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.

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

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

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

Objective To explore the effects of application of probiotics on intestinal flora and related cytokines in infants with cholestatic liver disease.Methods (1) Eighty-four infants with cholestatic liver disease had been hospitalized from October 2010 to June 2011 in the First Hospital of Guangxi Medical University.The infants with cholestatic liver disease were randomly divided into the probiotic intervention group and the non-probiotic intervention group.Quantification of intestinal bacteria was detected by SYBR Green Ⅰ real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction,then the number of 3 kinds of bacteria before and after the treatment was compared.(2) The indices of liver function,blood ammonia,cholesterol were detected.The levels of serum transforming growth factor-β1,tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α)and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay.Results (1) The number of bifidobacterium,lactobacillus and bifidobacterium/escherichia coli (B/E) were significantly increased (all P ＜ 0.01),whereas the number of escherichia coli was significantly decreased in the probiotic intervention group(P ＜ 0.05),however,there were no differences in the non-probiotic intervention group(all P ＞ 0.05).(2)The indices of total billirubin,direct billirubin,γ-Glutamyltransferase,total bile acid,alanine aminotransferase,blood ammonia,alkaline phosphatase were significantly improved after therapy in 2 groups (all P ＜ 0.05).The levels of TNF-α and IL-6 were significantly decreased in the probiotic intervention group (t--7.31,P =0.00;t =-2.90,P =0.01),but there were no differences in the non-probiotic intervention group.The level of BA was significantly decreased in the probiotic intervention group than the non probiotic intervention group (t =-8.37,P =0.00).(3) The B/E value were significantly inverse correlated with level of serum IL-6 (r =-0.796,P =0.01).Conclusions It may help to restore the intestinal flora and balance the immune function in infants with cholestatic liver disease after application of probiotics.

OBJECTIVETo develop a method for determinating the octafluoropropane (OFP) content in human albumin micropheres loaded with OFP.

METHODSOFP content in the loaded human albumin micropheres was determined by means of gas chromatography coupled with mass spetrum/selected ion monitoring (GC-MS/SIM).

RESULTSThe calibration curve was linear within the concentration range of 40.92-16,368 nmol/L (R(2)=0.9999). The limit of detection was 8.18 nmol/L, and the recovery rate was (100.98-/+1.4)% (204 nmol/L), (102.63-/+2.29)% (2,046 nmol/L) and (97.5-/+2.2)% (8,184 nmol/L), respectively. The intra-day and inter-day RSDs were 0.6%-2.0% and 0.86%-2.3%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONThe method of GC-MS/SIM is accurate, sensitive, precise and applicable for OFP determination in the microspheres.

Contrast Media ; analysis ; Echocardiography ; Fluorocarbons ; analysis ; chemistry ; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry ; methods ; Humans ; Microspheres ; Reproducibility of Results ; Serum Albumin ; chemistry