Animals ; Atherosclerosis ; diet therapy ; physiopathology ; Humans ; Plaque, Atherosclerotic ; drug therapy

OBJECTIVETo study the relation between relative density and kinematical viscosity of the concentration for Yuxianling granules.

METHODThe relative density and kinematical viscosity by alkali burette of the concentration were investigated. The connection between kinematical viscosity and spray drying, also and temperature of the concentration was respected. In the meantime, different mathematical models were simulated.

RESULTKinematical viscosity is susceptible than relative density to the effect for spray drying, and the mathematical model is also set up accordingly. The result can offer the proper inlet temperature and kinematical viscosity for spray drying. CONCLUSIon The method in the experiment is simple, practical and manipulate easily. The study will provide the basis for extracted solution of compression and spray drying.

Desiccation ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Technology, Pharmaceutical ; methods ; Temperature ; Viscosity ; Water ; chemistry

Objective To investigate the influence of anti-depression therapy on cardiac function and short-term prognosis in elderly patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) and the safety and effectiveness of fluoxetine in these patients.Methods Ninety six elderly hospitalized patients with CHF accompanied with depressive disorder were randomly divided into two groups:fluoxetine (20mg once daily)and placebo treated groups based on the routine cardiac drug therapy for 3 months. Results The prevalence rate of depressive disorder in elderly patients with CHF was 31.1%.The length of stay of fluoxetine group was shorter than that of placebo group.The post-treatment depressive exponents of self-rating depression scale(SDS)in fluoxetine group (51.39%?8.63)was lower than those in pretreatment and in placebo group.The improvement of cardiac function in fluoxetine group(53.4%?4.5%) was much better than that of placebo group (P

To investigate the resources of medicinal plant, such as wild Apocynum, supervised classification based on Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and texture feature were used to monitor wild medicinal plants from image captured by ZY-3 and World-view-2 and compare which satellite Image are more appropriate to monitor the wild medicinal plants. The research results shows that: for more complex growth conditions wild medicinal plants Apocynum, high-resolution images Worldview-2 is more suitable for its remote identification, the low-resolution satellite ZY-3 can only recognizes the wild medicinal plants which distributed intensively. If the study target distribution is more intensive and larger scale, and cultivated type medicinal plants, the use of satellite ZY-3 in low resolution remote sensing data to identify the target can be a good choice, it is not necessary to buy high-resolution data, in order to avoid waste of expenditure, for the scattered distribution, the high-resolution satellite imagery data may be indispensable to identify targets.
Apocynum ; chemistry ; growth & development ; China ; Conservation of Natural Resources ; Geographic Information Systems ; Plant Dispersal ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; growth & development ; Remote Sensing Technology ; methods

OBJECTIVEPlatelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) plays an important role during the pathophysiological changes in vascular remodeling. The study aimed to investigate the effect of truncated PDGF-alpha receptor on apoptosis and expression of c-sis mRNA of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (VSMCs).

METHODSTissue mass culture was done to get vascular smooth muscle cells of pulmonary artery in newborn pigs. Two methods were used to interfere VSMCs: adding adenoviral recombined body (Ad5CMV-PalphaRtr, ACP) with three different concentrations of truncated PDGF-alpha receptor into the cultures, or adding three concentrations of PDGF-BB after the treatment with mid-concentration of ACP. VSMC apoptosis, cellular cycle and expression of c-sis were observed using flow-cytometry, and the expression of c-sis mRNA was detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).

RESULTSACP with mid- to- high concentrations could restrain the proliferation of VSMCs apparently with the increase of G(0)/G(1) cells. The apoptotic rate presented an ascending tendency. The differences among the groups were of statistically significant. Affected by mid- concentration of ACP, PDGF-BB did not exhibit a significantly accelerating effect on the changes of cellular cycle and VSMC apoptosis. The expression of c-sis mRNA was up-regulated under the effect of ACP. Affected by mid-concentration of ACP and PDGF-BB, c-sis mRNA expressed was down-regulated.

CONCLUSIONMid- to- high concentration of ACP is a powerful inhibitor of cellular proliferation for pulmonary artery VSMCs. It can significantly increase cells in number in G(0)/G(1) phase, apoptosis and c-sis mRNA expression.

Animals ; Animals, Newborn ; Apoptosis ; Gene Expression ; Genes, sis ; genetics ; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular ; cytology ; metabolism ; Pulmonary Artery ; cytology ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; metabolism ; Receptor, Platelet-Derived Growth Factor alpha ; genetics ; physiology ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Swine

OBJECTIVETo establish and evaluate a rat model of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) associated with depression for further elaborating the disease.

METHODSTwenty-four Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups: normal group (group N), T2DM group (group T) and T2DM with depression group (group T + D), with 8 rats in each group. The T2DM rat model was induced by high fat diet and low dose of Streptozotocin (STZ) injection, and in addition, the T2DM rats were made restraint stress for 21 days. After the model was established, the insulin tolerance test (ITT) and oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) were performed. Then the rat depression level was analyzed by open field test, and the concentration of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) and dopamine (DA)was determined by ELISA to confirm the model identity.

RESULTSThe blood glucose level in group T and group T + D didn't return to the normal level at 180 minutes in the ITT and OGTT test; Compared with the group N, the max movement distance, retaining time in the central zone and the retaining frequency within 5 minutes in the group T + D decreased; 5-HT and DA level in the serum of rats in. group T + D was reduced.

CONCLUSIONA rat model of type 2 diabetes mellitus associated with depression has been successfully established by high fat diet and injection of low dose streptozotocin in combination with restraint stress for 21 days. This rat model is useful for further relevant studies.

Animals ; Depression ; complications ; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental ; complications ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; Diet, High-Fat ; Glucose Tolerance Test ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Restraint, Physical ; Serotonin ; Streptozocin ; Stress, Psychological

OBJECTIVETo establish a method for SNP genotyping of multi-genes by allele-specific oligonucleotide probe ligation mediated by a thermostable ligase, and to explore the genetic polymorphisms of drug-metabolizing enzymes in breast cancer patients and their association with chemotherapeutic responses.

METHODS10 SNP loci of enzyme genes related to chemotherapeutic drugs such as taxanes, anthracyclines and cyclophosphamide were selected, and were genotyped for blood samples from 126 breast cancer patients by the established method. Their correlations with therapeutic responses were retrospectively evaluated.

RESULTSThe lower detection limit of genomic DNA by this developed method was 6.25 ng. The fluorescent peak locations of ligation products on ABI PRISM 377 DNA sequencer were accurate and consistent with prospective sizes in bases (Bias range 0.08 - 0.69 bp, x(-) = 0.31 bp, s = 0.18 bp). Same genotyping results were obtained for repeat tests of 8 random samples, which were further confirmed by sequencing analysis. The 10 SNP loci were polymorphic of different frequency in the breast cancer patients. The combinations with GSTP1 genotypes and GSTM1 genotypes were related to anthracycline-based chemotherapy efficacy (P = 0.037), and the low GSTs activity group (GSTP1 variant allele + GSTM1 null) showed the best effects (85.7%). GSTM1 genotypes and their combinations with GSTP1 and/or CYP3A5*3 genotypes were related to taxane-based therapy efficacy (P < 0.05 for all), and both the low GSTs activity group and the drug slow-metabolising group (low GSTs activity group + CYP3A5*3 wild allele) showed better effects (100%).

CONCLUSIONThe established method is reliable and applicable in multiplex SNPs genotyping of multi-genes. SNPs combination may have a better clinical application value for prediction of chemotherapeutic responses.

Adult ; Aged ; Anthracyclines ; therapeutic use ; Antineoplastic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Breast Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; genetics ; Cyclophosphamide ; therapeutic use ; Cytochrome P-450 CYP3A ; genetics ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; methods ; Female ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; Glutathione S-Transferase pi ; genetics ; Glutathione Transferase ; genetics ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; methods ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Retrospective Studies ; Taxoids ; therapeutic use ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effect of bear bile powder (BBP) on angiogenesis, and investigate the underlying molecular mechanisms.

METHODSA chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay was used to evaluate the angiogensis in vivo. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were treated with 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1.0 mg/mL of BBP for 24, 48 and 72 h, respectively. The 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay was performed to determine the viability of HUVECs. Cell cycle progression of HUVECs was examined by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis with propidium iodide staining. HUVEC migration was determined by wound healing method. An ECMatrix gel system was used to evaluate the tube formation of HUVECs. The mRNA and protein expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A in both HUVECs and HepG2 human cells were examined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay, respectively.

RESULTSCompared with the untreated group, BBP inhibited angiogenesis in vivo in the CAM model (P< 0.01). In addition, treatment with 0.25-1 mg/mL of BBP for 24, 48, or 72 h respectively reduced cell viability by 14%-27%, 29%-69% and 33%-91%, compared with the untreated control cells (P< 0.01). Additionally, BBP inhibited the proliferation of HUVECs via blocking the cell cycle G to S progression, compared with the S phase of untreated cells 48.05%± 5.00%, 0.25-0.75 mg/mL BBP reduced S phase to 40.38%± 5.30%, 36.54± 4.50% and 32.13± 3.50%, respectively (Pglt; 0.05). Moreover, BBP inhibited the migration and tube formation of HUVECs, compared with the tube length of untreated cells 100%± 12%, 0.25-0.75 mg/mL BBP reduced the tube length to 62%± 9%, 43%± 5% and 17%± 3%, respectively (p< 0.01). Furthermore, BBP treatment down-regulated the mRNA and protein expression levels of VEGF-A in both HepG2 cells and HUVECs.

CONCLUSIONBBP could inhibit the angiogenesis by reducing VEGF-A expression, which may, in part, explain its anti-tumor activity.

Animals ; Bile ; chemistry ; Cell Cycle ; Cell Movement ; Cell Proliferation ; Chick Embryo ; Chorioallantoic Membrane ; blood supply ; Gene Expression Regulation ; Hep G2 Cells ; Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells ; cytology ; Humans ; Neovascularization, Physiologic ; Powders ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; metabolism ; Ursidae ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; genetics ; metabolism

Objective To investigate the expression levels of miR-494 in breast cancer tissues and cell lines,and its correlations with the clinical stages,metastasis and prognosis of breast cancer.Methods The expression levels of miR--494 in 5 breast cancer cell lines,including MDA-MB-231,MDA-MB-453,HCC-1937,MDA-MB-468 and MCF-7,and normal breast cell line HBL-100,were detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR).The breast cancer tissues and normal adjacent tissues from 54 patients with breast cancer were collected,and their expression levels of miR-494 were determined by qRT-PCR.Then,the correlations of miR-494 levels with clinical stages,metastasis and prognosis of breast cancer were analyzed.Results The expression levels of miR-494 in MDA-MB-231,MDA-MB-453,HCC-1937,MDA-MB-468 and MCF-7 cells were significantly lower than that in HBL-100 cells (t =212.9,37.73,27.53,10.61 and 19.46,respectively,and all P ＜0.05).The expression levels of miR-494 in breast cancer tissues were also significantly lower than that in normal adjacent tissues (t =5.80,P ＜ 0.01).Moreover,the expression of miR-494 was significantly related to the clinical stage (x2 =17.41,P ＜0.05),tumor grade (x2 =5.33,P ＜0.05),C-erbB-2 expression (x2 =9.83,P ＜ 0.05) and the percentage of Ki-67 positive cells ((2 =6.13,P ＜ 0.05) of breast cancer.Conclusion The expression levels of miR-494 are significantly dowrregulated in breast cancer tissues and cell lines,and related to the clinical stage,metastasis and prognosis of breast cancer,indicating that miR-494 may serve as a new biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of breast cancer.

Objective To observe the efficacy and safety of DAAs in treating HCV patients with HIV/HCV co-infection.Method 53 patients were divided into groups based on HCV genotype. Sofosbuvir + Ledipasvir regime were used for 1b and 6a subtypes; sofosbuvir+Daclatasvir regime were used for 3a, 3b and those cannot be typed; all the patients diagnosed with cirrhosis were also administrated with ribavirin. The course of treatment for all patients is 12 weeks.Results All 53 patients completed HCV treatment, the overall SVR rate of DAAs treatment rate was 98.1%(52/53), failure rate 1.9%(1/53) ; SVR rate of DAAs treatment among non-cirrhosis patients was 100%(41/41) ; SVR rate of DAAs treatment among cirrhosis patients was 91.7%(11/12), failure rate 8.3%(1/11) . After treatment, ALT and AST levels of DAAs treatment patients were decreased (P＜0.05), while CD4 level increased (P＜0.05) . Main adverse effects are: 12 patients had gastrointestinal symptoms (22.6%) ; 6 had nausea, vomiting (11.3%), 4 had diarrhea (7.6%), 1 had mild rash (1.9%), and 5 had elevated serum total bilirubin (9.4%) . Conclusion The overall SVR rate among DAA treatment for HIV/HCV co-infected patients is high (98.1%) with broad indications. Even patients with cirrhosis are eligible. It yielded optimistic outcomes among different gene subtypes, and effectively improved liver function and CD4 level. With oral administration, short regime course, and mild adverse effects, patients can tolerate well, indicating its effectiveness and safety.