The inflammatory microenvironment is closely associated with the initiation and progression of osteoarthritis （OA）， specifically manifesting as macrophage activation， dysregulation of inflammatory cytokines， and redox imbalance. Following an overview of the pathological characteristics of the OA inflammatory microenvironment， this paper reviews the research progress on the mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） intervening in OA by modulating the inflammatory microenvironment. It has been found that TCM monomers/active ingredients （such as total alkaloids from Strychnos nux-vomica ， quercetin， triptolide， etc.）， herb pairs （e.g. Angelica pubescens - Gentiana macrophylla ， Carthami Flos-Lycopodii Herba）， and TCM formulas （such as Zhuanggu jianxi formula， Duhuo jisheng decoction and Rongjin niantong formula， etc.） can inhibit macrophage activation， reduce the release of proinflammatory cytokines and the generation of reactive oxygen species by inhibiting multiple signaling pathways， including nuclear factor-κB， Wnt/ β -catenin， and mitogen-activated protein kinase， thereby alleviating the articular inflammatory microenvironment， restoring local joint homeostasis， and slowing the progression of OA.

AIM: To investigate the molecular mechanism through which DKK1 is transcriptionally regulated in HCC (hepatocellular carcinoma) cells. METHODS: Real time PCR was used to explore whether EGFR was involved in regulating DCLK1 mRNA expression in HCC cells; Western blot assay was used to examine whether EGFR-mediated the up-regulation of DCLK1 protein in HCC cells; Immunohistochemical (IHC) analyses were used to examine the protein expression of EGFR and DCLK1 in 39 human HCC tumor specimens. RESULTS: EGF promoted the expression of DCLK1 mRNA and protein in HepG2 and Huh-7 cells (P<0.05, P<0.01), while knockdown of EGFR with two specific siRNA could reverse EGF-induced the up-regulation of DCLK1 mRNA and protein (P<0.01). IHC analyses revealed that the amount of EGFR correlated significantly with that of DCLK1 (r=0.669 6). CONCLUSION: EGFR promoted DCLK1 transcription in HCC.

Objective: This study was devoted to identifying natural thrombin inhibitors from traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and evaluating its biological activity in vitro and binding characteristics. Methods: A combination strategy containing molecular docking, thrombin inhibition assay, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and molecular dynamics simulation were applied to verify the study result. Results: Gallic acid was confirmed as a direct thrombin inhibitor with IC

Neurotransmitters play an important role in nervous system. Temporal and spatial changes of neurotransmitter distribution are crucial to information processing in neural networks. Biosensors that can visually monitor neurotransmitters are one of the vital tools to explore a variety of physiological and pathological activities. This article reviews recent advances in monitoring neurotransmitters with high temporal and spatial resolution, and introduces the latest fluorescent imaging methods for typical neurotransmitters, including glutamate, dopamine, γ-aminobutyric acid and acetylcholine. The article also summarizes the basic principles, advantages and disadvantages of various visually detection methods, and provides systematic suggestions for designing neurotransmitter sensors with high temporal and spatial resolution.
Animals ; Biosensing Techniques ; instrumentation ; trends ; Fluorescence ; Humans ; Neurotransmitter Agents ; metabolism

Objective: We aimed to examine the feasibility and toxicity of EC-T dose-dense regimen and to demonstrate the suitable dose of epirubicin in a Chinese early-stage breast cancer population with high recurrence risk. Methods: 370 patients with early-stage breast cancer at high risk of recurrence were treated with EC-T dose-dense adjuvant chemotherapy and prophylactic administration of recombinant human granulocyte stimulating factor (G-CSF). The incidence of delayed chemotherapy, drug reduction and adverse reactions were retrospectively analyzed. Results: 370 patients completed the planned eight cycles of chemotherapy, 50 patients experienced chemotherapy delay, and 90 had chemotherapy dose reductions. Overall, 61.1% of the patients experienced grade 3 or 4 hematology toxicities, 4.1% of the patients experienced grade 3 gastrointestinal toxicity, 16.3% experienced grade 3 or 4 liver malfunction, and 1.9% experienced grade 3 alopecia. In the multivariate analysis, pretreatment epirubicin levels were associated with comprehensive and hematology toxicity risk (OR=1.268, P=0.046; OR=1.244, P=0.036). With G-CSF support, the probability of grade 3-4 dose limiting toxicity, i. e. neutropenia, abnormal liver function, and gastrointestinal adverse effects did not increase as the epirubicin dose level increased(P>0.05). However, there were no statistically significant associations between epirubicin grade and treatment delay (P=0.814) or dose reduction (P=0.282). Conclusions EC-T dose-dense chemotherapy shows tolerable toxicity. High dose level is not a limiting factor for this regimen. With G-CSF support, epirubicin 85-90 mg/m² is appropriate tolerance dose for Chinese early breast cancer patients with high recurrence risk.

Objective We aimed to examine the feasibility and toxicity of EC?T dose?dense regimen and to demonstrate the suitable dose of epirubicin in a Chinese early?stage breast cancer population with high recurrence risk. Methods 370 patients with early?stage breast cancer at high risk of recurrence were treated with EC?T dose?dense adjuvant chemotherapy and prophylactic administration of recombinant human granulocyte stimulating factor (G?CSF). The incidence of delayed chemotherapy, drug reduction and adverse reactions were retrospectively analyzed. Results 370 patients completed the planned eight cycles of chemotherapy, 50 patients experienced chemotherapy delay, and 90 had chemotherapy dose reductions. Overall, 61.1% of the patients experienced grade 3 or 4 hematology toxicities, 4.1% of the patients experienced grade 3 gastrointestinal toxicity, 16.3% experienced grade 3 or 4 liver malfunction, and 1.9%experienced grade 3 alopecia. In the multivariate analysis, pretreatment epirubicin levels were associated with comprehensive and hematology toxicity risk ( OR＝1.268, P＝0.046; OR＝1.244, P＝0.036). With G?CSF support, the probability of grade 3?4 dose limiting toxicity, i.e. neutropenia, abnormal liver function, and gastrointestinal adverse effects did not increase as the epirubicin dose level increased ( P＞0.05). However, there were no statistically significant associations between epirubicin grade and treatment delay (P＝0.814) or dose reduction (P＝0.282). Conclusions EC?T dose?dense chemotherapy shows tolerable toxicity. High dose level is not a limiting factor for this regimen.With G?CSF support, epirubicin 85?90 mg／m2 is appropriate tolerance dose for Chinese early breast cancer patients with high recurrence risk.

Objective We aimed to examine the feasibility and toxicity of EC?T dose?dense regimen and to demonstrate the suitable dose of epirubicin in a Chinese early?stage breast cancer population with high recurrence risk. Methods 370 patients with early?stage breast cancer at high risk of recurrence were treated with EC?T dose?dense adjuvant chemotherapy and prophylactic administration of recombinant human granulocyte stimulating factor (G?CSF). The incidence of delayed chemotherapy, drug reduction and adverse reactions were retrospectively analyzed. Results 370 patients completed the planned eight cycles of chemotherapy, 50 patients experienced chemotherapy delay, and 90 had chemotherapy dose reductions. Overall, 61.1% of the patients experienced grade 3 or 4 hematology toxicities, 4.1% of the patients experienced grade 3 gastrointestinal toxicity, 16.3% experienced grade 3 or 4 liver malfunction, and 1.9%experienced grade 3 alopecia. In the multivariate analysis, pretreatment epirubicin levels were associated with comprehensive and hematology toxicity risk ( OR＝1.268, P＝0.046; OR＝1.244, P＝0.036). With G?CSF support, the probability of grade 3?4 dose limiting toxicity, i.e. neutropenia, abnormal liver function, and gastrointestinal adverse effects did not increase as the epirubicin dose level increased ( P＞0.05). However, there were no statistically significant associations between epirubicin grade and treatment delay (P＝0.814) or dose reduction (P＝0.282). Conclusions EC?T dose?dense chemotherapy shows tolerable toxicity. High dose level is not a limiting factor for this regimen.With G?CSF support, epirubicin 85?90 mg／m2 is appropriate tolerance dose for Chinese early breast cancer patients with high recurrence risk.

Objective: To study the incidence of catastrophic health expenditure of rural families in Xiaochang County of Hubei province, in order to explore the influential factors of catastrophic health expenditure. Methods: By using a multi-stage stratified cluster sampling to conduct a household survey, this paper randomly selects a total of a-bout 1,222 households of 4,673 people from 9 villages of 3 different towns in Xiaochang county of Hubei province, in order to compare the rate and severity of catastrophic health expenditure before and after joining the New Rural Coop-erative Medical Scheme ( NRCMS) , and it uses binary logistic regression model to analyze the influential factors of catastrophic health expenditure. Results: After joining the NRCMS, the rate, average gap and relative gap of cata-strophic health expenditure have all declined within the sampled areas; the influential factors of catastrophic health expenditure are household income, the number of working family members, the number of hospitalizations in family members, and the number of chronic patients among family members. Conclusion: With the increase of household in-come in the rural areas of Xiaochang County, both the rate and severity of catastrophic health expenditure have de-creased. In order to significantly reduce the catastrophic health expenditure in the rural areas of Xiaochang County, the government should perfectly improve the NRCMS's compensation mechanism for chronic outpatients' costs and re-duce the proportion of self-pay patients from low-income families.

Objective To investigate the possible signal pathway of the apoptosis in gastric cancer cell lines(SGC 7901 and MKN 45)induced by arsenic trioxide. Methods TUNEL method was used to observe the influence of calcium antagonist, inhibitors of protein kinase C (PKC) and protein tyrosine kinase(PTK) on the apoptosis of gastric cancer cells induced by arsenic trioxide. Levels of cAMP, PKC and PTK were detected before and after the treatment with arsenic trioxide. Results Both PKC and PTK inhibitors could induce apoptosis of gastric cancer cell lines, also both of them had a cooperative action with arsenic trioxide in inducing apoptosis of gastric cancer cells, while calcium antagonist had no any effect on the apoptosis of gastric cancer cell lines. PKC and PTK levels decreased but cAMP level increased during the apoptosis of gastric cancer cells induced by arsenic trioxide ( P