Objective To investigate the expression levels of Interleukin(IL)?6 and matrix metalloproteinases(MMP)?13 in synovial fluid by in?vigorating kidney and activating blood formulae in treating rabbit knee osteoarthritis model. Methods A total of 30 New Zealand rabbit were ran?domly divided into blank group,model group,invigorating kidney group,activating blood group and invigorating kidney and activating blood group. Rabbits model with knee osteoarthritis were established by improved Hulth method. To give corresponding respectively the medicinal broth,model group was given saline,knee joint synovial fluid was collected after 4,8 and 12 weeks. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)was used to measure the levels of IL?6 and MMP?13. Results The levels of IL?6 in rabbit knee osteoarthritis were obviously higher than that of normal control group at both 4 weeks and 8 weeks(P<0.001). But there was no statistical difference on the levels of IL?6 compared with controls in 12 weeks. In addition,the level of MMP?13 at 4 weeks,8 weeks and 12 weeks were significantly higher than the blank control group(P<0.001). After 8 weeks of Chinese medicine administration,the levels of IL?6 in synovial fluid were significantly decreased in invigorating kidney group,activating blood group and invigorating kidney and activating blood group(P<0.001),but there was no statistical difference among groups in 12 weeks. The MMP?13 levels of synovial fluid was significantly lower than the model group(P<0.001). Conclusion Our results indicate that IL?6 and MMP?13 par?ticipate in the pathological development of the rabbit knee osteoarthritis. Invigorating kidney and activating blood formulae could reduce the expres?sion of IL?6 and MMP?13 and alleviate osteoarthritis progression,and which is superior to the pure invigorating kidney formulae and activating blood formulae.

AlM:To study the refractive status characteristics aftser cataract surgery and the correlation between preoperative anterior chamber depth ( ACD) and refractive status.METHODS: Ninety-six cases of patients with cataract were randomly divided into two groups. The patients in phacoemulsification group were treated with phacoemulsification combined intraocular lens ( lOL ) implantation while the patients in small incision group were treated by small incision extracapsular cataract extraction combined with lOL implantation. Changes in ACD and postoperative refractive status and refractive fully corrected value were counted and the correlation of them were analyzed .RESULTS: ACD of the phacoemulsification group s deepened 0. 74mm while that of the small incision group deepened 0. 78mm after treatment and there was no significant difference (P>0. 05). After operation, the ACD of two groups significantly deepened ( P<0. 05 ). The postoperative visual acuity of two groups were significantly better than the uncorrected visual acuity of two groups (P<0. 05). The postoperative refraction of two groups patients were mainly 0 ~ +1. 0D ( 41. 67% and 54. 16%) and+1. 25~+2. 0D (43. 75% and 33. 33%) (P>0. 05). CONCLUSlON: ACD is significant deepened after operation. Surgeon needs full consideration of changes to improve the refractive lOL calculation accuracy.

Objective To investigate the changes of calcium /calmodulin - dependent protein kinase Ⅱ (CAMKⅡD) gene expression in 3T3 - L1 preadipocyte diffe-rentiation and TNF - ? regulation of CAMKⅡD gene expression on matured adipocytes. Methods 3T3 - L1 preadipocytes were cultured and differentiated into adipocytes. The levels of CAMKⅡD gene mRNA expression at various times were evaluated by RT-PCR. Matured adipocytes were interfered with 0.1,1.0,10.0 ?g/L TNF - ? and the levels of CAMKⅡD gene mRNA expression were evaluated. Results The levels of CAMKⅡD gene mRNA expression in 3T3 - L1 adipocytes were significantly down- regulated at first day, compared with those at zero day (P0. 05). CAMKⅡD gene mRNA expression decreased significantly at 12 hours after treatment with 10.0 ?g/L TNF-?, treatment of matured adipocytes with TNF - ? did not have any regulation role on it. Conclusions CAMKⅡD gene is involved in the differentiation of adipocytes and related to the etiology of obesity. The changes in the level of CAMKⅡD gene mRNA expression during 3T3 - L1 preadipocyte differentiation may contribute to the differentiation and adipogenesis of adipocytes. It seems that TNF - ? does not have any regulation role on the expression of CAMKⅡD genes.

Objective To investigate the efficacy and safety of vasopressin receptor antagonist tolvaptan for treating dilutional hyponatremia casused by decompensated liver cirrhosis.Methods Ninety-six subjects with decompensated liver cirrhosis complicated by dilutional hyponatremia were divided into test group (n =56) and control group (n =40) by double blind method.Test group were treated with a single dose of tolvaptan 15 mg orally in addition to routine therapy,while control group were treated with routine therapy plus placebo.The changes in serum sodium concentration,liver functions,ascites,and edema of lower extremities between the two groups were observed.Measurement data were compared by t test,and categorical data were compared by chisquare test.Results On day 7,36 (64.3％) patients in test group and 9 (22.5％) patients in control group reached normal serum sodium concentrations (x2 =5.241,P＜0.01).All the patients in test group and only 3 patients in control group had 24 hours' total urine volume above 3500 mL.Difference of 24 hours' total urine volume during 7-day treatment between the two groups was statistically significant (t=20.899,P＜0.01).Thirty-nine patients in test group and 15 patients in control group had reduced ascites (x2 =4.260,P=0.039),but improvement of edema in lower extremities of both groups was comparable (12 cases in test group and 7 cases in control group; x2 =0.227,P=0.634).Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT),total bilirubin (TBil),potassium and creatinine levels of test group were improved after treatment,but were not significantly different from either baseline levels (t=1.509,0.783,1.107,1.237; both P＞0.05) or those of the control group (t=1.712,1.635,1.121,0.873; both P＞0.05).Conclusions Single dose of tolvaptan (15 mg) exerts a strong diuretic effect and is able to greatly increase serum sodium concentration,thus has distinct therapeutic effect for patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis complicated by dilutional hyponatremia.

The dynamic changes of germination percentage, germination potential, thousand-seed weight, antioxidase activity in Desmodium styracifolium seeds with different storage time were tested, and electrical conductivity, contents of soluble sugar, soluble protein, starch in seed leach liquor were also determined in order to reveal the mechanism of seed deterioration. The results as the following. (1) The germination percentage, germination potential and thousand-seed weight of D. styracifolium seeds declined, while the seed coat color darkened with the extension of storage time. (2) The activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) decreased with the prolongation of storage period. The SOD activity declined fastest in 1,095-1,185 d of storage, while the POD activity declined significantly in 365-395 d of storage. (3) The electrical conductivity and the contents of soluble sugar, starch in seed leach liquor increased, while the content of soluble protein declined with the extension of storage time. (4) Correlation analysis indicated that the germination percentage, germination potential and thousand-seed weight of D. styracifolium seeds have a significantly positive correlation with SOD and POD activity, while have a significantly negative correlation with the electrical conductivity, contents of soluble sugar and starch. It can be concluded that during the storage of D. styracifolium seeds, physiological and biochemical changes including decrease in antioxidase activity, rise in electrical conductivity, degradation effluent of soluble sugar and starch, degradation of soluble protein were the main factors leading to the seed deterioration.
Color ; Fabaceae ; chemistry ; enzymology ; growth & development ; metabolism ; Germination ; Peroxidases ; metabolism ; Plant Proteins ; metabolism ; Seeds ; chemistry ; enzymology ; growth & development ; metabolism ; Starch ; metabolism ; Superoxide Dismutase ; metabolism ; Time Factors

Objective To observe the effect of γ-ray irradiation on CD4 + CD25 + regulatory T cells (Tregs),and to investigate the mechanism of immune injury induced by irradiation.Methods The thymus and spleen of C57BL/6 mice were taken and weighted 1-28 d after γ-ray irradiation,and the organ coefficients were calculated.The amount of mouse peripheral WBC measured,CD4 + T cells and Tregs in peripheral and splenic were analyzed by flow cytometry.Results Coefficients of mouse thymus and spleen decreased significantly 1 d post irradiation,and reached to the bottom at 7 d.Coefficients did not recover to control level 28 d after radiation.Peripheral WBC continuously decreased and reached the bottom at 7 d,and did not recover to control level up to 28 d postirradiation.Peripheral CD4 + T lymphocyte temporally reduced at 1 d,while it increased at 7 d,and it approached to control level at 28 d after radiation.Splenic CD4 + T cells slightly reduced at 7 d however,they basically maintained as the same level as control 14 d and 28 d after radiation.Peripheral Tregs ascended at 1 d and reached the peak at 7 d,and reduced at 14 d and 28 d postirradiation,although they still were significantly higher than those of control group.At the same time,splenic Tregs increased significantly and achieved peak value at 1 d,and then gradually decreased and reached the minimum at 28 d after irradiation,which were significantly lower than those of control group( t =2.731,P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions Mouse thymus and spleen were injured severely,and the number of immunocytes decreased after 6 Gy whole body γ-ray irradiation.However,Tregs with immunosuppressive action increased significantly postirradiation,revealing that Tregs were closely correlated with immune function depression and immunomodulation imbalance induced by ionizing radiation.

Adult ; Benzene ; poisoning ; Chronic Disease ; Cytochrome P-450 CYP2E1 ; genetics ; Female ; Humans ; Leukocyte Count ; Leukopenia ; chemically induced ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymorphism, Genetic

Moderate drought stress has been found to promote the accumulation of active ingredients in Glycyrrhiza uralensis root and hence improve the medicinal quality. In this study, the transcriptomes of 6-month-old moderate drought stressed and control G. uralensis root (the relative water content in soil was 40%-45% and 70%-75%, respectively) were sequenced using Illumina HiSeq 2000. A total of 80,490 490 and 82 588 278 clean reads, 94,828 and 305,100 unigenes with N50 sequence of 1,007 and 1,125 nt were obtained in drought treated and control transcriptome, respectively. Differentially expressed genes analysis revealed that the genes of some cell wall enzymes such as β-xylosidase, legumain and GDP-L-fucose synthase were down-regulated indicating that moderate drought stress might inhibit the primary cell wall degradation and programmed cell death in root cells. The genes of some key enzymes involved in terpenoid and flavonoid biosynthesis were up-regulated by moderate drought stress might be the reason for the enhancement for the active ingredients accumulation in G. uralensis root. The promotion of the biosynthesis and signal transduction of auxin, ethylene and cytokinins by moderate drought stress might enhance the root formation and cell proliferation. The promotion of the biosynthesis and signal transduction of abscisic acid and jasmonic acid by moderate drought stress might enhance the drought stress tolerance in G. uralensis. The inhibition of the biosynthesis and signal transduction of gibberellin and brassinolide by moderate drought stress might retard the shoot growth in G. uralensis.
Droughts ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ; Glycyrrhiza uralensis ; genetics ; Plant Roots ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Stress, Physiological ; Transcriptome

Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Fatty Liver ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Female ; Hepatitis ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Hepatitis, Alcoholic ; diagnosis ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged

Objective To evaluate the effects of turmeric volatile oil (TVO) combined with cisplatin on the proliferation and apoptosis of a human cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma cell line A431,and to explore their mechanisms.Methods Some cultured A431 cells at exponential growth phase were divided into several groups to be treated with 5,10,20,40 and 80 mg/L TVO,as well as high-glucose Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) containing 1％ dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO,control group),respectively.After 24-hour treatment,cell counting kit 8 (CCK8) assay was performed to estimate the proliferative activity of A431 cells in the above groups.Some other A431 cells were divided into 4 groups:control group treated with high-glucose DMEM containing 1％ DMSO,TVO group treated with 40 mg/LTVO,cisplatin group treated with 10 mg/L cisplatin,and TVO + cisplatin group treated with 40 mg/L TVO and 10 mg/L cisplatin.After 24-hour treatment,CCK8 assay was performed to estimate the cellular proliferative activity,inverted microscopy to observe changes in cell morphology,fluorescence microscopy to detect cell apoptosis after acridine orange (AO)/ethidium bromide (EB) double-staining,colorimetry to evaluate the activity of Caspase-3 and Caspase-9,and Western blot analysis to determine the protein expression of Caspase-3 and p-glycoprotein.Results After 24-hour treatment with 5,10,20,40 and 80 mg/L TVO,the cell proliferation rates were inhibited by (12.83 ± 6.4)％,(16.27 ± 11.4)％,(21.61 ± 9.1)％,(33.11 ± 2.0)％ and (46.00 ± 3.3)％ respectively,and the inhibition rates were all significantly higher in these groups than in the control group (4.03％ ± 1.4％,all P ＜ 0.05).The 50％ inhibitory concentration (IC50) of TVO at 24 hours was (61.66 ± 1.03) mg/L.Compared with the control group,the proliferation inhibition rates significantly increased in the TVO group,cisplatin group and TVO + cisplatin group (all P ＜ 0.05),suggesting that the combination of TVO and cisplatin showed synergistic inhibitory effects with a combination index of 1.366.Moreover,A431 cells turned round to different extents and became apoptotic in the TVO group and cisplatin group,and the TVO + cisplatin group showed obviously decreased number of cells and a large number of cell debris.The TVO + cisplatin group also showed significantly increased activity of Caspase-3 (1.520 ± 0.115) and Caspase-9 (2.760 ± 0.297) as well as protein expression of Caspase-3 (1.482 ± 0.016) compared with the TVO group (Caspase-3 activity:1.117 ± 0.095;Caspase-9 activity:1.259 ± 0.059;Caspase-3 protein expression:1.156 ± 0.006,all P ＜ 0.01) and cisplatin group (Caspase-3 activity:1.381 ± 0.089;Caspase-9 activity:1.829 ± 0.171;Caspase-3 protein expression:1.296 ± 0.021,all P ＜ 0.01),but significantly decreased p-glycoprotein expression (0.528 ± 0.014) compared with the TVO group (1.311 ± 0.011,P ＜ 0.01) and cisplatin group (1.169 ± 0.012,P ＜ 0.01).Conclusion TVO combined with cisplatin can synergistically inhibit the proliferation of A431 cells and induce cell apoptosis,which may be associated with activation of the caspase system and decreased expression of pglycoprotein.