The tuberous roots of Aconitum carmichaeli are largely used in traditional Chinese medicine and widely grown in Jiangyou, Sichuan, China. During the growth process, this medicinal plant releases a large amount of allelochemicals into soil, which retard the growth and development of near and late crops. Therefore, a pure culture experiment was thus carried out by seed soaking to study the allelopathic effects of extracts from tuberous roots of A. carmichaeli (ETR) on the seed germination and young seedling growth of Lolium perenne, Trifolium repens, and Medicago sativa, the late pasture grasses after cultivation of A. carmichaeli. The results showed that three pasture grasses varied significantly in seed germination and young seedling growth in response to ETR concentrations. Seed germination of M. sativa was stimulated by low ERT concentration (0.01 x g(-1)), while all of pasture grass seeds germinated poorly in solution with 1.00 g x L(-1). Seed soaking with 1.00 g x L(-1) also inhibited significantly the growth of pasture young seedlings, with M. sativa showing the highest seedling height reduction of 42.05% in seeding height, followed by T. repens (40.21%) and L. perenne with about 11%. Cultivation of L. perenne could thus be beneficial to increase whole land productivity in A. carmichaeli-pasture grass cropping systems. In addition, hydrolysis of protein, starch, and inositol phosphates was blocked and free amino acids, soluble sugars and phosphorus were decreased in seeds by seed soaking with ETR, which could be one of the reason for the inhibition of seed germination. There was a significant reduction in root vigor, nitrate reductase, and chlorophyll after the seed treatment with ETR, indicating the suppression of nutrient uptake, nitrate assimilation, and photosynthesis by allelopathic chemicals in ETR, which could lead to the slow growth rate of pasture grass seedlings.
Aconitum ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Allelopathy ; China ; Pheromones ; metabolism ; pharmacology ; Plant Extracts ; metabolism ; pharmacology ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Poaceae ; drug effects ; growth & development

AIM To investigate the role of ERK/AP-1 pathway in the differentiation induced by diallyl disulfide (DADS) on human gastric cancer MGC803 cell. METHODS Immunocytochemical staining and morphometric quantitative analysis detected the expression of c-fos and c-jun;Western Blot which measured the activation of ERK was analyzed to elucidate the possible mechanism of DADS-induced human gastric cancer cell differentiation. RESULTS Immunocytochemical staining and morphometric quantitative analysis indicated that expression of c-fos and c-jun reduced(P

AIM: To study the effect of puerarin (Pue) on related cytokines in myocardial hypertrophy induced by isoproterenol (Iso) in rats. METHODS: 40 SD rats were randomly divided into 4 treatments groups: control group, Iso group, Iso+Pue group (Pue group) and Iso+Captoril (Cap) group (Cap group), with 10 rats each group. Ratio of ventricle weight to heart weight, cardiomyocyte diameter, plasma and myocardial tissue NO, ET and Ang Ⅱ levels were measured. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, Iso did induce significant changes in cardiac hypertrophy (P

Visfatin was recently reported as an adipokine and was found to exert insulin-mimicking effects.The results showed that the expression of visfatin parallelled with obesity and insulin resistance in long term high fat chow-fed rats.The expression of visfatin mRNA was decreased and the insulin resistance improved after rennin-angiotensin system was blocked.Visfatin may play an important role in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance.

Aged ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; pathology ; surgery ; Cholecystectomy ; Gallbladder Neoplasms ; pathology ; surgery ; Humans ; Male

OBJECTIVETo explore the renal protective effect of Tongxinluo (TXL) and its mechanism of action.

METHODSEight-week old SD rats were divided into the sham-operated group (A), the model group (B) and the TXL group, 6 rats in each group. Angiotensin II (Ang II) was administered slowly (200 ng/kg per min) to rats in group B and C via subcutaneously embedded osmotic pump to make them stimulative model of renal injury, while to rats in group A, pump embedding with saline infusion. After modeling, TXL was given to group C by gastric perfusion in dosage of 0.8 g/kg per day. And the following indexes were observed 14 days later: configuration of renal arterial endothelium by transmission electron microscope; pathologic figure of kidney with HE stain; renal apoptosis by TUNEL; expression of p53 and p22phox by RT-PCR;and level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in kidney.

RESULTSDifferent degree of congestion, swelling, denudation of endothelial cell in renal arterial endothelial cell; glomerular matrix proliferation and partial glomerular atrophy with tendency of fibrosis; increased renal parenchymal apoptosis; enhanced expression of p53 and p22phox; and elevated ROS were found in model animals. All the above-mentioned abnormalities, including glomerular injury, renal cell apoptosis, as well as the increased p53, p22phox expressions and ROS production were all alleviated in group C after TXL treatment.

CONCLUSIONTXL could protect renal against Ang II injury, and it may be realized by inhibiting NADPH-ROS/p53 pathways and suppressing cell apoptosis in renal parenchyma.

Angiotensin II ; metabolism ; Animals ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Endothelium, Vascular ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Kidney ; blood supply ; pathology ; Male ; NADPH Oxidases ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; metabolism ; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo analyze the rules for acupoint selection of acupuncture and moxibustion in domestic clinical treatment of perimenopausal syndrome based on data mining technology in modern times.

METHODSThe relevant literature were retrieved from Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and Wanfang database on this disease treated with clinical acupuncture and moxibustion in China from 1978 to 2013. The database of acupuncture-moxibustion prescription was set up. The relevant regulations of data mining technology were used to analyze the rules for acupoint selection.

RESULTSTotally, 211 papers, 254 acupuncture-moxibustion prescriptions and 130 acupoints were included. The total frequency of acupoints application was 2193 times, with 14 meridians involved. The utilization of the acupoints in the lower limbs and on the back were 33.0% (723/2193) and 23.8% (521/2193) and those of yin and yang meridians were 51.8% (1136/2193) and 44.0% (965/2193), respectively. The utilization of the specific acupoints accounted for 88.7% (1946/2193).

CONCLUSIONIn clinical treatment of perimenopausal syndrome with acupuncture and moxibustion in modern times, the acupoint selection from involved meridians is the basis, associated with multiple methods of acupoint combination; yin and yang meridians are equally important and the specific acupoints are considered particularly critical in application.

Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; China ; Clinical Trials as Topic ; Female ; Humans ; Perimenopause ; physiology

Proper chromosome separation in both mitosis and meiosis depends on the correct connection between kinetochores of chromosomes and spindle microtubules.Kinetochore dysfunction can lead to unequal distribution of chromosomes during cell division and result in aneuploidy,thus kinetochores are critical for faithful segregation of chromosomes.Centromere protein A (CENP-A) is an important component of the inner kinetochore·plate.Multiple studies in mitosis have found that deficiencies in CENP-A could result in structural and functional changes of kinetochores,leading to abnormal chromosome segregation,aneuploidy and apoptosis in cells.Here we report the expression and function of CENP-A during mouse oocyte meiosis.Our study found that microinjection of CENP-A blocking antibody resulted in errors of homologous chromosome segregation and caused aneuploidy in eggs.Thus,our findings provide evidence that CENP-A is critical for the faithful chromosome segregation during mammalian oocyte meiosis.

Objective To investigate the effect and significance of regulating endoplasmic reticulum stress on the expression of histone methyltransferases SET7/9 in the kidneys of db/db mice.Methods Db/db mice were randomly divided into two groups according to random number table method:diabetic nephropathy model group (DN group,n=18) and betaine treatment group (DN+B group,n =18),db/m mice were defined as normal control group (NC group,n =18).At the end of 4,8 and 12 weeks,the expression of GRP78,SET7/9,H3K4me2,and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) was determined by real-time fluorescence PCR and Western blotting.24-hour urinary protein excretion rate (UPER) and urine MCP-1 were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).The dynamic changes of blood glucose(BG),serum creatinine (Scr),blood urea nitrogen (BUN) were tested by completely automatic biochemistry analyzer.The morphology of kidney was estimated by special staining of periodic acid-schiff (PAS).Results The levels of BG,BUN,UAER and MCP-1 were significantly higher in DN group than those in NC group (P ＜ 0.05),and were in time-dependent manner.Glomerular basement membrane thickening and mesangial cells proliferation began to emerge in DN group at the end of week 4 and mesangial matrix expansion was more obvious at the end of week 12.The mRNA and protein expression of GRP78 and SET7/9 were elevated significantly in DN group as compared to NC group.The H3K4me2 protein expression level was also increased in time-dependent manner.Compared with the DN group,in DN+B group glomerular lesions attenuated and the GRP78 and SET7/9 expression levels obviously decreased (P ＜ 0.05).Furthermore,the levels of BG,BUN,UPER,MCP-1,H3K4me2 in DN+B group were also reduced (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Endoplasmic reticulum stress may be the upstream mechanism of mediating the expression of SET7/9 in the kidneys of DN mice.