Using the high efficient copper-adsorbing yeast strain Y17 as absorbing material, the major affect factors including pH, original concentration of Cu2+, cell biomass, adsorption time and temperature were examined, and then the absorbing sites of the Y17 was determined. The results showed that the solution pH was the most dominate factor which affected the biosorption of Cu2+, the other affecting factors were the ini- tial concentration of Cu2+, the cell biomass added, and adsorption time, respectively; the temperature had lit- tle effect on the rate of biosorption. The orthogonal experiment showed that the optimal absorption condition was as follow: the solution pH was 5.0, the absorption time was 40 min, the cell biomass of Y17 added was 5.0 g/L, and the concentration of Cu2+ was 8 mmol/L; the highest adsorbing rate was up to 82.7% at this condition. Based on the results of different pretreatments and the desorption of Cu2+, the cell wall of Y17 was identified as the main place occurring boisorption process, and the -NH2 group, -COOH group on the surface of the yeast cells played an important role on the boisorption process.

Objective To investigate the influence of Ethyl pyruvate(EP) on the level of high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) in brain injury of infant rats induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and its significance.Methods Two hundred and forty normal healthy 1-month-old Spragne-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into 3 groups:9 g/L sodium chloride (NS) group(n=80),LPS group (n=80),and EP group (n=80).LPS (1 mg/kg) was injected via internal carotid.In EP group,after injecting LPS,each rat was immediately administrated 4 mL EP(40 mg/kg) intraperitoneally; in control group,4 mL Ringer's solution was given instead of EP.Rats were decapitated at 6,12,24,48 and 72 h following drug injection.The evan's blue (EB) content of brain tissues was meteraged by the formamide methods.Immunohistochemistry technology was used to detect the expression of HMGB1,neuron specific enolase(NSE) and glial fibrillary acidic protein(GFAP) protein,and reverse transcribe polymerase chain reaction technology was applied to study the expression level of HMGB1 mRNA in brain tissue.Meanwhile,the pathological changes of brain tissues were observed under the light microscope.Results Six hours after LPS was given,brain EB content,the levels of NSE,GFAP protein started to rise,reaching the peak at 24 h,and still higher than those in control group at 48 h and 72 h.The expression pattern of HMGB1 protein and mRNA in brain tissue was consistent with the severity of brain injury,increased at 6 h after LPS was given and reached the peak at 24 h,still higher than those in control group at 48 h and 72 h.Positive correlation was found among HMGB1 protein,HMGB1 mRNA and EB content,NSE protein,GFAP protein,respectively.In EP group,the levels of HMGB1 protein and mRNA,the levels of brain EB content,NSE,GFAP protein were found,positive correlation was still gotten between HMGB1 protein,EB content and NSE,GFAP protein,HMGB1 mRNA in LPS group and EP group.Conclusion EP has neuroprotective effect on brain injury induced by LPS,which may be relevant to decreasing of the expression of HMGB1 and suppressing inflammation action.

Adult ; Aged ; Autoimmune Diseases ; diagnosis ; metabolism ; Female ; Humans ; Insulins ; metabolism ; Male ; Middle Aged

Adult ; Chondromatosis, Synovial ; pathology ; surgery ; Elbow Joint ; pathology ; surgery ; Humans ; Male

Adolescent ; Child ; China ; Female ; Humans ; Humeral Fractures ; surgery ; therapy ; Humerus ; surgery ; Male ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effect of autologous bone marrow stem cell transplantation in the treatment of severe liver damage.

METHODSAutologous bone marrow (50 ml) was harvested from 6 patients aged 44 to 69 years admitted for severe liver damage. Human bone marrow stem cells (HMSCs) were isolated and transplanted in to the patients' liver. At l, 4, 8, and 12 weeks after the transplantation, the changes in ALT, ALB, Cr, TB, PT and the clinical symptoms of the patients were observed.

RESULTSThe transplantation of autologous bone marrow stem cells resulted in obvious improvement of the liver function. At 12 weeks after the transplantation, ALT was reduced from 98.4 IU/L to 41.5 IU/L, TB from 136.5 µmol/L to 78.4 µmol/L, Cr from 112.3 µmol/L to 72.1 µmol/L, and ALB rose from 23.3 g/L to 32.6 g/L. The survival of the patients was 100% at 12 weeks, but one patient died at 7 months after the transplantation. The symptoms of the patients were also alleviated after the transplantation. At 12 weeks after transplantation, 3 patients reported improved appetite, 3 showed recovery of physical strength, and 2 showed lessened abdominal swelling. No serious adverse complications in association with the transplantation were found in the in 4 patients available to the follow-up.

CONCLUSIONAutologous bone marrow stem cell transplantation can improve the liver function of patients with severe liver damage without causing serious complications.

Adult ; Aged ; Bone Marrow Transplantation ; Hepatic Insufficiency ; surgery ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Transplantation, Autologous ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo observe the therapeutic effects of Qinggan Huatan Huoxue Recipe (QHHR) on patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

METHODSOne hundred and fifty NASH patients were randomly assigned to the treatment group (78 cases) and the control group (72 cases). QHHR was given to patients in the treatment groups, while Danning Tablet was given to those in the control group. The therapeutic course for all was three months. Before and after treatment changes of clinical symptoms and physical signs, liver imageology, liver functions, blood lipids, and insulin resistance index (IRI) were observed.

RESULTSCompared with before treatment, obvious improvement of clinical symptoms, weight, body mass index (BMI), liver functions, blood lipids, and integral of liver ultrasound B was obtained in the two groups (P < 0.05). The IRI of the treatment group was significantly reduced after treatment (P < 0.05). Better effects were obtained in lowering the body weight, BMI, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), gamma glutamyltransferase (gamma-GT), triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), integral of liver ultrasound B, and the total effective rate (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSQHHR had definite effects on NASH. Its therapeutic effects were better than Danning Tablet.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Fatty Liver ; drug therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease ; Phytotherapy ; Young Adult

Purpose: Although cathepsin C (CTSC) has been reported to maintain malignant biological properties in various cancers, its functions in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain obscure. We aimed to investigate the potential role of CTSC in HCC. Materials and Methods: HCC tissue microarrays (n=122) were employed to analyze the correlation between CTSC expression and clinicopathological characteristics through immunohistochemistry staining. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, western blot assay, Cell Counting Kit-8 assay, colony formation, cell migration, and invasion assays, xenograft mice model were adopted to validate what had been indicated by the bioinformatic web tools. Results: By bioinformatic tools and tissue microarrays, CTSC was found upregulated in HCC compared with normal liver tissues, and its higher expression was correlated with poor prognosis of HCC patients (hazard ratio, 2.402; 95% confidence interval, 1.493 to 3.865; p < 0.001). By gain/loss-of-function assays, we implicated that CTSC functioned as an oncogene to promote the proliferation and metastasis of HCC cells. Mechanistically, we revealed that CTSC was involved in several cancer-related signaling pathways by Gene Set Enrichment Analysis, among which tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α)/p38 pathway was verified to be activated by CTSC. Furthermore, we found that TNF-α could activate CTSC expression in a concentration- dependent manner. Ralimetinib, an oral p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) inhibitor could inhibit CTSC expression. These indicated a potential positive feedback loop between CTSC and TNF-α/MAPK (p38) signaling. Conclusion Taken together, CTSC plays an important role in the growth and metastasis of HCC and may be a promising therapeutic target upon HCC.

Objective To evaluate the dietary iodine intake level of population in coastal and inland areas of Zhejiang province.Methods The cluster sampling method was applied to select Zhoushan,Ningbo and Taizhou cities from Zhejiang province as coastal areas,to select Jinhua,Quzhou and Lishui cities from Zhejiang province as inland areas,and two counties(districts) were randomly selected in each chosen city,three sub-districts(towns) were randomly selected in each chosen counties (districts),then one community (village) was randomly selected in each chosen sub-districts(towns).Adult residents aged greater than 18 were selected as investigation subjects,their dietary iodine intake in the past 24 hours was investigated,and the Food composition table” was inquired to get the data of dietary iodine intake.One hundred copies of residential edible salt samples and drinking water samples in each of the selected community (village) were collected to detect salt iodine and water iodine by direct titrimetric and spectrophotometric method,respectively.Results The mean of adult residents' dietary iodine intake in Zhejiang coastal area was 267.76 μg/d,which was less than that in inland area (429.05 μg/d,t =- 6.90,P ＜0.05),and the means of adult residents' dietary iodine intake from drinking water,laver and fish(5.75,69.72,5.61 μg/d,respectively) in coastal area were higher than those in inland areas(3.25,35.27,3.43 μg/d,respectively,t =21.73,3.92,4.08,all P ＜ 0.05),however,the means of adult residents' dietary iodine intake from salt,kelp and other food (166.81,3.04,16.82 μg/d,respectively) in coastal areas were less than those in inland areas (355.15,6.14,25.81 μg/d,respectively,t =- 8.76,- 5.49,- 18.56,all P ＜ 0.05).In coastal areas,the proportion which was less than estimated average requirement of iodine(EAR,120 μg/d) was 46.48％ (1029/2214),the ratio which was higher than the maximum tolerable intake of iodine(UL,1000 μg/d) was 3.34％ (74/2214),and the average contribution rate of dietary intake of iodine in salt was 62.30％(166.81/267.76).While in inland areas,the corresponding proportions were 7.61％ (171/2246),2.80％ (63/2246) and 82.78％ (355.15/429.05),respectively.Conclusions The dietary iodine intake in Zhejiang inland areas has reached the recommended nutrient intake levels of the Chinese Nutrition Society,but there is a certain degree of insufficient iodine intake in population of the coastal areas.

Objective To analyze and compare the MRI appearances of ovarian thecoma with pathologic findings in order to improve the knowledge of the disease.Methods Nineteen cases of ovarian thecoma confirmed by histopathology were analyzed.MRI morphological characteristics and signal intensity of the lesions were observed and compared with findings of pathomorphology.Correlation analysis between tumor size and amount of ascites was made.Results Ovarian thecoma displayed iso-or hypointense signal on T_1WI and significant hypointensity in the focal lesion on T_2WI.Hyperintensity occurred when cystic degeneration of the lesions existed.Fibrous septation was detected in some lesions.After enhancement,most lesions showed mild early enhancement with slight increase on the delayed phase.Pathological necrosis and cystic degeneration were seen in 9 cases which corresponded to the number and shape of the cystic lesions on MRI.A large amount of collagen hyperplastic was found between the oncocytes microscopically in 15 cases, which displayed significant hypointensity in the focal lesion on T_2WI;another 4 cases showed relatively less amounts of collagen hyperplastic and more oncocytes,which appeared moderate intensity in the focal leisom on T_2WI.The amount of ascites was not significantly correlated with the lesion size(r=0.43,P=0.10). Conclusions Hypointensity on T_2WI and mild enhancement pattern due to poor blood supply are the characteristics of ovarian thecoma.The MR findings can reflect the pathologic features of the tumor,which is helpful in the diagnosis and differential diagnosis.