Objective To establish VX2 hepatic carcinoma model in rabbits by implanting the tumor fragment into the liver through percutaneous puncture under ultrasound guidance and to observe its growing and metastatic characteristics, to determine the optimal time for interventional experiment study with the model. Methods Inoculation of VX2 carcinoma fragment was performed in 28 New Zealand white rabbits. PET/CT and ultrasonography (US) examinations were carried out in the second, third and forth week after the inoculation, and each time two tumor-bearing rabbits were sacrificed for pathologic study. Results The successful rate of model establishment was 89.28% (25/28). On PET or CT scans, single lesion in the liver was demonstrated in 25 rabbits. Two, three and four weeks after the inoculation, the maximum diameter of the tumor was (4.82±0.80) mm, (16.05±2.89) mm and (30.08±5.38) mm respectively, while the metastasis rates was 0% (0/25), 13.04% (3/23), 76.19% (16/21) respectively. No significant necrosis was found in the second week after inoculation, only tiny coagulation necrosis was revealed in the third week, and massive necrosis was seen in the forth week. Conclusion Percutaneous inoculation of the tumor fragment into the liver under ultrasonographic guidance is a simple method to establish VX2 hepatic carcinoma in rabbits with a high successful rate. The third week after inoculation is the suitable time for making interventional experiment study.

OBJECTIVEIn order to improve the irrigation for Panax notginseng growing seedlings, different mulching ways were carried out to investigate the effects of double mulching.

METHODField experiment was applied to study soil moisture, soil temperature and bulk density of different mulching ways while the germination rate and seedlings growth also were investigated.

RESULTCompared with the traditional single mulching with pine leaves or straw, double mulching using plastic film combined with pine leaves or straw could reduce 2/3 volumes of irrigation at the early seedling time Double mulching treatments didn't need to irrigate for 40 days from seeding to germination, and kept soil moisture and temperature steady at whole seedling time about 30% and 9.0-16.6 degrees C, respectively. The steady soil moisture and temperature benefited to resist late spring cold and germinate earlier while kept germination regularly, higher rate and seedlings quality. In contrast, single mulching using pine leaves or straw had poor soil moisture and temperature preserving, needed to irrigate every 12-day, meanwhile dropped the germination and booming time 14 days and 24-26 days, respectively, reduced germination rate about 11.3%-8.7%. However, single pine leaves mulching was better than straw mulching. In addition, though better effects of soil moisture and temperature preserving as well as earlier and higher rate of germination with single plastic films mulching had, some disadvantages had also been observed, such as daily soil temperature changed greatly, seedling bed soil hardened easily, more moss and weeds resulted difficulty in later management.

CONCLUSIONTo the purpose of saving water and labor as well as getting higher germination rate and seedlings quality, double mulching using plastic films combined pine leaves at the early time and single mulching removing plastic films at the later time is suggested to apply in the growing seedlings of P. notoginseng.

Agriculture ; methods ; China ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; Fertilizers ; analysis ; Panax notoginseng ; chemistry ; growth & development ; Quality Control ; Seedlings ; chemistry ; growth & development ; Soil ; chemistry

Adenoma ; metabolism ; pathology ; Adult ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell ; metabolism ; pathology ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Ear Neoplasms ; complications ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Endolymphatic Sac ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Kidney Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Middle Aged ; Paraganglioma ; metabolism ; pathology ; Point Mutation ; Von Hippel-Lindau Tumor Suppressor Protein ; genetics ; von Hippel-Lindau Disease ; complications ; genetics ; metabolism

BACKGROUND: 5-lipoxygenase protein (ALOX5AP) has been recognized as a susceptibility gene for stroke and coronary artery diseases. The present study was to explore the role of this gene in the eastern Chinese patients with ischemic stroke.METHODS: Using a case-control design, we studied 658 patients with ischemic stroke and 704 unrelated population-based controls who were age- and sex-matched. The 658 patients were classified by the Trial of Org 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment (TOAST). Two single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) covering ALOX5AP were genotyped.RESULTS: The genotype frequencies of TG of the SNPs rs17222919 located in the promoter of the ALOX5AP gene were significantly higher in patients with ischemic stroke than in controls (OR*=1.34, 95％CI*=1.02-1.75), especially in patients with ischemic stroke caused by small-artery occlusion (SAO) (OR*=1.40, 95％CI*=1.02-1.93). Meanwhile, the genotype frequencies of TG and TG/GG were higher in female patients than in the controls. After specification, the genotype frequencies of TG and TG/GG were higher in the patients than in controls with hypertension. The genotype frequencies of AG and AG/GG of the SNPs rs9579646 located in the intron of the ALOX5AP gene were higher in the controls than in the patients. After specification, the genotype frequencies of TG were higher in the controls than patients without hypertension.CONCLUSION: The present study suggests that sequence variants in the ALOX5AP gene are significantly associated with ischemic stroke.

BACKGROUND: Genetic variations of the 5-lipoxygenase activating protein and leukotriene A4 hydrolase genes that confer an increased risk of ischemic stroke have implicated the family of leukotrienes as potential mediators of ischemic stroke. This study aimed to explore the association of ALOX5,LTA4H andLTC4S gene polymorphisms with ischemic stroke risk in a cohort of Chinese in east China.METHODS: This case-control study consisted of 690 patients with ischemic stroke and 690 controls. Polymorphisms ofALOX5 rs2029253 A/G,LTA4H rs6538697 T/C, andLTC4S rs730012 A/C were genotyped by the polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis. The multivariate logistic regression model was used to exclude the effects of conventional risk factors on ischemic stroke.RESULTS: Carriers of C allele in rs730012 were more susceptible to ischemic stroke (OR: 1.37; 95%CI: 1.08-1.73;P=0.009). The rs2029253 GG genotype showed a risk-reducing effect on ischemic stroke (OR: 0.72; 95%CI: 0.55-0.93;P=0.013) while the rs6538697 CC genotype had an increased risk of ischemic stroke (OR: 1.77; 95%CI: 1.09-2.89;P=0.022). The rs730012 variant was not associated with ischemic stroke risk after adjusting confounding factors (P>0.05).CONCLUSION: The present study suggested that gene polymorphisms in the leukotrienes pathway may exert infl uences, with independent genetic effects, on ischemic stroke susceptibility in a cohort of Chinese in east China.

Objective To evaluate the automatic synthesis of 18F-labeled cyclic RGD peptide c(RGDyK)and its biological distribution in the tumor-bearing mice. Methods N-succinimidyl-4-18 F-fluorobenzoate (18F-SFB) was automatically synthesized and then re-dissolved in acetonitrile (MeCN). The cyclic RGD peptide c(RGDyK) was mixed with an hydrous DMSO and N, N-diisopropyl ethylamine (DIPEA). 18F-FBRGD was obtained by the reaction of peptide solution with 18 F-SFB. The final product was purified by HPLC gradient separation system and solid-phase extraction method. The biodistribution study and competition test of N-4-18F- fluorobenzoyl-RGD (18F-FB-RGD) in the tumor-bearing mice was performed. Results The labeling yield of 18 F-FB-RGD was (33.6 ± 3.5)%. The synthesis time was 110 min. The radiochemical purity was more than 98%. The tumor uptake of 18F-FB-RGD was (3.43 ±0.15), (2.61 ±0.14), (2.11 ±0.13), and (1.79 ±0.18) %ID/g, respectively, at 30, 60, 90 and 120 min after injection. The ratio of tumor to muscle activity ranged from 4.26 ±0.69 to 5.80 ±0.78. The tumor uptake decreased dramatically after RGD blockage. The uptake was (0.46 ±0.21) %ID/g and (2.87 ±0.59) %ID/g in the blocked and unblocked mice, respectively, at 60 min after blockage. Conclusions 18 F-FB-RGD can be automatically synthesized and it may become a promising tumor imaging agent.

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.

Using whole-cell patch clamp technique this study investigated the effects of adenosine (Ado) on action potential, L-type calcium current (I(Ca.L)), delayed afterdepolarizations (DADs), and transient inward current (I(ti)) induced by isoproterenol (Iso) in guinea pig isolated single ventricular myocytes. The results showed: (1) Ado alone had no significant direct effects on action potential and I(Ca.L) in guinea pig ventricular myocytes at 20-100 micromol/L. However, Ado significantly attenuated the prolongation of action potential duration (APD) and the increase of the peak amplitude of I(Ca.L) induced by Iso. Iso (10 nmol/L) markedly increased APD(50) and APD(90) from 340+/-21 ms to 486+/-28 ms and from 361+/-17 ms to 501+/-29 ms, respectively (P<0.01), and increased the amplitude of I(Ca.L) from 6.53+/-1.4 pA/pF to 18.28+/-2.4 pA/pF (P<0.01). The peak potential of current-potential relationship shifted to the left. Ado (50 micromol/L) abbreviated APD(50), APD(90) to 403+/-19 ms and 419+/-26 ms (P<0.01), and decreased the peak amplitude of I(Ca.L) to 10.2+/-1.5 pA/pF (P<0.01 vs Iso), but did not change resting membrane potential (RMP), action potential amplitude (APA), and overshoot (OS). (2) Iso (30 nmol/L) reproducibly elicited DADs with 100% incidence of DADs under this condition. Ado (50 micromol/L) completely inhibited Iso from inducing DADs. Iso (30 nmol/L) elicited I(ti) with 2-second depolarizing voltage-clamp pulses rising to +20 mV from a holding potential of -40 mV, the incidence of I(ti) being 100%, and the I(ti) was suppressed in the presence of Ado (50 micromol/L) with the incidence of I(ti) decreased to 14.3% (P<0.05). These data indicate that Ado antagonizes the stimulatory effect of Iso, and that the antiarrhythmic mechanism of Ado preventing Iso-induced DADs is due to the inhibition of intracellular Ca(2+) overload through attenuating the prolongation of APD, the enhance of I(Ca.L) and I(ti).
Action Potentials ; drug effects ; Adenosine ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Anti-Arrhythmia Agents ; pharmacology ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; physiopathology ; Calcium Channels, L-Type ; drug effects ; Female ; Guinea Pigs ; Heart Ventricles ; cytology ; Isoproterenol ; antagonists & inhibitors ; Male ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; physiology ; Patch-Clamp Techniques

OBJECTIVETo provide the basis for improving utilization of Artemisia annua germplasm resources and breeding variety, the interrelations between artemisinin content, artemisinin yield and agronomic traits of A. annua were studied.

METHODThe artemisinin content and each agronomic trait of 63 A. annua germplasm resources were measured by the visual observation and measurement methods. And the correlation analysis, regression analysis and path analysis were adopted.

RESULTThe result showed that there were significant differences in the artemisinin content and yield of 63 germplasm resources from the main production region of A. annua. Correlation analysis showed that there were significantly positive correlation between leaf weight and artemisinin yield with stem and branch characters, but there were negative correlation between artemisinin content with leaf characters of A. annua plant. The artemisinin content of A. annua increased with the increasing of primary branch number, bottom secondary branch number, and bottom stem diameter, etc. On the other hand, it decreased with the increasing of top secondary branch number, secondary leaf axis length, and bottom branch diameter, etc. The artemisinin yield of A. annua increased with the increasing of artemisinin content, leaf weight, and bottom secondary branch number, etc., and decreased with the increasing of bottom branch diameter, middle secondary branch number, and stem weight, etc. Path analysis showed that the primary branch number and bottom secondary branch number had a direct positive effect on the artemisinin content of A. annua. But the top secondary branch number had a direct negative effect on the artemisinin content of A. annua. The leaf weight and artemisinin content had a direct positive effect on the artemisinin yield and the ratio of leaf/stem, branch weight and stem weight had a direct negative effect.

CONCLUSIONOn the breeding A. annua variety, it can take into account both high leaf yield and high artemisinin content. And it was strongly recommend that the plant with moderate plant height and crown, shortness pinnae and secondary leaf axis, less middle and top secondary branch, strong stem, higher primary branch number and bottom secondary branch number, and higher ratio leaf/stem could be selected for breeding new varieties with high leaf yield and high artemisinin content.

Artemisia annua ; chemistry ; growth & development ; Artemisinins ; analysis ; Biomass ; Plant Extracts ; analysis ; Plant Leaves ; chemistry ; growth & development ; Plant Stems ; chemistry ; growth & development

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the diversity of germplasm resources of Artemisia annua and provide the basis for improving utilization of germplasm resources, the agronomic traits of germplasm resources of A. annua were studied in Yun-Gui plateau.

METHODThe agronomic traits of 67 A. annua germplasm resources were measured by the visual observation and measurement methods. And the germplasm resources were clustered using flexible-beta method to analysis their genetic background.

RESULTThe result showed that 67 germplasm resources had a relatively wide variation on the 22 agronomic traits. Among 22 agronomic traits, the dry weight of branch had the greatest coefficient of variation, which was 53. 63, and the next were the dry weight of leaf, total plant weight, the length of pinnules and the length of leaflet, which were 42.74, 41.61, 39.54 and 39.22 respectively. The smallest coefficient of variation was the leaf corlor. Based the result of cluster analysis, these 67 germplasm resources were classed into 5 groups, and each group had its respective character. The first group showed early-maturing resources, dwarf stalk, slender rod, long bipinnata, high leaf-stem ratio and moderate leaf weight The third group showed late-maturing resources, tall and thick stalk, much-branch, bushy accessory pinna, high leaf weight and yield. The fifth group showed very late-maturing resources, strong lateral shoot, high leaf yield.

CONCLUSIONThere were significant genetic difference and diversity in the germplasm resources of A. annua. The result of cluster analysis showed that the resources of group 1, group 3 and group 5 were suitable as breeding material of A. annua.

Artemisia annua ; classification ; genetics ; growth & development ; Biodiversity ; Biomass ; China ; Cluster Analysis