Objective To study the clinical significance ofneutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), which in serial plasma and urine samples was measured in participants with lupus nephritis (LN)and healthy persons. Methods NGAL in serial plasma and urine samples was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (EL.ISA) in 35 patients with LN by 1997 ACR systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)standard with varied degree of kidney damage and 30 healthy persons with matching sex and age in physical examination center. Disease activity was measured by the SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI-2K),and 35LN patients were classified in active group and (25 cases) non-active group (10 cases) according to the SLEDAI-2K. Results Urinary NGAL were significantly increased in LN patients [(78.94 ± 81.97) μg/L]compared with healthy persons[(28.50 ± 18.08) μ g/L] (P = 0.002). And urinary NGAL were significantly increased in active group [(92.90 ± 94.88) μg/L] compared with non-active group [(48.20 ± 24.77)μ g/L] (P = 0.049). NGAL in serial plasma had no statistically significant difference between active group and non-active group (P ＞0.05). Conclusions NGAL in urine but not in plasma represents a novel biomarker for renal disease activity in LN. The increase might be related to renal tubule pathological changes.

Background and purpose:Differentiation of tumor tissue is an important factor on determining the prognosis of gastric cancer. This study aimed to investigate the expression levels and clinical signiifcance of gender determining region Y-box 2 (SOX2) gene and octamer binding factor 4 (OCT4) gene in gastric cancer tissues varying different differentiation degrees. Methods: Sixty cases with gastric cancer were recruited in this study. The gastric cancer tissues and corresponding normal mucosa of the 60 cases were obtained. The mRNA and protein level of SOX2, OCT4 gene are evaluated by the quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), Western blot and immunohistochemistry, respectively. The relationship between the expression levels of SOX2, OCT4 gene and clinical pathological parameters were also analyzed in this study. Results:The expression of SOX2 in both mRNA and protein levels had no signiifcant difference between the well-differentiated gastric cancer tissues and normal gastric mucosa (mRNA levels:t=0.1033, P>0.05;protein levels:t=0.116, P>0.05). However, both the mRNA and protein expression of SOX2 in patients with well-differentiated gastric cancer tissues were signiifcant higher than not only in patients with moderately differentiated gastric carcinoma (mRNA levels: t=12.48, P<0.05; protein levels: t=22.78, P<0.05) but also in patients with than poorly differentiated gastric carcinoma (mRNA levels:t=17.56, P<0.05;protein levels:t=30.00, P<0.05). In contrast to SOX2, both the mRNA and protein expression of OCT4 in patients with well-differentiated gastric cancer tissues were signiifcant lower than not only in patients with moderately differentiated gastric carcinoma (mRNA levels:t=13.23, P<0.05; protein levels: t=25.56, P<0.05) but also in patients with poorly differentiated gastric carcinoma (mRNA levels: t=12.10, P<0.05; protein levels: t=69.48, P<0.05). There was no significance of OCT4 mRNA and protein expression between the well-differentiated gastric cancer tissues and normal gastric mucosa (mRNA levels:t=2.436, P>0.05;protein levels:t=1.064, P>0.05). Immunohistochemical study demonstrated that the positive rate of SOX2 in patients with well-differentiated gastric cancer tissues (10/21) were higher than in patients with not only moderately differentiated gastric carcinoma (7/20) but also poorly differentiated gastric carcinoma (2/19, P<0.05), while the positive rate of OCT4 in cases with well-differentiated gastric cancer tissues (2/21) were lower than in cases with not only moderately differentiated gastric carcinoma (6/20) but also the poorly differentiated gastric carcinoma (12/19, P<0.05). There was no correlation between the expression of SOX2, OCT4 in gastric cancer and gender or age (P>0.05). Nevertheless, the expression of SOX2, OCT4 were positive or negative correlated with the pathological staging, the degree of inifltration and lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). Conclusion:Decreased SOX2 expression and increased expression level of OCT4 can promote the formation, development and invasion of gastric cancer and they may become biomarkers or the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis evaluation in gastric carcinoma.

Objective To investigate the effect of Osthole on memory function of sleep deprivation(SD) mice. Methods Forty-eight male mice were randomly divided into 4 groups;normal control group(NC group ), large platform control group(TC group),sleep deprivation group(M group)and Osthole group(Ost group). The model of SD in mice was estabished by using improved multi platform method. The ability of learning and memory was tested by using Morris water maze test and pathological changes of hippocampal neurons in mice were observed by HE staining. The serum,hippcampus malondialdehyde(MDA)contents and superoxide dismutase(SOD)activity, so as the hippocampus No content,were detected. Results Compared with NC group and TC group,the escape la-tency of M group increased significiantly and the number of crossing platform decreased significantly. There were in-creased levels hippocampus tissue,serum MDA level,hippocampal SOD activity and NO content. After supplemen-tation of Osthole,the escape latency significantly shortened in mice. The number of crossing platform was increased while the contents of MDA both in hippocampus and serum were decreased,and the SOD activity in hippocampus re-turned to normal. However,the level of NO in hippocampus was not decreased. Conclusion Osthole can protect the memory function of SD mice by reducing the the damage of hippocampal neurons through antioxidant stress.