Objective To explore the effect and molecular mechanism of N-myc downstream regulated gene 1 (NDRG1) on transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β)-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in human lung cancer cells.Methods Lung cancer A549 cells were transfected with NDRG1 overexpressed vector,and then treated with 5 μg/L TGF-β1.The abilities of invasion were detected by Transwell assay.The expressions of NDRG1 mRNA and protein were analyzed by teal-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were examined with Western blot.The expressions of EMT-associated markers E-cadherin and Vimentin,and EMT-associated signaling molecules Snail,AKT and Smad were detected with Western blot.Results We found that TGF-β1 treatment could induce morphological alteration of A549 cells from epithelial morphology to mesenchymal morphology.TGF-β1 significantly increased the migration of A549 cells,and increased the expression of mesenchymal maker vimentin and decreased epithelial marker E-cadherin.More importantly,overexpression of NDRG1 significandy reversed the effects of TGF-β1 on A549 cells.Moreover,NDRG1 significandy decreased the levels of phospho-AKT,and suppressed the expression of EMT-related transcription factor Snail.Conclusions NDRG1 could reverse the effects of TGF-β1 on EMT in A549 cells,by which mechanism is related to reduction of the expressions of phospho-AKT and Snail.

Objective To investigate the risk factors of sexual dysfunction in male patients with obstructive sleep apnea and hypoventilation syndrome (OSAHS).Methods One hundred and twenty-one OSAHS male patients aged 22-50 years were stratified into two groups based on scores on the rating scales of international index of erectile function-5 (IIEF-5).Patients' characteristics and polysomnography data of the sexual dysfunction group (n =56) were compared with that of the normal group (n =65).Continuous positive airway pressure(CPAP) treatment was carried out in some patients with abnormal sexual function.Results There were significant differences between the two groups in body mass index (BMI),history of hypertensive disease and diabetes mellitus,the rise of morning blood pressure,respiratory disturbance index (RDI),the longest apnea time(Tmax),the lowest oxygen saturation(LSpO2),percentage of recording time with oxygen saturation of 90％ or less(T90％),slow wave sleep(S1 + S2) over total sleep time(TST),rapid wave sleep (S3 + S4) time over TST,and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep time over TST in bivariate analysis (P ＜ 0.05).There were statistical significance of the history of diabetes mellitus,slow wave sleep (S1 + S2) over TST,RDI,and LSpO2shown in Logistics regression analysis,and ORs were 2.10 (1.17-5.01),3.52 (1.33-5.97),1.45 (1.08-2.95),and 0.86 (0.67-0.93) respectively (P ＜ 0.05).Moreover,20 OSAHS patients with sexual dysfunction were revaluated after the CPAP treatment in two months,and 14 patients returned to the normal scores.Conclusion The history of diabetes mellitus,slow wave sleep (S1 + S2) over TST,RDI,and LSpO2 were independent risk factors for sexual dysfunction in male patients with OSAHS,and treatment with CPAP could significantly improve sexual function in male patients.

Objective To explore the role of forkhead box protein O3a (FOXO3a) in inhibiting the proliferation and metastasis of breast cancer cells by downregulation of vascular endothelial growth factorA (VEGF-A).Methods Cell proliferation bioassay and plate clone formation assay were used to compare the changes of proliferation after siRNA interference.Wound healing and Transwell were used to compare the changes of invasion metastasis after interference.Meanwhile,the changes of VEGF-A expression in the cells before and after interference were compared by real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot.Furthermore,the expressions of mRNA FOXO3a and VEGF-A were detected in 20 cases of breast cancer patients in breast cancer tissues and adjacent normal breast tissues.Results The MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells were increased in cell proliferation and invasion after interference.Further studies found that mRNA and protein expression of VEGF-A were up-regulated in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231cells after interference.In vivo the expression of FOXO3a was lower in 15 cases of cancer compared to normal tissues,and the expression of VEGF-A was high in 15 cases of cancer (75％).FOXO3a and VEGF-A expression was highly negatively correlated.Conclusions This study showed that FOXO3a could inhibit the proliferation and invasion of breast cancer cells,which might be regulated by VEGF-A.It provides an important theoretical evidence for targeted inhibition of breast cancer metastasis.

Objective To elaborate the role of hepatic inherent macrophages and monocyte-derived macrophages in acute liver injury.Methods A model of acute liver injury in mice was induced via intraperitoneally injection of CCl 4 .Af-ter CCl4 injection, analysis of the expression of CD45, F4/80, Ly6C and CD11b on the hepatic macrophage surface was performed by flow cytometry at 24, 48 and 72 h before the hepatic inherent macrophages (CD45+F4/80hi) and monocyte-de-rived macrophages ( CD45+F4/80 lo ) were sorted at the same time .The relative expression of cytokines in the two popula-tions of macrophages was detected by qRT-PCR.Results Compared with control , the number of total F4/80 +cells in the liver was markedly increased after CCl 4 injection, especially at 72 h.The number of CD45+F4/80lo cells increased signifi-cantly after CCl4 injection 24 h.The mRNA levels of MCP-1, TNF-α, TGF-β1, matrix metalloproteinase(MMP)-12 and MMP-13 were elevated significantly both in F 4/80 hi and F4/80 lo macrophages .IL-12βand IL-6 mRNA levels increased significantly only in F4/80hi macrophages, while the level of MMP-9 mRNA increased markedly only in F4/80lo macropha-ges.When compared with F4/80lo macrophages, MCP-1 and MMP-12 mRNA levels were elevated significantly , while the level of TNF-αmRNA decreased significantly in F4/80hi macrophages.Conclusion In acute liver injury, hepatic inherent macrophages and monocyte-derived macrophages both express inflammatory cytokines , promoting inflammation response and leading to liver damage .The ability to recruit inflammatory monocytes into the liver is much stronger ,the expression of in-flammatory cytokines ( IL-12βand IL-6 ) and MMP-12 is higher , but the expression of inflammatory cytokines ( TNF-α) MMP-9 is lower in hepatic inherent macrophages than in monocyte-derived macrophages .

Objective To investigate the effects of abdominal breathing training on sleep disorders in elderly patients with chronic heart failure. Methods Total of 100 patients with chronic heart failure complain of sleeping disorders and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)>7 points were assigned into two groups by random digits table method, 50 cases in each group. The observation group and the control group were nursed in the same way except that abdominal breathing was adapted to the observation group. Sleep status, heart rate, blood pressure, SpO2 and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) were evaluated before training, one week and eight weeks after training respectively. Statistics was used to analyze the differences between two groups. Results After training one week, the sleep status of the observation group was ameliorated, but without significant difference compared to the control group (P>0.05). And after training eight weeks, the PSQI, BNP and heart rate were (9.21 ± 6.38) points, (193.78 ± 152.16) μg/L, (63.5 ± 10.8) times/min in the observation group, and (12.92 ± 0.33) points, (417.55 ± 262.47) μg/L, (70.7 ± 8.5) times/min in the control group, and there was significant differences between 2 groups (t=3.627, 2.041, 2.767, all P < 0.05), while the blood pressure, SpO2 did not change obviously(P>0.05). Conclusions Abdominal breathing training could ameliorate sleep status in elderly patients with chronic heart failure.

Microparticle preparation, a new drug delivery system based on microencapsulation technique, includes micro-spheres and microcapsules. Recently, this new drug delivery system has been applied in developing new dosage forms for the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). TCM microparticles can perform several sound characteristics and functions which are currently unavailable in TCM preparations, such as controlled release, effect of targeting, increasing bioavailability or low toxicity. This makes it possible that TCM may exert much higher therapeutic efficacy and show lower side-effects as well. Although the studies on TCM microparticles are still in the beginning stage, microparticle preparation of TCM has given rise to comprehensive attention and will have a wonderful prospect. The progress in this field is reviewed in this article.
Animals ; Biological Availability ; Delayed-Action Preparations ; Drug Delivery Systems ; methods ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; isolation & purification ; pharmacokinetics ; Humans ; Microspheres ; Particle Size ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Technology, Pharmaceutical ; methods

Liquid-phase microextraction is a novel pretreatment technique for biological samples developed on the basis of liquid-phase extraction technology, which is simple, rapid, economical, and environmentally friendly, and has been widely used in the analysis of biological matrix samples such as blood, urine, and saliva. In this paper, we review the basic principles of the main modes of liquid-phase microextraction techniques, i.e., single-drop microextraction, dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction, and hollow-fiber liquid-phase microextraction, and the progress of their applications in biological sample pretreatment by reviewing the literature in the past five years, with a view to providing technical support and reference for sample pretreatment in the fields of in vivo drug analysis, pharmacokinetic studies and new drug development.

Membrane proteins are the main undertakers of biofilm function, and also the most important target group for innovative drug discovery and research. About 60% of drugs targets are membrane proteins. Due to the obvious aggregation and denaturation tendency of membrane proteins in aqueous solution, it is difficult to simulate the membrane like environment to maintain the correct conformation of membrane proteins in vitro, which results in the slower-growing research on the structure and function of membrane proteins and related ligand drugs than that of water-soluble proteins. Membrane protein stabilization technology is the premise of establishing high specificity, high sensitivity and high throughput drug screening methods for membrane protein ligands, which is of great significance. In this paper, some techniques for stable separation and purification of membrane proteins are reviewed, including detergents, artificial membranes, polymers, lentiviral particles and so on, as well as their specific applications in drug screening.

Objective To explore the relationship between the expression of transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily C member 6 (TRPC6) and podocyte injury in children with primary nephrotic syndrome (PNS) and its clinical significance. Methods The renal tissue of 18 children with PNS was obtained. The pathological changes of kidney were observed by routine section staining and light microscopy. The structural changes of podocyte were observed by electron microscope. The mRNA and protein expressions of TRPC6 in tissues were determined by qPCR and immunohistochemistry, respectively. Further the correlation of TRPC6 mRNA with serum levels of albumin (Alb), creatinine (Cr), triacylglycerol (TG), cholesterol (Tch), complement C3 and 24 h urinary protein quantitation and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) were analyzed respectively. Results The expression of TRPC6 protein in renal tissue of children with PNS was higher than that in the control group, and the difference was statistically different (P<0.05). The relative expression of TRPC6 mRNA in renal tissue of children with PNS was positively related to the expression of TRPC6 protein (r=0.508, P<0.05), but there was no correlation of expression of TRPC6 mRNA with serum levels of Alb, Cr, TG, Tch, C3, eGFR and 24h urinary protein quantitation (P>0.05). Conclusion The pathological types of PNS were mainly podocyte lesions, and the expression of TRPC6 protein was increased in podocytes. TRPC6 detection may be helpful in the diagnosis of podocyte lesions.

Objective To determine the changes of interleukin-12(IL-12) and IL-12 mRNA in gastric mucosa of children with helicobacer pylori (Hp) infection,and to study the effects of Hp infection on the expression levels of IL-12 and IL-12 mRNA,and to evaluate its possible roles in the pathogenesis of gastric mucosal inflammation in Hp related gastroduodenal diseases.Methods Biopsy specimens were taken from the antral mucosa on endoscopy in patients with or without Hp infection, which were diagnosed by urease test and Giemsa staining. The expression levels of IL-12 and IL-12 mRNA in gastric mucosa were determined by ELISA and RT-PCR.Results Inflammation of gastric antral mucosa was more severe in Hp-positive mucosa .The expression levels of IL-12 and IL-12 mRNA in Hp-positive mucosa were (66.42?15.15) ng/g and (59.21?15.03)%,which were more than those in (Hp-negative )(22.22?8.79) ng/g and (17.94?7.39)%(P