Current study was carried out to optimize the priming condition of Oldenlandia diffusa seeds, and improve germination rate and seed vigor of 0. diffusa seeds under drought conditions. Uniform design was used to optimize the concentration and priming time of three priming materials (PEG, KNO3, GA3). Different concentrations of polyethylene glycol (PEG) was used to simulate drought stress. The seedling was cultured in 1/4 Hoagland medium for 30 d. The results showed that seed priming treatment with 366 mg x kg(-1) GA3 for 1h resulted in significant increase in germination rate, germination index, vigor, root length, plant height and biomass of O. diffusa seeds under drought stress (15% PEG), while seed priming with 3.0% KNO3 for 1 h showed little effect on germination and growth of O. diffusa seeds under drought stress. Seed priming treatment with appropriate GA3 concentration and priming time could enhance seed germination and drought resistance of O. diffusa in seedling stage.
Droughts ; Germination ; Oldenlandia ; growth & development ; physiology ; Seedlings ; growth & development ; physiology ; Seeds ; growth & development ; physiology ; Stress, Physiological

OBJECTIVETo investigate the role of Xuebijing injection(XBJI, traditional Chinese medicine), in inhibiting TLR4--NF-kappaB--IL-1beta pathway of myocardial hypoxia/reoxygenation in rats.

METHODSThirty six male SD rats (280 +/- 30) g were randomly divided into six groups (n = 6): normal group (N group), balanced perfusion group (BP group), model group (M group), low dose XBJI group (XBJI(L) group), middle dose XBJI group (XBJI(M) group), high dose XBJI group (XBJI(H) group). By Langendorff isolated heart perfusion device to establish the model of myocardial hypoxia/reoxygenation in rats. ELISA was used to detect the concentration of interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta); Western blot was used to detect the expression of nuclear factor kappa B p65 (NF-kappaB p65) protein and toll like receptor 4 (TLR4) protein; and RT-PCR to determine the expression of NF-kappaB p65 mRNA and TLR4 mRNA;To observe microstructure changes of hypoxia/reoxygenation myocardial by light microscopy.

RESULTSCompared with M group, the IL-1beta concentration, NF-kappaB p65 and TLR4 protein,NF-kappaB p65 and TLR4 mRNA of XBJIL group, XBJI(M) group, XBJI(H) group expression decreased in varying degrees,and decreased most obviously all in XBJI(M) group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01); Myocardical structural damage was serious in M group, and improved after treatment XBJI, the most obvious was the XBJI(M).

CONCLUSIONDifferent dose of XBJI can inhibit TLR4--NF-kappaB--IL-1beta signal transduction pathway and reduce several inflammatory reaction after myocardial hypoxia/reoxygenation injury, the 4 ml/100 ml of XBJI is the best.

Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Heart ; drug effects ; Inflammation ; Interleukin-1beta ; metabolism ; Male ; Myocardium ; pathology ; RNA, Messenger ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reperfusion Injury ; drug therapy ; Signal Transduction ; Toll-Like Receptor 4 ; metabolism ; Transcription Factor RelA ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo explore the effect of acupoint massage dominant early comprehensive intervention on the prognosis of premature infants with brain injury.

METHODSTotally 210 premature infants with brain injury were assigned to the intervention group (112 cases) and the control group (98 cases). All patients received routine therapy (medicinal + routine care instructions). Patients in the intervention group additionally received acupoint massage. Those with abnormal early motion received physical sports treatment. Those with upper limbs dysfunction or with fine movement disorders received occupational therapy. Premature infants' development quotient (DQ) was performed at corrected age of 6 and 12 months by using neuropsychological development examination table for 0 - 6 years old children. The incidence of cerebral palsy was statistically calculated.

RESULTSAt corrected age of 6 months, DQ of gross motor, fine motor, language three functional areas was higher in the intervention group than in the control group with significant difference (P < 0.05). At corrected age of 12 months, DQ of gross motor, fine motor, language, social and adaptive capacities was higher in the intervention group than in the control groupwith significant difference (P < 0.05). The incidence of cerebral palsy was 4.46% (5/112) in the intervention group and 12.24% (12/98) in the control group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONAcupoint massage dominant early comprehensive intervention could obviously improve the intelligence development level and lower the incidence of cerebral palsy in premature infants with brain injury.

Acupuncture Points ; Brain Injuries ; therapy ; Cerebral Palsy ; prevention & control ; Early Medical Intervention ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Male ; Massage ; Prognosis

Objective To study the relationship between TGF-?signaling pathway and pathogenesis of gastric carcinoma.Methods The expression of TGF-?RⅠ,TGF-?RⅡand Smad4 protein was deter- mined by immunohistochemistry in normal gastric mucosa(26 cases),intestinal metaplasia(22 cases),dysplasia (20 cases)and gastric carcinoma(43 cases).Results The positive expression rate of TGF-?RⅠ,TGF-?RⅡand Smad4 decreased following the malignant degree in gastric tissues(P

Objective :To analyze influence of probucol combined atorvastatin on hemodynamics and blood lipids in patients with large artery cerebral infarction (LACI).Methods :A total of 92 LACI patients were randomly and e-qually divided into atorvastatin group and combined treatment group (received atorvastatin combined probucol ) , both groups were treated for six months .Therapeutic effect etc indexes before and after treatment were compared between two groups .Results :Compared with atorvastatin group after six-month treatment ,there were significant reductions in levels of TC [ (4.57 ± 0.82) mmol/L vs.(3.23 ± 0.71) mmol/L] ,TG [ (1.37 ± 0.45) mmol/L vs. (1.02 ± 0.34) mmol/L] ,LDL-C [ (2.52 ± 0.83) mmol/L vs .(1.50 ± 0.54) mmol/L] ,oxidized low density lipo-protein [ox-LDL ,(78.36 ± 14.05) mg/L vs.(58.37 ± 12.00) mg/L] ,left and right middle cerebral artery pulsatili-ty index (PI) [left :(0.84 ± 0.25) vs.(0.74 ± 0.14) ,right :(0.84 ± 0.23) vs.(0.74 ± 0.16)] and inflammatory factors ,and significant rise in total effective rate (69.57% vs.89.13% P＝0.020) ,left and right middle cerebral systolic blood flow velocity (Vs) [left :(87.45 ± 15.58) cm/s vs.(95.48 ± 18.34) cm/s ,right :(89.27 ± 14.36) cm/s vs.(96.18 ± 14.03) cm/s] and mean blood flow velocity (Vm) [left :(60.90 ± 16.19) cm/s vs .(76.19 ± 17.40) cm/s ,right :(62.08 ± 17.23) cm/s vs .(91.38 ± 19.26) cm/s] in combined treatment group ,P＜0.05 or ＜0.01. There was no significant difference in drug adverse reactions incidence rate between two groups , P＝1. 000 .Conclu-sion :Therapeutic effect of probucol combined atorvastatin is significantly better than that of pure atorvastatin on large artery cerebral infarction .It can more significantly improve blood lipids and intracranial artery hemodynamics with anti-inflammatory effects .

OBJECTIVETo study the antiproliferation effect on HepG2 cells and its underlying mechanism of the active chemical composition of the Viburnum Odoratissimum.

METHODS3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) reduction assay and trypan blue dye exclusion assay were used to assess the effect of vibsane-type diterpenoids on the proliferation of various tumor cells. Alterations in cell cycle and apoptosis were determined by flowcytometry. The enzymatic activity of caspase-3/7 was measured by Apo-ONE homogeneous Caspase-3/7 Assay kit.

RESULTSCompound 1 #, a vibsane-type diterpenoid, was found to significantly inhibit the growth of HepG2 cells by anticancer proliferation activity screening. It was demonstrated that the modified groups on side chain coupled to C11 site affected the cell growth-inhibition activity of compounds by structure-activity analysis. In addition, HepG2 cell line was most sensitive to compound 1 #, which induced growth arrest of HepG2 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Study on the mechanisms underlying these effects indicated that compound 1 # induced significant G0/G1 phase arrest of HepG2 cells in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. Meanwhile, It was found that higher concentrations of compound (5-10 micromol/L) caused evident increase in the unmber of apoptotic cells and dose-dependent activation of caspase-3/7.

CONCLUSIONVibsane-type diterpenoids could significantly inhibit the growth of HCC HepG2 cells. Induction of cell cycle arrest and apoptosis may play important roles in their anticancer effects.

Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Cell Cycle Checkpoints ; drug effects ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Diterpenes ; pharmacology ; Hep G2 Cells ; Humans ; Viburnum ; chemistry

Purpose To induce the differentiation of hu-man umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells ( HUCMSCs) into annulus fibrosus (AF) cells by in vitro co-culture technique and to investigate the morphological and histological changes of HUCMSCs after co-culture. Methods HUCMSCs and AF cells were isolated from the normal neonatal umbilical cord and New Zealand white rabbit. Transwell six-well plates were used for co-culture with the cells seeded at the ratio of 1 ∶ 1, HUCMSCs cultured alone served as controls. After two weeks of co-culture, morphological changes were observed by inverted microscope. Real-time PCR was used to detect the expression of typeⅠcolla-gen, aggrecan and SOX-9 gene in HUCMSCs. Immunocyto-chemical staining and toluidine blue staining were used to detect the synthesis of cell matrix such as type Ⅰ collagen and aggre- can. Results The morphology of HUCMSCs in control group was long-fusiform, the morphology of HUCMSCs in co-culture gradually became short-fusiform or polygonal, and began to ap-pear synapse, showing the morphological features of AF-like cells. Real-time PCR results showed that typeⅠcollagen, aggre-can and SOX-9 mRNA were significantly increased in the co-cul-ture group (P＜0. 05). Immunocytochemical staining and tolui-dine blue staining showed that type I collagen and aggrecan were positive, respectively. Conclusion In vitro co-culture technol-ogy can induce HUCMSCs to differentiate into AF-like cells, which is expected to provide a new kind of seed cells for the bio-logical treatment of degenerative disc disease.

The experiment is designed to explore pathological festures and material basis of pseadoanaphylactoid reaction induced by notoginseng total saponin preparation. Mouse pseadoanaphylactoid reaction was used, 50 ICR mice were randomly assigned to control group, positive medicine group, notoginseng total saponin preparation low-dose group, notoginseng total saponin preparation middle-dose group, notoginseng total saponin preparation high-dose group on average. They are treated by intravenous injection of test substance solutions containing 0.4% Evans blue (EB). 30 min later, scores of ear blue staining and quantitation of ear EB exudation were recorded. Another two experiment were repeated in the same way excluding EB, just to. detect the related cytokines in serum using ELISA. We found that the scores of pseudoanaphylactoid reaction in notoginseng total saponin preparation injection middle-dose group and high-dose group was evidently higher than that in control group, suggesting that notoginseng total saponin preparation injection may be can lead to pseadoanaphylactoid reaction. HE staining showed that pseadoanaphylactoid reaction induced by notoginseng total saponin preparation injection is related to inflammation. Histamine, VEGF and TNF-α levels in notoginseng total saponin preparation middle-dose group and high-dose group significantly increased (P < 0.05, P < 0.01) than control group and showed a dose-dependent manner as well as consistent with the degree of ear blue dye. While IL-6 and IL-10 content did not increase significantly in notoginseng total saponin preparation low-dose group and middle-dose group, but they significantly higher than control group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01) when it increased to quadrupe clinical concentrations, eight times of the clinical dose. So pseadoanaphylactoid reaction caused by notoginseng total saponin preparation may be related to histamine, VEGF, TNF-α, and it is possible that IL-6 and IL-10 can play a role when pseadoanaphylactoid reaction achieve a certain high degree.
Anaphylaxis ; chemically induced ; Animals ; Capillary Permeability ; drug effects ; Cytokines ; blood ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Drug Hypersensitivity ; etiology ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred ICR ; Panax notoginseng ; adverse effects ; chemistry ; Saponins ; adverse effects

Objective To establish a QAMS method for content determination of six compositions (chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, cryptochlorogenin acid, isochlorogenic acid A, isochlorogenic acid C and loganin) from Lonicerae Japonicae Caulis; To verify the feasibility and applicability of this method in quality control of Lonicerae Japonicae Caulis. Methods Chlorogenic acid was set as internal reference substance. The HPLC analysis was performed on a Waters Symmetry C18 column (4.6 mm × 250 mm, 5 μm) with a mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile and 0.4% phosphoric acid solution in gradient elution manner at a flow rate of 1 mL/min. The column temperature was maintained at 35 ℃, and the detection wavelength was set at 327 nm for chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, cryptochlorogenin acid, isochlorogenic acid A, isochlorogenic acid C and 236 nm for loganin. Results The relative correction factors of caffeic acid, cryptochlorogenin acid, isochlorogenic acid A, isochlorogenic acid C and loganin were established; there was no obvious difference between calculated value of QAMS and measured value of external standard method. Conclusion The quality control mode of QAMS can be used for multi-index synchronization quality evaluation of the six compositions from Lonicerae Japonicae Caulis.

OBJECTIVEThe purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility of fluorescent 2-deoxyglucose analog, 2-[N-(7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1, 3-diaxol-4-yl)amino]-2-deoxyglucose (2-NBDG), that could be taken up by breast cancer cells highly expressing glucose transporter 1 (GLUT-1). The purpose of this study was to clarify if a fluorescent 2-deoxyglucose analog, 2-[N-(7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1, 3-diaxol-4-yl)amino]-2-deoxyglucose (2-NBDG), can be taken up by breast cancer cells highly expressing glucose transporter 1 (GLUT-1), and to assess whether it can be used as a targeting imaging agent.

METHODSThe expressions of GLUT-1 mRNA and protein in breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells were detected by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry, respectively. The difference of GLUT-1 protein expression between breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells and MCF-7 cells was compared by Western blot. Secondly, MDA-MB-231 cells which were grown in 6-well plates were incubated with 2-NBDG, and the result of 2-NBDG uptake was analyzed by fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry. The difference of 2-NBDG absorption in MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cells was compared by flow cytometry.

RESULTSThe results of RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry confirmed that MDA-MB-231 cells highly expressed GLUT-1. Furthermore, Western blot revealed that GLUT-1 expression of MDA-MB-231 cells (0.946 ± 0.007) was higher than that in the MCF-7 cells (0.833 ± 0.010). Fluorescence microscopic and flow cytometric analysis showed that 2-NBDG was uptaken rapidly by MDA-MB-231 cells. Addition of 50 mmol/L D-glucose to the media with 2-NBDG reduced its uptake by 46.0%. Moreover, flow cytometry indicated that the fluorescence intensity of MDA-MB-231 cells (25.10 ± 0.57) was higher than that of MCF-7 cells (10.12 ± 0.62) when incubated with 2-NBDG for 20 minutes.

CONCLUSIONThe preliminary data clearly demonstrate that 2-NBDG is taken up and accumulated in breast cancer cells that highly express GLUT-1, and may be used as an optical probe for glucose uptake in hypermetabolic malignant cells.

4-Chloro-7-nitrobenzofurazan ; analogs & derivatives ; pharmacokinetics ; Blotting, Western ; Breast Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Deoxyglucose ; analogs & derivatives ; pharmacokinetics ; Female ; Flow Cytometry ; Glucose Transporter Type 1 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; RNA, Messenger ; metabolism ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction