Diabetic retinopathy is one of the most common and serious microvascular complications of diabetes, and it is a very complex pathological process, displaying multi-factor, multi-stage characteristic in the outcome. Recent studies have shown that the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy is closely related to oxidative stress, and antioxidant therapy can effectively improve the condition. Heme oxygenase-1(HO-1)is a widely existing antioxidant defense enzyme, which can reduce the injury caused by oxidative stress and plays an important physiological role. Studies have indicated that in retina HO-1 can be highly induced by hyperglycemia. Moreover, the expression level of HO-1 by man-made changes can accelerate or postpone the diseases progression. That means HO-1 for the diagnosis and treatment of diabetic retinopathy has satisfactory applied foreground. In this article we would like to review the role of HO-1 in diabetic retinopathy.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the hepatoprotective effects of Lysimachia christinae Hance against acute liver injury induced by tripterygium glycosides (TG) in vivo and the related mechanism for the first time. METHODS: The mice were administered ethanol extract of L. christinae (JE), water extract of L. christinae (JW), and bifendate by ig for seven consecutive days. 12 h after the last dose, the mice were orally given TG 270 mg · kg-1 except those in the normal group. Serum and liver tissue samples were collected at 18 h after TG treatment. Besides, the amounts of quercetin and kaempferol in JE and JW were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). RESULTS: TG-induced elevated serum alanine transferase(ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST) activities were significantly reduced by JE(100, 200 mg · kg-1) in dose-dependent manners, but not by JW. Further analysis demonstrated that lipid peroxidation(LPO) level significantly decreased, while superoxide dismutase(SOD) and catalase(CAT) activities increased in livers of JE-treated mice. Besides, the amounts of quercetin and kaempferol were 9.8 and 8.9 mg · g-1 in JE, and 2.8 and 1.9 mg · g-1 in JW, respectively. CONCLUSION: This study for the first time demonstrates that L. christinae can protect against TG-induced acute liver injury in dose-dependent manners in vivo, the potential mechanism may be related to inhibiting liver oxidative stress injury, and the hepatoprotective activity may be correlated with the contents of quercetin and kaempferol. Copyright 2013 by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

Angiotensin I ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Blood Pressure ; drug effects ; physiology ; Infusions, Intraventricular ; Male ; Peptide Fragments ; pharmacology ; Pulmonary Artery ; physiology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Objective: To develop a new quantitative determination method for the biological activity of recombinant human ciliary neurotrophic factor. Methods: Dorsal root ganglions were derived from the chick embryo and dispersed into single neuron cell,The rhCNTF was added to neuron cells and incubated for 64 hours,The activity of acid phosphatase in neuron cells was determined and the biological activity of rhCNTF was analyzed quantificationally. Result: rhCNTF could promote original era dorsal root neuron cells of chick embryo surviving,the livability of neuron cells was positively related to the amount of rhCNTF added to the culture. Conclusion: A quantitative determination method for the biological activity of rhCNTF was developed by testing the activity of acid phosphatase in neuron cells. Compared with the typical ways,this method was quantificational easily,repeatable better and with much fewer disturbance factors.

Microbial production of 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) by photosynthetic bacteria compared to other bacteria and algae was reviewed. During anaerobic cultivation of the Rhodobacter spaeroides mutant strain, control of the redox potential was effective or producing large amounts of extracellular ALA. ALA has been practically applied in agriculture as herbicide, pesticide and growth-promoting factor for plants. New agriculture applications including salt tolerance and cold temperature tolerance of plants were also desired. Finally recent medical application for cancer treatment, tumor diagnosis and other clinical uses were discussed.

Cerebrovascular reserve is an important parameter for evaluating cerebrovascular disease,and it has great clinical significance.There are a number of determination methods for cerebrovascular reserve,such as position emission tomography(PET),single photon emission computed tomography(SPECT),Xenon-133 inhalation technique,Xenon CT,perfusion CT, magnetic resonance imaging(MRI),transcranial Doppler(TCD),transcranial harmonic perfusion imaging(HPI),near infrared spectroscopy(NIR),and Laser Doppler vibrometry(LDV), however,there have been no unified criteria up to now.The provocation test that makes cerebral blood flow increase includes CO_2 inhalation test,breath holding test,and acetazolamide test,etc. The article focuses the discussion on the advantages and disadvantages of the above determination methods.

Pancreatic cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related death in the world due to its high malignancy, difficult in early diagnosis, poor treatment efficacy, and high mortality. In recent years, benefiting from the progress of combined chemotherapy and neoadjuvant therapy, the prognosis of patients with pancreatic cancer has been improved to a certain extent. However, compared with other tumors, progress of precision medicine in pancreatic cancer is slow. The authors introduce the latest progress and difficulties in precision medicine of pancreatic cancer including molecular classification based on single gene and omics, monitoring tumor progression and guide treatment by minimally invasive liquid biopsy, as well as targeting therapy and immuno-therapy, in order to accelerate the development of precision medicine of pancreatic cancer.

Objective To observe the changes of serum cystatin C(Cys C) in patients with coronary heart disease(CHD) and normal kidney function ,and evaluate the predictive value of Cys C concentration on coronary arterial lesions .Methods Serum levels of Cys C were detected in 316 patients with coronary heart disease and normal renal function .The relationship between serum 1evels of Cys C and coronary heart disease was evaluated from three aspects :the number of diseased vessels ,the severity of diseased ves‐sels and the CHD Gensini scores .Results The Cys C level in CHD group was significantly higher than that of non‐CHD group [(1 .24 ± 0 .32)mg/L vs .(1 .12 ± 0 .27)mg/L ,P<0 .01] .Serum Cys C was significantly higher in the multi‐vessel disease group than that of the single‐vessel disease group[(1 .31 ± 0 .31)mg/L vs .(1 .20 ± 0 .32)mg/L ,P<0 .01] .Serum Cys C was significantly higher in the severe coronary artery stenosis group than in the mild stenosis group [(1 .29 ± 0 .36)mg/L vs .(1 .16 ± 0 .23)mg/L , P<0 .01] .Cys C was positively correlated with the Gensini scores of coronary arterial lesion (r=0 .195 ,P<0 .01) .Conclusion Cys C levels increased in patients with coronary heart disease and normal renal function .Cys C was positively correlated with the Gensini scores of coronary arterial lesion .Serum Cys C levels has certain predictive value on coronary arterial lesions in patients with CHD .

Action Potentials ; Animals ; Female ; Male ; Nifedipine ; pharmacology ; Rabbits ; Ureter ; drug effects ; physiology ; Urination ; drug effects ; Vitamin K 3 ; pharmacology

Objective: To explore weather microRNA let-7c (miR-let-7c) could regulate myotrophin gene expression in rat’s H9c2 cardiac myocytes with possible mechanisms.
Methods: Recombinant plasmid carrying 3′ untranslated region (3′-UTR) of myotrophin and miRNA precursor of let-7c was co-transfected into Hela cells to construct the luciferase reporter system in order to measure luciferase activity. Rat’s H9c2 cardiac myocytes were cultured. The let-7c gene expression was detected by Taqman probe-based real-time PCR after let-7c miRNA precursor or let-7c miRNA inhibitor transfection respectively; protein expressions of myotrophin and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) were examined by Western blot analysis.
Results: Luciferase activity examination indicated that compared with recombinant luciferase gene expression carrier (pMIR-MTPN)+miR precursor negative control group, pMIR-MTPN+miR-let-7c miRNA precursor group showed reduced luciferase activity (59.30±9.90) % vs (98.10±15.10) %. Western blot analysis presented that compared with miR negative control group, miR-let-7c precursor group had decreased protein expressions of myotrophin (0.28±0.05) vs (0.90±0.09) and NF-κB (0.25±0.06) vs (0.75±0.07); in contrast, compared with Negative inhibitor group, miR-let-7c inhibitor group had increased protein expressions of myotrophin (1.14±0.09) vs (0.44±0.09) and NF-κB (1.09±0.05) vs (0.71±0.06), allP<0.05.
Conclusion: miR-let-7c could inhibit myotrophin expression via acting on its 3′-UTR domain and may also inlfuence NF-κB signaling pathway in rat’s H9c2 cardiac myocytes.