0.05).At the eighth week of training and after ceasing the cognitive training for 4 weeks the NCSE scores and the FIM scores were improved in both groups,espeeially in the cognitive training group(P

Objective To observe the effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor(ACEI) on insulin sensiti-(vity) in dogs with acute myocardial infarction(AMI) after thrombolytic treatment. Methods Twenty dogs were made as AMI models and then underwent thrombolytic treatment.The dogs were divided into the control group(n=10) and the captopril group(n=10) randomly.Insulin,plasma glucose,erythrocyte insulin receptor(EIR),nitrogen(NO) and angiotensin Ⅱ(AT Ⅱ) were(detected) and insulin sensitivity index(ISI) was calculated.The changes of these values in the two groups were contrasted. Results After reperfusion for 120 min,in the control group,ISI and AT Ⅱgot much more rise while EIR and NO fell much more(P

Background Oxidative damage plays an important role in pathogenesis of age-related macular degeneration( AMD ),and its mechanism is the destroy of blood-retinal barrier.Müller cells is a primary component to stabilize the inner barrier of the blood-retina.Researches showed that epidermal growth factor(EGF) can promote the proliferation and migration of animal Müller cells,but less study was found in the effect of EGF on human Müller cells. Objective The present study was to investigate the effects of EGF on the proliferation and migration of human Müller cells and its molecular mechanism. Methods Human Müller cell line MIO-M1 cells were cultured and incubated,and cultured cells were identified using glial fibrillory acidic protein (GFAP),factor Ⅷ,α-smooth muscle actin( α-SMA ),keratin and S-100.Different concentrations of EGF( 0,1,10,30,100 mg/L)was added in freeserum DMEM,and the positive rate of the cells was calculated using 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine(BrdU) method.The cells were divided into EGF group,H2 O2 group,EGF + H2 O2 group,glucose oxidase ( GO ) group,GO + EGF group,EGF + LY294002+H2O2 group according to the different intervention,and the effects of LY294002 on the proliferation of Müller cells (A590 )were detected by colorimetric assay for cellular growth and survival( MTT assay).The scratch test of Müller cells was used to assess the influence of EGF(0,1,10,30,100 mg/L)on H2 O2-induced damage of human Müller cell.Western blot was used to detect the cell proliferation under the protection of EGF on co-cultured cells using LY294002 and H2O2 and the activation of Akt signal pathways. Results The proliferative rates of the cells were 28.0％,32.9％,39.0％ in 10,30,100 mg/L EGF groups respectively and obviously higher than those in 0,1 mg/L EGF groups (24.5 ％,26.2 ％ ).Under the H2O2 culture,GO culture,respectively,the A570 value of the Müller cell in high concentrations of EGF groups was significantly increased in comparison with lower concentrations EGF groups with the statistical significance among the groups( F=23.582,P=0.000).Compared with EGF+H2O2 group,the A570value of the Müller cells was lowed in EGF+LY294002+H2O2 group.The maximum migration rate of Müller cells was found in 10 mg/L EGF group.Western blot revealed that the presence of H2O2 reinforced the expression of Akt in Müller cells,however,pretreatment with 100 mg/L EGF antagonized the harmful effect of H2O2 on Müller cells.Meanwhile,pretreatment with EGF and LY294002 reduced the expression of Akt in Müller cells. Conclusions EGF can induce the proliferation and migration of human Müller cells with the strongest effect in 10 mg/L.100 mg/L exogenous EGF has a stronger protection to the Müiller cells against H2O2-induced cell damage by activating the PI3KAkt cell survival pathway.

SCID mouse-human leukemia model is an important and useful tool for study on proliferation, differentiation and modulation of leukemic cells. In this article, the establishment of the model, advances in research and application in studies of pathogenesis, cell biology, clinical diagnosis, therapy and assessment of prognosis of leukemia patients are reviewed. The limitations of the model are also commented.
Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Humans ; Leukemia ; therapy ; Mice ; Mice, SCID ; Research Design

OBJECTIVETo determine the role of recipient lymphopenia state in the expansion and function of leukemia specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs).

METHODSC57BL/6 mice were induced to lymphopenia with 6 Gy total body irradiation. Spleen T cells or leukemia specific T cells from EGFP+ transgenic C57BL/6-EGFP mice were adoptively transferred by intravenous injection. The mice were challenged subcutaneously with 1 x 10(6) FBL3 leukemic cells at day 2 after irradiation. The peripheral WBC count, percentage of EGFP+ cells, subsets of T cells and tumor sizes were monitored.

RESULTBoth of the spleen T cell and leukemia specific CTL proliferated efficiently with the percentage of EGFP+ cells of 28. 81% and 42.24%, respectively, after infused into lymphopenic recipients. However, spleen T cells had no anti-leukemia effect regardless of its expansion. In contrast, leukemia specific CTLs showed a more rapid and extensive expansion under the condition of lymphopenia and a enhanced anti-leukemia immunity.

CONCLUSIONTransfusion of leukemia specific CTLs under lymphopenia state could be a feasible strategy to expand leukemia specific CTLs and generate favorable anti-leukemia effect in vivo.

Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Female ; Leukemia ; immunology ; Lymphopenia ; immunology ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic ; immunology

OBJECTIVETo compare the transcription difference of the mannitol PTS genes between epidemic and non-epidemic strains of Vibrio cholerae El Tor in mannitol ferment tests.

METHODSGrowth curves of 10 epidemic strains (slow-ferment) and 10 non-epidemic strains (rapid-ferment) of Vibrio cholerae were detected in the process of fermentation test, and the transcriptional level of mannitol PTS operon of these strains were determined with quantitative reverse-transcriptional PCR.

RESULTSAfter 4 hours of test, the non-epidemic strains became positive and the average growth density of the non-epidemic strains was higher than that of the epidemic strains; however, some were still lower than the epidemic strains. In contrast, at the eighth hour of test, when epidemic strains got positive, they showed higher average growth density. Compared to the epidemic strains, the transcription of mannitol PTS genes of the non-epidemic strains were much more active at the 1st and 2nd hour and were lower at the 4th and 8th hour.

CONCLUSIONSThe difference of mannitol PTS operon transcription level should be an important feature to identify the epidemic and non-epidemic strains of Vibrio cholerae, which directly influences the mannitol fermentation rate during the test. The growth rate is not a key factor that affect such difference.

Bacterial Proteins ; genetics ; Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial ; Mannitol ; metabolism ; Operon ; Phosphoenolpyruvate ; metabolism ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; methods ; Sugar Alcohol Dehydrogenases ; metabolism ; Transcription, Genetic ; Vibrio cholerae ; classification ; genetics ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo study the effect of Tangshenkang Granule (TG) containing serum on renal mesangial cells' (RMCs) proliferation and TGF-β1/Smad2/3 pathway in the high glucose condition.

METHODSTwelve SD rats were randomly divided into four groups, i.e., the low dose TG group, the middle dose TG group, the high dose TG group, and the blank control group, 3 in each group. After 7-day gastrogavage via portal vein blood, rats were sacrificed and their serum samples were collected. RMCs were cultured in common rat serum and TG containing serum respectively. The proliferation of mesangial cells was determined by methly thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay to determine the optimal TG containing serum concentration. Expression levels of TGF-β1 mRNA and protein were determined by real time quantitative PCR and ELISA. Smad2/3 protein expression and phosphorylation were determined by Western blot and immunofluorescence.

RESULTSTG containing serum at different doses could inhibit high glucose induced RMC cells' proliferation, TGF-β1 over-expression and Smad2/3 phosphorylation.

CONCLUSIONTG containing serum could inhibit high glucose induced RMC cells' proliferation, and its mechanism might be possibly associated with inhibiting TGF-β1/Smad2/3 signaling pathway.

Animals ; Cell Proliferation ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Glucose ; Mesangial Cells ; Phosphorylation ; RNA, Messenger ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Serum ; Signal Transduction ; Smad2 Protein ; metabolism ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo assess the efficacy of denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) as a new screening assay for sequence variation in SNP detecting and new approach to SNP genotyping.

METHODSDHPLC was used to screen SNPs in 8 DNA pools each consisting of DNA from 5 individuals, and genotype the identified SNPs in 150 Chinese subjects from Hong Kong.

RESULTSSeventeen SNPs were identified: 12 were novel and 5 were previously reported; 11 were found in screening stage and the other 6 were found in genotyping stage; 2 were only found in Caucasian samples; 3 showed ethnic difference of minor allele frequency(MAF); 7 were common with the MAF>0.05 in Chinese samples.

CONCLUSIONThe results demonstrated the efficiency of DHPLC in screening SNPs when coupled with DNA pooling strategy, and in genotyping SNPs.

Alcohol Oxidoreductases ; genetics ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Genotype ; Humans ; Point Mutation ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; genetics ; Sequence Analysis, DNA

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Objective To investigate the prevalence and pattern of androgenetic alopecia (AGA) in Shanghai through a community-based survey. Methods A cluster sampling survey was done among the residents in Beixinjing Community, Changning District, Shanghai. All the subjects were asked to fill a questionnaire to provide their general information, including sex, age, native place, physical status, life habit, family history, etc. The diagnosis of AGA was made by dermatologists. To determine the pattern of hair loss,Norwood-Hamilton classification system and Ludwig classification system were used for male AGA and female AGA, respectively. All the data were statistically analyzed by EpiData and SPSS11.5 software. Results Totally, 7056 subjects completed the questionnaire, including 3519 males and 3537 females, and the response rate was 72.5%. AGA was diagnosed in 809 patients, consisting of 701 males aging from 19 to 91 years (mean 64.16±11.9 years) and 108 females aging from 35 to 91 years (mean 70.46±18.89 years). The standardized prevalence (SP) was 9.47% in total, 15.73% in males and 2.73% in females; the difference was significant between males and females (χ2=356.00, P<0.001). A family history of AGA was observed in 52.7% of all subjects including 391 (55.78%) males and 35 (32.41%) females. Type Ⅲ vertex involvement was the most common type in men aging from 20 to 70 years old, and type Ⅵ in those over 70 years old. Grade Ⅰ and Ⅱ predominated in female AGA. Conclusions The results of this survey indicate that the prevalence of AGA is remarkably higher in men than that in women. Furthermore, the prevalence is steadily increased with advancing age in Shanghai.