The Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway plays a crucial role in embryo development of drosophila and a variety of vertebrate including humans,via regulating cell differentiation and proliferation.Mutation of Hh and aberrant activation or overexpression of the secreted Hh signaling molecules may induce cancer.Recent studies show that Hh signaling is associatied with invasion and metastasis in multiple types of malignant tumours.The machanisms are correlated with maintaining of cancer stem cells,epithelial-mesenchymal transition ( EMT),tumor cell autocrine/paracrine signaling and promotion of tumor angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis.The study of mechanisms how Hh signaling promotes cancer metastasis,will provide new directions for molecular diagnosis,prognosis and molecular targeted therapy of cancer.

Objective To estimate the effect of low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) combined with conventional treatment on patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(AECOPD).Methods Literature on randomized control trials( RCTs) with AECOPD treated by LMWH combined with conventional methods was collected in PubMed.The studies were selected according to inclusive and exclusive criteria.The data were extracted,the quality was assessed, and meta-analysis was conducted with RevMan 5.2 software.Results There were twelve RCTs including 879 patients with AECOPD in the current study.The results of meta-analysis showed that:①LMWH could obviously improve PaO2 and PaCO2 of patients with AECOPD as compared with the control group.②There was no statistically significant difference between the LMWH-treated group and control group in the improvement of FEV1 or hematocrit.Conclusion LMWH can significantly improve arterial blood gas analysis in AECOPD, but does not improve FEV1 or hematocrit.

Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Headache ; therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult

Humans ; Hypertension ; Sympathetic Nervous System ; metabolism ; pathology

Vascular or endoluminal stent is a stent implanted in the lesion site to support stenosis vessels based on luminal balloon expansion,to reduce vascular elasticity recoil and remoulding,and maintain blood flow patent.Some stents can also prevent vascular restenosis.Stent size,surface coverage,radial supporting,extensibility,longitudinal recoil,fatigue test,material composition,corrosion-resistance,coagulation,surface roughness and biocompatibility(blood compatibility) are performance parameters to evaluate the stents.Vascular or endoluminal stent has been widely used in arterial and venous systems and non-vessel luminal systems.The incidence of complications following stenting is 11.6%,including acute or subacute thrombogenesis,restenosis,or stent dislocation.It is commonly demonstrated that intrastent restenosis is caused by hyperblastosis.

Alkaloids ; pharmacology ; Angiogenesis Inhibitors ; pharmacology ; Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic ; pharmacology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Ginsenosides ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; prevention & control ; Pyrazines ; pharmacology ; Quinolizines

Objective To study effects of raloxifene (RLX) with different doses of conjugated equine estrogen(CEE) on prothrombotic profiles in the ovariectomized rats model.Methods Total of 32healthy female SD rats at age of 9 to 10 months were equally divided into every 8 rats at 4 groups randomly.One week after ovariectomized,they were treated by drugs,including control group with placebo(0.9％ Nacl intragastric administration),RLX group with RLX 6 mg/(kg · d),RLX and low CEE group with RLX 6 mg/(kg · d) + CEE 0.07 mg/(kg · d)and RLX and high CEE group with RLX 6 mg/(kg · d) + CEE 0.5mg/(kg· d)for 10 weeks before death.Thrombin turbidimetry method was used to evaluate the plasma fibrinogen(FIB),transmitting substrate method for antithrombin Ⅲ (AT Ⅲ) activity,double-antibody sandwich ELISA for plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1),D-dimer (D-D) and yon Willebrand factor (vWF) and nitrate reductase method for nitric oxide(NO).Results (1) Coagulation and anticoagulation indicators:it was observed (1.62 ± 0.22) g/L FIB at control group,(2.02 0.54) g/L at RLX group,(1.97 ±0.16) g/L at RLX and low CEE group,(2.00 0.18) g/L at RLX and high CEE group.There was a statistically significant difference between control group and any one of treatment groups(P ＜ 0.05) and no statistical significance among those three treatment groups (P ＞ 0.05).No significant change was observed in plasma AT Ⅲ activity among groups (P ＞ 0.05).(2) Fibrinolytic and anti-fibrinolytic indicators:it was observed (14.1 2.8) μg/L PAI-1 at control group,(20.0 ±3.3) μg/L at RLX group,(41.5 ±5.5) μg/L at RLX and low CEE group,(38.9 ± 6.0) μg/L at RLX and high CEE group.A remarkable increase was observed between control group and any one of treatment groups(P ＜0.05).But there was no significant difference of D-D among groups (P ＞ 0.05).(3) Endothelial function:it was (43 ± 7) ％ vWF at control group,(49±5)％ at RLX group,(46±6)％ at RLX and low CEE group,(36±5)％ at RLX and high CEE group.The vWF of RLX and high CEE group was the lowest among all groups (P ＜0.05).There was no difference of NO among groups (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusions In the different links of thrombosis,RLX gives different fuction and may increase the risk.CEE plays a synergism role in the matter of fibrinolysis and anti-fibrinolysis with RLX,further giving rise to thrombosis effect of RLX.And it also has a protective role in the function of vascular endothelium to some extent.But this only works with high dose.

Objective: To study the effect of light quality on the growth as well as triterpenic acid content and component of Ganoderma lucidum mycelium. Methods: Light-emitting diode (LED) was used as sources of light, the growth index, content and component of triterpenic acids in G. lucidum mycelium cultured under different LED conditions were investigated along with culture time. Results: The growth rate, morphology, biomass, total contents and components of triterpenic acid in G. lucidum mycelium varied under different lights. The mycelium cultured under blue light maintained stable growth during the whole period; Under red light, both growth rate and biomass of mycelium were the highest in early time, subsequently, decreased sharply and grew slowly. Under green light, both growth rate and biomass of mycelium were the lowest in early and medium phases, while increased significantly later, especially dry matter. Triterpenic acids were highly produced on the day 7 of cultivation, while decreased in content and increased in types. Green light and blue light had a distinct advantage of improving the type and content triterpenic acids in G. lucidum. Conclusion: Light quality affects the growth as well as the content and component of triterpenic acids in G. lucidum mycelium, and blue light irradiation is the best for the steady growth and triterpenic acids accumulation.

AIM: To investigate the effect of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor erlotinib on kidney injury in diabetic nephropathy (DN) rat and the underlying mechanism.METHODS: The rat model of DN was induced by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ) at dose of 55 mg/kg.One week after STZ injection, the rats with blood glucose level exceeding 16.7 mmol/L were identified as diabetic.Diabetic rats were randomly divided into 2 groups: STZ group and STZ+erlotinib group.In addition, the normal rats were used as control group.The rats in STZ+erlotinib group were treated with erlotinib at 100 mg·kg-1·d-1 for 4 weeks(5th~8th week).The fasting blood glucose (FBG), serum creatinine (SCr) and 24 h urine protein were measured.The pathological changes of the kidney were observed by HE staining and Masson staining.The protein levels of EGFR, p-EGFR, transforming growth factor β1 (TGFβ1), Smad2/3, p-Smad2/3, collagen Ⅳ (ColⅣ) and fibronectin in the kidney tissues were determined by Western blot.The reactive oxygen species (ROS) level and malondialdehyde (MDA) content in the renal tissues were futher analyzed.RESULTS: Compared with control group, the levels of FBG, 24 h urine protein and Scr were significantly increased in STZ group (P<0.01).Compared with STZ group, the levels of FBG, 24 h urine protein and SCr in STZ+erlotinib group were markedly decreased (P<0.05).In additon, the glomerular structure was restored to normal, the proliferative degree of mesangial cells markedly attenuated, and the epithelial cells were in alignment in STZ+erlotinib group.Moreover, erlotinib significantly inhibited the protein levels of p-EGFR, TGFβ1, p-Smad2/3, ColⅣ and fibronectin in the kidney tissues of STZ rats.In addition, erlotinib also significantly inhibited the levels of ROS and MDA in the kidney tissues of STZ rats.CONCLUSION: Erlotinib ameliorates STZ-induced diabetic nephropathy possibly through inhibiting the activation of EGFR/TGFβ1-Smad2/3 signaling pathway in association with suppression of fibrosis and oxidative stress.

BACKGROUND: Quite a few deoxidized reduced form of nicotinamide-adenime dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH-d) -positive neurons distribute in amygdala complex (AMC) and gamma-aminobutyric acid(GABA)is an important inhibitory neurotransmitter that also widely distributes in the central nervous system (CNS) of mammals. Whether there is coexistence of GABA and nitricoxide synthase (NOS) in AMC is unknown at present.OBJECTIVE: To observe whether there is GABA and NADPH-d-eoexist neuron in cortical nucleus of amygdala (Co) with the combination of NADPH-d hischemical and immunohistochemical double staining.DESIGN: A verifying controlled study based on the experimental animals.SETTING: Department of anatomy of two universities MATERIALS: The study was conducted in the department of Anatomy,Medical College of Zhejiang University between May 2004 and June 2004. Six SD rats in either gender with a body mass between 250 g and 300 g were selected.INTERVENTIONS: Coronary serial frozen slices of brain tissue were prepared. 4 sets of slices were selected for Nissl staining, NADPH-d histochemical staining, NADPH-d histochemical and GABA immunohistochemical double staining, and control experiment for the test of antibody specificity. GABA-labeled neurons, NADPH-d-positive neurons, and NADPH-d/GABA double-labeled neurons were counted in Co nucleus for the calculation of the percentage of double-labeled positive neurons to single-labeled positive neurons.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Distribution of NADPH-d/GABA double labeled neuron; distribution of NADPH-d or GABA single labeled neuron.RESULTS: Most of GABA-positive neurons distributed in posteromed cortical amygdaloid nucleus (PMCo), posterolateral cortical amygdaloid nucleus (PLCo), which were mainly small types but few middle types. Most of NADPH-d-positive neurons distributed in PMCo, PLCo and anterior cortical amygdaloid nucleus (Aco), which were mainly middle sized and small sized neurons. The ratio of NADPH-d/GABA double-labeled neurons to single labeled neuron was 24.5% (GABA) or 46.7% (NADPH-d).CONCLUSION: There is GABA/NADPH-d-coexist neuronsin Co of rats,which suggests NO might have modulative effect on GABA neuron in Co.