Objective To study adrenomedullin (AM) mRNA and protein expression level in myocardium of autoimmune myocarditis animal models induced by immunization of mice with lactobacillus casei cell wall element(LCWE). Methods Forty-five Balb/c male mice were randomly divided into experimental group (n = 30) and control group (n = 15), which were intraperitoneally injected with LCWE and phosphate buffered solution(PBS) at day 0,3,5 and 10,respectively. Sera and myocardium samples were gained 14,21 and 28 days after the first immunization. AM expression levels were determined by semiquantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction(RT- PCR) and immunchistochemistry,and mycardial histopathological lesions were observed. The anti- myosin antibodies in different stages were examined by an ELISA. Results There were myocardial necrosis or inflammatory infiltration in the experimental group, but myocardial lesions were not found in the control group. Anti - myosin antibodies were detected in sera of experimental mice,but not in control group. Immunchistochemistry findings demonstrated that AM expression level was higher in the experimental group than in the control group( P

Adolescent ; Adult ; Antigens, CD ; metabolism ; Antigens, CD1 ; metabolism ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; therapeutic use ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Histiocytosis, Langerhans-Cell ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Humans ; Infant ; Lectins, C-Type ; metabolism ; Male ; Mannose-Binding Lectins ; metabolism ; Middle Aged ; S100 Proteins ; metabolism ; Survival Rate ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo separate and identify the chemical constituents of Blumea riparia.

METHODThe compounds were separated and purified by repeated silica gel, Sephadex LH -20 column chromatographiy. The structures of these compounds isolated were identified by analysis of their spectral data, physical and chemical properties.

RESULTSix flavonoids were isolated from B. riparia. and their structures were identified as eriodictyol-7, 4'-dimethyl ether (1), eriodictyol-7, 3'-dimethyl ether (2), eriodictyol-7-methyl ether (3), quercetin-7, 3', 4'-trimethyl ether (4), tamarixetin (5), rhamnocitrin (6).

CONCLUSIONCompound 1-6 were obtained from B. riparia for the first time.

Asteraceae ; chemistry ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Flavonoids ; analysis ; isolation & purification ; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

OBJECTIVETo study the diagnosis and treatment of solid-pseudopapillary tumor of the pancreas (SPTP).

METHODSThe clinical course, surgical treatment, and pathological findings of 13 patients with SPTP were analyzed.

RESULTSSPTP has no specific clinical symptoms. The patients mostly have abdominal pain and space occupying symptoms. Laboratory investigations of some patients showed decreased pancreatic exocrine function and elevated CA242 of tumor markers. Ultrasonography and CT revealed large solid cystic tumor of pancreas. Digital subtraction angiography (DSA) showed lacked-blood-supply space occupying lesion. All tumors were resected successfully. The histological findings showed a large encapsulated tumor and the section of tumor surrounded by hemorrhagic and necrotic areas. The solid areas are composed of small and medium size tumor cells, which had no obvious atypia. Psudopapillary structures were found in the cystic degeneration areas. Immunohistochemically, most of the tumors were positive for alpha-antitrypsin (alpha-AT) and vimentin and negative for chromogrannin. No patients recurrence during the follow-up.

CONCLUSIONSMost of SPTP can be removed successfully after diagnosis. The tumor and local infiltration tissue should be removed completely, and the long-term prognosis of SPTP is good.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Carcinoma, Papillary ; diagnosis ; pathology ; surgery ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pancreas ; pathology ; surgery ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; pathology ; surgery ; Retrospective Studies

This study was aimed to investigate the effect of clostridium difficile toxin A (Tcd A) on proliferation of K562 cells and its mechanism. The proliferative activity of K562 cells exposed to Tcd A was tested by MTT assay; cell cycle distribution and mitochondrial membrane potential were analyzed by flow cytometry; the protein expression of cytochrome C and DNA fragmentation were observed by immunohistochemistry staining and agarose gel electrophoresis respectively. The results indicated that Tcd A inhibited proliferation of K562 cells in a time-and concentration-dependent manner. Cells were arrested at G(0)/G(1) phase. Peak of apoptosis appeared. The protein expression of cytochrome C increased as compared with control group (p < 0.05). Agarose gel electrophoresis of DNA from K562 treated with Tcd A revealed a "ladder" pattern. It is concluded that clostridium difficile toxin A can inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis of K562 cells. The mechanism may be in relation to decrease of mitochondrial membrane potential and the release of cytochrome C from mitochondria matrix.
Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Bacterial Toxins ; pharmacology ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Enterotoxins ; pharmacology ; Humans ; K562 Cells

This study was purposed to investigate the growth inhibition and apoptosis-inducing effect of Clostridium difficile toxin A (TcdA) on the leukemia cell line K562. The proliferative activity of K562 cells exposed to Tcd A was tested by MTT assay, cell apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry; immunocytochemistry and colorimetric assay were employed to detect the protein expressions of BCL-2/BAX and the activity of Caspase-3, respectively. The results indicated that the proliferation of K562 cells was inhibited in a time-and dose-dependent manner after exposure to Tcd A for 24, 48 and 72 hours, the cells displayed the typical apoptotic, morphological changes, the expression of BCL-2 protein was down-regulated but the expression of BAX protein was signficantly increased, compared with control group (p < 0.05). In addition, caspase-3 was activated in a concentration-dependent manner. It is concluded that Tcd A inhibits cell growth of K562 by inducing apoptosis, and the up-regulation of BAX protein and activation of caspase-3 may play important roles in these processes.
Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Bacterial Toxins ; pharmacology ; Caspase 3 ; metabolism ; Enterotoxins ; pharmacology ; Gene Expression Regulation, Leukemic ; Humans ; K562 Cells ; drug effects ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; metabolism ; bcl-2-Associated X Protein ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo explore the effect of perioperative nutrition support on nutritional condition and complications of the patients with postoperative pancreatic head cancer.

METHODSThirty four patients received perioperative nutrition support, including enteral nutrition and parenteral nutrition (treatment group). Forty eight patients received routine postoperative parenteral nutrition (control group). According to the operative method, these two groups were further divided into two sub-groups: (1) pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) subgroup, including 13 cases from treatment group, and 24 cases from control group; (2) palliative operation subgroup, including 21 cases from treatment group, and 24 cases from control group. Body weight, total protein (TP), serum albumin (ALB), and the complications after operation were compared.

RESULTSThe concentrations of ALB and TP in the treatment group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P< 0.05). Body weight and TP of the patients received PD in the treatment group were significantly better than those of the control group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONPerioperative nutrition support can improve postoperative nutritional condition and reduce the postoperative complications in patients with pancreatic head cancer.

Adult ; Aged ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Enteral Nutrition ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nutritional Support ; methods ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; surgery ; therapy ; Pancreaticoduodenectomy ; Parenteral Nutrition ; Postoperative Complications ; prevention & control

AIMTo develop a sensitive and rapid HPLC method for the determination of tanshinone IIA (TS) in rat plasma and to study its pharmacokinetics in rats.

METHODSTS and 4-chlorodiphenyl (internal standard) were extracted from plasma with ethyl acetate. After liquid-liquid extraction, the sample was analyzed by HPLC with YMC C18 column (5 microns, 150 mm x 3.0 mm ID). The mobile phase consisted of acetontrile-water-acetic acid (74:26:1) at the flow rate of 0.3 mL.min-1, the UV detection wave length was 270 nm.

RESULTSThe calibration curve was linear (r = 0.9981) in the range from 0.05 to 6.40 mg.L-1. The lowest detectable concentration was 0.05 mg.L-1. The recoveries at the concentration of 0.05, 1.60 and 6.40 mg.L-1 were 98.9%, 102.1% and 100.4%, respectively. The inter- and intra-day RSDs were all less than 5%.

CONCLUSIONThis method is proved to be rapid, precise and reliable enough to be applied to the pharmacokinetics studies of TS in rats after a single dose of 15 mg.kg-1 by oral administration.

Animals ; Anti-Infective Agents ; blood ; pharmacokinetics ; Area Under Curve ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Diterpenes, Abietane ; Drug Stability ; Male ; Phenanthrenes ; blood ; pharmacokinetics ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Background:The prognostic significance of ABO blood type for lymphoma is largely unknown.We evaluated the prognostic role of ABO blood type in patients with extranodal natural killer (NK)/T-cell lymphoma (ENKTL).Methods:We retrospectively analyzed clinical data of 697 patients with newly diagnosed ENKTL from three cancer centers.The prognostic value of ABO blood type was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox proportional hazard models.The prognostic values of the International Prognostic Index (IPI) and the Korean Prognostic Index (KPI) were also evaluated.Results:Compared with patients with blood type O,those with blood type non-O tended to display elevated baseline serum C-reactive protein levels (P =0.038),lower rate of complete remission (P =0.005),shorter progression-free survival (PFS,P ＜ 0.001),and shorter overall survival (OS,P =0.001).Patients with blood type O/AB had longer PFS (P ＜ 0.001) and OS (P =0.001) compared with those with blood type A/B.Multivariate analysis demonstrated that age ＞60 years (P ＜ 0.001),mass ＞5 cm (P =0.001),stage Ⅲ/Ⅳ (P ＜ 0.001),elevated serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels (P =0.001),and blood type non-O were independent adverse predictors of OS (P =0.001).ABO blood type was found to be superior to both the IPI in discriminating patients with different outcomes in the IPI low-risk group and the KPI in distinguishing between the intermediate-to-low-and high-to-intermediate-risk groups.Conclusions:ABO blood type was an independent predictor of clinical outcome for patients with ENKTL.

Objective To explore the effect of the scene defect teaching on the training of clinical nurses.Methods Totals of 480 nurses were randomly divided into intervention group ( n =235 ) and control group (n=245 ).Traditional training model was adopted in the control group including lessons,demonstration of nursing skills and practice.The scene defect teaching model was adopted in the intervention group.The teaching effect was compared between the two groups before and after intervention.Results There was significantly difference in operating skill and critical thinking between the two groups after 3 months of intervention ( t =7.76,9.14,7.92,10.21,14.33,respectively ; P ＜ 0.05 ).Patients' satisfaction of the intervention group was significantly higher than that of the control group (t =7.04,9.33,5.86,9.06,4.43,4.05,3.85,7.08,respectively;P ＜0.05).Conclusions The scene defect teaching model can enhance the learning interest,promote the nurses to think and solve the problems in a critical way,and it also improve the degree of satisfaction of patients.