Toll-like receptors are an important pattern recognition receptors that recognize specific components of microbes and certain host molecules.Through initiated cell signaling pathway,they can induce immunocyte.Their activation triggers the innate immune response,and is crucial to the successful induction of Th1/Th2-phenotyped adaptive immunity.This review will give a brief overview of our current knowledge of TLRs as key components in immune responses and their regulation in respiratory tract diseases such as asthma.

Objective To study the efficiency of large dose intravenous immunoglobulin(IVIG) in decreasing incidence of asthma following bronchiolitis.Methods One hundred and sixty-eight children with bronchiolitis were chosen to use different treatment plans,81 children receiving large dose of IVIG[ 0.4 g/(kg?d)] daily,on the basis of routine treatment for 5 days,while other 87 children were reserved as control group receiving routine treatment only,which were followed up 5 to 10 years.Results After following up 5 to 10 years,only 17 cases in 81 patients with bronchiolitis receiving large dose IVIG developed into asthma.However,46 cases in control group developed into asthma.The incidence of asthma was 20.99% and(52.87%) in two groups,respectively,showing significant(differe-)nce between them(P

Objective To observe the incidence of bronchial asthma thereafter by 3 to 10 years′ follow-up of 280 children with bronchio-litis and analyze the correlation factors affecting the development of asthma.Methods Two hundred and eighty children with bronchitis were chosen and treated from Jan.1995 to Dec.2002,220 males,and 60 females.The review research and clinical revisits were carried out to investigate and analyze the subjects in terms of whether receiving large dose of intravenous injection immunoglobulin(IVIG) treatment or not,whether getting vaccinated with bacille calmette guerin(BCG)as planed or not,whether having asthma family history and the allergic physique or not,the way of feeding,and so on.Results The rate of asthma was 29.29%(82/280),and the incidence of asthma was significantly lower in children with administering the large dose of IVIG,vaccinating BCG vaccine as planed,having no allergic physique,having no asthma family history or breast feeding than those without administering the large dose of IVIG,vaccinating BCG vaccine as planed,brest feeding,with allergic physique,asthma family history(Pa

Streptococcus pneumoniae is one of the most common cause of invasive disease,such as bacteremia,meningitis,and empyema,et al.But there has significant difference on the incidence of invasive pneumococcal disease among different regions and differernt groups of people.In addition the severity and mortality of invasive pneumococcal disease are closely related to the changes of serotypes,virulence of streptococcus pneumoniae and also the human immune response.The pneumococcal vaccination is an important measure to prevent streptococcus pneumoniae infection,providing good protection to vaccinees and createing herd immunity effect.This article briefly describes the pathogenesis,risk factors and preventive strategies of invasive pneumococcal disease.

Background There still is no a uniform diagnostic criteria for increasing population of dry eye.Studies showed that high tear osmotic pressure is one of causes of a variety of ocular surface discomfort,and the change of tear osmolality has been included in the definition of dry eye syndrome by Dry Eye World Study Group (DEWS) in 2007.It is very clinically significant to study the relationship of tear osmolality with dry eye.Objective This clinical trial was to study the correlation between tear osmolarity and dry eye severity based on Preferred Practice Pattern(PPP)of DEWS.Methods A descriptive study was performed.Fifty-four eyes of 54 patients with dry eye disease were asked to complete an evaluation of dry eye signs and symptoms questionnaire based on PPP.The ocular anterior segment was examined under the slit lamp biomicroscope.Cornealfluorescein staining,tear-film breakup time (BUT),Schirmer test Ⅰ (S Ⅰ t)without anesthesia were performed,and tear sample was collected for tear imageology and tear osmolarity admeasurement.The correlation between dry eye score with tear osmolarity was evaluated using Pearson linear correlation analysis.Written informed consent as obtained prior to any relevant medical procedure.Results The ratio of male and female patients was 1: 2 in this study.The negative correlations were found between tear osmolarity with S Ⅰ t or BUT(r =-0.456,-0.699,P＜0.01),and significantly positive correlations were found between tear osmolarity with tear imaging examination,corneal fluorescein staining,conjunctival hyperemia or dry eye symptom score(r=0.545,0.686,0.691,0.803,P＜0.01).Conclusions As a diagnostic method,tear osmolarity can objectively reflects dry eye severity.It can be a biomarker in dry eye severity grade when combined with clinical symptom.

Astragalus polysaccharide has been widely used in food and medicinal industry owing to its health-promoting properties. In order to characterize better the relationship among molecular weight, structure-activity and activities, a simple method was used different concentration of ethanol including 30% (PW30), 50% (PW50), 70% (PW70), 75% (PW75), 80% (PW80) and 90% (PW90) to precipitate Astragalus polysaccharides into different molecular weight. As a result, PW90 showed smooth surface and the strongest antioxidant activity among these six fractions (P < 0.05). In conclusion, graded ethanol precipitation was a simple method to separate Astragalus polysaccharides into different molecular weight with different antioxidant activity fractions.
Antioxidants ; pharmacology ; Astragalus Plant ; chemistry ; Chemical Precipitation ; Ethanol ; chemistry ; Polysaccharides ; chemistry ; pharmacology

In order to investigate the genetic basis of morphological variation of tetraploid plantlets of Atractylodes macrocephala, diploid plantlets were taken as experimental material, sterile filtration colchicine was used to soak 0.5-1.0 cm long buds. The difference between morphology and stomatal of diploid and tetraploid of A. macrocephala was compared, and genome polymorphism was explored by AFLP. The results showed that the buds dipped in 0.1% colchicine solution for 36 h was optimal conditions to induce tetraploid of A. macrocephala with induction rate of 32.0%. Morphological indexes such as leaf area index, leaf length and width, the density of stomas and the number of chloroplast of tetraploid were distinctly different from diploid. Four hundred and fifty-one bands ranging with 80-500 bp were amplified with 24 pairs of primers, the rate of polymorphism was 32.59%. These amplification sites of diploid were different from tetraploid of A. macrocephala, and the differences in morphology of them were reflected in the DNA polymorphism.
Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism Analysis ; methods ; Atractylodes ; genetics ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Tetraploidy

Objective To observe changes of cognitive function and the expression of tumor necrosis factor alpha(TNF-α),interleukin 10(IL-10) in hippocampus of diabetic rats,and assess the role of inflammation in the possible pathogenesis of diabetic encephalopathy (DE).Methods 30 male SD rats were randomly divided into control group and diabetes mellitus group.After 4 weeks of feeding high fat diet,diabetes mellitus group according to 30mg/kg injected with streptozotocin to establish type 2 diabetic rat model.At the end of the experiment,cognition were evaluated using water maze test.The concentration of beta-amyloid(Aβ) in hippocampus of diabetic rats were detected through enzyme linked immunosorbent assay,and the expression of TNF-α,IL-10 were detected by Western blotting.The expression of Aβ,TNF-α,IL-10 were observed through immunohistochemistry.Results Time spent in the target quadrant in diabetes mellitus group was shorter than that in control group ((38.21± 3.68)s vs (42.10±2.62)s,t=3.105,P＜0.01).The frequency of crossing original platform site was less than that in control group((2.62±0.77) vs(3.69±0.95),t=3.184,P＜0.01).Compared with control group the expression of Aβ,TNF-α were higher(BothP＜0.01),and IL-10 were lower(P＜0.01)in diabetes mellitus group.The positive expression of Aβ,TNF-α were obviously and IL-10 were less obviously observed in diabetes mellitus group according to immunohistochemistry.Conclusion The cognitive decline in diabetic rats is possibly related to inflammatory cytokines expressing out of balance.

In this study, we developed a novel liposome-silica hybrid nano-carrier for tumor combination therapy via oral route, using paclitaxel and cyclosporine as a model drug pair. Optimization of the preparation of the drug-loading formulation and characterization of its physicochemical parameters and drug release profile were performed in vitro. Then in vivo pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics studies were performed. The results showed that the obtained formulation has a small particle size (mean diameter of 100.2 +/- 15.2 nm), a homogeneous distribution [the polydispersity index was (0.251 +/- 0.018)] and high encapsulation efficiency (90.15 +/- 2.47) % and (80.64 +/- 3.52) % for paclitaxel and cyclosporine respectively with a mild and easy preparation process. A sequential drug release trend of cyclosporine prior to palictaxel was observed. The liposome-silica hybrid nano-carrier showed good biocompatibility in vivo and co-delivery of cyclosporine and paclitaxel significantly enhanced the oral absorption of paclitaxel with improved anti-tumor efficacy, suggesting a promising approach for multi-drug therapy against tumor and other serious diseases via oral route.
ATP-Binding Cassette, Sub-Family B, Member 1 ; antagonists & inhibitors ; Administration, Oral ; Animals ; Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic ; administration & dosage ; pharmacokinetics ; pharmacology ; Biological Availability ; Cyclosporine ; administration & dosage ; pharmacokinetics ; pharmacology ; Drug Carriers ; chemistry ; Female ; Liposomes ; chemistry ; Male ; Mice ; Nanoparticles ; Neoplasm Transplantation ; Paclitaxel ; administration & dosage ; pharmacokinetics ; pharmacology ; Particle Size ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Sarcoma 180 ; pathology ; Silicon Dioxide ; chemistry ; Tumor Burden ; drug effects

OBJECTIVETo establish a diagnostic model of endometriosis by analyzing serum peptidome patterns in patients with endometriosis using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS).

METHODSSerum samples from 21 endometriosis patients and 29 healthy control subjects were analyzed using MALDI-TOF-MS and Clinprotools 2.0 software to establish the diagnostic model of endometriosis, which was validated using the serum samples from 10 endometriosis patients and 15 healthy controls.

RESULTSEighteen statistically significant peptide peaks were obtained with the m/z value ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 (P<0.01). Among the peaks, 12 were down-regulated and 6 up-regulated. The sensitivity and specificity of the model was 90.9% and 100.0%, respectively, with a diagnostic accuracy of 96.2%.

CONCLUSIONThis model shows the feasibility of using MALDI-TOF-MS and Clinprotools software to identify the biomarkers of endometriosis.

Adult ; Biomarkers ; blood ; Endometriosis ; blood ; diagnosis ; Feasibility Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Models, Biological ; Proteome ; analysis ; Proteomics ; methods ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization ; methods ; Young Adult