AIM: To investigate the effect of high glucose toxicity on JNK pathway and cell function of INS-1 cells.METHODS: Cultured INS-1 cells with or without IGF-1 exposure, were treated with glucose at 3 concentrations (5.6 mmol/L, 11.2 mmol/L and 33.3mmol/L), respectively. MTT was used to measure the cell viability. Apoptosis was determined by immuno-fluorescence and flow-cytometry analysis. The serine 270 phosphorylation of IRS and phosphorylation of JNK in INS-1 cells were detected in the presence or absence of SP600125 treatment.RESULTS: The cell viability decreased and apoptosis increased with elevated glucose concentrations. The percentage of apoptosis cells was 11.3% in 5.6 G group, 12.7% in 11.2 G group and 28.2% in 33.3 G group. There was remarkable increase in apoptosis in 33.3 G group with a 2.49-fold increase to the cells in the basal 5.6 mmol/L glucose. High glucose activated the serine 270 phosphorylation of IRS correlates with JNK phosphorylation in INS-1 cells. Using Western blotting analysis, the levels of JNK phosphorylation were 3.33 fold increased and serine 270 phosphorylation of IRS was 1.17 fold increased in 33.3 G group compared to 11.2 G group (P<0.01). IGF-1 treatment inhibited phosphorylation of JNK and IRS. SP600125 treatment completely blocked JNK phosphorylation in 11.2 G group and reduced JNK phosphorylation by 90% in 33.3 G group. In addition, SP600125 treatment partly reduced serine 270 phosphorylation of IRS by 88.3% in 11.2 G group and 80% in 33.3 G group, the viability of INS-1 cells increased and the apoptosis decreased.CONCLUSION: The toxicity of chronic high glucose, which inhibits the cells viability and induces the cell apoptosis, might be related to suppress IRS signal by activating the JNK pathway. Blocking the JNK pathway might relieve the effect of glucose toxicity to the β cell function by improving the IRS signal pathway.

Objective To investigate the effect of vitamin D on pulmonary function in patients with chronic obstructive pulmona-ry disease,and to explore its possible mechanism.Methods Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease admitted in the hospital were randomly divided into 2 groups,one group of patients were given regular COPD treatment (control group,30 cases), the other group of patients were given vitamin D on the basis of conventional therapy(experimental group,30 cases).Pulmonary function test and C reaction protein (CRP)determination in the 2 groups were performed,the contents of PaO2 ,PaCO2 were also determined.Results Compared with the control group,lung function improvement in experimental group were more obvious,and the the number of acute attack significantly reduced(P <0.05).The concentration of CRP in experimental group was significantly lower after treatment than before treatment(P <0.05),while the concentration of CRP in control group didn′t change significantly (P >0.05).Conclusion Vitamin D contributes to the improvement of pulmonary function in patients with COPD,and its mecha-nism might relate to the reduction of inflammatory reaction.

AIM:To investigate the effect of high glucose toxicity on JNK pathway and cell function of INS-1 cells.METHODS: Cultured INS-1 cells with or without IGF-1 exposure,were treated with glucose at 3 concentrations (5.6 mmol/L,11.2 mmol/L and 33.3mmol/L),respectively. MTT was used to measure the cell viability. Apoptosis was determined by immuno-fluorescence and flow-cytometry analysis. The serine 270 phosphorylation of IRS and phosphorylation of JNK in INS-1 cells were detected in the presence or absence of SP600125 treatment.RESULTS: The cell viability decreased and apoptosis increased with elevated glucose concentrations. The percentage of apoptosis cells was 11.3% in 5.6 G group,12.7% in 11.2 G group and 28.2% in 33.3 G group. There was remarkable increase in apoptosis in 33.3 G group with a 2.49-fold increase to the cells in the basal 5.6 mmol/L glucose. High glucose activated the serine 270 phosphorylation of IRS correlates with JNK phosphorylation in INS-1 cells. Using Western blotting analysis,the levels of JNK phosphorylation were 3.33 fold increased and serine 270 phosphorylation of IRS was 1.17 fold increased in 33.3 G group compared to 11.2 G group (P

Objective To compare the effectiveness and safety of Onyx and n-butyl-2-cyanoacryhte (NBCA) for the embolization of cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs).Methods The clinical data of 53 patients with cerebral AVMs (31 in the NBCA group and 22 in the Onyx group) were analyzed retrospectively.The safety and effectiveness of the 1-year follow-up were compared.The size of AVMs (diameters ＜3 cm,3-6 cm,and ＞6 cm) and the Spetzler-Martin grade were used to conduct subgroup analysis.Results There were no significant differences in the baseline data and AVM morphologies.The embolization rate in the Onyx group was significantly higher than that in the NBCA group (P ＜ 0.05),but there were no significant differences in the incidences of postoperative hemorrhage (1/22 vs.1/31;P=1.000)and neurological deficit (1/22 vs.3/31;P=0.633) in the 1-year follow-up after procedure.The subgroup analysis showed that the embolization rates of the small and medium-sized cerebral AVMs in the Onyx group were significantly higher than those in the NBCA group (all P ＜ 0.05),and the embolization rates of cerebral AVMs with different Spetzler-Martin grades in were significantly higher than those in the NBCA group (all P ＜0.05).Conclusion Onyx is equivalent to NBCA in safety but better in efficacy.

Objective:To study the related factors of severe acute radiation-induced lung injury (SAR) caused by IMRT and concurrent chemotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer. Methods:We retrospectively analyzed the data of 2 323 non-small cell lung cancer pa-tients who underwent IMRT radiotherapy and concurrent chemotherapy at the Department of Radiotherapy of Tianjin Medical Univer-sity Cancer Institute and Hospital from January 2010 to January 2014. We analyzed the clinical factors and parameters that affect dose by univariate and multivariate analysis. Results:A total of 2 323 patients enrolled and 1 241 cases suffering from acute radiation-in-duced lung injury with the rate of 53.4%. Only 185 cases suffered from SARP with a rate of 7.96%. Univariate analysis showed that the gender, histopathological type, total radiation dose, V5 (%), and average dose rate are not related to SARP (P>0.05). By contrast an age of>60 years, 1%predicted FEV, docetaxel+carboplatin/cisplatin chemotherapy, V20 (%), V30 (%), and mean lung dose (MLD) are sig-nificantly related to SARP (P<0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that a patient age of>60 years, docetaxel+carboplatin/cisplatin che-motherapy, V20 (%), and V30 (%) are the independent risk factors of SARP. Conclusion:Among the non-small cell lung cancer patients undergoing IMRT radiotherapy and concurrent chemotherapy, further attention should be given to elderly patients, patients receiving docetaxel and platinum chemotherapy, as well as V20 and V30 with high doses. The necessary preventive treatment should be given to reduce the incidence of SARP, improve the quality of life of patients, and reduce the incidence of respiratory failure and mortality.

Objectives To study pregnant outcomes of patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) undergoing in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET),and analyze the differences of pregnant outcomes in patients with various phenotypes of PCOS.Methods From Jan.2005 to Feb.2010,631 PCOS patients (PCOS group)and 1423 patients with tubal infertility (control group) who underwent IVF-ET with matched age and body mass index were selected in Center for Reproductive Medicine of the Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University.Retrospective study was carried out,and pregnancy outcomes were compared between two groups.Results The rates of abortion and preterm birth in PCOS group were significantly higher than those in control group [22.7％ ( 143/631 ) vs.18.69％ (266/1423) and 11.2％ (38/339) vs.6.4％ (51/794) respectively,all P ＜0.05 ].The rates of gestational diabetes mellitus were 1.5％ (5/339) in PCOS and 0.6％ (5/794) in control group,respectively; the rates of pregnancy induced hypertension syndrome were 4.7％ (16/339) in PCOS and 3.0％ (24/794) in control group; gestational days were(272 ± 13) days in PCOS and(273 ± l0)days in control group; the rates of neonatal deformity were 0.6％ (2/339) in PCOS and O.8％ (6/794) in control group; weight of newborn infants in the two groups was(3.5 ±0.5 ) kg; and there was no significant difference between two groups in the above index ( all P ＞ O.05 ).Ovulatory PCOS patients had similar abortion rate [ 18.6％ (19/102) ] and preterm birth rate [ 8.2％ (4/49) ] when compared with those of control group (P ＞ 0.05 ).Conversely,oligo-ovulatory PCOS patients showed higher abortion rate [ 23.4％ ( 124/529 ) ] and preterm birth rate [ 11.7％ (34/290) ] than those of control group ( P ＜ 0.05 ).Conclusions PCOS patients after IVF-ET have an increased abortion rate and preterm birth rate.However,ovulatory PCOS did not present various pregnancy complications.Non-polycystic ovary PCOS patients have worse pregnancy outcome.Ovarian dysfunction might be related to obstetric complications.

The study was to research the clinical characteristics of Shenmai injection treating tumor based on hospital information system, including the characteristics of the age, the sex, the dosage, the course of the treatment and the combination drugs. The data of tumor patients injected with Shenmai injection was analyzed. The information was collected from the hospital information system (HIS) in twenty hospitals of grade III-A. The method of frequencies and association rules was used in this reaearch. The patients over 45 years old were up to 3 338, about 79.36% of the whole. The ratio of male and female was 1.73: 1. The hospitalization day between 15 and 28 was most. The complications of the hypertension and coronary heart disease happened most. The support was 5.939% and 5.099% respectively. Fifty-five patients had the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome of Qi-Yin deficiency, about 14.78% of the whole. There were 8 491 patients treated with the single dose of 81 to 100 mL, about 48.70% of the whole. The main combination drugs were dexamethasone, tropisetron and maxolon. The confidence was 44.63%, 31.22% and 20.53% respectively. The information from HIS showed that tumor patients used Shenmai injection were most quinquagenarian with smooth condition. The dose of the Shenmai injection sometimes was higher than that of the drug use instructions in clinical. Shenmai injection was most often combined with glucocorticoid, antemetic and nutritional support medicine when treating tumor in clinical.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Drug Combinations ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Hospital Information Systems ; Humans ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; Young Adult

During the process of electroacupuncture (EA) therapy, whether there being a corrosive effect in ac- upuncture needles was observed. Acupuncture needles were inserted into a rabbit's acupoint to perform a 12-hour electrical stimulation with three types of common EA waveform; additionally two needles were put in 0.9% sodium chloride solution with 12-hour direct current. Afterwards, environmental scanning electron microscope was applied to detect the surface physical characteristics of acupuncture needles. As a result, after a 12-hour continued electri- cal stimulation with three types of common EA waveform in the rabbit, there was no corrosive effect in acupunc- ture needles; but the direct current could cause severe corrosion in acupuncture needles. It is believed that there is no corrosion effect on acupuncture needles in current EA treatment, and some accidents reported in literature may be related to quality of EA device or improper manipulation during the treatment.
Acupuncture Points ; Animals ; Corrosion ; Electroacupuncture ; instrumentation ; Male ; Needles ; adverse effects ; Rabbits

OBJECTIVETo investigate the therapeutic effect of glucocorticoids on the acute pulmonary edema in rats induced by nitrogen dioxide (NO₂).

METHODSThirty SD female rats were randomly equally divided into 5 groups: normal control group, NO₂ exposed group, high-, middle- and low-dose of glucocorticoids treated group (6 rats per group). 6 rats in the normal control group were exposed to room air for 30 min, and the other rats to NO₂. 18 rats in the glucocorticoids group were treated with different doses of dexamethasone (6.0, 3.0, 1.0 mg/kg), while the rats in the NO₂ poisoning group were treated with normal saline (2.5 mg/kg). The lung wet/dry (W/D) weight ratio was calculated, and plasma atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) levels, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity from whole blood, plasma interleukin 6 (IL-6), interleukin 10 (IL-10), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and Interferon-γ (IFN-γ) were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

RESULTSThe lung W/D ratios were increased significantly in glucocorticoids treated group and NO₂-exposed group compared with normal control group (P < 0.05), while they were significantly reduced in glucocorticoids treated group as compared with NO₂-exposed group (P < 0.05). SOD activity in whole blood in glucocorticoids treated group and NO₂-exposed group was significantly lower than that of normal control group (P < 0.05), while it was no significant difference between that of glucocorticoids treated group and NO₂-exposed group (P > 0.05). Plasma ANP was significantly increased in NO₂-exposed group compared with normal control group (P < 0.05), while it was significantly decreased in glucocorticoids treated group compared with NO₂-exposed group (P > 0.05). Plasma TNF-α of high-, middle- and low-dose of glucocorticoids treated group [(27.04 ± 8.19), (40.10 ± 9.09), (39.76 ± 9.60) pg/ml] was decreased significantly as compared with NO₂-exposed group (68.55 ± 27.84 pg/ml) (P < 0.05). Plasma IL-6 in high- and middle-dose of glucocorticoids treated group [(15.97 ± 6.18), (19.69 ± 5.52) pg/ml] was significantly decreased as compared to NO₂-exposed group [(29.29 ± 9.31) pg/ml] (P < 0.05). Plasma IL-10 in high-, middle- and low-dose of glucocorticoids treated group [(23.24 ± 5.14), (27.78 ± 8.17), (33.29 ± 10.42) pg/ml] was significantly reduced compared with NO₂-exposed group [(44.38 ± 9.19) pg/ml] (P < 0.05). Plasma IFN-γ in high- and middle-dose of glucocorticoids treated group [(7.21 ± 4.55), (19.23 ± 4.35) pg/ml] was reduced compared with NO₂-exposed group [(30.83 ± 6.82) pg/ml] (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONHigh-, middle-, low-dose glucocorticoids all can improve the permeability of alveolar wall and capillary, and have nonspecific anti-inflammatory effects. The therapeutic effects on pulmonary edema are significant. High and middle dose of glucocorticoids treated group are more useful for decreased inflammatory factors.

Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Female ; Glucocorticoids ; therapeutic use ; Nitrogen Dioxide ; toxicity ; Pulmonary Edema ; chemically induced ; drug therapy ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Objective To construct the bp26 deletion mutant of Brucella vaccine strain M5-90 (M5-90Δbp26),to compare its immunogenicity with parental strain(M5-90),and to develope a new candidate vaccine strain of Brucella melitensis with reduced virulence that can be used to distinguish vaccinated livestock from infected animals.Methods Mutant vaccine strain of Brucella melitensis was constructed by conventional molecular biology techniques then the genetic stability of mutant M5-90Δbp26 was tested and its conventional bacteriological nature was identified; 1.0 × 109 CFU/2 ml doses of M5-90Δbp26 strain and the parental strain were used to vaccinate 3 sheep; sera were analyzed for reactivity against BP26 by Western blotting and for agglutination activity; to analyze the virulence of mutant and parental strain,mice were injected with 1.0 × 106,6.0 × 106 and 2.0 × 107 CFU/0.2 ml doses of M5-90 and M5-90Δbp26,respectively,and clinical symptoms were monitored and the death of mice was recorded.Results The M5-90Δbp26 was successfully generated and reversion was not observed in 15 generations.The size of PCR products was 629 bp while the parental strain was 1279 bp.The sequence analysis showed a 650 bp missing in M5-90Δbp26.The conventional bacteria identification tests confirmed that the mutant was depth variant strain,including mono-specific antiserum M type transformed into R,and the BK2 phage based splitting assay converted from the positive to the negative.Western blotting showed the purified BP26 protein was recognized by the serum against the parental strain while not by the serum against M5-90Δbp26 strain.Agglutination test showed the level of the serum antibody induced by M5-90Δbp26 strain(1:50) was significantly lower than that of serum induced by parental strain(＞ 1:800).Virulence test showed that M5-90Δbp26 strain was less virulent than parental strain.Conclusions M5-90Δbp26 has been successfully constructed.M5-90Δbp26 of Brucella melitensis has the characteristic of reduced virulence and has a potential as brucellosis candidate vaccine strain permitting serological discrimination between diseased and vaccinated livestock.