AIM: To observe the improvement effects of berberine on glycated brain damages in model rats induced by D-galactose. METHODS: The model rats of protein glycation were induced by intraperitoneal administration of D-galactose(150 mg/kg?d) for 8 weeks,and all rats were treated with berberine(high dose 300 mg/kg,middle dose 150 mg/kg,low dose 75 mg/kg) for 6 weeks.The activity of aldose reductase in red blood cells,the amount of glycated products(fructosamine in serum,glycohaemoglobin,advanced gtycation end-products),and the content of AGEs in brain tissue,calcium ion in brain cells were measured.Moreover,mitochondria in brain hippocampus cells were observed under electronic microscope. RESULTS: High dose and middle dose of berberine could decrease the activity of aldose reductase in red blood cells(P

AIM: To observe the effects of puerarin on blood pressure(BP),serum lipid in a rat model of insulin resistance and the mechanism.METHODS: Adult SD rats were maintained on high-fat-sugar-salt diet for 12 weeks.Puerarin was administered to the rats from 9th week for 4 weeks by intramuscular injection.BP was measured at the end of 0,8th,12th week.The levels of serum glucose,serum lipid,fasting serum insulin and the levels of MDA,TNF-?,plasma rennin,angiotensinⅡ(AngⅡ) and the activity of SOD were measured and the insulin-sensitivity index was also calculated at the end of the experiment.RESULTS: High and middle dosage of puerarin significantly decreased blood pressure,reduced the levels of serum lipid and AngⅡ,and also increased insulin-sensitivity index.The levels of MDA and TNF-? were significantly decreased by high dosage of puerarin.The activity of SOD was increased significantly.CONCLUSIONS: Puerarin possesses the effects of decreasing the blood pressure and serum lipid in a rat model of insulin resistance,which may be concerned with the changes of rennin-angiotensin system,the levels of oxygen-derived free radicals and TNF-?.

Objective To detect the mutation of ATP7A gene in 2 families with Menkes disease.Met-hods Genomic DNA of 6 members from 2 families were extracted with salt fractionation.The encoding exons and 2 sides flanking intron of ATP7A gene were amplified from genomic DNA of the probands and their parents by PCR and directly sequence.Light microscope was used to test the hair of probands and normal healthy children.Results Proband 1 had a deletion mutation of c.3 045del T in exon 14 of ATP7A gene and resulted in a stop codon just several nucleotides behind the deletion site.His mother was a heterozygote of the mutation and had normal phenotype.Proband 2 had a nonsense mutation of c.2 956 in exon 14 of ATP7A gene and resulted in a stop of amino acid synthesis.His mother was not a heterozygote of the mutation.Genetype and phenotype in fathers of the 2 probands were normal.Hair of the probands in light microscope were tenuity,midheaven,the color of hair also turned to light.Conclusions The c.3 045del T mutation of ATP7A gene cause the phenotype of Menkes disease in proband 1.His mother is a heterozygote of the disease without symptoms and he is of familial inheritance.The c.2 956 nonsense mutation of ATP7A gene cause the phenotype of Menkes disease in proband 2.His mother is not a heterozygote of the disease and he is not of familial inheritance.

Objective To investigate the role of autophagy and synaptophysin (SYP) in cognitive impairment in de?pressed rats receiving electroconvulsive shock (ECS). Methods Clean and healthy adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were acclimatized to a standard laboratory environment for 7 days. The chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) was used to establish the rat model of depression. Behavior tests were conducted before and after CUMS to evaluate the depression and cognition level of rats. After establishment of the model, 24 rats were randomly divided into ESC group (group E) and depression group (group D) with 12 rats in each group. The rats in group E were administered 80 mg/kg of propofol (10 mg/mL) by intraperitoneal injection, followed by ECS treatment. The rats in group D were administered propofol by intra?peritoneal injection, followed by sham-ECS treatments. The above interventions were conducted daily for 7 consecutive days. After the interventions, rats underwent behavior tests as before. Subsequently, rats were killed and specimens were collected for measurements. Immunohistochemistry was performed to examine autophagy markers such as Beclin 1 and LC3Ⅱand ELISA was used to detect SYP in the hippocampus. Results Group E after ECS significantly increased the percentage of sucrose preference (68.2%±8.7%), rearing times (7.0±1.9), total horizontal distance [(569.5±70.0) cm], es? cape latency [(21.9±5.3)s] and space exploration time [(20.5±3.9)s] compared with group D or group E before ECS. There was no significant difference in these index between groups before ECS or in group E between before and after ECS(P>0.05). Compared with group D, group E had upregulated protein expression levels of Beclin 1 and LC3Ⅱin CA1, CA3, DG as well as the area near the hippocampus and increased SYP contents (P<0.05). Conclusions Cognitive impairment in depression rats following ECS correlates with activated autophagy and increased SYP by ECS.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of advanced glycosylation end products (AGEs) modified bovine serum albumin (AGE-BSA) on the expression of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) in human renal mesangial cells (HRMCs).

METHODSHRMCs were cultured in vitro with medium containing different doses of AGE-BSA or BSA (50,100, 200, 400 mg/L) for 48 hours, or with AGE-BSA (200 mg/L) for different times (12, 24, 48, 72 h). Immunocytochemistry assay was used to estimate the protein level of RAGE. The ROS in cells were measured by flow cytometry and the mRNA expression of MCP-1 were analyzed by semi-quantiative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) after treatment with AGE-BSA or BSA.

RESULTSThe protein level of RAGE was upregulated in the HRMCs with AGE-BSA. The expression of ROS and MCP-1 significantly enhanced by incubation of AGE-BSA in a time- and dose-dependent manner. The effects of AGE-BSA-induced up-regulation of ROS and MCP-1 level was significantly blocked by neutralizing antibodies to RAGE, while the expression of ROS and MCP-1 stood nearly unchanged after cultured with huamn IgG.

CONCLUSIONThe expression of ROS and MCP-1 in HRMCs is induced by AGE-BSA through RAGE, which may have potential effects in the pathgenic mechanism of diabetic nephropathy.

Cells, Cultured ; Chemokine CCL2 ; metabolism ; Glycation End Products, Advanced ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Mesangial Cells ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Oxidative Stress ; drug effects ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; metabolism ; Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products ; Receptors, Immunologic ; metabolism ; Serum Albumin, Bovine ; pharmacology

Objective To observe the different expressions of androgen and estrogen receptor in nucleus membrane of human prostate stromal cells under anoxic or normoxic conditions.Methods Human prostate stromal cell line WPMY-1 was cultured in vitro.At 4,8,12,24,48 h after cellswere seeded,the mRNA and protein expression of androgen receptor (AR) and estrogen receptor (ER) in prostate stromal cells were tested by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry method,respectively.Results The exprcssions of AR and ER were significantly increased in prostate stromal cells under anoxic conditions compared with under normoxic conditions.The relative expression of AR mRNA was 0.35±0.01 in anoxic prostate stromal cells at 4 h,and increased to 1.40±0.02 at 48 h,which was higher than in normoxic prostate epithelial cells [0.27 ± 0.01 and0.36± 0.01] synchronously (t=28.182,both P ＜ 0.001).Immunohistochemistry showed significantly increased AR-positive cells under anoxic conditions as compared with under-normoxiccondition from 12 h synchronously [(33.72±4.19) per 200 cells,(23.84±1.31) per 200 cells,t=3.902,P=0.018].The expression of ER mRNA was 0.39±0.01 in prostate stromal cells at 4 h,and increased to 0.59±0.01 at 48 h under anoxic conditions,which were higher than under normoxic conditions (0.31±0.01 and 0.46±0.13) synchronously (both P＜0.001).Immunohistochemistry showed the significantly increased ER-positive cells under anoxic conditions as compared with under normoxic condition from 4 h to 48 h synchronously [(13.42±0.80) per 200 cells and (55.16±0.41) per 200 cells； (9.68±0.63) per 200 cells and (22.95±0.55) per 200 cells,t=81.130,P＜0.001].Conclusions The expression of androgen and estrogen receptors is upregulated in human prostatestromal cells under anoxic conditions.

Chemical constituents of ethyl acetate extract of Sapium sebiferum leaves were isolated and purified by various chromatographic methods, including column chromatographies over silica gel, macroporous adsorption resin, and Sephadex LH-20, as well as preparative TLC and semi preparative HPLC. As a results, 15 compounds were separated from Sapium sebiferum leaves and their structures were examined by spectral analysis including NMR and MS data and identified as( + )-(7R,7'R,7"S,7'"S,8S,8'S,8"S,8'"S)-4", 4"'-dihydroxy-3,3',3",3',5,5'-hexamethoxy-7,9';7',9-diepoxy-4,8";4',8'"-bisoxy-8,8'-dineo-lignan-7",7"',9",9"'-tetraol(1) ,1-(4'- hydroxy-3'-methoxyphenyl)-2-[4"-(3-hydroxypropyl) -2", 6"-dimethoxyphenoxy] propane-1, 3-diol (2), Thero-2, 3-bis-(4-hydroxy-3- methoxypheyl)-3-methoxy-propanol(3) , threo-5-hydroxy-3,7-dimethoxyphenyl propane-8,9-diol (4), boropinol B (5), threo-8S-7-methoxysyringylglycerol(6), 5-hydroxymethylfurfural(7), 5-( methoxy-methyl)-1H-pyrrole-2-carbaldehyde (8), quercetin (9) , kaempferol (10), ethyl gallate(11), coniferaldehyde(12), vanillin(13), 7-hydroxy-6-methoxy-2H-1-henzopyran-2-one(14),and 1-heptacosanol (15). All compounds except for compounds 9-11,14 were separated from this plant for the first time.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Mass Spectrometry ; Molecular Structure ; Plant Leaves ; chemistry ; Sapium ; chemistry

AIM: To investigate the affected proteins by tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-? in endothelial cells, and further explore the potential molecular mechanism of TNF-? on endothelial cells. METHODS: Nitric oxide (NO) production in the cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) was measured by a NO assay kit. Proteomic alterations were analyzed using two-dimensional electrophoresis, and peptide mass fingerprinting with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry. RESULTS: NO production in HUVECs decreased significantly after TNF-? treatement. Proteomics analysis showed 21 protein spots were changed including 9 spots that were increased and 11 spots that were decreased after TNF-? stimulation, and 1 spot was only detected in TNF-? activated cell gels. CONCLUSIONS: The decreased expression of ecNOS by TNF-? might result in decrease in NO production. Up-regulated MAP/ERK kinase 3 expression might imply that TNF-? activates the expression of adhesion molecules. Cytoskeletal protein actin is also involved in TNF-? injuried HUVECs. Proteomic analysis can find some clues for identifying new potential target of TNF-?. [

Objective To measure the dimensional error of three dimensional printing maxilla models for the clinical application to oral and maxillofacial surgery.Methods The FDM 3D printing was employed to make standard geometric shape models and maxillary models.After the surface finish of both models being observed,the contour data and fineness of geometric models,as well as the distance error of bony markers between maxillary models and jaw bones specimen were measured.Results Within the 3D printing standard geometric model,the fiber arrange horizontally in X-Z,Y-Z surface and crosswise in X-Y surface,and the accuracy errors range from-1.67％ to 1.47％.Moreover,the maximum resolution was 0.25 mm in X and Y axis,and 0.50 mm in Z axis.Within the maxillary model,the distance error of bony markers range from-0.08 ％ to 1.96 ％,and the mean errors were 1.59 ％,0.86％,0.42％ in X,Y and Z axis respectively.The mean error in X axis was significantly larger than that in Y or Z axis (P＜0.05).Conclusion 3D printing maxilla models may possess high accuracy and apply to clinical practice.

Objectives To discuss the CT features of primary tuberculosis in adults Methods CT images of 39 adult patients with primary tuberculosis were retrospectively analyzed and 30 cases were also examined after injection of contrast materials Results 39 patients had both mediastinal tuberculous lymphadenitis and parenchymal infiltration There were 25 cases (64 1%) with primary lesions involving the right lung and 14 cases (35 9%) in left side 28 cases(71 8%) appeared as patchy shadows,nodules,and lobular consolidation; 11 cases (28 2%) were with segmental or lobar consolidation In 30 cases with contrast enhanced CT,the mediastinal tuberculous lymphadenitis appeared as homogenous enhancement in 10 cases, irregular enhancement in 18 cases,central low attenuation and peripheral rim enhancement in 20 cases 14 cases showed that the nodes were confluenced with inhomogenous enhancement There were 26 cases with acute bronchogenic spread tuberculosis Conclusion The parenchymal infiltration and mediastinal tuberculous lymphadenitis are the basic features in adult primary tuberculosis Acute bronchogenic spread into other fields and the features of node enhancement after injection of contrast materials are very important findings in the diagnosis of primary tuberculosis