OBJECTIVETo perform a transcriptomics study in differential genes after Xianglian External Lotion (XEL) induced the recovery of drug-resistant Candida albicans strains sensitive to Fluconazole.

METHODSBroth microdilution antifungal susceptibility test was used to detect minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of drug-resistant Candida albicans strains induced by XEL. Transcriptome sequencing (RNA-Seq) was used to determine and compare the transcription of primary drug-resistant Candida aIbicans strains and sensitive strains induced by XEL. High expressed genes and signaling pathways strains were analyzed by gene ontology (GO) method.

RESULTSXEL could induce drug-resistant strains of the 6th generations to recover sensitivity. Transcriptome sequencing showed that, as compared with primary drug-resistant strains, there were 165 genes with up-regulated RPKM index and 144 genes with down-regulated RPKM index after XEL induction. GO analyses found that all genes were mainly classified as GO:0015903 (fluconazole transport).

CONCLUSIONSXEL could induce the recovery of drug-resistant Candida albicans strains sensitive to Fluconazole. By analyzing transcriptomes, authors speculated that XEL could recover strain sensitivity to fluconazole by opening fluconazole transport pathway.

Antifungal Agents ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Candida ; Candida albicans ; drug effects ; genetics ; Candidiasis ; drug therapy ; Drug Resistance, Fungal ; drug effects ; genetics ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Fluconazole ; pharmacology ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests

AIMTo study the protection of casein and protamine against degradation of insulin (INS) by proteolysis enzymes and the effect of these two kinds of protein on the hypoglycemic action of INS solution and enteric-microspheres after administrated orally to rats.

METHODSHPLC was used to determine the remained INS in the solution of alpha-chymotrypsin and trypsin with or without casein or protamine; INS solution and enteric-microspheres were prepared and adiministrated orally to rats together with the absorption enhancer sodium N-[8-(2-hydroxybenzoyl) amino] caprylate (SNAC). At the same time, casein or protamine or both of these two kinds of protein were administrated together in order to study their influence on the hypoglycemic effect of INS and microspheres.

RESULTSCasein had a good protection against degradation of INS by alpha-chymotrypsin, but protamine had no protection effect. However, the degradation of INS by trypsin is concerned, the protection effect of protamine on INS was better that of casein. Both of protamine and casein can increase the hypoglycemic effect of INS solution and enteric-microspheres. Co-administrated these two kinds of protein had a better effect. In addition, co-administrated with SNAC, casein and protamine, INS enteric-microspheres had a longer and more potent hypoglycemic effect than that of the solution.

CONCLUSIONCasein and protamine can increase the stability of INS in the intestinal fluid by the mechanism of competition and combine with proteolysis enzymes, which will benefit to INS oral administration.

Administration, Oral ; Animals ; Blood Glucose ; metabolism ; Caprylates ; Caseins ; pharmacology ; Chymotrypsin ; antagonists & inhibitors ; Drug Delivery Systems ; Hypoglycemic Agents ; administration & dosage ; pharmacokinetics ; Insulin ; administration & dosage ; pharmacokinetics ; Male ; Microspheres ; Protamines ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Solutions ; Trypsin ; pharmacology

In the heart, stimulation of beta-adrenergic receptors (betaAR) serves as the most powerful means to increase cardiac contractility and relaxation in response to stress or a "fight-or-flight" situation. However, sustained beta-adrenergic stimulation promotes pathological cardiac remodeling such as myocyte hypertrophy, apoptosis and necrosis, thus contributing to the pathogenesis of chronic heart failure. Over the past decade, compelling evidence has demonstrated that coexisting cardiac betaAR subtypes, mainly beta(1)AR and beta (2)AR, activate markedly different signaling cascades. As a result, acute beta(1)AR stimulation activates the G(s) -adenylyl cyclase-cAMP-PKA signaling that can broadcast throughout the cell, whereas beta(2)AR-evoked cAMP signaling is spatially and functionally compartmentalized, due to concurrent G(i) activation. Chronic stimulation of beta(1)AR and beta(2)AR elicits opposing effects on the fate of cardiomyocytes: beta(1)AR induces hypertrophy and apoptosis; but beta(2)AR promotes cell survival. The cardiac protective effect of beta(2)AR is mediated by a signaling pathway sequentially involving G(i), G(betagamma), PI3K and Akt. Unexpectedly, beta(1)AR-induced myocyte hypertrophy and apoptosis are independent of the classic cAMP/PKA pathway, but require activation of Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent kinase II (CaMK II). The outcomes of cardiac-specific transgenic overexpression of either beta AR subtype in mice have reinforced the fundamentally different functional roles of these betaAR subtypes in governing cardiac remodeling and performance. These new insights regarding betaAR subtype stimulation not only provide clues as to cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of beta AR blockers in patients with chronic heart failure, but also delineate rationale for combining selective beta(1)AR blockade with moderate beta(2)AR activation as a potential novel therapy for the treatment of chronic heart failure.
Adenylyl Cyclases ; metabolism ; Animals ; Cyclic AMP-Dependent Protein Kinases ; metabolism ; GTP-Binding Proteins ; metabolism ; Heart ; physiology ; Heart Failure ; physiopathology ; Humans ; Myocardium ; metabolism ; Receptors, Adrenergic, beta ; classification ; physiology ; Receptors, Adrenergic, beta-1 ; physiology ; Receptors, Adrenergic, beta-2 ; physiology ; Signal Transduction

Objective Heart transplantation is an effective treatment of end-stage heart diseases and extending the time of donor heart preservation helps to make up for the shortage of donor hearts. This study was to investigate whether high-pressured mixed gas ( HPMG) of carbon monoxide and oxygen could prolong the time of donor heart preservation and its mechanisms. Methods Forty-eight C57BL/6 male mice aged 4-6 weeks were randomly divided in-to four groups of equal number:control ( the donor heart isolated but not transplanted) , immediate transplantation ( the donor heart transplanted right after isolated) , HTK-preservation ( the donor heart preserved in histidine-tryptophan-ketoglutarate solution for 24 hours after isolated, and HPMG preservation ( the donor heart preserved in an HPMG chamber with the oxygen partial pressure of 3200 hPa and carbon monoxide partial pressure of 800 hPa for 24 hours after isolated) .Another 36 recipient mice aged 6-8 weeks were randomly assigned to receive the donor heart immediately after harvested (n=12), preserved in HTK solution (n=12), or preserved in HPMG (n=12).At 2 hours after transplantation, the status of heart re-beating and cardiac function were compared among different groups of recipient mice.At 24 hours, tissues were taken from the transplanted hearts for examination of pathologic changes by HE stai-ning, detection of the apoptosis of cardiac cells by TUNEL, and determination of the expressions of microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 -Ⅱ(LC3-Ⅱ) and B cell lymphoma/leukemia-2 (Bcl-2) by Western blot. Resul ts The re-beating rates of the imme-diately transplanted and HPMG-preserved hearts were significantly higher than that of the HTK-preserved ones (P<0.05).At 2 hours after transplantation, the cardiac function scores were 2.5 (2.0-2.9), 0.8 (0.5-1.0), and 4.5 (4.0-4.5) in the immediate implantation, HPMG-preservation and HTK-preservation groups respectively, with statistically significant differences between any two groups (P<0.05).The expressions of LC3-Ⅱand Bcl-2 were 2.06 ±0.29 and 0.87 ±0.18 in the HPMG-preserved heart recipients and 1.24 ±0.20 and 2.07 ±0.32 in the immediately transplanted heart recipients, both higher than 0.13 ±0.03 and 0.19 ±0.02 in the controls and 0.16 ±0.06 and 0.26 ±0.08 in the HTK-preserved heart recipients (P<0.05), the Bcl-2 higher in the HTK-pre-served heart recipients than in the controls (P<0.05), and the LC3-Ⅱ expression higher in the HPMG-preserved heart recipients than in the immediately transplanted heart recipients (P<0.05).HE staining showed that cell edema and inflammatory cell infiltration were more obvious in the HPMG-preserved heart recipients than in the controls and immediately transplanted heart recipients but less obvious than in the HTK-preserved heart recipients.The rate of cell apoptosis was dramatically increased in the HPMG-and HTK-pre-served heart recipients ([5.04 ±1.77]%and [26.72 ±5.23]%) in comparison with the controls ([1.08 ±0.56]%) (P<0.01) and immediately transplanted heart recipients ([2.13 ±1.71]%) (P<0.01) but decreased in the HPMG as compared with the HTK-preserved heart recipients (P<0.01). Conclusion High-pressured mixed gas preservation can reduce cold ischemia-reperfu-sion injury of the donor heart, which may be associated with its promotion of autophagy, provision of energy to cells, and apoptosis of cardiocytes in the donor heart.

To study the chemical constituents of the branches of Tamarix rasissima, repeated silica gel column chromatography, Sephadex LH-20 chromatography and recrystallization were applied for chemical constituents isolation and purification. Ten phenolic compounds were isolated from the n-BuOH fraction and their structures were elucidated by physical properties and spectra analysis such as UV, ESI-MS and NMR as monodecarboxyellagic acid (1), ellagic acid (2), 3, 3'-di-O-methylellagic acid (3), 3, 3'-di-O-methylellagic acid-4-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (4), 3, 3'-di-O-methylellagic acid-4'-O-alpha-D-arabinfuranoside (5), ferulic acid (6), isoferulic acid (7), caffeic acid (8), 4-O-acetyl-caffeic acid (9), and 4-methyl-1, 2-benzenediol (10). All compounds except for isoferulic acid were isolated firstly from this plant except for isoferulic acid, and compounds 5, 9 and 10 were obtained from Tamarix genus for the first time.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ; Molecular Structure ; Phenols ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization ; Tamaricaceae ; chemistry

This study is to investigate the protective effect of longistyline A against corticosterone-induced neurotoxicity in PC12 cells. While PC12 cells were exposed to 100 micromol x L(-1) corticosterone for 48 h, cell survival rate was reduced and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release increased. In parallel, corticosterone caused significant elevations of DNA fragmentation, [Ca2+]i and caspase-3 activity. However, when the PC12 cells were incubated with longistyline A (4.0, 8.0 and 16.0 micromol x L(-1)) in the presence of 100 micromol x L(-1) corticosterone for 48 h, the effects were evidently alleviated, but dose-dependent manner was not obvious. In summary, longistyline A could generate a neuroprotective effect against corticosterone-induced neurotoxicity in PC12 cells possibly by decreasing [Ca2+]i and caspase-3 activity.
Animals ; Cajanus ; chemistry ; Calcium ; metabolism ; Caspase 3 ; metabolism ; Cell Survival ; drug effects ; Corticosterone ; toxicity ; DNA Fragmentation ; drug effects ; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase ; metabolism ; Molecular Structure ; Neuroprotective Agents ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; PC12 Cells ; Phenols ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Plant Leaves ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Rats

Objective - To establish a new non exposed intratracheal instillation method for establishing a rat silicosis model. Methods ， The specific pathogen free SD rats were randomly divided into control group and experimental group with ten rats in ， each group. Rats in the control group were given 1.0 mL of 0.9% sodium chloride solution and rats in the experimental group - were given 1.0 mL of silica suspension with a mass concentration of 50 g/L adopting to the one time intratracheal instillation ， - ， method and then followed by ventilator assisted ventilation immediately. When the tidal volume stabilized at 2.0 mL the ventilator was removed and the tracheal intubation was pulled out. Five rats in each group were sacrificed after two and four ， - Results weeks after modeling and hematoxylin eosin staining and Masson staining of lung tissue were performed. There was ， ， no death in the two groups of rats during the experiment. After two and four weeks the control group had normal lung structure ， ， ， normal alveolar cavity size no inflammatory cell infiltration thin alveolar wall only a small amount of collagen distribution ， around the lung interstitium and bronchus. At the second week of modeling the alveolar wall of the rats in the experimental ， ， ， group was slightly thickened interstitial lymphocytes and macrophages were infiltrated slight hyperplasia was found and a ， small amount of fibroblasts were visible. At the 4th week of modeling the alveolar wall of the rats in the experimental group was ， ， ， ， significantly thickened fibrous nodules were formed and fibroblasts fibrocytes collagen fibers were significantly increased. Conclusion - The combination of ventilator and non exposed intratracheal instillation method can be used to successfully ， ， . establish a rat silicosis model which is simple safe and effective

Danggui, Agelicae Sinensis Radix, is a widely used Chinese herb to enrich blood, but its quality cannot be effectively assessed by the known chemical markers such as ferulic acid, ligustilide, polysaccharides, etc. A new bioassay was therefore developed to quantify the Enrich-Blood Bioactivity (EBB) for the quality assessment of Danggui raw materials. Danggui sample was first extracted with ethanol and water, respectively. Then the ethanolic extract and water extract were mixed as a test sample to quantify the amount of EBB by mice experiment. The blood deficiency mode in mice was developed by intraperitoneal injecting cyclophospharmide and phenylhdrazine hydrochloride. The quantity of red blood cell was chosen as EBB marker. Cyclosporine A was chosen as a control substance. EBB in analytes was quantified by the amount reaction of parallel line analysis (3, 3') method. The results indicated that the reliability test for quantifying EBB was passed through and the measured value was valid. The analytes showed the significant EBB (P < 0.05). The correlation coefficient was 0.9984 (n=5) between the amount of cyclosporine A (0.035-0.56 g x kg(-1)) and the increased number of red blood cell. The relative standard deviation (RSY) on the amount of EBB was estimated to be 6.15% (n = 6) by six replicated tests, and the confidence limit rate was 26.68% (n = 6). Five Danggui samples, which were collected from different cultivation areas with various morphological characters, showed the variety of EBB in the range of 21.95-44.16 U x g(-1). It is concluded that the developed method is accurate to quantify the EBB of Danggui raw materials, and is therefore suitable to assess its quality.
Angelica sinensis ; chemistry ; Animals ; Biological Assay ; methods ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Erythrocyte Count ; Erythrocytes ; drug effects ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Plant Roots ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo explore mechanism of dermal toxicity of trichloroethylene(TCE).

METHODSNormal human keratinocytes (KC) were isolated from foreskins of healthy donors undergoing circumcision by two-step trypsin digestion and cultured in serum-free medium. Cells were treated with medium, 1% acetone (volume fraction) 0.125, 0.500 or 2.000 mmol/L TCE for different time (4, 8, 12 or 24) hours. After treatment, MTT assay and ATPase activity detected, inhibition ratio of mitochondrial enzyme was calculated according to optical density (A) value of MTT assay. Mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) was detected by flow cytometry FCM after being stained with Rhodamine123 (Rh123). Morphological changes were also observed through transmission electron microscope (TEM).

RESULTSCellular viability and ATPase activity declined with dose of TCE, while inhibition ratio of mitochondrial enzyme increased with dose of TCE. FCM results showed that after treatment with 2.000 mmol/L TCE, fluorescence density of Rh123 decreased quickly from 18.73 +/- 0.45(0 h) to 8.20 +/- 0.66(8 h) (P < 0.01). After 8 h, fluorescence density maintained at the level equal to that of 8 h (fluorescence density of Rh123 were 8.20 +/- 0.36 and 8.20 +/- 0.40 for 12 and 24 h respectively, compared with that for 8 h group, P > 0.05). The results also showed that MMP diminished with dose of TCE. Under TEM, mitochondria in TCE-treated group appeared extensive swelling and vacuolar degeneration with less matrix and obscure or vanished mitochondria cristae but in control group, mitochondrial structure was integrated, with uniform matrix and visible mitochondria cristae.

CONCLUSIONSTCE could inhibit mitochondrial metabolic enzyme, reduce ATP production, diminish MMP, and destroy ultrastructure of mitochondria in KC, all these contributing to the cytotoxicity of TCE.

Cell Survival ; drug effects ; Cells, Cultured ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Humans ; Keratinocytes ; drug effects ; metabolism ; ultrastructure ; Male ; Membrane Potential, Mitochondrial ; drug effects ; Microscopy, Electron, Transmission ; Mitochondria ; drug effects ; metabolism ; ultrastructure ; Trichloroethylene ; toxicity

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the role of human leukocyte antigen G (HLA-G) in the better effect of allogenetic bone marrow transplantation than that of peripheral blood stem cell transplantation.

METHODSFlow cytometry was used to detect the expression of membrane-bound HLA-G (mHLA-G) on donor peripheral blood (PBC) or bone marrow (BM) mononuclear cells. The levels of soluble HLA-G (sHLA-G) in the plasma and bone marrow fluid were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) before and after granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) mobilization.

RESULTSThe mean levels of mHLA-G after G-CSF mobilization in the PBC and BM were significantly higher than that before G-CSF mobilization (P=0.001 and 0.000), but the plasma levels of sHLA-G showed no significant changes after the mobilization (P=0.279). The mean levels of sHLA-G in the BM fluid significantly increased (P=0.002) to a level higher than that in the PBC after G-CSF mobilization (P=0.004).

CONCLUSIONHLA-G plays an important role in immune tolerance after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation with G-CSF mobilization.

Adult ; Bone Marrow Transplantation ; immunology ; Female ; Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor ; pharmacology ; HLA Antigens ; immunology ; metabolism ; HLA-G Antigens ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Mobilization ; methods ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Histocompatibility Antigens Class I ; immunology ; metabolism ; Humans ; Immune Tolerance ; Male ; Middle Aged