Objective To investigate the changes of dopaminergic(DA) neurons in substantia nigra compact of the aged rats.Methods Using RT-PCR,Western blot,immunohistochemistry and electron microscope to detect the levels of TH mRNA and TH protein,the number and the ultrastructure of TH-positive neurons in the substantia nigra compact of the aged rats(≥24 months),and comparing those with adult rats(4～5 months).Results The level of TH mRNA(0.66?0.12) in substantia nigra compact of the aged rats was much lower than that in the adult rats(1.09?0.08)(P0.05).However,the number of TH-positive neurons in the caudal of substantia nigra compact of the aged rats was much lower than that of the adult rats(P

Objective To observe the effect of exercise on insulin resistance induced by a high fat diet and to explore the underlying mechanism.Methods Thirty healthy male Wistar rats were randomly divided into a normal control group (NC group) and a high-fat group (HF group),fed with normal chow and a high fat diet respectively.Eighteen weeks later,insulin resistance had appeared in the HF group.The HF group was then randomly subdivided into a high-fat diet control group (HC group,fed a high fat diet) and an exercise group (HE group,fed a high fat diet and subjected to swimming training for 6 weeks).After 24 weeks,an insulin sensitivity index was calculated.Serum free fatty acid (FFA) and skeletal muscle triglyceride (TG) were detected.Phosphorylation of adenosine monophosphate kinase-α (AMPKα) in skeletal muscle was detected by Western blotting.Results At twenty-four weeks the insulin sensitivity of the HC group had decreased significantly compared to the NC group.Serum FFA level and skeletal muscle TG content had both increased.Average phosphorylation of AMPKα in the HC group decreased to 48.7% of the NC group average.Compared to the HC group,insulin sensitivity and phosporylation of AMPK-α were elevated significantly in the HE group.Serum FFA level and skeletal muscle TG content were both lower.However,compared to the NC group,both serum FFA level and skeletal muscle TG content had increased in the HE group,while insulin sensitivity and phosphorylation of AMPKα had significantly decreased.Conclusions Exercise can significantly improve insulin resistance induced by a high-fat diet through decreasing serum FFA level and ectopic li-pid accumulation in skeletal muscle.

Objective To observe the effect of exercise on the expression of TNF-α in the adipose tissue of insulin resistant rats fed a high fat diet. Methods Thirty healthy male rats were randomly divided into a high fat di- et group and a normal chow group. Eighteen weeks later, the high fat group was randomly divided into a resting group fed with the high fat diet only, and an exercise group fed the high fat diet, but receiving swimming training for 6 weeks. Changes in their metabolism of glucose and lipids were observed, and the insulin sensitivity index was calcu-lated. Meanwhile, the level of TNF-α mRNA in their adipose tissue was detected with a real-time fluorescence quan-titative polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and protein in the adipose tissue was measured using Western blotting. Results After 18 weeks of high fat diet feeding, the insulin sensitivity index of the high fat diet group decreased sig-nificantly as compared to the normal chow group, suggesting that insulin resistance had been acquired in the high fat diet group. 24 weeks later, the insulin sensitivity index of the resting group had decreased further, again significantly when compared to the normal chow group. Compared to the resting group, the insulin sensitivity index of exercise group was significantly higher, and the expression of TNF-α mRNA and protein in their adipose tissue was significant- ly increased. Conclusion Insulin resistance can be induced by high fat diet feeding. Exercise can improve insulin resistance by increasing the expression of TNF-α in adipose tissue.

This paper aimed to investigate the botanical origins of Isatidis Radix and Isatidis Folium, and clarify the confusion of its classification. The second internal transcribed spacer (ITS2) of ribosomal DNA, the chloroplast matK gene of 22 samples from some major production areas were amplified and sequenced. Sequence assembly and consensus sequence generation were performed using the CodonCode Aligner. Phylogenetic study was performed using MEGA 4.0 software in accordance with the Kimura 2-Parameter (K2P) model, and the phylogenetic tree was constructed using the neighbor-joining methods. The results showed that the length of ITS2 sequence of the botanical origins of Isatidis Radix and Isatidis Folium was 191 bp. The sequence showed that some samples had several SNP sites, and some samples had heterozygosis sites. In the NJ tree, based on ITS2 sequence, the studied samples were separated into two groups, and one of them was gathered with Isatis tinctoria L. The studied samples also were divided into two groups obviously based on the chloroplast matK gene. In conclusion, our results support that the botanical origins of Isatidis Radix and Isatidis Folium are Isatis indigotica Fortune, and Isatis indigotica and Isatis tinctoria are two distinct species. This study doesn't support the opinion about the combination of these two species in Flora of China.
Chloroplasts ; genetics ; DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic ; methods ; DNA, Plant ; genetics ; DNA, Ribosomal Spacer ; genetics ; Genes, Plant ; genetics ; Isatis ; classification ; genetics ; Phylogeny ; Plant Leaves ; genetics ; Plants, Medicinal ; classification ; genetics ; Species Specificity

Objective To observe the effects of exercise on serum adiponectin and adiponectin receptor (AdipoR) level in skeletal muscle of insulin-resistant rats. Methods A total of 30 healthy male rats were randomly divided into a control group ( NC, n = 8) and a high-fat group ( HF, n = 22), fed with normal chow and high fat diet, respectively. Eighteen weeks later, the high-fat group was randomly divided into a high-fat diet control group (HC, n = 10) and an exercise group (HE, n = 12). The HC and HE group were continually fed with high fat diet, while the HE group was administered with swimming training for 6 weeks in addition at the same time. After 24 weeks, the insulin sensitivity index was calculated, and serum adiponectin level was detected by using ELISA. The expressions of AdipoR mRNA in skeletal muscle were detected with real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results After 18 weeks, compared to NC group, the insulin sensitivity index of HF group decreased significantly. It suggested that insulin resistance appeared in HF group. Twenty-four weeks later, compared to NC group, the ISI of HC group was significantly decreased, meanwhile the level of serum adiponectin, expression of AdipoR1 and AdipoR2 mRNA in skeletal muscle of HC group were 71.9% , 59.9% and 69.2% of those of the NC group, respectively; compared to HC group, the ISI was increased significantly by exercise, meanwhile the expression of AdipoR1 mRNA in skeletal muscle was significantly increased by 1.33 times, however the level of serum adiponectin and the expression of AdipoR2 mRNA in skeletal muscle were not altered in HE group. Conclusion Six weeks of exercise improves insulin sensitivity through increasing the expression of AdipoRI mRNA in skeletal muscle.

Objective To characterize the association of adiponectin,leptin and free fatty acids(FFA)with adiposity,insulin resistance,lipid profiles and inflammatory markers in type 2 diabetes.Methods We measured fasting serum adiponectin,leptin,FFA,high-sensitive C reactive protein(hs-CRP) levels and metabolic parameters in 77 cases of type 2 diabetic patients with or without obesity and 26 healthy subjects.Results Following parameters were significantly higher in type 2 diabetic patients than in healthy subjects: fasting serum leptin(?g/L)(4.5?3.9 vs 4.1?2.1),hsCRP(mg/L)(0.69?1.07 vs 0.33?0.47),FFA(?mol/L)(566?227 vs 391?129) and triglyceride(mmol/L)(1.61?1.02 vs 1.01?0.40);however,following parameters were significantly lower in type 2 diabetic patients than in healthy subjects: serum adiponectin(mg/L)(5.5?3.4 vs 9.1?4.1),highdensity lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C)(mmol/L)(1.22?0.27 vs 1.48?0.26), apolipoprotein AI(mmol/L)(1.35?0.19 vs 1.49?0.18) and apolipoprotein AII(mmol/L)(0.29?0.07 vs 0.34?0.06) concentrations(P

This paper was aimed to study the genetic diversity and genetic relationship of germplasm resource of Lonicerae Japonicae Flos in order to provide references for its breeding. A total of 36 samples from 18 farm varieties and wild species, as well as related species of Lonicera japonica Thunb. from the main production areas were studied by ISSR-PCR markers. The Jaccard coefficient was worked out by NTSYS-pc software. And a cluster dendrogram of different samples was established based on unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA). The re-sults showed that 12 ISSR primers generated 129 loci of which 114 loci were polymorphic. The average percentage of polymorphic bands (PPB) is 88.37%. In the cluster dendrogram, different samples of Lonicera japonica are in the same group, which showed that it is a natural species; the wild sample is separated from the cultivated samples; the traditional type-Maohua is relative stable, but the type of Jizhuahua includes complicated varieties, and it has obvi-ous genetic variation; the new variety Jiufeng 1 has already distinct into one stable type. It was concluded that the ISSR method was suitable for germplasm identification, genetic diversity analysis of Lonicerae Japonicae Flos, thus providing a theoretical foundation for its cultivation and breeding.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections ; complications ; microbiology ; Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome ; complications ; microbiology ; Adult ; Humans ; Male ; Penicillium ; pathogenicity ; Pharyngeal Neoplasms ; complications ; microbiology ; Pharynx ; microbiology ; pathology

Objective: To study the roles of N methyl D aspartate acid (NMDA) receptors of glutamate in mediating the arterial baroreceptor reflex (ABR)in rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) in rats. Methods: The blood pressure, heart rates and ABR were observed after the bilateral microinjection of 0.1 ?l 50 mmol/L ketamine into RVLM of ureth anesthetized rats. Results: Bilateral microinjection of ketamine into RVLM induced decrease of the blood pressure and heart rate ( P

The T-cell immunoglobulin and immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motif domain (TIGIT) is an inhibitory receptor mainly expressed on active T-cells, or natural killer cells (NK cells) that activate negative stimulus signals in immune cells by combining with multiple ligands on the surface of target cells including tumor cells and infected cells. TIGIT plays an important regulatory role in the immune pathogenesis of tumors, viral infections and various autoimmune diseases by inhibiting the over activation of cells and the over secretion of proinflammatory cytokines. Recent researches show that TIGIT is highly expressed in T cells and NK cells of cancer patients, and is related to disease progression and poor clinical prognosis. Researchers try to enhance the activity of T cells or NK cells by blocking the binding of TIGIT and its ligand for therapeutic intervention. At present, there have been many reports about the use of anti-TIGIT monoclonal antibody treatment in different mouse tumor models leading to tumor regression, TIGIT has received extensive attention in cancer immunotherapy as a promising target for next generation cancer immunotherapy. Several clinical trials are currently evaluating the efficacy of anti-TIGIT monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) in patients with several cancers. The most advanced candidate, tiragolumab, has exhibited remarkable efficacy in programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1)-positive non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) patients in phase Ⅱ clinical trials, in combination with PD-L1 blockade. However, the specific mechanism of TIGIT blockade remains to be fully elucidated.