Oxidative stress-induced neuronal apoptosis plays a vital role in the development of neurodegenerative disorders;while at present its regulation pathways mainly include the NF-κB pathway;p53 pathway;MAPK path-way;PI3 K/Akt pathway;Nrf2 pathway;as well as other signaling pathways.Research findings suggest that the active components in Chinese materia medica exert significant biological activities in the treatment of oxidative stress-induced neuronal apoptosis.In the present paper;we review the recent research advances on the relative mechanisms of active components in Chinese materia medica against oxidative stress-induced neuronal apoptosis;so as to provide some references or clues for the clarification of possible mechanisms of active components in Chinese materia medica and the treatment of related neurodegenerative diseases.

Gold nanostructures with unique optical and photo-thermal properties based on their size and shape have wide applica-tion potential in tumor diagnosis, imaging, photo-thermal therapy, and drug delivery because of surface plasmon resonance. The optical properties of gold nanomaterials allow its use for dark field imaging, optical coherence tomography, and two-photon imaging. Gold nanomaterials can also be used as carriers for a variety of fluorescent molecules and drugs, achieving multifunctional imaging, chemo-therapy, photodynamic therapy, and so on. Photon-electron and electron-electron interactions of gold nanomaterials, which are excited by near-infrared laser, will generate heat that can be used for tumor photothermal therapy. This phenomenon promotes drug release, and photoacoustic imaging. The combined application of hyperthermia and chemotherapy based on gold nanoparticles is effective in opti-mizing the efficacy of cancer treatments. Therefore, gold nanoparticles can integrate multiple functions into one single system and real-ize the integration of tumor diagnosis and therapy, which provide new insights for the on-demand therapy and personalized medicine de-velopment. This study reviews the recent progress of several gold nanoparticles in the integrated applications for tumor theranostics, in-cluding gold nanoshells, gold nanorods, hollow gold nanospheres, gold nanocages, and gold nanostars. The major strategies of gold nanomaterials in biomedical applications are also discussed.

Objective To investigate the genetic variation and molecular evolution of human bo-cavirus 1 (HBoV1) strains isolated during 2009 to 2014 in Hangzhou, China.Methods Throat swab sam-ples were collected from children with acute respiratory tract infections in the Children′s Hospital Affiliated to the Zhejiang University School of Medicine from 2009 to 2014.Real-time PCR was performed for the detec-tion of HBoV1 strains.Fifteen HBoV1 strains with high virus load were screened out for the amplification and sequencing of complete genomes.The complete genomes were submitted to GenBank for further analysis with bioinformatics software.Results A total of 48 nucleotide mutations were detected in the complete genomes of 15 HBoV1 strains, resulting in 11 amino acid mutations with 5 of them located in the active region of phospholipase A2 ( PLA2) .The 15 HBoV1 isolates along with 16 HBoV1 strains in GenBank were classified into three clusters as indicated by the phylogenetic analysis based on their complete coding sequences.All of the 15 strains were belonged to clusterⅠ, the representative strain of which was the Sweden prototype strain ST2.The phylogenetic trees constructed using genes encoding the capsid proteins VP1 and VP2 were highly similar to those based on the complete coding sequences.The estimated mean evolutionary rate of HBoV1 with regard to the complete coding sequence was 3.03×10-4(95%HPD, 2.14×10-4-3.92×10-4 ) substitu-tions per site per year.With regard to each gene, the NS1 gene was considered to the most conserved gene while the NP1 gene showed the highest substitution rate.The dN/dS ratios (ω) of the four genes were all less than 1, indicating that all of them were under negative selection.Moreover, the VP2 gene was under the strongest negative selection, while the NP1 gene was under the weakest negative selection.Conclusion All of the HBoV1 isolates circulating in Hangzhou province during 2009 to 2014 were belonged to ST2 genotype with a relatively high mutation in the area of PLA2.Despite the complete genome was conservative, its evo-lutionary rate was high.Among the four genes, the NP1 gene showed the highest substitution rate.All of the four genes were under negative selection, of which the VP2 gene was under the strongest negative selection.

Objective To investigate mRNA and protein expressions of TGF-β1 and their signifi-cance in injured spinal cord after transplantation of activated microglia. Methods Wistar rat model of spinal cord injury was made by using modified Allen's method. Then, the activated microglia was trans-planted into spinal cord injury models tu detect mRNA and protein expressions of TGF-β1 in the spinal curd. Results The mRNA and protein expressions of TGF-β1 in control group were significantly lower than that in test group (P<0.05). Conclusion Transplantation of activated microglia to the impaired spinal cord in rats can increase the mRNA and protein expressions of TGF-β1. The up-regulated expres-sion of TGF-β1 in spinal cord may play a role in promoting the recovery of spinal cord, when the activated microglia may be the main saurce of TGF-β1.

Objective To investigate the genetic association of HLA class II DRB1,DQB1,DQA2 and DQB2 locus with schizophrenia in the Han people of Northern China.Methods The polymerase chain reaction(PCR)and restrictive fragment length polymorphism(RELP) were applied to detect the gene types in the 195 Han family trios including patients with schizophrenia and their healthy parents in the north of China.The chi-square(?2) test,transmission disequilibrium test(TDT) and the haplotype relative risk(HRR) analysis were used to process the genotyping data statistically.Results The genotypic frequency of four genes did not deviate from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in both case and control groups;The SNP rs2239800,a G to A base change,presented in the DQA2 locus.Its allelic frequencies showed significant difference between case and control(?2=5.021,P=0.025).And the AA genotype of rs2239800 showed associations with schizophrenia.Conclusion The polymorphism of rs2239800 in the DQA2 gene may be associated with schizophrenia.

Objective To detect adenovirus from children with acute upper/lower respiratory tract infections and to investigate the genetic evolution of virus .Methods A total of 1 178 clinical specimens were collected from the Children ’ s Hospital , Zhejiang University School of Medicine during March 2011 and February 2013, including 513 throat swabs from children with acute upper respiratory tract infection and 665 nasopharyngeal aspirates from children with acute lower respiratory tract infections .Besides, 9 specimens in an outbreak of adenovirus infection during 2011 and 2014 were also collected .Adenovirus was identified by real-time fluorescent polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR).The hypervariable region (HVR)-7 region of hexon gene in positive samples was amplified and sequenced for typing and phylogenetic analysis .Other respiratory viruses were also detected with RT-qPCR in adenovirus positive samples .Clinical characteristics of adenovirus infection were analyzed in children with lower respiratory tract infections .Chi-square test and Fisher exact probability were used for data analysis .Results Among 1 178 samples from sporadic cases , 104 samples (8.83%) were adenovirus positive .The rates of adenovirus infection in upper respiratory tract infection group and lower respiratory tract infection group were 13.65%(70/513) and 5.11%(34/665), respectively (χ2 =26.193, P<0.05).Compared with that in lower respiratory tract infections , positive rates of adenovirus were higher in upper respiratory tract infections in children aged 0-1 year and >3 years (χ2 =6.575 and 7.334, P<0.05 or <0.01).Adenovirus infection might occur throughout the year and peaked in spring and summer .Among 54 adenovirus-positive samples from 104 sporadic cases , adenovirus types 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 and 31 were identified in 4, 6, 26, 2, 15 cases and 1 case, respectively.While among 9 adenovirus-positive samples from outbreak cases , type 4 and type 3 were identified in 1 and 8 cases, respectively .The HVR-7 region of hexon gene was highly homologous in the same type , and the sequence alignment indicated that the sequence of HVR-7 might have regional differences .Nine out of 70 children (12.86%) were co-infected with other virus in upper respiratory tract infection group , while the rate of co-infection in lower respiratory tract infection group was much higher [58.82%(20/34), χ2 =24.045, P<0.05 ].There was no significant difference in clinical manifestations between children infected with adenovirus only and those with co-infection in lower respiratory tract infection group (P>0.05), but two children with co-infection died.Conclusions Adenovirus infection is more common in upper respiratory tract infection .Adenovirus type 3 and type 7 are the most prevalent serotypes in sporadic cases , while type 3 is the most prevalent serotype in outbreak cases .

Objective To investigate the prognositic factors of small intestine stromal tumors after radical resection.Methods The clinicopathological data of 41 patients with small intestine stromal tumors admitted between January 2005 and December 2010 in Henan Tumor Hospital were analyzed restrospectively.Kaplan-Meier survival rate and COX regression were used to evaluate the prognostic factors.Results There were 22 males and 19 females.The age ranged from 22 to 78 years old (median,55years).Location of tumor included duodenum (n =12),jejunum and ileum (n =29).The 3-year survival rate was 22％ in those 16 cases who reported preoperative gastrointestinal bleeding and 65％ in those without GIT bleeding,the difference was statistically significant (P =0.0012).COX model showed that tumor size,the tumor location,recurrence and metastasis were independent risk factors associated with the prognosis in small intestine stromal patients (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions The most common clinical presentation of these tumors was gastrointestinal bleeding.The tumor location,recurrence and metastasis and gastrointestinal bleeding was independent risk factors associated with the prognosis of small intestine stromal tumor patients.

Objective To explore the proper proportion of effective fractions in Shengmaisan(saponins of Radix ginseng,saponins of Radix ophiopogonis,Lignans of Fructus schisandrae)in different anoxia models.Methods Acute cerebral hypoxia was induced by sodium nitrite and decapitation in mice,and the orthogonal design was used in these two models to find the proper proportion of three effective fractions.The gasping time of the mice,which were decapitated was observed to compare the anti-anoxia effects of XZF with other clinical drugs,and cerebral ischemic reperfusion injury model of mice was also used to study the effect of XZF on related biochemical index.Results XZF(the proportion of saponins of Radix ginseng,saponins of Radix ophiopogonis,Lignans of Fructus schisandrae as 7 ∶ 2 ∶ 6)significantly prolonged the gasping time,and decreased brain nitrogen monoxidum(NO)content after reperfusion of the mice at dosages of 50 mg/kg and 150mg/kg.Meanwhile,XZF also reduced malondialdehyde(MDA)content and increased superoxide dismutase(SOD)activity at the higher dosage.Conclusion XZF obtained by experimental screening exerts a significant protective effect on cerebral ischemia injury in mice,which provide some pharmacological evidence for further development of new modern Chinese drug composed with effective fractions for cerebral vascular diseases.

Diosgenin,an important steroid sapogenin,is one of major precursors of synthetic steroids.It is rich in natural resources and has various significant activities such as anti-tumor,anti-inflammation,and cardiovascular-protection and so on.Recently,it causes increasing attention of scholars all over the world due to its valuable application in medicine.In this paper,the latest international research advances of diosgenin in its pharmacologic activities and mechanism were reviewed.

AIM: To observe the difference of actions among three traditional compl ex prescriptions with the same composition but the different dosage, including X iaochengqi Decoction, Houpudahuang Decoction and Houpusanwu Decoction, so as to provide evidence for their different clinical applications. METHODS: A series of experiments were performed, including carbon p rop ellance in small intestine, black stool excretion, cough induced by ammonia liqu or and phenol red secretion from trachea. RESULTS: Three prescriptions all enhanced carbon propellance in sma ll intestine at the high dosage, while at the low dosage only Houpusanwu Decoct ion showed the significant effect. They all shortened the latency of black stool a nd increased their total amounts in 6 hours at the high dosage, while at the low dosage Xiaochengqi Decoction and Houpudahuang Decoction had the significant p urgative action. Houpudahuang Decoction remarkably prolonged cough latency, dec reased cough times and enhanced phenol red secretion from trachea, while other t wo prescriptions had no obvious effects. CONCLUSION: Such results showed that Xiaochengqi Decoction had the better purgative action, while Houpusanwu Decoction regulated Qi strongerly, a nd Houpudanghuang Decoction showed the marked actions of relieving cough and re solving phlegm.