MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that regulate both mRNA and protein expression of target genes and play important roles in proliferation,differentiation,development and metabolism of cells.This paper reviews the research progress on miRNAs involvement in liver diseases,including viral hepatitis,fatty liver,drug induced liver disease,primary biliary cirrhosis and primary hepatocellular carcinoma.

Objective To explore the relationship of vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF),IFN-? and IL-4 and effect of Bude-sonide on their in asthmatic rats.Methods Thirty-six male SD rats were randomly divided into 3 groups:asthma group,Budesonide-treatment group and control group.On the first day of the experiment and the 8th day,the rat models of the asthma group and Budesonid treatment group were allergized by the OVA/Al(OH)3 through intraperitoneal injection,respectively.And starting from the 15th day,they were challenged by the OVA through atomization for 2 weeks.Control group was allergized and challenged by NS atomization.Budesonid treatment group was interfered in Budesonide inhalation before suscitation in 0.5 h.After 12 h the same inhal done was again in Budesonide group.Twenty-four hours after the last challenge,the rats in 3 groups were sacrificed,and blood and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid(BALF) were collected.The concentrations of IL-4,IFN-? and VEGF in serum and BALF were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.Results The concentrations of IL-4 in serum and BALF in asthma group and Budesonide treatment group were significantly increased than those in control group(P

OBJECTIVETo evaluate whether or not administration of folic acid and resveratrol have preventive effects on cleft palate formation as well as the comparison of the two drugs' s effects.

METHODSPregnant mice were randomly divided into 9 groups, with 8 mice in each group. The TCDD group mice were dosed with TCDD 28 microg/kg body weight on gestation day 10 (GD 10) animals in folic acid group were respectively dosed with folic acid 15, 10, 5 mg/kg and TCDD 28 microg/kg; resveratrol treated mice were divided into 3 groups: resveratrol 50 mg/kg were orally administered for 6 consecutive days, from gestational day GD 8 to GD13 in resveratrol (GD8-13 ) group; resveratrol 50 mg/kg were orally administered for 6 consecutive days, from gestational day GD 8 to GD13, followed hy an oral administered with TCDD on GD10 in resveratrol (GD8-13) + TCDD group; resveratrol 50mg/kg and TCDD 28 microg/kg were used by gavage administration at GD10 in resveratrol (GD10) + TCDD group. Control mice were treated with the same volume of water for 6 consecutive days from GD8 to GD13 and were given a single dose of corn oil on GD10. The pregnant mice weight and embryos, the number of live, cleft palate, dead and resorption fetal mice were recorded on GD 17.5. The coronal sections of the fetal mice heads were prepared at GD 17.5 and observed by microscopy.

RESULTSTotal frequency of clefts was 92.86% in TCDD group, 84.00% (15 mg), 73.08% (10 mg), 84.00% (5 mg) in folic acid + TCDD groups, 0% in resveratrol (GD10) group, 74.51% (GD10), 57.78% (GD8-13) in resveratrol + TCDD groups. The frequency of cleft was 0% in the control group. Compared with the control and the TCDD groups, there were significant differences in the number of live, dead and resorption fetal mice in TCCD + resveratrol (GD8-13) group (P < 0.05). No significant differences in embryonic weight, live fetuses weight, the number of live, dead and resorption fetal mice were found in the other groups (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONTest dose of folic acid and resveratrol both had certain antagonistic effect on cleft palate in mice induced by TCDD, with folic acid 10 mg/kg, resveratrol 50 mg/kg GD8-13 doses having stronger antagonistic action. Effects of both the two drugs have no significant difference, but resveratrol (50 mg/kg, GD8-13) significantly affects the fetal mice's growth and development under TCDD exposure in utero.

Abnormalities, Drug-Induced ; prevention & control ; Animals ; Cleft Palate ; chemically induced ; prevention & control ; Female ; Fetus ; Folic Acid ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins ; antagonists & inhibitors ; Pregnancy ; Random Allocation ; Stilbenes ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; Teratogens

To investigate the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of emerging infectious gnathostomiasis in China,a retrospective analysis was performed on 16 cases of gnathostomiasis found during 2009-2011.Patients consisted of 11 women and 5 men.The median age was 48 years (ranging from 27 to 68years).Eleven out of 16 patients (68.8％) had history of ingesting raw or undercooked freshwater fish.The main manifestation of patients was cutaneous form.Clinical symptoms included migratory swelling,creeping eruption and skin rash.Among them,43.8％ (7/16) of patients presented eosinophilia.The results of serological tests showed all patients were Gnathostoma-specific IgG positive by dot immunogold fitration assay (DIGFA) and 5 cases (31.2 ％) were positive by immunoblot for detection of specific 24-kDa protein band reaction.The median time from onset of symptoms to diagnosis was 12 months with a range of 2 weeks to 3 years.A total of 11 patients were treated with albendazole and/or ivermectin.Ten patients did not relapse post treatment.During 2009-2011,the number of patients with gnathostomiasis significantly increased due to consumption of raw or under-cooked loaches and swamp eels.Serological test was a necessary tool to support clinical diagnosis while gnathostomiasis commonly presented complex symptoms.Ivermectin and albendazole were effective to treat gnathostomiasis.

ObjectiveTo investigate the influence of portal vein thrombosis (PVT) on the short-term prognosis of patients with liver cirrhosis and the risk factors for the prognosis of patients with liver cirrhosis. MethodsA retrospective analysis was performed for the clinical data of the patients with liver cirrhosis who were hospitalized in our hospital from September 2018 to March 2020, among whom 58 patients with PVT were enrolled as PVT group and 116 patients without PVT were enrolled as non-PVT group, and 44 patients were selected from each group based on propensity score matching (PSM) at a ratio of 1∶1 to balance the covariates between groups. The t-test was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between two groups, and the Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between two groups; the chi-square test or the Fisher’s exact test was used for comparison of categorical data between two groups. The Kaplan-Meier method and the log-rank method were used to analyze survival status and bleeding before and after PSM, and the Cox risk model was used to analyze the risk factors for the prognosis of patients with liver cirrhosis. ResultsBefore PSM, the non-PVT group had a significantly higher overall survival rate than the PVT group (P=0.008), while after PSM, there was no significant difference in overall survival rate between the two groups (P=0.076). Before PSM, the non-PVT group had significantly lower incidence rates of upper gastrointestinal bleeding or rebleeding than the PVT group before and after PSM (P＜0.001), and the results after PSM were consistent with those before PSM (P=0.028). The multivariate analysis of the prognosis of the patients with liver cirrhosis before PSM showed that PVT (hazard ratio ［HR］=2.944, 95% confidence interval ［CI］: 1.364-6.441, P=0.007) and Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score ≥15 (HR=3.531, 95% CI: 1.630-7.650, P=0.001) were risk factors for short-term death of the patients with liver cirrhosis, and the multivariate analysis after PSM showed that MELD score ≥15 (HR=3.312, 95% CI: 1.049-10457, P=0.041) was a risk factor for short-term death of the patients with liver cirrhosis. ConclusionLiver cirrhosis with PVT increases the risk of upper gastrointestinal bleeding or rebleeding, but it is not an independent risk factor for short-term death in patients with liver cirrhosis. MELD score ≥15 is an independent risk factor for short-term death in patients with liver cirrhosis.

Human gnathostomiasis is a parasitic disease caused by Gnathostoma nematode infection. A rapid, reliable, and practical immunoassay, named dot immuno-gold filtration assay (DIGFA), was developed to supporting clinical diagnosis of gnathostomiasis. The practical tool detected anti-Gnathostoma-specific IgG4 in human serum using crude extract of third-stage larvae as antigen. The result of the test was shown by anti-human IgG4 monoclonal antibody conjugated colloidal gold. The sensitivity and specificity of the test were both 100% for detection in human sera from patients with gnathostomiasis (13/13) and from healthy negative controls (50/50), respectively. Cross-reactivity with heterogonous serum samples from patients with other helminthiases ranged from 0 (trichinosis, paragonimiasis, clonorchiasis, schistosomiasis, and cysticercosis) to 25.0% (sparganosis), with an average of 6.3% (7/112). Moreover, specific IgG4 antibodies diminished at 6 months after treatment. This study showed that DIGFA for the detection of specific IgG4 in human sera could be a promising tool for the diagnosis of gnathostomiasis and useful for evaluating therapeutic effects.

Human gnathostomiasis is a parasitic disease caused by Gnathostoma nematode infection. A rapid, reliable, and practical immunoassay, named dot immuno-gold filtration assay (DIGFA), was developed to supporting clinical diagnosis of gnathostomiasis. The practical tool detected anti-Gnathostoma-specific IgG4 in human serum using crude extract of third-stage larvae as antigen. The result of the test was shown by anti-human IgG4 monoclonal antibody conjugated colloidal gold. The sensitivity and specificity of the test were both 100% for detection in human sera from patients with gnathostomiasis (13/13) and from healthy negative controls (50/50), respectively. Cross-reactivity with heterogonous serum samples from patients with other helminthiases ranged from 0 (trichinosis, paragonimiasis, clonorchiasis, schistosomiasis, and cysticercosis) to 25.0% (sparganosis), with an average of 6.3% (7/112). Moreover, specific IgG4 antibodies diminished at 6 months after treatment. This study showed that DIGFA for the detection of specific IgG4 in human sera could be a promising tool for the diagnosis of gnathostomiasis and useful for evaluating therapeutic effects.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of chronic amiodarone therapy on L-type calcium current recovery and action potential duration of rabbit ventricular myocytes.

METHODSHealthy rabbits (1.6-1.8 kg) were treated with amiodarone (80 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1)) for four weeks. Action potential duration (APD) was recorded under isolated arterially perfused left ventricular wedge preparation, then single myocytes were isolated using enzyme digestion. L-type calcium current recovery (time constant, tau) were determined by fitting data with monoexponential. Tau/APD90 were compared in cells treated with saline, amiodarone and sotalol (3 x 10(-5) mmol/L).

RESULTSIn chronic amiodarone treated myocytes, tau [(164 +/- 8) ms vs. (98 +/- 8) ms, P<0.05], APD90 [(321 +/- 12) ms vs. (220 +/- 10) ms, P<0.05] and tau/APD90 (0.51 +/- 0.03 vs. 0.44 +/- 0.03, P<0.05) were significantly increased than those in control myocytes. Sotalol significantly increased tau [(128 +/- 7) ms vs. (98 +/- 8) ms, P<0.05] and ADP90 [(405 +/- 13) ms vs. (220 +/- 10) ms, P<0.05] while reduced the tau/APD90 (0.32 +/- 0.05 vs. 0.44 +/- 0.03, P<0.05) compared to control myocytes.

CONCLUSIONThe differential effect of amiodarone and sotalol on ventricular myocytes tau/APD90 ratio might be responsible for the safety profile of these two drugs.

Action Potentials ; Amiodarone ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Anti-Arrhythmia Agents ; pharmacology ; Calcium Channels, L-Type ; drug effects ; physiology ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; drug effects ; physiology ; Patch-Clamp Techniques ; Rabbits ; Sotalol ; pharmacology

OBJECTIVETo explore a method to repair nasal side mucosa of wide incomplete cleft palate and reduce the tension of wound by using oral mucosa flap in the top of fissure.

METHODS27 cases of wide incomplete cleft palatal were included in the study. On the basis of two-flap palatoplasty, the triangular oral mucosa flap in the top of fissure was turned and sewed with side mucosa to repair nasal side mucosa of wide palatal cleft.

RESULTSWithout postoperative active bleeding, airway obstruction and wound infection, 27 cases had been repaired satisfactorily by this procedure. 1-3 months followed up demonstrated that all the wounds healed well without wound dehiscence or fistulas and the scars in the palate were not severe.

CONCLUSIONUsing oral mucosa flap in the top of fissure to repair nasal side mucosa of wide palatal cleft can get a reduced tension and correspondingly increase the width of mucoperiosteal flaps so as to decrease incidence rate of palatal fistulas and reduce formation of scars.

Cleft Palate ; Female ; Humans ; Mouth Mucosa ; Nasal Mucosa ; Reconstructive Surgical Procedures ; Surgical Flaps

Human tumstatin(hTumstatin)cDNA was amplified from recombinant plasmid pET-3c-tum, cloned in frame with the signal sequence in yeast vector pPICZalphaA and transformed into Pichia pastoris GS115 by electroporation. The expression of hTumstatin in GS115(pPICZalpha-tum)was then induced by methanol and secreted into the culture medium, with a yield of 25mg/L as shown by SDS-PAGE and Western blotting. The expressed hTumstatin was purified to more than 85% purity using a simple one-step SP-Sepharose cation exchange chromatography. The MTT and chick chorioallantoic membrane assay showed that the yeast produced hTumstatin could inhibit the proliferation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells and the neovascularization induced by bFGF. Hoechst 33258 fluorescent staining also demonstrated the apoptotic change in endothelial cellular nuclear morphology.
Angiogenesis Inhibitors ; metabolism ; Autoantigens ; genetics ; metabolism ; Cell Proliferation ; Cells, Cultured ; Collagen Type IV ; genetics ; metabolism ; DNA, Complementary ; genetics ; Electroporation ; Endothelial Cells ; cytology ; Humans ; Pichia ; genetics ; metabolism ; Recombinant Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Umbilical Cord ; cytology