Neuregulin-1 (NRG-1) can bind with its tyrosine kinase receptor via paracrine and autocrine, activate downstream pathways and perform a series of biological reactions, and reduce pressure load and improve heart function through inhibiting sympathetic nerve excitement.Recent study identified that NRG-1 can induce pluripotent stem cell differentiation;clinical trials proved that recombinant human NRG-1 can reduce level of N terminal pro brain natriuretic peptide, rehospitalization rate and onset times of heart failure.The present article made a review on research progress of NRG-1 in cardiovascular field.

Objective To explore the clinical application value of transcranial Doppler on patients with hyperlipidemia. Methods 80 patients with hyperlipemia and 70 healthy people were studied by transcranial Doppler ultrasound(TCD) of interal carotid artery hemodynamics. Results 57 (71.7%)of the 80 patients with hyperlipemia had arteriosclerosis, and terminal sclerosis happened on 12 patients ( 13.3% ). Compared with the control group, the difference was all statistically significant ( P ＜ 0.05 ). Conclusion Hemodynamics at the terminal of interal carotid artery patients with hyperlipemia was obvious abnormal studied by transcranial Doppler ultrasound (TCD) , and sclerosis of interal carotid artery is common complication of patients with hyperlipemia. Results showed that TCD could be used as a routine method for testing of patients with hyperlipemia and had some value in preventing cerebrovascular disease induced by hyperlipidemia.

Objective To find an ideal method of DNA isolation from blood and especially from clotted blood and to minimize the volume of blood collected for laboratory and clinical tests.Methods DNAs were isolated from antiagglutinated and agglutinated blood samples from auricular veins of 30 healthy subjects. The DNAs of these samples were obtained by a nonenzymatic, nontoxic procedure optimized by us and determinated by agarose gel electrophoesis and PCR. Results The yields of DNA isolated from clotted blood and antiagglutinated blood were (40.2?8.86)mg DNA/L and (39.1?10.2)mg DNA/L, and purities were 1.87?0.11 and 1.92? 0.12. The DNAs that we isolated from all samples had high molecular weight and by PCR the dimorphism of ALU alleles of the 8th intron of t-PA was easy to be obtained, so they were complete and reliable. Conclusion This method is rapid, easy, efficient and nontoxic for isolation of DNA from clotted and fresh blood and meets requirements for clinical testing and molecular biology study.

OBJECTIVE To analyze the effect of advanced glycation end products(AGEs) on apoptosis of cultured mouse spiral ganglion cells(SGCs) and expression of receptor of AGEs(RAGE). To explore the pathway of AGEs in promoting apoptosis of SGCs. And to explore the possible mechanism of neural presbycusis. METHODS The effect of AGEs on apoptosis of SGCs was studied by Tunel technique and fluorescence microscope. The expression of RAGE mRNA was assayed by Real time RT-PCR. RESULTS AGEs induced apoptosis of cultured SGCs. The effects were dose-dependent and time-dependent. Meanwhile RAGE mRNA expression was enhanced in apoptosis cells. CONCLUSION AGEs induced apoptosis in SGCs,which may be mediated by RAGE. And this may be one of the mechanisms of neural presbycusis.

Humans ; Lung ; Lung Diseases ; rehabilitation ; Pneumoconiosis ; rehabilitation ; Respiratory Therapy

Background and purpose:miR-196a2 functions as an oncogene during tumor initiation and pro-gression. The up-regulation promotes tumor cell proliferation, invasion and metastasis. Therefore, it is promising to be an important tumor biomarker. The aim of this study was to investigate whether rs11614913, a gene polymorphic site ofmiR-196a2, is associated with the risk of leukemia.Methods:A case-control analysis was employed. Bone marrow or periph-eral blood was collected from 210 leukemia patients diagnosed from Jan. 2009 to Jul. 2015 in Yantaishan Hospital (case group) as well as 250 healthy people who were physically examined during the same period (control group). Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-PFLP) was used to detect the genotype of rs11614913. Application test was used to compare the difference in the frequency of each genotype between case group and control group. The odds ratio (OR) of SNP allelic genes was calculated using logistic regression analysis and 95%CI represented the risk of leukemia for each genotype.Results:The distribution differences in the frequency of T/T, C/C, C/T genotype of miR-196a2 rs11614913 between case group and control group were statistically significant (P<0.05). The risk of leukemia for individuals who carried mutant homozygous C/C was 2.661-fold higher than those carried wild-type homozygous T/T, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05).Conclusion:ThemiR-196a2 gene polymorphic site rs11614913 was associated with the risk of leukemia. Mutant homozygous C/C or C allelic gene carrying was probably a risk factor for leukemia.

Objective To investigate the potential therapeutic effect of luteolin on sepsis-induced ALI and the underlying mechanisms.Methods Total of 50 mice were randomly(random number) divided into five groups:a sham control group,a sepsis-induced ALI group,and three sepsis groups pre-treated with 20,40,and 80 mg/kg body weight luteolin.Mice in the treatment groups were pre-treated with luteolin at the respective oral dose two days before ALI induction.The lungs were isolated for histopathological examinations,and the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was collected for biochemical analyses.Results Luteolin significantly attenuated sepsis-induced ALI.Additionally,luteolin treatment decreased protein and inflammatory cytokine concentration and the number of infiltrated inflammatory cells in BALF compared with that in the non-treated sepsis mice.Pulmonary myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity was lower in the luteolin-pre-treated sepsis groups than in the sepsis group.The mechanism underlying the protective effect of luteolin on sepsis is related to the up-regulation of certain antioxidation genes,including inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS),cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2),superoxide dismutases (SODs),and heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1),and the reduction of inflammatory responses through blockage of the activation of the nuclear factor (NF)-κB pathway.Conclusions Luteolin pre-treatment inhibits sepsis-induced ALI through its anti-inflammatory and antioxidative activity,suggesting that luteolin may be a potential therapeutic agent for sepsis-induced ALI.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the inhibitory effects of curcumin against HeLa cell invasion and migration and explore the underlying mechanisms.

METHODSHeLa cells were exposed to curcumin treatment at the concentrations of 0, 10, 25, 50, 100, 150 and 200 µmol/L for 24 h. MTT and TUNEL assays were used to assess the cell proliferation inhibition and apoptosis, respectively. Transwell assay was used to evaluate the invasiveness and migration of the treated cells, and RT-PCR and Western blotting were employed to detect the changes in the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and MMP-9 and E-cad, the 2 markers of cell invasion and migration, were detected by Western blotting. The capacity of NO production in HeLa cells was measured by Griess method.

RESULTSCurcumin inhibited the proliferation of HeLa cells by inducing cell apoptosis in a concentration-dependent manner. Curcumin inhibited the invasion and migration of HeLa cells by increasing E-cad expression and decreasing MMP-9 expression, and also decreased the expression level of iNOS and NO production in the cells.

CONCLUSIONCurcumin inhibits the invasion and migration of HeLa cells by decreasing the expression of iNOS.

Apoptosis ; Cell Movement ; drug effects ; Cell Proliferation ; Curcumin ; pharmacology ; HeLa Cells ; Humans ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 ; metabolism ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II ; metabolism

Objective: To study clinical and pathologic characteristics of leiomyomas of the gastrointestinal tract, and to investigate the distribution characteristics of interstitial cells of Cajal ( ICCs ) in gastrointestinal leiomyomas. Methods: One hundred and forty-seven cases of leiomyomas of gastrointestinal tract were collected at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from June 2012 to June 2017. Clinical and pathologic findings were analyzed, combined with immunohistochemistry, Alcian blue-osafranin staining and molecular study. Results: The age of patients ranged from 13-82 years with mean age of 52 years. Male to female ratio was about 1∶2. Histologically, all tumors were composed of ovoid to spindle cells arranged in short intersecting fascicles. All tumors were diffusely and strongly positive for smooth muscle antibodies, desmin and h-caldesmon by immunohistochemical staining. A prominent interspersed subpopulation of elongated/dendritic-like cells with CD117 and DOG1 positivity (accounting for 1% to 30% of all tumor cells) and negative for Alcian blue-osafranin staining was identified in all esophageal leiomyomas, 16 of 20 (80%) gastric leiomyomas and 3 of 12 small bowel leiomyomas, but none in colonic/rectal leiomyomas. Mutational analysis in 16 cases showed absence of mutation in exons 9, 11, 13 or 17 of C-KIT and exons 12 or 18 of PDGFRA. Conclusions ICCs are identified in esophageal and gastric leiomyomas, as well as in small percentage of intestinal leiomyomas. Such findings may bring significant diagnostic pitfalls for misdiagnosis as gastrointestinal stromal tumor. Careful attention to the distribution of CD117 and DOG1 positive cells and molecular mutation analysis of C-KIT and PDGFRA may be necessary to establish the correct diagnosis.

Objective:To explore the expression level of exosomal miR-218-5p in the serum of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) and its correlation with the clinical pathological characteristics, and evaluate its diagnostic efficacy in CRC.Methods:A group of 78 patients with colorectal cancer diagnosed in Tongji Hospital affiliated to Tongji University from October 2016 to October 2018 were selected. Blood was collected before operation and serum was preserved. Forty cases of healthy people in the same period were selected as the control group. ExoQuick kit was used to extract serum exosomes. Transmission electron microscope, NTA and western blot were used to identify the morphology and molecular phenotype of exosomes. MiRNeasy kit was used to extract total RNA in serum exosomes. Real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) was used to detect the expression level of serum exosomal miR-218-5p in each group. CRC patients were divided into high expression and low expression groups using the median relative expression level of miR-218-5p as the cut off value, and the four-square chi-square test (χ 2 test) was used to judge the relationship between miR-218-5p and clinicopathological features. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of miR-218-5p in colorectal cancer. Results:The exosomes in serum were successfully extracted by kit method. The expression level of serum exosomal miR-218-5p in patients with colorectal cancer was significantly lower than that in normal healthy people [0.566(0.364, 0.850) vs 1.054(0.781, 1.709), P<0.001]. The low expression level was significantly better then the correlated with tumor size, TNM stage, lymph node metastasis and depth of invasion (all P<0.05). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis showed that the area under the curve (AUC) of serum exosomal miR-218-5p for the diagnosis of CRC was 0.827 (95% CI 0.754-0.900), which was significantly better than the conventional tumor marker carcinoembryonic antigen CEA (AUC =0.718, 95% CI 0.626-0.811) and carbohydrate antigen CA199 (AUC = 0.661, 95% CI 0.564-0.758). Conclusions:The down-regulation of miR-218-5p expression in serum exosomes of colorectal cancer patients is associated with a variety of adverse clinicopathological factors, which has the potential to become a diagnostic biomarker for colorectal cancer.