Abstract: The activities of four CYP450 enzymes (CYP3A, 1A2, 2El and 2C) and the mRNA expression levels of CYP1A2, 2El, 2Cll and 3A1 in rat liver were determined after Wistar rats were orally administered with brucine (BR) at three dosage levels (3, 15 and 60 mg.kg-1 per day) and the high dose of BR combined with glycyrrhetinic acid (GA, 25 mg.kg-1 per day) or liquiritin (LQ, 20 mg.kg-1 per day) for 7 consecutive days. Compared with the control, brucine caused 24.5% and 34.6% decrease of CYP3A-associated testosterone 6beta-hydroxylation (6betaTesto-OH) and CYP2C-associated tolbutamide hydroxylation (Tol-OH), respectively, and 146.1% increase of CYP2El-associated para-nitrophenol hydroxylation (PNP-OH) at the high dose level. On the other hand, (BR+GA) caused 51.4% and 33.5% decrease, respectively, of CYP2El-associated PNP-OH and CYP1A2-associated ethoxyresorufin-O-de-ethylation (EROD) as compared with the high dose of BR group. Meanwhile, (BR+LQ) caused 41.1% decrease of CYP2El-associated PNP-OH and 37.7% increase of CYP2C-associated Tol-OH. The results indicated that the co-administration of BR with GA or LQ had effect on mRNA expression and activities of the CYP450 enzymes mentioned above to some extent, and the in vivo antagonism of LQ on BR-induced CYPs adverse effects and the in vivo inhibitory action of GA on CYP2E1 and 1A2 might play an important role in the detoxification of Radix Glycyrrhizae against Strychnos nux-vomica L.

OBJECTIVE:To establish a method for determining recombinant human calmodulin B subunit(rhCNB)in rat plas-ma,and study its pharmacokinetics characteristics. METHODS:ELISA double-antibody sandwich method was adopted. 1 μg/ml rhCNB monoclonal antibody mAb was wrapped,added to the to-be-test sample,rhCNB polyclonal antibody pAb(dilution ratio of 1∶5 000)and HRP-labeled conjugate of anti-IgG(dilution ratio of 1∶10 000)were added. Using tetramethylbenzidine for develop-ing,microplate reader was conducted in wavelength of 450 nm to determine the absorbance value(OD value)and plasma concen-tration of 6 rats after 2,15,30,60,120,240,480,720 min of iv 2.5 mg/kg rhCNB,and the pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated by BAPP 3.0 software. RESULTS:The linear range of rhCNB were 0.195-12.5 ng/ml(r2=0.995 0),lower limit of quan-titation was 0.195 ng/ml,accuracy were 97.300%-103.622%(RSD<7.5%,n=6);RSDs of within-batch,inter-batch,freezing and thawing 3 times were no higher than 8.5%(n=6,18,15). rhCNB pharmacokinetics characteristics in rat fitted to two-com-partment model,AUC0-720 min was 173.038 mg·min/L and t1/2 was 94.62 min. CONCLUSIONS:The established method has high specificity and sensitivity,good accuracy and precision,which can be used for rhCNB quantitative detection and pharmacokinetics study in biological samples.

Flammulin, an anti-tumor protein, was purified from the aqueous extract of basidiomes of Flammulina Velutipes. Purified flammulin emulsified with Freund's adjuvant was injected subcutaneously into New Zealand white rabbits. After several immune enhancements, these animals were bled and sera were separated. Antiserum against flammulin in Western blots were applied to determine if flammulin be present in the liquid state culture or fruiting body. The result showed that anti-flammulin serum could recognize the aqueous extract of fruiting body in SDS-PAGE gels under the reducing conditions, no flammulin was detected in mycelia of Flammulina Velutipes.

OBJECTIVETo explore an ideal method for repairing the skin-soft tissue defects according to the different anatomical units of cheek, and find reasonable design principles to transfer the expanded flaps.

METHODSAccording to the location of the defect, we placed 1-3 appropriate expanders nearby, when the flap expanded enough we adopted advanced skin flaps, rotation-advanced skin flaps or transposition skin flaps to repair the defect. In this group of 269 cases, the defects were secondary to hemangioma, various scars, nevus or nevus excision.

RESULTSIn all 269 cheek defects, 305 expanded flaps were developed which included 145 rotation-advanced flaps, 121 advanced skin flaps and 39 transposition skin flaps. 52 of them generated complications, including blood circulation disorder of the distal part of flaps, hematoma, infection, injection, lower eyelid ectropion, expander extrusion and capsule contracture. Mostly, these complications didn't affect the final results.

CONCLUSIONSThe principles presented in this article are the guidelines to treat the skin-soft tissue defect of check with tissue expansion. The satisfied results come from the reasonable flap designs.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Cheek ; surgery ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Reconstructive Surgical Procedures ; methods ; Skin Transplantation ; methods ; Surgical Flaps ; Tissue Expansion ; methods ; Young Adult

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) remains to be a grand challenge for the international commu-nity despite over a century of exploration. A key factor likely accounting for such a situation is the vast heterogeneity in the disease etiology, which involves very complex and divergent pathways. Therefore, intervention strategies shall be tailored for subgroups of AD patients. Both demographic and in-depth information is needed for patient stratification. The demographic information includes primarily APOE genotype, age, gender, education, environmental exposure, life style, and medical history, whereas in-depth information stems from genome sequencing, brain imaging, peripheral biomarkers, and even functional assays on neurons derived from patient-specific induced pluripo-tent cells (iPSCs). Comprehensive information collection, better understanding of the disease mech-anisms, and diversified strategies of drug development would help with more effective intervention in the foreseeable future.

OBJECTIVETo study the effects of drug plasma of musk and olibanum (DP-M&O) on the release of inflammatory cytokines from monocytes and the expressions of the proteins associated with inflammation of prostatic or endothelial cells induced by prostate antigen (PAg) stimulation.

METHODSWe prepared DP-M&O using SD rats and monocytes and PAgs using BALB/c mice. We pre-treated the monocytes with DP-M&O at the gradient concentrations of 0, 2.5, 5, 10, and 20% for 1 hour, activated them with PAgs, and then cultured them for 96 hours, followed by detection of the release of inflammatory cytokines. We co-cultured the prostate RWPE-1 cells with the endothelial EA. hy926 cells, pre-treated them with the same gradient concentrations of DP-M&O as above for 1 hour, activated with PAgs, and cultured for 96 hours. Then we determined the expression levels of the proteins associated with inflammation of RWPE-1 and EA. hy926 cells by Western blot.

RESULTSDP-M&O decreased the levels of TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, IL-6, and IL-8 and increased that of IL-10 in a concentration-dependent manner. Significant differences were found between the 20% P-M&O and PAg groups in the release of the inflammatory cytokines TNF-alpha (70.8 +/- 22.3 vs. 277.1 +/- 65.5, P < 0.01) , IL-113 (277.5 +/- 22.6 vs. 630.4 +/- 89.7, P <0.01), IL-6 (232.7 +/- 62.7 vs. 994.2 vs. 182.3, P < 0.01), IL-8 (227.3 +/- 79.2 vs. 769.3 +/- 284.1, P < 0.01), and IL-10 (640.2 +/- 201.2 vs. 271.1 +/- 55.8, P < 0.01). Compared with the PAg group, the 10 and 20% P-M&O groups showed remarkable decreases in the protein expression of MCP-1/CCL2 in the RWPE-1 cells (1.12 +/- 0.34 vs. 0.56 +/- 0.11 and 0.34 +/- 0.08) and that of VCAM-1 in the EA. hy926 cells (0.94 +/- 0.22 vs. 0.52 +/- 0.17 and 0.38 +/- 0.12) (P < 0.05 or 0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe compatibility of musk and olibanum can decrease the expression of MCP-1/CCL2 in prostate cells and VCAM-1 in vascular endothelial cells, blocking the adhesion of leucocytes and suppressing inflammatory response.

Animals ; Blotting, Western ; Cytokines ; metabolism ; Endothelial Cells ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Fatty Acids, Monounsaturated ; pharmacology ; Frankincense ; pharmacology ; Inflammation ; metabolism ; Interleukin-10 ; metabolism ; Interleukin-1beta ; metabolism ; Interleukin-6 ; metabolism ; Interleukin-8 ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Monocytes ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Prostate ; cytology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; metabolism ; Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 ; metabolism

Circular RNA (circRNA) is a new type of non-coding RNA with closed circular structures that are widely distributed in various tissues Compared with traditional linear RNA, circRNA does not have 5′ and 3′ ends and will not be easily degraded by exonuclease It can stably exist in a variety of body fluids and is evolutionarily conserved It has become a key research object of clinical non-coding RNA Malignant tumors have the characteristics of late detection, rapid progression, and easy recurrence Currently, effective treatment methods are lacking, and their morbidity and mortality have been high Therefore, how to carry out early diagnosis, treatment intervention and prognosis evaluation is one of the research frontier of contemporary medical research CDR1as is the most widely studied circRNA It can regulate the expression of downstream genes through sponge microRNA (miRNA) or directly bind to RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) to activate related signaling pathways, thereby promoting or inhibiting tumor progression, and even affecting tumor chemotherapy sensitivity CDR1as mainly exists in the cytoplasm and can be released into the blood at the early stage of the disease Therefore, CDR1as may become a bi-omarker for early diagnosis of malignant tumors or an ideal target for therapeutic intervention Focusing on the characteristics and biological functions of circRNA, this article reviews the expression level, mechanism of action and related signaling pathways of CDR1as in the occurrence and development of malignant tumors At the same time, this article analyzes the current research status of CDR1as, preliminarily summarizes the problems it may face in clinical applications in the future, and puts forward ideas and suggestions on the future research direction of CDR1as

In order to compare the differences of 35 Menthae Herba samples collected on the market and at producing areas, the contents of six total terpenoids, the essential oil and chromatographic fingerprints were analyzed, which provided evidences for drawing up the commodity specifications and grading criteria of Menthae Herba. GC-MS method was used to analyze the chemical constituents of 35 different samples. The chromatographic fingerprints obtained by using GC were then evaluated by similarity analysis, hierarchical clustering analysis and principal component analysis. The relativity between the content of six terpenoids and the essential oil were studied. In this study, the chemical profiles of 35 samples from different producing areas had significant disparity. All samples collected in the report could be categorized into four chemical types, L-menthol, pulegone, carvone and L-menthone, but the chemical profiles had no relationship with the areas. The chromatographic fingerprints of the samples from different types were dissimilar, while the different producing areas were difficult to be separated. It was indicated that the content of volatile oil was positively correlated with the content of L-menthol and the sum of six total terpenoids. The content of the essential oil, L-menthol and the sum of six total terpenoids of Menthae Herba were considered as one of the commercial specifications and grading criteria. These results in the research could be helpful to draw up the commercial specification and grading criteria of Menthae Herba from a view of chemical information.
Cluster Analysis ; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry ; Mentha ; chemistry ; Oils, Volatile ; analysis ; Principal Component Analysis ; Terpenes ; analysis

OBJECTIVETo study the change of the blood coagulation function of guinea pigs exposed to 16 Hz/120 dB, 16 Hz/125 dB infrasound and to explore the mechanism of circulation system damage.

METHODSSeventy-two guinea pigs were divided into 3 groups: the control group, the group exposed to 16 Hz/120 dB infrasound for 1.5 h a day and the group exposed to 16 Hz/125 dB infrasound for 1.5 h a day. Each exposure group was divided into 4 sub-groups (8 guinea pigs a sub-group) which were exposed to infrasound for 1, 7, 14 and 21 d, respectively. The coagulation function and serum nitric oxide (NO) were measured for control group and all sub-groups after exposure to infrasound.

RESULTSThe prothrombin time (PT), international normalized ratio (INR) and serum NO of group exposed to 16 Hz/125 dB infrasound were (31.16 ± 3.05) s, 2.53 ± 1.21 and (88.304 ± 52.601) µmol/L, respectively, which were significantly higher than those [(21.36 ± 0.10) s, 1.65 ± 0.07 and (30.943 ± 26.864) µmol/L] of control group (P < 0.05). PT and INR of sub-groups exposed to 16 Hz/125 dB infrasound for 14 and 21 d were significantly higher than those of control group. NO of sub-groups exposed to 16 Hz/125 dB infrasound for 1 week and 2 weeks were significantly higher than that of control group (P < 0.05), but NO of sub-group exposed to 16 Hz/125 dB infrasound for 3 weeks decreased slightly.

CONCLUSIONThe blood coagulation function of guinea pigs exposed to 16 Hz/125 dB infrasound decreased, PT and INR may be used as the indexes to assess of blood coagulation function change induced by the infrasound exposure.

Animals ; Blood Coagulation ; Blood Physiological Phenomena ; Female ; Guinea Pigs ; Male ; Nitric Oxide ; blood ; Noise ; adverse effects ; Prothrombin Time

OBJECTIVETo investigate the molecular mechanism of carbapenem resistance in the clinical isolates of Acinetobacter baumannii from Xi'an and their profile of carbapenemase production.

METHODSA total of 146 Acinetobacter baumannii strains were isolated from 6 general hospitals in Xi'an. Antimicrobial susceptibility test was performed for all the strains, followed by detection of imipenem resistance using E-test for metallo-beta-lactamase (MBL) and NaCl inhibition test for OXA type carbapenemase. Bla(OXA-23)and bla(OXA-58) were amplified by PCR, and the positive products were sequenced.

RESULTSFrom the collected strains, 15 non-repetitive imipenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii strains were identified, among which 14 yielded negative results in E-test for MBL production. All the resistant strains showed increased sensitivity to imipenem after NaCl inhibition, suggesting the presence of carbapenemase production. Eleven of the strains harbored OXA -23 type gene and 1 harbored OXA -58 type gene. The concordance rate of the results by NaCl inhibition test and PCR was 85.7%.

CONCLUSIONSProduction of OXA-type carbapenemase is the most important reason for carbapenem resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii in Xi'an. The OXA-58 type gene is a novel carbapenemase genotype in China. NaCl inhibition test is a convenient and cost-effective method for detecting carbapenemase in Acinetobacter baumannii.

Acinetobacter baumannii ; drug effects ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; pharmacology ; Bacterial Proteins ; genetics ; China ; Humans ; Imipenem ; pharmacology ; beta-Lactam Resistance ; beta-Lactamases ; genetics