Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic airway diseases,which leads to heavy social and economic burden to our country.We can use serum biomarkers to evaluate diagnosis,classification,treatment and prognosis of COPD.The change of biomarkers provides lots of valuable clinical information.A variety of biomarkers are associated with the severity of lung function,which can be used to judge disease severity.Some indicators are related to the diagnosis of acute exacerbation or hospitalization risk.Some serum markers would guide therapy and can be effectively applied to clinical work.Study of COPD serum biomarkers would provide more reference information for clinical physicians in diagnosis,treatment and prognosis of COPD.

To study the effects of surfactants on wettability of excipients, the contact angles of six types of surfactants on the surface of two common excipients and mixture of three surfactants with excipients were measured using hypsometry method. The results demonstrated that contact angle of water on the surface of excipients was associated with hydrophilcity of excipients. Contact angle was lowered with increase in hydrophilic groups of excipient molecules. The sequence of contact angle from small to large was starch < sodium benzoate < polyvinylpyrrolidone < sodium carboxymethylcellulose < sodium alginate < chitosan < hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose Chemistry, Pharmaceutical ; Excipients ; chemistry ; Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions ; Surface-Active Agents ; chemistry ; Tablets ; Water ; Wettability

The purpose of this research is to investigate the critical period of voltage-gated Na(+) channel development in hippocampal CA1 neurons. Changes of Na(+) currents in acutely isolated hippocampal CA1 neurons of rats at different ages (0-4 weeks after birth) were recorded using the whole-cell patch-clamp technique. The results indicated that the maximum current density of Na(+) channels was increasing with age, and the amplitudes in 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks respectively grew by (42.76 ± 4.91)%, (146.80 ± 7.63)%, (208.79 ± 5.28)% and (253.72 ± 5.74)% (n = 10, P < 0.05) compared with that in 0 week. The current density in CA1 neurons of 1-2 weeks after birth increased more significantly than those of other groups. The activation curve of Na(+) channel shifted to the left. The half-activation voltages (mV) in 0-2 weeks were -39.06 ± 0.65, -43.41 ± 0.52, -48.29 ± 0.45 (n = 10, P < 0.05), respectively, showing significant age-dependent decrease, and there were no significant changes in other groups. The slope factors of activation curve for each group did not change significantly. There were no regular changes in inactivation curve and no significant changes in half-inactivation voltage. The slope factors of inactivation curve in 1-2 weeks were: 5.77 ± 0.56, 4.42 ± 0.43 (n = 10, P < 0.05). The inactivation rate of the second week after birth was faster than that of the first week, and there were no significant changes during 0-1 week and 2-4 weeks. The recovery from inactivation curve of Na(+) channel shifted to the left. The recovery time declined in 1-3 weeks. Changes of action potential properties were consistent with Na(+) current. These results suggest that the period of 1-2 weeks after birth may be the critical development period of voltage-gated Na(+) channel in hippocampal CA1 neurons. During this time, the distribution of Na(+) channel increases significantly; the activation curve of Na(+) channel shifts to the left; inactivation rate increases as well as recovery time shortens.
Action Potentials ; Animals ; CA1 Region, Hippocampal ; cytology ; Neurons ; physiology ; Patch-Clamp Techniques ; Rats ; Sodium Channels ; physiology

Objective To evaluate the effects of intrathecal 2-PMPA on chronic inflammatory pain in rats . Methods Twenty four male Sprague-Dawley rats ,aged 4-6 months ,weighing 200-250 g ,were randomly divided into 3 groups (n=8 each) using a random number table :normal saline (NS) group ,complete Freund′s adjuvant (CFA ) group and N-acetylaspartylglutamate peptidase inhibitor 2-PMPA group (group 2-PMPA ) . Chronic inflammatory pain was induced by injecting 100μl of CFA into the plantar surface of the left hindpaw .Immediately after injection of CFA ,2-PMPA 100 μg was injected intrathecally once a day for 3 consecutive days in group 2-PMPA ,while the equal volume of NS was given instead of 2-PMPA in NS and CFA groups .The paw withdrawal latency to thermal nociceptive stimulus (TWL ) and paw withdrawal threshold (PWT ) to von Frey filament stimulation were measured before injection of CFA (baseline ,T1 ) and after the last injection of CFA (T2 ) .Then the rats were sacrificed and the L4 ,5 segments of the spinal cord were removed for determination of NR2B expression by Western blot .Results Compared with group NS ,TWL and PWT were significantly decreased at T2 and the expression of NR2B was up-regulated in CFA and 2-PMPA groups ( P<0.05 ) .Compared with group CFA ,TWL and PWT were significantly increased at T2 and the expression of NR2B was down-regulated in group 2-PMPA ( P<0.05) .Conclusion Intrathecal 2-PMPA can alleviate CFA-induced chronic inflammatory pain in rats ,and inhibition of NR2B expression in the spinal cord is involved in the mechanism .

To explore rapid 3D reconstruction based on wiggle stereoscopy for cerebrovascular CT images to e-liminate the complicacy and inconvenience of the traditional methods. Focal parts of cerebrovascular CT images were segmented based on intelligent neural network fusion model. A 3D human body model base was established, and the focal parts were replaced with the corresponding ones in the base to realize cerebrovascular CT images 3D reconstruction. The 3D human body model base enhanced the efficiency of the cerebrovascular CT images 3D reconstruction greatly. The rapid reconstruction based on wiggle stereoscopy facilitates the display of cerebrovascular CT im-ages.

Lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are both serious threats to human health,resulting in a heavy economic burden for the society.Epidemiological studies have shown that lung cancer and COPD have a high comorbid rate.Cigarette smoking is a congenerous risk factor for both lung cancer and COPD,and may lead to these diseases by triggering certain similar pathways.The common pathogenesis of lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease involves premature pulmonary failure,oxidative stress and inflammation,telomere length,genetic susceptibility,and epigenetics.

OBJECTIVE: Visual search is an important attention process that precedes the information processing. Visual search also mediates the relationship between cognition function (attention) and social cognition (such as facial expression identification). However, the association between visual attention and social cognition in patients with schizophrenia remains unknown. The purposes of this study were to examine the differences in visual search performance and facial expression identification between patients with schizophrenia and normal controls, and to explore the relationship between visual search performance and facial expression identification in patients with schizophrenia. METHODS: Fourteen patients with schizophrenia (mean age=46.36+/-6.74) and 15 normal controls (mean age=40.87+/-9.33) participated this study. The visual search task, including feature search and conjunction search, and Japanese and Caucasian Facial Expression of Emotion were administered. RESULTS: Patients with schizophrenia had worse visual search performance both in feature search and conjunction search than normal controls, as well as had worse facial expression identification, especially in surprised and sadness. In addition, there were negative associations between visual search performance and facial expression identification in patients with schizophrenia, especially in surprised and sadness. However, this phenomenon was not showed in normal controls. CONCLUSION: Patients with schizophrenia who had visual search deficits had the impairment on facial expression identification. Increasing ability of visual search and facial expression identification may improve their social function and interpersonal relationship.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Automatic Data Processing ; Cognition ; Facial Expression* ; Humans ; Schizophrenia*

Objective To explore the expression of protein arginine methyltransferases 6 (PRMT6) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) mouse model and its correlation with inflam mation gene interleukin 6 (IL-6) and cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2).Methods Sixteen C57BL/8J mice were randomly divided into 2 groups:control group and cigarette smoke extract (CSE)-induced COPD group.Each group was injected intraperitoneally with phosphate-buffered saline solutions (PBS) or CSE at days 1,12,23 and measured lung function and collected lung tissue at day 29.The morphology change of the lung tissue was determined by hematoxylin and eosin (HE) stainning.The protein expression of PRMT6,H3R2me2a and H3K4me3 were detected in lung homogenates by Western-blotting.The mRNA expression of PRMT6,IL-6 and COX-2 were measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR).Results Comparing to control group,COPD group showed typical emphysema changes in the lung tissue,and significantly decreased lung function.The mRNA and protein expression of PRMT6 in the lung tissue of the mice with COPD were significantly decreased,following with the down-regulated signal level of H3R2me2a protein expression,while the increased level of IL-6 and COX-2 mRNA.Meanwhile,PRMT6 was negatively correlated with IL-6 and COX-2 mRNA expression.Conclusions PRMT6 was significantly reduced in CSE-induced COPD mouse model,following with decreased histone H3R2 dimethylation and increased H3K4 trimethylation,negatively correlating with inflammatory gene IL-6 and COX-2 transcription expression.PRMT6 downregulation may activate the transcriptional expression of inflammatory genes involved in the development of COPD,through the regulation of histone methylation level.

The solubilization and protection of curcumin (Cur) by mixed surfactants were studied through the determination about the critical micellar concentration (CMC) of the mixed surfactants of Tween 80 and dodecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (DTAB), molar solubilization ratio (MSR), degradation rate (k) of Cur in pH 13 solution and mixed surfactant solutions prepared at pH 13. The results showed that when Tween 80 was used alone, it exhibited high solubilization ability but poor stability. DTAB was used alone, it showed strong stability but poor solubilization ability. When DTAB was mixed with Tween 80 at different mole fractions, the stability of Cur was enhanced, and the best stability was observed when the mole fraction of DTAB was 0.4, although the solubilization ability was not the best at this mole fraction, but MSR was increased by 1.7 times compared to DTAB used alone. Mixed surfactant not only increased the solubility but also improved the stability of Cur. In addition, mixed surfactant has the advantages of less dosage and low toxicity, which is worth popularizing in application.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of atorvastatin on expressions of scavenger receptor A and secretion of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) in foam cells.

METHODSTHP-1 cells were induced to differentiate into macrophages by PMA and treated with 0.1% BSA (control), ox-LDL (100 mg/L) or ox-LDL plus atorvastatin (5, 10, 20 micromol/L) for 24 hours. MCP-1 concentration in cell substratum was measured by ELISA. Scavenger receptor A expression was observed under fluorescent microscope after incubated with DiI-Ac-LDL. The relationship between concentration of MCP-1 and the activity of scavenger receptor A was also analyzed.

RESULTSCompared to the control cells, MCP-1 concentration in ox-LDL treated cells was significantly increased after 6 hours, peaked at 12 hours and was still significantly increased after 24 hours (all P < 0.05 vs. baseline). The activity of scavenger receptor A was also significantly increased in ox-LDL treated cells (P < 0.01 vs. control). The activity of scavenger receptor A proteins correlated positively to the concentration of MCP-1 in ox-LDL treated cells (r = 0.683, P < 0.01). Atorvastatin significantly attenuated these changes in a dose-dependent manner.

CONCLUSIONSScavenger receptor A and MCP-1 expressions were significantly increased in the course of monocyte lines THP-1 differentiating into macrophages and foam cells. The anti-atherosclerosis effect of atorvastatin might be partly achieved by inhibiting the secretion of MCP-1 and expression of scavenger receptor A in foam cells.

Atorvastatin Calcium ; Cell Differentiation ; Cell Line ; Chemokine CCL2 ; metabolism ; Foam Cells ; cytology ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Heptanoic Acids ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Monocytes ; cytology ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Pyrroles ; pharmacology ; Scavenger Receptors, Class A ; metabolism