Objective To establish the quantitative detection of capsule associated protein 10 (CAP10)and virulence-associated DEAD-box RNA helicase 1(VAD1)genes in Cryptococcus neoformans (CN) and compare the diagnostic values of single gene test and combined gene test in CN meningitis.MethodsTwenty-three CN meningitis patients with fungal culture or ink staining or CN antigen detection positive in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were recruited and patients with craniocerebral trauma were recruited as controls.Standard plasmids were constructed using standard CN strain.Real time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-FQ-PCR) was established to detect the mRNA expressions of CAP10 and VAD1 genes in the CSF of patients with CN meningitis,which were compared with the results of CSF ink staining,fungal culture and antigen detection.The diagnostic values of single gene test and combined gene test were compared by chi square test.Results Among 23 CN meningitis patients,22 (95.6％) were CAP10 mRNA positive detected by RT-FQ-PCR,which was significantly higher than both ink staining (16/23,69.6％,x2 =4.167,P＜0.05) and fungal culture (15/23,65.2％,x2=5.143,P＜0.05),respectively; but not significant different from antigen detection (21/23,91.3％,x2=0.500,P＞0.05).There were also no statistical significant differences between combined detection of CAP 10 + VAD1 and CAP 10 or VAD1 single gene test (P＞0.05).ConclusionRT-FQ-PCR detection is successfully established using virulence genes as target,which is superior to the conventional methods.

Animals ; Brain Edema ; prevention & control ; Brain Ischemia ; physiopathology ; Erythropoietin ; pharmacology ; Female ; Hippocampus ; metabolism ; pathology ; Male ; Nitric Oxide ; metabolism ; Protective Agents ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reperfusion Injury ; prevention & control ; Superoxide Dismutase ; metabolism

The gene encoding the phosphatidylserine synthase in Escherichia coli K12 Sgal-(ExPASy P23830) was amplified by PCR. After DNA sequence analysis, it was inserted into the inducible expressive shuttle vector pBES of Bacillus subtilis, which was constructed in the lab, and the recombinant plasmid pBES-pss was transformed into competent cells of the Bacillus subtilis strain DB104. The positive transformant DB104 (pBES-pss) was grown on Bacillus subtilis common fermentation medium, which contained 30?g/ml kanamycin. After 2 hours cultivation, sucrose was added and increased to the final concentration of 2% for induction and this phosphatidylserine synthase was secreted into the medium. The result of SDS-PAGE showed that the molecular weight of the protein was 52kDa and the result of enzyme coupling colorimetric method showed that the enzyme activity was 1.50U/ml. The recombinant Bacillus subtilis has increased the yield of phosphatidylserine synthase which will be used for industrial biosynthesis of phosphatidylserine.

Objective To analyse the causes of perinatal death and explore the preventive measures to reduce the perinatal mortality.Methods The cases with perinatal death in this hospital from January 2005 to December 2006 were reviewed to analyse the causes of death by categorization and sum-up.Results There were 166 cases with perinatal death and the mortality rate was 27.08‰,including 126 cases with fatal death,which accounted for 75.90%.In the analysis of dead causes,the first one was birth defects,which suffered 69 cases,41.57% of all,and mostly were with fetus edema syndrome.The cord factors had been elevated to the second cause,which suffered 51 cases,30.72% of all.Conclusion Improving the consciousness of gestational monitoring and self-care,strengthening the prenatal diagnosis and genetic counseling,controlling the perinatal birth defects,monitoring mother and fetus by poly-parameter and stopping the pregnancy in time can reduce perinatal death effectively.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the protective effect of Danxuetong injection (DXT, a combination of Danshen and Xueshuantong injections) against testicular ischemia-reperfusion injury following testis torsion/detorsion in rats.

METHODSThirty-two 4-week-old healthy male SD rats were randomly divided into four groups of equal number: sham operation, normal saline, single DXT injection, and successive DXT injection. The rat models of testicular ischemia-reperfusion injury were established by 2-hour 720-degree torsion/detorsion of the unilateral testis. At 6 weeks after modeling, the rats were killed and their testes were harvested for measure- ment of testicular coefficients, sperm counts, sperm motility, and the levels of total anti-oxidative capacity (T-AOC) , superoxide dismutase (SOD) , nitric oxide synthase (NOS) , and malondialdehyde ( MDA) in the testis tissue.

RESULTSCompared with the rats of the normal saline group, those of the single DXT injection and successive DXT injection groups showed significant increases in the testicular coefficient (0.11 ± 0.03 vs 0.35 ± 0.04 and 0.40 ± 0.06, P < 0.05), sperm count ([0.46 ± 0.10] vs [1.44 ± 0.50] and [3.00 ± 1.28] x10(9)/ml, P < 0.05), sperm motility ([13.63 ± 14.04] vs [39.63 ± 5.04] and [76.31 ± 3.67]%, P < 0.05), the activity of SOD (72.76 ± 5.58 vs 116.25 ± 8.83 and 133.20 ± 13.84, P < 0.05), and the level of T-AOC (5.58 ± 1.07 vs 13.34 ± 5.81 and 19.21 ± 5.69, P < 0.05), but a remarkable decrease in the content of MDA (42.38 ± 8.94 vs 20.94 ± 5.65 and 15.02 ± 1.03, P < 0. 05) in the injured testes.

CONCLUSIONDXT can effectively rid the testis tissue of oxygen free radicals, improve sperm count and motility by antioxidation, and protect the testis tissue of prepubertal rats against testicular ischemia-reperfusion injury after testis torsion/detorsion. It also has a protective effect on the contralateral testis, and successive injection has a better effect than single injection of DXT.

Animals ; Antioxidants ; therapeutic use ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; methods ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Male ; Malondialdehyde ; metabolism ; Nitric Oxide Synthase ; metabolism ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reperfusion Injury ; prevention & control ; Spermatic Cord Torsion ; complications ; therapy ; Superoxide Dismutase ; metabolism ; Testis ; blood supply ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo investigate the chemical constituents of dried whole plants of Artemisia annua.

METHODThe chemical constituents were isolated by repeated silica gel chromatography, medium pressure column chromatography, and semi-preparative HPLC, and their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic analyses and comparison of NMR data with those reported in literature.

RESULT15 compounds were isolated and identified to be 5-O-[(E)-Caffeoyl] quinic acid(l), 1,3-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid(2), 4 5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid(3), 3, 5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid (4), 3, 4-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid (5), methyl-3,4-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid(6), methyl-3,5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid(7), 3,6'-O-diferuloylsucrose(8), 5'-β-D-glucopyranosyloxyjasmonic acid(9), Scopoletin(10), scoparone (11), 4-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-2-hydroxyl-6-methoxyacetophenone (12), chrysosplenol D (13), casticin (14), chrysosplenetin(15).

CONCLUSIONCompounds 2, 6, 8 and 9 are obtained from the Artemisia genus for the first time. Compounds 7 and 15 are obtained from this plant for the first time.

Artemisia annua ; chemistry ; Chromatography, Gel ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Flavonoids ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Plants, Medicinal ; Quinic Acid ; analogs & derivatives ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Silica Gel

In this study, we investigated the pharmacokinetics parameters of SPIO-shRNA dual functional molecular probe and observed the main organ distribution by MRI in vivo. Eighteen New Zealand white rabbits were randomly divided into three groups and injected intravenously with different doses of SPIO-shRNA molecular probe, respectively. The blood samples were collected to analyze the pharmacokinetic parameters by measuring the iron content at 30 minutes before and after the injection. Twenty-four Kun Ming (KM) mice were randomly divided into 4 groups: the control group was injected intravenously with physiological saline 200 µL per mouse via the tail vein, the other 3 groups were injected intravenously with different doses of SPIO-shRNA molecular probe. MRI observation was performed in 24 hours, and the liver, spleen, kidney, brain and muscle were collected for iron quantification with Prussian blue staining to determine distribution of the SPIO-shRNA molecular probe in the main organ in vivo. Our results suggest that the molecular probe blood half-life is more than 3 hours. The data of MRI suggest the probe was distributed in liver and spleen, and the MRI signal was reduced with the increase in probe's doses (P < 0.05). The results of Prussian blue staining confirmed the results of MRI. Most of the probe could escape the phagocytosis of mononuclear phagocyte system. Our data provide the pharmacokinetic and distribution of SPIO-shRNA molecular probe in organs. Meanwhile, it suggests the choice of the time and dose of probe for MR imaging of tumor in vivo.
Animals ; Half-Life ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Magnetite Nanoparticles ; Mice ; Molecular Probes ; pharmacokinetics ; RNA, Small Interfering ; chemistry ; Rabbits

The mechanisms of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hBMMSCs)-mediated immunomodulation are still not be completely clarified. In order to investigate the expression of B7-H1 on hBMMSCs and to explore whether B7-H1 mediated signaling pathway (B7-H1/PD-1) involves in the mechanisms of hBMMSCs-mediated immunomodulation, the hBMMSCs were isolated, cultured and identified, the B7-H1 expression on hBMMSCs was detected by flow cytometry, RT-PCR, and Western blot. The inhibitory effect of hBMMSCs on proliferation of T lymphocytes was observed in mixed lymphocyte culture, and then the functional anti-B7-H1 monoclonal antibody (mcAb) was used to block B7-H1, the proliferation of T lymphocytes was detected by using CCK-8. The results indicated that hBMMSCs highly expressed B7-H1 molecule, hBMMSCs effectively inhibited the proliferation of T lymphocytes with a dose-dependent manner, and the inhibitory proliferation of T lymphocytes by hBMMSCs could be partially restored when the anti-B7-H1 mAb was used to block the B7-H1, the inhibitory rate of T lymphocyte proliferation decreased from 64.1% to 38.75%. It is concluded that B7-H1 highly expresses on hBMMSCs, the B7-H1 mediated signaling pathway (B7-H1/PD-1) involves in the mechanisms for hBMMSCs-mediated immunomodulation.
Antigens, CD ; metabolism ; B7-H1 Antigen ; Bone Marrow Cells ; metabolism ; Cell Proliferation ; Humans ; Lymphocyte Activation ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; metabolism ; T-Lymphocytes ; cytology

OBJECTIVETo explore factors affecting occupational adaptability in nurses for offering basis to increase their occupational adaptability.

METHODSFive hundred and forty-five nurses were investigated with work ability index questionnaire and occupational stress instruments.

RESULTSThere were many risk factors affecting occupational adaptability in nurses. The main variables that influenced occupational adaptability included work-overtime, mental load, social support, physical environment, and job hazards. The social support was the factor increasing the occupational adaptability of the nurses (P < 0.01, OR = 0.912). Five factors including work overtime, mental load, social support, physical environment and job hazards were introduced in the Logistic equation. The established functions were: Logit (P) = -11.357 + 1.011x(1) + 0.335x(2) - 0.076x(3) + 0.260x(4) + 0.129x(5).

CONCLUSIONThere are many risk factors affecting occupational adaptability in nurses. Relevant measures should be taken to promote the occupational adaptability in nurses to reduce the risk factors.

Adaptation, Psychological ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Middle Aged ; Nurses ; psychology ; Occupational Health ; Risk Factors ; Social Support ; Stress, Psychological ; epidemiology ; prevention & control ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Workload ; psychology

1,2,3,4,6-penta-O-galloyl-D-glucose (PGG) is one of the main active compounds of Guizhi Fuling capsule. Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIP) have high affinity toward template molecules synthesized by molecularly imprinted technology for its specific combined sites, which can overcome the shortcoming of traditional separation methods, such as complex operation, low efficiency, using large quantity of solvent and environmental pollution. In this paper, surface molecularly imprinted polymer (SMIP) was prepared by surface imprinting with PGG as the template molecule. Its adsorption capacity was measured by the scatchard equation. The separation of PGG from Guizhi Fuling capsule at preparatived scale was achieved with molecularly imprinted polymer as stationary phase and the purity was 90.2% by HPLC. This method can be used to prepare PGG from Guizhi Fuling capsule with large capacity and is easy to operate. It provides a new method for efficient separation and purification for other natural products.
Adsorption ; Capsules ; chemistry ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Hydrolyzable Tannins ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Molecular Imprinting ; Polymers ; chemical synthesis ; chemistry