Diabetes mellitus has become one of the diseases which threaten the heath of human being in the 21st century.A goal of research in diabetes is to find a way to increase the number of functional insulin-producing cells. Islet transplantation has been considered to be the most effective approach to cure type Ⅰ and part of type Ⅱ diabetes mellitus.This approach, however, is severely limited by an inadequate supply of donor islets available for transplantation.Moreover, recent progress of stem cells research has shown that stem cells may act as a new source of islet transplantation in diabetes mellitus treatment. Recent evidence indicates that Glucagon-Like PeptideⅠ(GLP-1) plays a very important role in targeted differentiation of stem cells into Insulin-Producing Cells and pancreatic development. GLP-1 is an intestine-derived insulinotropic hormone that stimulates glucose dependent insulin production and secretion. GLP-1 can induce differentiation of stem cells into insulin-producing cells, which is achieved by up regulation of PDX-1 expression.PDX-1 is a transcription factor critical for pancreatic development and endocrine cell neogenesis and a marker for pancreatic stem cells. These new findings suggest an approach to create Insulin-Producing cells in vitro by expanding stem/progenitor cells and then to convert them into Insulin-Producing cells by treatment with GLP-1. Thus GLP-1 may be a means by which to create Insulin-Producing cells ex vivo for transplantation into patients with insulinopenic type Ⅰ diabetes and severe forms of type Ⅱ diabetes. This article reviews recent progress about GLP-1 and targeted differentiation of stem cells induced by GLP-1.

0.05) before treatment. After treatment, the hearing thresholds were recovered in 21 ears, signifi-cantly improved in 8 ears, improved in 4 ears and not changed in 2 ears in the DM group. In placebo group, the hearing threshold was recovered in 6 ears, signifi-cantly improved in 9 ears, improved in 15ears and not changed in 6 ears after treatment. There was a signifi-cant difference in the level of hearing improvement be-tween the DM group and the placebo group(x2=13.49, P

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of pramipexole in treating restless legs syndrome (RLS).Methods A search for randomized,double-blind,and placebo-controlled clinical trials of pramipexole in treating moderate to severe RLS using CNKI,PubMed,Embase and Cochrane Library database was carried out. A meta-analysis of included clinical trials was performed with RevMan 5.0 software.The 2 outcomes that the weighted mean difference(WMD) of change from baseline in International RLS Study Group rating scale(IRLS) score and the relative risk (RR) of response based on the Clinical Global Impression-Improvement (CGI-I) scale score were calculated for efficacy.Safety was assessed with RR of the adverse event (AE).Results A total of 5 clinical trials were included in this meta-analysis,of which 1776 patients were randomly assigned (945 on pramipexole,831 on placebo).The records of patients were pooled.Overall WMD were - 6.34 ( Z =12.76,P ＜ 0.01 ) for the change from baseline in IRLS score,and RR of response based on CGI-I were 1.65 (Z =10.39,P ＜0.01).The overall RR of pramipexole versus placebo were 1.14 ( Z =1.87,P =0.06 ) for AE.Conclusion To treat RLS,pramipexole is an effective and safe drug.

Objective This article was aimed to take exploratory evaluation on the scientific research performance of provincial key disciplines in a medical university,and to provide a scientific basis for the discipline evaluation related topics.Methods This paper took 29 provincial key disciplines in a medical university as the evaluation system.We calculated the scientific research performance of key disciplines.Data envelopment analysis (DEA) method was used to evaluate the scientific level of performance,while the use of TOPSIS and gray correlation analysis method to rank the efficiency of its research,and the results obtained by the three methods was used for statistical correlation analysis.Results According to the results calculated by DEA Method,there were 18 DEA efficient units and 11 non-DEA efficient units.While in this 11 non-DEA efficient units,8 of them needed to reduce re source inputs and the other 3 units needed to increase research outputs.Meanwhile there were significant positive correlations between evaluation results of TOPSIS Method andGrey Correlation Analysis Method with Data Envelopment Analysis Method,respectively [the correlation coefficient:rs 1 =0.797(P =0.000); rs 2=0.583(P =0.007); rs 3-0.536(P =0.003)].Conclusions Compared to TOPSIS Method and Grey Correlation Analysis Method,DEA Method not only could evaluate the ef fectiveness of discipline,but also provide evidence to improve the non-DEA efficient units.

Objective: To further understand the role of folic acid supplements rivaling MTHFR gene silencing in pathogenesis of NCLP, RNA interference (RNAi) was applied to knock down MTHFR in mouse embryonic palatal mesenchymal (EPM) cells. Methods: MTHFR ShRNA expression vector were transfected into the primary cultured EPM cells. MTT was used to observe cell proliferation after MTHFR gene silencing. FCM was used to observe cell cycle after MTHFR gene silencing. Results: The results showed the cells proliferation had an inequality amelioration after using folic acid supplements in MEPM cells with MTHFR gene silencing. Using folic acid supplements rivaled the effect of MTHFR gene silencing had a dose-dependent manner. Using 20 μg/ml folic acid supplements could improve the cell proliferation to achieve normal level of cell proliferation. Conclusion: MTHFR gene is an important candidate gene of NCL/P. Using folic acid supplements could prevent teratogenic MTHFR gene silencing for embryonic palate development.

Objective To investigate the mechanism of protective effects of resveratrol on tissueengineered cartilage.Methods The chondrogenesis of alginate-encapsulated bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) were evaluated by toluidine blue staining and immunostain.The morphology of BMSCs-derived chondrocytes cultured on chitosan-gelatin scaffolds (CGS) was evaluated by scanning electron microscope and laser confocal microscope.When these cells on CGS were pre-stimulated with interleukin-1β (IL-1β) or cotreated with IL-1β and resveratrol in the absence and presence of specific β1-integrin blocking antibody,collagen type Ⅱ,aggrecan,matrix metalloproteinase-13 (MMP-13) expression,and the translocation of nuclear factor kappaB (NF-κB) were analyzed by Western blotting.ANOVA was used for statistical analysis.Results Alginate bead culture plus conditional medium together could induce the cartilage-specific collagen type Ⅱ,aggrecan expression and extracellular matrix accumulation in differentiated chondrocytes.CGS supported differentiated cell attachment,proliferation,and migration.When those cells cultured on CGS were stimulated with IL-1β alone,collagen type Ⅱ and aggrecan expression was inhibited.However,MMP-13 expression increased.By Western blotting semi-quantitative analysis,the expression level of cartilage-specific collagen type Ⅱ of the control group was 0.484±0.006; the expression level of resveratrol intervention group was 0.474±0.014.The difference between these two groups was not statistically significant (P＞0.05).The expression level of the IL-1β intervention group reduced to 0.155±0.009,which was statistically significant different from the above two groups(P＜0.05).Resveratrol could antagonist the negative effect of IL-1β,and increase collagen type Ⅱ to 0.468±0.014,the difference between these two was statistically significant (P＜0.05),and no significant difference when compared to the control group (P＞0.05).Specific β1-integrin blocking antibody could abrogate these effects of resveratrol,decrease collagen Ⅱ expression to 0.169±0.011,the difference was significant (P＜0.05),but there was no difference when compared to the IL-1β group (P＞0.05).Aggrecan semi-quantitative expression has the same trend in the expression of type Ⅱ collagen while the expression of MMP-13,NF-κB had the reversal trend.These indicated that the resveratrol reversed the catabolic effects by reducing the nuclear translocation of NF-κB.Specific β1-integrin blocking antibody abrogated these effects of resveratrol.Conclusion Resveratrol,by regulating β1-integrin,acts as a NF-κB nuclear trans-location inhibitor to protect tissue-engineered cartilage.

Animals ; Astragalus membranaceus ; chemistry ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Female ; Intestine, Small ; blood supply ; Lipid Peroxidation ; drug effects ; Male ; Rabbits ; Random Allocation ; Reperfusion Injury ; physiopathology ; prevention & control ; Superoxide Dismutase ; metabolism

0.05),but as formaldehyde concentration increased,the coefficient of DPC also increased gradually.Higher concentration exposure(1.0,3.0 mg/m~3)resulted in significant elevation of DPC amount compared with the control group(P

Objective To investigate the anti tumor effects of cytotoxic T lymphocytes induced by tumor antigen specific dendritic cells. Methods Soluble tumor antigen was prepared by four freeze thaw cycles of gastric tumor cell line SCG7901. Anti gastric tumor vaccine was acquired by co incubation of tumor antigen and mouse bone marrow derived dendritic cells and cultured with granulocyte/macrophage colony stimulating factor and interleukin 4. Antigen specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes were induced by this tumor vaccine from the spleen and were applied to tumor bearing nude mice. Results Tumor growth was significantly inhibited and the apoptosis of tumor cells was promoted extensively. Conclusions Antigen specific dendritic cell tumor vaccine may play an important role in future immunotherapy of gastric cancer.

Objective: To observe the clinical efficacy of thunder-fire moxibustion for hypomenorrhea after induced abortion. Methods: A total of 74 patients with hypomenorrhea after induced abortion were randomized into two groups, with 37 cases in each group. The control group was treated with conventional hormone sequential therapy, and the observation group was treated with thunder-fire moxibustion. The course of treatment was 3 menstrual cycles. The traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) symptom scores, menstrual volume, endometrial thickness and the sex hormone levels were observed before and after treatment. The clinical efficacy was compared after treatment. Results: The total effective rate in the observation group and the control group was 91.4％ and 73.5％, respectively, and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P<0.05). After treatment, the TCM symptom scores in both groups decreased significantly (all P<0.05), and the scores in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). The menstrual volume, endometrial thickness and each sex hormone level of the patients in both groups were significantly improved after treatment (all P<0.05), and the improvements in the observation group were more significant than those in the control group (all P<0.05). Conclusion: Thunder-fire moxibustion can significantly improve the clinical symptoms of patients with hypomenorrhea after induced abortion; it can increase menstrual volume and endometrial thickness, and regulate the sex hormone levels, producing a better curative effect than the conventional hormone sequential therapy.