Objective To study the expression of 9 delayed rectifier potassium channel subunits in human gastric cancer cell line AGS, as well as the effect of down-regulation of the expression of Kv1.5 on AGS cells proliferation. Methods RT-PCR technique was employed to detect the mRNA expression of Kv1.1, Kv1.2, Kv1.3, Kv1.5, Kv1.6, Kv2.1, Kv2.2, Kv3.1 and Kv3.2 in AGS cells. Once the expression of Kv1.5 protein was confirmed by immunofluorescence, small interference RNA (siRNA) was applied to down-regulate the Kv1.5 protein expression, then MTT assay and flow cytometry were used to observe the cell proliferation and the cell cycle distribution. Results Totally 7 delayed rectifier potassium channel subunits were detected in AGS cells, among them the mRNA levels of Kv1.3, Kv1.5 and Kv2.1 were much higher than that of the others. It was confirmed by immunofluorescence that the Kv1.5 protein was expressed mainly in AGS cytomembrane. After the endogenous Kv1.5 expression in AGS cells was down regulated by siRNA, the cell proliferation obviously slowed down and the cell growth stopped in G1 period. Conclusion Multiform expression of delayed rectifier potassium channel subunits existed in AGS cells, and Kv1.5 may be involved in the regulation of gastric carcinoma cell proliferation by modulating the cell cycle.

Objective To characterize the audiological features in the infants with otitis media with effusion(OME)and to investigate the utility of variety of objective andiometry methods in diagnosis and intervention on OME.Methods Fifry six infants(40 males and 16 females)were investigated,who were referred to our clinic at the General Hospital of Chinese People's Liberation Army by the other hospitals from December 2004 to June 2007 when the infants were diagnosed or highly suspected of OME.The ages at the initial diagnosis ranged from 42 days to three years,with an average of five months.The infants,after receiving the conventional otolaryngological exams,were subjected to the tests of auditory brainstem response (ABR),otoacoustic emission(OAE),tympanometry(226 Hz and 1000 Hz)and behaviors audiometry.Results Among 56 affected infants.87 ears were diagnosed with OME,of which 31 infants were affected bilateral and 25 with monaural.For the 49 infants who received hearing screening at birth.36 infants were referred at the initial screening.For the 52 infants who received repeated screening.all subjects were referred.Six infants without receiving hearing screening came to clinic when their parents observed their kids'hearing impairment.Among the 52 cases(104 ears)who received tympanometry test,20 subjects (28 ears)showed B or C type tympanometry curve.Thirty-nine cases(78 ears)were given tympanometry test at 1000 Hz,of which 38 cases(55 ears)showed abnormal hearing.Among 56 infants(112 ears)with ABR test,49 subjects(74 ears)exhibited prolonged ABR type Ⅰ curve.All 56 infants(112 ears)received OAE test,of which 55 subjects(81 ears)were referred Four infants(8 ears)accepted the behavior test and all of them showed A-B Gap.Conclusions The combined tympanometry test at both 226 Hz and 1000 Hz,ABR latency or threshold test,infant's behavior test and OAE,used jointly,enable characterizing better OME in infants.thus helping early diagnosis of this hearing disorder.

Female ; Humans ; Infectious Mononucleosis ; drug therapy ; etiology ; Male ; Pneumonia, Mycoplasma ; complications

The fragmentation pathways of five estrogens (estradiol, estrone, equilin sulfate, 17 a-dihydroequilin sulfate and equilenin sulfate) have been studied with high resolution and high mass accuracy using electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (ESI-Q-TOF/MS) in the negative ion mode. Molecular weights were obtained from [M-H](-) ions in the product ion spectra. The results indicate that the five structurally similar estrogens have similar fragmentation pathways. Using their stable isotope forms as internal reference compounds, the accurate mass and composition of the fragment ions were determined. During collision-induced dissociation (CID), cleavage is initiated by loss of oxygen atoms from carbon-17, after which D and C rings cleave sequentially and rearrange to finally form stable conjugate structures with highly abundant characteristic fragment ions at m/z 183 (accompanied by m/z 181), m/z 169 and m/z 145 (accompanied by m/z 143). Understanding these characteristic fragmentation pathways of estrogens will be helpful in identifying the structures of steroid hormones in general.
Chemical Fractionation ; methods ; Equilenin ; chemistry ; Equilin ; analogs & derivatives ; chemistry ; Estradiol ; chemistry ; Estrogens ; chemistry ; Estrone ; chemistry ; Ions ; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization

A reasonable and practicable quality standard was developed for mori liquid extract from different sources by TLC, HPLC and fingerprint technology. In TLC method, the compounds were separated on polyamide film using glacial acetic acid-water (1: 3) as mobile phase at a UV wavelength of 365 nm. All qualified samples had the spots of the same color as the control herb and substance. The RP-HPLC method was used to determine the content of mulberroside A with mobile phase of methanol-water (25: 75) at a wave-length of 326 nm. The mulberroside A was in good linear with a regression equation of Y = 46.965X (r = 0.999 6) in the range of 4.6 - 228 mg x L(-1). In 14 batches of samples, the mulberroside A in 4 batches of them was less than 0.5 g x L(-1), and was more than 2.0 g x L(-1) in the other batches. It was suggested that the content limit of mulberroside A should be no less than 1.5 g x L(-1). The HPLC fingerprints were evaluated by the similarities. It has found that the similarities of different mori liquid extracts were very low and the chemical diversity of mori cortex was the major factor of similarity. Moreover, the process impact was minimal. Thus the fingerprint was not included in this quality standard.
China ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Disaccharides ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; standards ; Morus ; chemistry ; Quality Control ; Stilbenes ; chemistry ; isolation & purification

Objective To make an early and correct diag-nosis of hepatic echinococcosis.Methods A total of 1092 patients with hepatic echinococcosis underwent operation in our hospital between 1984 and 1995. Of these paitents, 427 (39.1%) were cases with complications, including secondary infection, rupture, obstructive jaundice, anaphylactic shock, disseminated implantation with resultant multiple echinococcosis and portal hypertension. The ultrasonic examination has been generally used in clinical practice for comprehensive evaluation which can dectedct the preoperative diagnostic accuracy rate.Results B-mode ultrasonography can be used not only to detect the location, dimension and pathological characteristics of hydatid cyst but also to show the pathological changes of various complications caused by echinococcosis. Seven patterns specific ultrasonic scanning images were revealed. In this series the diagnostic accuracy rate reached 98.8%.Conclusions Ultrasonic examination is harmless to human body, and has been widely used in combination with immunological tests in clinical and epidemiological studies to detect the asymptomatic parasite carriers in early stage and to improve the preoperative diagnostic accuracy rate.

Objective To investigate the reversal effect of MDR1 and MDR3 gene silencing on resistance of A2780/taxol cells to paclitaxel.Methods shRNA plasmid vector specifically targeting MDR1 and MDR3 genes was transfected into A2780/taxol cells.The early stage cell apoptosis and the effect of intracellular rhodamine 123(Rh123)accumulation were detected by flow cytometry(FCM).The late stage cell apoptosis rate was detected by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase(TdT)-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate(dUTP)nick end labeling(TUNEL).The 50% inhibition concentration(IC_(50))of paclitaxel on A2780/taxol cells was determined by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium(MTT)assay.MDR1 and MDR3 mRNA were assessed by RT-PCR,and caspase-3 protein was detected by western blot.Results After treatment with MDR1 and MDR3 shRNA plasmid vector,early apoptosis rate of A2780/taxol cells was (20.21?0.56)% and(10.87?1.24)%,respectively.MDR1 and MDR3 shRNA could increase cellular Rh123 accumulation(116.6?8.1 and 98.4?3.8,respectively).The late stage apoptosis rates detected by TUNEL displayed the same tendency as FCM results did.The IC_(50)for paclitaxel of A2780/taxol cells was decreased significantly.The mRNA levels of MDR1 and MDR3 in A2780/taxol cells were decreased by (73.3?0.8)% and(51.6?0.4)% of control,and the reduction of MDR1 and MDR3 mRNA was in a time-dependent manner.The expression of caspase-3 protein of MDR1 and MDR3 shRNA vector transfected group in A2780/taxol cells was significantly increased [(80.8?2.6)% and(72.0?4.7)%, respectively ].Conclusion MDR1 and MDR3 gene silencing could recover sensitivity of A2780/taxol cells to paclitaxel and induce cell apoptosis,thus reversing cell resistance to paclitaxel.

PBL teaching method is a new mode of teaching which is originated from the West and implemented into China in recent years with an expectation that it would mainly develop the students’ self-learning ability,and enhance their skills of comprehensive thinking and solving actual problems.The author summarizes the practical experience of using PBL teaching methods in the theory teaching in Department of Medical Microbiology and Human Parasitology,China Medical University in the past three years,and then proved this method is very helpful to improving the students’integrated thinking by analysis of sample.At the same time the results also suggested that the students showed high enthusiasm in discussing the cases.By this way,the students showed great subjective intiative in their studies.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the distribution of constitution types of Chinese medicine (CM) in the elderly living at home in Beijing downtown, and to explore its relationship with life habits.

METHODSA total of 3894 senile more than 60 years old were enrolled in this study. Their constitution types of CM were typed using CM constitution questionnaire. Meanwhile, their demographic features, disease condition, diet habits, exercise habits, sleep habits, and so on were investigated. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between life habits and constitution types of CM.

RESULTSThe number of mild type constitution senile was 1111 (28.53%) and the number of biased constitutions 2783 (71.47%). Biased constitutions of the top three were qi deficiency constitution (662, 17.00%), yang deficiency constitution (445, 11.43%), and blood stasis constitution (363, 9.32%). Univariate analysis showed that different habits of diet, exercise, and sleep exist among the senile of different constitutions (P < 0.05). By taking mild type constitution, multivariate Logistic regression analysis (except demographic indices and chronic history) showed that significantly positive correlation existed between qi deficiency constitution and favor for hot food (OR = 1.349, P = 0.015), yang deficiency constitution and favor for hot food (OR = 2.448, P < 0.01), phlegm-wetness constitution and favor for barbecue food (OR = 2.144, P = 0.003), wet-heat constitution and favor for sweet food (OR = 1.355, P = 0.032), wet-heat constitution and favor for tea (OR = 1.359, P = 0.047), blood stasis constitution and favor for hot food (OR = 1.422, P = 0.017), and qi depression constitution and favor for hot food (OR = 1.446, P = 0.031). Regular exercise had negative correlation with qi deficiency constitution (OR = 0.397, P < 0.01), yang deficiency constitution (OR = 0.522, P < 0.01) , phlegm-wetness constitution (OR = 0.475, P < 0.01), wet-heat constitution (OR = 0.647, P = 0.015), blood stasis constitution (OR = 0.608, P = 0.001), qi depression constitution (OR = 0.541, P = 0.001), and special diathesis constitution (OR = 0.466, P < 0.01). Early sleep and rise habit had negative with phlegm-wetness constitution (OR = 0.414, P < 0.01), wet-heat constitution (OR = 0.536, P = 0.015), blood stasis constitution (OR = 0.515, P = 0.004), and special diathesis constitution (OR = 0.526, P = 0.039).

CONCLUSIONSDifferent constitution types of CM might be highly related to specific life habits. Cultivating better life habits can improve biased constitutions of CM.

Aged ; Beijing ; Diet ; Exercise ; Humans ; Life Style ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Sleep ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Yang Deficiency ; diagnosis

OBJECTIVEThis article was to study the effect of induced occlusal disorders and removed occlusal disorders on the expression of bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) of condylar cartilage.

METHODSYoung and adult female Sprague-Dawley rats were divided respectively into induced occlusal disorders group, removed occlusal disorders group and control group, 3 rats every group. For induced occlusal disorders rats, the elastic rubbers were inserted between the first and second molar in the left upper side and right lower side to form the disordered occlusion. They were killed under anaesthesia 8 weeks after the treatment. For removed occlusal disorders rats, the first molars that caused disordered occlusion were extracted 6 weeks after forming disordered occlusion. 2 weeks later, they were killed under anaesthesia. For normal rats, they were killed at the same time with experimental rats. Hibateral temporomandibular joints of each rat were removed and stained with HE and monoclone antibody of BMP-2. The thickness of condylar cartilage was measured. The expression of BMP-2 in condylar cartilage was detected by half-quantity immunohistochemical analysis.

RESULTSFor adult induced occlusal disorders group, the thickness of cartilage in intermediate part of condyle decreased. However, it increased in the posterior part. After removing occlusal disorders, the thickness of posterior condylar cartilage returned to normal level. But it was still thinner than control group in the intermediate part. The expression of BMP-2 in anterior, intermediate, posterior part of condylar cartilage of young induced occlusal disorders group was higher than that of young removed occlusal disorders group expression of BMP-2 showed induced occlusal disorders group was higher than removed occlusal disorders group, which was higher than control group. and control group. No difference of the expression of BMP-2 was found in young removed occlusal disorders group and control group. For the expression of BMP-2 in intermediate part of condylar cartilage, both adult induced and removed occlusal disorders groups were higher than adult control group. For the posterior part of adult condyle cartilage, the expression of BMP-2 showed induced occlusal disorders group was higher than removed occlusal disorders group, which was higher than control group.

CONCLUSIONInduced occlusal disorders can lead higher expression of BMP-2 in condylar cartilage of young and adult rats. Adaptability of condylar cartilage of adult rats is weaker than young rats, especially the intermediate part.

Animals ; Bone Morphogenetic Protein 2 ; Cartilage ; Cartilage, Articular ; Dental Occlusion ; Female ; Mandibular Condyle ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Temporomandibular Joint