AIM: To investigate the expression of stem cell factor (SCF) in tryptase -positive mast cells ( MCs) in different types of human periapical diseases for determining the role of SCF and MCs in the pathogenesis of peria-pical diseases.METHODS: A total 50 cases of specimens were involved in this study, including healthy control (n=20), periapical cyst (n=15) and periapical granuloma (n=15).The tissue material was fixed in 10%formalin for at least 48 h, stained with hematoxylin and eosin for the observation of histopathology, stained with immunohistochemistry for identifying MCs and MCs degranulation, and stained with double immunofluorescence for identification of tryptase-SCF double positive MCs.RESULTS:Compared with healthy control, significantly higher densities of both total and degranu-lated MCs in human periapical lesions were observed.The densities of both total and degranulated MCs in the periapical cyst were significantly higher than that in the periapical granuloma.The density of tryptase-SCF double positive MCs in the periapical lesions was significantly higher than that in the healthy controls.The density oftryptase-SCF double positive MCs in the periapical cyst was significantly higher than that in periapical granuloma.No significant difference in the density of MCs between immunohistochemistry staining and double immunofluorescence staining was observed.CONCLUSION:The tryptase-SCF double positive MCs play an active role in the pathogenesis of the periapical inflammatory lesions, particularly in the formation of fibrous tissue in periapical cyst.The potential role of the tryptase-SCF double positive MCs relates with the initiation, development, and persistence of the periapical inflammatory process.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; Female ; Humans ; Injections, Intravenous ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Motor Neuron Disease ; drug therapy ; Phytotherapy ; Treatment Outcome

Recently, microRNAs (miRNAs) have been shown to be involved in multiple biological pathways that can influence tumor progression and metastasis and they can serve as prognostic biomarkers in many cancers. The present study examined the prognostic significance of miR-215 in cervical cancer. The paraffin-embedded paired cervical scrape samples and tumor tissue samples from 302 patients with stage II cervical cancer were detected for the expression of miR-215 by using qRT-PCR. A miR-215-based classifier was established by using the Cox regression model. The prognostic and predictive accuracy of this classifier was determined in both the internal testing group of 138 patients, and the external independent group of 280 patients. Moreover, cervical cancer HeLa cells overexpressing miR-215 (HeLa-miR-215) were constructed and subcutaneously injected into the nude mice to examine the effect of miR-215 on tumor growth and metastasis in vivo. The results showed that the expression level of miR-215 was significantly higher in cervical cancer tissues than in paired normal tissues (P<0.0001). When patients were classified into high- and low-risk cancer progression groups according to miR-215 level, the 5-year disease-free survival in high- and low-risk groups were 43% (95% CI: 32.1-51.6) and 67% (95% CI: 48.6-77.3) (hazard ratio [HR] 2.02, 95% CI: 1.16-3.52; P=0.013) respectively. Moreover, the expression level of miR-215 was negatively associated with survival rate in patients at TNM stage T3 (HR: 3.317; 95% CI: 1.18-5.14, P=0.017) and TNM stage T4 (HR: 3.48; 95% CI: 1.49-4.45, P=0.008). Tumor volume in nude mice injected with HeLa-miR-215 cells was significantly larger than that in mice injected with control HeLa cells. It was concluded that the expression level of miR-215 is associated with cervical tumor progression and worse survival rate, suggesting that it may serve as a potential prognostic marker to identify patients at higher risk of recurrence.

Objective To study the diagnostic and prognostic values by magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) and computed tomography(CT) for investigation of infantile spasms(IS).Methods Fourty-two patients with IS were retrospectively reviewed by CT scan and MRI T1W,T2W and inversion recovery (IR) and MRA techniques.Results Fourteen cases were found abnormal in CT,including encephalatrophy,hemorrhage,gross malformation and lesions with underlying calcification;MRI studies of 24/28 cases showed that MRI was the most appropriate imaging technique in diagnosis of the underlying substrate of patients with IS and other epilepsies,particularly in periventricular leuko malacia(PL),delayedmyelination(DM),hypxic-ischemic encephalopathy(HIE),kernicterus,tuberous sclerosis(TS),hippocampal sclerosis(HS),brainstematrophy,heterotopia,corpus callosum and vascular malformation,et al.MRI was also valuable for determining the prognoses of IS,but it should be combined with the clinical symptom and ages. Conclusions MRI and CT are highly important for the investigation and treatment of patients with IS; MRI is much more sensitive to exploration of neuropathology of infatile spasms,such as PL,DM,HIE,kernicteus,HS,heterotopias and focally cortical dysplasia.

Objective To evaluate the effects on trabeculectomy combined with implantation of anterior lens capsule.Design Radomized,controlled experimental study.Participants 36 experimental albino rabbits.Methods 36 albino rabbits were divided into 3 groups randomly.The rabbit and human anterior lens capsules were implanted under the scleral flap in trabeculectomy in group A and group B respectively,while only trabeculectomy in control group.The average follow-up period was 12 months.Main Outcome Mea- sures Intraocular pressures(IOP),filtering bleb,complications.Results The postoperative IOP of the experimental groups decreased sig- nificantly as compared with preoperative IOP at 12 week postoperatively.Retention of reflective filtering bleb in experimental groups was longer than that in contral group(5.12?0.43week,5.05?0.59week,2.74?0.32week,P＜0.05).The passage of humor outflow kept open in ex- perimental groups and became closed in control group at 12 week postoperatively.Anterior lens capsule wasn't attacked by T or B lym- phocyte seen with electron microscope.Conclusions Implantation of anterior lens capsule may help to postpone filtering bleb scarring in the trabeculectomy.This study provides experimental basis for the clinical practice.

Objective: To observe the clinical efficacy of long-snake moxibustion plus Western medicine for chronic heart failure due to heart-kidney yang deficiency.Methods: A total of 80 patients were randomized into a control group and an observation group, with 40 cases in each group. The control group was treated with routine Western medicine, and the observation group was treated with long-snake moxibustion therapy on the basis of routine Western medicine. Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), stroke volume (SV) and left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDd) were measured before and after treatment, and the heart function was assessed. The serum brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) level was measured, the 6 min walking distance was recorded, and the Minnesota living with heart failure questionnaire (MLHFQ) was assessed and scored. The serum galectin-3 (Gal-3) and soluble growth stimulation expressed gene 2 (sST2) protein levels were measured. Clinical efficacy was evaluated after treatment. Results: The total effective rate of the observation group was higher than that of the control group, and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P<0.05). After treatment, LVEF and LVEDd in both groups were significantly improved (all P<0.05), and LVEF, SV and LVEDd in the observation group were superior to those in the control group (all P<0.05). The heart function classification in both groups were improved after treatment (both P<0.05), and the heart function classification in the observation group was superior to that in the control group (P<0.05). The serum BNP level in both groups decreased (both P<0.05), and the serum BNP level in the observation group was lower than that in the control group (P<0.05). The 6 min walking distance and MLHFQ scores in both groups were improved (all P<0.05), and the 6 min walking distance and MLHFQ score in the observation group were superior to those in the control group (both P<0.05). The serum Gal-3 and sST2 levels in the observation group decreased significantly (both P<0.05), and all lower than those in the control group (both P<0.05). Conclusion: Long-snake moxibustion plus Western medicine has significant efficacy in treating chronic heart failure due to heart-kidney yang deficiency; it can improve heart function, reduce the serum BNP level, and improve the exercise endurance and quality of life in the patients. This may be related to the down-regulation of serum Gal-3 and sST2 levels.

Traditional herbal medicines, Panax ginseng, Panax quinquefolium and Panax notoginseng, attract our attention for their extensive and powerful pharmacological activities. Ginsenosides are the main active constituents of these medicinal herbs. The related glycosyltransferases involved in ginsenoside biosynthesis are the key enzymes which catalyze the last important step. Modification of ginsenoside aglycones by glycosyltransferases produces the complexity and diversity of ginsenosides, which have more extensive pharmacological activity. At present, ginsenoside aglycones and compound K have been obtained by synthetic biology. As the last step of ginsenoside biosynthesis, glycosylation of ginsenoside aglycones has been studied intensively in recent years. This review summarizes the basic strategies and research advances in studies on glycosyltransferases involved in ginsenoside biosynthesis, which is expected to lay the theoretical foundation for the in-depth research of biosynthetic pathway of ginsenosides and their production by synthetic biology.
Biosynthetic Pathways ; Ginsenosides ; biosynthesis ; Glycosyltransferases ; metabolism ; Panax ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Synthetic Biology

This article introduces a novel scavenger for waste anesthetic gas which makes use of negative pressure in operating room. This setting can scavenge the exhaust gas absolutely without affection the normal work of anaesthesia.
Anesthetics ; Gas Scavengers ; Operating Rooms

The cyclization of 2,3-oxidosqualene is the key branch point of ergosterol and triterpenoid biosynthesis. Downregulation of 2,3-oxidosqualene metabolic flux to ergosterol in Saccharomyces cerevisiae may redirect the metabolic flux toward the triterpenoid synthetic pathway. In our study, primers were designed according to erg7 gene sequence of S. cerevisiae. Three fragments including 5' long fragment, 5' short fragment and erg7 coding region fragment were amplified by PCR. 5' long fragment consists of the promoter and a part of erg7 coding region sequence. 5' short fragment consists of a part of promoter and a part of erg7 coding region sequence. These fragments were inserted reversely into pESC-URA to construct antisense expression plasmids. The recombinant plasmids were transformed into S. cerevisiae INVSc1 and recombinant strains were screened on the nutritional deficient medium SD-URA. The erg7 expression level of recombinant strains, which harbored antisense expression plasmid of erg7 coding region, was similar to that of INVScl by semi-quantitative PCR detection. But erg7 expression level of recombinant strains, which harbored 5' long antisense fragment and 5' short antisense fragment, was significantly lower than that of the control. The results of TLC and HPLC showed that the ergosterol content of recombinant strains, which harbored 5' long antisense fragment, decreased obviously. The ergosterol contents of the others were almost equal to that of INVSc1. Lanosterol synthase gene expression was downregulated by antisense RNA technology in S. cerevisiae, which lays a foundation for reconstructing triterpenoid metabolic pathway in S. cerevisiae by synthetic biology technology.
DNA Primers ; Down-Regulation ; Gene Expression ; Intramolecular Transferases ; genetics ; metabolism ; Plasmids ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; RNA, Antisense ; Saccharomyces cerevisiae ; enzymology ; genetics ; Squalene ; analogs & derivatives ; metabolism ; Transformation, Genetic

OBJECTIVETo develop a virulent heat-evil-induced thrombosis animal model, and provide a rational animal model for pathogeny and pathogenesis research of thrombosis-related diseases, anti-thrombosis activity screening and pre-clinical studies of CAHT formula.

METHODSD rats were pretreated with carrageenin (Ca) intraperitoneal injection, followed by intravenous injection of endotoxin (LPS from E. coli O111:B4) 50 microg x kg(-1) 16 h later. Thrombosis in rat tails were observed during 12-24 h after injection of LPS. The inflammatory mechanism of this model were investigated by analyzing serum level of TNF-alpha, IL-6, TXB2 and 6-keto-PGF 1alpha, CD11b/CD18 expression of white blood cells (WBC) and P-selectin expression of vessel walls.

RESULTIn LPS/Ca model group, thrombosis can be clearly observed in the distal part of rat tails after 12-24 h of LPS/Ca treatment. High level of TNF-alpha and IL-6 can be measured in serum. The expression of CD11b/CD18 in WBC and P-selectin in vessel endothelium significantly increased and the number of WBC in peripheral blood markedly decreased shortly after LPS/Ca treatment. The adherence of white blood cells to vessel endothelium which can be seen by microscope mainly contributed to the decrease of WBC. The results indicated that there was obvious inflammation after treatment with LPS/Ca, suggesting that inflammation was the key mechanism for this model.

CONCLUSIONThis model was developed through treatment of LPS in combination with Ca, of which LPS is considered to be an exotic virulent heat-evil in TCM, while the inflammatory molecules produced in this model, such as TNF-alpha, IL-6, CD11b/CD18 and P-selectin belong to internal virulent heat-evils, so this animal model consists of pathogeny and pathogenesis of virulent heat-evils. virulent heat-evil.

6-Ketoprostaglandin F1 alpha ; blood ; Animals ; CD11b Antigen ; metabolism ; CD18 Antigens ; metabolism ; Carrageenan ; pharmacology ; Disease Models, Animal ; Endotoxins ; pharmacology ; Immunohistochemistry ; Interleukin-6 ; blood ; Leukocytes ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Thrombosis ; blood ; chemically induced ; metabolism ; pathology ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; blood