the defecate latency and increased the defecate amounts in constipation mice.Conclusion Both crude and processed semen cassiae have the effects of protecting liver,lubricating bowel and promoting defecation.The processed is superior to the crude in liver protection and enzyme decrease,and they have similar effect in lubricating bowel and promoting defecation.

The efficacy of different kinds of insulin analogue administered by multiple subcutaneous injection or continuous insulin infusion was compared. The two forms of administration all can well control blood glucose. Continuous subcutaneous injection has better compliance.

Objective To evaluate the techniques and efficacy of artery embolization in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia(BHP).Methods This study included 12 patients(age range,61-82 years) who were diagnosed to have BHP by clinical manifestations,CT and B-ultrasound,with the disease course of 2-16 years.The relevant parameters were as follows:mean residual urine(RU) of 138 ml,Qmax of 9.6 ml/s,mean IPSS of 24.2 and QOL of 4.8.In these patients,the prostate blood-supply arteries were confirmed by super-selective arteriography,and were embolized by injection of PVA and Gelfoam via artery catheters.The pre-and post-operative IPSS,QOL,Qmax and RU were compared.Meanwhile the changes of prostate volume and blood supply were evaluated by CT and B-ultrasound.In addition,the change of urethral diameter was evaluated by urethrography.Results In the 12 patients,21 prostate blood-supply arteries were embolized,including 5 branches of internal iliac artery,9 branches of inferior vesical artery,5 branches of internal pudendal artery,2 branches of obturator artery.The arteries were embolized bilaterally in 9 patients and embolized unilaterally in 3 patients.Postoperatively,the mean IPSS was 4.8;QOL,1.3;Qmax,18.9 ml/s;RU,0-3 ml,which indicated that the urethral obstruction was obviously improved after operation.CT and B-ultrasound showed that the prostate volume was obviously decreased from 127 ml to 90 ml on average with a reduction rate of 71%,and the urethral stricture disappeared on X-ray examination.Color Doppler imaging showed that the blood supply inside the prostate was reduced.Conclusions The artery embolization for the treatment of BHP is a new method with several virtues of less trauma, marked effect,better safety and fewer complications.

Objective To observe the effect of serum containing Baihe Zhimu Decoction(BZD) on ovarian granular cells(GC) injury induced by cadmium chloride(CdCl2) in rats.Methods Totally fifteen female SD rats aged 23 days,3 months and 12 months(5 rats in each age group) were enrolled into the study.The number of ovary GC was counted.The growth of GC within 10 days was observed continuously for the selection of the well-growth ovarian GC.On the third day of the culturing,the screened ovary GC was cultured for another 48 hours in 10,20,40,60 and 80?mol/L CdCl2 solution respectively at 37℃ with 5% CO2 added.The optical density(OD) at 490nm was determined by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium(MTT) assay for the screen of the optimal concentration of CdCl2 solution.Then the ovary GC were cultured in 96-well plate for 72 hours with serum containing BZD(at the final concentration of 1.25%,2.5%,5%,10% and 20% respectively) added.Meanwhile,the blank control group(cultured with 10% DMEM culture medium),model group(cultured with 10% DMEM culture medium and optimal concentration of CdCl2 solution),and blank serum group(cultured with blank serum and optimal concentration of CdCl2 solution)were set up.After the culturing for 48 hours,the OD value of all the groups was detected to evaluate the effect of BZD-containing serum on CdCl2-induced ovarian GC injury in rats.Results The number of GC in 23-day rats was the biggest and their growth was the best in the manner of exponential growth,indicating that GC in 23-day rats was suitable for the modeling.Ovarian injury was increased with the concentration of CdCl2,and 40?mol/L was the optimal concentration for CdCl2,which induced the shrinkage of GC edge.Serum containing BZD promoted the growth of GC,and counteracted the CdCl2-induced GC injury.Conclusion The protective mechanism of BZD-containing serum on CdCl2-induced GC injury is probably related with the counteraction of CdCl2-induced injury and with the increase of ovarian GC activity and quantity.

The relationship between visfatin.endothelin, and insulin resistance in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes mellitus was explored. Endothelin, visfatin, and other markers were compared. Plasma visfatin was reduced after therapy. Endothelin was positively correlated with fasting insulin, HOMA-IR, HOMA-p, and visfatin. Visfatin was positively correlated with endothelin, HbA1C , fasting insulin, and HOMA-IR. HOMA-IR was an independent related factor in influencing visfatin. The visfatin is related to endothelin and insulin resistance, which may contribute to the pathogenesis of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Objective To investigate the variations in the pol region of HIV-1 strain in treatment failed patients in Yunnan province's Dehong prefecture and Kunming. Methods Blood samples were collected from 139 patients who experienced treatment failure ( HAART treatment ＞ 1 years and HIV-1 RNA Viral load ＞ 1 000 copies/ml). HIV-1 RNA was extracted from plasma, and nested-PCR was performed for amplification of PR and RT genes on the HIV-1 pol region. The PCR products were then sequenced and submitted to Stanford HIV Drug Resistance Database for comparison. The evolution tree was built up with MEGA 4. 1 system, combined with patients' demographics. Results The most prevalent mutation in Kunming patients were T215F/N/Y/I, M41L/M, and T69G/N/I/S/A/D, the mutation rates were 39%(24/62), 27% (17/62) and 27% (17/62) , respectively, which were higher than the corresponding mutations in the Dehong prefecture [16% ( 11/69), 13% (9/69) and 9% (6/69)]. The rate differences were statistically significant ( x2 = 8.646, 4.242 and 7. 909, all P ＜ 0.05 ). The most common HIV-1 pol region subtype in the Dehong patients were CRF01_AE subtype (32%, 22/69), followed by C subtype (25% ,17/69), and B subtype ( 19%, 13/69). Major subtypes in Kunming patients were 08_BC (60%,37/62 ), CRF01_AE subtype(21% , 13/62 ) and 07_BC ( 15% ,9/62). Conclusions Partial differences of the point mutations of the HIV-1 strain pol region and frequency of their occurrences exist among Dehong and Kunming patients, HIV-1 strains in Dehong prefecture for the NNRTIs mutations at the T215 Y/N/T, M41L and T69G/N/I/S/A/D are significantly higher than those in Kunming. Six isoforms are found respectively:CRF01_AE, B, C, BC, 08_BC and 07_BC from the epidemic strains of HIV-1 pol region subtype in Dehong and Kunming areas.

ObjectiveTo investigate the changes and potential effects of differentially expressed microRNAs (miRNAs) in the development and progression of liver injury in a mouse model of autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) induced by concanavalin A (ConA). MethodsEight healthy male specific pathogen-free C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into model group and control group, with four mice in each group. The mice in the model group were given tail vein injection of ConA 15 mg/kg, and those in the control group were given an equal volume of normal saline. All mice were sacrificed after 8 hours of modeling, Total RNA in liver tissue was extracted, gene microarray was used to screen out differentially expressed miRNAs, and target prediction and function analysis were performed for upregulated and downregulated miRNAs. The independent samples t-test was used for comparison of differentially expressed miRNAs between two groups. ResultsThe principal component analysis showed that the inter-group difference of the data extracted by gene microarray met the conditions for further analysis. Compared with the control group, the model group had 31 upregulated miRNAs and 18 downregulated miRNAs in mouse liver, which had a regulatory relationship with 959 target genes (601 upregulated genes and 358 downregulated genes). GO analysis showed that in the model group, the target genes of the upregulated miRNAs mainly had the molecular functions such as “DNA binding” (P=1.47×10-6), participated in the biological processes such as “transcription, DNA-templated” (P=2.36×10-7), and were mainly enriched in the cellular components such as “neuronal cell body” (P=5.99×10-6), while the target genes of the downregulated miRNAs had the molecular functions such as “RNA polymerase II proximal promoter sequence-specific DNA binding” (P=2.49×10-6), participated in the biological processes such as “regulation of transcription, DNA-templated” (P=1.64×10-11), and were mainly enriched in the cellular components such as “nucleoplasm” (P=4.30×10-10). KEGG pathway enrichment analysis showed that the target genes of the upregulated miRNAs were mainly enriched in “Endocytosis” (P=0.000 4), while the target genes of the downregulated miRNAs were mainly enriched in the “Hippo signaling pathway” (P=0.004), and the above functional analysis results were statistically significant (P＜0.05). ConclusionThere are differentially expressed miRNAs in the pathogenesis of AIH, and these differentially expressed miRNAs can provide new targets for the clinical treatment of AIH.

Objective To explore the effect of topical application of Fushan rheumatism external prescription on inflammatory cytokines and notch2 pathway in rats with collagen-induced arthritis(CIA).Methods 36 female Wistar rats were randomly divided into normal group(n=10)and model group(n=26).CIA model was successfully established in 20 rats,which were randomly divided into model group(n=10)and Fushan rheumatism external prescription group(n= 10).Treatment was initiated on day 14,and 0.4 mL ointment was evenly applied to the ankle joints of rats in Fushan rheumatism external prescription group.Normal group and model group were topical smeared with the same volume of normal saline.Activity was taken twice a day for 42 days.The joint swelling of rats was observed every week and the arthritis index was scored.Thereafter blood was collected from abdominal aorta,and then ankle joint,spleen,liver,and kidney of rats were taken out after the end of the interventions.The severity of arthritis and the pathological changes of ankle joint,liver and kidney were evaluated by HE staining;Inflammatory cytokines expression in serum were detected by ELISA;The expression of Notch2,Delta-like ligand protein 1(delta-like ligand protein-1,DLL1)and nuclear factor-κ Bp65(nuclear factor-κ Bp65,NF-κ Bp65)mRNA and protein in synovium of ankle joints and spleen were detected by qRT-PCR and Western blot,and its positive expression in ankle joints were detected by immunohistochemical method;The changes of liver and kidney function of rats in each group were detected in serum.Results Compared with normal group,the arthritis index score in model group were increased(P<0.01),joint injury and pathological score were increased(P<0.01),the levels of inflammatory cytokines TNF-α,IL-6,IL-17 and IFN-γ in serum were increased(P<0.01),the expression of Notch2,DLL1 and NF-κBp65 mRNA and protein in joints and spleen were increased(P<0.01),and the positive expression in joints were also increased(P<0.01);Compared with model group,the arthritis index score in Fushan rheumatism external prescription group were decreased(P<0.05,P<0.01),joint injury and pathological score were decreased(P<0.01),the levels of inflammatory cytokines TNF-α,IL-6,IL-17 and IFN-γ in serum were decreased(P<0.01),the expression of Notch2,DLL1 and NF-κBp65 mRNA and protein in joints and spleen were decreased(P<0.01),and the positive expression in joints were also decreased(P<0.01).In addition,no noticeable tissue damages were observed in liver and kidney in Fushan rheumatism external prescription group,and the levels of aspartate aminotransferase(AST),alanine aminotransferase(ALT),blood urea nitrogen(BUN)and creatinine(Cr)in serum were no changes(P>0.05).Conclusion Fushan rheumatism external prescription relieves arthritis symptoms and joint injury in CIA rats,and has no toxic and side effects on liver and kidney.Its mechanism may be related to the reduction of inflammatory cytokines and down-regulation of Nocth2 pathway.