Objective To investigate therapeutic effect and molecular mechanism of RPS on Diabetic Nephropathy rats.Methods DN rats were induced by STZ injection and grouped into model group, low-dose RPS group, middle-dose RPS group, high-dose RPS group, Rosiglitazone group and normal group.24 h urine protein,kidney weight index,blood glucose level and TG, BUN and Scr level in normal and DN rats were detected.TGF-βlevel of serum of rats in all groups by ELISA were detected.mRNA and protein expression level of PPARγ,aP2 and GLUT4 by RT PCR and Western blot were also detected.Results DN rats were induced successfully because the 24 h urine protein, kidney weight index and the levels of blood sugar and TG, BUN,Scr l and TGF-βevels, and the mRNA level of PPARγ,aP2 and GLUT4 level in DN rats increased than normal group(P<0.05).The mRNA level of PPARγ,aP2 and GLUT4 level increased(P<0.05) and other indexes decreased(P<0.05) as the doses of RPS increasing.The therapeutic effects of Rosiglitazone group was better than high dose PRS group.The protein level of PPARγ, aP2 and GLUT4 in DN rat skeletal muscle were significantly lower than normal group(P<0.05), and RPS can increase their expression level obviously.Conclusion RPS has a dose-dependent therapeutic effect on DN rats by improving the expression level of related protein in PPAR gamma signaling pathways.

The MLN64 gene,which is localized in q12-q21 of the human chromosome 17,encodes a novel transmembrane protein containing 445 amino acids .The C-terminus of MLN64 shares significant homology with the steroidogenic acute regulatory (StAR)protein,while its N-terminal domain exhibits a function of targe-ting the protein to late endosomes .MLN64 is likely to be involved in cholesterol transport and synthesis of steroid hormones.MLN64 gene,coamplified with C -erbB-2,is overexpressed in certain breast carcinomas and exerts an influence on biological characteristics of breast cancer cells .The high levels of MLN 64 observed in some breast carcinomas could contribute to the growth and progression of these tumors through increased intratumoral steroido -genesis,and is considered as a predictive factor of breast cancer prognosis .

Aim To determine whether there existed melatonin receptor (MR) in adult hepatoma tissue and to observe its property of binding.Methods Immuno-histochemistry was used to detect MR and identify its subcellular distribution. Specific binding and kinetic analyses of melatonin receptor were measured by radioligand binding assay.Results The results of immunohistochemistry showed that MT1 and MT2 existed in membrane, cytosol and nucleus of the hepatoma cells, but the expression of them principally localized in the membrane and cytosol. The specific binding assay properties of MR were presented as follows: the maximum binding capacity (B_(max)) was (0.29±0.07) pmol·g~(-1) protein. Equilibrium dissociation constant (K_d) was (48.7±6.5) pmol·L~(-1). The trait of MR, saturation and reversibility, was detected by ~(125)I-Mel specific binding kinetic analyses.Conclusions MR exists in adult hepatoma cells, furthermore, the subtypes of MR (MT1 and MT2) coexist in the membrane and cytosol, respectively,whose characters of the specific binding sites were low binding capacity,high affinity,saturation and reversibility.

Blood Pressure ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Hypertension ; drug therapy ; Inflammation

Animals ; Biogenic Monoamines ; metabolism ; Brain ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Female ; Lipid Peroxidation ; drug effects ; Male ; Mice ; Paraquat ; toxicity

Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Stomach Neoplasms ; therapy

Objective To investigate the effectiveness of implantation of homologous cancellous and autologous red marrow under endoscope in the treatment of traumatic bone nonunion or bone defect.MethodsTotally 25 patients with traumatic bone nonunion or bone defect were enrolled in this study.The lesion involved the tibia bone in 9 cases,the femur in 13,and the humerus in 3.The grafts were sized 1 to 6 cm in length(mean,2.7 cm).Before the implantation of the cancellous bones,the scar fibrous tissues within the nonunion were removed completely by endoscopy,and then autologous red marrow obtained from the iliac crest was injected.ResultsAll the patients were followed up for 12 to 36 months(mean,25 months).The surgical wounds healed primarily in all of the cases without injuries to the blood vessels and nerves.Bony union was achieved within 4 to 9 months(mean,5.1 months) in 23 of the patients,the other 2 failed because of breaking and loosing of internal fixators.No patient developed re-nonunion and infection.ConclusionsImplantation of homologous cancellous and autologous red marrow under endoscope is effective for traumatic bone nonunion or bone defect with a low rate of complication and high rate of bony union.Since no need to harvest the ilium bone,the method is minimally invasive for the patients.

It is now clear that both endogenous and exogenous sources of nitric oxide(NO) exert important modulatory effects on cardiac mitochondrial function.There is also growing evidence that NO can be produced within the mitochondria themselves.NO can influence respiratory activity,both through direct effects on the respiratory chain or indirectly via modulation of mitochondrial calcium accumulation.At pathological concentrations,NO causes irreversible alterations in respiratory function and also interacts with reactive oxygen species(ROS) to form reactive nitrogen species(RNS),which may further impair mitochondrial respiration and even lead to open the mitochondrial permeability transition pore and induce cell death.Diabetes,aging,myocardial ischemia,and heart failure are all associated with altered ROS generation,which can alter the delicate regulatory balance of effects of NO in the mitochondria.

The relationship between immune vasculitis and atherosclerosis was studied. The experimental model of weanling rabbits for immune vasculitis was reproduced by intravenous injection of 10% bovine serum albumin. There were 6 groups: group A, 25 weanling rabbits with immune vasculitis subject to coronary arteriography; group B, 10 normal mature rabbits subject to coronary arteriography; group C, 10 weanling rabbits subject to coronary arteriography; group D, 8 weanling rabbits with vasculitis and cholesterol diet; group E, 8 weanling rabbits receiving single cholesterol diet; group F: 8 weanling rabbits receiving basic diet. Four weeks later, coronary arteriography was performed in groups A, B and C. The rabbits in groups D, E and F were sacrificed for the study of pathological changes in the coronary artery after 12 weeks. The results showed that the dilatation of coronary artery occurred in 6 rabbits of group A, but in groups B and C, no dilatation of coronary artery appeared. In comparison with group E, more severe atherosclerosis occurred in group D, showing the thickened plaque, fibrous sclerosis and atherosclerotic lesion. Percentage of plaques covering aortic intima, incidence of atherosclerosis of small coronary arteries and degree of stenosis of coronary arteries were significantly higher in group D than in group E (P < 0.01). No atherosclerosis changes were found in group F. It was concluded that in the acute phase, the serum immune vasculitis can induce the dilatation of coronary artery of some weanling rabbits, and aggravate the formation of atherosclerosis in rabbits fed with cholesterol diet. Immune vasculitis is a new risk factor of atherosclerosis and ischemic heart disease.
Anti-Neutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibody-Associated Vasculitis/chemically induced ; Anti-Neutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibody-Associated Vasculitis/*complications ; Atherosclerosis/*etiology ; Cholesterol, Dietary/*administration & dosage ; Myocardial Ischemia/etiology ; Random Allocation ; Risk Factors ; Serum Albumin, Bovine

Objective To investigate the value of pro-adrenomedullin (pro-ADM) levels for severity as-sessment of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP).Methods 214 CAP patients who were admitted to the emer-gency department were prospectively studied.The levels of plasma pro-ADM were determined using a new sandwich immunoassay.At the same time, procalcitonin, C-reactive protein, interleukin-6 levels, leukocyte count, clinical varia-bles and the pneumonia severity index (PSI) were measured.Results Pro-ADM levels,in contrast to procalcitonin,interleukin-6 levels, increased with increasing of the severity of CAP, which was classified according to the PSI score (P<0.05).In patients who died during follow-up, pro-ADM levels on admission were significantly higher than that in survivors [2.08 vs.4.94 μg/L,Z=-4.081 ,P<0.001].In a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis for survival, the area under the ROC curve (AUC) for pro-ADM was 0.79, which was significantly higher than that for procalcitonin(0.72), C-reactive protein (0.58), interleukin-6 (0.64 ), and total leukocyte count (0.50) and sim-ilar to the AUC of the PSI (0.75).Conclusion Pro-ADM is a useful biomarker for the risk stratification of CAP patients.