Aged ; Air Pollutants, Occupational ; Eosinophil Cationic Protein ; blood ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E ; blood ; Inhalation Exposure ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Silicosis ; blood

Aged ; Case-Control Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Malondialdehyde ; metabolism ; Middle Aged ; Oxidation-Reduction ; Serum ; metabolism ; Silicosis ; blood ; Superoxide Dismutase ; metabolism

A research combined trickling filter system and active sludge aeration system was applied in the treatment of industrial wastewater from gas-generating with heavy oil. The wastewater contained both high contents of NH+4-N and mixed hydrocarbons including various PAHs. Its BOD5/COD ratio was less than 0.3 and belongs to recalcitrant, toxic wastewater. The results showed a touch-growth biofilms system was formed on the porous packing material and it played a key role in the decrease of toxicity of the influent. It could also improve the biodegradability of the wastewater.

GJ-4 is crocin enrichments extracted from Gardenia jasminoides J. Ellis, and our previous studies have shown that GJ-4 significantly improved learning and memory impairment induced by Aβ in mice. Herein, a memory deficit model was developed by injecting okadaic acid (OA) into the lateral ventricle of mice, and the neuroprotection and underlying mechanism of GJ-4 on neuronal injury caused by Tau hyperphosphorylation were investigated. The Animal Care & Welfare Committee, Institute of Materia Medica, CAMS & PUMC has approved all procedures (No.00000318). GJ-4 at different doses was intragastric administration to mice for 16 days. Step-down test and Morris water maze test showed that GJ-4 could significantly improve OA-induced memory impairment in mice, and reduced the loss of Nissl bodies in the hippocampus of mice. GJ-4 could also decrease the phosphorylation level of Tau protein at Ser396, Thr231 and Ser404 via increasing protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) activity and inhibiting glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) activity. Besides, further researches indicated that GJ-4 could inhibit the level of oxidative stress in the brain of OA mice, reduce neuronal apoptosis and inhibit the neuroinflammation mediated by activation of astrocytes in the hippocampus of mice, and eventually achieve its effects in improving learning and memory impairment in mice. According to these findings, we anticipated that GJ-4 might be a potential therapeutic drug for Alzheimer's disease.

BACKGROUNDParthenolide has been tested for anti-tumor activities, such as anti-proliferation and pro-apoptosis in recent studies. However, little is known about its role in the process of tumor angiogenesis. This study aims to investigate the effects and potential mechanisms of parthenolide on the proliferation, migration and lumen formation capacity of human umbilical vein endothelial cells.

METHODSDifferent concentrations of parthenolide were applied to the human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 cells. After 24-hour incubation, the culture supernatants were harvested and used to treat human umbilical vein endothelial cells for 24 hours. Then an inverted fluorescence phase contrast microscope was used to evaluate the human umbilical vein endothelial cells. The secretion of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), interleukin (IL)-8 and matrix metalloproteinases (MMP)-9 in the culture supernatant of the MDA-MB-231 cells was then measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) assays.

RESULTSSuppression of proliferation, migration, and the lumen formation capacity of human umbilical vein endothelial cells was observed in the presence of the culture supernatants from the breast cancer cell line treated with different concentrations of parthenolide. Parthenolide decreased the levels of the angiogenic factors MMP-9, VEGF, and IL-8 secreted by the MDA-MB-231 cells.

CONCLUSIONSParthenolide may suppress angiogenesis through decreasing angiogenic factors secreted by breast cancer cells to interfere with the proliferation, migration and lumen-like structure formation of endothelial cells, thereby inhibiting tumor growth. It is a promising potential anti-angiogenic drug.

Antineoplastic Agents ; pharmacology ; Breast Neoplasms ; metabolism ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Movement ; drug effects ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Female ; Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells ; cytology ; drug effects ; Humans ; Interleukin-8 ; metabolism ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 ; metabolism ; Sesquiterpenes ; pharmacology ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; metabolism

To study the chemical constituents of Lepidium meyenii, the air-dried rhizome of L. meyenii was extracted with 70% EtOH. The extract was condensed to a small amount of volume and extracted with petroleum ether, EtOAc and n-BuOH, successively. The compounds were isolated and purified by column chromatography, and identified based on spectral analyses (1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, HRESIMS). Eighteen compounds were isolated from L. meyenii, including 7 alkaloids and 4 fatty acids and 7 other compounds. They were characterized as (3-hydroxybenzyl) carbamic acid(1), phenylmethanamine(2), N-benzylformamide (3), N-benzylacetamide (4), pyridin-4-ylmethanamine(5), n-(4-methoxybenzyl) aniline(6), uracil(7), succininc acid(8), decanedioic acid(9), n-hexa- decanoic acid methyl ester(10), heptanoic acid(11), solerole(12), pyromucic acid methyl ester(13), 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furancar- boxadehyde(14), 5-(methoxymethyl)-1H-pyrrole-2-carbaldehyde(15), 1,7-dihydroxy-2,3, 4-trimethoxyxanthone (16), 1,7-di- hydroxy-3,4- dimethoxy-xanthone(17), (+)-pinoresinol(18). Meanwhile, compounds 1-18 were obtained from L. neyenii for the first time.
Lepidium ; chemistry ; Molecular Structure ; Plant Extracts ; chemistry ; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization

Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of acupoint thread embedding in preventing urinary retention after cervical cancer surgery.Method Fifty eligible patients were randomized into a treatment group and a control group, 25 cases each. The control group was given catheterization after gynecological surgery; the treatment group was intervened by thread embedding at Zusanli (ST36), Sanyinjiao (SP6), Yinlingquan (SP9), Guanyuan (CV4), and Shenshu (BL23) on the 7th day after the surgery in addition to the basic intervention given to the control group. The indwelling catheter was removed on the 14th day after the surgery, and the bladder function, urination, and residual urine volume were compared between the two groups.Result After the treatment, the bladder function in the treatment group was significantly better than that in the control group (P<0.05); the markedly effective rate of spontaneous micturition was 92.0% in the treatment group versus 72.0% in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05).Conclusion Early intervention with acupoint thread embedding after cervical cancer surgery can effectively decrease the incidence of post-surgery urinary retention, and it's easy-to-operation and worth application in clinic.

OBJECTIVETo study the expression of nm23-H(1) gene in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and the relationship between nm23-H(1) expression and immunophenotype.

METHODSnm23-H(1) expression was measured by semiquantitative RT-PCR in children with ALL (newly diagnosed, n = 40; remission, n = 32; relapse, n = 16; refractory, n = 3). Twenty normal children served as the control group. The relationship between nm23-H(1) expression and immunophenotype was evaluated.

RESULTSThe expression of nm23-H(1) in the newly diagnosed ALL group was significantly higher than that in the control (p<0.01) and the remission groups (p<0.01). There was no difference in the nm23-H(1) expression between the remission and the control groups. The expression of nm23-H(1) in the relapse group was significantly higher than that in the control (p<0.01) and the remission groups (p<0.01), and similar to that in the newly diagnosed ALL group. The three children with refractory ALL had higher nm23-H(1) expression. Both the positive rate and expression of nm23-H(1) in children with T-lineage ALL were higher than in children with B-lineage ALL (p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe expression level of nm23-H(1) varies with the stages of ALL. Newly diagnosed, relapsed and refractory ALL children have higher nm23-H(1) expression. High nm23-H(1) expression may be associated with a poor prognosis and relapse. A higher expression of nm23-H(1) in children with T-ALL may be contributed to a low remission rate and a poor prognosis.

Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Immunophenotyping ; Infant ; Male ; NM23 Nucleoside Diphosphate Kinases ; genetics ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma ; genetics ; immunology ; Prognosis

Animals ; Coculture Techniques ; Colonic Neoplasms ; pathology ; therapy ; Cytokines ; pharmacology ; Cytotoxicity, Immunologic ; Dendritic Cells ; immunology ; Female ; Immunophenotyping ; Immunotherapy, Adoptive ; Interferon-gamma ; biosynthesis ; Interleukin-12 ; biosynthesis ; Killer Cells, Natural ; immunology ; Lung Neoplasms ; prevention & control ; secondary ; Lymphocyte Activation ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C

Objective To observe the clinical efficacy and safety of bevacizumab in the treatment of platinum-resistant ovarian cancer,tubal cancer,peritoneal carcinoma cancer.Methods Patients with platinum resistance ovarian cancer,tubal cancer and peritoneal carcinoma cancer treated with bevacizumab were in included into treatment group.Patients with platinum-resistance in ovarian cancer,tubal cancer and peritoneal carcinoma cancer who received docetaxel chemotherapy during the same period were included into control group.The treatment group was given bevacizumab 5 mg·kg-1 by intravenous infusion once every 2 weeks,and the first intravenous infusion lasted for 90 min,with a total of 4 times of chemotherapy.The control group was given docetaxel 70-75 mg·m-2 by intravenous infusion,once every 3 weeks,1 h each time,a total of 4 times of chemotherapy.The clinical efficacy after chemotherapy,the levels of serum squamous cell carcinoma antigen(SCC-Ag),malignant tumor-related substance group(TSGF),cytokeratin 19 fragment(CYFRA21-1),the changes of tumor markers,immune indexes and the occurrence of adverse drug reactions were compared between the two groups.Results There are 70 cases in treatment group and 50 cases in control group.After four rounds of chemotherapy,the total effective rates of treatment group and control group were 47.14％(33 cases/70 cases)and 30.00％(15 cases/50 cases),with statistically significant difference(P＜0.05).After chemotherapy,the SCC-Ag levels in treatment group and control group were(3.10±1.05)and(5.50±1.95)mg·L-1;TSGF levels were(30.20±9.94)and(56.70±10.45)U·mL-1;CYFRA21-1 levels were(1.03±0.45)and(2.10±0.99)mg·L-1;carcinoembryonic antigen(CEA)levels were(66.81±48.74)and(89.18±56.08)ng·mL-1;the tumor markers CA199 were(110.26±51.36)and(124.13±53.80)U·mdL-1;the gastric cancer antigen(CA724)were(14.70±9.72)and(20.54±18.51)U·mL-1;the CD3+levels were(72.45±9.45)％and(67.10±10.25)％;the CD4+levels were(48.49±9.15)％and(39.56±6.77)％;the CD8+levels were(20.18±3.85)％and(24.02±4.45)％,the differences were all statistically significant(all P＜0.05).There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse drug reactions between the two groups(P＞0.05).Conclusion Bevacizumab is more effective than docetaxel in the treatment of platinum-resistant ovarian cancer,tubal cancer,peritoneal carcinoma cancer.