Cerebrovascular Disorders ; drug therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Phytotherapy ; methods

Objective To explore the variation of the plasma high-sensitive C reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels and analyze the relationship between inflammation and malnutrition in the patients with stage V chronic kidney disease (CKD). Methods Ninety patients with stage V CKD were enrolled. The patients were divided into three groups according to their treatment, no dialysis (ND) group, hemodialysis (MHD) group and continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) group. Plasma hs-CRP, albumin and hemoglobin were detected. Results The levels of plasma hs-CRP were significantly increased in the patients with stage V CKD compared with normal individuals (P< 0.01). It showed a significant difference between MHD group, CAPD group and ND group (P < 0.05), while no significant difference was found between MHD group and CAPD group. The plasma hs-CRP levels increased in the patients with lower plasma albumin (< 35 g/L) or lower hemoglobin (< 90 g/L). Levels of plasma hs-CRP showed a negative relationship with plasma albumin and hemoglobin (r =- 0.535, P < 0.01 ;r =-0.220, P < 0.05). Conclusions Plasma hs-CRP levels increase in patients with stage V CKD, and there is a negative relationship between hs-CRP and plasma albumin and hemoglobin. Inflammation may be a factor of malnutrition in patients with CKD.

To study the chemical constituents of Veratrum dahuricum (Turcz.) Loes. f., a new aurone glycoside named as (Z)-7, 4'-dimethoxy-6-hydroxyl-aurone-4-O-β-glucopyranoside was isolated from the 95% ethanol extracts of the rhizomes and roots of Veratrum dahuricum (Turcz.) Loes. f. by repeated column chromatography on silica gel and recrystallization. Its structure was established by extensive spectroscopic analyses, and its cytotoxicities against HepG-2, MCF7 and A549 cell lines were measured in vitro.
Benzofurans ; isolation & purification ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Glycosides ; isolation & purification ; Humans ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Rhizome ; chemistry ; Veratrum ; chemistry

Objective To evaluate clinical application of phage amplified biologically assay (PhaB) in susceptibility test of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) in sputum. Methods The drug susceptibility of MTB was detected by PhaB in 143 patients with sputum-positive pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB),and the chemotherapy regimens were adjusted according to the results of susceptibility test.Independent samples t-tests were used for comparison of means.Count numbers were compared with Chisquare test.If there were count number of 0,Fisher probabilities should be used.ResultsThe total positive rate of PhaB was 94.4％ (135/143) with no differences between three types of PTB (x2 =1.886,P ＞ 0.05 ).The duration of testing for PhaB group was (6.6 ± 1.8) days,while for control was (29.4 ±8.7) days (t =29.01,P ＜ 0.01 ).Compared with control group,the 2-month negative-conversion rate (63.2％ vs.35.1％,x2 =3.989,P ＜ 0.05 ) and cure rate ( 100％ vs.78.4％,P ＜ 0.05 ) of PhaB group in type Ⅱ patients were significantly higher.But there were no differences between PhaB and control groups in type Ⅰ and Ⅲ PTB patients.ConclusionThe results of PhaB drug susceptibility test can be helpful for choosing effective chemotherapy regimen for PTB patients rapidly.

AIM:To observe the efficacy of intravitreal conbercept injection for chronic central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC).METHODS: Nine eyes of 9 patients diagnosed as chronic CSC between October 2015 to May 2016 were treated with an intravitreal injection of conbercept (0.5mg/0.05mL) (six patients were given the same does of intravitreal injection again at 1mo after the first injection).Follow-up observation was at 1, 2, and 6mo after injection.Observed indicators included best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), intraocular pressure, optical coherence tomography (OCT), fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA), choroidal indocyanine green angiography (ICGA), macular fovea thickness (CMT), subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT).RESULTS:Seven of the 9 patients responded significantly to the drug, while 2 patients had no response.The CMT was 373.12±72.43μm at baseline, which decreased significantly to 332.05±67.13μm, 282.24±62.30μm and 225.56±71.08μm at 1, 2 and 6mo after the intravitreal injection.The mean thickness of SFCT was 422.11±64.82μm before treatment.The choroidal thickness of non-responsive patients before treatment was below average, respectively 353μm and 365μm.The SFCT of 1, 2, and 6mo after treatment was 391.45±75.24μm, 365.53±63.07μm, 355.40±66.65μm.Before treatment and 1mo after, there was no significant difference (P=0.074), but there was statistically significant (P<0.01) between those of before and 2mo and 6mo after.The mean BCVA of the prior treatment was 0.53±0.32, the after treatment was 0.65±0.20, there was no different between the two(P>0.05).CONCLUSION: Intravitreal conbercept injection in chronic CSC may have some effect in accelerating subertinal fluid resolution and decreasing the CMT.The SFCT within 6mo after treatment was significantly lower than pretreatment.The SFCT may be an indicator of whether patients respond.

Objective To investigate the expression of microRNA 27a (miR-27a) and relationship with drug resistance in human ovarian cancer A2780/Taxol cells.Methods A stem-loop-mediated real-time PCR was used to detect miR-27a expression in A2780 and A2780/Taxol cells.The cells were transfected with the mimics or inhibitors of miR-27a or negative control RNA ( NC) by lipofectamine 2000.The expressions of MDR1 gene,P-glycoprotein (P-gp) and homeodomain-interacting protein kinase 2 (HIPK2) protein levels were measured by real-time PCR and western blot respectively.Methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay was used to analyze drug sensitivity.Apoptosis analysis was measured by fluorescence activated cell sorter ( FACS).Results (1) miR-27a was an average of 2.2-fold higher expression level in A2780/Taxol cells than that in A2780 cells,with a significant difference between the two groups (P <0.05).(2) A2780/Taxol cells transfection with inhibitors of miR-27a showed that the levels of MDR1 mRNA was decreased by 39%,P-gp protein level[(26 ±5)%]decreased than that in the NC group[(43 ±7)%],HIPK2 protein level[(30 ±6)%]increased than that in the NC group[(19 ±4)%],the 50% inhibitionconcentration (0.5 (μmol/L) was less than that in the NC group (6.8 μmol/L),apoptosis rate[(32.5 ± 3.6) %]was higher than that in the NC group[(5.6 ±2.1) %],and there were significant differences between two groups (all P < 0.05 ).( 3 ) Transfection of A2780 cells with mimics of miR-27a led to increase MDR1 mRNA expression by 121% as compared with one transfection with NC (P<0.05).Conclusion The expression of miR-27a is upregulated in A2780/Taxol cells,which may regulate MDR1 and P-gp expression by targeting HIPK2.

The expression of N-myc down-regulated gene 1 (NDRG1) has previously been reported to be involved in the proliferation, differentiation, invasion and metastasis of cancer cells, but its role in cervical cancer is still unclear. This study aimed to investigate the expression of NDRG1gene in human cervical cancer and its effect on aggressive tumor behaviors. The NDRG1 expression in cervical tissues and cells was detected by RT-PCR. Specific expression plasmid pEGFP-N1-NDRG1-GFP was used to enhance the expression of NDRG1 in human cervical cancer cell lines. The mRNA and protein level of NDRG1 was assessed by RT-PCR and Western blotting, respectively. Its effects on cell proliferation, migration, invasion, cell cycle and apoptosis were detected by MTT, transwell migration assay and flow cytometry (FCM), respectively. The results showed that the expression of NDRG1 in cervical cancer tissues and cells was significantly lower than in normal cervical tissues (P<0.001). After transfection with pEGFP-N1-NDRG1-GFP, the mRNA and protein expression of NDRG1 was up-regulated in Siha cells, which suppressed cell proliferation (P<0.001), induced cell cycle arrest (P<0.05), reduced invasion and migration of Siha cells (P<0.05), but caused no cell apoptosis. Moreover, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a tumor-induced angiogenesis factor, was markedly reduced and E-cadherin, a cell adhesion molecule, was increased in the cells transfected with pEGFP-N1-NDRG1-GFP. It was concluded that up-regulated NDRG1 may play a role in the suppression of malignant cell growth, invasion and metastasis of human cervical cancer.

Hunan University of Chinese Medicine has improved the implementation of animal ethics education from the aspects of carrying out elective courses, emphasizing the implementation of pre-class learning, integrating ethics education into experimental teaching, cultivating students' good medical literacy in a subtle way, and further deepening their learning by offering elective courses of animal ethics. The results show that the opening of elective courses and the enforcement of experimental animal ethics education in experimental classes have greatly strengthened the students' experimental animal ethics, which is conducive to the formation of students' medical literacy.

Objective To analysis the quality of life of patients with active ankylosing spondylitis (AS).Methods The quality of life was assessed in 52 patients with active AS using SF-36 and was compared with the general population.The correlation between the quality of life and the clinical measures of disease,in- cluding the Bath AS disease activity index(BASDAI),Bath AS functional index(BASFI),Bath AS metrology index(BASMI),patient's global assessment(PGA),spinal inflammation,total back pain,nocturnal back pain, and enthesis index(EI),were determined.Results The patients with active AS reported significant decreased scores on all dimensions of SF-36.The score of physical health components was poorer than that of mental health components.BASFI was the strongest factor correlated with the score of SF-36,followed by BASDAI and PGA.BASMI and total back pain were correlated with three dimensions only.In multivariate regression analysis,BASFI showed relative closer relationship to the qulity of life with active AS than other clinical mea- sures of disease and it accounted for 50.3%,35.2% and 47.9% of the variance in the physical health compo- nents,the mental health components and the overall score of SF-36,respectively.Conclusion The quality of life in patients with active AS is significantly declined compared with general population.The physical aspects seem to be more severely affected.Functional status of the patients with active AS are correlated with the quality of life closely.

Monascus spp.,a kind of filamentous fungi,produce abundant of important metabolites which were widely used in the fields of food and medicine.Until now,there are few reports on the important functional genes of the Monascus spp.due to little genetic information.In this paper,the feasibility of gene deletion mediated via Agrobacterium tumefaciens on the basis of homologous recombination was analyzed by studying on the deletion of the RGS domain of putative G-protein signaling regulator gene mrfA in Monascus ruber.The length of homologous arms of deletion vector pC805S were 958 bp and 824 bp,respectively.There were 26 transformants in which homologous recombination occurred in 138 transformants and the recombination rate was 18.8%.The result showed it was feasible to identify the function of unknown gene in M.ruber with the targeted-deletion technology mediated via A.tumefaciens.