The methods for aptamer selection have been modified and developed in recent years. Selection efficiency has been increased due to the improvement in separation of bound and unbound nucleic acids; applicability of aptamers has been improved due to the development of primer-free SELEX and the utilization of short oligonucleotide library; more research requirements have been satisfied due to the functional modifications of aptamer selection methods. All the methodological advances enhance the potential value of aptamers in basic researches and clinical applications.

Objective To explore the clinical features and surgical management of aged patients with acute cholecystitis,and try to command the opportunity and procedure of laparoseopic cholecystectomy(LC)better.Meth- ods Clinical data of 52 aged cases with acute cholecystits undergone LC were analyzed retrospectively.Results All of the patients(within 48h of the acute attack)were successfully recovered without serious operative complications. Conclusion Aged acute cholecystitis progressed rapidly and its operative difficulty and risk were higher;only if more attention was paid to perioperative managements and operative time and technical skill were mastered,early LC for the patients was safe and feasible.Therefore.it should be recommended in the great majority of cases except the des- perate patients whose general condition was too poor to operate.

Objective To explore the ursodeoxycholic acid efficacy and safety analysis of nucleoside drugs for HBeAg-positive with high viral load in patients with liver cirrhosis, and its effect on peripheral blood Th17, Treg levels.Methods 80 patients with high viral load B HBeAg-positive from November 2012 to February 2014 were selected and randomly divided into control group and observation group, 40 cases in each group.Patients in control group received conventional treatment, observation group was treated with ursodeoxycholic acid based on the control group, antiviral efficacy and adverse reactions, peripheral blood Th17, Treg levels were compared between two groups.Results After treatment, the ALT, AST, ALB, TBil levels between two groups were significantly lower compared with before treatment(P<0.01), the ALT, AST, ALB, TBil levels in observation group were significantly lower than the control group ( P<0.01 ); HBV-DNA negative rate ( 85.0%) and decrease of HBV-DNA in observation group were significantly higher (7.5%) than those in control group, the difference was statistically significant (χ2 =48.322, t =11.490, P<0.01); ALT normalization rate (52.5%), HBeAg seroconversion rate (57.5%) in observation group was significantly higher than those in control group(15.0%, 17.5%), the difference was statistically significant (χ2 =12.579,χ2 =13.653, P<0.01);complications compared with the situation observed group of death, hepatocellular carcinoma, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, gastrointestinal bleeding compared with control group, the difference was not statistically significant (χ2 =1.01, χ2 =2.05, χ2 =3.12, χ2 =0.21, P>0.05).After treatment, the Th17 levels elevated, Treg level decreased in two groups, Th17 level in observation group was significantly higher than control group, Treg levels were significantly lower than the control group, Th17/Treg ratio was higher than the control group (P<0.05).Conclusion Ursodeoxycholic acid can significantly improve liver function of patients with HBeAg positive with high viral load, increase the rate of HBeAg seroconversion, inhibit HBV viral replication and delay progression of the disease, and less adverse reactions.It can increase the number of Th17 cells, reduce the number of Treg cells in patients, which may be one of its antiviral mechanism.

In order to investigate the effect of curcumin on proliferation and apoptosis of human pterygium fibroblasts (HPF) in culture and search for a new method to prevent the recurrence after pterygium surgery, HPF was incubated with 0-160 micromol/L curcumin for 24-96 h. The MTT method was used to assay the biologic activities of curcumin at different time points and different doses. The expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in each group was detected by immunohistochemistry. The cell cycle distribution was detected by flow cytometry (FCM). Administration of 20-80 micromol/L curcumin for 24-72 h could significantly inhibit HPF proliferation in a dose-and time-dependent manner (P<0.05). After treatment with curcumin at different concentrations of 20, 40, 80 and 160 micromol/L for 24 h, FCM revealed there was a significant sub-G1 peak at each concentration. The number of HPF in G0/G1 phase was increased, while in S phase, it was decreased (P<0.05). At the concentration of 20-80 micromol/L, curcumin, in a dose-dependent manner (P<0.05), could inhibit the expression of PCNA in HPF. It was suggested that curcumin could significantly inhibit the proliferation of HPF, make HPF arrest in G0/G1 phase and induce the apoptosis of HPF in a dose-and time-dependent manner.

Objective:To investigate the mechanism and effects of autophagy on cisplatin(DDP)-induced apoptosis in human gas-tric cancer cell line SGC7901. Methods:Cell proliferation was determined by an MTT assay after the SGC7901 cells were treated with DDP and/or chloroquine. Cell apoptosis was determined by flow cytometry. Autophagy and related protein expressions were detected by Western blot. Autophagy was quantitatively analyzed by fluorescence microscopy after monodansylcadaverine staining was per-formed. Results:The cells were treated with 5 mg/L of DDP for 24 h, the rate of cell apoptosis was (21.07 ± 2.12)%. Autophagy, char-acterized by an increase in the number of autophagic vesicles and LC3-II protein level, was observed in DDP-treated cells. After autoph-agy was inhibited by chloroquine, the rate of cell apoptosis was increased to (30.16 ± 3.54)%. In addition, caspase-3 and P53 protein levels were increased, but Bcl-2 protein was decreased. Conclusion:Autophagy protected human gastric cancer cell line SGC7901 from DDP-induced apoptosis. In addition, the inhibition of autophagy could promote apoptosis. The combined therapy of DDP and chlo-roquine may be a promising therapeutic strategy for gastric cancer.

Acute Disease ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Phytotherapy ; Stroke ; drug therapy

Animals ; Cells, Cultured ; Interleukin-1beta ; pharmacology ; Male ; Neurons ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Nitric Oxide ; metabolism ; Nitriles ; toxicity ; Pyrethrins ; toxicity ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Sodium-Potassium-Exchanging ATPase ; metabolism

Objective:To observe the effects of AFP gene silencing by siRNA on the Survivin mRNA of hepatocellular carcino-ma cell line HepG2. Methods:AFP gene expression was downregulated in HepG2 cell by RNAi, and the AFP content in the superna-tant was detected by ELISA. Survivin mRNA level was tested by RT-PCR. MTT was applied to evaluate cell proliferation. Flow cytom-etry was employed to observe cell apoptosis. Results:At 48 h after transfection, AFP expression was almost completely inhibited, cell proliferation activity was decreased by 43.1%, cell apoptosis rate was increased by 24.3%, and the Survivin mRNA expression was re-duced to 22.0%in the experimental group. No evident changes were observed in negative control and blank groups. Conclusion:AFP gene silenced by RNAi induces growth inhibition and apoptosis promotion of hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HepG2. This gene may be associated with the suppression of Survivin mRNA.

OBJECTIVETo observe the clinical effect of Yufeng Capsule (YFC), a Chinese herbal preparation with function of clearing Heat-toxin in treating premonitory symptoms of apoplexy in middle and old aged patients.

METHODSOne hundred and fourteen patients with premonitory symptoms of apoplexy were treated with YFC and compared with 57 patients treated with Venoruton for control. The changes of clinical symptoms, anti-oxidation capability, blood lipid, blood sugar and hemorrheological parameters were observed.

RESULTS(1) The therapeutic effect in the YFC group was cured in 42 cases (36.84%), markedly effective in 38 (33.33%), effective in 28 (24.58%) and the total effective rate was 94.74%, while in the control group, the corresponding numbers were 9 (15.79%), 8(14.04%), 20(35.09%) and 64.91% respectively, the difference between the two groups in cure rate, markedly effective rate and total effective rate was significant (P < 0.05); (2) The whole blood viscosity, plasma viscosity, hemagglutination index and red blood cell deformity index in the YFC group were significantly improved after treatment (P < 0.01) and the improvement was better than those in the control group (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01); (3) Levels of serum malonyldialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), blood lipids and glucose were markedly improved in the YFC group (P < 0.05) after treatment, and showed a significant difference to those in the control group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONYFC has obvious effect in treating premonitory symptoms of apoplexy patients, it could markedly improve the hemorrheologic parameters, regulate blood lipids and blood glucose metabolism, and strengthen the anti-oxidation capability of patients.

Aged ; Blood Viscosity ; drug effects ; Capsules ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Erythrocyte Deformability ; drug effects ; Female ; Humans ; Ischemic Attack, Transient ; blood ; drug therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Phytotherapy ; Superoxide Dismutase ; blood

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of oxymatrine on the level of serum matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and its inhibitor (TIMP-2) in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and post-hepatitis B liver cirrhosis (LC), as well as on liver fibrosis indexes as hyaluronic acid (HA), laminin (LN) and IV type collagen (IV C).

METHODSChanges of all the above-mentioned indexes in patients with CHB (n = 36) and LC (n = 36) before and after treatment were determined, and the relationship of MMP-2 and TIMP-2 with liver fibrosis indexes were analyzed.

RESULTSOxymatrine could decrease the levels of MMP-2, HA, LN and IV C in patients with severe or moderate CHB and LC of Child-pugh A, B and C grade, as compared with the data before treatment (P < 0.05). Serum level of MMP-2 and TIMP-2 was well correlated with the levels of liver cirrhosis indexes.

CONCLUSIONMMP-2 and TIMP-2 can be used as a reference for evaluating the degree of LC, and oxymatrine has a certain anti-LC effect.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Alkaloids ; therapeutic use ; Collagen Type IV ; blood ; Female ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; complications ; drug therapy ; enzymology ; Humans ; Hyaluronic Acid ; blood ; Laminin ; blood ; Liver Cirrhosis ; complications ; drug therapy ; enzymology ; Male ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 2 ; blood ; Middle Aged ; Quinolizines ; therapeutic use ; Sophora ; Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-2 ; blood