As an important neurotransmitter, adenosine displays its functions by acting on the adenosine receptors. Recent studies have shown that the distribution, expression and balance among subtypes of adenosine receptors are closely related with cognitive activities, and changes of adenosine receptors play key roles in neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer's disease. It has been pointed out that prolonged activation of adenosine receptors by high level adenosine may lead to the disturbance of balance among adenosine receptor subtypes. This imbalance mainly performed as increased expression of A2a receptor and decreased expression of A1 receptor, and enhancement of the excitatory signals mediated by A2a receptor and weakened inhibitory signals mediated by A1 receptor. Changes of these two subtypes of adenosine receptors may lead to a lot of disorders of neurological activities which developed into dysfunction of cognition to the end. These findings imply that the potential of maintaining the balance among adenosine receptors on the treatment of AD would facilitate both the revealing of the mechanism and the cure of AD.

Objective To determine the effect of lean mass and fat mass on bone mineral (BMD) in postmenopausal women of different age groups.Methods A total of 287 postmenopausal women (aged 50 years and over) participated in this study.Individuals were divided into 4 age groups by decades:group 1,50-59 yr (82 cases); group 2,60-69 yr (73 cases); group 3,70-79 yr (66 cases); group 4,80 years and over (66 cases).The BMD of lumbar spine (L2-4),left femoral neck and total hip were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry.Fat and muscle mass were analyzed by its analysis function and the percent of fat mass and muscle mass were calculated.Then data were processed by the SPSS 18.0 programme.Results One linear regression analysis showed that the L2-4 BMD was significantly associated only with body composition of trunk,while femoral neck (FN) and total hip (TH) BMD were respectively associated with body composition of different parts in group 1.L2-4 BMD was significantly associated only with trunk fat mass and muscle mass (r=0.27,0.25,both P＜ 0.05),but there were no relationships between BMD of FN and TH and body composition of different parts in group 2.The BMD of L2-4,FN and TH were significantly respectively associated with body composition of different parts in group 3 and 4.Conclusions In postmenopausal women,fat mass and muscle mass play an important role in BMD.In postmenopausal women aged 60-69 yr,the body composition has a minimal impact on BMD,and hormone replacement therapy may be the best for osteoporosis prevention and treatment in this period.Different exercise and loosing of weight in postmenopausal women of different ages can prevent osteoporosis and fragility fractures.

Objective To investigate the proliferative inhibition of lens epithelial cell (LEC) by arsenic trioxide (ATO) and rhizoma curcumae (RC), in order to provide scientific basis for pursuing safe and effective natural drugs to prevent and cure after cataract. Design Experimental study. Participants Cultured Bovine LEC in vitro. Methods Changes of cellular form were observed with microscope. Different concentration of ATO (2.5, 5, 10?mol/L) and RC(5, 10, 20mg/ml) were added to the proliferative LEC separately. The effects of proliferative inhibition by ATO and RC on the LEC were measured with methyl thia-zolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay method after 72 hours incubation. Main Outcome Measures Cellular form, Absorbance. Results Under the microscope, good growth and quantity increase were found in proliferative control group. Slowing proliferation,poor growth, and few disintegration were observed in ATO group and RC group. MTT assay: Different concentration of ATO (2.5, 5, 10?mol/L)and RC(5, 10, 20mg/ml) can significantly inhibit the proliferation of LEC and these effects were dose dependent(P

AIM: Niflumic acid (NFA) is known as a kind of inhibitor of calcium-activated chloride channel. The inhibition and mechanism of NFA on the proliferation of airway smooth muscle cells (ASMCs) were investigated. METHODS: Using [ 3H]-TdR incorporation method, we examined the effect of NFA (at concentration of 10 and 50 ?mol/L) on the proliferation of primarily ASMCs from BALB/c mouse. With confocal laser scanning microscope the [Ca 2+ ]i in ASMCs exposed to histamine was observed, and the opposed effects of NFA and nifedipine on histamine were also checked. Finally the effect of NFA on expression of MAPK in ASMCs was examined by indirect immunofluorescent assay. RESULTS: Compared with control group, the proliferation of NFA group was reduced markedly with dependent concentration. Histamine significantly improved the [Ca 2+ ]i in ASMCs, but NFA and nifedipine showed the inhibition on the effect of histamine. NFA reduced the level of MAPK expression in ASMCs. CONCLUSION: It is demonstrated that NFA inhibits the proliferation of ASMCs by reducing [Ca 2+ ]i and the expression level of MAPK. [

Allicin,which contains rich sulfide ,is provided for prevention and treatment of tumor ,anti in-flammation,prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases ,improving immunity and so on .Studies show that allicin can not only prevent many types of cancer ,but also has obvious inhibitory effect on tumor .The mechanism is related with antioxidant effects ,reducing the invasion of tumor cells ,inhibiting the proliferation of tumor cells , inducing tumor cell apoptosis and directly killing the tumor cells .This paper reviews the research progresses on antitumor allicin .

In order to show the development situation and trend in plaque research, Thomson Innovation Platform-covered application of patents associated with plaque researches was quantitatively analyzed using the Thomson Data Analyzer and Thomson Innovation or other tools, which revealed the overall development situation, the main accepted countries, the main application institutions and the technological direction layout of patents associated with plaque researches.

Objective To investigate the clinical significance of anticardiolipin antibodies (ACA)in patients with hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome(HFRS).Methods The serum ACA- IgM and ACA-IgG in 175 cases of renal diseases and 50 healthy cases were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA). The positive rates of ACA were calculated and compared among different groups.Results The positive rates of ACA-IgM and ACA-IgG in control group were both 0 (0/50),while they were 85.2%(46/54)and 24.1%(13/54)respectively in patients with HERS. 25.0%(13/52)and 21.2%(11/52)respectively in patients with lupus nephritis and 13.0%(9/69) and 8.7%(6/69)respectively in patients with nephrotic syndrome.The poshive rate of ACA lgM in patients with HFRS was higher than that in control group,lupus nephritis group and nephritic syn- drome group(P

OBJECTIVETo explore the effects of arecoline on hepatic insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes rats and to elucidate its possible mechanism.

METHODSForty five Wistar rats were fed with high fructose diet for 12 weeks to induce type 2 diabetic rat model. rats were randomly divided into 5 groups (n = 8): control group, model group and model group were treated with different dose (0, 0.5, 1, 5 mg/kg) of arecoline. After 4 weeks, the fasting blood glucose, blood lipid and insulin level measured , mRNA expression of liver constitutive androstane receptor (CAR), pregnane X receptor (PXR), glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase), phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) were detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), the protein expression of p-AKT and glucose transporter4 (GLUT4) were detected by Western blot.

RESULTS1.5 mg/kg arecoline could significantly decrease the level of fasting blood glucose, blood lipid, blood insulin level and liver G6Pase, PEPCK, IL-6, TNF-alpha mRNA level in type 2 diabetes rats. 1.5 mg/kg arecoline also could significantly increase CAR, PXR mRNA level and p-AKT and GLUT4 protein expression.

CONCLUSIONArecoline improved hepatic insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes rats by increasing the mRNA levels of CAR and PXR leading to the creased glucose metabolism and inflammation related genes expression.

Animals ; Arecoline ; pharmacology ; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental ; metabolism ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; metabolism ; Glucose Transporter Type 4 ; metabolism ; Glucose-6-Phosphatase ; metabolism ; Insulin Resistance ; Interleukin-6 ; metabolism ; Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins ; metabolism ; Liver ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Male ; Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxykinase (GTP) ; metabolism ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear ; metabolism ; Receptors, Steroid ; metabolism ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; metabolism

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the signal transduction mechanism of curcumin in inhibiting the proliferation of bovine lens epithelial cell (LEC) induced by recombinant human epidermal growth factor (rhEGF). METHODS: There were three groups in this experiment, which were normal control group, untreated group and curcumin-treated group. Proliferation of LEC was induced by rhEGF (50 microg/L). The concentration of intracellular Ca(2+) ([Ca(2+)](i)) in LEC was measured with Fura-2/AM by spectrofluorimetry. The contents of intracellular cAMP and cGMP were assayed by radioimmunoassay. RESULTS: The [Ca(2+)]i in LEC was obviously increased in the untrated group as compared with that in the normal control group (P<0.01), and the [Ca(2+)](i) in LEC in the curcumin-treated group was highest among three groups (P<0.01). The content of intracellular cAMP in LEC was decreased while the content of intracellular cGMP was obviously increased in the untreated group as compared with those in the normal control group (P<0.01). The content of intracellular cAMP in LEC was higher in the curcumin-treated group than that in the untreated group, while the content of intracellular cGMP was lower than that in the untreated group (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: The antiproliferation effects of curcumin on LEC may relate to the regulations of multiple processes of signal transduction.

Objective To analyze the clinical and laboratory phenotypes of Duchenne muscular dystrophy(DMD)in a retrospective study of 96 cases and to evaluate therapeutic efficacy of glucocorticosteroid.Methods The clinical phenotype,laboratory examinations resuhs and the records in the follow-up in 96 patients with DMD were collected.The level of serum creatine kinase(CK)and motor ability before and after glucocorticosteroid therapy were analyzed by statistical analysis.Their myocardium impairments and intelligence conditions were also assessed.Results(1)The level of serum CK (mmol/L)had three peaks at the age of ≤ 3 years old(16 547.9 ±770.9),5 years old(14 371.9 ± 696.7)and 8 years old(13 089.8 ± 877.6).The CK level significantly decreased after dexamethasone (5-10 mg,iv)treatment for 10-15 days,but increased again after prednisone acetate(0.50-0.75 mg · kg-1 · d-1,oral)administration for one month(F =6.758,P =0.003).(2)The motor ability improved in 51 DMD cases with long-term oral admission of prednisone,including 24 cases receiving repeated dexamethasone,iv.(3)The myocardial perfusion imaging in 37 DMD cases showed remarkable uneven “spotted like” radionuclide distribution in ventricle.(4)The intelligence quotients in 24 DMD were lower than normal population.Conclusions There are high CK hyperlipidemia and myocardial damage in the sub-clinical stage of DMD and myocardium impairment is positively correlated with age.Glucocorticosteroid therapy has an important effect on the protection of motor and cardiac functions,with recommendation of using in early stage of disease.