AIM:To study the effect of astragalus polysaccharides(Aps)on cholesterol efflux in THP-1 macrophage-derived foam cells.METHODS:After exposed to Aps at different doses,cholesterol efflux and ABCA1 protein levels in cultured THP-1 macrophage-derived foam cells were determined by a ? counter and flow cytometry,respectively.RESULTS:Aps increased cholesterol efflux in THP-1 macrophage-derived foam cells with dose dependent pattern and resulted in an increase in the expression of ABCA1 protein in THP-1 macrophage-derived foam cells.CONCLUSION:The increase in cholesterol efflux by Aps might be related to the up-regulation of ABCA1.

This article analyzed the specific path of iron overload affecting EMT "blood countercurrent cell survival/adhesion/invasion/angiogenesis ectopic lesions" from the three aspects of mediating NF-κB and inflammatory reaction, stimulation of abnormal activation of macrophages, and induction of oxidative stress injury; introduced the theoretical connotation of the pathogenesis of "cold coagulation and blood stasis", and briefly described the progress of the pathogenesis of EMT from the perspective of "blood out of menstruation - injury caused by cold pathogenic factors - cold coagulation and blood stasis - long-term accumulation syndrome"; based on the mutual confirmation of "menstruation countercurrent - iron overload microenvironment - cell survival/adhesion/invasion/angiogenesis - ectopic focus" and "blood out of menstruation - cold pathogen injury - cold coagulation and blood stasis - chronic accumulation syndrome", it was believed that starting from iron overload could tap the scientific connotation and microscopic materials of the pathogenesis of "cold coagulation and blood stasis" in EMT, so as to provide new directions and theoretical references for the research of the pathogenesis of EMT and the mechanism of drugs.

The mechanisms underlying pregnancy complications caused by advanced maternal age(AMA)remain unclear.We analyzed the cellular signature and transcriptomes of human placentas in AMA women to elucidate these mechanisms.Placental tissues from two AMA women and two controls were used for single-cell RNA-sequencing(scRNA-seq).Controls consisted of AMA women who did not experience any pregnancy complications and pregnant women below the age of 35 years without pregnancy complications.Trophoblast cells were obtained from the placentas of another six pregnant women(three AMA women and three controls),and in-vitro transwell assays were conducted to observe the cell invasion ability.Thirty additional samples(from 15 AMA women and 15 controls)were analyzed to verify the specific expression of serine protease inhibitor clade E member 1(SERPINE1).Preliminary study of the role of SERPINE1 in cell invasion was carried out with HTR8-S/Vneo cells.High-quality transcriptomes of 27 607 cells were detected.Three types of trophoblast cells were detected,which were further classified into eight subtypes according to differences in gene expression and Gene Ontology(GO)function.We identified 110 differentially expressed genes(DEGs)in trophoblast cells between the AMA and control groups,and the DEGs were enriched in multiple pathways related to cell invasion.In-vitro transwell assays suggested that the invading trophoblast cells in AMA women were reduced.SERPINE1 was specifically expressed in the trophoblast,and its expression was higher in AMA women(P＜0.05).Transfection of human SERPINEl(hSERPINE1)into HTR8-S/Vneo trophoblast cells showed fewer invading cells in the hSERPINE1 group.Impaired cell invasion may underlie the increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes in AMA women.Abnormal expression of SERPINE1 in extravillous trophoblast(EVT)cells appears to play an important role.

Objective To investigatethe significance of serum carbohydrate antigen (CA) 125,car cinoembryonic antigen (CEA),cytokeratin 19 fragment (CYFRA21-1),neuron-specific enolase (NSE),and squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCCA) in the diagnosis of bone metastasis from lung cancer.Methods A total of 222 patients,including 91 lung cancer patients with bone metastasis (49 males,42 females,average age (60.07± 10.60) years;group A),75 lung cancerpatientswithout bone metastasis (57 males,18 females,average age (62.20± 12.63) years;group B),56 patients with benign lung diseases (34 males,22 females,average age (61.45± 10.66) years;group C) were recruited from January 2015 to January 2016.The electrochemiluminescence was applied to detect serum levels of CA125,CEA,CYFRA21-1,NSE and SCCA.Kruskal-Wallis,Wilcoxon rank sum test,x2 test and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis were used to analyze data.Results The levels of serum CA125,CEA,CYFRA21-1,NSE in group A were higher than those in group B and C (H values:13.45-44.96,all P＜0.05);while SCCA was not significantly different among the 3 groups (H=2.56,P＞0.05).The areas under ROC curves for CA125,CEA,CYFRA21-1,NSE,SCCA were 0.667,0.702,0.602,0.664,0.440,respectively.The positive rate of serum NSE in small cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients was higher than that in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients (17/18 vs 32.88％ (24/73);x2=22.11,P＜0.05);CEA was highly expressed in adenocarcinoma,and SCCA was highly expressed in squamous cell carcinoma.Patients with grade Ⅲ+ Ⅳ metas tasis (n =52) had higher levels of CA 125,CEA,NSE compared to patients with Ⅰ + Ⅱ metastasis (n =39;z values:from-2.54 to-0.32,all P＜0.05).The sensitivity of combined detection of 5 tumor markers was 97.80％ (89/91),which was significantly higher than that of single tumor marker (x2 values:35.46-138.23,all P＜0.05).Conclusion Serum levels of CA125,CEA,CYFRA21-1,NSE and SCCA play a role in the diagnosis of bone metastasis from lung cancer,and the combined detection of the 5 tumor markers contribute to the early detection of bone metastases.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the repairing ability of nano-pearl powder bone substitute in rabbit with defect of distal femur bone. METHODS: Thirty-two New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into four groups: a nano-pearl powder/recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein 2 (rhBMP-2)/hyaluronic acid group, a nano-pearl powder/hyaluronic acid group, a nano-pearl powder group and a blank control group (=8 in each group). A defect with the diameter of 7 mm and height of 10 mm was prepared at the distal femoral metaphysis line of the rabbit.Different bone substitutes were planted, and the effect of repair was evaluated by macroscopic observation, imaging examination, and histopathological examination. RESULTS: The results of imageology showed that: the bone repairing effect in the nano-pearl powder/rhBMP-2/hyaluronic acid group was better than that in the pure pearl powder group and the nano-pearl powder/hyaluronic acid group, and which in the 3 experimental groups was better than that in the blank control group; The results of histology showed that: at the 4th, 8th and 12th weeks after the modeling operation, the speed of bone repair in the nano-pearl powder/rhBMP-2/hyaluronic acid group was faster than that in the pure pearl powder group and the nano-pearl powder/hyaluronic acid group, and which in the blank control group was far slower than that in the 3 experimental groups. The results of immunohistochemistry staining for osteocalcin antibody showed that: the osteogenic effect in the nano-pearl powder/rhBMP-2/hyaluronic acid group was better than that in the pure pearl powder group and the nano-pearl powder/hyaluronic acid group (both <0.05); there was no significant difference between the nano-pearl powder/hyaluronic acid group and the pure pearl powder group (>0.05); however, there was significant difference between the pure pearl powder group and the blank control group (<0.05). According to the staining results of Type I collagen antibody, there was no significant difference in the osteogenic effect between the nano-pearl powder/rhBMP-2/hyaluronic acid group and the nano-pearl powder/hyaluronic acid group (>0.05), but the osteogenic effect in the nano-pearl powder/hyaluronic acid group was better than that in the pure pearl powder group and the blank control group (both <0.05). CONCLUSIONS Nano-pearl powder and its bone substitute can promote the repair of bone defect, and the nano-pearl powder which contains rhBMP-2 has better osteogenic and repairing effect on defect.
Animals ; Bone Morphogenetic Protein 2 ; Bone Substitutes ; Collagen ; Femur ; Humans ; Osteogenesis ; Powders ; Rabbits ; Recombinant Proteins ; Transforming Growth Factor beta