Objective: To establish a mice model of congenital heart disease transposition of great arteries in order to provide a research reference for the occurrence and development of transposition of great arteries. Methods: A total of 20 pregnant ICR mice at 8-10 weeks of age were divided into 2 groups: Control group, the mice received a single dose of DMSO 70 mg/kg at 8.5 days of gestation,n=5 and Experiment group, the mice received a single dose of all-trans retinoic acid 70 mg/kg at 8.5 days of gestation,n=15. All animals were treated for 18 days and then the embryos were taken to observe cardiac morphology under stereomicroscope. Results: Compared with Control group, Experiment group had obviously increased occurrence rates of premature delivery, abortion and embryo absorption, and 61.2% phenotype for transposition of great arteries; meanwhile, combining with non-heart defect phenotypeas exophthalmos and spinal malformation. Conclusion: All-trans retinoic acid may induce transposition of great arteries in mice embryos, which is a feasible animal model in experimental research.

Objective To observe the effects of tissue factor pathway inhibitor(TFPI) on thrombosis formation in rabbit carotid arteries after ballon injury. Methods Fouty rabbits with the weight 2.5-3.0 kg were respectively divided into 4 groups, Ad-TFPI, Ad-LacZ, PBS and normal control groups. The normal control group was not given any treatment and other 3 groups were given 0.2 ml Ad-TFPI, Ad-LacZ or PBS reproduced by the Dispatch catheter respectively after the PTCA balloon iniury on the right carotid arteries. Ten days after gene transfer the repeated balloon injury was performed in the 3 groups, and the first balloon injury was performed in the normal control group by the same method. The carotid blood flow was recovered immediately after the injury. Thirty minutes later all the animals were sacrificed. The injured carotid arteries and one part of contralateral normal artery were cut down, scissored along the long axis, flattened and fixed in the 2% glutaral. The platelet aggregation and thrombosis formation on the luminal surfaces was observed under electron microscope. Results The electron microscope results showed that the vascular endothelial cell structure was integrated and lined up in order in the nomal artery which had no any injury. After the balloon injury in the normal control group, the structure of the endothelial cell was disintegrated, and there was some platelet aggregation but no fibrosis formation. A large amount of platelet aggregated but no fibrosis formed in Ad-TFPI group after the repeated balloon injury. A large amount of fibrosis formed and red cells piled up in the Ad-LacZ and PBS group. The positive rate of thrombosis formation among groups had siginificant differences(χ2=14.95, P<0.01). The positive rate in Ad-TFPI group(20%) was lower than that in Ad-LacZ group(80%, χ2=7.20, P<0.01) and PBS group(70%, χ2=5.05, P<0.05), but was higher than that in the normal control group(10%, χ2=0.39, P>0.05). The positive rate in Ad-LacZ group(80%) was higher than in the normal control group(10%, χ2=9.90, P<0.01) and in the PBS group(70%, χ2=0.27, P> 0.05). The positive rate in PBS group(70%) was higher than that in the normal control group(10%, χ2=7.50, P< 0.01). Conclusions The repeated balloon injury method can cause a large amount of fibrosis formation in the rabbit carotid. TFPI gene inhibits thrombosis formation in balloon-injured rabbit carotid arteries.

Objective: To observe the clinical therapeutic effects of supplementing Qi and activating blood circulation method(益气活血法) for critically ill patients.Methods: Ninety critically ill patients with(Qi-deficiency)(气虚) and blood stasis(血瘀) syndromes who diagnosed according to standard in a book named clinical diagnosis and treatment nomenclature of traditional Chinese medicine were randomly divided into the the treatment group(n=60) and the control group(n=30).The general therapy of the two groups was the same.Additionlly,the treatment group was administered Shenmai injection(丹参注射液) and Danshen power(丹参粉针剂),15 days were as one therapeutic course.Results: In the treatment group,the total effective rate of clinical therapeutic effects was 85.00 %;before and after treatment,traditional Chinese medical scores was 38.63?9.08 vs.24.27?7.43,acute physiology and chronic health evaluationⅡ(APACHEⅡ) 18.11?4.54 vs.12.47?1.64,platelet(PLT) count(198.00?54.16)?10~9/L vs.(174.00?40.82)?10~9/L,(haematocrit)(HCT) 0.340?0.049 vs.0.440?0.057,mean cell hemoglobin(MCH)(34.00?3.10)pg(vs.(31.00?1.83) pg).The differences of above parameters were significant between the two groups,and they were superior in the treatment group to those in the control group(all P

Small cell lung cancer is the most common primary neuroendocrine malignancy of the lung and is characterized by high malignant degree,rapid doubling time,easy metastasis in early stage and poor prognosis.Accurate staging of small cell lung cancer can formulate personalized therapeutic plans and improve the prognosis of patients.PET/CT can obtain metabolism and anatomical images of the whole body in one scan and improve the diagnostic accuracy and integrity.PET/CT has been widely applied to clinical practice now.PET/CT will play a more and more important role in diagnosis,staging,treatment and prognosis assessment of patients with small cell lung cancer.The value of PET/CT in staging and treatment of small cell lung cancer was reviewed in this article.

Human xanthine oxidase is considered to be a target for therapy of hyperuricemia. Cichorium intybus is a Chinese plant medicine which widely used in Xinjiang against various diseases. In order to screen the inhibitors of xanthine oxidase from C. intybus and to explore main pharmacological actions of cichory a compound collection of C. intybus was built via consulting related references about chemical research on cichory. The three-dimensional crystal structure of xanthine oxidase (PDB code: 1N5X) from Protein Data Bank was downloaded.. Autodock 4.2 was employed to screen the inhibitors of xanthine oxidase from cichory 70 compounds were found to possess quite low binding free energy comparing with TEI (febuxostat). C. intybus contains constituents possessing potential inhibitive activity against xanthine oxidase. It can explain the main pharmacological actions of cichory which can significantly lower the level of serum uric acid.
Chicory ; chemistry ; Databases, Protein ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Enzyme Inhibitors ; chemistry ; Humans ; Molecular Docking Simulation ; Molecular Structure ; Xanthine Oxidase ; antagonists & inhibitors ; metabolism

Objective:To develop a rapid and quantitative detection method for abrin using colloid gold immunochromatographic assay. Methods:The rapid detection method was established with double-antibody sandwich assay. Quantification was realized by constructing a standard curve. The specificity and sensitivity of the method were tested, and its feasibility was evaluated by various abrin-added food samples. Results and Conclusion:This established method could accomplish qualitative and semi-quantitative detection in 15 minutes; the sensitivity was up to 30 ng/ml with a linear range from 30 ng/ml to 600 ng/ml. The recovery rate was 80%-110%, and the variation coefficient was less than 15%.The colloidal gold immunochromatographic assay is rapid, specific, sensitive,accurate and suitable for field detection.

OBJECTIVEINF-lambda has anti-viral and anti-tumor activities. Its application in viral myocarditis (VMC) has not been reported. This study investigated the role of INF-lambda in acute VMC in mice.

METHODSForty mice were randomly divided into three groups: VMC (n=15), IFN-lambda2-treated VMC (n=15) and control (n=10). VMC was induced by an intraperitoneal injection of Coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3).The control group was intraperitoneally injected with 2% PBS. The IFN-lambda2-treated VMC group was administered with 400 ng IFN-lambda2 (0.1 mL) by subcutaneous injections daily, for 5 days. The control and the VMC groups were given equal amount of nomal saline.The surviving mice were sacrificed 9 days after IFN-lambda2 treatment. The pathological changes of heart tissues were examined under a light microscope. Bcl-2 and Bax expression in heart tissues was determined by immunohistochemistry.

RESULTSThe control group presented normal heart tissues. The INF-lambda2-treated VMC group showed significantly a lower pathological score (1.5+/-0.5) than the untreated VMC group (2.8+/-0.8) (P<0.01). Bcl-2 expression decreased (P<0.01), in contrast, Bax expression increased (P<0.01) in the untreated VMC group compared with that in the control group. INF-lambda2 treatment resulted in an increased Bcl-2 expression (P<0.01) and a decreased Bax expression (P<0.01) compared to the untreated VMC group.

CONCLUSIONSINF-lambda2 may alleviate myocardial injuries and inhibit cardiomyocytic apoptosis, thus providing protective effects on myocardial cells in mice with acute VMC.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Coxsackievirus Infections ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; Cytokines ; therapeutic use ; Enterovirus B, Human ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Myocarditis ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; Myocardium ; chemistry ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; analysis ; bcl-2-Associated X Protein ; analysis

The ELISPOT assay is increasingly used for assessing cellular immune responses in clinical trials of HIV-1 or cancer vaccines. However, to date, data from clinical trials do not consistently show that immune responses are correlated with clinical endpoints. This is due in part to the lack of assay standardization and validation across laboratories and therefore, a quality control panel is required to establish competency and comparability amongst different laboratories. In this study peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from healthy individuals were screened and frozen in liquid nitrogen. The recovery and viability of the PBMCs and the frequencies of interferon (IFN)-γ-secreting cells after CEF peptide pool stimulation were detected after various intervals in seven different laboratories. The recovery and viability did not differ significantly after different intervals. Although the frequencies of IFN (interferon)-γ-secreting cells among thawed PBMCs (peripheral blood mononuclear cells) fluctuated after CEF peptide pool stimulation at different intervals, they were not significantly decreased compared with those among fresh PBMCs. However, the viabilities, recoveries and frequencies of IFN-γ-secreting cells differed significantly among the seven laboratories. Our results indicate that cryopreserved PBMCs could be used as a quality control panel for ELISPOT. However, the procedures for ELISPOT need to be standardized amongst different laboratories.

Objective To investigate CT signs of peripheral small cell lung cancer (SCLC).Methods The CT signs of 78 patients with SCLC confirmed by pathology were retrospectively reviewed.According to the presence of mediastinal lymph node metastasis and its size, 78 cases of peripheral SCLC were divided into two types: typeⅠ(isolated lesion) and typeⅡ(lung lesion + lymph nodes).Type Ⅱwere divided into two subtypes:type Ⅱa (short diameter of lymph nodes of pulmonary hilar and mediastinum less than 10 mm) and type Ⅱ b (short diameter of lymph nodes of pulmonary hilar and mediastinum greater than or equal to 10 mm).Results Of the 78 SCLCs, typeⅠwas 7 cases, and typeⅡwas 71 cases,including 8 cases of typeⅡa and 63 cases of typeⅡb.All of the lesions were soild density.The shape were round or oval in 52 cases, vermicular or spindlein 9 cases, and other shapes in 17 cases.Among 71 cases performed CT enhancement, there were 9 cases with homogeneous enhancement, 58 cases with heterogeneous enhancement, 4 cases with non-enhancement large necrosis area.These cases showed the following CT signs: smooth edge in 65 cases, coarse edge in 12 cases, blurred edge in 1 case;air bronchogram in 3 cases, vacuole sign in 4 cases, calcification in 4 cases;lobulation sign in 46 cases, spiculated sign in 5 cases;thickening of the bronchovascular bundle in 41 cases, pleural indentation in 6 cases, marginal ground-glass opacity in 5 cases, vascular convergence sign in 1 case;emphysema in 42 cases;obstructive pneumonia in 4 cases;bronchus abruptly interruption on the edge of the nodules in 18 cases;enlargement of mediastinal lymph nodes in 63 cases, the diameter of mediastinal lymph nodes larger than the primary lesions in 42 cases;and a little pleural effusion in 9 cases.Conclusion Solid density, smooth margin with lobulation,and significantly enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes are common signs in peripheral SCLC.Thickening of the bronchovascular bundle indicates reletively advanced stage.

OBJECTIVETo investigate leptin mRNA expressions in subcutaneous (SC) and omental (OM) adipose tissues of patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and their relationships with insulin resistance (IR), blood leptin, blood triglyceride, total blood cholesterol, blood glucose, body weight index and waist-hip ratio.

METHODSSC and OM adipose tissues were obtained from 10 obese and 11 nonobese NAFLD patients and from 11 obese and 13 nonobese patients without NAFLD, who served as controls. Leptin mRNA expression levels in the subcutaneous and omental adipose tissues were measured using SYBR Green I quantitative real-time PCR. IR was estimated using homeostasis assessment (HOMA). The levels of plasma leptin and insulin were measured using ELISA.

RESULTSThe relative mRNA expression of leptin, HOMA-IR and blood leptin levels in NAFLD differed significantly from those of the controls (P < 0.05). The leptin/GAPDH ratio of the obese and nonobese NAFLD and control cases were 1.32 +/- 0.12, 0.99 +/- 0.05, 1.10 +/- 0.09, 0.87 +/- 0.13 respectively. The expression levels of SC and OM adipose leptin mRNA in NAFLD patients were positively correlated with HOMA-IR (r=0.72, P < 0.05), blood leptin (r=0.69, P < 0.05), blood triglyceride (r=0.32, P < 0.05), body weight index (r=0.57, P < 0.05) and waist-hip ratio (r=0.50, P <0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe primary reason for high levels of blood leptin is high leptin mRNA expression in adipose tissues; in both obese and nonobese patients with NAFLD; high levels of blood leptin and the leptin mRNA expression in adipose tissues and IR exist. These findings suggest that leptin resistance exists in patients with NAFLD and leptin resistance is positively correlated with NAFLD, the same as in insulin resistance.

Adipose Tissue ; metabolism ; Adult ; Aged ; DNA, Complementary ; Fatty Liver ; genetics ; metabolism ; Female ; Gene Expression ; Humans ; Leptin ; genetics ; metabolism ; Male ; Middle Aged ; RNA