Objective To evaluate the clinical significance of serum levels of ProGRP, TPS and NSE in diagnosis and therapy monitoring in small cell lung cancer patients. Methods The levels of serum ProGRP, TPS and NSE in 51 SCLC patients (SCLC group), 60 benign pulmonary disease patients (benign disease group ) and 60 healthy people (healthy group ) were determined using chemiluminescent immunoassay, ELISA and electrochemiluminescent immunoassay respectively. Blood samples were collected and detected prior to therapy, before the second course of chemotherapy and the third course of chemotherapy consecutively in all the 51 SCLC patients. Results The serum ProGRP, TPS and NSE concentrations prior to chemotherapy in limited stage SCLC (LSCLC) were 136. 9(22.8-631.7)ng/L, 78. 2(56.4-114.6) U/L and 28.1(20.9-46.1)μg/L, respectively; And in extensive stage SCLC patients (ESCLC) were 1 106.6(41.2-2161.1) ng/L, 230. 9( 143.5-259.0) U/L and 81.1 (34.3-140.0)μg/L, respectively. The serum concentrations of the 3 markers in benign disease group were 19. 7 ( 9. 5-29. 1 )ng/L, 48. 7 ( 17.9-95.4) U/L and 12. 1(1.2-13.9) μg/L; and in healthy group were 20.3(10.7-30.6) ng/L, 50.3(19.5-70.7) U/L and 11.7 (1.1-13.4)μg/L, respectively. The Kruskal-Wallis test showed significantly statistical difference in different groups of the 3 tumor markers, Chi-Square were 51. 368,36. 532 and 81. 645( P ＜0. 01 ). Significant statistically differences showed when the concentrations of the 3 marks of the 2 control group were compared with that of the LSCLC group ( U =491, 827, 609 and 476, 831, 585,respectively, P ＜ 0. 05 ). Differences were also statistically significant when the 2 control group compared with that of the ESCLC group ( U = 314,532,456 and 302,553,430, respectively, P ＜ 0. 01 ). The AUC of ProGRP was 0.832 +0.029(95% CI:0.774-0.890). When cutoff value of ProGRP set as 37.7 ng/L, the diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and Youden's index were 71% (36/51), 97% (116/120), 90% (36/40), 89% ( 116/131 ) and 67%, respectively; show good detection performance. The sensitivity increased to 92%, 86%, 92% and 88%, when combination detection of ProGRP + TPS + NSE, ProGRP + TPS, ProGRP + NSE and TPS + NSE were used, and the specificities were 77%, 77% , 92% and 77% accordingly. The Fridman test showed significantly statistical difference in the 3 tumor markers at different stages of treatment, x2 were 49. 120, 10. 614 and 44. 392, P ＜0. 01. After the first chemotherapy course, all the tumor marker levels except TPS decreased significantly in comparison with the pretreatment concentrations. However, only ProGRP levels showed a progressive drop during the two consecutive courses of therapy, and the median concentrations were 68.0 ( 18. 6-158.4 ) and 21.0( 14. 9-63.5) ng/L (compared to the level before therapy,Z=-4. 889 and -5. 594, P ＜0. 01 ). The median of serum TPS increased slightly to 105.2 (54. 1-181.2 ) U/L after the first chemotherapy course (Z=-1.248, P＞0.05), and decreased significantly to 79.0(48.7-155.3) U/L after the second chemotherapy course (Z=-2.484, P＜0. 05 ). As to the NSE, the median concentration decreased to 11.8(8.0-16.0)μg/L after the first chemotherapy course ( Z= - 5. 568, P ＜ 0. 01 ). However, the median was 10. 6(9.0-12.7)μg/L, which showed no significant decrease after the second chemotherapy course (Z=-1.851, P＞0.05).Forty-six SCLC patients evaluated as clinical remission ( 3 CR and 43 PR) after the second chemotherapy course, among them there were 38 patients (83%) with normal serum ProGRP, TPS and NSE level ( 19 patients) or with only 1 abnormal tumor level ( 19 patients). There were only 2 patients with all abnormal serum ProGRP, TPS and NSE level, and both patients were evaluated as clinical PD. Two patients with 2 abnormal tumors results were classified as SD, the only 1 patient without therapy evaluation also had 2 abnormal tumor marker results. Conclusions The serum ProGRP, TPS and NSE are valuable tumor markers for diagnosis and treat monitoring of SCLC, particularly the ProGRP + NSE shows the highest clinical value. Combing detection of the 3 tumor markers are valuable for therapy monitoring and prognosis in SCLC patients.

Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of acupuncture plus medicine in treating senile hepatic cirrhosis.Methods Eighty patients with senile hepatic cirrhosis were randomized to treatment and control groups, 40 cases each. Both group received conventional antiviral and anti-inflammatory treatments. In addition, the control group took domperidone tablets and spironolactone tablets orally and the treatment group received acupuncture. Serum HBV-DNA content was measured, hepatic fibrosis indicators (typeⅢ procollagen, serum hyaluronic acid and laminin) were examined, and clinical symptoms (ascites, hydrothorax, lower limb edema and abdominal varices) and gastrointestinal symptoms (reflux vomiting disappearance time, borborygmus recovery time and defecation frequency) were observed in the two groups before and after treatment. The clinical therapeutic effects were compared between the two groups.Results The total efficacy rate was 95.5％ in the treatment group and 77.5％ in the control group; there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05). There were statistically significant pre-/post-treatment differences in serum HBV-DNA content and hepatic fibrosis indicators in the two groups (P<0.05). There were statistically significant post-treatment differences in serum HBV-DNA content and hepatic fibrosis indicators between the treatment and control groups (P<0.01). There was a statistically significant post-treatment difference in the number of cases of ascites, hydrothorax or lower limb edema between the treatment and control groups (P<0.05). There were statistically significant post-treatment differences in the gastrointestinal symptoms between the treatment and control groups (P<0.01).Conclusion Acupuncture plus medicine is an effective way to treat senile hepatic cirrhosis.

Objective To assess the prevalence of carotid atherosclerosis in adult patients with KaschinBeck disease(KBD) in endemic area, and to investigate the association between KBD and atherosclerosis. Methods B-mode ultrasound was used to investigate carotid atherosclerosis in patients with KBD over 40 years old in Shanhe farm and Shangzhi city and residents in Shuangcheng county in 2009. Ultrasonography images were saved and graded according to intima media morphology. Results The prevalence rates of carotid atherosclerosis in patients with KBD from the 5 villages affiliated to Shanhe farm were 50.0%(26/52),37.3%( 19/51 ),42.5%(30/71 ),58.2% (39/67) and 44.0% (22/50) , respectively. The prevalence rates of carotid atherosclerosis in patients with KBD from the 5 villages affiliated to Shangzhi city were 63.0% (34/54), 45.3% (24/53), 47.2% (25/53), 60.0% (30/50)and 51.9% (28/54), respectively. The prevalence rates of carotid atherosclerosis in people without KBD in the 5 control villages affiliated to Shuangcheng county were 63.9% (46/72),43.1% (31/72),57.1% (40/70),46.9% (30/64) and 53.0%(35/66), respectively. Ten villages in KBD endemic area and 5 villages in control area were investigated. The prevalence rates of carotid atherosclerosis in the 15 villages were standardized and compared by Wilcoxon test. The differences were not significant between two KBD endemic areas and one control( T = 25.0,24.5,all P ＞ 0.05). There was no significant difference in prevalence of atherosclerosis in the 3 areas(x2 = 0.36, P＞0.05). Comparing the severity of carotid atherosclerosis in 3 locations, the difference was statistically significant (x2 = 15.28, P ＜ 0.05) and there was significant difference statistically between the subjects in Shangzhi city and that in the control group(x2 = 8.92, P ＜ 0.05). There was no significant difference between the detection rate of atherosclerosis and the severity of KBD, and similar results in the grade of atherosclerosis and the severity of KBD were found (x2 = 1.88,5.07, all P ＞ 0.05). Conclusions The prevalence rate of carotid atherosclerosis in historical endemic area in Heilongjiang province is not higher than that in the control area.

Objective To investigate the disease situation of adult carotid atherosclerosis in water-related endemic fluorosis areas in Heilongjiang province in 2008 so as to explore the relationship between water-related endemic fluorosis and incidence of carotid atherosclerosis disease. Methods A total of 266 participants over the age of 40 from four villages in Zhaozhou county with water fluoride ≥ 1.0 mg/L in a fluorosis area and 283 residents over the age of 40 from four villages in Tailai county with water fluoride ＜ 1.0 mg/L in a nonfluorosis area were investigated. A portable-type B mode color ultrasound was used to examine the left carotid artery of all participants.The carotid atherosclerosis was diagnosed and graded through the ultrasonograms. Results The prevalence rates of carotid atherosclerosis in the 4 fluorosis villages(Xinfeng, Taipingshan, Baochan and Houzheng villages) were 47.3% (35/74), 63.5%(40/63), 73.3%(33/45) and 60.7%(51/84), respectively, and in the 4 nonfluorosis villages(Hala,Qianxing, Sanjia and Ailin villages) were 32.7% (17/52), 32.9% (24/73), 39.2% (31/79) and 30.4% (24/79),respectively. The prevalence rates of carotid atherosclerosis in every villages standardized by age were 47.3% ,63.5%,73.3% ,60.7% and 34.7% ,36.3% ,43.0% ,41.3%, respectively. Statistic method used was Wilcoxon two sample test and the differences were significant(T = 26, P ＜ 0.05 ). Total carotid atherosclerosis positive rate standardized by age in the 4 fluorosis villages was significantly higher than that in the 4 nonfluorosis villages[57.5%(153/266) ,37.8% (107/283), x2 = 21.36, P ＜ 0.01 ]. After standardized by age, the severity of carotid atherosclerosis was significantly different between fluorosis villages and nonfluorosis villages (x2 = 36.15, P ＜ 0.01 ). Conclusion The prevalence rate of carotid atherosclerosis in endemic fluorosis area is higher than that in nonfluorosis area.

A fusion protein of glucagons-like peptide-1 and human serum albumin (GLP-1/HSA) was expressed and secreted into the fermentation broth with recombinant Pichia pastoris. The productivity of expressed GLP-1/HSA could reach 63.6mg/L in 10L fermentor. After concentrated with hollow-fiber ultrafiltration membrane, GLP-1/HSA was purified from fermentation broth by hydrophobic chromatography, negative ion exchange chromatography and gel filtration chromatography in turn. The HPLC analysis showed that the purified GLP-1/HSA had an overall purity of 95.8%. Furthermore, the analysis of in vivo activity indicated that GLP-1/HSA had the bioactivity of native GLP-1, and could significantly reduce blood glucose level 4h after intraperitoneal administration. It was concluded that a great deal of GLP-1/HSA with higher purity could be harvested by Pichia pastoris expression system and the established purification methods. Preliminary studies show a new potential for developing the long-acting GLP-1 analogs for clinical applications.

Lu Dangshen, a traditional authentic medicinal material of Codonopsis Radix is mainly produced in Shangdang (Changzhi) area of Shanxi Province. Baitiao Dangshen is mainly produced in Gansu Province. Codonopsis Radix contains many kinds of components such as phenylpropanoids, polyalkynes, alkaloids, terpenes, fatty acids, flavonoids, and so on. At present, the effect of producing areas on its chemical compositions has not been systematically studied. This study analyzed the differences of metabolites among Codonopsis pilosula from different producing areas by UPLC-HRMS. PCA, OPLS-DA coupled with Thermo mzcloud online and local databases were used to compare the overall differences of metabolites among Codonopsis pilosula from different producing areas, and the chemical constituents were identified to further screen and find out the different metabolites and analyze the metabolic pathways by information retrieval in HMDB, PubChem, Chemspider and KEGG databases. The results showed that 72 differential metabolites were identified in this study. There were 15 kinds of up-regulated and 57 kinds of down-regulated metabolites of Lu Dangshen compared with Baitiao Dangshen. The top 30 metabolic pathways were analyzed by KEGG enrichment, and the most important metabolic pathways were phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, which was demonstrated that phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathway and related intermediate metabolites could be used as the characteristics of distinguishing Lu Dangshen from different habitats of Codonopsis pilosula. The present study provided a basis for analyzing the influence of producing areas on the chemical components of Codonopsis pilosula and reasonably evaluating the quality of Codonopsis Radix, and also provided a new idea for expounding the authenticity of Lu Dangshen.

In this study, based on the transcriptome data, we cloned the full-length cDNAs of TwAACT gene from Tripterygium wilfordii suspension cells, and then analyzed the bioinformation of the sequence, detected the genetic differential expression after being induced by methyl jasmonate (MeJA) by RT-PCR. The full-length cDNA of the TwAACT was 1 704 bp containing a 1 218 bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding a polypeptide of 405 amino acids (GeneBank accession No. KP297934). The deduced isoelectric point (pI) was 6.10, a calculated molecular weight was about 41.20 kDa, and online prediction showed that TwAACT had two catalytic active sites. After the induction of MeJA, the relative expression level of TwAACT increased rapidly. The expression level of TwAACT was highest at 24 h. TwAACT was cloned firstly, that laid the foundation for identifying thegene and illustrating thebiosynthesis mechanism and its synthetic biology.
Acetyl-CoA C-Acetyltransferase ; chemistry ; genetics ; metabolism ; Amino Acid Sequence ; Cloning, Molecular ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ; Models, Molecular ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; Plant Proteins ; chemistry ; genetics ; metabolism ; Sequence Alignment ; Tripterygium ; chemistry ; classification ; enzymology ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo evaluate and compare the value of serum CK19-2G2 and Cyfra21-1 in diagnosis of lung cancer.

METHODSThe serum concentration of CK19-2G2 and Cyfra21-1 was detected in 104 patients with lung cancer, 71 with benign lung diseases and 105 healthy volunteers. The value of the two parameters in the diagnosis of lung cancer was evaluated with ROC curve analysis. The mean level of CK19-2G2 in the three groups was compared with that of Cyfra21-1 by Mann-Whitney U test, and the correlation between these two parameters was calculated using Pearson coefficient correlation test.

RESULTSThe mean serum CK19-2G2 concentration in the lung cancer group was 2.87 mU/ml, significantly higher than that in the group with benign lung diseases (1.02 mU/ml) and healthy volunteer group (0.01 mU/ml) (P = 0.000). The serum concentration of CK19-2G2 was positively correlated with that of Cyfra21-1, with a Pearson coefficient correlation of 0.543. Furthermore, the mean serum CK19-2G2 level in squamous cell carcinoma group (8.35 mU/ml) was significantly higher than that in the other pathologic groups (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONCK19-2G2, with a higher specificity, may be a better tumor marker than CK19-2G2 in respect of specificity for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), especially for squamous lung carcinoma, and deserves further study.

Adenocarcinoma ; blood ; diagnosis ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Antigens, Neoplasm ; blood ; Biomarkers, Tumor ; blood ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; blood ; diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Keratin-19 ; blood ; Lung Neoplasms ; blood ; diagnosis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Peptide Fragments ; blood ; Small Cell Lung Carcinoma ; blood ; diagnosis ; Young Adult

Based on the transcriptome database of Salvia miltiorrhiza, specific primers were designed to clone a full-length cDNA of ent-kaurene oxidase synthase (SmKOL) using the RACE strategy. ORF Finder was used to find the open reading frame of SmKOL cDNA, and ClustalW has been performed to analysis the multiple amino acid sequence alignment. Phylogenetic tree has been constructed using MEGA 5.1. The transcription level of SmKOL from the hairy roots induced by elicitor methyl jasmonate (MeJA) was qualifiedby real-time quantitative PCR. The full length of SmKOL cDNA was of 1 884 bp nucleotides encoding 519 amino acids. The molecular weight of the SmKOL protein was about 58.88 kDa with isoelectric point (pI) of 7.62. Results of real-time quantitative PCR analyses indicated that the level of SmKOL mRNA expression in hairy roots was increased by elicitor oMeJA, and reached maximum in 36 h. The full-length cDNA of SmKOL was cloned from S. miltiorrhiza hairy root, which provides a target gene for further studies of its function, gibberellin biosynthesis and regulation of secondary metabolites.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Cloning, Molecular ; Computational Biology ; methods ; Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System ; chemistry ; genetics ; Models, Molecular ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; Protein Structure, Tertiary ; Salvia miltiorrhiza ; enzymology

Objective To study the term selecting principles and methods for TCM function classification of the Chinese Traditional Medicine and Materia Medica Subject Headings;To provide basis for revision of new terms.Methods According to general rules of vocabulary compiling and word frequency statistics, relevant database retrieval results and some other materials, such as Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2010 edition), Chinese Medicine Dictionary and Chinese Materia Medica, were referred to conduct the study on the terms of TCM function classification in 2008, and then the subject headings were determined.ResultsThe table of TCM function classification has 1679 subject headings, among which 39 are planned to be deleted, 135 are to be added and 8 are to be modified. Adjustment of these subject headings is conducted according to the efficacy classification of TCM.ConclusionNew version of TCM function classification subject headings are mainly according to word frequency. The subject headings are mainly classified according to main efficacy of TCM, with a purpose to avoid redundancy.