Objective To explore the effects of ephedrine on the hippocampal cell apoptosis and behavioral performance after hypoxia-ischemia brain injury in neonatal rats.Methods Totally 90 7-day rats were randomly divided into 3 groups,ephedrine treatment group,model group,and sham group.Hypoxia-ischemia brain injury model was established by permanently ligating right common carotid artery.Ephedrine (1.5 mg/kg,once per day) was injected intraperitoneally to the rats of ephedrine treatment group for 7 d,and the rats of model group was given normal saline at the same volume.At the following time interval of 6 and 12 h,and 1,3,and 7 d after hypoxia,the expression of bcl-2 and bax were detected in the hippocampal region by immunohistochemical staining.At 4 weeks after surgery,behavioral changes in the remaining rats were tested by Morris water maze.Results Compared with model group,the expression of bcl-2 in the ephedrine treatment group was significantly increased after hypoxic-ischemic injury,peaked at 1 d and decreased in 3 d after operation.And the expression of bax in the ephedrine treatment group was decreased in 1 d after hypoxic-ischemia.The average time of escape latency was gradually decreased in each group.However,from the 3rd to 5th day,it was much shorter in ephedrine treatment group than in model group.In addition,the frequency platform passing in the ephedrine treatment group and the percentage of swimming distance traveled in the previous target quadrant was significantly greater than those of the control group.Conclusion Ephedrine upregulates bcl-2 and downregulates bax in the hippocampus of neonatal rats after hypoxia-ischemia,and improves their ability of learning and memory.

OBJECTIVETo observe the inhibitory effect of gefitineb on the proliferation and its inducing effect on the apoptosis of mouse I-10 Leydig testicular cancer cells in vitro.

METHODSWe treated I-10 Leydig testicular cancer cells of mice with gefitineb at 0, 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, 20, and 40 µmol/L. Then we determined the inhibitory effect of gefitineb on the growth of the cells by MTT, detected their early and late apoptosis by Annexin V-FITC/propidium iodide double staining and Hoechst 33258 nuclear staining, respectively, and observed the expressions of apoptosis-related proteins Bcl-2, Bax and caspase 3/9 by Western blot.

RESULTSCompared with the blank control group, gefitineb significantly inhibited the proliferation of the I-10 cells at 10 and 20 µmol/L (P < 0.05). The survival rate of the cells was (32.4 ± 2.8)% (P < 0.01) and their early and late apoptosis rates were (26.7 ± 4.2)% and (59.33 ± 10.2)% in the 40 µmol/L group, significantly different from those in the control (P < 0.05 and P <0.01). In comparison with the blank control group, gefitineb at 10, 20, and 40 µmol/L increased the expression of pro-apoptotic protein Bax by (41.9 ± 7.1), (60.1 ± 9.8), and (69.0 ± 11.3)% (all P < 0.05), decreased that of apoptosis-inhibitory protein Bcl-2 by (50.3 ± 8.9), (63.9 ± 6.9), and (88.7 ± 13.9)% (all P < 0.05), and elevated that of the cleft proteins caspase-3 by (69.0 ± 6.9)% (P < 0.05), (71.5 ± 8.1)% (P < 0.05), and (110.9 ± 14.2)% (P < 0.01) and caspase-9 by (51.8 ± 4.9), (54.7 ± 6.7), and (43.8 ± 11.8)% (all P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONGefitineb can increase the cytotoxicity of I-10 Leydig testicular cancer cells of mice and induce their apoptosis via the mitochondria-mediated apoptosis signaling pathway.

Animals ; Antineoplastic Agents ; pharmacology ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins ; metabolism ; Caspase 3 ; metabolism ; Caspase 9 ; metabolism ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Cell Survival ; Leydig Cell Tumor ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; pathology ; Male ; Mice ; Neoplasm Proteins ; metabolism ; Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; pathology ; Quinazolines ; pharmacology ; Testicular Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; pathology ; bcl-2-Associated X Protein ; metabolism

Objective To investigate the diagnostic and predictive value of measuring peritoneal inflammatory cytokines in predicting biliary fistulas in patients undergoing biliary surgery.Methods Peritoneal samples and serum samples of 3227 biliary surgery patients were collected on the first,third,fifth postoperative day,and IL-6,IL-8,IL-10,TNF-? and CRP of the samples were measured.Patients were divided into two groups:those with clinical evidence of biliary fistulas and those without any evidence of biliary fistulas.The age,sex,operative method and operative time between the two groups were compared.Results There was a negative correlation between biliary fistulas and age,sex and operation mode;but blood loss,operation time and common bile duct diameter had positive correlation with biliary fistulas.Peritoneal cytokine levels were significantly higher in patients with biliary fistulas as compared to those without biliary fistulas.Conclusions The peritoneal cytokine level is a sensitive parameter of peritoneal inflammation and can be as an additional diagnostic tool for the early prediction of biliary fistulas after biliary surgery.

Objective To understand acute rejection differences between untreated recipients and rapmycin-treated recipients in a rat free flap allotransplantation model. Methods Brown groin free flaps were transplanted to Lewis recipients. In the treated group, recipients were treated with rapamycin at the dose of 4 mg/kg every day from day 0 to day 14 after transplantation. In the untreated group, recipients didn't receive any treatment. Allografts were evaluated clinically and histologically. Results Allografts in the treated group showed epidermolysis as sign of rejection.Rejection sign of untreated grafts was ischemic necrosis of whole skin. In histological evaluation, the treated grafts showed "band-like" lymphocytes infiltration in the upper dermis when rejection occurred, while the untreated grafts showed thrombosis in the subdermal vessels. Conclusion The differences between the two groups implied that embolization may be responsible for the rejection of free flap allotransplantation in rat model.

Objective To identify the inclusion compound of ginsenoside Rh2 with hydroxylpropyl-?-cyclodextrin (HP-?-CD) in aqueous solution, and to investigate the change of thermodynamic parameters during the inclusion process. Methods The measurements of the inclusion mechanism, inclusion molar ratio of the host and guest molecules, and change of thermodynamic parameters were carried out by the following methods separately; thin layer chromatography (TLC), differential scanning calorimetry (OSC), infrared (IR) spectrometry, phase solubility method, and thermodynamic method, respectively. Results That all the phase solubility diagrams showed a typical AL-type in various temperatures and suggested the formation of a soluble complex of 1∶1 molar ratio. TLC and IR Spectroscopy confirmed that the significant interaction between the host and guest molecules was probably due to the inclusion of aglycone of Rh2 molecule into the hydrophobic cavity of HP-?-CD molecule. The change in the thermodynamic parameters suggested that the inclusion could proceed spontaneously (?G

Objective To find out prevelence of thyroid goiter on school-aged children in excessive iodine region of Shandong Province.Methods By employing B-ultrasonography and palpation method,the thyroid volume were investigated and the thyroid goiter rate were calculated among 6415 children aged 8～10 years old in execssire iodine region.Results By employing B-ultrasonography method.The volumes of thyroid in goiter children aged 8,9,10 years were(5.67±1.49),(6.07±1.24),(7.30±2.01)ml,respectively.The goiter rates were 28.84%(683/2368),20.89%(448/2144),11.82%(225/1903).The volumes of thyroid in non-goiter children aged 8,9,10 years were(3.36±0.67),(3.64±0.77),(4.02±0.94)ml.When the normal value of thyroid volume in 8 and 9 year-groups lowered 0.5 ml,the goiter rate would be changed to 18.20%(430/2368)and 12.92%(277/2144) respectively.The thyroid volumes of boys and girls were(4.20±1.38),(4.18±1.73)ml,respectively.The goiter rates of boys and girls were 21.92%(732/3340)and 20.29%(624/3075)respectively.The rates of goiter detected by palpation in 8,9 and 10 year-groups were 10.05%(238/2368),10.31%(221/2144)and 14.45%(275/1903) respectively.Conclusions Along with the increasing age,the volume of thyroid in children aged 8～10 is increasing in excessive iodine region of Shandong Province.But the goiter rate is decreasing ahmg the increasing age.This phenomena may be caused by improper normal value of thyroid volume.Therefore,the normal value of thyroid volume should be revised urgently.

Dust ; analysis ; Humans ; Magnoliopsida ; Pneumoconiosis ; epidemiology ; Prevalence

OBJECTIVEThe study was aimed to investigate the inhibitory effect and mechanism of astragaloside IV (ASI) on the activation of microglial cells.

METHODAfter pre-incubated with ASI for 2 h, microglial cells BV-2 were stimulated with interferon-γ (IFN-γ) for 1. 5 h and 24 h, respectively. Secretion of nitric oxide (NO) in the medium was measured by Griess method. Production of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) was detected by ELISA approach. Cellular gene expressions of CD11b, TNF-α, interleukin 1β (IL-1β) and induced nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) were examined by quantitative-PCR analysis. Total and phosphorylation of STAT1, IκB and NF-κB was analyzed by Western blot method.

RESULTASI could significantly inhibit the increased secretion of TNF-α and NO from BV-2 cells upon IFN-γ stimulation (P < 0.001). Further study showed that ASI significantly down-regulated gene expression of IL-1β and TNF-α (P < 0.01, P < 0.05) and exhibited a trend to reduce that of iNOS. IFN-γ and ASI have no obvious effect on gene expression of CD11b. Moreover, ASI inhibited the phosphorylation of STAT1, IκB and NF-κB elicited by IFN-γ stimulation.

CONCLUSIONASI could restrain microglial activation through interfering STAT1/IκB/NF-κB signaling pathway, reducing gene expres- sion of IL-1β and TNF-α, and thus inhibiting the production of proinflammatory mediators such as NO and TNF-α.

Animals ; Astragalus Plant ; chemistry ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; I-kappa B Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Interferon-gamma ; genetics ; metabolism ; Mice ; NF-kappa B ; genetics ; metabolism ; Nitric Oxide ; metabolism ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II ; genetics ; metabolism ; STAT1 Transcription Factor ; genetics ; metabolism ; Saponins ; pharmacology ; Signal Transduction ; drug effects ; Triterpenes ; pharmacology

Objective To analyze the clinical features of urothelial carcinoma in renal allograft re- cipients and to investigate its diagnosis and treatment.Methods A retrospective study was undertaken on 1293 renal allograft recipients in our center between 1998 and 2003.Of them ,21 cases(72.4% )had urothe- lial carcinoma(4 males and 17 females).All the cases had not had tumor before transplantation.In 17 cases the protopathy was chronic interstitial nephritis(CIN).The mean interval between tumorigenesis and trans- plantation was 26 months(range,6-62 months).Of the 21 cases,6 had bladder transitional cell carcinoma (TCC);6 had unilateral pelvic or ureter TCC;8 had unilateral pelvic or ureter and bladder TCC;1 had bilat- eral pelvic and ureter TCC.In 10 cases,the ipsilateral upper urinary tract of the graft was involved;and in 4 cases,the contralateral upper urinary tract was involved.Painless gross hematuria and iterative urinary tract infection were the cardinal symptoms.Surgical treatment was performed in 19 cases.Postoperatively,all the cases received immunosuppressants at one third reduction dose in combination with intravesical instillation chemotherapy.Results Two cases receiving palliative treatment died 5 and 8 months after diagnosis.The other 19 cases were followed for 2-5 years.Of them,13 cases had tumor recurrence.The recurrence sites were bladder and the contralateral upper urinary tract.All the cases had no acute rejection at reduced dose of immunosuppressants,and all had normal renal function except for 2 cases,who underwent removal of the graft and had dialysis again.Conclusions Renal allograft recipients whose protopathy is CIN and female recipients have the risk of urothelial carcinoma after renal transplantation.Urothelial carcinoma occurs more often in ipsilateral upper urinary tract of the graft than in contralateral upper urinary tract.Considering the high possibility of bilateral upper urinary tract involvement by TCC,prophylactic bilateral nephroureterectomy with bladder cuff excision should be considered in renal allograft recipients who have involvement of contra- lateral upper urinary tract of the graft.

Lysine decarboxylase is a key enzyme involved in the upstream biosynthesis of lycopodium alkaloids (LAs) such as huperzine A, contributing to the decarboxylation of lysine to 1,5-pentanediamine (cadaverine). Three lysine decarboxylase genes (HsLDC-L1, HsLDC-L2, HsLDC-L3) were successfully cloned from Huperzia serrata using transcriptomic sequence data mining strategy combined with reverse transcription PCR. The physicochemical properties, secondary and tertiary structures, amino acid identities, and evolutionary relationship of the three LDCs were analyzed by online bioinformatics analysis platforms and DNAMAN, MEGA 7.0 software, revealing that all of these proteins had the conserved PLP binding domain and active site residues were completely conserved in LDCs. Phylogenetic analysis showed that these LDCs were located in the same branch as other known LDCs from LA-producing plants. Accordingly, the ORFs of these three HsLDCs were inserted into different expression plasmids for further expression in E. coli. However, only HsLDC-L1 was successfully expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3) by inserting into a pCold TF vector. The recombinant protein was purified by Ni²⁺ affinity chromatography purification. HsLDC-L1 contains 469 amino acid residues, with a calculated molecular weight of 50.50 kDa. HsLDC-L1 expectedly catalyzed the decarboxylation of lysine to produce cadaverine. In addition, HsLDC-L1 can also catalyze the generation of putrescine from ornithine. However, it cannot catalyze the decarboxylation of tyrosine, phenylalanine, tryptophan and histidine. The results not only provide insight into the biosynthesis of LAs including huperzine A, but also provide a critical genetic element for the overproduction of Δ¹-piperideine and pelletierine, the essential biosynthetic precursors of LAs, using synthetic biology strategies.