Objective: To evaluate the effects of antiretrovirals on cardiovascular function and some biochemical indexes in gestational female rats. Methods: Nineteen 9-week-old female and six 10-week-old male SD rats were divided into normal control group (CON) and highly active antiretroviral therapy group (HARRT), 9/10 female rats and 3 male rats were combined into one cage, totally 2 cages. Female rats in CON group were intragastrically given with normal saline (NS, 10 ml/kg) every morning and evening, while female rats in HARRT group were treated with equal volume antiretrovirals (AZT 31.25 mg/kg + 3TC 15.63 mg/kg + LPV/r (41.67/10.42) mg/kg) for 3 months. The body weight and survival rate of female rats were recorded. Echocardiography and multichannel physiological recorder were used to detect arterial blood pressure and cardiac hemodynamic parameters. The levels of blood glucose, blood lipids, myocardial enzymes and liver enzymes were detected by corresponding kits. Myocardial collagen fibers were observed by Masson staining and the ultrastructure of myocardial cells were observed by transmission electron microscopy. Results: All female rats in CON group survived (9/9), while only 6 rats in HARRT group survived (6/10). Compared with CON group, the body weight of female rats in HAART group was decreased significantly(P＜0.01); the levels of left ventricular end diastolic diameter (LVDd), interventricular septal thickness (IVST), thickness of left ventricular posterior wall (LVPWT) , left atrial diameter (LAD) and arterial diastolic pressure were increased significantly (P＜0.05); the level of LVP+dP/dtmax was decreased (P＜0.01). The levels of triglyceride, creatine kinase, and glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase were decreased (P＜0.05 or P＜0.01), while the level of glucose was increased (P＜0.05). The collagen fibers were increased in myocardial tissue, and ultrastructure of myocardial cells was abnormal. Conclusion: Antiretrovirals during gestation can cause cardiovascular diseases in female rats.
Animals ; Anti-Retroviral Agents/adverse effects* ; Body Weight ; Cardiotoxicity ; Collagen ; Female ; Myocytes, Cardiac/ultrastructure* ; Pregnancy ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

The pathogenesis of autoimmune disease is complex, lacking in specific markers and new therapeutic targets. Traditional Chinese medicine (T C M) is effective in treating chronic complex diseases such as autoimmune diseases, but the specific mechanism of action remains unclear. The core idea of network pharmacology has much in common with the overall philosophy of TCM. As a new discipline, it provides a new research mode for TCM to transform from empirical medicine to evidence-based medicine. Network pharmacology has been applied in many fields of research, but its application in a certain kind of disease is rarely reviewed. Through searching domestic and foreign literature, this paper reviews the application of network pharmacology in the prevention and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, systemic lupus erythematosus with traditional Chinese medicine and identification of related biological targets.

Objective: To study the learning curve of laparoscopic pacreaticoduodenectomy (LPD) with a view to find an appropriate way to develop LPD step by step. Methods: 112 consecutive patients who completely underwent LPD in a single surgery center at the First People’s Hospital of Changzhou from December 2015 to February 2018 were retrospectively reviewed. By using both the cumulative sum (CUSUM) and the risk-adjusted CUSUM (RA-CUSUM) methods to analyze the perioperative data of these patients, the learning curve of LPD was studied in a more scientific way. Results: The learning curve could be divided into three phases: Phase 1, the initial period (the initial 45 patients); Phase 2, the enhancement period (the subsequent 31 patients); Phase 3, the maturation period (the remaining patients). For these 3 phases, the corresponding operative times were (448.4±75.0), (381.3±74.3), and (336.2±52.1) min, respectively (P<0.05). The intraoperative blood losses were (373.3±250.1), (332.3±211.6), and (265.3±253.2) ml, respectively (P<0.05). The times to oral intake were 6.0(5.0, 8.0), 5.0(3.0, 6.0), and 3.0(3.0, 5.0) days, respectively (P<0.05). The number of lymph nodes harvested were (10.0±7.0), (8.8±4.3), and (13.3±6.2), respectively (P<0.05). All these showed significant improvement through the 3 phases. On the other hand, the postoperative stays, the postoperative pancreatic fistula rates were also decreased. But these failed to reach statistical significance. Vascular reconstruction was carried out in the 48th patient in phase 2 of the study. Conclusions The initial phase of LPD passed after LPD for 46 patients, but the maturation phase occurred after LPD on 76 patients. Vascular reconstruction should be considered as passing through the learning phase rather than reaching the maturity phase. Adjustments made in the enhancement phase helped to get through the maturation phase earlier.

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is a biomarker for the diagnosis and management of prostate cancer and involved in the development of prostate cancer and/or its progression from the localized to the metastatic stage. This review presents an overview of the roles of PSA in promoting the progression and metastasis of human prostate cancer and its underlying mechanisms, including its serine protease activity, interaction with the cellular membrane receptor, and suppression of specific immune responsiveness, and also points out some of the key problems to be solved.
Disease Progression ; Humans ; Male ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Prostate-Specific Antigen ; physiology ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; pathology

To study the chronic hepatotoxicity of Chinese medicine Zishen Yutai pill (ZYP) prepared from Polygonum multiflorum with the recommended dosage in normal Beagle dogs. Low, middle and high doses of ZYP (1.5, 3.0, 6.0 g·kg⁻¹; i.e. 3×, 6× and 12× equivalent doses) were given orally to dogs for 39 consecutive weeks. At the same time, the same volume of deionized water was used as the solvent control group, one time a day. The general condition of the animals was observed every day during the period of administration, and the blood was collected before and 13, 26, 39, 43 weeks after administration to detect the biomarkers related to the hepatotoxicity of the dog serum. 2/7, 3/7 and 2/7 animals were dissected after 13, 39, and 43 weeks of administration to observe the pathological changes of the animal organs, weigh the mass of main organs and conduct pathological examination of the liver. As compared to the solvent control group, 11 liver hepatotoxicity traditional biomarkers such as ALT, AST were found no ZYP-related changes at month 3, 6, 9 of the administration and month 1 in recovery period; There was no significant difference in liver viscera index and liver pathology. Therefore, no obvious hepatotoxicity was shown by ZYP administered up to 6.0 g·kg⁻¹ for 9 months in normal dogs at doses of 1.5, 3.0, and 6.0 g·kg⁻¹.

Prostate cancer is a common neoplasm of the genitou-rinary system for male, and tumor metastasis of prostate cancer is a common complication and a lethal factor. Researching on prostate cancer metastasis is very important for clinical research and treatment. Proper models of prostate cancer metastasis are important tools for the study of occurrence, progression, metas-tasis, and drug research for prostate cancer. This article intro-duces the common model of human prostate cancer metastasis, including the points of operation, evaluation, application of me-tastatic models and comparing the characteristics of various mod-els, to the benefit of researching and selecting models of prostate cancer.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate whether mono (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (MEHP) affects genomic DNA methylation and the methylation status of some specific genes such as patched gene (PTCH) and smoothened gene (SMO) in LNCaP cells.

METHODSLNCaP cells were treated with MEHP (0, 1, 5, 10, and 25 μmol/L) for 3 days. An ELISA assay was preformed to detect genomic methylation, including 5-methylcytosine (5-mC) and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5-hmC) content. A pyrosequencing assay was applied to assess DNA methylation in PTCH and SMO gene promoters. The correlation between DNA methylation and gene expression was assessed.

RESULTSThe proportion of cytosines with 5-mC methylation in LNCaP cells was significantly decreased by MEHP (1, 5, 10, and 25 μmol/L) in a dose-dependent manner (P < 0.01). For genes in the Hedgehog pathway, there was no significant MEHP concentration-dependent difference in the DNA methylation of PTCH and SMO.

CONCLUSIONMEHP might affect the progression of prostate cancer through its effect on global DNA methylation.

Antineoplastic Agents ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; DNA Methylation ; Humans ; Male ; Phthalic Acids ; chemistry ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; metabolism

Prostaglandin synthase (PGS) can catalyze the production of various types of prostaglandins and regulate the expression levels of related substances. The regulation mechanisms of the PGS gene are closely related with the occurrence and development of prostate diseases. However, few studies are reported on the regulation mechanisms of PGS in prostatic diseases, such as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and prostate cancer (PCa), or on the relationship between PGS gene regulation and prostate diseases. This review aims to analyze their correlation and provide some ideas for the prevention and control of BPH and PCa by intervention of the prostaglandin synthase regulatory pathway.
Gene Expression Regulation ; Humans ; Male ; Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthases ; genetics ; physiology ; Prostatic Hyperplasia ; enzymology ; genetics ; prevention & control ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; enzymology ; genetics ; prevention & control

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a heterogeneous endocrine disorder, which is characterized by hyperandrogenism, insulin resistance and chronic anovulation, and has become a serious threat to the health of adolescents and women of childbearing age.At present,lowering androgen, improving insulin resistance and inducing ovulation are the main methods adopted by doctors to treat the disease, but the adverse reactions of the western medicine and the long-term treatment are hard to be accepted by the patients. PCOS treated by traditional Chinese medicine has achieved a certain effect in recent years.Traditional Chinese medicine is relatively safe and has more effect in many links and targets in improving the symptom of endocrine and metabolic disorder in patients with PCOS. This paper expounds the traditional Chinese medicine pathogenesis of PCOS through clinical and experimental aspects of the literature research：correcting endocrine hormone disorder,the effects of the expression of gene and regulatory factors,improving insulin resistance,correcting lipid metabolic disorder,improving the pregnancy outcome and improving ovarian morphology to summarize the treatment of traditional Chinese medicine in PCOS research results in recent years.

OBJECTIVE:To observe clinical efficacy and safety of citalopram in the treatment of depression patients after lung cancer operation. METHODS:114 depression patients after lung cancer operation were selected and randomly divided into observa-tion group and control group (n=57). Control group was given routine treatment as nutrition support and electrolyte balance,but had no anti-depression drugs;observation group was given Citalopram tablet 20 mg orally,qd. Two groups were treated for 6 weeks. Clinical efficacy,HAMD and HAMA scores,each score and total score of SF-36 were observed before and after treatment. The occurrence of ADR was recorded. RESULTS:The total effective rate of observation group was 87.72%,which was significant-ly higher than that that of control group(71.93%),with statistical significance(P<0.05);there was no statistical significance in HAMA score,HAMD score,each score and total score of SF-36 between 2 groups before treatment(P>0.05);HAMA score and HAMD score of 2 groups decreased significantly after treatment,the observation group was lower than the control group;each score and total score of SF-36 increased significantly,the observation group was higher than the control group,with statistical sig-nificance(P<0.05). No obvious ADR was found in 2 groups. CONCLUSIONS:Citalopram is effective and safe for depression af-ter lung cancer operation,can improve mental state and quality of life.