OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of ginsenosides (GSS) extracted from ginseng stem and leaves on glucocorticoid receptor (GR) in different viscera in heat-damaged rats, and to find out its action mechanism. METHODS: Thirty-two male SD rats were divided into control group and experimental group, and fed 2 mg/d GSS and equal-quantity of distilled water respectively for 7 days. Eight rats of each group were exposed to (42+/-1) degrees C for one hour. The binding activities of GR in brain, thymus, lung and liver cytosols in rats were detected by radioligand binding assay. The expression levels of GR mRNA in brain and liver cytosols were determined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay. Plasma adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) and corticosterone (CS) concentrations were determined by radioimmunoassay. RESULTS: The binding activities of GR in brain, lung and liver cytosols, and the expression levels of GR mRNA in brain and liver cytosols were all higher in the GSS-treated and heat-damaged rats than those in the untreated heat-damaged rats (P<0.05 or P<0.01). There were no significant differences in plasma concentrations of ACTH and CS between the GSS-treated heat-damaged rats and the untreated heat-damaged rats. CONCLUSION: GSS can lessen the descending degree of the binding activity of GR in brain, thymus, lung and liver cytosols, and such efficacy of GSS may be related to improvement of the expression of GR mRNA.

Objective To study the effects of diacerein and its metabolite rhein on plasma inflammatory cytokine level and expression of perirenal adipose tissue chemerin in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) rats and its role in regulating glucose and lipid metabolism.Methods We randomly divided 56 SD male rats into 5 groups: normal control group (Group A), T2DM group (Group B), pioglitazone group (Group C), diacerein group (Group D), and pioglitazone+diacerein group (Group E).Group A was fed with ordinary feed whereas the other groups were fed with high-fat diet.At the end of week 8, rats in Groups B, C, D and E were injected intraperitoneally with 30mg/kg of STZ solution to create the model.Those in Group A were injected with the same volume of sterile sodium citrate solution.OGTT examination was taken to screen the model rats at the end of week 10.The successful mode was chosen according to OGTT result.Then Group C was treated with pioglitazone 10mg/(kg·d) orally, Group D with diacerein 50mg/(kg·d), Group E with pioglitazone 10mg/(kg·d)+diacerein 50mg/(kg·d), and Group A and B were given the same volume of normal saline.The intervention lasted 4 weeks.At the end of experiment weeks 10 and 14, FBG, FINS, TC, TG, LDL-C, IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α were detected in the fasting rats with free access to water.After blood sample was taken at the end of week 14, all rats were killed and theperirenal adipose tissue was isolated, the expression of chemerin in perirenal adipose tissue was detected by Western blotting.Results At the end of week 10, FBG, FINS, TG, TC, LDL-C, IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α were higher in Groups B, C, D and E than in Group A while HDL-C was lower (all P<0.01).At the end of week 14, TC, TG, and LDL-C were lower in Groups C, D and E than in Group B but higher than Group A while HDL-C was lower than in Group A (all P<0.05).Group E had greater changes in glucose and lipid metabolism and inflammatory cytokine level than Groups C and D (P<0.05).Western blotting results showed that the expression of chemerin in perirenal adipose tissue increased higher in Group B than in Groups A, C, D and E (P<0.05).The expression of chemerin were also higher in Groups C and D than in Groups A and E (P<0.05), but there was no significant difference between Groups A and E.Conclusion Diacerein can regulate the metabolism of glucose and lipid, improve insulin resistance by reducing the expression of chemerin and the level of inflammatory cytokines.

Objective Recent studies have shown that inflammatory cytokines are involved in the occurrence and development of diabetes mellitus .The article aimed to investigate the effects of anti-inflammatory drug--diacerein on hepatic PPAR-γand GLUT-2 protein expression and its role in the regulation of glucose and lipid metabolism in rats with type 2 diabetes mellitus ( T2DM) . Methods 55 male SD rats were randomly divided into 4 groups:normal control group (n=10), T2DM group (n=15), pioglitazone intervention group(n=15), and diacerein treatment group(n=15) .Rats in normal control group were fed with normal diet , the other 3 groups were fed with high fat diet .At the end of 8th experi-ment week, rats in 3 groups fed with high fat diet were treated with intraperitoneal injection of 30mg/kg streptozotocin ( STZ) solution, while rats in normal control group were injected with the same volume of sterile sodium citrate solution .At the end of 10th week, OGTT modeling rats were screened .Rats in pioglitazone intervention group were treated with 10 mg/kg pioglitazone by intragastric administra-tion, rats in diacerein group was treated with 50mg/kg diacerein by intragastric administration , and rats in normal control group and T2DM group were given the same volume of normal saline .The intervention lasted 4 weeks.At the end of 8th, 10th and 14th week, the blood examination of glycolipid , FINS, IL-1βand liver function indexes was done on fasting rats .Fourteenth weeks later , after getting blood samples , all rats were sacrificed and liver tissues were isolated .Western blot was applied in the detection of PPAR γand immu-nohistochemistry was applied to detect GLUT-2 protein in livers. Results At the end of 8th week, the FBG level in pioglitazone in-tervention group increased compared with normal control group ( P<0.05) , and the levels of TC , TG, FINS, LDL-C, ALT, AST, IL-1βin the other 3 groups increased significantly compared with normal control group (P<0.05).At the end of 10th week, in comparison with normal control group , the levels of FBG , FINS, TC, TG, LDL-C, ALT, AST and IL-1βincreased significantly ( P<0.05) , while the levels of HDL-C and ISI decreased significantly (P<0.01).Moreover, the levels of FINS, TC, TG, LDL-C, ALT, AST and IL-1βat 10th weekend increased significantly compared with those at 8th weekend(P<0.05).At the end of 14th week, the FBG levels in T2DM group, pioglitazone intervention group and diacerein treatment group were higher than that of normal control group (P<0.01), while compared with T2DM group, the FBG level in pioglitazone intervention group decreased and the levels of HbA 1c, TC, TG, LDL-C and ALT in pioglitazone intervention group and diacerein treatment group decreased ( P<0.05) along with the increased ISI and HDL-C levels ( P<0.05) .Compared with the results at 10th weekend , the levels of FBG , HbA1c, LDL-C, ALT, AST in T2DM group in-creased (P<0.05) while the levels of HbA1c, TC, ALT, AST and IL-1βin pioglitazone intervention group and diacerein treatment group decreased significantly at 14th weekend(P<0.01).The expression level of PPAR-γin pioglitazone intervention group (0.91± 0.03) was significantly higher than normal control group (0.82±0.15), T2DM group(0.75±0.28) and diacerein treatment group (0.83± 0.34) ( P<0.01) , and no significant difference was found between diacerein treatment group and normal control group( P>0 .05) show-ing higher levels compared with T 2DM group ( P<0.01).At 14th weekend, the GLUT-2 expression levels in normal control group (0.209±0.023), pioglitazone intervention group (0.226±0.017) and diacerein treatment group (0.232±0.012) were higher than that of T2DM group (0.173±0.009,P<0.01);and the GLUT-2 expression levels in pioglitazone intervention group and diacerein treatment group were higher than that of normal control group (P<0.05).The expression level of liver PPAR-γwas in positive correlation with those of GLUT-2 protein, HDL-C, FINS, ISI ( r=0.815, 0.780, 0.747, P<0.01) and in negative correlation with those of FBG , HbA1c, TC, TG, AST, ALT, IL-1β(r=-0.465,-5.716,-0.615,-0.675,-0.617,-0.521,-4.827, P<0.05). Conclusion Diacerein can enhance liver PPAR-γand GLUT-2 expression levels and reduce the levels of IL-1β, HbA1c and blood lipid, thus im-prove insulin resistance in T 2DM rats.

Objective To investigate the association of promoter hypermethylation of secreted frizzled-related proteins (SFRPs) in patients with colorectal cancer. Methods The promoter hypermethylation of SFRPs in 20 sporadic colorectal cancer tissues and adjacent mucosa were detected by methylation-specific PCR. The amplified DNA was subcloned into the T-A cloning vector and sequenced. Two colorectal cancer cell lines (HCT116 and SW480) were treated with 5-aza-2' deoxycytidine for demethylation. The promoter hypermethylation and protein expression of SFRPs in colorectal cancer cell lines were detected by methylation-specific PCR and Western blotting. Results It was demonstrated that the hypermethylation of SFRP 1, 2, 4 or 5 was 19/20,17/20,3/20 or 13/20in cancer tissues, respectively, whereas it was 12/20, 8/12, 1/20 or 7/20 in adjacent mucosa,respectively. SFRP 1, 2 or 5 methylation was more frequently found in cancer tissue than in adjacent mucosa (P～0.05). Methylation of SFRP 1, 2, 4 and 5 were found in HCT116 cell line, but only SFRP1 and SFRP2 were found in SW480 cell line. There was a negative correlation between protein expression and methylation of SFRPs. The Western blotting revealed that SFRP protein re-expressedafter it treated with 5-aza-2' deoxyeytidine. Conclusion Methylation of SFRP 1, 2 or 5 gene is associated with the evolution of eolorectal cancer, and is closely related to silencing expression.

Benign biliary stricture is a challenging problem in hepatobiliary surgery. Benign biliary stricture is associated with major portal vein variation, which is not be found in literatures. A male patient with benign biliary stricture was admitted to the Chinese PLA General Hospital in March, 2010.The stricture was located in the hilar confluence with intrahepatic biliary dilation and hepatolithiasis. The result of computed tomography showed that the hilar biliary confluence was compressed by the left portal vein and right anterior portal vein. The patient was cured after receiving gallbladder interposition, choledocholithotomy and T tube drainage. We suggested that the benign hilar biliary stricture due to portal vein variation may be named as biliary nut-craker syndrome.

Object To evaluate the effects of ginsenosides (GSS) in stem and leaves of ginseng on glucocorticoid receptor (GR) in the hemorrhagic shock rats, and study the mechanism. Methods Rats were divided into hemorrhagic shock group and control group. The rats in hemorrhagic shock groups were ig 200, 100, 50 mg/kg/d GSS, model group and control group were ig distilled water 2 mL for 10 days. The Rs of GR in brain and hepatic cytosol of rats were measured by radioligand binding assay, using [ 3H] dexamethasone as the ligand. The level of GR mRNA expression in hepatic cytosol were determined by RT-PCR. Plasma adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) and glucocorticoid (GC) concentrations were determined by the radioimmunoassay. Results Rs of GR in brain and hepatic cytosol were higher in hemorrhagic shock+GSS groups than those in hemorrhagic shock group, and the Rs of GR was the highest in hemorrhagic shock+10 mg/mL GSS group (P

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of the active site of Xiangshia Liujunzitang on behavior, injury of hippocampal neurons and Ca2+ ion in hippocampal synaptic in the depression model mice.

METHODSixty male Kunming mice were randomly divided into 5 group, the control group, the model group and the active site of Xiangshia Liujunzitang groups (400, 600, 800 mg x kg(-1) body weight). The model was established by separation and chronic unpredictable mild stimulation. The increased weight and crossing scores, rearing scores were measured by open-field and sweet water consumption of mice. Cone cell and configuration of neuron in CA1, CA3 region of hippocampus were observed by Nissl. The concentration of Hippocampal synaptic Ca2+ was detected by fluorimetry.

RESULTComparing with the mice of control, the increased weight was slowed (P < 0.001), the scores of rearing and crossing were decreased (P < 0.001), sweet water consumption were decreased, too. Numbers of cone cells in CA3 region of hippocampus were decreased obviously (P < 0.001), and Ca2+ ion in hippocampal synaptic was increased obviously. Comparing with the mice of model, the active site of Xiangshia Liujunzitang could increase the increased weight on the 14 th and 21 st day obviously. The active site of Xiangshia Liujunzitang could increase the scores of crossing obviously (P < 0.05), with no dose-effect relationship. The active site of Xiangshia Liujunzitang (800 mg x kg(-1)) could increase the scores of rearing obviously (P < 0.001); The active site of Xiangshia Liujunzitang (400, 600, 800 mg x kg(-1)) could increase sweet water consumption obviously (P < 0.01, P < 0.01, P < 0.001); The active site of Xiangshia Liujunzitang (600, 800 mg x kg(-1)) could increase numbers of cone cell in CA3 region of hippocampus obviously (P < 0.001); The active site of Xiangshia Liujunzitang (600, 800 mg x kg(-1)) could decreased Ca2+ in hippocampal synaptic with dose-effect relationship (P < 0.01, P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONThe active site of Xiangshia Liujunzitang can improve all the symptoms of the depression model mice and protect the injury of hippocampal neurons in the depression model mice. The possible mechanism of action is to restrict Ca2+ ion overfreight.

Animals ; Behavior, Animal ; drug effects ; Depression ; drug therapy ; physiopathology ; Disease Models, Animal ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Hippocampus ; cytology ; drug effects ; injuries ; physiopathology ; Humans ; Male ; Mice ; Neurons ; drug effects ; Random Allocation