OBJECTIVETo investigate the impact of Staphylococcus aureus from infertile men on sperm motility and the relationship between virulence genes and the activity of spermatozoal immobilization.

METHODSWe collected 60 strains of non-repeated Staphylococcus aureus from the semen of 589 infertile males and analyzed the influence of Staphylococcus aureus on sperm motility using the computer-aided sperm analysis system. We selected the strains that apparently decreased sperm motility and detected their virulence genes by PCR.

RESULTSSperm motility was significantly decreased in 17 of the 60 strains of Staphylococcus aureus (P < 0.05). The main virulence genes in these strains were hlg (33.3%), scn (23.3%), cna (20%), hlb (20%), and clfA (18.3%), others including icaA, fnbA, tst, seb, hld, eta and sea. The scn gene carriers accounted for 47.1% in the spermatozal immobilization positive group, significantly higher than 14% in the negative group (P < 0.05). No statistically significant differences were found in the percentages of the carriers of the other virulence genes between the two groups (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONInfections of Staphylococcus aureus in male reproductive system can lead to the decrease of sperm motility, which may be associated with the Staphylococcus complement inhibitor encoding gene scn.

Humans ; Infertility, Male ; microbiology ; Male ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Semen ; microbiology ; Species Specificity ; Sperm Motility ; Staphylococcal Infections ; Staphylococcus aureus ; pathogenicity ; Virulence ; genetics

The therapeutic potential of curcumin (Cur) is hampered by its poor aqueous solubility and low bioavailability.The aim of this study was to determine whether Cur nanoemulsions enhance the efficacy of Cur against prostate cancer cells and increase the oral absorption of Cur.Cur nanoemulsions were developed using the self-microemulsifying method and characterized by their morphology,droplet size and zeta potential.The results showed that the cytotoxicity and cell uptake were considerably increased with Cur nanoemulsions compared to free Cur.Cur nanoemulsions exhibited a significantly prolonged biological activity and demonstrated better therapeutic efficacy than free Cur,as assessed by apoptosis and cell cycle studies.In siru single-pass perfusion studies demonstrated higher effective permeability coefficient and absorption rate constant for Cur nanoemulsions than for free Cur.Our study suggested that Cur nanoemulsions can be used as an effective drug delivery system to enhance the anticancer effect and oral bioavailability of Cur.

Tongue diagnosis is one of unique techniques of TCM diagnosis. Its subjective and empirical description of written words, spoken language and pictures have been used until now, however, which cannot express the complete information of tongue image comprehensively and objectively. The development of modern technology provides new ideas and methods for the study of tongue diagnosis in TCM. For example, the application of spectroscopy is of great significance for restoring tongue image information. This article briefly introduced the spectroscopy method, summarized its research and application in the field of TCM tongue diagnosis, and put forward the problems and prospects to provide references for further research.

OBJECTIVETo develop a colon-specific prodrug of Indomethacin microbially triggered, carry out in vitro/in vivo evaluation of drug release, and appraise its inhibitory effect on liver metastasis from colon cancer.

METHODSIndomethacin prodrugs were synthesized and characterized by FTIR and NMR, and dissolution test simulating gastrointestinal tract was employed to screen the colon-specific prodrug. Then, the pharmacokinetic profile of portal vein and peripheral blood in Sprague-Dawley rats was studied. Lastly, the inhibitory effect on liver metastasis from colon cancer in nude mice was observed.

RESULTSThe chemical structure characterized by FTIR and NMR demonstrated that six kinds of indomethacin-block-amylose with different drug loading (IDM-AM-1-6) were synthesized, among which IDM-AM-3 was degraded 1.3%, 9.3% and 95.3%, respectively, in simulated gastric fluid for 4 h, small intestine for 6 h, and colon for 36 h. The pharmacokinetic test of IDM-AM-3 showed that absorption was delayed significantly (P < 0.01), peak time [(11.35 + or - 2.45) h], elimination half-life [(16.74 + or - 4.04) h] and mean residence time [(22.27 + or - 0.52) h] were significantly prolonged (P < 0.01), as well as peak serum concentrations [(9.69 + or - 2.40) mg/L] and AUC(0-t) [(236.7 + or - 13.1) mg x L(-1) x h] were decreased markedly (P < 0.01) as compared with those of IDM regarding to portal vein. Additionally, its AUC(0-t) in peripheral blood was remarkably lower than that in Portal vein (P < 0.01). The tumor suppression observation showed that it could remarkably reduce the number of liver metastases in contrast to IDM (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONColon-specific IDM-AM-3 possesses advantage of sustained release in portal vein providing some experimental basis for colon-specific delivery system applied to sustained release in the portal vein.

Amylose ; administration & dosage ; chemical synthesis ; pharmacokinetics ; therapeutic use ; Animals ; Colon ; metabolism ; Colonic Neoplasms ; pathology ; Delayed-Action Preparations ; Drug Delivery Systems ; HT29 Cells ; Humans ; Indomethacin ; administration & dosage ; chemical synthesis ; pharmacokinetics ; therapeutic use ; Liver Neoplasms ; prevention & control ; secondary ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Nude ; Neoplasm Transplantation ; Prodrugs ; administration & dosage ; chemical synthesis ; pharmacokinetics ; therapeutic use ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

OBJECTIVESTo understand the value of measuring neonatal cerebral regional oxygen saturation (rSO2) using near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) in assessing cerebral oxygenation, to establish the normal range of neonatal cerebral rSO2 and to collect data of the changes of cerebral rSO2 under certain disease status.

METHODSNine large hospitals participated in the multicenter randomized clinical trial from Jan 2007 to Apr 2008. Using the NIRS human tissue oximeter (TSAH-100) independently developed in China, the cerebral rSO2 of 223 normal full-term and 95 otherwise healthy preterm neonates without any special disease, was detected at 1, 2 and 3 days after birth, respectively. The cerebral rSO2 of 102 neonates with diseases which may affect the cerebral oxygenation, was also detected during the severe phases. The pulse oxygen saturation (SpO2) measured at the finger tip, and also the arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2) measured by blood gas analysis, which could indicate the oxygen supply of the whole body, were obtained simultaneously. The correlations among cerebral rSO2, pulse SpO2 and arterial SaO2 were analyzed.

RESULTS(1) The cerebral rSO2 of the normal full-term neonates was (62+/-2)%. Cerebral hypoxia was defined as rSO2 lower than 58%. The cerebral rSO2 of the normal full-terms was steady at 1, 2 and 3 days after birth respectively, without any significant differences among them (F=0.610, P>0.05). The cerebral rSO2 of the neonates with diseases was (55+/-7)%, which was significantly lower than that of the normal full-term neonates (t=15.492, P<0.05). (2) The cerebral rSO2 was positively correlated with the SpO2 (r=0.74, P<0.01) and the SaO2 (r=0.71, P<0.01). (3) Under some special diseases, the changes of cerebral rSO2 was asynchronous with those of the SpO2: (1) For 18 cases under severe cerebral damages or under relatively low hemoglobin concentration, the cerebral rSO2 was significantly low (50%-58%), but the SpO2 was still normal (above 90%). (2) During the recovery of some critically ill neonates, the increase of cerebral rSO2 was lagged as compared with that of pulse SpO2. Especially, during the severe phases of 6 cases with multi-organ failure, the SpO2 and the cerebral rSO2 were both significantly low (55%-80% for SpO2, and 44%-50% for cerebral rSO2); when the diseases were alleviated, although the SpO2 recovered to above 85%, the cerebral rSO2 was still significantly low (around 50%). (3) In 3 cases, during the severe phases of serious hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), the cerebral rSO2 significantly increased to 70%-72%, which was significantly higher than the normal value (62%).

CONCLUSIONSThe range of cerebral rSO2 of the normal full-term neonates was (62+/-2)%. Cerebral oxygenation can be externally indicated by the rSO2 noninvasively and continuously measured by NIRS, which was positively correlated with traditional pulse SpO2 and arterial SaO2. In some special diseases, the rSO2 measured by NIRS can be helpful for clinical diagnoses and treatments.

Birth Weight ; Brain ; metabolism ; Female ; Humans ; Hypoxia, Brain ; diagnosis ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Oximetry ; methods ; Oxygen ; analysis ; Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared

Systematical studies are lacking on the influencing factors and mechanisms of the heparin enhanced sperm capacitation, although many studies have shown that heparin enhanced sperm capacitation. The effect of heparin concentration and exposure time, incubation temperature and co-culture with oviductal epithelial cells or cumulus cells on goat sperm capacitation were investigated in this study. The motility, membrane and acrosome integrity and capacitated percentage of goat spermatozoa were assessed after different heparin treatments, and rates of fertilization and embryo cleavage were compared after in vitro insemination of oocytes with spermatozoa capacitated by different heparin treatments. The major results are summarized as follows: 1) When spermatozoa were capacitated with heparin at 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 microg/mL for 45 min, 50 and 100 microg/mL heparin treatments produced the highest capacitated percentages of 55% and 56%, respectively, but the percentage of spermatozoa with intact acrosomes in the 100 microg/mL heparin treatment decreased significantly (P < 0.05) in comparison with that in the control group, indicating that the optimal heparin concentration for goat sperm capacitation would be 50 microg/mL. 2) Capacitated percentage of spermatozoa increased with extension of treatment time when goat sperm were treated with 50 microg/mL heparin for 0, 10, 20, 30, 45, 60 or 120 min. Although heparin treatments for 45 to 120 min did not differ significantly (P > 0.05) in capacitated sperm percentages, sperm motility and membrane integrity decreased significantly when treated with heparin for 120 min. This suggested that the optimal exposure time of heparin at 50 microg/mL for goat sperm capacitation would be 45 to 60 min. 3) Significantly higher capacitated percentages of spermatozoa were obtained when goat sperm were treated at 42 and 38.5 degrees C than at 15 and 37 degrees C, but sperm motility and acrosome integrity were significantly lower when spermatozoa were treated at 42 degrees C than they were treated at other temperatures. Temperature of 38.5 degrees C would, therefore, be the optimal temperature for goat sperm capacitation. 4) The capacitated percentage of spermatozoa was significantly higher when goat sperm were co-cultured with oviductal epithelial cells than when treated with heparin alone or co-cultured with cumulus cells, but sperm motility and membrane and acrosome integrity did not differ significantly among the three treatments. Rates of fertilization (91.3%) and cleavage (72.2%) were significantly higher in the oviductal epithelial cell co-culture group than those in the heparin alone group. This indicated that co-culture with oviductal epithelial cells significantly enhanced goat sperm capacitation by heparin treatment.
Acrosome Reaction ; drug effects ; physiology ; Animals ; Coculture Techniques ; Epithelial Cells ; cytology ; Fallopian Tubes ; cytology ; Female ; Fertilization in Vitro ; Goats ; Heparin ; pharmacology ; Male ; Sperm Capacitation ; drug effects ; physiology ; Sperm Motility ; Spermatozoa ; cytology ; physiology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of TcpC on human umbilical vascular endothelial cells (HUVECs) and its mechanisms.

METHODSHUVECs were co-cultured with TcpC secreting wild-type E. coli strain CFT073 (TcpC(wt)) or tcpc gene-deleted CFT073 mutant strain (TcpC(mut)) in transwell system,respectively. Apoptosis of HUVECs was analyzed by Annexin-V/PI double staining. Mitochondrial membrane depolarization was detected by JC-1 staining. Expression of apoptosis-related proteins in HUVECs was determined by Western blot.

RESULTSHUVECs showed morphological changes after co-cultured with TcpC(wt) for 24 h: the cells became detached and cell debris increased,and cell number was also decreased when compared to HUVECs co-cultured with TcpC(mut). The apoptosis of HUVEC cells co-cultured with TcpC(wt) for 24 h significantly increased,compared to that of control group and TcpC(mut) group (60.1% 9.7% compared with 9.0% 1.3% and 16.9% 0.4%,respectively, P<0.05); meanwhile the mitochondrial depolarization of HUVECs co-cultured with TcpC(wt) was significantly increased,compared to that in control and TcpC(mut) groups (64.5% 0.9% compared with 14.5% 2.1% and 15.6% 3.3%, respectively,P<0.05). Cleavage of PARP and inhibition of Mcl-1 and XIAP expression were seen in HUVECs co-cultured with TcpC(wt),but not in groups of control and TcpC(mut).

CONCLUSIONTcpC secreted from CFT073 can induce apoptosis of HUVECs through mitochondrial pathway, in which PARP is cleaved and Mcl-1 and XIAP expressions are inhibited.

Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Cells, Cultured ; Escherichia coli ; metabolism ; Escherichia coli Proteins ; pharmacology ; Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells ; drug effects ; pathology ; Humans ; Membrane Potential, Mitochondrial ; Myeloid Cell Leukemia Sequence 1 Protein ; metabolism ; Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerases ; metabolism ; Virulence Factors ; pharmacology ; X-Linked Inhibitor of Apoptosis Protein ; metabolism

BACKGROUNDDisease recurrence is a main challenge in treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). There is no generally accepted method for preventing recurrence of HCC after resection.

OBJECTIVETo compare the efficacy of a traditional herbal medicine (THM) regimen and transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) in preventing recurrence in post-resection patients with small HCC.

DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS AND INTERVENTIONSThis is a multicenter, open-label, randomized, controlled study, which was undertaken in five centers of China. A total of 379 patients who met the eligibility criteria and underwent randomization were enrolled in this trial. One hundred and eighty-eight patients were assigned to the THM group and received Cinobufacini injection and Jiedu Granule, and the other 191 patients were assigned to the TACE group and received one single course of TACE.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURESPrimary outcome measures were the annual recurrence rate and the time to recurrence. Incidence of adverse events was regarded as the secondary outcome measure.

RESULTSAmong the 364 patients who were included in the intention-to-treat analysis, 67 patients of the THM group and 87 of the TACE group had recurrence, with a hazard ratio of 0.695 (P = 0.048). Median recurrence-free survival of the patients in the THM and TACE groups was 46.89 and 34.49 months, respectively. Recurrence rates at 1, 2 and 3 years were 17.7%, 33.0% and 43.5% for the THM group, and 28.8%, 42.5% and 54.0% for the TACE group, respectively (P = 0.026). Multivariate analysis indicated that the THM regimen had a big advantage for prolonging the recurrence-free survival. Adverse events were mild and abnormality of laboratory indices of the two groups were similar.

CONCLUSIONIn comparison with TACE therapy, the THM regimen was associated with diminished risk of recurrence of small-sized HCC after resection, with comparable adverse events. TRIAL REGISTRTION IDENTIFIER: This trial was registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry with the identifier ChiCTR-TRC-07000033.

Adult ; Aged ; Antineoplastic Agents ; administration & dosage ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; drug therapy ; pathology ; prevention & control ; surgery ; Chemoembolization, Therapeutic ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; Female ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; pathology ; prevention & control ; surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; Survival Rate ; Young Adult

Vitiligo is a common pigmentary disorder characterized by localized or generalized depigmentation of the skin， resulting in milky white or light pink patches with smooth surface but no rashes.Modern medicine believes that it is closely related to immune function， oxidative stress， autoimmune destruction of melanocytes， heredity， and neurochemical factors， but the specific pathogenesis is still unclear.Due to the easy diagnosis but hard management and the high recurrence rate， vitiligo has seriously affected the quality of life and mental health of patients.At present， it is mainly treated with glucocorticoids， immunomodulators， vitamin D₃ derivatives， and antioxidants in western medicine， and the resulting short-term outcomes are satisfactory.However， a series of side effects may be caused by the long-term use.Traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） has a long history of dealing with vitiligo.Guided by the rich experience accumulated in daily practice， it exerts the preventive and therapeutic effects against vitiligo via multiple components， multiple targets， and multiple pathways， without inducing obvious adverse reactions， which has made it widely concerned by many doctors and scholars.As the research concerning the prevention and treatment of vitiligo with TCM intensifies， more and more single Chinese medicinals， Chinese medicinal monomers， and compound prescriptions have been proved to play a therapeutic role via multiple mechanisms.After reviewing the articles on the alleviation of vitiligo with TCM published in the past five years and retrieved from the literature databases， this paper summarized the efficacy of TCM in regulating immune dysfunction， improving oxidative stress injury， protecting melanocyte function， adjusting mitochondrial structure and function， and controlling the alteration of intestinal micro-flora and abnormal microRNA （miRNA） expression， so as to clarify the pathogenesis of vitiligo and provide theoretical and scientific basis for the in-depth study and clinical application of TCM in the prevention and treatment of vitiligo.

OBJECTIVETo study the prevalence rates of birth defects in high and low risk areas in China.

METHODSA population-based surveillance system on birth defects was used to obtain the prevalence rates of 24 kinds of major external birth defects from > or = 20 weeks of gestation to 7 days of life in selected areas in Shanxi and Jiangsu provinces.

RESULTSThe birth prevalence of birth defects (232.4 per 10,000 births) and neural tube defects (NTDs) (138.7 per 10,000 births) in four counties of Shanxi province were significantly higher than that in Taiyuan city (75.3 and 28.2 per 10,000 births, respectively). There was no significant difference for all selected birth defects between Wuxi city and Xishan counties in low risk areas. There was a 6.1-fold of higher prevalence for NTDs in Taiyuan city compared with that in Wuxi areas (4.6 per 10,000 births). In four counties of Shanxi province, the prevalence rates of anencephaly, spina bifida, hydrocephaly, cleft palate alone and polydactyly were significantly higher than in Wuxi areas. The NTDs prevalence rate in four counties of Shanxi was 30.2 times higher than in Wuxi areas. When compared with previous surveillance data, the NTDs prevalence rate did not present obvious declining trend in high risk areas. The birth prevalence rate had a 31.8% decrease when births were calculated after 28 gestational weeks and compared with those from 20 gestational weeks.

CONCLUSIONNTDs remained to be the most common birth defect seen in Shanxi province. The birth prevalence rate of NTDs in some areas of Shanxi province was among the highest that ever reported in the world in comparison with data from other countries and regions. The current prevalence rate in high risk areas in Shanxi province did not clearly show a declining trend. Programs on surveillance and prenatal diagnosis were proved to have made big impact on the rates of major external birth defects.

China ; epidemiology ; Congenital Abnormalities ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Neural Tube Defects ; epidemiology ; Prevalence ; Surveys and Questionnaires