Objective To observe the correlation of MRI findings with treatment outcome of percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP) in the acute phase of osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture (OVCF).Methods A total of 101 patients with single-segment OVCF undergone PKP in the acute phase were included in the study.There were 19 males and 82 females, at age range of 61 to 89 years (mean, 69.3 years).According to the T2WI signal intensity, the patients were divided into low signal group (Group A), low-medium signal group (Group B), medium signal group (Group C), and mediumhigh signal group (Group D).visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to evaluating the pain relief.Correlations of MRI signal with vertebral height, vertebral compression ratio, Cobb's angle change in each group were determined.Results All MRI images were shown as low signal in T1WI and high signal in FS-T2WI.On the T2WI images, the signal was medium-high in 14 vertebrae, medium in 18 vertebrae, low-medium in 31 vertebrae, and low in 38 vertebrae.Among four groups, the VAS score, vertebral body height, vertebral compression ratio and Cobb's angle changes before operation showed no statistical difference compared with those after operation (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions MRI findings are primarily low or medium signal on T2WI images in the acute phase of OVCF, which shows insignificant correlation with effect of PKP.However, PKP is effective in the treatment of OVCF.

Objective To study the effect of antiapoptosis factors PED/PEA-15 and XIAP on prostate cancer cells(PC-3)apoptosis.Methods The expressions of XIAP and PED/PEA-15 in prostate cancer cells(PC-3)were respectively assayed using the RT-PCR technique.XIAP and PED/ PEA-15 specific siRNA vectors were designed and constructed and then were transiently cotransfected into PC-3 cells under induction of liposome.The effects of siRNA vectors on PED/PEA-15 and XIAP transcription were assayed by RT-PCR technique,and the effect of XIAP and PED/PEA-15 on cancer cell apoptosis were determined by flow cytometry and microscope observation.Results PED/PEA- 15 and XIAP were both highly expressed in PC-3 cells.Enzyme digestion analysis and DNA sequencing confirmed that the PED/PEA-15 and XIAP-specific siRNA expression vectors were constructed successfully.The designed siRNA sequences of PED/PEA-15 and XIAP could specifically inhibit their transcription.The PC-3 cells which were cotransfected with PED/PEA-15 and XIAP- specific siRNA vectors were more sensitive to doxorubicin.The apoptosis rate of cotransfected cells was significantly increased.Conclusions PED/PEA-15 and XIAP might be involved in the development of prostate cancer.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the role of transcript factor SCL/TAL-1 gene in the erythroid differentiation through the knockdown of SCL/TAL-1 mRNA by RNA interference.

METHODSThe plasmid of pTRIP-dU3-RNAiTALh-EF1a-GFP with SCL/TAL1 shRNA was transfected into EPO-induced K562 cell line with erythroid differentiation via lentiviral vector system and the expression of SCL/TAL-1 mRNA decreased. The plasmid pTRIP-dU3- RNAiluc-EF1-GFP expressing EGFP gene was as control. The mRNA levels of SCL/TAL-1 and erythroid related RhD, GPA, CD47 in the cell lines were detected by RT-PCR, and erythroid antigen CD71, CD235a were examined by flow cytometry.

RESULTS(1) After 48 h of transfect, more than 95% of K562 cells were GFP positive, indicating the infection rate of the plasmids in the K562 cells more than 95%. (2) The results of RT-PCR showed SCL/TAL-1 mRNA expression in the K562 cell line of knockdown of SCL/TAL-1 was significantly lower than that in the control (P < 0.05). The mRNA levels of CD47 and RhD were also significantly lower, however, GPA decreased slightly in comparison with the control. (3) The expressions of CD71 and CD235a markedly reduced in the K562 cell line of knockdown of SCL/TAL-1 with positive rates as 10.4% and 76.5%, while the positive rates in the control as 94.3% and 83.6%.

CONCLUSIONOur findings suggested that transcription factor SCL/TAL-1 might play an positive role in erythroid differentiation.

Cell Differentiation ; Humans ; Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins ; genetics ; K562 Cells ; RNA Interference

OBJECTIVETo investigate the anti-leukemia effect of oridonin on Ph(+) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cell line SUP-B15.

METHODSHuman Ph(+) ALL cell line was cultured in vitro. The 50% inhibition concentration (IC(50)) of oridonin against SUP-B15 cell line was examined using modified MTT assay. The cellular morphologic changes were observed using a light microscope. The percent of apoptosis of SUP-B15 cell line after drug treatment was evaluated by flow cytometric analysis. The active levels of ABL kinase and its downstream Akt/mTOR, Raf/MEK/ERK, STAT5 signaling pathways and the expression levels of Bcl-2 and BAX were examined by Western blot.

RESULTSOridonin inhibited the growth of SUP-B15 cell line in both time- and dose-dependent manner with the IC(50) of oridonin as (7.08 ± 1.21) µmol/L after 72 h treatment. The cellular membrane of SUP-B15 cell line treated with oridonin became unsharp, some of them disintegrated. Oridonin induced apoptosis in SUP-B15 cell line with the apoptosis rates following 0, 5, 10 µmol/L oridonin treatment for 24 h were (6.67 ± 0.83)%, (18.30 ± 1.79)% and (37.63 ± 7.12)%, respectively. Oridonin inhibited activation of ABL kinase and its downstream Akt/mTOR, Raf/MEK/ERK and STAT5 signaling pathways, which were constitutively activated in SUP-B15 cell line, down-regulated the level of anti- apoptotic protein Bcl-2 and up-regulated the expression of pro-apoptotic protein Bax.

CONCLUSIONOridonin exerted anti-leukemia effect in Ph(+)ALL cell line SUP-B15 by inhibiting the activation of ABL kinase and its downstream Akt/mTOR, Raf/MEK/ERK and STAT5 signaling pathways, down-regulating the expression of Bcl-2 and up-regulating the expression of BAX.

Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Diterpenes, Kaurane ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma ; metabolism ; pathology ; Signal Transduction

OBJECTIVETo summarize clinical results of the microdecompression for the treatment of intraforaminal lumbar disc herniations.

METHODSFrom September 2005 to May 2013,16 patients( 12 males, 4 females)with intraforaminal lumbar disc herniations underwent microdecompression, ranging in age from 32 to 56 years old with a mean of 38.6 years old. The lumbar disc herniations were located at L(3,4). in one patient, L(4,5) in 10 cases and L5S1 in 5 cases.

RESULTSAll the patients were followed up, and the duration ranged from 20 to 48 months, with a mean period of 36 months. According to Macnab evaluation, 12 cases got an excellent result, 4 good. No apparent complications related to the technique occurred. Satisfactory clinical results were obtained in this series.

CONCLUSIONMicrodecompression may be particularly useful in the treatment of intraforaminal lumbar disc herniations. The microdecompression procedures are more likely to be well tolerated by older patients.

Adult ; Decompression ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Intervertebral Disc Displacement ; surgery ; Lumbar Vertebrae ; surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures ; Treatment Outcome

The relationship between tyrosine phosphorylation (TP) and protein expression of insulin receptor (InsR) and insulin resistance (IR) in patients with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) was investigated. The InsR expression and TP in skeleton muscle tissue were determined by Western blotting and immunoprecipitation in women with GDM (GDM group, n=22), normal pregnant women (normal pregnancy group, n=22) and normal non-pregnant women (normal non-pregnant group, n=13). Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and fasting insulin (FINS) were measured by oxidase assay and immunoradioassay. The results showed that the levels of FPG (5.61±0.78 mmol/L), FINS (15.42±5.13 mU/L) and Homeostasis model assessment-IR (HOMA-IR) (1.21±0.52) in GDM group were significantly higher than those in normal pregnancy group (4.43±0.46 mmol/L, 10.56±3.07 mU/L and 0.80±0.31 respectively) (P<0.01). The levels of FINS and HOMA-IR in normal pregnancy group were significantly higher than those in normal non-pregnant group (7.56±2.31 mU/L and 0.47±0.26 respectively) (P<0.01). There was no significant difference in the InsR expression level among the three groups (P>0.05). TP of InsR with insulin stimulation was significantly decreased in GDM group (0.20±0.05) as compared with normal pregnancy group (0.26±0.06) (P<0.01). TP of InsR with insulin stimulation in normal pregnancy group was lower than that in normal non-pregnant group (0.31±0.06) (P<0.01). TP of InsR with insulin stimulation was negatively related with HOMA-IR in GDM group (r=-0.525, P<0.01). There was no correlation between the protein expression of InsR and HOMA-IR in GDM group (r=-0.236, P>0.05). It was suggested that there is no significant correlation between the protein expression of InsR in skeletal muscle and IR in GDM, but changes in TP of InsR are associated with IR in GDM.

Recent studies indicated that interleukin (IL)-17, growth-related oncogene (GRO)-α and IL-8 play an important role in the pathogenesis of nasal polyps. However, the effects of the increased amount of IL-17 and the production of GRO-α and IL-8 in human nasal polyp fibroblasts are not completely understood. This study aimed to determine the effects of the increased IL-17 on the changes of GRO-α and IL-8 expression in human nasal polyp fibroblasts and further investigate the mechanism of neutrophil infiltration in nasal polyps. Nasal polyp fibroblasts were isolated from six cases of human nasal polyps, and the cells were stimulated with five different concentrations of IL-17. Real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to detect the mRNA expression of GRO-α and IL-8. The mRNA of GRO-α and IL-8 was expressed in unstimulated controls and remarkably increased by stimulation with IL-17. Moreover, the levels of GRO-α and IL-8 produced by fibroblasts were increased gradually with the increases in IL-17 concentrations. The present study showed that nasal fibroblasts can produce GRO-α and IL-8, and their production is remarkably enhanced by IL-17 stimulation, thereby clarifying the mechanism of the IL-17 mediated neutrophil infiltration in nasal polyps. These findings might provide a rationale for using IL-17 inhibitors as a treatment for nasal inflammatory diseases such as nasal polyps.

From an aqueous extract of Lonicera japonica flower buds, sixteen compounds were isolated by a combination of various chromatographic techniques including column chromatography over macroporous resin, MCI gel, silica gel, and sephadex LH-20 and reversed-phase HPLC. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic data analysis as 6'-O-acetylvogeloside (1), 6'-O-acetylsecoxyloganin (2), dichlorogelignate (3), guanosinyl-(3' --> 5')-adenosine monophosphate(GpA,4) , 5'-O-methyladenosine (5), 2'-O-methyladenosine (6), adenosine (7), syringin (8), methyl 4-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl caffeate (9), (-)-dihydrophaseic acid 4'-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (10), ketologanin (11), 7α-morroniside (12), 7β-morroniside (13), kingiside (14), cryptochlorogenic acid methyl ester (15), and 6-hydroxymethyl-3-pyridinol (16). All the compounds were obtained from this plant for the first time, compounds 1 and 2 are new compounds, 3 and 5 are new natural products, and 4 is the first example of dinucleoside monophosphate isolated from a plant extract.
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Flowers ; chemistry ; Lonicera ; chemistry ; Mass Spectrometry ; Molecular Structure

OBJECTIVETo establish a new method for the determination of cyclovirobuxine-D in huangyangning tablets.

METHODAgilent Zorbax Extend C18 (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 microm) column with temperature 40 degrees C was used. The mobile phase was 0.3% diethylamine methanol solution and 0.3% diethylamine water solution, with a linear gradient of 0.3% diethylamine methanol solution from 78% to 95% in 9 minutes, and then maintained for 6 minutes. The flow rate was 0.8 mL x min(-1). Evaporative light scattering detector was used.

RESULTThe calibration curve was linear at a range of 0.57-11.44 microg for the cyclovirobuxine D (r = 0.9996). The average recovery was 97.2% and RSD was 1.1% (n = 9).

CONCLUSIONThis method is rapid, simple, and reproducible, and can be used as a quality control method for this preparation.

Buxus ; chemistry ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; analysis ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Tablets

A series of novel 4-substituted-3-nitrobenzamide derivatives were designed and synthesized. The structures of the target compounds were confirmed with 1H NMR, 13C NMR, MS and element analysis. Anti-tumor activities against HCT-116, MDA-MB435 and HL-60 cell lines in vitro were evaluated by SRB assay. The results indicated most of the target compounds exhibited potent anti-tumor activity. Compound 4a showed the most potent inhibitory activities against three cancer cell lines with the GI50 values of 1.904-2.111 micromol x L(-1). Compounds 4g, 41-4n exhibited more potent inhibitory activities against MDA-MB435 and HL-60 cell lines with the GI50 values of 1.008-3.586 micromol x L(-1) and 1.993-3.778 micromol x L(-1), respectively. The structure-activity relationship of these compounds is discussed preliminarily.
Antineoplastic Agents ; chemical synthesis ; pharmacology ; Benzamides ; chemical synthesis ; pharmacology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; Drug Design ; HL-60 Cells ; Humans ; Inhibitory Concentration 50 ; Structure-Activity Relationship