Objective To investigate the effect of arsenic(As2O3) on spermatogenic cell apoptosis and the expression of telomerase activity in adult rats.Methods 40 healthy male Sprague-Dawle rats were randomly divided into four groups and they were treated with As2O3 at doses of 0(control group),0.375,0.75 and 1.5 mg/kg body weight respectively through gavage for 16 consecutive weeks.The numbers of testicular sperm head were counted and the coefficient of testicular viscera,daily sperm production(DSP) were calculated in every group.The apoptosis of germ cell was assessed by in situ terminal deoxynucleotityl transferase mediated dTUP nick end labeling(TUNEL) technique.The activity of telomerase in the spermatogenic cells was determined by immunohistochemistry.Results In the testes of As2O3-treated rats,the coefficient of testicular viscera,the number of testicular sperm head and DSP in moderate and high dose groups decreased significantly than that of control(P

Aim To investigate the changes of heme oxygenase-1(HO-1) in cardiomyocytes after acute myocardial infarction and the impact of simvastatin on HO-1 expression in rats.Methods Myocardial infarction models were made by anterior descending coronary artery ligation on male SD rats whereas sham group by spurious ligation.Survivals were randomized into myocardial infarction(MI) group,simvastatin(Sim) group and sham group 24 hours after the operation.The Sim group was treated with simvastatin 40 mg?kg-1?d-1 via gavage till sacrifice.MI and sham groups were gavaged with equal volume of 0.9% NaCl at the same time.Rats were sacrificed at time points of 24 hours,7 days and 28 days after the operation,for the detection of HO-1 mRNA by RT-PCR,HO-1 protein level by Western bolt,activity of superoxide dismutase(SOD) and content of malondialdehyde(MDA) by spectrophotometric method in non-infarcted zone.Results Expression of HO-1 mRNA and protein level increased at 24 hours,peaked at 7 days and decreased to basal levels at 28 days.All the indexes at each time point mentioned above were significantly higher in MI group than those in sham group.At the 7th day and 28 th day after the operation,the indexes were higher in Sim group than those in MI group(P

Objective To study the temporal changes of alveolar epithelial type Ⅱ cells and surfactant pro-tein A in young rats with acute lung injury induced by lipopolysaecharide. Method Totally 110 SD young rats (male:53, female : 57) were randomly divided into ALI and normal control groups (six subgroups in each group).LPS(4 mg/kg) was given intraperitoneally in ALI group. The same amount of normal saline was given in the con-trol groups. Eight rats in each subgroup were sacrificed at 6, 12, 24, 36, 48 and 72 hours after the injection.Lung samples were taken for transmission electron microscope examination. RT-PCR was epmloyed for the mea-surement of SP-A mRNA. Western blot was used for the detection of SP-A in the lung tissue. ANOVA and homo-geneity of variance test were performed by SPSS 12.0. Results The microvilli disappeared at 24 hours after the injection of LPS. The number of lamellar body (LBs) was provisionality increased at 24 hours and 48 hours. The ring-like an'angement of LBs around nucleus and the giant LB with vacuole-like deformity were found as the main characteristics of AEC- Ⅱ in ALI at 48 hours. The number of LBs reduced and broken and residual LB remained at 72 hours. SP-A elevated greatly from 24 to 48 hours (P < 0.01), reached peak at 36 hours (6.94 ± 0.80, P <0.01),reached the lowest level(3.87 ±0.50, P <0.01)at 72 hours. Conclusions The pathological changes of AEC-Ⅱ and SP-A in lung tissue wiht ALI are time-dependent. The typical alterations of AEC- Ⅱ occurs at 48 hours accompanied by the compensatory increase of SP-A. AEC- Ⅱ is seriously injuried with the typical changes of LBs and the diminishing of SP-A in lung tissue.

Child ; Endoscopy ; Humans ; Male ; Paraganglioma ; surgery ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms ; surgery

Objective To investigate the roles and significances of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in diffuse proliferative lupus nephritis by repeated renal biopsy.Methods Seventeen patients diagnosed by renal biopsy as WHO typeⅣlupus nephritis were analyzed by immunohistochemistry staining for MMP-2 and MMP-9. Double staining for MMP-2 and MT1-MMP,MMP-9 and CD68 were also performed.Patients had repeated renal biopsy after followed up for 2.5 years.The relationship between expressions of gelatinases and pathological activity index and clinical data were studied.Results MMP-2 immunoreactivity was detected in normal controls and was increased in diffuse proliferative lupus nephritis.MMP-9 staining,which was almost negative in normal giomeruli,was increased much more significantly in diffuse proliferative lupus nephritis. The immunoreactivity of MMP-2 and MMP-9 was positive in MT1-MMP staining and CD68-positive macrophages, respectively.The expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 was reduced by 70% and 62% in 10 patients whose clinical condition was partially alleviated,while the expressions in 7 patients whose clinical condition was not alleviated,were only reduced by 27% and 32%.The staining for MMP-2 and MMP-9 were correlated with activity index of lupus nephritis and proteinuria.Conclusion Up-regulation of gelatinases expression in diffuse proliferate lupus nephritis is correlated to activity index of the disease.

Objective To improve the recognition of nervous system symptoms of inborn errors.Methods Five patients with organic acidemias were screened by urine organic acid analysis(gas chromotography-mass spectrometry,GC/MS),3 cases of methylmalolic acidemias(MMA) and 2 cases of propionic acidemias(PA) were confirmed.They were treated with special diet and medicine after diagnosis.Result The improvement of mental development was observed after treatment.Conclusions Most of organic acidemias involve nervous systems,causing non-specific symptoms of nervous system as lethergy,seizures,mental retardation.Inborn errors of metabolism shall be kept in mind when causes of the symtoms of acidosis,seisures,mental retardation and lethergy are investigated.GC/MS is a very important method in diagnosis of organic acidemias.Early diagnosis and early treatment can improve the mental prognosis.

Objective To evaluate the value of annular calcification in CT in the diagnosis and differential diagnosis for benign and malignant thyroid nodules.Methods CT findings of 67 nodules in 67 patients pathologically diagnosed with annular calcifications were retrospectively analyzed to identify 49 benign nodules and 18 malignant nodules.The interior or boundaries of annular calcification before and after contrast-enhancement were compared,and the degree of enhancements of both interior annular calcification and thyroid tissues were observed.After contrast-enhancement,the numbers of lesions showing clearer boundaries and higher degree of enhancement were summarized.Statistic analysis was conducted by using x2 test.Results Among 67 nodules with annular calcifications,clearer boundaries after contrast-enhancement were observed in 61.2％ (30/49) benign nodules and 16.7％ (3/18) malignant nodules,showing significant statistical difference (x2 =10.457,P ＜ 0.05).The sensitivity and specificity of clearer edge after contrast-enhancement for benign nodules were 61.2％ (30/49) and 83.3％ (15/18) respectively.Higher degree of enhancement were observed in 16.3％ (8/49) in benign nodules and 0(0/18) malignant nodules,showing no significant statistical difference (x2 =3.337,P ＞ 0.05).The sensitivity and specificity of higher degree of enhancement for benign nodules were 16.3％ (8/49) and 100.0％ (18/18) respectively.The combination of clearer boundaries and higher degree of enhancement after contrast-enhancement was observed in 77.6％ (38/49) benign nodules and 16.7％ (3/18) malignant nodules,showing significant statistical difference (x2 =20.549,P ＜ 0.05).Meanwhile,the sensitivity and specificity of such combination for benign nodules were 77.6％ (38/49) and 83.3％ (15/18) respectively.Conclusions CT is important in the diagnosis of thyroid nodules with annular calcification.Clearer boundary after contrast-enhancement and its combination with higher degree of enhancement are helpful for the diagnosis of benign nodules.Boundaries that similar to or more obscure than that of plain scan indicate malignant nodules.

Objective To investigate whether the genetic variant rs10830963 of melatonin receptor 1B(MTNR1B)gene is associated with increased risk for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).Methods Eighty-seven GDM subjects(GDM group)and 91 normal pregnant women (control group)were randomly recruited form Women and Children's Hospital of Quzhou,Zhejiang Province,China.The allele and genotype frequencies of the rsi0830963 in MTNR1B gene were determined in all participants with PCR amplification and DNA sequencing.The allele and genotype frequencies of rs10830963 were compared to determine their differences between GDM subjects and normal controls.In addition,multiple linear regression was conducted to investigate the association patterns of the risk allele with fasting glucose and HbAlc levels.Results Both GG genotype and G allele frequencies of the rs10830963 loci in the GDM group were significantly higher than those in the controls,and women with G allele and GG genotype were associated with increased GDM risk(OR=1.53,95％ CI:1.005-2.324,P=0.047 and OR=2.16,95％ CI:1.052-4.434,P=0.034 respectively).After adjusting for age,body mass index before pregnancy,and family history of diabetes mellitus,women carrying GG genotype still had a higher GDM risk(OR =2.07,95％ CI:1.048-4.372,P =0.022).Multiple linear regression showed that the rs10830963 G allele was positively correlated with higher levels of fasting glucose(0.068 mmol/L,P=0.015)and HbAlc(0.073％,P=0.028).Conclusions Genetic variant rs10830963 in MTNR1B gene may contribute to the susceptibility to GDM in Chinese population and the rs10830963 G allele is a risk factor for the GDM susceptibility.

To explore the effective ingredients and mechanism of Ligusticum wallichii in treating brain ischemia. Four brain ischemia-related target proteins were selected in the joint screening for the 45 component in L. wallichii reported in literatures based on molecular docking by reference to the corresponding drugs in the market. According to the docking results, multiple components in L. wallichii, such as phthalides, were superior to the corresponding drugs in the market, suggesting that they may be the major effective components in L. wallichii for treating brain ischemia. The method can be used to study the material base and molecular mechanism of traditional Chinese medicines.
Brain Ischemia ; drug therapy ; Ligusticum ; chemistry ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Molecular Docking Simulation ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II ; antagonists & inhibitors ; Peroxidase ; antagonists & inhibitors ; Phytotherapy ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; antagonists & inhibitors

To collect small molecule drugs and their drug target data such as enzymes, ion channels, G-protein-coupled receptors and nuclear receptors from KEGG database as the training sets, in order to establish drug-target interaction models based on the random forest algorithm. The accuracies of the models were evaluated by the 10-fold cross-validation test, showing that the predicted success rates of the four drug target models were 71.34%, 67.08%, 73.17% and 67.83%, respectively. The models were adopted to predict the targets of 26 chemical components and establish the compound-target-disease network. The results were well verified by literatures. The models established in this paper are highly accurate, and can be used to discover potential targets in other traditional Chinese medicine ingredients.
Algorithms ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Gene Regulatory Networks ; drug effects ; Humans ; Ligusticum ; chemistry ; Molecular Targeted Therapy ; Rhizome ; chemistry