OBJECTIVETo reveal the transmembrane signal pathway participating in regulating neuron functions of treating Alzheimer's disease (AD) by acupuncture.

METHODSSAMP8 mice was used for AD animal model. The effect of acupuncture method for qi benefiting, blood regulating, health supporting, and root strengthening on the amount and varieties of transmembrane signal proteins from hippocampal lipid rafts in SAMP8 mice was detected using HPLC MS/MS proteomics method.

RESULTSCompared with the control group, acupuncture increased 39 transmembrane signal proteins from hippocampal lipid rafts in SAMP8 mice, of them, 14 belonged to ionophorous protein, 8 to G protein, 8 to transmembrane signal receptor, and 9 to kinase protein. Totally 3 main cell signal pathways were involved, including G-protein-coupled receptors signal, enzyme linked receptor signal, and ion-channel mediated signal. Compared with the sham-acupuncture group, acupuncture resulted in significant increase of kinase signal protein amount. From the aspect of functions, they were dominant in regulating synapse functions relevant to cytoskeleton and secreting neurotransmitters.

CONCLUSIONThe cell biological mechanism for treating AD by acupuncture might be achieved by improving synapse functions and promoting the secretion of neurotransmitters through transmembrane signal transduction, thus improving cognitive function of AD patients.

Acupuncture Therapy ; Alzheimer Disease ; metabolism ; Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Female ; Male ; Membrane Microdomains ; metabolism ; Mice ; Proteomics ; Signal Transduction ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry

In this study, OVA-induced asthma mice was taken as the model, and orally administered with different concentration of ethanol extracts of crude and processed Stemona tuberosa, in order to determine the cytokine level released from Th1 and Th2 in splenocytes. RT-PCR was carried out to determine the genetic expression of T-bet/GATA-3 in lung, and compare the differentiation between ethanol extracts of crude and processed S. tuberosa in therapeutic effect on asthma in mice. According to the results, compared with the crude samples, processed samples significantly increased the levels of inflammatory factor INF-gamma (P < 0.05) and decreased IL-5 (P < 0.05) in splenocytes. According to the RT-PCR results, the administration of processed samples could increase the ratio of T-bet/GATA-3 (P < 0.05). The experiment showed that ethanol extracts of both crude and processed S. tuberosa could treat asthma by regulating Th1/Th2 ratio, but processed samples showed more notable effect. This indicated that crude and processed S. tuberosa had significant pharmacological difference. Therefore, it was more rational to apply processed S. tuberosa in clinical treatment of asthma and chronic cough, which layed a foundation for further revealing the processing mechanism of S. tuberosa.
Administration, Oral ; Animals ; Asthma ; drug therapy ; immunology ; metabolism ; Disease Models, Animal ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; GATA3 Transcription Factor ; metabolism ; Gene Expression Regulation ; drug effects ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Stemonaceae ; chemistry ; T-Box Domain Proteins ; metabolism ; Th1 Cells ; drug effects ; secretion ; Th2 Cells ; drug effects ; secretion

Objective To observe the expressions of matrix metalloproteinase-9 mRNA and the change of cerebral edema after diffuse brain injury in rats and discuss their correlation.Methods Marmaruu's diffuse brain injury model of rat was made.Real-time quantitative RT-PCR,dry-wet meth- od,histological techniques and electron microscope were used to determine the expressions of MMP-9 containing water in brain tissue and inflammatory reaction and uhrastructural changes of blood capillary at different time phases after truama.Results The expressions of MMP-9 mRNA started to increase at 1 hour,peaked at 12 hours(P

Animals ; Cytochrome P-450 CYP1A2 ; Cytochrome P-450 CYP2C19 ; metabolism ; Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System ; metabolism ; Cytochromes ; metabolism ; Liver Cirrhosis ; enzymology ; Rats

OBJECTIVETo observe the clinical efficacy of Tiaozhi Jiangtang Tablet (TZJT) on patients suffering from diabetes mellitus with blood stasis syndrome.

METHODSSixty patients were randomly assigned into 2 groups, the TZJT group (n = 30) treated with TZJT tablet and asprin, the control group (n = 30) treated with asprin alone.

RESULTSThe improvement of symptoms was more significant in the TZJT group than that in the control group (P < 0.05). Levels of serum endothelin (ET), nitric oxide (NO) content and blood viscosity were decreased in both groups after treatment, and the effect of TZJT plus asprin was superior to that of asprin alone.

CONCLUSIONTZJT combined with asprin is effective in improving the serum content of ET and NO and reducing blood viscosity.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Coronary Artery Disease ; drug therapy ; etiology ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; complications ; drug therapy ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Middle Aged ; Phytotherapy

The latest findings of our laboratory showed that Angelica sinensis polysaccharide (ASP) showed a definite effect in regulating the aging of hematopoietic stem cells. Leukemia is a type of malignant hematopoietic tumor in hematopoietic stem cells. There have been no relevant reports about ASP's effect in regulating the aging of leukemia cells. In this study, human acute myeloid leukemia (AML) KG1alpha cell lines in logarithmic growth phase were taken as the study object, and were divided into the ASP group, the cytarabine (Ara-C) group, the ASP + Ara-C group and the control group. The groups were respectively treated with different concentration of ASP, Ara-C and ASP + Ara-C for different periods, with the aim to study the effect of ASP combined with Ara-C in regulating the aging of human acute myeloid leukemia KG1alpha cell lines and its relevant mechanism. The results showed that ASP, Ara-C and ASP + Ara-C could obviously inhibit KG1alpha cell proliferation in vitro, block the cells in G0/G1 phase. The cells showed the aging morphological feature. The percentage of positive stained aging cells was dramatically increased, and could significantly up-regulate the expression of aging-related proteins P16 and RB, which were more obvious in the ASP + Ara-C group. In conclusion, the aging mechanism of KG1alpha cell induced by ASP and Ara-C may be related to the regulation of the expression of aging-related proteins, suggesting that the combined administration of ASP and anticancer drugs plays a better role in the treatment of leukemia .
Aging ; drug effects ; genetics ; metabolism ; Angelica sinensis ; chemistry ; Cell Cycle ; drug effects ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p16 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Humans ; Leukemia ; drug therapy ; genetics ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Polysaccharides ; pharmacology ; Retinoblastoma Protein ; genetics ; metabolism ; Tumor Cells, Cultured

OBJECTIVETo study the epilepsy patients and their family members on their knowledge of the disease.

METHODSA 34-point questionnaire with 34 questions related to epilepsy knowledge was used for the survey on 170 pairs of epilepsy patients and their family members in Huashan hospital. Characters of the disease on the subjects were recorded.

RESULTSThe mean scores of the epilepsy knowledge of the patients and their family members were 16.5 +/- 8.2 and 16.1 +/- 8.5, respectively. The scores were quite low with no statistical difference between patients and their family members. The rate of correct answer in the urban subjects was obviously higher than those subjects living in the rural areas. All the subjects lacked the knowledge on the "cause of disease" when comparing with items as "diagnosis" and "treatment". Multivariate analysis showed that rural residents (P = 0.0001, OR = 52.963) and low education level (P = 0.0294, OR = 2.266) related to low epilepsy knowledge score among epilepsy patients. However, for family members, the factor related to low score was only living in the rural area (P = 0.0001, OR = 37.229).

CONCLUSIONEducation on the epilepsy knowledge should be strengthened, especially in the rural areas.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Epilepsy ; psychology ; Family Health ; Female ; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Rural Health ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Objective of this study was to investigate the transcriptional regulation of BHLHB2 gene by the PML-RARα fusion protein in APL cells and reveal the pathogenesis of APL. RT-PCR was performed to detect the expression change of BHLHB2 before and after the induction of PML-RARα in PR9 cells, and its expression level after the treatment of ATRA in PR9 and APL patient derived NB4 cells. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP)-based PCR was used to analyze whether the BHLHB2 promoter could be bound by PML-RARα in vivo. A large-scale gene expression profile dataset was used to observe the expression pattern of BHLHB2 in AML. The results showed that the expression level of BHLHB2 was significantly reduced with the induction of PML-RARα and ATRA could reverse this inhibition in both PR9 and NB4 cells and increase the expression of BHLHB2. However, the expression of BHLHB2 could not be induced by ATRA in U937 cells which do not express PML-RARα. Mechanism study revealed that PML-RARα could bound to the promoter of BHLHB2 in vivo to regulate the the expression of BHLHB2. It was found that the expression of BHLHB2 was relatively lower in APL as compared with other subtypes of AML and normal bone marrow cells. It is concluded that BHLHB2 is the target of PML-RARα, and the expression of BHLHB2 is inhibited by PML-RARα through binding to its promoter in APL.
Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factors ; genetics ; Gene Expression Regulation, Leukemic ; Homeodomain Proteins ; genetics ; Humans ; Leukemia, Promyelocytic, Acute ; genetics ; pathology ; Oncogene Proteins, Fusion ; genetics ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; Transcription Factors ; genetics ; Tumor Cells, Cultured ; U937 Cells

OBJECTIVE12-0-tetradecanoylphorbol-13 acetate (TPA) plays an important role in precipitating cell differentiation for various tumor cells, especially leukemic cells. Changes of many genes may be involved in this process. The purpose of this study was to observe the relationship between the EGR1mRNA expression and cell differentiation during TPA-induced K562 cell differentiation.

METHODSIncubation of human K562 cells in vitro was applied to cultivate K562 cells. The cells were treated in two different ways. K562 cells of experiment group were treated with TPA and those of control group were treated without TPA. Using morphology (Wright's staining and NSE staining) and flow cytometry (FCM), the investigators observed the differentiation characteristics of K562 cells, cell-cycle and the differentiation antigen expressions of CD33 and CD14 on cell membranes. RT-PCR was carried out to assay EGR1 mRNA expression.

RESULTSAfter treated with TPA for 7 d, the morphology of K562 cells obviously tended to mature differentiation, like monocytes. The differentiation rate of induced K562 cells was up to 95% in experiment group and 4.5% in control group, respectively. Using SPSS software, the above result showed statistical significance (P < 0.01). Using NSE staining, K562 cells showed positive reaction. Some of them were densely stained. The positive rate was up to 86%. More than half of the positive cells could be inhibited by NaF. The inhibiting rate of NaF was up to 58.72%, showing statistical difference when compared with that of control group. FCM analysis showed that most of K562 cells stimulated by TPA underwent G1/S phase cell-cycle arrest. The composing rate of cell-cycle in TPA-treated group showed that (53.7 +/- 1.25)% of cells were at G0 + G1 phase and (44.3 +/- 1.32)% were at S phase (P < 0.05). The level of CD33 expression on cell membranes was mildly decreased from 0.997% to 0.893% (P > 0.05). However, the level of CD14 expression was significantly increased from 0.049% to 0.387% (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONK562 cells could express EGR1mRNA during TPA-induced differentiation, which suggested that EGR1mRNA might participate in the process of K562 cells differentiating into monocyte/macrophages, and might play an important role in precipitating and maintaining cell differentiation for leukemic cells.

Antigens, CD ; metabolism ; Antigens, Differentiation, Myelomonocytic ; metabolism ; Carcinogens ; pharmacology ; Cell Cycle ; drug effects ; genetics ; Cell Differentiation ; drug effects ; genetics ; Cell Division ; drug effects ; genetics ; Cell Membrane ; chemistry ; drug effects ; DNA-Binding Proteins ; genetics ; Early Growth Response Protein 1 ; Flow Cytometry ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; drug effects ; Humans ; Immediate-Early Proteins ; genetics ; K562 Cells ; Lipopolysaccharide Receptors ; metabolism ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; metabolism ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sialic Acid Binding Ig-like Lectin 3 ; Tetradecanoylphorbol Acetate ; pharmacology ; Transcription Factors ; genetics

The present study aimed to explore whether the stretch of ischemic myocardium could modulate the electrophysiological characteristics via mechanoelectric feedback (MEF), as well as the effect of phalloidin on the electrophysiological changes. Thirty-two Wistar rats were randomly divided into 4 groups: control group (n=9), phalloidin group (n=7), myocardial infarction (MI) group (n=9), MI + phalloidin group (n=7). The acute myocardial infarction (AMI) was conducted by ligation of the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery for 30 min in isolated rat heart. The volume alternation of a water-filled latex balloon in the left ventricle produced the stretch of myocardium. After perfused on Langendorff, the isolated hearts were stretched for 5 s by an inflation of 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3 mL separately and the effect of stretch was observed for 30 s, including the left ventricular systolic pressure (LVSP), left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP), ±dp/dt(max), monophasic action potential duration at 90% repolarization (MAPD90), and occurrence of premature ventricular beats (PVB) and ventricular tachycardia (VT). The stretch caused an increase of MAPD(90) in both control and MI rats (P<0.05, P<0.01). Moreover, MAPD(90) in MI group increased more significantly than that in the control group at the same degree of stretch (P<0.05, P<0.01). Phalloidin (1 μmol/L) had no effect on MAPD(90) in basal state. After stretch, MAPD(90) in phalloidin group slightly increased but was not significantly different from that in the control group. However, phalloidin reduced MAPD(90) in infarcted myocardium, especially when ΔV=0.3 mL (P<0.05). The incidence rates of PVB and VT in MI group were higher than that in the control group (both P<0.01). And there was no significant difference in the incidence rates of PVB and VT between phalloidin group and control group. Phalloidin inhibited the occurrence of PVB and VT in infarcted hearts (both P<0.01). LVSP and +dp/dt(max) in MI group obviously decreased (P<0.01 vs control). With application of phalloidin, LVSP slightly, but not significantly increased in infarcted hearts, while -dp/dt(max) significantly increased (P<0.05). It is suggested that MI facilitates the generation and maintenance of malignant arrhythmias, while phalloidin obviously inhibits the occurrence of arrhythmias.
Action Potentials ; Animals ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; prevention & control ; Coronary Vessels ; Heart ; drug effects ; physiopathology ; Heart Ventricles ; Myocardial Infarction ; physiopathology ; Phalloidine ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar