Objective To explore the correlation between the epicaridal adipose tissue (EAT)volume and the SNYTAX score in patients with coronary artery diseases and to evaluate its clinical value.Methods Epicardial fat volume of 102 patients with coronary heart disease in our hospital were measured on dual-source CT angiography images,SNYTAX scores were calculated,and level of blood lipids,blood glucose (Glu),blood pressure,renal functional parameters and body mass index(BMI)were collected.Depending on SNYTAX scores,patients were divided into three groups (mild 0-22,moderate 23-32 and severe>33).The difference of EAT volume between groups and correlation with other indicators were analyzed.With indictors statistical significant in one-factor analysis,multi-ple regression equation was constructed to evaluate the risk factors of coronary artery diseases,particularly correlation between EAT volume and SNYTAX score.Results EAT,TC,TG,HDL,HbALc,GLu and BMI were significant different between three groups. Pearson regression showed that EAT,TC,GLu and BMI were independently risk factor in relation to the value of SNYTAX.Among them,standardized regressive coefficient of the EAT volume was the highest (β=0.52).Conclusion EAT volume is significantly positively correlated with the SNYTAX score in coronary heart disease,which can be as an effective predictor for its severity and prognosis.

Ectopia Cordis ; surgery ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Male

Objective To explore the effects of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) on viral myositis in mice. Methods Four-week-old BALB/C male mice were randomly divided into normal control group, myocarditis group, and BMSCs intervention group at different stages (3 days and 2 weeks). The mouse model of viral myocarditis was established by intraperitoneal injection of Coxsackie virus B3. The mice in the intervention group were injected with BMSCs in the tail vein at 3 days and 2nd week after the injection of the virus. Four weeks later, echocardiography was performed, and the pathological integral and collagen volume fraction (CVF) were observed and calculated by light microscopy. The qRT-PCR method was used to detect the mRNA expression of homogenates collagen I (col1α1) and collagen fiber III (col3α1) in myocardial tissue. Results Compared with the normal control group, the left anterior and posterior wall became thinner, the diameter and volume of the left ventricle at end systolic period was increased; left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and short axis shortening rate (FS) decreased in the myocarditis group. The differences were statistically significant (P all<0.05). The LVEF and FS in each subgroup of the intervention group were better than those of the myocarditis group, and the improvement in the intervention group was more obvious at the 2nd week after the treatment of the myocarditis. The differences were significant (P all<0.05). Light microscope showed that myocardial CVF in myocarditis group was higher than in normal control group, and CVF in intervention group was reduced compared with myocarditis group and CVF in the 2nd week intervention group was lower than that in the 3 day intervention group. The differences were significant (P all<0.05). Compared with the control group, the mRNA expressions of col1α1 and col3α1 in the myocarditis group were increased, and they were lower in the intervention group than in the myocarditis group, and the differences were significant (P all<0.05). Conclusions BMSCs can reduce the degree of cardiac fibrosis and improve cardiac function in mice with viral myositis, and the intervention effect is better when the virus is infected in the 2nd week.

Background Choroidal neovascularization (CNV) is one of the primary causes leading to visual damage in many fundus diseases.Many evidences indicate that macrophage activation and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) play important roles in CNV.However, the dynamic expression of macrophage and MCP-1 in the initial stage of CNV is not clear.Objective This study was to investigate the dynamic changes of F4/80 and MCP-1 expressions in retina-choroid tissue with experimental CNV.Methods Laser-induced CNV models were monocularly established in 105 SPF 8-week-old male wild type C57BL/6 mice.The mice were sacrificed at 6,12,24, 48 and 72 hours after photocoagulation, respectively, and the retina-choroid tissue sections and choroidal flatmounts were prepared.The histopathological examination was carried out to observe the changes of morphology and structure as well as inflammatory response in CNV.The expression and distribution of F4/80 and MCP-1 protein in retinachoroid were detected by double immunofluorescence technique.The expression and distribution of F4/80 in choroid were examined by immunofluorescence.The relative expression levels of F4/80 mRNA and the content of MCP-1 protein in RPE-choroid complex were assayed using real-time quantitative PCR and ELISA,respectively.The use and care of the mice complied with the Regulation for the Administration of Affair Concerning Experimental Animals by Ethic Committee of Experimental Animals of Nanjing Medical University.Results The rupture of Bruch membrane, RPE, outer nuclear layer and choroid was exhibited under the optical microscope 6 hours after photocoagulation.Infiltration of inflammatory cells and tissue edema were seen as the lapse of photocoagulation time, and proliferation of vascular endothelial cells was found 72 hours after photocoagulation.F4/80 was expressed in photocoagulation area 6 hours later, and MCP-1 was expressed around the area.With the lapse of photocoagulation time,the expression intensity of MCP-1 weakened and that of F4/80 enhanced.The contents of MCP-1 protein in RPE-choroid complex were (31.25±4.73), (276.31 ±4.20), (331.95 ±5.86), (221.24±4.42), (179.89 ± 4.10) and (130.80 ± 5.90) pg/mg in the normal control group, photocoagulation 6-, 12-, 24-, 48-and 72-hour groups, respectively,with a significant difference among the groups (F=1 416.46 ,P＜0.01).The contents of MCP-1 protein peaked at 12 hours after photocoagulation and then gradually declined.The expression levels of MCP-1 protein in different time groups were higher than those in the normal control group (all at P＜0.01).A significant difference in F4/80 mRNA expression in RPE-choroid complex was also found among the groups (F =762.72, P＜0.01, and a gradually raising tendency was seen over time, showing evidently increase in comparison with the normal control group (all at P＜0.01).Conclusions Inflammatory response occurs in the early stage of experimental CNV.MCP-1 responds to the CNV at early stage,and the accumulation and activation of macrophage play an important role in the development of CNV.

Objective To observe the intervention effects of fluid wax on the therapeutic course of patients with adhesive small bowel obstruction.Methods Two hundreds and eighty-eight patients with adhesive small bowel obstruction admitted into the Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery of Huzhou Central Hospital from December 2014 to June 2016 were enrolled, and they were divided into a fluid wax group and acontrol group by mechanical sampling method, each group 144 cases. The control group was treated with conventional comprehensive non-surgical treatment, in the fluid wax group, on the basis of the above conventional treatment, additionally after 2 hours of gastrointestinal decompression, the fluid wax 3 mL/kg was injected through a gastric tube that then was closed by a clip for 2 hours. The first exhaust and defecation times, the time for amelioration of abdominal pain, the time of gas-liquid flat disappearance, the length of stay in hospital, the rate of operation and the occurrence of adverse reactions were observed in the two groups.Results After treatment, the first exhaust time, the first defecation time, the time of relieving abdominal pain, the time of gas-liquid flat disappearance and the length of stay in hospital were significantly shorter in fluid wax group than those in control group [the first exhaust time (hours): 29.97±19.71 vs. 49.28±33.61, the first defecation time (hours): 60.25±28.37 vs.74.23±50.12, the time of relieving abdominal pain (hours): 35.78±20.98 vs. 51.83±25.02, the time of gas-liquid flat disappearance (hours): 71.60±39.50 vs. 90.98±57.91, the length of stay in hospital (days): 7.00±3.77 vs. 9.00±5.81, allP < 0.05], and the rate of operation in the fluid wax group was lower than that in the control group [18.75% (27/144) vs. 27.08% (39/144),P < 0.05]. No patients died in the two groups. In nearly 1 year follow-up, there were no adverse reactions associated with the study in the fluid wax group.Conclusion The intervention of fluid wax combined with conventional non-surgical methods can significantly shorten the disease course, reduce the rate of operation and the hospitalization time in patients with adhesive small bowel obstruction.

Aim To evaluate the vasorelaxant effect of two new chemical entities, J35242 and J35243, on iso-lated rat thoracic aorta rings as Rho-kinase inhibitors, and further to explore the underlying mechanisms of these two compounds. Methods Isolated rat thoracic aorta rings pre-contracted by KCl or norepinephrine ( NE) were used to evaluate the vasodilatory effect of J35242 and J35243 . Through the interventions of sev-eral tool drugs, the mechanisms of compounds concern-ing endothelium, K+ channels and Ca2+ were studied. Results J35242 and J35243 showed potent relaxant effect on both KCl and NE pre-contracted vessels, and exhibited partial endothelium dependency. L-NAME and Methylene Blue( MB) could influence the relaxant effect of these compounds. Meanwhile, the compounds could inhibit intracellular Ca2+ release and extracellu-lar Ca2+ influx, which indicated that the compounds might block the calcium channels to relax the vessels. In addition, the two compounds probably did not dilate the aorta rings through opening potassium channels. Conclusions J35242 and J35243 have vasorelaxant effects on vessels in vitro and the potency of J35242 is stronger than that of J35243 . The underlying mecha-nisms might be endothelium-dependent. Also the com-pounds might block Ca2+ channels, lowering intracel-lular Ca2+ concentration to relax the vessels.

In order to enhance the specificity of TNF-α monoclonal antibody to inflamed site, a bispecific antibody BsDb that targets TNF-α and the extra-domain B (ED-B) of fibronectin (FN) was constructed by covalently linking the anti-TNF-α single chain Fv antibody (TNF-scFv) and the anti-ED-B scFv L19 via a flexible peptide linker deriving from human serum albumin (HSA). ED-B is an antigen specifically expressed at the inflamed site. BsDb is expressed in E. coli, identified by immunoblot, and purified with affinity chromatography. This was followed by further examination of its bioactivities and pharmacokinetics. We demonstrated that BsDb retained the immunoreactivity of its original antibodies as it could simultaneously bind to TNF-α and ED-B and neutralize the biological action of TNF-α. In the collagen-induced arthritis mice model, BsDb selectively accumulate in the inflamed joint with a maximal uptake of (12.2 ± 1.50)% ID/g in a single inflamed paw and retain in the inflamed paw for at least 72 h. In contrast, BsDb showed a short serum half-life of (0.50 ± 0.05) h and a rapid clearance from normal tissues. The findings reported herein indicate that BsDb has good specificity to the inflamed site and low toxicity to normal tissues. BsDb is therefore likely to have greater clinical applications in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases. This laid a stable basis for its preclinical study.
Animals ; Antibodies, Bispecific ; chemistry ; Antibodies, Monoclonal ; chemistry ; Arthritis, Experimental ; Escherichia coli ; Fibronectins ; chemistry ; Half-Life ; Humans ; Mice ; Single-Chain Antibodies ; chemistry ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; chemistry

RNA-Sequencing (RNA-Seq) is a newly-developed method in transcriptome research, it can afford more accurate transcription information and be more quickly by using Next-generation Sequencing (NGS) technology. RNA-Seq has been widely used in various biological fields. Genuine traditional Chinese medicines (TCM), with good quality and therapeutic effect, were always praised highly and used by famous physicians. The geo-herbalism formation of TCM is based on the product of the gene expression at specific space and time. So it has been a research hotspot to analyze the mechanism of biosynthesis through RNA-Seq in the study on the secondary metabolism of medicinal plant. This article mainly illustrates the RNA-Seq and its advantages, it also discusses the potential application in genuine TCM, and it can provide useful information for other researchers.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Gene Expression Profiling ; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Plants, Medicinal ; genetics ; RNA ; Sequence Analysis, RNA ; Transcriptome

Genuine medicinal materials with special characteristics of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), is recognized as high quality medicine. Both ancient records and modern research considered that the origin is an important reason for the formation of genuine medicinal materials. However, blindly transplanting of genuine medicinal materials has led to the quality decline and counterfeit medicines appeared in production or sale progress, which may increase the risk of accidents in TCM. Frequent accidents emerged in Chinese herbal affects its export. What's more, it is a great threat to the medication safety in TCM clinical. There is an urgent need to implement traceability systems of TCM, which could provide convenient information record and traceability of TCM circulation. This paper reviews a variety of technical methods for genuine medicinal materials traceability, and proposed the establishment of genuine medicinal materials traceability system based on two-dimensional code and network database.
Databases, Factual ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; economics ; standards ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional

Objective To evaluate the inhibitory effect of butyric acid (BA) as a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced pulmonary fibrosis and its mechanism. Methods Thirty C57/BL6 mice were randomly divided into three groups according to the random number method, namely control group (physiological saline was given intraperitoneally and by gavage), LPS challenge group (LPS-induced murine model of pulmonary fibrosis was reproduced with intraperitoneal injection of 10 mg/kg LPS), and BA preconditioning + LPS challenge group (10 mg/kg BA was given followed by intraperitoneal injection of 10 mg/kg LPS), with 10 mice in each group. Mice were sacrificed painlessly, and lung tissue samples were harvested at 2 weeks and 4 weeks respectively (five samples every group each time). HDAC activity was evaluated with fluorescence analysis kit. Protein expression of acetylated-histone H3 (Ace-H3), acetylated-histone H4 (Ace-H4) and thymocyte differentiation antigen 1 (Thy-1) were determined by Western Blot. The mRNA expression of Thy-1 was assessed by real-time reverse transcription- polymerase chain reaction (real-time RT-PCR). The degree of lung inflammation and fibrosis were microscopic detected after hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining and Masson collagen staining. The deposition of lung collagen was detected by hydroxyproline content measurement kit. Results Compared to control group, the degree of lung inflammation and fibrosis was aggravated after LPS challenge, as manifested by increased hydroxyproline content (μg/mg, 2 weeks: 8.384±0.632 vs. 4.388±0.334, 4 weeks: 8.308±0.244 vs. 4.370±0.342, both P < 0.01), increased HDAC activity (μmol/L, 2 weeks: 7.243±0.384 vs. 3.628±0.641, 4 weeks: 6.479±0.202 vs. 3.238±0.524, both P < 0.01), increased deacetylation degree of histone H3 and H4 [relative expression of Ace-H3 (gray value): 0.516±0.115 vs. 1.005±0.359 at 2 weeks, 0.633±0.143 vs. 1.092±0.193 at 4 weeks, both P < 0.05; relative expression of Ace-H4 (gray value): 0.402±0.164 vs. 0.759±0.187 at 2 weeks, P > 0.05; 0.426±0.098 vs. 0.858±0.177 at 4 weeks, P < 0.01], and lowered Thy-1 mRNA and protein expression [Thy-1 mRNA (2-ΔΔCt): 0.606±0.066 vs. 1.005±0.109 at 2 weeks, P < 0.01; 0.824±0.101 vs. 1.210±0.400 at 4 weeks, P > 0.05; relative expression of Thy-1 protein (gray value): 0.725±0.284 vs. 1.249±0.297 at 2 weeks, 0.589±0.139 vs. 1.372±0.343 at 4 weeks, both P < 0.05]. Compared with LPS group, BA precondition could inhibit above processes, as manifested by decreased hydroxyproline content (μg/mg: 5.943±0.726 vs. 8.384±0.632 at 2 weeks, 4.938±0.209 vs. 8.308±0.244 at 4 weeks, both P < 0.01), decreased HDAC activity (μmol/L: 4.386±0.117 vs. 7.243±0.384 at 2 weeks, 4.863±0.096 vs. 6.479±0.202 at 4 weeks, both P < 0.01), increased Thy-1 mRNA expression at 2 weeks (2-ΔΔCt: 0.884±0.216 vs. 0.606±0.066, P < 0.05), increased acetylation degree of histone H4 and Thy-1 protein expression at 4 weeks [relative expression of Ace-H4 (gray value): 0.715±0.145 vs. 0.426±0.098, P < 0.05; relative protein expression of Thy-1 (gray value): 0.939±0.098 vs. 0.589±0.139, P < 0.01]. Conclusions LPS-induced pulmonary fibrosis was related with activation of HDAC, deacetylation of histone H3 and H4 and Thy-1 gene silencing. HDAC inhibitor BA could inhibit LPS-induced pulmonary fibrosis and Thy-1 gene silencing through inhibiting activation of HDAC and deacetylation of histone H4.