Objective: To analyze the difference of chemical constituents in the different parts of Schisandrae Fructus (SF) for researching regularities of their distribution and try to provide the basis for reasonable application of different parts of SF. Methods: An ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with time of flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF/MS) was carried out to acquire the chemical constituents information in samples with different parts of SF. High precise mass data were processed by multivariate statistical analysis techniques to discover and identify the constituents with significant difference. Results: A total of 29 compounds were identified and 23 compounds were lignans. The differences of chemical constituents among the three parts of SF could be obviously observed by the method of OPLS-DA in positive mode. There were 14 chemical ingredients of lignans with significant differences identified by comparison with retention time and mass spectra. Conclusion: The chemical constituents of lignans are mainly distributed in the seed and this study provides the basis for clinical reasonable application of different parts of SF.

This study aimed to investigate the immune adjuvant effect and mechanism induced by chitosan nanoparticles carrying pJME/GM-CSF. In this study, plasmid DNA (pJME/GM-CSF) was encapsulated in chitosan to prepare chitosan-pJME/GM-CSF nanoparticles using a complex coacervation process. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the type of infiltrating cells at the site of intramuscular injection. The phenotype and functional changes of splenic DCs were measured by flow cytometry after different immunogens were injected intramuscularly. The killing activity of CTLs was assessed using the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release assay. The preparation of chitosan-pJME/GM-CSF nanoparticles matched the expected theoretical results. Our results also found that, after pJME/GM-CSF injection, the incoming cells were a mixture of macrophages, neutrophils, and immature DCs. Meanwhile, pJME/GM-CSF increased the expression of MHC class II molecules on splenic DCs, and enhanced their Ag capture and presentation functions. Cell-mediated immunity was induced by the vaccine. Furthermore, chitosan-pJME/GM-CSF nanoparticles outperformed the administration of standard pJME/GM-CSF in terms of DC recruitment, antigen processing and presentation, and vaccine enhancement. These findings reveal that chitosan could be used as delivery vector for DNA vaccine intramuscular immunizations, and enhance pJME/GM-CSF-induced cellular immune responses.
Adjuvants, Immunologic ; administration & dosage ; Animals ; Chitosan ; administration & dosage ; immunology ; Dendritic Cells ; immunology ; virology ; Encephalitis Virus, Japanese ; genetics ; immunology ; Encephalitis, Japanese ; immunology ; prevention & control ; virology ; Female ; Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor ; administration & dosage ; genetics ; immunology ; Humans ; Immunity, Cellular ; Japanese Encephalitis Vaccines ; administration & dosage ; genetics ; immunology ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Nanoparticles ; administration & dosage ; Spleen ; immunology ; T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic ; immunology ; virology ; Vaccines, DNA ; administration & dosage ; genetics ; immunology

Objective To investigate the gender difference in the smile aesthetic features in aged Han Chinese with normal occlusion and its clinical significance.Methods Fifty-six aged Han Chinese (male:28,female:28,aged 60-66 years)with normal occlusion were included in this study.Smiling images of the resting-position and mandibular postural position were obtained in an anteriorposterior view.The CoSmileMAA1.0 software was used to evaluate the indices associated with the smile-aesthetic features,and its clinical significance was analyzed.Results Significant differences were noted in the nasal ala width,upper lip length,lip clearance,angle oris width in resting-position/ smiling position together with the changes of lip clearance,angle oris width,distance of inferior margin of upper lip to cutting edge of the maxillary incisor teeth,distance of superior border of lower lip to cutting edge of the maxillary incisor teeth,smile line ratio and type of smile (all P＜0.05).When the subjects were smiling,the changes of lip clearance was greater in females than in males [(10.7±1.9)mm vs.(11.3±1.6)mm,P＜0.05],the changes of angle oris width was greater in males than in females [(14.1±1.6)mm vs.(13.4±1.3)mm,P＜0.05],and the smile line ratio was less in males than in females [(0.9±0.2) vs.(1.1±0.5),P＜0.05],which indicate that the females had more attractive smile in aged Han Chinese with normal occlusion than males.The type of smile was mainly high smile in elderly females and median smile in elderly males [53.6％ (15 cases) and 60.7％ (17 cases),x2 =6.43,P＜0.05].Conclusions Significant gender difference is noted in the smile-aesthetic features in aged Han Chinese with normal occlusion.Modulation of maxillary incisor teeth length and smile line ratio can contribute to the aesthetic appearance of smiling.

Objective To evaluate the implementation effect of Malaria Elimination Project supported by the Global Fund in Shaanxi Province so as to provide the evidence for the scientific implementation of Malaria Elimination Action Plan and the exami-nation and evaluation work. Methods The data of malaria prevention and control work were collected and analyzed statistically in 27 counties from 2010 to 2012 in order to evaluate the measures and effects of malaria control. Results There were 64 reported cases in the project areas from 2010 to 2012,and the average annual incidence rate was 0.15/10 million with a declining trend. The infected area sources of patients were mainly imported overseas accounting for 79.69%of the total cases. The blood completion rate of febrile patients was 94.14%,and the scope of the blood smears testing work had expanded to 88 counties(including 61 third-class counties). The training coverage rate of malaria prevention knowledge and skills had achieved to 100%. The awareness rates of malaria prevention and control were 91.68%and 89.44%in the students and local residentsrespectively. The case reporting with-in 24 h after diagnosed,epidemiological case study and outbreak disposal,laboratory testing and confirming and the other case management capabilities had also improved significantly. Conclusions The implementation of the Global Fund Malaria Project in Shaanxi Province has accelerated the process of Malaria Elimination work and improved significantly the malaria control ability in the project areas.

Child ; Humans ; Proteomics ; methods

AIM:To set up a method for determining epimedin C and icariin in Xianling Guobao Capsules(Herba Epimedii,Radix et Rhizoma Salviae miltiorrhizae,Fructus Psoraleae,Radix Rehmanniae,etc.). METHODS:The chromatographic conditions included the column of Spherisorb C 18 (4.6 mm?250 mm,5 ?m),the mobile phase was acetonitrice and water as gradient eluent was at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min,the detection wavelength was set at 270 nm and the column temperature was at 25 ℃. RESULTS:The linear range of epimedin C was 0.22-2.20 ?g and icariin was 0.04-0.40 ?g,respectively. The average recovery of epimedin C and icariin were 103.2% (RSD=3.1%) and 97.8% (RSD=3.2%),respectively. CONCLUSION:The method is reliable,stable and well reproducible,and can control the quality of Xianling Guobao Capsules.

Objective To explore the risk factors for asthma in children.Methods A 1:1 matched and hospital-based case-control study was conducted to analyses risk factors for asthma in 300 pairs of children by logistic regression analysis. Results The result of univariate Logistic regression analysis showed that there were 17 related factors for children asthma, including disease history of parents in respiratory system,family income,atopie character,history of acute respiratory infections, eating habit,the amount of sea foods intakes,foam plastics,family decoration,the way of exhaust fume in kitchen,the exhaust effectiveness,raising pet in house,family history of asthma,family history of allergic rhinitis,family history of food allergy,dust allergy of parents,systemic therapy after the first attack.With multivariate Logistic regression analysis,7 factors were entered the model,6 risk factors including father's history of respiratory diseases(OR 3.771,95%CI 1.533～9.278),low family income(OR 1.503, 95%CI 1.258～1.795),atopy(OR 3.788,95%CI 2.368～6.058),meat-eating habit(OR 2.042,95%CI 1.481～2.815),asthma history of family members(OR 1.710,95%CI 0.988～2.958),the family history of allergic rhinitis(OR 1.991,95%CI 1.234～3.211), and 1 protective factor of raising pet in house(OR 0.443,95%CI 0.265～0.739).The coefficients of these factors in multivariate logistic regression model were 1.327、0.407、1.322、0.714、0.536、0.689、and-0.814 respectively.Conclusion Children asthma was a multi-factorial complex disease,and the interaction of environmental and genetic risk factors played an important role in the onset of this disease.

Objective To study dynamic expression of Oct-4 during development of colorectal cancer (CRC) and investigate the association between Oct-4 expression and prognosis of patients with CRC.Methods CRC tissues, matched non-tumor tissues and colonic polyp tissues were collected and Oct-4 expressions were analyzed by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), flow cytometry analysis (FCM) and immunohistochemistry (IHC).Medical records of patients with CRC were reviewed.Clinicopathological analysis was performed to assess the association between Oct-4 expression and certain chnicopathological parameters.Kaplane-Meier survival curve was conducted to evaluate association between Oct-4 expression and survival time of patients with CRC.Results The results of qRT-PCR showed that the relative expressions of Oct-4 mRNA in matched non-tumor, colonic polyp and CRC tissues were (0.23 ±0.16) × 10-5, (1.19 ± 0.76) × 10-5 and (3.79 ± 1.94) × 10-5 respectively, with a significant difference (F =8.633, P =0.001).IHC analysis displayed that the positive expression ratios of Oct-4 in matched non-tumor tissues, colonic polyp tissues and CRC tissues were 4.43％, 12.68％ and 40.51％ respectively, and a significant difference was discovered among them (x2 =66.311, P ＜ 0.001).Oct-4 expre-ssion in CRC was significantly correlated with pathological stage (x2 =7.248, P =0.007), lymph node metastasis (x2 =4.888, P =0.027), distant metastasis (x2 =5.732, P=0.017) and TNM stage (x2 =4.174, P=0.041).Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis demonstrated that Oct-4 positive cases had a shorter median survival time (37.0 months) compared with Oct-4 negative cases (76.0 months), with a significant difference (x2 =14.050, P =0.001).Conclusion The expression of Oct-4 is step-wise increased during development of CRC.The abnormal expression of Oct-4 may play certain roles in the development of CRC.Oct-4 may be an important biomarker for the clinical diagnosis, assessment of disease and prognosis in CRC.

BACKGROUND:We built Sprague-Dawley rat models with mild, moderate, and severe spinal cord injuries to accord with the spinal cord injury types for basic empirical study, and consequently to further understand the microenvironmental change in Sprague-Dawley rats with spinal cord injury, and to provide help for clinical treatment. OBJECTIVE:To observe the changes in nerve function, pathological manifestation and motor sensory evoked potential in Alen’s models and Sprague-Dawley rats with complete spinal cord transection at different time points after spinal cord injury by simulating the microenviroment in Sprague-Dawley rats. METHODS: A total of 125 healthy adult female Sprague-Dawley rats were selected and randomly divided into group sham operation group, 100 gcf hit potential group (20 g×5 cm), 200 gcf hit potential (20 g×10 cm), 300 gcf hit potential group (20 g×15 cm), and spinal cord complete transection group with 25 rats in each group. At 1, 5, 7, 14 and 28 days after model establishment, the degree of spinal cord injury was identified by the BBB scores of motion function, motor evoked potential, and pathological section. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1) Totaly 24 Sprague-Dawley rats died in the experiment. The death rate and the rate of complications were highest in the spinal cord complete transection group. The BBB score of each group was decreased. The BBB scores in every group increased as time went on. There were significant differences between each surgery group and the sham operation group at corresponding time points (P < 0.05). No significant difference was found between the 300 gcf hit potential group and the spinal cord complete transection group at corresponding time points (P > 0.05). (2) In each surgery group, the infiltration of inflammatory cels and obvious sweling of neurons were visible at 1 day after injury. Neural cels reduced with time prolonged. At 28 days after injury, a large number of astrocytes proliferated, scar and spinal cord cavity formed. Above symptoms were worse in the 300 gcf hit potential group and spinal cord complete transection group than in the 100 gcf and 200 gcf hit potential groups. (3) Significant differences in amplitude and latency were detectable between each surgery group and the sham operation group (P < 0.05). No significant difference in amplitude and latency was detected between the 300 gcf hit potential group and the spinal cord complete transection group at corresponding time points (P > 0.05). Results confirmed that hit potential of 20 g×5 cm, 20 g×10 cm and 20 g×15 cm can simulate the microenvironment of Sprague-Dawley rats with mild, moderate and severe spinal cord injury. The rate of complication was lower in modified Alen’s model of different hit potentials than in models of spinal cord complete transection, and was more accorded with basic research.

Objective To investigate the effects of Krüppel like factor 4 (KLF4)on matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9)ex-pression in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC).Methods A total of 50 primary hepatocellular carcinoma samples and their correspond-ing adjacent tissues specimens were collected.The expression of KLF4 and MMP9 were detected by IHC,Western blot and qRT-PCR.After KLF4 gene was transfected into hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (HepG2 cell line),the expressions of KLF4 and MMP9 were conformed by qRT-PCR and Western blot.Migration and invasion of HepG2 cell line transfected by KLF4 were detec-ted by wound-healing assay and invasion assay.Results Compared to corresponding adjacent tissues,The expression of KLF4 was significantly lower in HCCs(P <0.05),and MMP9 expression was remarkably higher in HCCs(P <0.05).KLF4 over-expression inhibited the expression of MMP9 on the protein and mRNA levels.Wound-healing assay and invasion assay confirmed that KLF4 regulated cell invasion and migration through regulating MMP9 expression.Conclusion KLF4 showed low expression in HCCs,and MMP9 was overexpressed.Up-regulation of KLF4 could decrease the expression of MMP9 in HepG2 cell line,which inhibited inva-sion and migration.