OBJECTIVETo investigate the predictive value of CEA and CA19-9 in tumor progression, prognosis and neoadjuvant chemotherapy of advanced gastric cancer.

METHODSClinical data of 322 patients with advanced gastric cancer(54 cases undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy) from the Affiliated Oncologic Hospital of Guangzhou Medical College were reviewed. Serum CEA and CA19-9 levels were detected by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay, while the expression of CEA and CA19-9 protein in 54 pairs of tumor tissues and matched biopsies neoadjuvant chemotherapy were determined by immunohistochemistry.

RESULTSThe expression levels of serum CEA and CA19-9 were closely related to tumor invasion, lymph node metastasis and TNM stage(all P<0.05). The 5-year cumulative survival rates of patients with serum CEA-positive and CA19-9-positive were 17.0% and 11.9%, compared with 34.6% and 34.8% of the patients with serum CEA-negative and CA19-9-negative respectively (both P<0.05). Neoadjuvant chemotherapy could down-regulate CEA and CA19-9 expressions in tumor tissues(P<0.05), while there was no significantly difference in serum level(P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe expressions of serum CEA and CA19-9 are closely associated with tumor progression and prognosis in advanced gastric cancer. However, further study should be done to evaluate their value in selecting patients to receive neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

CA-19-9 Antigen ; blood ; Carcinoembryonic Antigen ; blood ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Neoadjuvant Therapy ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis ; Stomach Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; therapy ; Survival Rate

Gouty arthritis is a type of metabolic rheumatic disease caused by autoimmune abnormalities. Currently, the use of Western medicine in the clinical treatment of gouty arthritis has been associated with a high risk of adverse reactions. Therefore, there is a growing interest in exploring therapeutic drugs from traditional Chinese medicine as a potential alternative. According to the theory of traditional Chinese medicine, gouty arthritis has been classified as damp-heat arthralgia syndrome. Shirebi granules has been found to have good clinical efficacy in treating gouty arthritis. However, its underlying pharmacological mechanisms remain unclear. To address this problem, the study first established the interaction network of candidate targets for Shirebi granules, which is used to treat damp-heat syndrome of gouty arthritis. Then, the key candidate targets of Shirebi granules for treating gouty arthritis with damp-heat syndrome were screened by calculating the topological features of the network nodes. Then, the functional mining of the key candidate targets revealed that the candidate targets of Shirebi granules may intervene in the biological process of inflammatory response and lipid metabolism through the crosstalk of Wnt/β-catenin signaling. To verify the effectiveness of Shirebi granules in treating gouty arthritis with damp-heat syndrome, a rat model was established. The results demonstrated that the granules significantly improved the severity of arthritis in rats with this condition, reduced joint inflammation, gait score, swelling index, increased mechanical pain threshold (P < 0.05), and reduced the content of serum inflammatory factors IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α in gouty arthritis rats with damp-heat syndrome (P < 0.01) gouty. It was also found that Shirebi granules effectively alleviated the symptoms of dampness heat syndrome such as local joint fever and dry mouth by reducing the temperature of the joints in acute gouty arthritis with damp-heat syndrome (AD) rats, increasing the threshold of heat pain, increasing water intake (P < 0.01), and inhibiting abnormal changes in the content of fatty acid oxidation related enzymes (P < 0.01). Western blot analysis showed that Shirebi granules increased the protein expression levels of Wnt and β-catenin (P < 0.01) while decreasing the protein expression of p65, p-p65 and PPARγ (P < 0.01) in rats with gouty arthritis and damp-heat syndrome. The results showed that Shirebi granules may reverse the "inflammation-immune" imbalance and lipid metabolism disorder by regulating the crosstalk of Wnt/β-catenin signaling, and play a role in alleviating the severity of the disease. This study provides a methodological reference for elucidating the pharmacological mechanisms of traditional Chinese medicine formulas. It also presents research ideas for the appropriate clinical use of Chinese patent medicines and the development of new clinical drugs for gouty arthritis therapy. The animal welfare and experiment procedures of this study were performed in accordance with the regulations of the Experimental Animal Ethics Committee of Experimental Research Center, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences (grant No. ERCCACMS11-2302-08).

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effect of cluster of differentiation 14 (CD-14) and Toll like receptors (TLR) on the expression of interleukin-6 (IL-6) mRNA induced by Porphyromonas endodontalis (Pe) lipopolysaccharides (LPS).

METHODSMC3T3-E1 cells were treated with 10 mg/L Pe-LPS for different hours, and the cells uninvolved by anything as the blank group. The expression of IL-6 was detected by reverse transcription polymerse chain reaction (RT-PCR) and enzyme-liked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The expression of CD-14, TLR-2 and TLR-4 mRNA was observed at different time point (0 - 24 h) by RT-PCR. The protein of CD-14, TLR-2 and TLR-4 was analyzed with a flow cytometer. MC3T3-E1 cells were pretreated with anti-CD-14, anti-TLR-2 and anti-TLR-4 antibody for 1 h, and then cells were stimulated with 10 mg/L Pe-LPS for 6 h. The expression of IL-6 mRNA was examined by RT-PCR. Statistical analysis was performed using one-way ANOVA Dunnett-t test with SPSS 11.0 software package.

RESULTSThe IL-6 mRNA and proteins increased significantly after treatment with Pe-LPS. When MC3T3-E1 cells treated by Pe-LPS for 6 h, the expression of proteins soared from (11.696 ± 0.672) ng/L to (36.534 ± 0.574) ng/L (P < 0.01); In the control group, the CD-14 and TLR-4 mRNA are ambly-expression, and the ratios of CD-14 and TLR-4 positive cells were (39.038 ± 3.131)% and (11.438 ± 0.385)% respectively in MC3T3-E1. After treatment by Pe-LPS, the expression of CD-14 and TLR-4 mRNA increased significantly, and the ratios of CD-14 and TLR-4 positive cells markedly increased to (62.407 ± 1.800)% and (21.367 ± 2.271)%. TLR-2 expression did not change apparently after Pe-LPS treatment. The expression of IL-6 mRNA was partly inhibited by anti-CD-14 or anti-TLR-4 antibody, but not by TLR-2.

CONCLUSIONSPe-LPS can induce the expression of IL-6 in osteoblast MC3T3-E1 through CD-14 and TLR-4, but not TLR-2.

3T3 Cells ; Animals ; Antibodies ; immunology ; Interleukin-6 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Lipopolysaccharide Receptors ; genetics ; metabolism ; Lipopolysaccharides ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Mice ; Porphyromonas endodontalis ; RNA, Messenger ; metabolism ; Toll-Like Receptor 2 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Toll-Like Receptor 4 ; genetics ; metabolism

We report two cases of rituximab (RTX)-induced interstitial pneumonia in two lymphoma patients receiving RTX treatment. Interstitial pneumonia was successfully managed in these two cases after a one-week-long intervention with corresponding treatments without affecting further treatment of the primary disease. RTX-induced interstitial pneumonia is characterized by a latent onset with an unclear pathological mechanism and absence of typical symptoms. High-resolution CT scan can provide valuable evidence for early diagnosis of RTX-induced interstitial pneumonia, which might be attributed partially to an increased susceptibility to P. jirovecii and fungal infection due to prolonged RTX treatment.
Antibodies, Monoclonal, Murine-Derived ; adverse effects ; Disease Susceptibility ; Humans ; Lung Diseases, Interstitial ; chemically induced ; Rituximab ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of simulated microgravity on erythroid differentiation of K562 cells and explore the possible mechanism.

METHODSThe fourth generation rotating cell culture system was used to generate the simulated microgravity environment. Benzidine staining was used to evaluate the cell inhibition rate, and real-time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to detect GATA-1, GATA-2, Ets-1, F-actin, β-Tubulin and vimentin mRNA expressions. The changes of cytoskeleton were observed by fluorescence microscopy, and Western blotting was employed to assay F-actin, β-tubulin and vimentin protein expression levels.

RESULTSBenzidine staining showed that simulated microgravity inhibited erythroid differentiation of K562 cells. K562 cells treated with Hemin presented with increased mRNA expression of GATA-1 and reduced GATA-2 and Ets-1 mRNA expressions. Simulated microgravity treatment of the cells resulted in down-regulated GATA-1, F-actin, β-tubulin and vimentin mRNA expressions and up-regulated mRNA expressions of GATA-2 and Ets-1, and reduced F-actin, β-tubulin and vimentin protein expressions. Exposure to simulated microgravity caused decreased fluorescence intensities of cytoskeletal filament F-actin, β-tubulin and vimentin in the cells.

CONCLUSIONSimulated microgravity inhibits erythroid differentiation of K562 cells possibly by causing cytoskeleton damages to result in down-regulation of GATA-1 and up-regulation of GATA-2 and Ets-1 expressions.

Actins ; metabolism ; Cell Differentiation ; Down-Regulation ; GATA1 Transcription Factor ; metabolism ; GATA2 Transcription Factor ; metabolism ; Hemin ; pharmacology ; Humans ; K562 Cells ; Proto-Oncogene Protein c-ets-1 ; metabolism ; Tubulin ; metabolism ; Up-Regulation ; Vimentin ; metabolism ; Weightlessness Simulation

OBJECTIVETo study the action characteristics of "two-way application and conditioned dominance" of traditional Chinese medicines with neutral property by observing the action characteristic of 10 traditional Chinese medicines capable of promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis with neutral property in the microcirculation in rats with heat stagnation and blood stasis syndrome.

METHODThe rat model with heat stagnation and blood stasis syndrome was established by injecting carrageenan and dry yeast, and the rat model with cold stagnation and blood stasis syndrome was built by the body freezing method. Ten traditional Chinese medicines with neutral property, including 5 with hot property and 5 with cold property, were selected for intervention to observe blood flow rate and flow state indicators in rat auricles and make a comparative analysis on action characteristics of traditional Chinese medicines with neutral property.

RESULTANOVA showed that among the 10 traditional Chinese medicines with neutral property, 6 such as Typhae Pollen, Sappan Lignum and Vaccariae Semen can obviously increase the blood flow rate (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05) in the above two models; all of the 5 traditional Chinese medicines with cold property can increase the blood flow rate (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05) in the rat model with heat stagnation and blood stasis syndrome, but only Salvia miltiorrhiza can increase the blood flow rate (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05) in the rat models with cold stagnation and blood stasis syndrome, while other medicines showed no notable effect; among the 5 traditional Chinese medicines with hot property, Carthamus tinctorius and Ligusticum chuanxiong can increase the blood flow rate (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05) in the rat models with cold stagnation and blood stasis syndrome, but had no obvious effect to the blood flow rate in the rat models with heat stagnation and blood stasis syndrome. According to the analysis on average blood flow rate, traditional Chinese medicines with natural and cold properties showed similar effect on heat stagnation and blood stasis syndrome and better effect in increasing blood flow rate than those with hot property; those with natural and hot properties showed similar effect and better effect in increasing blood flow rate than those with cold property.

CONCLUSIONUnder the condition of heat stagnation and blood stasis syndrome, traditional Chinese medicines with neutral property have the similar action characteristics with those with cold property; wile under the condition of cold stagnation and blood stasis syndrome, traditional Chinese medicines with neutral property have the similar action characteristics with the Chinese medicinal herbs with hot property. This indicates the action characteristics of "two-way application and conditioned dominance" of traditional Chinese medicines with neutral property to some extent.

Animals ; Blood Circulation ; drug effects ; Blood Coagulation ; drug effects ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Microcirculation ; drug effects ; Rats ; Syndrome

Abstract: Objective　To evaluate the potential transmission risk of schistosomiasis in Yunnan Province, and to provide strategic basis for the prevention and control. Methods　Based on the prevalence of schistosomiasis, the social and environmental factors that may lead to the epidemic, 1-3 villages from 3 provincial-level and 15 county-level counties (cities and districts) were selected as the evaluated villages in 2021. The risk of schistosomiasis spread was analyzed comprehensively by consulting, reviewing and collecting routine surveillance data of schistosomiasis in the villages, combined with snail and wild feces survey. The risk level was evaluated for the positive snails, positive wild feces, resident infection, average density of live snails and snail frame occurrence rate. Results　Totally 7 snail counties schistosomiasis transmission was blocked of 18 epidemic counties and the rest were eliminated counties. A total of 152 447 snail frames were investigated and 3 043 frames with snails, 15 895 snails were captured and included 15 727 live snails in the 32 evaluated villages. The total area of snail was 58.87 hm2 and the area of reoccurrence was 34.19 hm2 with snail frame occurrence rate of 2.00% and average density of live snails 0.103 2/0.11 m2, and no positive snails were found by loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay. A total of 1 374 wild feces were collected in 27 evaluated villages of 14 epidemic counties, mainly from cattle, dogs, sheep, equine animals, pigs and so on, all of which were negative. According to the risk assessment of epidemic spread, Yongle Village and Yongsheng Village in Eryuan County, Zhiming Village in Chuxiong City were Ⅱ risk, and the rest were Ⅲ risk. Conclusions　Although the risk of transmission is low in Yunnan Province, the risk of transmission and spread still exists. It is necessary to strengthen the risk monitoring, control of snail and effective management of livestock to prevent the rebound of the epidemic.

OBJECTIVETo research the relationship between the seedling grade of angelica and the biomass accumulation, output and quality of product, so as to provide base for establishing seedling standard.

METHODThirty seedlings of Angelica were collected from the main production area in Gansu province, such as Minxian, Zahngxian, Dangchang and Weiyuan county, all the samples were measured with weigh of single seedling and the seedling were divided into three grade by the clustering analysis results, the grade were made to treatment to do field test and laboratory experiment.

RESULTThe weigh of dry root, above ground and the whole plant in growth period of treatment 2 (the weigh of single seedling between 0.74-1.38 g) were all superior to other treatments and the ck. The treatment 2 had low bolting percentage, the weigh of single root was higher and the yield was the highest. The characters of product from the treatment 2 was well and the content of ferulic acid was higher than the standard of Chinese pharmacopoeia (2010 year part 1).

CONCLUSIONThe plant from the grade 2 seedling with larger growth increment, higher output and better quality, which can be the best seedling in production.

Angelica ; chemistry ; growth & development ; Biomass ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; standards ; Seedlings

OBJECTIVETo study the therapeutic effect of Weicao Capsule (WCC) on gout.

METHODSTwo hundred gout patients were assigned to two groups. The treated group was treated with WCC and the control group was treated with Tongfengding Capsule. Both groups were given the respective treatments orally 3 times a day, 2 capsules each time with 2 weeks as one course and all patients received 2 successive courses of treatment. Changes of blood beta(2)-microglobulin (beta(2)-M), hemoglobin (Hb), 24 h urinary protein (24 h UP), pH value of urine and blood uric acid (BUA) as well as kidney function were observed.

RESULTSAfter treatment, level of beta(2)-M got lowered significantly, Hb and 24 h UP, blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine and the clearance rate of creatinine, as well as blood lipids all improved obviously in the treated group (all P<0.01), while these parameters remained unchanged in the control group (P>0.05). The pH value of urine was improved in both groups showing an insignificant difference between them (P>0.05). BUA was decreased in both groups with a decrease to a larger extent in the treated group (P<0.01). The total effective rate was 87% in the treated group, which was superior to that in the control group (62%, P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONWCC has a favorable therapeutic effect on gout and its mechanism of action for improving renal function and reducing urinary protein could be related with the lowering of blood beta(2)-M, BUA and lipids.

Adult ; Aged ; Capsules ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Gout ; blood ; drug therapy ; physiopathology ; Hemoglobins ; analysis ; Humans ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Kidney Function Tests ; Lipids ; blood ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Proteins ; analysis ; Treatment Outcome ; Uric Acid ; blood ; beta 2-Microglobulin ; blood

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of smoking on sperm apoptosis and semen quality of healthy adult males in the main urban area of Chongqing.

METHODSAccording to the smoking habit, we divided 235 healthy adult males into a non-smoking group (n = 89) and a smoking group (n = 146). Then we detected the routine semen parameters by the computer-assisted semen analysis system and obtained the parameters of sperm apoptosis (the ratios of AN-/PI-, AN+/PI-, AN+/PI+ and AN-/PI+ sperm) by flow cytometry combined with Annexin V-FITC/PI fluorescence staining.

RESULTSThe rate of early apoptotic sperm (AN+/PI-) was higher in the smoking than in the non-smoking group ([8.1 +/- 5.1]% vs [6.8 +/- 3.8]%; P = 0.039), but there were no significant differences between the two groups in the rate of late apoptotic sperm (AN+/PI+) ([5.6 +/- 5.2]% vs [5.5 +/- 5.1]%; P = 0.87), as well as in such routine semen indexes as semen volume, sperm density, sperm motility, sperm vitality and normal sperm morphology (P = 0.30, 0.82, 0.37, 0.81 and 0.84, respectively).

CONCLUSIONThe rate of early apoptotic sperm is higher in smokers than in non-smokers, suggesting that smoking may induce early damage to sperm cells. Compared with routine semen parameters, sperm apoptosis is a more sensitive biomarker to reflect smoking-induced damage to sperm.

Apoptosis ; China ; Humans ; Male ; Semen ; Semen Analysis ; Smoking ; Sperm Count ; Sperm Motility ; Spermatozoa ; cytology