Objective To clarify the human and animals brucellosis epidemic trends of ABa Prefectufe of Sichuan Province during 2000-2007,to strengthen the prevention and control and determine the strategy for its prevention and cure of brucellosis.Methods According to the National Surveillance of Brucella Document,serology[tube agglutination test(SAT)and plate agglutination test(PAT)]method was used to test the key people,SAT and rose Bengal plate test(RBPF)method to test the yaks and sheep in monitoring sites.Results There were 2 new human brucellosis during 2000-2007.Two thousand and eighty-eight human blood serum were detected.36 people were serohlogie positive,the detection rate was 1.72%(36/2088);the highest rate was in 2003.up to 2.65%(9/339).One hundred and eighty-two thousand,nine hundred and sixty-four cattle and sheep were quarantined.7368 were serologic positive,the detection rate was 4.03%(7368/182 964),4.16%(4844/116 356)for vak and 3.79%(2524/66 608)for sheep;the highest rate being 5.74%(195/3396)in 2001.Conclusions These general trends of human brucellosis is stable,while animals brucellosis has increased in ABa prefecture during 2000-2007.Effective prevention and cure should be adopted to prevent its outbreak.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the therapeutic effects of Ping-tang Recipe (, PTR) on high-fat diet (HFD)-induced insulin resistance and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms.

METHODSForty male SD rats were included in the study. Ten rats were fed on normal diet as normal control, and thirty rats were fed on HFD for 8 weeks to induce obesity, followed with low dose (0.42 g/kg) or high dose (0.84 g/kg) of PTR or vehicle for 8 weeks with 10 animals for each group. Glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity were evaluated by oral glucose tolerance test and insulin tolerance test. Hepatic steatosis was measured by immunohistochemistry. Liver lipid metabolic genes were analyzed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, while AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) expression was examined by Western blot.

RESULTSRats fed on HFD developed abdominal obesity, insulin resistance and NAFLD. PTR treatment reduced visceral fat (peri-epididymal and peri-renal) accumulation, improved glucose metabolism, and attenuated hepatic steatosis. The expressions of the key lipolytic regulating genes, including peroxisome proliferators-activated receptor γ co-activator 1α (PGC-1α), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PRAR-γ) and α (PRAR-α), were up-regulated (P<0.05 or P<0.01), while the expressions of lipogenic genes such as sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1c (SREBP-1c), fatty acid synthase (FAS) and liver fatty acid-binding protein (L-FABP) were down-regulated (P<0.05 or P<0.01). In addition, PTR activated AMPK and promoted acetyl-CoA carboxylase phosphorylation in the liver.

CONCLUSIONSPTR improves insulin resistance and reverse hepatic steatosis in the rat model of HFD-induced obesity through promotion of lipolysis and reduction of lipogenesis, which involves the AMPK signaling pathway, thus representing a new therapeutic intervention for obesity related insulin resistance and NAFLD.

AMP-Activated Protein Kinases ; metabolism ; Animals ; Body Weight ; drug effects ; Diet, High-Fat ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Fatty Liver ; blood ; complications ; prevention & control ; Gene Expression Regulation ; drug effects ; Glucose ; metabolism ; Glucose Tolerance Test ; Insulin Resistance ; Intra-Abdominal Fat ; drug effects ; pathology ; Lipogenesis ; drug effects ; Lipolysis ; drug effects ; Liver ; drug effects ; enzymology ; pathology ; Male ; Obesity ; blood ; complications ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Triglycerides ; metabolism

OBJECTIVESTo study the differential expression of genes in signal transduction pathway (STP) during the hepatocarcinogenesis in tree shrews induced by AFB1 and/or HBV and to elucidate the molecular mechanism of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development.

METHODSAdult tree shrews were divided into three groups: Group A was fed AFB1 only, Group B was infected firstly with HBV then fed AFB1 as in Group A, Group C served as the normal control. Liver biopsies were obtained at the 30th, 60th and 90th week of the experiment or until HCC occurred and the animals were sacrificed. Tree shrew-specific cDNA microarray was applied for detecting the differential expression of corresponding genes in each group at different time points during the experiment, and real time RT PCR was applied to verify the results of the cDNA microarray.

RESULTSGenes of IGF-II, C-rel, and NF-kappaB2 were differentially expressed between para-cancerous tissues and HCC tissues in both group A and group B, and the differential expression of bcl-2, cyclin A and CNTF was only seen in group B. Between the experimental groups A and B and the control group C, there were differential expressions of CNTF and cyclin A in the early 30th week and middle 60th week stage of hepatocarcinogenesis in tree shrews. Real time RT PCR results showed that the expression level of IGF-II and C-Rel in group A and of IGF-II in group B in HCC tissues were significantly lower than that in the adjacent non-cancerous tissues and in the biopsies taken at the 30th and 60th week of the experiment. Nevertheless, there were no significant differences between the para-cancerous tissues and the cancer tissues at the 30th and 60th week. These results were consistent with the cDNA microarray assay. The expression levels of C-Rel and CNTF in group B were not obviously altered in the para-cancerous tissues, HCC and at the 60th week, but they were significantly lower in these tissues than that in the tissues at the 30th week. In group A, the expression levels of CNTF in adjacent liver and HCC tissues were higher than that in para-cancerous lesions, but the difference did not reach a statistically significant level. In group C, the expression level of IGF-II, C-Rel and CNTF at different stages showed no significant differences, which was consistent with the cDNA microarray results.

CONCLUSIONSTo apply the tree shrew-specific cDNA microarray to detect the differential expression of genes related to signal transduction pathway during tree shrew hepatocarcinogenesis could be a valuable utility for further comprehending the mechanism of HCC. IGF-II, NF-kappaB2, C-rel, Bcl-2, and cyclin A. CNTF may be involved in the occurrence and progress of HCC in tree shrews.

Animals ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; genetics ; Female ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Liver Neoplasms, Experimental ; genetics ; Male ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; Signal Transduction ; Tupaiidae

OBJECTIVETo explore the etiology of idiopathic talipes equinovarus (ITEV) in all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) induced clubfoot-like deformity in rat fetuses with two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) and mass spectrometry (MS).

METHODSClubfoot-like deformity model in rat fetuses was induced with ATRA (135 mg/kg) in gestation day (GD10) pregnant Wistar rats. 2-DE was applied to separate the total proteins of ankle joint tissue, ankle joint bone and spinal cord of the animal models. The Coomassie Brilliant Blue staining gels were analyzed by 2-DE software PDQuest 7.1.0. Selected differential protein spots were identified with peptide mass fingerprinting based on matrix-assisted laser adsorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry and database searching. xiap, tnnt1 and col2 alpha 1, three genes of the differential proteins, were identified furthermore. Apoptosis study was made in terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase nick end labeling.

RESULTSThere were many differential expressed proteins in the clubfoot-like deformity model. Out of the differentially expressed proteins,16 protein spots were identified to be differentially expressed in the clubfoot-like deformity model with MS. Three of the 16 protein spots, xiap, tnnt1 and col2 alpha 1 were confirmed to be significantly down-regulated by the RT-PCR, and Xiap was further confirmed to be significantly down-regulated with immunohistochemistry. Another randomly selected gene, ngfr, did not express differently in ATRA-induced clubfoot-like deformity in rat fetuses. The rates of the apoptosis in the spinal, bone of the clubfoot-like deformity fetuses was 5.4 and 10 times of those of the normal fetuses respectively.

CONCLUSIONThe results suggest that there are certain differently expressed proteins in ankle joint tissue, ankle joint bone and spinal cord of the ATRA-induced clubfoot-like deformity in rat fetuses, and Xiap, sTnT, and Col2 alpha 1 show a significant correlation with ITEV. Ngfr is not correlation with ITEV. Apoptosis plays a key role in the development of ITEV and related to the decreased expression of the Xiap.

Animals ; Ankle Joint ; metabolism ; Clubfoot ; chemically induced ; genetics ; metabolism ; Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional ; Immunohistochemistry ; Proteomics ; methods ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Spinal Cord ; metabolism ; Tretinoin

Oval cells have a potential to differentiate into a variety of cell lineages including hepatocytes and biliary epithelia. Several models have been established to activate the oval cells by incorporating a variety of toxins and carcinogens, alone or combined with surgical treatment. Those models are obviously not suitable for the study on human hepatic oval cells. It is necessary to establish a new and efficient model to study the human hepatic oval cells. In this study, the hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and epidermal growth factor (EGF) were used to induce differentiation of mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells into hepatic oval cells. We first confirmed that hepatic oval cells derived from ES cells, which are bipotential, do exist during the course of mouse ES cells' differentiation into hepatic parenchymal cells. RT-PCR and transmission electron microscopy were applied in this study. The ratio of Sca-1+/CD34+ cells sorted by FACS in the induction group was increased from day 4 and reached the maximum on the day 8, whereas that in the control group remained at a low level. The differentiation ratio of Sca-1+/CD34+ cells in the induction group was significantly higher than that in the control group. About 92.48% of the sorted Sca-1+/CD34+ cells on the day 8 were A6 positive. Highly purified A6+/Sca-1+/CD34+ hepatic oval cells derived from ES cells could be obtained by FACS. The differentiation ratio of hepatic oval cells in the induction group (up to 4.46%) was significantly higher than that in the control group. The number of hepatic oval cells could be increased significantly by HGF and EGF. The study also examined the ultrastructures of ES-derived hepatic oval cells' membrane surface by atomic force microscopy. The ES-derived hepatic oval cells cultured and sorted by our protocols may be available for the future clinical application.
Animals ; Antigens, CD34 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Antigens, Ly ; genetics ; metabolism ; Cell Differentiation ; drug effects ; genetics ; physiology ; Cell Line ; Embryonic Stem Cells ; cytology ; metabolism ; ultrastructure ; Epidermal Growth Factor ; pharmacology ; Flow Cytometry ; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental ; drug effects ; Hepatocyte Growth Factor ; pharmacology ; Liver ; cytology ; metabolism ; Membrane Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Microfilament Proteins ; metabolism ; Microscopy, Atomic Force ; Microscopy, Electron, Transmission ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Stem Cells ; cytology ; metabolism ; ultrastructure ; Time Factors

The possibility of using a subunit or fragment of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) as an immunogen for birth control has been actively explored for many years. This protein homone is produced by the fertilized egg and is required for implantation of the blastocyst into the maternal uterus and the maitenance of pregnancy. In previous studies, several bio-synthesized hCG chimeric peptides (CP) that contain three linear B-cell epitopes (beta5, beta9 and beta8) of beta-hCG subunit together with various foreign 'promiscuous' T-cell epitopes were constructed and expressed as potential new hCG vaccine immunogens. In order to detect antibodies to each of the individual B-cell epitopes present in the animal antiserum raised against the hCG CPs, we decided to construct three recombinant proteins, each contains a single target B-cell epitope (betaE) of beta-hCG. Two sets of DNA fragments were chemically synthesized encoding the beta5, beta9 and beta8 epitopes (betaE) 45 approximately 52, 113 approximately 116 or 133 approximately 144 of beta-hCG subunit and were inserted into the downstream of streptavidin (Stv) gene in pTSA18 separately, with or without an extra TAA codon at the 3'-terminals of the genes. SDS-PAGE analysis revealed that only Stv-betaE (-beta5, -beta9 or -beta8) fusion genes set with the TAA codon can be expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3) pLysS strain at high level after 1mM IPTG induction for 4 hours. Additionally, these fusion proteins can all be recognized by specific polyclonal antiserum (RS-4157) generated upon immunization with the loop peptide 38 approximately 57 of beta-hCG, monoclonal antibody (mAb) FB12 to beta9 epitope and mAb OT3A that specially recognizes reporter sequence 133 approximately 139 of beta8 epitope 137 approximately 144. Each of the proteins can be purified to 95% relative homogeneity using an improved method of preparative gel polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The yields were 5 mg per 1 L culture. The three target Stv-betaE fusion proteins will be useful in determining the immunogenicity of designed hCG CPs and hCG vaccines, including hCG DNA vaccines.
Chorionic Gonadotropin, beta Subunit, Human ; genetics ; immunology ; Epitopes, B-Lymphocyte ; genetics ; Humans ; Recombinant Fusion Proteins ; biosynthesis ; immunology ; isolation & purification ; Streptavidin ; genetics ; Vaccines, Synthetic ; immunology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of dopamine and norepinephrine on the renal function in the patients with septic shock.

METHODSEighty-seven patients with septic shock were divided into three groups (group A, B, C) according to the biggest infusing rate of norepinephrine, with the infusing rate of 0.5 - 0.9, 1.0 - 1.5, 1.6 - 2.0 microg x kg(-1) x min(-1), respectively. Mean arterial blood pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR), urine output, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine (CRE), urine albumin (U-ALB) and urine beta(2)-microglobulin (Ubeta(2)-MG) as well as APACHE III score in all the patients were detected.

RESULTSBefore anti-shock therapy was given, hypotension, tachycardia and oliguria occurred in all the 87 patients, and CRE, BUN, U-ALB, Ubeta(2)-MG and APACHE III score were abnormal in most cases. With the anti-shock therapy, MAP, HR, urine output and BUN, CRE in all patients returned to normal levels gradually, and U-ALB, Ubeta(2)-MG levels and APACHE III score also restored but still remained abnormal.

CONCLUSIONSThe first aim of treating septic shock should be restoring the organ blood supply, and based on volume resuscitation, dopamine, noradrenaline and other vasoactive drugs could be combined to maintain circulatory stability.

APACHE ; Adult ; Aged ; Blood Transfusion ; Cardiotonic Agents ; administration & dosage ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Dopamine ; administration & dosage ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Female ; Humans ; Kidney ; drug effects ; physiopathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Norepinephrine ; administration & dosage ; Retrospective Studies ; Shock, Septic ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Vasoconstrictor Agents ; administration & dosage

OBJECTIVETo explore possible mechanism of electroacupuncture (EA) for regulating immune function in anxiety disorder (AD) rats by observing the effect of acupuncture on the histology of thymus and expressions of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and natriuretic peptide receptor type A (NPR- A) in thymus.

METHODSTotally 34 SD healthy rats were randomly divided into the blank control group (n = 10), the model group (n = 12), the EA group (n = 12). Anxiety model was established in rats of the model group and the EA group by using chronic unpredictable stress (CUS) stimulation. EA (15/25 Hz) at Neiguan (PC6) and Shenmen (HT7) was performed in the EA group, with 15-min needle retaining, once every other day, 15 days in total. Needle was fixed at same acupoints for 15 min without electric stimulus in the other two groups. Anxiety-like behavior was measured by elevated plus-maze (EPM) test. Pathological changes of thymus tissue were observed by optical microscope. Expressions of ANP and NPR-A in thymus were measured by immunohistochemical assay.

RESULTSThe thymus tissue in the model group was severely atrophied, with unclear structure of thymic lobules, unclear margin of thymic medulla, loosely arranged lymphocytes ,and obviously enlarged volume of thymic corpuscle. The thymus tissue in the EA group was mildly atrophied, with existent structure of thymic lobules, clear margin of thymic medulla, densely arranged lymphocytes in cortical region, and widened medullary area. Com- pared with the blank control group, the percentage of open-arms entries (OE%) in the total QE times ob- viously decreased in the model group (P < 0.05), ANP expression obviously increased (P < 0.05), and NPR-A expression obviously decreased (P < 0.01). Compared with the model group, OE% was obviously elevated (P < 0.05), ANP expression obviously decreased (P < 0.05), and NPR-A expression obviously increased (P < 0.01) in the EA group.

CONCLUSIONEA not only could reduce anxiety of rats, but also could improve chronic stress induced thymus injury through intervening synthesis and secretion of ANP, as well as the expression of NPR-A (a specific receptor of ANP).

Acupuncture Points ; Animals ; Anxiety Disorders ; therapy ; Atrial Natriuretic Factor ; metabolism ; Electroacupuncture ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Receptors, Atrial Natriuretic Factor ; metabolism ; Thymus Gland ; pathology

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the efficacy and safety of nateglinide, a new antidiabetic agent, in the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

METHODSA total of 219 treatment-naïve patients with type 2 diabetes from 6 centers were enrolled in this study and blindly divided into nateglinide group (n = 105) and repaglinide group (n = 114). In all patients, the disease was confirmed for at least three months. The whole observation lasted for 12 weeks. The efficacy indicators measured include glycohemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), fasting blood glucose, and 2 hours postprandial blood glucose, and the safety parameters measured included renal and hepatic function, serum lipids, and blood and urea profiles.

RESULTSSimilar decreases in fasting blood glucose, 2 hours postprandial blood glucose, and HbA1 c were found in both nateglinide group and repaglinide group without significant differences. No severe adverse events were noted. The hypoglycemia event reports were not significantly different between these two groups.

CONCLUSIONNateglinide is an effective and safe drug in treating type 2 diabetes.

Blood Glucose ; drug effects ; Cyclohexanes ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; drug therapy ; Drug Administration Schedule ; Female ; Humans ; Hypoglycemic Agents ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Phenylalanine ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Treatment Outcome