Arthritis, Juvenile ; complications ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Macrophage Activation Syndrome ; complications

Background and purpose:Pterostilbene is a natural antioxidant, whose role in retinoblastoma remains unclear. The aim of this study is to probe the effects of pterostilbene on the proliferation, apoptosis and autophagy in retinoblastoma WERI-Rb-1 cell lines.Methods:Cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assays were used to analyze the effects of pterostilbene on the proliferation of WERI-Rb-1 cells. Apoptosis rate was determined by Annexin V/PI. Autophagic vacuoles were observed by acridine orange staining. LC3 and P62 protein expressions were determined using Western blot.Results:Pterostilbene significantly inhibited the proliferation of WERI-Rb-1 cells (P<0.01). The cell viability were (93.02±0.47)%, (55.10±2.04)% and (30.33±1.45)% after WERI-Rb-1 cells were treated with 25, 50 and 100 μmol/L pterostilbene for 24 h, and the cell viability were (88.38±3.70)%, (53.37±1.17)%, (29.60±1.05)% after WERI-Rb-1 cells were treated with 50 μmol/L pterostilbene for 12, 24 and 48 h. Pterostilbene induced cell apoptosis (P<0.01), the apoptosis rates of control group, 24 h treated group and 48 h treated group were (4.08±0.79)%, (13.44±2.12)% and (23.49±2.01)%. Pterostilbene induced autophagy of WERI-Rb-1 cells, increased LC3 expression, downregulated P62 expression and increased the number of autophagic vacuoles in WERI-Rb-1 cells (P<0.01). 3-MA and Beclin1 were able to rescue pterostilbene-induced cell death (P<0.01). After 3-MA was used to blunt autophagosome formation, the apoptosis rate markedly decreased in 3-MA+pterostilbene-treated cells compared with cells treated with pterostilbene alone [(12.97±2.09)%vs (8.35±1.11)%], and after siRNA was used to knockdown Beclin1, the apoptosis rate had the same change [(13.80±2.19)%vs (9.62±0.52)%].Conclusion:Pterostilbene can inhibit the proliferation of WERI-Rb-1 cells and induce cell apoptosis via autophagy activation.

The writing of vocational college thesis is the maln way to test whether the students are able to analyze and solve practical problems with the professional knowledge and skills they've learnt, as well as improve the capability of production and practice. This paper analyzes the present situation of the thesis written by higher vocational college students majoring in pharmaceutical sci-ences, and figures out the four kinds of evaluation standards about graduation thesis for students in various pharmaceutical fields with different problems. The four kinds of evaluation standards includes key point analysis on Standard Operation Procedure (SOP), planning strategy for pharmaceutical mar-keting, investigation of rational use of drugs in hospitals and subject research. The author puts forward the solving method for the problem, and formulate the evaluation requirements.

We predicted the anti-ulcerative colitis (UC) mechanism of Fructus Amomi based on network pharmacology. The anti-UC activity of Fructus Amomi were investigated by in vivo animal experiment, and the active components of Fructus Amomi were obtained through TCMSP, PubChem database and literature research. Animal welfare and experimental procedures follow the regulations of the Animal Ethics Committee of Institute of Materia Medica of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. The potential targets of the active components and UC were predicted by SwissTargetPrediction, GeneCards and TTD databases. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed by String database and Cytoscape software was used to construct a visual network of active component-disease target and perform topological analysis. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses were performed using Metascape platform. The molecular docking of key components and core targets was carried out by Sybyl X software. We screened out a total of 12 active components and 189 disease-component overlapping targets. Enrichment analyses obtained 227 related GO items and 168 signaling pathways. According to the results of molecular docking, most active components of Fructus Amomi showed good affinity with the JAKs receptor family. Furthermore, Western blot results verified that Fructus Amomi could effectively inhibit JAK/STAT signaling pathway, indicating that Fructus Amomi might exert the anti-UC activity by regulating JAK/STAT signaling pathway.

Objective To study the expression and value of CXCR1 and CXCR2 on neutrophils, CD14~+ monocytes and CD3~+ T lymphocytes of peripberol blood of ankylosing spondylitis(AS)patients and to investigate the correlation between CXCR1,CXCR2 and disease activity.Methods A case control study was designed and enrolled 30 active AS,30 active rheumatoid arthritis(RA)and 30 healthy controls.The levels of CXCR1 and CXCR2 expression on neutrophils,CD3~+ T cells and CD14~+ monocytes of peripheral blood of the patients and healthy controls enrolled were measured and analyzed by flow cytometry by measuring the mean fluorescence intensity(MFI)channel.The correlations between the level of CXCR1 and CXCR2 anti disease activity or functional index of AS such as BASDAI,BASF1,ESR and CRP were analyzed.Results The MFI of CXCR1 expression on CD3~+ T lymphocytes of peripheral blood was significantly higher in AS patients (41?24)than that in RA patients(18?10)and healthy controls(19?7)(P

AIM: To observe the inhibitory effect of recombinant human endostatin (rhES) on plaque angio-genesis, and to explore the regulatory mechanism of Dll4 /Notch pathway in the anti-angiogenic effect of rhES.METH-ODS: Male Wistar rats were randomized into 3 groups: normal control group (N group), atherosclerotic model group (AS group), and rhES treated group (AS +rhES group).The rats in N group were fed a normal diet, while the remaining 2 groups were established to atherosclerotic rat model via high-cholesterol diet, intraperitoneal injection of vitamin D3 and aor-tic balloon injury.The rats in AS +rhES group received intraperitoneal injection of rhES.The blood total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-1 (IL-1) and troponin I (TnI) were measured.The atherosclerotic abdominal aortas were taken for pathological observation.Immu-nohistochemical staining was used to measure the density of neovessels in the plaques, which were marked by CD31.The protein levels of Dll4 and Notch1 in the aortas were analyzed by Western blot.RESULTS: The levels of blood TC, TG, LDL-C, CRP and IL-1 in AS group and AS +rhES group were much higher than those in N group (P <0.05), and no sta-tistical difference between AS group and AS +rhES group was observed.The expression of CD31 in AS group was the high-est among all groups.Compared with AS group, the density of neovessels in the plaques of AS +rhES group decreased sig-nificantly (P <0.05).The protein expression of Dll4 and Notch1 in AS group was lower than that in N group (P <0.05). Compared with AS group, the protein expression of Dll4 and Notch1 increased significantly (P <0.05).CONCLUSION:rhES has the ability to inhibit plaque angiogenesis in rats.The activation of Dll4 /Notch pathway may be the mechanism of rhES in inhibiting plaque angiogenesis.

Background and purpose:Tetrandrine is a natural compound whose role in retinoblastoma remains unclear. This study investigated the effects of tetrandrine (Tet) on human retinoblastoma cells.Methods:CCK-8 assays were performed to analyze the effects of Tet on viability of retinoblastoma cells. The apoptosis rate was determined by Annexin V/PI assays. After staining with 2′,7′-dichlorolfuorescin diacetate (DCFH-DA), cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) was measured by lfow cytometry. Akt and p-Akt were detected by Western blot.Results:Tet inhibited cell viability of retinoblastoma cells. After treatment with Tet (4, 8, 10 and 20μmol/L) for 24h, cell viability inhibition rates of WERI-Rb-I were 5.7%, 25.0%, 55.1% and 84.9%, whereas inhibition rates of Y79 cells were 2.4%,2.9%, 23.8% and 54.2% (P<0.01). In cells treated with 10μmol/L of Tet for 12, 24 and 48 h, cell viability inhibition rates of WERI-Rb-I were 6.0%, 45.5% and 74.7%, whereas inhibition rates of Y79 cells were 2.9%, 19.4% and 43.3% (P<0.01). Tet induced retinoblastoma cell apoptosis. After treatment with Tet (10 μmol/L) for 24 and 48 h, apoptosis rates of WERI-Rb-I were (23.70±1.75)% and (34.83±3.15)%, respectively, whereas apoptosis rates of Y79 cells were (9.62±2.69)% and (14.97±1.50)%, respectively (P<0.01). Apoptosis inhibitor Z-VAD-FMK attenuated Tet-induced cell death (P<0.05). ROS levels were indeed increased in cells treated with Tet (10 μmol/L) for 6 and 12 h (P<0.01), while N-Acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) decreased Tet-induced ROS (P<0.01). After ROS was inhibited by NAC, apoptosis rate was decreased compared with the control (P<0.01). Further study indicated that Tet inhibited PI3K/Akt pathway in retinoblastoma cells.Conclusion:Tet induces cell apoptosis via increasing ROS synthesis and inhibiting PI3K/Akt pathway.

Objective: To evaluate short-term effect and risk factors for the timing of intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) implantation with coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in high risk coronary artery disease (CAD) patients. Methods: A total of 197 high risk CAD patients received IABP with CABG in our hospital from 2010-01 to 2015-12 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 91 (46.2%) male and the mean arterial pressure (MAP) was (70.3±8.2) mmHg. Based on IABP implantation time, the patients were divided into 2groups: Pre-operative IABP group,n=89 and Intra- , post-operative IABP group,n=108. Peri-operative condition, durations of mechanical ventilation and ICU stay were compared between 2 groups; survival condition was studied by Kaplan-Meier analysis; risk factors causing 30-day mortality was assessed by Logistic regression analysis and its sensitivity and specialty was measured by ROC curve. Results: The mean durations for aortic clamping and cardiopulmonary bypass were (86.7±37.3) min and (147.3±18.4) min in all 197 patients. The age, gender, blood levels of CK-MB c-TnI, creatinine, MAP and European cardiac surgery system scoring were similar between 2 groups, allP>0.05. Compared with Intra- , post-operative IABP group, Pre-operative IABP group had decreased CK-MB (130.6±25.4) mmol/L vs (149.7±18.2) mmol/L at 48h post-operation and mechanical ventilation time (81.5±10.3) h vs (107.9±11.5) h, less in-hospital stay (21.3±4.1) d vs (27.7±9.4) d, reduced acute kidney injury (3.4% vs 23.1%), brain complication (5.6% vs 19.4%) and 30-day mortality (4.5% vs 36.1%), allP<0.05. Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that the median survival time was longer in Pre-operative IABP group, (27.9±1.2 vs 16.5±2.2) dP<0.05; Logistic regression analysis and ROC curve demonstrated that IABP re-implantation (OR=2.37, 95% CI 1.42-5.72,P=0.01) was an important risk factor for 30-day mortality with the sensitivity of 75.3% and specialty of 67.4%. Conclusion: Pre-operative IABP implantation was helpful for decreasing post-operative level of CK-MB, reducing mechanical ventilation, in-hospital time and short-term mortality in high risk CAD patients; IABP re-implantation was the risk factor for short-term mortality.

Objective To study the prevalence, clinical characteristics and risk factors of HIV-related lipodystrophy syndrome (HIV-LD) in our cohort of HIV-1 infected Chinese adults. Methods In a cross-sectional study, 55 HIV-infected patients were recruited from the HIV clinic of Peking Union Medical College Hospital; most of them were undergoing the first-class highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) of today in China. Lipoatrophy or lipohypertrophy was defined if there was concordance between the report of fat change and clinical examination of the participants. Whole body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scanning was performed. Results Prevalence of clinical body fat redistribution in the present study was 47.3%. Comparing with non-LD patients, HIV-LD patients had elder age and longer exposure to HAART(P<0.05). HAART exposure and stavudine(d4T) usage were two independent risk factors for HIV-LD. Conclusions HIV-related fat redistribution does exist in Chinese HIV population. Peripheral lipoatrophy occurs commonly in HIV-infected adults but is not associated with increased trunk fat. HAART exposure and especially d4T usage are independent risk factors for HIV-LD.

OBJECTIVETo compare the difference in the clinical efficacy on premature ovarian failure (POF) between the acupoint catgut implantation combined with artifical periodic therapy and the simple artificial periodic therapy and explore its effect mechanism.

METHODSSixty-five patients of POF were randomized into the two groups. In a western medication group, 32 cases were treated with the artificial periodic therapy with the oral administration of medroxyprogesterone acetate tablets. In a catgut implantation + western medication group, 33 cases were treated with the acupoint catgut implantation combined with artificial periodic therapy. The acupoints of Neiguan (PC 6), Zusanli (ST 36), Guanyuan (CV 4) and Sanyinjiao (SP 6) were selected. The treatment was lasted for half a year and the follow-up visit was for another half a year in the two groups. Kupperman index was used to assess the improvements in the clinical symptoms. The levels of serum sexual hormones such as follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and estradiol (E2) were evaluated of the patients in the two groups before and after treatment. The efficacy was compared between the two groups.

RESULTSThe scores of the clinical symptoms were all significantly improved after treatment and in the follow-up in the two groups (P < 0.01, P < 0.05). In the 6-month follow-up visit after treatment, the result in the catgut implantation + western medication group was better than that in the western medication group (8.17 +/- 1.19 vs 13.68 +/- 1.08, P < 0.01). FSH was reduced after treatment in the two groups (all P < 0.01) and E2 was increased (all P < 0.05). The curative and remarkably effective rates were 75.8% (25/33) and 81.8% (27/22) after treatment and in the follow-up visit in the catgut implantation + western medication group, which were better than 67.9% (19/28) and 53.6% (15/28) in the western medication group separately (P < 0.05, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe acupoint catgut implantation combined with artificial periodic therapy achieve the remarkable improvements in the clinical symptoms of POF in the patients and the better results as compared with the simple western medication therapy. The combined therapys efficacy is stable and the long-term efficacy is apparently superior. The effect mechanism is related to the improvements in the serum sexual hormone levels.

Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Catgut ; utilization ; Female ; Follicle Stimulating Hormone ; metabolism ; Humans ; Primary Ovarian Insufficiency ; metabolism ; therapy ; Prostheses and Implants ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult