Gastrointestinal tract contains the most complicated microbial ecosystem of the human body,and balance of microbial ecosystem has been proved to play an important role in human health.Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is closely related to the esophageal,gastric and intestinal microecology.It has been revealed that alterations in gut microbial ecosystem may induce mucosal inflammation,relax lower esophageal sphincter (LES),increase intragastric pressure and delay gastric emptying via various pathways and subsequently cause or exacerbate gastroesophageal reflux.In this article,the advances in study on gut microbial ecosystem and GERD were reviewed.

Gut microbiota is characteristically changed and participates in the pathogenesis and progression of a variety of diseases.Studies have shown that the ecological diversities of gut microbiota of constipated patients are disturbed, and some probiotics are effective for treatment of chronic constipation.This article reviewed the research progress on alterations of gut microbiota in chronic constipation, the mechanism of which affecting gastrointestinal motility, the interaction between microbiota and motility, and the efficacy of probiotics for clarifying the effect of gut microbiota on chronic constipation and guiding the clinical treatment.

Objective Scutellarin (SCU), a Chinese traditional medicine, has a protective effect against ischemia-reperfusion (IR) induced myocardial injury, but it is not yet clear whether SCU acts against vascular endothelial IR injury via extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2).The aim of this study was to explore the effect of SCU on hypoxia-reoxygenation (HR)-induced injury to human cardiac microvascular endothelial cells (HCMECs) and its influence on the ERK1/2 signaling pathway.Methods HCMECs were subjected to normal culture and divided into a normal control, a DMSO, an SCU 1 μmol/L, and an SCU 10 μmol/L group.The model of HR injury was established by exposing the HCMECs to 12-h hypoxia and 12-h reoxygenation after treated with DMSO or SCU at 1 and 10 μmol/L for 2 hours.Then, the survival rate of the HCMECs was detected by MTT and trypan blue staining, the concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) in the cells measured, and the expressions of the p-ERK1/2, ERK2 and GAPDH proteins determined by Western blot.Results SCU at 1 and 10 μmol/L significantly increased the survival rate of the normally cultured HCMECs ([110.40±2.34] and [122.00±1.25] ％) as compared with that of the normal control (100％) (P<0.05), while HR injury markedly decreased the vitality of the HCMECs ([68.00±4.06] ％) in comparison with that of the blank control (100％) (P<0.05).The survival rate of the HCMECs was remarkably higher in the HR+SCU 1 μmol/L and HR+SCU 10 μmol/L groups than in the HR model group ([90.53±3.67] and [92.04±2.32] ％) (P<0.05), and so was their vitality in the SCU 10 μmol/L group than in the normal control ([96.78±2.01] vs [90.06±1.85] ％, P<0.01), while their survival rate was significantly lower in the HR model than in the blank control ([73.72±4.91] vs [91.83±2.34] ％, P<0.01) and remarkably higher in the SCU 10 μmol/L ([87.59±2.64] ％) than in the HR model group (P<0.05).The MDA concentration in the HCMECs was markedly increased in the HR model and HR+DMSO groups as compared with the blank control (P<0.01), but decreased in the HR+SCU 1 μmol/L and HR+SCU 10 μmol/L groups in comparison with the HR model group (P<0.05).The expression of the p-ERK1/2 protein was significantly down-regulated in the HR model group as compared with the blank control (P<0.01), but up-regulated in the HR+SCU 10 μmol/L group in comparison with the HR model (P<0.01).Conclusion HR injury reduces the vitality of HCMECs, increases the MDA concentration, and down-regulates the expression of the p-ERK1/2 protein in HCMECs, while SCU acts against ischemia-reperfusion injury to HCMECs by increasing ERK phosphorylation.

Background and purpose: Cervical cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors and poses a great threat to women's fitness. Monitoring its present status and variations over the past 3 decades could provide scientific basis for prevention and control strategies of cervical cancer in China. Methods: This study collected the mortality rates of cervical cancer data in Chinese women from 1987 to 2014, described the features and trends of age-standardized rates and truncated rates, and estimated the variations via joinpoint regression models. Results:The mortality rates of cervical cancer for rural women were roughly higher than those for urban women. It showed downward trends for both urban and rural women, and the average rate of decrease for rural women (AAPC=3.94％, P<0.01) was higher than that for urban women (AAPC=1.79％, P<0.01). The gap between urban and rural areas was narrowing, with urban rates exceeding rural rates after 2010. The mortality rates of cervical cancer increased with time for urban women aged from 30 to 54, decreased with time for the elderly urban women and all the rural women. Conclusion: The overall mortality rates of cervical cancer took a desirable turn in China over the past 3 decades, while the status for the middle-aged urban women was getting worse as well as the elderly in both urban and rural areas during the past 10 years.

Objective To investigate whether TG2 plays an important role in the osteoblast differentiation and mineralization.Methods TG2 mRNA of SaOS-2 cells was knocked down using a lentivirus stably expressing short-hairpin ( sh) RNA targeting TG2.Then the cells were cultured in osteo-inductive medium for 14 d to measure mineralization and for 7 d to measure the levels of osteoblastic differentiation markers including ALP activity and mRNA of collagen I, osteocalcin ( OCN) and BMP-2.The wild-type SaOS-2 cells and scrambled shRNA-transducted SaOS-2 cells served as the controls. Results The controls displayed an increasing trend of the level of ALP activity and mRNA of collagen I, osteocalcin and BMP-2,and notable mineralization at 14 d.When TG2 was knocked down, ALP activity, mRNA of collagen I, osteocalcin and BMP-2 at 7d,and mineralization at 14 d were all significantly lower in comparison with the corresponding values in the controls.Conclusion TG2 is involved in the differentiation and mineralization of osteoblasts in vitro.

Heteroclitin D (H.D) was successfully isolated from Kadsurae Caulis by using flash chromatography and recrystallized by methanol, 10.2 mg of H.D was obtained from 4.86 g of crude extract, and the purity determined by HPLC was 99.4%. The structure was identified by UV, IR, MS, and NMR analysis. The fast, simple and efficient method can be applied to the preparation of reference substance of H. D.

A high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) method was successfully developed for the preparative separation and purification of deoxyschizandrin from Schisandrae Sphenantherae Fructus in one step. The purity of deoxyschizandrin was 98.5%, and the structure was identified by MS, UV and NMR. This method was simple, fast, convenient and appropriate to prepare pure compound as reference substances for related research on Schisandrae Sphenantherae Fructus.

DNA barcoding and HPLC specific chromatogram were used to identify three kinds of Plumeria flowers respectively. DNAs extracted from the three Plumeria species were amplified by PCR with universal primers, and the psbA-trnH region was selected. All the amplified products were sequenced and the results were analyzed by MEGA 5.0. Chemometric methods including principal components analysis and hierarchical clustering analysis were conducted on the SAS 9.0 software to demonstrate the variability among samples. In conclusion, the psbA-trnH of all samples were successfully amplified from total DNA and sequenced. These three varieties of Plumeria can be differentiated by the psbA-trnH region and clustered into three groups respectively through building neighbor joining tree, which conformed to their germplasm origins. However, it was hard to distinguish them by HPLC specific chromatograms combined with chemometrics analysis. These indicated that DNA barcoding was a promising and reliable tool for the identification of three kinds of Plumeria flowers compared to HPLC specific chromatogram generally used. It could be treated as a powerful complementary method for traditional authentication, especially for those varieties which are difficult to be identified by conventional chromatography.

Objective:To analyze the protein expression changes in the retina of non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) in rats.Methods:The rat NAION (rNAION) model was established by Rose Bengal and laser. Twenty Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 4 groups, the normal control group, the laser control group, the RB injection control group, and the rNAION model group, with 5 rats in each group. The right eye was used as the experimental eye. The retina was dissected at the third day after modeling. Enzyme digestion method was used for sample preparation and data collection was performed in a non-dependent collection mode. The data were quantitatively analyzed by SWATH quantitative mass spectrometry, searching for differential proteins and performing function and pathway analysis.Results:Compared with the other three control groups, a total of 184 differential proteins were detected in the rNAION group (expression fold greater than 1.5 times and P<0.05), including 99 up-regulated proteins and 85 down-regulated proteins. The expressions of glial fibrillary acidic protein, guanine nucleotide binding protein 4, laminin 1, 14-3-3γ protein YWHAG were increased. Whereas the expressions of Leucine-rich glioma-inactivated protein 1, secretory carrier-associated membrane protein 5, and Clathrin coat assembly protein AP180 were decreased. The differential proteins are mainly involved in biological processes such as nerve growth, energy metabolism, vesicle-mediated transport, the regulation of synaptic plasticity, apoptosis and inflammation. Pathway enrichment analysis showed that PI3K-Akt signaling pathway and complement and thrombin reaction pathway was related to the disease. Conclusion:The protein expressions of energy metabolism, nerve growth, synaptic vesicle transport and PI3K-Akt signaling pathway can regulate the neuronal regeneration and apoptosis in NAION.

To discuss clinicopathological features and molecular genetic change of congenital mesoblastic nephroma (CMN).Methods Nine cases diagnosed as CMN were analyzed retrospectively in this study.Histological features,immunohistochemical profiles and ETV6 gene rearrangement status were assessed.Results All patients were within two years of age and eight of them were within one year.The average diameter of tumors was 9.5 cm (3.2-15.0 cm).These series cases included 3 classic CMN,5 cellular CMN and 1 mixed CMN.Cystic degeneration was found in 5 cases,and cartilage islands were observed in 2 cases.Compared with classic CMN,tumor size was bigger,and hemorrhage,necrosis and mitotic figures were easily to see in cellular CMN.All the tumor cells were positive for vimentin and negative for WT-1 by immunohistochemistry.ETV6 gene rearrangement was detected in 5 cases (including 4 cellular CMN and 1 classic CMN).Three cellular CMN harbored ETV6 gene translocation,1 mixed CMN and 1 cellular CMN were negative for ETV6 gene translocation by FISH analysis.The follow up data were obtained in 7 cases and 2 cases were lost.All the 7 patients were alive without evidence of recurrence and metastasis from 5 to 46 months.Conclusion CMN is a rare infant renal tumor with unique clinicopathological characteristics.Most of cellular CMNs harbor ETV6 gene translocation.The prognosis of CMN is relative good and needs to be differentiated from other malignant renal tumors.