OBJECTIVE To explore the antitumor effects of combined tanshinoneⅠ(TanⅠ),metformin (Met) and aspirin (Asp) on malignant melanoma in mice and the possible mechanisms. METHODS C57BL/6 mice were injected with 0.1 mL B16F10 cells(2.8×109L-1)to establish the subcutaneous trans-plantation tumor model at the right forelimbs axillary.Then,the mice were divided into 8 groups according to body mass,including model group, TanⅠgroup(20 mg·kg-1,ip),Asp group(210 mg·kg-1,orally in drinking water), Met group (70 mg·kg-1, orally in drinking water), Asp+Met group, TanⅠ+Asp group, TanⅠ+Met group and TanⅠ+Asp+Met group,10 mice in each group.Each mouse drank about 7 mL of water every day for a total of 18 d.The mouse body mass was measured every other day and the tumor diameter was calculated every day. The mice were sacrificed after treatment, the tumor mass was measured and the tumor inhibitory rates were counted. The histopathological changes of the liver and spleen were observed with HE staining. The percentage of lymphocytes in the tumor tissue such as CD8+T,CD4+T and Treg cells was detected by flow cytometry.Inflammatory factors such as interleukin-6 (IL-6),IL-1β and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were detected by ELISA. RESULTS The body mass (including tumor mass)of mice in different groups increased during the experiment,but that of TanⅠ+Asp+Met group increased more slower than in model group(P<0.01).At the end of the experiment,no lesions were seen in any liver or spleen tissue by pathological observation,and the number of survivors was 8/10(model group),8/10(TanⅠgroup),7/10(Asp group),7/10(Met group),8/10(TanⅠ+Asp group), 8/10 (TanⅠ+Met group), 7/10 (Asp+Met group) and 5/10 (TanⅠ+Asp+ Met group), respectively. Compared with model group,there were no obvious changes in tumor volume or tumor mass in TanⅠ, Asp and Met groups and other two-two joint groups,but the tumor volume and tumor mass in TanⅠ+Asp+ Met group were significantly decreased (P<0.01, P<0.05), and the tumor inhibitory rate in this group was 46.2%.Compared with the model group,the percentage of CD8+T cells increased(P<0.05) in TanⅠ+Asp+Met group,but there were no significant changes in other groups.The contents of IL-6, IL-1β and TNF-α in tumor tissue of TanⅠ+Met group were much higher than in model group(P<0.01, P<0.05,P<0.05)and the content of IL-6 increased in TanⅠ+Asp+Met group(P<0.01).CONCLUSION Combination of TanⅠ,Asp and Met can effectively inhibit the growth of melanoma in mice,which may be related to the increasing percentage of CD8+T lymphocytes and IL-6 in tumor tissue.However there are possibly some side effects.

Steroid receptor RNA activator ( SRA) is a type of long non-coding RNA ( lncRNA ).The abnormal transcription of lncRNA -SRA were detected in the uterine , ovarian and breast , and the lncRNA-SRA level in breast cancer is higher than that of general population.LncRNA-SRA expression may serve as a new prognostic marker for patients with ER-positive breast cancers.Thus, elucidating the molecular mecha-nisms of lncRNA -SRA is important to develop novel proper strategies using target lncRNA -SRA in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer.

OBJECTIVETo probe the relevance between depressive symptoms and hippocampal volume and its metabolites detected by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in depressed patients who were given electro-acupuncture (EA) combined with Fluoxetine before and after treatment.

METHODSA randomized, controlled trial was conducted. A total of 75 cases of mild or moderate depression were randomly assigned to two groups: the EA group which received EA combined with Fluoxetine; the Fluoxetine group which received Fluoxetine only as the control. The 17-item Hamilton Scale for Depression (HAMD) was used to assess the depression level. The relevance between the changes of the hippocampal volume and its metabolites, including N-acetyl aspartate (NAA)/creatine (Cr) and choline containing compounds (Cho)/Cr, and the reduction rate of the HAMD score before and after treatment of the two groups were analyzed.

RESULTSAt the end of the treatment, the therapeutic response rates were not statistically different between the two groups (73.53% for the Fluoxetine group and 83.33% for the EA group, respectively). Compared to that of the Fluoxetine group, a significant difference was shown in the EA group in the reduction rate of the HAMD scores (P<0.05). There was a negative correlation between the therapeutic effect and the HAMD scores before treatment in both groups of patients. There was no significant difference in the hippocampal volume before and after treatment. The NAA/Cr ratio of both groups increased after treatment, with the EA group increasing more. There was a negative correlation between the rate of change of the NAA/Cr after treatment and the HAMD scores before treatment in the two groups. In the Fluoxetine group, the Cho/Cr ratio showed no significant difference before and after treatment, which had no relevance with the HAMD scores before treatment either. Meanwhile, in the EA group, the Cho/Cr ratio showed a significant difference before and after treatment, which also had a positive relevance with the HAMD scores before treatment.

CONCLUSIONSThere was a significant improvement in the hippocampal metabolites in depressed patients who treated by EA combined with Fluoxetine. Those differences showed relevance with the HAMD scores before treatment.

Adult ; Affect ; drug effects ; physiology ; Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation ; therapeutic use ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Depression ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging ; drug therapy ; therapy ; Electroacupuncture ; Female ; Fluoxetine ; therapeutic use ; Hippocampus ; diagnostic imaging ; drug effects ; pathology ; physiology ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Organ Size ; drug effects ; physiology ; Physical Examination ; Prognosis ; Radiography ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVE: To study the application value of surface electromyography in children with dysphagia. METHODS: A total of 20 children with dysphagia were enrolled as the observation group, and 20 healthy children, matched for sex and age, were enrolled as the control group. Surface electromyography was used to record the electromyography integral values of the submental and infrahyoid muscle groups in the resting state and the state after water swallowing. The two groups were compared in terms of the electromyography integral values of the submental and infrahyoid muscle groups in the resting state and the state after swallowing 5 mL water. The observation group was observed in terms of the changes in the electromyography integral values of the submental and infrahyoid muscle groups after 1 month of rehabilitation treatment. A Spearman correlation analysis was used to evaluate the correlation of the degree of dysphagia with the electromyography integral values of the submental and infrahyoid muscle groups in the observation group. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between the two groups in the electromyography integral values of the submental and infrahyoid muscle groups in the resting state (P>0.05), while after water swallowing, the observation group had significantly higher electromyography integral values than the control group (P<0.05). The observation group had significant improvements in the clinical symptoms of dysphagia after treatment, with significant reductions in the electromyography integral values of the submental and infrahyoid muscle groups (P<0.05). The severity of dysphagia was positively correlated with the electromyography integral values of the submental and infrahyoid muscle groups (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS Surface electromyography is useful in the diagnosis and therapeutic effect evaluation for dysphagia in children.
Child ; Deglutition ; Deglutition Disorders ; Electromyography ; Humans

Objective:To investigate the clinical biological characteristics of EVI1 positive acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and its effect on early chemotherapy.Methods:The clinical and biological characteristics of 33 AML patients with EVI1 positive were retrospectively analyzed in 361 AML patients who were diagnosed and treated in our institute from March 2015 to July 2016,and the clinical and biological features,and rates of the induced remission were compared between the intermediate risk and poor risk with EVI1 positive AML,moreover,the influential factors on complete remission (CR) were analyzed.The expression of EVI1/ABL was tested in 32 healthy donors to confirm the abnormal threshold of EVI1 expression.Results:The definition of EVI1 positive was that the quantitative expression of EVI1/ABL was more than 8.0％.The 33 AML patients with EVI1 positive were found in 361 newly diagnosed AML patients,in which the female and male patients were 17 and 16 respectively,the median age was 45 (18-67) years,with a median follow-up of 6.6 (0.7-13.2) months.Intermediate karyotype was found in 17 patients (including 9 patients with normal karyotypes,1 patient with + 8);unfavorable karyotype was found in 14 patients [including 7 patients with-7/7q-,4 patients with t (v;11q23),3 patients with inv (3)/t (3;3),and 2 patients without mitotic figures].The rate of CR in the first induction chemotherapy was 42.4％,and the rate of total CR was 60.6％.According to the NCCN,16 intermediate risk patients and poor risk patients were divided,without favorable risk patients.The rate of CR in the first induction chemotherapy were 68.8％ and 17.6％ (P =0.005) in the intermediate risk and poor risk respectively,that of total CR were 81.3％ and 41.2％ (P =0.032),and the rates of relapse were 7.7％ and 14.3％.Univariable analysis revealed that unfavorable karyotype could affect the rate of CR in the first reduction chemotherapy and that of total CR (P =0.004,0.029).The poor risk patients had higher mortality (41.2％ vs.6.3％,P =0.039) and lower overall survival (OS) (P =0.012).Conclusion:EVI1 may be not an independent prognostic factor for the AML patients considering the appearance in the intermediate and poor risk patients.It predicts poor outcome in the EVI1 positive AML patients who have unfavorable karyocytes,such as-7/7q-,t (v;11 q23),and inv (3)/t (3;3),and also a low rate of both CR in the first induction chemotherapy and total CR.It also has a low rate of long-term survival and high mortality in the AML patients with EVI1 positive,who may benefit from allogeneic bone marrow transplantation as soon as possible.

Objective To investigate the effect of Toll-like receptor 5(TLR5) on the biological characteristics of human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs).Methods The lentiviral vectors expressing TLR5 were constructed and MSCs were infected with related lentiviruses .The overexpression of TLR5 in MSCs was verified by FACS analysis, RT-qPCR and Western blotting before its influence on cell proliferation , surface antigens and cell differentiation was evaluated.The biological function of TLR5 was verified by detecting cytokines IL-6 and IL-8 expression after TLR5 was activated by its agonist CBLB502.Results The results showed that the expression of mRNA and protein of TLR5 was upregulated in MSCs after infection of lentivirus carrying TLR5, but their proliferation , immunophenotypes and differentiation capacity were not influenced . Moreover, IL-6 and IL-8 expression was significantly increased when MSCs-TLR5 were treated with CBLB502 ( P <0.001 ).Conclusion The biological characteristics of MSCs were not affected after infection of lentivirus/TLR5, and the expressed TLR5 was functional in MSCs , which could activate the downstream signaling pathways and then regulate immune response.

Objective To investigate changes in the urinary metabolite profiles of children exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs)during critical brain development and explore their potential link with the intestinal microbiota. Methods Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was used to determine ten hydroxyl metabolites of PAHs(OH-PAHs)in 36-month-old children.Subsequently,37 children were categorized into low-and high-exposure groups based on the sum of the ten OH-PAHs.Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry was used to identify non-targeted metabolites in the urine samples.Furthermore,fecal flora abundance was assessed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing using Illumina MiSeq. Results The concentrations of 21 metabolites were significantly higher in the high exposure group than in the low exposure group(variable importance for projection>1,P<0.05).Most of these metabolites were positively correlated with the hydroxyl metabolites of naphthalene,fluorine,and phenanthrene(r=0.336-0.531).The identified differential metabolites primarily belonged to pathways associated with inflammation or proinflammatory states,including amino acid,lipid,and nucleotide metabolism.Additionally,these distinct metabolites were significantly associated with specific intestinal flora abundances(r=0.34-0.55),which were mainly involved in neurodevelopment. Conclusion Higher PAH exposure in young children affected metabolic homeostasis,particularly that of certain gut microbiota-derived metabolites.Further investigation is needed to explore the potential influence of PAHs on the gut microbiota and their possible association with neurodevelopmental outcomes.

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease involving eosinophils, mast cells, lymphocytes, neutrophils and other inflammatory cells and immune components. Chinese medicine has unique advantages in the treatment of asthma. In this study an ovalbumin (OVA)-induced asthma model in rats was used to verify the effect of the total sesquiterpenoids of Flos Farfarae (F.F.S) on asthma. The results show that the F.F.S has anti-asthmatic effects. Metabolomic analysis showed that 25 metabolites were changed in asthmatic rats, and 18 of them could be attributed to F.F.S. F.F.S. can block the over-activation of p65 NF-κB, preventing the transmission of pro-inflammatory factor signals to cells. F.F.S. thus could reduce the over-activation of inflammatory cells, inhibiting the secretion of inflammatory factors and further alleviating asthma inflammation. This study lays a foundation for further new drug research. The mechanism of F.F.S. on asthma needs further investigation.

Traditional Chinese medicinal materials (TCMMs) are the material basis of the traditional Chinese medicines (TCM) in the treatment of disease, and the inherent quality of the TCMMs are of crucial importance for the efficacy and safety of TCM. Most of the TCMMs are originated from the plants with complex chemical compositions, and the chemical diversity is inevitable. How to clarify the relationship between the chemical identity and the biological activity is the key point for quality control of TCMMs in the establishment of the quality standards. The components with great impact on the biological activities should be used as index compounds in the quality evaluation. In this study, based on the results in our previous studies, a research idea on the evaluation of quality difference of TCMMs is proposed. Its application and existing problems are also discussed.

Aim To investigate the changes in the proliferation and apoptosis of Siha cells after knocking down Rho GTPase-activating protein 30(ARHGAP30).Methods After designing specific shARHGAP30 primers and connecting them to the pLKO.1 vector,we transformed them into Escherichia coli competent cells,then co-transfecting them with lentiviral helper plasmids into HEK-293T cells.We collected and filtered cell supernatant to obtain the vi-rus to infect Siha cells.RT-qPCR and Western blot were used to detect knockdown efficiency,as well as changes in the expression of Bax and Bcl-2 after trans-fection.The CCK-8 method was employed to measure the proliferation level of cells after knockdown.Results After successful construction of a lentiviral plasmid with knockdown of the ARHGAP30 gene and establish-ment of stably transfected Siha cells,ARHGAP30 tran-scription and translation(P＜0.01)in Siha cells de-creased,Bax/Bcl-2 significantly decreased(P＜0.01),indicating decreased apoptosis and increased cell proliferation(P＜0.01).Conclusions This study suggests the involvement of ARHGAP30 in the proliferation and apoptosis of Siha cells,and regulating the ARHGAP30 gene may interfere with the occurrence and development of cervical cancer.