OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of sodium tanshinone II (A) sulfonate (STS) on Ang II -induced atrial fibroblast collagen synthesis and TGF-beta1 activation.

METHODAtrial fibroblasts of neonatal rats were cultured to determine the content of collagen protein. The original synthesis rate determined by the [3H]-proline incorporation method was taken as the index for myocardial fibrosis. The content of active TGF-beta1 and total TGF-beta1 in cell culture supernatants were tested and cultured by ELISA. The expression of thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) was assessed by using Western blot.

RESULTAng II could significantly increase the content of atrial fibroblast collagen and the collagen synthesis rate, the TSP-1 expression and the concentration of active TGF-beta1, without any obvious change in total TGF-beta1. After the STS treatment, all of the indexes, apart from total TGF-beta1, were obviously down-regulated.

CONCLUSIONSTS could decrease the secretion of Ang II -induced atrial fibroblast collagen and the synthesis rate. Its mechanism is related to the inhibition of TSP-1/TGF-beta1 pathway.

Angiotensin II ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Collagen ; biosynthesis ; Fibroblasts ; cytology ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Gene Expression Regulation ; drug effects ; Heart Atria ; cytology ; Phenanthrenes ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Signal Transduction ; drug effects ; Thrombospondin 1 ; metabolism ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 ; metabolism

Objective To study the changes of Neuroendocrine immunology sensitive indicators in children with Hand-Foot-and-Mouth Disease (HFMD) and values of determining the patient′s conditions. Methods The children with HFMD were divided into three groups , the common group , severe group and risk group according to the clinical diagnosis and classification standards, meanwhile, the healthy children were enrolled as control group. Peripheral blood samples were collected from the case groups and control group , concentrations of cortisol (COR), β-endorphin (β-EP), interleukin-13 (IL-13), interferon-γ (IFN-γ), immunoglobulin (IgG, IgA, and IgM), and the relative contents of T cell subsets, B cells and NK cells were tested respectively. Results Compared with the control group, the levels of COR, β-EP, IL-13, IFN-γ and IgG, IgA, IgM all significantly increased in the three groups of HFMD. All the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.01), except the difference of IgG, and IgA between the ordinary type and the control group. Compared with the common group, the percentage of NK and B cells dramatically increased, meanwhile, compared the other two types with the control group , the percentage of T cell subsets and NK cells significantly decreased , but B cells significantly increased, and there were all significant difference (P < 0.01). Conclusions HFMD caused by EV71 infection is the result of the combined effect of changes in nervous system , immune system and endocrine system. It is extremely important to detect early the sensitive indicators in children with HFMD , such may help to find the risk cases and carry on early intervention for patients′ recovery.

Objective To compare the scores of amplitude-integrated electroencephalogram (aEEG) tracings between preterm infants who were smaller for gestational age (SGA) and those who were appropriate for gestation (AGA).Methods A total of 139 preterm infants were collected in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical College during the period of Mar.2013 to Feb.2014.One hundred and fourteen patients met the inclusion criteria with gestational ages from 32 to 36 weeks at birth,including 54 SGA infants and 60 AGA infants.The aEEG recordings were obtained within 72 h after birth by using the NicoletOne monitor.Duration of each recording was at least 3 h.Five aspects of each tracing,such as continuity (Co),sleep-wake cycling (Cy),amplitude of the lower border (LB),bandwidth (B) and total maturation scores,were evaluated and compared between 2 groups by applying a aEEG scoring system.Results 1.As SGA infants,scores for Co,Cy,LB,B as well as total maturation scores were progressively increased with gestational age advancing(all P ＜ 0.05).As AGA infants,scores for Cy,B and total maturation scores progressively increased with advancing gestational age (all P ＜ 0.05),but there were no statistical differences between each gestational ages in Co,LB scores (all P ＞ 0.05).2.Linear regression analysis of SGA infants' gestational age to Co,Cy,LB,B and total maturation scores showed positively correlation,and the correlation coefficients were 0.438,0.597,0.385,0.606 and 0.608,respectively (all P ＜ 0.05).As AGA infants,a positive correlation between gestational age and Cy,B as well as total maturation scores were observed,and the correlation coefficients were 0.528,0.615 and 0.635,respectively (all P ＜ 0.05).3.At the same gestational age,both the B scores and total maturation scores in SGA group were lower than those in AGA group.Conclusions SGA and AGA,Co,Cy and total maturation scores can be used to evaluate the maturation of cerebral function.At the same gestational age,the scores of B and total maturation scores are lower in the SGA,and this might be associated with their delayed neuromotor development.

Objective To investigate the meaning of expression of apoptosis related molecules NFKBp65 and p53 and GPX1-mRNA in patients with Keshan disease(KSD).Methods Sixteen chronic Keshan Disease patients were enrolled in KSD group according to electrocardiogram,chest X ray film and clinical examinations on 15,September in 2009,and 23 healthy people were included in control group from physical examination taken in The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University.Fresh blood(5 ml)was collected from antecubital vein of all subjects in the fasting state.Total mRNA and protein of blood sample were isolated using Trizol.GPX Assay Kit was used to detect GPX enzyme activity,and GPX1-mRNA expression was determined by SYBR Real-Time PCR.Meanwhile,expression of apoptosis related molecules NFKBp65 and p53 were determined by Western blot.Results GPX enzyme activity decreased significantly in KSD group[(108.61±14.10)U]compared with control group[(122.78±11.89)U,t=2.874,P<0.05],GPX1-mRNA level of KSD group(0.553±0.299)notably KSD group(0.802±0.057)compared with control group[(1.065±0.355),t=6.829,P<0.01].p53 increased in KSD group(1.604±0.191)compared with control group[(1.137±0.186),t=3.033,P<0.05].Conclusiom Decreased GPX1-mRNA expression may result in lower GPX enzyme activity of patients with KSD.Thus oxidative damage increases and cadioeyte apoptosis is activated by activating apoptosis signal pathway.

To introduce scientific research innovation into undergraduate education, cultivating innovative talents has been an urgent mission of current higher education. This article reviewed our experience, with the introduction of producing-studying-researching platform built on original innovative achievements of Chongqing medical university,of training physical medicine physician to be practical talents of large-scale diagnostic and therapeutic medical equipments, and was aimed to explore introducing producing-studying-researching platform into undergraduate education as well as improve personnel training quality of undergraduates.

This research explored the synergistic effects and the potential mechanisms of RCE-4 and various nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) on the proliferation of cervical cancer Ca Ski cells. The MTT assay and CalcuSyn V2.0 software were used to detect cell proliferation and calculate the combination index (CI); the expression levels of various proteins were analyzed using Western blot assay; mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) was assessed using JC-1 staining; acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EB) double-fluorescence staining was used to detect the apoptosis of Ca Ski cells; a co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) assay was used to analyze the relative content of Bcl-2-Beclin 1 complex in Ca Ski cells. The results demonstrate that the combination of RCE-4 and NSAIDs increases the inhibition of Ca Ski cells compared to the single-RCE-4 group, and celecoxib provided the best synergistic effect among the four NSAIDs tested, with a CI of 0.32. The combination of RCE-4 and celecoxib significantly down-regulated the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and nuclear transcription factor-κB (NF-κB), and promoted the expression of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs activity gene-1 (NAG-1). In addition, autophagy induced by RCE-4 was markedly inhibited in combination with celecoxib, which was associated with down-regulation of the expression of microtubule-associated protein 3 (LC3)-II, Beclin 1, p62 and autophagy-related gene (ATG) 3/4B/5/7/14. RCE-4-induced apoptosis was significantly enhanced by altering the depolarization of mitochondrial membrane potential and the expression of B cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2), B cell lymphoma-xl (Bcl-xl), Bcl-2 associated X protein (Bax), Bcl-2/Bcl-xl-associated death promoter (Bad) and cleaved cysteinyl aspartate specific proteinase (cleaved-caspase) 3/7/9. Furthermore, the formation of the Bcl-2-Beclin 1 complex was significantly inhibited in Ca Ski cells treated with RCE-4 in combination with celecoxib. Taken together, this research shows that the combination of RCE-4 and celecoxib has a significant synergistic effect on the proliferation of Ca Ski cells by promoting apoptosis, inhibiting autophagy and disturbing the formation of the Bcl-2-Beclin 1 complex, which may be a novel strategy to increase the sensitivity of anti-cervical cancer drugs.

OBJECTIVETo analyze the full intronic sequences of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A alleles in Han Chinese.

METHODSThe full-length HLA-A alleles, including 8 exons and 7 introns, were amplified with a long-template PCR system from 165 donors from the Chinese Marrow Donor Program (CMDP). The products were cloned into a PGEM-T Vector System and sequenced from both directions. Genetic analysis was performed using a MEGA4.0 software. All sequences were aligned with a ClustalW algorithm. Phylogenetic trees were constructed with a neighbor-joining method. Genetic distances were estimated based on p-distance, and a bootstrap analysis was applied for assessing the confidence limits of the trees.

RESULTSA total of thirty-three full-length sequences of HLA-A alleles, containing 2902-2918 nucleotides, were derived. A total of 138 point mutations and 9 insertions or deletions were found among the 7 introns, which showed remarkable group specificity. Intron 1 appeared to be most polymorphic with the highest average GC content and evolutionary distances. Eight phylogenetic trees were constructed respectively with the derived full-length sequences as well as each of the 7 introns sequences. Based on full-length sequences, sequences of the HLA-A locus were classified into five groups: group I consisted of A*01/03/11/30; group II consisted of A*23/24(A9); group III consisted of A*02/68/69(A2/28); group IV consisted of A*26/34(A10); and group V consisted of A*29/31/32/33/74(A19). The five groups were derived from two ancient lineages, one including groups I and II, and another including groups III, IV and V. No substantial difference was detected between the trees constructed with the 7 intronic sequences, except that group II belonged to different lineages based on introns 2-5 and introns 1 and 7. The A*30 variant cluster was close to group I (A*01/03/11/30) and differed from group V (A19).

CONCLUSIONThe full-length sequences of 18 alleles have been submitted to GenBank and accepted by the international ImMunoGeneTics database (IMGT). Polymorphisms identified within the introns of HLA-A alleles showed remarkable group specificity. Such sequences seem to have substantially contributed to the recombination of the HLA-A alleles. The A*30 may represent an atypical group in which the rates of gene conversion and mutation have been unusually high.

Alleles ; HLA-A Antigens ; genetics ; Humans ; Introns ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Sequence Analysis, DNA

Adult ; Biopsy, Needle ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Humans ; Kidney ; pathology ; Kidney Diseases ; pathology ; therapy ; Male ; Nephritis, Interstitial ; pathology ; Renal Dialysis ; Sarcoidosis ; pathology ; therapy ; Tuberculosis, Renal ; pathology

0.05).Conclusions ATP-TCA could be used to individualize chemotherapy by selecting agents for particular patients of cervical cancer.The expression of GST-? and TS protein might be useful biomarkers to predict the resistance to DDP and 5-FU in patients with cervical cancer.