Coptis chinensis, a traditional Chinese medicine, has been found to have multiple pharmacological effects recently. Some research showed that C. chinensis has antioxidant effects, including scavenging oxygen free radicals, alleviating lipid peroxidation, enhancing activity of antioxidant enzymes, et al. C. chinensis may inhibit several classical pathological pathways in diabetes. C. chinensis is a potential medicine to prevent and treat diabetes mellitus and its complications. This review focuses on the recent research progress in the study of antioxidant effects of C. chinensis and its major contributions to diabetes treatment/therapy.
Animals ; Antioxidants ; administration & dosage ; Coptis ; chemistry ; Diabetes Mellitus ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; Humans ; Lipid Peroxidation ; drug effects

Animals ; Apoptosis ; genetics ; immunology ; Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins ; genetics ; Autoimmune Lymphoproliferative Syndrome ; genetics ; immunology ; physiopathology ; Humans ; Mutation ; T-Lymphocytes ; immunology

Objective: To investigate the effects of exogenous nitric oxide (NO) on the physiology of the seed germination and seedling growth of Silybum marianum under NaCl stress. Methods: The seeds of S. marianum were treated by sodium nitro prusside (SNP) at the concentration of 0.05-0.60 mmol/L under 0.7% NaCl stress. Some physiological indexes were measured, such as germination energy, germination rate, germination index, and vigor index of the seeds, and contents of malondialdehyde (MDA), photosynthetic pigment, osmosis substances, and the activities of the protective enzymes in leaves. Results: The seed germination and seedling growth of S. marianum were obviously inhibited under NaCl stress. Soaking seeds with 0.05-0.60 mmol/L SNP could alleviate the damage of NaCl stress. Under this treatment, the contents of photosynthetic pigment (including chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll, and carotinoid) and osmosis substances (including soluble sugar, soluble protein, and proline), and the activities of protective enzymes (including SOD, POD, and CAT) in the leaves were significantly increased, while the MDA content in the leaves was decreased. Conclusion: Soaking seeds with 0.05-0.60 mmol/L SNP could promote the salt resistance of the seeds and seedlings of S. marianum. The different cultivars of S. marianum differ in the sensitivity to SNP. The optimal concentration of SNP for the seed soaking of S. marianum with white and black skins is 0.10 and 0.40 mmol/L, respectively.

Objective The differential diagnosis of female precocious puberty (PP) and premature breast development (PT) was made by ultrasound and related hormone levels,so as to provide the basis for clinical diagnosis.Methods In this study,from 2015 to 2016 due to early breast enlargement (age ＜ 8 years) to our hospital pediatric patients with children,according to the diagnostic criteria were divided into PP group and PT group.Ultrasonography was performed on all patients and graded according to the criteria.At the same time,the levels of clinical and hormones were compared between the two groups.ROC analysis was used to identify the significant differences.Results In this study,a total of 60 cases of female children,including PP and PT children were 30 cases.Ultrasonic breast grading was positively correlated with age,BA,BD,LH level,FSH level and E2 level,but there was no correlation between BA/CA.There was no statistical difference between the breast ultrasound and the breast diameter (P ＜ 0.05).The levels of LH and FSH,basal LH/ FSH,LF and FSH peak and LH/FSH peak in the PP group were significantly higher than those in the PT group (P ＜ 0.05).The ROC analysis found 100％ sensitivity and 85％ specificity for LH/FSH peak ＞0.25 for diagnosis of PP,with a 72％ sensitivity and a specificity of 65％ for basal LH ＞ 0.1 mIU/ml.The SHBG level was the only one that did not overlap [PP:80.6 (62.3-95.4) vs PT:114.5 (107.6-121.5)].There was no significant difference in kisspeptin,leptin and neurokinin B between the two groups (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion Breast ultrasound by grading and measurement of breast buds can be effective in evaluating the development of female precocious puberty breast development,but can not identify PP and PT.The study found that SHBG concentration and peak ratio of LH/FSH can effectively identify PP and PT,but kisspeptin,neurokinin B and leptin is not enough to identify PP and PT.

Objective:The paper aims to evaluate the impacts of the urban residents’ basic medical insurance on the medical treatment and preventive care services utilization through quantitative evaluation. Methods:The China Health and Nutrition Surveys ( CHNS) Data collected from 2006 to 2011 were used to compare the difference between medical treatment and preventive care services utilization adopting the difference-in-difference method and the Probit model. The control group urban residents did not participate in the basic medical insurance while their treatment group participated. Results:The medical treatment and preventive care services utilization were more for the treat-ment group than they were for the control one. The age, education level, annual per capita income and hypertension influenced the medical services utilization, and the annual per capita income was a protective factor. The age and ed-ucation level also influenced the preventive care services utilization. Conclusion: The urban resident basic medical insurance plays an important role in the medical treatment and preventive care services utilization. Meanwhile, this factor continuously enhanced the coverage and the per capita income protection for medical services.

Objective To evaluate the serum Krebs von den Lungen (KL)-6 for the diagnosis of interstitial lung disease (ILD) associated with connective tissue diseases (CTD) and its lung-CT subtypes.Methods Seventy-five CTD patients were employed for this study,44 CTD with ILD and 31 ILD without ILD.The 44 CTD patients with ILD were further divided into different subgroups based on lung-CT imaging and clinical indexes.The enzyme-linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure the serum KL-6 level.For those data that was abnormally distributed,the differences between groups was compared with independent samples nonparametric tests.Results The level of serum KL-6 in the CTD with ILD was significantly higher than that without ILD [(1 118±877) U/ml vs (253±144) U/ml] (Z=-6.047,P＜0.01).By using a criterion of 500 U/ml,our data suggested that the serum KL-6 level was useful for the ILD-CTD diagnosis;the sensitivity,specificity,positive and negative predictive values were 72.7％,87.1％,88.9％ and 69.2％,respectively.The serum KL-6 level,however,showed no statistical differences between ILD subtypes,i.e.,usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP),nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP) and indeterminate [(1 104±843) U/ml,(1 242±1 039) U/ml,(815±400) U/ml,respectively] (x2=0.35,P=0.84).Our data further showed that the KL-6 level was significantly higher in CTD-ILD patients with intensive lung lesions than those with limited lung lesions [(1 910±918) U/ml vs (459±268) U/ml] (Z=-4.364,P＜0.01).In addition,the KL-6 level was significantly higher in active ILDs than in inactive ILDs[(1 478±917) U/ml vs (598±475) U/ml] (Z=-3.915,P＜0.01).Conclusion The serum KL-6 is a valuable biomarker for CTD-ILD diagnosis and even for the assessment of the extent and activity of lung damage.

Bone marrow mesenchymal cells (BMSCs) are regarded as donor cells in cell transplantation therapies for spinal cord injury (SCI) for they have the ability of favourable proliferation and multi-directional differentiation, and are easily isolated and culturd and have less immunological reaction. It has been confirmed that subarachnoid space injection is the most ideal delivery technique of BMSCs. Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells transplantation is safe and its reconditioning role is certain for SCI in early clinical application. The mechanism of BMSCs promoting functional recovery after SCI is probably concerned with vicarious function, nerve trophism, immunosuppression and promoting axonal regeneration by BMSCs.
Animals ; Bone Marrow Cells ; cytology ; Humans ; Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation ; methods ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; cytology ; Spinal Cord Injuries ; surgery

Objective To study the relationship between the (C 106T) single nucleotide polymorphsim of promoter region of aldose reductase gene and type 2 diabetes mellitus with nephropathy in Chinese Han from Chongqing. Methods The (C 106T) allele and genotype of 192 patients of type 2 diabetes were examined by polymerase chain reaction agarose gel electrophoresis and restriction enzyme Bfa Ⅰ. Results The frequencies of both allele C and genotype CC were significantly higher in type 2 diabetes patients with albuminuria than in those without albuminuria. Logistic regression analysis showed that allele C and genotype CC were associated with diabetic nephropathy in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients( P =0.032 and 0.046, respectively). Conclusion This finding suggests that (C 106T) single nucleotide polymorphism in the aldose reductase gene promoter region may be associated with diabetic nephropathy of Chinese Han type 2 diabetes. It may be a functional polymorphism and can serve as an inherited marker for susceptibility of diabetic nephropathy.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has attracted wide attention due to its unique advantages such as minimal invasiveness, high efficiency and high selectivity, and its ability to induce anti-tumor immune response. However, the treatment process is heavily dependent on the oxygen content of the treatment site, and the widespread oxygen deficiency in malignant tumors severely limits its efficacy. In addition, PDT-mediated oxygen depletion exacerbates tumor hypoxia, which further reduces its therapeutic effect. In recent years, many researches have been devoted to overcoming this problem. This paper summarized various strategies based on tumor hypoxic PDT in recent years, discussing the advantages and disadvantages of these strategies, and analyzing the main challenges and future directions of PDT in the treatment of tumors, so as to provide references for the in-depth study of photodynamic therapy of tumors.

OBJECTIVE: To test cathepsin L as a biomarker of myocardial ischemia by examination of cathepsin L expression in plasma after myocardial ischemia and ischemia-reperfusion in rats. METHODS: The rat models were established and divided in acute myocardial ischemia model (myocardial ischemia 30 min, 1 h, 2 h groups), ischemia-reperfusion model (ischemia-reperfusion group), and isoflurane-pretreated ischemia-reperfusion model (isoflurane-pretreated group), respectively. Normal control group and sham-operated group were established as contrast. The contents of cathepsin L in plasma were examined by ELISA and myocardial infarction areas were measured after TTC staining. RESULTS: No statistical significant changes were found among the experimental groups compared with the normal control group and sham-operated group (P>0.05). The cathepsin L from the ischemia-reperfusion group increased to 2.37 times compared with the normal control group (P<0.05). The cathepsin L and myocardium infarction size of isoflurane-pretreated group decreased compared with the ischemia-reperfusion group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION The cathepsin L in plasma is not a promising biomarker of acute myocardial ischemia. Isoflurane preconditioning can reduce the cathepsin L in plasma caused by ischemia-reperfusion injury.
Animals ; Biomarkers/blood* ; Cathepsin L/analysis* ; Isoflurane ; Myocardial Infarction/metabolism* ; Myocardial Ischemia ; Myocardial Reperfusion Injury/metabolism* ; Myocardium ; Rats