Objective To investigate the expression of aquaporins-3 (AQP3) in amniotic epithelial cells regulated by cyclic adenosine monophosphate-protein kinase A (cAMP-PKA) signal pathway and to explore the mechanisms of its expression.Methods The amniotic epithelial cells were collected from 30 patients who underwent elective caesarean sections at term with normal amniotic fluid volume and primarily cultured.The cultured cells were treated with (1) forskolin groups: different concentration (0,2.5,5,50 or 100 μmol/L) of forskolin treated cells for 2 hours,and the optimal concentration of forskolin treated cells with different time (0,1,2,10 or 20 hours) ; (2)SP-cAMP groups: different concentration (0,2.5,5,50 or 100 μmol/L) of SP-cAMP treated cells for 2 hours,and the optimal concentration of SP-cAMP treated cells with different time (0,1,2,10 or 20 hours); (3)H-89 groups: different concentration (0,5,10,50 or 100 μmol/L) of H-89 treated cells for 2 hours,and the optimal concentration of H-89 treated cells with different time (0,1,2,10 or 20 hours).The level of intracellular cAMP and activity of PKA were detected by using ELISA,and immunohistochemistry was used to detect the localization of AQP3,the protein expression of total cAMP-response element binding protein (CREB) and phospho-CREB (p-CREB) and AQP3 were assessed by western blot analysis.Cell proliferation was assessed by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8)assay.Results (1) The brown staining of AQP3 was detected in both cell membrane and cytoplasm in each group.(2) There was no significant change of the cell proliferation rate among groups with different concentration of forskolin,SP-cAMP and H-89 treatment (P ＞ 0.05).(3) After different concentration of forskolin treated 2 hours,the expression of total CREB had no significant difference among them(P ＞ 0.05).While the expression of cAMP level,PKA activity,p-CREB and AQP3 protein were significantly changed,which were higher in 2.5 μmol/L,5 μmol/L,50 μmol/L forskolin group when compared with 0 μmol/L (P ＜ 0.05).Their expressions in 5 μmol/L forskolin group were higher than that in 2.5 μmol/L and 50 μmol/L (P ＜ 0.05).The optimal forskolin concentration was 5 μmol/L.(4) After different concentration of SP-cAMP treated 2 hours,the expression of total CREB and cAMP level had no significant difference among them (P ＞ 0.05),while the expression of PKA activity,p-CREB and AQP3 protein were significantly changed,which were higher in 5 μμmol/L,50 μmol/L SP-cAMP group when compared with 0 μmol/L (P ＜ 0.05).Their expressions in 50 μmol/L SP-cAMP group were higher than that in 5 μmol/L (P ＜0.05).The optimal SP-cAMP concentration was 50 μmol/L (5) After different concentration of H-89 treated 2 hours,the expression of total CREB and cAMP level had no significant difference among them (P ＞ 0.05),while the expression of PKA activity,p-CREB and AQP3 protein were significantly changed,which were lower in 10 μmol/L,50 μmol/L and 100 μmol/L H-89 group when compared with 0 μmol/L (P ＜ 0.05).Their expressions in 10 μmol/L H-89 group were lower than that in 50 μmol/L,100 μmol/L (P ＜ 0.05).The optimal H-89 concentration was 10 μmol/L.(6) p-CREB and AQP3 protein expression were significantly lower in 5 μmol/L forskolin combined 10 μmol/L H-89 incubating 2 hours group when compared with 5 μmol/L forskolin,but higher than that in 10 μmol/L H-89 treated group (P ＜ 0.05).Total CREB was no significant difference among the three groups (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion cAMP-PKA signal transduction pathway may regulate AQP3 protein expression in human amniotic epithelial cells.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome ; blood ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Female ; Humans ; Infant

Clinical testing of equipment is an interdisciplinary professional and technical course,of which we made continuous innovation and practice by optimizing the curriculum system ,upgrading teaching contents,reforming teaching methods,opening up the construction of teach-ing materials,building the teaching staff and improving teaching quality management etc.After five years of positive efforts the remarkable teaching results were achieved.

By updating their concepts of education,carrying out the reform of teaching content,teaching methods and means,strengthening the construction of teaching materials,creating a high standard teaching team,the author aims to implement the construction of quality course of clinical testing equipment and comprehensively improve the teaching quality.

Advocating green, nature, environmental protection, safety and the pursuit of efficacy are the trends of cosmetics in the world. In recent years, more and more Chinese herbal extracts with mild, high safety and small irritation are applied to cosmetics as the natural additives. This has become a new hot spot. The recent application advances of Chinese medicine raw materials in cosmetics are overviewed according to their main functions. This review will provide useful references for the future development and application of Chinese medicinal herbs cosmetics.
Animals ; Biomedical Research ; trends ; Consumer Product Safety ; Cosmetics ; analysis ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; Humans

Salvianolic acid A (Sal A) is one of the most effective compounds isolated from the root of Salvia miltiorrhiza. Up to now, several studies regarding the pharmacokinetic profiles of Sal A have been reported, however there is no such study reported in monkeys, the species which is more similar to human. The aim of this study is to develop a LC-MS method for the determination of Sal A in monkey plasma and apply it to the pharmacokinetic studies of monkeys. After single intravenous administration of Sal A, the plasma concentration-time curves were observed and the main pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated. The plasma concentration at 2 min (C2 (min)) values were (28.343 ± 6.426), (45.679 ± 12.301) and (113.293 ± 24.360) mg x L(-1) for Rhesus monkeys treated with Sal A at 2.5, 5 and 10 mg x kg(-1). The area under the concentration-time curve (AUC(0-∞)) values were (3.316 ± 0.871), (5.754 ± 2.150) and (13.761 ± 2.825) μg x L(-1) x h, respectively. Furthermore, this method was improved and applied to the simultaneous determination of Sal A, Sal B and Sal C, which provided useful information for preclinical studies and clinical trials of Sal A, Sal B and Sal C.
Administration, Intravenous ; Animals ; Caffeic Acids ; pharmacokinetics ; Chromatography, Liquid ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacokinetics ; Lactates ; pharmacokinetics ; Macaca mulatta ; Mass Spectrometry ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; Salvia miltiorrhiza ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo observe the therapeutic effect and relevant mechanism of shuxuening Injection (SI) in treating patients with active ulcerative colitis (UC).

METHODSTotally 91 patients with active UC were randomly assigned to 2 groups, 44 in the control group and 47 in the treatment group. Patients in the control group received routine treatment, while patients in the treatment group additionally received intravenous injection of SI (15 mL), twice daily for 14 days in total. Colonoscopy was performed before and after treatment. The therapeutic effect was assessed by Mayo scoring system and the grading of activities evaluated by Baron endoscope. Serum levels of IL-6 and TNF-α were detected by ELISA. The activity of SOD was detected by xanthine oxidase method. The content of MDA was detected by thiobarbituricacid (TBA). Besides, 20 healthy subjects were recruited as the healthy control group.

RESULTSTotally 82 patients completed the study (40 in the control group and 42 in the treatment group). There was no statistical difference in serum levels of IL-6, TNF-α, SOD, MDA, the Mayo score and endoscope grading between the two groups before treatment (P >0. 05). Compared with the healthy control group, serum levels of IL-6, TNF-α, MDA significantly increased (P <0.01), and the serum SOD level decreased (P < 0. 05) in the treatment grup and the control group before treatment. Compared with before treatment in the same group, serum levels of IL-6, TNF-α, MDA, the Mayo score and endoscope grading all decreased in the treatment group and the control group after treatment (P <0. 01, P <0. 05). Compared with the control group after treatment, serum levels of IL-6, TNF-α, MDA, the Mayo score and endoscope grading all decreased (P <0.01, P <0.05), the serum SOD level increased (P <0.05) in the treatment group after treatment. The serum SOD level was obviously negative correlated with serum levels of IL-6, TNF-a, Mayo score, and endoscope score (r = -0. 621, -0.638, -0. 509, -0.787, P <0.01). The serum MDA level was obviously positive correlated with serum levels of IL-6, TNF-α, Mayo score, and endoscope score (r =0.711, 0. 882, 0. 525, 0. 639, P <0.01).

CONCLUSIONSI could improve inflammatory injury and clinical symptoms of patients with active UC, and its mechanism might be associated with antioxidant and scavenging oxygen free radicals.

Colitis, Ulcerative ; blood ; drug therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Inflammation ; drug therapy ; Interleukin-6 ; blood ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; blood

Objective To identify the differential serum proteins in patients with hepatic injury resulting from coal-burning type of arsenism. Methods Six serum samples were collected from patients with liver injury resulting from coal-burning type of arsenism and healthy subjects(control gruop) in endemic arsenism area. Twodimensional gel electrophoresis(2-DE) was performed to separate serum proteins, after silver staining, the differential expression of proteins were analyzed and then identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry(MALDI-TOF-MS). Results The 2-DE map of serum protein patterns of patients and normal control were established successfully. The results showed that there were an average of (824 ± 31 ) spots and (782 ± 42) spots on 2-DE matching of the patients and control groups and the matching rate was 94.9%(782/824). From these two groups 49 differential protein spots were identified, of which over 3 times the difference in the expression of 30 protein spots were singled out and MALDI-TOF-MS analysis was carried out. Ten proteins were identified. Upregulated expression was observed in alpha-2-macroglobulin, B-cell receptor-associated protein, keratin 1,apolipoprotein A-I, and down-regulated expression was observed in haptoglobin, α2-heremans-schimid-glycoprotein,mitogen-activated protein kinase 4, zinc finger protein 323, ZAP-70 and SP40 in the patient group. Conclusions The well-resolved and reproducible 2-DE serum patterns of patients are established and some differentially expressed proteins are characterized. Whether these proteins of differential expression are serum markers for liver injury resulting from coal-burning type of arsenism need to be further verified.

Objective To investigate the potential relationship between initial 131Ⅰ uptake by lung metastases from differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) and treatment outcomes. Methods From 1997 to 2009, 41 patients with DTC lung metastases were treated in the authors' department. 131Ⅰ whole body scan (WBS), serum Tg levels and other imaging results were analyzed to evaluate the therapeutic effects. Complete response (CR) or partial response (PR) was considered to be effective. The x2 test and correlation analysis were performed using SPSS 11.5 software package. Results 131 Ⅰ treatment was effective in 63% (26/41) patients with DTC lung metastases, CR in 8 patients and PR in 18 patients. In other 37% ( 15/41 ) patients, 131Ⅰ treatment was ineffective, including one case died of distant metastases. Patients with initial presence of 131Ⅰ lung uptake had higher effective rate than those with 131Ⅰ lung uptake during the second or later 131Ⅰ treatment (76% (22/29)vs33% (4/12),x2 =4.911, P=0.027). Also, significantly higher effective rate was found in patients with lung metastases alone than those with extra-pulmonary metastases (75% (24/32) vs 22% (2/9), x2 = 6. 312, P =0.012). However, the effective rate in patients with diffuse metastases was not significantly different from that in patients with focal metastases (67% (12/18)vs 61% ( 14/23), x2 =0. 146, P=0.702). The positive rate of initial 131Ⅰ uptake by lung metastases was higher in patients with total thyroidectomy than those with partial thyroidectomy (83% (24/29) vs 42% (5/12) ). Those positive rates in patients with papilary DTC and patients with follicular DTC were 72% (23/32) and 6/9, respectively. The surgical mode was correlated with the initial 131Ⅰ uptake by lung metastases (r = 0.411, P ＜ 0.05), but no correlation was found between the histological type and the initial 131Ⅰ uptake by lung metastases ( r = 0. 047, P ＞ 0.05 ). Conclusion Initial uptake of 131 Ⅰ by lung metastases alone is a favorable prognostic factor for DTC patients treated by131Ⅰ, and total thyroidectomy may be beneficial for initial 131Ⅰ uptake by lung metastases.

Objective: To develop the Risk Assessment Scale of Severe Psychiatric Patients in Community and test its reliability and validity. Methods: A random sample of 860 severe psychiatric patients, which was selected from 8 communities in Chaoyang District of Beijing, completed the Risk Assessment Scale of Severe Psychiatric Patients in Community. The internal consistency reliability, the observer reliability, and the correlative coefficients between the total and items of the scale were analyzed, and the exploratory factor analysis was conducted. Results: (1) The Cronbach's coefficient of the scale was 0. 86, and the observer coefficient was 0.92. (2) The Spearman correlative coefficients between the total and items ranged from 0.40 ～ 0.56. (3) Exploratory factor analysis showed that the scale had 4 main factors, all of which could account for 68.14 percent of the whole variance, and the ten item loadings ranged from 0. 60 ～0.91. (4) The patient who scored higher than 35 was called high risk patient Causing trouble behavior of high risk patient was obviously higher than others. Conclusion: The results indicate that the Risk Assessment Scale of Severe Psychiatric Patients in Community has good reliability and validity. It can be used to assess the risk of severe psychiatric patients in community.