Adolescent ; Age Factors ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Risk Factors ; Tachycardia, Supraventricular ; etiology ; pathology

Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; mortality ; physiopathology ; Renal Dialysis ; methods ; mortality ; Survival Rate

Aristolochic Acids ; adverse effects ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; adverse effects ; Humans ; Kidney Tubular Necrosis, Acute ; chemically induced ; prevention & control

Objective To study the genome DNA methylation in rheumatoid arthirits(RA)and the re- lated factors of DNA methylation.Methods Twenty-first cases with RA and 20 controls were recruited to par- ticipate the study.Plasma Hcy,SAM,SAH,the MTHFR gene C677T polymorphism and the expression of LFA-1 in CD4~+T cells was measured in all patients and controls.Results①The SAM levels were lower sig- nificantly in RA groups than in controls.The SAH levels were higher significantly in RA groups than in con- trols.②There was significant inverse correlation between plasma Hcy level and SAM level(r=-0.932,P＜0.01). There was significant positive correlation between plasma Hcy level and SAH level(r=0.924,P＜0.01).③The expression of LFA-1 in CD4~+T cells was higher significantly in RA groups than in controls.There was a signif- icant positive correlation between LFA-1 expression level and Hcy level(r=0.557,P＜0.01),a significant in- verse correlation between LFA-1 expression level and SAM level(r=-0.651,P＜0.01).④The MTHFR gene mu- tation lead to dramatically increase of Hcy,SAH level and the expression of LFA-1 level in CD4~+T cells and genome DNA hypomethylation.Conclusion①Hypomethylation of genome DNA is found in most RA pa- tients.②The factors associated with genome DNA hypomethylation include MTHFR gene mutation and hyper- homocysteinemia.③The expression of LFA-1 in CD4~+ T cells is higer in RA groups than in controls,which re- lates to the DNA methylation level and the MTHFR gene C677T polymorphism.

AIM: To investigate the role of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) in the growth of Müller cells using a co-culture system in vitro . METHODS: Müller cells were cocultured with RPE cells under both normoxic and hypoxic conditions in Transwell chamber culture system. Müller cell proliferation was evaluated by MTT assay. The number of cells which migrate through micropores and stay on the outer bottom side of insert systems were observed and counted. RESULTS: The activities of proliferation and migration of Müller cells when cocultured with RPE cells were significantly higher than those of the Müller cells when cultured alone at all time points under both normoxic and hypoxic conditions. However, for both the coculture and control groups, there is no significant difference between the measurements at 3 and 6 hours. CONCLUSION: Evidence suggests that RPE, when co-cultured with Müller cells, can stimulate migration and proliferation of Müller cells under both hypoxic and normoxic conditions in a time-dependent manner; how-ever, there is no evidence to support the synergetic interaction of RPE and Müller cells co-cultured under hypoxic conditions.

Abdominal Cavity ; physiopathology ; Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Constipation ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult

Microvesicles (MVs) are the heterogeneous mixtures of vesicles. MVs released by leukemia cells constitute an important part of the leukemia microenvironment. MVs might act as important reservoirs of microRNAs (miRNAs). It is worth evaluating whether MVs possess some unique miRNA contents that are valuable in understanding the pathogenesis. In this study, we investigated the miRNA expression patterns of Nalm-6-derived MVs, Jurkat-derived MVs and normal cell-derived MVs using miRNA microarrays. The potential target genes regulated by differentially expressed miRNAs were also predicted and analyzed. Results demonstrated that 182 miRNAs and 166 miRNAs were differentially expressed in Nalm-6-MVs and Jurkat-MVs, respectively. Many oncogenes, tumor suppressors and signal pathway genes were targeted by these aberrantly expressed miRNAs, which might contribute to the development of B-ALL or T-ALL. Our findings expanded the potential diagnostic markers of ALL and provided useful information for ALL pathogenesis.

This study taking gestodene (GEST) as a model, investigated the factors affecting reservoir-type intravaginal ring (IVR)'s drug release. This paper reported a gestodene intravaginal ring of reservoir design, comprising a gestodene silicone elastomer core encased in a non-medicated silicone sheath, separately manufactured by reaction injection moulding at 80 degrees C and heating vulcanization at 130 degrees C is reported. The test investigated the factors affecting drug release through a single variable method, taking the drug release rates of 21 days as standards. When changing the thickness of the controlling sheath outside, the ratio of the first day of drug release and mean daily release (MDR), named the relatively burst effect, is closing to 1 with the thickness of controlling sheath increasing, while the 1.25 mm sheath corresponding to 1.04 controlled the burst release effectively; a positive correlation (r = 0.992 2) existed between the average drug release (Q/t) and drug loading (A) within a certain range. The C6-165 controlling sheath with high solubility of GEST is easier to achieve controlled release of the drug; GEST crystalline power is more effective to implement controlled release of drugs among difficent states of the drug. A 1/4 fractional segment core gives a relatively burst effect of 1.76, while the 1/1 and 1/2 are 1.93 and 1.87 separately, at the same drug loading, concluding that use of a fractional segment core would allow development of a suitable GEST reservoir IVR. In summary, GEST reservoir-type IVR could be adjusted by the thickness of controlling sheath, the loading of drug, the material properties of controlling sheath, the dispersion state of drug, the additive composition and structure of intravaginal ring, to control the drug release behavior and achieve the desired drug release rate.
Administration, Intravaginal ; Contraceptive Agents, Female ; administration & dosage ; Contraceptive Devices, Female ; Delayed-Action Preparations ; Drug Delivery Systems ; methods ; Norpregnenes ; administration & dosage ; chemistry ; Silicone Elastomers ; chemistry ; Solubility

Air Pollution, Indoor ; adverse effects ; Animals ; Male ; Maze Learning ; Memory ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred Strains