Most of the soil microorganisms are unculturable,which limits the exploitation and application of microbial resources.Metagenomics has great potential in the research of unculturable microorganisms in soil.Progress on the research of metagenomic DNA purification,metagenomic library construction and screening of soil microorganisms are reviewed briefly.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect and mechanisms of Compound Astragalus Recipe (CAR) for regulating cellular immune in patients with myasthenia gravis (MG).

METHODSSixty MG patients were equally assigned to two groups randomly, the test group administered with CAR and the control group with prednisone for 3 months. Changes of patients' symptoms and adverse reactions were observed. The peripheral lymphocyte subsets distribution was examined by flow cytometry, and the levels of immunoglobulins and complements in the peripheral blood were measured by immuno-turbidimetry before and after treatment.

RESULTSThe total effective rate in the test group after 12-week treatment reached 80% (24/30), while that of the control group reached 83.3% (25/30), difference between them showed no statistical significance (P > 0.05). CD4+ and CD4+/CD8+ ratio were lowered significantly in both groups, but the decrement of CD4+/CD8+ ratio in the test group was more significant than that in the control group, showing significance between groups (P < 0.05). While CD8+ in the test group after treatment was significantly increased as compared with that before treatment (P < 0.05), but with no significant difference in comparing with that in the control group (P > 0.05). Serum levels of IgM and IgA in MG patients were significantly higher than normal range (P < 0.01). Levels of C3 and C4 were significantly increased in both groups after treatment (P < 0.05). Moderate high level of ALT and AST revealed transiently at the 2nd week in 5 patients of the control group, while no adverse reaction was found in the test group.

CONCLUSIONOne of the mechanisms for CAR in playing its immuno-modulate effect may be its regulation on lymphocyte subsets distribution and humoral immune function.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Astragalus membranaceus ; chemistry ; Child ; Complement System Proteins ; metabolism ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins ; blood ; Lymphocyte Subsets ; drug effects ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myasthenia Gravis ; drug therapy ; immunology ; Phytotherapy ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the efficacy and safety of 1% propranolol ointment in the treatment of superficial infantile hemangiomas (IHs).

METHODSA retrospective chart review was performed on 49 children (34 female and 15 male) with a median age of 4.1 months (range, 1-10 months). A total of 58 superficial IHs were treated with 1% propranolol ointment. Topical propranolol was applied three times daily for a mean duration of 21.1 weeks (range, 5-59 weeks). Changes in the size, texture, and color of the tumor were monitored and recorded at regular intervals. The treatment response was evaluated using a 3-point scale system: good, partial, and no response. Adverse effects after medication were evaluated and managed accordingly.

RESULTSOf the 49 cases, 26 (53.1%) demonstrated good response, 17 (34.7%) showed a partial response, and 6 (12.2%) had no response. The total effective rate was 87.8% . No systemic complication was observed in any of the patients.

CONCLUSIONSTopical therapy with 1% propranolol ointment may be a safe and effective method for the treatment of superficial IHs and can be used as an adjuvant treatment measure during the wait-and-see period.

Female ; Hemangioma ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Ointments ; Propranolol ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Skin Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo study the monomolecular coverage of the silane coupling agent gamma-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (gamma-MPS) on the barium glass filler surface.

METHODSKubelka-Munk (K-M) function values of the isolated OH-groups on the barium glass filler surface, which were based on the change of gamma-MPS concentrations, were measured using the quantitative analysis of the diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform (DRIFT) spectroscopy. When all of the isolated OH-groups on the filler surface disappeared (where the K-M function values was zero), the monomolecular coverage of the gamma-MPS molecules on the filler surface was indicated by the linear regression analysis.

RESULTSThe relationship tallied with negative linear correlation between the K-M function values of the isolated OH-groups on the barium glass surface and the concentrations of gamma-MPS. Each gamma-MPS molecule occupied 0.21 nm(2) when the monomolecular coverage was formed on the barium glass surface.

CONCLUSIONSThe result of this study indicated the optimal amount of silane coupling agent on silanated barium glass filler during the production of resin composite.

Barium Compounds ; chemistry ; Composite Resins ; chemistry ; Dental Materials ; chemistry ; Methacrylates ; chemistry ; Silanes ; chemistry ; Silicon Dioxide ; chemistry

To identify the pathogen of an outbreak of pneumouia in pig-farm,we used biochemical identification,pathoge nicity test in mice,PCR identification by 16S rRNA,and phylogenetic tree analysis for the identification.Results showed that the pathogen was an Achromobacter xylosoxidans with certain virulence and named TLSY-1.This TLSY-1 was the most simi lar to KF879922.1,and affinity rate were 99.9％ by homology analysis.This result identified that TLSY-1 is a new pneumonia pathogens in piglets.

Objective To understand the effect of astaxanthin on intestinal injury of septic mice,and explore the mechanism.Methods Septic mice model was constructed by cecum ligation and puncture(CLP).Sixty-two male Balb/c mice were randomly divided into 4 groups by random number method:Sham surgery+solvent control group(Sham+Vehi group,n=11),Sham surgery+astaxanthin group(Sham+Asta group,n=11),sepsis model+sol-vent control group(CLP+Vehi group,n=20),and sepsis model+astaxanthin group(CLP+Asta group,n=20).In astaxanthin-containing groups,astaxanthin was dissolved in edible olive oil(40 mg/mL),and 100 mg/(kg·d)was gavaged for 7 days before surgery.In solvent-containing groups,the solvent was treated with an equal amount of olive oil by gavage(2.5 mL/kg).Five mice from the Sham groups and 12 mice from the CLP groups were ran-domly selected to observe their 7-day survival after surgery.The remaining mice were given fluorescent isothiocya-nate dextran(FD-40)gavage at 18 hours after surgery.Changes in mice intestinal tissue morphology,intestinal functional injury indicators,intestinal tissue oxidative stress indicators,inflammatory factors expression,and ex-pression of key protein of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ(PPARγ)/nuclear factor kappa B(NF-κB)were detected 24 hours after surgery.Results There were no statistical differences in mice survival rate,intestinal injury indicators,intestinal inflammatory factor levels,oxidative stress indicators,and intestinal tissue injury scores between Sham+Vehi and Sham+Asta groups(all P＞0.05).Compared with the Sham+Vehi group,the survival rate of mice in the CLP+Vehi group decreased significantly;serum diamine oxidase(DAO)activities,levels of in-testinal fatty acid binding protein(I-FABP),D-lactate,and FD-40 increased significantly;levels of tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α),interleukin-1β(IL-1β),interleukin-6(IL-6)and malondialdehyde(MDA)in intestinal tissue in-creased significantly;superoxide dismutase(SOD)activity decreased;intestinal morphological injury score was higher;the expression of PPARγ in intestinal tissue increased,and the ratios of both p-IκBα/IκBα and p-p65/p65 in-creased(all P＜0.05).Compared with the CLP+Vehi group,the survival rate of mice in the CLP+Asta group im-proved;serum DAO activities,levels of I-FABP,D-lactate and FD-40 all decreased significantly;levels of TNF-α,IL-1β,IL-6 and MDA in intestinal tissue decreased significantly;SOD activity increased;intestinal morphological injury score decreased;PPARγ expression in intestinal tissue increased,and the ratios of both p-IκBα/IκBα and p-p65/p65 decreased(all P＜0.05).Conclusion Astaxanthin decreases intestinal injury in CLP-induced septic mice,and its mechanism may be related to the regulation of PPARγ/NF-κB signaling pathway,as well as the inhibi-tion of inflammatory response and oxidative stress.

Despite its dual role in determining cell fate in a wide array of solid cancer cell lines, autophagy has been robustly shown to suppress or kill acute myeloid leukemia cells via degradation of the oncogenic fusion protein that drives leukemogenesis. However, autophagy also induces the demise of acute leukemia cells that do not express the known fusion protein, though the molecular mechanism remains elusive. Nevertheless, since it can induce cooperation with apoptosis and differentiation in response to autophagic signals, autophagy can be manipulated for a better therapy on acute myeloid leukemia.
Antineoplastic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Apoptosis ; Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins ; metabolism ; Autophagy ; drug effects ; Humans ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; pathology ; Leukemia, Promyelocytic, Acute ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; pathology ; Molecular Targeted Therapy ; Oncogene Proteins, Fusion ; metabolism ; Tretinoin ; therapeutic use

AIMTo investigate the effect of androgen on the proliferation, differentiation and regression of canine prostatic stromal cells in vivo and human stromal cells in vitro.

METHODSTwenty-two dogs, including 15 normal prostate dogs and 7 prostatic hyperplasia dogs, had their serum concentration of testosterone and estrodiol determined by radioimmunoassay before and after castration. The expression of androgen receptor (AR) and estrogen receptor (ER) in the prostate were analysed by immunohistochemistry and semi-quantitative RT-PCR before and after castration. Light microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and TUNEL assay were carried out successively before and after castration to evaluate the prostatic histomorphology. In vitro serum-free cell cultures from human prostatic stroma were established and exposed to dihydrotestosterone (DHT). The proliferation of the cell culture was detected by MTT assay. The expression of TGFbgr, bFGF, AR, and smooth muscle cell (SMC) specific proteins (myosin and/or smoothelin) were detected using immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR. The differentiation from fibroblasts to smooth muscle cells was deduced by measuring the expression of SMC specific proteins.

RESULTSBefore castration, the serum concentrations of testosterone and estrodiol were not statistically different between normal and hyperplasia groups. Following castration, the serum concentration of testosterone decreased rapidly in 2 days, and the concentration of estrodiol had no significant change compared with the pre-castration data. In the prostate, AR was presented in both the epithelial and stromal cells and the AR mRNA level was higher in hyperplasia than in normal prostate tissues (P<0.05). While ER predominantly existed in the prostate stromal cells and the ER mRNA had no difference between the hyperplasia and the normal group. Within the early phase of castration (

CONCLUSIONThe whole prostate gland is an androgen-sensitive organ with both the epithelium and stroma under the control of androgen. Androgen may direct the proliferation, differentiation and regression of stromal cells by regulating the expression of TGFbgr, bFGF, AR and smooth muscle cell specific proteins.

Animals ; Biomarkers ; Cell Differentiation ; drug effects ; physiology ; Cell Division ; drug effects ; physiology ; Cells, Cultured ; Dihydrotestosterone ; pharmacology ; Dogs ; Estradiol ; blood ; Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 ; genetics ; pharmacology ; Gene Expression ; Humans ; Male ; Muscle, Smooth ; cytology ; physiology ; Orchiectomy ; Prostate ; cytology ; physiology ; Prostatic Hyperplasia ; physiopathology ; RNA, Messenger ; analysis ; Receptors, Androgen ; genetics ; Receptors, Estrogen ; genetics ; Stromal Cells ; cytology ; physiology ; Testosterone ; blood ; Transforming Growth Factor beta ; genetics ; pharmacology

Objective To investigate the correlation between the expression of Toll-like receptor 4(TLR4)and chitosanase 3-like protein 1(CHI3L1)in colon cancer tissue and the prognosis of patients after radical surgery.Methods A total of 152 patients who underwent radical colon cancer surgery in our hospital from January 2017 to May 2018 were collected and divided into the good prognosis group(n=97)and the poor prognosis group(n=47)according to the 5-year survival status after surgery.Immunohistochemical staining was applied to detect the expression levels of TLR4 and CHI3L1 in colon cancer tissues and adjacent tissues;the correlation between the expression of TLR4 and CHI3L1 in colon cancer tissue and the prognosis of patients was analyzed,and the influencing factors for prognosis of colon cancer patients were analyzed.Results The positive expression rates of TLR4 and CHI3L1 in colon cancer tissues were obviously higher than those in adjacent tissues(P<0.05).The expression of TLR4 in colon cancer tissue was related to the degree of tumor differentiation,clinical staging,and lymph node metastasis of colon cancer patients(P<0.05),the expression of CHI3L1 was related to the tumor diameter,degree of tumor differentiation,clinical staging,and lymph node metastasis of colon cancer patients(P<0.05).Compared with the good prognosis group,the poor prognosis group had higher proportions of patients with poorly differentiated tumor,clinical stageⅢ,lymph node metastasis,and positive expression of TLR4 and CHI3L1(P<0.05).The 5-year survival rate of patient with TLR4 positive expression was 60.38%,which was lower than that of 86.84% of patients with TLR4 negative expression(χ2=9.104,P<0.05);the 5-year survival rate of patients with CHI3L1 positive expression was 58.06%,which was lower than that of 84.31% of patients with CHI3L1 negative expression(χ2=10.935,P<0.05).The positive expression of TLR4 and CHI3L1,poorly differentiated tumor,clinical stage Ⅲ,and lymph node metastasis were the independent risk factors for the prognosis of colon cancer patients(P<0.05).Conclusion TLR4 and CHI3L1 are related to the occurrence and clinicopathological features of colon cancer,and the positive expression of TLR4 and CHI3L1 in colon cancer tissues is not conducive to the prognosis of patients,so both of them are expected to become clinical treatment targets.

OBJECTIVETo examine whether the polymorphisms of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) gene are associated with the susceptibility to high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) in Chinese railway construction workers at Qinghai-Tibet where the altitude is over 4 500 m above sea level.

METHODSA case-control study was conducted including 149 HAPE patients in the construction workers and 160 healthy controls randomly recruited from their co-workers, matching the patients in ethnicity, age, sex, lifestyle, and working conditions. Three polymorphisms of eNOS gene, T-786C in promoter, 894G/T in exon 7, and 27bp variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) in intron 4, were genotyped using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and confirmed with DNA sequencing.

RESULTSThe frequencies of 894T allele and heterozygous G/T of the 894G/T variant were significantly higher in HAPE patients group than in the control group (P=0.0028 and P=0.0047, respectively). However, the frequencies of the T-786C in promoter and the 27bp VNTR in intron 4 were not significantly different between the two groups. Haplotypic analysis revealed that the frequencies of two haplotypes (H3,T-T-b, b indicates 5 repeats of 27 bp VNTR; H6, C-G-a, a indicates 4 repeats of 27 bp VNTR) were significantly higher in HAPE patients (both Pü0.0001). On the contrary, the frequencies of H1 (T-G-b) and H2 (T-G-a) were lower in HAPE patients than in healthy controls (both Pü0.001).

CONCLUSIONSTwo haplotypes (T-T-b and C-G-a) may be strongly associated with susceptibility to HAPE. Compared with the individual alleles of eNOS gene, the interaction of multiple genetic markers within a haplotype may be a major determinant for the susceptibility to HAPE.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Altitude ; Base Sequence ; Case-Control Studies ; DNA Primers ; Genotype ; Haplotypes ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nitric Oxide ; blood ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III ; genetics ; Occupational Diseases ; enzymology ; genetics ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Pulmonary Edema ; enzymology ; genetics ; Tibet ; Young Adult