Studies have suggested that human cytomegalovirus-activated infection is closely associated with atherosclerosis. The levels of interleukin-8 increase significantly in human cyto-megalovirus infection-related atherosclerosis, inducing and aggravating inflammatory reaction through the chemokine receptors, and thus plays an important role in the process of atherosclerosis.

OBJECTIVETo establish a method for quick investigating the absorption ingredients of Plantaginis semen and guiding the index selection for its quality control.

METHODThe absorption of three concentrations of Plantaginis semem was investigated with the in vitro everted intestinal sac (VEIS) model The intestinal sac contents of jejunum and ileum were collected at different time and geniposidic acid was detected by HPLC and LC-MS(n) as the representative marker.

RESULTSix ingredients could be detected. At different concentrations of Plantaginis semen, geniposidic acid tested by VEIS showed that there was a good linear correlation between the drug absorption from the medium across the intestinal epithelium into the sac contents in various intestines section. The absorption of the gut sacs from 0 to 90 min manifested a significant time-dependent manner. The Ka of geniposidic acid in the jejunum and ileum increased along with the raised dosage of the Plantaginis Semen (P < 0.05), which indicated a passive absorption manner.

CONCLUSIONThis method can be used as a tool to investigate the absorption ingredients of Plantaginis Semen. Comparing with the jejunum, the ileum can provide more absorption information faster. The optimal incubation time in intestinal sac was 90 min.

Animals ; Body Fluids ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacokinetics ; Ileum ; chemistry ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Intestinal Absorption ; Jejunum ; chemistry ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Male ; Models, Biological ; Plantago ; chemistry ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Objective To explore the mechanism of microRNA (miRNA, miR)-155 in the rejection after liver transplantation in rats. Methods The rats were divided into two groups. In the xenograft model group (rejection group, n=10),the donors were male Lewis rats and the recipients were male BN rats.In the allograft model group(control group, n=10),both the donors and recipients were male Lewis rats.The rat models with orthotopic liver transplantation were established by two-cuff technique in two groups. At postoperative 7 d, the animals were sacrificed for the collection of blood and liver tissue samples. The serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), total bilirubin (TB), and cytokines of interleukin (IL)-2, IL-4, interferon (IFN)-γ were quantitatively measured. The pathological changes of liver tissues were observed under light microscope. In each group, three liver tissue samples were prepared and subject to high-throughput sequencing. The miRNAs related to rejection were identified for bioinformatics analysis to predict and analyze relevant signaling pathways and genes. Results In the rejection group, the serum levels of ALT and TB were significantly higher than those in the control group (both P<0.01). Compared with the control group, the levels of IL-2 and IFN-γ were considerably up-regulated (both P<0.01), whereas the level of IL-4 was dramatically down-regulated (P<0.01). Pathological examination demonstrated that more evident rejections were observed in the rejection group than the control group. High-throughput sequencing revealed that the expression level of miR-155 was significantly up-regulated in the rejection group, which was 5.89 times of that in the control group. Bioinformatics analysis demonstrated that up-regulation of miR-155 was associated with the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and T cell receptor signaling pathways. The genes which were probably responsible for regulation included the yeast autophagy related gene 1(ATG1) and its homologous gene ULK2, insulin-like growth factor-1 (Igf-1) and G protein-coupled receptor regulatory gene(Arrb1),etc.Conclusions miR-155 might promote the incidence and progression of rejection after liver transplantation in rats. The involved signaling pathways probably include the mTOR, MAPK signaling pathway and T cell receptor signaling pathway.ATG1,ULK2,Igf-1,and Arrb1 genes may participate in this process.

Abstract As a rapid analytical method for both the types and activities of γ radionuclides, the γ-ray spectrometry method is widely used in the measurement of γ radionuclides in environmental and biological samples. The Gamma-ray Spectrometry Method for the Determination of Radionuclides in Environmental and Biological Samples (GB/T 16145—2022）was implemented  on  July  1,  2023,  replacing  the Determination of Radionuclides in Soil by Gamma Spectrometry (GB/T 11743—2013), Determination of Radionuclides in Water by Gamma Spectrometry (GB/T 16140—2018), Gamma Spectrometry Method of Analyzing Radionuclides in Biological Samples (GB/T 16145—2020), and Determination of Radionuclides in Air by Gamma Spectrometry (WS/T 184—2017). The background of the revised standard, the content and basis of the main revisions, and some issues that need to be discussed are briefly explained in this paper, in order to provide a useful reference for the detection of radioactivity in soil, water, biological, and air samples, as well as samples of similar matrices.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the changes of cardiac structure and function and their risk factors in elderly patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSA) without cardiovascular complications. METHODS: Eighty-two elderly OSA patients without cardiovascular disease admitted between January, 2015 and October, 2016 were enrolled in this study. According to their apnea-hypopnea index (AHI, calculated as the average number of episodes of apnoea and hypopnoea per hour of sleep), the patients were divided into mild OSA group (AHI < 15) and moderate to severe OSA group (AHI ≥ 15). The demographic data and the general clinical data were recorded and fasting blood samples were collected from the patients on the next morning following polysomnographic monitoring for blood cell analysis and biochemical examination. Echocardiography was performed within one week after overnight polysomnography, and the cardiac structure, cardiac function and biochemical indexes were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: Compared with those with mild OSA group, the patients with moderate to severe OSA had significantly higher hematocrit (0.22±0.08 CONCLUSIONS Cardiac diastolic function impairment may occur in elderly patients with moderate or severe OSA who do not have hypertension or other cardiovascular diseases, and the severity of the impairment is positively correlated with AHI.
Aged ; Cardiovascular Diseases/etiology* ; Humans ; Risk Factors ; Severity of Illness Index ; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive/complications* ; Stroke Volume ; Ventricular Dysfunction, Left ; Ventricular Function, Left

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the correlation between the severity of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) and red cell distribution width (RDW) in elderly patients. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 311 elderly patients diagnosed with OSAS in the snoring clinic between January, 2015 and October, 2016 and 120 healthy controls without OSAS from physical examination populations in the General Hospital of PLA. The subjects were divided into control group with apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) <5 (=120), mild OSAS group (AHI of 5.0-14.9; =90), moderate OSAS group (AHI of 15.0-29.9; =113) and severe OSAS group (AHI ≥ 30; =108). The clinical characteristics and the results of polysomnography, routine blood tests and biochemical tests of the subjects were collected. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to examine the correlation between OSAS severity and RDW. RESULTS: The levels of RDW and triglyceride were significantly higher in severe OSAS group than in the other groups ( < 0.01). The levels of fasting blood glucose and body mass index were significantly higher in severe and moderate OSAS groups than in mild OSAS group and control group ( < 0.05 or < 0.01). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that AHI was positively correlated with body mass index (β=0.111, =0.032) and RDW (β=0.106, =0.029). The area under ROC curve of RDW for predicting the severity of OSAS was 0.687 (=0.0001). CONCLUSIONS The RDW increases as OSAS worsens and may serve as a potential marker for evaluating the severity of OSAS.
Aged ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Erythrocyte Indices ; Humans ; Polysomnography ; Severity of Illness Index ; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive