Pericytes are a very important cellular constituent of the blood-brain barrier.They play a regulatory role in brain angiogenesis,endothelial cell tight junction formation,blood-brain barrier differentiation,microvascular dynamic motion and structural stability.Pericytes exhibit unique functional characteristics in some diseases,such as cerebrovascular disease,neurodegenerative disease,neuroimmune disease and traumatic brain injury.This article reviews the roles of pericytes in the blood-brain barrier.

Dried roots and rhizomes of Salvia miltiorrhiza (Danshen) are among the most commonly used traditional Chinese medicines in clinic. The material basis for its efficacy mainly includes hydrophobic tanshinones and hydrophilic salvianolic acids. The traditional effects of Danshen are "removing stasis and relieving pain, activating blood to promote menstruation, clearing heart fire and tranquilization". According to modern pharmacological studies, Danshen and its main components have cardiovascular and cerebrovascular protective effect. Recent studies showed that Danshen and its main components also demonstrated protective effects on liver injury models induced by carbon tetrachloride, D-galactosamine, acetaminophen and alcohol. In this paper, the hepatoprotective effect and mechanism of Danshen were summarized and studied.
Animals ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Liver ; drug effects ; Protective Agents ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Salvia miltiorrhiza ; chemistry

OBJECTIVE: To identify the chemical components of bile acids from bear bile powder, the intermediate of bear bile powder and Tanreqing capsules by HPLC-MS/MS. METHODS: All samples were extracted with 70% methanol(V/V), and an Ultimate XB C18 column (4.6 mm×250 mm, 5 μm) was employed for separation with acetonitrile-0.1% formic acid as mobile phase in gradient elution. The MS spectrum was acquired in both positive and negative ion mode using ESI ion source. The chemical components were identified by the second mass spectrometric pyrolysis fragments, chromatographic peak retention time and fragmentation regularity summarized from the reference standards and the available literature. RESULTS: A total of 33 compounds were successfully identified or tentatively predicted, and six chemical compounds including tauroursodeoxycholic acid, taurochenodeoxycholic acid, ursodeoxycholic acid, chenodeoxycholic acid, 7α-hydroxy-3-oxo-5β-cholanic acid and one unknown constituent were finally transferred to Tanreqing capsules through the intermediate of bear bile powder. Moreover, 21 new chemical compounds (major ingredients of free bile acids) were generated during the production process of the intermediate, and 19 components were also detected in Tanreqing capsules. CONCLUSION: The investigation of the change of constituents in bear bile powder during Tanreqing capsules production provides a basis for the quality control and evaluation of Tanreqing capsules during production process.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of nitrogen concentration on the camptothecin (CPT) content in Camptotheca acuminata seedlings:

METHODThe seedlings of C. acuminata with 6 pair of leaves were subjected to five nitrogen concentrations treatments by sand culture in a greenhouse. The CPT content in the seedlings was determined by HPLC on the 20th, 35th, 50th, 65th and 80th day respectively.

RESULTThe CPT content in the young leaves of C. acuminata seedlings supplied with different nitrogen concentration was significantly higher than that in other organs (P < 0.01), and it showed a single peak curve with the time course, the highest CPT content was observed on the 50th day after treatment. The CPT content in the young leaves obviously declined with increasing nitrogen concentration, and it reached the highest (6.72%) when nitrogen concentration was 4 mmol x L(-1), equal to 1.1 times that of 16 mmol x L(-1) nitrogen.

CONCLUSIONThe results demonstrate that proper deficient nitrogen stress can significantly enhance CPT accumulation in young leaves of C. acuminata seedlings.

Camptotheca ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Camptothecin ; metabolism ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Nitrogen ; pharmacology ; Seedlings ; drug effects ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of nitrogen forms on the camptothecin (CPT) content, tryptophan synthase (TSB) and tryptophan decarboxylase (TDC) activities in Camptotheca acuminata seedlings.

METHODThe seedlings of C. acuminata with 6 pairs of leaves were subjected to 5 different NH4(+) -N/NO3(-) -N ratio (0 : 100, 75 : 25, 50 : 50, 25 : 75, 100 : 0) treatments by sand culture in a greenhouse. The CPT content, TSB activity in the young leaves and TDC in the stem barks of the seedlings were determined by HPLC on the 15th, 30th, 45th, 60th and 75th day, respectively.

RESULTThe obvious relationship between CPT content and nitrogen forms was observed. When NH4(+) - N /NO3(-) -N ratio was 25 : 75, CPT accumulation in young leaves displayed the best advantages (the highest value is 5.69 per thousand) and increased in the early 30 days of treatment and then declined. There was no obvious relationship between TSB activity in the young leaves and nitrogen forms. TDC activity in the stem bark was the highest when NH4(+) -N /NO3(-) -N ratio was 25 : 75, and the change of TDC activity paralleled to CPT content in the young leaves.

CONCLUSIONA short-term treatment that NH4(+) -N /NO3(-) -N ratio was 25:75 may gain high CPT content in the young leaves through enhancing the TDC activity in the stem bark of C. acuminata seedlings.

Aromatic-L-Amino-Acid Decarboxylases ; metabolism ; Camptotheca ; drug effects ; enzymology ; metabolism ; Camptothecin ; metabolism ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; metabolism ; Nitrogen ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Plant Leaves ; drug effects ; enzymology ; metabolism ; Seedlings ; drug effects ; enzymology ; metabolism ; Tryptophan Synthase ; metabolism

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Endoscopy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Maxillary Sinus ; surgery ; Middle Aged ; Otorhinolaryngologic Surgical Procedures ; methods ; Young Adult

Aging ; physiology ; Animals ; Female ; Male ; Mitochondria, Heart ; enzymology ; Mitochondrial Membrane Transport Proteins ; physiology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Superoxide Dismutase ; metabolism ; Ventricular Function, Left ; physiology

Background and Objective: Akt pathway plays an important role in cell growth and apoptosis.This study was to characterize the role of Akt in the synergistic effects of thermo-chemotherapy on lung cancer cell growht and its underlying mechanisms.Methods: H446 cells were subjected to different thermo-chemotherapy schemes: 43℃+paclitaxel(120 μg/L)(thermo-chemotherapy group),43℃+paclitaxel(120 μg/L)+Wortmannin(1 μmol/L,PI3K/Akt pathway inhibitor)(Wortmannin group),43℃+paclitaxel(120 μg/L)+N-acety-L-cysteine(NAC)(30 μmol/L,reactive oxygen species,ROS inhibitor)(NAC group),and paclitaxel(120 μg/L)group.The cells without any treatment were used as the control.MTT assay was conducted to measure the cell proliferation rate.Cell apoptosis was analyzed by flow cytometry(FCM).ROS was detected with fluorescence.Phosphorylation of Akt and the expressions of Caspase-3 were determined by Western blot.Results: The cell proliferation rate was significantly lower in the thermo-chemotherapy group than in the control and the chemotherapy groups[(59.83±3.36)% vs.(100.00±0.00)% and(69.16±2.95)%,P<0.05].The rate of cell apoptosis was the highest in the thermo-chemotherapy group(27.59±5.47)%(P<0.05).The ROS expression level was higher in the cells of thermo-chemotherapy group(102.14±18.34)than in the other groups(P<0.05),which could be inhibited by NAC(28.01±1.19),but not by the PI3K inhibitor Wortmannin(99.87±8.35).Phosphorylation of Akt significantly decreased in the thermo-chemotherapy group(0.69±0,03)(P<0.05),which could be blocked by Wortmannin(0.00±0.00),but increased by NAC(1.05±0.29)(P<0.05).The expression level of Caspase-3 was higher in the thermo-chemotherapy group(1.07±0.08)than in other groups(P<0.05).Conclusion: Thermo-chemotherapy has a stronger inhibitory effect than chemotherapy alone in lung tumor cell growth,probably through induction of ROS production and subsequent inhibition of Akt pathway activation and Caspase pathway-induced cancer cell apoptosis.

Objective To determine the expression of membrane-bound B lymphocyte stimulator (BLyS) protein and its mRNA in vitro of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from individuals with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE),and to investigate the role of interferon-?(IFN-?) on the expression of BLyS.Methods PBMCs were obtained from 25 SLE patients (mean age of 31+14) and 20 healthy volunteers (mean age of 28?10).They were randomized into IFN-?(5 ng/ml) group and control group.PBMCs were col- lected at 0,6,12 and 24 h for BLyS mRNA assessment using semi-quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR).PBMCs were also collected at 72 h for membrane-bound BLyS protein detection using flow cy- tometry (FACS) and direct immunofluorescence.Results①The expression of BLyS mRNA and membrane- bound protein in PBMCs was significantly higher in individuals with SLE compared with healthy controls (P＜0.05);②IFN-?enhanced BLyS mRNA expression in PBMCs in both healthy controls and SLE patients,with the greatest effect at 6 h (stimulated vs unstimulated,0.42?0.19 vs 0.25?0.14,P＜0.01;0.59?0.28 vs 0.44?0.21,P＜0.01 );③IFN-?also increased the expression of membrane-bound BLyS protein in both healthy con- trols and individuals with SLE (FACs,mean fluorescence intensity,4.5+3.0 vs 3.7~2.6,P

The isolate GN52 of Riemerrella anatipestifer was passaged on the Martin Medium successively according to the optimum condition. The experiments included Gram staining, biochemical test, drug sensitivity test and animal experiments were carried out on the bacteria of 3rd, 11th, 21st, 31st, 41st, 51st and 61st generations. It indicated that the bacterial morphs, biochemical character, drug resistance of the strain had no obvious change, but the virulence showed a trend of reduction.