Objective To investigate the predictive value of the whole nodule size and solid component size of lung adenocarcinoma manifesting as subsolid nodule(SSN) in three different dimensions for pathologic grade.Methods We evaluated retrospectively preoperative chest HRCT data of 125 patients with 127 SSNs surgically resected and pathologically conformed lung adenocarcinomas.All specimens were divided into two groups: a total of 69 SSNs in group A, including 22 AIS and 47 MIA;a total of 58 SSNs in group B, only including IAC.Computer aided diagnosis software were used to measure the one dimension maximum diameter of solid component with lung window setting(1D-SCLW),two dimension maximum diameter of solid component with lung window setting(2D-SCLW),one dimension maximum diameter of solid component with mediastinal window setting(1D-SCMW),two dimension maximum diameter of solid component with mediastinal window setting(2D-SCMW),one dimension maximum diameter of whole nodule with lung window setting (1D-WNLW), two dimension maximum diameter of whole nodule with lung window setting (2D-WNLW), and volume of solid component with threshold of-300 HU (SCT) of all SSNs.Results 1D-SCLW, 2D-SCLW,1D-SCMW,2D-SCMW,1D-WNLW,2D-WNLW and SCT of the group B were significantly larger than those of the group A(P=0.000).ROC analyses indicated that the diagnostic efficiency of SCT for the pathologic grade was the highest among 7 CT features(AUC=0.887, sensitivity:81%,specificity:93%);The cut-off values of 1D-SCLW,2D-SCLW,1D-SCMW,2D-SCMW,1D-WNLW, 2D-WNLW and SCT were 17.50 mm,14.75 mm,9.50 mm,7.75 mm,0.50 mm,1.25 mm and 139.00 mm3.Multiple Logistic regression analysis revealed that SCT was the independent predictor of pathologic grade(OR=4.978,95%CI=1.430-17.331,P=0.012).SCT of 139.00 mm3 or greater was a significant indicator of IAC.Conclusion Among the whole nodule size and solid component size of SSN in three different dimensions on preoperative HRCT, SCT is found to be the independent predictor of pathologic grade, which may provide reference for surgery.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of herbal-cake-separated moxibustion on blood lipid levels and expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) and scavenger receptor B 1 (SR-B 1) proteins and genes in liver of hyperlipidemia atherosclerosis rabbits, so as to explore its mechanism underlying anti-atherosclerosis formation. METHODS: Forty male New Zealand white rabbits were randomly divided into normal control, model, moxibustion and Simvastatin groups (n＝10 rabbits in each group). The hyperlipidemia atherosclerosis model was established by high cholesterol diet and propylthiouracil for 12 weeks. Herbal-cake-separated moxibustion was applied to "Juque" (CV 14), and bilateral "Tianshu" (ST 25), "Fenglong" (ST 40) (point group 1), and bilateral "Xinshu" (BL 15), "Ganshu" (BL 18) and "Pishu" (BL 20) (point group 2). The two groups of points were used alternately. Simvastatin (1.96 mg•kg－1•d－1) mixed in the forage was given to rabbits of the Simva-statin group. Both moxibustion and medication treatments were given once daily for continuous 4 weeks. Total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels in plasma were detected by using an automatic biochemistry analyzer. The expression levels of PPARγ and SR-B 1 proteins and genes in the hepatic tissue were determined by Western blot and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, separately. RESULTS: After modeling, plasma TC, TG and LDL-C levels in the model group were significantly increased (P<0.01), and the levels of plasma HDL-C and hepatic PPARγ and SR-B 1 protein and mRNA expression were obviously down-regulated relevant to the normal group (P<0.01). Compared with the model group, plasma TC, TG and LDL-C levels were significantly decreased (P<0.01), and plasma HDL-C and hepatic PPARγ and SR-B 1 protein and mRNA levels were significantly up-regulated in the two treatment groups (P<0.01, P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Herbal-cake-separated moxibustion can regulate blood lipid levels and suppress hyperlipidemia-induced decrease of expression of hepatic PPARγ and SR-B 1 proteins and genes in hyperlipidemia atherosclerosis rabbits, which maybe contribute to its action in anti-atherosclerosis through promoting reversal of cholesterol.

Objective:To observe the effect of herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion on the expressions of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MEK1/2) and extracellular regulatory protein kinase (ERK1/2) in gastric tissues of rats with spleen deficiency syndrome, and to explore the possible mechanisms of herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion in treating spleen deficiency syndrome. Methods:Sixty Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into a blank control group (group A), a model group (group B), a ranitidine group (group C), and a herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion group (group D) by random digit, 15 rats in each group. Rat models of spleen deficiency syndrome were made by intragastric administration of 4℃ 200% concentrated Da Huang (Radix et Rhizoma Rhei). After successful modeling, the rats in group C were treated with 25 mg/(kg·bw) ranitidine by intragastric adminstration and rats in group D were treated with herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion at Zusanli (ST 36) and Zhongwan (CV 12), for 8 d. Excepted for rats in group A, all the other rats were treated with indomethacin at 5 mg/(kg·bw) at 8:00 a.m. on the second day after finishing all the intervention and sacrificed 7 h later to isolate the stomach. Histopathological changes of the gastric tissues were observed under light microscope after hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining. The protein expressions of MEK1/2 and ERK1/2 in the gastric tissues were detected by immunohistochemistry. Results:After intervention, the gastric mucosal injury in group B was significantly severer than that in group A, with large breakage and ablating; the damage of gastric mucosa was decreased in group C compared with group B; the gastric mucosal surface remained relatively complete, and the status of breakage and ablating was significantly improved. After intervention, compared with group A, the protein expressions of MEK1/2 and ERK1/2 in gastric tissues of the other groups were significantly higher (P<0.01). Compared with group B, the protein expressions of MEK1/2 and ERK1/2 in group C and D were significantly higher (allP<0.01). Compared with group C, the protein expressions of MEK1/2 and ERK1/2 in group D were significantly higher (P<0.01). Conclusion: Herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion promotes the repair of gastric mucosa in rats with spleen deficiency syndrome, via improving protein expressions of MEK1/2 and ERK1/2 in gastric tissues, as well as activating MEK/ERK signaling pathway.

Objective Benzothiazole derivative BD960 has immunosuppressive activity after cell -based assays for high-throughput screening.The paper aimed to investigate the involved mechanism of BD960 on T cell proliferation. Methods Human peripheral blood T-lymphocytes were isolated and purified by the immunomagnetic microbeads.Then the T cells were activated by anti-CD3/anti-CD28 mAbs or alloantigen.The effect of BD960 on activa-ted T cell proliferation, the cytotoxic effect BD960 on resting T cells and the expression of activated T cells marker CD25 were measured by flow cytometer.Cytokine levels, including IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17A and IFN-γ, were determined by ELISA. Results BD960 significantly inhibited the proliferation of T cells stimulated by anti-CD3/anti-CD28 mAb or alloantigen in a dose-dependent manner.The IC50 value is (2.3 ±0.3)μmol/L or (2.5 ±0.3)μmol/L, respectively.Moreover, BD960 had no obvious cytotoxic effects on rest-ing T cells and peripheral blood mononuclear cells, even at a high concentration ( up to 100μmol/L) .The ratio of CD25 expression on T cell was 69.7%after stimulated by Anti-CD3/CD28 mAbs with 72 h, the concentration (0.625、2.5、10)μmol/L of BD960 also had no potent effects on the ratio, but 0.1μmol/L FK506 could inhibit CD25 expression as low as 9.4%.The G0/G1 phase of activated T cells was 58.5%after stimulated by BD960 with 96 h.BD960 could induce cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase in activated T cells with the increase of concentration and RAPA in the concentration of 0.1 μmol/L was 91.5%.In addition, BD960 (0.625、2.5、10)μmol/L could inhibit the secretion of IFN-γ, IL-6 and IL-17 in activated T cells with the increase of concentration, without any effects on the secretion of IL-2, IL-4 and IL-10. Conclusion BD960 not only exerts the inhibition on the late stage of T cell activation of cell proliferation but also inhibits the secretion of inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-6, IL-17 and IFN-γ, while the mechanism of BD960 on T cell proliferation was not the same as FK506.As a result, BD960 has the potential to be the lead compound to develop a new immunosuppressant.

Obej ctive Abnormal proliferation of T cells plays an important role in the development of autoimmune diseases. The article aimed to study the inhibitory effect of small molecule compound BD691 on T cell proliferation and its mechanism. Methods Human peripheral blood T-lymphocytes were isolated and purified by the immunomagnetic microbeads,then T cells were ac-tivated with anti-CD3/CD28 mAbs or alloantigen.The inhibitory effect of BD691 on activated T cell proliferation, the cytotoxic effect BD891 on resting T cells and the expression of activated T cells marker CD25 were measured by flow cytometry.Furthermore, ELISA was used to detect the secretion of cytokines associated with T cell differentiation. Results BD691 significantly inhibited the prolif-eration of T cells being stimulated by anti-CD3/CD28 mAb or alloantigen in a dose-dependent manner, and IC50 values are (8.5 ± 1.5)μmol/L and (7.2 ±1.3)μmol/L, respectively.However, BD691 had no obvious cytotoxic effects on resting T cells and periph-eral blood mononuclear cells, even at a high concentration ( up to 100μmol/L) .In T cells which were not activated by anti-CD3/CD28 mAb, the percentage of CD25+T cells is only 1.6%of the total cells, while the number increased to 68% after activating treatment.Mean-while, in T cells which were activated by 0, 3.3, 10, 30μmol/L BD691, no obvious change of CD25 expression were observed, while immunosuppressant FK506 (0.1μmol/L) significantly decreased the expression of CD25 +T cells (14.9%).In unactivated T cells, 95.6%cells were at G0/G1 phase, while after activation, the percentage of cells at G0/G1 phase reduced to 57.7%.In addition, BD691 inhibited the secretion of IFN-γ, IL-6 and IL-17 in activated T cells, but had no effects on the secretion of IL-2, IL-4 and IL-10. Co nclusion BD691 exerts no effects on T cell activation, but it inhibits T cell proliferation by inducing T cell cycling arrest at G0/G1 phase.Moreover, BD691 inhibits the secretion of key cytokines (such as IFN-γ, IL-6, IL-17) closely related to the differ-entiation of Th1 and Th17 cells.The results suggest that BD 691 is a potential lead compound to develop a new immunosuppressant for the inhibition of abnormal proliferation and differentiation of T cells.

Bio-heat transfer in the tongue body is studied combining the mechanism of tongue inspection in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Parameters such as the temperature of lingual surface, the blood perfusion of the dog's tongue and so on are measured and the influences of the blood perfusion, the arterial blood temperature, the arterial cross-sectional areas and positions on the temperature distribution in the cross-sections are studied. Then the two-dimensional temperature fields in different cross-sections are numerically solved by the finite element method (FEM). The results show that the vascular cross-sectional areas vary with the elasticity change of the vessel walls resulting from the variation of the blood perfusion. And the temperature distribution in the cross-section mainly depends on the arterial cross-sectional areas and positions. The results can help to analyze the bio-heat transfer characteristic of the tongue. According to this method, the sectional temperature fields in whatever place of the tongue can be calculated under different blood perfusion and on the condition that the influence of the venous blood temperature on the temperature field of the tongue is considered. We can further probe into the relationship between the temperature fields of the lingual surface and that of cross-sections. This can provide the foundation for further investigation into the bio-heat transfer mechanism and the calculation on three-dimensional temperature fields of the tongue.
Animals ; Body Temperature ; physiology ; Dogs ; Finite Element Analysis ; In Vitro Techniques ; Models, Biological ; Regional Blood Flow ; Thermal Conductivity ; Tongue ; blood supply ; physiology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the expression of amyloid precursor protein (APP) gene in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and its biological behaviour in AML cells.

METHODSThe expressions of APP mRNA in 85 AML and 20 nonmalignant hematological diseases patients (as control) were measured by real-time PCR. The expression of APP in AML cell lines was also examined by real-time PCR and Western blot and the results were compared with those in their original subtypes. Small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) targeting APP gene were synthesized and transfected into HL-60 cell by lipofectamine 2000 for 24 h, 48h and 72 h. Cell growth was measured by trypan blue dye exclusion and MTT, differentiation by Wright-Giemsa staining, cell cycle by PI/RNase staining, apoptosis by Annexin V/PI and Hoechst33342 staining. Apoptosis-related protein NF-κB, bcl-2 and Caspase-3 were detected by Western blot after siRNAs transfection for 48 h. Sensitivity to adriamycin was measured by MTT.

RESULTSThe expression of APP mRNA among AML subtypes differed significantly (P = 0.019), the highest expression subtype was M(2) with t(8;21) (median 0.1080), followed in order by AML-undefined (0.0467), M(3) (0.0266), M(2a) (0.0221), M(4a) (0.0167), M(5b) (0.0151), and M(4b) (0.0025). APP expression had no significant effect on AML clinical characteristics excepting for subtypes. The expression of APP in Kasumi-1 cells was significantly higher than that of U937 cells (P < 0.05), which was in agreement with APP expression in their original AML subtypes. After siRNAs transfection for 24 h, 48 h, and 72 h, no significant difference in proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, cell cycle and sensitivity to adriamycin was detected between interfering group and control groups (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe APP mRNA expression was highest in M(2) with t(8;21) and lowest in M(5b). Down-regulation of APP expression has no significant effects on biological behaviour of HL-60 cells.

A rapid and highly selective liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) method for the determination of megestrol in human plasma was described using medrysone as internal standard (IS). Blood samples were collected from 20 healthy volunteers after oral administration of 160 mg megestrol acetate dispersible tablets. The analytes were extracted by liquid-liquid extraction procedure and separated on a hanbon lichrospher column with the mobile phase of methanol and water containing 0.1% formic acid and 20 mmol/L ammonium acetate (5:1, v/v). Positive ion electrospray ionization with multiple reaction-monitoring mode (MRM) was employed by monitoring the transitions m/z 385.5-325.4 and m/z 387.5-327.4 for megestrol and medrysone, respectively. Under the isocratic separation conditions, the chromatographic run time was approximately 2.54 min for megestrol and 2.59 min for medrysone. The calibration curve range was from 0.5 to 200.0 ng/mL. The inter-batch and intra-batch precision and accuracy were less than 5.2% relative standard deviation (RSD) and 6.4% relative error (RE). The proposed method was successfully applied in the bioequivalence study of megestrol acetate dispersible tablets.
Calibration ; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry ; methods ; standards ; Humans ; Megestrol ; blood ; chemistry ; pharmacokinetics ; Therapeutic Equivalency

As a kind of fluorescent nanoprobe, BHHCT-Eu3+ @ SiO2 fluorescent nanoparticles were synthesized using microwave irradiation. Transmission electron microscopy characterization showed that the nanoparticles were in spherical shape with particle size of about 36 nm. The BHHCT-Eu3+@SiO2 exhibited good fluorescence property, with a maximal excitation wavelength of 343 nm and an maximal emission wavelength of 615 nm. The fluorescence lateral flow immunoassay ( LFIA ) was established for rapid and quantitative detection of kanamycin ( Kana) in milk after BHHCT-Eu3+@SiO2 fluorescent nanoparticles were conjugated with Kana antibody, with dextran as a linker. The limit of detection of Kana with the LFIA method was 0. 85 ng/mL with IC50 of 12. 76 ng/mL, and the detection range was from 3. 0 ng/m to 76 ng/mL. The recoveries of Kana in milk were between 93 . 7% and 97 . 4% with RSD of 3 . 1%-4 . 6%, and cross-reactivity of the fluorescence immunoassay strip for Kana determination was<1%. The detection results of kana in milk samples between the LFIA and traditional ELISA method showed good correlation.

Objective To investigate the effect of microRNA-223-3p (miR-223-3p) on megakaryocytic differentiation and maturation, and explore the potential mechanism .Methods The endogenous expression of miR-223-3p during megakaryocyte ( MK) differentiation was detected by real-time PCR.Flow cytometry further indicated that alteration of miR-223-3p in human cell lines exerted effects on MK differentiation and maturation .By performing integrative bioinformatic analysis, the potential miR-223-3p target gene, MYH10,was identified.Real-time PCR, luciferase reporter assay and flow cytometry revealed that MYH10 was a direct target of miR-223-3p.Results Endogenous expression of miR-223-3p was in-creased with the differentiation and maturation of MK .The expression of megakaryocytic surface markers CD41 and CD61 and the ploidy were significantly increased in K562 and Meg-01 cells after transfection with miR-223-3p mimics.The expression of MYH10 decreased with the increase in miR-223-3p.Using a luciferase reporter assay ,we demonstrated that MYH10 was a direct target of MiR-223-3p.Furthermore, direct downregulation of MYH10 promoted MK polyploidization . Conclusion MiR-223-3p might regulate the polyploidization of MK by targeting MYH10.