Objective:To investigate the effect and mechanism of different doses of luteolin on memory function and apoptosis-related proteins of aging rats induced by D-galactose.Methods:Forty-eight SPF-grade male Wistar rats aged 6-8 weeks were randomly divided into control group, model group, luteolin low-dose group (25 mg/kg), medium-dose group (50 mg/kg), high-dose group (100 mg/kg), and vitamin C group (100 mg/kg), with 8 rats in each group. D-galactose (1 000 mg/kg) was subcutaneously injected to establish the aging rat model, while luteolin was used for preventive treatment. The Morris water maze test was used to evaluate the learning and memory abilities of the rats.Transmission electron microscopy was used to detect the morphology of hippocampal neurons in rats.Spectrophotometry was used to detect the levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), and the total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC). RT-PCR was used to detect miR-34a mRNA expression.Western blot technique was used to detect the expression levels of silent regulator protein 1 (SIRT1), B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2), cleaved caspase-3, p53, and p21. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 22.0, and one-way ANOVA was used for multi-group comparison, followed by LSD- t test for further pairwise comparisons. Results:(1) The differences in escape latency among the 6 groups of rats were statistically significant ( F=120.93, P<0.001). The latency of first finding the platform location of the model group rats ((54.61±3.60) s) was higher than that of the control group ((10.54±4.27) s) ( P<0.05). The latency of first finding the platform location of rats in the low, medium and high dosage groups of luteolin ((45.50±3.81)s, (37.46±2.94) s, (32.32±3.14) s) was lower than that of the model group ((54.61±3.60) s) (all P<0.05). (2) The differences of SOD, MDA, T-AOC, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 levels in the cerebral cortex of the 6 groups of rats were all statistically significant ( F=281.636, 75.119, 208.228, 38.999, 28.428, 52.767, all P<0.001). Compared with the control group, the model group showed abnormal levels of inflammatory factors and antioxidant indexes. In the medium and high dosage groups of luteolin, the SOD and T-AOC contents in the cerebral cortex of rats were higher than those in the model group (all P<0.05), while the levels of MDA, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 were lower than those in the model group (all P<0.05). (3) The differences in relative expression levels of miR-34a mRNA among the 6 groups of rats were statistically significant ( F=81.439, P<0.001). The expression levels of miR-34a mRNA in the hippocampal tissues of rats in the luteolin treatment group were lower than those in the model group ( P<0.05). (4) The differences in protein expression levels of SIRT1, p53, and p21 in the hippocampal tissues of the 6 groups of rats were statistically significant ( F=159.946, 38.342, 123.608, all P<0.001). The expression levels of p53 and p21 in the medium and high dosage groups of luteolin were lower than those in the model group (all P<0.05), while the expression level of SIRT1 protein was higher than that in the model group ( P<0.05). (5) The differences in protein expression levels of Bcl-2 and cleaved caspase-3 in the hippocampal tissues of the 6 groups of rats were statistically significant ( F=112.659, 43.296, both P<0.05). The expression levels of Bcl-2 in the low, medium, and high dosage groups of luteolin ((0.24±0.04), (0.40±0.03), (0.48±0.05) pg/μg) were higher than those in the model group ((0.09±0.06) μg) ( P<0.05), while the expression levels of cleaved caspase-3 in the low, medium, and high dosage groups of luteolin ((0.62±0.04), (0.61±0.09), (0.51±0.10) μg) were lower than those in the model group ((0.75±0.05) μg) ( P<0.05). Conclusions:Luteolin can alleviate cellular oxidative damage through downregulating the miR-34a SIRT1/p53 signaling pathway and reducing cell apoptosis.

In order to explore the role of BspE protein in Brucella infection,yeast two-hybrid tech-nique was used to screen host cell proteins that interact with BspE protein.The constructed BspE recombinant plasmid pGBKT7-BspE was used as bait plasmid to hybridize with the RAW264.7-cD-NA library of mouse mononuclear macrophages by yeast two-hybridization technique.The positive clones were extracted by plasmid,sequenced and co-immunoprecipitation to determine the host cell proteins that could interact with BspE.The subcellular localization of BspE proteins was analyzed by confocal laser microscopy.The physical and chemical properties,protein structure and function of BspE interacting proteins were analyzed by bioinformatics.The siRNA for one of the BspE inter-acting proteins was synthesized,the expression of its gene was silenced in HEK293T cells,and the silenced cells was infected with Brucella M5-90 and the number of intracellular bacteria was coun-ted.The results showed that the decoy plasmid pGBKT7-BspE was successfully constructed,and the plasmid could express BspE protein in yeast.Eight positive clones were obtained from the host cell genome library by yeast two-hybridization.The positive clones were identified as RBM27 and PCBP1 by sequencing,backcross and co-immunoprecipitation.Bioinformatics was used to predict the cell location,protein structure and amino acid composition of RBM27 and PCBP1.After siRNA interference,the expression level of PCBP1 was significantly decreased and the amount of M5-90 in the cell was increased.Brucellosis secreted protein BspE interacts with host proteins RBM27 and PCBPl,and PCBP1 negatively regulates the proliferation of Brucellosis.

Objective:To investigate imaging characteristics of papulopustular rosacea (PPR) by high-frequency ultrasound combined with color Doppler flow imaging.Methods:From August 2021 to August 2022, 30 patients with PPR were enrolled from the Department of Dermatology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Baotou Medical College in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and 30 healthy volunteers served as controls. The 22-MHz high-frequency ultrasound combined with color Doppler blood flow imaging was performed to measure the skin thickness, echo and blood flow parameters at the cheek, and the ultrasound results were compared between the two groups. Comparisons between groups were conducted by using t test or chi-square test. The diagnostic value was analyzed using the area under the curve (AUC) in the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results:In the case group, there were 12 males and 18 females, and their ages ranged from 22 to 65 years (42.3 ± 12.8 years) ; in the control group, there were 10 males and 20 females, and their ages ranged from 24 to 62 years (41.0 ± 8.4 years) . The epidermal and dermal thicknesses at the cheek were significantly higher in the case group (132.64 ± 12.29 μm, 1 812.29 ± 85.52 μm, respectively) than in the control group (104.34 ± 14.45 μm, 1 671.77 ± 146.55 μm, respectively, both P < 0.05) . High-frequency ultrasound images showed that the case group was mainly characterized by irregular hypoechoic areas in the cheek dermis (80%) , while banded moderately echoic areas were common in the cheek dermis in the control group (90%) ; subepidermal low-echogenic bands and dermal irregular hypoechoic areas were more likely to appear in the case group than in the control group (93.33% vs. 43.33%, 80% vs. 10%, respectively, both P < 0.001) . Compared with the control group, the case group showed a significantly increased proportion of patients with abundant blood flow signals (93.3% vs. 10%, P < 0.05) , and significantly increased blood vessel diameters (1.60 ± 0.42 mm vs. 0.95 ± 0.32 mm, P < 0.05) ; there was no significant difference in peak systolic blood flow velocity and vascular resistance index between the two groups (both P > 0.05) . The AUC of high-frequency ultrasound combined with color Doppler flow imaging quantitative parameters (including epidermal thicknesses, dermal thicknesses, and blood vessel diameters) was 0.989 (95% CI: 0.970 - 1.000) for the diagnosis of PPR, and the sensitivity and specificity were both 96.7%, which were higher than those of single parameter-based diagnostic model. Conclusion:High-frequency ultrasound combined with color Doppler flow imaging can help improve the accuracy of the diagnosis of PPR, by accurately and non-invasively measuring skin thickness and blood flow parameters.

The many-banded krait, Bungarus multicinctus, has been recorded as the animal resource of JinQianBaiHuaShe in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. Characterization of its venoms classified chief phyla of modern animal neurotoxins. However, the evolutionary origin and diversification of its neurotoxins as well as biosynthesis of its active compounds remain largely unknown due to the lack of its high-quality genome. Here, we present the 1.58 Gbp genome of B. multicinctus assembled into 18 chromosomes with contig/scaffold N50 of 7.53 Mbp/149.8 Mbp. Major bungarotoxin-coding genes were clustered within genome by family and found to be associated with ancient local duplications. The truncation of glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor in the 3'-terminal of a LY6E paralog released modern three-finger toxins (3FTxs) from membrane tethering before the Colubroidea divergence. Subsequent expansion and mutations diversified and recruited these 3FTxs. After the cobra/krait divergence, the modern unit-B of β-bungarotoxin emerged with an extra cysteine residue. A subsequent point substitution in unit-A enabled the β-bungarotoxin covalent linkage. The B. multicinctus gene expression, chromatin topological organization, and histone modification characteristics were featured by transcriptome, proteome, chromatin conformation capture sequencing, and ChIP-seq. The results highlighted that venom production was under a sophisticated regulation. Our findings provide new insights into snake neurotoxin research, meanwhile will facilitate antivenom development, toxin-driven drug discovery and the quality control of JinQianBaiHuaShe.

Objective To investigate the cognition of colorectal cancer-related knowledge and influencing factors of patients with middle- and advanced-stage colorectal cancer in ethnic minority areas of Inner Mongolia. Methods According to the national population and the prevalence of colorectal cancer, 277 patients with colorectal cancer were selected by stratified and random sampling in Inner Mongolia. The patients were surveyed in Baotou, Chifeng, Bayannaoer, and other hospitals. The questionnaire included patients' basic information, cognition of colorectal cancer risk factors and screening knowledge, screening information, etc. Results Before suffering from the disease, the patients' knowledge of colorectal cancer (risk factors, early screening knowledge, treatment methods) was low. About 54.9% of patients were unaware of high risk factors for colorectal cancer, 75.8% of patients did not understand the knowledge of early screening of colorectal cancer, and 37.5% of patients did not underst and the treatment of colorectal cancer. The main influencing factors of colorectal cancer cognition were education level and occupation. Patients who work in institutions and enterprises and with higher education level had better cognition. Conclusion Patients with middle- and advanced-stage colorectal cancer in Inner Mongolia have poor knowledge and awareness of risk factors and screening of colorectal cancer before diagnosis. Education level and occupation are factors influencing colorectal cancer cognition, therefore, people with low knowledge rate of colorectal cancer and low education level as well as unemployed laid-off people should be given priority intervention.

Background: Brucella infection induces brucellosis, a zoonotic disease. The intracellular circulation process and virulence of Brucella mainly depend on its type IV secretion system (T4SS) expressing secretory effectors. Secreted protein BspJ is a nucleomodulin of Brucella that invades the host cell nucleus. BspJ mediates host energy synthesis and apoptosis through interaction with proteins. However, the mechanism of BspJ as it affects the intracellular survival of Brucella remains to be clarified. Objectives: To verify the functions of nucleomodulin BspJ in Brucella's intracellular infection cycles. Methods: Constructed Brucella abortus BspJ gene deletion strain (B. abortus ΔBspJ) and complement strain (B. abortus pBspJ) and studied their roles in the proliferation of Brucella both in vivo and in vitro. Results: BspJ gene deletion reduced the survival and intracellular proliferation of Brucellaat the replicating Brucella-containing vacuoles (rBCV) stage. Compared with the parent strain, the colonization ability of the bacteria in mice was significantly reduced, causing less inflammatory infiltration and pathological damage. We also found that the knockout of BspJ altered the secretion of cytokines (interleukin [IL]-6, IL-1β, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor-α, interferon-γ) in host cells and in mice to affect the intracellular survival of Brucella. Conclusions BspJ is extremely important for the circulatory proliferation of Brucella in the host, and it may be involved in a previously unknown mechanism of Brucella's intracellular survival.

Peking Union Medical College Hospital, as one of the most stressful medical institutions in China, is facing the problem of emergency department overcrowding. In order to effectively alleviate the emergency overcrowding, improve the medical quality and patients′ medical experience, the hospital firmly grasped the two incremental links of " throughput" and " output" factors, established a multidisciplinary and multi-department cooperation team, constructed a close medical alliance cooperation mode, and innovated and explored a harmonious emergency overcrowding relief mode with the goal of unblocking the " exit" of patients. The practice showed that the comprehensive measures could effectively alleviate the problem of emergency overcrowding, and improve the medical environment and medical quality.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of low dose sublingual nifedipine dripping pills (5 mg) in treating moderate and severe hypertension in comparison with normal dose (10 mg) of sublingual nifedipine dripping pills. Methods: This study was designed as a randomized, double-blind, positive drug parallel controlled, multi-center, non-inferiority clinical trial. Patients with moderate and severe hypertension were enrolled by 14 clinical trial centers, randomly divided into the trial group (sublingual 5 mg nifedipine dripping pills) and the control group (sublingual 10 mg nifedipine dripping pills). The changes in blood pressure were monitored continuously within 2 hours after the initial administration, repeated the dose in 20 minutes interval after the initial administration for up to additional 3 doses (maximum 4 doses) if the antihypertensive efficacy was not satisfactory. The efficacy of antihypertensive therapy between the two groups was evaluated by repeated administration rates and blood pressure changes at 60 minutes post the initial administration, and the safety of treatment was evaluated by recording adverse event rate of the two groups. Results: The anti-hypertensive effective rates at 60 minutes after sublingual administration were 83.5% (202/242) and 86.7% (208/240) respectively between the trial group and control group (χ²=1.307, P=0.253) . On the aspect of antihypertensive effectiveness at 60 minutes after single dose of sublingual administration, the anti-hypertension effective rates of the trial group and the control group were 85.6% (154/180) and 87.2% (164/188) respectively (χ²=0.221, P=0.639). Prevalence of the repeated administration was also similar between the two groups (25.6%(62/242) in the trial group and 21.7% (52/240) in the control group, χ²=1.043, P=0.307). On the safety aspect, there was no adverse events/reactions in the trial group, but there were 15 cases of adverse events/reactions occurred in control group (6.25%, χ²=15.611, P<0.001). Conclusions In the treatment of moderate to severe hypertension, the antihypertensive efficacy of low dose nifedipine dripping pills is similar to that of conventional dosage, and the safety profile of low dose nifedipine dripping pills is better than that of the conventional dose.

Brucella is an intracellular pathogen that invades a host and settles in its immune cells; however, the mechanism of its intracellular survival is unclear. Modification of small ubiquitin-related modifier (SUMO) occurs in many cellular activities. E2 conjugating enzyme 9 (Ubc9) is the only reported ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme that links the SUMO molecule with a target protein. Brucella's intracellular survival mechanism has not been studied with respect to SUMO-related proteins and Ubc9. Therefore, to investigate the relationship between Brucella melitensis 16M and SUMO, we constructed plasmids and cells lines suitable for overexpression and knockdown of SUMO1 and Ubc9 genes. Brucella 16M activated SUMO1/Ubc9 expression in a time-dependent manner, and Brucella 16M intracellular survival was inhibited by SUMO1/Ubc9 overexpression and promoted by SUMO1/Ubc9 depletion. In macrophages, Brucella 16M-dependent apoptosis and immune factors were induced by SUMO1/Ubc9 overexpression and restricted by SUMO1/Ubc9 depletion. We noted no effect on the expressions of SUMO1 and Ubc9 in B. melitensis 16M lipopolysaccharide-prestimulated mouse RAW264.7 macrophages. Additionally, intracellular survival of the 16M△VirB2 mutant was lower than that of Brucella 16M (p < 0.05). VirB2 can affect expression levels of Ubc9, thereby increasing intracellular survival of Brucella in macrophages at the late stage of infection. Collectively, our results demonstrate that B. melitensis 16M may use the VirB IV secretion system of Brucella to interact with SUMO-related proteins during infection of host cells, which interferes with SUMO function and promotes pathogen survival in host cells.
Animals ; Apoptosis ; Brucella melitensis ; Brucella ; Immunologic Factors ; Macrophages ; Mice ; Plasmids

Objective To investigate the prokaryotic expression and immunoreactivity of BspE,a type Ⅳ secretion protein of Brucella,and the effect of recombinant protein BspE on cytokines.Methods According to the BspE gene of Brucella M5-90 published in GenBank,the gene fragments were synthesized by a company and then ligated into PUC57 vector for sequencing.The sequenced gene was cloned into a prokaryotic expression vector pET-28α and transformed.Induced expression was performed in E.coli DE3 competent cells.The obtained target protein was purified by a Ni-NTA affinity column,and its reactogenicity was analyzed by Western blotting.Mouse RAW264.7 cells were treated with 25 g/L BspE recombinant protein for 12,24,48 h,and the control group was treated with the same amount of BSA instead of BspE,and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect interleukin (IL)-1β level.Results The recombinant expresed plasmid of pET-28α-BspE was successfully obtained.The results of Western blotting showed a single band with a relative molecular mass of about 30.1 × 103,and the recombinant protein BspE had good reactogenicity,and IL-1β levels (ng/L)were significantly elevated by the recombinant protein BspE (12 h:43.27 ± 2.13 vs 30.24 ± 1.66,24 h:57.78 ± 3.44 vs 41.22 ± 1.22,48 h:72.52 ± 3.04 vs 46.77 ± 2.75,t =8.38,7.86,10.89,P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions BspE recombinant protein has better immunoreactivity and can increase the expression level of IL-1β in mouse macrophages.This study provides a scientific basis for the role of effector proteins in the pathogenesis of Brucella.