Diabetic retinopathy is a progressive vision-threatening complication of diabetes mellitus.The characters of diabetic retinopathy in clude capillary occlusion,microcirculation disturbance and retina neovascularization near ischemic areas of the retina.The exact pathogenic mechanism is still unclear.Recent studies showed that it may be related to vascular inflammation of the retina.Cytokines can cause induction of proinflammatory and adhesion molecules and thereby increase monocyte-endothelial cell adhesion,which is now accepted as the early key event in the development of diabetic retinopathy.The functions of many cytokines such as vascular endothelial growth factor,transforming growth factor-β,basic fibroblast growth factor and ideas for medicine therapeutic to diabetic retinopathy are summarized in this review.

AIM: To investigate the changes of potassium channels in thoracic aorta of streptozotocin-induced diabetic mouse in the early stage of diabetes mellitus. METHODS: The effects of 60 mmol/L KCl, phenylephrine (PE), sodium nitroprusside (SNP) were measured and concentration-response curves to SNP were determined in the presence and in the absence of the inhibitors of potassium channels on the thoracic aortic rings of diabetic and age-matched control mice in vitro. RESULTS: STZ-diabetic mice showed a significant increase in the maximum contractile response and sensitivity of thoracic aorta to 60 mmol/L KCl and PE. The endothelium-independent relaxation response to SNP was increased by diabetes and were decreased significantly by pretreatment of the vessels with 1 mmol/L tetraethylammonium (TEA), 1 mmol/L 4-aminopyridine (4-AP) and 10 ?mol/L glibenclamide in diabetes thoracic aorta. Only 4-AP decreased relaxation response to SNP in age-matched control mice. The -logIC 50 difference of TEA in thoracic aorta rings of diabetes was significantly higher than age-matched control mice.CONCLUSION: In early stage of diabetes mellitus, the opening or expression of K Ca channels is significantly enhanced.The opening of K ATP channels is also enhanced in this stage.

Objective To investigate the correlation of motor function and emotion, cognition in patients after stroke. Methods 15 sub-acute stroke patients were included. They were assessed with Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA)、10 m walking speed, Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD), Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety (HAMA), Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), modified Barthel Index (MBI) and SF-36. Fractional anisotropy (FA) values, apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), and asymmetry indices of ADC and FA were obtained from diffusion tensor imaging. The correlation among them were analyzed. Results There was no correlation between the scores of FMA, 10 m walking speed and HAMD, HAMA, MMSE (P>0.05). The scores of HAMD, HAMA and MMSE correlated with emotional function of SF-36 (P<0.05). The HAMA score negatively correlated with body pain of SF-36. The FA value of the posterior limb of the internal capsule were negatively correlated with HAMD (P<0.05). Conclusion Neural network defect can cause emotion changes in stroke patients, but the motor function was not correlated with the emotion. Emotion and cognition may affect quality of life in these patients.

Amygdala ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Animals ; Conditioning (Psychology) ; Morphine ; adverse effects ; Rats ; Receptors, Opioid, kappa ; metabolism

Objective To investigate the lesionsin theleft thalamus and to explore their correlation with executive functionin patients with subcortical ischemic vascular disease(SIVD)by using 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Methods Fourteen patients with vascular dementia (VaD), 14 patients with vas-cular cognitive impairment without dementia(VCIND)and 14 normal controls (NC) were recruited. The quantitative analy-sis of N-acetylaspartate (NAA), Choline (Cho), myoinositol (MI) and Creatine (Cr) resonance signals in region of interests (ROI) in the left thalamus were measured. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) values in the same region were examined by using DTI. The relationship were analyzedamong the MRS, DTI ratios and cognitive impairment reflect-ed in MMSE and trail making test(TMT). Results The NAA/Cr ratio showed a gradual decrease in the left thalamus of VaD andVCIND patients compared with controls(F=3.656, P=0.038). There was no significant difference in NAA/Cr ra- tiobetween VaD and VCIND patients.Compared with controls, patients with VaD and VCIND demonstrated increased MD value in the left thalamus(F=3.882, P=0.030).There was no significant difference in MD value between VaD and VCIND patients (P>0.05). There were no correlations between NAA/Cr, MI/Cr, Cho/Cr value and DTI parameters in the ROI (P>0.05). TMTb time was positively associated with Cho/Cr(r=0.520,P=0.001 ) and with MD value in the left thalamus (r=0.305, P=0.044). Conclusions Combination of 1H-MRS with DTI can provide the valuable informationon the potential lesions in the thalamus in patients with SIVD. The Cho/Cr and MD values in the leftthalamus may be correlated with ex-ecutive function.

Objective To evaluate preventive effect of semireclining and alternately lateral recumbent position on ventilator associated pneumonia.Method Fifty-fiv patients requiring mechanical ventilation for more than 48 hours were randomly divided into two groups 28 in semireclining with ahemately lateral recumbent position group and 27 in only semireclining group.Chest physiotherapy was carried out simultaneously in two groups.The secretion in lower respiratory tract was regularly cullected for quantitative cultures of microbiology.Results There were no significant differences between groups on gender,age,Acute Physiology and Chronic Health EvaluationⅡscore,risk factors for VAP.VAP occurred in 6 of 28 patients in the semireclining and alternately lateral recumbent position group and in 11 of 27 in the semireclining group (P0.05).Conclusions Semi-reclining with alternately lateral recumbent position can reduce aspiration and postural drainage that can decrease VAP rate and shorten duration of mechanical ventilation and ICU stay.

OBJECTIVETo examine UVB-induced responses in normal human keratinocytes (HaCaT) and epidermoid carcinoma cells (A431) at the cellular and molecular level, and investigated the protective effect of salidroside.

METHODSCells irradiated by UVB at various dosage and their viability was assessed by MTT assays, cell cycle was analysed by flow cytometry. The expression of NF-κB, BCL-2, and CDK6 after 50 J/m(2) UVB irradiation were detected by RT-PCR and western blotting.

RESULTSOur results confirmed greater tolerance of A341 cells to UVB-induced damage such as cell viability and cell cycle arrest, which was accompanied by differential expression changes in NF-κB, BCL-2, and CDK6. UVB exposure resulted in HaCaT cells undergoing G(1)-S phase arrest. When treated with salidroside, HaCaT survival was significantly enhanced following exposure to UVB, suggesting great therapeutic potential for this compound.

CONCLUSIONTaken together, our study suggests that A431 respond differently to UVB than normal HaCaT cells, and supports a role for NF-κB, CDK6, and BCL-2 in UVB-induced cell G(1)-S phase arrest. Furthermore, salidroside can effectively protect HaCaT from UVB irradiation.

Antioxidants ; pharmacology ; Apoptosis ; radiation effects ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Cell Cycle Checkpoints ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Survival ; drug effects ; radiation effects ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Glucosides ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Keratinocytes ; radiation effects ; Phenols ; pharmacology ; Ultraviolet Rays

Toxicity of different processed was evaluated Polygoni Multiflori Radix by determining the hepatotoxic potency for selecting processing technology. Process Polygoni Multiflori Radix using high pressure steamed, Black Bean high pressure steamed, atmospheric steamed for different time. Using normal human hepatocytes (L02) as evaluation model, hepatotoxic potency as index to evaluate hepatotoxic potency of different processed Polygoni Multiflori Radix. Analysis chemical composition of some processed products by UPLC-MS. Hepatotoxic bioassay method cloud evaluate the toxicity of different Polygoni Multiflori Radix samples. Different processing methods can reduce the toxicity of Polygoni Multiflori Radix, high pressure steamed three hours attenuated was better. Different processing methods have different effects on chemical constituents of Polygoni Multiflori Radix. Comparing with crude sample, the contents of gallic acid, 2,3,5,4-tetrahydroxyl diphenylethylene-2-O-glucoside, emodin-8-O-beta glucoside and emodin were decreased in processed products with 3 kinds of different methods. The change trend of 2,3,5,4-tetrahydroxyl diphenylethylene-2-O-glucoside content was similar with hepatotoxic potency. Different processing methods can reduce the toxicity of Polygoni Multiflori Radix. Processing methods and time attenuated obvious impact on toxicity. Recommended further research on the attehuated standard control of Polygoni Multiflori Radix concocted.
Biological Assay ; Cell Line ; Chemistry, Pharmaceutical ; methods ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; toxicity ; Fallopia multiflora ; chemistry ; toxicity ; Hepatocytes ; drug effects ; Humans ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; toxicity

BACKGROUND/AIMS: No clinical model exists to predict the occurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma in sustained virologic response-achieving (HCC after SVR) patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC). METHODS: We performed a case-control study using a clinical database to research the risk factors for HCC after SVR. A predictive model based on risk factors was established, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was calculated. RESULTS: In the multivariate model, an initial diagnosis of compensated cirrhosis and post-SVR albumin reductions of 1 g/L were associated with 21.7-fold (95% CI, 4.2 to 112.3; p<0.001) and 1.3-fold (95% CI, 1.1 to 1.7; p=0.004) increases in the risk of HCC after SVR, respectively. A predictive model based on an initial diagnosis of compensated cirrhosis (yes, +1; no, 0) and post-SVR albumin ≤36.0 g/L (yes, +1; not, 0) predicted the occurrence of HCC after SVR with a cutoff value of >0, an AUC of 0.880, a sensitivity of 0.833, a specificity of 0.896, and a negative predictive value of 0.956. CONCLUSIONS: An initial diagnosis of compensated cirrhosis combined with a post-SVR albumin value of ≤36.0 g/L predicts the occurrence of HCC after SVR in patients with CHC.
Area Under Curve ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular* ; Case-Control Studies* ; Diagnosis ; Fibrosis ; Hepatitis C, Chronic* ; Hepatitis, Chronic* ; Humans ; Risk Factors ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity

The threshold hypothesis of attenuated lentiviral vaccine considers that the type of host response to infections of lentiviruses depends on the viral load. To evaluate the correlation between viral loads of the attenuated vaccine strain of equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) and their effects to induce protective immunity, longitudinal plasma viral loads in groups of horses inoculated with either an attenuated EIAV vaccine strain (EIAV(DLV125)) or sub-lethal dose of an EIAV virulent strain (EIAV(LN40)) were compared. Similar levels of plasma viral loads ranging from 10(3)-10(5) copies/mL were detected from samples of these two groups of animals (P > 0.05) during 23 weeks post the inoculation. However, different responses to the challenge performed thereafter with lethal dose of the EIAV virulent strain were observed from the groups of horses inoculated with either EIAV(DLV125) or sub-lethal dose of EIAV(LN40). The protective efficiency was 67% (3 of 4 cases) and 0 (none of 2 cases), respectively. Our results implicate that the viral load of EIAV attenuated vaccine is not the primary factor, or at least not the solo primary factor, to determine the establishment of immune protection.
Animals ; Equine Infectious Anemia ; blood ; immunology ; prevention & control ; Horses ; Immunization ; methods ; Infectious Anemia Virus, Equine ; immunology ; pathogenicity ; RNA, Viral ; blood ; genetics ; Random Allocation ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Time Factors ; Vaccines, Attenuated ; administration & dosage ; immunology ; Viral Load ; Viral Vaccines ; administration & dosage ; immunology ; Virulence ; immunology