Objective To study the function and diurnal variation of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid(HPT) axis,and the relationship with clinical characteristics of di-urnal rhythm in depressed patients. Methods Forty-nine depressed patients met diagnostic DSM-Ⅳ criteria and thirty-eight normal controls were collected. The plasma levels of cortisol (CORT), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), T3, T4, thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) at 7 am and 7 pm were measured by radioimmunoassay, then the results concemed were compared among the depressed groups with and without diurnal variation and control group by multivariate analysis of variance. Results The plasma level of morning CORT, morning and evening TSH ((365.94±120.78) nmol/L; (6.24±2.47)μIU/ml; (6.68±2.42)μIU/ml; respectively) were respective-ly higher than those of control group((284.91±83.39) nmol/L; (3.82±1.75)μIU/ml;(4.01±1.69)μIU/ ml, P<0.05). The plasma levels of morning and evening T4 were significantly lower than those of control group(P <0.05). The CORT morning-evening difference variable distinguished between depressed and control group (P< 0.001),but no significant differences could be found between the depressed groups with and without diurnal varia-tion. There were no significant differences in the CORT, T3, T4, TSH morning-evening difference variable between various clinical subtypes of depressed patient (unipolar/bipolar; psychotic/nonpsychotic). Conclusion Abnormal CORT morning-evening difference variable was observed in the depressed patients compared with normal controls,and may be used as a special trait mark of depressed group.

Objective To explore the effect of high-fat diet(HFD) on redox states of duodenum and calcium absorption in mice,and to analyze the relation between them.Method Fifty C57BL/6 male mice were randomly assigned to five groups.The control group consumed an ordinary diet(0.6% Ca,w/w),and other four groups were fed with HFD(19.64%lard,0.6% Ca),HFD plus 0.1% lipoid acid(LA),HFD with calcium supplement(1.6%Ca) and HFD with 1.6% Ca and 0.1% LA supplement.Calcium apparent absorption was measured by mineral balance study after feeding for 8 w.Plasma and duodenum levels of ROS,SOD,CAT,MDA,GSH/GSSG,and T-AOC were measured to evaluate the antioxidant status.Results HFD induced oxidative stress of duodenum and decrease of intestinal calcium absorption in mice.There were positive correlations between calcium apparent absorption with GSH/GSSG(r=0.801,P

Objective To investigate the changes in femoral gene expression profiles in C57BL/6 mice fed high-fat diet (HFD) via clustering analysis of DNA microarray.Method Sixteen male C57BL/6 mice (4w old) were randomly assigned to two groups,8 in each,after 4-d ordinary diet for adaptation.The control group was fed with an ordinary diet,and the HFD group with HFD(19.5% lard).All mice were sacrificed at the end of 12w and the femoral gene expression was detected by oligonucleotide microarray analysis with Affymetrix Gene Chip Mouse U430A.DAVID,an online tool,was used for clustering analysis on femoral gene expression.Results Longtime administration of HFD caused femoral gene expressed differences related to cation ion channel,transcription regulation and signal transduction,bone mineralization,phosphate metabolic process regulation,and collagen synthesis.Conclusion Longtime intake of HFD will change the expression of numerous bone metabolism-related genes in bone of mice,and then inhibit bone formation.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been widely used in many clinical fields, especially the mental illness, as well as the somatic diseases, behavior disorders in children, and intervention for the caregivers and family members of patients with various diseases.

Objective To investigate the effect of complementary dynamic scalp acupuncture on motor function in stroke. Methods 36 stroke patients were randomly allocated to control group (n=19) and treatment group (n=17). The control group received traditional scalp acupuncture and rehabilitation training, while the treatment group received scalp acupuncture and rehabilitation training in the same time,for one month. Their motor function and activities of daily living (ADL) were assessed with the Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA), Wolf Motor Function Test (WMFT) and modified Barthel Index (MBI) before and after treatment, respectively. Results The scores of FMA, WMFT and MBI increased significantly in both groups after treatment (P<0.01). The difference of scores of FMA of the lower extremities and MBI was statistically significant between the two groups after treatment (P<0.05), while the difference of scores of FMA of the upper extremities and WMFT was not (P>0.05). Conclusion Complementary dynamic scalp acupuncture is more effective on lower limbs motor function and activities of daily living in stroke patients.

More and more studies have shown that NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome has become the regulatory factor of inflammatory response and protective immunity, and the assembly and activation of NLRP3 inflammasomes are closely related to the anti-tumor immunity effect. Depending on the cell type and stimuli, activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome can induce immune cells to become polarized, hyperactive, or pyroptotic, releasing interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-18, which leads to cascade immune or inflammatory responses, and its role in tumor immunity has received extensive attention. Here, we review the mechanisms of the NLRP3 inflammasome enhancing CD8⁺ T cells-mediated anti-tumor immunity by inducing the pyroptosis of tumor cell, the pyroptosis or hyperactive state of dendritic cells (DCs), and the pyroptosis or polarization of the macrophages. Different anti-tumor immune roles of NLRP3 inflammasome activation in tumor cells and immune cells provide new directions for future research and may influence the development of next-generation immunotherapy.

Objective Through detecting CD4+CD25+ T regulatory cells(Treg)in the peripheral blood in children suffering autoimmune diseases and normal controls to learn about the changes of Tregs during the diseases and to acquire some references for clinical diagnosis and treatment.Methods The data were reviewed for CD4+CD25+ Treg cells of the 93 children diagnosed as pediatric autoimmune disease in Children′s Hospital Affiliated to Capital Institute of Pediatrics from Nov.2007 to Jun.2008.Thirty-five normal children in the contempora-neous physical examination were selected as the control group.The percentage of CD4+CD25+ Treg cells and CD4+ T cells to the total T cells were determined by flow cytometric method.Data of the JRA group(22 cases),SLE group(12 cases) and HSP group(12 cases),which were the first three according to the number of cases,were respectively compared with the controls.Independent-samples t test was performed for a statistic analysis with SPSS 11.5 software.Results 1.The percentages of CD4+CD25+ Treg cells to the total T cells and CD4+ T cells in the autoimmune diseases children[(6.14?3.21)% and(21.85?11.68)%,respectively] were both higher than those in the control group[(3.68?1.02)% and(12.83?3.61)%,respectively Pa

The aim of this study was to comprehensively investigate the correlations between foliar fungal endophyte communities and effective components accumulations in Salvia miltiorrhiza. Foliar samples of S. miltiorrhiza were collected in 5 different areas. Their fungal endophyte communities and effective component contents were determined by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), respectively. The results showed that, for characteristics of foliar fungal endophyte communities and effective component contents, there were both similarities and differences among the five samples. Correlation analysis of DGGEs' band and 24 effective components revealed a significant correlations (P < 0.01). For examples, 4 bands (15, 18, 23 and 26) were all significantly correlated with the accumulations of caffeic acid, salvianolic acid B, salvianolic acid C and dihydrotanshinone I.
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Cluster Analysis ; Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis ; Endophytes ; chemistry ; Fungi ; chemistry ; Salvia miltiorrhiza ; chemistry ; microbiology

OBJECTIVETo probe into the relation between acute respiratory infection and enterovirus (EV), season, age and sex of children in Beijing area.

METHODSNasopharyngeal secretion samples from 402 inpatient children with acute respiratory infection (ARI) were obtained, and EV RNA was detected by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The distribution of month, age and sex among the children positive for EV were analyzed.

RESULTSSeventy of the 402 cases were positive for EV RNA, the positive rate was 17.4 percent. The EV positive rate was 17.7 percent in children with lower respiratory tract infection, and 15.9 percent in children with upper respiratory tract infection. The EV positive rates were 0-36.1 percent in different months, which was the highest in the May (36.1 percent) and lower in December (4.3 percent). The positive rate of EV was 14.8 percent-21.9 percent in different age groups except for children 12 years of age and older, the positive rate was the lowest in the 4-6 years age group, and the highest in the 7 month-1 year age group. The EV infected boys and girls accounted for 16.2 percent and 19.7 percent of total numbers of boys and girls, respectively.

CONCLUSIONThe EV positive rate was higher in children with lower respiratory infection, which suggests that EV may play an important role in ARI of children. The EV positive rate was higher from late spring to autumn. EV infection was common in children under 12 years of age. The rate of EV infection was not significantly different between boys and girls.

Acute Disease ; Adolescent ; Age Distribution ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Enterovirus ; isolation & purification ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Nasopharynx ; virology ; Respiratory Tract Infections ; etiology ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Seasons

To prepare sagittatoside B with epimedin B Hydrolyzed from cellulase. With the conversion ratio as the index, the effects of pH value, temperature, reaction time, dosage of enzyme and concentration of substrates on the conversion ratio were detected. L9 (3(4)) orthogonal design was adopted to optimize the preparation process. Hydrolyzed products were identified by MS, 1H-NMR, and 13C-NMR. The results showed that the optimum reaction conditions for the enzymatic hydrolysis were that the temperature was 50 degrees C, the reaction medium was pH 5.6 acetic acid-sodium acetate buffer solution, the concentration of substrates was 20 g x L(-1), the mass ratio between enzyme and substrate was 3: 5, and the relative molecular mass of the reaction product was 646.23. NMR data proved that the product was sagittatoside B. The process is simple and reliable under mild reaction conditions, thus suitable for industrial production.
Cellulase ; metabolism ; Drug Compounding ; methods ; Flavonoids ; chemistry ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Hydrolysis ; Temperature ; Time Factors