International research advances and current situation of industrialization in the last decade on the biological character and inducing conditions of natural astaxanthin accumulation in Haematococcus pluvialis cells are reviewed in present paper. Current situation of mass cultivation of Haematococcus pluvialis for industrial production of natural astaxanthin by use of photobioreactors is described. The industrialization prospect of astaxanthin in China is also proposed.

In this study, the effect of prophylactic anti-inflammation on the development of smoke-induced emphysema was investigated. Young male guinea-pigs aged 1.5-2 months (weighing 198.3+/-26.9 g) were randomly divided into 4 groups: group A (cigarette smoke exposure only), group B (cigarette smoke exposure plus pentoxifylline-rich (PTX, 10 mg/d) forage feeding), group C (cigarette smoke exposure plus intermittent cortical steroid injection (Triamcinolone acetonide, 3 mg, i.m., every three weeks) and control group (group D: animals with sham smoke exposure, raised under the same conditions). Animals in group A, B and C were exposed to smoke of cigarettes for 1 to 1.5 h twice a day, 5 days a week. All animals were killed at the 16th week and followed by morphometrical analysis of the midsagittal sectioned lung slices. Smoke exposure of 16 weeks resulted in visible emphysematous development in Group A but not in Group B and C. It was evidenced by the indicator of air-space size, mean linear intercept (Lm): 120.6+/-16.0 microm in Group A; 89.8+/-9.2 microm in Group B and 102.4+/-17.7 microm in Group C. The average Lm in either group B or group C was shorter than that in Group A (ANOVA and Newman-Keuls test, F=8.80, P=0.0002) but comparable to that (94.8+/-13.2 microm) in group D (P>0.05). It is concluded that long-term prophylactic anti-inflammation inhibits pulmonary emphysema induced by cigarette smoking in the guinea pigs.
Anti-Inflammatory Agents/*pharmacology ; Pentoxifylline/pharmacology ; Pulmonary Emphysema/etiology ; Pulmonary Emphysema/pathology ; Pulmonary Emphysema/*prevention & control ; Random Allocation ; Smoking/*adverse effects ; Triamcinolone Acetonide/*pharmacology

Objective To observe the effect of vein anastomosis by microvascular anastomotic device in head and neck reconstruction.Methods Sixteen cases needing free flaps were randomly selected in head and neck cancer patients with locally advanced lesion.Their veins were anastomosed by microvascular anastomotic device.Other 40 cases whose veins were anastomosed by manual anastomosis were selected as control during the same year.The statistical data of the time of veins anastomosis,thrombosis and the rate of flaps salvage were compared.Results The average time of venous anastomosis was 6.31 ± 0.87 minutes,which was lower than the manual anastomosis (19.20 ±4.62 minutes) significantly.There was no thrombosis,which was not significant different with the manual anastomosis.One case's venous blood flow was not smooth for the angled vein and the flap salvage operation was successful.Conclusion The time of venous anastomosis is shorten significantly by microvascular anastomotic device.The incidence of thrombosis is the same compared with venous anastomoses performed with sutures.The microvascular anastomotic device system allowed a time-efficient and safe venous anastomosis.

Objective:To investigate the effect of licochalcone A on osteoarthritis in rats and its relationship with p38-MAPK inflammatory signaling pathway.Methods:A total of 160 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into blank non-intervention, blank intervention, arthritis non- intervention and arthritis intervention groups with 40 rats in each group. Rats in the arthritis groups were subjected to unilateral anterior cruciate ligament transection, while rats in the blank groups were only subjected to skin incision and suture. Rats in the intervention groups were treated by intra-articular injection of 1 mL 10 μmol/L licochalcone A for 8 successive weeks. Eight weeks later, the cartilage of rats in each group was stained with safranin, and osteoarthritis soft tissue was scored according to Osteoarthritis Research Society International guideline under the optical microscope. The cartilage was cultured in low glucose cell culture medium supplemented with 5% fetal bovine serum for 48 hours. The contents of nitric oxide, prostaglandin E 2, sulfated glycosaminoglycan and collagen II in the medium were determined by the chemiluminescence reaction method. The expression levels of p38, phosphorylated p38 (p-p38) and matrix metalloproteinase in cartilage tissue were detected by western blot assay. Results:The progress of osteoarthritis in rats treated with licochalcone A was slow. The Osteoarthritis Research Society International score in the arthritis intervention group was significantly lower than that in the arthritis non-intervention group [(3.8 ± 1.7) points vs. (9.7 ± 1.2) points, P = 0.0064]. The contents of nitric oxide, prostaglandin E 2, sulfated glycosaminoglycan, and collagen II in the arthritis intervention group were (77.84 ± 17.65) μmol/mg and (6.78 ± 1.76) ng/mg, (89.78 ± 9.76) μg/mg, and (1.78 ± 0.76) μg/mg, respectively, which were significantly lower than those in the arthritis non-intervention group [(107.56 ± 18.74) μmol/mg, (10.756 ± 1.87) ng/mg, (125.75 ± 8.87) μg/mg, (3.76 ± 0.88) μg/mg, (NO: P = 0.002; PGE 2: P < 0.001; sGAG: P < 0.001; Collagen II: P < 0.001). Western blot assay results revealed that the relative expression of p38, p-p38, p-p38 to total p38 ratio, matrix metalloproteinase in the arthritis intervention group were (3 454 ± 421), (2 072 ± 175), (0.65 ± 0.14 )and (1 776 ± 765), respectively, which were significantly lower than those in the arthritis non-intervention group (5 322 ± 323), (4 257 ± 184), (0.89 ± 0.11), (3 865 ± 874)( p38: P < 0.001; p-p38: P < 0.001; p-p38/p38: P = 0.002; MMP: P = 0.001). Conclusion:Licochalcone A can delay the progression of osteoarthritis in rats with osteoarthritis through inhibiting inflammatory reaction and cartilage matrix degradation, and p38-MAPK signaling pathway may be involved in the regulation process.

Objective To investigate the effect of gastrointestinal Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery on blood sugar and insulin function of patients with type-2 diabetes mellitus.Methods Twenty-seven cases of gastric cancer patients with type-2 diabetes and undergone Roux-en-Y bypass the gastrointestinal treatment in the centre hospital of Cangzhou were selected as our subject.Body mass index (BMI),Glycosylated hemoglobin (HBA1c),Fasting and glucose (FPG),fasting insulin (FINS),Fasting C-peptide (FCP) levels were measured.Glucose (2 hPG),insulin (2 hINS) and C-peptide (2 hCP) levels were detected after 2 h for oral use 75 g glucose.Homeostasis model was applied to assess insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR).Results No significant change was seen in terms of BMI between before and after surgery.Compared to before surgery,the levels of FPG((7.58 ±0.84) mmol/L),2 hPG((10.43 ± 1.88) mmol/L),HbA1c((7.56 ± 1.15)％) and HOMA-IR(4.55 ±0.76) were lower in patients at 3 months after surgery ((9.93 ± 1.57) mtmol/L,(13.89± 2.13) mtmol/L,(9.88 ± 1.66) ％,(4.55 ± 0.76),respectively,P ＜ 0.05 or P ＜ 0.01).FPG ((6.56± 0.80) mmol/L),2 hPG ((8.57 ± 1.32) mmol/L),HbA1 c ((6.37 ± 1.24) ％),HOMA-IR (4.03 ± 0.45)of patients after 6 months were lower than that of before surgery and 3 months after surgery (P ＜ 0.05 or P＜0.01).However,the levels of FINS ((13.67 ± 1.96) mU/L),FCP((2.62 ±0.87) μg/L),2 hINS((49.91± 5.14) mU/L) and 2 hCP ((6.28 ± 1.65) μg/L) were higher in patients with 3 months after surgery compared to that of before surgery ((11.08 ± 1.69) mU/L,(1.78 ± 0.61) μg/L,(36.05 ± 4.03) mU/L,(4.28 ± 1.48) μg/L,P ＜ 0.01).Meanwhile those indices after 6 months (FINS:(15.88 ± 2.05) mU/L,FCP:(3.30 ±0.68) μg/L,2 hINS:(67.40 ±5.68) mU/L,2 hCP:(9.39 ± 1.52) μg/L) were higher than that of before surgery and 3 months after surgery(P ＜ 0.01).Conclusion Roux-en-Y gastrointestinal bypass can effectively reduce blood sugar level and improve the situation of Pancreatic Beta-cell function of gastric cancer patients with type-2 diabetes.

Objective To assess iodine nutritional status of lactating women and infants (0-2 years old) in six ecological regions of Gansu Province,and to provide a scientific basis for iodine supplementation of target people.Methods According to different topography and climate conditions,Gansu Province was divided into six ecological regions:the desert region,the Gobi region of Hexi Corridor,the hills and valleys region of Loess Plateau,the Zhongshan Valley of Qinling Mountains,the grassland meadow area of Gannan plateau and the Loess Plateaugully region.Totally 5 counties were selected from each ecological region,and each county was divided into five geographic locations (east,south,west,north and center).In each location,one township was identified and ten samples of lactating women and infants (0-2 years old) were selected randomly and 60 salt samples of residents were collected to determine iodine content.At the same time salt intake of 20 residents was surveyed in three townships as mentioned above.The water samples of all the centralized water supply projects were collected in each county,and one water sample of the decentralized water supply in ten townships with the largest population of each county from east,south,west,north and center locations was collected to determine iodine content.One soil sample was collected to determine iodine content in east,south,west,north and center townships of each county.The urinary iodine and water iodine levels were measured with the method for determination of iodine in urine by As3+-Ce4+ catalytic spectrophotometry (WS/T 107-2006).The direct titration method among thegeneric methods for iodide testing in salt production industry (GB/T 13025.7-2012) was used to determine the salt iodine level,and the arbitration method was adopted for quantitative determination in the case of Sichuan salt or other special salts and the salt intake was estimated based on three day weighed food record.The soil iodine was determined using the amplified colorimetric method.Results Totally 1 476 and 1 461 urine samples of lactating women and infants were collected,and the total urine iodine medians of lactating women and infants (0-2 years old) were 149.05 and 151.34 μg/L,respectively,the urine iodine median of lactating women and infants in each ecological region was at the 100-199 μg/L appropriate level.Not weaning infants urine iodine (155.32 μg/L) was higher than that of the weaning infants (146.30 μg/L),the difference was significant statistically (Z =-2.808,P ＜ 0.05).There was a correlation between urine iodine of not weaning infants aged 0-2 years old and breastfeeding women (r =0.133,P ＜ 0.01),and there was no correlation between weaning infants and breastfeeding women (r =0.045,P ＞ 0.05).About 9 008 salt samples were collected,and the rates of qualified iodized salt intake in the six ecological regions were all higher than 93％.The daily salt intake per person ranged from 4.5 g to 12.6 g,in which the Loess Plateaugully region was the highest with 12.6 g and the grassland meadow area of Gannan plateau was the lowest with 4.5 g.The water iodine median of 1 513 water samples was 3.3 μg/L.The water iodine medians of the rest 4 ecological regions were all less than 5 μg/L except for the desert region (42.4 μg/L) and the Loess Plateau-gully region (30.0 μg/L) of which the median of water iodine was higher than 20 μg/L.The soil iodine median of 155 soil samples was 127 μg/kg,in which the desert region was the lowest with 78 μg/kg and the grassland meadow area of Gannan plateau was the highest with 218 μg/kg.Conclusion Lactating women and infants are in good iodine nutritional status and the present iodized salt concentration can meet the demand of iodine nutrition of lactating women and infants well.

Objective To explore the method and value of percutanously interventional therapeusis for treatment of obstructive jaundice caused by hepatocellular carcinoma accompanied with bile duct thrombosis.Methods Sixteen cases with bile duct thrombosis proved by pathology and imaging examinations were retrospectively analyzed.According to the clinical symptoms, all the patients received percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD) including permanent external drainage, temporary internal drainage and implantation of covered stents.Serum total bilirubin (TBIL) after the interventional therapeusis were measured and compared with that before the treatments by t test to evaluate the efficacy of these treatments.The relief of clinical symptoms was also reviewed to evaluate the efficacy of these treatments.The patients were followed up within 2 years.Results The PTBD was successfully performed in 16 cases.Permanent external drainage, temporary internal drainage and implantation of covered stents were performed in 2 patients, 7 patients and 7 patients respectively.TBIL after the interventional therapy decreased significantly (t=7.366, P<0.01) to (161.2±80.5) μmol/L averagely from (261.9±77.2)μmol/L before the treatments.All the patients died before the end of followed-up.The average survival time was 204 days (30 to 391 d)and the median survival time was 200 days.Bleeding and infection were the main complications, which could be controlled successfully by routine treatments.Conclusion With high achievement ratio and good efficacy, percutanously interventional therapeusis are good choices for the treatments of obstructive jaundice due to bile duct thrombosis.

Objective To investigate the expression of COX-2,MMP-2 and TIMP-2 ,the pathological fea-tures ,and their relationship in breast cancer. Methods The expressions of COX-2 ,MMP-2 and TIMP-2 were deter-mined by S-P immunohistochemical method on tissue chips,which containing 127 cases of breast carcinoma. Results The positive rates of COX-2,MMP-2 and TIMP-2 protein were 81.1 (103/127)% ,96.9(123/127)% and 60.6 (77/127) % respectively;The expression of COX-2 was positively related to auxiliary lymph node metastasis and TNM staging (P<0.01 and P<0.05, respectively), and inversely related to PR expression (P<0.05). Further-more,the expression of COX-2 was positively correlated with MMP-2 (r=0. 290 ,P<0.01). Conclusions The ex-pression of COX-2 might be closely related to the invasion and metastasis of breast cancer and has a close relation-ship with MMP-2. The levels of MMP-2 might be partly regulated by COX-2.

Objective To analyze and determine the efficient T- and B-combined (T/B) antigenic epitopes in Helicobacter pylori adhesin A. Methods Recombinant HpaA (rHpaA) was expressed for immunizing rabbit to generate antiserum. T- and B-cell epitopes in HpaA molecule were predicted by using bioinformatic technique. The segments to encode T/B combined epitope peptides were amplified by PCR and the phage display systems of T/B combined epitopes were subsequently constructed. PEG/NaCl precipitation method was applied to extract the recombinant phage PⅢ (rPⅢ) that displayed T/B combined epitopes. By using either commercial IgG against whole-cell of Helicobacter pylori or rHpaA antiserum as the primary antibody, the T/B combined epitopes displayed in rP Ⅲ s were screened and identified by Western blot and ELISA. MTT was applied to determine the proliferation of rHpaA-immunized mouse splenocytes after stimulation of the different recombinant rPⅢ proteins. Results In the HpaA molecule there were five T/B combined epitopes: HpaA10, HpaA37, HpaA79, HpaA116 and HpaA143. All the T/B combined epitopes were successfully displayed on the surface of PⅢ protein of phage M13. The results of Western blot, ELISA and MTT confirmed that HpaA116 was the predominant antigenic epitope, both HpaA37 and HpaA79 were the efficient antigenic epitopes. However, HpaA10 and HpaA143 were identified as ineffective antigenic epitopes. Conclusion The phage display systems of T/B combined epitope peptides of H. pylori adhesin A have been successfully generated in this study. HpaA37 and HpaA79, especially HpaA116 are the efficient T/B combined antigenic epitopes in HpaA of H. pylori.

Objective To investigate the relationship between obstructive sleep apneahypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) and carotid stenosis in patients with ischemic cerebrovascular disease (ICVD) and to provide reference for developing the intervention strategy of carotid stenosis. Methods Eighty-seven patients with ICVD were screened from Nanjing Stroke Registry Program. The patients were divided into without (n=21), mild(n=24), moderate (n=27) and severe (n = 11) OSAHS groups according to the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI); in addition, the patients were divided into with (n =34) and without carotid stenosis (n=49) groups according to the results of digital subtraction angiography (DSA). The effects of the risk factors for cerebrovascular diseases and OSAHS on carotid stenosis in patients with ICDV were analyzed.Results There were significant differences in the proportions of alcohol consumption (χ2=8.56, P =0. 036), hypertension (χ2 = 13.20, P =0. 004) and carotid stenosis (χ2 =22.97, P =0. 006) between the no OSAHS and the mild, moderate and severe OSAHS groups. The univariate analysis showed that age (OR = 1. 066, 95% CI 1. 023- 1.112; P = 0. 003),hypertension (OR =3.587, 95% CI 1. 294- 9. 949; P =0. 014), alcohol consumption (OR =5.275,95% CI 1.855-15.001; P= 0.002) and OSAHS (OR= 1.073, 95% CI 1.033-1.115; P = 0. 000) were the risk factors for carotid stenosis. The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age (OR = 1. 113, 95% CI 1. 047-1. 182; P =0. 001), OSAHS (OR = 1. 096, 95% CI 1. 034-1. 160; P = 0. 000), and alcohol consumption (OR = 4. 292,95% CI 1. 217-15. 139; P = 0. 024) were the independent risk factors for carotid stenosis.Spearman rank correlation analysis suggested that the AHI levels were positively correlated with the degree of carotid stenosis (r = 0. 435, P = 0. 000). There were significant differences among the without stenosis (n =34), unilateral stenosis (n =22), and bilateral stenosis (n=27)groups (12.97 ± 10.04 vs. 21.40 ± 16.38 vs. 29.33 ± 13.81, F= 11.64, P<0.01).Conclusions OSAHS is an independent risk factor for carotid stenosis and it was positively correlated with the severity of carotid stenosis. AHI may reflect the degree of carotid stenosis and the range of neck vascular involvement to some extent.