To study the chemical constituents from the bark of Myrica rubra, fourteen compounds were isolated from the methanolic extract using various chromatographic techniques, including silica gel, Sephadex LH-20 and preparative HPLC. Their structures were identified on the basis of chemical properties and spectroscopic data, as 3, 5-dimethoxy-4-hydroxymyricanol (1), myricanol (2), myricanone (3), myricanol 11-sulfate (4), myricitrin (5), quercetin (6), quercetin-3-rhamnoside (7), tamarixol (8), uvaol (9), ursolic acid (10), taraxerol (11), myricadiol (12), β-sitosterol (13) and β-daucosterol (14). Among them, compound 1 is a new compound, named as 3, 5-dimethoxy-4-hydroxymyricanol, compounds 8, 9 were isolated from the genus Myrica for the first time.
Diarylheptanoids ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Myrica ; chemistry ; Phytochemicals ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Plant Bark ; chemistry

Antineoplastic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; drug therapy ; genetics ; Drug Delivery Systems ; Erlotinib Hydrochloride ; Female ; Genes, erbB-1 ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; genetics ; Male ; Mutation ; Protein Kinase Inhibitors ; therapeutic use ; Quinazolines ; therapeutic use ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor ; antagonists & inhibitors ; genetics

Grounding technique is very important to ensure the human safety, imaging devices' safety and the devices' reliable running. This paper expatriates the principles of the grounding safety, interference rejection earth, and the grounding modes and the mode selection for each imaging devices and equipments, and related grounding requirements.
Equipment Safety ; methods ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; instrumentation

There are sex differences in some brain areas in mammalians. Parkinson's disease (PD), caused by the mesencephalic substantia nigra (SN) dopaminergic neuronal loss, displays sexual difference, i.e., the incidence is higher and the symptoms are more intense in males than that in females. However, it has not been known whether sexual dimorphisms exist in the SN. Sixty adult Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 5 groups: (1) Female intact group (F-INT group); (2) Male intact group (M-INT group); (3) Ovariectomized group (OVX group); (4) Castration group (CAST group); (5) Ovariectomized + estrogen-replaced group (OVX-E(2) group): The rats received sequentially physiological dose of estrogen for 3 d from the 7th day after ovariectomization. P50 auditory evoked potential (P50) was recorded for 14 d from electrodes inserted in the rat right SN in quiet and awake state. After recording, the brain tissues were dissected and the tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-expressing neurons in the compact zone of the SN were counted using immunohistochemical method. The results showed that the number of TH-positive (TH(+)) cells in the SN of normal male animals was less than that in normal female rats (P<0.05), and the T/C ratio of P50 in normal males was significantly less than that in normal females (P<0.01), indicating that there exists sexual difference in function and structure in the SN. No differences in the T/C ratio of P50 or the number of TH(+) cells were found between M-INT and CAST groups. The T/C ratio of P50 and the number of TH(+) cells in the SN in OVX group were reduced significantly compared with those in F-INT group (P<0.01). There was no significant difference in the T/C ratio of P50 and the number of TH(+) cells in the SN between OVX- E(2) and F-INT groups 15-20 d after estrogen replacement, suggesting that estrogen can promote the survival and functional recovery of dopaminergic neurons in the SN. The results suggest that there exist sex-specific differences in the dopaminergic neurons in the SN structurally and functionally. The difference of estrogen level in cerebra between male and female animals may account for the sexual differences. Endogenous estrogen plays an important role in maintaining the integrity and modulating the functional activity of dopamine system in the SN.
Animals ; Dopaminergic Neurons ; cytology ; Estrogens ; pharmacology ; Evoked Potentials, Auditory ; Female ; Male ; Orchiectomy ; Ovariectomy ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Sex Characteristics ; Substantia Nigra ; cytology

Objective To investigate the in vitro antibacterial activity of lycosin-Ⅰ against clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.Methods The clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa,including 10 strains of multidrug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa and 10 strains of non-multidrug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa,were randomly collected from the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University.The in vitro minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of lycosin-Ⅰ against Pseudomonas aeruginosa were detected by the broth microdilution method.The representative isolates of multidrug resistant (Isolate 8,MIC =8 μg/mL) and non-multidrug resistant (Isolate 12,MIC =8 μg/mL) Pseudomonas aeruginosa were selected,and the bactericidal kinetics of 4 × MIC concentration of lycosin-Ⅰ against them were determined.After the representative isolates were cultured with suitable medium for 24 hours,the absorbency of 600 nm was detected and the growth curve was drawn.Five mmol/L of Ca2+ or Mg2+ were added into the medium to investigate the salt tolerance of lycosin-Ⅰ.Results Lycosin-Ⅰ in vitro showed good antibacterial activity against both multidrug resistant and non-multidrug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa.The MICs (median [P25,P75]) of lycosin-Ⅰ against multidrug-resistant and non-multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa were 12 (8,32) μg/mL,and there was no statistical difference between them (U =42,P ＞0.05).About 50％ of multidrug resistant and non-multidrug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa could be killed by 4 × MIC of lycosin-Ⅰ during 60 minutes.When the concentration of lycosin-Ⅰ below MIC,such as 0,2 or 4 μg/mL,was co-cultured with multidrug resistant and non-multidrug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa for 24 hours,the growth of bacteria was fast during 6 and 16 hours,and then tended to be slow after 18 hours.When the concentration of lycosin-Ⅰ increased to 8 μg/mL,the bacteria were hard to grow.The in vitro antibacterial activity of lycosin-Ⅰ could be reduced by the addition of 5 mmol/L of Ca2+ or Mg2+,and the MICs of lycosin-Ⅰ against multidrug resistant and non-multidrug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa increased from 8 μg/mL to 64 μg/mL for 5 mmol/L of Ca2+,and from 8 μg/mL to 32 μg/mL for 5 mmol/L of Mg2+,respectively.But high concentrations of lycosin-Ⅰ (＞ 64 μg/mL or ＞ 32 μg/mL) could still maintain its antibacterial activity against multidrug resistant and non-multidrug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa.Conclusion Lyosin-Ⅰ can effectively inhibit the growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in vitro,and has certain salt tolerance,which may be developed into a new type of antibacterial drug.

Background: Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is recommended as the standard care for unresectable hepa-tocellular carcinoma (HCC) at Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage A–B. However, the efficacy of TACE on large (≥ 10 cm) stage A–B HCC is far from satisfactory, and it is proposed that hepatic artery infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) might be a better first-line treatment of this disease. Hence, we compared the safety and efficacy of HAIC with the modified FOLFOX (mFOLFOX) regimen and those of TACE in patients with massive unresectable HCC. Methods: A prospective, non-randomized, phase Ⅱ study was conducted on patients with massive unresectable HCC. The protocol involved HAIC with the mFOLFOX regimen (oxaliplatin, 85 mg/m2intra-arterial infusion; leucovorin, 400 mg/m2intra-arterial infusion; and fluorouracil, 400 mg/m2bolus infusion and 2400 mg/m2continuous infusion) every 3 weeks and TACE with 50 mg of epirubicin, 50 mg of lobaplatin, 6 mg of mitomycin, and lipiodol and polyvinyl alcohol particles. The tumor responses, time-to-progression (TTP), and safety were assessed. Results: A total of 79 patients were recruited for this study: 38 in the HAIC group and 41 in the TACE group. The HAIC group exhibited higher partial response and disease control rates than did the TACE group (52.6% vs. 9.8%, P < 0.001;83.8% vs. 52.5%, P = 0.004). The median TTPs for the HAIC and TACE groups were 5.87 and 3.6 months (hazard radio [HR] = 2.35, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.16–4.76, P = 0.015). More patients in the HAIC group than in the TACE group underwent resection (10 vs. 3, P = 0.033). The proportions of grade 3–4 adverse events (AE) and serious adverse events (SAE) were lower in the HAIC group than in the TACE group (grade 3–4 AEs: 13 vs. 27, P = 0.007; SAEs: 6 vs. 15, P = 0.044). More patients in the TACE group than in the HAIC group had the study treatment terminated early due to intolerable treatment-related adverse events or the withdrawal of consent (10 vs. 2, P = 0.026). Conclusions: HAIC with mFOLFOX yielded significantly better treatment responses and less serious toxicity than did TACE. HAIC might represent a feasible and promising first-line treatment for patients with massive unresectable HCC.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the correlation between clinical manifestations of Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy autosomal recessive 9 FKRP-related (R9 FKRP-related) and variants of the FKRP gene. METHODS: Two children who had presented at the Children's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University respectively due to increased serum myocardial zymogram and hepatic dysfunction on September 30, 2018 and August 3, 2018 were selected as the study subjects. Clinical data of the children were collected. Both children were suspected for Duchenne or Becker muscular dystrophy for asymptomatic high creatine kinase (CK) levels. Peripheral blood samples of the children and their parents were collected for whole exome sequencing, and candidate variants were validated by Sanger sequencing. RESULTS: Genetic testing revealed that both children have carried compound heterozygous variants of the FKRP gene. The c.545A>G and c.941C>T variants in child 1 have been reported previously, among which the c.545A>G is a hot spot mutation in the Chinese population. Child 2 has carried c.602T>C and c.961G>A variants, both of which were unreported previously. CONCLUSION Both children have met the diagnostic criteria for LGMD R9 FKRP-related. Carriers of the c.545A>G variant may present milder symptoms. Compared with patients carrying null variants, carriers of compound heterozygous missense variants may present with a milder phenotype, manifesting as asymptomatic high CK level.
Humans ; Child ; Asian People/genetics* ; Genetic Testing ; Muscular Dystrophies, Limb-Girdle/genetics* ; Muscular Dystrophy, Duchenne ; Pentosyltransferases/genetics*

Objective This study aims to elucidate the protective role of Acacetin against apoptosis in HP-infected GES-1 cells and to delineate its potential underlying mechanisms.Materials and Methods GES-1 cells were subjected to in vitro treatment with HP and Acacetin.Cell viability was assessed utilizing the CCK-8 assay,alterations in cell migration and healing capacities through the wound healing assay,rates of apoptosis via flow cytometry,and expression levels of apoptosis-associated proteins through western blot analysis.Results HP infection led to a diminution in GES-1 cell viability,a suppression of cell migration,an augmentation in the rate of apoptosis,and an increase in the expression levels of Bax and cle-caspase3.Conversely,treatment with Acacetin was found to enhance cell viability,mitigate apoptosis induced by HP infection,and modulate the expression of apoptosis proteins by downregulating Bax and cle-caspase3.Discussion and Conclusion Acacetin significantly improves GES-1 cell vitality and inhibits apoptosis in HP-infected GES-1 cells,thereby offering a protective effect on gastric mucosal epithelial cells.

OBJECTIVETo determine the differentially expressed serum proteins in patients with hepatoma carcinoma and identify a putative diagnostic marker.

METHODThe isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) labeling method and LC-MALDI-TOF/TOF MS detection method were used to quantify serum proteins in hepatocellular carcinoma patients (n =20) and healthy individuals (n =20). Real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction was used to verify the differentially expressed proteins by analyzing the corresponding mRNA expression levels in the hepatic carcinoma and healthy hepatocyte samples, as well as in 30 pairs of patient-matched hepatic carcinoma and adjacent normal tissue samples. Western blot analysis was used to verify the protein expression in hepatic carcinoma cells.

RESULTFifty-one proteins were significantly differentially expressed between the hepatic carcinoma group and healthy controls. The iTRAQ protein profile showed that the serum level of clusterin was significantly lower in hepatoma carcinoma patients. The mRNA level of clusterin was 20-fold lower in hepatic carcinoma cells than in healthy hepatocytes, and was 2.38-fold lower in hepatoma tissues than that in adjacent normal tissues. The clusterin protein levels were significantly lower in hepatic carcinoma cells (8.06 vs normal hepatocytes: 27.81; P less than 0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe serum expression of clusterin is significantly decreased in both serum and tissues of hepatic carcinoma patients. The relationship between hepatic carcinoma and clusterin should be evaluated in future studies.

Biomarkers ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; metabolism ; Case-Control Studies ; Clusterin ; blood ; metabolism ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; metabolism ; Mass Spectrometry ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; Tumor Cells, Cultured

OBJECTIVETo explore the clinical characteristics of Wolman disease and diagnostic methods using enzymatic and molecular analysis.

METHODLysosomal acid lipase activity was measured using 4-methylumbelliferyl oleate in the leukocytes of an infant suspected of Wolman disease and LIPA gene mutational analysis was performed by PCR and direct sequencing in the proband and his parents. After the diagnosis was confirmed, the clinical, biochemical, radiological and histopathological findings in this case of Wolman disease were retrospectively reviewed.

RESULTThe sixteen-day-old boy was failing to thrive with progressive vomiting, abdominal distention and hepatosplenomegaly. Abdominal X-ray revealed adrenal calcifications which were confirmed on abdominal CT scan. Xanthomatosis were observed on enlarged liver, spleen and lymph nodes during abdominal surgery. Liver and lymph node biopsy showed foamy histiocytes. The lysosomal acid lipase activity in leukocytes was 3.5 nmol/(mg·h) [control 35.5 - 105.8 nmol/(mg·h)]. Serum chitotriosidase activity was 315.8 nmol/(ml·h) [control 0 - 53 nmol/(ml·h)]. The patient was homozygote for a novel insert mutation allele c.318 ins T, p. Phe106fsX4 in exon 4 on LIPA gene. His both parents were carriers of the mutation.

CONCLUSIONThe clinical features of Wolman disease include early onset of vomiting, abdominal distention, growth failure, hepatosplenomegaly and bilateral adrenal calcification after birth. A plain abdominal X-ray film should be taken to check for the typical pattern of adrenal calcification in suspected cases of Wolman disease. The enzymatic and molecular analyses of lysosomal acid lipase can confirm the diagnosis of Wolman disease.

Adrenal Gland Diseases ; etiology ; pathology ; Exons ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Leukocytes ; enzymology ; Lipase ; blood ; genetics ; Liver ; pathology ; Lysosomes ; enzymology ; genetics ; Male ; Mutation ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Splenomegaly ; pathology ; Sterol Esterase ; genetics ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Wolman Disease ; diagnosis ; enzymology ; genetics ; pathology