Objective To explore the neural damage induced by acute exposure to methamphetamine (METH).Methods The mice were administrated with METH,then the stereotyped behavior of mice was evaluated,and spatial recognition memory was analyzed by Y-maze test.In addition,nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity was detected by kit,and the apoptotic proteins including Bax,Bcl-2,Caspase-3 were assayed by using Western blot.The DNA injury induced by METH was observed by using the comet assay.Moreover,mitochondrial membrane potential was detected to assess the toxic effects of METH on mitochondria by JC-1.With the Western blot assay,the phosphorylation of MAPK signaling pathways were also investigated.Results Acute METH exposure significantly increased the stereotyped behavior in mice,and spatial recognition ability of mice was obviously decreased.On the molecular level,total nitric oxide synthase (TNOS) and induced nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) were increased,and the apoptotic proteins,such as Bax and cleaved caspase-3 were markedly enhanced.With the comet assay,it showed that METH exposure resulted in DNA damage.In parallel,mitochondrial membrane was damaged which manifested as mitochondrial membrane potential decreased.With the western blot,It was further found that METH enhanced the activation of MAPKs.However,p38 MAPK signahng pathway was demonstrated to be the only one factor involved in METH-induced neural damage.Conclusion METH induced neural damage,and MAPK signaling pathways might be involved in this process,since inhibition of p38 MAPK signaling pathway significantly ameliorated METH-induced neural damage.

Purpose:To study the expression of induced nitric oxide synthase(iNOS) and testicular germ cellapoptosis in experimental cryptorchidism. Methods: Immature rats (22 day-old, Sprague Dawley) were subjectedto unilateral cryptorchidism; Using terminal-deoxynucleotidy1 transferase mediated dUTP nick end labeling(TUNEL)for the detection of germ cell apoptosis; Using immunohistochemical SP method for the detection ofexpression of iNOS. Results:①After operation, the number of apoptotic germ cells in the cryptorchidism tissueincreased when the time prolonged within 7 days. ②The number of apoptotic germ cells in the cryptorchidism tis-sue increased significantly as compared to the contralateral control testis of the same animal from the 4th day tothe 7th day after operation.③In control testis, iNOS immunostaining was Localized to the cytoplasm of Leydigcell, sertoli cells and primary spermatocytes; Additional intense immunostaining was detected in the cytoplasm ofsloughed germ cells of tubules in the cryptorchidism. Conclusions:Expression of iNOS is believed to be one of thecauses that increase the number of apoptotic germ cells in the cryptorchidism.

The uracil in DNA comes from either the misincorporation of dUTP in place of dTTP or deamination of cytosine. In the latter case, it can result in a GC to AT transition mutation if the uracil is not removed before DNA replication. Base excision repair (BER) is a major pathway for removing DNA lesions arising from endogenous processes as well as those induced by exposure to exogenous chemicals or irradiation. BER is initiated by DNA glycosylases that excise aberrant bases from DNA by cleavage of the N-glycosidic bond linking to the base of its deoxyribose sugar. Uracil N-glycosylase (UNG) is the enzyme responsible for the first step in the BER pathway that specifically removes uracil from DNA. The UNG gene undergoes both temporal and spatial regulation mainly at the level of transcription. Normally cancer cells undergo over-proliferation and up-regulate their UNG during tumorigenesis. In this study we examine the correlation between UNG level and carcinogenesis, and explore the possibility of using UNG as a marker for cancer diagnosis. Human UNG gene was amplified from the total RNA of the human choriocarcinoma cell line, JEG-3, by RT-PCR. After purification, the 942bp full-length UNG cDNA coding sequence was digested with EcoR I and Sal I, and cloned into the digested pET-21 to construct a recombinant vector, pUNG. The UNG protein was expressed under the control of T7 promoter in E. coli BL21 (DE3) cells induced with IPTG. After ultrasonic treatment, the cell lysate and precipitate were analyzed by SDS-PAGE and a 39kD band was detected. The plasmid was serially diluted at appropriate concentrations and employed as standards in the subsequent quantification. Total RNAs were extracted from 18 pairs of clinical samples, each pair contains a sample of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) tissue and its surrounding normal esophageal epithelia. The copy numbers of UNG mRNA in these RNA samples were determined by real-time quantitative RT-PCR using a Lightcycler (Roche). UNG was present in 13 cases of ESCC (13/18, n = 18) but absent in all of the normal tissues. The results indicated that there was a correlation between high level of UNG expression and the carcinogenesis of ESCC.
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; genetics ; metabolism ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cloning, Molecular ; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; genetics ; metabolism ; Humans ; In Vitro Techniques ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Uracil-DNA Glycosidase ; genetics ; metabolism

Aim To observe the effect of laminarin L01 on the expression of eNOS and iNOS in aorta of rats with chronic inflammation induced by LPS. Methods Chronic inflammatory rat models were prepared by tail vein injection low dose LPS(0.4 mg·kg-1) once a week for four weeks. The rats were randomly divided into five groups. After the first injection of LPS, the DXM group was intraperitoneally injected with dexam-ethasone (10 mg·kg-1). L01 high,medium and low dose groups were intraperitoneally injected with L01 (50,30,10 mg·kg-1). The LPS group was injected intraperitoneally with equal volume of normal saline once a day. Another control group, only injection of normal saline, a total of four weeks. After the last administration,the number of whole white blood cells (WBC) was counted. ELISA was used to measure the hs-CRP in serum. The expressions of eNOS,iNOS and COX-2 mRNA were detected by RT-PCR. Results After four weeks of administration of L01, the number of WBC and the level of serum hs-CRP in chronic in-flammatory rats were significantly decreased. The ex-pression of eNOS was up-regulated, and iNOS and COX-2 expressions were down-regulated. Conclusions Laminarin L01 may regulate the expression and re-lease of endothelium-derived relaxing factor stimulated by LPS,and improve the endothelium-dependent dias-tolic function of aorta, thus protecting the damage of vascular endothelium.

Background: and Purpose We aimed to determine the clinical features of Miller Fisher syndrome (MFS) in southern China and compare them with those presenting in other countries. Methods: We collected the medical records of patients diagnosed with MFS during 2013–2016.We analyzed the age, sex, onset season, precursor events, clinical symptoms and signs, findings of nerve conduction studies (NCS), cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), therapeutic remedies, nadir time, and length of hospital stay of patients with MFS in southern China. We concurrently compared the differences between urban and rural areas and between patients with incomplete ophthalmoplegia (IO) and complete ophthalmoplegia (CO). Results: The study enrolled 72 patients: 36 from rural areas and 36 from urban areas, and 50 males and 22 females. The mean age at onset was 47.72 years, and 30 (41.7%) and 21 (29.2%) patients developed MFS in spring and winter, respectively. The typical triad of ophthalmoplegia, ataxia, and areflexia was observed in 50 (69.4%) patients. A history of upper respiratory tract infection 1 week before onset was found in 52.8% of the patients, while 5.6% experienced gastrointestinal infections and 48 (73.8%) exhibited albuminocytological dissociation in the CSF study. Only 26 (36.1%) patients presented abnormalities in NCS. Moreover, restricted outward eyeball movement presented in 83.5% of the patients with classic MFS and acute ophthalmoplegia, and bilateral symmetrical ophthalmoplegia presented in 64.2%. With the exception of the higher proportion of NCS abnormalities in urban areas (47.2% vs. 25.0%), urban and rural differences were insignificant regarding sex ratio, age at onset, high-incidence season, precursor events, disease characteristics, and albuminocytological dissociation in the CSF. Furthermore, patients with CO were older than those with IO (64.53±7.69 vs. 43.19±14.40 years [mean±standard deviation], p<0.001). Conclusions The patients with MFS were mostly male and middle-aged, and most presented in winter and (especially) spring. More than half of the patients had clear precursor events, most of which were classic MFS with the typical triad. More than 70% of the patients presented albuminocytological dissociation in the CSF. NCS abnormalities were uncommon in MFS. The age at onset was lower in patients with IO than in patients with CO; bilateral symmetrical extraocular muscle paralysis was the most common symptom, and the external rectus was the most frequently involved muscle.

Objective To explore the application and effect of whole-course high-quality nursing on children with leukemia.Methods Totals of 65 leukemia(40 male,25 female) with age between 1 and 16.5 years old(mean age 9.2 years old) were recruited and randomly divided into control group (n =30) that received the conventional nursing and observational group (n =35) that received the whole-courses high quality nursing.Then,the cure compliance,infection incidence,hospitalization expense,and satisfaction degree of parents of leukemia children were observed between the two group.Results Compared with control group,among observational group,the cure compliance of patients and their parents was higher (86.8％ vs 68.8％),satisfaction degree of parents was improved (93.1％ vs 81.1％),hospitalization expense was lower [ (8.20 ±3.0) ten thousand (￥)vs (10.6±3.8) ten thousand (￥) ],the hospital infection rate and the infection rate of respiratory tract and lungs,oral and digestive tract,venipuncture sites were lower (46.8 ％ vs 80.5％,24.0％ vs 42.7％,8.0％ vs 15.5％,8.0％ vs 15.5％),and the differences were statistically significant (x2 =43.70,14.04,4.06,4.06;P ＜ 0.05).Temperature and C-reactire protein in observational group was obvicusly less than control group(15.43％ vs 53.33％,16.57％ vs 75.00％),and the difference was statistically significant (x2 =56.30,120.28 ; P ＜ 0.01).Conclusions Application of whole-course high-quality nursing can improve the cure compliance of patients and parents,improve their satisfaction degree,reduce the hospitalization costs and incidence of complications,promote the rehabilitation of children with leukemia.

The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical characteristics and prognosis of acute erythroleukemia (AEL, AML-M6). The clinical features and results of morphologic, immunophenotypic, cytogenetic and molecular biologic detections were retrospectively analyzed in 13 cases of AEL from 305 acute leukemia patients hospitalized between October 2007 and October 2012. The results showed that the expression of erythroid and non-erythroid cells increased at the same time. The myeloid antigens mainly expressed CD13/CD33/CD117/CD34, while the erythroid antigens expressed Gly and CD71. The karyotypic detection indicated that there were 1 case with normal karyotype, 3 cases with simple karyotypic abnormality and 2 cases with complex karyotypic abnormality, the other cases were not detected. The molecular biological detection found that the poor prognosis gene existed in 5 cases [38.5% (5/13)], including 3 cases with MLL-MLL fusion gene, 1 case with MLL mutation, and 1 cases with NRAS gene mutation, the abnormal genes were not detected in remainder 8 cases. After chemotherapy with decitabine, the complete remission (CR) rate achieved 53.5% (7/13), partial remission (DR) rate achieved 15.4% (2/13). Finally, 8 patients received allo-HSCT, the median overall survival (OS) was 20.7 months, 3 year survival rate was 79%, 3 year disease-free survival rate was 78%. It is concluded that the acute erythroleukemia is a rare subtype of AML, which is transformed from MDS and has harmful genes and poor prognosis. Allo-HSCT and treatment with decitabine may enhance the survival rate of AEL.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Karyotyping ; Leukemia, Erythroblastic, Acute ; diagnosis ; genetics ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; Young Adult

AIM:To explore the effect of sitagliptin (SLT) on cardiomyocyte pyroptosis induced by type 2 dia-betes mellitus (T2DM) and the underlying mechanism. METHODS:The T2DM rat model was established by high-fat diet and intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (35 mg/kg). The model rats were treated with SLT at 3, 10 and 30 mg/kg and nicotinamide [NAM; an non-specific inhibitor of sirtuin (SIRT) family] at 500 mg/kg for 4 weeks. Fasting blood glu-cose was measured, and the tissue proteins were determined by the methods of Western blot and immunochemistry. RE-SULTS:Compared with control group, the pyroptosis of cardiomyocytes and NLRP3 expression were significantly induced, while the protein level of SIRT3 was downregulated by T2DM (P<0.05). SLT inhibited the pyrpotosis of diabetic rat car-diomyocytes, downregulated the expression of NLRP3, and upregulated the expression of SIRT3 in a dose-dependent man-ner (P<0.05). All the function of SLT (30 mg/kg) was reversed by the treatment with NAM (500 mg/kg). Compared with control group, the pyroptosis of cardiomyocytes and NLRP3 expression were significantly induced, while the protein level of SIRT3 was not regulated by NAM (500 mg/kg). CONCLUSION:SLT exerts the inhibitory effect on the pyropto-sis of cardiomyocytes induced by diabetes, and the mechanism is related to the SIRT3/NLRP3 signaling pathway.

OBJECTIVESTo explore the effects of E-selectin, ICAM-1 and their ligands on the adhesive metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and to select possible anti-adhesion drugs for hepatocellular carcinoma metastasis.

METHODS78 HCC patients were analyzed with the correlation of clinical features to the expression levels of E-selectin, sLeX, sLeA and CD44v6 in the tumor tissue. The adhesion between HepG2 and endothelial cell lines was examined by solid phase adhesion assay in vitro. Two kinds of drugs were accessed for their anti-adhesion ability.

RESULTSThe positive rate of E-selectin in vascular endothelia cells adjacent to cancer nest is 70.51%, and which of sLeX, sLeA, CD44v6 within tumor cells is 64.10%, 69.23%, 62.90% respectively. The patients' life span is closely related with the positive expression of sLeX, sLeA, CD44v6 (P = 0.008, 0.001, 0.022). The positive expression of E-selectin, sLeX and sLeA is significantly correlated to portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT), preoperative extrahepatic metastasis, and satellite foci, but not to the size of tumor and AFP. The level of CD44v6 expression is significantly correlated to patient's survival time. The expression levels of E-selectin and ICAM-1 are remarkably higher after ED25 and ECV304 cell lines be activated. Meanwhile the adhesive ability of HepG2 to endothelial cell is mediated. Dexamethasone, tanshinone IIA are able to block this adhesion at low concentration.

CONCLUSIONThe expression levels of E-selectin, sLeX, sLeA and CD44v6 are closely correlated with clinical features. E-selectin, ICAM-1 and their ligands are important molecules of hepatocellular carcinoma and endothelial cells to tumor adhesive metastasis. Dexamethasone, tanshinone II A can be hopefully used as anti-adhesion drugs.

Adult ; Aged ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; metabolism ; pathology ; Cell Adhesion ; E-Selectin ; metabolism ; Endothelium ; metabolism ; Female ; Hep G2 Cells ; Humans ; Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 ; metabolism ; Ligands ; Liver Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Prognosis ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVEThis study was designed to examine the in vitro effects of fenvalerate on steroid production and steroidogenic enzymes mRNA expression level in rat granulosa cells.

METHODSUsing primary cultured rat granulosa cells (rGCs) as model, fenvalerate of various concentrations (0, 1, 5, 25, 125, 625 micromol/L) was added to the medium for 24 h. In some cases, optimal concentrations of 22(R)-hydroxycholesterol (25 micromol/L), Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH, 2 mg/L), or 8-Bromo-cAMP (1 mmol/L) were provided. Concentrations of 17 beta-estradiol(E2) and progesterone (P4) in the medium from the same culture wells were measured by RIA and the steroidogenic enzyme mRNA level was quantified by semi-quantitative RT-PCR.

RESULTSFenvalerate decreased both P4 and E2 production in a dose-dependent manner while it could significantly stimulate rGCs proliferation. This inhibition was stronger in the presence of FSH. Furthermore, it could not be reversed by 22(R)-hydroxycholesterol or 8-Bromo-cAMP. RT-PCR revealed that fenvalerate had no significant effect on 3 beta-HSD, but could increase the P450scc mRNA level. In addition, 17 beta-HSD mRNA level was dramatically reduced with the increase of fenvalerate dose after 24 h treatment.

CONCLUSIONFenvalerate inhibits both P4 and E2 production in rGCs. These results support the view that fenvalerate is considered as a kind of endocrine-disrupting chemicals. The mechanism of its disruption may involve the effects on steroidogenesis signaling cascades and/or steroidogenic enzyme's activity.

3-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases ; analysis ; metabolism ; 8-Bromo Cyclic Adenosine Monophosphate ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Base Sequence ; Cells, Cultured ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Estradiol ; analysis ; metabolism ; Female ; Follicle Stimulating Hormone ; pharmacology ; Granulosa Cells ; cytology ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Hydroxycholesterols ; pharmacology ; Nitriles ; pharmacology ; Progesterone ; analysis ; metabolism ; Pyrethrins ; pharmacology ; RNA, Messenger ; analysis ; metabolism ; Rats ; Steroids ; metabolism