Transformation of berberine to its demethylated metabolites by the CYP51 enzyme in the gut microbiota / 药物分析学报

Berberine(BBR)is an isoquinoline alkaloid extracted from Coptis chinensis that improves diabetes,hyperlipidemia and inflammation.Due to the low oral bioavailability of BBR,its mechanism of action is closely related to the gut microbiota.This study focused on the CYP51 enzyme of intestinal bacteria to elucidate a new mechanism of BBR transformation by demethylation in the gut microbiota through multiple analytical techniques.First,the docking of BBR and CYP51 was performed;then,the pharma-cokinetics of BBR was determined in ICR mice in vivo,and the metabolism of BBR in the liver,kidney,gut microbiota and single bacterial strains was examined in vitro.Moreover,16S rRNA analysis of ICR mouse feces indicated the relationship between BBR and the gut microbiota.Finally,recombinant E.coli con-taining cyp51 gene was constructed and the CYP51 enzyme lysate was induced to express.The metabolic characteristics of BBR were analyzed in the CYP51 enzyme lysate system.The results showed that CYP51 in the gut microbiota could bind stably with BBR,and the addition of voriconazole(a specific inhibitor of CYP51)slowed down the metabolism of BBR,which prevented the production of the demethylated metabolites thalifendine and berberrubine.This study demonstrated that CYP51 promoted the deme-thylation of BBR and enhanced its intestinal absorption,providing a new method for studying the metabolic transformation mechanism of isoquinoline alkaloids in vivo.

Acupuncture based on meridian diagnosis for chronic atrophic gastritis / 中国针灸

OBJECTIVE@#To compare the efficacy between acupoint selection of meridian diagnosis and regular acupoint selection for chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG).@*METHODS@#A total of 70 cases of CAG were randomly divided into an observation group (35 cases, 5 cases dropped off) and a control group (35 cases, 5 dropped off). In the observation group, according to the hand diagnosis of meridians and the results of 80-channels energy determinator, based on the principle of child-mother relation acupoint combination, the -connecting point and back- points were added for excess syndrome, and the -primary point, front- points and -sea point of foot meridians were added for deficiency syndrome; in addition, the acupoints of the eight extraordinary meridians were added based on the nature of acupoints. In the control group, Zhongwan (CV 12), Neiguan (PC 6), Zusanli (ST 36) and Gongsun (SP 4) were selected as the primary acupoints, and additional acupoints were added according to syndrome differentiation. The two groups were treated twice a week (Tuesday and Thursday, respectively), totally for 6 months. Six months after treatment, the follow-up was conducted. The clinical symptom score, gastroenteropathy patient reported outcomes (PRO) scale score before treatment, after treatment and during follow-up as well as the score of pathological changes of gastric mucosa before and after treatment were compared between the two groups.@*RESULTS@#After treatment and during follow-up, the clinical symptom scores and gastroenteropathy PRO scale scores were decreased in the two groups (<0.01, <0.001); at the follow-up, the gastroenteropathy PRO scale score in the observation group was lower than that in the control group (<0.01). After treatment, the scores of pathological changes of gastric mucosa in the two groups were decreased (<0.01), and the score in the observation group was lower than that in the control group (<0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#The acupoint selection of meridian diagnosis is superior to regular acupoint selection for CAG, which has better efficacy, more significant improvement on gastric mucosa pathology, and more stable long-term effect.

Anticancer Effect of Isoliquiritigenin on Human Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma 786-O Cells and Molecular Mechanism / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective: To investigate the anticancer effect of isoliquiritigenin (ISL) on human clear cell renal cell carcinoma 786-O cells, and explore its possible molecular mechanism. Method: Thiazolyl blue tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was used to detect effect of ISL (0, 10, 25,50, 75, 100 μmol·L-1) on proliferation of 786-O cells. The effect of ISL on migration and invasion of 786-O cells was detected by cell scratch test and Transwell assay. The autophagy was observed under the fluorescence microscope through acridine orange staining and Ad-GFP-LC3 transfection experiment. Western blot was used to detect the expression of autophagy related protein and analyze the changes of phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B(Akt)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway to explore the possible mechanism. Result: MTT results showed that ISL could significantly inhibit the proliferation of 786-O cells in a time-dose dependent manner (PPPPPPPPConclusion: ISL can inhibit the proliferation, migration and invasion of clear cell renal carcinoma 786-O cells, and induce autophagy by inhibiting the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway.

Analysis of genetic polymorphisms of 21 autosomal short tandem repeat loci among Han Chinese from Quanzhou / 中华医学遗传学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To analyze genetic polymorphisms of 21 autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) loci from Quanzhou Han Chinese groups using a GlobalFiler kit, and to assess its value for forensic practice.@*METHODS@#For 402 unrelated Han individuals, allelic frequencies of 21 autosomal STR loci were determined by using the GlobalFiler kit. Genetic parameters of the 21 STR loci were calculated.@*RESULTS@#No deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was observed for the 21 loci. Most of the loci were highly polymorphic. Observed heterozygosity has ranged from 0.637 to 0.945, power of discrimination has ranged from 0.801 to 0.991, polymorphism information content has ranged from 0.570 to 0.940, power of exclusion was between 0.337 to 0.888, and match probability was between 0.009 to 0.199.@*CONCLUSION@#GlobalFiler kit has a high value for personal identification and paternity testing for Han Chinese from Quanzhou.

Rapid Characterization of Triacylglycerols in Edible Oils by Matrix-assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry / 分析化学

Content and type of triacylglycerols(TAGs) in edible oils are closely related with our health,it is of significance to develop a fast and high-efficiency method for the determination of TAGs. In this manuscript, a fast and direct method for qualitative analysis of TAGs was established using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (MALDI-FTICR-MS). 2,5-DHB was employed as matrix and dichloromethanewas used as solvent for dissolving edible oils. With laser power of 15%,laser frequency of 100 Hz and 100 laser shots, repeatability was evaluated using relative standard deviation (RSD) and less than 10% was obtained. Different kinds of edible oils could be directly distinguished from each other using MS and MS/MS results. With confidence level of 95%, principal component analysis(PCA) results show that 34 different kinds of edible oils were clearly classified. Using this method 5% doped canola in olive was identified directly,indicating that MALDI-FTICR-MS has the potential for rapid analyzing and screening edible oils.

Analysis of genetic polymorphisms of 15 STR loci among ethnic Hans from Xiamen / 中华医学遗传学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To assess the value of 15 short tandem repeat (STR) loci selected by an AmpFLSTR Identifilersystem for personal identification and paternity testing among ethnic Hans from Xiamen, Fujian.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>For 400 unrelated individuals, allelic frequencies for the 15 STR loci from the AmpFLSTR Identifilerkit were determined. Population genetics parameters for forensic usage were calculated.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>No deviation of the observed allele frequency from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium expectations was found by Chi-square test (P>0.05). All of the 15 loci were highly polymorphic. Observed heterozygosity has varied between 0.580 and 0.868. Matching probability was between 0.036 and 0.148. Power of discrimination was between 0.798 and 0.967. Polymorphic information content was between 0.560 and 0.850. And power of exclusion was between 0.268 and 0.730.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>All of the 15 loci selected by the AmpFLSTR Identifilersystem are highly polymorphic among ethnic Hans from Xiamen. By determining the alleles and allelic frequencies, data for genetic polymorphisms usable for paternity testing and personal identification for local population were obtained.</p>

Triterpenes from the stem bark of Mitragyna diversifolia and their cytotoxic activity / 中国天然药物

AIM@#To study the chemical constituents and bioactivity of the stem bark of Mitragyna diversifolia.@*METHOD@#Compounds were isolated by various chromatographic methods. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic techniques (IR, UV, MS, and NMR), and they were evaluated for their cytotoxic activities by the MTT method.@*RESULTS@#Eight triterpenes were isolated and identified as 3α, 6β, 19α-trihydroxy-urs-12-en-28-oic acid (1), 3β, 6β, 19α-trihydroxy-urs-12-en-28-oic acid (2), 3-oxo-6β-19α-dihydroxy-urs-12-en-28-oic acid (3), 3β, 6β, 19α-trihydroxy-urs-12-en-24, 28-dioic acid 24-methyl ester (4), 3β, 6β, 19α, 24-tetrahydroxy-urs-12-en-28-oic acid (5), rotundic acid (6), 23-nor-24-exomethylene- 3β, 6β, 19α-trihydroxy-urs-12-en-28-oic acid (7), and pololic acid (8), respectively. All of the isolates were tested against two human tumor cell lines, MCF-7 (breast) and HT-29 (colon).@*CONCLUSION@#Compound 1 was a new triterpene. Compounds 5 - 7 exhibited potent inhibitory effects on the growth of MCF-7 and HT-29 cells, and the others showed no cytotoxicity.

Relationship between carbon dioxide combining power and contrast- induced acute kidney injury in patients with ST segment elevation myocardial infarction undergoing emergency percutaneous coronary intervention / 中华心血管病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the relationship between carbon dioxide combining power(CO₂-CP) and contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI) in patients with ST segment elevation myocardial infarction and undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>We retrospectively analyzed 174 patients admitted to our hospital from March 2012 to August 2013 with ST segment elevation myocardial infarction and underwent emergency percutaneous coronary intervention. Patients were divided into three tertiles according to pre-operative CO₂-CP: T1 (CO₂-CP < 22.62 mmol/L), T2(CO₂-CP 22.62-24.30 mmol/L), T3(CO₂-CP > 24.30 mmol/L). Baseline clinical data, CI-AKI incidence, in-hospital mortality and dialysis rate were compared among groups. An increase in serum creatinine of >26.4 µmol/L and/or >50% from baseline within 48 hours after contrast exposure was defined as CI-AKI. Univariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify the risk factors of CI-AKI. The relationship between CO₂-CP and CI-AKI was assessed by multivariate logistic regression analysis. Receiver operating characteristic curve was used to identify the optimal cutoff of the CO₂-CP for predicting CI-AKI.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>CI-AKI occurred in 25 (14.4%) patients, and lower CO₂-CP was related to higher incidence of CI-AKI (27.6% (16/58) in group T1, 5.3% (3/57) in group T2, 1.7 % (1/59) in group T3, P = 0.002) and higher in-hospital mortality (10.3% (6/58) vs. 0 and 1.7% (1/59), P = 0.010). Dialysis rate was similar among 3 groups (5.2% (3/58) vs. 0 and 1.7% (1/59), P = 0.168). The incidence of CI-AKI was significantly associated with CO₂-CP < 22.00 mmol/L in univariate analyses (OR = 6.767, 95% CI 2.731-16.768, P < 0.001). After adjusting for potential confounding risk factors, CO₂-CP < 22.00 mmol/L remained significantly associated with the incidence of CI-AKI (OR = 5.835, 95%CI 1.800-18.914, P = 0.003) in multivariate logistic regression. ROC analysis revealed that the optimal cutoff of CO₂-CP to predict CI-AKI was 22.00 mmol/L (sensitivity 64.0%, specificity 79.1%, AUC = 0.714).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Pre-percutaneous coronary intervention CO₂-CP in patients with ST segment elevation myocardial infarction undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention is related to CI-AKI. CO₂-CP < 22.00 mmol/L predicts higher risk of CI-AKI in this patient cohort.</p>

Association between high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and contrast-induced nephropathy after primary percutaneous coronary intervention / 中华心血管病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the association between high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) in patients with ST-segment elevated myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) .</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 220 STEMI patients undergoing primary PCI from Guangdong general hospital were recruited. Patients were divided into four groups according to the quartile of hs-CRP (Q1 group:hs-CRP < 6.26 mg/L,Q2 group:6.26-14.44 mg/L, Q3 group:14.45-33.08 mg/L, Q4 group:hs-CRP > 33.08 mg/L) . Baseline data, CIN incidence and other in-hospital outcomes were compared among groups. CIN was defined as an increase in serum creatinine of more than 5 mg/L from baseline within 48-72 hours after contrast media exposure. Receiver operator characteristics (ROC) curves and multivariate logistic regression were used to assessed the correlation between hs-CRP and CIN.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>CIN occurred in 21 (9.8%) patients. CIN incidence of hs-CRP quartitles were 1.8%(1/55), 1.8% (1/55), 14.5% (8/55) and 20.0% (11/55) (P-trend < 0.01), respectively. In-hospital death (P-trend > 0.05) , required renal replace therapy (P-trend > 0.05) were similar among groups. ROC analysis revealed that the optimal cutoff value of hs-CRP to predict the onset of CIN was 16.85 mg/L (sensitivity: 81.0%, specificity: 61.8%, AUC: 0.748). Univariate logistic analysis showed that hs-CRP was strongly related with CIN incidence (OR = 6.88,95%CI:2.23-21.21, P < 0.01). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that after adjusting other traditional risk factors including female gender, anemia, ACEI/ARB use, IABP support, LVEF < 40%, age > 75 years, baseline eGFR and diabetes, hs-CRP > 16.85 mg/L was still a significant independent predictor of CIN in patients with STEMI undergoing primary PCI. Additionally, age > 75 years (OR = 7.27,95%CI:1.85-28.63, P < 0.01), eGFR (OR = 6.38,95% CI:1.48-27.41, P < 0.05) were also independent risk factors of CIN.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>hs-CRP is positively correlated with CIN incidence. STEMI patients with higher hs-CRP level post PCI is at higher risk of developing CIN.</p>

The relationship between hyperuricemia and contrast-induced nephropathy in patients with chronic kidney disease undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention / 中华心血管病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the relationship between hyperuricemia and contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 446 consecutive patients with CKD undergoing PCI in Guangdong general hospital were enrolled in this study. Patients were divided into hyperuricemic group (n = 205) and normouricemic group (n = 241).Hyperuricemia was defined as serum uric acid > 420 µmol/L for male, > 357 µmol/L for female. CIN was defined as ≥ 44.2 µmol/L or ≥ 25% increase from baseline Serum creatinine within 48-72 hours after contrast medium exposure, and that was not attributable to other causes.In hospital incidences of CIN and the major adverse cardiac events were compared between the two groups. The relationship between the incidence of CIN and hyperuricemia was evaluated by multivariate logistic regression analysis.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>CIN occurred in 16.6% (74/446) of patients, and incidence of CIN was significantly higher in the hyperuricemic group than in the normouricemic group [23.9% (49/446) vs. 10.4% (25/446) , P = 0.000]. Patients who developed CIN had higher in hospital mortality [14.9% (11/74) vs. 1.3% (5/372), P = 0.000]. Need for renal replacement therapy, acute heart failure, intra-aortic balloon pump use and the hypotension after PCI were significantly higher in the hyperuricemic group compared with normouricemic group (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05) . Multivariate analysis indicates that hyperuricemia (OR = 1.9, 95%CI:1.1-3.5, P = 0.037), age > 75 years (OR = 3.2, 95%CI:1.8-5.7, P = 0.000) , emergent PCI (OR = 2.9, 95%CI:1.6-5.1, P = 0.000) and anemia (OR = 2.1, 95%CI:1.2-3.8, P = 0.012) were predictors of CIN in patients with CKD.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Hyperuricemia is the independent risk predictor of CIN in patients with CKD undergoing PCI.</p>

Quantitation of HTLV-I proviral load using real-time quantitative PCR with Taqman MGB probe / 病毒学报

A quantitative real-time PCR assay was developed to measure the proviral load of human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) in peripheral blood. The technology utilizes special primers and Taqman MGB fluorescence probe to measure amplification products from the gag-pro-pol polyprotein gene of HTLV-I. HTLV-I copy number was normalized to the amount of cellular DNA by quantitation of the beta-actin gene, The amplification system was sensitive to detect 5 copy/microL. The standard curve had a good linearity when the quantity for the gene was between 10(3) and 10(7) copy/microL (R2 = 0.999). Good reproducibility was observed in each intra- and inter-assay. We also measured proviral load in peripheral blood in 12 HTLV-I seropositive former blood donors. Proviral load for HTLV-I infected donors ranged from 0.015 to 12.819 copy/cell in WBC with the mean of 3.116 copy/cell.

Study on the reliability, validity and sensitivity of a Family Burden Scale used for evaluation on schistosomiasis / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective To evaluate the reliability, validity and sensitivity of a Family Burden Scale (FBS) of disease used on schistosomiasis. Methods 224 schistosomiasis patients were investigated, using the FBS. Reliability was estimated by Cronbach's α coefficient and split-half reliability. Validity was tested by factor analysis. Sensitivity was evaluated by comparison of patients with different income levels. Results The Cronbach's α coefficient was 0.874 and split-half reliability was 0.939 for FBS, respectively. Most values of Cronbach's α and split-half reliability for each component of scale were above 0.70. Construct validity was appraised by factor analysis, and 6 factors were identified. These factors could explain 66.76 % of the total variance. Patients with different income levels showed significant difference in terms of family burden for schistosomiasis (P<0.001 ). Conclusion This FBS appeared to have satisfactory reliability, validity and sensitivity and could be used in evaluating family burden of schistosomiasis patients.

Induction of hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha in two kinds of rats asphyxiation death models / 法医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the expression of hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha (HIF1-alpha) in the heart, lung, liver and kidney in rats died of two typical models of asphyxia.@*METHODS@#Two asphyxia models were made and tissue samples of the dead rats were collected from different groups at various postmortem duration. The expression and the changes of HIF1-alpha in various tissues were examined by immunohistochemistry and image analysis techniques. Results Significant expression of HIF1-alpha was observed in the myocardial fibers, kidney cells, liver cells and lung cells in both asphyxia models, but not in the control group. The expression of HIF1-alpha in various tissues in the rat died of nitrogen gas breathing was found in the nuclei at 0 hour and the expression level decreased gradually thereafter. The HIF1-alpha expression level and duration in various tissues of the rat died of hanging were higher and longer than that of the former group, with a peak of the expression level observed 6 hours after death, and then started to decline in all tissues except the heart where the expression still showed an increase 24 hours after death. The control groups showed a steady expression in the cytoplasm but not in the nuclei.@*CONCLUSION@#HIF1-alpha appears to be a valuable biomarker in the diagnosis of asphyxia within 24 hours after death.

Multiplexed mutagenically separated PCR assay for rapid detection of SNP loci in mitochondrial DNA coding region / 中华医学遗传学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To develop a multiplexed mutagenically separated PCR (MS-PCR) for single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci typing in mitochondrial DNA coding regions and to study the applications in investigating the allele frequencies and haplotypes of four SNP loci in mitochondrial DNA coding regions in Chinese Chengdu Han population.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Four SNP loci C12705T, A8701G, G8584A and C10400T, two allele specific forward primer with 4 bases different in size and a common reverse primer were designed for SNP typing. The primers simultaneously were amplified in a single tube. The genotyping of SNPs was determined by the two allele specific fragments different in size after polyacrylamide gel and silver staining.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The different SNP loci comprised a single band with different size respectively. Typing results were completely consistent with those by direct sequencing. The allelic frequencies of C12705T, A8701G, G8584A and C10400T were 0.3813/0.6187, 0.4813/0.5187, 0.8250/0.1750 and 0.4938/0.5062 respectively. A total of 6 different haplotypes was identified and the genetic diversity reached 0.7137.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Multiplexed MS-PCR is a simple, rapid, accurate and efficient method for SNP typing, which will be very powerful for SNPs in the database establishing of mitochondrial DNA coding regions, the testing of forensic and population genetics research.</p>

Evaluation on the highly active anti-retroviral therapy in 181 AIDS patients / 中华流行病学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the clinical effect under highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) in AIDS patients and for improving the curative effect and prognosis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Epidemiological method was used from five aspects to describe the post-treatment clinical symptoms of 181 AIDS patients in Suizhou, and to evaluate the change of virus load and immune function of 79 AIDS patients. Data was doubly recorded by Epi Data and database was set up by SPSS 13.0 for analysis.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The effective powers of anomal-fever, cough, diarrhoea, lymphadenectasis, weight drop, erythra, mycotic infection were 81.39%, 85.00%, 84.62%, 81.89%, 82.86%, 66.07% and 45.45% respectively. CD4+ T lymphocyte count rose obviously after treatment, with an averag of 276 x 10(6) cells/ml (65 x 10(6)-824 x 10(6) cells/ml), an 129 x 10(6) cells/ml increase in three months and was 294 x 10(6) cells/ml (102 x 10(6)-750 x 10(6) cells/ml) in six months. The count change of CD4+ T lymphocyte between 3 months and 6 months did not show sigificant difference. The number of deaths among drug withdrawals was 14, with a case fatality rate as 29.79%; while the number of deaths among non-drug withdrawals was 3, with the case fatality rate as 2.24%.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Results through this study showed that HAART could obviously improve the clinical symptom of AIDS patients, and to increase the number of virus load. Improving the compliance could also reduce the case fatality rate.</p>

Study on the factors influencing the quality of life among patients with malignant lymphoma / 中华流行病学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To measure and assess the quality of life (QOL) and to explore the influencing factors on patients with malignant lymphoma.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>QOL of 110 patients with malignant lymphoma were marked using EORTC QLQ-C30 short form, and multiple linear regression models were used to study the main factors influencing the QOL of patients with malignant lymphoma on five functional scales (physical, role, cognitive, emotional, and social) and the total scores.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The influencing factors of quality of life on patients with malignant lymphoma appeared to be: history of relapse, refraining from smoking, older age, educational level, space for living, exercises, medical care system, and available health care programs. Relapse (beta = 5.997, P= 0.020) and refraining from smoking (beta = -6.526, P= 0.006) were associated with total QOL scores, educational level (beta = -2.144, P= 0.057), History of relapse (beta = 5.857, P = 0.003) was associated with total functional scales while exercises (beta= -0.771, P = 0.097) and refraining from smoking (beta= -4.106, P = 0.005) were with physical scales, refraining from smoking (beta = -4.644,P = 0.008) and older age (beta = 0.989, P= 0.029) were with role scales, relapse (beta = 14.035, P= 0.001) and older age (beta = 2.230, P= 0.023) were with cognitive scales, relapse (beta = 8.500, P= 0.031) and living space (beta = - 3.054, P= 0.0901) were with emotional scales and medical care system and available health care programs (beta = -6.577, P= 0.018) were with social scales respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Factors as prevention of relapse, correct cognition on malignant lymphoma, reasonable exercise, refrain from bad habits, improving medical care system could all increase the functions of malignant lymphoma patient, and to improve their quality of life.</p>

Influence of smoking on the prevalence of chronic diseases among people with different income levels / 中华流行病学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the influence of smoking on chronic diseases among people with various income levels in China.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Cross-sectional study on smoking behavior, chronic disease and income level was performed using database of the Second National Health Service Study (1998) provided by the Ministry of Health in China.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared to never-smokers, smokers (including current smokers and former smokers) had a higher rate of having chronic diseases, after adjusted in age, income, educational level, employment status and type of jobs with corresponding countryside (OR = 1.185, 95% CI: 1.121 - 1.253 and town OR = 1.083, 95% CI: 1.010 - 1.161). Smoking had a more serious effect on having chronic illness in males from the countryside (former-smoker OR = 2.764, 95% CI: 2.471 - 3.092) than in town (former-smoker OR = 2.112, 95% CI: 1.844 - 2.419). Smokers at the lowest income level had a higher possibility of having chronic illness (town OR = 2.076, 95% CI: 1.551 - 2.780; countryside OR = 2.903, 95% CI: 2.248 - 3.749) than those at the highest income level (town OR = 1.785, 95% CI: 1.285 - 2.479 in the countryside OR = 2.466, 95% CI: 1.941 - 3.134).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Smoking might cause more serious health problems to people at lower income level in China.</p>

Qualitative study of three cell culture methods / 华中科技大学学报（医学）（英德文版）

Primary rat hepatocytes were cultured using different in vitro models and the enzyme leakage, albumin secretion, and cytochrome P450 1A (CYP 1A) activity were observed. The results showed that the level of LDH was decreased over time in culture. However, on day 5, LDH showed a significant increase in monolayer culture (MC) while after day 8 no LDH was detectable in sandwich culture (SC). The levels of AST and ALT did not change significantly over the investigated time. The CYP 1A activity was gradually decreased in a time-dependent manner in MC and SC. The decline of CYP 1A was faster in MC than in SC. This effect was partially reversed by using cytochrome P450 (CYP450) inducer such as Omeprazol and 3-methylcholanthrene (3-MC) and the CYP 1A induction was always higher in MC than in SC. In bioreactor basic CYP 1A activity was preserved over 2 weeks and the highest albumin production was observed in bioreactor followed by SC and MC. Taken together, it was indicated each investigated model had its advantages and disadvantages. It was also underlined that various in vitro models may address different questions.

Qualitative study of three cell culture methods / 华中科技大学学报（医学）（英德文版）

Primary rat hepatocytes were cultured using different in vitro models and the enzyme leakage, albumin secretion, and cytochrome P450 1A (CYP 1A) activity were observed. The results showed that the level of LDH was decreased over time in culture. However, on day 5, LDH showed a significant increase in monolayer culture (MC) while after day 8 no LDH was detectable in sandwich culture (SC). The levels of AST and ALT did not change significantly over the investigated time. The CYP 1A activity was gradually decreased in a time-dependent manner in MC and SC. The decline of CYP 1A was faster in MC than in SC. This effect was partially reversed by using cytochrome P450 (CYP450) inducer such as Omeprazol and 3-methylcholanthrene (3-MC) and the CYP 1A induction was always higher in MC than in SC. In bioreactor basic CYP 1A activity was preserved over 2 weeks and the highest albumin production was observed in bioreactor followed by SC and MC. Taken together, it was indicated each investigated model had its advantages and disadvantages. It was also underlined that various in vitro models may address different questions.

Effects of selenium and fluoride on apoptosis and lipid peroxidation in human hepatocytes / 中华预防医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the influence of selenium and fluoride on apoptosis and lipid peroxidation in human hepatocytes in vitro.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The apoptosis, cell cycle, GSH content and lipid peroxides (LPO) level in human hepatocytes, LPO level and LDH, AST and ALT activity in cell culture supernatants were investigated after hepatocytes were incubated with selenium and/or fluoride for around 12 hours periods in vitro.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The percentage of hepatocyte apoptosis bodies (15.557 +/- 2.056)%, the number of cells in S phase (4.823 +/- 0.454)% and LPO level in liver tissue and supernatant [(2.884 +/- 0.589) and (3.547 +/- 0.561) nmol/L MDA/mg.prot, respectively], AST and LDH activity in supernatants (91.1 +/- 36.4 and 140.4 +/- 7.6 U/L, respectively) in the fluoride treated group was higher than the control group [(10.313 +/- 1.023)%, (3.253 +/- 0.743)%, (1.473 +/- 0.401) nmol/L MDA/mg.prot, (1.694 +/- 0.443) nmol/L MDA/mg.prot, (54.5 +/- 3.2) U/L and (126.4 +/- 2.6) U/L, respectively], The GSH content in live tissue [(4.225 +/- 0.781) microgram/mg.prot] is lower than control group [(7.595 +/- 1.042) microgram/mg.prot]. Selenium treatment reduced these kinds of toxicity of fluoride through raising GSH content, reducing LPO level, LDH and AST activity and percentage of apoptosis bodies.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Selenium can antagonist apoptosis and lipid peroxidation of hepatocytes induced by fluoride.</p>