Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome ; blood ; complications ; diagnosis ; Antibodies, Viral ; blood ; Child ; Cough ; complications ; Fatal Outcome ; Fever ; complications ; HIV-1 ; immunology ; Humans ; Male

Objective To investigate alterations in epigenetic regulation in B cells in subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus (SCLE).Methods Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were isolated from the peripheral venous blood of SCLE patients and healthy donors with density gradient centrifugation.B cells were isolated with CD19 micro beads and protocols provided by the manufacturer.Total RNAs were isolated with RNA kits.The expressions of silence information regulator 1 (Sirt1) mRNA were investigated with quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR).Results The levels of Sirt1 mRNA were significantly increased in SCLE B cells relative to healthy controls (P ＜ 0.01).Conclusions Histone modifications appear abnormal in B cells in SCLE.

Objective To analyze monitoring results of iodized salt and distribution characteristics of problem areas with non-iodized salt in Gansu province during 2001 - 2009 and to provide a basis to develop countermeasures to iodine deficiency disorders. Methods According to the criterion of "The National Scheme of Iodized Salt Surveillance", two levels of monitoring were carried out on production and wholesale-level(during 2001 -2007) and household-level(during 2001 - 2009). Salt iodine was determined by direct titration method (GB/T13025.7-1999), and Sichuan salt or special salt was determined with an arbitration method. Criteria for qualified iodized salt was (35 ± 15)mg/kg(20 - 50 mg/kg), and for non-iodized salt was ＜ 5 mg/kg. Results During 2001 - 2007, a total of 4900 salt samples at production and wholesale-levels were examined, with a qualification rate of 97.80% (4792/4900). Non-iodized salt rates were all below 5% in Gansu province, consumption rate of qualified iodized salt was higher than 90% after 2003. During 2001 - 2009, cities(states) with non-iodized salt problems appeared 23 times, with Linxia accounting for 39.1%(9/23), Wuwei accounting for 21.7%(5/23). During 2001 -2009, counties(districts) with non-iodized salt problem appeared 123 times, including 68 times of ethnic minorities and state poverty counties, accounting for 55.3%(68/123). During 2001 - 2005 and 2006 - 2009, ethnic minorities and state poverty counties were accounting for 49.4%(44/89) and 70.6%(24/34) in counties with non-iodized salt problem. Conclusions The quality of iodized-salt at production and wholesale level is satisfactory in Gansu province, household consumption rate of qualified iodized salt have reached national standard for eliminating iodine deficiency disorders. But ethnic minorities and state poverty counties are main regions with non-iodized salt problem,these areas will be the key areas of prevention of iodine deficiency disorders in Gansu province in the future.

To study the protective effect of astragalus saponin extracts (AS) on kidneys of diabetic rats. Totally 32 diabetic rats induced by streptozotocin (STZ) were divided into AS high and low dose groups, the positive control group and the model group (DM group) and orally administered with 50 mg x- kg(-1) x d(-1) AS 200, 25 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1) valsartan, 10 mL x kg(-1) x d(1) physiological saline, respectively. Another 8 healthy rats were collected in the normal control group (NC group, physiological saline 10 mL x kg(-1). d(-1)). All rats were treated for consecutively 6 weeks. After the administration, the body weight was measured every week, the concentration of blood glucose was monitored on week 2, 4 and 6. The total urine and total urinary protein (U-TP) in 24 h were measured by the metabolic cage method on week 6; At the end of week 6, blood samples were collected from hearts to detect blood urea nitrogen (BUN), serum creatinine (Scr), uric acid (UA) , total cholesterol (CH) triglyceride (TG) by biochemical methods. Kidneys were collect to calculate the kidney hypertrophy index and observe the pathological sections. The laboratory results show that in the DM group, the blood glucose, metabolic cost in 24 h, kidney hypertrophy index, U-TP, BUN, Scr, UA, TG were significantly higher than that in the NC group (P < 0.01, P < 0.05) , with significant pathological changes; After the intervention with AS, the metabolic value in 24 h, kidney hypertrophy index, U-TP, BUN, Scr, UA, TG were significantly lower in the high dose group (P < 0.01, P < 0.05), and the kidney hypertrophy index, BUN, Scr, UA, TG in the low dose group were also significantly lower (P < 0.05), with slight reduction in renal pathological changes in both groups. In conclusion, Astragalus saponin extracts have a certain protective effect on kidneys of diabetic rats.
Animals ; Astragalus Plant ; chemistry ; Blood Glucose ; metabolism ; Blood Urea Nitrogen ; Diabetic Nephropathies ; metabolism ; prevention & control ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; Humans ; Kidney ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Saponins ; administration & dosage ; Uric Acid ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo observe the therapeutic effect of Chinese compound, Changlu Enema (CE), on immune ulcerative colitis (UC) in mice.

METHODSMice were randomly divided into the normal group, the model group, the CE high dose (CE-H) and low dose (CE-L) group and the salicylazosulfapyridine (SASP) group. All mice, except those in the normal group, were made into UC model by colonic mucosa protein immunization. After 21 days of medication, the changes of UC activity index and body weight in mice were observed, and the condition of colonic inflammation and histomorphological changes in colonic tissue were observed also.

RESULTSUC activity index was lower and body weight was higher in the two CE groups than those in the model group respectively, showing significant difference (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01); pathological examination showed the pathological changes and inflammatory response in colonic tissue were relieved significantly after treatment, and the improvement in the CE-H group was better than that in the SASP group.

CONCLUSIONTCM compound CE is markedly effective in treating UC rats.

Administration, Rectal ; Animals ; Colitis, Ulcerative ; drug therapy ; immunology ; Colon ; drug effects ; pathology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Mice ; Phytotherapy ; Random Allocation ; Treatment Outcome

This study is to establish an HPLC-DAD-ELSD method for simultaneous determination of 5 flavones and saponins in Rhizoma Anemarrhenae including neo-mangiferin, mangiferin, timosaponin B II, timosaponin B III and timosaponin A III. Samples were analyzed on a Merck Purospher STAR column(4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 μm). The mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile( A) and 0. 1% formic acid (B) with gradient elution at a flow rate of 1.0 mL · min(-1). The column temperature was set at 40 °C. The DAD detector wavelength was set at 254 nm. The ELSD conditions were as follows: the nebulizing gas flow rate was 2.0 L · min(-1) and temperature of drift tube was 105 °C. The volume was 10 μL. The five compounds were well separated with good linear correlations. The mean recoveries were between 102.0%-104.0%. This method was quick and reliable which provides a foundation for quality control of R. Anemarrhenae.
Anemarrhena ; chemistry ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; instrumentation ; methods ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; Flavones ; analysis ; Rhizome ; chemistry ; Saponins ; analysis

Objective To evaluate the effect of health education on the target population of iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) in Linxia Hui autonomous prefecture.Methods During 2006-2010,IDD health education was carried out in the target population of Linxia Hui autonomous prefecture,and IDD knowledge of 5th grade pupil and 20-50 years old child-bearing women were surveyed by stratified sampling and questionnaire survey methods to evaluate the effect of health education.Results After health education,IDD knowledge passing rate rose from 55.6％ (548/986) and 18.0％(118/657) to 90.0％(1103/1225) and 86.2％(687/797) among pupils and women,respectively.The awareness rates of iodine deficiency in causing goiter,mental retardation and birth born silly children,and the key role of iodized salt in controling IDD were increased from 79.2％ (781/986),76.5％ (754/986),51.7％ (510/986) and 82.3％ (811/986) to 88.8％ (1088/1225),85.6％ (1049/1225),68.7％ (842/1225) and 90.0％ (1103/1225) among pupils,and from 48.6％ (319/657),28.3％ (186/657),15.4％ (101/657) and 39.6％ (260/657) to 86.2％ (687/797),70.0％ (558/797),46.3％ (369/797) and 87.3％ (696/797) among women,and all the difference were significant,respectively.Belief rate held by students that health education can prevent iodine deficiency disorders was 87.3％ (1069/1225),and 52.9％ (648/1225) of the students told their parents about IDD.The rate of consciously purchase of qualified iodized salt was 87.1％ (694/797) after health education among women of childbearing age,and the consumption rate of iodized salt was 64.6％(515/797).More than 90％ of the people in relevant departments knew iodine deficiency disorders related knowledge,in particular,had a clear understanding of intellectual hazards caused by iodine deficiency,and actively supported and participated in health education in the prevention and control of iodine deficiency disorders.Conclusions Comprehensive health education measures taken through schools and religious organizations has promoted a shift in the behavior,beliefs and attitudes of its consciously purchase and consumption of iodized salt,and integrated knowledge,attitude and practice (KAP).It is a good model of health education through religious organizations in ethnic minority areas.It has promoted the health education feasibility and accessibility,and the effect is more durable.

OBJECTIVE Alcohol is mainly metabolized through liver and excreted by kidney in the body. Kidney damage has been considered as the secondary to liver injury and kidney dysfunction is common in hospitalized patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis. Both acute and chronic alcoholism accumulation can compromise kidney function, although alcoholic kidney disease has drawn much more attention recently,the methodology for establishing the in vivo and in vitro alcoholic renal fibrosis models are still lacking,and the underlying mechanisms are to be determined. METHODS and RESULTS Mice were feed with a liquid diet containing alcohol for 4 weeks, 8 weeks and 12 weeks respectively, results of Masson′s Trichrome staining showed that kidney fibrosis peaked in 8-week model group, which consistent with the results of albumin assay,Western blot,immunostaining and real-time PCR of collagen I and α-SMA.In vitro study also confirmed that ethanol upregulated the level of fibrotic index-es,including collagen I and α-SMA,in tubular epithelial cells(HK2 cells).Additionally,both in vivo and in vitro studies showed that Smad7 was decreased and Smad3 was highly activated. Then we further detected the underlying mechanisms by which alcohol induced the imbalance of Smad7 and Smad3. Results of Genome-wide methylation sequencing found DNA methylation of Smad7 in the alcoholic fibrosis kidney,which may be mainly mediated by DNA methyltransferase 1(DNMT1),because knock-down of DNMT1,but not DNMT2 and 3,largely restored Smad7 level in ethanol-treated HK2 cells.Con-sequently, we found that NADPH Oxidases (nox)-mediated oxidative stress is the major force upregu-lating DNMT1,since knockdown of Nox2 and 4 could both decrease DNMT1 while rebalancing Smad7/Smad3 axis, and thereby relieved ethanol-induced fibrotic response in HK2 cells. More importantly, intraperitoneal injection of apocynin,an inhibitor of NADPH oxidoreductase,attenuated renal fibrosis in alcoholic kidney fibrosis mouse model. CONCLUSION By establishing the novel in vivo and in vitro models,we found that through activating oxidative stress-induced DNA methylation of Smad7,alcohol induces renal fibrosis by breaking the balance between Smad7 and Smad3.Elimination of Nox-mediated oxidative stress may be a potential therapy for treatment of long-term alcohol abuse-induced kidney fibrosis.

italic>Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) can cause a variety of digestive tract diseases, the serious may develop into gastric cancer. Nowadays, H. pylori infection rate exceeds 50%, and its eradication rate is declining due to the continuous increase of drug resistance, leading to the occurrence of plenty of stubborn infections, which seriously threaten human health. At present, it is difficult to achieve satisfactory curative effect by increasing the types of antibiotics combination or increasing their dose. In this review, the clinical treatments of H. pylori were introduced. Proceed from the characteristics and pathological background of H. pylori infection that makes H. pylori difficult to eradicate, the research advances of drug delivery strategies for improving H. pylori eradication rate were reviewed, such as strategies that could increase drug concentration in stomach (e.g. drug delivery systems with gastric acid-stabilized ability), increase drug concentration in H. pylori colonization sites (e.g. drug delivery systems with gastric retention or H. pylori targeted abilities), overcome H. pylori resistance (metal nanoparticles, anti-biofilm delivery systems), enhance host immune response (vaccine preparation) and so on. Novel drug delivery systems, such as cell membrane coating technology and phage therapy, are comparatively rare in the field of anti-H. pylori, but have broad application prospects. This review would provide reference for the development and application of therapeutic strategies to improve H. pylori eradication rate.

This study was purposed to investigate the feasibility to screen donor with HCV infection by means of HCV-cAg ELISA. The first and repeat assays were performed for detection of serum anti-HCV in 8677 donor's serum specimens from January 2003 to December 2005. All serum anti-HCV specimens with positive anti-HCV from first and repeat assays were finally identified by using HCV-cAg ELISA and HCV RT-PCR methods. The results showed that only 5 serum specimens were positive anti-HCV by HCV-cAg ELISA identification in 29 specimens including 15 specimens with positive ant-HCV in first assays and 14 specimens with positive anti-HCV in repeat assays, the positive rate detected by HCV cAg ELISA was 17.24%. 5 serum specimens were positive anti-HCV by HCV RT-PCR detection also in 29 specimens mentioned above, the positive rate detected by HCV RT-PCR was 17.24% too. It is concluded that sensitivity of HCVcAg ELISA is similar to HCV RT-PCR and may be useful for the early diagnosis of hepatitic C or used as a reliable method to screen donor with HCV infection in blood transfusion medicine.
Blood Donors ; Blood Transfusion ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; methods ; Hepacivirus ; isolation & purification ; Hepatitis C Antigens ; blood ; Humans ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; methods ; Viral Core Proteins ; blood