Objective To investigate whether catestatin (bovine chromogranin A 344-364) can inhibit the biofilm formation of Candida albicans and examine its relationship with the expression of adhesion gene HWP1.Methods Clinical strains and standard strain ATCC 10231 of C.albicans were studied.XTT [2,3-bis-(2-methoxy-4-nitro-5-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium-5-carboxanilide] method was used to assess the ability of C.albicans biofilm formation.Antifungal activity against planktonic Candida ceils was evaluated in terms of minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) according to the description in CLSI-M27-A3.XTT assay and colony count were used to assess the effect of catestatin on inhibiting C.albicans biofilm formation.The lowest concentration showing 50 ％ inhibition on biofilm formation (BIC50) was decided by calculating the metabolic activity.The adhesion of C.albicans reduced by catestatin was visualized under an inverted microscope and quantified by colony count.The expression of HWP1 was analyzed by RT-PCR.One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Dunnett's T3 test were used to compare the results.Results Clinical strains and standard strain ATCC 10231 of C.albicans showed strong ability in forming biofilm.Catestatin exhibited MICs ranging from 40 μmol/L to 80 μmol/L against planktonic C.albicans cells,and BIC50 of 80-160 μmol/L in inhibiting C.albicans biofilm formation.Catestatin reduced the adhesion of C.albicans.The colony forming unit (CFU) was 27 822.22-±-2 472.74 in blank control group,while the CFU was 5 355.55± 1 264.03,11 377.78±2 232.58,17 488.89±1 136.27,22 377.78±3 521.99,and 26 044.44±1 329.57 in the presence of 160,80,40,20,and 10 μmol/L catestatin,respectively (F=147.018,P=0.001).The difference between control group and 160,80,and 40 μmol/L catestatin was statistically significant (P＜0.05).RT-PCR found the expression of HWP1 in the presence of 160 μmol/L catestatin was about 12.24％ of that in blank control group.Conclusions Catestatin can effectively prevent C.albicans biofilm formation.This effect may be related to the down-regulated expression of adhesion gene HWP1 by catestatin,which results in reduced adhesion of C.albicans.Promising clinical prospect is expected for this finding.

Objective To study the feature that murine cytomegalovirus(MCMV)infect macrophage strain RAW264.7 and the influence of virus infection on proliferation and apoptosis of RAW264.7 in vitro.Methods RAW was infected by MCMV Smith with multiplicity of infection(MOI)1,0.1 and 0.01,respectivelv.The cells and culture supernatant were collected at 6,12,24,36,48,72,96 and 120 h post-infection(P.i.).Cytopathic effect(CPE)was found with microscope.Virus particles and uhrastructural changes of RAW were observed by transmission electron microscope(TEM). Early antigen(EA)expression was assaved bv immunohistochemical method.The proliferation of MCMV was studied by plaque formation assay.The influence of virus infection on proliferation and apoptosis of RAW were measured by MTT method and flow cytometry.The mouse embryo fibroblast(MEF)susceptible to MCMV infection was positive contro1.Results RAW was swollen and desquamated on 24-48 h P.i..The full-grown virus particles and swollen organelles in RAW were displayed with TEM.Preliminary positive expression of EA was demonstra ted from 6 h(MOI=1 and 0.1)to 12 h(MOI=0.01)P.i..Virus titer in RAw supernatant increased obviouslv on 24 h p.i.and reached the peak on 96-120 h P.i..The proliferation of RAW could be obviously inhibited by MCMV on 72-120 h p.i..When infected by virus with MOI=0.1,necrotic cells of RAW increased on 72-120 h D.i.and the influence of MCMV infection on apoptosis of RAW was not obvious.Conclusion Macrophage strain RAW264.7 is susceptible to MCMV,and it emerges faster cytolytic and productive infection than MEF.MCMV can inhibit the proliferation of RAW but not influence the apoptosis of it.These results can provide a practical experimental model for studying immunological pathogenic mechanism of cytomegalovirus in vitro.

Objective To evaluate the development of fetal cerebellar vermis using 3D transabdominal ultrasound,and provide evidence for prenatal screening fetal cerebellar vermis anomalies.Methods Totally 387 normal fetuses at 20～36 gestation weeks were examined by three-dimensional extended imaging(3DXI) to observe the fetal cerebellar vermis.The width,anteroposterior diameter,craniocaudal diameter of the cerebellar vermis,the angle between brain stem and vermis,a ratio between the area of anterior vermis and posterior vermis were measured,and the relationship between the gestational age and parameters mentioned above were analyzed.Results The multi slice view of 3DXI and 3D reconstructed sagittal section well evaluated the integrity of vermis morphous and vermis size,identified characteristic signs of vermis:the fourth ventricle apex and vermis crack.In normal fetus,brain stem and vermis were almost parallel,the angle between them was 3.97°±1.65°.There was no significant correlation between the angle and the gestational age.The area of the anterior vermis was smaller than that of posterior vermis,with a ratio of 0.76±0.06,which was also not related to gestational age.The width,anteroposte rior diameter and craniocaudal diameter of the cerebellar vermis were positively correlated with gestational age.Conclusions The multi slice view of 3DXI and 3D reconstructed sagittal section should help evaluate the development of the cerebellar vermis,accurately show the cerebellar vermis and its surrounding strutures,and provide a new way to evaluate the fetal cerebellar vermis.

To analyze and compare the protective effects of active components in different ethyl acetate extracts (EAEEPs) from Eclipta prostrate, in order to study the comparison of materials bases protecting normal human bronchial epithelial (NHBE) cells. The MTT assay was taken to compare the protective effect of different EAEEPs on cigarette smoke extracts (CSE) -induced NHBE cells. The ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) was applied to analyze the content of phenolic acid, coumaric grass ether and flavonoid in EAEEPs. According to the results, all of the eight EAEEPs (0-200 mg x L(-1)) showed certain protective effect on NHBE cells, with statistical difference. Specifically, the total mass of EAEEP VII (89.15 mg x L(-1)) and EAEEP VIII (57.44 mg x L(-1)), which showed the strongest activity, was not the highest, while EAEEP III (132.25 mg x L(-1)) displayed the highest total mass. In the combination with the "component structure" theory, the analysis showed a significant difference in the mass structure among phenolic acid, coumaric grass ether and flavonoid in EAEEP VIII and EAEEP VIII, which were 1.0: 1. 0: 0.5 and 1.0: 1.9: 0.8, respectively. The results suggested a specific optimal "component structure" relationship may exist in EAEEP, which could provide reference for the material base study and quality control.
Bronchi ; cytology ; drug effects ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Eclipta ; chemistry ; Epithelial Cells ; cytology ; drug effects ; Humans ; Protective Agents ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Tobacco Smoke Pollution ; adverse effects

To investigate the anticancer effects of ring C in 18β-glycyrrhetinic acid (GA), a series of GA derivatives featured with 9(11)-ene moiety in ring C were designed and synthesized. The structures were confirmed by IR, LC-MS and 1H NMR. Their inhibitory effects towards human prostate cancer PC-3 and leukemia HL-60 cell lines were determined. Most of the derivatives displayed stronger antiproliferative activities than GA. Particularly, compound 14 showed promising anticancer activity with the GI50 values of 4.48 µmol · L(-1) and 1.2 µmol · L(-1) against PC-3 and HL-60 cells respectively, which is worth further study.
Antineoplastic Agents ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; drug effects ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Drug Design ; Glycyrrhetinic Acid ; analogs & derivatives ; chemistry ; HL-60 Cells ; drug effects ; Humans ; Male ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; pathology

Objective To explore the risk factors affecting prognosis of children with Tourette syndrome(TS).Methods The follow-up visits were conducted on the clinical data of 98 cases with TS(85 male,13 female;aged 4-16 years old)from 1997 to 2005 in Wuhan children's hospital.All cases were consistent with the diagnostic criteria of TS in the 4th edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders(DSM-Ⅳ).The investigations were performed by the investigators who received special training using the unified questionnaire with the methods of direct inquiry or by telephone.The factors included sex,age,severity of TS,the primary symptoms,family history,coexisting diseases,basic diseases,perinatal abnormity and family-social relations.The prognosis of TS and these factors were analyzed by linear regression and stepwise regression with SPSS 12.0 software.Results About 16 cases lost follow-up and the other 82 cases with follow-up(72 male and 10 female)received retrospective review.They were 14 to 25 years old with complete data,and 50 cases healed,32 cases not healed.Results from non-conditional simple variant Logistic regression showed that such cases were associated with the following factors:age,family history of TS,severity of TS,coexisting diseases,basic diseases and perinatal abnormity(Pa0.05).Out of 6 suspicious factors,there were coexisting diseases(OR=84.088,95%CI 10.850-651.682),severity of TS(OR=13.956,95% CI 2.412-80.762),and family history of TS(OR=27.127,95% CI 1.047-702.831)of risk factors.Conclusion The long-term prognosis of children with TS may be related with coexisting disease,severity of TS and family history respectively.

OBJECTIVETo study the effect of ozonized saline on the activation of the Keap1-Nrf2-ARE signaling pathway in rat liver cells.

METHODSTwenty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into ozonized saline (OS) group, model group, ozonized saline control (OSC) group and normal control (NC) group. The rats in OS group and model group were intravenously administered with OS or oxygen saline (5 ml/kg) respectively, once a day for 15 days, and then intraperitoneally injected with CCl4 dissolved in oliver oil. The rats in OSC group were pretreated with OS for 15 days. The rats in NC group were fed normally for 15 days. On the 16th day, the rats in OSC group and NC group were intraperitoneally injected with oliver oil (2 ml/kg) without CCl4. After 24 hours of CCl4 or olive oil intraperitoneal injection, the serum levels of alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspertate aminotransferase (AST) were measured. The liver tissues were also collected for detection of total anti-oxygen capability (TAOC), glutathione (GSH), catalase (CAT), Glutathione peroxidase (GPx). Western Blot was used to detect Nrf2 and immunofluorescence staining assay to display intracelluar distribution of Nrf2.

RESULTSCompared with the rats in model group,the serum ALT and AST levels of rats in OS group were significantly lower (P < 0.01) ,which were (1240.4 ± 188.2) U/L and (1245.4 ± 176.9) U/L vs (539.8 ± 175.3) U/L and (546.0 ± 130.2) U/L, and the TAOC, CAT, GPx and GSH activity of rats in OS group were significantly higher, which were (0.72 ± 0.24) U/mg, (1.05 ± 0.21) mg/g, (676.9 ± 115.1) U/mg and (45.2 ± 14.3) U/mg vs (1.37 ± 0.19) U/mg, (2.23 ± 0.55) mg/g, (1024.6 ± 162.9) U/mg and (68.2 ± 9.9) U/mg, respectively. In contrast with NC group, pretreatment of OS in OSC group elevated TAOC, CAT, GPx and GSH activity (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05). Ozonized saline can strengthen the Nrf2 expression in liver cells.

CONCLUSIONPreconditioning injection of ozonized saline can reduce rat's liver injury induced by CCl4. The ozonized saline, as a novel Nrf2 activator, can reduce the oxidative damage of radical oxygen species (ROS) and the deleterious substance by activating the Keap1-Nrf2-ARE signaling pathway and its downstream genes expression.

Alanine Transaminase ; metabolism ; Animals ; Glutathione ; metabolism ; Glutathione Peroxidase ; metabolism ; Hepatocytes ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins ; Kelch-Like ECH-Associated Protein 1 ; Liver ; metabolism ; Male ; Malondialdehyde ; metabolism ; NF-E2-Related Factor 2 ; metabolism ; Oxidative Stress ; Ozone ; pharmacology ; Proteins ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Signal Transduction ; Superoxide Dismutase ; metabolism

This study was to investigate the protective effects of puerarin on myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (MI/R) injury and the underlying mechanism. The MI/R-model was established by ligating the left anterior descending artery (LAD) for 60 min followed by 24 h reperfusion, puerarin (10, 30, and 100 mg·kg^-1) was orally administered 20 min before reperfusion. Cardiac function, myocardial infarct index, cardiac damage markers, inflammatory cytokines, and apoptosis index were measured to evaluate the protective effects of puerarin on MI/R injury. The activation of Nod-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome and Toll like receptor 4 (TLR4)/myeloid differentiation factor 88 (Myd88)/nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) pathway were determined by Western blot. All animal experimental procedures were approved by the ethics committee of the Institute of Materia Medica, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. The results showed that puerarin could significantly improve cardiac function, reduce myocardial infarct size, decease the levels of lactic dehydrogenase (LDH), aspartate transaminase (AST), creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB), and cardiac troponin T (cTnT) and suppress cardiomyocyte apoptosis. Meanwhile, puerarin could notably decrease the levels of inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). Western blot analysis revealed that puerarin could downregulate the expression of TLR4, Myd88, NLRP3, apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD (ASC), cleaved-caspase 1, cleaved-gasdermin-D (GSDMD), IL-1β, and IL-18, as well as the phosphorylation levels of inhibitor of NF-κB α (IκBα), IκB kinase β (IKKβ), and NF-κB. These findings demonstrated that puerarin could alleviate MI/R injury by suppressing NLRP3 inflammasome activation, possibly via TLR4/Myd88/NF-κB pathway.

AIM: The influence of MCMV infection on differentiation and differentiation gene expression in neural stem cells ( NSCs) in vitro were investigated for studying the mechanisms of brain abnormalities caused by congenital cytomegalovirus infection. METHODS: NSCs were separated from fetal BALB/C mouse, and cultured and identified in vitro. The differentiation potency of NSCs was observed by immunofluorescence. The NSCs infected by MCMV at dosage of MOI( multiplicity of infection) equaled to 5, 1 and 0.1 .respectively, were cultured in differentiation medium. The morphological changes of infected cells were observed under inverted microscope. The ratios of NSCs and its differentiated cells were detected by flow cytometry. The expressions of nestin, GFAP and NSE, markers of NSCs and its differentiated cells, were studied by immunofluorescence( MOI = 1). The expression of early antigen ( EA ) of MCMV was detected to observe the infection process. Real - time RT - PCR method was employed to measure the expression levels of the key genes Neurog2, Myc and Ccnd1 in Wnt signal pathway of NSCs at early stage of differentiation culture. RESULTS: NSCs isolated from embryonic mouse brains proliferated to form neurospheres, strongly expressed nestin and differentiated into NF - 200 positive neurons or GFAP positive astrocytes. The infected NSCs did not adhere to the wall and appeared differentiation growths, but showed swollen gradually after differentiation culture. The nestin expression in the infected cells downregulated slowly and was higher than that in control groups ( P < 0.05). The GFAP and NSE expressions of the infected cells were lower than those in control groups ( P <0.05). The early antigen ( EA) of MCMV was always detected in the cells in infected groups. The ratios of nestin positive cells in infected groups were higher than those in control groups, but the ratios of GFAP and NSE positive cells of former were lower than that of the latter from 3rd to 9th d after differentiation culture(P < 0.05 ). The levels of Neurog2 mRNA and Myc mRNA in infected groups were markedly lower than those in normal control groups on 1st d and from 1st to 4th d after differentiation culture, respectively( P <0.05). The levels of Ccnd1 mRNA of infected groups were obviously lower than those in normal control groups from 12th h to 1st d( P <0.05 ). These changes in infected groups became more obvious as MCMV MOI increased. CONCLUSION: MCMV significantly inhibits differentiation of NSCs to neurons and astrocytes, and leads to the decrease in differentiated cells. MCMV inhibits or interferes with the gene expression of Newog2, Myc and Ccnd1 in Wnt signal pathway of NSCs. The effect that MCMV inhibits the expressions of differentiation and the differentiation genes in NSCs shows dose - dependent with MCMV MOI. The inhibitory effect of MCMV on the differentiation of NSCs might be induced by interfering with the expression of differentiation gene in NSCs, which is possibly the one of primary causes of brain development disorders induced by congenital CMV infection.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the therapeutic efficacy of interferon (IFN) therapy and risk of long-term administration for chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients who cannot tolerate the standard treatment.

METHODSForty-six CHC patients who had proven intolerant to standard treatments were treated with low-dose IFN (non-pegylated IFN: 60 to 300MIU QOD, or pegylated IFN: 50 to 90 mug/w) plus ribavirin (RBV; 0.6g to 0.9 g/d) for 72 weeks.

RESULTSForty-three (93.5%) of the patients were able to tolerate the long-term treatment with low-dose IFN plus RBV. Only three patients experienced severe side effects (low white blood cell and platelet counts) that required treatment withdrawal. The virology response rates over treatment time were: rapid virologic response (RVR): 10.9%; early virus response (EVR): 30.4%; 24 week virologic response: 45.7%; and, 48 week virologic response: 47.8%. B-sonographic imaging revealed that three patients experienced improved liver morphology through the treatment course. The patients who achieved RVR, EVR, or 24 weeks virologic response also attained higher 48 week virologic response. The 24 week virologic response had the strongest predictive value of good prognosis.

CONCLUSIONSOur study demonstrated that long-term treatment with low-dose interferon plus ribavirin is effective for patients who are otherwise intolerant to standard treatment. In these patients, low-dose IFN plus RBV can obtain a high virologic response rate at 48 week. Furthermore, the 24 week virologic response is sufficiently predictive of treatment success. As with any treatment regimen, it is important for healthcare workers to monitor the disease status and potential side effects throughout the course of therapy.

Adult ; Antiviral Agents ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Hepacivirus ; Hepatitis C, Chronic ; drug therapy ; virology ; Humans ; Interferons ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Treatment Outcome