There has been thousands of years' history that traditional Chinese medicines were used in the prevention and treatment of infectious disease. In recent years, traditional Chinese medicine plays a unique role in the control of variety of new infectious diseases. This article provides a summary on our knowledge of the traditional Chinese medicine theory in the explanation of infectious disease, application of Chinese medicines and the pharmacological mechanism in the successful management on the Ebola virus disease.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola ; therapy ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional

Objective: To study the role of Fas/FasL signal in pulpitis. Methods: The expression of Fas/FasL in rat normal and inflammatory dental pulp was observed by immunohistochemical method and the expression of fas mRNA was studied by in situ hybridization. Results: A few of Fas and few of FasL positive cells were observed in normal dental pulp, while in inflammatory dental pulp many polymorphonuelear neutrophyl leukocytes(PMNs) and some pulp cells in the inflammatory area were stained positive. Conclusion: The apoptosis in dental pulp induced by Fas/FasL may play a role in pulpitis.

Objective To evaluate the application status of China Disease Prevention and Control Information System of Hy?datid Disease,in which questions existed are summarized in order to promote the system update. Methods A questionnaire was designed and distributed to Inner Mongolia,Sichuan,Tibet,Gansu,Qinghai,Ningxia,Xinjiang and Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps to evaluate the application status of China Disease Prevention and Control Information System of Hydatid Disease assistant with telephone. Results The recovery rate of questionnaires was 87.5%. The statistics of closed questions showed that national application rate of the China Disease Prevention and Control Information System of Hydatid Disease was 100%,of which 15.3%were low frequency users,57.1%believed the system was necessary,28.6%considered it was dispens?able,and 14.3%believed that it was totally unnecessary. The statistics of open?ended questions indicated that 6 endemic regions suggested to increase the guidance and training,while 4 endemic regions had opinions on sharing the information of the national infectious disease reporting systems and hydatid disease prevention and control information system,and the opinions on turning monthly report to quarterly report,and increasing statistics and analysis module,and 3 endemic regions deemed that the system had logic errors and defects. Conclusion The problems of the system are mainly focused on the existence of systemic deficien?cies and logic errors,lacking of statistical parameters and corresponding analysis function module,and lacking of the guidance and training,which limits the use of the system. Therefore,these problems should be resolved.

The effects of microRNA-34a (miR-34a)-regulated Notch1 gene on the proliferation and apoptosis of the human glioma cell line U87 were investigated in this study. The U87 cells were divided into miR-34a mimics, negative control, mock transfection and blank control groups in terms of different treatments. In miR-34a mimics group, human U87 glioma cells were transfected with miR-34a mimics by using lipofectamine 2000. The cells transfected with nonsense microRNA were set up as negative control group. Those treated with lipofectamine 2000 only were designated to the mock tranfection group. In the blank control group, the cells were cultured routinely and no treatment was given. The expression of miR-34a and Notch1 was detected by using real-time RT-PCR. Western blotting was employed to monitor the change in Notch1 protein. Cell proliferation and apoptosis were measured by CCK-8 and flow cytometry. The results showed that the proliferative ability of U87 cells was significantly reduced and the apoptotic cells increased in miR-34a mimics group relative to control groups. The expression of miR-34a was significantly up-regulated in mimics group as compared with control groups (P<0.05). Furthermore, Notch1 protein levels were significantly decreased in miR-34a mimics group when compared with control groups (P<0.05), but the mRNA expression of Notch1 showed no significant difference among these groups. It was concluded that miR-34a may suppress the proliferation and induce apoptosis of U87 cells by decreasing the expression of target gene Notch1, suggesting that miR-34a may become a promising gene therapeutic target for brain glioma.

The objective of this study was to screen out the effective shRNA which can inhibit the gene expression of tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), to construct the recombinant plasmid and to determine its sequence so as to provide the new approach for searching gene therapy of TNF-alpha related diseases. The primary macrophages were added into 15% DMEM, then cells were adjusted as 2 x 10(7) cells/L and were inoculated in 6-well plate with 3 ml/well, and were cultured at 37 degrees C in a fully humidified atmosphere with 5% CO(2). Cells were stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and the concentration of TNF-alpha in the supernatant at different time points was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The 5 synthesized DNA sequences which can be transcripted into shRNA were transfected into cells with lipofectamine 2000, then the cells were stimulated with LPS for 24 hours. The concentration of TNF-alpha in the supernatant and the expression of TNF-alpha mRNA were determined by ELISA and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) respectively. The most effective shRNA was inserted into plasmid, and the recombinant plasmid was identified by sequence analysis. The results showed that the concentration of TNF-alpha in the supernatant reached peak after the stimulation with LPS for 24 hours. In the RNA interference group, the shRNA 1 was the most effective one, which could inhibit the expression of TNF-alpha by 59.46% and the expression of TNF-alpha mRNA by 61.2%. The recombinant plasmid was cloned and the sequence of interest was obtained. In conclusion, the most effective shRNA targeting TNF-alpha was successfully screened out and the recombinant plasmid was constructed. The recombinant plasmid may be helpful to search new gene therapy for TNF-alpha related disease.
Animals ; Cells, Cultured ; Gene Expression ; Genetic Therapy ; Genetic Vectors ; Macrophages ; cytology ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Plasmids ; RNA Interference ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; RNA, Small Interfering ; genetics ; Recombination, Genetic ; Transfection ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; genetics

To investigate the possible involvement of Ras signaling in the hematopoietic differentiation of embryonic stem cells (ES cells), ES cells were transfected with RasN17, the dominant-negative mutant of Ras. Western blot was used to test the effect of RasN17 expression on Erk1/2 and Akt phosphorylation, semi-quantitative RT-PCR was used to detect expression of gene related to hematopoiesis in differentiation of ES cells. The results showed that the expression of RasN17 in the ES cells remarkably downregulated the phosphorylation of Erk1/2 and Akt simultaneously. Moreover, the expression of several markers related with hematopoiesis including Runx1, SCL and beta-major globin, were significantly suppressed in the EB expressing RasN17, whereas the transcription of Flk1, a gene required earlier than SCL in development of hematopoietic and endothelial lineages, was not influenced. It is concluded that the activation of Ras is pivotal for in vitro hematopoietic differentiation of ES cells.
Animals ; Cell Differentiation ; physiology ; Cells, Cultured ; Embryonic Stem Cells ; cytology ; Genes, ras ; Hematopoiesis ; physiology ; Hematopoietic Stem Cells ; cytology ; Mice ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3 ; metabolism ; Phosphorylation ; Signal Transduction ; ras Proteins ; physiology

AIM:To study the effect of posterior sub - Tenon's capsule injection of triamcinolone acetonide ( TA ) in treatment of patients with diffuse diabetic macular edema ( DME) before panretinal photocoagulation ( PRP) .
METHODS:Retrospective analysis of the clinical data of 96 cases (96 eyes) with DME treated in our hospital from October 2008 to May 2012, and the patients were divided into the study group and control group, each group with 48 cases ( 48 eyes ) , the control group were only treated with PRP, and for the study group, TA was injected one week before PRP. At 6mo after treatment, best-corrected visual acuity ( BCVA) and retinal thickness changes of two groups were compared, the changes of intraocular pressure in two groups was analyzed.
RESULTS:After treatment, two groups were followed up for 6mo, compared with before treatment, the expression of BCVA in control group was reduced, and rise in the study group, with significant difference between the two groups (P<0. 05), and during the follow-up period, IOP change was in the normal range for the two groups, with no the difference (P>0. 05), the study group had foveal thickness reduction of 9. 6μm, the control group was increased by 31. 9μm, with significant difference (P<0. 05), parafoveal thickness in the study group decreased 5μm, significantly increased 22. 1μm in the study group, centre concave surrounding thickness increased 0. 4μm in study group and 19. 4μm for the control group, with no significant difference (P>0. 05).CONCLUSION:TA injection in patients with diffuse DME before PRP is safe and effective, and it is superior to simple PRP therapy, and it can be applied in primary hospital.

OBJECTIVETo explore the expression and clinical significance of T cell immunoglobulin mucin (TIM)-1, TIM-3 and T cell-specific transcription factors T-bet and GATA-3 in spleen mononuclear cells in patients with primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP).

METHODSThe spleen samples were obtained from 17 active ITP patients and 10 controls with spleen traumatic rupture. By using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction, the mRNA expressions of TIM-3, TIM1, T-bet and GATA-3 were studied in all subjects.

RESULTSTIM-3 mRNA levels of active ITP patients were significantly decreased to (29 ± 16)% of that of control, TIM-1 mRNA levels of active ITP patients increased to (3.20 ± 2.18) folds of that of control, but the difference was not significant. The ratio of TIM-1/ TIM-3 was elevated in active ITP patients. T-bet mRNA levels were up-regulated in ITP patients by (2.82 ± 1.57) folds (P<0.05) and the expression of GATA3 was decreased by 14% folds (P<0.05) compared to controls. The ratio of T-bet/GATA3 were significantly elevated in ITP patients.

CONCLUSIONThe imbalance between TIM-3 and TIM-1 expression might play an important role in pathogenesis of ITP.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Case-Control Studies ; Female ; Flow Cytometry ; GATA3 Transcription Factor ; metabolism ; Hepatitis A Virus Cellular Receptor 1 ; Hepatitis A Virus Cellular Receptor 2 ; Humans ; Male ; Membrane Glycoproteins ; metabolism ; Membrane Proteins ; metabolism ; Middle Aged ; Purpura, Thrombocytopenic, Idiopathic ; immunology ; metabolism ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; Receptors, Virus ; metabolism ; Spleen ; metabolism ; Th1 Cells ; immunology ; Th2 Cells ; immunology ; Young Adult

The objective of this study was to investigate the function and mechanism of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) in antagonizing acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) and improving the rate of survival. The lethally irradiated C57BL/6 recipients were injected with bone marrow and lymphocyte of spleen from BALB/c donors and were treated with HBO, cyclosporine A (CsA) and methotrexate (MTX). T lymphocytes and subsets, adhesion molecules and cytokines were detected by flow cytometry, ELISA and RT-PCR respectively. The results showed that the survival rate in HBO group was much higher than that in allogenetic bone marrow transplantation (allo-BMT) group and CsA + MTX group; the numbers of CD3(+), CD4(+), CD8(+), CD4(+)CD11a(+), CD4(+)CD18(+), CD8(+)CD11a(+), CD8(+)CD18(+) lymphocytes in spleen were decreased markedly by HBO and CsA + MTX (p < 0.05); the levels of IL-2 and TNFalpha mRNA and their serum concentrations in HBO group were much lower than those in allo-BMT group but were higher than those in CsA + MTX group; the levels of IL-4 and IL-10 mRNA in HBO group were much higher than those in allo-BMT group and CsA + MTX group. It is concluded that HBO has more remarkable advantage in improving the rate of survival than CsA + MTX, its mechanism of anti-aGVHD is tightly correlated with the transform of T cell and its subsets and the expression of adhesion molecules and cytokines.
Acute Disease ; Animals ; Bone Marrow Transplantation ; adverse effects ; Cytokines ; biosynthesis ; Female ; Graft vs Host Disease ; etiology ; therapy ; Hyperbaric Oxygenation ; Lymphocyte Transfusion ; adverse effects ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; T-Lymphocytes ; immunology ; Whole-Body Irradiation

The aim of this study was to explore the effect of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) preconditioning on the rejection of skin allograft in mice and its molecular mechanism. BALB/c donor mice and C57BL/6 recipients received hyperbaric oxygen preconditioning once a day for 7 days. After skin transplantation, the recipients were treated with cyclosporine A (CsA) intraperitoneally. Immunofluorescent staining technique and flow cytometry were used to observe the influence HBO on percentage of spleen lymphocytes CD3+, CD4+, CD8+ and cell adhesion molecule LFA-1 (CD11a/CD18). The results showed that as compared with control, the numbers of CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, CD4+CD11a+, CD4+ CD18+, CD8+CD11a+, CD8+CD18+ lymphocytes of spleen decreased in HBO preconditioning groups and CsA group, and decreased markedly in HBO preconditioning combined with CsA group (p<0.05); the general state of recipient mice in HBO preconditioning combined with CsA group was better than that of recipient mice received HBO preconditioning or CsA only. It is concluded that the method of HBO preconditioning combined with traditional immunosuppressive agent CsA has remarkable advantage in inhibiting the rejection of skin graft. Its molecular protective mechanism is correlated with the expression of adhesive molecules on T cell subsets.
Animals ; Cell Adhesion ; Cell Adhesion Molecules ; pharmacology ; Cyclosporine ; pharmacology ; Female ; Graft Rejection ; prevention & control ; Graft Survival ; Hyperbaric Oxygenation ; Lymphocyte Count ; Lymphocytes ; cytology ; metabolism ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Skin Transplantation ; immunology ; Spleen ; cytology ; Transplantation Conditioning ; methods