OBJECTIVETo determine the effect of tea polyphenol (TP) on the proliferation of human periodontal ligament fibroblasts (HPDLFs).

METHODSHPDLFs were primary cultured from tissue explants, and the cells of the 5th to 8th passages were used after immunohistochemical identification (with SABC method) of keratin and vimentin expressions. The cells were divided into 5 groups and treated with TP at 1, 0.5, 0.25, 0.125, and 0.0625 mg/ml, respectively, with another group without TP treatment as the blank control group. Cell counting and MTT colorimetric assay were performed to assess the cell proliferation, and flow cytometry was employed to determine the DNA content of the HPDLFs.

RESULTSDifferent concentrations of TP all significantly increased the proliferation and DNA synthesis of the HPDLFs (P<0.05), and TP treatment at 0.5 mg/ml for 6 h produced the optimal effect.

CONCLUSIONTP has obviously effect in promoting the proliferation of HPDLFs.

Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Cells, Cultured ; DNA ; biosynthesis ; Fibroblasts ; cytology ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Flavonoids ; pharmacology ; Flow Cytometry ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Keratins ; biosynthesis ; Periodontal Ligament ; cytology ; Phenols ; pharmacology ; Polyphenols ; Tea ; chemistry ; Vimentin ; biosynthesis

Seventeen minor triterpenoid acids (1-17) were isolated from an aqueous decoction of Uncaria rhynchophylla by a combinatory application of column chromatography using multiple stationary phases, including macroporous adsorbent resin, MCI resin, Sephadex LH-20, Toyopearl HW-40C, silica gel, and C18 reversed phase silica gel, combined with separation techniques of flash chromatography (FC) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Their structures were determined by analysis of HR-ESI-MS, UV, CD, and IR as well as 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic data, of which eight new compounds (1-8) are named successively uncarinic acids Q-X, while the structures of 2 and 7 were confirmed by single crystal X-ray diffraction. In the in vitro assays, 27-hydroxyolean-12-en-28-oic acid (17) inhibited TGF-β-induced HSC-T6 cell activation at the concentration of 5 μmol·L^-1.

OBJECTIVETo observe the pathological change of partial liquid ventilation (PLV) through establishing the rabbit model of acute lung injury (ALI) induced by meconium aspiration.

METHODSAdult, healthy male or female New Zealand white rabbits were randomly allocated into six groups as follows: (1) control group, (2) conventional mechanical ventilation (CMV) group, (3) high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV) group, (4) CMV combined with PLV group, (5) HFOV combined with PLV group and (6) normal group. The animals were anesthetized with 1% pentobarbital and tracheotomy was performed and endotracheal tube was placed, 20% meconium fluid (3 ml/kg) was quickly injected into the lung through the endotracheal tube and arterial blood gas was analyzed 30 minutes later. ALI was indicated when P/F ratio (PaO2)/FiO(2)) was < or = 300 mm Hg (1 mm Hg = 0.133 kPa) and Cdyn Dynamic Compliance declined by more than 30% of the baseline. The animals were then randomly allocated into one of the 6 groups. In PLV groups (including CMV + PLV and HFOV + PLV) warmed (37 degrees C) and oxygenated perfluorocarbon was slowly instilled into the lungs of the rabbits through the endotracheal tube at a low-dose 3 ml/kg, then set 15-min positive pressure by sacculus proprius to guarantee perfluorocarbon to steadily diffuse in to the lungs. Six hours after ventilation the animals were sacrificed by using overdose of room air instillation via vein. The lungs were taken and fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde (PFA) and were stained with hematoxylin-eosin (HE). Pathological evaluations included inflammatory manifestation, edema and hemorrhage in both alveolar and interstitial area, damages of small airway (alveolar tube and alveolar bursa) and hyaline membrane formation. One way analysis of variance, Student Newman-Keuls (SNK) method and Kruskal-Wallis (K-W) test were used for comparisons.

RESULTSWith the exception of normal group 30 minutes after meconium injections blood gas analysis in different groups showed significant changes and PaO(2)/FiO(2) (< 300 mm Hg), Cdyn declined by more than 60% compared with baseline (P < 0.05). The pathological analysis showed that alveolar and interstitial inflammation, edema, alveolar and interstitial hemorrhage, and small airway damage existed in each group. The hyaline membrane formation was found in one of CMV + PLV group rabbits. The perfluorocarbon-treated animals (CMV + PLV and HFOV + PLV) showed significantly less injury in dependent lung and less damage of small airway (CMV + PLV or HFOV + PLV vs. CMV = 1.1 +/- 0.4 or 0.9 +/- 0.3 vs 2.6 +/- 0.5) compared with the animals of CMV group (P < 0.01). HFOV group (2.1 +/- 0.3) also had less alveolar and interstitial inflammation compared with CMV group (3.0 +/- 0) (P < 0.05), and there was less evidence of alveolar and interstitial edema in the animals treated with HFOV + PLV (1.0 +/- 0.7) compared with CMV (2.0 +/- 0.8) (P < 0.01). Treatment with perfluorocarbon did not result in significant difference in alveolar and interstitial hemorrhage. Compared with CMV and HFOV groups, the groups treated with PLV showed lower mortality of animals (21.4% and 14.3%).

CONCLUSIONSPLV can alleviate the histological damage of acute lung injury induced by meconium aspiration and increased survival chance and therefore PLV would be a useful treatment for MAS. The effectiveness and safety of application of PLV should be evaluated in clinical studies.

Acute Lung Injury ; etiology ; pathology ; Animals ; Animals, Newborn ; Disease Models, Animal ; Female ; Liquid Ventilation ; Male ; Rabbits

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the variety of non-myeloperoxidase-mediated system activity of neutrophils in newborns during bacterial infection and the effect of cord plasma on the activation of non-myeloperoxidase-mediated system.

METHODSAn infection model with Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and a non-infection model with phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA) were established to investigate the activation of non-myeloperoxidase-mediated system in neutrophils. According to the intensity of fluorescence, the activation of non-myeloperoxidase-mediated system of neutrophils was detected by flow cytometry (FCM). The blood cells and plasma were separated from cord blood and adult blood and cross-mixed in order to investigate the opsonic activity.

RESULTSIn the non-infection model, the activation of non-myeloperoxidase-mediated system with PMA stimulation in cord blood was lower compared with that in adult blood, the statistical difference was significant (t = 3.378, P < 0.01). In the infection model, the activations of non-myeloperoxidase-mediated system in cord blood were also lower compared with those in adult blood, while the statistical difference could only be found in the model with E. coli stimulation (t = 12.150, P < 0.001). Furthermore the experiments demonstrated that cord plasma could deeply depress the non-myeloperoxidase-mediated system activity with E. coli stimulation. On the contrary, adult plasma could successfully recruit the potential of non-myeloperoxidase-mediated system activity of neutrophils in newborns.

CONCLUSIONThe function of neonatal neutrophils might not developed very well. As a stimulant, E. coli failed to induce the non-myeloperoxidase-mediated system activity in neonates, which might be related to the lower level of immunoglobulins in cord blood. This result indicated that immunoglobulins played a more important modulating role in bacterial killing during gram-negative bacterial infections.

Escherichia coli ; immunology ; Fetal Blood ; immunology ; Flow Cytometry ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Neutrophils ; enzymology ; immunology ; Peroxidase ; metabolism ; Staphylococcus aureus ; immunology

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the health-related quality of life and postdischarge long-term outcome after severe acute pancreatitis.

METHODSThe hospital records of patients with SAP discharged healthy from January 2003 to December 2003 were reviewed. The Rand 36-item Health Survey with accessory question was mailed to each patient. The means and deviations for each of eight scales scores of SF-36 were calculated, the study population scores were compared with general Chinese population; Univariate analysis was applied to determining the effects of variables such as age, sex, causes of disease, mode of treatment, frequency of surgery, financial burden, length of stay, chronic complications. Accessory questions were analyzed separately.

RESULTSThe means and deviations for each of eight scales (PF, RP, RE, BP, VT, MH, SF, GH) scores of SF-36 in SAP patients were 83 +/- 15, 62 +/- 42, 69 +/- 36, 80 +/- 15, 69 +/- 19, 72 +/- 15, 75 +/- 18, 65 +/- 18, compared with general people. Except RP and SF, the others were similar. In the ANOVA of Physical Component Summary, the three variables mode of treatment, financial burden and length of stay were included (P < 0.05), while in that of Mental Component Summary, the two variables of gender and financial burden were included (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe health-related quality of life in SAP patients is similar to that of general people. Greater attention should be given to mode of treatment, length of stay and financial burden to improve quality of life.

APACHE ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Analysis of Variance ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pancreatitis, Acute Necrotizing ; psychology ; therapy ; Quality of Life ; Retrospective Studies ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Survivors ; Treatment Outcome

Primary uveal lymphoma is a type of intra-ocular lymphoma. Unlike the intra-ocular lymphomas involving the retina and vitreous, primary uveal lymphoma generally has a low-grade nature and an indolent clinical course. It is a relatively rare condition, and the diagnosis can be challenging. We present a rare case of primary uveal lymphoma involving the choroid, ciliary body, iris and conjunctiva that was successfully treated with radiotherapy and achieved full remission.

Animals ; Cellular Reprogramming ; Dentate Gyrus ; cytology ; Fibroblasts ; cytology ; Mice ; Neural Stem Cells ; cytology ; transplantation ; Swine

To solve the problem of real-time detection and removal of EEG signal noise in anesthesia depth monitoring, we proposed an adaptive EEG signal noise detection and removal method. This method uses discrete wavelet transform to extract the low-frequency energy and high-frequency energy of a segment of EEG signals, and sets two sets of thresholds for the low-frequency band and high-frequency band of the EEG signal. These two sets of thresholds can be updated adaptively according to the energy situation of the most recent EEG signal. Finally, we judge the level of signal interference according to the range of low-frequency energy and high-frequency energy, and perform corresponding denoising processing. The results show that the method can more accurately detect and remove the noise interference in the EEG signal, and improve the stability of the calculated characteristic parameters.
Algorithms ; Electroencephalography ; Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted ; Signal-To-Noise Ratio ; Wavelet Analysis

Two new folate-derived analogues, named uncarophyllofolic acids A (1) and B (2), respectively, were isolated from the Uncaria rhynchophylla hook bearing stem (Gouteng in Chinese). The distinct stereochemical structures of 1 and 2 were determined by spectroscopic data analysis in combination with acidic hydrolysis and Marfey's derivatization, along with comparison of their specific rotation and Cotton effect (CE) data with those of the biogenetically related known derivatives as well as theoretical calculations of electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra. A plausible biosynthetic pathway of 1 and 2, associating to folate metabolism and the previously reported orychophragines A-C from Orychophragmus violaceus, is discussed.

Five alkaloids were isolated from a decoction of Uncaria rhynchophylla by a combination of various chromatographic techniques, including macroporous adsorbent resin, MCI resin, silica gel, Sephadex LH-20, and reversed phase HPLC. Their structures were characterized by comprehensive analyses of spectroscopic data as monoterpene indole alkaloids (+)-(7R)-3-oxo-7-hydroxy-3,7-seco-dihydrorhynchohylline (1), (+)-(7S)-3-oxo-7-hydroxy-3,7-seco-dihydrorhyncho-hylline (2), (+)-(7R)-3-oxo-7-hydroxy-3,7-seco-rhynchohylline (3) and (+)-(7S)-3-oxo-7-hydroxy-3,7-seco-rhynchohylline (4), and a β-carboline alkaloid 1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-1-oxo-β-carboline (5). Among them, 1 and 2 are new compounds, 3 and 4 are new natural products that were semi-synthesized from isorhynchohylline with incorrect specific rotations, and 5 is isolated for the first time from the genus Uncaria.