Mitochondrial oxidative stress has been recognized as a preliminary and critical factor that aggravates the pathological cascade of Alzheimer's disease, which induces the production of β-amyloid protein, upregulates the expression of phosphorylated tau protein and triggers oxidative damage to lipids, proteins and mitochondrial deoxyribonucleic acid. Central neurons are more vulnerable to oxidative stress than non-neuronal cells due to their high oxygen demand, abundant unsaturated fatty acids and antioxidant enzymes deficiency. On this account, this review introduces the causes of mitochondrial oxidative stress, and analyzes the important role of mitochondrial oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. Meanwhile, the review focuses on the design and intervention strategies of drug delivery systems targeting mitochondrial oxidative stress in neurons, aiming to provide new ideas for the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

Objective To explore the clinical characteristics,diagnosis,treatment and misdiagnosis matter of children with idiopathic pulmonary hemosiderosis(IPH).Methods The data of clinical characteristics,laboratory examination,treatment and follow-up of 21 children admitted from Jun.1993 to May 2007 were retrospectively analyzed,included 9 males,12 females,aged 1-14 years old,course of di-sease were 1-6 months.Twenty-one patients were diagnosed as IPH by chest X-ray radiography,CT scan,bone marrow biopsy,hemosiderin-laden macrophages in either sputum or gastric juice or bronchoalveolar lavage fluid.Then,therapy and prognosis of IPH were analyzed.Results All patients had varied degrees of anemia,11(52.38%) children had cough,9 (42.86%) children had fever,6(28.50%) cases had shortage of orexia,4( 19.05%) children had hemoptysis.Chest X-ray radiography and CT scan demonstrated diffuse patchy,nodular,reticulate pattern.Eighteen children received bone marrow biopsy and presented hyperplastic erythropoiesis,4(22.2%) cases were accompanied iron deficiency anemia.Nineteen (90.80%) cases shown the presence of hemosiderin-laden macrophages in either sputum or gastric juice or bronchoalveolar lavage fluid.Twenty-one misdiagnosed patients consisted of bronchopneumonia combined anemia(8 cases),lung tuberculosis combined anemia(5 cases),nulli-iron anemia(4 cases),hemolytic anemia(3 cases),myelodysplastic syndrome(1 case)and received corticosteroid therapy.Four cases of all patients were associatated with large-dose human-?-globulin and 3 cases were associatated with vincristine therapy.The therapeutic effect was significant.Eighteen patients were followed-up,3 patients were of which cured and had stopped treatment for over 2 years,11 patients presented clinically persistent remission,4 patients were recurred and aggravated.Conclusions Early diagnosis and long-term therapy of corticosteroid are very important for controlling acute onset,lessening the frequency of IPH recurrence and improving prognosis of the disease.

Silk fibroin is a natural polymer with certain water solubility, structural modification, good biocompatibility and biodegradability, which can be used as a drug delivery carrier material. As a promising drug delivery system, drug-loaded silk fibroin nanoparticles can control drug release, reduce toxicity and improve therapeutic effects. In this paper, the basic characteristics of silk fibroin, the preparation methods of drug-loaded silk fibroin nanoparticles and the application of silk fibroin in nanoparticulate drug delivery systems are reviewed, and on this basis, the further development of drug-loaded silk fibroin nanoparticles is prospected.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of the plasma containing Qianlongtong Capsule (QLT)-containing plasma on the expression of the Smad4 gene in prostate stromal cells in vitro and provide some experimental evidence for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) with Chinese medicinal compound.

METHODSFifteen cases of BPH were equally randomized to three groups to be treated with QLT at a high dose (6 capsules once), a medium dose (3 capsules once), and a low dose (1.5 capsules once), tid, for 7 days consecutively. QLT-containing plasma was collected from the patients. Prostate stromal cells were identified by immunofluorescence when they became monolayered and cultured in the QLT-containing plasma for 24 hours, followed by detection of the expression of the Smad4 gene by real-time quantitative PCR and that of the Smad4 protein by Western blot.

RESULTSAfter treatment with the QLT-containing plasma, the expression of the Smad4 gene in the stromal cells was significantly increased in a dose-dependent manner as compared with the blank control and no-QLT groups (P < 0.01). The expression of the Smad4 protein was also markedly elevated after treatment. The differences were statistically significant between the blank control and medium-dose groups (P < 0.01), low-dose and medium-dose groups (P < 0.05), and high-dose and the other groups (P < 0.01), but not between the blank control and low-dose groups (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONQLT-containing plasma could inhibit the proliferation and improve the apoptotic index of prostate stromal cells in vitro, which was related to the elevation of the mRNA and protein expressions of Smad4.

Apoptosis ; Cells, Cultured ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Male ; Prostate ; drug effects ; metabolism ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; Smad4 Protein ; genetics ; metabolism ; Stromal Cells ; drug effects ; metabolism

Animals ; Antigens, CD ; metabolism ; Apoptosis ; B7-2 Antigen ; metabolism ; CD4-CD8 Ratio ; Dendritic Cells ; metabolism ; pathology ; Disease Models, Animal ; Lectins, C-Type ; metabolism ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Minor Histocompatibility Antigens ; Multiple Organ Failure ; metabolism ; pathology ; Receptors, Cell Surface ; metabolism ; Spleen ; metabolism ; pathology

Hepatitis B virus (HBV)-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) are believed to play a major role in viral clearance and disease pathogenesis during HBV infection. To clarify the differences in host immune responses between self-limited and chronic HBV infections, we constructed three HLA-A*0201/HBV tetramers with immunodominant epitopes of core18-27, polymerase 575-583 and envelope 335-343, and analyzed the HBV-specific CTLs in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients infected with HBV. The frequencies and expansion ability of HBV-specific CD8(+) T cells in most self-limited HBV infected individuals were higher than those in chronic HBV-infected patients. HBV-specific CD8(+) T cells could be induced by in vitro peptide stimulation from chronic patients with a low level of serum HBV-DNA but not from those with a high level of serum HBV-DNA. In chronic infection, no significant correlation was found either between the frequencies of HBV-specific CD8(+) T cells and the viral load, or between the frequencies and the levels of alanine transaminase. Our results suggested that the frequencies of HBV-specific CTLs are not the main determinant of immune-mediated protection in chronic HBV infection and immunotherapeutic approaches should be aimed at not only boosting a HBV-specific CD8(+) T response but also improving its function.

OBJECTIVETo preliminarily study the essence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients of cold-dampness arthralgia spasm syndrome (CDASS) at the protein expression level.

METHODSTotally 24 RA patients were recruited from Department of Rheumatology, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine from July 2009 to September 2010. They were assigned to the CDASS group and the dampness-heat arthralgia spasm syndrome (DHASS) group according to Chinese medicine syndrome typing, 12 in each group. The normal control group consisted of 12 healthy volunteers from the Health Examination Center, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine. The serum proteins were compared between the CDASS group and the normal control group/the DHASS group respectively using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. The common differential protein spots of CDASS were analyzed by mass spectrometry. The SwissProt database was inquired using Mascot Software to identify differential proteins.

RESULTSThere were 81 differential protein spots between the CDASS group and the normal control group. There were 45 differential protein spots between the CDASS group and the DHASS group. Thirteen protein spots were found to be higher or lower in protein expression quantity of the CDASS group when compared with those of the other two groups. Nine differential protein spots were identified by mass spectrometry and database retrieval. It's suggested that these proteins were most likely to be related with inhibition of cellular events, such as cell proliferation, cell differentiation, and so on.

CONCLUSION4.1 protein and DLC-1 protein were of potential significance in the diagnosis, prognostic markers, or treatment targets of RA patients of CDASS, which also provided evidence for further studies on the essence of CDASS.

Adult ; Aged ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; blood ; diagnosis ; Blood Proteins ; metabolism ; Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional ; Female ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods ; Middle Aged ; Proteomics

Objective To investigate the expression of osteopontin(OPN)and osteonectin(ON) in breast cancer and its relationship with formation of microcalcification.Methods Acoording to the number of microcalcification of breast cancer in mammography,93 cases were divided into three groups:non- microcalcification group,little microcalcification group,and much microcalcification group.The relationship between expression of OPN\ON and microcalcification was studied.At the same time,breast cancer with microcalcification was observed in 3 cases by using patho-histological method and transmission electron microscopy(TEM).Results Microcalcification was detected not only in necrosis foci,but also in nest of breast cancer without necrosis.Microcalcification was found in intracytoplasm of breast cancer cells through TEM.Expression of OPN\ON was significant related with the presence and number of microcalcification. There was obviously different expression between microcalcification group and non-microcalcification group (x~2=11.454,5.540,P

ABSTRACTOBJECTIVE Proteomic technique was applied to analyze ankylosing spondylitis AS patients with damp?heat arthralgia spasm syndrome.METHODS Serum proteins of AS patients with damp?heat arthralgia spasm syndrome groupn=30 was compared with that of normal control group n = 30 and AS patients with cold?dampness arthralgia spasm syn-drome groupn =30 respectively by two?dimensional gel electrophoresisthe common differential protein spots of damp?heat arthralgia spasm syndrome were analyzed by the second order MS.The validation of the differential protein was performed u-sing Western blot.RESULTS Seven kinds of common differential protein spots were selected and five kinds of proteins were i-dentified by mass spectrometry.They were fibulin 1dipeptidy lpeptidase 1kininogen 1mutant IL 17Fmannose?binding protein C and related to extracellular matrix proteinproteasecoagulation factorcytokinetransport proteinand so on.Re-sults of Western blot were consistent with the proteomic results.CONCLUSION These proteins are implicated in the patho-genesis and pathological processes of AS with damp?heat arthralgia spasm syndromeand provide a basis for further studies of the essence of the syndrome in traditional Chinese medicine.

ObjectiveTo investigate the safety and efficacy of carbon dioxide ( CO2 ) insufflation during ERCP.MethodsBetween January and August 2011,a total of 102 consecutive patients who underwent ERCP were randomized to accept CO2 insufflation ( n =52 ) of air insufflation ( n =50 ) during the procedure.ERCP was carried out with the same instrument by an expert endoscopist who was blinded to the insufflation gas used and the procedure was controlled at 30 minutes to 1 hour.The heart rate,oxygen saturation of the patient was continuously monitored during the procedure.Before the procedure and 1 hour after the end of operation,abdominal X-ray was taken to evaluate the width of intestine,and the degree of intestinal expansion was defined as normal,mild,moderate and severe according to the width increased.A questionnaire with 100 mm visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to quantify the abdominal pain and distention experienced at 1 hour,2 hours,and 6 hours after the procedure.The patients' vital signs,bowel dilatation,the average operating time,abdominal pain score and distention score on VAS,and complications in 2 groups were analyzed.ResultsThe baseline characteristics of 2 groups were comparable.ERCP was successfully performed in all the patients and no complication was observed.In CO2 group,the average operating time,mean heart rate and oxygen saturation were (45.2 ± 10.6) min,( 102.2 ± 10.3 ) bpm and ( 99.5 ± 0.5)％,which were (48.5 ± 11.2) min,( 100.3 ± 11.4) bpm and (98.9 ±0.6)％,respectively,in air group.There were no significant differences on these items between the 2 groups ( P ＞ 0.05 ).Moderate to severe intestinal expansion 1 hour after ERCP was found in 14 patients (26.9％ ) in CO2 group and in 28 patients (56.0％ ) in air group,and the latter was significantly higher than the former (x2 =11.61,P =0.009).Both of the mean abdominal pain and abdominal distention scores at 1 hour post-ERCP in CO2 group were lower than those in air group,but without significant difference (P ＞0.05).However,the mean abdominal pain scores at 2 hours and 6 hours post-ERCP in CO2 group were significantly lower than those of patients in air group (7.4 ±2.2 vs.18.7 ±4.6 at 2 hours post-ERCP,9.6 ±3.7 vs.20.1 ±4.5 at 6 hours post-ERCP,all P ＜ 0.05 ).Similarly,the mean abdominal distention scores at 2 hours and 6 hours post-ERCP in CO2 group were significant lower than those of patients in air group (7.6 ±3.6 vs.18.3 ±4.1 at 2 hours post-ERCP,8.9 ±3.7 vs.19.4 ±4.2 at 6 hours post-ERCP,all P ＜0.05).ConclusionThe use of CO2 insufflation instead of air during ERCP appears to be safe.Insufflation of CO2 during ERCP palliates the intestinal expansion,post-ERCP abdominal pain and distention comparison to insufflation of air.However,because of the single-center clinical observation with limited number of cases,the safety and efficacy of CO2insufflation during ERCP requires to be further evaluated.