Aim: To observe the effect of ursolic acid(UA)on the proliferation of rat vascular smooth muscle cell(VSMC)induced by high-level glucose and explore its relationship with p38MAPK signal transduction pathway.Methods: The proliferation of VSMC induced by high-level glucose(25 mmol/L glucose)was adopted as model,the inhibition of UA on the proliferation of VSMC was measured by MTT assay,and the expression lev-els of phospho-p38MAPK was detected by cell-based ELISA as well as the expression of c-fos protein was exam-ined by SABC method.Results: UA(20 μmol/L and 40 μmoL/L)inhibited glucose-induced proliferation of VSMC(P <0.05).Compared with the group subjected to glucose induction,UA decreased the expression levels of phosphorylated p38MAPK(P < 0.05),and also inhibited c-fos expression.Conclusion: UA suppressed glucose induced proliferation of VSMC,which might be related to the suppression of the activation of p38MAPK signal transduction pathway,and thereby down-regulated c-fos expression.

In this study, the psbA-trnH sequence was used as DNA barcoding to evaluate the accuracy and stability for identification of Bamboo shavings, Concretio Silicea Bambusae and their closely related species. 56 samples were collected and conducted the DNA extraction. Obtained sequences were assembled using the CodonCode Aligner V4.2, the genetic distances and NJ tree were computed and constructed using MEGA 5.0. The results shows that the maximum intra-specific K2P distances were less than the minimum inter-specific K2P distances. The NJ tree indicated that Bamboo shavings, Concretio Silicea Bambusae and their closely related species can be distinguished from each other clearly, except for Bambusa tuldoides Munro and Bambusa textilis, which perhaps attributed to their closely genetic relationship.

Objective To investigate the inhibiting effects of shRNA(short hairpin RNA,shRNA) on COX-2 gene expression,the cell cycle and growth of gastric carcinoma SGC-7901 cells.Methods Specific shRNA plasmid to COX-2 were constructed,and then transfected into SGC-7901 cells by lipofectamine methods.Tests were divided into three groups: untransfected gastric carcinoma SGC-7901 cells group,negative control HK group and pshRNA-COX-2 group.Gastric carcinoma SGC-7901 cells were transfected with LipofectamineTM 2000.Expression of COX-2mRNA and protein were detected with reverse transcriptional polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) and Western blot respectively.Cell cycle analysis and cell growth chart were detected with flow cytometry and cell count respectively.Results Compared with negative control HK group,recombinant expression vector pshRNA-COX-2 resulted in the reduction of COX-2mRNA and protein expresion by 70.1% and 43.2% respectively;cells in G0-G1 phase increased from 61.5%to 70.2%,cells in S phase decreased from 27.3% to 21.7%,and the growth of SGC-7901 cells cells was slowed significantly.Conclusions Recombinant expression vector pshRNA-COX-2 can significantly inhibit the expression of COX-2 gene,result in the increase of cells in G0-G1 phase and decrease of cells in S phase,and suppress proliferation of gastric carcinoma SGC-7901 cells.

Objective:To explore the dose distribution characteristics between RapidArc and five-field intensity modulated radiotherapy(5F-IMRT) plans in the treatment of locally advanced pancreatic carcinoma,and to provide reference for selecting the appropriate radiation technique in clinic.Methods:Ten patients with locally advanced pancreatic carcinoma were selected.The patients were scanned by simulation CT, and the targets and organs at risk were contoured. RapidArc plan and 5F-IMRT plan were designed respectively.The treatment time and the differences of dose distribution in the targets and organs at risk of RapidArc and 5F-IMRT plans were compared.Results:The conformal index (CI) of RapidArc plan was superior than that of 5F-IMRT plan(P=0.01).The homogeneity index (HI) of targets were similar between two plans (P>0.05).RapidArc plan decreased the maximum dose (Dmax) of the spinal cord(P=0.005);RapidArc plan decreased the mean dose(Dmean) of stomach(P=0.019);5F-IMRT plan decreased the V20 of kidney(P=0.043);RapidArc plan decreased the mean dose(Dmean) of small intestine(P=0.011).The small intestine V10 and V20 of RapidArc plan were lower than those of 5F-IMRT plan(P=0.015,P=0.14);the monitor unit (MU) of RapidArc plan was significantly lower than that of 5F-IMRT plan,with a 18% reduction from the MU level of the latter one,and the treatment time was reduced by 70.3%.RapidArc plan had the smaller doses at liver and kidney compared with 5F-IM RT plan.Conclusion:For the patients with locally advanced pancreatic carcinoma,RapidArc plan has higher CI. RapidArc plan shows the advantages in the protection of organs.Compared with 5F-IMRT,RapidArc plan has less treatment time and significantly improves the curative efficiency.In clinic, the RapidArc plan is recommended.

In this study, the ITS2 sequence was used to identify Pinelliae Rhizoma and its adulterants to ensure its market circulation, clinical effect and safety. All genomic DNA from 59 samples were extracted successfully. The Kimura 2-Parameter (K2P) distances and NJ tree were calculated using software MEGA 6.0. The length of the ITS2 sequence of Pinelliae Rhizoma was 251 bp. The intraspecific genetic distance was smaller than the interspecific ones;The NJ tree indicated that Pinelliae Rhizoma distinguished from its adulterants obviously. The results showed that the ITS2 sequence can be used to distinguish Pinelliae Rhizoma from its adulterants accurately and stably.

CAPOS syndrome,manifested as cerebellar ataxia,areflexia,pes cavus,optic atrophy,and sensorineural deafiness,is one of the ATP1A3 gene-related disorders with an autosomal dominant inheritance pattern.The specific pathogenesis of the disease is currently unclear and the clinical manifestations are complicated.This review will provide an overview of CAPOS syndrome in the aspect of pathogenesis,clinical manifestations,diagnosis,differential diagnosis and treatment.

Psammosilene Radix is a famous miao national herb and it is rare and endangered nowadays. However, it is often confused with the root of Silene viscidula. In this study, the ITS2 regions was used to identify Psam-mosilene Radix and its adulterants. All DNA samples of Psammosilene Radix and its adulterants were extracted. The ITS2 regions were amplified and sequenced, and the final sequences were assembled using the CondonCode Aligner. The genetic distances were calculated by kimura 2-parameter (K2P) model and the Neighbor-Joining(NJ) phylogenetic trees were constructed using MEGA5.1.BLAST 1, the nearest distance and phylogenetic tree (NJ-tree)methods were used to assess the identification efficiency of the ITS2 region. Results indicated that the length of ITS2 sequences of Psammosilene Radix w 229 bp, the identification effficiency of ITS2 region using BLAST 1 was 100%;and the maximum intra-specific K2P distance were lower than the minimum inter-specific K2P distance. Additionally, the NJ tree based on ITS2 sequence indicated that Psammosilene Radix and its adul-terants could be distinguished clearly . In conclusion , the ITS2 region as DNA barcodes could identify Psammosi-lene Radix and its adulterants stably and accurately. Furthermore, the application of ITS2 barcode in the identifi-cation of TCM has a good prospective .

Objective: To identify Xanthii Fructus and secure its quality and safety in medication. Methods: Total ge-nomic DNA was extracted from Xanthii Fructus and its adulterants. ITS2 sequences were amplified, and purified PCR products were sequenced. Sequence assembly and consensus sequence generation were performed using the CodonCode Aligner V 4.2. The Kimura 2-Parameter (K2P) distances were calculated using MEGA 5.0. The neigh-bor-joining (NJ) phylogenetic trees were constructed. Results: The intraspecific genetic distances of Xanthii Fructus were 0. The interspecific genetic distances between Xanthii Fructus and its adulterants were ranged from 0.009 to 0.542. The NJ tree showed that Xanthii Fructus could differ from its adulterants obviously. Conclusion: ITS2 can be used to identify Xanthii Fructus from its adulterants effectively, and our study further confirmed the effectiveness of ITS2 to identify traditional Chinese medicinal materials.

Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is a common sleep disturbance in Parkinson's disease (PD), and the prevalence of EDS in PD patients is obviously higher than that in the normal population. EDS not only seriously influences the quality of life of PD patients but also increases the risk of accidents while driving and the risk of falling, therefore, timely recognition and intervention of EDS are of great importance. In order to deepen the understanding of EDS, this review will summarize the recent advance in epidemiology, etiology and pathogenesis, clinical significance, neuroimaging, clinical assessment, and clinical management of EDS.

To investigate the effect of block of AGEs-RAGE pathway on the migration of aortic vascular smooth muscle in diabetic rats and its possible mechanisms, vascular smooth muscle cells(VSMCs)cells were pre-stimulated by antibody of RAGE, and then stimulated by AGEs. Transwell assay was adopted to assay migration of VSMCs. Proliferation of VSMCs and expression of p27 were analyzed by MTT and ELISA, respectively. The change of ROS level in VSMCs was defermined by DCFH assay, the expression of NOX1 mRNA was determined by RT-PCR assay. Results indicated that the AGEs induction for migration of VSMCs was significantly inhibited after treatment by RAGE antibody(P< 0. 01), which blocked the AGEs-RAGE pathway, and the inhibition of migration was stronger than that of proliferation. The ROS level was decreased(P< 0. 01), and the expression of NOX1 mRNA was decreased, yet the expression of P27 protein was not changed greatly. Block of AGEs-RAGE pathway by antibody of RAGE can inhibit the migration of VSMCs, and the mechanism may be related with the decrease of NOX1 mRNA and then down to the level of intracellular oxidative stress in VSMCs.