The serum level of 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 was determined in patients with type 2 diabetes,diabetic nephropathy,and healthy objects..The results demonstrated that the serum 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 level in type 2 diabetic patients with nephropathy was lower than that in the healthy objects or type 2 diabetes objects.Blood β2-M,total cholesterol,creatinine,24 h urinary albumin,and course of illness in type 2 diabetic patients with nephropathy have relationship with serum 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3.

Objective To assess the efficacy of methylprednisolone (MP)pulse therapy in treatment of Hashimoto thyroiditis(HT) complicated with goiter.Methods 30 patients with HT complicated with goiter participated in the study and received MP pulse therapy.The patients had to be euthyroid for at least 3 months before the date of inclusion with plasma concentrations of thyroid hormones within their reference range.The goiter was still obvious and had no improvement.A dose of 250 mg MP was administered intravenously for seven consecutive days,and then treated with oral prednisone 10 mg,three times per day for 6 weeks with the dosage in each week gradually reduced at 5 mg to none.Ultrasonic was used to measure thyroid size before and after MP treatment.Results The treatment was successful at the end of the trial in all of the 30 patients receiving MP.The thyroid size from length,breadth,thickness to isthmus obviously decreased (P ＜ 0.05).The length of the left lobe was (57.42 ± 12.87) mm and (46.37 ± 7.67) mm (t =4.58) before and after treatment; The breadth of the left lobe was(26.68 ±7.71) mm and(22.21 ±6.09) mm(t =4.56) before and after treatment; The thickness of the left lobe was (27.18 ± 6.60) mm and (21.14 ± 5.67) mm(t =7.28) before and after treatment.The length of the right lobe was(58.17 ± 12.32)mm and(49.73 ±9.35) mm(t =3.84) before and after treatment; The breadth of the right lobe was (26.14 ± 7.37)mm and (23.00 ± 6.68) mm(t =3.29) before and after treatment ; The thickness of the right lobe was(27.57 ± 6.42)mm and(22.00 ±5.55)(t =5.88)before and after treatment.The isthmus before and after treatment was(9.94 ±4.15)mm and(6.19 ±2.57)mm(t =6.09).The recurrence rate was 17％ (5/30) after one year.Conclusions MP pulse therapy is an effective treatment for HT complicated with goiter.The recurrence rate is low.

AIM:To study the effect of Yiqi Huoxue Jiedu Fang(YHJ),composed of ginsenoside,penex notogingseng and berberin,on tumor growth and metastasis and to explore its mechanism.METHODS:Murine Lewis lung carcinoma transplant model was established and mice were treated with YHJ by intraperitoneal injection.After 10 days,the inhibitory rate of tumor,pathology of tumor and PCNA of tumor cells were detected.After 20 days,numbers of metastatic foci on lung surface and microvessel density(MVD)were determined.Expression of VEGF in tumor and serum were also analyzed by immunohistochemical test and ELISA,respectively.RESULTS:YHJ reduced the weight of tumor and the amount of metastatic foci.The inhibitory rates of tumor at high and low dose of YHJ(24 mg?kg-1?d-1,12 mg?kg-1?d-1)were 48.29% and 37.26%,and the number of metastatic foci was 1.67 and 3.50,while control was 6.44.Furthermore,PCNA of tumor cells,MVD of tumor and VEGF expression in serum and tumor were decreased in YHJ treatment goup as compared with control.CONCLUSION:YHJ remarkably inhibits Lewis lung carcinoma growth and metastasis in mice.Its mechanism may be related to inhibition of angiogenesis.

OBJECTIVETo detect the inflammatory factors of induced sputum (IS) and whole lung lavage fluid in pneumonoconiosis patients and to explore the correlation between the inflammatory factors with pulmonary function.

METHODSThe records of 45 cases of pneumonoconiosis patients were observed. All patients underwent lung function examination, sputum induction and massive whole lung lavage (WLL) sequentially through advance. IS and whole lung lavage fluid were collected respectively. Inflammatory factors of the two specimens were detected by using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. The correlation of inflammatory factors between the two specimens was analyzed. The relationship between the inflammatory factor and lung function index was observed. The statistical analysis is performed with SPSS 17.0 for Windows. P < 0.05 is considered to be statistically significant.

RESULTSCytokines (MCP-1, TNF-α MIP-1α, NO(2)(-)/NO(3)(-) and IL-16) were significantly associated between IS and whole lung lavage fluid (P < 0.05), while TNF-α, MCP-1, NO(2)(-)/NO(3)(-) and IL-16 were no significantly associated with lung function index (P > 0.05). MIP-1α was significantly associated with FEV(1.0)/VCmax and MEF(25), respectively (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSInflammatory factors were significantly associated between IS and whole lung lavage fluid, which could indicate early lung injury in pneumonoconiosis patients.

Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid ; chemistry ; Chemokine CCL2 ; Chemokine CCL3 ; Cytokines ; analysis ; Humans ; Interleukin-16 ; Lung ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Silicosis ; Sputum ; chemistry ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of formaldehyde exposure on the expression of inflammatory cytokines in human bronchial epithelial cells (16HBE cells).

METHODS16HBE cells were treated with formaldehyde with a concentration of 0, 0.04, 0.08, 0.16, 0.32, or 0.64 mmol/L for 24 hours, and MTT assay was applied to measure proliferative activity and calculate median lethal dose; 16HBE cells were exposed to formaldehyde with a concentration of 0, 0.04, 0.16, 0.64, or 1.20 mmol/L for 4 hours, MTT assay was applied to measure proliferative activity, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was applied to measure the levels of Th1, Th2, and Th17 cytokines and tumor necrosis factor α(TNF-α) in cell supernatant.

RESULTSCompared with the control group, the 0.32-and 0.64-mmol/L exposure groups had significant decreases in cell viability (P<0.05); all exposure groups had reductions in interleukin(IL)-2 and IL-12, but no significant changes in interferon-γ and IL-10. In the 1.20-mmol/L exposure group, there was an increase in IL-4, with the increasing exposure dose, IL-5 and IL-6 tended to increase first and then decrease, and there was no significant change in IL-13; with the increasing exposure dose, IL-8 tended to increase first and then decrease, and there was no significant change in IL-17. In all the exposure groups, TNF-α increased and tended to increase significantly with the increasing exposure dose(P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONFormaldehyde exposure can cause imbalance between Th1 and Th2 cytokines secreted by 16HBE cells, as well as increased expression of IL-8 and TNF-α.

Cells, Cultured ; Cytokines ; metabolism ; Epithelial Cells ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Formaldehyde ; adverse effects ; Humans ; Interferon-gamma ; metabolism ; Interleukins ; metabolism ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo investigate the changes of cytokines in induced sputum at different stages of silicosis patients.

METHODSA total of 200 workers from one of the Shandong Province gold mine were chosen as object of observation. Among which 40 patients at silicosis stage I and 40 patients at silicosis stage II were divided into silicosis observed object group, silicosis stage I group, silicosis stage II group, and another 80 workers exposed to silica dust without suffering from silicotic Clinical symptoms, however, were chosen as group of dust exposed, and 40 logistical workers without being exposed and history of silicosis's illness were chosen as control group. And ask their basic information by questionnaire. Then, spray-inhalation the induced sputum and apply the ELISA to assess the level of tumor necrosis factor (TNF), interleukin (IL), macrophage inflammatory protein-1 (MIP-1α), monocyte chemotactic factor-1 (MCP-1), metalloproteinases (MMP), transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), platelet derived growth factor (PDGF) in induced sputum from subjects.

RESULTSThe level of TGF-β [(901.60 ± 30.09) ng/L] in the induced sputumof patients in silicosis stage I group is lower than that in the observed object group [(913.02 ± 20.51) ng/L], and the level of MMP-9 [(212.49 ± 5.97) ng/L], MCP-1 [(129.91 ± 4.30) ng/L] has various degrees of increase than that in control group, observed object group and dust exposed group. All the differences have statistical significances (P < 0.05). The level of TNF-α [(85.76 ± 3.78) ng/L] in the induced sputum of patients in silicosis stage I group reaches the maximum, there are significant differences comparing with that level in the silica dust exposure group and the control group, whose differences are statistically significant (P < 0.05). Compared with the control group, the level of MMP-2 (427.95 ± 23.64) in the induced sputum of patients in silicosis stage I group has increased, whose differences also have statically significant (P < 0.05). Compared with the control group, silica dust exposed group, the observation group of objects, the pneumosilicosis patients of IL-16 in induced sputum IL-16 (21.40 ± 9.24) decreased, the content of PDGF [(5.96 ± 0.51) ng/L], MMP-2 [(447.86 ± 27.10) ng/L], MMP-9 [(223.91 ± 12.28) ng/L], MCP-1 [(122.87 ± 6.08) ng/L] increased, the differences are statistically significant (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONAs silicosis biomarkers, TNF-alpha, TGF-beta, IL-16, PDGF, MMP-2, MMP-9 and MCP-1 have certain significance, further suggesting that early detection rate of patients with silicosis can be improved by employing the multiple indexes discriminate equation.

Biomarkers ; metabolism ; Case-Control Studies ; Chemokine CCL2 ; metabolism ; Chemokine CCL3 ; metabolism ; Cytokines ; metabolism ; Discriminant Analysis ; Dust ; Humans ; Interleukin-16 ; metabolism ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 2 ; metabolism ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 ; metabolism ; Platelet-Derived Growth Factor ; metabolism ; Silicosis ; diagnosis ; Sputum ; chemistry ; Transforming Growth Factor beta ; metabolism ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; metabolism

Drug delivery systems (DDS) are defined as methods by which drugs are delivered to desired tissues, organs, cells and subcellular organs for drug release and absorption through a variety of drug carriers. Its usual purpose to improve the pharmacological activities of therapeutic drugs and to overcome problems such as limited solubility, drug aggregation, low bioavailability, poor biodistribution, lack of selectivity, or to reduce the side effects of therapeutic drugs. During 2015-2018, significant progress in the research on drug delivery systems has been achieved along with advances in related fields, such as pharmaceutical sciences, material sciences and biomedical sciences. This review provides a concise overview of current progress in this research area through its focus on the delivery strategies, construction techniques and specific examples. It is a valuable reference for pharmaceutical scientists who want to learn more about the design of drug delivery systems.

Nano-drug delivery strategies have been highlighted in cancer treatment, and much effort has been made in the optimization of bioavailability, biocompatibility, pharmacokinetics profiles, and in vivo distributions of anticancer nano-drug delivery systems. However, problems still exist in the delicate balance between improved anticancer efficacy and reduced toxicity to normal tissues, and opportunities arise along with the development of smart stimuli-responsive delivery strategies. By on-demand responsiveness towards exogenous or endogenous stimulus, these smart delivery systems hold promise for advanced tumor-specificity as well as controllable release behavior in a spatial-temporal manner. Meanwhile, the blossom of nanotechnology, material sciences, and biomedical sciences has shed light on the diverse modern drug delivery systems with smart characteristics, versatile functions, and modification possibilities. This review summarizes the current progress in various strategies for smart drug delivery systems against malignancies and introduces the representative endogenous and exogenous stimuli-responsive smart delivery systems. It may provide references for researchers in the fields of drug delivery, biomaterials, and nanotechnology.