Chloroplast genetic engineering, offers several advantages over nuclear transformation, including high level of gene expression, increased biosafety, remedying some limitations associated with nuclear genetic transformation, such as gene silencing and the stability of transformed genes. It is now regarded as an attractive new transgenic technique and further development of biotechnology in agriculture. In this article we reviewed the characteristics, applications of chloroplast genetic engineering and its promising prospects were discussed.
Biotechnology ; methods ; Chloroplasts ; genetics ; Genetic Engineering ; methods ; Plants, Genetically Modified ; genetics ; Transformation, Genetic

Objective To study the effect of time and temperature on the count of peripheral blood cells in newborns.Methods The peripheral blood of 100 cases of newborns who were admitted in the First Affiliated Hospital of Hebei North University from January 2016 to June 2016 were collected,and measured with Sysmex XS-500i automatic blood cell analyzer immediately,then were split into two parts and stored at 4 ℃ and room temperature respectively.The measurement was repeated in 24 and 48 h,and the groups were compared on WBC,RBC,PLT,HGB,IG％ and IG#.Results There were statistically significant differences between the instantly measuring result and those in 24 and 48 h under room temperature (P＜0.05).In case of 4 ℃,the instantly measuring result had no obvious difference with that in 24 h (P＞0.05),while statistical difference with that in 48 h (P＜0.05).Conclusion Newborns' peripheral blood can be stored at 4 ℃C,and the counting results will not be affected for WBC,RBC,PLT,HGB,IG％ and IG# within 24 h.

Objective: This study was designed to investigate the chemotherapy effect of high-dose tamoxifen(TAM) in the patients with multidrug-resistant (MDR-1) non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC). Methods: A total of 108 patients with refractory NSCLC were divided at random into four groups: A,B,C,and D. Each group contained 27 patients. A,B,and C were study group, D was control group. TAM was given from the third day before chemotherapy up to 11 days dose of TAM for group A: 40 mg, tid;group B: 60 mg, tid;group C: 80 mg, tid;group D: Simple chemotherapy. The dosage and schedule of the chemotherapy regimen was just same in every group: VDS 2.5 mg/m2 d1,d8, ADM 30 mg/m2 d2, DDP 80 mg/m2 d4,d5. The therapeutic effect of each group after having been performed 3 cyeles,and treatment rested 30 days was evaluated. Results:The response rates of the A,B,C,and D group were 33.3％ (9/27),48.1％ (13/27),55.6％ (15/27),25.9％ (7/27),respectively. The response rate of group C was the highest and group D was the lowest. Compared group A,B,C with group D,A∶ D P >0.05, the difference did not reach statistical significance;B∶ D P >0.05, the difference did not reach statistical significance;C∶ D P<0.05, the difference reached statistical significance. The major side effect of chemotherapy had not difference in every group. Only four patients of group C with TAM 240 mg/d developed psychiatric symptom, and TAM was abandoned after symptom automatic extinction. Conclusions: High dose TAM can be safely administered and may inhibit MDR-1 function. The dose of TAM become positive correlation to it's effect.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the response rate and adverse reactions of exemestane (a new aromatase inactivator) in the treatment of postmenopausal women with advanced breast cancer.

METHODSOne hundred and seventy-three patients with advanced breast cancer entered this study with two patients excluded because of postmenopausal time being less than one year. Therefore, 173 patients could be evaluated for adverse events and 171 patients could be evaluated for efficacy. Exemestane, 25 mg orally daily for 4 weeks as one cycle was given.

RESULTSIn the 171 patients evaluated for efficacy, 4 (2.3%) experienced a complete response (CR) and 40 (23.4%) a partial response (PR), with the overall response rate of 25.7%. Ninety patients (52.6%) had stable disease (SD), with 25 having SD for at least 24 weeks. The clinical benefit (CR + PR + SD > or = 24 weeks) was shown in 69 (40.4%) patients. Progressive disease (PD) was shown in 37 (21.6%) patients. The untreated patients had a higher objective response rate (33.8%) than the retreated ones (18.1%) with significant difference (P = 0.019 7). The response rates for soft-tissue, bone involvement and visceral metastasis were 32.8%, 23.9%, and 12.4% (P = 0.002). There was no significant difference in different ages, time of menopause, disease-free interval or receptor status (P > 0.05). Drug-related adverse events were gastric discomfort (17.9%), malaise (17.9%), nausea (13.9%), hot flushes (11.0%) and dysphoria (5.8%). Other side reactions and abnormal laboratory parameters were observed occasionally which were irrelevant.

CONCLUSIONExemestane can be used to treat postmenopausal women with advanced breast cancer giving only mild adverse reactions which are well tolerated.

Adult ; Aged ; Androstadienes ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Antineoplastic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Aromatase Inhibitors ; Breast Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; Enzyme Inhibitors ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Postmenopause

Objective:To study the safety and efficacy of doxofylline for treating the patients with ticagrelor caused dyspnea.Methods:A total 172 coronary artery disease (CAD) patients with ticagrelor caused dyspnea in our hospital from 2015-02 to 2016-07 were studied.The patients were divided into 2 groups:Intervention group,patients received doxofylline at 200 mg twice per day for 5 days and Control group,patients received placebo.n=86 in each group.Dyspnea remission rate of was recorded at 1 day after treatment;platelet aggregation rate before and after treatment,cardiac death,myocardial infarction (MI),stroke,bleeding and other adverse cardiovascular and cerebral events were compared at 6 month after treatment.Results:Compared with Control group,Intervention group had improved dyspnea remission rate at 1 day after treatment (93％ vs 63％),P＜0.05;platelet aggregation rate [before doxofylline application:(35.53±5.1)％ vs (35.16±4.6)％,after doxofylline application:(26.48±4.3)％ vs(25.98±4.7)％]adverse cardiovascular and cerebral events were similar between 2 groups before and after doxofylline application,P＞0.05.Conclusion:Doxofylline was effective for treating the patients with ticagrelor caused dyspnea,it does not affect platelet aggregation effect of ticagrelor.

The chronic effects of carboxyl-terminal polypeptide of Cardiotrophin-1 (CT-1-CP) on ventricular electrical remodeling were investigated. CT-1-CP, which contains 16 amino acids in sequence of the C-terminal of Cardiotrophin-1, was selected and synthesized, and then administered to Kunming mice (aged 5 weeks) by intraperitoneal injection (500 ng·g⁻¹·day⁻¹) (4 groups, n=10 and female: male=1:1 in each group) for 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks, respectively. The control group (n=10, female: male=1:1) was injected by physiological saline for 4 weeks. The epicardial monophasic action potential (MAP) was recorded by using a contact-type MAP electrode placed vertically on the left ventricular (LV) epicardium surface, and the electrocardiogram (ECG) signal in lead II was monitored synchronously. ECG intervals (RR, PR, QRS and QT) and the amplitude of MAP (Am), the maximum upstroke velocity (Vmax), as well as action potential durations (APDs) at different repolarization levels (APD30, APD50, APD70, and APD90) of MAP were determined and analyzed in detail. There were no significant differences in RR and P intervals between CT-1-CP-treated groups and control group, but the PR segment and the QRS complex were greater in the former than in the latter (F=2.681 and 5.462 respectively, P<0.05). Though QT interval and the corrected QT interval (QTc) were shorter in CT-1-CP-treated groups than in control group, the QT dispersion (QTd) of them was greater in the latter than in the former (F=3.090, P<0.05) and increased with the time. The ECG monitoring synchronously with the MAP showed that the compression of MAP electrode on the left ventricular epicardium induced performance similar to myocardium ischemia. As compared with those before chest-opening, the PR segment and QT intervals remained basically unchanged in control group, but prolonged significantly in all CT-1-CP-treated groups and the prolongation of QT intervals increased gradually along with the time of exposure to CT-1-CP. The QRS complex had no significant change in control group, one-week and three-week CT-1-CP-treated groups, but prolonged significantly in two-week and four-week CT-1-CP-treated groups. Interestingly, the QTd after chest-opening was significantly greater than that before chest-opening in control group (t=5.242, P<0.01), but decreased along with the time in CT-1-CP-treated groups. The mean MAP amplitude, Vmax and APD were greater in CT-1-CP-treated groups than those in control group, and became more obvious along with the time. The APD in four CT-1-CP-treat groups was prolonged mainly in middle to final repolarization phase. The difference among these groups became significant in middle phase (APD50) (F=6.076, P<0.01) and increased furthermore in late and final phases (APD70: F=10.054; APD90: F=18.691, P<0.01) along with the time of injection of CT-1-CP. The chronic action of CT-1-CP might induce the adapting alteration in cardiac conductivity and ventricular repolarization. The amplitude and the Vmax of the anterior LV epicardial MAP increased obviously, and the APD prolonged mainly in late and final phase of repolarization.
Animals ; Cytokines ; chemistry ; physiology ; Electrocardiography ; Heart Ventricles ; metabolism ; Mice ; Peptide Fragments ; physiology ; Ventricular Function

Cardiotrophin-1 (CT-1) activates a distinct form of cardiac muscle cell hypertrophy in which the sarcomeric units are assembled in series. The aim of the study was to determine the expression pattern of sarcomeric contractile protein α-actin, specialized cytoskeletal protein α-actinin and mitochondrial uncoupling protein-2 (UCP2) in myocardial remodeling induced by chronic exposure to CT-1. Kunming mice were intraperitoneally injected with carboxy-terminal polypeptide (CP) of CT-1 (CT-1-CP, 500 μg·kg(-1)· day(-1)) for 1, 2, 3 and 4 week (s), respectively (4 groups obtained according to the injection time, n=10 each, with 5 males and 5 females in each group). Those injected with physiological saline for 4 weeks served as controls (n=10, with 5 males and 5 females). The heart tissues of mice were harvested at 1, 2, 3 or 4 week (s). Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and Western blotting (WB) were used to detect the distribution and expression of sarcomeric α-actin, α-actinin and mitochondrial UCP2 in myocardial tissues. IHC showed that α-actin was mainly distributed around the nuclei of cardiomyocytes, α-actinin concentrated around the striae and UCP2 scattered rather evenly in the plasma. The expression of α-actin was slightly greater than that of α-actinin and UCP2 in the control group (IHC: χ(2)=6.125; WB: F=0.249, P>0.05) and it gradually decreased after exposure to CT-1-CP. There was no significant difference in the expression of α-actin between the control group and the CT-1-CP-treated groups (χ (2)=7.386, P>0.05). But Western blotting revealed significant difference in the expression of α-actin between the control group and the 4-week CT-1-CP-treated group (F=2.912; q=4.203, P<0.05). Moreover, it was found that the expression of α-actinin increased stepwise with the exposure time in CT-1-CP-treated groups and differed significantly between CT-1-CP-treated groups and the control group (ICH: χ (2)=21.977; WB: F=50.388; P<0.01). The expression of UCP2 was initially increased (WB: control group vs. 1- or 2-week group, q values: 5.603 and 9.995, respectively, P<0.01) and then decreased (WB: control group vs. 3-week group, q=4.742, P<0.01; control group vs. 4-week group, q=0.558, P>0.05). It was suggested that long-term exposure to CT-1-CP could lead to the alteration in the expression of sarcomeric α-actin, α-actinin and mitochondrial UCP2. The different expressions of sarcomeric structure proteins and mitochondrial UCP2 may be involved in myocardial remodeling.
Actinin ; biosynthesis ; Actins ; biosynthesis ; Animals ; Cardiomegaly ; chemically induced ; metabolism ; pathology ; Cytokines ; adverse effects ; pharmacology ; Female ; Gene Expression Regulation ; drug effects ; Ion Channels ; biosynthesis ; Male ; Mice ; Mitochondrial Proteins ; biosynthesis ; Myocardium ; metabolism ; pathology ; Sarcomeres ; metabolism ; pathology ; Uncoupling Protein 2

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Child ; Endoscopes ; Female ; Humans ; Laser Therapy ; methods ; Male ; Microsurgery ; methods ; Middle Aged ; Prognosis ; Skull Base Neoplasms ; mortality ; pathology ; surgery

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Autoantibodies ; blood ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Hypothyroidism ; epidemiology ; Iodine ; administration & dosage ; urine ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prevalence ; Thyroid Gland ; immunology ; Thyrotropin ; blood

Background:Chronic kidney disease (CKD) with moderate-to-severe renal dysfunction usually exhibits an irreversible course,and available treatments for delaying the progression to end-stage renal disease are limited.This study aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of the traditional Chinese medicine,Niaoduqing particles,for delaying renal dysfunction in patients with stage 3b-4 CKD.Methods:The present study was a prospective,randomized,double-blind,placebo-controlled,multicenter clinical trial.From May 2013 to December 2013,300 CKD patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) between 20 and 45 ml,min-1· 1.73 m-2,aged 18-70 years were recruited from 22 hospitals in 11 Chinese provinces.Patients were randomized in a 1∶1 ratio to either a test group,which was administered Niaoduqing particles 5 g thrice daily and 10 g before bedtime for 24 weeks,or a control group,which was administered a placebo using the same methods.The primary endpoints were changes in baseline serum creatinine (Scr) and eGFR after completion of treatment.The primary endpoints were analyzed using Student's t-test or Wilcoxon's rank-sum test.The present study reported results based on an intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis.Results:A total of 292 participants underwent the ITT analysis.At 24 weeks,the median (interquartile range) change in Scr was 1.1 (-13.0-24.1) and 11.7 (-2.6-42.9) μmol/L for the test and control groups,respectively (Z =2.642,P =0.008),and the median change in eGFR was-0.2 (-4.3-2.7) and-2.2 (-5.7-0.8) ml·min-1.1.73 m-2,respectively (Z =-2.408,P =0.016).There were no significant differences in adverse events between the groups.Conclusions:Niaoduqing particles safely and effectively delayed CKD progression in patients with stage 3b-4 CKD.This traditional Chinese medicine may be a promising alternative medication for patients with moderate-to-severe renal dysfunction.