Objective To study the male reproductive ability of male rats with Toxoplasma gondii ( Tg) infection and investigate the variation of Toxoplasma infection in seminal plasma of infertile patients and explore its mechanism. Methods Thirty SD rats were randomly divided into 3 groups. The rats in the Toxoplasma infection group were administrated intraperitoneally with tachyzoites of Tg. in a dosage of 2 × 10~ 5/ml(2ml) , the rats in the treated group were administered with the same dosage of the tachyzoites and from the second day after the infection they were treated with 200 mg/kg azithromycin for 7 days, and the normal group was given physiological saline. Nine weeks after the infection, the serum sex hormone level, number,vitality, activity and quantity of spermatozoa and activities of enzymes in testa's of the testicular tissues were determined in the male rats. The female rats infected with Tg were matched with normal female rats at a ratio of 1: 2 for one week, and on the 21st day of pregnancy, the number of corpora luteum, sex ratio and the weight, body length and tail length of fetus were measured. The ELISA method was used todetermine the seminal plasma's anti-Tg IgG antibody of the 169 patients with infertility and 35 males with normal fertility. Meanwhile the NO levels in their semina were determined by means of nitric acid reducase. Results The number, activity .vitality, serum level of sex hormones were all lower in the infected rats than those in the normal and treated groups. The number of fetus in the pregnant rats matched with the infected male rats was significantly fewer, but the average body weight, body length, tail length of the fetuses and sex proportion showed no significant difference in comparison with those of the control group. The anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibody positive rate in the masculine infertility patients was 18.35% , being significantly higher than 2. 86% in the normal fertility group(P < 0.05 ). The mean NO level in the semina from the infertility group was (146.68 ± 38. 87) μnol/L , which was significantly higher than (84.92 ± 26.72) μnol/L( P < 0.01) in the fertility group. Conclusion Toxoplasma gondii infection can cause certain influences on the male reproductive ability.

OBJECTIVETo study the effects of Si-Wu-Tang on serum protein of blood deficient mice b y proteomicstechnique and study the enriching and regulating blood mechanism of Si-Wu-Tang on mocular level.

METHODThe blood deficient mice was induced by using a single dose of 3.5 Gy radiation from a 60Cogamma source, and high resolution two-dimensional polyacryamide gel electrophoresis (2-DE), computer-assisted image analysis, and mass spectrometry were used to detect regulated protein by Si-Wu-Tang.

RESULT12 lower and 4 higher protein in sera could be recovered by Si-Wu-Tang, 4 protein might be DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit, Dystrophin, KIF13A, dystonin. They play a part in DNA double-stranded break repair, recombination and modulation of transcription, transportation of mannose-6-phosphate receptor, etc.

CONCLUSIONSi-Wu-Tang can regulate serum protein in blood deficient mice, resulting in improving hematopoiesis and lessening irradiated injury.

Animals ; Autoantigens ; blood ; Carrier Proteins ; Cytoskeletal Proteins ; Drug Combinations ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Dystonin ; Dystrophin ; blood ; Female ; Kinesin ; blood ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Nerve Tissue Proteins ; Non-Fibrillar Collagens ; blood ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Radiation Injuries, Experimental ; blood ; Radiation-Protective Agents ; pharmacology ; Whole-Body Irradiation

Objective Summary the first group of robotic bypass surgery on the beating heart and stent placement in distinct hybrid session in China. Methods 163 cases patients accepted selective operation of robotic coronary bypass grafting on the beating heart form April 2007 to January 2011. 12 cases had multi coronary vessels stenosis accepted stent placement after robotic surgery in a hybrid manner. The average age of patients was ( 56. 0 ± 9.74 ) years old. 3 case was female and 9 cases were male. All the patients had a medical history of angina. The coronary arterioangiography showed sever left anterior descend ing or diagonal branch stenosis in all patients. And 4 cases had myocardial infarction history. All the patients had good lung function and had no medical history of pleurisy. Without sternotomy, through 3 ports about 1 cm in left thorax, the left internal mammary artery was obtained and simultaneously single vessel coronary artery bypass grafting through small thoracotomy or totally endoscopic coronary bypass (TECAB) was performed on beating heart. The bridge patency and revascularization was accessed by arterioangiography. Results All cases successfully accepted robotic bypass surgery on the beating heart and stent placement in distinct hybrid session without complication. Conclusion Hybrid coronary artery revascularization enable adequate revascularization of patients with multivessel coronary artery disease without sternotomy and with the advantage of the most durable option.

Animals ; Bridged Bicyclo Compounds ; metabolism ; Cytochrome P-450 CYP3A ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Drug Design ; Drug Interactions ; Enzyme Induction ; Humans ; Lithocholic Acid ; metabolism ; Phloroglucinol ; analogs & derivatives ; metabolism ; Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear ; genetics ; metabolism ; physiology ; Receptors, Steroid ; genetics ; physiology ; Signal Transduction ; Terpenes ; metabolism ; Transcription Factors ; genetics ; metabolism

Objective As the first robotic da Vinci S surgical system(Intuitive Surgical,Inc,CA) in China,atrial septal de- fect repair(ASD) were performed in 15 patients using the robotic da Vinci S surgical system.Prespectively,we evaluated safety and efficacy in performing both simple and complex ASD repairs.Methods Eligible patients had ASD with mild to moderate pulmonary hypertension.Operative techniques included peripheral cardiopulmanary perfusion,a 2 cm working port only in the forth intercostal space,transthoracic aortic occlusion,and antegrade blood cardioplegia.Transesophageal echocardiograms(TEE) were done intraoper- atively with three-dimensienal reconstructions.Successful repairs were defined.Results Enhanced three-dimensional visualization of ASD allowed safe,dexterous intracardiac tissue manipulation.All patients had successful repairs including direct suturing in 10 cases, as well as pericardial patching in 5 cases.There were no operative deaths,strokes,or device-related complications.One patient was reexplored for bleeding.There were no incisional conversions.The mean cardiopulmonary bypass times and aortic crossclamp times were (109.5?12.6) minutes and (41.2?11.7) minutes.Both robotic repair and total operating times decreased significantly re- spectively.Total ICU length of stay for patients was 1 to 2 days.Conclusion This study shows that the da Vinci S surgical system (intuitive Surgical,lnc) has no limitations in performing ASD repairs.Articulated wrist-like instruments and three-dimensional visual- ization enabled precise tissue telemanipulation.

Due to the high similarity with the lipid layer between human skin keratinocytes, functional cosmetics with layered liquid crystal structure prepared by liquid crystal emulsification technology encapsulating natural active substances have become a hot research topic in recent years. This type of functional cosmetic often has a fresh and natural skin feel, excellent skin barrier repair function and efficient moisturizing effect, etc., showing great potential in cosmetic application. However, the present research on the application of liquid crystal emulsification technology to functional cosmetics is still in the initial stage, and there are fewer relevant reports with reference values. Based on the mentioned above, this review provides a comprehensive summary of functional cosmetics with layered liquid crystal structures prepared by liquid crystal emulsification technology from the following aspects: the structure of human skin, the composition of lamellar liquid crystal, the advantages of liquid crystal emulsification technology containing natural active substances used in the field of functional cosmetics, the preparation process, main components, influencing factors during the preparation and the market functional cosmetics with lamellar liquid crystal structure. Finally, the prospect of the application of liquid crystal emulsification technology in functional cosmetics is presented, to provide useful references for those engaged in the research of liquid crystal emulsification technology-related functional cosmetics.

Obesity has become an important inducer of many public diseases such as diabetes, endocrine disorders, and so on. Anti-obesity treatment has become a hot topic. Inhibiting fat synthesis and promoting fat decomposition are important ways of drug anti-obesity treatment. With the in-depth study of the distribution, morphology and function of adipose tissue, brown adipose tissue containing multi-compartment fat drops and rich mitochondria have attracted people's attention. Beige adipocytes which are similar to brown adipocytes in morphology and function have aroused great interest, such cells can be transformed from white adipocytes by external stimulation or browning agents. This process is called "white fat browning". The expression of promoting energy consumption proteins in these cells increase, so that the function of adipocytes changes from energy storage to energy consumption to increase excessive energy consumption in the body and reduce lipid accumulation. The browning of white adipose tissue has brought new ideas for obesity treatment, but the systemic administration of browning agent has the risk of adverse reactions to non-target tissues such as heart and central nervous system, which limits its application in inducing white fat browning. Browning agents to white adipose tissue can reduce its adverse reactions and improve its bioavailability by constructing a drug delivery system targeting white adipose tissue. In this review, the mechanism on browning of white adipose tissue, the commonly used browning agents and the targeted delivery carriers that induce browning of white adipose tissue are summarized.

OBJECTIVETo study the effects of pSilencer 1.0-U6-siRNA-STAT3 on the growth of PC3 and LNCaP cells.

METHODSThree pairs of DNA template coding siRNA were synthesized against STAT3 to reconstruct pSilencer 1.0-U6-STAT3-siRNA, which was transfected into PC3 and LNCaP cells. The STAT3 expression in PC3 cells and LNCaP were transfected with pSilencer 1.0-U6-siRNA-STAT3, and it was detected by Western blot and Northern blot. MTT and FCM were used to observe the growth-inhibiting ratio and apoptosis in PC3 cells.

RESULTSWestern blot and Northern blot analyses demonstrated that pSilencer 1.0-U6-siRNA-STAT3 could significantly inhibit the expression of STAT3 in PC3 and LNCaP cells; MIT and FCM results showed that it could suppress the growth of PC3 cells and LNCaP and induce apoptosis of PC3 cells in vitro.

CONCLUSIONPSilencer 1.0-U6-siRNA-STAT3 could significantly inhibit STAT3 expression, suppress the growth of PC3 and LNCaP cells and induce the apoptosis of PC3 cells.

Apoptosis ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Humans ; Male ; Plasmids ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; RNA, Small Interfering ; STAT3 Transcription Factor ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Transcription, Genetic

OBJECTIVETo compare the safety and efficacy of myocardial contrast enhancement (MCE)-guided and angio-pressure (AP)-guided transcoronary ablation of septal hypertrophy (TASH) for patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM).

METHODSTASH was performed under MCE-guide (n = 47, group I) or AP-guide (n = 25, group II) for drug-refractory patients with HOCM. Myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) data as well as other clinical data were compared.

RESULTSTASH both under MCE-guide or AP-guide resulted in similar and significant reduction of left ventricular outflow tract gradient (PG) and associated with significant symptom improvement (all P < 0.001). Dosage of ethanol use, peak-level of CK-MB and ablated myocardial area and incidence of arrhythmia were also similar between the two groups.Similar left ventricular/atrial dimension changes post TASH were observed in the 2 groups during follow-up. However, the first selected septal vessels were changed under MCE in 6 patients.

CONCLUSIONSOur data demonstrated that the MCE-guided TASH was not superior to AP-guided TASH in safety and efficacy. However, MCE-guided TASH can avoid the misplace of ethanol to avoid innocent myocardial ablation.

Adult ; Cardiac Catheterization ; methods ; Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic ; diagnostic imaging ; therapy ; Catheter Ablation ; methods ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Perfusion Imaging ; Ultrasonography

OBJECTIVETo discover the characteristic changes of metabolic profiles in C57 mice with cyclophosphamide induced blood deficiency and the effect of Siwutang.

METHODAn integrated metabonomic study using high-resolution 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy has been applied to investigate the metabolic profiles of serum, aqueous and lipidic extracts of thoracic gland, spleen, bone marrow obtained from control, model group (intraperitoneal injection of cyclophosphamide at a dose of 250 mg x kg(-1)) and Siwutang treated model group. The NMR spectra were integrated in segments of 0.04 ppm and then analyzed by principal component analysis (PCA) using SIMCA-P software to visualize the similarities and differences in metabolic profiles between these groups.

RESULTPCA result showed conspicuous difference in the metabolic profiles between groups. Compared with the control group, the model group contained lower concentration of lactate, 3-hydroxybutyrate, choline, glucose, and higher concentration of VLDL/LDL, leucine/isoleucine in serum. Lower concentration of taurine choline, Fbeta:RCH2CH2CO, Epi-coprostanol and lactate were found in both in thoracic gland extracts and spleen extracts. And in spleen extracts, we also found the lower concentration of 3-HB. In the extracts of bone marrow, the lower concentration of lactate, choline, glucosee were observed. When they were dosed with Siwutang 10 g x kg(-1) x d(-1) for 7 days, the effects above-mentioned were reversed.

CONCLUSIONThe injury established by injecting CTX is a kind of proper model to develop further metabonomics researches. The damage of mitochondria, disorder of energy metabolism and osmoregulation are observed in cyclophosphamide caused blood deficiency model by NMR-based-metabonomics method, and the Siwutang can improve these effects.

Anemia ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; Animals ; Cyclophosphamide ; toxicity ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ; methods ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Metabolomics ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Paeonia ; Principal Component Analysis