Objective To evaluate the in vitro effect of heat shock protein 70(HSP70)on interleukin-6 (IL-6)expression by cultured fibroblasts from psoriasis vulgaris lesions(PFbs).Methods Fibroblasts were isolated from the lesions of patients with psoriasis vulgaris and subjected to a primary culture.After 3 to 5 passages of culture,the fibroblasts were collected and used in the next experiment.Some PFbs were cultured with different concentrations(5,10,20,30 mg/L)of HSP70 for 48 hours,or with HSP70 of 30 mg/L for different durations(3,6,12,24,48,72 hours);some PFbs were incubated with HSP70 of 30 mg/L for 24 hours after pretreatment with pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate(PDTC,a specific inhibitor of nuclear factor-kappa B)for 30 minutes.PFbs receiving no treatment served as the control.Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)and semi-quantitative reverse transcription PCR were performed to measure the IL-6 protein expression in culture supematant and IL-6 mRNA expression by PFbs,respectively.Differences in the expression of IL-6 protein and mRNA between PFbs receiving different treatment were analyzed by using t test and Dunnett's t test.Results HSP70 significantly increased both protein production and mRNA expression of IL-6 in a time(0-48 h)-and dose(5-30 mg/L)-dependent manner.The expression levels of supernatant IL-6 protein and IL-6 mRNA were significantly higher in the PFbs treated with HSP70 of 10 mg/L for 48 hours than untreated PFbs((75.2 ± 15.4)ng/L vs.(47.2 ± 10.6)ng/L,0.439 ± 0.093 vs.0.249 ± 0.069,both P ＜ 0.05).A significant increase was observed as early as 6 hours in the level of IL-6 mRNA after the treatment with HSP70 of 30 mg/L,and 12 hours in the level of supematant IL-6 protein.Decreased supernatant IL-6 protein and IL-6 mRNA were noted for PFbs treated with PDTC and HSP70 of 30 mg/L compared with untreated PFbs((42.23 ± 9.41)ng/L vs.(68.40 ± 14.43)ng/L,0.144 ± 0.048 vs.0.295 ± 0.081,both P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion HSP70 may increase the expression of IL-6 mRNA and protein by cultured PFbs via the nuclear factor-kappa B pathway.

OBJECTIVE:To conduct the quality assessment of artificial Aquilaria sinensis by"cutting inducing technique", and provide reference for its scientific planting and harvest. METHODS:GC-MC and HPLC were adopted to detect the volatile in-gredients,characteristic spectrum,incense tetraol and alcohol-soluble extract contents in 3 batches of artificial A. sinensis(Num. 1, 2,3,respectively for 5,10,20 years)by"cutting inducing technique". RESULTS:The volatile ingredients of 3 batches of artifi-cial A. sinensis mainly consisted of aromatic compounds,sesquiterpene compounds,fatty acid compounds and chromone com-pounds. The characteristic spectrums of samples 2,3 were basically the same with the reference substance of A. sinensis. The in-cense tetraol contents of 3 batches of samples were 0.078%-0.254%,and alcohol-soluble extract contents were 12.4%-20.8%. The characteristic spectrum and the incense tetraol content of sample 1 were not conformed to the standards in Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2015 edition,part 1). CONCLUSIONS:Artificial A. sinensis by"cutting inducing technique"shows similar volatile ingredients to natural A. sinensis. The quality of artificial A. sinensis for more than 10 years is conformed to the standards in Chinese Pharmaco-poeia(2015 edition,part 1),which can be used as medicine,replacing the natural A. sinensis.

Objective To explore the association between lipid profiles and left ventricular hypertrophy in a Chinese general population. Methods We conducted a retrospective observational study to investigate the relationship between lipid markers [including triglycerides, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, non-HDL-cholesterol, apolipoprotein A-I, apolipoprotein B, lipoprotein[a], and composite lipid profiles] and left ventricular hypertrophy. A total of 309,400 participants of two populations (one from Beijing and another from nationwide) who underwent physical examinations at different health management centers between 2009 and 2018 in China were included in the cross-sectional study. 7,475 participants who had multiple physical examinations and initially did not have left ventricular hypertrophy constituted a longitudinal cohort to analyze the association between lipid markers and the new-onset of left ventricular hypertrophy. Left ventricular hypertrophy was measured by echocardiography and defined as an end-diastolic thickness of the interventricular septum or left ventricle posterior wall > 11 mm. The Logistic regression model was used in the cross-sectional study. Cox model and Cox model with restricted cubic splines were used in the longitudinal cohort. Results In the cross-sectional study, for participants in the highest tertile of each lipid marker compared to the respective lowest, triglycerides [odds ratio (OR): 1.250, 95％CI: 1.060 to 1.474], HDL-cholesterol (OR: 0.780, 95％CI: 0.662 to 0.918), and lipoprotein(a) (OR: 1.311, 95％CI: 1.115 to 1.541) had an association with left ventricular hypertrophy. In the longitudinal cohort, for participants in the highest tertile of each lipid marker at the baseline compared to the respective lowest, triglycerides [hazard ratio (HR): 3.277, 95％CI: 1.720 to 6.244], HDL-cholesterol (HR: 0.516, 95％CI: 0.283 to 0.940), non-HDL-cholesterol (HR: 2.309, 95％CI: 1.296 to 4.112), apolipoprotein B (HR: 2.244, 95％CI: 1.251 to 4.032) showed an association with new-onset left ventricular hypertrophy. In the Cox model with forward stepwise selection, triglycerides were the only lipid markers entered into the final model. Conclusion Lipids levels, especially triglycerides, are associated with left ventricular hypertrophy. Controlling triglycerides level potentiate to be a strategy in harnessing cardiac remodeling but deserve to be further investigated.

Objective:To investigate the dosimetric differences in volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) and intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) in patients receiving adjuvant radiotherapy and internal lymph node irradiation after left-sided modified radical mastectomy.Methods:VMAT and IMRT radiotherapy plans were established for 20 patients undergoing left-sided modified radical mastectomy. The dosimetric parameters of the target area and organs at risk were calculated by the dose volume histogram. The categorical variables were tested by χ2 or Fisher′ s exact probability test. The continuous variables with normal distribution were analyzed by paired-t test or rank-sum test. Results:Among the two radiotherapy techniques, the homogeneity index of IMRT was significantly higher than that of VMAT ( P<0.05). The time of VMAT treatment was significantly shorter than that of IMRT ( P<0.01). VMAT was superior to IMRT in V 20Gy and V 30Gy of the affected lung (both P<0.05). VMAT was superior to IMRT in the left anterior descending coronary artery D mean, D max, and heart V 30Gy, V 40Gy, D mean and D max(all P<0.01). The esophageal D mean in the VMAT group was superior to that in the IMRT group ( P<0.05). The V 5Gy and V 10Gy of the contralateral lung and the D max of the esophagus in the IMRT group were significantly better compared with those in the VMAT group (all P<0.05). Conclusions:VMAT can significantly reduce the dose of the heart, contralateral lung, spinal cord, esophagus and other vital organs, and shorten the treatment time. For patients who need adjuvant radiotherapy and internal mammary lymph node irradiation after left-sided modified radical mastectomy, VMAT technology can better protect normal tissues than IMRT.

The inhibitory effect of NACOS on dyslipidemia and potential molecular mechanisms by in vitro and in vivo experiments were investigated. For in vitro study, four experimental groups were designed by using HepG2 cells, including the control group, palmitic acid (PA) treatment alone group, NACOS treatment alone group and NACOS + PA treatment group. For in vivo study, male C57BL/6 mice were divided into four groups (n=5) at random including the normal control group (NCD), high fat diet (HFD) group, NACOS treatment alone group, NACOS+HFD group, which were treated for 20 weeks. The used methods in this study were as follows: the observation of lipid droplet deposition in HepG2 cells by oil red O staining, the detection of mRNA levels of lipid metabolism-related regulators and inflammatory cytokine by RT-PCR method, the monitoring of MAPKs and PI3K/Akt pathway activation by Western blotting method. The in vitro study shows that, NACOS had no toxicity on the viability of HepG2 cells at 25-100 μg/mL and significantly reduced the deposition of lipid droplet. Also, based on both in vitro and in vivo investigation, NACOS evidently down-regulated the expression of lipid metabolism-related regulators (PGC1α, Cox5b, Mcad) and inflammatory cytokine (IL-1β) at mRNA level (P<0.05 or 0.01), and suppressed the activation of p38, ERK1/2 and Akt in HepG2 cells and lever tissues from HFD-fed mice (P<0.05 or 0.01). Based on the above, NACOS may inhibit the oxidation of liver mitochondrial fatty acid and the lipid biosynthesis, block the inflammatory responses and prevent the HepG2 cells and C57BL/6 mice from lipidemia.