Breast cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in women, which affects female physical and mental health seriously, and even has a life-threatening effect. TCM plays a more and more important role in the treatment of breast cancer today. Many veteran TCM doctors hold unique opinions about it, especially for postoperative complications. Doctor TAN Qing-gang is one of the most famous and experienced TCM doctors in the field of TCM in Enshi, Hubei Province. He is expert in the diagnosis and treatment on miscellaneous diseases of TCM. This article summarized the experience of Doctor TAN in treatment for postoperative breast cancer.

Objective To compare the efficiency difference of 3 serological methods in syphilis blood SCreening,and then select the most proper method to prevent the transmission of syphilis via blood.Methods The samples of 2 000 blood donors were tested by TP-ELISA,TRUSlT and TPPA.Those positive samples detected by TP-ELISA and TRUST were confirmed by TPPA again.Results Of the 2 000 samples,11 samples were-TP-ELISA positive in which 8 samples were confirmed positivewith TPPA;2 samples were TRUSlT positive and both the two samples were confirmed positive withTPPA;and 8 cases were TPPA positive.There was obvious difference in detection rate between TRUST and TP-ELISA method(P

AIM:To investigate the expression of GAP-43 mRNA and protein of the motor neurons in spinal cord following the brachial plexus avulsion injury.METHODS: In the present study,three kinds of models of brachial plexus avulsion injury were made: right C7 anterior root avulsion(group A),C7 anterior root avulsion with right C5-T1 posterior roots breaking(group B),right C7 anterior root avulsion with hemi-transect between C5 and C6 segment of spinal cord(group C).The expression of GAP-43 mRNA in anterior horn of spinal cord was detected at 14 days after operation by SYBR green quantification RT-PCR technique.The amounts of GAP-43 positive neurons in spinal cord were detected at 1,3,7 and 14 days after operation by immunohistochemistry technique.RESULTS: In control group,the expression of GAP-43 mRNA was very low in anterior horn.By 14 days after operation,the expression of GAP-43 mRNA was evidently up-regulated compared with control group.GAP-43 positive neuron was observed in control group at 1st day and 3rd day after operation.GAP-43 positive neurons appeared at 7th day and peaked at 14th day after operation.The expression of GAP-43 mRNA and protein were maximum in group C,group B was the lowest.CONCLUSION: The expression of GAP-43 mRNA and GAP-43 protein were up-regulated following brachial plexus injury.The expression of GAP-43 protein results from the recombination of proteins.GAP-43 is closely related to the axon regeneration and functional reconstruction.

Objective To study the effects of Wortmannin, inhibitor of PI3K and SB202190, inhibitor of P38 MAPK and PD98059, inhibitor of ERK1/2 on the migration of epidermal growth factor (EGF)-induced vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Methods There were fives groups in this experiment, including control group, EGF group, PD98059 (PD) group, SB202190(SB) group and Wortnannin (WT) group. The migration rate of the VSMCs was measured by wound healing assay. Results At the 24th hours after wounding, there was obvious migration in EGF group compared to control group. The migration of VSMCs was significantly inhibited in PD group, SB group and WT group compared to the EGF group, but there were no significant difference among three inhibitor groups. At the 30th hours after woun-ding, there was still obvious migration in EGF group compared to control group. The migration of VSMCs was significantly inhibited in the three iuhibitors group compared to the EGF group, and there were significant difference among three inhibitor groups. Furthermore, inhibiting effect on VSMCs in SB group was more obvious compared to PD group and WT group. Conclusion These results suggested that the migra-tion of EGF-induced VSMCs may play a role through PI3K, P38 MAPK and ERKI/2 signal pathways, and the effect of P38 MAPK signal pathway is very important.

BACKGROUND:Microcapsules is one of the main directions of targeted therapeutic dosing system. With a size of several microns to several hundred microns, it can be used for injection, oral, arterial administration and local treatment of targeted organs and other treatment approaches. OBJECTIVE: To prepare rhizoma drynariae total flavonoids/polylactic-co-glycolic acid microcapsules and optimize the preparation conditions. METHODS: The rhizoma drynariae total flavonoids/polylactic-co-glycolic acid microcapsules was prepared by ultrasonic emulsification. The effect of the mass concentration (60, 100, 140, 180 g/L), stirring speed (50, 1 000, 2 000, 4 000 r/minutes), colostrum emulsification time (2, 4, 6, 8 minutes), colostrum water oil ratio (1:5, 1:10, 1:15, 1:20) of rhizoma drynariae total flavonoids/polylactic-co-glycolic acid microcapsules on gross morphology, particle size distribution width and total flavonoids encapsulation efficiency of microcapsules was univariately analyzed. The rhizoma drynariae total flavonoids/polylactic-co-glycolic acid microcapsules with smaler particle size, uniform dispersion and higher encapsulation efficiency was filtered out. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The optimum process parameters were as folows: 140 g/L polylactic acid-glycolic acid solution, the stirring speed of 2 000 r/min, the colostrum emulsification time of 6 minutes, and the colostrum water-oil ratio of 1:15. The microcapsules prepared in the optimized process displayed a uniform distribution and its average particle size was (789.8±712.3) nm, which distributed relative narrowly and basicaly less than 5 μm. Microcapsules presented round, with a regular edge under scanning electron microscope. The average encapsulation efficiency was 47.72%.

Diabetic foot with diabetic peripheral neuropathy(DPN)can lead to peripheral nerve dysfunction. Ex-ploring appropriate animal models of the disease can make a better understanding of the occurrence, development, patho-genesis,prevention and treatment of DPN. Therefore,a reasonable construction of animal models is related to the success of experimental research. Up to date, experimental animals used in the research of diabetic foot neuropathy include rats, nude mice,transgenic mice,and so on. Nerve injury models can be generated by different means,such as ischemia reper-fusion,resection or ligation of nerves and scalds. This article will review the recent research progress of diabetic foot neu-ropathy animal models.

This paper was designed to investigate the effect of laminar shear stress on matrix metalloproteinase -9 (MMP-9) expression in rat bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), and the possible signal transduction mechanism involved. Rat bone marrow MSCs were isolated and cultured, then, exposed to laminar shear stress at indicated strengths such as low (5dyne/cm2), medium (15 dyne/cm2) and high (30 dyne/cm2) via parallel plate flow chamber. RT-PCR was used to analyze the expression of MMP-9. The signaling inhibitors such as Wortmannin (PI3K specific inhabitor), SB202190 (p38MAPK specific inhabitor), and PD98059 (ERK1/2 specific inhabitor) were used to investigate the possible mechanical signal transduction pathway. The results showed: (1) The expression of MMP-9 was weak in static state, however, MMP-9 expression increased when MSCs were exposed to 15 dyne/cm2 shear stress for 2 hours, and MMP-9 expression increased with the extension of stimulating time, and it reached the peak at 24 h; (2) MSCs were stimulated by shear stress for 2 hours at different strengths (5 dyne/cm2, 15 dyne/cm2, 30 dyne/cm2), and under all these conditions, the expression of MMP-9 increased, and reached the peak at 15 dyne/cm2; (3) After MSCs were pretreated by three kinds of signal pathway inhibitors, the expression of MMP-9 did not change obviously in Wortmannin group and PD98059 group, but it was significantly inhibited in SB202190 group. This study demonstrated that shear stress could induce the expression of MMP-9 in rat bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells; the amount of MMP-9 expression was closely related to stimulating time and the strengths of shear stress; and p38MAPK signal pathway played a critical role during the process.
Animals ; Bone Marrow Cells ; cytology ; metabolism ; Cells, Cultured ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; cytology ; metabolism ; Rats ; Signal Transduction ; Stress, Mechanical

Objective To study the effects of Puerarin(Pue)on survival rate,expression of GAP-43 and NGF in spinal motoneurons following brachial roots avulsion. Methods From March, 2014 to December, 2015, 192 adult Sprague Dawley rats were divided into four groups: Avulsion, Pue 50 treatment, Pue 100 and Pue 200 groups. The right C5-C7nerve roots were avulsed through the methods of cervical dorsal approach. Puerarin or normal saline was given immediatedly once daily to the rats respectively by the intraperitoneal injection. The rats were killed at 1, 2, 4 and 6 weeks after injury. The paraffin sections of C7 segment were stained with neutral red. Expression of GAP-43 and NGF were detected by Western blot. Results Compared to the avuled group, the motoneuron survival rates of Pue 100 and Pue 200 dose treatment groups increased on the second week and the sixth week(P < 0.05 or P < 0.01), and the Pue 200 dose treatment group increased on the fourth week(P < 0.01).In the anterior horn of all three groups, expression of GAP-43 increased from the 1st week to the 6 week after the operation, and reached the peak at the 4th week, and decreased at the 6th week. Compared to the avuled group, expression of GAP-43 protein increased in the Pue 100 and Pue 200 dose treatment groups at the 1st week and 2nd week,the expression of NGF protein increased in the three Pue treatment groups at four time points(P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). Conclusion Puerarin can improve the survival rates of spinal motoneurons after the brachial plexus root avulsion, and the expression of GAP-43 and NGF increased, suggesting that Puerarin may play an role in the repair of brachial plexus avulsions by promoting the ex-pression of nerve growth factors.

AIM:The study aimed to explore the effect of curcumin(Cur)on lipopolysaccharide(LPS)-in-duced RAW264.7 cell-derived osteoclasts,together with its underlying mechanism.METHODS:An osteoclast model was established by treating RAW264.7 cells with LPS.The viability of the cells was assessed by CCK-8 assays and osteo-clast formation was evaluated by tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase(TRAP)activity.The levels of reactive oxygen species(ROS),Fe2+,glutathione(GSH),and malondialdehyde(MDA)were examined by biochemical assays.Mitochondrial morphology was assessed by transmission electron microscopy.The mRNA and protein levels of p53,glutathione peroxi-dase 4(GPX4),and solute carrier family 7 member 11(SLC7A11)were determined by RT-qPCR and Western blot,re-spectively.RESULTS:Treatment with LPS successfully induced osteoclasts formation in RAW264.7 cells.The TRAP results showed that compared with the LPS-treated group,the number of osteoclasts and TRAP activity in the curcumin-treated group decreased dose-dependently(P<0.01).Compared with the control group,the LPS+Erastin group showed significantly increased TRAP activity(P<0.01),while after curcumin treatment,the TRAP activity declined in a dose-de-pendent manner(P<0.01).The results of the biochemical tests showed that compared with the control group,the LPS+Erastin group had significantly elevated levels of ROS,Fe2+,and MDA,while the GSH level was significantly reduced(P<0.01),and compared with the LPS+Erastin group,the ROS,Fe2+,and MDA levels in the curcumin group decreased(P<0.01)and GSH levels increased(P<0.01).These effects were all dose-dependent.Transmission electron microscopy showed that compared with the LPS group,the LPS+Erastin group had reduced mitochondrial cristae and increased mem-brane density,while after treatment with curcumin,both these effects were reversed.The RT-qPCR and Western blot re-sults showed that compared with the control group,the mRNA and protein levels of p53 in the LPS+Erastin group were sig-nificantly increased,while those of of SLC7A11 and GPX4 were significantly reduced(P<0.01).After curcumin treat-ment,the p53 mRNA and protein levels were reduced while the levels of SLC7A11 and GPX4 were increased(P<0.01).CONCLUSION:Curcumin can inhibit lipopolysaccharide-induced differentiation of RAW264.7 cells into osteoclasts,and its mechanism may be related to the inhibition of the p53/SLC7A11/GPX4 signaling pathway.

AIM:To explore the promotion of ferroptosis by artesunate(Art)and its underlying mechanism in osteosarcoma.METHODS:Human osteosarcoma U-2 OS cells were divided into 4 groups:control,ferrostatin-1(Fer-1),Art,and Art+Fer-1 groups.Cell viability was measured by CCK-8 assay,while reactive oxygen species(ROS),Fe2+,and glutathione(GSH)levels were measured using biochemical assays.Mitochondrial morphology was evaluated by trans-mission electron microscopy.The mRNA and protein levels of p53,solute carrier family 7 member 11(SLC7A11)and glutathione peroxidase 4(GPX4)were determined by RT-qPCR and Western blot,respectively.RESULTS:It was found that Art significantly reduced the growth of U-2 osteosarcoma cells,as well as inducing ferroptosis by promoting the accu-mulation of Fe2+and ROS and reducing GSH levels,while the ferroptosis inhibitor ferrostatin-1 inhibited ferroptosis.It was also observed that Art affected mitochondrial morphology,resulting in smaller mitochondria,higher mitochondrial mem-brane density,and reduced numbers of cristae.Treatment with Art also downregulated both the mRNA and protein expres-sion of the ferroptosis-associated genes SLC7A11 and GPX4,while upregulating expression of p53,an upstream regulator of ferroptosis,thus inducing ferroptosis.CONCLUSION:Artesunate induces ferroptosis in osteosarcoma cells through the p53/SLC7A11/GPX4 signaling pathway.