A pot experiment was conducted to study effect of drought stress on leaf physiological characteristics and growth of one year old Stellaria dichotoma seedlings. The result showed that plant height and shoot dry weight significantly decreased with decrease in soil water content; however, root length and root dry weight increased at light drought stress and decreased at severe drought stress. The result also showed that with the decrease of soil water content, proline content in S. dichotoma leaves decreased then increase, while solube protein content decreased. Activities of SOD and POD in S. dichotoma leaves significantly decreased as soil water content decreased, while activity of CAT significantly decreased at severe drought stress. Membrane permeability in S. dichotoma leaves increased, while MDA content decreased then increased as soil water decreased. These results suggest that S. dichotoma had osmotic stress resistance ability and reactive oxygen scavenging capacity at light drought stress, which caused S. dichotoma growth was no inhibited at a certain extent drought stress.
Droughts ; Plant Leaves ; enzymology ; growth & development ; metabolism ; Plant Proteins ; metabolism ; Plant Roots ; enzymology ; growth & development ; metabolism ; Proline ; metabolism ; Seedlings ; enzymology ; growth & development ; metabolism ; Stellaria ; enzymology ; growth & development ; metabolism ; Water ; metabolism

Although current synthetic anti-gout drugs have significant therapeutic effects in reducing serum uric acid levels, they have serious side effects such as allergic reactions and liver and kidney damage. Natural products with a wide range of uric acid-lowering and high safety have played a critical role in anti-gout drug discovery and development. This paper reviews the natural products with uric acid-lowering or anti-gout pharmacological effects and the investigation on their mechanisms of action, to provide information for drug discovery and development.

OBJECTIVETo investigate etiology and airway management in children with tracheobronchomalacia.

METHODBronchoscopic examinations were performed in 671 children. The cases with tracheomalacia and bronchomalacia were analyzed in etiopathogenesis and summarized their therapy simultaneously.

RESULTBronchoscopic examination indicated tracheomalacia and bronchomalacia in 148 cases, tracheomalacia in 77 cases and bronchomalacia in 71 cases. Among the cases with tracheomalacia, compression by vascular rings was found in 46 cases, incorporated congenital esophageal atresia with tracheoesophageal fistula was found in 5 cases, tracheomalacia was associated with tracheostoma and mechanical ventilation in 6 cases, with congenital airway malformation in 11 cases and isolated tracheomalacia was found in 4 cases. Among the cases with bronchomalacia, incorporated congenital cardiovascular malformation was found in 64 cases, congenital airway malformation in 6 cases and isolated bronchomalacia in 1 case. Ten children with anomalous innominate artery underwent aortopexy, twelve children with dextro-aorta arch with concomitant aberrant left subclavian artery and double aorta underwent arches vascular ring lysis, six children with pulmonary sling underwent plasty. Severe malacia segments were resected directly in four children during operation. Mechanical ventilation was performed in 38 children. Tracheostoma was performed in 4 children to treat tracheomalacia and bronchomalacia, it could relieve symptom to a certain extent. In 2 children metal stents were inserted into the bronchus for the treatment of bronchomalacia, one was successful and the other needed re-insertion of stent again, these two patients underwent balloon-dilatation in distal part of stent afterwards.

CONCLUSIONThe congenital cardiovascular malformation was the main reason to develop tracheobronchomalacia in children. The symptom of majority of the cases with cardiovascular malformation would be improved within 6 months after surgical intervention. In severe cases, treatments included mechanical ventilation and tracheostoma. Stenting could be applied in refractory cases, but it had certain limitations.

Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Heart Defects, Congenital ; complications ; therapy ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Stents ; Trachea ; pathology ; Tracheal Stenosis ; etiology ; therapy ; Tracheobronchomalacia ; diagnosis ; etiology ; therapy

The urate transporter 1 (URAT1) which controls urate reabsorption is a membrane transporter in the apical membrane of human renal proximal tubule epithelial cells. It was found that about 90% of patients suffer from hyperuricemia due to insufficient uric acid excretion. Therefore, the development of URAT1 inhibitors that can reduce the level of serum uric acid in vivo by enhancing renal urate excretion has been a hot spot in seeking anti-gout drugs in recent years. In this article, the representative URAT1 inhibitors with uric acid-lowering or anti-gout effects are reviewed, and related medicinal chemical strategies are analyzed, hoping to provide valuable insights into the discovery of new URAT1 inhibitors.

PURPOSE: To analyze the correlation of polymorphisms of toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) (rs179009) and toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) (rs187084) in hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections in the Han population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The genotypes of TLR7IVS2-151 in HCV infection were detected by Sanger sequencing using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism to determine the TLR9 T-1486C single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) for all enrolled patients. RESULTS: We found no significant difference between males with spontaneous clearance of HCV versus those chronically infected [chi2=2.71, p=0.10, odd ratios (OR)=0.58, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.31-1.11]. However, significant differences were found for the distribution of TLR7 (rs179009) in females (chi2=9.46, p=0.01). In females, a significant difference was also found between chronic hepatitis C and those with spontaneous clearance of HCV in terms of TLR7 IVS2-151G/A allele frequencies (chi2=9.50, p=0.00, OR=0.46, 95% CI 0.28-0.75). In HCV-infected patients, no significant association was found between the frequency of TLR9 genotypes and alleles. CONCLUSION: The site of TLR7 IVS2-151 (rs179009) G/A may be a factor for susceptibility of chronic HCV in the female Han population. TLR9T-1486C (rs18084) SNP may not play a major role in HCV infection. However, individual risk profiles for HCV infection did vary by sex and this relationship should be further investigated.
Alleles ; China* ; Confidence Intervals ; Female ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; Hepacivirus* ; Hepatitis C* ; Hepatitis C, Chronic ; Hepatitis* ; Humans ; Male ; Methods ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide* ; Toll-Like Receptor 7* ; Toll-Like Receptor 9* ; Toll-Like Receptors*

OBJECTIVETo examine the genetic polymorphisms in the promoter region of cyclooxygenase-2 ( COX-2) and evaluate their association with the risk of gastric cancer.

METHODSSingle-strand conformational polymorphism and DNA sequencing were used to screen the genetic variants of the COX-2 promoter region. Total 323 patients with gastric cancer and 646 frequency-matched controls were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated by logistic regression. Haplotype frequency was estimated using Haplo. stat software.

RESULTSThree single nucleotide polymorphisms, including - 1290A > G, -1195G > A, and -765G > C were identified in the promoter of COX- 2. Case-control analysis showed an increased risk of developing gastric cancer for the -1290AG (OR 1.64; 95% CI 1.03-2.61), -1195AA (OR 2.68; 95% CI 1.65-4.33), and -765CG (OR 2.66; 95% CI 1.53-4.64) genotype carriers, respectively, compared with noncarriers. A greater risk of developing gastric cancer was observed for the A(-1290) -A(-1195) -C(-765) haplotype compared with the A(-1290) -G(-1195) -G(-765) haplotypes (OR 11.80; 95% CI 2.43-57.25).

CONCLUSIONGenetic polymorphisms in COX-2 promoter region may play a role in gastric carcinogenesis.

Adult ; Aged ; Cyclooxygenase 2 ; genetics ; Female ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Haplotypes ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; genetics ; Risk ; Stomach Neoplasms ; enzymology ; genetics

Based on ninety three acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs) which have the same mechanism of action but are different in structural characteristics, the pharmacophore model for acetylcholinesterase inhibitor was constructed by the CATALYST system. The optimal pharmacophore model with three hydrophobic units, a ring aromatic unit and a hydrogen-bond acceptor unit were confirmed (Weight = 3.29, RMS = 0.53, total cost-null cost = 62.75, Correl = 0.93, Config = 19.05). This pharmacophore model will act on the double active site of acetylcholinesterase and is able to predict the activity of known acetylcholinesterase inhibitors that are used for clinical treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and can be further used to identify structurally diverse compounds that have higher activity treating with Alzheimer's disease (AD) by virtual screening.
Acetylcholinesterase ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Alzheimer Disease ; enzymology ; prevention & control ; Cholinesterase Inhibitors ; chemistry ; classification ; therapeutic use ; Drug Design ; Humans ; Models, Chemical ; Models, Molecular ; Molecular Structure ; Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship ; Structure-Activity Relationship

OBJECTIVETo establish normally conditionally-immortalized human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) by ectopic expression of the human telomerase catalytic enzyme (hTERT) and simian virus 40 large T (SV40 LT) antigen.

METHODSPrimary HUVECs were transfected with recombinant retrovirus containing hTERT or SV40 LT respectively. Subsequently drug resistant cell clones were screened and expanded for further studies. Endothelial cell biomarkers were confirmed by examination.

RESULTSThe morphological phenotype of the transfected cells was similar to the non-transfected cells. Von Willebrand factor, hTERT and SV40 LT could be detected in transfected HUVECs. Moreover, higher telomerase activity in transfected cells was maintained for over 50 population doublings compared with only low level of endogenous telomerase transiently at early population doublings in primary HUVECs. When exposed to TNF-alpha (tumor necrosis factor-alpha), the expression of E-selectin in transfected cells was significantly up-regulated, but no alteration of endothelial lipase was found.

CONCLUSIONEctopic coexpression of hTERT and SV40 LT can effectively immortalize HUVECs without tumorigenicity in vitro. Immortalized HUVECs may be an ideal target of further molecular function studies.

Antigens, Polyomavirus Transforming ; genetics ; metabolism ; Cell Culture Techniques ; methods ; Cell Size ; Cell Survival ; physiology ; Cells, Cultured ; DNA-Binding Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Endothelial Cells ; cytology ; physiology ; Genetic Enhancement ; methods ; Humans ; Protein Engineering ; methods ; Recombinant Proteins ; metabolism ; Telomerase ; genetics ; metabolism ; Tissue Engineering ; methods ; Transfection ; methods ; Umbilical Veins ; cytology ; physiology

Chinese Pharmacopoeia I (2010 edition) covers dosage and usage of traditional Chinese medicinal herbs and decoction pieces, and provides dosage ranges of most of decoction pieces. By using the descriptive statistical method, the article discusses the distribution of maximum dosage, minimum dosage and dosage range of decoction pieces set forth in Chinese Pharmacopoeia, and compares toxic drugs and non-toxic drugs. Altogether 617 drugs are included into the study. Except for 16 decoction pieces whose dosages are not clear, all of the remaining decoction pieces are covered by Chinese Pharmacopoeia, with the maximum common dosage, minimum common dosage and dosage range of 3, 10 and 6 g. Upon comparison, we discovered that Chinese Pharmacopoeia sets stricter standards for toxic drugs than non-toxic drugs. Compared with dosages in classical prescriptions and actual clinical usages, dosage ranges described in Chinese Pharmacopoeia are much narrower. There is no significant difference between drugs that can be used as foods or healthcare foods and other drugs according to Chinese Pharmacopoeia.
Drug Dosage Calculations ; Drug Therapy ; standards ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; toxicity ; Humans ; Prescriptions ; standards

OBJECTIVETo immortalize human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) by ectopic expression of the telomerase reverse transcriptase enzyme (hTERT), and by Simian Virus 40 Large T (SV40LT) antigen without malignant transformation.

METHODSTwo different retroviruses that contained hTERT/SV40LT cDNA fragment and drug resistance gene were constructed, and were used to transfect normal primary HUVECs. The transfected cells were screened with 500 microg/ml G418 and 4 microg/ml puromycin. Drug resistance cell clones were selected 3 days after transfection and cultured for further studies. An under inverted microscope and a scanning electron microscope were used to observe the morphology and growth of the cells. The expression of VIII factor and transfected DNA fragments were detected for identification of the endothelial origin and successful transfection. And the expression of E-selectin and endothelial lipase with or without the stimulus of TNF-alpha were also assayed to analyze the biological activity of the transfected cells.

RESULTSThe cells were homogenous, closely apposed, large, flat, and polygonal, displayed a characteristic ovoid nucleus with one or two nucleoli and formed monolayer with polygonal shape without overlapping. Immunocytochemical staining showed the existence of VIII factor. SV40LT/hTERT antigen expressed by the transfected cells was detected, while the contrasts had non-expression. Telomerase activity of the cell was detected in the transfected cells, which was 0.36 at 12 th passage and 0.38 at 50 th passage. However, the activity in the normal HUVECs was 1.12 at the first passage and 0.06 at the third passage assayed by PCR-ELISA. Both E-selectin and endothelial lipase were all specific in endothelial cells. The expressions of these two were also detected. And the expression of E-selectin can be up-regulated with the stimulus of TNF-alpha, while the expression of endothelial lipase was not unregulated significantly.

CONCLUSIONEctopic expression of hTERT and SV40LT can effectively immortalize HUVECs without tumorigenesis.

Antigens, Polyomavirus Transforming ; genetics ; Cell Line, Transformed ; Endothelial Cells ; cytology ; metabolism ; Humans ; Simian virus 40 ; immunology ; Telomerase ; genetics ; Transfection ; Umbilical Veins ; cytology