Objective To improve the diagnosis and treatment of renal inflammatory pseudotumor (RIP). Methods 10 cases of RIP treated from 1970 to 1999 were reviewed and the diagnosis and treatment were discussed. Results The main clinical manifestation of RIP were fever,lumbago and hematuria.6 of 10 underwent nephrectomy because of the suspicion of kidney cancer whereas the other 4 were cured by antibiotics without recurrence on following up for 1～5 years. Conclusions RIP is rare,the diagnosis being based on clinical symptoms together with dynamic B ultrasound and CT scan.Needle biopsy is indicated to establish the diagnosis if necessary.Antibiotics is usually effective.

Objective To discuss the diagnosis and management of metastatic adrenal carcinoma. Methods Forty-seven cases with metastatic tumor in the adrenal glands were analyzed retrospectively from December 1996 to April 2010. Lung was the most common primary tumor site (51.1 %, 24 cases), followed by the renal cell carcinoma (12.8%, 6 cases), liver cancer (10.6%,5 cases), breast cancer (8.5%, 4 cases), melanoma (4.2%, 2 cases), and other carcinoma (12.8%,6 cases). Most patients with metastatic adrenal carcinoma had no special clinic manifestation. Lesions of 36 cases were surgically removed and 11 cases gave up operation. Results The mean survival time were 33.8±4.5 months for 31 cases underwent adrenalectomy and 6.3±2.7 months for 6 cases without operation. Patients with surgically removed adrenal metastases had better survival than those without surgical resection. Conclusions Adrenal gland is a common site of metastatic carcinoma.Ultrasonographic and CT scans are important diagnosis methods for metastatic adrenal carcinoma. Operation is still effective and long-term survival may be achieved for those well selected patients, but surgical indication must be strictly monitored.

Objective To optimize static pressurized liquid extraction(PLE) method for the extraction of aristolochic acids Ⅰ and Ⅱ(AAⅠ and AAⅡ) from Fructus Aristolochiae and study the influences of related factors.Methods The univariate design was introduced.The operational parameters,such as the type of solvent,particle size of the sample powder,extraction temperature,pressure,static time,flush volume,the number of cycles,and the amount of sample were optimized.Results The optimized result employed methanol as extraction solvent,particle size of 100—120 meshes,extraction temperature of 120 ℃,extraction pressure of 10.3 MPa,static time of 10 min,flush volume of 40%,1 cycle,and sample amount of 1.00 g.The method was applied for four species of traditional Chinese medicinal materials including Fructus Aristolochiae,Caulis Aristolochiae Manshuriensis,Radix Aristolochiae,and Radix Arsitolochiae Fangchi.Conclusion This method can be used to completely extract AAⅠ and AAⅡ from Fructus Aristolochiae in once extraction.The comparison shows that this static PLE method is better than ultrasonication and Soxhlet methods with higher extraction efficiency and less time-consuming.It is also better than the dynamic one in the extraction of AAs from Radix Aristolochiae.

Aim To observe the effect of mineralocor-ticoid receptor blockade eplerenone on cell proliferation in obstructed kidney of rats. Methods Renal intersti-tial fibrotic animals were made with unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) and treated with eplerenone100 mg · kg - 1 · d - 1 . The kidneys were harvested on the 10th day and proliferating cell nuclear antigen ( PC-NA ), serum and glucocorticoid induced kinase-1 (SGK-1 ) and transforming growth factor-β1 ( TGF-β1 ) were detected with immunohistochemistry and Western blot. Results Renal histopathology showed large quantities extracellular matrix (ECM) accumula-tion in kidney with UUO, large numbers of inflammato-ry cells infiltrated in renal interstitium, renal tubular expansion and exfoliation of epithelial cells . The cell proliferation and ECM accumulation were inhibited in eplerenone treated rats significantly. Immunohisto-chemistry and Western blot showed that expressions of PCNA,SGK-1 and TGF-β1 were significantly up-regu-lated with UUO and down-regulated by eplerenone. Conclusion Eplerenone plays the role in inhibiting the cell proliferation and reducing ECM accumulation by down-regulating expression of SGK-1 pathway in rats with unilateral ureteral obstruction.

Aim To observe the effect of eplerenone(EPL) and Chinese decoction on cell apoptosis in obstructive nephropathy rats.Methods Sixty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into sham group, UUO group, EPL group and ZY group(n=15).Except sham group, the rats in the other groups were ligated with unilateral ureteral obstruction(UUO) for renal interstitial fibrosis model.The rats were treated with eplerenone at 100 mg·kg-1·d-1 added to diet in EPL group, and orally 13.7 g·kg-1·d-1 decoction of Chinese medicine in ZY group.The kidneys were harvested on 14th day, the number of renal cell apoptosis were detected by TUNEL, and serum aldosterone and 8-OhdG were detected with radioimmunoassay and ELISA.Caspase-12, caspase-9, Bax and Bcl-2 were examined by immunohistochemistry and Western blot.Results The levels of serum aldosterone, serum and urine 8-OhdG and the number of positive apoptotic cells increased significantly in UUO rats compared with Sham group.The overexpression of caspase-9, caspase-12 and Bax and down-regulated Bcl-2 were obvious in UUO group(P<0.01).The level of 8-OhdG, expression of caspase-9, caspase-12 and Bax were down-regulated, and Bcl-2 expression was up-regulated in eplerenone and Chinese decoction treated rats(P<0.01).Conclusion Eplerenone and Chinese decoction could inhibit cell apoptosis induced by oxidative damage after UUO via caspases and(or) Bax pathway.

Objective To investigate the cell membrane-penetrating capacity of human cell-penetrating peptide hPP10 carrying human antioxidant protein Cu-Zn superoxide dismutase(Cu,Zn-SOD)and assess the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity of these fusion proteins.Methods The fusion protein hPP10-Cu,Zn-SOD was obtained by genetic engineering and identified by Western blotting.The membrane-penetrating ability of the fusion protein was evaluated by immunofluorescence assay,fluorescence colocalization assay and Western blotting,its SOD enzyme activity was detected using a commercial kit,and its effect on cell viability was assessed with MTT assay.In a HEK293 cell model of H2O2-induced oxidative stress,the effect of hPP10-Cu,Zn-SOD on cell apoptosis was analyzed with flow cytometry and RT-qPCR,and its antioxidant effect was assessed using reactive oxygen species(ROS)assay;its anti-inflammatory effect was evaluated in mouse model of TPA-induced ear inflammation by detecting expression of the inflammatory factors using RT-qPCR,Western blotting and immunohistochemistry.Results The fusion protein hPP10-Cu,Zn-SOD was successfully obtained.Immunofluorescence assay confirmed obvious membrane penetration of this fusion protein in HEK293 cells,localized both in the cell membrane and the cell nuclei after cell entry.hPP10-Cu,Zn-SOD at the concentration of 5 μmol/L exhibited strong antioxidant activity with minimal impact on cell viability at the concentration up to 10 μmol/L.The fusion protein obviously inhibited apoptosis and decreased intracellular ROS level in the oxidative stress cell model and significantly reduced mRNA and protein expression of the inflammatory factors in the mouse model of ear inflammation.Conclusion The fusion protein hPP10-Cu,Zn-SOD capable of penetrating the cell membrane possesses strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities with only minimal cytotoxicity,demonstrating the value of hPP10 as an efficient drug delivery vector and the potential of hPP10-Cu,Zn-SOD in the development of skincare products

Objective To investigate the cell membrane-penetrating capacity of human cell-penetrating peptide hPP10 carrying human antioxidant protein Cu-Zn superoxide dismutase(Cu,Zn-SOD)and assess the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity of these fusion proteins.Methods The fusion protein hPP10-Cu,Zn-SOD was obtained by genetic engineering and identified by Western blotting.The membrane-penetrating ability of the fusion protein was evaluated by immunofluorescence assay,fluorescence colocalization assay and Western blotting,its SOD enzyme activity was detected using a commercial kit,and its effect on cell viability was assessed with MTT assay.In a HEK293 cell model of H2O2-induced oxidative stress,the effect of hPP10-Cu,Zn-SOD on cell apoptosis was analyzed with flow cytometry and RT-qPCR,and its antioxidant effect was assessed using reactive oxygen species(ROS)assay;its anti-inflammatory effect was evaluated in mouse model of TPA-induced ear inflammation by detecting expression of the inflammatory factors using RT-qPCR,Western blotting and immunohistochemistry.Results The fusion protein hPP10-Cu,Zn-SOD was successfully obtained.Immunofluorescence assay confirmed obvious membrane penetration of this fusion protein in HEK293 cells,localized both in the cell membrane and the cell nuclei after cell entry.hPP10-Cu,Zn-SOD at the concentration of 5 μmol/L exhibited strong antioxidant activity with minimal impact on cell viability at the concentration up to 10 μmol/L.The fusion protein obviously inhibited apoptosis and decreased intracellular ROS level in the oxidative stress cell model and significantly reduced mRNA and protein expression of the inflammatory factors in the mouse model of ear inflammation.Conclusion The fusion protein hPP10-Cu,Zn-SOD capable of penetrating the cell membrane possesses strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities with only minimal cytotoxicity,demonstrating the value of hPP10 as an efficient drug delivery vector and the potential of hPP10-Cu,Zn-SOD in the development of skincare products