There is an increasing interest and popularity of Chinese herbal medicine worldwide, which is accompanied by increasing concerns about its effectiveness and potential toxicity. Several ingredients, such as polyphenolic compounds berberine, flavonoids, and curcumin, have been studied extensively by using various animal models. Effectiveness of treatment and amelioration of metabolic syndromes, including insulin resistance and dyslipidemia, has been demonstrated. This review summarizes the major checkpoints and contributing factors in regulation of exogenous and endogenous lipid metabolism, with particular emphasis centered on triglyceride-rich and cholesterol-rich lipoproteins. Available experimental evidence demonstrating the lipid-lowering effect of berberine, flavonoids and curcumin in cell culture and animal models is compiled, and the strengths and shortcomings of experimental designs in these studies are discussed.

Asphyxia Neonatorum ; blood ; drug therapy ; Creatine Kinase, MB Form ; blood ; Female ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Naltrexone ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Natriuretic Peptide, Brain ; blood ; Peptide Fragments ; blood

Objective:To clone and express panallergen profilin from the pollen of coco(Cocos nucifera Linnaeus).Methods:RT-PCR and RACE methods were applied to clone the full-length panallergen genes from coco pollen and the sequence was analyzed.The specific primers were designed.The ORF of profilin of coco pollen was amplified with RT-PCR and cloned into the expression vector pET 28a.Expression of the recombinant coco pollen profilin was carried out in E.coli BL21(DE3) and the purification of the recombinant protein was performed via affinity chromatography with Ni2+ coupled to sepharose.IgE reactivity to recombinant coco pollen profilin was investigated by immunoblot.Results:The complete sequence of coco pollen profilin was cloned.The sequence was 608 bp and included an open reading frame(396 bp) coding for 131 amino acids.Sequence analysis showed that the deduced protein was an acidic protein with an estimated molecular mass of 14.19 kD and a pI of 4.61.The GeneBank accession number of the clones was EF173598.After overexpressed in E.coli BL21(DE3),the recombinant protein was purified through affinity chromatography with Ni2+ coupled to sepharose.Immunoassay showed that the recombinant allergen has good IgE binding capacity.Conclusion:The profilin of coco pollen is expressed successfully in BL21(DE3),which will be used as a base for further study on coco pollen related allergy.

Objective To study the changes of interleukin-4(IL-4),IL-6,IL-8 in children with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura(ITP).Methods The serum of IL-4,IL-6,IL-8 in 35 ITP patients and 20 normal control children were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.Results The serum IL-4,IL-6,IL-8 in ITP patients were elevated. There were significant difference between ITP group and control group(P

BACKGROUND: Studies have shown that the combined use of sufentanil and neural stem cell (NSC) transplantation can increase the number of newborn nerve fibers.OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of sufentanil on the hind limb function of rats with spinal cord injury after neural stem cell transplantation.METHODS: (1) Eighty adult female Sprague-Dawley rats were used to build spine cord injury model according to the modified Allen's method and divided into model group, sufentanil group, NSCs transplantation group and sufentanil combined with NSCs transplantation group (combined group). Extra 20 adult female Sprague-Dawley rats were not conducted any treatment as normal control group. (2) After 6 days of modeling, the model rats were subjected to subarachnoid injection of 10 μL of NSC culture medium and intraperitoneal injection of 100 μL of saline in the model group; subarachnoid injection of 10 μL of NSC culture medium and intraperitoneal injection of 100 μL of sufentanil (150 μg/kg) in the sufentanil group; subarachnoid injection of 10 μL of 1×1010/L NSCs suspension and intraperitoneal injection of 100 μL of saline in the NSCs transplantation group; and subarachnoid injection of 10 μL of 1×1010/L NSCs suspension and intraperitoneal injection of 100 μL of sufentanil (150 μg/kg) in the combined group. (3) After 72 hours of modeling, the AQP4 and MMP9 gene expression levels were detected by RT-PCR, and the cell apoptosis changes around the spine cord injury area were determined with TUNEL staining method. (4) The motor functions of rats were tested by Basso, Beattie and Bresnahan score and inclined plane test after 1, 3 days and 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks of modeling. (5) After 4 weeks of modeling, the histopatholgical changes in the area of spine cord injury were observed by hematoxylin-eosin staining method. The survival changes of NSCs labeled by CM-Dil were determined by fluorescence microscope. The regenerations and distributions of spinal nerve fibers were observed by fluorescein gold retrograde tagging.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) After 72 hours of modeling, the AQP4 and MMP9 gene expression levels as well as the cell apoptotic rate in the combined group were significantly lower than those in the model, sufentanil and NSCs transplantation groups (P < 0.05). (2) After 2 weeks of modeling, the combined treatment significantly improved the hind limb motor functions of rats compared with the sufentanil and NSCs transplantation groups (P < 0.05), and the recovery of motor function was better in the sufentanil and NSCs transplantation groups than in the model group (P < 0.05). (3) After 4 weeks of modeling, the results of hematoxylin-eosin staining manifested that the spinal cord tissues lost and the magnified syringomyelias occurred in the model group. The syringomyelias in the sufentanil and NSCs transplantation groups were significantly smaller than that in the model group, and the syringomyelias almost disappeared in the combined group. (4) The number of positive cells was the most in the combined group, more in the NSCs transplantation group, but there were no positive cells labeled by CM-Dil in the sufentanil and negative control groups. (5) The number of positive neural fibers in the combined group was the highest followed by the sufentanil and NSCs transplantation groups, and the number of positive neural fibers in negative control group was the lowest. To conclude, sufentanil can improve the recovery of hind limb motor function by reducing the AQP4 and MMP9 expression levels in the injury area, promoting the survival of transplanted NSCs, and decreasing the local NSCs apoptosis after spinal cord injury.

Objective To explore the role of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1(TIMP-1) during renal senescence by using human TIMP-1 transgenic mice.Methods Renal histological changes of wild type mice and transgenic mice at the age of 3,12,24 months were observed by periodic acid-schiff(PAS)staining of paraffin sections.The numbers of F4/80 positive cells were detected by immunofluoreseence.The protein expressions of TIMP-1,TIMP-2,matrix metalloproteinase(MMP)-9,MMP-2,intercellular adhesion molecule-1(ICAM-1),transforming growth factor?1(TGF-?1),collagenⅢand collagenⅣwere detected by Western blot.The activities of gelatinases and TIMP-1 were examined by gelatin zymography and reverse zymography respectively.Results Focal renal fibrosis was found in two genotypes with aging.At the age of 24 months,compared with wild type,in kidneys of transgenic type,the expressions and activities of gelatinases were dowregulated (MMP-2:2.08?0.20 vs.3.39?0.43;MMP-9:4.02?0.82 vs.6.72?1.40,all P＜0.05);the expressions of collagenⅢ,collagenⅣ,ICAM-1,and TGF-?1 were upragulated(0.72+0.11 vs.0.57?0.09;0.84?0.13 vs.0.6?0.11,0.72?0.12 vs.0.53?0.07; 0.69?0.12 vs.0.45?0.09,all P＜0.05),and the numbers of F4/80 positive cells were increased (18.8?4.4 vs.12.7?3.6,P＜0.05)with the upregulated expression and activity of TIMP-1(1.10?0.18 vs.0.62?0.09;50.75?7.25 vs.20.64?3.50,P＜0.05).Conclusions TIMP-1 could promote age-related renal fibrosis through enhancing inflammation reaction by ICAM-1 upregulation.

The AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a pivotal serine/threonine kinase participating in the regulation of glucose, lipid as well as protein metabolism and maintenance of energy homeostasis. Recent studies demonstrated that AMPK can also inhibit nuclear factor-κB, suppress the expression of inflammatory genes and attenuate inflammatory injury through phosphorylating its downstream targets including SIRT1, PGC-lα, p53 and FoxO3a. In addition, the widely used antidiabetic metformin also exerts its anti-inflammatory effects through activating AMPK. Therefore, AMPK is emerging as a promising novel target for the development of anti-inflammatory drugs. This review summarized the anti-inflammatory effects of AMPK and the underling molecular mechanisms.
AMP-Activated Protein Kinases ; metabolism ; Homeostasis ; Inflammation ; enzymology ; Metformin ; pharmacology ; NF-kappa B ; antagonists & inhibitors ; Phosphorylation

Aim To investigate the effects of arecoline on glucose and lipid metabolism in type 2 diabetic rats and its mechanisms in glucose metabolism.Methods A type 2 diabetic rat model was established by fed with high fructose-high fat diet.The animals were randomly divided into 7 groups: control group,high fructose-high fat diet group(HF)and high fructose-high fat diet+arecoline(1 mg?kg-1,5 mg?kg-1,10 mg?kg-1,20 mg?kg-1,50 mg?kg-1)groups.The blood glucose,lipid level,hepatic function and liver histology were measured.The mRNA expression of liver glucose-6-phosphatase(G6Pase),phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase(PEPCK),Forkhead Box O1(FoxO1)and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-? coactlvator-1? (PGC-1?)were observed through RT-PCR.Results In comparison with the high fructose-high fat diet group,the fasting blood glucose and TC of the rats were significantly decreased by arecoline in a dose-dependment manner in high fructose-high fat diet+arecoline group.But hepatic function was damaged by 10 mg?kg-1,20 mg?kg-1 and 50 mg?kg-1 arecoline.The mRNA expression of hepatic G6Pase,PEPCK,FoxO1 and PGC-1? was decreased by treatment with 1 mg?kg-1 and 5 mg?kg-1 arecoline compared with the high fructose-high fat diet group.Conclusions Low dose arecoline can decrease fasting blood glucose and TC in type 2 diabettic rats,and the mechanism in glucose metabolism may be related to its effect on the inhibition of hepatic gluconeogenesis.

Objective To study the pathological characteristics of skeletal muscle in patients with polymyalgia rheumatica(PMR).Methods Thirteen patients were diagnosed PMR according to the diagnostic criteria described by Bird in 1979.The onset of disease was between 49-78 years of age (median 60.3 years).All of them showed continuous symmetric myalgia with markedly elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate(ESR).Five patients had mild fever and 8 patients had elevated C-reactive protein(CRP).Electromyogram(EMG)showed myogenic pattern in 2 patients.Only 1 patient showed anemia and 2 patients had mild elevated creatinine phosphokinase.None of them showed evidence of temporal arteritis.Biceps brachii muscle biopsies were performed in all patients before corticosteroid therapy.Results The typeⅡmuscle fiber atrophy was observed in all patients.Moth-eaten changes appeared in 8 cases,increased intramuscular lipid drops in 8 cases and ragged red fibers(RRF)in 3 cases of them.After steroid therapy,all patients showed improvement of myalgia and normal ESR as well as CRP.Conclusions The main symptoms of the patients are myalgia and abnormal ESR.Some patients have high level of CRP and abnormal EMG.Anemia and temporal arteritis are less frequent.The main myopathological changes were typeⅡmuscle fiber atrophy.Some patients have moth-eaten changes.More lipid drops and RRF indicate abnormal metabolism of skeletal muscle.