Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Vascular Diseases ; prevention & control

ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of simvastatin on severe complications and prognosis of subarachnoid heamorrhage (SAH).Methods98 cases with SAH were randomly divided into the treatment groups and control group (finally, there were 32 cases in treatment group, 48 cases in control group). Patients in treatment group were given simvastatin 20 mg/day, and those in control group were treated with routine therapy. The incidences of cerebral vasospasm, hydrocephalus, rebleeding and mortality between the two groups were compared.ResultsThe incidence of hydrocephalus of treatment group was 3.13%; that of control group was 18.7%, there was a significantly difference between two groups (P<0.05). There were no significant differences for incidences of cerebral vasospasm, rebleeding and mortality between two groups (P>0.05).ConclusionSimvastatin can reduce the occurrence of hydrocephalus after SAH.

ObjectiveTo investigate the incidence of skeletal and/or articular malformations in central core disease (CCD) patients, and their risk of malignant hyperthermia (MH) in orthopedics. Methods28 unrelated patients with central core disease collected in the past 23 years were analyzed retrospectively. Results22 patients showed limb muscle weakness, while 6 patients didn't show any clinical symptom. Skeletal and/or articular malformations appeared in 21 patients, including joint contracture in 11, joint dislocation in 9, scoliosis in 12, lordosis in 5 and thoracic deformity in 1. 6 of the 10 patients could not endure orthopedic operation because of MH attack or dubitable MH attack. Calcium-induced calcium release (CICR) test performed on other 8 patients with MH family history or MH attack showed all those patients were MH susceptibilities. ConclusionSkeletal and/or articular malformations are common in CCD, as well as MH attack in orthopedics.

Inositol requiring enzyme 1 alpha (IRE1α), a widespread transmembrane protein in mammals, is an endoplasmic reticulum stress (ER stress) receptor. Among the three signaling pathways of the unfolded protein response (UPR), the IRE1α pathway is the most conservative. And there is a growing body of evidence that the occurrence and development of tumors is closely related to the over-expression of IRE1α. Therefore, the study of the IRE1α inhibitors is of great significance to the discovery of new anti-tumor drugs and has been attracting more and more attention. In the hope of providing ideas for the research of targeting IRE1α for cancer therapy, this paper reviewed the data of representative IRE1α inhibitors, including inhibitory activity, the mechanism of action, structural characteristics, and so on.

Objective To observe the consistency of T-cell receptor (TCR) genes mutation in lymphocytes in rats after irradiation in vivo and in vitro.Methods A total of 48 female rats were randomly divided into 6 equal groups.Peripheral blood samples from them were collected to separate the lymphocytes and then irradiated to X-ray irradiation with the dose rate of 200 cGy/min at the doses of 0,0.5,0.75,1.0,2.0,and 3.0 Gy,respectively.Then all the lymphocyte samples were cultured for 7 days.Flow cytometry with direct immunofluorescence was used to detect the TCR gene mutation.The levels of TCR gene mutant frequency (TCRMF) of different groups were calculated.Results The TCRMF levels of different groups after irradiation in vivo and in vitro all displayed a dose-dependent manner and there were no significant differences in the TCRMF between different dose irradiation groups(t = -1.1-0.3 ,P ＞0.05).Conclusions A consistency of TCRMF after irradiation in vivo and in vitro is proven.The results of TCRMF of peripheral blood lymphocytes irradiated in vitro by flow cytometry can precisely reflect the TCR genes mutation after whole-body irradiation.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the expression of transcription factors (TF) T-bet and GATA-3 mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and its correlation with immune status in esophageal cancer patients.

METHODSSixty patients were divided into two groups according to the clinical data: group A consisting of stage I and II, group B including stage III and IV. The gene expression of T-bet and GATA-3 in 60 esophageal cancer patients and 30 healthy controls was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The expression of IFN-gamma and IL-4 was measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

RESULTSExpression of T-bet mRNA in esophageal cancer patients (stage I and II: 0.27 +/- 0.05 ng/L, stage III and IV: 0.12 +/- 0.02 ng/L) was significantly lower than that in the healthy controls (1.35 +/- 0.14 ng/L), but the expression of GATA-3 mRNA in esophageal cancer patients (stage I and II: 0.45 +/- 0.06, stage III and IV: 0.55 +/- 0.03) was significantly higher than that in the healthy controls (0.09 +/- 0.10). The plasma level of Th1 cytokine IFN-gamma in the patients [stage I and II: (12.12 +/- 1.48) ng/L, stage III and IV: (8.44 +/- 0.90) ng/L] was significantly lower than that in the healthy controls, while the level of Th2 cytokine IL-4 in the patients [stage I and II: (18.64 +/- 0.77) ng/L, stage III and IV: (25.28 +/- 2.02) ng/L] was significantly higher than that in the healthy controls. However, neither in the expression of T-bet and GATA-3, nor in the plasma level of IFN-gamma and IL-4, showed a significant difference between group A and B.

CONCLUSIONIn the peripheral blood of esophageal cancer patients, the expression of T-bet decreased, while GATA-3 increased, Th1/Th2 balance is broken, and the Th2 is dominant. T-bet and GATA-3 play a part role in the regulation of Th1/Th2 balance.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; immunology ; metabolism ; pathology ; Female ; GATA3 Transcription Factor ; genetics ; metabolism ; Humans ; Interferon-gamma ; blood ; Interleukin-4 ; blood ; Leukocytes, Mononuclear ; metabolism ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; RNA, Messenger ; metabolism ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; T-Box Domain Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Th1 Cells ; metabolism ; Th2 Cells ; metabolism

Investigation of simvastatin and its related substances was carried out using a reversed phase ultra performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry method. The identification of impurities in simvastatin was performed with a triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer, with an electrospray ionization (ESI) source in the negative/positive ion mode. A total of 12 compounds were characterized in commercial samples, among which 2 impurities had never been reported. All the impurities were deduced based on the MS fragment pathways of simvastatin and the biosynthetic pathway of lovastatin. This work provides very useful information for quality control of simvastatin.
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Chromatography, Reverse-Phase ; Drug Contamination ; Hypolipidemic Agents ; chemistry ; Quality Control ; Simvastatin ; chemistry ; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization ; Tablets ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma and Atractylodis Rhizoma were widely used in strengthening spleen under different disease conditions, and were easily and often misused each other. Therefore, DNA barcode was used to distinguish Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma and Atractylodis Rhizoma from their adulterants to ensure the safe use. The sequence lengths of ITS2 of Atractylodes macrocephala, Atractylodis Rhizoma (A. lancea, A. japonica and A. coreana) were both 229 bp. Among the ITS2 sequences of A. macrocephala, only one G/C transversion was detected at site 98, and the average GC content was 69.42%. No variable site was detected in the ITS2 sequences of A. lancea. The maximum K2P intraspecific genetic distances of both A. japonica and A. coreana were 0.013. The maximum K2P intraspecific genetic distances of A. macrocephala, A. lancea, A. japonica and A. coreana were less than the minimum interspecific genetic distance of adulterants. The ITS2 sequences in each of these polytypic species were separated into pairs of divergent clusters in the NJ tree. DNA barcoding could be used as a fast and accurate identification method to distinguish Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma, Atractylodis Rhizoma, from their adulterants to ensure its safe use.
Atractylodes ; classification ; genetics ; DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic ; methods ; DNA, Plant ; genetics ; DNA, Ribosomal Spacer ; genetics ; Drug Contamination ; prevention & control ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; classification ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; Quality Control ; Rhizome ; classification ; genetics

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.

Objective To explore the relationship between childhood abuse experience,parent and peer attachment and depression in adolescents.Methods A total of 736 junior students from the 7th,8th and 9th grades of 2 public schools in Xinxiang City and Jiyuan City Henan province completed the questionnaires.Childhood Trauma Questionnaire(CTQ),Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment(IPPA) and Depression Self-Rating Scale for Children(DSRSC) were employed the childhood abuse experience,parent attachment quality and depressive mood in adolescents,respectively.The hierarchical regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between parent and peer attachment,child abused experience and depression.Results Male participants reported high score of childhood abused than female participants(33.29±7.89 and 31.05±6.01,t=4.343,P=0.000).There were no significantly gender difference in mother attachment(male:59.89±15.86,female:61.45±16.48,t=-1.303,P=0.193),father attachment(male:59.32±17.17,female:60.28±16.95,t=-0.764,P=0.445) and depression(male:7.68±5.27,female:7.31±4.21,t=1.057,P=0.291).Childhood abuse had a positive correlation with adolescent depression(r=0.408,P=0.000),which negatively correlated with mother and father attachment(r=-0.544,-0.417,respectively,Pa=0.000).There was a positive correlation between mother attachment and father attachment(r=0.604,P=0.000),and both of them had negative correlation with depressive disorder(both r=-0.426,Pa=0.000).Mother and father attachment were the partial mediation of the relationship between childhood abuse and adolescent depression.Conclusions Male adolescents suffered more maltreatment than female adolescents.There are no gender difference in parent attachment and depression.Parent attachment plays the partial mediator role in childhood abuse and adolescent depression.Results reveal the importance of assessment and consideration of parent attachment in the intervention of depression in abused adolescents.