Objective To explore the pulse diagram parameter changes of chronic renal insufficiency patients with five symptoms types(spleen kidney qi deficiency ,spleen kidney Yang deficiency ,kidney liver Yin deficiency and the deficiency of Yin and Yang ) , and to establish the differentiation mode of each symptoms type for assisting the clinical diagnosis .Methods The DS01-C pulse manifestation instrument made by the Shanghai Daosh company was adopted to detect and analyze the pulse manifestations in the healthy control group and the chronic renal insufficiency group .Results The healthy control group was dominated by the normal pulse manifestation .The chronic renal insufficiency group was dominated by the taut pulse and its concurrent pulse .Along with the progress of the disease ,the pulse manifestations also appeared the corresponding changes .The patients with spleen kidney qi defi-ciency and spleen kidney Yang deficiency were dominated by the taut pulse .Comparing the patients with liver kidney Yin deficiency and Qi Yin deficiency ,the taut pulse and concurrent rapid pulse were common ,in addition ,the former also had the deep pulse .The patients with Yin and Yang deficiency showed the slow pulse and the taut pulse or the taut pulse and rapid pulse .Conclusion The pulse manifestation change in the patients with chronic renal insufficiency is dominated by the taut pulse and the concurrent pulse , the pulse manifestation change of various symptoms types are complex .

BACKGROUND:At present,the most frequently agents used for neural induction of bone marrow stromal cells(BMSCs)in vitro are anti-oxidants,such as beta-mercaptoethanol and all trans-retinoids.The majorities of induction from BMSCs are neuron-like cells in these protocols;however,whether it has neuronal function or not should be further studied.OBJECTIVE:TO investigate the differentiated characteristics of inducing human BMSCs into neural cells in serum-free medium.DESIGN:Observational study.SETTING:Chaozhou Central Hospital.MATERIALS:The experiment was carried out in the Chaozhou Central Hospital from April 2004 to December 2005.Adult bone marrows were derived from femoral and tibial bone marrow of three patients with fracture.All patients provided the confirmed consent and were approved by the Ethics Committee of Chaozhou Central Hospital.DMEMIF12 medium(1:1),fetal bovine serum (FBS), glutamine, N2 supplements and B27 Supplements were from GIBCO/BRL Company;recombinant basic fibroblast growth factor(bFGF)and recombinant epidermal growth factor(EGF)from Sigma Company;monoclonal antibody for vimentin(1:100),monoclonal antibody for myelin basic protein(MBP) (1:100),monoclonal antibody for S1 00(1:1 00),monoclonal antibody for neuron specific enolase(NSE)(1:1 00),and monoclonal antibody for neurofilament 200(NF200)(1:1 00)from Beijing Zhongshan Company;monoclonal antibody for glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)(1:200)and polyclonal antibody for nestin(1:100)from Boster Company(Wuhan);mouse monoclonal antibody for beta-tubulin 3(1:1 000)from Sigma Company;SP-9000 kits and quick AEC from Beijing Zhongshan Company; culture dishes and flasks from Coming Company.METHODS:BMSCs from human bone marrow were cultured in serum-containing medium.When the primary culture was established, BMSCs were transferred into serum-free medium containing N2 or B27 supplement with 20 μg/L basic fibroblast growth factor(bFGF)and epidermal growth factor(EGF),and cells were cultured in an incubator containing C02of 0.05 volume fraction at 37℃. Morphological changes of BMSCs in serum-free medium were observed under phase contrast microscope. And two days after culture. Expression of relative markers of BMSCs was detected withimmunocytochemistry.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:Morphological changes of BMSCs and expression of relative markers of nerve cells.RESULTS:A population of BMSCs could be isolated from adult human bone marrow,and they were processed to obtain a fibroblast-like population and were expanded as undifferentiated cells in culture for more than 10 passages.indicating their proliferative capacity.They could form spheroid state when they were sub-cultured in serum-free media supplemented with bFGF and EGF.these cells could express the markers for neural stem cells such as vimentin and nestin;they could expressed neuron specific enolase(NSE),beta-tubulin 3,TrkC and neurofilament 200(NF200)when they were plated on dishes with serum-containing medium; some cells exhibited the phenotypes for astrocytes.expressing gilal fibrillary acidic protein(GFAP)and S100 protein.CONCLUSION:The morphology,protein expression and differentiation ability of BMSCs in serum-free medium was similar to those of neural stem cells.The data support the hypothesis that adult bone marrow contains stem cells capable of differentiating into neural cells,the serum-free media make BMSCs overcome their mesenchymal commitment,showing the phenotypes for neural stem cells.

Objective To study the effects of thymus transplantation(TT)combined with CD4--DLI on T cell reconstitution after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation(allo-HSCT). Methods BALB/c mice were randomly divided into three groups:hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT group),hematopoietic stem cell transplantation combined with thymus transplantation(TT group)and hematopoietic stem cell transplanta-tion combined with thymus transplantation plus CD4+ T cell-depleted lymphocyte infusion(CD4--DLI group). On day-1,the mice were treated with the lethal dose of radiotherapy. On day 0,C57BL/6 mice were used as donor for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The mice were sacrificed on 5 days,2 weeks,4 weeks and 3 months after transplantation,respectively. The peripheral blood and spleen cells of mice were collected for determinations of T cell surface antigen,T cell receptor,naive T cells and intracellular cytokines. HE staining was used to assess the development of donor thymus. Results TT and CD4--DLI did not impair each other′s effects on T cell reconstitu-tion. TT combined with CD4--DLI increased the number of T cell reconstruction. CD4--DLI promoted the effect of TT on enlargement naive CD4+and CD8+T cell pool. Combination of TT and CD4--DLI enhanced the cytokine pro-duction of T cells. Conclusion TT combined with CD4--DLI had no side effects on TCR repertoire and thymus. Conclusion TT combined with CD4--DLI can enhance the reconstitution of T cell number and function via thymus dependent and thymus independent mechanism.

ObjectiveTo observe the therapeutic effect of Yiyuan Qiwei pills （YYQW） on diabetes mellitus-induced induced erectile dysfunction （DMED） in rats and explore its regulation on the nitric oxide （NO）-cyclic guanosine monophosphate （cGMP） signaling pathway. MethodFifty-five healthy SD male rats of clean grade aged 2-3 months underwent intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin （STZ） to induce the DMED model， and another 10 healthy SD male rats of clean grade aged 2-3 months were assigned to the control group. The model rats were randomly divided into a model group， a sildenafil group （5 mg·kg^-1， ig）， and low-， medium-， and high-dose YYQW groups （1.5， 3.0， 6.0 g·kg^-1， ig）. The rats in the model group and the control group were given normal saline by gavage at 10 mL·kg^-1， once a day for two months. After intervention， the penile erectile function of rats in each group was measured by a pressure detection system. The pathological changes and ultrastructure of penile corpus cavernosum were observed by hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining and transmission electron microscopy， respectively. The level of NO in the corpus cavernosum was detected by nitrate reductase. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA） was used to detect the levels of cGMP and advanced glycation end products （AGEs）. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction （Real-time PCR） was used to detect the mRNA expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase （eNOS）， neurogenic nitric oxide synthase （nNOS）， total nitric oxide synthase （NOS）， and phosphodiesterase type5 （PDE5） in rat penile tissues. The expression of above proteins was detected by Western blot. ResultCompared with the control group， the model group showed decreased intracavernous pressure （ICP）， NO， and cGMP levels， reduced mRNA and protein expression of nNOS and NOS， and increased PDE5 mRNA and protein expression （P<0.05）. Compared with the model group， the sildenafil group and the YYQW groups displayed increased ICP， NO， and cGMP levels， elevated mRNA and protein expression levels of nNOS and NOS， and reduced PDE5 mRNA and protein expression levels （P<0.05）. There were no pathological changes in the tissues and cell ultrastructure of the corpus cavernosum in the control group， while serious pathological changes were observed in the model group. Additionally， the sildenafil group and the YYQW groups were superior to the model group， the optimal effect was observed in the high-dose YYQW group. ConclusionYYQW can improve the penile erectile function of DMED rats and reduce the pathological damage of corpus cavernosum. The mechanism may be related to the promotion of nNOS and NOS expression， the inhibition of PDE5 expression， and the activation of the NO/cGMP signaling pathway.

Objective To explore risk factors of poor early prognosis in the treatment of COVID-19 by nematevir and ritonavir tablets Paxlovid and establish the prediction model to provide reference for improving the effect of such patients. Methods 92 inpatients of COVID-19 treated with Paxlovid in three military tertiary hospital in southern Fujian from January 2023 to March 2023 were retrospectively analyzed. The clinical indicators of 92 inpatients were collected for univariate and multivariate analysis by single factor and multiple factors and the independent risk factors of poor early prognosis in Paxlovid were screened out. Logistic model equation was transformed to construct the combined predictors, and ROC curve was used to determine the area under the curve (AUC) and the optimal critical value of the combined predictors. Results Among 92 patients, 31 (33.70%) developed poor early prognosis, including 11 deaths (35.48%), 17 critical cases (54.84%) and 3 severe cases (9.68%). Multi-factor Logistic regression analysis showed that the disease days, lymphocyte count, aspartate aminotransferase(AST), C reactive protein(CRP) and ventilator-assisted ventilation were independent risk factors for poor early prognosis in Paxlovid. A formula for calculating the combined predictors (Y) was established as Y_{combinedpredictors}=7.875X_{disease days}+126.188X_{lymphocyte count}+1.438X_AST+X_CRP+220.500X_{ventilator-assisted ventilation} based on the above independent risk factors, and the ROC curve was drawn. With the maximum area under the ROC curve of the combined predictors being 0.939, the prediction value was best, and the optimal critical value of the ROC curve corresponding to the maximum Youden index (0.756) was 447.920.Theoretical accuracy of the model was 89.10%. Conclusion The disease days, lymphocyte count, AST, CRP and ventilator-assisted ventilation were independent risk factors for poor early prognosis in Paxlovid. Combined predictors could be calculated by the above risk factors before medication. The efficiency should be improved by taking more active treatment, including combining with other anti-COVID-19 drugs when the prediction result exceeds 447.920.

BACKGROUND: Bladder cancer, characterized by a high potential of tumor recurrence, has high lifelong monitoring and treatment costs. To date, tumor cells with intrinsic softness have been identified to function as cancer stem cells in several cancer types. Nonetheless, the existence of soft tumor cells in bladder tumors remains elusive. Thus, our study aimed to develop a micro-barrier microfluidic chip to efficiently isolate deformable tumor cells from distinct types of bladder cancer cells. METHODS: The stiffness of bladder cancer cells was determined by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The modified microfluidic chip was utilized to separate soft cells, and the 3D Matrigel culture system was to maintain the softness of tumor cells. Expression patterns of integrin β8 (ITGB8), protein kinase B (AKT), and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) were determined by Western blotting. Double immunostaining was conducted to examine the interaction between F-actin and tripartite motif containing 59 (TRIM59). The stem-cell-like characteristics of soft cells were explored by colony formation assay and in vivo studies upon xenografted tumor models. RESULTS: Using our newly designed microfluidic approach, we identified a small fraction of soft tumor cells in bladder cancer cells. More importantly, the existence of soft tumor cells was confirmed in clinical human bladder cancer specimens, in which the number of soft tumor cells was associated with tumor relapse. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the biomechanical stimuli arising from 3D Matrigel activated the F-actin/ITGB8/TRIM59/AKT/mTOR/glycolysis pathways to enhance the softness and tumorigenic capacity of tumor cells. Simultaneously, we detected a remarkable up-regulation in ITGB8, TRIM59, and phospho-AKT in clinical bladder recurrent tumors compared with their non-recurrent counterparts. CONCLUSIONS The ITGB8/TRIM59/AKT/mTOR/glycolysis axis plays a crucial role in modulating tumor softness and stemness. Meanwhile, the soft tumor cells become more sensitive to chemotherapy after stiffening, that offers new insights for hampering tumor progression and recurrence.
Animals ; Mice ; Humans ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/metabolism* ; Actins/metabolism* ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases/metabolism* ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms ; Glycolysis ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; Mammals/metabolism* ; Tripartite Motif Proteins/metabolism* ; Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins/metabolism* ; Integrin beta Chains