Lycii Cortex, a popular herb medicine in traditional Chinese medicine, is used to treat different inflammation-related diseases. The aim of our work is to find the key constituents inhibiting NF-kappaB, a key regulator of inflammation. In the investigations of cell-based in vitro assays of extracts, we found that both ethyl acetate extract and methanol extract of Lycii Cortex inhibited the TNF-alpha-induced activation of NF-kappaB. Through bioassay-guided fractionation, we identified 4 phenolic amides including trans-N-(p-coumaroyl) tyramine (1), trans-N-feruloyltyramine (2), trans-N-caffeoyltyramine (3), and dihydro-N-caffeoyltyramine (4). Four phenolic amides showed differently inhibitory activities on TNF-alpha-induced NF-kappaB activation. Trans-N-caffeoyltyramine (3) was identified as the key component with an IC50 of 18.41 micromol x L(-1). It was suggested that the hydroxyl group at C-3 in trans-N-caffeoyltyramine might be a key binding site and its C-7,8-double bond might play an important role on NF-kappaB inhibitory activities as the link of the conjugation of pi electrons leading to a partial planar conformation. It might be inferred that the biological activity of compound 3 is attributed to the structure of Michael reaction acceptor containing alpha, beta-unsaturated ketones and benzene along with hydroxyl group in o-diphenol.
Biological Assay ; Cell Line ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Inflammation Mediators ; antagonists & inhibitors ; immunology ; Lycium ; chemistry ; Molecular Structure ; NF-kappa B ; antagonists & inhibitors ; immunology

Objective: To investigate the clinical effect of Rhinitis Spray (RS) in treating chronic simple and hypertrophic rhinitis. Methods: Eighty patients with chronic rhinitis were divided into three groups and treated with RS, ephedrine and normal saline respectively. Results: The short-term effective rate in the three groups was 89.3%, 66.7% and 8.0% respectively. RS was effective in alleviating symptoms, increasing IgG level in nasal discharge, improving ventilatory function of nasal cavity and transfer function of nasal muosa cilia obviously. Conclusion: The therapeutic effect of RS in treating chronic rhinitis is satisfactory.

OBJECTIVETo screen and identify the differentially expressed genes in hepatocellular carcinoma cells SMMC-7721 responsing to the aqueous extract from dried powdered rhizomes of Typhonium giganteum (AEoTGE).

METHODThe response of hepatocellular carcinoma cells SMMC-7721 to AEoTGE was explored with the technique of mRNA differential display.

RESULTAfter hepatocarcinoma cells SMMC-7721 were treated by AEoTGE for 36 hours, 1 gene expression was upgrade and 1 gene expression was downgrade induced by AEoTGE.

CONCLUSIONThe research has provided important clues for the molecular mechanism of how hepatocarcinoma cells responseing to T. giganteum.

Araceae ; chemistry ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; genetics ; pathology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; drug effects ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; genetics ; pathology ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; RNA, Neoplasm ; genetics ; Rhizome ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo investigate the optimal extraction process of polysaccharides from S. fusiforme by enzymatic treatment.

METHODThe optimum extraction conditions were obtained by the experiment with the orthogonal design. The content of polysaccharides of S. fusiforme was determined by spectraphotometry.

RESULTThe amount of enzyme and temperature significantly affected total polysaccharides of S. fusiforme.

CONCLUSIONThe optimum extraction conditions include the addition of 1. 2 x 10 (4) U x 100 g(-1) enzyme into water at pH 4. 5, and the subsequent treatment for 10 min while the temperature is maintained at 45 degrees C.

Cellulase ; metabolism ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Polysaccharides ; analysis ; isolation & purification ; metabolism ; Sargassum ; chemistry ; Technology, Pharmaceutical ; methods ; Temperature

Objective To analyze the efficacy of electric sacral neuromdulation and resiniferatoxin in patients with female overactive bladder.Methods 32 cases with IOAB female patients accepted percutaneous test sitmulation of the electric sacral nerves at S3 ,and treated by intravesical instillation with 100ml of 100nmol/L RTX.The effica- cy of voiding status were evaluated.The improvement of female patients life were evaluated comparing the rating of depression and anxiety.Results There were significant improvements in 32 cases in variables included the number of voiding,volume voided and signs every day and urgent uresis.In the rating of depression and anxiety,the patients improved a litter and still had stimulating symptom in urethra and bladder.Conclusion The treatment of IOAB with single administratoon of electric sacral neuromdulation and resiniferatoxin is effective,and can successfully im- prove the symptom with little side effects.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of rat Schwann cell secretion on the proliferation and differentiation of human embryonic neural stem cells (NSCs).

METHODSThe samples were divided into three groups. In Group One, NSCs were cultured in DMED/F12 in which Schwann cells had grown for one day. In Group Two, NSCs and Schwann cells were co-cultured. In Group Three, NSCs were cultured in DMEM/F12. The morphology of NSCs was checked and beta-tubulin, GalC, hoechst 33342 and GFAP labellings were detected.

RESULTSIn Group One, all neural spheres were attached to the bottom and differentiated. The majority of them were beta-tubulin positive while a few of cells were GFAP or GalC positive. In Group Two, neural spheres remained undifferentiated and their proliferation was inhibited in places where Schwann cells were robust. In places where there were few Schwann cells, NSCs performed in a similar manner as in Group One. In Group Three, the cell growth state deteriorated day after day. On the 7th day, most NSCs died.

CONCLUSIONThe secretion of rat Schwann cells has a growth supportive and differentiation-inducing effect on human NSCs.

Animals ; Brain ; cytology ; embryology ; Cell Differentiation ; drug effects ; Cell Division ; drug effects ; Coculture Techniques ; Humans ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Schwann Cells ; secretion ; Sciatic Nerve ; cytology ; Stem Cells ; cytology

OBJECTIVETo assess the genetic and environmental influences on the somatotype of children and adolescents, and the effects of sex and age.

METHODSThe components of somatotype were calculated by using Heather-Cater method in a total of 376 twin pairs of Han nationality, including 245 monozygotic (MZ) and 131 like-sex dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs aged 6 to 18 years. Model-fitting method by Mx package was performed to evaluate the proportion of variance components and to analyze the effects of sex and age on each component of somatotype using the adjusted data for other two somatotype components. The heritability of each component in different development periods divided by growth spurt was also evaluated.

RESULTSThe estimated heritabilities of endomorphic, mesomorphic and ectomorphic components were 0.45, 0.80, 0.44 in boys, 0.82, 0.79 and 0.81 in girls respectively after adjusting age. In boys, the heritability of endomorphic component during late puberty was significantly higher than that during pre-puberty (t = 4.99, P < 0.01) and puberty (t = 6.16, P < 0.01), while the heritability of ectomorphic component during late puberty was significantly lower than that during pre-puberty (t = 3.35, P < 0.01) and puberty (t = 4.12, P < 0.01). In girls, the heritability of endomorphic (t = 2.77, P < 0.01) or mesomorphic (t = 2.08, P < 0.05) component during pre-puberty was significantly higher than that in early puberty.

CONCLUSIONThe genetic influence on somatotype of girls should be much more than that of boys, especially on the endomorphic and ectomorphic components. For boys, the mesomorphic component is mainly determined by genetic factors, but the other components are mainly affected by environmental ones. The effects of the development periods on the heritability of somatotype should be paid much attention to.

Adolescent ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Child ; China ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Somatotypes ; genetics ; Twins ; genetics ; Twins, Dizygotic ; genetics ; Twins, Monozygotic ; genetics

Objective To evaluate the solute clearance characteristics of REXEEDTM series dialyzers during high-flux dialysis, and explore the care characteristics. Methods A randomized crossover study of 3×3 Latin square was designed based on different dialyzers. Eighteen patients with regular hemodialysis underwent dialysis with REXEEDTM-15AC dialyzer, REXEEDTM-15UC dialyzer and controlled APS-15U dialyzer, respectively. Blood samples were obtained from the blood flow entrance and exit of dialyzers, levels of urea nitrogen, creatinine, phosphate and β2-microglobulin were detected, and solute clearance rates were calculated. Before and after the third dialysis with each dialyzer, blood samples were obtained to measure the levels of urea nitrogen and creatinine, and the rates of decrease were calculated. The vital signs of each patient were intensively observed, and the venous pressure and transmembrane pressure were monitored from the dialyzers. Results The urea nitrogen clearance rates of REXEEDTM-15AC dialyzer and REXEEDTM-15UC dialyzer were significantly higher than that of APS-15U dialyzer (P<0.05). The creatinine clearance rate of REXEEDTM-15AC dialyzer was significantly higher than that of APS-15U dialyzer(P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the rate of decrease in blood urea nitrogen among different dialyzers of the same patient(>65 % for all patients). The vital signs were stable with no adverse events during dialysis, and there was no abnormal findings in laboratory security parameters. Conclusion REXEEDTM series dialyzers are effective and safe for clinical application. Great importance should be attached to the complaints from patients during dialysis. For those with less ultrafiltration, fluid as well as uhrafiltration should be supplemented to increase the transmembrane pressure.

OBJECTIVETo analyze the genetic relations of Shigella isolated from Shenzhen in 2001-2006 and develop primary molecular subtyping surveillance network of Shigella.

METHODSChromosomal DNAs from 55 isolated in agarose were digested with the restriction enzyme Xba I, and then were analyzed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) patterns were clustered using BioNumerics software.

RESULTSAll 41 distinctive PFGE patterns were identified among 55 strains. 32 strains belonged to one cluster. Differences were observed in other strains.

CONCLUSIONBoth genetic-related clones and non-related clones of Shigella existed in Shenzhen. The development of PFGE molecular subtyping surveillance network would contribute to the active surveillance, outbreak investigation and source tracking for Shigellosis.

Bacterial Typing Techniques ; China ; Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field ; methods ; Feces ; microbiology ; Humans ; Shigella ; classification ; isolation & purification

OBJECTIVESTo identify and clone human genes transactivated by HCV F protein by constructing a cDNA subtractive library using the suppression subtractive hybridization technique.

METHODSSuppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) and bioinformatics techniques were used for screening and cloning of the target genes transactivated by HCV F protein. The mRNA was isolated from HepG2 cells transfected with pcDNA3.1 (-)-F or with pcDNA3.1(-) empty vector as a control, and SSH method was employed to analyze the differentially expressed DNA sequence between the two groups. After restriction enzyme Rsa I digestion, small sized cDNAs were obtained. Then tester cDNA was divided into two groups and ligated to the specific adaptor 1 or adaptor 2. After tester cDNA was hybridized with driver cDNA twice and underwent two times of nested PCR, it was then subcloned into T/A plasmid vectors to set up the subtractive library. Amplification of the library was carried out with E. coli strain DH5 alpha. The cDNA was sequenced and analyzed in GenBank with blast search after PCR.

RESULTSThe subtractive library of genes transactivated by HCV F protein was constructed successfully. The amplified library contains 71 positive clones. Colony PCR shows that 56 clones contain 200-1000 bp inserts. Sequence analysis was performed on 28 clones randomly, and the full length sequences were obtained with using the bioinformatics method. Altogether 19 coding sequences were obtained, consisting of 17 known and 2 unknown.

CONCLUSIONSThe obtained sequences may be target genes transactivated by HCV F protein, and some gene coding proteins are those involved in cell cycle regulation, metabolism, and cell apoptosis.

Cloning, Molecular ; Hepacivirus ; genetics ; Humans ; Nucleic Acid Hybridization ; methods ; RNA, Messenger ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Transcriptional Activation ; Viral Core Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics