ObjectiveTo evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of astragalus injection on the immune function in patients with senile sepsis.Methods Sixty patients with old age sepsis in Critical Care Medicine Department of Guangdong Provincial Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital were enrolled and randomly assigned into control and treatment groups according to the table of random numbers, 30 cases in each group. According to 2012 sepsis guidelines for treatment, including antibacterial drug, mechanical ventilation, visceral function support, etc., the therapy was given to the control group; besides the treatment in the control group, intravenous drip of 60 mL astragalus injection(10 mL per ampoule) in 250 mL 0.9% normal saline was additionally given in the treatment group, once a day for 7 days. Before and after treatment, the immunological indexes, acute physiology and chronic health evaluationⅡ(APACHEⅡ) score, sequential organ failure assessment(SOFA) score, duration of mechanical ventilation and time of stay in intensive care unit(ICU), 28-day mortality and adverse drug reactions were compared between the two groups.Results Before treatment, there were no statistically significant differences in CD3+, CD3+CD4+, CD3+CD8+ and T helper cells /T suppressor cells(Th/Ts)levels between the two groups(allP>0.05), while CD3-NK+ of the control group was significantly higher than that in the treatment group〔(10.47±6.22)% vs. (6.26±4.13)%,P<0.05〕. After treatment in treatment group, CD3+, CD3+CD4+ and CD3-NK+ were increased, CD3+CD8+,Th/Ts were decreased compared with those before treatment; in the control group after treatment, CD3+,CD3+CD8+ and CD3-NK+ were decreased and CD3+CD4+ and Th/Ts increased compared with those before treatment. In the comparisons between the treatment group and control group after treatment, the differences in CD3+, CD3+CD4+ and CD3+CD8+ had statistical significance〔CD3+:(30.30±17.17)% vs.(41.91±22.29)%, CD3+CD4+:(31.54±13.24)% vs.(40.08±15.28)%, CD3+CD8+:(14.25±8.10)% vs.(9.52±9.33)%,allP<0.05〕; while the differences in Th/Ts and CD3-NK+ had no statistical significance(bothP>0.05). After treatment in the treatment group, IgG was increased compared with that in the control group〔IgG(g/L): 13.07±5.43 vs. 10.10±3.96,P<
0.05〕. The differences in IgA, IgM, complement(C3,C4) and total serum complement activity(CH50) in the comparisons between the two groups had no statistical significance after treatment(allP>0.05). The differences in APACHEⅡ score(13.83±6.18 vs. 15.90±7.48), SOFA score(7.38±4.66 vs. 6.89±4.19), time of stay in ICU(day: 11.63±5.13 vs. 13.62±8.08), invasive ventilation time(hour: 155.44±119.68 vs. 224.08±174.15) and noninvasive ventilation time(hour: 55.55±42.24 vs. 98.57±43.17) had no statistical significance in comparisons between the treatment group and control group after treatment(allP>0.05). The difference in 28-day mortality had no statistical significance in comparison between the treatment group and control group〔16.7%(5/30) vs. 20.0%(6/30),P>0.05〕. In 60 cases, there were 2 patients with adverse drug reaction, one diarrhea and another little rashes, the rest of the patients did not appear any drug side effect.ConclusionAstragalus injection combined with conventional western medicine therapy possibly has certain effect on adjustment of disturbance of immunologic functions in old patients with sepsis, and its therapeutic safety is well.

0.05). However, during episode the inspiratory frequencies in patients with chronic asthmatic bronchitis〔PF=(176.68 ?36.84)Hz,Q 25% =(171.32?32.64)Hz,Q 50% =(229.69? 31.87 )Hz,Q 75% =(382.36? 55.21 )Hz, respectively〕 was significantly lower than that in asthmatics 〔PF=(354.21?67.58)Hz,Q 25% =( 286.42 ? 53.68 )Hz,Q 50% =(386.77?74.18)Hz,Q 75% =(554.68?84.72)Hz,respectively, P

Background Anaphylactic reactions during anesthesia and operation are common and life threatening.Follow-up investigation is necessary for avoiding potential re-exposure of the patients to the offending drugs.The purpose of this study was to assess cellular allergen stimulation test (CAST) as a diagnostic instrument in immunoglobulin E (IgE)-and non-lgE-mediated anaphylactic reactions.Methods This study included 25 patients who developed perioperative anaphylactic reactions and 10 subjects that tolerated anesthetics and other drugs during perioperative period from September 2009 to October 2013 in Peking Union Medical College Hospital.We performed skin tests and flow cytometric analysis of basophil activation-based CAST in all subjects.Results Of the 25 patients,17 had IgE-mediated anaphylactic reactions (causative agent identified by skin tests) and 8 had non-lgE-mediated anaphylactic reactions (negative skin tests).CAST showed a sensitivity of 42.9％,specificity of 90％,and negative predictive value of 80.6％ for neuromuscular blocking agents.Conclusions CAST may be useful for the diagnosis of anaphylactic reactions during perioperative period.Our findings call for further investigation to increase the sensitivity of the test.

Objective: To observe the clinical efficacy of combining auricular point sticking and a healthy diet to treat simple obesity in children aged 6-9 years old.Methods: A total of 190 eligible obese kids were divided into an observation group and a control group using the random number table method, with 95 cases in each group. The observation group was intervened by auricular point sticking plus guide on a healthy diet, while the control group was only provided with the guide on a healthy diet. The therapeutic efficacy was observed after intervention for three consecutive months, as well as the changes in body mass (BM), body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC), and subcutaneous fat thickness. Results: After the 3-month intervention, the total effective rate was 91.6％ in the observation group, versus 74.7％ in the control group, and the between-group difference was statistically significant (P<0.01); in both groups, the BM, BMI, WC, HC, and subcutaneous fat thickness all decreased significantly (P<0.05), and were lower in the observation group than in the control group, showing statistical significance (P<0.05). Conclusion: Auricular point sticking plus a healthy diet is safe and effective in treating simple obesity in children, producing more significant efficacy than healthy diet intervention alone.

In order to clarify material basis of effective parts of liangxue tongyu prescription, blood-heat and blood-stasis rat model induced by dry yeast was established. The changes of rectal temperature, blood viscosity and plasma viscosity were used to evaluate the cooling-blood and activating-blood effects of liangxue tongyu prescription and its parts. Compared with the model group, the extract from liangxue tongyu prescription, its volatile oil and n-butanol part could significantly reduce rectal temperature (P<0.01), and also reduce blood viscosity and plasma viscosity to various degrees (P<0.01 or P<0.05). So volatile oil and n-butanol part were primarily identified as effective parts of liangxue tongyu prescription. By using GC-MS with normalization method of area to analyze volatile oil of liangxue tongyu prescription, 70 compounds were identified, accounting for about 92.54%, mainly as β-asarone, paeonol, α-asarone and shyobunone. 42 compounds such as peony glycosides, tannins, and iridoid glycosides were identified by HPLC-MS techniques and standard comparison. The study determined the effective parts of liangxue tongyu prescription and clarified the chemical composition providing the foundation for further studies on material basis of liangxue tongyu prescription.
Acetophenones ; chemistry ; Animals ; Anisoles ; chemistry ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry ; Oils, Volatile ; chemistry ; Rats ; Tannins ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo determine the expression of Skp2 in different prostate cancer (PCa) cell lines and tissues, and explore its influence on the androgen receptor (AR) signaling pathway and development of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC).

METHODSThe expression levels of Skp2 and AR in different PCa cell lines were detected by Western blot. After knockdown of Skp2 in the C4-2 and 22RV1 cells transfected with shRNA, the expressions of AR and P27 were determined and the activity of ARR3-Luc measured by dual-luciferase reporter gene assay following treatment with dihydrotestosterone (DHT). The expressions of AR and Skp2 in human naïve PCa or CRPC specimens were detected by immunohistochemical staining followed by analysis of their differences and correlation.

RESULTSThe Skp2 protein expression level was significantly higher in the C4-2 or 22RV1 cells than in the LNCaP cells. DHT treatment increased the expression of Skp2 in the C4-2 cells, but knock-down of Skp2 significantly up-regulated the expression of the well-known downstream protein P27 and down-regulated that of AR. Consistently, DHT treatment increased the activity of ARR3-Luc, while knockdown of Skp2 remarkably decreased it in the C4-2 and 22RV1 cells (P < 0.05). In addition, significantly higher expressions of Skp2 and AR were observed in the CRPC than in the naïve specimens (P < 0.05), with a positive correlation between the two proteins (r = 0.658 1, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSkp2 can enhance the expression and transcription activity of the AR protein in CRPC cells or tissues and is promising to be a critical molecular therapeutic target.

Androgens ; pharmacology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Dihydrotestosterone ; pharmacology ; Disease Progression ; Gene Knockdown Techniques ; Humans ; Male ; Neoplasm Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Prostatic Neoplasms, Castration-Resistant ; metabolism ; Receptors, Androgen ; genetics ; metabolism ; S-Phase Kinase-Associated Proteins ; physiology ; Transcriptional Activation ; Up-Regulation

Objective To investigate the influence of low-dose,long-term arsenite exposure on keratinocyte (HaCat) cell apoptosis and the expression of Bcl-2 and Bax proteins.Methods HaCat cells were exposed to different concentrations of NaAsO2[0(control group),0.05,0.10 μmol/L] for 15 weeks.A total of 10 000 cells in each group were measured to detect the level of apoptosis by flow cytometry.The protein expressions of Bcl-2 and Bax were determined by Western blotting method.Results The cell apoptosis rate was significantly different between groups (F =17.19,P ＜ 0.05).Compared with that of the control [(1.42 ± 0.13)％],the apoptosis rates of the 0.05 and 0.10 μmol/L groups [(1.23 ± 0.08)％ and (1.04 ± 0.06)％] decreased significantly (all P ＜ 0.05); the 0.10 μmol/L group was significantly lower than that of the 0.05 μmol/L group(P ＜ 0.05).The protein expressions of Bcl-2 and Bax were significantly different between groups (F=107.38,346.45,all P＜ 0.05).The protein expression of Bcl-2 of the 0.05 and 0.10 μmol/L groups were (143.89 ± 7.74)％ and (199.96 ± 12.18)％,respectively,which were significantly higher than that of the control group[(100.00 ± 1.45)％,all P ＜ 0.05] ; the 0.10 μmol/L group was significantly higher than that of the 0.05 μmol/L group (P ＜ 0.05).The protein expression of Bax of the 0.05 and 0.10 μmol/L groups were (70.78 ± 1.53)％ and (54.80 ± 1.34)％,respectively,which were markedly lower than that of the control group[(100.00 ± 3.09)％,all P ＜ 0.05]; the 0.10 μmoL/L group was significantly lower than that of the 0.05 μmol/L group(P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Decreased level of apoptosis induced by low level and long-term arsenic exposure may be associated with increased expression of Bcl-2 protein and decreased expression of Bax protein.

Aim To study the protective effects of sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) postconditioning on rat myocardial cells injured by hypoxia/reoxygenation in reperfusion injury salvage kinase ( RISK ) signal path-way. Methods The cultured rat H9c2 cells were ran-domly divided into seven groups: ( 1 ) control group;(2) hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) group; (3) S1P group;(4) S1P+LY294002 group(S1P+LY); (5) LY group; ( 6 ) S1 P +PD98059 group ( S1 P +PD );(7) PD group. The viability of H9c2 cells was detec-ted using MTT method. The content of MDA in the cultured medium and the activity of T-SOD and Mn-SOD were measured with colorimetry. The concentra-tion of intracellular free calcium ion was detected by confocal microscopy. The rate of cell apoptosis was de-termined by flow cytometric analysis. Western blot was used to assess phosphorylation of Akt and ERK1/2 in H9c2 cells. Results Compared with the H/R group, S1P significantly increased vaibility of cells, lowered the rate of apoptosis, decreased the content of MDA in the culture medium, increased the activity of T-SOD and Mn-SOD, reduced concentration of intracellular calcium and increased the phosphorylation of Akt and ERK1/2 . When added LY294002 or PD98059 , the effects of S1P above were inhibited. Conclusion S1P protects H9 c2 cells against hypoxia/reoxygenation inju-ry. The protection of S1P was inhibited by LY294002, the inhibitor of PI3 K/Akt and PD98059 , the inhibitor of ERK1/2 . S1 P protects H9 c2 cells against hypoxia/reoxygenation injury via RISK pathway.

Background and Objectives The relationship between left atrial (LA) size and congestive heart failure (CHF) is well recognized;however, there is little information on the association of pulmonary vein (PV) diameter and CHF.The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes of PV and LA sizes in CHF patients by multislice computed tomography (MSCT) angiography using a new 64-slice scanner. Methods and Results We assessed diameters of PVs ostium and LA by 64-slice MSCT with three-dimensional reconstruction in 25 CHF patients and in 26 age- and sex-matched non-CHF controls. Compared with controls, CHF patients showed significant greater diameters of left superior pulmonary vein (LSPV) and right inferior pulmonary vein (RIPV) in both anteriorposterior(AP) and superior-inferior (SI) directions (P＜0.01), significant dilation of right superior pulmonary vein (RSPV) in AP direction (P＜0.05), as well as significant increase of LA transverse, AP, and SI diameters (P＜0.01). Conclusion Significant dilation of PVs with simultaneous LA enlargement was demonstrated in CHF patients. This anatomic and geometric changes may participate in the perpetuation of AF.

Objectives: To evaluate mice as experimental animal for Chlamydia pneumoniae, a common cause of acute respiratory infections in human.　Methods: Intranasal inoculation of Icr mice with C. Pneumoniae induced a prolonged course of lung infection, as demonstrated by persistence of lung pathology(60 days).　Results: Icr mice were susceptible to C. pneumoniae. Lung pathology was characterized by patchy interstitial pneumonitis with predominately neutrophil leukocyte infiltration in the early(7 days) and lymphocytes infiltration in the later stages(14 days later) of infection.　Conclusions:Icr mice were susceptible to C. pneumoniae and the mouse model is useful for the investigation of the pathogenesis of C. pneumoniae infection.