Adolescent ; Adult ; Carcinoma, Small Cell ; pathology ; therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; pathology ; therapy

Objective: To observe the clinical efficacy of acupuncture plus subtle adjustment manipulation of the cervical spine for peripheral facial paralysis.Methods: A total of 60 patients with peripheral facial paralysis who met the screening criteria were selected and divided into two groups according to the method of random number table, with 30 cases in each group. The patients in the acupuncture plus tuina group received routine treatment of acupuncture and subtle adjustment manipulation of the cervical spine, while the patients in the acupuncture group only received the same acupuncture treatment. Assessment of peripheral facial paralysis with integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine was adopted for rehabilitation assessment. Results: The total effective rate of the acupuncture plus tuina group was 93.3％, while that of the acupuncture group was 70.0％, and there was a significant between-group difference (P<0.05). After treatment, the total scores of rehabilitation assessment in both groups were significantly higher than those before treatment (both P<0.05), and the score of the acupuncture plus tuina group was significantly higher than that of the acupuncture group (P<0.05). Conclusion: The treatment of acupuncture plus subtle adjustment manipulation of the cervical spine can improve the function of facial muscles in patients with peripheral facial paralysis, and its clinical efficacy is better than that of the acupuncture treatment alone.

The effect of C-terminal region residues on the substrate specificity of a novel cyclic imide hydrolase (CIH), a recombinant cyclic imide hydrolase (CIH293), and its mutants deleted or substituted at C-terminus (CIH291, CIH290, KK292-293EE) was reported. The substrate specificity and kinetic parameters of the mutants were analyzed by both the spectrophotometric assay and high-performance liquid chromatography. Results show that the substrate specificity of mutants was not obviously changed, but slightly low for the affinity between the substrate and enzyme, compared with the wild-type enzyme, CIH293. In conclusion, the last three residues of CIH293 play an important role for the enzyme activity.

The aim of this study is to prepare hyaluronic acid (HA) modified core-shell liponanoparticles (pHA-LCS-NPs) as gene delivery system and investigate its gene transfection efficiency in human retinal pigment epithelium (ARPE-19) cells in vitro. The pHA-LCS-NPs was prepared by firstly hydrating dry lipid film with CS-NPs suspension to get LCS-NPs, then modifying the lipid bilayer with HA by amidation reaction between HA and dioleoyl phosphatidylethanolamine (DOPE). Its morphology, particle size and zeta potential were investigated. XTT assay was used to evaluate the cell safety of different vectors in vitro. The gene transfection efficiency of pHA-LCS-NPs modified with different contents of HA was investigated in ARPE-19 cells with green fluorescent protein (pEGFP) as the reporter gene. The results showed that the obtained pHA-LCS-NPs exhibited a clear core-shell structure with the average particles size of (214.9 +/- 7.2) nm and zeta potential of (-35 +/- 3.7) mV. The 24 h cumulative release of gene from pHA-LCS-NPs was less than 30%. After 48 h incubation, gene transfection efficiency of pHA-LCS-NPs/pEGFP was 1.81 times and 3.75 times higher than that of CS-NPs/pEGFP and naked pEGFP, respectively. Also no obvious cytotoxicity was observed on pHA-LCS-NPs. It suggested that the pHA-LCS-NPs might be promising non-viral gene delivery systems with high efficiency and low cytotoxicity.
Cell Survival ; Gene Transfer Techniques ; Genes, Reporter ; Genetic Vectors ; Green Fluorescent Proteins ; metabolism ; Humans ; Hyaluronic Acid ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Lipids ; Nanoparticles ; Particle Size ; Phosphatidylethanolamines ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Retinal Pigment Epithelium ; drug effects ; Transfection

Objective To study the relationship between Couagen Ⅰ,MMP-2,TIMP-2 gene expression and atrial fibrosis during heart failure(HF)in dog.Methods Fourteen dogs were used and randomized into HF induced by ventricular tachypacing and control group.Burst atrial pacing was used to induce atrial fibrillation(AF).And the mRNA and protein level of collagen Ⅰ,MMP-2 and TIMP-2 were detected by RT-PCR and immunohistochemical technique.Tissue samples were stained with Mallory trichrome.Results Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) decreased from (67.4? 6.0)% to (29.2?7.8)%,the inducible rate of AF(7/7 vs 2/7) and sustained AF(5/7 vs 0/7) increased and duration of AF stabeatrial fibrillation(SAF) [(462.12?181.43)s vs(0.57?0.57) s] prolonged significantly in HF group.Atrial fibrous tissue content and atrial size of HF group were significantly greater than the controls dogs(268.8% in lefe atria and 190.3% in right atria).The mRNA and protein level of collagen Ⅰ(56.2% and 132.2% in lefe atria,37.4% and 78.0% in right atria)and MMP-2 (100.0% and 115.7% in lefe atria,65.7% and 96.8% in right atria) increased evidently in both lefe atria and right atria,TIMP-2 mRNA decreased 46.3% in lefe atria and had no change in right atria and that its protein had no change in both atrium,whereas the ratio of MMP-2/ TIMP-2 of mRNA and protein increased markedly in both lefe atria (285.3% and 148.8%)and right atria (106.1% and 134.7%)of HF group.SAF had a positive correlation with fibrosis and the gene level of collagen Ⅰ in lefe atria,the ratio of MMP-2/TIMP-2 had a positive correlation with fibrosis and collagen Ⅰ gene level in lefe atria during HF.Conclusions The changes of collagen Ⅰ,MMP-2 and TIMP-2 gene expression appear to be a molecular mechanism of AF, and the molecular remodeling of collagen Ⅰ induced by regulation unbalance of MMP-2/TIMP-2 appears to be an important mechanism of atrial fibrosis during HF.

Multi-drug resistance (MDR) is one of the major obstacles to successful chemotherapy for tumors. Traditional Chinese medicine that can reverse MDR has been intensely studied because of its low toxicity, high efficacy and multi-targets. In recent years, more and more traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been found to be effective in reversing MDR. In this review, we analyze the current status of traditional Chinese medicine on reversing tumor MDR and describe recent progress on it.
Drug Resistance, Multiple ; drug effects ; Drug Resistance, Neoplasm ; drug effects ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Neoplasms ; drug therapy

Objective To observe the expression of STEAP4 gene(a novel obesity-related gene) during the period of human preadipocyte differentiation and to explore the relationship between the STEAP4 gene expression and adipocytes differentiation,adipogenesis.Methods Human preadipocytes were cultured and differentiated into the matured adipocytes in vitro.Adipocytes morphology and lipid accumulation were observed during this process.Total RNA was extracted from adipocytes at various time points (preadipocyte,Day 0,Day 4,Day 6,Day 8,Day 11,Day 14,and Day 17) and the level of STEAP4 mRNA expression was measured by fluorescent real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase-polyme-rase chain reaction(RT-PCR).Results The level of STEAP4 mRNA expression remained high in preadipocytes.In the presence of differentiation medium (Day 4),there was a transient upregulation in the expression of STEAP4 gene.After that,with the human preadipocytes being differentiated into matured adipocytes,the expression of STEAP4 mRNA was downregulated and reached the lowest level in fully differentiated adipocytes.There was a significant difference between any 2 detected phases in the level of STEAP4 mRNA expression (Pa

Animals ; Hepatocytes ; metabolism ; Humans ; Lipoproteins ; metabolism ; Protein Binding ; Proteins ; metabolism

Objective: To observe the clinical efficacy of acupuncture plus bloodletting therapy in treating insomnia in people with blood stasis constitution. Methods: Seventy-two patients were randomized into a treatment group and a control group by using the random number table, 36 cases each. The treatment group received acupuncture plus bloodletting therapy, while the control group was intervened by oral administration of estazolam. One-week treatment was taken as a course, for 3 successive courses in total. A follow-up study was conducted 3 months later. The Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) was evaluated before and after the intervention, as well as in the follow-up. The clinical efficacies were also compared. Results: The total effective rate was 88.9% in the treatment group versus 83.3% in the control group, and the between-group difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). After the intervention, the PSQI scores dropped significantly in both groups (both P<0.05); the between-group difference in PSQI score was statistically significant (P<0.05). The follow-up study showed that the between-group difference in the global score of PSQI was statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusion: Acupuncture plus bloodletting therapy can produce a more significant efficacy than oral administration of estazolam in treating insomnia in people with blood stasis constitution.

5R-5-hydroxytriptolide (LLDT-8) is a new drug candidate which is in clinical trial treating rheumatoid arthritis. Polymorph screening of the compound was carried out in this study. Polymorph of LLDT-8 was prepared by evaporative crystallization and antisolvent crystallization methods and was characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (p-XRD), infrared spectrometry (IR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TG). It was found that p-XRD patterns, DSC curves, TG curves and IR spectra of the LLDT-8 samples prepared by the above recrystallization methods were all consistent. The 20 of main peaks in the p-XRD patterns appeared at 7.58 degrees, 8.14 degrees, 8.66 degrees, 15.46 degrees, 16.46 degrees, 29.54 degrees, 31.16 degrees and 38.26 degrees, while the infrared absorption peaks appeared at 3 471.3, 2 962.2, 2 887.0, 1 762.6, 1 677.8, 1 432.9, 1 365.4, 1 247.7, 1 080.0, 1 031.7 and 877.5 cm(-1). LLDT-8 was decomposed at 271.2 degrees C based on the determination from DSC and TG. It was showed in single crystal X-ray diffraction study that LLDT-8 crystal was monoclinic with the space group being P2 (1). The cell parameters were found to be: a = 11.460 1 (11), b = 6.320 5 (6), c = 13.028 1 (12), alpha = 90.00, beta = 115.557 (2) and gamma = 90.00. The crystal was a hydrogen-bonded dimmer. The slurry experiments, which were further conducted in solvents with different polarities, confirmed the stability of solid state of LLDT-8 based on the p-XRD determination. The polymorph of LLDT-8 made assurance of its efficacy consistence during its clinical trials.
Calorimetry, Differential Scanning ; Crystallization ; Diterpenes ; chemistry ; Drug Stability ; Spectrophotometry, Infrared ; Thermogravimetry ; X-Ray Diffraction