Objective To investigate the effects of pioglitazone on angiotensin Ⅱ(AngⅡ) -induced proliferation and collagen typeⅠ expression of adventitial fibroblasts (AF). Methods The AFs were isolated from rat thoracic aorta. MTT colorimetry and flow cytometry were used to study the effects of pioglitazone on proliferation and cell cycles of AF. The expression of collagen typeⅠ regulated by pioglitazone was examined by the method of Western blot. Results Pioglitazone inhibited the proliferation of AF in a dose-dependent manner, and the most marked effect could be observed at the concentration of 10?10-6 mol/L for pioglitazone (P

To solve the problem that mostly gait analysis is independent from the treatment, this work proposes a system that integrates the functions of gait training and assessment for foot drop treatment. The system uses a set of sensors to collect gait parameters and designes multi-mode functional electrical stimulators as actuator. Body area network technology is introduced to coordinate the data communication and execution of the sensors and stimulators, synchronize the gait analysis and foot drop treatment. Bluetooth 4.0 is applied to low the power consumption of the system. The system realizes the synchronization of treatment and gait analysis. It is able to acquire and analyze the dynamic parameters of ankle, knee and hip in real-time, and treat patients by guiding functional electrical stimulation delivery to the specific body locations of patients.
Electric Stimulation ; Electric Stimulation Therapy ; Exercise Therapy ; Gait ; Humans ; Wireless Technology

Objective To obtain highly purified astrocytes and identify the cells in each stage to support further studies.Methods The cerebral cortex of a neonatal SD rat was isolated and prepared into single cell suspension.The obtained cells were purified by differential adherence and shook at a constant temperature.By inverted phase contrast microscopy and HE staining,cell morphology was observed.The immunofluorescence staining with anti-mouse GFAP was used to identify the cells.Results The primary cortical cells developed rapidly at 3 d after culture and covered the flasks at 9-12 d.At this time,the cells showed stratification and the astrocytes lay at the lower layer.GFAP positive rate was only about (67.2 ±7.1)%.After the first passage,GFAP positive rate increased obviously (84.0±6.0)%. However, oligodendrocytes and microglias could not be removed completely,and the cells also showed stratification.Through 3 times of passages,we obtained many single species of astrocytes showing satellite shape with 2 or 3 processes,big cell body and round or oval-shaped nuclei leaned to one side.Immunofluorescence staining showed that nearly all of the cells were strong positive and the positive rate reached as high as (97.6 ± 2.4 )%.Conclusion Through differential adherence and shaking at a constant temperature,more astrocytes of high purity and in good state can be obtained.

Objective To determine the serum soluble CD226/PTA1(sCD226/PTA1)level in pa-tients with psoriasis vulgaris.Methods Serum sCD226/PTA1level was measured by sandwich ELISA in30patients with psoriasis vulgaris before treatment(17patients in active stage and13in inactive stage),10patients after treatment,and15healthy individuals as a control.Results Serum sCD226/PTA1level was significantly increased in patients with psoriasis compared with that in healthy controls(P

Objective To observe the effects of nAChR antagonistα-conotoxin Eb1.6 on ther-mal pain threshold and spinal IL-1βexpression levels and astrocytes activation in rats using L5 spinal nerve transaction (SNT)model.Methods Fifty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned into 5 groups with each group 10 rats:sham group,different doses of α-CTX Eb1.6 (0.1 5,1.5 and 1 5 nmol/kg)groups and the saline group after SNT.Saline solution or different doses of Eb1.6 were intraperitoneally injected seven days after the surgery when the model was stable and the treatment continued for seven days.Measured the TWLs of all groups of the rats 1,2,4,7,12 hours after the in-jection on 7 d and 13 d.The rats were sacrificed and L5 spinal cord tissues were collected immediately after the behavioral tests on 13 d.The expression of GFAP and IL-1βwere assessed by Western blot assay and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)separately.Results Groups E1,E2,E3 and C had shorter TWL before the injection on 7 d and 13 d than group N(P <0.05).The TWLs of the rats in groups E1,E2 and E3 of 1 h,2 h and 4 h after the injection on 7 d were significantly higher than that before the injection(P <0.05)with 2 h after the injection showed the most obvious change.The TWL of 1 h,2 h,4 h and 7 h after the injection of the rats in group E1,E2 and E3 and those of 12 h after the injection of the rats in group E2 and E3 on 13 d were significantly higher than that before the injection(P <0.05 )and also higher than TWL of the respective time points on 7 d(P < 0.05 ),also with 2 h after the injection showed the most obvious change.The TWLs of 2 h after the injection a-mong group E1,E2 and E3 showed significant differences both on 7 d and 13 d (P <0.05).Rats spi-nal IL-1βand GFAP expression levels of group E1,E2,E3 and C were significantly higher than those of group N(P <0.05).Rats spinal IL-1β and GFAP expression levels of groups E1,E2,E3 signifi-cantly decreased compared with group C(P <0.05).There were significant differences among the spi-nal IL-1βand GFAP expression levels of group E1,E2 and E3(P <0.05).Conclusion Eb1.6 dose-de-pendently reduced the thermal hyperalgesia induced by L5 spinal nerve transection.Repeated treat-ment of Eb1.6 could produce better analgesic effect,which might be partly attribute to the inhibition of spinal IL-βlevels and astrocytes activation.

Objective To explore the sensitivity and accuracy of directly sequenced core and non-structrural protein (NS)5B regions for hepatitis C virus (HCV)genotyping.Methods Fifty-one serum samples from chronic hepatitis C patients were collected in the study.Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction was used to amplify core and NS5B regions.Genotypes or subtypes were determined by the phylogenetic analysis of directly sequenced core and NS5B regions.Results Among the 51 samples,49 (96.1 %)were successfully typed by phylogenetic analysis of directly sequenced core region.There were overall five genotypes determined in the area,including 1b (61 .2%,30/49 ),2a (20.4%,10/49 ),2b (2.0%,1/49),3a (4.1 %,2/49 )and 6a (12.2%,6/49 ).The positive rate of HCV genotying was 88.2% (45/51 )on the basis of NS5B region.HCV genotypes 1b,2a,2b,3a and 6a were found in 62.2% (28/45),20.0% (9/45 ),2.2% (1/45 ),4.4% (2/45 )and 11 .1 % (5/45 )of the patients, respectively.Conclusion The HCV genotyping based on core regions,compared with that based on NS5B,shows the advantages of primer design,amplification efficiency and accuracy,suggesting that it has the priority to be used in the epidemiological and clinical study of HCV genotyping.

Studies have shown that women's menopause caused by permanent cessation of ovarian function is closely related to lipid metabolism disorders. Er-xian Decoction has been used in the clinical treatment for gynecological diseases and has a good effect on diseases related to reduced sex hormone function. In this study, metabolomics was performed on bilateral ovariectomized model rats within 12 weeks after modeling to mimic the physiological state of menopausal women in different menopausal stages and Er-xian Decoction dosed model rats. The results of liver oil red O staining sections showed lipid metabolic disorder of bilateral ovariectomized model rats and the regulating effects of Er-xian Decoction. 46 potential biomarkers (6 steroid hormones, 3 sphingolipids, 11 phospholipids and 26 glycerides) in plasma and 32 potential biomarkers (1 steroid hormones, 20 phospholipids and 11 glycerides) in liver were obtained based on lipidomics analysis. Then, we analyzed the differential metabolic pathways and construct the lipid metabolism network significantly regulated by Er-xian Decoction. The results provided valuable information for in-depth understanding of the gradual changes on lipid metabolism disorders under menopausal conditions and the characteristics and mechanisms of compound Er-xian Decoction's regulatory effects. The study complied with the procedures established by the Animal Experiment Ethics Committee of the Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and passed the animal experiment ethics examine (No. 00000918).

Objective:To evaluate the efficacy and safety of elbasvir/grazoprevir (EBR/GZR) in patients with genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C in the real-world.Methods:This was an open-label, single-center, retrospective real-world study. A total of 103 genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C patients who were treated with EBR/GZR in Henan Provincial People′s Hospital from May 2018 to October 2019 were enrolled.And the clinical baseline characteristics of patients and the effectiveness and safety of antiviral therapy were respectively evaluated.Results:A total of 103 patients were enrolled in the study with an age of (47.6±13.9) years. Fifty-five (53.4%) patients were male and 48(46.6%) were female. One point nine percent (2/103) patients were genotype 1a hepatitis C and 98.1%(101/103) were genotype 1b hepatitis C. Seventeen genotype 1b hepatitis C patients were previously treated with interferon, and three patients co-infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV). Among the 103 cases, 35 had underlying diseases and 26 had combined medication. Ninty-eight cases completed 12-week treatment and 89 cases completed 12-week follow-up after treatment.Overall, 89 cases achieved sustained virological response. The overall incidence of adverse reactions was 20.4%(21/103), and the main adverse reactions were fatigue, insomnia and anxiety. No serious adverse event occurred. The three patients with HBV co-infection had no hepatitis B activation after treatment.Conclusion:EBR/GZR is effective and safe in the patients with genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C in China.

Objective To observe the role and related mechanism of chemerin and its receptor ChemR23 in glomerular endothelial cells (GEnCs) stimulated by high glucose.Methods Mouse GEnCs were cultured and divided into control group,20.0 mmol/L high glucose group,40.0 mmol/L high glucose group and mannitol control group.Then the expressions of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in cell culture supematant as well as the expressions of intracellular protein and mRNA of chemerin,ChemR23,IL-6 and TNF-α were detected.Lentiviral transfection targeting ChemR23 was applied before high glucose-or Chemerin-stimulated,and expressions of supernatant and intracellular mRNA of IL-6 and TNF-α were measured.Meanwhile whether p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK) pathway was activated by high glucose was detected.The specific inhibitor of p38 MAPK was added prior to high glucose-stimulated,then supernatant and intracellular mRNA expressions of IL-6 and TNF-α was detected.The supernatant expressions of IL-6 and TNF-α were measured by ELISA.The intracellular protein expression and p38 MAPK phosphorylation activity were detected by Western blotting.The mRNA expression was detected by real time PCR.Results Compared with those in the control group,in high glucose groups the expressions of IL-6,TNF-α and chemerin were significantly increased (all P ＜ 0.05),however,the expressions of ChemR23 did not change (all P ＞ 0.05);the supernatant and mRNA expressions of IL-6 and TNF-α were also elevated in the chemerin group (all P ＜ 0.05).Lentivirus baring shRNA could efficiently suppress ChemR23 expression,and the Chemerin-or high glucose-induced expressions of IL-6 and TNF-α were reduced (all P ＜ 0.05).Also it could significantly reduce the expression of phosphorylated-p38 MAPK (p-p38 MAPK) induced by high glucose (P ＜ 0.05),as high glucose group had higher p-p38 MAPK than control group (P ＜ 0.05).While the high glucose-elevated expressions of IL-6 and TNF-α were significantly attenuated by p38 MAPK inhibitor (all P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions High glucose stimulation can induce the expression of chemerin in GEnCs.By binding to ChemR23,chemerin activates p38 MAPK signaling pathway,and then promotes the expressions of IL-6 and TNF-α.These inflammatory cytokines aggravate inflammation of GEnCs.

Phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein (PEBP) is a cytoplasm soluble protein with a high conserved structure. It has been approved recently that PEBP is a multifunctional molecule regulating several important cellular signal pathways, including ERK cascade, NF-κB pathway, and signaling of G protein-coupled receptors. Furthermore, the role of PEBP in tumor metastasis also got a comprehensive attention in the field of clinical cancer research. Together, as a signal regulator at multiple paths in cell, PEBP is becoming a new focus in several research fields. This review is aimed to introduce the newest biological progress on PEBP.
Humans ; MAP Kinase Signaling System ; NF-kappa B ; physiology ; Neoplasms ; Phosphatidylethanolamine Binding Protein ; physiology ; Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled ; physiology ; Signal Transduction