Objective To study the effects of tri-ortho-cresyl phosphate(TOCP) on mitochondrial membrane permeability in hen's nerve tissues and investigate the mechanism of the organophosphorus ester-induced delayed neurotoxicity(OPIDN).Methods Adult Roman hens were randomly divided into four groups,including three treated groups and one control group(24 in each group).The hens in the experimental groups were treated with TOCP by gavage at the single dosages of 185,375 and 750 mg/kg respectively.TOCP was dissolved in corn oil and administered at 0.65 ml/kg.The control hens received an equivalent volume of corn oil by gavage.The hens were sacrificed on the 1st,5th,15th and 21st day after treatment and the cerebrum,cerebellum,spinal cord were dissected and homogenized in ice bath.The mitochondria in these nerve tissues were extracted to determine the changes of the membrane permeability and membrane potential.Results Compared with the control group,no significant increase of the mitochondrial membrane permeability in the cerebrum was observed in treated groups.In the cerebellum,the membrane permeability in the 185 mg/kg group had no significant changes,while in the 375 and 750 mg/kg groups it increased significantly on the 1st and 5th day after TOCP treatment(P

[Objective] To study the relationship between structure of anterior segment tissues and open angle(AA) in normal subjects.[Methods] A total of 211 eyes from 211 normal subjects were enrolled,whose anterior chambers and lens were scanned using anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT).The measuring items included AA,anterior chamber depth (ACD),anterior chamber horizontal diameter (ACHD),anatomical anterior chamber depth (AACD),ciliary band length (CBL),iris thickness (IT),lens thickness (LT),lens position (LP) and lens anterior apex position (LAAP).The relationship between the 8 biometric parameters and AA was analyzed using linear correlation,respectively.[Results] The mean of AA was (40 ± 17)°,with (44 ± 18)° in male,and (37 ± 16)° in female.The difference of AA between male and female was statistically significant (t ＝ 2.893,P ＝ 0.004).There was significant correlation between AA and ACD (r ＝ 0.721,P ＝ 0.000),LT (r ＝ -0.545,P ＝ 0.000),CBL (r ＝ 0.615,P ＝ 0.000),LAAP (r ＝ -0.717,P ＝ 0.000),LP (r ＝ 0.557,P ＝ 0.000),and ACHD (r ＝ 0.175,P ＝ 0.011).There was no significant correlation between AA and AACD (r ＝ 0.130,P ＝ 0.059),IT (r ＝ 0.129,P ＝ 0.061).[Conclusion] The AA of females was narrower than that of males.In normal subjects,the most important factors which determine AA are the lens,the location of the peripheral iris and ciliary body.

The traditional Chinese medicine (Tripterygium wilfordiiHook.f.,TWH) has been clinically used to treat primary and secondary renal diseases and proteinuria for nearly 40 years.However,there is a rare literature about the effect of triptolide (the main active ingredient of TWH) on the expression of oxidative carbonyl protein (OCP) in diabetic nephropathy (DN).This study aimed to provide experimental evidence for triptolide treatment on DN through its effect on the expression of OCP,in order to investigate the effects of triptolide on the expression of OCP in rats with DN.Sixty SD rats were randomly divided into five groups:control group,high-dose triptolide (Th) group,low-dose triptolide (T1) group,DN model group,and positive control (benazepril) group.The DN model was established using streptozotocin.Urinary protein excretion,fasting blood glucose (FBG),superoxide dismutase (SOD) in renal homogenate,malondialdehyde (MDA) in renal homogenate and renal nitrotyrosine by immunohistochemistry,and the expression of OCP by oxyblotimmune blotting were detected.In the DN model group,rat urinary protein excretion and renal MDA were significantly increased,while renal SOD significantly decreased and nitrotyrosine expression was obviously upregulated in the kidney.After triptolide treatment,24-h urinary protein excretion (61.96±19.00 vs.18.32±4.78 mg/day,P＜0.001),renal MDA (8.09±0.79 vs.5.45±0.68 nmol/L,P＜0.001),and nitrotyrosine expression were decreased.Furthermore,renal OCP significantly decreased,while renal SOD (82.50±19.10 vs.124.00±20.52 U/L,P＜0.001) was elevated.This study revealed that triptolide can down-regulate the expression of OCP in the renal cortex of DN rats.

The paper is aimed to study the difference in yield and quality at different harvest time and determine the optimum harvest of planting Gentiana in Ludian traditional harvest period. The authors analyzed the variation in fresh weight, dry weight, dry discount rate, length, diameter, volume and the content of gentiopicroside, loganin acid, alcohol-soluble extract and total ash and made a comprehensive appraisal of yield, appearance quality and intrinsic quality by gray relational distance ideal Comprehensive Evaluation method. The results showed that there is a big difference in yield and quality both 2-year-old and 3-year-old Gentiana harvested in traditional harvest period and the comprehensive evaluation more better when harvested more later. It can be seen, Gentiana harvested the later had a better yield and quality in Ludian traditional harvest period. The harvest of Gentiana can be appropriate delayed depending on the particular circumstances of production.
Agriculture ; methods ; China ; Gentiana ; anatomy & histology ; growth & development ; metabolism ; Iridoid Glucosides ; metabolism ; Organ Size ; Quality Control ; Time Factors

Objective To explore the clinical application value of dual-energy CT angiography (DECTA) for head and cervical vessel diseases. Methods The imaging data and diagnosis results of 146 patients suspected as having head and cervical vascular diseases and underwent DECTA in our hospital from February 2009 to August 2009 were analyzed, retrospectively and compared. Sixteen of them with positive results were also performed whole cerebral vessels DSA. Results Seventy-seven patients (52.74%) were found to have head and cervical vessel diseases under DECTA; 17 patients were diagnosed as having intracranial aneurysm, 13 with carotid artherosclerosis and stenosis, 13 with intracranial and vertebral artery stenosis, 9 with intracranial arteriovenous malformation (AVM), 7 with internal carotid artery (ICA) or vertebral artery occlusion, 4 with neck-face AVM, 3 with Moyamoya disease, 3 with intracranial tumors, 2 with cerebral infarction, 2 with intracranial phlebothrombosis, 1 without imaging in bilateral ICA, 1 with Sturg-Webber syndrome and 1 with primitive trigeminal artery.DSA results were concordant with the DECTA results by finding 15 of 16 patients (93.75%) with head and cervical vessel diseases; 8 patients were detected as having intracranial aneurysm, 4 with ICA or vertebral artery occlusion, 1 with carotid artherosclerosis and stegnosis, 1 with intracranial AVM and 1 with neck-face AVM. The one that DSA did not find any tumors was noted as having 2 microaneurysms by CTA. Conclusion The head and cervical vascular diseases and the feeding artery of tumor can be demonstrated distinctly with DECTA with high diagnosis accuracy and sensitivity.

Objective To explore the clinical application value of dual-energy imaging with dual-source CT in dural arteriovenous fistula (DAVF).Methods Six patients diagnosed as having DAVF by dual-energy angiography with dual-source CT (DECTA),conformed by DSA in our hospital from January 2009 to January 2013,were chosen in our study; their imaging data were retrospectively analyzed.Results The enlarged feeding arteries,dilated draining veins and dural venous sinus of the DAVF in all patients were clearly demonstrated on DECTA.The draining veins of all six patients routed into the intracranial vein with forming venous collaterals.The imaging results were concordant exactly with their results of DSA (100％).The other changes of DAVF by cranial CT were subarachnoid hemorrhage in 3 cases and brain hemorrhage in 2 cases.Conclusion DECTA can demonstrate distinctly the secondary changes,feeding arteries,draining veins,dural venous sinus,and the skull three dimensional structure of DAVF; the imaging results were concordant exactly with their results of DSA,and can replace it in a way,as a new non-traumatic screening choice for suspected DAVF patients before embolization therapy and surgical resection.

The gene (eg1) encoding for novel endoglucanase 1 was cloned previously from Chinese straw mushroom Volvariella volvacea. EG1 has high thermal stability and optimal pH at neutral and shows great potential in textile and paper industry applications. To improve the expression level of EG1 in Pichia pastoris, the increasing copy number of clone, and its high cell density fermentation in 3.2L fermenter for its high-level expression were investigated in this work. By electro-transformation of pPICZalphaB-egl into GS115EG11 integrated with single copy of eg1 gene, A resistant transformant with 3.8 times higher level expression than GS115EG11 was screened from YPDSZ plate containing 2000 microg/mL of Zeocin. The effect of initial cell density, pH and methanol on its expression and biomass accumulation was evaluated in shaking culture. Optimal EG1 production was observed when initial cell density OD600 was 5.0. EG1 production and biomass accumulation did not seem to vary when cells were induced at different pH values. Both of EG1 and cell density were found to increase with higher methanol concentrations, reaching 62.48 IU/mL and 31.7 (OD600) respectively after 120 h induction with 2.0% (V/V) methanol compared to 30.24 IU/mL and 17.79 (OD60) with 0.25% methanol induction. EG1 expression was further increased by 6.4 times higher than shaking culture after 95.5 hours induction with methanol in fed-batch fermentation, so totally 34 times higher than that for GS115EG11 was achieved by screening of high Zeocin resistant clone and high cell density fermentation. The production of EG1 with 543.36IU/mL CMC activity and 8.80mg/mL protein expression was obtained in Pichia pastoris.
Cellulase ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Cloning, Molecular ; Culture Media ; Electroporation ; Escherichia coli ; genetics ; metabolism ; Fermentation ; Fungal Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Pichia ; genetics ; metabolism ; Volvariella ; enzymology ; genetics

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a common and serious clinical complication of diabetes and presently there are no effective ways to prevent its occurrence and progression. Recent studies show that pentoxifylline (PTX) can improve renal hemodynamics, reduce urinary protein excretion, and alleviate or delay renal failure in DN patients. In this study, we focused on the anti-oxidative stress effect of PTX on alleviating renal damages of DN using rat models. DN rats were established with injection of streptozotocin. Blood glucose, urinary protein excretion, serum cystatin C, renal biopsy, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA) in serum and renal homogenate and renal nitrotyrosine levels were analyzed before and 12 weeks after the treatment of PTX. Before treatment, all the DN rats had elevated blood glucose, increased urinary protein excretion and elevated serum cystatin C. Morphologically, DN rats exhibited renal tissue damages, including swelling and fusions of foot processes of podocytes under electron microscope. Masson staining revealed blue collagen deposition in glomeruli and renal interstitium. With treatment of PTX, symptoms and renal pathological changes of DN rats were alleviated. Furthermore, the MDA levels were increased and the SOD levels were decreased in the serum and kidneys of DN rats, and these changes were reversed by PTX. The expression of nitrotyrosine was up-regulated in DN rat model and down-regulated by PTX, indicating that PTX was able to inhibit oxidative reactions in DN rats. PTX could alleviate renal damage in DN, which may be attributable to its anti-oxidative stress activity.
Animals ; Biomarkers ; analysis ; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Diabetic Nephropathies ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; pathology ; Gene Expression Regulation ; drug effects ; Kidney ; metabolism ; pathology ; Malondialdehyde ; blood ; Oxidative Stress ; drug effects ; Pentoxifylline ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Streptozocin ; Superoxide Dismutase ; metabolism ; Tyrosine ; analogs & derivatives ; metabolism

Objective To evaluate the impacts of air temperature on years of life lost(YLL) among the residents in Guangzhou and Zhuhai,Guangdong province. Methods Daily mortality and meteorology data in Guangzhou and Zhuhai were collected,and distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM)was used to evaluate the cumulative and delayed effects of daily air temperature on YLL of total non-accident mortality. The accumulative effect of air temperature on mortality under the extreme high temperature(0-1 days)and extreme low temperature(0-13 days)situation in Guangzhou and Zhuhai were analyzed respectively. Results The average YLL was 1 928.0 in Guangzhou and 202.5 in Zhuhai. The exposure-response functions seemed to be non-linear. The hot effect seemed to be acute and reached the peak at the same day,while the cold effect reached the peak at 5th days and lasted for about two weeks. Low temperature had stronger gross effect than high temperature had. The cold effect among males was greater than that among females in Guangzhou. The hot/cold effect on YLL was greater in people aged ≥65 years than in people aged <65 years and in people suffering from respiratory disease than in people suffering from cardiovascular disease in both Guangzhou and Zhuhai. Conclusion The effects of high and low temperatures on YLL were obvious,and the impact of low temperature was greater. The elderly and people suffering from respiratory disease or cardiovascular disease are the vulnerable populations.

AIMTo study the expressions of scavenger receptor class B type I(SR-BI) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma) in atherosclerotic mini swine and provide a new mechanism for investigating the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis.

METHODSChinese mini swine were fed by a normal control diet or a high fat/high cholesterol diet for 12 months after common carotid artery injury induced by balloon denudation. Plasma total cholesterol(TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and triglycerides (TG) were determined by commercially enzymatic methods every two months. The sections, which were taken from liver and abdominal aorta, were stained with hematoxylin eosin. The expressions of SR-BI and PPARgamma mRNA and protein in liver and aorta tissue were detected by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), Western blot and immunohistochemistry respectively.

RESULTSAt the end of 12 months, plasma TC, HDL-C and TG in HFHC mini swine were increased. There were fatty liver and atherosclerotic plaque in mini swine live and aorta respectively. The expression of SR-BI was upregulated in HFHC mini swine liver and aorta tissue.

CONCLUSIONHFHC may induce atherosclerosis and the expression of SR-BI and PPARgamma. Upregulating SR-BI expression may inhibit atherosclerosis. Increasing SR-BI expression in liver and aorta may accelerate SR-BI-mediated reverse cholesterol transport and develop a new anti-atherogenic strategy.

Animals ; Arteriosclerosis ; pathology ; Atherosclerosis ; metabolism ; PPAR gamma ; metabolism ; Receptors, Scavenger ; metabolism ; Swine