Objective:To prepare PEG-SH modified GNPs/miR-29 nanoparticles and to investigate the proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells induced by PEG-SH modified GNPs/miR-29 nanoparticles.Methods:PEG-SH modified GNPs/miR-29 nanoparticles were developed by oxidation-reduction method and were tested for UV absorption spectrum, particle size distribution and zeta potential of nanoparticles. A total of 15 adult male Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were used to establish spinal cord injury model by modified Allen method. The artificial miR-29 and PEG-SH modified GNPs/miR-29 nanoparticles were implanted into the injury site of spinal cord respectively. The stability of miR-29 expression was analyzed by gel electrophoresis. The neural stem cells were isolated and cultured from 10 SPF grade neonatal rats. It was identified by Nestin, GFAP and NSE antibodies. The activity and proliferation of neural stem cells in synthetic miR-29, PEG-SH GNPs and PEG-SH GNPs/miR-29 nanoparticles group was detected by CCK-8 assay. Neural stem cells were cultured with synthetic miR-29, PEG-SH GNPs and PEG-SH GNPs/miR-29 nanoparticles for 1 week. The density, length and number of neuritis were investigated.Results:The solution of PEG-SH modified GNPs showed a brownish red appearance. The spheres were in uniform distribution under transmission electron microscope. The results of UV absorption spectrum showed a single peak wave. The peak value of UV absorption was near 523 nm. The zeta potential increased gradually with the increased content of PEG-SH. The peak value of zeta potential was 22.5±5.2 mV. With the increase of content of PEG, the particle size of PEG-SH modified GNPs rapidly reached peak value at the early stage and then decreased rapidly to a relatively stable level. The synthetic miR-29 and PEG-SH modified GNPs/miR-29 nanoparticles were implanted into the injury site of spinal cord. At 0-6 h, clear band was observed in the synthetic miR-29 group. However, the band was disappeared rapidly at 12-24 h. In PEG-SH GNPs/miR-29 group, clear band were always observed. The OD values of miR-29 group were 0.34±0.17, 0.78±0.31, 1.28±0.68, 1.64±0.38 at 1, 3, 5 and 7 d after inoculation respectively. There was no significant difference in OD values compared with DMEM group. There was no significant difference in OD values among GNPs, PEG-SH GNPs, PEG-SH GNPs/miR-29 and DMEM group. The density (56.38±3.65 μm 2), length (78.25±3.72 μm) and the number [(356±34.52) /1,000×high power field] of neurites in PEG-SH GNPs/miR-29 group were higher than those in miR-29 group, PEG-SH modified GNPs group and saline group. However, there was no significant difference in the density, length and number of neurite between PEG-SH GNPs/miR-29 and serum group. Conclusion:PEG-SH modified GNPs/miR-29 nanoparticless have good biological properties. It can induce the proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells with protective effects on miR-29.

Recently, with the development of RNA research techniques, a wide variety of circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been discovered and some of them are confirmed to have crucial biological functions. CircRNAs arise from exons (i.e. exonic circRNAs) or introns (i.e. intronic circRNAs). Acting as microRNA sponges or combining with proteins, circRNAs participate in the regulation of gene expression and influence the activity of some proteins. In addition, some circRNAs even encode proteins. More importantly, several circRNAs play a key role in the occurrence and progression of some tumors, including stomach, liver, colon, breast, cervical, and ovarian cancers. Therefore, circRNAs may be a novel type of diagnostic marker and therapeutic target of cancers.

ObjectiveToinvestigate the effect of different needling methods on ischemic stroke, for seeking the effective treatment for stroke.MethodBy following the randomized controlled principle, the sixty enrolled patients were randomized into an electroacupuncture groupand an acupuncture group, 30 cases in each group. The two groups were both intervened by needling treatment in addition to the conventional internal medicine management, electroacupuncture for the electroacupuncture group,and ordinary acupuncture for theacupuncture group. The Neuropathy Disability Scale (NDS), Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA), and Barthel Index (BI) were adopted for evaluation and comparison.ResultThe NDS, FMA, and BI scores were significantly changed after treatment in both groups (P<0.01); there were significant differencesin comparing FMA and BI scores between the two groups (P<0.05).ConclusionElectroacupuncture can produce a more significant efficacy in treating ischemic stroke compared with ordinary acupuncture, electroacupunctureis also better than ordinary acupuncture in improving the neural deficit.

Objective:To explore changes of peripheral blood levels of C reactive protein (CRP)and matrix metallo-proteinase-9 (MMP-9)in patients with coronary heart diseases (CHD)and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI),and analyze their relationship with patients'prognosis.Methods:A total of 278 CHD patients undergoing PCI in our hospital from Jul 2009 to Apr 2011 were regarded as PCI group;another 234 CHD patients not receiving PCI were enrolled as CHD control group.According to results of coronary angiography,PCI group was further di-vided into single-vessel (n=143),double-vessel (n=92)and triple-vessel disease group (n=43).Changes of CRP and MMP-9 levels were compared between two groups in different time,and the relationship among these two in-flammatory factors and coronary disease,its prognosis was analyzed.Results:Compared with on admission,there were significant rise in levels of CRP [(2.43±0.62)mg/L vs.(2.87±0.73)mg/L,(2.98±0.87)mg/L]and MMP-9 [(12.63±2.68)ng/ml vs.(14.62±3.49)ng/ml,(19.62±4.63)ng/ml]in PCI group on 24h and 48h after PCI,P <0.05~<0.01;there were no significant difference in CRP and MMP-9 levels between on admission and 14d after PCI,P >0.05;The more severe coronary lesion was,the higher CRP and MMP-9 levels were,CRP and MMP-9 levels of triple-vessel group [(2.51 ±0.64)mg/L,(14.67±2.97)ng/ml]were significantly higher than those of single-vessel group [(1.83±0.51)mg/L,(9.68±1.42)ng/ml]and double-vessel group [(2.17±0.59) mg/L,(11.62±2.19)ng/ml],P <0.05~<0.01;incidence rates of cardiovascular events in patients with CRP≥3 mg/L and MMP-9≥15 ng/ml (33.3%,29.1%)were significantly higher than those of patients with CRP <3 mg/L and MMP-9<15 ng/ml (16.1%,18.2%)respectively,P <0.05 both.Conclusion:Serum levels of CRP and MMP-9 significantly rise in CHD patients on 48h after PCI,and their increasing level is related with extent of coronary ar-tery lesion and prognosis.

Objective: To explore the relationship between myocardial ischemia and left ventricular diastolic function (LVDF) by fractional lfow reserve (FFR) evaluation in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).
Methods: A total of 57 patients with chest pain were studied, the diagnosis of CAD was confirmed by coronary angiography, which indicated 50%-70%of coronary stenosis. All patients received FFR examination and they were divided into 2 groups:Experimental group, the patients with FFR<0.80, n=27 and Control group, the patients with FFR≥0.80, n=30. The basic condition and risk factors affecting LVDF were compared between 2 groups. Echocardiography was conducted for evaluating left ventricular end-diastolic dimension (LVEDD), left atrial dimension (LAD), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and E/e ' value in both groups.
Results: The patients’ gender, age, history of hypertension, diabetes, blood levels of cholesterol, TG, LDL-C, HDL-C and glucose were similar between 2 groups, P>0.05. Compared with Control group, the Experimental group had the increased LVEDD, LAD and E/e ' value and decreased LVEF, all P<0.05.
Conclusion: The impact of CAD on early diastolic function depends on functional myocardial ischemia in relevant patients.

Objective To explore the clinical application value of coronary angiography (CAG) combined with fractional flow re-serve(FFR) in percutaneous coronary intervention treatment of coronary artery disease (CAD) .Methods 82 cases of CAD(147 le-sions) with single hemadostenosis at least 70% -90% were randomized into the observation group and the control group .The ob-servation group(40 cases ,72 lesions) was performed the myocardial FFR detection by the pressure guide wire and the drug-eluting stents(DES) were placed in the lesions only if FFR ≤0 .80 .The patients with postoperative FFR ≤0 .80 were given the in-stent post-balloon dilatation .The control group(42 cases ,75 lesions) underwent the percutaneous coronary intervention(PCI) for conduc-ting the routine DES implantation .The general condition ,risk factors(hypertension ,diabetese ,hyperlipidemia ,smoking ,etc .) ,num-ber of lesions ,implanted stents ,hospitalization cost ,occurrence rate of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) after postoperative 6 months and the angina recurrence rate were compared between the two groups .Results The number of used stents per patient and the hospitalization cost in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group [(0 .88 ± 0 .88) vs .(1 .81 ± 0 .83) ,(47 200 ± 2 3000)Yuan vs .(60 000 ± 2 4100)Yuan P< 0 .05] .The two groups had no all-cause death in postoperative 6-months .The recurrent myocardial infarction rate ,revascularization rate and recurrent angina in the two groups were 2 .50% vs .0 , 2 .50% vs .2 .38% and 5 .00% vs .7 .14% respectively ,the differences had no statistical significance(P>0 .05) .Conclusion CAG combined with FFR detection can significantly reduce the number of stents and the hospitalization cost without increasing the occur-rence rates of MACE and angina within postoperative 6 months in CAD patients .

Objective To investigate the effect of rosuvastatin on the morphine tolerance in rats and the underlying mechanism.Methods Forty-eight male Sprague-Dawley rats,weighing 200-250 g,were randomly divided into 6 groups (n =8 each):control group (group C),morphine tolerance group (group MT),rosuvastatin control group (group RC),rosuvastatin 0.4 mg/kg group (group R1),rosuvastatin 2.0 mg/kg group (group R2)and rosuvastatin 10.0 mg/kg group (group R3).Morphine tolerance was induced by subcutaneous injection of morphine 10.0 mg/kg at 8:00 and 16:00 everyday for 5 consecutive days.The equal volume of normal saline was given in groups C and RC.Normal saline 10 ml/kg was injected through a gastric tube into stomach everyday at 30 min after subcutaneous injection of normal saline or morphine for 5 consecutive days in groups C and MT.Rosuvastatin 10,0.4,2.0 and 10.0 mg/kg were injected through a gastric tube into stomach everyday at 30 min after subcutaneous injection of normal saline or morphine for 5 consecutive days in groups RC,R1,R2 and R3,respectively.The paw withdrawal latency to nociceptive thermal stimulation was measured 1 day before (T1) and 1 day after morphine tolerance was induced (T2).The percentage of maximal possible effect (MPE) was calculated.The rats were sacrificed after the last measurement of pain threshold and the L5 segment of the spinal cord was removed for determination of the expression of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and phosphorylated ERK (p-ERK)(by Western blot) and contents of interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) (by ELISA).Results Compared with group C,MPE was significantly decreased at T2 and the expression of p-ERK and contents of IL-1β and TNF-α were increased in groups MT and R1 (P ＜ 0.05).Compared with group MT,MPE was significantly increased at T2 and the expression of p-ERK and contents of IL-1β and TNF-α were decreased in groups RC,R2 and R3 (P ＜ 0.05).There was no significant difference in the indicators mentioned above between groups R2 and R3,and in the expression of ERK between the six groups (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion Rosuvastatin can attenuate the morphine tolerance in rats by inhibiting the phosphorylation of ERK and decreasing the level of IL-1β and TNF-α.

Objective Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is widely used as a spice in cooking and as a medicinal herb in traditional herbal medicine. The present study was to investigate the analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities of ginger oil in experimental animal models. Methods The analgesic effect of the oils was evaluated by the acetic acid and hot-plate test models of pain in mice. The anti-inflammatory effect of the oil was investigated in rats, using rat paw edema induced by carrageenan, adjuvant arthritis, and vascular permeability induced by bradykinin, arachidonic acid, and histamine. Indomethacin (1 mg/kg), Aspirin (0.5 g/kg) and Dexamethasone (2.5 mg/kg) were used respectively as reference drugs for comparison. Results The ginger oil (0.25-1.0 g/kg) produced significant analgesic effect against chemically- and thermally-induced nociceptive pain stimuli in mice (P < 0.05, 0.01). And the ginger oil (0.25-1.0 g/kg) also significantly inhibited carrageenan-induced paw edema, adjuvant arthritis, and inflammatory mediators-induced vascular permeability in rats (P < 0.05, 0.001). Conclusion These findings confirm that the ginger oil can be used to treat pain and chronic inflammation such as rheumatic arthritis.

BACKGROUND: The correlation of gycosylphosphatidilinoditol-specific phospholipase D (GPI-PLD) activity, mRNA expression to leukemia type, hepatosplenomegaly and/or lymphadenopathy has been rarely reported. OBJECTIVE: To explore the correlation of GPI-PLD expression to leukemia type and hepatosplenomegaly and/or lymphadenopathy of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. METHODS: Fresh bone marrow specimens were obtained from 43 newly diagnosed AML patients, 28 acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) patients, and 21 normal persons. Bone marrow mononuclear cells were harvested by density gradient centrifugation. GPI-anchored human placent alkaline phosphatase was used as substrate. GPI-PLD activity was determined bytriton-X114 phase partitioning procedure. GPI-PLD mRNA expression was detected by semi-quantitative RT-PCR. The relationship of GPI-PLD activity, mRNA expression and leukemia type, hepatosplenomegaly and/or lymphadenopathy was analyzed. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Compared with control group, GPI-PLD activity and mRNA expression in bone marrow mononuclear cells were significantly higher in AML group (P < 0.01), while they were significantly lower in the ALL group (P < 0.01). Of 43 patients with AML patients, 13 patients had hepatosplenomegaly and/or lymphadenopathy. The GPI-PLD activity (%) and mRNA expression were significantly higher in AML patients without hepatosplenomegaly and lymphadenopathy than those patients with hepatosplenomegaly and/or lymphadenopathy (P < 0.05). These results demonstrated that GPI-PLD activity alteration is consistent with GPI-PLD mRNA expression in AML patients, and the expression levels correlate to leukemia type and hepatosplenomegaly and/or lymphadenopathy of AML patients.

This study sought to assess the effect of Ginsenoside Rg1 on streptozocin-induced diabetic nephropathy in rats and to unveil the underlying mechanism. Diabetic nephropathy (DN) was induced by intraperitoneal injection of streptozocin (STZ). Eight weeks after drug administration, the rats from each group were sacrificed. Serum creatine (Scr) and 24 hours urine protein, cross reaction protein (CRP) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) were measured at the end of the study. The histological changes of renal interstitial tissues were observed by periodic acid-Schiff staining (PAS). Immunohistochemical method was used to examine the expression levels of ectodermal dysplasia (ED-1). The mRNA of transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) was measured by real-time PCR (RT-PCR), and the protein expression of TGF-beta1 was surveyed by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). The renal pathological changes in DN rats given ginsenoside Rg1 treatment were ameliorated, and the expression levels of 24 h urine protein, serum creatinine, CRP, TNF-alpha, ED-1 and TGF-beta1 were significantly lower than those in the diabetic nephropathy group (P < 0.05). So, we reach a conclusion that, in the experiment, Ginsenoside Rg1 obviously reduced TGF-beta1 expression and the already-mentioned inflammatory reaction factors in the renal tissues and improved the renal pathological changes in DN rats.
Animals ; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental ; complications ; Diabetic Nephropathies ; drug therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Ginsenosides ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Phytotherapy ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; metabolism ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 ; genetics ; metabolism