OBJECTIVETo observe dynamically the effect of drugs for clearing heat and removing dampness (CHRD) on biliary components in rabbits with pigment gallstones (PGS).

METHODSForty rabbits were established into PGS model and randomly divided into 3 groups, the bacterial infection group, the CHRD low-dose group and the CHRD high-dose group. Besides, a normal group was set up with healthy rabbits for control. Changes of total bilirubin (TB), unconjugated bilirubin (UCB), total bile acid (TBA), Ca2+, bacterial and endogenous beta-glucuronidase (beta-Gase) in bile were observed.

RESULTSCHRD drugs significantly decreased the contents of UCB, Ca2+, bacterial and endogenous beta-Gase (P < 0.05), and increased TBA in bile (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONCHRD drugs have good effect in reducing the lithogenesis of the pigment gallstones.

Animals ; Bile ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Bile Pigments ; metabolism ; Calcium ; metabolism ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Gallstones ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; pathology ; Glucuronidase ; metabolism ; Male ; Phytotherapy ; Rabbits ; Random Allocation ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the dynamic change of Th1/Th2 cytokines in serum, peritoneal lavage fluid (PLF) and splenic macrophages (SM) in rats with severe peritonitis, and to observe the therapeutic effects of recombinant interleukin-12 (rIL-2) and Shenmai injection (SMI), a Chinese medicinal preparation.

METHODSSevere peritonitis (SP) model was induced by intraperitoneal injection of E. coli and B. frag, and mild peritonitis (MP) model was induced by cecal ligation and punching. Then the following experiments were done: (1) Survival rates of animals after every 6 hrs in the 72 hrs after modeling were recorded, serum and PLF levels of cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), and interleukin-10 (IL-10), 6 hrs, 12 hrs, 24 hrs and 48 hrs after modeling were measured. (2) Model rats were treated with rIL-12 or SMI, the survival rate was recorded and serum levels of TNF-alpha, INF-gamma, and IL-10 before and after treatment were measured, and (3) amount of these cytokines produced by SM were determined 6 hrs, 12 hrs and 24 hrs after treatment. The survival rates and levels of cytokines were then compared between the groups (model group treated with rIL-12 or SMI, untreated model group, and blank group).

RESULTSSerum and PLF levels of IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha at all the time points in SP rats were significantly lower than those in MP rats while those of IL-10 6 hrs and 12 hrs after modeling were significantly higher in the former than that in the latter (P < 0.05). IFN-gamma secretion of SM in SP rats was significantly higher than that in MP rats 6 hrs after modeling (P < 0.05). Administration of rlL-12 or SMI given before modeling could improve the survival rate of the model rats (P < 0.05) and cause significant increase of the serum level and SM secretion of IFN-gamma.

CONCLUSIONImbalance in promoting/antagonizing inflammatory cytokines and Th2 response dominance appear in SP rats early at the initiating stage, and SM secretion of inflammation promoting factor also reduces. Administration in time of rIL-12 and SMI, may increase the survival rate, and its mechanism may be related with their immuno-stimulating action.

Animals ; Cytokines ; metabolism ; Disease Models, Animal ; Drug Combinations ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Interferon-gamma ; metabolism ; Interleukin-10 ; metabolism ; Interleukin-12 ; pharmacology ; Male ; Peritonitis ; drug therapy ; mortality ; Plant Extracts ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Recombinant Proteins ; pharmacology ; Sepsis ; drug therapy ; immunology ; mortality ; Severity of Illness Index ; Survival Rate ; Th1 Cells ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Th2 Cells ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo explore the characteristics of immune imbalance in patients with multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) induced by severe intra-abdominal infection and its relationship with changing of TCM sthenia-asthenia syndrome.

METHODSForty-six patients with MODS induced by severe intra-abdominal infection and treated with etiological and syndrome differentiation of integrative medicine were observed in succession. Patients' peripheral blood levels of interleukin-6/interleukin-10 ratio (IL-6/IL-10), human leukocyte antigen DR site (HLA-DR), helper T lymphocyte1/2 ratio (Th1/Th2), and the regulatory T lymphocyte (Treg) were measured on the 1st, 3rd and 7th day of the research respectively. And the distribution laws of TCM syndrome types, sthenia (S), asthenia (A), and mingled sthenia/asthenia (M), in patients were observed as well.

RESULTSIL-6/IL-10 ratio at all the testing time points showed insignificant difference in patients of types S and M, while in those of type A, it was more lowered on the 7th day than that on the 1st day. HLA-DR lowered to <30% on the 7th day in all patients of type A and showed significant difference to that on the 1st day (P <0.05), while HLA-DR <30% was not found in all patients of types S and M. Th1/Th2 ratio in patients of types S and A was insignificant different at the foremost 3 days, but lowered significantly on the 7th day, while in patients of type M, it was unchanged in all the 7 days of observation. Treg level was unchanged in the foremost 3 days in patients of types S and M, while in those of type A, it raised on the 3rd day, but no raising was found in the subsequent 4 days. Comparisons of various indexes detected at corresponding time points respectively among patients with various syndrome types showed that, for levels of IL-6/IL-8, HLA-DR, and Th1/Th2, the sequence was S>M>A; and for Treg, it was A>M>S.

CONCLUSIONIn the pathological process of MODS induced by severe intra-abdominal infection, the index IL-6/IL-10, reflecting the balance of the pro-/anti-inflammatory cytokines and the indexes HLA-DR, Th1/Th2 and Treg reflecting the immune function, all can exactly reflect the TCM asthenia-sthenia syndrome types. The sequence in patients of various syndrome types for levels of IL-6/IL-10, HLA-DR and Th1/Th2, is S> M>A, but for Treg it is the inverse, as A>M>S.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Diagnosis, Differential ; HLA-DR Antigens ; immunology ; Humans ; Interleukin-6 ; immunology ; Interleukin-8 ; metabolism ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Middle Aged ; Multiple Organ Failure ; complications ; drug therapy ; immunology ; Peritonitis ; complications ; drug therapy ; immunology ; Sepsis ; complications ; drug therapy ; immunology ; metabolism ; T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory ; immunology ; Th1 Cells ; immunology ; Th2 Cells ; immunology ; Yang Deficiency ; immunology ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo provide evidence for three-level prevention of cholelithiasis by means of observing the effects of some choleretics on bile compositions drained from patients with pigment gallstone.

METHODSTwenty-seven patients suffering from primary pigment gallstones and having received treatment of choledochostomies plus T-tube or endoscopic nasal bile drainage (ENBD) were divided equally into three groups, and administered respectively with Lidanling (the LDL group), ursodesoxycholic acid (the UDA group) and combination of LDL and UDA (the LDL + UDA group) through oral intake (7 patients in each group). Besides, 6 post-operational patients got no treatment with any drug were allocated in the control group. Bile of all the patients was collected before treatment and on the 1, 3, 5, 7 th day after the treatment started to detect levels of total bile acid (TBA), glycocholic acid (GCA), taurocholic acid (TCA), glycocholic cheno-desoxycholic acid (GCDCA), total bilirubin (TBIL), uncombined bilirubin (UCB), concentration of calcium ion (Ca(2+)) as well as the bacterio-genetic and endogenous beta-glucuronidase activity for comparing.

RESULTSLevels of TBA, GCA, TCA and GCDCA got gradually increased in the UDA group and the LDL + UDA group after treatment (P < 0.05), while those in the LDL group remained unchanged, showing an insignificant difference as compared with those in the control group. In the LDL group and the LDL + UDA group, TBIL gradually increased while UCB gradually decreased in the course of treatment (P < 0.05). Moreover, levels of Ca(2+) and endogenous beta-glucuronidase activity got significantly lowered (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONCombined use of LDL and UDA could elevate levels of TBA, GCA, TCA, GCDCA, enhance the excretion of TBIL in patients with pigment gallstone after bile drainage, lower levels of UCB and Ca(2+) and the activity of endogenous beta-glucuronidase in the bile, so as to reduce the possibility of stone formation of bile, and therefore, it could be used to prevent the production of pigment gallstone, especially to prevent post-operative recurrence of stones.

Adult ; Bile ; chemistry ; Bile Acids and Salts ; analysis ; Bilirubin ; analysis ; Calcium ; analysis ; Cholagogues and Choleretics ; pharmacology ; Choledochostomy ; Cysteic Acid ; analogs & derivatives ; pharmacology ; Drainage ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Gallstones ; metabolism ; Glucuronidase ; analysis ; Glycocholic Acid ; analysis ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Taurocholic Acid ; analysis ; Ursodeoxycholic Acid ; analogs & derivatives ; pharmacology

OBJECTIVETo compare and assess the effectiveness of leukocyte-filtered platelet and standard platelet concentrates transfusion in preventing platelet transfusion refractoriness (PTR) and human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-alloimmunization.

METHODSRandomized controlled trials (RCTs) or quasi-RCTs comparing leukocyte-filtered platelet with standard platelet concentrates transfusion (up to December 31, 2009) were searched and identified from Medline, EMBASE, The Cochrane Library, and CBM. A meta-analysis was conducted with Cochrane Collaboration's RevMan 5. 0.

RESULTSThe search identified 558 citations in total, in which 7 articles in English were finally included in the meta-analysis. The analysis showed that compared with standard platelet concentrates transfusion, leukocyte-filtered platelet transfusion significantly decreased PTR [ RR = 0. 59, 95% CI (0. 42, 0. 82) , P = 0. 002 ] and HLA-alloimmunization [ RR = 0. 49,95% CI (0. 33, 0. 74) , P =0. 0006]. Subgroup analysis showed that HLA-alloimmunization was significantly reduced by leukocyte-filtered platelet transfusion among the patients with acute myelocytic leukemia [ RR =0.42, 95% CI (0.32, 0.56), P <0. 00001], while no significant difference was detected in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia because of the limited sample size [ RR = 0. 50, 95% CI (0. 10, 2.41) , P =0. 39].

CONCLUSIONSThe current evidence shows that leukocyte-filtered platelet transfusion can prevent PTR and HLA-alloimmunization more effectively than standard platelet transfusion. Well-designed large-scale RCTs are still needed to further confirm this finding.

Filtration ; HLA Antigens ; immunology ; Humans ; Leukocytes ; immunology ; Platelet Transfusion ; methods ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic

There have been several epidemiological studies evaluating the potential association between the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) A1298C polymorphism and the risk of male infertility.However,the results obtained were inconsistent.Therefore,we performed a meta-analysis to further examine the association between the MTHFR A1298C polymorphism and male infertility.A comprehensive search was conducted to identify all eligible studies from the online literature databases published prior to January 15th,2016.A total of 20 studies with 4293 cases and 4507 controls were included.An odds ratio (OR) and a 95％ confidence interval (95％ CI) were calculated to assess the strength of the association.A cumulative meta-analysis,sensitivity analysis and assessment of the publication bias were also performed in this study.The results showed that in the overall analysis,the association between the MTHFR A1298C polymorphism and male infertility was not significant.A stratified analysis by ethnicity revealed a significant increase in the risk of male infertility in the Asian population with the MTHFR A1298C polymorphism (especially in the heterozygote model:OR=l.20,95％ CI=1.01-1.44,P=0.994;the dominant model:OR=1.23,95％ CI=1.04-1.45,P=0.996;and the allele model:OR=l.20,95％ CI=1.04-1.39,P=0.985) but not in the Caucasian population.In the stratified analyses,no significant association was observed between the different types of male infertility.This meta-analysis suggests the MTHFR A1298C polymorphism may be a potential risk factor for male infertility,especially in the Asian population.

Antibodies, Viral ; blood ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; blood ; Male ; SARS Virus ; immunology ; isolation & purification ; Seroepidemiologic Studies ; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ; epidemiology ; virology

BACKGROUNDTo find out the timing of serologic responses after illness onset and distribution of IgG antibody to SARS-CoV in SARS cases of transmission chain or non-transmission chain.

METHODSThe IgG and IgM antibodies to SARS-CoV were tested by indirect ELISA in serum samples from 301 clinically diagnosed SARS cases.

RESULTSTotally 158 SARS cases were involved in 15 chains of transmission. The positive rates of SARS-CoV IgG in those chains were 85.70%-100.00% and the overall rate was 94.30% (149/158). The chain of transmission could spread to four generations, but the SARS cases were reduced with increase of generations. There was no significant difference among positive rates of SARS-CoV IgG for generations, Chi square=5.11, P greater than 0.05. The positive rate of SARS-CoV IgG in cases who were not in chain of transmission was 12.59%(18/143) which was statistically significantly different from that of cases in chain of transmission, Chi square=199.64, P less than 0.001. During days 0-7,8-14,15-21,22-30 after onset, the cumulated positive rate of SARS-CoV IgG was 16.67%, 40.00%, 70.00% and 93.10%, respectively, then was kept at the level above 90% and lasted for 217 days. The cumulated positive rate of SARS-CoV IgM during days 0-7 after onset was the same to that of IgG. During days 8-14, 55.17% of cases had seroconversion for IgM which reached a peak (86.96%) during days 21-30. Then the rate rapidly declined.

CONCLUSIONMore than 94% of cases with SARS could produce IgG antibody when they were infected by SARS-CoV. Detecting SARS-CoV IgG could provide a diagnostic evidence for case confirmation. SARS-CoV IgG appeared as early as 7 days after onset and reached the peak at about weeks 4. Then the high rate of antibody was maintained for more than 6 months.

Antibodies, Viral ; blood ; Disease Transmission, Infectious ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; blood ; Immunoglobulin M ; blood ; SARS Virus ; immunology ; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ; immunology ; transmission

In industrial fermentation of amino acids the cells are often forced to synthesize the biochemicals excessive of their physiological needs. The knowledge of metabolic networks and their regulation relevant usually come from biochemical research, especially from enzymology, not from engineering study. To enrich the knowledge of metabolic sub-network of L-valine syntheses for higher production of L-valine, Corynebacterium glutamicum AS1.495 and its genetic derivatives AA361, AAT231, AATV341 were used for metabolic flux analysis. AS1.495 is a leucine auxotrophic (Leu-), and the three derivatives carry additional mutations. AA361 contains D-aspartic acid-beta-hydroxamate supersensitive marker (Leu-, L-AAHss), AAT231 (Leu-, L-AAHss, 2-TAr) is D-aspartic acid-beta-hydroxamate supersensitive and 2-thiazole alanine resistant, and AAT341 (Leu-, L-AAHss, 2-TAr, Vd-) is a D-aspartic acid-beta-hydroxamate supersensitive, 2-thiazole alanine resistant and valine-decompose-ability imperfect (Vd-). The concentrations of extra-cellular metabolites were determined under sub-steady-state of the batch culture. The metabolic flux distribution maps of the four strains were obtained, compared and analyzed. Our analysis showed that the flux ratio of EMP and HMP from the glucose-6-phosphate had increased from 0.205 in the parental strain AS1.495 to 0.321 in the multiple-mutation strain AATV341; the flux ratio of L-valine synthesis branch and the rest branches from the pyruvate node increased from 0.188 in AS1.495 to 3.29 in AATV341; the flux of lactic acid synthesis branch decreased from 11.1 in AS1.495 to 1.16 in AATV341; the flux of L-valine synthesis branch increased from 5.37 in AS1.495 to 37.3 in AATV341; and the productivity of L-valine correspondently increased from 4 g/L in AS1.495 to 24.5 g/L in AATV341. These results indicate that the introduction of analog supersensitive marker L-AAH55 and/or analog resistant marker 2-TAr skew the metabolic flux towards the formation of L-valine. This study revealed the usefulness of the metabolic flux analysis as a tool for verification of existing production strains. The analysis may play an important role in helping us b to rationally re-design metabolism for further improvement of fermentation process.
Corynebacterium glutamicum ; classification ; genetics ; metabolism ; Fermentation ; Glucose-6-Phosphate Isomerase ; metabolism ; Industrial Microbiology ; methods ; Mutation ; Pyruvic Acid ; metabolism ; Valine ; analysis ; biosynthesis

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of modified Xiaochaihu Decoction (, MXD) on transforming growth factor-β1/Sma- and Mad-related proteins (TGF-β1/Smads) signaling pathway in rats with chronic pancreatitis (CP) induced by dibutyltin dichloride.

METHODSThirty healthy male Wistar rats were randomly divided into the normal control group, CP group and CP+MXD-treated group. CP was induced by injection of dibutyltin dichloride (DBTC, 7 mg/kg of body weight) into the right caudal vein, and the control rats were treated with vehicle. MXD was given daily by gavage at a dose of 10 g/kg of body weight, starting from the day after CP induction. After 28-day treatment, the n-benzoyl-tyrosyl para-aminobenzoic acid (NBT-PABA) test was carried out to evaluate exocrine pancreatic function. Then, rats were sacrificed, and pancreatic tissues were harvested for histological evaluation. In addition, the mRNA expression of TGF-β1, TGF-β1 type II receptor (TGFβRII), Smad3 and Smad7 was determined in pancreatic tissues by using real-time polymerase chain reaction.

RESULTSTreatment of CP with MXD improved the PABA recovery, decreased the histological lesion, and reduced the mRNA expression of TGF-β1, TGFβRII and Smad3 (P<0.05). However, MXD had no effect on Smad7 mRNA level.

CONCLUSIONSMXD could protect the pancreas against chronic injury and improve pancreatic exocrine function in DBTC induced rat CP model. Its mechanism may involve inhibition of the TGF-β1/Smads signaling pathway.

Amylases ; blood ; Animals ; Base Sequence ; Blood Glucose ; metabolism ; Body Weight ; drug effects ; Chronic Disease ; DNA Primers ; Disease Progression ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Lipase ; blood ; Male ; Pancreatitis ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; pathology ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Signal Transduction ; drug effects ; Smad Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 ; metabolism