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ObjectiveTo study the effects of Chinese herbal compound Youguiwan on angiogenesis of rats with ovarian dysfunction caused by natural aging and its relationship with chemokine interleukin 8 （CXCL8）/CXC chemokine receptor 1/2 （CXCR1/2） signaling pathway， angiopoietin 1 （Ang-1）， and angiopoietin 2 （Ang-2）， so as to explore its mechanism in improving the ovarian function. MethodFifty six female SD rats were randomly divided into the young control group （n=8） and modeling group （n=48， ovarian dysfunction caused by natural aging）. Rats in both the young control and modeling groups were routinely fed， during which the ones in the modeling group underwent exfoliative cytology of vaginal smears for five to seven days. The ones presented with prolonged estrous cycle， followed by continuous estrus and repeated pseudopregnancy revealed by vaginal cytology during four consecutive estrous cycles indicated early aging， and the young rats with keratinocyte proliferation index higher than 50% for 10 consecutive days were classified into the young control group. The successfully modeled rats were randomly divided into the early-aged group， estrogen （65 μg·kg-1·d-1） group， Zuoguiwan （33 g·kg-1·d-1） group， as well as the low-， medium-， and high-dose （1.2， 2.4， 4.8 g·kg-1·d-1） Youguiwan groups. Rats in the young control group and the early-aged group were gavaged with the same volume of normal saline for 30 days. After the experiment， the morphological changes in rat ovary were observed by hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining. The protein expression levels of chemokines CXCL8， CXCR1， CXCR2， Ang-1， and Ang-2 in rat ovary were detected by Western blotting and immunohistochemistry， and the mRNA expression levels of CXCL8， CXCR1， CXCR2， Ang-1， and Ang-2 by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction （Real-time PCR）. ResultCompared with the young control group， the early-aged group exhibited reduced number of growing follicles， corpus luteum， and blood vessels at all levels， elevated atretic follicles （P<0.01）， up-regulated protein and mRNA expression of CXCL8， CXCR1， and CXCR2 in the ovarian tissue （P<0.01）， and down-regulated Ang-1 and Ang-2 protein and mRNA expression （P<0.05）. Compared with the early-aged group， each medication remarkably increased the number of growing follicles， corpus luteum， and blood vessels （P<0.05）， lowered the number of atretic follicles （P<0.05）， down-regulated the protein and mRNA expression levels of CXCL8， CXCR1， and CXCR2 in the ovarian tissue （P<0.05）， and up-regulated the protein and mRNA expression levels of Ang-1 and Ang-2 （P<0.05）. ConclusionYouguiwan down-regulates the levels of CXCL8， CXCR1， and CXCR2 in rat ovary and up-regulates the levels of Ang-1 and Ang-2 to promote ovarian angiogenesis and improve rat ovarian function.
ABSTRACT
Ampoule bottle is a small glass container for liquid medicine, with a capacity of 1-20 mL. It is often used to contain all kinds of liquid medicine for injection, vaccines, etc. Medical ampoules are related to all aspects of clinical work. In the process of operation, the opened ampoule bottle is often placed directly on the operating table. There are many shortcomings and deficiencies, for example, ampoules are easily to be overturned, causing environmental pollution, residual drug pollution, medical personnel exposure damage from their sharp ends, etc. For this reason, the medical staff from Northern Jiangsu People's Hospital designed a return box for ampoule bottle placement and obained a national utility model patent. The utility model has the advantages of being simple structured, convenient, safe and clean in the use process. The box can separate the opened ampoule bottles, reduce the waste of liquid medicine and drug pollution, effectively protect the ampoule bottle and avoid the injury of the medical staff. This new device is worth popularizing in clinical work.
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Objective: To explore the molecular mechanism of mazG gene involved in regulating mazEF toxin-antitoxin system(TAs)mediated bacterial growth inhibition and programmed death, and to clarify the true physiological function of MazG protein. Methods: The Escherichia coli (E.coli)strain MC4100 was used as a prototype and the relA gene was recovered to obtain the relA wildtype strain MC4200. E. coli mazG, mazEF, mazEFG and other series of gene knockout strains were constructed to test the effects of mazG gene overexpression in different genetic background strains on the survival rate of bacteria. Rifampicin, H2O2 and nalidixic acid and other stress conditions were used to treat the bacteria and study growth curve and survival rate of mazG gene and mazEFG operondeleted strains. The E.coli mazG gene and mutant were cloned into an inducible overexpression to construct pET28a-mazG and pET28amazG E38A. Then the protein was overexpressed in BL21 strain and purified using Ni-NTA resin. The dephosphatase activity of MazG protein was verified by enzyme experiments and the effect of mutant overexpression on bacterial survival was tested. Results: The overexpression of mazG had no significant effect on the growth of E.coli MC4200, but had a significant inhibitory effect on the mazEFG gene knockout strain. The cytotoxicity of MazG depended on its NTP-PPase enzyme activity. The presence of mazEF significantly inhibited the phenotype of mazG;Knockout of the mazEF/mazG/mazEFG genes did not affect the growth curve of E.coli under normal envi- ronment. Under stress conditions, the survival rate of the mazG knockout strain was basically the same as that of the mazEFG knockout strain, which was significantly higher than that of the wild type. Conclusion: The mazG gene is involved in the regulation of bacterial programmed cell death induced by mazEF and has an important role in bacterial growth inhibition. This study provides a new perspective for the study of TAs and further understanding of its role in the regulation of bacterial growth and death.
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This study was aimed to analyze the influence of Dioscorea opposita Thunb. by processing methods from the aspect of formula. The search was made on formulae containing Dioscorea opposita Thunb. from the classic book For-mula Dictionary of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Processing methods were analyzed and shown with charts by EXCEL. The results showed that the most frequently used processing methods for Dioscorea opposita Thunb. were stir-heating, dry and crude in the clinical practice. Among them, the stir-heating Dioscorea opposita Thunb. was good at reinforcing the spleen and the kidneys. The crude produce was good at tonifying the lungs. And the dry product was good at rein-forcing the kidneys. It was concluded that the processing methods had obvious influence on the clinical function of Dioscorea opposita Thunb., which can be used as reference of more value for the clinics and health cultivation.
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This study was aimed to explore the compatible mechanism of Shanyao, Fuling and Baishu in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) cosmetology. Based on compatible principles, combination characteristics and modern relat-ed researches, the authors made an in-depth analysis on the modern scientific meaning and clinical application of Shanyao, Fuling and Baishu. The results showed that the compatibility of Shanyao, Fuling and Baishu was mainly used as a compatible group in TCM cosmetology. It was concluded that the compatible mechanism of Shanyao, Fuling and Baishu was flexible, which can be widely used in the clinical practice.
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<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To screen the HIV-1 entry inhibitors targeting HIV-1 gp120 from the IBS natural product database by virtual screening based on the binding mode of the neutralizing antibody VRC01 with HIV-1 gp120 and investigate the anti-viral activities of the inhibitors and their action mechanisms.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The binding interaction of the candidate molecules binding gp120 and changes of the binding free energy were analyzed by MM-PBSA calculation. The anti-HIV-1 activities of the tested compounds were detected by HIV-1 pseudotyped virus, laboratory-adapted HIV-1 and a cell-cell fusion assay. The cytotoxicity of the studied molecules was examined by XTT colorimetric assay. The mechanisms of the anti-viral activities of the candidate molecules were analyzed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>A total of 19 molecules with distinct reduction of the binding free energy after binding with gp120 were screened from 40000 molecules. Among them, NC-2 showed anti-HIV-1 activities against HIV-1 pseudotyped virus and laboratory-adapted HIV-1, and was capable of blocking HIV-1 envelope-mediated cell-cell fusion. The IC50 of NC-2 for inhibiting HIV-1IIIB and pseudotyped HIV-1JRFL infection were 1.95∓0.44 µmol/L and 10.58∓0.13 µmol/L, respectively. The results of ELISA suggested that NC-2 could inhibit the binding of HIV-1 gp120 to CD4 without blocking the formation of gp41 six-helix bundle in vitro.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>This computer-based virtual screening method can be used to screen HIV-1 entry inhibitors targeting gp120. Using this virtual screening approach combined with anti-viral activity screening, we obtained a potent HIV-1 entry inhibitor NC-2 with novel structure.</p>