Objective To evaluate the effect of exogenous hydrogen sulfide (H2 S) on myocardial damage induced by renal ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) in rats.Methods Thirty pathogen-free male Wistar rats,weighing 250-300 g,were randomized into 3 groups (n =10 each) using a random number table:sham operation group (S group); myocardial damage induced by renal I/R group (I/R group); NaHS group.Renal I/R was induced by occlusion of the left kidney for 120 min followed by 60 min reperfusion in anesthetized rats.In NaHS group,NaHS 100 μg/kg was injected intraperitoneally at 20 min before reperfusion.At the end of reperfusion,the rats were sacrificed and the hearts were obtained for determination of malondialdehyde (MDA) content and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity in myocardial tissues and for microscopic examination.Results Compared with S group,MDA content was significantly increased,and GSH-Px activity was decreased in I/R and NaHS groups.Compared with I/R group,MDA content was significantly decreased,and GSH-Px activity was increased in NaHS group.The pathological changes of myocardium were significantly attenuated in NaHS group as compared with I/R group.Conclusion Exogenous H2 S can alleviate myocardial damage induced by renal I/R in rats.

ObjectiveTo determine the effectiveness of endovascular embolization in patients with cryptogenic massive hemoptysis who were all long-term smokers.Methods Aortography and subclavian artery angiography were performed in 21long-term smokers with cryptogenicmassive hemoptysis.Transarterial embolization (TAE) was performed in patients with detectable pathologic systemic arteries.The angiographic findings were reviewed and the clinical and follow-up CT results were observed.ResultsThe pathologic systemic arteries were all bronchial arteries (BAs) and thirty-five arteries were involved.The angiography demonstrated peripheral hyperplasia in all BAs,with 24 pathologic BAs supplying the right lung and 25 supplying the upper lobes.In thirty-five BAs,24 showed hypertrophy and 11 were normal.TAE of the pathologic BAs was successfully performed and cessation of bleeding was achieved in all patients.During follow-up,one patient had episodic bloody sputum after embolization and no recurrence in all patients.The follow-up CTdemonstratednoadditionalabnormalitybesidespre-existingpulmonaryemphysema.Conclusion Cryptogenic massive hemoptysis in long-term smokers efficiently treated by endovascular embolization of the responsible bronchial artery.

Lipids of Thamnidium elegans,Mortierella ramanninace,Rhizopus arrhizus,Pythium irregulare and Rhodotorulla aurantiaca were extracted by Soxhlet extraction,supercritical-CO 2 fluid extraction,acid-heating extraction and organic solvent extraction,respectively.Four extraction methods were evaluated on sample treatment,minimum sample quantity,requirements of apparatus,ability of treating sample and content of lipid.The components of fatty acids were analysed by gas chromatography.Soxhlet extraction can acquired maximum lipid content,but it took the most time.Supercritical-CO 2 fluid extraction and acid-heating extraction has a same lipid content which was lower than that of Soxhlet extraction.Acid-heating extraction was the most handy,and its ability to treat sample in a hour was the most powerful.Organic solvent extraction was less efficient.Acid-heating extraction was a simple and efficient method of fungi lipid extraction fitting to breed mutant strains that highly producting lipid and polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Objective To study the protective effect of Irisin in doxorubicin(Dox)induced-Cardiomyopathy and its possible mechanism.Methods AC 16 cells were used to construct Dox injury model and divided into control group(AC 16 cells were cultured with complete medium),Irisin group(AC16 cells were treated with 10 ng·L-1 Irisin for 24 h),Dox group(AC 16 cells were treated with 4 μmol·L-1 Dox for 24 h),Dox+Irisin group(AC 16 cells were pretreated with 10 ng·L-1 Irisin for 2 h,and then treated with 4 pmol·L-1 Dox for 24 h).Cell counting kit-8(CCK-8),terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated nick end labeling(TUNEL)and lactate dehydrogenase(LDH)were used to detect the proliferation,apoptosis and mortality of AC 16 cells.Western blot was used to detect the expression levels of nuclear factor-κB(NF-κB)signaling pathway and apoptotic factors B-cell lymphoma-2(Bcl-2),Bcl-2-associated X protein(Bax)and caspase-9 protein.Mito-Tracker Red CMXRos probe was used to detect mitochondrial membrane potential.Results In the contrl group,Irisin group,Dox group,Dox+Irisin group,the rate of apoptosis were(0.97±0.09)％,0,(42.80±6.70)％,(11.74±1.79)％;the expression of Bax protein were 0.85±0.01,0.36±0.02,1.15±0.07,0.37±0.11;the expression of caspase-9 protein were 0.52±0.02,0.59±0.03,1.11±0.02,0.67±0.08;the expression of Bcl-2 protein were 1.01±0.04,1.05±0.25,0.43±0.02 and 0.99±0.30;the probability of mitochondrial damage were(0.02±0.01)％,(0.5±0.15)％,(38.6±2.39)％,(1.58±0.54)％.The difference of the above indexes between the contrl group and the Dox group were statistically significant(all P＜0.05);the difference between Dox group and Dox+Irisin group were statisically significant(all P＜0.05).Conclusion Irisin could reduce the expression level of Bax,caspase-9,p-NF-κB,and p-mTOR caused by Dox,increase the expression level of Bcl-2,ameliorate the myocardial damage caused by Dox,and reduce cardiotoxicity.

OBJECTIVETo assess the correlation of primary colorectal cancer (CRC) lesions' maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) and tumor to normal tissue SUVmax ratio (T/N ratio) detected by ¹⁸F-deoxyglucose positron emission computed tomography (¹⁸F-FDG PET-CT) imaging with the postoperative prognosis.

METHODSClinicopathological data of 92 CRC patients who underwent curative resection after the PET-CT examination and received ¹⁸F-FDG PET-CT examination from January 2009 to December 2013 in the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University were reviewed retrospectively. The correlation of SUVmax and T/N ratio in primary lesions with clinicopathological factors was analyzed. The optimal cutoff point of disease-free survival time of SUVmax, T/N ratio and the maximum tumor diameter were investigated by using ROC curve analysis. Association of clinicopathological factors and prognosis was examined and the Cox proportional hazard regression model was used in the multivariate analysis.

RESULTSPrimary SUVmax was associated with tumor TNM staging, location, differentiation degree and the maximum tumor diameter, while T/N ratio was only associated with pathological type (all P<0.05). The optimal cutoff point of disease-free survival time of SUVmax, T/N ratio and the maximum tumor diameter were 12.2 (sensitivity 67.6%, specificity 63.6% ), 6.9 (sensitivity 51.4%, specificity 74.5%) and 4.3 cm (sensitivity 56.8%, specificity 80.0%) respectively. Univariate analysis showed that age, TNM staging, tumor location, differentiation degree, the maximum tumor diameter, T/N ratio and CA125 level were significant predictors of survival. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that TNM staging (P=0.000, OR=3.98, 95% CI:2.12-7.45), tumor location (P=0.009, OR=0.43, 95% CI:0.23-0.81), tumor differentiation degree (P=0.001, OR=7.52, 95% CI:2.12-25.9) and T/N ratio (P=0.008, OR=2.92, 95% CI:1.33-6.411) were independent predictors of survival. However, SUVmax was not independent predictor of disease-free survival.

CONCLUSIONFor postoperative prognosis of colorectal cancer patients, T/N ratio is more valuable than the of primary tumor SUVmax.

Colorectal Neoplasms ; Disease-Free Survival ; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 ; Humans ; Multimodal Imaging ; Neoplasm Staging ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Postoperative Period ; Prognosis ; Proportional Hazards Models ; ROC Curve ; Retrospective Studies ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

To compare the differences on current ethical issues in the areas of epidemiological practice between China and America,to identify the major ethical problems existing in the epidemiological studies in China.Through searching and reviewing papers published on Chinese Journal of Epidemiology and American Journal of Epidemiology from Jan.2006 to Dec.2010,we made a comparison on ethical issues involved in the original studies that focusing on human beings.In total,749 Chinese articles and 1221 American articles were recruited,with the following findings: (1)The proportion with announcements of “Informed consent by the subjects” was 29.24％ in Chinese literature and 38.08％ in the Americans (x2=16.02,P＜0.001 ).The proportion with “having had approvals from the ethic committees” was 29.24％ in Chinese,while 38.08％ in American ( x2=604.40,P＜ 0.0001 ).(2) Both in China and America,there had been an increase of ethical issues in the last 5 years.(3)Articles derived from trial studies had better involvement on ethics than those from observational studies.(4) The level on ethical issues in the American Research Institutes exceeded those in China (5)American studies also had showed better ideas on Ethic issues on biological specimens collection and privacy protection,than those in Chinese studies.Among the studies on Chinese Journal of Epidemiology,the proportion of ‘informed consent' was higher than in ethical review,but both ethical review and awareness on ‘informed consent' had left far behind than the American Journal of Epidemiology.This could be seen at the institution level of the writers,during specimen collection and privacy protection,as well as at the overall level.The results reminded us that the Departments of Technology Management should spend more efforts on the improvement of public education regarding ethics for researchers and to update the process of edition for Journals as well as to reinforce the rules of ethics in epidemiological research.

Paracetamol was used as a model drug in this study to investigate the synergetic effects of lipid coating and beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD) inclusion for masking the bitter taste of poorly soluble drugs. To control the concentration as low as possible of the free drug which produced a bitter taste, a kinetic model was established to calculate the drug distribution theoretically among the free drug in medium, lipid coated particles and molecular inclusion on the basis of the preparation and characterization of the lipid microspheres, so as to select the proper amount of beta-CD. Finally, the synergetic drug delivery systems were prepared and characterized by 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR), molecular simulation and the electronic tongue. As a result, the drug release rate constant (k) of the lipid microspheres coated with octadecanol was determined as 0.001 270 s(-1). Then, the synergetic drug delivery systems were prepared with the ratio of 6.74 : 1 (w/w) for beta-CD and paracetamol. The chemical shift values for the fingerprint peaks of paracetamol all increased and hydrogen bonds were formed between the oxygen on the phenolic hydroxyl group, the nitrogen on the imino in paracetamol and the hydrogens on the hydroxyl groups in beta-CD. The results tested by the electronic tongue indicated that the paracetamol, lipid microspheres, beta-CD inclusion and their mixture showed different taste characteristics, with the bitterness order of the synergetic drug delivery systems approximately lipid microspheres < beta-CD inclusion < paracetamol, which confirmed the synergetic taste masking effects of lipid coating and beta-CD molecular inclusion. In summary, the synergetic taste masking was jointly achieved through the retard of the drug release by the lipid coating and the inclusion of the free paracetamol by beta-CD through hydrogen bonds.
Acetaminophen ; administration & dosage ; chemistry ; Administration, Oral ; Drug Delivery Systems ; Electrical Equipment and Supplies ; Electrochemical Techniques ; instrumentation ; methods ; Hydrogen Bonding ; Kinetics ; Lipids ; chemistry ; Microspheres ; Solubility ; Taste ; drug effects ; beta-Cyclodextrins ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo further investigate the management and prognosis of primary urethral cancer in male.

METHODSWe treated 3 cases of primary urethral cancer from 2001 to 2011 and followed them up for recurrence and survival.

RESULTSThe 3 male patients all received adjuvant radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy, and 2 of them were treated by distal urethrectomy, while the other underwent no surgery. Follow-up visits revealed 2 cases of metastasis and 1 case of death.

CONCLUSIONPrimary cancer of the male urethra is a rare malignancy with poor prognosis, for which radical resection is the main treatment method. Those in the relatively advanced stage can be treated by a combined method of surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

Adult ; Aged ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Humans ; Male ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Urethral Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; surgery ; therapy

BACKGROUNDMutation and expression change of p21WAF1/CIP1 may play a role in the growth of osteosarcoma. This study was to investigate the expression of the p21WAF1/CIP1 gene in human osteosarcoma, p21WAF1/CIP1 gene DNA sequence change and their relationships with the phenotype and clinical prognosis.

METHODSp21WAF1/CIP1 gene in 10 normal people and the tumours of 45 osteosarcoma patients were examined using polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) with silver staining. The PCR product with an abnormal strand was sequenced directly. The p21WAF1/CIP1 gene mRNA and P21 protein of 45 cases of osteosarcoma were investigated by using in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry, respectively.

RESULTSThe occurrence of P21 protein in osteosarcoma was 17.78% (8/45), and p21WAF1/CIP1 mRNA expression in osteosarcoma was 42.22% (19/45). The p21WAF1/CIP1 gene DNA sequencing of amplified production showed that in p21WAF1/CIP1 gene exon 3 of 36 cases of human osteosarcoma, there were 17 cases (47.22%) with C-->T at position 609; 10 normal blood samples' DNA sequence analysis yielded 8 cases (80.00%) with C-->T at the same position.

CONCLUSIONSAlong with the increase of malignancy, the expression of p21WAF1/CIP1mRNA and P21 protein in osteosarcoma tends to decrease. It is uncommon for the p21WAF1/CIP1 gene mutation to occur in human osteosarcoma. As a result, the possible existence of tumour subtypes of p21WAF1/CIP1 gene mutation should be investigated. Our research leads to the location of p21WAF1/CIP1 gene polymorphism of Chinese osteosarcoma patients, which can provide a basis for further research.

Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p21 ; Cyclins ; genetics ; Humans ; Osteosarcoma ; genetics ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational ; RNA, Messenger ; analysis ; Sequence Analysis, DNA

OBJECTIVETo transfect a short hairpin RNA (shRNA) against survivin gene into human T lymphoblastic leukemia cell line Jurkat, and to explore the effects on apoptosis and proliferation of transfected cells.

METHODSThe survivin-shRNA expression vector were constructed and transfected into Jurkat cells. Expression of survivin mRNA and protein were assessed by RT-PCR and Western blot analysis respectively. Apoptosis index of transfected Jurkat cells was quantified by flow cytometry. The potential of cell proliferation was described by cell growth curves.

RESULTSIn survivin-shRNA transfected Jurkat cells, survivin mRNA levels were significantly reduced by 66.67% ( transient transfection) and 60.69% ( stable transfection) respectively, compared with that in control-shRNA treated group and PBS treated group (P < 0.05); and the levels of survivin protein were significantly reduced by 63.41% (transient transfection) and 60.18% (stable transfection), compared with that in the two control groups (P < 0.05). Apoptosis index was significantly increased during both transient and stable transfection, respectively [(22. 41 +/- 2.83)% and (20.73 +/- 2.56)% (P < 0.05)]. Survivin-shRNA also inhibited the proliferation of Jurkat cells.

CONCLUSIONSVector-based survivin-shRNA can effectively reduce the expression of survivin gene, induce apoptosis

Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Gene Expression ; Gene Silencing ; Humans ; Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins ; Jurkat Cells ; Microtubule-Associated Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Neoplasm Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; RNA Interference ; RNA, Messenger ; biosynthesis ; RNA, Small Interfering ; pharmacology