OBJECTIVETo investigate the potential effects on cognitive function, prognosis, and neuropeptide levels of patients in response to combination therapy with ornithine aspartate plus naloxone for hepatic encephalopathy.

METHODSEighty-four consecutive patients diagnosed with hepatic encephalopathy were randomly divided into two equal groups. The control group (n = 42) received traditional medical treatment, and the research group (n = 42) received the traditional medical treatment as well as the combination therapy with ornithine aspartate plus naloxone. The supplemental treatment was comprised of daily intravenous injection of 10-15 g ornithine aspartate in 250 ml of 5% glucose plus intravenous drip of 3 mg naloxone in 100 ml of 5% glucose, and was given in 7-day cycles for one or two cycles. The cognitive function of patients was assessed by Hasegawa Intelligence Scale (HDS) and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) questionnaires. The effective rate and time duration from coma to consciousness were recorded. Changes in blood ammonia level, markers of liver function, and neuropeptide levels were measured by standard biochemical assays. Intergroup differences were assessed by the Chi-squared test.

RESULTSThe HDS and MMSE scores of the research group were significantly higher than those of the control group after therapy. The effective rate, time duration from coma to consciousness, blood ammonia, the liver function markers alanine aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyl-transpeptidase and total bilirubin, and the neuropeptides arginine vasopressin and beta-endorphin were remarkably improved after treatment in the research group, as compared with that in the control group.

CONCLUSIONSupplementing the traditional treatment for hepatic encephalopathy with ornithine aspartate plus naloxone combination therapy provides better therapeutic outcome than traditional treatment alone.

Adult ; Dipeptides ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Hepatic Encephalopathy ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; psychology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Naloxone ; therapeutic use ; Neuropeptides ; metabolism ; Prognosis

OBJECTIVETo study the expression of Galectin-3 in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues and the clinical value of serum Galectin-3 in the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma.

METHODSImmunohistochemistry method was used to detect the expression of Galectin-3 in the 46 pairs of HCC tissues and their para cancerous tissues. The relationship between expression levels of Galectin-3 and clinical parameters was analyzed. Serum Galectin-3 in different liver diseases were measured with ELISA. The sensitivity and specificity of galectin-3, alpha fetoprotein (AFP) and gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase II (GGT-II) for diagnosis of HCC were compared and the complementary diagnostic values of Galectin-3 and AFP and GGT-II for HCC were studied.

RESULTS(1) The positive rate of Galectin-3 in the tissue of HCC was 78.2%, dramatically higher than that in para cancerous tissues (15.2%) (P is less than 0.01). The expression levels were correlated with differentiation and with the high expression in poor differentiation tissues; (2) Based on ROC curve, the cut-off of serum Galectin-3 for HCC diagnosis was set as 0.62mug/L, the serum galectin-3 positive rate was 64.5% in HCC cases, which was apparently higher than that in liver cirrhosis, chronic hepatitis and healthy persons (P is less than 0.05); (3) Serum Galectin-3 was not correlated with AFP and GGT-II. Combined determination of the three markers had the complementary diagnostic value for HCC and might increase the diagnostic sensitivity to 94.7%.

CONCLUSIONGalectin-3 is overexpressed in HCC tissues and is correlated with the tumor differentiation, suggesting that Galectin-3 may be associated with the carcinogenesis and development of HCC. Serum galectin-3 increases in the HCC cases and combined determination of serum Galectin-3, AFP and GGT-II can increase the diagnostic efficiency for HCC. Galectin-3 could be a novel serum tumor marker for HCC.

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; blood ; metabolism ; Female ; Galectin 3 ; blood ; metabolism ; Humans ; Liver ; metabolism ; Liver Neoplasms ; blood ; metabolism ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Serum ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo study the effects of decreased leptin expression on liver fibrosis.

METHODSThe small interfering RNA, targeting leptin gene, was designed according to the secondary structure of leptin gene. The recombinant plasmids were encapsulated with lipofectamine and then injected into carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) induced rat liver fibrosis models. Leptin and I, III collage were detected by immunohistochemistry and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).

RESULTSThe mRNA and protein levels of leptin in the fibrotic liver transfected with leptin shRNA were significantly decreased compared with those in controls (P less than 0.01). The depositions of type I and type III collagens were also decreased (P less than 0.01).

CONCLUSIONDecreased leptin expression prevents liver fibrosis.

Animals ; Leptin ; genetics ; Liver Cirrhosis, Experimental ; therapy ; Male ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; RNA, Small Interfering ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

OBJECTIVETo explore the mechanisms of Chinese herbal medicine Sanqi Oral Liquid, composed of Astragalus membranaceus and Panpax notoginseng, in alleviating renal injury by observing its effect on the expressions of CD4(+), CD8(+) and CD68(+) cells in 5/6 nephrectomized rats with chronic renal failure.

METHODSA total of 102 SD rats were randomly divided into six groups: three treatment groups were administrated with high, medium and low dosage of Sanqi Oral Liquid respectively by gavage; a normal group, a 5/6 nephrectomized model group, and a group treated with coated aldehyde oxygenstarch were used as controls. Following oral administration of Sanqi Oral Liquid for 12 weeks, the general condition and renal pathological changes were observed, and the renal function, platelet count (PLT) and the expressions of CD4(+), CD8(+) and CD68(+) cells were determined for each group.

RESULTSThere were proliferation of mesangial matrix, renaltubularnecrosis and obvious tubulointerstitial fibrosis in the model group, and they were much milder in the treatment groups. Compared with the model group, the amounts of blood urea nitrogen (BUN), serum creatinine (Scr) and PLT in the treatment groups decreased (P<0.05 for all); and in the group administrated of medium dosage of Sanqi Oral Liquid, the expression of CD4(+) cells was up-regulated and those of CD8(+) and CD68(+) cells were down-regulated (P<0.05 for all), leading to an increased ratio of CD4(+)/CD8(+)(P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONSanqi Oral Liquid has a significant effect on regulating lymphocyte subsets, reducing the infiltration of macrophages in renal tissues and alleviating tubulointerstitial fibrosis, and this may be one of mechanisms of Sanqi Oral Liquid in delaying the progression of chronic kidney diseases.

Administration, Oral ; Animals ; Antigens, CD ; metabolism ; Antigens, Differentiation, Myelomonocytic ; metabolism ; Astragalus membranaceus ; chemistry ; CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes ; drug effects ; pathology ; physiology ; CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes ; drug effects ; pathology ; physiology ; Drug Evaluation, Preclinical ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; drug therapy ; immunology ; pathology ; surgery ; Lymphocyte Count ; Male ; Nephrectomy ; Panax notoginseng ; chemistry ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Solutions

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of drug-containing serum of Xijiao Dihuang combined prescription(XJDH) on the related functions of dendritic cells(DCs) induced in vitro, and to explore the mechanisms underlying the effectiveness of XJDH treatment on primary immune thrombocytopenia(ITP). METHODS: Peripheral blood samples were colle-ted from 6 healthy volunteers. Mononuclear cells were isolated by density gradient centrifugation, and CD14⁺ mononuclear cells were collected by the magnetic separation technique. CD14+ mononuclear cells were induced into immature DCs by recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and recombinant human interleukin 4 (IL-4). Immature DCs were divided into three groups: control group, model group and XJDH group. CCK-8 assay was used to determine the intervention concentration and time of drug-containing serum. Lipopolysaccharide(LPS) with the final concentration of 1 μg/ml was added to model group and XJDH group respectively for 24 h to induce DCs maturation. Normal rat serum was added to control group and model group, and XJDH was added to XJDH group for 24 h. Flow cytometry was used to detect the levels of CD80, CD83 and HLA-DR on the surface of DCs. Western blot was used to detect the expression of TLR4 and NF-κB, and levels of IL-6, IL-12 and TNF-α in cell supernatant was detected by ELISA. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, LPS stimulation increased the expression of CD80, CD83 and HLA-DR, with subsequent increasing expression of TLR4 and NF-κB, as well as IL-6, IL-12 and TNF-α increased(P<0.05). In comparison with model group, the expression of DCs surface molecules CD80, CD83 and HLA-DR, DCs' expression of TLR4 and NF-κB protein, and the levels of IL-6, IL-12 and TNF-α in the cell supernatant of XJDH group decreased after the intervention of XJDH (P<0.05). CONCLUSION Drug containing serum of Xijiao Dihuang combined prescription can down-regulate TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway related protein expression, inhibit DCs maturation, and reduce proinflammatory factor secretion, which may be one of the mechanisms of drug-containing serum of Xijiao Dihuang combined prescription in the treatment of immune thrombocytopenia.
Animals ; B7-1 Antigen/pharmacology* ; Cell Differentiation ; Dendritic Cells ; HLA-DR Antigens/pharmacology* ; Humans ; Interleukin-12/pharmacology* ; Interleukin-6 ; Lipopolysaccharides/pharmacology* ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; NF-kappa B ; Prescriptions ; Purpura, Thrombocytopenic, Idiopathic ; Rats ; Toll-Like Receptor 4 ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/pharmacology*

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the characteristics of allelic and haplotypic polymorphisms of human leukocyte antigens at HLA-A, -B, -C, DRB1 and DQB1 loci in Guangxi Zhuang population. METHODS: Polymerase chain reaction-sequence based typing (PCR-SBT) was used to detect. The five loci (HLA-A, -B, -C, -DRB1, -DQB1) in 350 unrelated Zhuang ethnic individual from Guangxi region. Allelic and haplotypic frequencies were calculated by using Arlequin software 3.5.2.2. Phylogeny tree were constructed by using MEGA software 6.0, and SPSS software was used for principal component analysis. RESULTS: Among the five loci in the population, only HLA-A and DRB1 loci were observed as departures from Hardy-Weinberg expectations. A total of 19 HLA-A, 42 HLA-B, 22 HLA-C, 25 HLA-DRB1 and 15 HLA-DQB1 alleles were found in 350 samples. The most highest frequent alleles were A*11: 01(28.57%), B*46: 01(14.00%), C*01: 02(18.43%), DRB1*16: 02 (15.71%）and DQB1*05: 02 (35.00%) . The most common five loci haplotype was A*33: 03-C*03: 02-B*58: 01-DRB1*03: 01-DQB1*02: 01（6.86%）. The phylogenetic tree analysis showed that Guangxi Zhuang population had a relative close genetic relationship with southern Han Chinese populations. CONCLUSION This reaserch found that the HLA-A, B, C, DRB1 and DQB1 loci are highly polymorphic in Guangxi Zhuang population.
Alleles ; China ; Gene Frequency ; HLA-A Antigens ; genetics ; HLA-B Antigens ; genetics ; HLA-DRB1 Chains ; genetics ; Haplotypes ; Humans ; Phylogeny