Objective To investigate the effects of adenovirus vectors for BTB and cap'n'collar protein homology 1 (Bach1) small interfering RNA (siRNA) on antioxidanffactors and fibrosis related cytokines in lung fibroblasts (MLF) in transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 induced mouse.Methods Bach1 siRNA recombinant adenovirus vectors and blankadenovirus vectorwere constructed,then the MLF cells were incubated with TGF-β1 (5 ng/ml) for 24 h and infected with blankvector and successful constructed Bach1 siRNAs.The messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein expression of Bach1,heme oxygenase (HO)-1,glutathione peroxidase 1 (GPx1) and nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide phosphate:quinone oxidoreductase-1 (NQO1) in cell supernatants were determined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot.Changes of fibrosis-related cytokines including TGF-β1 and interleukin (IL)-6 levels in cell supernatants were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed for multiple group comparisons and LSD test was used to compare the two groups.Results Bach1 mRNA (2.127±0.089) and protein expression increased significantly after TGF-31 stimulation compared with blank group (1.000±0.067,t=-21.77,P＜0.01),as well as the expression of fibrosis-related cytokines TGF-β1 (52±6) and IL-6 (34±6) in cell supernatants increased significantly after TGF-β1 stimulation compared with blank group (26±4,t=-11.11,P＜0.01 and 20±5,t=-5.32,P＜0.01),but the mRNA expression of HO-1 and GPx1 (0.403±0.040 and 0.567±0.112) also the protein expression decreased significantly compared with mRNA (1.000±0.181,t=25.57,P＜0.01 and 1.000±0.212,t=6.68,P＜0.05) and protein expression in blank group.Follow the Bach1 siRNA treatment,Bach1 mRNA (0.153±0.015) and protein levels were significantly downregulated compared with mRNA (2.129±0.089 and 1.973±0.035,F=1835.95,P＜0.01) and protein expression of TGF-β1 and blank vector group,as well as TGF-β1 (26±3) and IL-6 (11±3) expression in cell supernatant were significantly inhibited compared with TGF-31 (52±6 and 34±6) and blankvector group (49±5 and 33±6) (F=22.25,P＜0.01 and F=28.38,P＜0.01).But the mRNA levels of HO-1 (3.303±0.294) and GPx1 (1.840±0.231) in MLF were promoted significantly compared with TGF-β1 (0.403±0.040 and 0.567±0.112) and blank vector group (0.353±0.057 and 0.667±0.090) (F=53.90,P＜0.01 and F=526.25,P＜0.01).Conclusion Silencing Bach1 rescues TGF-β1 induced reduction of antioxidants and increasethefibrosis in MLF cells.The study offers an experimental basis to explore pathogenesis of oxidative stress and antioxidant therapy for connective tissue disease related inter-stitial lung disease.

Objective To discuss the cumulative effect of acupuncture on left ST40 to hemodynamic of PCA.Methods Sixteen healthy young people were randomly chosen to be acupunctured on left ST40 and parameters of TCD such as Vs,Vd,Vm,PI and RI were managed to be recorded sequentially at the 5 points below to make out an statistical analysis:10 min before acupuncture; the time of inserting the needles; 15 min after retaining the needles; the time when taking the needles out; 10 min after the acupunture.Results The parameters of TCD Vs,Vd,Vm 10min after withdrawing the needle [Were ( 84.56± 19.72) cm/s、( 39.75 ±10.15 ) cm/s、(56.13 ± 14.73 ) cm/s each] all showed a decline compared with the parameters 10min before acupuncture(P＜0.05),while other parameters turned out to be almost the same (P＞0.05).Conclusion Acupuncture on left ST40 has cumulative effect on Vs,Vd and Vm,which suggest us the needle retention time should be noted.

Objective To investigate the prognostic factors of EGC patients,especially the relationship between prognosis and tumor size.Methods Clinical data of 119 EGC cases from 1998 to 2002 were analyzed retrospectively.Results The overall 5-year survival rate was 90.9%.and the survival rate of patients with tumor D＜2 cm.2 cm≤D＜4 cm and D≥4 cm respectively was 100%,92.0%and 80.8%(P=0.024).In this group,tumor stage,lymph node metastasis and tumor invasion depth did not affect the survival statistically.There was no correlation between tumor size and other prognostic factors.Conclusion Tumor size is an independent prognostic factor of patients with EGC,which may have some relevance to the surgical approach of EGC.

BACKGROUND:In recent years, great progress has been achieved in the mechanical and viscoelastic properties of arterial blood vessels of normal human corpses and animals. OBJECTIVE: To quantitatively analyze the tensile mechanical properties of thoracic aorta in normaly fed spontaneously hypertensive rats and salt-loaded spontaneously hypertensive rats. METHODS: Twenty spontaneously hypertensive rats were obtained and randomly divided into experimental and control groups (n=10/group). Rats in the experimental group were subjected to continuous salt loading intervention for 16 weeks. Rats in the control group were fed with normal diet and ordinary tap water. At the 16th week, 10 specimens of thoracic aorta of rats from these two groups were harvested to conduct stress relaxation experiments.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The decrease in stress at 7 200 seconds and the decrease in normalized stress relaxation function value at 7 200 seconds of thoracic aortic specimens of rats in experimental group were both lower than those in the control group (P< 0.05). These results confirm that the stress relaxation properties of thoracic aorta of normaly fed and salt-loaded spontaneously hypertensive rats change, wherein the changes in salt-loaded spontaneously hypertensive rats are more obvious.

Choristoma ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Thyroid Gland ; pathology ; Tracheal Diseases

Objective By analyzing the clinical and radiographic manifestations of calcium pyrophosphate deposition disease (CPDD) to improve the recognization of the disease.Methods Clinical features,diagnosis and treatment of an old female patient with CPDD was reported with literature review.Results An old female patient presented with swollen and pain on the right knee without obvious causes eight years ago,which was characterized by slightly reddness of joint surface,warm of local skin.Thcn she gradually developed swollen and pain in left knee,right ankle,both wrists,bilateral meta-carpophalangeal (MCPJ) and right elbow joints with few joint symptoms and the joints swollen and pain could relieved spontaneouslyitself in about one week.X-ray showed the thin strip of cartilage calcifications in wrist triangular fibrocartilage disc,meniscus of knee and the pubic symphysis were parallel to the surface of cartilage.Examination of microscopy with refractive filter demonstrated that short rod crystals refraction in joint fluid.CPDD was diagnosed and treated with flushing of joint cavity and injections of betamethasone as well as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug orally.Symptoms relieved after therapy.Conclusion Understanding the disease characteristics of CPDD is beneficial to for accurate diagnosis and treatment.

Objective To investigate the clinical and imaging features of patients with calcium pyrophosphate deposition (CPPD).Methods The clinical data and X-rays material of knee joint of 20 patients with CPPD were retrospectively analyzed.Pearson/Spearman's correlations analysis was used for statistical analysis with software version 15.0.Results The 20 patients with CPPD had demonstrated that the typical accumulation of calcium,which accounted for about 1.5％o(20/13 536) among patients over 55 years old who had knees X-ray at the same period in Chaoyang Hospital.Female patients of CPPD was 80％ (16/20).Seventeen patients completed follow-up visits.The age of onset for CPPD ranged from 44 to 85 years old,the percentage of CPPD patients over 70 years old was 71％(12/17).Among the 17 cases of followed,14 cases (82％) were patients with paroxysmal arthritis with the initial site of knee joint (79％) and ankle joint (21％).Most patients suffered from moderate to severe pain,while some might have local congestion and increased skin temperature.Five patients had more than two different joints attacked by arthritis.The distribution of the affected areas was knee,ankle,hip,elbow,wrist and metacarpophalangeal joints.The median number of attack was 1.5 times a year,and the median duration of attack was 8.5 days.Among the 14 patients,Six cases of them had no recurrence after treatment,but six cases had recurrent attacks within a year.The imaging of lateral articular facet showed that calcium deposit was extended and thickness of calcification was increased.Plus osteophyte formation stage was 100％ with an average of 3.0±1.6 and 85％ sclerosis of articular facet.The rate of attacks of arthritis had a positive correlation with calcium deposition range of lateral articular facet (r=0.663,P=0.010) and a negative correlation with sclerosis of articular facet (r=-0.548,P=0.042).Conclusion Old patients with paroxysmal joint pain,patients with knee joint or other big joints as the initial joints involved,patients with long duration disease,patients who had more than two joints at attack and patients with calcium deposition in imaging,should be suspected for CPPD clinically.Moreover,patients with a wide range of calcium deposition are high likely to suffer from recurrent arthritis attack.

The interaction of drug and target protein is a critical part of new drug discovery. It is the premise for drugs to exert therapeutic effects by targeting specific binding sites of target proteins and thereby affecting its pharmacological activity. Currently, a variety of techniques are exploited to detect the interaction between drug ligands and target proteins. For example, cellular thermal shift assay (CETSA) and differential scanning fluorimetry (DSF) based on thermodynamics, mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance technology, etc. In addition, high-throughput ligand screening technology provides technical convenience for the search of specific ligand, and is a powerful tool to efficiently identify the interaction between drug ligand and target protein. Here, we summarize the detection techniques of interaction between small molecules and target proteins, and discuss the application of high-throughput ligand screening technology in drug research.

Target identification and verification of natural products is an important and challenging work in the field of chemical biology. It is also an important job for researchers to apply chemical proteomics technology to biomedicine in order to identify target proteins of natural products. Target identification is critical to understanding its mechanisms and developing natural products as molecular probes and potential therapeutic drugs. Traditional approaches of small molecule target identification based on affinity have been shown to be successful, such as click-chemical probes, radioisotope labeling or photosensitized small-molecule probes. Nevertheless, these technologies require purified candidate target proteins, and modified small molecules with probes or linkers, such as adding agarose beads, biotin labels, fluorescent labeling or photo-affinity labeling. Many structure-activity relationship studies should be performed to ensure that the addition of small molecule labels undisturbed the original biological activity of the small molecules. Unfortunately, all these modifications are likely to alter their biological activity or binding specificity. To overcome the bottleneck of "target recognition", researchers have developed a series of new techniques for unmodified drug target identification. In this article, we reviewed the target identification techniques of natural product without structural modification in order to provide reference for the development of natural products.

Objective To explore the long-term predictive value of serum concentration of N-terminal prosoma brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) in the early acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Methods The 164 patients firstly hospitalized and finally diagnosed as acute myocardial infarction (AMI) were selected, and then the serum concentration of NT-proBNP was determined in less than 12 hours. According to the 75 percentage points of serum concentration of NT-proBNP, the patients were divided into two groups: low concentration group (n = 123) and high concentration group (n = 41 ). The major adverse cardiac events (MACEs) were followed and compared at one month, six months and twelve months between low group and high group. Results At 1-, 6-, 12-month follow-up, the odds ratio (OR) of death event were 4.1, 5.6 and 4.0 in high group respectively, and the nonfatal heart failure occurred in 4, 4 and 7 patients in high group. Multiple factor logistic regression analysis showed that NT-proBNP was an independent risk factor of the MACEs at different periods including short time, middle time and long time in ACS patients (P＜0. 05). Conclusions NT-proBNP is a strong predictor of the long-term MACEs in patients with early ACS.