Apoptosis is an organized suicide program which is evolutionally conserved from yeast to mammals. Research on yeast apoptosis has made rapid progress, though it remained unrecognized until recent years. Initial observations show that yeast can be induced to undergo apoptosis and a number of conserved pro- and antiapoptotic proteins have been identified in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Yeast has been validated as a model organism to investigate mechanisms of apoptosis. Recently, yeast has also been used as a model to study apoptosis-related disease, such as Huntington's disease and Parkinson′s disease. The feasibility, the advantages and the perspectives of yeast model for apoptosis research are reviewed.

There is time-honored history and culture of medicinal plant cultivation in China. In the present review, the medicinal plant cultivation history in china was summarized, its current situation and question were analyzed, and the prospects of medicinal plant cultivation research were pointed out, with the purpose of accelerating the growth of medicinal plant cultivation research.
China ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; history ; History, 15th Century ; History, 16th Century ; History, 17th Century ; History, 18th Century ; History, 19th Century ; History, 20th Century ; History, 21st Century ; History, Ancient ; History, Medieval ; Materia Medica ; chemistry ; economics ; history ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; history ; trends ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; growth & development

As the actual clinical reflecting of transform Chinese medicine special curative effect, Chinese medicine preparation not only satisfies the need of hospital clinic, scientific research and teaching, but also plays an important role in deepening medical and health system reform, improving people's health level and contributing to the economic growth. However, some problems about administration and approval (tending to western medicine), contraction of the scale, lack of synchronization for clinic and scientific research, and the imbalance of regional development make Chinese medicine preparation move forwards slowly in contradiction. It has not only reduced the effectiveness of the Chinese medicine preparation in hospital clinic, but also brought bad effect on modernized development of Chinese medicine preparation. Research shows that main influencing factors of status quo of Chinese medicine preparation in medical institution include imperfect laws and regulations, high cost than income, and shortage of talents in preparation research. The analysis indicated that the necessary measures to break the contradiction, improve clinical effect of Chinese medicine, and promote the modernization development of Chinese drugs preparation were as follows: government and related departments should strengthen the supporting force in policy by adjusting the examination and approval policy, speeding up dispensing use, reforming pricing system, including into medicare reimbursement, integrating advantage resources and so on; medical institution should actively carry out research and development of traditional Chinese Medicine through drawing the traditional and modern essence, reserving professional talents, and developing characteristic preparation; companies cooperate with hospitals for complementary advantages, which can rapidly transform Chinese medicine preparation into clinical practice.
Chemistry, Pharmaceutical ; economics ; methods ; trends ; China ; Drug Discovery ; economics ; trends ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; economics ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; economics ; trends

Objective To evaluate the application value of circulating tumor cell ( CTC ) in the differential diagnosis of solitary pulmonary nodule ( SPN ) . Methods Peripheral blood samples were collected from 134 patients with solitary pulmonary nodule in Shanghai Chest Hospital from September 2013 to January 2015, including 80 patients with malignant nodule and 54 with benign nodule.CTC levels of the above subjects were detected by ligand-targeted polymerase chain reaction ( LT-PCR ) assay, and serum carcinoembryonic antigen ( CEA ) and cytokeratin 19 fragment ( CYFRA21-1 ) were detected by flow fluorescence assay.Results By Mann-Whitney U Test, the CTC levels of malignant SPN patients [11.06 (8.77-14.41)units/3 ml] were significantly higher than those of benign SPN patients [6.65(4.49 -7.84)units/3 ml] (Z=-6.217,P<0.001).The sensitivity and specificity of differential diagnosis of SPN for CTC were 80%(64/80) and 85%(46/54) respectively.According to the diameter of SPN, the patients were divided into three groups to evaluate the diagnostic value of CTC in SPN with different size .For SPN with diameter less than 8 mm, the sensitivity and specificity of CTC were 6/9 and 4/5 respectively .For SPN with diameter between 8 mm and 20 mm, the sensitivity and specificity of CTC were 83%(35/42) and 85%(29/34).For SPN with diameter greater than 20 mm, the sensitivity and specificity of CTC were 79%(23/29) and 13/15.Conclusion Comparing with the traditional tumor markers, CTC could provide more clinical value in the differential diagnosis of solitary pulmonary nodule .

Objective To compare the inhibitory effect of fluoride-releasing resin sealant and glass ionomer sealant on enamel demineralization in vitro.Methods Thirty noncarious human third molars extracted were randomly divided into 3 groups with 10 in each.Cavity was placed on buccal surfaces of the molars,then filled with fluoride-releasing resin sealant(ClinproTMsealant),glass ionomer sealant(Fuji Ⅸ GP)or non-fluoride-releasing resin sealant(Concise).After thermocycling for 300 cycles,the surface microhardness of sound enamel 1 mm away from sealant-filled cavities in each group was measured.Then after the treated molars were placed in an artificial demineralizing solution for a week,their surface microhardness was detected again.Results The mean reduction of surface microhardness was(87.30?23.84)HV for ClinproTM sealant group,(76.90?27.75)HV for Fuji Ⅸ GP group and(147.67?46.42)HV for Concise group.There was a significant difference(P0.05).Conclusion Both the fluoride-releasing resin sealant and glass ionomer sealant can effectively reduce the amount of enamel demineralization adjacent to the materials.Fluoride ion released from the sealants protects the adjacent enamel against in vitro demineralization to some extent.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a serious threat for human health, the incidence of HCC in China accounts for more than 50% worldwide. There is an urgent need to develop novel anticancer agents for the treatment of HCC patients. Here we characterized the inhibitory effect and the molecular mechanism of protopine on HCC cancer cells. The results of a CCK-8 assay indicated that protopine displays anticancer activities on HCC cells. Flow cytometry and JC-1 staining confirmed that treatment with protopine decreased the mitochondrial membrane potential and induced apoptosis in HCC cells. Western blot analysis showed that protopine was able to increase protein expression in the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway; the level of cytochrome C, apoptotic protease activating factor-1 (Apaf-1), Bax, cleaved-poly ADP-ribose polymerase (cleaved-PARP), cleaved-caspase-3, and cleaved-caspase-9 were increased while the expression of Bcl-2 was suppressed significantly. An in vivo study revealed that protopine significantly suppressed the growth of tumors in nude mice bearing HepG2 cells. Administration of protopine intraperitoneally at a concentration of 50 mg·kg^-1 inhibited tumor growth by 72.46%. Animal experiments were carried out according to the Regulation of the Animal Ethics Committee of Southwest Medical University. This study provides preliminary evidence that there is potential to develop protopine as a lead compound for the treatment of HCC.

Objective To estimate the diagnostic value of circulating tumor cell detection for non-small cell lung cancer.Methods A Non-intervention clinical study was conducted in this research.From October 2014 to April 2015, totally 162 NSCLC who presented at Thoracic Surgery Department, 119 benign pulmonary disease and 52 healthy individuals were collected from Shanghai Chest Hospital.Folate receptor ( FR) based polymerase chain reaction ( PCR) method was used to detect the circulating tumor cell ( CTC) level, CEA and CYFRA21-1 was detected by the flowcytometry fluorescence luminance method, SCC was detected with Chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay.The differences among groups were analyzed by the Kruskal-Wallis test( multi group comparison) and the Mann-Whitney U test( two group comparison) , and the chi-square test was used in the positive rate comparison;the Receiver Operating Characteristics ( ROC) curve was established.Results The median level of CTC in NSCLC patients was 11.90 Units/3 ml, which was significantly higher than those of benign pulmonary disease ( 6.72 CTC Units/3 ml ) and healthy individuals (5.82 CTC Units/3 ml,χ2 =125.990, P<0.01).Areas Under Curve ( AUCs) of ROC curve for NSCLC was 0.853 2(95% CI: 0.809 5,0.896 9).The cut-off value for discriminating NSCLC with benign pulmonary disease/healthy people was 8.74 CTC Units/3 ml with sensitivity being 77.16% and specificity being 90.06%.The positive rate of CTC in Stage I NSCLC patients was 68.7%, which was much higher than that of the combination of tumor markers(χ2 =32.98,P<0.01).Conclusion With relatively high sensitivity and specificity, the detection of circulating tumor cell may has a clinical value of application and extension.

Objective To compare the effects of propofol and ketamine on long-term memory and the expression of brain N-methylgroup-D-aspartate receptor 2B(NMDAR2B) and Gamma-aminobutyric acid receptor 1(GABAR1) in aged rats, and preliminary investigate the relation between the long-term memory and expression of neurotransmitter receptors in different cerebral areas. Methods The aged male rats were randomly divided into control group,propofol group and ketamine group. Morris water maze training was performed in all the rats of three groups for 5 days. On the 6th day, intraperitoneal injection of 50 mg?mL-1 propofol was administrated in propofol group,80 mg?mL-1 ketamine was intraperitoneally injected in ketamine group,and blank control group was given the same dose of saline.Seven days after the administration,space exploration experiment and navigation experiment test were performed to test the impact on the learning and memory ability of rats. After that, the expression levels of GABAR1 and NMDAR2B in temporal lobe and hippocampal CA1 region of the rat brain were detected by immunofluorescence and FISH technique. Results The results of Morris water maze showed there was no significant difference between propofol group (9.49±1.24) s and blank control group (8.82±2.22) s.There was statistically significant difference between ketamine group (12.04±2.67) s and blank control group (P<0.05),with longer latency time and less number of times of passing through target as compared with blank control group.By using immunohistochemistry and FISH technique,the expression of GABAR1 in temporal lobe and hippocampal CA1 region of the rat brain was not significantly different between propofol group and blank control group,but it was significantly up-regulated in ketamine group as compared with blank control group ( P<0.05) . The expression of NMDAR2B in temporal lobe and hippocampal CA1 region of the rat brain was not significantly different between propofol group and blank control group,but it was significantly down-regulated in ketamine group as compared with blank control group (P<0.05). Conclusion Propofol anesthesia alone had no effect on long-term learning and memory,but ketamine anesthesia can result in long-term learning and memory impairment. The mechanism may be related with down-regulation of the expression of NMDAR2B receptor and up-regulation of GABAR1 not only in CA1 region hippocampus,but also in temporal lobe.

BACKGROUND:Currently, discectomy, fusion or decompression is considered an effective and conventional method for the treatment of spinal disease. Although there have been many reports on the adverse effects of diabetes on spinal surgery, but there are stil some differences. OBJECTIVE:To systematical y evaluate the observational studies and case-control studies about the effect of diabetes on the complications of spinal surgery. METHODS:The control ed and comparative studies regarding the effect of diabetes on the results and complications of spinal surgery were searched from the database according to the inclusion criteria. The observed indicators including mortality, revision rate, surgical site infection, the incidence of venous thrombosis, blood loss, operative time and hospitalization time. Two authors participated in extracting the data and evaluating the methodology and quality of the included studies. Meta-analysis was conducted according to the guidelines of epidemiological observational studies (MOOSE). The risk assessment of the extracted data was conducted using RevMan 5.2 software. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Eighteen literatures, involving 2 824 063 patients, were eventual y enrol ed. The experimental result showed that the mortality, surgical site infection, incidence of venous thrombosis of diabetic patients after the spinal surgery were significantly higher than those of non-diabetic patients;the hospital stay was significantly longer than that of non-diabetic patients (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in the risk of revision, intraoperative blood loss and operation time between diabetic patients and non-diabetic patients (P>0.05). These results suggest that diabetic patients take a higher risk once accepting the spinal surgery than the non-diabetic patients. Diabetes increases the risks of postoperative mortality, surgical site infection, venous thrombosis and hospitalization time after spinal surgery.

BACKGROUND: Many studies have shown that different types of anterior cervical surgery in the treatment of two-level contiguous cervical disc herniation can obtain satisfactory results, but which method is the best has not yet reached a consensus. OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy and safety of three types of anterior cervical surgery for treating two-level contiguous cervical disc herniation. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed clinical data of 62 patients with two-level contiguous cervical disc herniation who underwent anterior decompression and fusion. These patients were assigned to three groups. Bone graft group received anterior cervical discectomy with autogenous iliac bone graft fusion. Titanium mesh group received anterior cervical corpectomy with titanium mesh fusion. Cage group received anterior cervical discectomy with cage fusion. Fusion rate of bone graft and improvement of neurological function (Japanese Orthopaedic Association Scores) were evaluated and compared after treatment in the three groups. Cervical vertebra anteroposterior and lateral images were used to measure height of anterior and posterior margin of vertebral body and Cobb angle changes of fusion segment. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Al 62 patients were fol owed up and the fol ow-up time was ranged from 8 to 30 months. Operation time was significantly longer in the bone graft group than in the titanium mesh and Cage groups (P < 0.05). Intraoperative blood loss was larger in the bone graft group than in the titanium mesh and Cage groups (P < 0.05). Japanese Orthopaedic Association Scores were significantly improved after treatment (P < 0.05). No significant difference was found at different time points (P > 0.05). The fusion rate of bone graft was higher in the bone graft group than in the titanium mesh and Cage groups (P < 0.05) at 3 months after treatment, and bone union was found in the final fol ow-up. Height of anterior and posterior margin of vertebral body was significantly increased after treatment (P < 0.05). No significant difference in the increase of the height of anterior margin was detected among the three groups (P > 0.05). The increase in the height of posterior margin was higher in the Cage group than in the bone graft group and titanium mesh group (P < 0.05). Vertebral height loss of the anterior margin was higher in the bone graft group than in the titanium mesh and Cage groups, but vertebral height loss of the posterior margin was highest in the bone graft group, fol owed by titanium mesh group and Cage group at 3 months after treatment (P < 0.05). The increase value of Cobb angle was higher in the titanium mesh group than in the bone graft group and Cage group (P < 0.05). At 3 months after treatment, the altered value of Cobb angle was highest in the bone graft group, fol owed by titanium mesh group and Cage group (P < 0.05). No significant difference in the height of anterior and posterior margins of the vertebral body and Cobb angle was detectable between final fol ow-up and 3 months post-treatment (P > 0.05). These findings indicated that the three kinds of fusion method for treating two-level contiguous cervical disc herniation could obviously lessen nervous systems and improve cervical vertebra functions. In the bone graft group, operation time was long. Intraoperative blood loss was more. Postoperative height loss of the posterior margin of the vertebral body was visible. Cervical lordosis could be easily induced. Compared with the bone graft group, titanium mesh and Cage groups could better maintain the height and curvature of the cervical vertebra, but the Cage group had apparent advantages.