Objective To compare the characteristics of plantar pressure between old and young people walking on flat. Methods 30 persons aged 55-65 years and 30 students aged 18-23 years were measured with a kind of plantar pressure measurement Footscan when they walked naturally, including impulse, max force, load rate of 10 regions, and distribution of the contact area of medial and lateral heels. Results The impulse was significantly different in 7 regions between both sides in the old people, and in 3 regions in the students. The impulse was significantly less in the old people than in the students (P<0.05). The max force was significantly different in 6 regions between both sides in the old people, and in 3 regions in the students. The max force was significantly less in the old people than in the students (P<0.05). The load rate was significantly different in 7 regions between both sides in old people, and in 3 regions in students. The load rate was significantly less in the old people than in the students (P<0.05). The contact area was larger in the medial heel than the lateral heel in old people group (P<0.05), and it was different between left and right foot. While the contact area was smaller in the medial heel than the lateral heel in the students (P<0.05), and there was no difference between left and right foot (P>0.05). Conclusion The impulse, max force, load rate decrease in the old people with the imbalance of distribution of the pressure between left and right.

Objective To investigate the clinical effect of Zhanjinhuoxue Formula combined with the tower-type pad natural traction for the treatment of pure thoracolumbar compression fracture.Methods Fifty patients with thoracolumbar compression fractures treated in our hospital from January to December 2014 were selected and divided into the observation group(n=25) and control group(n=25).The control group was given the tower-type natural traction method,while the observation group was given Zhanjinhuoxue Formula combined with the tower-type pad natural traction method.The curative effect,pain score,activity ability score,analgesic drugs score,bone mineral density (BMD) and the Japanese Orthopedic Association(JOA) score were compared between the two groups.Results The effective rate was 92.00％ in the observation group and 68.00％ in the control group,the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (x2 =4.50,P＜0.05).The pain score,activity ability score and analgesic drugs score after 6-month treatment in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P＜0.05);the BMD and JOA scores in the observation group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P＜0.05).Condusion Zhanjinhuoxue Formula coordinated by the tower-type pad natural traction method can conduce to alleviate the pain symptom in the patients with pure thoracolumbar compression fracture,increases the movement function and improves the treatment effect.

Objective: To search new prognosis-related genes in gastric cancer by analyzing the high-throughput sequencing data of gastric cancer in TCGA database, and then provide data support for future studies. Methods: The RNA-seq expression matrix data and patient-related clinical data from 375 gastric cancer tissues and 45 adjacent noncancerous tissues were downloaded from the TCGA database. The data were collated and standardized based on the R language. The difference of gene expression was analyzed by the edgeR and DEseq software packages. The survival analysis of obtained differential genes was performed by the univariate and multivariate COX regressions combined with clinical data of patients, and then the genes with clinical significance were screened out. Results: A total of 364 differential genes were obtained by the edgeR and DEseq analysis. Subsequently, the functional enrichment analysis found that these genes were mainly involved in protein digestion and absorption, cytochrome P450 system of drug and exogenous substance metabolism, chemical carcinogenesis, gastric acid secretion and so on. The univariate COX regression analysis showed that FAP, FAT3, PDK4 and ZNF365 genes had significant influences on the prognosis of gastric cancer patients. The multivariate COX stepwise regression analysis showed that the risk model constructed by FAP and PDK4 could predict the prognosis of gastric cancer patients. Conclusion: FAP, FAT3, PDK4 and ZNF365 genes may be the prognostic markers of gastric cancer, which may provide data supports for future clinical and basic studies.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the mechanisms that mediate the anti-inflammatory activity of Eurycoma longifolia. METHODS: Kunming mouse models of xylene-induced ear swelling and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute pneumonia were used to compare the anti- inflammatory activities of aqueous and ethanol extracts of Eurycoma longifolia. UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS was used to identify the chemical composition in the ethanol extract of Eurycoma longifolia, based on which the potential antiinflammatory targets of Eurycoma longifolia were screened using the databases including SwissADME, SwissTargetPrediction, and Genecards. The String database was used to generate the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, and Cytoscape was used for network topology analysis and screening the core targets. The enrichment of the core targets was analyzed using Metascape database, the core components and targets were docked with Autodock software, and the docking results were visualized using Pymol software. In a RAW264.7 cell model of LPS-induced inflammation, the Griess reagent was used to measure NO level, and Western blotting was performed to detect the expression levels of MAPK1, JAK2, and STAT3 proteins to verify the anti- inflammatory mechanism of Eurycoma longifolia. RESULTS: The ethanol extract (75%) of Eurycoma longifolia (ELE) was the active site, which contained a total of 37 chemical components. These chemical compounds and diseases had 541 targets, involving the JAK/STAT3, cAMP and other signaling pathways. Twelve indicator components were identified, which all showed good results of molecular docking with two core targets involved in the signaling pathways. In the cell validation experiment, treatment of the cells with low-, medium-, and high-dose ELE significantly reduced NO release in the cells, and ELE at the medium dose significantly decreased the cellular expressions of JAK2 and STAT3. CONCLUSION The anti-inflammatory activity of Eurycoma longifolia is attributed primarily to its active ingredients bitter lignin and alkaloids, which may regulate the JAK/STAT3 signaling pathway by targeting JAK2 and STAT3.
Animals ; Mice ; Network Pharmacology ; Eurycoma ; Lipopolysaccharides ; Molecular Docking Simulation ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents/pharmacology* ; Ethanol ; Plant Extracts/pharmacology*

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of dihydromyricetin (DHM) on cardiac insufficiency in diabetic rats and explore the underlying mechanism. METHOD: Twenty-four male SD rats were randomized equally into normal control group, type 2 diabetes (T2DM) group fed on a high-glucose and high-fat diet for 6 weeks with low-dose streptozotocin (STZ) injection, metformin (MET) group with daily intragastric administration of MET (150 mg/kg) for 8 weeks after T2DM modeling, and dihydromyricetin (DHM) group with daily intragastric administration of DHM (250 mg/kg) for 8 weeks after modeling. The levels of fasting blood glucose, low density lipoprotein (LDL-C), triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein (HDL-C) and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) of the rats were measured, and plasma levels of insulin and high mobility group protein-1 (HMGB1) were detected with ELISA. The cardiac function of the rats was assessed using color echocardiography, ECG was measured using a biological signal acquisition system, and myocardial pathology was observed with HE staining. The protein expressions of HMGB1, nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) p65 and phospho-NF-κB p65 (p-NF-κB p65) in the myocardial tissue were detected using Western blotting. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the rats in T2DM group showed significant anomalies in cardiac function after modeling with significantly increased plasma HMGB1 level and expressions of HMGB1, NF-κB p65 and p-NF-κB p65 proteins in the myocardial tissue (P < 0.05 or 0.01). Treatment with DHM significantly improved the indexes of cardiac function of the diabetic rats (P < 0.05 or 0.01), decreased plasma HMGB1 level and down-regulated the protein expressions of HMGB1 and p-NF-κB p65 in the myocardial tissue (P < 0.05 or 0.01). CONCLUSION DHM treatment can improve cardiac function in diabetic rats possibly by down-regulation of HMGB1 and phospho-NF-κB p65 expressions in the myocardium.
Animals ; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental/metabolism* ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/metabolism* ; Flavonols ; HMGB1 Protein ; Heart Failure ; Male ; Metformin/therapeutic use* ; NF-kappa B/metabolism* ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Objective To establish radiation?resistant lung carcinoma cell lines, and to investigate the changes in morphology, apoptosis, invasive migration, and epithelial?mesenchymal transition ( EMT) in cells. Methods The radiation?resistant lung carcinoma cell lines were obtained by exposure of lung carcinoma cell lines, A549 and H1299, to radiation with a low dose in fractions, a sublethal dose, or a gradually increasing dose. The morphological changes in cells, radiosensitivity, survival rates after exposure, apoptosis rates, changes in invasive migration, and expression of EMT marker proteins were evaluated using microscopy, colony formation assay, CCK?8 assay, flow cytometry, transwell migration assay, and Western blot, respectively. Results Radiation with a gradually increasing dose successfully induced the radiation?resistant cell lines, A549R and H1299R. The morphological study showed that the morphology of radiation?resistant cells was converted to the morphology of mesenchymal cells. Compared with A549 and H1299 cells, the values of D0 , Dq , and SF2 were significantly increased in A549R ( P=0.017,P=0.001,P=0.000) and H1299R (P=0.033,P=0.000,P=0.008) cells, respectively;the values of α and α/β were significantly reduced in A549R (P=0.018;P=0.007) and H1299R (P=0.001;P=0.009) cells, respectively. The survival rates in A549R and H1299R cells after exposure to radiation with various doses were significantly higher than those in the control groups (all P<0.05). After exposure, the apoptosis rates were significantly reduced in A549R and H1299R cells ( P=0.02,P=0.01);the invasion and migration rates were significantly increased in A549R (P=0.000;P=0.001) and H1299R (P=0.001,P=0.002) cells;the expression of E?cadherin was significantly down?regulated in A549R and H1299R cells (P=0.00,P=0.01), while the expression of vimentin was significantly elevated in A549R and H1299R cells ( P= 0. 02, P= 0. 01 ) . Conclusions The radiation?resistant lung carcinoma cell lines are successfully established. Both cell lines show enhanced invasion and migration, which may be associated with EMT.

Objective To investigate the mRNA level of glucocorticoid receptor α (GRα) and heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and the plasma protein level of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and to analyze their association with glucocorticoid (GC) resistance.Methods One hundred and six patients with SLE and thirty-eight healthy controls were enrolled in this study.Transcription levels of GRα and HSP90 were determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction.Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect the protein level of plasma MIF.The association between these parameters and GC resistance was analyzed by Spearman correlation analysis.The multivariate logistic regression model was used to analyze the risk factors for GC resistance.Results The mRNA level of GRα and HSP90 in GC resistance group was significantly lower than that in GC sensitive group [10.18(3.12,17.20) vs 16.83(12.01,24.18), P =0.001;18.46(14.77,26.45) vs 25.84 (17.97,35.90), P =0.005].MIF protein level in GC resistance group was significantly higher than that in GC sensitive group [(23.21 ±7.98) μg/L vs (18.34 ±6.29)μg/L;P =0.013].The mRNA level of HSP90 in the high MIF group was significantly lower than that in the low MIF group [23.67 (13.84,28.32) vs 26.64 (23.61,47.16);P =0.001], as well as HSP90/GRαratio(P =0.008).Additionally, the plasma protein level of MIF was negatively correlated with HSP90 (r =-0.275, P =0.004) and HSP90/GRα ratio(r =-0.341, P ＜ 0.001).SLE activity index score in GC resistance group was significantly higher than that in GC sensitive group [(12.23 ±2.86) μg./L vs (9.63 ± 3.48) μg/L;P =0.003].Logistic regression model indicated that disease activity was an independent risk factor for GC resistance (OR =17.481, 95％ CI 1.747-174.903, P =0.015).Conclusions Our preliminary findings suggest that low mRNA level of GRα and HSP90 and high protein level of MIF are associated with GC resistance.Elevated MIF level in SLE patients may play an important role in the development of GC resistance through down-regulating HSP90 and destabilizing the balance of HSP90/ Grα.Disease activity is the risk factor for GC resistance, which might be the viable evidence of therapy response.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the role of the SIRT1/NF-κB pathway in mediating the effect of puerarin against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute kidney injury (AKI). METHODS: Fifteen BALB/C mice were randomized into control group, LPS group and puerarin treatment group, and in the latter two groups, the mice were given an intraperitoneal injection of LPS (5 mg/kg), followed by daily injection of normal saline for 3 days or injection of puerarin (25 mg/kg) given 1 h later and then on a daily basis for 3 days. On day 5 after modeling, the kidney tissues were taken for histological observation and detection of cell apoptosis. The renal function indexes including urea nitrogen (BUN), serum creatinine (Scr) and kidney injury molecule 1 (KIM-1) and the levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) and interleukin 1β (IL-1β) were measured, and the expressions of SIRT1 and NF-κB-p65(acetyl K310) in the renal tissues were detected. RESULTS: Intraperitoneal injection of LPS caused obvious glomerular capillary dilatation, hyperemia, renal interstitial edema, and renal tubular epithelial cell swelling and deformation in the mice. The mouse models of LPS-induced AKI also showed significantly increased renal tubular injury score and renal cell apoptosis (P < 0.01) with increased serum levels of BUN, Scr, KIM-1, TNF-α and IL-1β (P < 0.01), enhanced renal expressions of TNF-α, IL-1β and NF-κB p65(acetyl K310) (P < 0.01) and lowered renal expression of SIRT1 (P < 0.05). Treatment with puerarin effectively alleviated LPS-induced renal interstitial edema and renal tubular epithelial cell shedding, lowered renal tubular injury score (P < 0.01) and renal cell apoptosis rate (P < 0.01), and decreased serum levels of BUN, Scr, KIM, TNF-α and IL-1β (P < 0.01). Puerarin treatment significantly reduced TNF-α, IL-1β and NF-κB p65 (acetyl K310) expression in the renal tissue (P < 0.05) and increased SIRT1 expression by 17% (P < 0.05) in the mouse models. CONCLUSION Puerarin can effectively alleviate LPS-induced AKI in mice possibly by modulating the SIRT1/NF-κB signaling pathway.
Animals ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; NF-kappa B ; Lipopolysaccharides ; Sirtuin 1 ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; Acute Kidney Injury ; Disease Models, Animal ; Edema