This study aimed to elucidate the effects of different soil water contents on the yield and quality of R.glutinosa.Different soil water contents were adjusted in different periods of growth of R.glutinosa.The yield,content of water extract,catalpol,verbascoside and polysaccharide were determined and analysed by the grey pattern recognition after harvests.The impacts of soil water content from the most important to the least important were medium moisture content (M2),high moisture content (M3),low moisture content (M1) and blank (M4).In the cultivation of R.glutinosa,the soil water content should be remained in the range of 40％-50％ at seedling stage,while 50％-60％ at the stage of root formation and tuber enlargement,and 20％-30％ during harvesting,which can significantly improve the yield and quality of R.glutinosa.

Objective:To investigate the effects of Helicobacter pylori on NLRP3 inflammasomes activation in THP-1 ( human monocytic cell line) -derived macrophages and evaluate the role of ROS.Methods:H.pylori strain SS1 was co-cultured with the THP-1-derived macrophages at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 1∶100 based on trial results with different MOIs (ratios of THP-1 cells to bacteria ranging from 1∶25 to 1∶200).The co-culture supernatants and THP-1 cells were collected at various time points (3 h,6 h,12 h,24 h) and cytokine production was quantitated using ELISA analysis.The generation of intracellular ROS was detected by FCM,and the mRNA transcript levels of NLRP3 and caspase-1 were measured by Real-time PCR.Western blot was employed to analyze the expression of active caspase-1 subunit ( p10).Then we observed the inhibitory effects of NAC and siRNA specific for NLRP3 on the ex-pression of NLRP3 inflammasome-related components and the secretion of cytokines induced by H.pylori.Results:We found that H.pylori SS1 induced IL-1βand IL-18 production in human acute monocytic leukemia cell line THP-1 in a time-and dose-dependent manner.We further showed that H.pylori could induce the mRNA expressions of NLRP3 and caspase-1 in THP-1 cells.Moreover, release of IL-1βand IL-18 from H.pylori-infected THP-1 cells was suppressed by the ROS scavenger NAC,which was an agent known to inhibit NLRP3 inflammasome formation.NAC administration also resulted in a significant decrease in the level of H.pylori-induced caspase-1 protein expression in THP-1 cells.Additionally,secretion of IL-1βand IL-18 in response to H.pylori infection was remarkably reduced by NLRP3-siRNA.Conclusion:The induction of IL-1βand IL-18 secretion by H.pylori strain SS1 in THP-1 cells could be mediated through activation of NLRP3 inflammasome via ROS signaling pathway, which may be involved in the host innate immune defence and the pathogenesis of the bacteria.

Objective To analyze the clinical features,methods of treatment and prognosis of primary neurogenic tumors of mediastinum in patients taking surgical intervention.Methods A database was maintained retrospectively of all patients undergoing surgery for tumor and pathologically diagnosed with primary neurogenic tumors of mediastinum,managed in the Department of Thoracic Surgery,Zhongshan Hospital,Fudan University,Shanghai between Jan.,2008 and Dec.,2014.This work analyzed retrospectively the information about clinical and imaging features,surgical techniques and outcome extracted from medical records.Results Among the 131 cases,78 cases (59.5％) were males,53 cases (40.5％) were females;72 cases were diagnosed incidentally (55.0％),while the other 59 cases (45.0 ％) suffered from different symptoms.The posterior mediastinum was the most principal location with 61 cases in the left and 69 cases in the right,and 1 case remained in the anterior mediastinum.Total 98 cases (74.8％) underwent surgeries via video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS),5 cases (3.8％) took VATS surgery with small incision,and 28 cases (21.4％) experienced open thoracotomy,with no mortality during perioperative period.Gross total resection was obtained in 130 patients (99.2％).The remaining patient underwent a palliative resection for malignant schwannomas.Of the patients,98 cases had benign schwannomas (74.8％),24 cases had gangliocytomas (18.3％),2 cases had malignant schwannomas (1.5％),2 cases had neurofibromas (1.5％),2 cases had paragangliomas (1.5％),2 cases hadprimitive neurotodermal tumor (PNET) (1.5％) and 1 case had neuroblastomas (0.8％).All patients were followed up from 12 to 95 months with an average of 53 months.A patient with PNET died of tumor metastasis,a patient with malignant schwannomas died after palliative ectomy,and 2 cases died of other reasons.The rest survived until Jan.,2016 with tumor free.Conclusions Nearly no specific clinical symptoms occur in neurogenic tumors of mediastinum.Most of neurogenic tumors of mediastinum are benign with optimistic prognosis after surgical treatment.While malignant neurogenic tumorsusually come with poor prognosis,which places special emphasis on early diagnose together with surgical treatment.

Objective To investigate the clinical effects of transpedicular graft of biological artificial material (BAM) -induced artificial bone and posterior pedicle screw fixation in the treatment of osteoporotic thoracolumbar fractures.Methods A total of 72 patients with osteoporotic thoracolumbar fractures treated by transpedicular reduction by leverage,BMA-induced artificial bone grafting and posterior pedicle screw fixation from 2005 to 2010 were reviewed and followed up.The frontal and lateral X-ray radiograph of the spine was performed before and after operation and during the follow-up.The anterior and posterior height of the injured vertebrae,thoracolumbar kyphotic angle ( Cobb' s angle),ratio of anterior to posterior vertebral height were determined.Also,the America Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) scale was used to evaluate the neurological recovery and the visual analog scale (VAS) was applied to assess the back and waist pain.Results All patients were followed up for a mean period of 18.3 months,ranging from 12 to 28 months.Meanwhile,all the patients obtained bone union,with no rejection of artificial bone graft,breakage or loosening of screws,or obvious loss of both vertebrae height and deformity correction angle.Notable improvement of neurological function was achieved in all patients except for two patients with Frankel A nerve injury.The VAS score descended from pre-operative ( 8.4 ± 2.5 ) points to (2.2 ± 1.6 ) points at latest follow-up,which showed obvious alleviation of back and waist pain.Conclusions Transpedicular bone graft plus internal fixation is an effective,reasonable and easy method for managing osteoporotic thoracolumbar fractures.In addition,the implanted BAM-induced artificial bone is of good biological and mechanical properties.

Fracture of multiple implants is rare.This report describes 1 case with the fracture of multiple implants related to occlusal over-load,bruxism,periodontitis and other factors in the posterior position.The fractured implants were removed and immediate reimplantation was performed.The panoramic film showed that the implants were integrated successfully 12 months after prosthesis.

Objective To analyse the location of the mandibular canal,providing the theoretical basis for implanting and bone grafting. Methods Mandibular data of 83 Chinese people obtained by cone-beam computed tomography examination were collected. Results The distance from the mandibular canal to mandibular buccal wall was (5.32 ± 1.29)~(7.24 ± 1.29) mm. And the average distance from mandibular canal to mandibular lingual wall or inferior margin were respectively (3.43 ± .99) ~ (3.93 ± 1.17) mm and (8.81 ± 1.90) ~ (10.02 ± 2.19) mm. Significant differences between males and females were found in groups. The anterior loop was observed in 70.9%of all sides. The accessory mental foramen was observed in 10.84% of all sides. Conclusion For the remarkable mutation of the location of the mandibular canal in Chinese people, clinicians should be careful before implant or bone surgery procedures to minimize the risk of inferior alveolar nerve injury.

Lon protease (LON) is a highly conserved ATP-dependent serine protease, which is responsible for the decomposition and elimination of abnormal proteins. As an important executor of intracellular environment stability, LON can degrade misfolded and damaged proteins together with proteasome to ensure the high quality of proteins in vivo, especially in the maintenance of mitochondrial function. At the same time, the physiological function of LON also has an important effect on cell survival under various stresses. Recent studies have shown that the abnormal expression or activity of LON is involved in the occurrence and development of many diseases such as neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes mellitus, myocardial ischemia, cerebral ischemia and tumors. This review focuses on the structure and the function of LON, the relationship between abnormal expression and diseases, and the research progress of LON activity intervention, in order to provide ideas for clinical diagnosis and treatment of related diseases.

This experiment aimed to explore and research the process of preparing baicalein and wogonin through liquid fermentation with Bacillus natto. Active enzymes of produced by B. natto was used for the biological transformation of baclin and wogonoside, in order to increase the content of the haicalein and wogonin in the scutellaria. With the content of the baicalein and wogonin as evaluating indexes, the effects of carbon source, nitrogen source, the types and suitable concentration of inorganic salt, medium pH, granularities of medical materials, liquid volume in flask, shaking speed, liquid-to-solid ratio, fermentation time on the fermentation process were studied. The optimal process conditions for liquid fermentation of scutellaria were 1.0% of peptone, 0.05% of NaCl, pH at 6, the granularities of medical materials of the scutellaria screened through 40-mesh sifter, 33% of liquid, shaker incubator speed at 200 r x min(-1), liquid-to-solid ratio of 5:1, temperature at 37 degrees C, fermentation for 6 days, baclin's conversion rate at 97.6% and wogonoside's conversion rate at 97% in the scutellaria. According to the verification test, the process was stable and feasible, and could provide data reference for the industrial production.
Bacillus subtilis ; metabolism ; Biotransformation ; Fermentation ; Flavanones ; metabolism ; Flavonoids ; metabolism ; Glucosides ; metabolism ; Soy Foods ; microbiology

OBJECTIVETo discuss the anti-tumor effect of Xihuang pill on tumor-bearing rats and its effect on the immune clearance function of tumor-bearing organisms.

METHODWalker256 tumor cells were adopted to establish the tumor-bearing rat model. The rats were randomly divided into five groups: the normal control group, the model control group, the lentinan group and Xihuang pill low dose, middle dose and high dose groups, with 10 rats in each group, and continuously treated and given drugs for 14 d after modeling. Blood and tumors were collected from abdominal aorta to calculate the tumor inhibition rate. The content of CD3+, CD4+, CD8+ T cells and adhesion molecule B7-1 (CD80) in peripheral blood were detected by flow cytometry (FCM). The expressions of IL-2 and IFN-gamma in were determined by ELISA.

RESULTThe tumor inhibition rate of the Xihuang pill high dose group was 33. 1 percent. Compared with the model group, the Xihuang pill large dose group showed significantly low IL-2, IFN-gamma, CD3+, CD4+, B7-1 in peripheral blood, with statistical significance in their differences (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONXihuang pill could show its anti-tumor effect by enhancing the immune clearance function and increasing IL-2, IFN-gamma, CD3+ T, CD4+ T, B7-1 in peripheral blood.

Animals ; Antineoplastic Agents ; administration & dosage ; B7-1 Antigen ; genetics ; immunology ; Breast Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; genetics ; immunology ; CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes ; drug effects ; immunology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; Female ; Flow Cytometry ; Humans ; Immune System ; drug effects ; Immunologic Factors ; administration & dosage ; Interferon-gamma ; genetics ; immunology ; Interleukin-2 ; genetics ; immunology ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Tumor Burden ; drug effects

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of baicalin on liver fatty acid binding protein in oxidative stress model in vitro.

METHODS(1) Cellular oxidative stress in vitro was induced by incubating cells with 400μmol/L hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) for 20 minutes at 37 degrees C in the dark. After Chang liver cell line was treated with different dose of baicalin for 24, 48 and 72 hours. MTT assay was employed to detect cell viability, and then the hydrogen peroxide (TC50) of the different dose of baicalin was calculated. (2) Based on MTT assay, cells were treated with three different doses of baicalin (25, 50, 100 μmol/L) for 24 and 48 hours before being exposed to 400 μmol/L H₂O₂ for 20 minutes at 37 degrees C. Then, reactive oxygen species (ROS) assay and activity assays of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and reduced glutathione hormone (GSH) were evaluated. (3) Realtime PCR and Western blotting were applied to explore the influence of baicalin on the expression level of L-FABP. (4) One-way ANOVA was used for results statistical analysis.

RESULT(1) MTT assay showed baicalin treatment at 25, 50, 100 μmol/L for 24 and 48 hours was feasible (83.60% ± 3.47%, 72.36% ± 2.18%, 70.16% ± 2.04% for 24 hours; 84.93% ± 3.11%, 76.16% ± 2.45%, 72.72% ± 2.31% for 48 hours, P > 0.05, F = 386.24, 475.92 respectively). Meanwhile, we found by the linear regression model that the median toxic concentration of baicalin for 48 hours was 170.6 μmol/L, and the median toxic concentration of baicalin for 24 hours was 153.2 μmol/L. (2) ROS assay showed dichlorofluorescin in all baicalin-treated cells after stress was significantly reduced (37.0 ± 3.30, 22.90 ± 3.84, 29.60 ± 2.52 for 24 hours respectively, P < 0.05, F = 70.06; 35.77 ± 2.35, 21.80 ± 3.10, 23.87 ± 1.98 for 48 hours respectively, P < 0.05, F = 110.92) as compared with the H₂O₂-treated cells. Moreover, 50 μmol/L baicalin treatment for 48 hours was the optimal condition against ROS generation (21.80 ± 3.10, P < 0.01, F = 110.92). Furthermore, the activities of intracellular SOD and GSH was increased significantly (51.53 ± 1.91 μg/mg for SOD, P < 0.05, F = 93.81; 49.85 ± 1.45 U/mg for GSH, P < 0.05, F = 92.51). (3) Although realtime PCR analysis indicated 50 μmol/L baicalin treatment for 48 hours could have no changes of the level of L-FABP expression under the oxidative stress condition, western blotting analysis indicated 50 μmol/L baicalin treatment for 48 hours could increase up to about 80% for the level of L-FABP expression.

CONCLUSIONBaicalin was suggested to be able to enhance both L-FABP expression and activity of intracellular SOD and GSH, and therefore protected hepatocytes from oxidative stress.

Catalase ; metabolism ; Cell Line ; Fatty Acid-Binding Proteins ; metabolism ; Flavonoids ; pharmacology ; Glutathione ; metabolism ; Glutathione Peroxidase ; metabolism ; Hepatocytes ; metabolism ; Humans ; Hydrogen Peroxide ; Oxidative Stress ; drug effects ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; metabolism ; Superoxide Dismutase ; metabolism