OBJECTIVETo investigate the apoptosis-inducing effect of DMF on the human liver cells (HL-7702) in vitro.

METHODSLiver cells were exposed to different concentrations of DMF (0, 50, 100, 150, 200 mmol/L) for 12 hours. Apoptotic rate, the expression of Bax, Bcl-2 and Caspase-3 in liver cells were measured by FCM and western blotting respectively.

RESULTSThe increase in apoptotic rate of hepatocytes in concentration-manner was shown after DMF treatment for 12 h. After treatment the expression of Bcl-2 was decreased steadily and lower than the control group (P < 0.01), the expression of Bax showed no significant difference among the groups of different dosage by one-factor analysis of variance (P > 0.05), as the increase of the dosage of DMF. The ratio of Bcl-2/Bax dropped with the dosage of DMF increasing, and the ratio in 200 mmol/L of DMF was significantly lower than that of the control (P < 0.01). The new lands of procaspase-3 in 150, 200 mmol/L were observed, which demonstrated that there was active caspase-3.

CONCLUSIONDMF can induce apoptosis of cultured adult normal hepatocytes in vitro, and the mechanism might be related to the decrease of Bcl-2/Bax and the cleavage of Caspase-3.

Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Caspase 3 ; metabolism ; Cells, Cultured ; Dimethylformamide ; pharmacology ; Hepatocytes ; drug effects ; metabolism ; pathology ; Humans ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; metabolism ; bcl-2-Associated X Protein ; metabolism

Purpose:To study the activity of toremifene and its synergistic effect with anti-tumor drugs on human lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549,which might be expected to provide a new mode of therapy for the clinical management of lung cancer.Methods:The cytotoxic effects of these agents on human lung cancer cell line A549 were measured by a tet- razolium-based volorimetric assay (MTT assay).Results:Toremifene can inhibit the growth of A549 cell directly.The A value of the low dose toremifene combined with anti-tumor drugs were lower than that of anti-tumor drugs alone.Toremifene combined with VCR,ADM,DDP and VP-16 showed better effects.Conclusions:Toremifene combined with chemotherapy drugs shows significant synergistic anti-tumor effect on A549 cell.This might provide experimental evidence for lung cancer therapy.

AIMTo investigate the absorption and distribution of recombinant hirudin-2 (rHV2) in the GI tract in rats after oral administration.

METHODSUsing HPLC, fluorescence spectrophotometry and confocal laser scanning microscopy to measure the amount of intact rHV2 absorbed into gastrointestinal mucosa and blood.

RESULTSHPLC spectrum showed that there were intact rHV2 molecules in plasma after 1 h of oral administration. After oral administration for 3 h, 1.2%-26.8% of fluorescence was found in the GI tract in rats. Chromatographic analysis showed that 2.27%-38.75% of fluorescence recovered from the GI tract luminal contents and mucosa was eluted at the void volume of a Sephadex G-25 column. Microscopic examination showed that FITC-rHV2 was taken up throughout the whole small intestine but the ileum appeared to be a preferred site for FITC-rHV2 transport in rats.

CONCLUSIONrHV2 may partially survive in the GI lumen and subsequently absorbed in active form by gastrointestinal tract.

Administration, Oral ; Animals ; Digestive System ; metabolism ; Fibrinolytic Agents ; administration & dosage ; pharmacokinetics ; Fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate ; Hirudins ; administration & dosage ; pharmacokinetics ; Ileum ; metabolism ; ultrastructure ; Intestinal Absorption ; Intestinal Mucosa ; metabolism ; ultrastructure ; Male ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Recombinant Proteins ; administration & dosage ; pharmacokinetics ; Tissue Distribution

To systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of tripterygium glycosides (TG) combined with ACEI/ARB preparation in treating diabetic nephropathy stage IV. The computer retrievals were made in Cochrane Libarary, PubMed, Embase, SCI, Sinnomed, CNKI, Chinainfo and VIP, and hand retrievals were conducted for meeting and academic papers (updated to December 30, 2014), in order to collect randomized controlled trials and quasi-randomized control trials for TG combined with ACEI/ARB preparation in treating diabetic nephropathy stage IV and set the literature inclusion and elimination standards. Eligible literatures were included and evaluated according to standards in Cochrane Handbook. RevMan 5.3 and Stata 12.0 were used for a Meta-analysis. A total of 13 randomized controlled trials and quasi-randomized control trials involving 1119 patients with diabetic nephropathy were included. The Meta analysis result showed that compared with the control group, the combination group showed better effects in reducing the 24-hour urinary protein [MD = -0.84, 95% CI (-1.02, -0.66)], raising albumin [SMD = 0.98, 95% CI (0.81, 1.16)], the total efficiency [OR = 4.23, 95% CI (2.77, 6.46)] and the significant efficiency [OR = 5.35, 95% CI (2.70, 10.60)], with no statistical difference in Serum Creatinine between Both groups [MD = -0.82, 95% CI (-4.30, 2.66), P = 0.64]. However, the risk of adverse reactions increased by 7% [RD = 0.07, 95% CI (0.03, 0.12)]. The Egger's test showed no publication bias. Tripterygium Glycosides combined with ACEI/ARB in treating diabetic nephropathy stage IV is supper than the single administration of ACEI/ARB, with a good prospect in clinical application. Nevertheless, due to the small-size and low-quality samples in this study, more high-quality and large sample-size randomized controlled trials shall be conducted to verify the findings.
Angiotensin Receptor Antagonists ; administration & dosage ; Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors ; administration & dosage ; Diabetic Nephropathies ; drug therapy ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Glycosides ; administration & dosage ; Humans ; Tripterygium ; chemistry

AIM To study the effect of astragalosides (AST) on pr ol iferation and collagen production of hepatic stellate cells (HSC). METHO DS The proliferation and collagen production of rat hepatic stellate cell s, HSC-T6, stimulated with Kupffer cell-conditioned medium (KCCM), mixed sera containing new bovine serum (NBS) and rat serum (RS) were measured with 3H -TdR and 3H-proline incorporation. RESULTS Both of the p roliferation and collagen production of HSC-T6 stimulated with KCCM at the dilu tion of 1∶4 were suppressed after being treated with AST (16, 32, 64, 128 and 2 56 mg?L -1 ). When HSC-T6 cells were stimulated with mixed sera containing 10% NBS and 3% RS, their proliferation was suppressed after being treated with AST(32, 64, 128 and 256 mg?L -1 )for 48 h and so was the collagen produ ction after being treated with AST(16, 32, 64, 128 and 256 mg?L -1 )for 72 h. CONCLUSION The suppression of hepatic stellate cell prolif eration and collagen production by astragalosides may be one of the mechanisms f or the depression of hepatic fibrosis by astragalosides.

In order to research the related substances of dabigatran etexilate mesylate,seven related compounds were synthesized and the related detection methods were established (Using XBridge C18 as the column,methanol-0.01mol/L potassium dihydrogen phosphate as the mobile phase Gradient elution,detection wavelength of 310 nm).The solvents and the injection volume were also screened.Results showed that the established method could separate the dabigatran etexilate mesylate and seven compounds completely,and the reproducibility was good and the accuracy was high,which was suitable for the detection of the related substances of dabigatran etexilate mesylate.

Traumatic optic nerve injury is common in patients with traumatic brain injury,mainly in young adults.The optic nerve has no regenerative function,leaving problems of visual field defect and loss of vision and causing high disability rate among patients with traumatic brain injury.The current clinical treatments of traumatic optic nerve injury are hormonotherapy and decompression of optic nerve canal,lacking definite clinical efficacy and treatment norm.In recent years,a series of brand new treatments,such as neuroprotective drugs,neurotrophic factor therapy,nerve transplantation,stem cell therapy and gene therapy,have offered new perspectives for solving the problem of high disability rate of traumatic optic nerve injury clinically.This article attempts to summarize the status quo and latest progress in clinical treatment of traumatic optic nerve injury based on relevant literature in recent years,which can serve as reference for clinicians in choosing the optimal therapeutic regimen.

0.05),while the level of IL-8,TNF-? and endotoxin changed significantly during CRRT(Pa

ObjectiveTo investigate the risk factors of patients with acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ALI/ARDS) complicated with Yangming Fushi syndrome.Methods A prospective study was conducted. From August 2009 to July 2013, 206 patients with Yangming Fushi syndrome combined with ALI/ARDS were enrolled in the intensive care units ( ICUs ) of the following five hospitals: Tianjin Nankai Hospital, Dongzhimen Hospital Affiliated to Beijing Traditional Chinese Medicine University, General Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, and Wuxi Third People's Hospital in Jiangsu Province. According to the mortality occurring in ICU, the patients were divided into death group and survival group. The gender, age, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation Ⅱ ( APACHE Ⅱ ) score within the first 24 hours after admission, the length of invasive mechanical ventilation, usage of vasoactive agents, ratio of operative intervention, the length of stay in ICU, application of continuous renal replacement therapy ( CRRT ), amount of blood transfusion, the level of C-reactive protein ( CRP ), lactulose/mannitol ( L/M ) ratio, the number of organs with dysfunction, oxygenation index ( PaO2/FiO2 ), levels of lactate and serum creatinine ( SCr ) of both groups were recorded. Logistic regression analysis was used to look for the independent risk factors of death of patients. Results There were 124 cases with severe acute pancreatitis ( SAP ), which was the most common disease with manifestation of Yangming Fushi syndrome combined with ALI/ARDS, accounting for 60.19% of all the patients. During the period of hospitalization in ICU, 171 patients survived and 35 died, and the mortality rate was 16.99%. The risk factors of the two groups were analyzed by variable analysis, and it was shown that compared with those in survival group, the age ( years: 57.26±16.23 vs. 48.07±13.48, t = 3.544, P = 0.000 ), APACHE Ⅱ score ( 20.83±9.73 vs. 12.61±6.63, t = 4.777, P = 0.000 ), the length of invasive mechanical ventilation ( days: 10.97±7.71 vs. 6.91±2.48, t = 2.555, P = 0.015 ) and the number of dysfunction organs ( 3.11±1.21 vs. 1.60±1.34, t = 6.222, P = 0.000 ) in death group were significantly higher. The level of PaO2/FiO2 [ mmHg ( 1 mmHg = 0.133 kPa ): 218.56±64.90 vs. 244.58±85.10, t = -2.024, P = 0.044 ] in the death group was significantly lower than that of the survival group, while the length of ICU stay ( days: 14.33±10.81 vs. 9.11±7.37, t = 2.600, P = 0.010 ), the usage rates of CRRT [ 28.57% ( 10/35 ) vs. 15.20% ( 26/171 ), χ2 = 3.968, P = 0.046 ], vasoactive agents [ 28.57% ( 10/35 ) vs. 12.28% ( 21/171 ), χ2 = 6.511, P = 0.011 ], and blood transfusion ratio [ 42.86% ( 15/35 ) vs. 23.39% ( 40/171 ), χ2 = 7.042, P = 0.008 ] were all obviously higher in the death group than those in the survival group. There were no statistically significant differences in gender, number of operation, the levels of CRP, L/M ratio, lactate and SCr between the two groups ( all P > 0.05 ). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age [ odds ratio ( OR ) = 0.938, 95% confidence interval ( 95%CI ) = 0.898-0.980, P = 0.004 ], APACHE Ⅱ score ( OR = 0.914, 95%CI = 0.839-0.996, P = 0.041 ), the number of dysfunction organs ≥ 3 ( OR = 0.223, 95%CI = 0.066-0.754, P = 0.016 ), and the level of PaO2/FiO2 ( OR = 0.990, 95%CI = 0.982-0.998, P = 0.015 ) were independent risk factors for mortality. Conclusions The age, APACHE Ⅱ score, number of dysfunction organs ≥ 3 and the level of PaO2/FiO2 are of significance in predicting the prognosis of patients with Yangming Fushi syndrome combined with ALI/ARDS. Patients with risk factors of high mortality should be more carefully monitored and treated aggressively.

Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) take part in cell proliferation, differentiation, survival, apoptosis, transformation, cellular immunity and some other important physiological and pathological processes. Among STAT3 signaling pathways, the JAK-STAT signaling pathway has been comprehensively studied. Abnormal activation of STAT3 is frequently detected in various tumors, and the abnormal activation is closely related with the tumorigenesis. Recent studies have found that mutations and several specific genotypes of single nucleotide polymorphisms in STAT3 gene may be involved in tumor formation, also suggesting the important role of STAT3 in tumor biology. In this review, the role of STAT3 in the development of tumors is briefly summarized.
Humans ; Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; STAT3 Transcription Factor ; Signal Transduction