UrotensinⅡis the earliest active peptide detected from the teleost fish spinal cord, which is correlated with various risk factors of cerebrovascular diseases.This article reviews the latest advances in reasearch on urotensinⅡin cerebrovascular diseases,so as to provide assistance for urotensinⅡin the prevention and treatment of cerebrovascular diseases.

OBJECTIVETo culture dendritic cells (DC) from peripheral blood of patients with laryngeal carcinoma for therapeutic aid.

METHODSAdherent peripheral blood mononuclear cells from peripheral blood were cultured with 15 ng/ml rhGM-CSF and 7 ng/ml rhIL-4 for one or two weeks. The purity of DC was detected by immunocytochemistry method. The mixed leukocyte reactions stimulated by DC loaded with laryngeal carcinoma antigen were tested by measuring 3H-TdR uptake.

RESULTSA considerable number of suspended cells with spicular or dendritic appearance were observed after 1 week of culture, and their mitochondria were rich in cytoplasm. The positivity of DC was about 30%-60%. DC loaded with laryngeal antigen could induce proliferation of syngeneic T lymphocytes.

CONCLUSIONA large number of DC with high purity can be cultured from peripheral blood of patients with laryngeal carcinoma in vitro. It may be used in further experimental studies for clinical applications.

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; blood ; Cell Separation ; Cells, Cultured ; Culture Media ; Dendritic Cells ; pathology ; Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Interleukin-4 ; pharmacology ; Laryngeal Neoplasms ; blood ; Recombinant Proteins ; pharmacology

To identify the structure of three related substances in potassium sodium dehydroandrographolide succinate (PSDS), an HPLC preparation method was used to separate the impurities. These main impurities were identified using LC-ESI/TOFMS, LC-ESI/MSn, NMR, UV and IR. One of the main impurities was a hydrolyzed and oxidized product of PSDS, which has not been reported previouely. The other two impurities were hydrolyzed products of PSDS after losing different succinic acids. The results indicate that PSDS can be easily hydrolyzed and oxidized. It should be stored at cool and dry places.
Andrographis ; chemistry ; Antiviral Agents ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Diterpenes ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Drug Contamination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Molecular Structure ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization ; Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization

OBJECTIVETo investigate whether emodin exerts protective effects on mouse with allergic asthma.

METHODSA mouse model of allergic airway inflflammation was employed. The C57BL/6 mice sensitized and challenged with ovalbumin (OVA) were intraperitoneally administered 10 or 20 mg/kg emodin for 3 days during OVA challenge. Animals were sacrificed 48 h after the last challenge. Inflammatory cell count in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was measured. The levels of interleukin (IL)-4, IL-5, IL-13 and eotaxin in BALF and level of immunoglobulin E (IgE) in serum were measured with enzyme-linked immuno sorbent assay kits. The mRNA expressions of IL-4, IL-5, heme oxygenase (HO)-1 and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) were determined by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction.

RESULTSEmodin induced significant suppression of the number of OVA-induced total inflammatory cells in BALF. Treatment with emodin led to significant decreases in the levels of IL-4, IL-5, IL-13 and eotaxin in BALF and total IgE level in serum. Histological examination of lung tissue revealed marked attenuation of allergen-induced lung eosinophilic inflammation. Additionally, emodin suppressed IL-4, IL-5 and MMP-9 mRNA expressions and induced HO-1 mRNA expression.

CONCLUSIONEmodin exhibits anti-inflammatory activity in the airway inflammation mouse model, supporting its therapeutic potential for the treatment of allergic bronchial asthma.

Animals ; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid ; cytology ; Chemokines ; metabolism ; Disease Models, Animal ; Emodin ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Gene Expression Regulation ; drug effects ; Heme Oxygenase-1 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Immunoglobulin E ; blood ; Interleukins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Leukocytes ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Lung ; drug effects ; metabolism ; pathology ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Ovalbumin ; Pneumonia ; blood ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Protective Agents ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo study changes in T lymphocyte subsets in preterm infants with intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR).

METHODSThe study enrolled 29 IUGR preterm infants, 38 preterm infants born appropriate for gestational age (AGA), and 20 healthy full-term infants. Peripheral blood was sampled during the first 24 hours of life, and again at a corrected age of 38 weeks of the preterm infants. T lymphocyte subsets were analyzed by flow cytometry, and absolute counts of leukocytes, total lymphocytes, and T lymphocytes were determined with an automated hematology analyzer.

RESULTSWithin the first 24 hours of life, percentages of CD3(+) and CD4(+) were lower in IUGR preterm infants than in AGA preterm infants and full-term infants (P<0.05), percentages of CD8(+) and CD4(+)/CD8(+) ratio were lower in IUGR preterm infants than in full-term infants (P<0.05), and percentages of CD3(+), CD4(+) and CD4(+)/CD8(+) ratio were lower in AGA preterm infants than in full-term infants (P<0.05). Moreover, the absolute counts of total lymphocytes were lower in IUGR preterm infants than in full-term infants (P<0.05); the absolute counts of T lymphocytes were lower in preterm infants, regardless of IUGR, than in full-term infants (P<0.05), and lower in IUGR infants than in AGA infants (P<0.05). At the corrected age of 38 weeks, percentages of CD3(+), CD4(+) and CD4(+)/CD8(+) ratio were increased in both IUGR and AGA infants as compared to the measurements within the first 24 hours of life (P<0.05), and percentages of CD3(+), CD4(+), CD8(+) and CD4(+)/CD8(+) ratio were lower in IUGR infants than in AGA infants (P<0.05), whereas there were no significant differences in counts of leukocytes, total lymphocytes and T lymphocytes between IUGR and AGA infants (P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThere may be a certain degree of compromise in cell-mediated immunity in preterm infants with IUGR and this compromise may last to 38 weeks after birth.

Female ; Fetal Growth Retardation ; immunology ; Gestational Age ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Male ; T-Lymphocyte Subsets ; immunology

OBJECTIVETo evaluate fungal contamination on the surface of Chinese herbal medicines and explore an appropriate method for fast and efficient identification of contaminant fungi.

METHODChinese herbal medicines were first washed and the washing solution was plated onto potato dextrose agar (PDA) to obtain the pure isolates. For molecular identification, two new pairs of specific primers were designed according to ITS region of fungi genome sequences. The strains were identified through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequence analysis.

RESULTFifty fungal strains were obtained from the surface of 15 Chinese herbal medicines with the percent of contaminated samples of 93.3%. Twenty-seven strains among them were successfully identified.

CONCLUSIONFungal contamination on the surface of Chinese herbal medicines is quite common. Although different fungal species were isolated, the genus Aspergillus was the predominant. The primer pairs developed in this study are compatible and can be used to identify fungal species from the surface of Chinese herbal medicines.

Drug Contamination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Fungi ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Polymerase Chain Reaction

Fatigue refers to the manifestation of disorders in the process of carrying out or maintaining random activities， which can be regarded as an independent disease or as a symptom in a variety of chronic diseases. The high incidence of fatigue has seriously affected people's physical and mental health， and the prevention and treatment of fatigue has become an important problem to be solved urgently. The pathogenesis of fatigue mainly includes energy consumpation， accumulation of metabolites， abnormal secretion of neurotransmitters， decline of mitochondrial function， dysfunction of hypothalamus pituitary adrenal axis， etc. At present， there is no unified understanding about the pathogenesis of fatigue at home and abroad. The gene research of fatigue is the current research frontier. Gene expression profiling provides a new method for the study of the mechanism of fatigue. The combination of gene chip technology and traditional Chinese medicine（TCM） theory is expected to bring a breakthrough in the study of the pathogenesis of fatigue. In the study of fatigue gene chip， messenger RNA（mRNA） and microRNA（miRNA） are the common research objects， but few explorations are focused on the gene expression rule of fatigue by a specific signaling pathway and the effective regulation targets of TCM for treating fatigue. In recent years， the dysfunction of reward and inhibition mechanism in the central nervous system has become a research hotspot. In particular， gamma amino butyric acid （GABA） and dopamine （DA） have attracted much attention as the main substances of inhibition and reward mechanism， respectively. GABA and DA are used as inhibition and reward mechanisms to maintain the balance， and the body will not feel fatigue. Once the balance is broken， the fatigue will be formed. At the same time， DA and GABA receptors can also regulate cyclic adenosine monophosphate signaling pathway（cAMP） to affect fatigue. The research on key genes in GABA/DA balance mechanism and related cAMP signaling pathway by gene chip technology is expected to reveal the pathogenesis of fatigue in depth. The gene chip method is used to detect the changes of key genes in GABA/DA pathway and the related cAMP signaling pathway in the fatigue population and the normal population， so as to further explore the pathogenesis of fatigue. In this paper， the key genes in GABA/DA balance mechanism and cAMP signaling pathway related to fatigue were summarized by using the review method， so as to provide the basis for further study on the pathogenesis of fatigue and effective prevention and treatment from the perspective of genetics.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression of CSF3R mutation in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and analyze its clinical characteristics and prognosis. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted in 212 patients with AML who were newly diagnosed in the Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University from January 1th 2018 to June 30th 2021, including 22 patients with CSF3R mutations as mutation group and 190 patients with CSF3R wild type ［66 cases of them were screened by propensity score matching (PSM), as control group］. The early efficacy and survival between the two groups were compared. RESULTS: The median age of patients in the mutation group was 50(17-73) years old, and the ratio of male to female was 1.2:1 The main types were AML with maturation (11 cases) and acute myelomonocytic leukemia (9 cases). Prognostic stratification was carried out according to the risk stratification system of the European leukemia network in 2017, with 16 cases (72.73%) in the middle and high-risk group. At the initial diagnosis, the median count of white blood cell (WBC) was 44.75(1.30-368.71)×10⁹/L, among which 15 cases (68.18%) were >10×10⁹/L, and the median count of platelet (PLT) was 24(4-55)×10⁹/L. CSF3R T618I (68.18%) was a common mutation site, which had concomitant gene mutations, in which CEBPA mutation was the most common (10 cases, 45.45%), but only existed in CSF3R T618I mutation. The CR/CRi rate was 68.18% and 71.21% in the mutant group and the control group (P >0.05), the median over all survival time was 15 months and 9 months (P >0.05), and the median disease-free survival time was 8 months and 4 months (P >0.05), respectively. CONCLUSION Most AML patients with CSF3R mutation are middle-aged patients, the main types are AML with maturation and acute myelomonocytic leukemia, and most of them have middle and high-risk prognosis. CSF3R mutation may not be an independent prognostic marker for newly diagnosed AML patients.
Middle Aged ; Humans ; Male ; Female ; Aged ; Leukemia, Myelomonocytic, Acute ; Retrospective Studies ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute/diagnosis* ; Prognosis ; Mutation ; Receptors, Colony-Stimulating Factor/genetics*

Objective: To systematically summarize and analyze the clinical research progress of therapeutic vaccines for cervical cancer or precancerous lesions. Methods: English databases (PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane library, Proquest, and ClinicalTrails.gov) and Chinese databases (SinoMed, CNKI, WanFang, and VIP Database) were systematically searched to collect literature on therapeutic vaccines for cervical cancer or precancerous lesions from inception to February 18, 2021. After screening, we evaluated the risk of bias of included studies, and combed the basic information of the literature, research designs, information of vaccines, study patients, outcome indicators and so on, qualitatively summarized the clinical research progress. Results: A total of 71 studies were included in this systematic review, including 14 random controlled trials, 15 quasi-random controlled trials, 4 cohort studies, 1 case-control study, 34 case series studies and 3 case reports. The study patients included women aged 15~79 with cervical cancer or precancerous lesions in 18 countries from 1989 to 2021. On the one hand, there were 40 studies on therapeutic vaccines for cervical precancerous lesions (22 867 participants), involving 21 kinds of vaccines in 6 categories. Results showed 3 marketed vaccines (Cervarix, Gardasil, Gardasil 9) as adjuvant immunotherapies were significant effective in preventing the recurrence of precancerous lesions compared with the conization only. In addition, MVA E2 vaccine had been in phase Ⅲ clinical trials as a specific therapeutic vaccine, with relative literature showing it could eliminate most high-grade precancerous lesions. Therapeutic vaccines for precancerous lesions all showed good safety. On the other hand, there were 31 studies on therapeutic vaccines for cervical cancer (781 participants), involving 19 kinds of vaccines in 7categories, with none had been marketed. 25 studies were with no control group, showing the vaccines could effectively eliminate solid tumors, prevent recurrence, and prolong the median survival time. However, the vaccines effectiveness couldn't be statistically calculated due to the lack of a control group. As for the safety of therapeutic vaccines for cervical cancer, 9 studies showed that patients experienced serious adverse events after treatments, where 7 studies reported that serious adverse events occurred in patients couldn't be ruled out as the results of therapeutic vaccines. Conclusions: The literature review shows that the literature evidence for the therapeutic vaccines for cervical precancerous lesions is relatively mature compared with the therapeutic vaccines for cervical cancer. The four kinds of vaccines on the market are all therapeutic vaccines for precancerous lesions, but they are generally used as vaginal infection treatments or adjuvant immunotherapies for cervical precancerous lesions, not used for the specific treatments of cervical precancerous lesions. Other specific therapeutic vaccines are in the early stage of clinical trials, mainly phase Ⅰ/Ⅱ clinical trials with small sample size. The effectiveness and safety data are limited, and further research is still needed.
Cancer Vaccines/therapeutic use* ; Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia/prevention & control* ; Female ; Humans ; Papillomavirus Infections/prevention & control* ; Papillomavirus Vaccines/therapeutic use* ; Precancerous Conditions/therapy* ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/prevention & control*

Objective To study the genetic polymorphism of whole mitochondrial DNA （mtDNA） genomes in She population in Zhejiang and to explore the maternal genetic structure of the She population. Methods Whole mtDNA genomes of 231 unrelated individuals from She population in Zhejiang Province were sequenced. The number of mutations and population genetics parameters such as, the haplotype diversity （HD）, discrimination power （DP）, and random match probabilities （RMP） were analyzed. The mtDNA haplogroups of Zhejiang She population were classified, and the maternal genetic relationships between She and nine other Chinese populations were estimated. Results In 231 Zhejiang She samples, 8 507 mutations （702 types） were observed and the samples were classified into 94 haplogroups. The HD, DP and RMP values were 0.998 6, 0.994 2 and 0.005 8, respectively. The lowest genetic differentiation degree （F_st=0.006 89） was detected between Zhejiang She population and southern Han population. Principal component analysis （PCA） and median-joining network analysis showed that the genetic distance of Zhejiang She population with Guangxi Yao, Yunnan Dai and Southern Han populations was relatively close, but the population still had some unique genetic characteristics. Conclusion The whole mtDNA genomes are highly polymorphic in Zhejiang She population. The Zhejiang She population contains complex and diverse genetic components and has a relatively close maternal genetic relationship with Guangxi Yao, Yunnan Dai and Southern Han populations. Meanwhile, Zhejiang She population has kept its unique maternal genetic components.
Asian People/genetics* ; China ; DNA, Mitochondrial/genetics* ; Ethnicity/genetics* ; Genetics, Population ; Haplotypes ; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing ; Humans ; Polymorphism, Genetic