Adrenergic beta-Agonists ; therapeutic use ; Aged ; Androstadienes ; therapeutic use ; Cholinergic Antagonists ; therapeutic use ; Fluticasone ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Scopolamine Derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Silicosis ; drug therapy ; Tiotropium Bromide

Objective To investigate the circulatory levels of hormones and cytokines in the patients with the chronic heart failure(CHF)and the effect of naftopidil.Methods The levels of tumor necrosis factor-?(TNF-?),interleukin-1(IL-1),interleukin-6(IL-6),endothelin-1(ET-1),adrenomedullin(Adm),neuropeptide Y(NPY),calcitonin gene-related peptide(CGRP),atrial natriuretic peptide(ANP),brain natriuretic peptide(BNP)and C-type natriuretic peptide(CNP),and left ventricular fraction(LVEF)of 47 patients with CHF(CHF group)and 24 healthy subjects(control group)were measured by radioimmunoassay or echocardiography respectively.The patients were randomized to receive naftopidil(50mg Bid)in addition to routine therapy(B group,n=23)or routine therapy only(A group,n=24)for one-month.Results (1)The levels of TNF-?,IL-1,IL-6,ET-1,Adm,NPY,ANP,BNP and CNP of the CHF group were higher(P 0.05)in the levels of IL-1,IL-6,Adm,CNP and LVEF.(4)There were significantly inverse correlations between LVEF and TNF-?,ET-1,IL-6 or BNP(P

It is extremely necessary and important for colleges or universities to transform the education concepts that barricade students' initiative and creativity, especially the one that takes fi-nal examinations as sole standard to evaluate teaching and learning effects. In order to display and cultivate students' study ability more comprehensively, we manage to establish a set of formative eval-uation system for regional anatomy course , which involves tests and examinations and evaluations throughout the whole teaching and learning process. It solves the long-lasting problem that examina-tions are final purposes of teaching and learning, and thus, teaching values not only results but also learning process, which directs students' attention to conventional studies and helps develop good study habits, greatly reducing the randomness of final academic performances. The diverse assessment methods, along with accumulated assessment results, can improve students' learning effects through-out the whole semester. The fundamental purpose of this system is to inspire students' passion for study and creativity and monitor the teaching process.

AIM: To compare the curative effect of retropupillary iris claw intraocular lens(IOL)implantation and posterior chamber ciliary scleral suture fixed IOL in the aphakic eyes without capsular support.

METHODS: The present retrospective study included 70 aphakic eyes without capsular support. According to the different surgical methods, the patients were divided into two groups, including group A(35 eyes)with treatment of retropupillary iris claw IOL implantation, group B(35 eyes)with treatment of posterior chamber ciliary scleral suture fixed IOL. The uncorrected visual acuity(UCVA), best corrected visual acuity(BCVA), intraocular pressure(IOP)and corneal endothelial cell density(CECD)of the two groups were documented and compared before operation and 3d, 1, 3, 6mo and 1a after operation. Furthermore, the stability of IOL in both groups, as well as the intraoperative and postoperative complications were recorded.

RESULTS: The patients in the present study were followed up for 12 to 14mo. 3d after surgery, UCVA in group A was significantly improved compared with that before surgery(P<0.01), while BCVA had no difference compared with that before surgery(P=0.073).UCVA in group B showed no difference(P=0.097), while BCVA was worse(P=0.002). UCVA and BCVA in both groups were significantly elevated 1mo after surgery(P<0.05), and remained stable 6, 3mo later,respectively. Furthermore, IOP in both groups remained in normal level during the follow up period, 0.7% and 2.3% reduction of CECD in A group and B gruop was observed at 1a after operation respectively(P<0.05). Both IOP and CECD between the two groups have no significant differenc at each time point during the follow up period(P>0.05).There was no significant difference between whole eye astigmatism and corneal astigmatism in A group and B gruop at 1 and 6mo after operation(P>0.05). Additionally, There was 1 case of IOL dislocation in each group after operation, which was further recovered by operation. Significant tilt and deviation of IOL were not observed in the rest of the patients during the follow up period. The other postoperative complications were mild with no difference in complications between the two groups(P>0.05).

CONCLUSION: For aphakic eyes without capsular support, both retropupillary iris claw IOL implantation and posterior chamber ciliary scleral suture fixed IOL are safe and effective surgical methods. Retropupillary iris claw IOL implantation has relatively simple operation, lower damage to the eyeball tissue, the shorter operation time, and the quicker recovery of postoperative visual acuity, which is one of the effective clinical treatments.

OBJECTIVETo discuss the mechanism of scar hypertrophy in adenosine receptor A(2A) (A(2A) R) knockout mice.

METHODSAnimal models of hypertrophic scar were established in 12 A(2A) R knockout mice and 12 wild-type mice as control. The thickness and the size of transverse section of the hypertrophic scar were observed by H-E staining. The hydroxyproline (HYP) in the scar was measured colorimetrically. The TGF-beta expression was tested by Western blotting method.

RESULTSThe hypertrophic scar in wild-type mice was more severe than that in knockout mice. Compared with self-control, the increase of the thickness and the size of transverse section of hypertrophic scar was markedly higher in wild-type group than in the knockout group (P < 0.01). There was significant difference in HYP content between the two groups (P < 0.01). Compared with self-control, the increase of TGF-beta expression in wild-type group was much more than that in knockout group (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSThe TGF-beta expression decreases in the A(2A) R knockout mice. The scar hypertrophy is also much less in the A(2A) R knockout mice.

Animals ; Cicatrix ; metabolism ; pathology ; Disease Models, Animal ; Mice ; Mice, Knockout ; Receptor, Adenosine A2A ; genetics ; Transforming Growth Factor beta ; genetics ; metabolism

OBJECTIVESTo investigate whether antisense human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) could inhibit the activity of telomerase and the proliferation of K562 cells.

METHODSThe antisense plasmid was constructed by reverse insertion of hTERT PCR product into plasmid pLNCX-neo. Then the constructed plasmid was introduced into K562 cells by liposomes-mediated DNA transfection. The inhibition effects of telomerase on the proliferation of K562 cells were analyzed by MTT and colony formation assay, the telomerase activity of K562 cells by TRAP-PCR ELISA methods.

RESULTSThe growth rate of antisense hTERT transfected K562 cells was significantly lower than those of the controls, and the colony formation capacity of the transfected cells decreased significantly (P < 0.01), the colony number is (100.33 +/- 7.57)/10(3) cells, (92.67 +/- 5.86)/10(3) cells and (50.33 +/- 6.11)/10(3) cells for control K562 cells, K562 neo cells and antisense hTERT transfected HL60 cells, respectively. The telomerase activity of antisense hTERT transfected K562 cells was significantly inhibited.

CONCLUSIONThe expression of an antisense sequence to the mRNA sequence of telomerase protein subunit can inhibit the activity of telomerase, slow the cell growth and inhibit the capacity of colony formation of K562 cells.

Cell Division ; drug effects ; Humans ; K562 Cells ; Plasmids ; genetics ; RNA, Antisense ; genetics ; pharmacology ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; Telomerase ; drug effects ; genetics ; metabolism ; Transfection

OBJECTIVETo detect the expressions of miR-122 and miR-224 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by real-time fluorescence quantitative RT-PCR and investigate the significance of miRNAs in early diagnosis of HCC.

METHOD2(-Delta Delta CT) method was used for quantitative analysis of the expression pattern of miR-122 and miR-224 in 35 HCC and adjacent normal tissues. All the quantitative results were confirmed by Northern blotting.

RESULTSCompared with adjacent normal tissues, the HCC tissues showed significant miR-122 down-regulation (P<0.01) and miR-224 over-expression (P<0.001).

CONCLUSIONSHCC has obvious alteration in the expression patterns of miR-122 and miR-224, and real-time fluorescence quantitative RT-PCR provide a new means for early, efficient, and accurate diagnosis of HCC.

Adult ; Aged ; Base Sequence ; Blotting, Northern ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; diagnosis ; genetics ; Female ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; genetics ; Male ; MicroRNAs ; genetics ; Middle Aged ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Spectrometry, Fluorescence ; Time Factors

OBJECTIVEThe structure-activity relationship between traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) compounds and antibacterial activity was studied by chemoinformatics approach.

METHODCytoscape and its plug-in ChemViz were applied to compute the 2D chemical structure similarity and topological parameter TPSA (topological molecular polar surface area), which measures cell permeability of chemicals, between TCM compounds and clinical antibacterials. The overall degree of structure similarity was then calculated and represented by E-value for the eight categories of TCM compounds and the known antibacterials.

RESULTOur results indicated that flavonoids showed good structural similarity with antibacterials and appropriate cell permeability, compared with those of the TCM compounds of the other categories. As flavonoids were featured by good drug safety, it suggested that they can be regarded as the preferred lead compounds skeleton structure source for further antibacterials synthesis.

CONCLUSIONThe application of chemoinformatics helps explore the structure-activity relationship between TCM compounds and the antibacterial activity and search for suitable antibacterial lead compounds skeleton structure source.

Anti-Bacterial Agents ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Informatics ; methods ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Software ; Statistics as Topic ; Structure-Activity Relationship

The neuroimaging results of drug-resistant epilepsy patients play an important role in the surgery decision and prognosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of these results on the efficacy of epilepay surgery, and then to explore surgical benefit for epilepsy patients with negative magnetic resonance (MR) images. Twenty-four subgroups describing the outcomes of 1475 epilepsy patients with positive-neuroimaging results and 696 patients with negative-neuroimaging results were involved in the meta-analysis. Overall, the odds of postoperational seizure-free rate were 2.03 times higher in magnetic resonance imaging-positive (MRI-positive) patients than in MRI-negative patients [odds ratio (OR)=2.03, 95% CI (1.67, 2.47), P<0.00001]. For patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), the odds were 1.76 times higher in those with MRI-positive results than in those with MRI-negative results [OR=1.76, 95% CI (1.34, 2.32), P<0.0001]. For patients with extra-temporal lobe epilepsy (extra-TLE), the odds were 2.88 times higher in MRI-positive patients than in MRI-negative patients [OR=2.88, 95% CI (1.53, 5.43), P=0.001]. It was concluded that the seizure-free rate of MRI-positive patients after surgery was higher than that of MRI-negative patients. For patients with negative results, an appropriate surgery should be concerned for TLE.
China ; epidemiology ; Epilepsy ; diagnosis ; epidemiology ; surgery ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; statistics & numerical data ; Neurosurgical Procedures ; statistics & numerical data ; Prevalence ; Prognosis ; Reproducibility of Results ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Surgery, Computer-Assisted ; statistics & numerical data ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo observe the anti-tumor effect of silencing the expression of HIF-1alpha on cervical cancer in nude mice and to explore its mechanism of action.

METHODSHuman cervical cancer cell line Siha cells were divided into 3 groups: mock control group, control group transfected with scrambled sequence plasmid, and experimental group transfected with pU-HIF-1alpha-shRNA eukaryotic expression plasmid. Cultured cells of the three groups were inoculated in nude mice to establish cervical cancer-bearing nude mice. HIF-1alpha RNAi assay was performed to evaluate the tumor-suppressive effect of HIF-1alpha silencing on cervical cancer-bearing nude mice. Immunohistochemistry and Western blot were used to observe the distribution and protein expression of HIF-1alpha and GLUT1, while RT-PCR was adopted to detect the gene expression of HIF-1alpha, GLUT1 and HKII. The product of glycolysis (lactic acid) and apoptosis in tumor cells were detected by colorimetry and semi-quantitative TUNEL staining, respectively.

RESULTSThe tumor growth in experimental group was significantly slower than that in the two control groups (P < 0.05). On the 50th day after transplantation, the tumor weight in the experimental group was (1.90 +/- 0.28) g, significantly lower than (2.95 +/- 0.77) g in the control group and (2.54 +/- 0.56) g in the mock group (P < 0.01). In the experimental group, the gene and protein levels of HIF-1alpha were 0.45 +/- 0.04 and 1.25 +/- 0.92, and the levels of GLUT1 were 0.32 +/- 0.02 and 1.25 +/- 0.48, respectively. Both indicators in HIF-1alpha and GLUT1 were lower than that in the two control groups (P < 0.05). The expression levels of HKII gene and lactic acid in the experimental group were lower than that in the two control groups (P < 0.05), but the apoptotic cells were much more numerous in the experimental group than that in matched control groups (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe gene therapy by siRNA targeted silencing of HIF-1alpha may down-regulate its downstream genes GLUT1 and HKII expression, therefore, to reduce the tumor glycolysis activity and promote tumor cell apoptosis, and exert a tumor-suppressing effect in vivo.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Female ; Gene Silencing ; Genetic Therapy ; Glucose Transporter Type 1 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Hexokinase ; genetics ; metabolism ; Humans ; Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit ; genetics ; metabolism ; Mice ; Mice, Nude ; Neoplasm Transplantation ; Plasmids ; RNA, Messenger ; metabolism ; RNA, Small Interfering ; genetics ; Random Allocation ; Transfection ; Tumor Burden ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; therapy