Objective To label human amniotic epithelial cells(hAECs) by using PEI-FeOnanoparticles. Methods The PEI-FeOnanoparticles were characterized by using transmission electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering. The primary cultured hAECs were labeled with the nanoparticles,and the labeling efficiency was evaluated by Prussian blue staining. The cell survival rate and viability were tested by using placenta blue staining and CCK-8 assay,respectively. Results The PEI-FeOnanoparticles were compact spheres with an average particle size of 13 nm,a hydrodynamic radius of 17.56 nm,and a zeta potential of+34.5 mV. The labeling efficiency of the nanoparticles on hAECs reached 91% when the concentrations were greater than 20 μg/ml. When the concentrations of nanoparticles were at 50 μg/ml(t=16.37,P<0.0001;t=10.39,P<0.0001) and 100 μg/ml(t=29.89,P<0.0001;t=16.86,P<0.0001),the cell survival rates and cell viabilities were significantly reduced versus controls. Conclusion The PEI-FeOnanoparticles can be used for labeling hAECs without obvious cytotoxicity at its working concentration.

In recent years, global natural disasters have been frequent and resulted in great casualties and property loss. Since Wenchuan earthquake, the disaster emergency rescue system of China has obtained considerable development in various aspects including team construction, task scheduling, personnel training, facilities and equipments, logistics, etc. On April 25, 2015, an earthquake that measured 8.1 on the Richter scale attacked Nepal. Chinese government firstly organized a medical team, named China Medical Team, and sent it to the attacked region in Nepal to implement medical rescue. The medical team completed the rescue mission successfully and creatively based on their experiences.

Epidemiological studies have shown that human leukocyte antigen (HLA) allelic polymorphisms are closely correlated to susceptibility to nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), and in a previous study, we showed that HLA-B*46 and HLA-A*02-B*46 haplotypes were strongly associated with NPC susceptibility. In this retrospective study, we investigated the phenotype of the HLA-A and HLA-B alleles and haplotypes and correlated these data to the clinical and pathological parameters of NPC to understand the role of HLA alleles and haplotypes in NPC prognosis. The cohort comprised 117 NPC patients from a Han population in Xinjiang. The local recurrence-free survival (LRFS), distant metastasis- free survival (DMFS), disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS) were analyzed. The 5-year DMFS of the HLA-A*02-B*46 haplotype carriers and non-carriers was 66.4% and 90.3%, respectively. In addition, age was found to be a prognostic factor for LRFS, DFS, and OS (P=0.032, 0.040, and 0.013, respectively). We found that the HLA-A*02-B*46 haplotype might be a prognostic marker in addition to the traditional TNM staging in patients with NPC.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Biomarkers, Tumor ; genetics ; Carcinoma ; Child ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; HLA-A Antigens ; genetics ; HLA-B Antigens ; genetics ; Haplotypes ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms ; genetics ; pathology ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies

Complexes containing cobalt and carbon monoxide ligands, CO releasing molecules (CORMs), have the potential of anti-tumor and anti-inflammatory. In this paper, three hybrid CORMs 1-3 were synthesized and tested for their toxicology in vivo and bioactivities. The results suggest that the complexes have a long half-life in the range of 43-53 min; their oral LD₅₀ to mouse are between 1 500 mg·kg^-1 and 5 000 mg·kg^-1. After the successive administration, complex 1 exhibited a toxic activity in rats' liver, and induced an injury to liver cells. Complex 1 had a strong growth inhibition activity (IC₅₀ 36.20 μmol·L^-1 and 39.25 μmol·L^-1) in both HeLa cells and HepG2 cells, complex 2 displayed a lower activity in the inhibition of HeLa cells proliferation than the control 5-FU (IC₅₀ 114.19 μmol·L^-1), but had a higher activity in the inhibition of HepG2 cells than the control 5-FU (IC₅₀ 171.34 μmol·L^-1). The anti-inflammatory study suggests that all of them reduce intracellular nitrite level, complexes 1 and 2 have a stronger activity than complex 3. Their anti-inflammatory activity attributes to the CO molecules of the CORMs, which was confirmed by comparison with the corresponding ligand.

Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safty of le-vocarnitine combined with alprostadil in the treatment of diabetic ne-phropathy.Methods A total of 68 patients with diabetic nephropathy were randomly divided into control group ( n=34 ) and treatment group (n=34).Control group was given alprostadil 1 mL, qd by intravenous drip.Treatment group was received levocarnitine 1 g, qd by intravenous drip on the basis of control group .The course of two groups was 28 d. The clinical efficacy , biochemical indexes before and after treatment and the incidence of adverse drug reactions were compared between two groups.Results After treatment , the total effective rate of control group was significantly lower than that of treatment group ( 67.65% vs 94.12%, P<0.05).After treatment, the levels of serum 24 h urinary protein , urinary microglobulin , urea nitrogen , cystatin C , homocysteine , glycosylated hemoglobin , transforming growth factor -β1 ,Ⅳcollagen in two groups were significantly decreased ( P<0.05 ) , and those indexes of treatment group after treatment were significantly lower than those of control group (P<0.05).After treatment, the levels of serum of serum creatinine , 25 -hydroxy vitamin D 3 in two groups were decreased with significant difference ( P <0.05 ) , and the treatment group was more obvious ( P<0.05 ).The incidence of adverse drug reactions in control group was significantly higher than that in treat -ment group (23.53%vs 8.82%,P<0.05 ) .Conclusion Levocarnitine combined with alprostadil have a definitive clinical efficacy and safety for the treatment of diabetic nephropathy .

By means of preparative HPTLC and column chromatography over silica gel and Sephadex LH-20, nine diterpenoids were isolated and purified from the whole plants of Scutellaria strigillosa. Based on the physico-chemical properties and spectral data, their structures were elucidated as: 6-O-acetyl-7-O-nicotinoylscutebarbatine G(1), 6-O-nicotinoyl-7-O-acetylscutebarbatine G(2), 6,7-di-O-nicotinoylscutebarbatine G(3), scutebarbatine K(4), scutebarbatine B(5), 6-O-acetylscutehenanine A(6), 6-O-nicotinoylbarba- tin A(7), 6,7-di-O-acetoxylbarbatin A(8), scutebarbatine F(9). Compound 1 is a new diterpenoid, and compounds 2-9 were isolated from Scutellaria strigillosa for the first time.
Diterpenes ; chemistry ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ; Molecular Structure ; Scutellaria ; chemistry ; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization

In this paper, the five strains of Polygonatum odoratum were used as the experimental materials to test the supercooling point, freezing point, the degree of supercooling, the transition stage time, cooling time and water composition of the plant tissue. The cold resistance of P. odoratum was analyzed with the Gray Correlation Method. The results showed that the cold resistances of the five strains of P. odoratum were different, and the water content of plant tissue had some relevance with freezing point and supercooling point, whereas, it could not be measured when the moisture content was too low. The order of cold resistance of the five strains of P. odoratum was ZJCY, DYYZ, XYYZ, CYYZ and JZ I.
Cold Temperature ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; physiology ; Polygonatum ; chemistry ; classification ; physiology ; Water ; analysis

Ten compounds were isolated and purified by column chromatography over silica gel, preparative TLC, and Sephadex LH-20 from the whole plant of Solanum lyratum. The structures were elucidated on the basis of physico-chemical properties and spectral data as 1beta-hydroxy-1 ,2-dihydro-alpha-santonin (1) , boscialin (2) , blumenol C (3), 3beta-hydroxy-5alpha, 6alpha-epoxy-7-megastigmen-9-one(4), dehydrovomifoliol(5) , blumenol A(6), (1'S,2R,5S, 10R) -2-(1', 2'-dihydroxy-l1'-methylethyl) -6,10-dimethylspiro[4,5] dec-6-en-8-one(7) , (1'R,2R,5S,10R)-2-( 1',2'-dihydroxy-l '-methylethyl) -6,1 l0-dimethylspiro[4,5]dec-6-en-8-one( 8) , 2-(1',2'-dihydroxy-1 '-methylethyl) -6,1 0-dimethyl-9-hydroxyspiro [4,5] dec-6-en-8-one (9) , and grasshopper ketone (10). Compounds 1-10 were isolated from this plant for the first time.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Solanum ; chemistry ; Terpenes ; analysis ; isolation & purification

OBJECTIVETo construct mouse Zinc-alpha2-glycoprotein (mZAG) eucaryotic expression plasmid and identify its expression in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes.

METHODSThe total RNA from mouse liver tissue was extracted. The reverse-transcript(RT)-PCR method was used to amplify the complete domain sequence of mZAG, and the confirmed PCR products was inserted into expression plasmid by DNA ligation. The mZAG expression plasmids with various concentrations (0, 0.4, 0.8, and 1.6 microg) were transfected into 3T3-L1 preadipocytes, and ZAG expression in mRNA and protein level was determined by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR and Western blot, respectively.

RESULTSDNA sequencing confirmed the right sequence of mZAG expression plasmid pcDNA3.1(-)-mZAG. After the mZAG expression plasmid with different concentrations were transfected into 3T3-L1 preadipocytes, mZAG mRNA level significantly increased and reached 2.58 folds (P=0.002), 3.67 folds (P=0.000 and 5.19 folds (P=0.001) of that in the control group (no mZAG transfection). mZAG protein level also significantly increased and reached 2.75 folds of that in the control group (P=0.017). Treating 3T3-L1 cells with small interfering RNA (siRNA) sequence siRNA 1 and siRNA 4 resulted in a decrease of mZAG mRNA to 49% and 41% of those in the control group(no siRNA sequence transfection) (P=0.002P=0.000)and a decrease of mZAG protein to 55% and 62% of that in the control group (P=0.004,P=0.025).

CONCLUSIONSmZAG expression plasmid pcDNA3.1(-)-mZAG was successfully established in this study. This plasmid can be well expressed in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. siRNA 1 and siRNA 4 can effectively inhibit the expression of mZAG in these cells.

3T3-L1 Cells ; Adipocytes ; metabolism ; Animals ; Genetic Vectors ; Mice ; Plasmids ; genetics ; RNA, Small Interfering ; genetics ; Seminal Plasma Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Transfection

OBJECTIVETo investigate the possible effects and roles of bodyweight on the puberty onset in adolescent girls.

METHODSTotally 288 Chinese female children and adolescent girls aged 5 to 16 were followed up yearly for four consecutive years. The height, bodyweight, fat percentage, sexual characteristics, and the serum levels of leptin and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) were studied to analyze the influential factors of puberty onset and age of menarche.

RESULTSThe serum level of leptin elevated significantly from age 13 [(9.23 +/- 1.25) microg/L] and reached peak at age 16 [(13.19 +/- 1.45) microg/L]. IGF-1 significantly correlated with the timing of puberty onset (r = 0.292, P = 0.016). BMI and fat percentage had no significant effects on the onset of puberty, but were negatively correlated with the age of menarche (r = -0.323, P = 0.037, r = -0.298, P = 0.038 respectively).

CONCLUSIONBodyweight may have effect on puberty onset in female adolescents.

Adolescent ; Adolescent Development ; Body Weight ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Puberty ; physiology ; Young Adult