OBJECTIVETo observe the therapeutic effect of Yangxue Tongluo Recipe (YTR) combined with immunosuppressive agents in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

METHODSTotally 88 RA patients were randomly assigned to the treatment group [47 cases, YTR combined Methotrexate (MTX) + Leflunomide (LEF) treatment] and the control group (41 cases, MTX + LEF therapy). All patients received 12-week treatment. Clinical symptoms and signs, laboratory tests [erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), rheumatoid factor (RF), and C reactive protein (CRP)], and adverse reactions were observed before and after treatment.

RESULTSThe total effective rate was 91.5% (43/47 cases) in the treatment group, and the total effective rate was 75.6% (31/41 cases) in the control group. There was statistical difference between the two groups (P < 0.05). The morning stiffness, the rest pain, the number of tender joints, the number of swollen joints, tender joint index, swollen joint index, ESR, RF, and CRP were significantly improved in the two groups after treatment (P < 0.01). Besides, clinical symptoms and signs, ESR, RF, and CRP were more improved in the treatment group after treatment, when compared with those in the control group (P < 0.05). Gastrointestinal discomfort was the main adverse reaction in the two groups, but the occurrence was lower in the treatment group than in the control group (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe clinical efficacy of YTR combined MTX + LEF in the treatment of RA was better than using Western medicine alone. It was more safe with less adverse reactions.

Adult ; Antirheumatic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; drug therapy ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Immunosuppressive Agents ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Methotrexate ; therapeutic use ; Middle Aged ; Phytotherapy ; Treatment Outcome

AIM: To study the effects of neuregulin-1β (NRG-1β) on the nervous behavioral function, cerebral infarction volume, brain water content (BWC), neuroal apoptosis and aquaporin-4 (AQP-4) expression in astrocytes after cerebral ischemic reperfusion in mice. METHODS: Intraluminal thread methods were applied to establish the middle cerebral artery occlusion reperfusion (MCAO/R) model in mice. Neuregulin-1β (2 μg/kg) was injected into the internal carotid artery for treatment. The nervous behavioral function was evaluated by Bedersons test. The cerebral infarction volume was observed with tetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining. The BWC was measured by calculating the dry-wet weight ratio. The apoptotic positive cells were counted by immunofluorescence assay. The expression of AQP-4 was determined by immunohistochemical method. RESULTS: Nervous behavioral malfunction appeared in all the mice with left middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) and/or reperfusion. The infarction focus showed in the ischemic hemisphere following the injury. The BWC, the numbers of neuroal apoptotic cells and AQP-4 expression in astrocytes were higher than those in sham control group. In MCAO/R+NRG-1β treatment group, the nervous behavioral function at ischemia 24 h significantly improved, the numbers of apoptotic positive cells reduced and the infarction volume decreased significantly than those in MCAO/R group (P<0.05). The BWC and AQP-4 expression in astrocytes showed no significant difference compared with MCAO/R group (P>0.05). In the reperfusion 22 h, 46 h and 70 h groups, the five indexes mentioned above were significantly different from those in the corresponding MCAO/R groups (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: NRG-1β might reduce cerebral edema and infarction volume, and improve the nervous behavioral function via down-regulating the expression of AQP-4 in astrocytes and inhibiting the neuronal apoptosis induced by ischemia reperfusion injury.

This paper reported a new home-made nonpoisonous substrate of horseradish peroxidase(HRP),3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine sulphate(TMBS),used in ELISA with the aqueous soluble egg antigen(SEA)as antigen;proved patients'sera as antibo- dy and the antihuman IgG was replaced by protein A conjugate. The optimun condition obtained by orthogonal design was 1.0 millimolarity of TMBS,1.2 millimolarity of H_2O_2,and pH value at 5.0.The best time to stop reaction with H_2SO_4,was 30-60 min after adding substrate TMBS.At the same time,TMB and OPD were used as compared substrates.It showed that the reaction colour of both TMBS and TMB remained much more stable than that of OPD when being exposured in light and oxygen.After the solutions of TMBS and TMB were stored under 4℃ in refrigerator for 60 days,the coefficient of variation among different experiments was less than 10%. The results in detecting specific antibody in sera from 28 patients with proved schistosomiasis also showed that the sensitivity of TMBS was remarkably higher than OPD.It was found that TMBS used in enzyme immunoassay for demonstrating specific antibody was suitable not only for optical density(OD)read by spectrophotometer but also for estimation judged by naked-eye.During TMBS and TMB used in indirect immunoperoxidase method(IIP),the specific antibody in the tissue can be easily dete- cted and located as well.

Objective To establish an analytical method to investigate the protective effect of reversed lipid-based nanoparti-cle(RLBN)for topotecan(TPT)in artificial intestinal fluid. Methods Reversed lipid-based nanoparticle of TPT(RLBN-TPT)was prepared by the two-step methods of lyophilization and dissolution. An analytical method was established to determine the concentra-tions of both forms of TPT by high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC). Release curve of RLBN-TPT in simulated intestinal flu-id(SIF)was investigated to study the stability of TPT in gastrointestinal(GI)fluid. Results Both lactone and carboxylate forms of TPT were well separated and determined precisely by the optimized HPLC method. The calibration curves were linear within the range of 0.25-5μg/ml for both forms of TPT. Compared with free TPT,RLBN-TPT significantly improved the stability of TPT in SIF as the per-centage of carboxylate form was remarkably lower than the free TPT(P<0.05). Conclusion RLBN can significantly protect the TPT from hydrolysis in GI,which may lay the foundation for the deuelopment of oral chemotherapeutic drug with higher bioavailability.

Background Epithelial-mesenchymaltransition (EMT)isamajorcontributortothe pathogenesis of posterior capsular opacification(PCO).Kruppel-like factor 6 (KLF6) is a zinc finger protein,which can be stimulated by high glucose in proximal tubule cells and involved in transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β)induced EMT of diabetic nephropathy.ObjectiveThis study was designed to investigate the effect of high glucose on the expression of KLF6 and its target genes( TGFB1,TGFBR1,COLIA1,HSP47) in human lens epithelial cells (LECs).MethodsHuman LECs(SRA01/04) were cultured and exposed to different concentration of glucose.The expressions of KLF6 mRNA and protein were analyzed by real time polymerase chain reaction( real time PCR) and western blot after treatment with high glucose.The expressions of KLF6 target genes were analyzed by real time PCR to evaluate the EMT of SRA01/04 cells.ResultsCompared with the control group(5.5 mmol/L),the relative mRNA levels of t-KLF6 and wt-KLF6 in SRA01/04 treated with high glucose(22.2,44.4,66.6 mmol/L) increased obviously (F =72.53,42.02,P＜0.01 ).Then,the concentration of 22.2 mmol/L was used in the next experiments.The relative mRNA levels of t-KLF6 and wt-KLF6 increased to the peaks after treatment with high glucose for 12 h,and began to decrease after 24 h until lower levels after 48 h ( F =100.12,125.52,P ＜ 0.01 ).Western blot showed that the expression of KLF6 protein was also upregulated by high glucose treatment.With the promotion of the expression of KLF6 gene,the relative mRNA levels of TGFB1,TGFBR1,COLlAl and HSP47 of treated cells also respectively increased after treatment for 12 h,and began to decrease after 24 h until nearly at the levels of the control groups after 48 h( F=6.73,162.35,64.39,12.05,P＜0.05 ).ConclusionsIt was concluded that high glucose induced the expression of KLF6 in human LECs,and KLF6 transiently stimulated the expression of target genes TGFB1,TGFBRl,COLlAl and HSP47 which were mainly involved in the mechanism of EMT.

Adjuvant and neoadjuvant therapy are the important therapeutic methods for rectal cancer.Neoadjuvant concurrent chemoradiotherapy and postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy play a crutial role in rectal cancer treatment.New chemotherapy drugs and targeted therapy drugs could further improve the therapeutic effect of rectal cancer.

Objective: To study the correlations between galectin-3, soluble ST2 (sST2) levels and chronic heart failure (CHF) classiifcation, traditional HF indicator and short-term death in relevant patients. Methods: This research included 2 groups: CHF group, containing 142 relevant patients treated in our hospital from 2014-02 to 2015-10 and Control group, containing 85 normal subjects from physical examination at the same period of time. Based on NYHA criterion, the patients were classiifed in NYHA grade II, III and IV respectively. Blood levels of N-terminal brain natriuretic peptide (NT-ProBNP), high-sensitivity C reactive protein (hs-CRP) and ultrasonic morphology were examined upon admission; protein expressions of galectin-3 and sST2 were assessed by ELISA. Results: The patients with NYHA grade III and IV had increased levels of galectin-3 and soluble sST2; galectin-3, sST2 were positively related to NT-ProBNP, hs-CRP and LVEDD, while negatively related to LVEF. Logistic regression analysis indicated that galectin-3 and sST2 were related to short-term death in CHF patients,P<0.05. Area under ROC curve of galectin-3 and sST2 for diagnosing CHF were 0.738 and 0.771,P<0.01. Conclusion: Galectin-3 and sST2 levels were related to traditional HF indicator and could be used for CHF diagnosis in relevant patients.

Antihypertensive Agents ; therapeutic use ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension ; drug therapy ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Phytotherapy

AIM:To evaluate the effects of pilocarpine, brinzolamide and the preservatives of them on corneal epithelial cells and the histopathology of rabbit conjunctiva. METHODS: Fifteen New Zealand white rabbits weighing 1.5 kg to 2.5 kg were randomly divided into three groups. One group with three rabbits served as untreated controls. Pilocarpine 1% and brinzolamide 1% each were administered to the right eyes in one treated group, and the preservatives (chlorobutanol 0.01% in pilocarpine, benzalkonium chloride 0.01% in brinzolamide) to the left eyes. Corneal epithelial damage was evaluated by scanning electron microscopy, and conjunctival specimens were examined under light microscopy. RESULTS: Compared with normal controls, brinzolamide and BAC caused corneal epithelium damage and increased number of inflammatory cells in the conjunctiva, while pilocarpine and the preservative chlorobutanol mainly influenced the corneal epithelium. Brinzolamide produced significantly more damage than pilocarpine (P

AIM: To study the allergic disease in recurrent tonsillitis. METHODS: Immunohistochemical technique was used to investigate interleukin-4(IL-4) production in tonsil. RESULTS:The result showed that: a higher incidence of IL-4 producing cells were found in the tonsils of all ages, and a high density of IL-4 was found in the reticular crypt epithelium and extrafollicular, but low density in germinalcenter. IL-4 has been shown play a crucial role in the pathogensis of allergic disease. CONCLUSION:Allergic disease is an important reason of recurrent tonsillitis. The conclusion will give a new way to cure recurrent tonsillitis.