Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP) is a rare disease clinically, and at present no western medicine can effectively cure the disease. After the analysis of literatures related to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for treatment of the disease in the China National Knowledge Internet Database, it was discovered that the syndrome differentiation showed the disease closely associated with phlegm, blood stasis and yin deficiency. In this study, from view point of pulmonary gangrene TCM theory and treatment combined with PAP pathophysiological characteristics, it is emphasized that phlegm accumulation, blood stasis and yang deficiency are the key pathological manifestations of PAP, thus Yanghe decoction, Tounong powder, Kongxian pellet were used for treatment of one such case, the rational thinking in diagnosis and treatment of this patient being consistent with the idea learning western medicine for China use.

Objective To investigate the alterations in killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs)2D and their specific HLA-Cw ligands in patients with ankylosing spondylitis(AS)and determine whether the changes were correlate to the pathogenesis of AS.Methods Polymerase chain reaction of sequence specific primerB(PCR-SSP)was employed for genotyping the presence or absence of five KIR2D genes(KIR2DL1,2DS1,KIR2DL2,2DL3,2DS2)as well as HLA-Cw01-08 alleles from genomic DNA in 105 individuals with AS,together with 51 individuals with osteoarthritis(OA)and 120 healthy controls.Then HLA-C10-08 was divided into two groups.HLA-Cwasn and HLA-Cwlys to calculate the frequency of KIRID genotype.HLA-Gu alleles and KIR/HLA-Cw genotypes.Results The frequencies of HLA-Cwlys genes were significandy higher in patients with AS(0.269 7)compared with those in OA controls(0.148 2)and healthy controls(0.138 8,P=0.024,P=0.001,respectively).The frequency of KIR2DS1/HLA-Cwlys combination Was also markedly higher in AS group(26.67%)than that in OA controls(11.76%)and healthy controls(13.33%,P=0.039,P=0.018,respectively).Condusion The data suggest that the HLA-Cwlys allele may be associated with genetic susceptibility to AS and moreover.in the existence of HLA-Cwlys.the individuals with KIR2DS1 gene are likely to be at increased risk of AS.

Objective To explore the influence of PUMA on radiosensitivity of pancreatic cancer AsPC-1 cells after Slug gene inhibition by transfected short interferencing RNA(siRNA). Methods The AsPC-1 cells were infected with MOI 10,50,100 for 72 h, respectively. The expression of Slug and PUMA was analyzed by Western blotting and immunohistochemistry methods. The transfected and control cells were exposed to 4 Gy γ-rays. The cells inhibition rate was examined by MTT, Hoechst 33342 and IP double staining. DNA ladder and Giemsa staning was used to observe apoptosis. Results The relative value of Slug expression was 0.831 ±0.14,0. 546 ±0.12 and 0.178 ±0.08 after AsPC-1 was infected with Slug-siRNA ( MOI 10,50,100) for 72 h, significantly lower than that of control group ( F = 4. 992,P ＜ 0.05 ).The relative value of PUMA was 0. 325 ±0. 07,0. 593 ±0. 11 and 0. 978 ±0. 12, after AsPC-1 was infected with Slug-siRNA ( MOI 10,50,100) for 72 h, significantly higher than that of control group ( F = 4. 324,P ＜ 0. 05 ). The cell proliferation rate was ( 78.76 ± 9. 36 ) % in transfection combined with radiosensitivity group, significantly higher than that of transfection group [ ( 43.68 ± 6.71 ) % ] and radiosensitivity group alone [( 19.25 ± 3.72)% ] (F = 5.056, P ＜ 0.05). The apoptosis of transfection combined with radiosensitivity group was significantly higher than that of others. Conclusions Slug gene targeting siRNA could inhibit the expression of Slug, and consequently increase the activation of PUMA expression, and so enhance the radiosensitivity to γ-rays.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the accumulation of advanced glycation end products (AGE) and the inflammatory response of skin and wound in diabetic patients, and to analyze their relationship in vitro.

METHODSHistological staining and immunohistochemical staining was respectively performed on skin and wound tissue specimens collected from 10 patients with Type II diabetes mellitus (diabetes group) and 12 non-diabetic patients with skin injury (control group) to observe the arrangement of collagen and the distribution of inflammatory cells, and to determine the expression levels of AGE and its receptor (RAGE). Malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in skin and wound tissue homogenates were assayed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. In vitro, human neutrophils were isolated and treated with RPMI-1640 culture medium or that containing AGE-human serum albumin in the concentration of 0.315, 0.625, 1.250 mg/mL, and they were identified as normal control (NC) group, low concentration (L) group, moderate concentration (M) group, and high concentration (H) group. Cell viability in each group was determined by MTT colorimetric assay, and the reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cell was measured with 2', 7'-dichlorofluorescein-diacetate. Data were processed with t test.

RESULTSCompared with those of skin in control group, collagens of skin tissues in diabetes group atrophied and disorderly arranged. Inflammatory cells in wounds in diabetes group were dispersed, in which collagens arranged loosely and irregularly, as compared with those of wounds in control group. Expression levels of AGE and RAGE of skin in diabetes group were higher than those in control group. In diabetes and control groups, especially in diabetes group, the numbers of RAGE-positive cells in wound tissue were more than those in skin tissue. Large amount of inflammatory cells with positive expression of RAGE were observed in diabetes group. MDA level of skin and wound tissue in diabetes group was respectively (6.3 ± 1.0), (7.1 ± 2.4) nmol per milligram protein, which were obviously higher than those in control group [(2.9 ± 1.0), (3.6 ± 1.4) nmol per milligram protein, with t value respectively 8.017, 4.349, P < 0.05 or P < 0.01]. Cell viability and ROS levels in neutrophils were increased in L, M, and H groups [(59 ± 8)%, (77 ± 5)%, (67 ± 6)% and 1.67 ± 0.14, 2.13 ± 0.17, 3.48 ± 0.48] as compared with those in NC group [(34 ± 5)% and 0.58 ± 0.06, with t value respectively 7.195, 14.890, 11.130 and 20.195, 24.905, 16.864, P < 0.05 or P < 0.01].

CONCLUSIONSAbnormal oxidative stress in diabetic skin leads to an atypical origin of wound repair. AGE-RAGE effect is a critical mediator for oxidative stress in diabetic wound tissue during wound healing.

Aged ; Case-Control Studies ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; metabolism ; pathology ; Female ; Glycation End Products, Advanced ; metabolism ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Oxidative Stress ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; metabolism ; Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products ; Receptors, Immunologic ; metabolism ; Serum Albumin ; metabolism ; Serum Albumin, Human ; Skin ; metabolism ; pathology ; Wound Healing

This paper employed a DSP platform to create the real-time and portable image processing system, and introduced a series of commonly used algorithms for visual prostheses. The results of performance evaluation revealed that this platform could afford image processing algorithms to be executed in real time.
Algorithms ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ; instrumentation ; methods ; Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted ; instrumentation ; Visual Prosthesis

OBJECTIVETo investigate the change and correlation of carbon monoxide/heme oxygenase and nitrogen monoxide/nitric oxide synthase system in atherosclerosis and the influence of the two systems on atherosclerotic progress.

METHODSThe rabbits received 1% cholesterol diet (chol group, n = 8), or 1% cholesterol diet plus L-arginine (L-arg group, n = 8) or L-NAME (L-NAME group, n = 8) by drinking water, or 1% cholesterol diet plus heme-L-lysinate (Heme group, n = 8) or ZnPP-IX (ZnPP group, n = 8) by injection in abdominal cavity for 10 weeks.

RESULTSCompared with those in control group, aortic NO production and expression of NOS decreased markedly; while CO production (P < 0.01) and HO-1 activity increased obviously in chol group. The aortic plaques area was (40.2 +/- 8.9)% in chol group. Compared with those in chol group, aortic areas [(26.6 +/- 9.2)%] reduced distinctly in heme group, aortic CO production and NOS activity increased obviously (P < 0.01) in L-arg group. However, compared with those in control group, HO-1 expression and CO production decreased markedly (P < 0.01) in heme group, while they were not different from those in chol group. Compared with those in chol group, aortic cNOS activity and NO production increased obviously and aortic plaques area [(28.1 +/- 7.7)%] greatly reduced (P < 0.01) in L-arg group. However, HO-1 expression and CO production of L-arg group decreased distinctly compared with those of control group, but they were similar to those of chol group. The aortic c-myc and c-fos expressions in both heme group and L-arg group reduced markedly compared with those in chol group, while they were similar to those in ZnPP and L-NAME group.

CONCLUSIONThe reciprocal relationship between heme oxygenase/carbon monoxide and nitric oxide synthase/nitrogen monoxide system in atherosclerosis may play the inhibitory role against atherosclerotic lesion.

Animals ; Atherosclerosis ; metabolism ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Carbon Monoxide ; metabolism ; Heme Oxygenase-1 ; metabolism ; Male ; Nitric Oxide ; metabolism ; Nitric Oxide Synthase ; metabolism ; Rabbits

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) is a family of microbially synthesized polyesters consisting of various 3-hydroxyalkanoate monomers. Aeromonas hydrophila 4AK4 could be able to synthesize PHA copolymer consisting of 3-hydroxybutyrate (3-HB) and 3-hydroxyhexanoate (3-HHx). No data has been reported about the ability to synthesize the PHA with other monomers in A. hydrophila. In this study, propionic acid, valeric acid, heptanoic acid, nonanoic acid and undecanoic acid were used together with gluconate to find out whether A. hydrophila 4AK4 could synthesize the PHA consisting of odd carbon atom number monomers. The result showed that A. hydrophila 4AK4 could not growth when supplied with propionic acid, valeric acid, heptanoic acid and nonanoic acid and only undecanoic acid could be used to synthesize PHA. Wild type and recombinant A. hydrophila 4AK4 harboring phaA (beta-ketothiolase) and phaB (acetoacetyl-CoA reductase) were cultivated with undecanoic acid and glucose or undecanoic acid and gluconate served as carbon sources. PHA consisting of 3-HB and 3-hydroxyvalerate (3-HV) could be produced by both wild type and recombinant A. hydrophila 4AK4 and the latter could produce PHA with more 3-HB monomer. When the ratio of glucose or gluconate to undecanoic acid was 1:1, the cell dry weight (CDW) of A. hydrophila 4AK4 reached 1.14 g/L and PHA content was 60% of the CDW after cultivation for 24 h. When lauric acid and undecanoic acid were served as co-substrate, A. hydrophila 4AK4 could produce copolyester consisting of 3-HB, 3-HV and 3-HHx. Along with the increase of undecanoic acid proportion in the mixed carbon source, the 3-HV content of copolymer was increased while the 3-HB and 3-HHx content were decreased. In all cases, the CDW decreased along with the increase of undecanoic acid concentration, which indicated that undecanoic acid was not very good for A. hydrophila 4AK4 growth.
Aeromonas hydrophila ; metabolism ; Fatty Acids ; metabolism ; Glucose ; metabolism ; Lauric Acids ; metabolism ; Pentanoic Acids ; metabolism ; Polyhydroxyalkanoates ; biosynthesis

Xingnaojing (XNJ) is an effective clinical drug used to treat acute stroke. Compared with injection administration, its nasal administration has better brain targeting. Therefore, through nasal administration, XNJ microemulsion could help solve the drug load of compound components of different polarities contained in large-dose and high-concentration traditional Chinese medicines, and reduce irritation to nasal mucosa In this study, the modified volume correction method and the improved rat in situ nasal perfusion model were adopted to compare the nasal absorption of geniposide contained in different XNJ preparations. The results showed that the constant absorption rate of geniposide (GE) in XNJ-D was (2.95 +/- 0.25) x 10(-3) min(-1), whereas the constant absorption rate of GE in XNJ-M was (2.16 +/- 0.21) x 10(-3) min(-1). This indicated that the rat nasal absorption of GE in different XNJ preparations complied with the first-order process and could be considered as passive absorption. GE in XNJ-D was absorbed faster than that in XNJ-M, which provided basis for the development of nasal preparations of XNJ.
Absorption ; Administration, Intranasal ; Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacokinetics ; Emulsions ; Iridoids ; pharmacokinetics ; Male ; Nose ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Objective To investigate the effects of advanced glycation end-products(AGEPs)on the function of normal keratinocytes in vitro so as to explore the role of AGEPs in impaired wound healing. Methods Normal rat keratinocytes were incubated with different concentrations of AGEPs.After 48 hours of culturing,the cell proliferation rates were measured by MTT colorimetric determination.The cell cycle distributions and apoptosis were analyzed with flow cytometry,and the migration was investigated by 24-well fluorimetric cell migration assay kit by exposing to 100?g/ml AGEPs.Nuclear extracts from these cells were examined for binding of nucleotides containing NF-?B consensus by immunocytochemistry and EMSA in vitro.Results The proliferations of normal keratinocytes were significantly arrested and many cells were induced to early apoptosis compared with control ones(P＜0.05)by exposing to AGEPs for 48 hours. Meanwhile AGEPs also irritated keratinocytes migration compared with control ones(P＜0.05).Inhibiting the activation of NF-?B could partly recover the proliferation of keratinocytes,reverse apoptosis and attenu- ate migration.Conclusion AGEPs are correlated with the migration,proliferation and apoptosis of kera- tinocytes by NF-?B.

Objective To explore the clinical efficacy of focused ultrasound for patients with white lesions of the vulva,as well as its safety and feasibility.Methods Clinical data of 941 patients with white lesions of the vulva treated with focused ultrasound from June 2003 to December 2005 were retrospectively reviewed.The mean age of the patients was 40.8 years(18-70 years)and the median course of the disease was 6.2 years(3 months-45 years).Meanwhile,pathological diagnosis was performed in all the patients before treatment,in which 498 cases were squamous hyperplasia,342 cases were lichen sclerosus and 101 cases were lichen sclerosus with squamous hyperplasia.Patients were followed up and therapeutic effects of focused ultrasound was evaluated at 6 and 12 months after the treatment,respectively.The symptoms of pruritus in the vulva and the changes in the color and elasticity of the vulvar lesions were observed.Results Of all the patients,900 were followed up after the treatment,and the ratio of effectiveness was 94.9%.Only 46 patients(5.1%)had no response to the therapy.Of the effective patients,434 cases were completely cured(48.2%),and 420 cases were improved(46.7%).Pruritus of vulva recurred in 101 patients (11.2%)one year after treatment;however,these patients still had a response to the second or third treatment.Conclusions Focused ultrasound therapy is a highly effective instrument in treatment of white lesions of the vulva.It can not only relieve the symptoms of itching,but is also helpful in recovering the color and elasticity of the vulva.