Objective To investigate the expression of apoptosis regulating protein Bcl-2 and Bax,and the spontaneous apoptotic index(AI) in malignant mesothelioma,and their relationship to the survival time of patients.Methods Hematoxylin-eosin and immunohistochemical stainings were used for the sections of paraffin embedded tissues of 79 specimens of malignant mesothelioma.The terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling(TUNEL) was used to identify the apoptotic tumor cells.Results The age of the patients with malignant mesothelioma ranged from 11 to 79 years.The peak incidence of malignant mesothelioma was at the age of 40-50 years.The ratio of male to female was 1.47∶1.The survival time of the 79 cases was between 5 and 160 months,and the medial survival time was 23 months.According to histological pictures,these tumors were diagnosed as epithelioid type(51 cases),mixed type(8 cases) and sarcomatous type(20 cases).The tumor spontaneous apoptotic index(AI) was 0.14%-6.9%.The survival time of the patients with higher AI was significantly shorter than those with lower AI(P

The present study aims to predict the action targets of antidepressant active ingredients of Xiaoyaosan to understand the "multi-components, multi-targets and multi-pathways" mechanism. Using network pharmacology, the reported antidepressant active ingredients in Xiaoyaosan (saikosaponin A, saikosaponin C, saikosaponin D, ferulic acid, Z-ligustilide, atractylenolide I, atractylenolide II, atractylenolide III, paeoniflorin, albiflorin, liquiritin, glycyrrhizic acid and pachymic acid), were used to predict the targets of main active ingredients of Xiaoyaosan according to reversed pharmacophore matching method. The prediction was made via screening of the antidepressive drug targets approved by FDA in the DrugBank database and annotating the information of targets with the aid of MAS 3.0 biological molecular function software. The Cytoscape software was used to construct the Xiaoyaosan ingredients-targets-pathways network. The network analysis indicates that the active ingredients in Xiaoyaosan involve 25 targets in the energy metabolism-immune-signal transmutation relevant biological processes. The antidepressant effect of Xiaoyaosan reflects the features of traditional Chinese medicine in multi-components, multi-targets and multi-pathways. This research provides a scientific basis for elucidation of the antidepressant pharmacological mechanism of Xiaoyaosan.
Antidepressive Agents ; pharmacology ; Benzoates ; Bridged-Ring Compounds ; Coumaric Acids ; Drug Evaluation, Preclinical ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Flavanones ; Glucosides ; Glycyrrhizic Acid ; Lactones ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Monoterpenes ; Sesquiterpenes ; Software

Coronary Angiography ; adverse effects ; Heart Atria ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged

Objective To evaluate the clinical value of spectral CT mode in imaging liver by comparing the radiation dose and image quality between spectral CT and conventional multi-slice spiral CT (MSCT).Methods Thirty patients (group A) underwent three-phasic enhanced CT scans spectral CT mode in the portal phase (PP) and conventional helical mode in other phases (Discovery CT 750 HD,GE Healthcare).Another 30 patients in group B underwent conventional three-phasic enhanced CT on a 64-slice MSCT (VCT,GE Healthcare) with 120 kVp and automatic tube current modulation (ATCM) and noise index of 15.The images in PP from the two imaging modes were retrospectively compared.The contrast-noiseratio (CNR) for the veins was calculated using liver parenchyma as background.For the spectral CT mode,101 sets of monochromatic images were reconstructed from 40 to 140 keV,and the optimal energy level for obtaining the highest CNR was determined using the Gemstone Spectral Imaging (GSI)-viewer software.Image noise (at 70 keV),CNR (at the optimal keV level) for the vein and radiation dose to the patient were obtained for spectral images and statistically compared with those in group B with the conventional MSCT using t test.Results The CTDIw value in PP for spectral CT was 15.64 mGy,30％lower than the (22.44 ± 5.09) mGy for the conventional MSCT (t =29.56,P ＜ 0.01).Image noises on the liver parenchyma were 22.81 ±2.85 and 23.80 ±3.31 for the conventional MDCT and spectral CT images at 70 keV,respectively,with no significant difference (t =0.76,P ＞ 0.05).On the other hand,CNR for the vein at the optimal energy level in spectral CT was 7.17 ± 2.09,which was significantly higher than the 2.76 ± 1.34 for the conventional MSCT (t =7.21,P ＜ 0.01).Conclusion Compared with conventional standard-dose liver MSCT,spectral CT imaging provides improved CNR for vessels,comparable image noise for liver parenchyma with 30％ dose reduction.

Objective To analyze the protein expression changes of retina in diabetic mice using isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) approach and to study proteins of apoptosis.Methods 8 diabetic mice were chosen as the diabetic model group (DM group),8diabetic mice as the normal control group.The animals were housed in wire-bottomed cages and received normal pellet chow and tap water in a constant environment.After 10 weeks,all mice were killed,and their retina were dissected.After hematoxylin and eosin(H&E) staining,the sections of retina were examined using light microscopy.The changes of protein expression in retina were studied using iTRAQ approach.Expression of apoptosis associated proteins was analyzed using ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA).Results Compared with control group,mice retina in DM group developed looser structures,tissue edema and obvious telangiectasia under light microscopy.Using iTRAQ approach,a total of 348 differential proteins were identified.Among those proteins,16 proteins were related with apoptosis,including Ataxin-10,Protein NDRG1,mucin-4,Aquaporin-1 and annexin A4,etc.There were 8 apoptosis-related proteins in retina with up-regulation,and the other 8 proteins with down-regulation in the DM group.The relationship between these proteins were analyzed and charted by IPA.Conclusions Apoptosis may be involved in the development of diabetic retinopathy.The identification of the apoptosis-related proteins will be helpful for the further study.

Objectives To observe the changes of magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) during the course of treatment in hepatolen-ticular degeneration (HLD) and to evaluate its related factors.Methods Sixty - three patients with HLD received routine SE sequence MRI of brain and liver.Twenty - two patients with abnormal MRI in 42 patients and each of them had 2-4 times of serial MRI ex-aminations at interval of 1.0- 1.5 year.Results Ten patients had lesion in both brain and liver in 22 patients. Nine patients only in brain, 3 patients in liver.The major lesions disappear or decrease after rational treatments. There were only slight or no changes of MRI abnormalities in patients receiving treatments or age of patients was over 15 year old. Abnormal MRI findings shown again after stopped treatments over 2 months. In such cases, the clinical and MRI improvements were slow.The rate of clinical and MRI improvement in patients with adequate treatment were markedly higher than patients with inadequate treatment.Conclusions Liver and brain lesion will show in MRI disappear after adequate treatment;There are only slight or no change or showing again in MRI abnormalities in pa-tients with inadequate treatments compared with poor clinical improvement. MRI is beneficial to understanding therapeutic effect and prognosis of HLD.

BACKGROUND:Many scholars have developed a variety of dynamic elastic spine fixator. After biomechanical research, animal experiments and clinical application found that no one elastic spine fixator was general y recognized clinical y. OBJECTIVE:To compare the stress difference between“X”-shaped spine dynamic fixation and traditional pedicle screw fixation. METHODS:Three-dimensional finite element models of“X”-shaped spine dynamic fixation and traditional pedicle screw fixation were established according to adult spine imaging data. Mechanical differences in vertical compression, flexion, extension, lateral bending and rotation were compared between the two groups. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The stress at vertical compression was lower than that at flexion, extension, lateral bending and rotation in both groups. The stress at“X”-shaped spine dynamic fixation mainly focused on“X”-shaped connecting rod, but the stress of traditional pedicle screw fixation mainly focused on conjunction of screw-rod. Moreover, the stress of the screw of“X”-shaped spine dynamic fixation was significantly less than that of traditional pedicle screw fixation (P<0.001). These results suggest that“X”-shaped spine dynamic fixation system can share stress of screws and reduce the postoperative stress concentration compared with traditional pedicle screw fixation.

Objective To explore the effects of passive smoking on vascular endothelial function in office women.Methods Totally,94 healthy office women volunteers from urban(36 women)and townships or towns(58 women)were divided into three groups based on the extent of their daily exposure to passive smoking,group A exposed to one to eight cigarettes,group B exposed to nine to 15 cigarettes,and group C exposed to more than 15 cigarettes,respectively,with 20 healthy young women without exposure to passive smoking as controls.Internal diameter of the brachial artery Was measured by color Doppler ultrasound scanning for each of the participants and its changes were observed before and after congestive reaction of the brachial artery test and nitroglycerin test.Results Thirteen of 36 office women from urban and 38 of 58 from townships or towns exposed to passive smoking of more than eight cigarettes daily,with chi-square of 7.74,P=0.0054.The brachial artery in groups A,B and C dilated less than that in the controls did.The brachial artery in group C dilated less than that in the groups A and B did.Conclusion Passive smoking could damage vascular endothelial dilatation function in office women.

Objective To evaluate the methylation status of RASSF2A in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) tissues and plasma, and to explore the correlations in two kinds of samples with clinicopathological characteristics. Methods The frequency of methylation of the RASSF2A gene in tissues and corresponding plasma samples from 60 EOC patients, 20 patients with benign ovarian tumors and 10 patients with normal ovarian tissues were detected respectively. The methylation-specific PCR was used to determine the methylation status. Results The frequency of aberrant methylation of RASSF2A was 58.3% (35/60) in EOC tissues and 43.3%(26/60) in corresponding plasma samples respectively, however, such hypermethylation was not detected in the benign ovarian tumors and normal ovarian samples, and there was significant difference between them (P<0.05). Besides, RASSF2A methylation levels in serum of EOC patients correlated reasonably well with methylation status in tumor samples (r=0.739, P=0.000). No significant differences were observed between the promoter hypermethylated status of the RASSF2A and clinicopathological characteristics (P>0.05). Conclusions The promoter methylation of RASSF2A gene is an early and frequent epigenetic event in EOC. Detection of promoter hypermethylation in plasma specimens can help the early diagnosis of EOC.

Objective To observe the expression of Na+/I- symporter(NIS) in cultured lactating mammary cells with different levels of iodine and the effect of tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α). Methods Original generation of mouse lactating mammary cells cultured in vitro were divided into low iodine group Ⅰ (LI-Ⅰ), low iodine group Ⅱ (LI-Ⅱ), adequate iodine group(AI), high iodine group Ⅰ(HI-Ⅰ), and high iodine group Ⅱ(HI-Ⅱ). Cells were cultured in DEME/F12 culture medium for 24 h with different concentrations of iodine (0,5,50,3000 and 10 000 μg/L, respectively), and TNF-α( 10-2 mg/L) was added to some of cultured cells for 24 h. The expression of NIS mRNA of lactating mammary cells was determined by real-time quantitative PCR and the expression of NIS protein was detected by In-Cell Western. Results In iodine alone group, the expression of NIS mRNA in LI-Ⅰ group [ (64.66 ± 14.99) x 10-4] was higher than that of AI group[ (22.76 ± 7.36) × 10-4, P ＜ 0.01 ]; HI-I group[ (10.18 ±3.53) × 10-4] and HI-Ⅱ group[ (8.59 ± 2.89) × 10-4] were lower than that of AI group(all P ＜ .0.05); With increased iodine concentration, the expression of NIS mRNA decreased. The expression of NIS mRNA in LI-Ⅰ group [(2.72 ± 0.45) × 10-4], LI-Ⅱ group[ (2.69 ± 0.68) × 10-4] and AI group[(1.80 ± 0.67) × 10-4] with iodine plus TNF-o were all lower than that of LI-Ⅰ group, LI-Ⅱ group[ (29.82 ± 4.47 ) × 10-4], and AI group without TNF-α (all P ＜ 0.01). In iodine plus TNF-α, the expression of NIS mRNA in HI-Ⅰ group[(6.58 ± 2.87) × 10-4] and HI-Ⅱ[(7.04 ± 1.36) × 10-4] group were all higher than that of AI group(all P ＜ 0.05); With increased iodine deficiency or iodine excess, the expression of NIS mRNA increased. With increased iodine concentration, the expression of NIS protein decreased in iodine alone group. The expression of NIS protein in iodine plus TNF-α was all lower than that in iodine alone group. In iodine plus TNF-α, the expression of NIS protein increased in both iodine deficiency and iodine excess conditions. Conclusions Iodine may decrease the expression of NIS mRNA and protein of lactating mammary cells. The expression of NIS mRNA and protein of lactating mammary cells was inhibited by TNF-α under different levels of iodine.