AIM: To investigate the anti-apoptotic effect of hepatocyte growth factor(HGF) on actinomycin D(ActD)-induced apoptosis in hepatocytes and the possible pathway.METHODS: Hepatocytes were exposed to ActD and HGF.The cytotoxic effects of ActD were tested by MTT.Apoptotic cells were identified by Hoechst 33342 staining,flow cytometry and detection of DNA fragmentation with agarose gel.Akt and phospho-Akt were detected by Western blotting analysis.RESULTS: The results showed that ActD induced apoptosis in hepatocytes 5 h after treatment.Phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase(PI-3K) specific inhibitor wortmannin enhanced the apoptotic effect of ActD.Furthermore, HGF significantly reduced the apoptosis in hepatocytes induced by ActD in a concentration-dependent manner.In the presence of wortmannin,HGF did not overcome apoptosis.CONCLUSION: Wortmannin enhances the apoptotic effect of ActD.HGF protects hepatocytes from apoptosis induced by ActD through a PI3K/Akt pathway.

The amygdalin content in Runing Granules has been determined on the column RP-C_(15), using acetonitrile:water(1:6)as mobile phase and detection wavelength at 240nm.This method showed a high sensitivity,simple operation,good reproducibility and reliable result.It provide a certain base for the quality control of Chinesemateria medica and traditional Chi- nese patent medicine with amygdalin.

Fibroblast growth factor(FGF)-21 is a novel insulin-independent glucose regulator,and can be a potential therapeutics for treatment of type Ⅱ diabetes.Although FGF-21 was discovered recently,the insight into its biology and therapeutic utility is rapidly evolving.A number of key metabolically-linked molecules and pathways have been suggested to be involved in the mechanism of action of FGF-21,which enables us to renew the understanding of the FGF-21.The aim of this review is to report the update research outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Collagen sponge is considered the most useful biomaterial owing to its excellent function and properties, easy processing, sterilization, and preservation and has been widely used in scientific research and clinical application. OBJECTIVE: To describe the properties of collagen sponge and to review the research progress of collagen sponge in clinical application in recent years. METHODS: A computer-based retrieval was performed by the first author to search for manuscripts published from January 2000 to August 2010 in Pubmeds and Elsevier databases and for manuscripts published from January 1993 to August 2010 in CNKI database using key words "collagen, collagen sponge, clinical application" in title and abstract items in English and Chinese language, respectively. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Collagen sponge, as a new biological material, has been widely applied in tissue engineering research in terms of hemostasis, wound healing, anti-infection, cartilage repair, and nerve repair. But at present, nearly all collagen is from animals and immunogenicity cannot be thoroughly eliminated. Researchers outside of China have synthesized recombinant human collagen using bioreactor and transgenic technology, but its efficacy and safety in clinical application needs further investigation and research.

Objective To compare the features of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and electroencephalogram (EEG) to differentiate Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VD). Methods It was analyzed of the MRI and EEG from 39 patients with AD and 56 patients with VD, to compare the proportion of cerebral atrophy, hippocampal atrophy and leukoaraiosis in MRI, and the proportion of the moderate to severe disorder of EEG and the power spectrum. Results The proportion of cerebral atrophy and hippocampal atrophy was more and leukoaraiosis was less in the AD group than those in the VD group. The proportion of the moderate to severe disorder of EEG increased in AD group, and the ratio of (θ+δ)/(α+β) of whole brain was more in the AD group than in the VD group (P<0.05). Conclusion It is more likely to be AD in dementia patients with atrophy without leukoaraiosis and cerebral ischemic lesions, especially for those with severe abnormal EEG.

This paper presents the first description of the morphology of Demodex brevis examined by scanning electron microscopy.The authors found that D.brevis can be distinguished from D.folliculorum by the characteristic features of the following structures: the flat gnatho-soma,the humplike podosoma and the absence of transverse striation on its anterior dorsal Surface,the suprecoxal spines,the hypostome,the oral opening,the pedipalpal claws and the claws on legs,and the ennuli of the terminal part of the opisthosoma.The morphology of the above structures observed are briefly compared with those of D.folliculorum.

Objective: A HPCE capillary zone eletrophoretic method for the determination of evodiamine in Fructus Evodia was established. Similarly, areliable HPCE-FPS (fingerprint spectrum) was applied to compare quality of Fructus Evodia to 14 samples of 3 species from different areas. Methods: The evodiamine was detected on 254nm and proteins was on 196nm、254nm by HPCE. The electrophoretic parameters were optimized by studying the efffect of the buffer composition. Results: Calibration graph was constructed in the range 1.944 ?g?mL -1～7.766 ?g?mL -1 for evodiamine (r=0.9974). The regression equation was y= 188.7x-32.1. The average recovery was 101.3 (n=3). In this paper, the proteins of Frutus Evodia HPCE-FPS was established at 196nm and 254nm. Conclusion: Content of evodiamine from Fructus Evodia was determined by HPCE-CZE and HPCE-FPS and distinguished three species from different growing areas related to intrinsic quality of them. The research provides new technique for evaluating quality of traditional Chinese medicine.

Objective To explore the distribution and genotypes of plasmid-mediated quionlone resistance (PMQR)genes and intI1 integrase genes in Enterobacteriaceae isolates.Methods The PMQR genes and intI1 integrase genes were identified by polymerase chain reaction in the nonduplicate strains of E.coli (80),E.cloacae (18)and K.pneunoniae (27).The positive PCR products were subj ect to DNA sequencing analysis.The gene-positive strains were tested by conj ugation experiment.The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs)of donor,recipient strains and transconj ugants were tested by agar dilution method with quinolones and other antimicrobial agents.Results Sixteen (12.8%)of the 125 Enterobacteriaceae isolates were qnr gene positive,including 8 qnrS1 positive and 8 qnrB6 positive.Furthermore,the aac(6′)-Ib-cr gene was identified in 15 (12.0%) strains.Twenty PMQR-positive isolates harbored intI1 integrase gene.The conjugation experiments were successful in 12 of the 26 PMQR-positive isolates and 7 of the 20 intI1-positive isolates.The MICs of quinolones and other antimicrobial agents against the transconj ugants were higher than the MIC values against recipient strains.Conclusions The PMQR genes are prevalent in Enterobacteriaceae isolates.The PMQR-positive isolates can co-harbor integrase genes.These resistance genes have the feature of horizontal transfer,to which close attention should be paid.

Objective To explore the mechanism of the protection of acidic fibroblast growth factor (aFGF) for hippocampal astrocytes from injury induced by gentamicin. Methods Hippocampal astrocytes were isolated from newborn (24 hours) Sprague-Dawley rats, puri-fied, and identified with glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) immunofluorescence. The third generations were cultured for 3 days and divid-ed into 3 groups:control group was cultured routinely, injury group was cultured with 2.0 g/L gentamicin for 24 hours, and protection group was cultured with 4.25μg/L aFGF for 24 hours and then cultured with 2.0 g/L gentamicin for 24 hours. Western blotting was adopted to de-tect the expressions of P38, extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)1/2 and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)1/2. Results Hippocampal as-trocytes were culturated successfully with the purity above 95%. The ERK1 increased in the injury group compared with the control group (P<0.05). Compared with the injury group, the p38 increased (P<0.05) and the ERK1 decreased (P<0.05) in the protection group. There was no significant difference among others (P>0.05). Conclusion The mitogen-activated protein kinase signal pathway, especially P38 and ERK1, may associate with the protection of aFGF for hippocampal astrocytes from injury induced by gentamicin.

10.3969/j.issn.2095-4344.2013.25.011