Defensins, a family of 3-4 KD cationic peptides, have been found recently in the cytoplasmicgranules of human, rabbit, guinea pig and rat polymorphonuclear neutrophils and rabbit alveolarmacrophages. The defence roles of these molecules, such as antimicrobial activity, viral inactiva-tion, tumor cell cytotoxicity, chemotactic and opsonic actions, etc. have been adequately studied.In order to investgate the role of Defensins in the neutrphil-mediated pathological process ofsome diseases, we isolated and purified human neutrophil Defensins. By using Sephadex G100and Bio-gel P10 gel filtration chromatography, the purified molecules were obtained. The puritywas identified by AU-PAGE,SDS-PAGE, and amino acid composition analysis. In vitro fugicidalactivity of the purified human neutrophil Defensins against Candida albicans was also examined.When incubated with 33 Mol concentration of human Defensins, more than 90% of Candida,al-bicans were killed in the methylene blue assay system.

Antirheumatic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; drug therapy ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Etanercept ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Methotrexate ; therapeutic use ; Phytotherapy ; Prednisone ; therapeutic use ; Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor ; therapeutic use

Notch signal pathway is closely related to the organism's development and a variety of cancers. Current models available for screening modulators of Notch signal pathway all use mouse Notch protein as substrates and those models which use human Notch protein have not been reported. To make the screen results much more reliable, the authors cloned a truncated form of human Notch1 called N100, and built the screening models for the use of it instead of mouse Notch protein. The models included an in vitro screening model based on the purified gamma-secretase enzyme and a cell model using luciferase reporter system. The screening models then have been verified by the known modulators of Notch signal pathway and the IC50 values have been obtained. The verified models can be used to screen modulators of human Notch signaling pathway effectively and it can lay the foundation for finding new modulators of this kind effectively.
Amyloid Precursor Protein Secretases ; Animals ; Drug Evaluation, Preclinical ; methods ; Humans ; Luciferases ; Mice ; Receptors, Notch ; antagonists & inhibitors ; Signal Transduction

Objective To investigate the characteristics of the clinic manifestations and the electromyogram changes in patients with chronic N2hexane intoxication. Methods The clinic manifestations, the electromyography and nerve conduction velocities were analyzed in 9 patients with N2hexane intoxi2 cation. Results The main clinical manifestations of the disease were acroparesthesia and asthenia, especially in legs. The abnormality rate of electromyography in patients with N2hexane intoxication was 100%. The conduction velocity of the sensory nerve and the motor nerve decreased at a rate of 33.33% and 88.89% respectively. The distal latencies were prolonged( 100% ). The denervated electromyogram was 33.33%. Conclusion The main clinical manifestations of the disease were Peripheral neuropathy. The chronic N2hexane intoxication mainly led to the imparement, especially in the distal region of the motor nerve in legs,and the damages of the nerve could be related to the duration of exposure to N2hexane.

OBJECTIVE:To observe the clinical efficacy and safety of Shuanghuanglian oral liquid combined with cefuroxime axetil in the treatment of bacterial respiratory tract infection. METHODS:184 patients with bacterial respiratory tract infection were randomly divided into test group and control group. Test group was orally given 250 mg Cefuroxime axetil tablet,twice a day+20 ml Shuanghuanglian oral liquid,3 times a day. Control group was only given Cefuroxime axetil tablet (the same dosage as test group). The treatment course for 2 groups was 2 weeks. The cough duration,body temperature recovery time and runny nose disap-pearing time before and after treatment and bacterial clearance rate in 2 groups were observed,clinical efficacy and incidence of ad-verse reactions were recorded. RESULTS:After treatment,the total effective rate in test group was significantly higher than control group,cough duration,body temperature recovery time and runny nose disappearing time were significantly shorter than control group,the differences were statistically significant(P<0.05);and there were no significant differences in the bacterial clearance rate and incidence of adverse reactions(P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS:The efficacy of Shuanghuanglian oral liquid combined with ce-furoxime axetil is superior to cefuroxime axetil alone in the treatment of bacterial respiratory infections,with similar safety.

This paper recommends the early diagnosis of epidemic hemorrhagicfever with immunoenzymatic direct staining (IDS) to study the patient'speripheral white blood cells. The samples of blood smears from 63 patientswere examined under the microscope with this metbod. In 54 patients, the results were positive (85. 71%). We systemically observed 10 blood sam-ples from the patients in different courses of the disease, and found thatduring the period of recovery the results were negative. This method wasalso used to observe the blood smears from both 22 patients infected withother viruses and 20 healthy persons, and a negative result was obtained.It was demonstrated that IDS had stronger specificity. The advantages ofthis method are that blood samples are easily taken, carried and preserved,and that the experimental method is simple. Thus, IDS is of practical signifi-cance in preventing and treating the disease.

Objective To evaluate the values of computer tomography in differential diagnosis of parotitis and tumors.Methods CT findings of the 18 parotitis cases and 25 parotid tumors cases proved by pathology was analysed retrospectivety statistically.Results Most of parotitis appeared in both side(10/18),all of the parotid tumors were in unilateral parotid(25/25)(?0.05)).The border of the unilateral and local parititis was clear(2/5),mixed tumors were well-defined(5/6)(?

[Objective] This paper sums up professor Qi Xianghua's five psychological disorders of TCM scholar thought and clinical experience in diagnos-ing and treating insomnia. [Methods] By the pulse diagnosis, discern the five kings of psychological disorders, including irritable, anxiety, palpitation due to fright, depressed, and an medical record of professor Qi Xianghua is cited.[Results] The syndrome differentiation should be based on the five kings of psy-chological disorders.[Conclusions] Professor Qi Xianghua's five psychological disorders of TCM on treating insomnia are worth to extend and apply.

In recent years, with the further study of cell biology and genetics, the role of autophagy in bronchial asthma is becoming more and more obvious. Especially in the aspects of genetic factors, oxidative stress and environment, autophagy regulation may directly affect the occurrence and development of asthma, which may become a new direction of asthma treat-ment. In this review we will discuss what is autophagy, and the relationship between autophagy and asthma.

Metabonomics is an important part of systems biology. Many research shows that metabonomics has an poten?tial incomparable advantages in clinical diagnosis. When human body was stimulated by exogenous or endogenous factor, it could respond throughalteration of low molecular weight metabolites. Therefore, researches of the dynamic changes of com?plex metabolites could explore the pathological or physiological changes in the body. With advance of modern technologies nuclear magnetic resonance and chromatography couple to mass spectrometer are widely applied to the metabonomics. Now, comprehensive analysis the dynamic changes of patients in vivo then setting up relationship between biomarkers and related diseases become possible through the application of Metabolomics in clinical. Finally, we discuss the realization of disease diagnosis by metabolome analysis.