AIM: To study the effects of artemisunate on anoikis resistance in human breast cancer cells. METHODS: After breast cancer MCF-7 cells were treated with artemisunate, the growth of anchorage independence of breast cancer MCF-7 cells was examined in soft agar colony formation, and apoptosis of breast cancer were evaluated by terminal deoxynucleatidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick end labeling (TUNEL) and DNA ladder. RESULTS: Artemisunate significantly inhibited the growth of anchorage independence of breast cancer MCF-7 cells in soft agar colon formation in a dose-dependent manner. Artemisunate induced apoptosis in breast cancer cells was conformed by DNA ladder and TUNEL assay, which was in a time-and dose-dependent manner. CONCLUSION: Artemisunate inhibits the growth of anchorage independence of breast cancer MCF-7 cells, which is related to anoikis.

Aconitum, as a kind of common traditional Chinese medicine, contains multiple biological active substances, with a very high medicinal value but high toxicity. Its major toxic ingredients are aconitine, mesaconitine and hypaconitine, which are also efficient ingredients. Therefore, the safety of its clinical application has aroused wide attention. With the constant deepening of drug development studies, people want to learn about its toxic mechanism and the regularity of its emergence and development of its toxicology, so as to make a scientific and rational assessment for its safety. Therefore, toxicokinetics and metabonomics have gradually become important content in the new drug assessment. During the development of drug performance, it is crucial to establish a scientific, objective and standardized Aconitum safety evaluation system and correctly assess and utilize its toxicity. Having summarized studies on metabonomics and toxicokinetics of Aconitum drugs in recent years, authors proposed to strengthen the studies on Aconitum drug safety assessment and establish a scientific and standardized safety evaluation system as soon as possible, in order to make the national treasure more useful.
Aconitum ; chemistry ; toxicity ; Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacokinetics ; toxicity ; Humans ; Metabolomics

To study the anticoagulant effect of Xiang-Qi-Tang (XQT),the mice model of endotoxemia was established to detect the expression of coagulation factors and their regulatory proteins in serum and aorta.The results showed that XQT could decrease the expression of TF and increase the expression of tPA in the aorta of mice with endotoxemia,and also decrease the expression of sEPCR in the serum.We further found that XQT caused the decrease of sEPCR through the regulation of PKC δ and ADAM17 to contribute the anticoagulation in mice.This study may provide a new strategy for treating endotoxin-induced disease and provide evidences for further researching the pharmacological action of XQT.

Anemia, Hemolytic ; etiology ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Insecticides ; poisoning ; Trichlorfon ; poisoning

OBJECTIVETo observe the efficacy and safety of Qizhi Jiangtang Capsule (QJC) in treating stage 3b diabetic kidney disease (DKD) patients with macroalbuminuria.

METHODSPatients who conformed to the diagnostic criteria of stage 3b DKD were randomly assigned to two groups according to random digital table, the experiment group and the control group, 84 in each group. All patients received a two-week elution period, and then were treated with basic Western therapy. Patients in the experiment group took QJC, 5 pills per time, 3 times a day, while those in the control group took Valsartan Capsule 160 mg each time, once daily. The observation period of follow-ups was limited within 6 months, and the time points were set as the baseline, 1st month, 3rd month, and 6th month. Systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBS), 24 h urine protein quantitative (24 h UPQ), plasma albumin (ALB), and serum creatinine (SCr) were detected and recorded, and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was calculated. The occurrence of hypoglycemic reaction, coagulation disorder, gastrointestinal tract reaction, allergy, hyperkalemia, doubling of creatinine, and overall adverse events were observed and recorded at same time.

RESULTSFinally 81 patients in the experiment group and 80 patients in the control group were effectively included. Compared with the baseline level, SBP and DBS obviously decreased in the control group at month 1 of treatment (P < 0.05), and more significantly decreased at month 6 of treatment (P < 0.01). SBP at month 1, 3, and 6 of follow-ups; DBS at month 6 of follow-ups was lower in the control group than in the experiment group (P < 0.05). At month 1, 3, and 6 of follow-ups, 24 h UPQ of the experiment group was significantly lower than the baseline level (P < 0.01). It was also significantly lower than the level of the control group at the same time point (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in 24 h UPQ at month 1, 3, and 6 of follow-ups between the control group and the baseline level (P > 0.05). ALB of the experiment group showed an increasing trend. It was significantly higher than the baseline level at month 6 (P < 0.05), which was also higher than that of the control group at same period (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the ALB level in the control group (P > 0.05). SCr of two groups showed an increasing trend. SCr of the experiment group was significantly higher at month 1, 3, and 6 follow-ups than the baseline level (P < 0.05). But the increment of SCr was higher in the control group than in the experimental group, and obviously higher than the baseline levels (P < 0.05). eGFR of both groups showed a decreasing trend. The decrement was higher in the control group than in the experimental group (P < 0.05). The proportion of progression of renal functions at month 1, 3, and 6 of follow-ups in the experimental group was 0.0% (0 case), 9.55% (8 cases), and 21.4% (18 cases), while they were 8.3% (7 cases), 21.4% (18 cases), and 40.5% (34 cases) in the control group. There was no statistical difference in the proportion of progression of renal functions between the two groups at month 3 and 6 of follow-ups (P < 0.05). There was no statistical difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between two groups (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONQJC could effectively reduce urinary protein of patients with stage 3b DKD, and delay the progression of renal functions.

Adult ; Albumins ; analysis ; Albuminuria ; drug therapy ; Blood Pressure ; drug effects ; Creatinine ; blood ; Diabetic Nephropathies ; drug therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Glomerular Filtration Rate ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Tetrazoles ; therapeutic use ; Treatment Outcome ; Valine ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Valsartan

A cellulase high-yield strain was identified and named as Trichoderma longibrachiatum SSL by ITS sequence identification. The endoglucanase1 gene (eg1) encoding endo-l,4-?-D-glucanase I was ampli-fied by RT-PCR method, which including 1386 bp and encoding 461 amino acid. Sequence analysis showed that: This gene has a more 90% homology with the T. longibrachiatum eg1 gene. The eg1 gene encoding the mature peptide was inserted into the Pichia pastoris expression vector pPIC9K, which resulted in construc-tion of the recombinant expression plasmid, pPIC9k-eg1. The pPIC9k-eg1 was then introduced into the host Pichia pastoris GS115. After the induction of methanol, extracellular recombinant endoglucanase I from the supernatant of the recombinant Pichia pastoris strain reached 73 U/mL. A clear strengthening of the protein bands, whose molecular weight is about 58 kD, appeared in the SDS-PAGE.

Objective To evaluate the potential differences in serum proteomic profiles between patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma(ESCC)and precancerous lesions in order to establish proteomic pattern model for diagnosis of ESCC and precancerous lesions in high risk area,and to investigate its value in screening ESCC.Methods The serum and endoscopic biopsy samples were obtained from 38 normal controls,63 patients with atypical hyperplasia(class Ⅰ 26 cases,class Ⅱ 26 cases,class Ⅲ 11 cases)and 36 patients with advanced esophageal carcinoma.The serum proteomic patterns were examined using surface enhanced laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry(SELDI-TOF-MS)and CM10 protein chip.The data was analyzed and disease diagnostic models were established using support vector machine(SVM).The diagnostic model was evaluated and validated by leave one cross validation.Results ①The diagnostic model could differentiate advanced esophageal carcinoma from normal controls with a specificity of 89.47%and a sensitivity of 83.33%.②The results delivered 92.31%,80.77% and 90.91%specificity,and 80.56%,83.33%and 94.44%sensitivity for discrimination of atypical hyperplasia Ⅰ,Ⅱand Ⅲ,respectively,using diagnostic models.③Four(4291,5644,5664,8775)m/z peaks observed repeatedly using diagnostic models.Conclusions The SELDI-TOF-MS and SVM provide a new approach for discrimination of ESCC and precancerous lesions in high risk area.Four(4291,5644,5664,8775)m/z peaks may considered as potential biomarkers which related to the ESCC and esophageal precancerous lesions.

BACKGROUND: Noninvasive monitoring of intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) by measuring abdominal wall tension (AWT) was effective and feasible in previous postmortem and animal studies. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of the AWT method for noninvasively monitoring IAP in the intensive care unit (ICU). METHODS: In this prospective study, we observed patients with detained urethral catheters in the ICU of Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital between April 2011 and March 2013. The correlation between AWT and urinary bladder pressure (UBP) was analyzed by linear regression analysis. The effects of respiratory and body position on AWT were evaluated using the paired samples t test, whereas the effects of gender and body mass index (BMI) on baseline AWT (IAP<12 mmHg) were assessed using one-way analysis of variance. RESULTS: A total of 51 patients were studied. A significant linear correlation was observed between AWT and UBP (R=0.986, P<0.01); the regression equation was Y=–1.369+9.57X (P<0.01). There were significant differences among the different respiratory phases and body positions (P<0.01). However, gender and BMI had no significant effects on baseline AWT (P=0.457 and 0.313, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: There was a significant linear correlation between AWT and UBP and respiratory phase, whereas body position had significant effects on AWT but gender and BMI did not. Therefore, AWT could serve as a simple, rapid, accurate, and important method to monitor IAP in critical y il patients.

Objective To evaluate the relationship between the levels of HBV DNA loads and beth the clinical characteristics and 48-week prognosis in patients with decompensated cirrhosis due to hepatitis B. Methods One hundred and forty-three patients with deeompensated cirrhosis of hepatitis B virus infection were divided into lowlevel HBV DNA group [HBV DNA < 105 copies/ml = (46 cases) and high-level HBV-DNA group(HBV DNA 105 copies/ml)(97 cases)]. 21 cases in low-level group and 52 cases in high-level group treated with nucleoside analog. Results There was no significant difference between the two groups on the demography and the baseline in ALT, ALB, TBil, CHE before treatment, while in AST and HBeAg were statistically different. At 48-week, there was no significant difference between the two groups on the liver function. The mortality rate in low-level group was similar to that in high level group. In the low-level HBV DNA patients, hepatocellular carcinoma, spontaneous peritonitis and gnstrointestiual hemorrhage were higer than that in the high-level HBV DNA patients. Conclusion In patients with decompensated cirrhosis due to hepatitis B, those who were in low-level HBV DNA had not got better than that in high-level HBV DNA, which indicated that earlier treatment was also needed in low-level HBV DNA patients.

By reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), an open reading frame of pathogenesis-related protein 1 (PR1) was isolated from Panax notoginseng and named as PnPR1. Molecular and bioinformatic analyses of PnPR1 revealed that an open reading frame of 501 bp was predicted to encode a 166-amino acid protein with a deduced molecular mass of 18.1 kD. Homology analysis showed that the deduced amino acid sequence of PR1 protein of Panax notoginseng had a high similarity with other higher plants had the same conservative structure domain of cysteine-rich secretory protein (CAP). The recombinant expressed plasmid pET28a(+)-PnPR1 was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21. The expression conditions were optimized by induction at different times, different temperatures, different IPTG concentrations and different giving times. The optimum expression condition was 0.4 mmol.L-1 IPTG at 28 degrees C for 20 h. The successful expression of PnPR1 provides some basis for protein purification and preparation of the monoclonal antibody.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Cloning, Molecular ; Escherichia coli ; metabolism ; Molecular Weight ; Open Reading Frames ; genetics ; Panax notoginseng ; chemistry ; Phylogeny ; Plant Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sequence Alignment