Objective To analyze, the risk factors and related psychological factors in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)and survey the curative effect. Methods All of 200 outpatients with GERD(GERD group) and 200 healthy persons (control group)from January 2006 to January 2008 were randomly selected, and the personal data were investigated. The GERD questionnaire (RDQ) and the Zung-self-rating depression scale (SDS) test were used. Results In GERD group, the proportions of high education, city living, marriage instability ,heavy working pressure, high body mass index (BMI),smoking and drinking habit, peptic disease in family, using nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) were higher than those in control group (Pall < 0.01). After treatment, the patients in GERD group had lower scores in the RDQ and SDS test than those before treatment (P< 0.01). Conclusions There are many risk factors in patients with GERD, especially the psychological factors. The therapy of GERD should combine with psy-chotherapy and avoid high BMI, smoking, drinking and overusing the NSAID.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the content of gastrodine in wild and cultivated Gastrodia elata from different habitats in Guizhou province in order to provide scientific reference for cultivation of G.elata.METHODS: Samples were extracted from G.elata with microwave.RP-HPLC method was used to determine the content of gastrodine in G.elata.RESULTS: The content of gastrodine in wild G.elata was higher than that in cultivated G.elata.The contents of gastrodine in wild G.elata were different from one another while the contents of gastrodine in cultivated G.elata hadn’t obvious differences.CONCLUSION: The quality of wild G.elata is superior to that of cultivated G.elata.The study provide scientific basis for the cultivation of G.elata.

Objective To Investigate the psychological health status of the patients with functional dyspepsia (FD).Methods A total of 80 patients with FD were chosen at random from Ji-Shui-Tan Hospital GI department and 80 normal control were selected from January,2006 to January,2007.MMPI was used as assessment tool.Results Patients with FD have higher scores in hypochondriasis,depression,hysterism,psychasthenia and paranoia than normal control group (P

Objective To study the effects of polypeptide from Chlamys farreri(PCF) on PI3K/Akt and ASK1-JNK signal transduction pathway in thymocytes after ultraviolet B radiation.Methods Murine thymocytes were exposed to UVB radiation.The reactive oxygen species(ROS) level in thymocytes was detected by colormatching.The activation of Akt was investigated by western-blot.ASK1,JNK activation,mitochondria memberine potential and DNA ladder were also investigated after pretreatment with or without PI3K/Akt pathway inhibitor LY294002.Results PCF could activate Akt,inhibit the activation of the ASK1 apoptosis pathway in murine thymocyte radiated by UVB.Conclusion PCF decreased ROS level,increased Akt activity and inducing ASK1 degradation leading to the inhibition of ASK1-JNK induced apoptosis.

Acupuncture Therapy ; history ; instrumentation ; methods ; China ; History, Ancient ; Humans ; Medicine in Literature ; Needles ; history

Humans ; Lung Diseases ; Pulmonary Circulation ; Vascular Diseases

Background and purpose: High expression of telomerase and telomere stability are two common features in tumor cell. hTERT is a catalytic subunit of telomerase, TRF2 is extremely important to maintain the length and stability of telomerase. This study was to construct the recombinant adenovirus mediated shRNA to hTERT and TRF2, and to investigate the inhibitory effects of the vector by solo-inhibiting and connect-inhibiting in the MCF-7 cells, in order to present a new approach to the gene therapy for breast cancer. Methods: rAd-hTERT and rAd-TRF2 were constructed and the expression of hTERT mRNA and TRF2 mRNA were tested by FQ-PCR 48 hours after transfecting in MCF-7 cells. Apoptosis was observed by flow cytometry 1 to 6 days after transfection. Results: ①At 48 hours after transfection, the results of FQ-PCR showed that compared to PBS group, the expression of hTERT in rAd-hTERT group was obviously decreased and the inhibition ratio was about 86%, but TRF2 had not been obviously inhibited (P>0.05);the expression of TRF2 in rAd-TRF2 group was obviously decreased and the inhibition ratio was about 80%, but hTERT had not been obviously inhibited (P>0.05);in rAd-hTERT/rAd-TRF2 group, the inhibition ratio of hTERT and TRF2 were about 88% and 85%. Comparing rAd-hTERT/rAd-TRF2 group with rAd-hTERT group and rAd-TRF2 group, there were no significant differences of inhibition ratio between hTERT gene and TRF2 gene(P>0.05). Otherwise, comparing rAd-HK group, rAd-blank group with PBS group, there were no significant differences of inhibition ratio between hTERT gene and TRF2 gene(P>0.05). ②The result of flow cytometry showed that apoptosis was induced at the first day after transfecting in rAd-hTERT group and rAd-TRF2 group, the most obvious apoptosis was in the 3rd to 5th days,at the peak in the 5th day, and decreased in the 6th day after transfection. The apoptosis ratio of rAd-hTERT group was 46.2%, rAd-TRF2 group was 43.5%. The apoptosis ratio of rAd-hTERT/rAd-TRF2 group was 46.2% at first day, 68.5% at the second day, the most obvious apoptosis was in the 3rd to 6th days and was 77.6% in the 6th days in rAd-hTERT/rAd-TRF2 group. There were significant differences in apoptosis ratio in solo-inhibiting and connect-inhibiting(P<0.05). In addition, comparing rAd-HK group, rAd-blank group with PBS group, there were no significant differences in apoptosis ratio(P>0.05). Conclusion: ①Target sequence of RNAi which aimed at hTERT gene and TRF2 gene was designed efficiently, and the RNAi expression vectors were seen in vivo study efficiently and specifically inhibited the correspond gene expression and promoted cell apoptosis in MCF-7 cells. ②rAd-hTERT vector and rAd-TRF2 vector have no synergistical effect and antagoinstical effect on inhibiting hTERT gene and TRF2 gene mRNA expressing in MCF-7, but there was synergistical effect in terms of the induction of apoptosis. So association-RNAi-technique targeting to the genes of telomere length and stability can effectively promote tumor cell into apoptosis and inhibit breast cancer cell growth. RNAi technique of connecting correlation genes is a more effective gene therapy strategy.

Objective To investigate the acoustic characteristics of snoring sound in patients with obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) and with simple snoring. Methods 22 patients with OSAHS and 15 with simple snoring were included in this study. Natural overnight snoring was digitally recorded and portable sleep mo-nitoring was performed simultaneously. 10 snores, which were the 1st snores after 10 cycles of obstructive apnea, from each patient in OSAHS group, and 10 snores from each patient in simple snoring group were analyzed in the time and frequency domains. Results The sound waves of snoring in the two groups exhibited different patterns both in the time and frequency domains. The snoring spectrum of patients with simple snoring showed distinct fun-damental- harmonic structures which were not clear in patients with OSAHS. The central frequency of the patients with OSAHS was higher, and 800 Hz power ratio was lower than those of the patients with simple snoring. In the OSAHS group, the central frequency of the patients with moderate-to-severe OSAHS was higher, and 800 Hz power ratio was lower than those of the patients with mild OSAHS. The differences of the two parameters were of statistical significance. Conclusion The snoring sounds in patients with OSAHS and with simple snoring have dif-ferent characteristics in time and frequency domains, indicating that it is feasible to research the OSAHS by way of snore monitoring and analyzing technique.

Objective:To identify the function of extracellular soluble vimentin that promotes proliferation, activation and chemotaxis of inflammatory cells. Methods: The proliferation of rat splenocytes stimulated with vimentin was evaluated in vitro. The lymphocyte counts and vimentin-antibody levels of peripheral blood in mice immunized with vimentin were detected in vivo. Peritoneal macrophages were collected and cultured with different concentrations of vimentin to detect the effect on phagocytosing chicken red blood cells. The chemotaxis of NIH3T3 fibroblast towards vimentin was observed in transwell chamber. Results:In vitro vimentin dose dependently promoted the proliferation of splenocytes. The proliferation indexes of primed and naive splenocytes cultured with 16μg/ml vimentin were reached up to ( 196. 0 ± 9. 7 )% and ( 208. 9 ± 4. 6 )% respectively without significant difference. In vivo vimentin significantly enhanced the lymphocytes number(109 L-1)of peripheral blood(5. 74±0. 51 vs. 1. 69±0. 13)and the levels of vimentin specific antibody( OD value 2. 31 ± 0. 06 vs. 0. 19 ± 0. 08 ) that shown no significant difference from immunization with vimentin plus CFA. In vitro vimentin dose dependently stimulated phagocytic ability of macrophages and performed the chemotactic effects on NIH3T3 fibroblasts. Conclusion:Extracellular soluble vimentin promotes the proliferation,activation and chemotaxis of concerned inflammatory cells and possesses the functions as an alarmin.

Objective To evaluate effects of simultaneous inhibition of mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1(mTORC1)kinase and glycogen synthase kinase-3β(GSK-3β)on phosphorylation of 4E-binding protein-1(4EBP1), cap-dependent translation, as well as survival and apoptosis of melanoma cells. Methods Cultured A375 cells were classified into several groups to be treated with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO group), the mTORC1 kinase inhibitor everolimus at a concentration of 5 nmol/L (everolimus group), the GSK-3β kinase inhibitor AR-A014418 at a concentration of 10 μmol/L (AR-A014418 group), or 5 nmol/L everolimus and 10 μmol/L AR-A014418(combined treatment group). After additional culture, Western-blot analysis was performed to measure protein expressions of phosphorylated 4EBP1 (p4EBP1)and survivin in A375 cells, m7GTP pull down assay to estimate interaction between eukaryotic initiation factor-4E (eIF4E)and eIF4G, cell counting kit 8 (CCK8)assay to evaluate cell proliferation, and flow cytometry to detect cell apoptosis. Results Both everolimus and AR-A014418 had inhibitory effects on 4EBP1 phosphorylation and survivin expression. The expressions of p4EBP1-65 and survivin were both significantly decreased in the everolimus group (0.74 ± 0.05 and 0.71 ± 0.06 respectively), AR-A014418 group (0.62 ± 0.06 and 0.58 ± 0.07 respectively)and combined treatment group (0.14 ± 0.04 and 0.09 ± 0.05 respectively)compared with the DMSO group (1.00 ± 0.07 and 1.00 ± 0.06, respectively, all P < 0.001), with the most significant decrease observed in the combined treatment group. As m7GTP pull-down assay showed, the everolimus group, AR-A014418 group and combined treatment group all showed significantly lower relative expression levels of eIF4G(0.72 ± 0.04, 0.67 ± 0.05 and 0.12 ± 0.05 vs. 1.00 ± 0.06, all P < 0.001), but significantly higher relative expression levels of 4EBP1 (1.98 ± 0.16, 2.32 ± 0.17 and 7.58 ± 0.25 vs. 1.00 ± 0.08, all P < 0.001)than the DMSO group, and the combined treatment group showed the lowest eIF4G expression but highest 4EBP1 expression. After 24-hour culture, the proliferation of A375 cells was inhibited by 18.5% ± 1.3% in the everolimus group, 19.8% ± 1.8% in the AR-A014418 group, and 61.2% ± 2.1% in the combined treatment group compared with the DMSO group, with the strongest inhibition noted in the combined treatment group. The inhibitory effects of everolimus and AR-A014418 on cell proliferation increased over time, and showed the same trend at 48 hours. Flow cytometry showed that the apoptosis of A375 cells was accelerated by the 24-hour treatments with everolimus and AR-A014418 alone or in combination, with the apoptosis rate being 14.28% ± 2.18%, 14.57% ± 2.35% and 55.18% ± 6.27% in the everolimus group, AR-A014418 group and combined treatment group respectively, and the combined treatment showed the strongest accelerating effect. Conclusion The combined treatment with everolimus and AR-A014418 can evidently inhibit 4EBP1 phosphorylation and eIF4F complex formation in A375 cells, which then suppress cap-dependent translation and promote apoptosis of melanoma cells.