OBJECTIVETo explore the effect of negative emotions on serum levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and neuropeptide Y (NYP) in hepatitis B liver cirrhosis (HBLC) patients.

METHODSTotally 617 HBLC patients were assigned to the negative emotion group (415 cases) and the non-negative emotion group (202 cases) judged by negative emotions. Case numbers of various grading Child-Pugh were recorded in the two groups. Their liver functions were compared between the two groups. Serum levels of ACTH and NPY were detected using double antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in the two groups.

RESULTSThere was no statistical difference in Child-Pugh grading between the two groups (χ2 = 0.65, P = 0.72). Compared with the non-negative emotional group, serum ACTH levels decreased significantly in the negative emotion group with statistical difference (P < 0.05). There was no statistical difference in serum ACTH levels between the two groups (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe negative emotion of HBLC patients was not related to the serum ACTH level, but to relatively lower-concentration serum NPY levels.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone ; blood ; Emotions ; Hepatitis B ; blood ; psychology ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis ; blood ; psychology ; Neuropeptide Y ; Serum

To decrease the oxygen content in the cell is a key method to improve hydrogen production in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.A new approach was developed by transforming the leghemoglobin gene lba,which has high affinity to oxygen,into the chloroplast of C.reinhardtii to get a low dissolved oxygen in the cell and result into improvement of H2 ase activity and H2 yield. The results showed that lba was successfully transformed into the chloroplast of C.reinahrdtii strain 849 and did not affect its growth significantly. The work paved the road for further regulation of lba expression in the chloroplast to improve of hydrogen production of C.reinahrdtii.

AIM:To compare the refractive errors measured by the VISX WaveScan, OPD - Scan Ⅲ and the subjective refraction.
METHODS: Seventy - six patients ( 152 eyes ) were recruited from January 2013 to December 2013. All patients were measured with subjective refraction by the phoropter (NIDEK, RT-5100), objective refraction by the WaveScan ( AMO Company, USA) , OPD-ScanⅢ ( Nidek Technologies, Japan). The sphere, cylinder, axis of the three methods were compared and analyzed.
RESULTS: The sphere measured by WaveScan was lower than that by subjective refraction, the difference was 0. 13±0. 30D (t=3. 753, P<0. 001). For cylinder, the difference was 0. 13±0. 43D (t=3. 664, P<0. 001). There was no significance for sphere, cylinder, and spherical equivalent between OPD - Scan Ⅲ and subjective refraction (P>0. 05). The value of the difference between WaveScan and subjective refraction was 5. 87o±6. 19o for the axis and the difference between OPD-Scan Ⅲ and subjective refraction was 3. 82o±3. 95o. There was statistic significance (t=2. 817, P=0. 006).
CONCLUSION: For sphere and cylinder, WaveScan generated some deviation relative to subjective refraction. The Nidek OPD-ScanⅢ gives more accurate measures of objective refraction when compared with subjective refraction.

Objective To evaluate the quality of the portal images acquired by computed radiography(CR)system and conventional screen-film system,respectively.Methods imaging plates (IP)and X-ray films of a home-devised lead phantom with a leakage of 6.45% were acquired,and modulation transfer function(MTF)curves of the both images were measured using edge method.Portal images of 40 nasopharyngeal cancer patients were acquired by IP and screen-film system respectively.Two doctors with similar experience evaluated the damage degree of petrosa] bone,the receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve of CR images and general images were drawn according to two doctors evaluation results.Results The identification frequency of CR system and screen-film system were 1.159 and 0.806 Lp/mm respectively.For doctor one,the area under ROC curve of CR images and general images were 0.802 and 0.742 respectively.For doctor two,the area under ROC curve of CR images and general images were 0.751 and 0.600 respectively.The MTF curve and ROC curve of CR are both better than those of screen-film system.Conclusion The image quality of CR portal imaging is much better than that of screen-film system.The utility of CR in linear accelerator for portal imaging is promising in clinic.

Objective　To explore the relationship between morphologic evolution and proliferative activity during hepatocarcinogenesis in rats. Methods　Imaging analysis technique was used to detect the morphologic parameters of cells in hepatic lesions in both Solt-Farber model and diethylnitrosamine (DEN)-induced liver cancer model. Immunohistochemistry was employed to detect proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU). Results　The oval cells were identified as irregular small proliferating cells in size of one-eighth of and with a nucleus/cytoplasm ratio of 6 times of the normal hepatocyte by image analysis. The morphometric parameters of basophil hepatocyte in precancerous foci and nodule were similar to those of the liver cancer cell. PCNA and BrdU positive cells were mainly localized within the proliferative foci and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues. There was a better consistency between the development of hepatic lesions and cellular proliferative activity. Conclusion　The morphologic evolution is closely related to proliferative activity during hepatocarcinogenesis in rats.

Objective　To study the expressions of oncogenes c-Ha-ras, c-ki-ras, pan-ras and c-myc and point mutation of c-Ha-ras1 during hepatocarcinogenesis in rats. Methods　Immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization and microdissection of tissue (MDT)-PCR-SSCP were used to detect the oncogene expressions and point mutation of c-Ha-ras1 in both Solt-Farber model and DEN-induced liver cancer model. Results　The overexpression of c-Ha-ras was closely associated with the formation and proliferation of the precancerous basophilic hepatocyte foci, while that of c-myc with the growth of the oval cell foci. The abnormalities of IGF-Ⅱ played an important role in the evolution of precancerous foci/nodules towards hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The overexpression of fms was only associated with HCC of some rats. Conclusion　Hepatocarcinogenesis in rats was related with the overexpression of c-Ha-ras, c-myc, IGF-Ⅱand fms and the point mutation of c-Ha-ras1, and overexpression of these oncogenes was associated with morphological evolution.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of Luteolin alone or combination with chemotherapentic drugs on the cytoxicity of cancer cells.

METHODSCultured A549, Hela, MCF-7, AGS, MGC-803, Caco2 and HepG2 cells were treated with Luteolin or the combination of Luteolin with other chemotherapeutic agents (Bexarotene, Cisplatin and Bleomycin). Cell viability was measured by MTS assay and IC(50) was calculated.

RESULTSThe IC(50) of Bexarotene to Hela cells was 2 micromol/L, but with the combination of 5 micromol/L of Luteolin that reduced to 0.2 micromol/L. However, the combination of Bexarotene and Luteolin did not show significant benefit in MGC-803, HepG2 cells, Caco2 and MCF-7 cells. The IC(50) of Cisplatin to Hela cells was over 30 micromol/L,but it decreased to 3 micromol/L in the presence of 5 micromol/L Luteolin; Luteolin also sensitized Cisplatin in MGC-803, HepG2 and A549 cells studied. The IC(50) of Bleomycin to Hela cells was over 100 micromol/L, but it was about 1 micromol/L in the presence of 5 micromol/L Luteolin. A549 cells were resistant to Bleomycin with an IC(50) of 100 micromol/L, 10 micromol/L Luteolin greatly enhanced the cytotoxicity of Bleomycin to the cells with the IC(50) of about 10 micromol/L. The inhibitions of MGC-803, HepG2, A549 and AGS cells didn't change by combination of Luteolin.

CONCLUSIONLow concentration of Luteolin has little toxic effect on the cancer cell lines tested in the study, but it can sensitize chemotherapeutic drugs in various cancer cell lines.

Antineoplastic Agents ; pharmacology ; Breast Neoplasms ; pathology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Drug Synergism ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; pathology ; Luteolin ; pharmacology ; Neoplasms ; pathology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of tBHQ and sulforaphane on the protein expression in Nrf2-ARE signaling pathway of Caco2 cells.

METHODSHuman colorectal carcinoma Caco2 cells were treated with 20 micromol/L tBHQ and 5 micromol/L sulforaphane (SFN) respectively. Real time PCR, Western blotting and immunoflourescence staining (IF) were performed to measure the target gene expression.

RESULTSNrf2, AKR1C1 and NQO1 protein expressions were increased time-dependently in Caco2 cells after treatment with tBHQ and SFN. Time-course experiments showed that tBHQ and SFN increased the accumulation of Nrf2, and concomitantly increased the protein levels of AKR1C1 and NQO1. Real-time PCR and Western blotting showed that tBHQ and SFN significantly increased the expression of Nrf2 at 8h after the treatment, and AKR1C1 and NQO1 at 16 h. Confocal microscopy technique showed that Nrf2 accumulated in the nucleus at 6-8 h after treatment with tBHQ. After 1 h treatment with tBHQ the nuclear Nrf2 maintained at elevated level for at least 4 h with tBHQ withdrawn.

CONCLUSIONtBHQ and SFN induced nuclear accumulation of Nrf2 and activated Nrf2-dependent regulation of ARE-mediated gene expression in Caco2 cells. In addition, the results provide experimental evidence for choosing the dose and frequency of the inducer in cancer chemoprevention study and in developing inhibitors of Nrf2-ARE signaling pathway.

Anticarcinogenic Agents ; pharmacology ; Antioxidants ; metabolism ; pharmacology ; Caco-2 Cells ; Calcium-Transporting ATPases ; antagonists & inhibitors ; Humans ; Hydroquinones ; pharmacology ; Isothiocyanates ; NF-E2-Related Factor 2 ; genetics ; metabolism ; physiology ; Oxidative Stress ; genetics ; physiology ; Response Elements ; physiology ; Signal Transduction ; drug effects ; Thiocyanates ; pharmacology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the biological effects of ectopic overexpression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in human malignant glioma cell line, and to explore new method of differentiation induction gene therapy for gliomas.

METHODSA eukaryotic expression vector containing 1.1 kb GFAP cDNA fused with green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene, pIRGFP-GFAP, was transfected into human SHG-44 glioma cell line by lipofectamine. The expression of GFAP/GFP gene and their proteins were detected by fluorescent real-time monitoring, in situ hybridization, Western blot and immunocytochemistry. Flow cytometry, soft agar colony formation and other methods were used to measure the effects of exogenous GFAP expression on cell cycle progression, morphology and growth features of the transfected glioma cells.

RESULTSThe expressions of GFAP mRNA and its protein were markedly increased in SHG-44 cells upon stable transfection with pIRGFP/GFAP vector. Profound morphological changes in these cells were also observed, including the formation of abundant, stellate and thin cytoplasmic processes and a reduction of atypia. Cell proliferation rate and its tumorigenecity on soft agar were markedly reduced. In addition, cell cycle analysis revealed a percentage decrease of cell populations at G0/G1 and G2/M phases.

CONCLUSIONSEctopic overexpression of GFAP gene could significantly suppress the growth of SHG-44 malignant glioma cells along with an induction of differentiation. These results imply that forced over-expression of GFAP gene may provide a new strategy for glioma therapy.

Brain Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Cell Differentiation ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; DNA, Complementary ; genetics ; Genetic Vectors ; Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; physiology ; Glioma ; metabolism ; pathology ; Green Fluorescent Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Humans ; RNA, Messenger ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Transfection

OBJECTIVETo observe the clinical effects of prunrllae oral solution in treating hyperthyrea.

METHOD56 cases with hyperthyrea were randomized into two groups; group A1 was treated by classic method, B1 was treated by classic method combined with prunrllae oral solution. The size, vessel caliber of thyroidea, volume of blood flow and blood flow rate pre-and post-treatment were measured by color supersonic, meanwhile, 20 normal thyroidea were measured as control group.

RESULTThe size and vessel caliber of thyroidea of the two groups pre-treatment were obviously bigger than those of the control group, the volume of blood flow and blood flow rate were obviously slower than those of the control group (P < 0.001), the sizes of thyroidea of the two groups became smaller, especially the group B1 was more obvious, and there was no significant difference in the size of thyroidea between group B1 and control group.

CONCLUSIONIt is indicated that combined treatment of traditional Chinese medicine (prunrllae oral solution) and western medicine is superior to western medicine in treating hyperthyrea.

Administration, Oral ; Adult ; Antithyroid Agents ; therapeutic use ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; isolation & purification ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Graves Disease ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Humans ; Hyperthyroidism ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Male ; Methimazole ; therapeutic use ; Middle Aged ; Phytotherapy ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Prunella ; chemistry ; Thyroid Gland ; drug effects ; pathology