ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of quercetin on acute gouty arthritis （GA） in rats by inhibiting the reactive oxygen species （ROS）/NOD-like receptor protein 3 （NLRP3）/interleukin-1β （IL-1β） signaling pathway. MethodsSixty SPF-grade male SD rats were randomized into normal， model， colchicine （0.3 mg·kg^-1）， and low-， medium-， and high-dose （25， 50， 100 mg·kg^-1， respectively） quercetin groups （n=10）. The rats in the dosing groups were administrated with the corresponding drugs （10 mL·kg^-1） by gavage once a day for one week. An equal volume of normal saline was given by gavage to rats in normal and model groups. One hour after drug administration on day 5， an acute GA model was established in other groups except the control group via intra-articular injection of monosodium urate （MSU） suspension into the right posterior ankle joint cavity. The joint swelling and gait were scored at the time points of 6， 12， 24， 48 h after modeling. Histopathological alterations in the ankle joint tissue from each group were assessed by hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining. Malondialdehyde （MDA）， xanthine oxidase （XOD）， and total superoxide dismutase （T-SOD） assay kits were used to assess the levels of MDA， XOD， and T-SOD in the serum. The levels of tumor interleukin-6 （IL-6）， necrosis factor-α （TNF-α）， and IL-1β in the rat serum， as well as ROS in the ankle joint tissue， were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）. Western blot was performed to determine the protein levels of NLRP3， thioredoxin-interacting protein （TXNIP）， apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD domain （ASC）， precursor cysteinyl aspartate-specific proteinase-1 （pro-Caspase-1）， cleaved Caspase-1 （Caspase-1 p20）， and IL-1β in the ankle joint tissue. Real-time PCR was employed to assess the mRNA levels of TXNIP， NLRP3， ASC， IL-1β， and TNF-α in the ankle joint tissue. ResultsCompared with the normal group， the model group exhibited decreased spontaneous activity， mental fatigue， increased ankle joint swelling and gait scores （P<0.01）， aggravated synovial tissue edema and inflammatory cell infiltration （P<0.01）， elevated levels of XOD， MDA， TNF-α， IL-1β， and IL-6 in the serum and ROS in the joint tissue （P<0.01）， a declined level of T-SOD （P<0.01）， up-regulated protein levels of NLRP3， TXNIP， ASC， pro-Caspase-1， Caspase-1 p20， and IL-1β in the ankle joint tissue （P<0.01）， and up-regulated mRNA levels of NLRP3， TXNIP， ASC， IL-1β， and TNF-α in the ankle joint tissue （P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， the medium- and high-dose quercetin groups showed improved general conditions， decreased gait scores （P<0.05， P<0.01）， reduced joint swelling （P<0.01）， alleviated synovial tissue edema and inflammatory cell infiltration （P<0.05， P<0.01）， lowered levels of XOD， MDA， TNF-α， IL-1β， and IL-6 in the serum and ROS in the joint tissue （P<0.01）， increased levels of T-SOD （P<0.01）， down-regulated protein levels of TXNIP， NLRP3， ASC， pro-Caspase-1， Caspase-1 p20， and IL-1β in the ankle joint tissue （P<0.05， P<0.01）， and down-regulated mRNA levels of TXNIP， NLRP3， ASC， IL-1β， and TNF-α in the ankle joint tissue （P<0.01）. Low-dose quercetin also ameliorated some of the above parameters （P<0.05， P<0.01）. ConclusionQuercetin exerts anti-GA effects by blocking the ROS/NLRP3/IL-1β signaling pathway， downregulating NLRP3 inflammasome activation， and inhibiting the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines including TNF-α， IL-1β， and IL-6.

The goal of the study was to investigate the protective effect and mechanism of Artemisia argyi ethanol extract on chemotherapeutic vancomycin (VAN)-induced acute kidney injury (AKI).The acute kidney injury model of male ICR mice was induced by intraperitoneal injection (ip) of VAN.Thirty mice were divided into the blank group, model group, high dose group, middle dose group and low dose group, which were given medicine by gastric perfusion (ig).Serum levels of cystain C (Cys C), blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and serum creatinine (Scr) were measured, which could reflect renal function of mice.Serum oxidative stress and inflammation indices were also determined, including muscular dystrophy association (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), Interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and high-sensitive c-reactive protein (hs-CRP).In addition, hematoxylin-eosin staining (HE) was employed for measuring the damage of renal tissues and the content of apoptosis b-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2), Bcl-2 assaciated X protein (Bax) and caspase-3 were measured too.All results showed that Artemisia argyi extract exhibits protective effect on chemotherapeutic VAN-induced AKI, whose mechanism could be related to the oxidative stress, inflammatory reaction and apoptosis.

Objective:To observe the differences in scleral lamina curvature (SLC) of patients with pseudoexfoliation glaucoma (PXG), primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), and primary chronic angle-closure glaucoma (CPACG) were compared and analyzed and their significance was analyzed.Methods:A retrospective clinical study. From June 2017 to December 2020, 30 PXG (PXG group), POAG (POAG group) and CPACG patients (CPACG group) diagnosed at Eye Center of Cangnan County people's Hospital of Zhejiang Province (Cangnan Hospital Affiliated to Wenzhou Medical University) were included in the study. The age difference between the three groups of patients was statistically significant ( t=17.925, P=0.001); gender composition ratio ( χ2=2.158, P=0.276), intraocular pressure ( t=4.993, P=0.078), and axial length ( t=1.956, P=0.532), central corneal thickness ( t=1.407, P=0.724), average visual field defect ( t=2.725, P=0.496), optic disc retinal nerve fiber layer thickness ( t=2.185, P=0.492) in comparison, the differences were not statistically significant ( P>0.05). The frequency-domain optical coherence tomography deep-enhanced imaging (OCT EDI) technology was used to measure the average and 0°, 30°, 60°, 90°, 120°, 150° SLC of the affected eyes, and calculate the SLC index (SLCI) and SL curve depth (SLCD). Quantitative data comparison between groups used independent sample t test. Count data comparison used χ2 test. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used for correlation analysis. Results:The results of OCT EDI examination showed that the SLC of eyes with PXG and CPACG was significantly steep, while the SLC of eyes with POAG was relatively flat. Except for the angle of 150°, the other 6 angles of SLCI and SLCD in the PXG group and CPACG group were higher than those in the POAG group, and the differences were statistically significant ( P<0.05). However, there was no statistically significant difference between PXG group and CPACG group for 7 angles of SLCI and SLCD ( P>0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that the average SLCI [odds ratio (OR)=1.498, 95% confidence interval ( CI) 1.137-2.018, P=0.001], age ( OR=1.074, 95% CI 1.019-1.143, P=0.016) was significantly correlated with PXG; mean SLCI ( OR=1.625, 95% CI 1.192-1.997, P=0.001), intraocular pressure ( OR=1.383, 95% CI 1.106-1.993, P=0.012) was significantly correlated with CPACG. POAG group ( β=0.143, 95% CI 0.032- 0.208, P=0.016), CPACG group ( β=0.132, 95% CI 0.079-0.315, P=0.043) intraocular pressure was correlated with mean SLCI; all factors of PXG group were correlated with SLCI without correlation ( P>0.05). Conclusion:Compared with POAG, the SLC of eyes with PXG and CPACG is steeper and related to disease occurrence.

Objective:To evaluate the early analgesic effect of new non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs 0.1% bromofenac sodium hydrate eye drops in pterygium surgery and the efficacy and safety on relieving the irritative symptoms.Methods:One hundred patients (112 eyes) with pterygium who were treated in Cangnan People′s Hospital (Cangnan Hospital Affiliated of Wenzhou Medical University) from January 2016 to September 2017 were selected and divided into observation group and control group by the hospital sequence, with 50 patients in each group. Before operation and 7 d after operation, the patients in two group were given topical tobramycin eye drops (4 times a day), and the patients in observation group were given 0.1% bromofenac sodium hydrate eye drops twice a day on the base of tobramycin eye drops. The patients were investigated early after operation and the pain scores of the two groups were compared 6, 8, 24, 48 and 72 h after operation.The corneal epithelial healing was compared too.Results:The pain scores in observation group 6, 8, 24, 48 and 72 h after operation were significantly lower than that in control group [(0.96 ± 0.13) scores vs. (2.21 ± 0.07) scores, (0.90 ± 0.05)scores vs. (1.71 ± 0.30) scores, (0.71 ± 0.07) scores vs.(1.54 ± 0.09) scores, (0.51 ± 0.04) scores vs. (1.31 ± 0.10) scores, (0.21 ± 0.02) scores vs. (0.80 ± 0.1) scores], and the differences were statistically significant ( P<0.05). The corneal wound healing rate of the two groups 2 or 3 d after operaion had no significant differences and the corneal wound healing rate 7 d after operaion was 100.0% (57/57, 55/55) in two groups. Conclusions:In pterygium surgery patients, using 0.1% bromfenac sodium hydrate drops before and after operation to relieve pain is valid, and can effectively relieve early postoperative pain.

Objectives To observe the anesthetic effects of an improved anesthetic method on goat by comparing with the original method, and to provide theoretical and practical reference for anesthesia during the establishment of goat models.Methods A total of 72 goats were selected to make tibial fracture models, 36 were enrolled as group A and others as group B.The group A was injected with Sumianxin and diazepam.The group B was injected with Sumianxin, diazepam and pumped propofol by intravenous pump.The times of animal struggle, total dose of additional Sumianxin, death rate, and recovery time were evaluated.Results The death rate of group A was 16.67% and there was no death in the group B.The times of struggle, the total dose of additional Sumianxin and the recovery time of the group A were higher than group B, showing a significant difference (P<0.05).Conclusions The improved anesthetic method can decrease the times of goat struggle times, reduce the dose of anaesthetics, and lower the death rate.

Objective To evaluate the feasibility of speckle-tracking echocardiography in detecting left atrial (LA) function impairment in early hypertensive (HT) patients.Methods Echocardiography was performed in 154 HT patients with LA volume index ＜28 ml/m2 and 64 age/gender-matched control subjects.LA global longitudinal strain in late diastole (Sa),systole (Ss),and total strain (Stot =Sa + Ss),strain rate in late diastole (SRa),systole (SRs),and early diastole (SRe) were measured using off-line speckle-tracking analyzing software in apical 4 chamber view.Results Both parameters reflecting LA reservoir function [Stot (23.7 ± 6.0) ％ vs (25.7 ± 5.9) ％,p =0.03 and SRs ( 1.2 ± 0.3) s- 1 vs ( 1.3 ±0.3) s-1,P =0.03]and conduit function [Ss (12.0 ± 5.1)％ vs (14.0±5.7)％,P =0.02 and SRe (1.0 ± 0.4)s- 1 vs ( 1.2 ± 0.4)s- 1,p ＜0.001 ]decreased significantly in HT group than control,while LA pump function parameters (Sa and SRa) had no differences.Ss,Stot and SRe correlated significantly with HT and HT duration.Conclusions LA phasic function are impaired in HT patients with normal LA size.Speckle tracking echocardiography is a promising tool for the early detection of LA dysfunction.

This study is to investigate the tumor invasion and metastasis inhibition effects of the immunoconjugate composed of lidamycin and anti-type IV collagenase monoclonal antibody Fab' fragment. Boyden chamber assay was used to evaluate the influence of Fab'-LDM on HT-1080 cells invasion ability, gelatinase spectrum was used to measure the change of invasion factor MMP-2 and MMP-9's secretion, and RT-PCR was adopted to determine TIMP-1 mRNA expression level. The immunoconjugate inhibition of tumor in situ metastasis was also tested in nude mice. The Fab'-LDM conjugates had dose-dependent inhibition effect on HT-1080 cells' invasion. At the concentrations of 5 and 10 nmol L(-1), the Fab'-LDM inhibited the invasion by (60 +/- 12) % and (79 +/- 11) % respectively. At the concentration of 5 and 10 nmol L(-1), the Fab'-LDM inhibited the secretion of MMP-2 by (42 +/- 8) % and (54 +/- 6) % and that of MMP-9 by (57 +/- 3) % and (87 +/- 1) %, respectively. RT-PCR indicated that conjugates increased the anti-invasion factor TIMP-1 level. The in vivo experiment showed that, compared with the control group, the tumor inhibition rate in Fab', Fab'-LDM, and LDM group equaled to (30 +/- 13) %, (86 +/- 26) %, (74 +/- 22) % respectively. In conclusion, Fab'-LDM could inhibit the invasion and metastasis of tumor and it might be a new tumor biotherapy agent.

To investigate the antitumor activities of the immunoconjugates composed of anti-type IV collagenase monoclonal antibody Fab' fragment and lidamycin (LDM) prepared with different linkers. The immunoconjugates were prepared by linking Fab' to lysine-69 of LDM apoprotein by SPDP, LCSPDP, SMBS or SSMPB as the intermediate drug linkers. Immunoreactivities of the conjugates were determined by ELISA. The cytotoxicities of the conjugates were examined by clonogenic assay. In vivo antitumor effects of the conjugates were evaluated in nude mice bearing subcutaneously implanted HT-1080 tumor. ELISA assay showed that the conjugates retained part of the immunoreactivity of 3G11 against the antigen. The cytotoxicities of the Fab'-SMBS-LDM and Fab'-SSMPB-LDM to HT-1080 cells were significantly potent, compared with Fab'-SPDP-LDM, Fab'-LCSPDP-LDM and free LDM. In animal models at the same condition, free LDM, Fab'-SPDP-LDM and Fab'-LCSPDP-LDM inhibited the growth of HT-1080 tumor by 70.9%, 74.8% and 72.3%, while Fab'-SMBS-LDM and Fab'-SSMPB-LDM reached 78.0% and 87.7%, respectively. The median survival time of the mice treated with free LDM, Fab'-SPDP-LDM and Fab'-LCSPDP-LDM were prolonged by 71.9%, 82.2% and 107.5%, respectively, compared with that of untreated group. Whereas, the median survival time of Fab'-SMBS-LDM and Fab'-SSMPB-LDM were prolonged by 145.2% and 165.8%, respectively, indicating that Fab'-SSMPB-LDM was more effective than Fab'-SMBS-LDM in tumor suppression and life span prolongation. Fab'-SSMPB-LDM has more marked selective antitumor efficacy and lower toxicity, and might be a novel candidate for cancer therapy.

Background To report quality control methods and baseline reproducibility data of the ultrasound measurements of carotid artery intima-media thickness in the project of Establishment of an Integrated System for Coronary Heart Disease Prevention and Treatment.Methods Standard ultrasound scanning and measuring protocols were established by the study group.All sonographers and readers were trained by the carotid ultrasound core lab and all digital ultrasound images were centrally read.Ten subjects were scanned twice (with 1 week interval) by 2 sonographers independently and images were read by a single reader to evaluate the sonographer variability.Twenty subjects' images were read twice (with 1 week interval) by a single reader to assess the reader variability and the reproducibility of IMT measured at different carotid segments.Results The intraclass correlation (ICC) of intra-and inter-sonographer and intrareader for mean IMT measurements was 0.99,0.98 and 0.97 respectively; while for max IMT,it was 0.97,0.99 and 0.95 respectively.Among different carotid segments and sites,ICC for mean IMT measurements of common carotid (CCA),carotid artery bulb (Bulb),internal carotid artery (ICA),overall near wall and overall far wall was 0.97,0.99,0.89,0.93 and 0.98 respectively.Conclusion The reproducibility of IMT measurements according to our protocol is acceptable,although better reproducibility is found when measuring the mean IMT than max IMT,CCA and Bulb IMT than ICA IMT,and far wall IMT than near wall IMT.

BACKGROUND: The brittleness and low flexural strength of ceramic material hinder, to a certain extent, its application in prosthodontic dentistry. Zirconia is enhanced in its flexural strength and toughness by the transformation toughening mechanism, which makes up for the brittleness of the traditional all-ceramic material.OBJECTIVE: To preliminarily explore a new machinable zirconia ceramic material and investigate sintering properties of dental machinable zirconia/La-monazite diphase ceramics with nano-zirconia/La-monazite diphase ceramics. DESIGN: By adjusting the composition and ratio of raw materials, and by adopting different preparation and sintering method, this study was intended to measure the related parameters and to explore the best preparation and sintering method. SETTING: Department of Prosthodontics, College of Stomatology Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University; Lab of Advanced Inorganic Material Technology, School of Material Science and Engineering, Shanghai University. MATERIALS: There were 3 mol yttria-containing tetragonal zirconia polycrystals (3Y-TZP) (size≤50 nm, purity 99.99%, Yixing Xinxing Zirconia-products Co., Ltd.) and La-monazite (purity 99.99%, Baotou Rare-earth Phosphate Institution). METHODS: Experiments were performed at the Department of Prosthodontics, College of Stomatology Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University from January 2004 to December 2006. The pilot experiments found that the zirconia with less than 15% of lanthanum phosphate was high in strength but poor in machinability while more than 20% of lanthanum phosphate was decreased significantly in its strength. Therefore, 15%, 18% and 20% (volume percentage) of la-monazite was added to 3Y-TZP. The green bodies of the three groups were compacted by cold isostatic pressing (200 MPa) and were sintered in air atmosphere at different temperatures: 1 560 ℃, 1 580 ℃ and 1 600 ℃ to make the ceramic samples. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The volume density, porous rate (Archimedes method) and three-point bending strength (EZ-100 universal testing machine) were tested of all the ceramic samples.RESULTS: ①With the increase of sintering temperature, zirconia/La-monazite ceramics with 15%, 18% and 20% lanthanum phosphate was increased in its bulk and density. The density was the highest for 1 600 ℃ and the respective density of the three groups were 5.77 g/cm3, 5.42 g/cm3 and 5.39 g/cm3. The porous rate decreased with the increasing temperature and was the lowest at 1 600 ℃ (0.88%, 1.21%, 1.49% respectively). There was no significant difference in volume and density at different temperatures (P > 0.05). ②The flexure strength of diphase ceramic with 18% and 20% lanthanum phosphate increased with the temperature increasing to 1 580 ℃. At 1 580 ℃, the flexural strength reached the highest level, respectively (772.22±43.43) MPa, (216.03±25.20) MPa and (157.21±9.79) MPa. When the temperature reaches 1 600 ℃, the strength was decreased. CONCLUSION: Zirconia/La-monazite diphase ceramics can be prepared by adopting cold isostatic pressing (200 MPa) and sintering at 1 580 ℃.