OBJECTIVETo investigate the role of endoplasmic reticulum stress in the apoptosis of testicular germ cells in hyperlipidemic rats.

METHODSWe randomly assigned 42 four-week-old male Wistar rats into a normal control group (n = 12) and a high-fat group (n = 30) to be fed on a normal diet and a high-fat diet, respectively, for 10 weeks. Then we measured the concentrations of triglyceride (TG) and total cholesterol (TC) in the serum using an automatic biochemistry analyzer, detected the apoptosis of testicular germ cells by TUNEL staining, and determined the protein and mRNA expressions of GRP78 and. caspase-12 in the testis tissue by immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR, respectively.

RESULTSThe concentrations of TG and TC were significantly increased in the animals of the high-fat group ([3.00 ± 0.92] and [3.04 ± 0.39] mmol/L) as compared with the control rats ([1.43 ± 0.41] and [1.55 ± 0.23] mmol/L) (P < 0.01), and so was the apoptosis index of the testicular germ cells ([37.17 ± 2.74]% vs [5.16 ± 0.81]%, P < 0.01). The high-fat group, in comparison with the control, also showed remarkably upregulated protein and mRNA expressions of GRP78 (0.32 ± 0.03 and 0.86 ± 0.05 vs 0.19 ± 0.01 and 0.37 ± 0.03, P < 0.01) and caspase-12 (0.34 ± 0.02 and 0.87 ± 0.01 vs 0.12 ± 0.01 and 0.34 ± 0.03, P < 0.01) in the testis tissue.

CONCLUSIONThe apoptosis of testicular germ cells is increased in hyperlipidemic rats, which may be attributed to endoplasmic reticulum stress.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; physiology ; Caspase 12 ; metabolism ; Cholesterol ; blood ; Diet, High-Fat ; adverse effects ; Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress ; physiology ; Heat-Shock Proteins ; metabolism ; In Situ Nick-End Labeling ; Male ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Spermatozoa ; pathology ; Staining and Labeling ; Testis ; metabolism ; Transcriptional Activation ; Triglycerides ; blood ; Up-Regulation

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of ESHAP regimen,as a salvage regimen, in treating patients with relapsed or refractory aggressive NHL.Methods 38 patients with relapsed or refrac- tory aggressive NHL were selected to be treated by ESHAP regimen.Results The 38 patients received ES- HAP regimen with a range of 2～6 cycles. The total RR was 55.3 % with complete response(CR)rate of 26.3 %.The major toxicity was myelosuppression with infection,which was tolerable.Conclusion ESHAP regimen is one of safe and effective salvage regimens for the patients with relapsed or refractory aggressive NHL.

Objective To assess the efficacy and safety of topical tacrolimus for erosive oral lichen planus (EOLP). Methods Literatures published up to December 2013 were searched from PubMed, Embase, CENTRAL, Chinese BioMedical Literature Database (CBM), and System for Information on Grey Literature in Europe (SIGLE). All randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of topical tacrolimus for EOLP which compared with other interventions or a placebo were considered in this Meta-analysis. Two researchers collected data independently. The assessment of methodological quality was based on Cochrane Handbook and the materials were analyzed with the software Revman 5.2.5. The primary outcome measures were the symptoms (e.g. pain, discomfort) complained by patients. The secondary outcome measures included the improvement rate of clinical signs assessed by the investigators and the incidence of adverse effects (e.g. clinical candidiasis). Results A total of 9 RCTs involving 476 patients were finally included. The pooled odds ratio (OR) of clinical improvement for topical tacrolimusvs. topical corticosteroids was 1.19 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.64-2.22,I2: 44%]. Regarding to 0.1% tacrolimus and 0.03% tacrolimus, the pooledOR were 1.87 (95 %CI: 0.60-5.82) and 1.47 (95 %CI: 0.14-16.04) respectively in subgroup analysis. No serious adverse events were reported in topical tacrolimus group. Conclusions There was no evidence to support that topical tacrolimus for EOLP was more effective and safer than topical corticosteroids in this Meta-analysis. Clinical assessment criteria should be established and accepted by clinicians and researchers before further RCTs are undertaken.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Animals ; Bone Marrow ; metabolism ; Brain ; metabolism ; Brain Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; CDC2 Protein Kinase ; metabolism ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Glioma ; classification ; metabolism ; pathology ; Humans ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Nude ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Transplantation ; Neoplastic Stem Cells ; metabolism ; Young Adult

A novel method was developed for the rapid determination of multi-indicators in corni fructus by means of near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. Particle swarm optimization (PSO) based least squares support vector machine was investigated to increase the levels of quality control. The calibration models of moisture, extractum, morroniside and loganin were established using the PSO-LS-SVM algorithm. The performance of PSO-LS-SVM models was compared with partial least squares regression (PLSR) and back propagation artificial neural network (BP-ANN). The calibration and validation results of PSO-LS-SVM were superior to both PLS and BP-ANN. For PSO-LS-SVM models, the correlation coefficients (r) of calibrations were all above 0.942. The optimal prediction results were also achieved by PSO-LS-SVM models with the RMSEP (root mean square error of prediction) and RSEP (relative standard errors of prediction) less than 1.176 and 15.5% respectively. The results suggest that PSO-LS-SVM algorithm has a good model performance and high prediction accuracy. NIR has a potential value for rapid determination of multi-indicators in Corni Fructus.
Algorithms ; Calibration ; Cornus ; chemistry ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Fruit ; chemistry ; Least-Squares Analysis ; Models, Theoretical ; Neural Networks (Computer) ; Quality Control ; Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared ; Support Vector Machine

OBJECTIVETo elucidate the molecular mechanism of Wendan Tang in prevention of lipid metabolism disorder in adult rats.

METHODOn the basis of hyperlipidemia rat models, triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC) in serum, activities of lipase (LA), lipoprotein lipase (LPL), hepatic lipase (HL) in liver, parts of hemogram and hepatic LDLR mRNA levels were investigated 21 days after the feeding of atherogenic diet.

RESULTWendan Tang significantly reduced the serum TG, TC and increased the activity of LPL and LA, but caused no chang in HL. The result of RT-PCR test showed that high fat and high cholesterol feeding could significantly induce the reduction of LDLR mRNA levels, while Wendan Tang could increase hepatic LDLR density.

CONCLUSIONWendan Tang can prevent disorder of lipid metabolism by regulating TC, TG, LDL-c through upregaulation of LDLR transcription level and improving antioxidant ability.

Animals ; Drug Combinations ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Female ; Hyperlipidemias ; blood ; metabolism ; prevention & control ; Lipid Metabolism ; Liver ; metabolism ; Male ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; RNA, Messenger ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Rats ; Receptors, LDL ; biosynthesis ; genetics

Adult ; Aged ; Amifostine ; therapeutic use ; Benzene ; poisoning ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myelodysplastic Syndromes ; chemically induced ; drug therapy

The galacto-oligosaccharide was synthesized continuously by immobilized Bacillus stearothermophilu producing β-galactosidase in fibrous bed reactor. The effect of substrate concentration, pH, reaction temperature and retention time on production of GOS was investigated. The optimal reaction conditions were determined. Substrate concentration were 450 g/L;Reaction temperature was 55℃; pH was 7.0; Residience time was 100 min. The product yield reached up to 50.7 %. GOS synthesis was promoted by feeding 1.5 % D-glactose after 24h. The immobilized cell reactor can work stably for 120h.

Objective To investigate the efficacy of heparin gelatin sponge stickers in the treatment of traumatic perforation of tympanic membrane. Methods Total of 79 cases (83 ears ) of traumatic perforation of tympanic membrane were randomly divided into two groups:the test group had 54 patients ( 58ears),and the control group had 25 cases (25 ears ).The test group received the treatment of heparin gelatin sponge stickers,and the control group received conservative traditional drying method. All the subjects were followed up for 4 weeks,observed and recorded the rate and healing period of traumatic tympanic membrane.Results In 4-week's follow-up,56 ears were cured in the test group,with a rate of 96.55％.Fourteen ears were cured in the control group with a rate of 56.00％.The healing rate of test group was significantly higher than that of the control group( x2 =18.79,P ＜0.01 ).The average of healing period was 17.6 days in the test group,and 32.0 days in the control group. There were significant differences in healing period between two groups( t =6.37,P ＜0.01 ).All the cured tympanic membrane in the test group was morphologically complete.In all followed up patients,there were no allergies and signs of infection,as well as other adverse reaction in the process of healing.Conclusion The heparin gelatin sponge can effectively enhance closure of the traumatic perforation of tympanic membrane and can shorten the healing period of traumatic perforation of tympanic membrane,and the smaller of the perforation,the shorter of healing period.

OBJECTIVETo analyze the epidemiologic characteristics of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and to evaluate the effectiveness on its major control measures in Tianjn.

METHODSAdopting two case reports 1 and 2, designed by the Tianjin Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to develop a unified case-tracing table including the map of the distribution of close contacts to SARS patients. With those methods, investigation on patients and their close contacts at hospital wards, families, communities and institutions of the patients were carried out.

RESULTSFrom April 13 through May 8, 2003, there were 175 SARS cases including imported ones, were identified with an incidence rate of 1.9 cases per 100,000. Among them, 14 died with a fatality of 8.0%. The whole process of epidemic in Tianjin was less than one month with the following features: (1) 93.7% of the total SARS cases in Tianjin were directly or indirectly transmitted by a super-spreader. (2) 68.6% of the total SARS patients were concentrated in 3 hospitals A, B and C which was menifastated in 'clustering'. Through study on the rest of the SARS patients, results showed that 16.8% of them were transmitted through family close contact and 2.3% due to contact to colleagues. However, 12.6% of the patients were not able to show evidence that they had any contact to a diagnosed SARS patient. At the early stage of the epidemic, a number of medical practitioners were infected, taking up 38.2% of the total SARS cases. Among the total number of 1 975 medical workers who participated in the SARS medical cares and treatments, 3.4% of them got infected. During the outbreak, all index cases and chains of transmission seemed to be clear, with only 3 patients not able to be traced for the source of infection, taking up 2% of the total SARS patients in Tianjin. Among the 10 index cases, only the super spreader and another one index case transmitted the virus to their contacts but the rest of index cases did not cause any secondary infection.

CONCLUSIONThough SARS is clinically severe and can be spreaded quickly, the epidemic can be under control within a short period of time if chains of SARS transmission are broken down and effective measures as isolation and quarantine against patients as well as underscoring awareness among the publics in a scientific way, being carried out.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; China ; epidemiology ; Contact Tracing ; Cross Infection ; transmission ; Disease Outbreaks ; Family Health ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ; epidemiology ; mortality ; transmission ; Surveys and Questionnaires