Objective To explore the relationship between the inflammatory reaction and insulin function in children with critically ill.Me-thods Ninty-six children with critical disease in Oct.2003 to Oct.2006 were enrolled in the study.Blood sugar,plasma insulin,C-peptide,tumor necrosis factor(TNF)-?,C reactive protein(CRP)were measured in the peak period and convalescence.Results Blood sugar and plasma levels of insulin,C-peptide,TNF-?,CRP were significantly higher in the peak period than those in the convalescence(Pa

To study the chemical constituents from the bark of Myrica rubra, fourteen compounds were isolated from the methanolic extract using various chromatographic techniques, including silica gel, Sephadex LH-20 and preparative HPLC. Their structures were identified on the basis of chemical properties and spectroscopic data, as 3, 5-dimethoxy-4-hydroxymyricanol (1), myricanol (2), myricanone (3), myricanol 11-sulfate (4), myricitrin (5), quercetin (6), quercetin-3-rhamnoside (7), tamarixol (8), uvaol (9), ursolic acid (10), taraxerol (11), myricadiol (12), β-sitosterol (13) and β-daucosterol (14). Among them, compound 1 is a new compound, named as 3, 5-dimethoxy-4-hydroxymyricanol, compounds 8, 9 were isolated from the genus Myrica for the first time.
Diarylheptanoids ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Myrica ; chemistry ; Phytochemicals ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Plant Bark ; chemistry

Multidrug resistance (MDR) occurs frequently after long-term chemotherapy,resulting in refractory cancer and tumor recurrence.Therefore,combatting MDR is an important issue.Autophagy,a self-degradative system,universally arises during the treatment of sensitive and MDR cancer.Autophagy can be a double-edged sword for MDR tumors:it participates in the development of MDR and protects cancer cells from chemotherapeutics but can also kill MDR cancer cells in which apoptosis pathways are inactive.Autophagy induced by anticancer drugs could also activate apoptosis signaling pathways in MDR cells,facilitating MDR reversal.Therefore,research on the regulation of autophagy to combat MDR is expanding and is becoming increasingly important.We summarize advanced studies of autophagy in MDR tumors,including the variable role of autophagy in MDR cancer cells.

Animals ; Biofilms ; Caenorhabditis elegans ; metabolism ; Genes, Bacterial ; Yersinia pestis ; genetics ; metabolism

BACKGROUND: Alloying can improve the corrosion resistance and slow the degradation of pure magnesium. In addition, increasing studies have shown that zinc has good antitumor effect. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of zinc-containing magnesium alloy on the proliferation and apoptosis of human osteosarcoma U2OS cells in vitro.METHODS: The corrosion resistance of pure magnesium and different zinc-containing (2%, 4%, 6%) magnesium alloys were observed and compared by the hydrogen release assay in the Hank's solution. MTT assay was used to examine the effects of different zinc-containing magnesium alloy extractions on the proliferation of U2OS cells (or MC3T3-E1 cells) after co-culture of 1, 3, 5 days. After 24-hour co-culture with pure magnesium, different zinc-containing magnesium alloys and titanium alloy extractions, the apoptotic rates of U2OS cells were analyzed by flow cytometry, and the expression of apoptosis-related proteins were detected by western blot assay.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The corrosion resistance of pure magnesium was improved after addition of Zn within the initial 100 hours, and the magnesium alloy containing 4% zinc exhibited the optimal corrosion resistance. Different zinc-containing magnesium alloy extractions obviously inhibited the U2OS proliferation in a zinc level-depended manner, and the cytotoxicity of different zinc-containing magnesium alloy extractions to MC3T3-E1 was graded 0-1. Different zinc-containing magnesium alloy extractions could also induce obvious apoptosis in U2OS cells in a zinc level-depended manner. Different zinc-containing magnesium alloy extractions, especially the magnesium alloy containing 4% zinc, up-regulated the expression of p53 and Bax proteins and down-regulated the expression of Bcl-2 protein in U2OS cells, leading to the disorder of Bcl-2/Bax. These findings suggest that different zinc-containing magnesium alloy extractions can inhibit the proliferation and induce apoptosis of U2OS cells in vitro.

Objective To evaluate the perioperative and long-term effects of endovascular aneurysm repair(EVAR) of infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA).Methods Clinical data of 131 AAA cases undergoing EVAR were retrospectively evaluated for the safety and long-term efficacy.Results The operative time was (137 ±29) min,blood loss was (142 ±20) ml,blood transfusion was (46 ± 26) ml,ICU staying time was (17 ± 4) h.Major perioperative complications were severe heart failure in 8 cases,myocardial infarction in 2 cases,pulmonary complications in 5 cases,internal leakage in 4 cases.During the period of up to 60 months there were15 cases of endoleak including 8 cases of type Ⅰ,5 cases of type Ⅱ,1 each case of type Ⅲ and Ⅳ and 2 deaths.By Kaplan-Meier survival analysis there were complications developing after 60 months and up to 40％ of them needing reintervention.Conclusions Endovascular repair is the safe treatment for AAA,but discharged patients need close long-term follow-up.Complications that ensued need intensive management.

ObjectiveTo investigate the clinical value of color Doppler ultrasound examination in the diagonosis of acute and chronic artery occlusion of the extremities.MethodsA review was made on 129 extremetiy artery occlusion patients at Anzhen Hospital during 2006 -2010. 85 cases were male, and 44 cases were female. Age was from 17 to 94 years (average: 62 ±9 years). We analyzed two-dimensional and color Doppler flow imagings of 39 acute occlusion arteries and 97 chronic occlusion arteries. We compared factors including the echoes of artery lumens, the vessel wall structures, hemodynamic parameters of inlet and outlet at the occlusion, and collaterals between groups.ResultsThe factors of depths of vessel wall,internal diameters of ccclusion arteries, proximal resistant index and collaterals were significantly different between groups ( P ＜ 0. 05 ). The internal diameters of acute occlusion arteries were wider than chronic occlusion arteries. The depths of vessel wall, proximal resistant index and collaterals were thinner, smaller,and less than chronic occlusion arteries. The total accurate rate of differential diagnosis for acute and chronic artery occlusion by color Doppler ultrasound was 95.6％.ConclusionsColor Doppler ultrasound is an effective method for the differential diagnosis of acute and chronic artery occlusion of the extremities.

OBJECTIVETo establish a method for determining anticoagulation potency of Sparganii Rhizoma, and evaluate the effect of Sparganii Rhizoma herbs from different producing areas on promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis; and study the material basis of Sparganii Rhizoma through the correlation analysis on its anticoagulation potency, ferulic acid and total flavonoid content.

METHODThe anticoagulation time of Sparganii Rhizoma from different producing areas with activeated partial thromboplastin time for their active extracts. Their biopotency was calculated by using the method of "parallel lines of dose effect" (3, 3). The degree of correlation between their anticoagulation potency and chemical constituents were calculated by using Pearson correlational analysis method.

RESULTSparganii Rhizoma and is control drugs had a good linear relationship between dose and effect (Y = 172.76X - 193.39, R2 = 0.9955). The method had better accuracy (RSD 4.7%), repeatability (RSD 2.3%) and intermediate precision (RSD 5.4%), finding that the biopotency of Sparganii Rhizoma from different producing areas ranged between 52.33-238.58 U x g(-1), and all of them passed the test on reliability. The results of correlation analysis showed no remarkable relationship between the anticoagulation potency of Sparganii Rhizoma and the contents of the two chemical constituents.

CONCLUSIONThis biopotency determination method established in the experiment can be used as one of approaches for qulaity evaluation on Sparganii Rhizoma.

Animals ; Anticoagulants ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Blood Coagulation ; drug effects ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Rabbits ; Rhizome ; chemistry ; Typhaceae ; chemistry

BACKGROUNDAdhesion molecules play an important role in the development and progression of coronary atherosclerosis. The aim of this study was to compare concentrations of soluble forms of adhesion molecules in patients with different clinical presentations of coronary artery disease (CAD).

METHODSOne hundred and twenty-eight patients with CAD were divided into three groups; the first group was acute myocardial infarction group (AMI group, n = 45), the second group was unstable angina pectoris group (UAP group, n = 48), the third group was stable angina pectoris group (SAP group, n = 35). We compared them with patients with normal coronary arteries (control group, n = 31). The serum levels of vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM-1), intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), E-selectin and P-selectin were measured in all subjects.

RESULTSThe serum level of VCAM-1 in the AMI group was significantly higher than in the UAP, SAP and control groups (P < 0.01). The level in the UAP group was significantly higher than the SAP group and control group (P < 0.01) and the level in the SAP group was significantly higher than in the control group (P < 0.01). The serum ICAM-1 level was significantly elevated in the AMI, UAP and SAP groups as compared to the control group (P < 0.01). The levels of serum E-selectin and P-selectin in the AMI and UAP groups were significantly higher than in the SAP and control groups (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSIncreased levels of VCAM-1 and ICAM-1, E-selectin and P-selectin, as markers of inflammation, showed the importance of inflammatory processes in the development of atherosclerosis and clinical expression of CAD. Soluble ICAM-1, VCAM-1, E-selectin and P-selectin concentrations are useful indicators of the presence of atherosclerosis and the severity of CAD clinical presentation.

Coronary Artery Disease ; blood ; pathology ; E-Selectin ; blood ; Female ; Humans ; Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 ; blood ; Male ; Middle Aged ; P-Selectin ; blood ; Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 ; blood

Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay is a novel method of gene amplification with high specificity, sensitivity and rapidity, which can be applied for disease diagnosis in shrimp aquaculture. The method is performed under isothermal conditions with a set of four specially designed primers that recognize six distinct sequences of the target. In the present study, according to the conservative regions of non-structural protein gene NS1, a set of four specific primers were designed, and a rapid detection of IHHNV was established by LAMP assay. The parameters of reaction time and temperature were optimized, and its specificity and sensitivity were assessed. The reactions were carried out at 60 degrees C, 62 degrees C, 63 degrees C, 64 degrees C, 65 degrees C, 66 degrees C, 67 degrees C, 68 degrees C for different time (0 min; 15 min; 30 min; 45 min; 60 min; 75 min). A plasmid pMDIHHNV carrying target sequence of LAMP detection was constructed. Ten-fold serially diluted pMDIHHNV (10(7)-10(0)copies/microL) was used as template for LAMP assay to investigate the detection limit. To determine the specificity, LAMP assays were carried out with DNA templates from other pathogens (White spot syndrome virus; WSSV, Taura Syndrome Virus; TSV, Aeromonas. hydrophila, V. alginolyticus, Vibrio. parahaemolytious, Escherichia. coli). The results showed the optimized LAMP assay for the rapid detection of IHHNV was performed at 65 degrees C for 60 min. The LAMP assay had an unequivocal detection limit of 100 copies/microL, and it was 1,000 times lower than that of PCR. The nucleic acids of other pathogens were not amplified by this LAMP system with the specific primers, which showed a good specificity. The resulting amplicons were detected using visual observation after the addition of SYBR Green I and gel electrophoresis. We investigated the efficacy of UNG (uracil-N-glycosylase) and dUTP in avoiding carry-over contamination in the LAMP assay procedure and explored its effect on the amplification efficiency. Products of LAMP with dUTP adding could be lysed by UNG to avoid LAMP products carry-over contamination effectively. The LAMP assay could be finished within an hour, requiring only a regular laboratory water bath or heat block for reaction and the result could easily be detected using visual observation. Clinically suspected IHHNV-infected shrimp samples were detected by both LAMP and PCR assay, and the result indicated that IHHNV was detected rapidly by LAMP instead of by PCR.
Animals ; DNA Primers ; genetics ; Densovirinae ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques ; methods ; Penaeidae ; virology ; Viral Proteins ; genetics