Objective To investigate the relationship between CRP and CK-MB among acute and stable patients with COPD in Nanjing city. Methods Using case-control design, 81 COPD patients and 71 normal controls were selected. Both fasting venous and arterial blood samples were collected for COPD patients at the acute and the stable stage separately, while fasting venous blood samples were collected for controls during medical examination. The concentrations of CRP, CK-MB or PaO2 of all blood samples were examined. Results The concentration of CRP and CK-MB were significantly higher among stable COPD patients (7.18?5.62, 10.92?5.33; respectively) than those among controls(3.00?0.91, 3.11?1.46; respectively), while acute patients (51.22?24.53,30.06?16.68; respectively) got much higher concentration of CRP and CK-MB than stable patients did. However, PaO2 was significantly higher among stable COPD patients than that among acute patients. For acute COPD patients, the concentration of CK-MB positively correlated with CRP, while PaO2 negatively correlated with CRP and CK-MB separately. Conclusions CRP and CK-MB were sensitive predictors of COPD status to the transition from stable to acute stage of COPD, and both negatively correlated with PaO2 among these sample COPD patients.

tsg101 gene is a newly found tumor suppressor gene whose product TSG101 has many important biological functions. Recent research of TSG101 has revealed that TSG101 aids HIV-1 budding from infected cells by attaching to Gag. HIV-1 budding is arrested in the cells with mutant TSG101 or without TSG101. So TSG101 would be a useful target for anti-HIV drug design. Now there is already some research on anti-HIV agents based on TSG101 structure. In this article the structure and function of TSG101 as well as the related inhibitors were reviewed.
Anti-HIV Agents ; chemical synthesis ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; DNA-Binding Proteins ; antagonists & inhibitors ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Drug Design ; Endosomal Sorting Complexes Required for Transport ; antagonists & inhibitors ; chemistry ; metabolism ; HIV-1 ; growth & development ; physiology ; Transcription Factors ; antagonists & inhibitors ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Virus Replication ; gag Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus ; metabolism

OBJECTIVE To study how to properly evaluate the curative effect of chronic sinusitis and nasal polyps management with endoscopic sinus surgery(ESS). METHODS Nasal airway resistance, olfactory function, the morphological character of mucosa in nasal and sinus cavity after ESS were surveyed by anterior rhinomanometry,T&T olfactometer standard odors for measuring olfactory sense,acoustic rhinometry and scoring measure of mucosa. RESULTS After ESS, nasal airway resistance decreased and olfactory functions improved obviously. The morphological characters of mucosa in nasal and sinus cavity affect the surgical result directly. CONCLUSION As the determining methods of nasal function after/before ESS,anterior rhinomanometry,T&T olfactometer standard odors,acoustic rhinometry and scoring measure of mucosa can be used to comprehensive estimate the curative effect of ESS objectively.

OBJECTIVETo explore the effective method of the prevention and treatment of procedural pain in dressing changes of burn wounds.

METHODSNinety patients of burn injury were randomized into 3 groups, 30 cases in each one. In the group A, fentanyl citrate injection was used at corresponding injury area, jiaogan (AH6a, sympathetic nerve), fei (CO14, lung), neifenmi (CO18, endocrine) on ear, 0.25 mL at each point. In the group B, fentanyl citrate injection was applied subcutaneously in the deltoid muscle, 1 mL. In the group C, 0.9% sodium chloride injection was applied subcutaneously in the deltoid muscle, 1 mL. The visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to evaluate the analgesic effect before, during and 10 min after dressing change in the patients of the three groups separately.

RESULTSIt was not different in VAS score before dressing change among the three groups (P> 0.05). Compared with that before dressing change, the pain was not significant and VAS score was not different during and after dressing change in the patients of the group A (both P>0.05), but the score in the patients of the group B and C was different significantly (all P<0.05). The VAS score during and after dressing change in the group A was lower than that in the group B and C (all P<0.05), and the score in the group B was lower than that in the group C (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONFentanyl injection of small dose at auricular points achieves definite analgesic effect on procedural pain in dressing changes of burn wounds, superior to subcutaneous injection of fentanyl.

Acupuncture Points ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Burns ; complications ; therapy ; Female ; Fentanyl ; administration & dosage ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pain ; drug therapy ; etiology ; Pain Measurement ; Young Adult

Objective To evaluate the diabetes self-management program based on Chinese local patients in Nanjing community. Methods From April 2014 to June 2014, diabetes patients were recruited through health records system screening in the community health service centers, letter invitation, poster announcements at communities, and telephone notification. A total of 53 self-management groups were established. Nanjing diabetes self-management program included six 1-1.5 hours sessions scheduled on consecutive weeks, based on the blueprint of Shanghai Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP) developed at Stanford University. Baseline and three-month later interviews were conducted respectively. Results A total of 636 patients were recruited and agreed to enter CDSMP; 603 completed the 6-session activities, with the response rate being 94.8%. Compared to baseline, nine of the patients' the awareness rate of diabetes-related knowledge, six of self-management behaviors, the scores of quality of life in physical component summary [(47.51 ± 9.47) vs. (49.10 ± 8.27) points, t=6.170, P=0.000] and mental component summary [(47.09±11.95) vs. (49.13±10.74) points, t=5.157, P=0.000] were all higher after three months (all P values<0.05). Three months after implementation, the level of systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose and total cholesterol decreased respectively by (1.42±0.52) mmHg (1 mmHg=0.133 kPa), (0.98 ± 0.34) mmHg, (0.66 ± 0.16) mmol/L, (0.15 ± 0.56) mmol/L,the differences were statistically significant (tpaired values were 3.935, 2.030, 4.889, 4.899, all P values<0.05). Conclusion The diabetes self-management program based on Chinese local patients for Nanjing may improve patients' awareness rate of diabetes-related knowledge, self-management behavior, the quality of life, and health status. CDSMP could be applied effectively in Nanjing.

This study aimed to investigate the mechanism of "Trichosanthis Fructus-Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus" (GX) on phlegm and blood stasis syndrome (PBSS) rats combining the methods of network pharmacology and experimental verification. Animal experiment ethical requirements were approved by the Ethical Committee Experimental Animal Center of Anhui University of Chinese Medicine (grant number: AHUCM-rats-2021070). Based on the HPLC-Q-TOF-MS analysis and database, 69 chemical constituents of GX and 163 targets of GX for the treatment of phlegm and blood stasis-related cardiovascular diseases were obtained. Then, key targets such as serine/threonine kinase 1 (Akt1), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), interleukin 6 (IL6), vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA), cellular tumor antigen p53 (Tp53) were screened. Pathway analysis showed that the targets of GX in the treatment of phlegm and blood stasis-relate cardiovascular diseases were mainly involved in PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, sphingolipid metabolism, platelet activation, hypoxia inducible factor-1 (HIF-1), ras-proximate-1 (rap1) and other signaling pathways. In addition, molecular docking analysis showed that apigenin, cucurbitacin D, linolenic acid and kaempferol and other key components had potential binding ability with Akt1, TNF, IL6, VEGFA and Tp53. In the animal experiments, compared to the phlegm and blood stasis syndrome group, GX could significantly improve the traditional Chinese medicine syndrome score, blood lipid, vascular endothelial structure disorders and reduce serum endothelin-1 (ET-1) level, increase serum nitric oxide (NO) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) levels, which could restore aortic endothelial function. In addition, the expression of intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) in aorta could be significantly reduced, which could improve the vascular endothelial injury of aorta. Western blot revealed that GX could significantly decrease the phosphorylation levels of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) and Akt in aorta. This study revealed the mechanism of GX in treatment of phlegm and blood stasis-relate cardiovascular diseases is consistent with the characteristics of multiple ingredients, multiple targets and multiple pathways. In addition, this study also clarified that the reversal of pathological of phlegm and blood stasis syndrome rats may be related to GX inhibiting PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, which could improve vascular inflammation and vascular endothelial function injury.

Asian People/genetics* ; Gene Frequency ; Genetics, Population ; Humans ; Microsatellite Repeats/genetics* ; Phylogeny ; Polymorphism, Genetic/genetics*

It is often necessary to construct more than one recombinant plasmids when investigating the characteristics, physchemical features and functional mechanisms of genes or proteins. Repeated sub-cloning procedures including design of primers, enzyme digestion, ligation and verification of recombinant plasmids, have to be involved with. For this reason, it has become a tendency to developing new genetic vectors which can be used in multitude of experiments. Therefore, by using pIRES vector as a backbone, here we reported the construction of a mammalian expression vector: pCMV-Myc-IRES-EGFP which contains the N-terminal c-Myc epitope tag and the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) translated in an IRES-dependent manner. This novel vector can be used to testify the efficiency of cell transfection, to collect successfully transfected cell population via cytometry, to conduct transcription and translation in vitro, to purify target proteins or to trap their interactional proteins. The availability of this vector can facilitate function study of genes.
Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Base Sequence ; Blotting, Western ; Cell Line ; Cloning, Molecular ; Gene Expression ; Genes, myc ; genetics ; Genetic Vectors ; genetics ; Green Fluorescent Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Humans ; Microscopy, Fluorescence ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Recombinant Fusion Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Transfection

OBJECTIVETo observe the therapeutic effects of beta-elemene combined DC/Dribble vaccine in treating mice with hepatic cancer, thus exploring their anti-tumor mechanisms.

METHODSDentritic cells were derived from Balb/c mice's spleen and their phenotypes were identified. Using hepatic cancer cell line BNL1MEA.7R.1 (abbreviated as BNL) originated from Balb/c mice as target cell, DC/Dribble vaccine was prepared via raising the antigen representing carrier autophagosomes (DRips in Blebs, DRibbles), which were rich in tumor antigen information. The mice previously immunized were divided into 4 groups, i.e., the control group, the beta-elemene group, the vaccine group, and the combined group. The PBS was subcutaneously and intraperitoneally injected to mice in the control group. The beta-elemene was intraperitoneally injected at the daily dose of 50 mg/kg to mice in the beta-elemene group and the combined group for 7 successive days. DC/Dribble vaccine was injected into the lymph node of mice in the vaccine group and the combined group on the 1st day, and DC/Dribble vaccine was subcutaneously injected on the 3rd day and the 5th day. All the mice were sacrificed on the 10th day. Their spleens were obtained sterilely, and the suspension was incubated with or without Dribble. The cells were inoculated for 72 h. The contents of IFN-gamma in the supernatant were measured by ELISA. In addition, the spleen cells obtained from the combined group were incubated with different stimulations for 72 h, which were then divided into the control group, the DRibble group, the DC group, and the DC/Dribble vaccine group. The supernatant of cultured cells were collected and the contents of IFN-gamma were measured by ELISA. The liver tumor-bearing mouse model was established, and then the BNL bearing mice were randomly divided into 4 groups, i.e., the control group, the beta-elemene group, the vaccine group, and the combined group. The treatment ways were the same as the immune ways. The tumor size and the survival period were observed in each group. On the 23rd day the mice were sacrificed. The tumor tissue was stripped and stained by HE staining. The pathomorphological manifestations of the tumor tissue were observed by light microscope.

RESULTSIn vitro detection of mice immunized previously by different ways showed that the secretion of IFN-gamma was significantly higher in the combined group than in the rest groups (P < 0.01). The secretion of IFN-gamma was significantly higher in the beta-elemene group and the vaccine group than in the control group (P < 0.01). The spleen cells could be stimulated to secrete a large amount of IFN-gamma in the vaccine group and the Dribble group (P < 0.01). When the beta-elemene was 10 microg/mL as the stimulating dose, the secretion of IFN-gamma obviously increased (P < 0.01). In vivo observation showed that the growth velocity of tumors in mice of the combined group was slowed down. There was statistical difference in the tumor area or the survival period of mice in the combined group, when compared with the other groups (P < 0.01). In HE staining, the surrounding connective tissues of the tumor were wrapped tightly and compactedly, with infiltration of a large amount of inflammatory cells.

CONCLUSIONSbeta-elemene combined DC/Dribble vaccine could induce specific immune cells to secrete secretory cells, thus exerting its anti-tumor effect. Its immunological effects might be associated with enhancing the DC antigen presenting function.

Animals ; Cancer Vaccines ; immunology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Dendritic Cells ; drug effects ; immunology ; Female ; Liver Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; immunology ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Sesquiterpenes ; pharmacology

Objective To study the changes of plasma cystatin C level (PcyC),and evaluate the effects of the joint use of atorvastatin and probucol on PcyC and severity of coronary lesion in patients with borderline lesion of coronary artery.Methods One hundred and thirty consecutive patients with borderline coronary lesion assessed by quantitative coronary angiography were enrolled into borderline coronary lesion group (BCL),and another 136 subjects without coronary lesion were enrolled as controls (CTR).And in the meantime,the subjects in BCL group were randomized (closed envelope method) into routine treatment subgroup ( RTT,n =60),and combined treatment subgroup in which patients were treated with atorvastatin 20 mg plus probucol 1.0 g daily in addition to routine medication ( CBT,n =70) for 6 months.There were no statistical differences in basic clinical features between two subgroups.PcyC,high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP),total cholesterol (TC),low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C),high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ( HDL-C ) and triglycerides (TG) were determined.Of them,104 patients in BCL group rechecked by coronary angiography.Comparison of biomarkers carried out between two groups by using a number of independent-sample t-test and analysis of variance.For enumeration data,chi-square test was used to compare mean values of biomarkers between groups. P ＜ 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results PcyC levels were significantly higher in BCL group than those in CTR group ( P ＜ 0.05 ).Compared with RTT subgroup,levels of PcyC,TC,LDL-C,TG and hs-CRP were more significantly decreased in CBT subgroup (P ＜ 0.05,P ＜ 0.01 ).Moreover,there was a trend of slight decrease in the mean percent of stenosis (MPS) of coronary artery with borderline lesion in RTT subgroup treated for 6 months,whereas more marked decrease in the MPS of coronary artery with borderline coronary lesion in CBT subgroup treated for 6 months ( P ＞ 0.05 ; P ＜ 0.05 ).Conclusions Cystatin C plays an important role in the pathogenesis of coronary artery,and PcyC is associated with severity of coronary lesion,the combination of atorvastatin and probucol decreases the PcyC level,and it may be the treatment of choice for borderline lesion of coronary artery.