The effects of the feed attractants on Whitmania pigra were studied. The average weight of Wh. pigra were 5.0 g. Arginine was selected as feed attractants, xanthan gum was selected as feed substrate. The times of Wh. pigra going into the inducing room were recorded. The water temperature was 22-25 degrees C during the whole experiment. Arginine that had better inducing effect was chosen to carry on in the gradient experiment. The results showed that the best inducing effect was found when the added amount of arginine was 0.3%, which was close to the arginine content of the natural body fluid of Wh. Pigra and Bellamya purificata, 2.97 mg x g(-1).
Animal Feed ; analysis ; Animals ; Arginine ; analysis ; metabolism ; Body Weight ; Feeding Behavior ; Leeches ; growth & development ; physiology

The study was purposed to investigate the apoptosis of HL-60 cells induced by recombinant common buckwheat trypsin inhibitor (rBTI) and its mechanism. The inhibition rate of rBTI on HL-60 cells was detected by MTT (3-[4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide); the morphology of HL-60 nuclei was observed by fluorescence microscopy; the apoptosis cells of HL-60 detected by agarose gel electrophoresis and the changes of apoptosis rate was assayed by flow cytometry (FCM), when the HL-60 cells were treated with different concentration of rBTI for 24 hours. The results showed that the growth of HL-60 cells was inhibited evidently after treatment with rBTI in a dose-dependent manner, but there were minimal effects on normal human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNCs). The nuclei of HL-60 cells showed the characteristics of apoptosis, the analysis by flow cytometry indicated that the apoptosis rate of HL-60 cells was 52% after treatment with rBTI (100 microg/ml), DNA analyzed by agarose gel electrophoresis showed "ladder" pattern. It is concluded that rBTI obviously inhibits growth of HL-60 and induces its apoptosis which provides a foundation for use of recombinant common buckwheat trypsin inhibitor to cure the acute myeloid leukemia.
Antineoplastic Agents ; pharmacology ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Fagopyrum ; chemistry ; HL-60 Cells ; Humans ; Recombinant Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; pharmacology ; Trypsin Inhibitors ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; pharmacology

OBJECTIVETo investigate and analyze the traumatic conditions of Longnan area of Gansu in Wenchuan earthquake, and to explore the measures coping with unexpected disasters.

METHODSA sample survey including questionnaire survey, interviews and other methods was adopted to investigate the conditions of affected population of Longnan area in earthquake, especially on the traumatic conditions, the injured causes, treatment methods.

RESULTSIn the sample survey of a total of 1652 earthquake casualties, the dead were 16 and the patients with extremities fractures were 750 (45.4%). Organized and timely rescue of the wounded could reduce the complications and the mortality .

CONCLUSIONStrengthening the prevention and treatment of earthquake trauma can effectively decrease the death rate and disabled rate.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; Data Collection ; Disasters ; statistics & numerical data ; Earthquakes ; mortality ; statistics & numerical data ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Wounds and Injuries ; mortality ; psychology ; surgery ; therapy

Objective:To evaluate the safety and effectiveness of capsule endoscopy for the diagnosis of intestinal diseases in children.Methods:Clinical data of 113 pediatric patients who received capsule endoscopy in Xi'an Children's Hospital from October 2018 to September 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. The completion rate, passage time of stomach and small intestine, lesion detection rate, adverse reactions and complications of capsule endoscopy were analyzed.Results:Among 113 pediatric patients, 78 (69.03%) were male and 35 (30.97%) were female. The age was (99.8±44.7) months (9-195 months), and 31 (27.43%) were under 7 years old. The minimum weight was 9 kg and the minimum height was 70 cm. Eighty-seven pediatric patients (76.99%) swallowed capsules orally (the oral group) with the minimum age of 4 years and 3 months. Capsules were implanted in 26 pediatric patients (23.01%) under gastroscopy (the gastroscopic group), with the maximum age of 9 years and 2 months. Unexplained abdominal pain (47.79%) and unexplained gastrointestinal bleeding (31.89%) were common in the pediatric patients. The completion rate of capsule endoscopy was 97.35% (110/113), and the detection rate of lesions in small intestine was 31.81% (35/110). The passage time of small intestine in the gastroscopic group was significantly longer than that of the oral group (461.04±129.27 min VS 288.23±107.84 min, t=5.646, P<0.01). There was no significant difference in the passage time of stomach or small intestine among different genders, different ages or different endoscopic examination results ( P>0.05). The positive results of capsule were not correlated with the method of ingestion ( P=0.401, OR=2.562, 95% CI:0.284-23.077), gender ( P=0.154, OR=2.352, 95% CI:0.726-7.616), age ( P=0.949, OR=1.007, 95% CI:0.816-1.242), examination reason ( P=0.246) or small intestine passage time ( P=0.219, OR=1.003, 95% CI:0.998-1.008). No complications such as capsule retention occurred in any pediatric patient. Conclusion:Capsule endoscopy in children is noninvasive, rapid and simple, which can improve the diagnostic rate of small intestinal diseases in children, and can be further promoted in pediatric patients.

Objective To observe the effects of Batroxobin Injection on thromboembolic cerebral stroke by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and TTC staining.Methods Rat model ofthromboembolic stroke was prepared after the left middle cerebral artery was occluded by autologous blood clots,and 32 rats with successful operation were divided into four groups according to the degree of neurological deficit:model group,Batroxobin Injection low and high dose (0.3,1.0 BU/kg) group,and rt-PA (9 mg/kg) group,with eight rats in each group,and other eight rats in Sham group.Rats were administered 1 h after modeling by tail iv method.At 6 h after administration,neurological deficit score and MRIincluding SE-T2WI and DWI sequence scanning were measured.At 24 h after administration,the brain was cut for TTC staining to measure the infarct area,and blood FIB was measured.Results Compared with model group,Batroxobin Injection 0.3 BU/kg treatment for 24 h (P ＜ 0.05),1 BU/kg treatment for 6 and 24 h (P ＜ 0.05,0.01) could significntly improve the neurological function scores of rats.MRIresults showed that Batroxobin Injection at dose of 0.3 and 1 BU/kg significantly reduced the lesion range (P ＜ 0.05 and 0.01).Results of TTC stain showed that Batroxobin Injection at dose of 0.3 and 1 BU/kg significantly reduced the infarct size (P ＜ 0.05).Batroxobin Injection at doses of 0.3 and 1 BU/kg can significantly lower plasma FIB concentration (P ＜ 0.05,0.01,0.001) 6 and 24 h after administration.Conclusion Batroxobin Injection can improve the damaged neural function,reduce scope of lesions,decrease plasma fibrinogen,with protective effects for cerebral ischemia in rats.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the gene mutation in a Chinese pedigree and one sporadic case with pachyonychia congenita type I(PC-1), as well as to explore the relationship between the genotype and phenotype.

METHODSThe whole coding region of the KRT16 and KRT6A genes were amplified by long-range polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Six patients with PC-1 were studied, five of them were from a pedigree and the other one was sporadic. One unaffected member in the pedigree and 100 unrelated healthy individuals were also studied in order to exclude polymorphism. PCR products were directly sequenced to detect the mutation.

RESULTSNo mutations in the KRT16 gene were observed. All patients harbored a mutation in the KRT6A gene. All five patients in the pedigree had a mutation at codon 465 (TAC to CAC) which substitutes tyrosine (Y) by histidine (H). In the sporadic patient, codon 171 (AAC) was mutated to GAC, which changes the asparagines (N) to aspartic acid (D). No such mutations were found in the unaffected member of the pedigree and the 100 unrelated controls. The mutation of Y465H is located at the end of 2B and N171D at the beginning of 1A domain of KRT6A, both are hotspots for pathogenic keratin mutations.

CONCLUSIONThe mutations Y465H and N171D of the KRT16A gene were detected in the pedigree and the sporadic case respectively. The Y465H mutation was a novel mutation, and the N171D mutation was reported recently.

Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Base Sequence ; Female ; Humans ; Keratin-6 ; genetics ; Male ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Mutation ; Pachyonychia Congenita ; genetics ; Pedigree

PURPOSE: Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) is an inflammatory enzyme expressed in atherosclerotic plaques. We investigated the association of circulating Lp-PLA2 with characteristics of vulnerable coronary atherosclerotic plaques. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We recruited 113 patients with either unstable angina (UA, n=59) and stable angina (SA, n=54) by coronary angiography. Thirty-six healthy subjects served as controls. Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) was used to evaluate the characteristics of coronary atherosclerotic plaque, and serum Lp-PLA2 concentration was measured as well. RESULTS: Lp-PLA2 concentration was significantly higher in both UA and SA patients [(396+/-36) microg/L and (321+/-39) microg/L, respectively] compared with the controls [(127+/-49) microg/L, p<0.01], and higher in UA than SA group. IVUS findings showed that remodeling index (RI) (0.91+/-0.15 vs. 0.85+/-0.11, p=0.005) and eccentricity index (EI) (0.73+/-0.16 vs. 0.65+/-0.22, p=0.039) were larger in UA than in SA group, and fibrous caps were thicker in SA than UA group [(0.91+/-0.23) mm vs. (0.63+/-0.21) mm, p=0.032]. Moreover, Lp-PLA2 correlated positively with EI (r=0.439, p<0.01) and RI (r=0.592, p<0.05) in UA group. There was an inverse relationship between Lp-PLA2 and fibrous cap thickness in both UA (r=-0.587, p<0.001) and SA (r=-0.318, p<0.05) groups. The independent risk factors in UA group were Lp-PLA2 (OR=1.055, 95% CI: 1.03-1.08, p=0.013), LDL-cholesterol (OR=0.032, 95% CI: 0.00-0.05, p=0.041) and fibrous cap thickness (OR=0.008, 95% CI: 0.00-0.45, p=0.019). Lp-PLA2 was strongly associated with both EI and fibrous cap thickness in both groups. CONCLUSION: Serum level of Lp-PLA2 is associated with both eccentricity index and fibrous cap thickness in both UA and SA groups. Elevated levels of circulating Lp-PLA2 might to be a strong risk factor and more serious for unstable angina than stable angina.
1-Alkyl-2-acetylglycerophosphocholine Esterase/*blood ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Angina, Stable/*blood/enzymology/*pathology ; Angina, Unstable/*blood/enzymology/pathology ; Coronary Angiography ; Coronary Artery Disease/*blood/enzymology/*pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged

When this paper was first published the following ethical statement was omitted in error: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of AAALAC (NO. 001488) and carried out in strict accordance with the recommendations in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of Tianjin Institute of Pharmaceutical Research. The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused. DOI of original article: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chmed.2018.12.002

Ralstonia solanacearum strain PRS-84 used in this study was isolated from diseased Pogostemon cablin plants in our previous study.The competent cells of R.solanacearum strain PRS-84 were transformed by electroporation with Tn5 transposon and then were plated on TTC agar plates containing kanamycin to select for kanamycin-resistant colonies.The detection of kanamycin-resistant gene in kanamycin-resistant colonies was performed by PCR.Further,the flanking fragments of Tn5 transposon insertion site in the mutants were amplified by inverse PCR,and the flanking fragments were sequenced and analyzed.The results indicated that the kanamycin-resistant colonies were obtained in the transformation experiment of R.solanacearum strain PRS-84 by electroporation with Tn5 transposon.A specific band of approximately 700 bp was amplified by PCR from kanamycin-resistant colonies.The flanking sequences of Tn5 transposon insertion site in the transformants were obtained by inverse PCR.After sequencing and sequence analysis of Tn5 transposon insertion site in mutants,we preliminarily speculated that the Tn5 transposon inserted in the typ A gene,rec O gene and gid A gene in three mutants,respectively.A random mutagenesis system of R.solanacearum strain PRS-84 by electroporation with Tn5 transposon has been established,and the Tn5 insertion mutants have been obtained.This study might facilitate the creation of mutant library and the discovery of the virulence gene of R.solanacearum isolated from P.cablin.
DNA Transposable Elements ; Electroporation ; Genes, Bacterial ; Mutagenesis, Insertional ; Pogostemon ; microbiology ; Ralstonia solanacearum ; genetics ; Virulence

When this paper was first published the following ethical statement was omitted in error: This study was carried out in strict accordance with the recommendations in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of Tianjin Institute of Pharmaceutical Research. The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused.