Objective: To investigate influence of Wenxin particle on cardiac electrophysiology in rats complicated with depression after myocardial infarction (MI). Methods: A total of 50 SD rats were randomly and equally divided into normal group, MI group, depression group, MI complicated with depression group (model group) and Wenxin particle group (Wenxin particle were given to model rats by gavage, 2 g/d, 28d). Model（MI complicated with depression）rats were made by acute ligation of left coronary artery and supply chronic unpredictable mild stress in order. The influences of Wenxin particle on cardiac electrophysiological indexes, such as monophasic action potential (MAP90), left ventricular effective refractory period (ERP) and ventricular fibrillation threshold (VFT) were evaluated in Wenxin particle group. Results: (1) Compared with normal group, there were significant decrease in behavior scores (P<0.05) in model group, after four-week treatment with Wenxin particle, their behavior scores significantly increased (P<0.01); (2) Compared with normal group, there were significant increase in MAPD90 and ERP, and significant decrease in VFT in model group (P<0.05); compared with model group, there were significant decrease in MAPD90 [(89.33±7.12) ms vs. (72.29±8.37) ms] and ERP [(84.00±6.57) ms vs. (68.00±7.43) ms], and significant increase in VFT [(7±3.11)V vs. (29±5.60)V] in Wenxin particle group, P<0.05. Conclusion: Wenxin particle can improve cardiac electrical remodeling in rats complicated with depression after myocardial infarction, including decrease monophasic action potential duration and effective refractory period, and raise ventricular fibrillation threshold.

The pretreatment of raw materials is necessary for ethanol production from lignocellulose, however, a variety of compounds which inhibit the fermenting microorganism such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae are inevitably formed in this bioprocess. Based on their chemical properties, the inhibitors are usually divided into three major groups: weak acids, furaldehydes and phenolic compounds. These compounds negatively affect the growth of S. cerevisiae, ethanol yield and productivity, which is one of the significant hurdles for the development of large-scale ethanol production from lignocellulose. We address here the origins of the three kinds of inhibitors and their mechanisms to S. cerevisiae. We also discuss the strategies of improving the fermentation performance of yeast, including detoxification of the pretreated substrates, enhancement of yeast tolerance and also fermentation control to reduce the effects of the inhibitors. The methods used in enhancing the yeast tolerance are traditional mutagenic breeding integrated with strains evolution under the suitable selective pressure, and metabolic engineering by introducing and/or overexpressing genes encoding enzymes such as furfural reductase, laccase and phenylacrylic acid decarboxylase, that confer the S. cerevisiae strains resistance towards specific inhibitors.
Acids ; pharmacology ; Drug Resistance, Microbial ; Ethanol ; analysis ; metabolism ; Fermentation ; drug effects ; Furaldehyde ; pharmacology ; Lignin ; metabolism ; Saccharomyces cerevisiae ; drug effects ; growth & development ; metabolism

Objective To investigate the risk factors of lymph node metastasis (LNM) in patients with superficial esophageal cancer (SEC) and to evaluate its clinical application.Methods From January 2010 to December 2016,769 SEC patients,who received surgery in the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University,were enrolled,and their clinical data were retrospectively analyzed.Chisquare test and logistic regression analysis were performed for statistical analysis.The sensitivity,specificity,and overall positive accuracy of pathological type and depth of invasion before operation were evaluated.Results The rate of LNM in patients with SEC was 15.34％ (118/769).There were significant differences in alcohol consumption,maximum tumor diameter,histological type,differentiation degree,depth of invasion and vascular invasion between patients with LNM (118 cases) and patients withoutLNM (651 cases) (x2=5.66,13.71,40.65,20.04,36.70 and 61.51;all P＜0.05).The results of multivariate analysis showed that maximum tumor diameter＞2 cm(odd ratio (OR) 1.76,95％ confidence interval (CI) 1.12 to 2.77),poor differentiation(OR 1.92,95％CI 1.23 to 3.01),submucosal invasion(OR 2.67,95％CI 1.28 to 5.56) and vascular invasion (OR 5.28,95％CI 2.75 to 10.13) were independent risk factors of LNM in patients with SEC.The tumor location was significantly correlated with the site of LNM (x2=107.05,P＜0.01).The sensitivity and specificity of preoperative assessment of LNM were 58 ％ (51/88) and 59 ％ (301/510),respectively.The overall positive accuracy of histological type before operation was 66.7％ (440/660).The overall positive accuracy of depth of invasion evaluated by endoscopic ultrasound before operation was 27.9％ (19/68).Conclusion Endoscopic treatment is recommended for SEC patients with maximum tumor diameter ≤ 2 cm,high ormoderate degree of differentiation,tumor confined to the mucosal layer and without vascular metastasis for the relatively low risk of LNM.

Objective:This study mainly discussed the clinical characteristics, autoimmune status and lymphocyte subsets of patients with Takayasu arteritis (TA) without hormone and immunosuppressive therapy, in order to provide guidance for immunotherapy.Methods:Using cross-sectional study, twenty-nine patients with TA admitted to the Department of Rheumatology and the Department of Vasculitis of Beijing Anzhen Hospital from January 2018 to November 2019 were selected, including 28 females and 1 male, with the middle age of 39 year. These patients met the diagnostic criteria of American Society of Rheumatology for TA, and were not treated with hormone and immunosuppressant. Clinical data of these patients were collected, and the immunological indexes and lymphocyte subsets of peripheral blood were detected simultaneously. At the same time, the immunological indexes and peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets of 21 healthy normal people were detected as control. Chi square test, independent sample t test and nonparametric test were used for analysis. Results:Among the 29 patients with TA, 28 were female, 26 were in the active stage of disease; the main manifestations of systemic symptoms were malaise (62.07%) and headache (41.38%), the main manifestations of vascular symptoms were bruits and pulse weakening (68.97%), and the most of Numano type was V type (79.31%). The absolute value of total T (CD3) lymphocytes [(1 337.14±312.46)μl vs (1 139.95±340.96)μl, t=2.120, P=0.039], the percentage [46.29%±6.55% vs 36.55%±7.42%, t=4.903, P<0.000 1] and the absolute value [(815.52±194.11)μl vs (571.44±187.55)μl, t=4.450, P<0.000 1] of helper T (CD4) lymphocytes, the ratio of CD4/CD8 [1.83 (1.41-2.30) vs 1.32 (1.03-1.39), Z=3.401, P=0.001] were higher compared with those of healthy controls, while the percentage of natural killer (NK) cells (CD56) [10.71%(6.45%-14.30%) vs 14.57%(10.87%-18.47%), Z=2.408, P=0.016] decreased. The complement C3 [1.16 (1.02-1.31) g/L vs 1.05 (0.93-1.15) g/L, Z=2.383, P=0.021] in patients with TA was higher than those in healthy controls and immunoglobulin (Ig) G [11.97 (8.74-14.43) g/L vs 14.37 (13.11-15.47) g/L, Z=3.017, P=0.003] in patients with TA was lower than those in healthy controls. Compared with the control group, the ESR [19.31 (9.50-28.50) mm/h vs 3.71 (2.00-5.00) mm/h, Z=5.338, P<0.000 1], hs-CRP [6.52 (0.32-8.62) mg/L vs 0.73 (0.35-1.07) mg/L, Z=2.983, P=0.003] and Q-CRP [8.73 (1.03-7.72) mg/L vs 0.57 (0.08-0.98) mg/L, Z=4.263, P<0.000 1] of patients with TA were all increased. Conclusions:The autoimmunity of patients with TA without hormone or immunosuppressant treatment is in active state, and the total T-lymphocytes and helper T-lymphocytes in peripheral blood are significantly increased in order to cope with the inflammatory response of the systemic artery vessels.