Necrosis tisular local y trombocitopenia después de una intoxicación por mordedura de Bungarus multicinctusen una niña / Local tissue necrosis and thrombocytopenia following Bungarus multicinctus envenomation in a child

La intoxicación por mordedura de serpiente es un problema de salud pública global. En la población pediátrica, la intoxicación por mordedura de serpiente presenta características diferentes que en los pacientes adultos. La Bungarus multicinctus es una especie de elápido sumamente venenoso. Las presentaciones clínicas documentadas después de la intoxicación por mordedura de Bungarus multicinctus son reacciones locales mínimas, insuficiencia respiratoria, dolor generalizado e hiponatremia potencialmente mortal. Presentamos el caso de una intoxicación por mordedura de Bungarus multicinctus en una niña con manifestaciones clínicas atípicas, incluidas necrosis tisular grave y trombocitopenia con coagulopatía.

Snakebite envenoming is a global public health problem. The pediatric population poisoned by snakebite envenoming has different features than adult patients. Bungarus multicinctus is a highly venomous species of the elapid snake. The documented clinical presentations following Bungarus multicinctus envenoming are minimal local reactions, respiratory failure, general pain, and life-threatening hyponatremia. We present an uncommon case of Bungarus multicinctus envenomation in a girl with unusual clinical findings, including severe tissue necrosis and thrombocytopenia with coagulopathy.

Application and function of autologous blood concentrate in tissue regeneration / 中国组织工程研究

BACKGROUND: Autologous blood concentrates are widely applied in clinical practice. They are easy to prepare, and can promote the regeneration of soft and hard tissues. Their application prospects can be broad in periodontal treatment, oral implant therapy and many other fields. OBJECTIVE: To review the development, biological characteristics and clinical application of autohemoconcentrate. METHODS: The first author searched the related literature published on PubMed, CNKI and Wanfang databases from 2004 to 2019. The key words were “autologous blood concentration, platelet-rich plasma, platelet-rich fibrin” in English, and “blood concentration, platelet-rich plasma, platelet-rich fibrin” in Chinese. The titles and abstracts were selected, and the full text was consulted. Finally, 59 articles were retained for careful reading and analysis. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Containing huge amount of platelets and leukocytes, autologous blood concentrate could produce a highly positive effect on the regeneration of soft and hard tissues and the reduction of postoperative inflammatory response. When it is in use alone or in combination with other bone transplantation materials, the effect of bone augmentation is positive. However, the degradation rate is high. How to control its absorption rate requires further study.

Apendicolito: factor explícito que ocasiona apendicitis complicada en la niñez / Appendicolith: an explicit factor leading to complicated appendicitis in childhood

Objetivos. El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar el riesgo clínico de la apendicitis con apendicolito y su importancia al elegir las estrategias terapéuticas.Métodos. Se analizó retrospectivamente a niños con diagnóstico de apendicitis aguda entre junio de 2011 y enero de 2017. Se dividió en un grupo con apendicolito(GA) y un grupo sin apendicolito (GSA) según la presencia o no de apendicolito durante la cirugía abierta. Se revisaron y compararon la presentación clínica, de laboratorios, los resultados de la tomografía computada y los cambios patológicos.Resultados. De 163 pacientes, se incluyó a 23 (media de edad: 6,1 años) en el GA y a 140 (media de edad: 8,1 años) en el GSA. Los pacientes en el GA tuvieron una hospitalización más extensa, mayor temperatura corporal, mayor frecuencia de diarrea, signo de Blumberg, aumento del porcentaje de neutrófilos, proteína C-reactiva y mayor riesgo de perforación. La puntuación en las escalas de Alvarado (8,3 ± 1,2 frente a 7,0 ± 1,3; P < 0,05) y de respuesta inflamatoria a apendicitis (10,7 ± 1,6 frente a 7,7 ± 1,9; P < 0,05) fue mayor en el GA que en el GSA; la presencia de fiebre y apendicolito se asoció con una mayor tasa de apendicitis perforada.Conclusiones. La apendicitis pediátrica con apendicolito representa un mayor riesgo clínico y tiende a causar apendicitis complicada

Objectives. This study aims to assess the clinical risk of pediatric appendicitis with appendicolith and its guiding significance in therapeutic strategies' selection.Methods. Children diagnosed with acute appendicitis from June 2011-January 2017 were analyzed retrospectively. Patient cohort was divided to appendicolith group (AG) and non- appendicolith group (NAG) based on whether the appendicolith presents or not in the open surgery. Clinical presentations, laboratory parameters, computed tomography findings, and pathological changes were reviewed and compared between two groups. Results. Among 163 patients, 23 (meanage,6.1yearsold)weredefinedin AG and 140; mean age, 8.1 years old) in NAG. The patients in AG demonstrated prolonged length of stay (12.4 ± 5.6d vs. 8.7 ± 5.0d, P <0.05), higher body temperature (38.2 ± 0.8 °C vs. 37.3 ± 0.8 °C, P <0.05), higher frequency of diarrhea (17 % vs. 3%, P <0.05), rebound tenderness (100 % vs. 87 %, P <0.05), increased neutrophil percentage (81.4 ± 8.0 % vs. 65.3 ± 22.8 %, P <0.05), C-reactive protein (33.13 ± 10.3 mg/L vs. 23.7 ± 13.7 mg/L, P <0.05), and great risk of perforation (78 % vs. 29 %, P <0.05). Alvarado score (8.3 ± 1.2 vs. 7.0 ± 1.3, P <0.05) and AIR score (10.7 ± 1.6 vs. 7.7 ± 1.9, P <0.05) of AG, were higher than NAG he presence of fever and appendicolith was associated with a high rate of perforated appendicitis.Conclusions. Pediatric appendicitis with appendicolith has greater clinical risk and tends to causing complicated appendicitis

Lentivirus-mediated p75 neurotrophin receptor silencing combined with nerve growth factor overexpression promotes proliferation of rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells / 中国组织工程研究

BACKGROUND: P75 Neurotrophin receptor (P75NTR) is one of the receptors for nerve growth factor (NGF). P75NTR plays a dual role in promoting proliferation or apoptosis in various cell tissues, and is highly expressed at fracture nonunion sites. However, excessive NGF can shut down P75NTR receptor, thereby saving damaged cells. Therefore, the study regarding co-transfection of silenced P75NTR and NGF overexpression is of great significance for the proliferation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and provides new ideas for clinical treatment of fracture nonunion. OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of lentivirus-mediated silencing of P75NTR combined with NGF overexpression on the proliferation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in Sprague-Dawely rats. METHODS: Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells from Sprague-Dawley rats were cultured to the third generation in vitro and were divided into blank control group, negative control group, silent p75NTR group, NGF overexpression group, and silent p75NTR combined with NGF overexpression group. Lentivirus-mediated silencing of P75NTR and overexpression of NGF were transfected into rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells to induce P75NTR silencing and NGF overexpression. Inverted fluorescence microscopy was used to observe changes in cell morphology on day 3 after transfection. Flow cytometry was used to detect transfection efficiency and western blot method was applied to detect the expression of P75NTR and NGF. Finally, the cell proliferation activity was detected by MTT method and cell counting kit-8 method. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Cell growth and distribution were good after co-transfection of lentivirus. The transfection efficiency of the double-gene lentiviral vector exceeded 70%. Compared with the blank control and negative control groups, the expression of P75NTR protein was significantly down-regulated, and the expression of NGF was profoundly up-regulated in the silent p75NTR combined with NGF overexpression group. Compared with the blank control and negative control groups, cell proliferation was significantly increased in the other three groups (P < 0.05), and the fastest proliferation was observed in the silent p75NTR combined with NGF overexpression group. To conclude, silencing P75NTR combined with NGF overexpression co-transfection can promote the proliferation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells from Sprague-Dawley rats.

Palmatine ameliorates high fat diet induced impaired glucose tolerance

BACKGROUND: The impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) is a representative prediabetes characterized by defective glucose homeostasis, and palmatine (PAL) is a natural isoquinoline alkaloid with multiple pharmacological effects. Our study aims to investigate the therapeutic effect of PAL on the impaired glucose tolerance. METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were used to establish an IGT model with high fat diet (HFD). Oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and further biochemical analysis were conducted to determine the effect of PAL on glucose intolerance in vivo. Molecular details were clarified in a cellular model of IGT induced by Palmitate (PA) on INS-1 cells. RESULTS: Our study demonstrated a relief of IGT with improved insulin resistance in HFD induced rats after PAL treatment. Besides, promoted pancreas islets function was validated with significantly increased ß cell mass after the treatment of PAL. We further found out that PAL could alleviate the ß cell apoptosis that accounts for ß cell mass loss in IGT model. Moreover, MAPK signaling was investigated in vivo and vitro with the discovery that PAL regulated the MAPK signaling by restricting the ERK and JNK cascades. The insulin secretion assay indicated that PAL significantly promoted the defective insulin secretion in PA-induced INS-1 cells via JNK rather than ERK signaling. Furthermore, PAL treatment was determined to significantly suppress ß cell apoptosis in PA-induced cells. We thus thought that PAL promoted the PA-induced impaired insulin release by inhibiting the ß; cell apoptosis and JNK signaling in vitro. CONCLUSION: In summary, PAL ameliorates HFD-induced IGT with novel mechanisms.

Quiste pulmonar congénito gigante que imita neumotórax a tensión en un niño / Huge congenital cystic lung lesion mimicking tension pneumothorax in a child

El tratamiento de los lactantes con quistes pulmonares congénitos conlleva una resección quirúrgica. Las variaciones en la ubicación y el tamaño del quiste de aire en el pulmón afectado implican la selección de diferentes estrategias quirúrgicas. La presencia de quistes pulmonares congénitos gigantes que imitan un neumotórax a tensión no permitiría tomar una decisión precisa y realizar un tratamiento oportuno durante una emergencia respiratoria. Los escasos informes sobre este tipo de experiencia hacen referencia a quistes a tensión durante la niñez. En este artículo, presentamos el caso de un niño con un quiste pulmonar congénito gigante que imita neumotórax a tensión según las manifestaciones clínicas y las evaluaciones del diagnóstico por imágenes. La descompresión instantánea del neumotórax a tensión no logró aliviar la dificultad respiratoria del niño. En los niños que presentan evidencia clínica de neumotórax a tensión, se debe excluir la posibilidad de un quiste pulmonar congénito gigante.

Treats of symptomatic infants with congenital cystic lung lesions (CCLLs) need surgical resection. Variable location and size of the air cyst of involved lung mean that different surgical strategies must be selected. The presence of huge CCLLs mimicking tension pneumothorax would hamper accurate judgment and timely treatment in dealing with respiratory emergencies. Rare experience reports are coping with childhood tension cystic lung lesion. We present a case of childhood huge CCLLs which was similar to tension pneumothorax based on clinical manifestations and imaging evaluations. Implementation of instant decompression measure against tension pneumothorax failed to alleviate respiratory distress of child. We should exclude the possibility of huge lung cystic lesion in children when clinical evidence inclines to the diagnosis of tension pneumothorax.

Exploring the molecular mechanism of aqueous extract from Huang qi on doxorubicin induced nephropathy in rats using transcriptome sequencing technique / 药学学报

We studied the effect of aqueous extract from Huang qi on gene expression profile of doxorubicin induced nephropathy in rats, and explored the molecular mechanism of the intervention. The gene expression profiles of control group, model group and aqueous extract from Huang qi group were detected by using transcriptome sequencing technique. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened by STEM trend analysis software. GO function enrichment and KEGG pathway analysis were performed for DEGs, and the gene expression level was verified by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). The results showed that, compared with the control group, 432 DEGs were obtained in doxorubicin nephropathy model group; compared with the model group, 811 DEGs were obtained due to aqueous extract of Huang qi. The results of GO function enrichment and KEGG enrichment analysis indicated that PI3K-AKT pathway (Col6a6, Nr4a1, Sgk1, Gng7) and lipid metabolism-related genes (Cpt1b, Pcsk9, Abca1, Ascm5) were the key pathways and genes in the treatment of doxorubicin induced nephropathy by aqueous extract from Huang qi, which played a protective role in kidney. In conclusion, the molecular mechanism of aqueous extract from Huang qi in protection against doxorubicin induced nephropathy rats is closely related to apoptosis-related genes and lipid metabolism-related genes, suggesting for the need of follow-up study for key gene validation and mechanism of action of aqueous extract from Huang qi for prevention of doxorubicin induced nephropathy.

Mechanisms of Chinese medical formula Fangji Huangqi Decoction as an effective treatment of nephrotic syndrome based on systems pharmacology / 中草药·英文版

Objective: With the development of the society, the number of people who catch the nephrotic syndrome (NS) is going up roughly. As we all know, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), especially Fangji Huangqi Decoction (FHD), has a long history with good curative effects on NS. However, the mechanism of FHD treating NS has not been clearly elucidated. Methods: In this study, TCMSP platform was employed to screen active compounds of each herb of Fangji Huangqi Decoction combined with literatures. Furthermore, PharmMapper and SEA were used to predict and screen the active targets of FHD, and the HOME-NCBI-GENE, GeneCards and OMIM database were used to screen the active targets of NS. The GO and KEGG pathways involved in the targets were analyzed by ClueGO. Finally, contribution index was used to screen the active ingredients of FHD in the treatment of NS. Results: After drug-likeness (DL) and bioavailability (OB) filtering, 43 compounds were selected from FHD, interacting with 85 NS-related targets. Systematic analysis of the constructed networks revealed that it was mainly involved in PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway, T cell receptor signaling pathway and TNF signaling pathway. The contribution index of every active ingredient also indicated five compounds, including astragaloside IV, quercetin, glycyrrhizic acid, glycyrrhizin and fangchinoline. Conclusions: These results have successfully predicted the pharmacodynamic material basis and the mechanism efficiency of FHD in the treatment of NS.

Exploration into the mechanism of total flavonoids of Astragali Radix in the treatment of nephrotic syndrome based on network pharmacology / 药学学报

This study was designed to explore the mechanism of total flavonoids of Astragali Radix (TFA) in treating nephrotic syndrome through establishing the active components-targets network and protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks and analyzing the functions and pathways involved in the targets. The main active ingredients of TFA were obtained by 1H NMR and LC-MS, TCMSP and TCMID database. PharmMapper, SEA, SIB, HOME-NCBI-GENE, GeneCards and OMIM were used to predict and screen the active components of TFA. The Cytoscape software was used to construct the active components-targets network and protein-protein interactions network. The relation between the main active ingredients and targets were validated by Systems Dock Web Site. The GO and KEGG pathways involved in the targets were analyzed by ClueGO software. The target organ distribution was assigned by the BioGPS database. The results showed that 29 active components and 50 targets of TFA were screened and predicted. The network results showed that the TFA were mainly involved in biological processes such as inflammatory reaction process, oxidative stress process,apoptosis and autophagy, and played a role in the regulation of AGE-RAGE, PI3K/Akt, VEGF, IL-17 and MAPK signaling pathways to treat the nephrotic syndrome. This study reflects the characteristics of multi-components, multi-targets and multi-pathways of TFA, which provides new ideas and clues for further research on the mechanism of anti-nephrotic syndrome effects of TFA.

Evaluation of injury degree of rat nephropathy model induced by doxorubicin based on metabolomics / 中草药

Objective To carry out the quantitative analysis of the injury degree of model rat of doxorubicin-induced nephropathy based on metabolomics. Methods 1H-NMR based metabolomics approach combined with multivariate statistical analysis were used to analyze rat serum samples from different doses and different times of doxorubicin administration and identify the progressive markers reflecting the progress degree of nephropathy. Moreover, the evaluation of injury degree of rat nephropathy model induced by doxorubicin was conducted according to the change degree of related markers. Results Nine potential biomarkers for pathological conditions were obtained such as 2-oxoisocaproate, isoleucine, leucine, valine, pyruvate, 3-hydroxybutyric acid, citric acid, creatinine, and carnitine, among which 2-oxoisocaproate and carnitine were in a dose-dependent manner, that is, the greater the dose of doxorubicin, the greater the variation of the endogenous metabolites, the more severe kidney injury, indicating that 2-oxoisocaproate and carnitine can be used as a progressive markers reflecting the process of kidney disease. Conclusion This study provides the diagnostic marker of nephropathy, and provides research methods and ideas for the study of other progressive diseases and the discovery of early diagnostic markers.

Progress on Pharmacodynamic Material Basic of Traditional Chinese Medicine / 中国药学杂志

Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) has the characteristics and complexities of multi-component, multi-target and multi-way. The study of TCM compound efficacy material basis is the core part in illuminating the effect and mechanism of TCM. So many methods were involved in the researches on material foundation including the effective part searching, compatibility and its disassembled prescriptions investigating based on pharmacological activity tracking in vivo; the association analysis between chemical fingerprints characterized by a variety of instruments and efficacy; serum pharmacochemistry and Chinmedomics based on metabolic processes in vivo; cell membrane chromatography and bionic technology based on activity discovering in vitro; and network pharmacology based on the computer simulation. The paper summarized the research methods in this field by consulting and concluding some document data of recent years, aiming to provide a theoretical foundation for studying on the effective material foundation of compound prescription of traditional Chinese medicine.

Effect of Chinese Herbal Extract HNA-1 on the Thymic Output Function in Simian Immunodeficiency Virus Chronically Infected Chinese Rhesus Macaques / 中国中西医结合杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the effect of Chinese herbal extract HuNan A-1 (HNA-1) on the thymic output function in Simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) chronically infected rhesus macaques.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Eight Chinese rhesus macaques had been infected by SIVmac239 for 16 to 21 months, and then they were randomly divided into the treatment group and the control group, 4 in each group. Monkeys in the treatment group were administered with HNA-1 by gastrogavage, once daily for 2 successive months, while those in the control group were administered with equal volume of normal saline by gastrogavage, once daily for 2 successive months. The general condition and body weight of monkeys were observed. Plasma viral loads were detected using real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR assay. CD4 percentages and counts, as well as naive CD subsets were detected using flow cytometry. T-cell receptor excision circles (TREC) were detected using real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR assay. The thymus tissue was pathologically observed using routine HE staining. The correlation between lesions of the thymus tissue, CD4 counts, naive CD counts, and TREC were analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>There was no statistical difference in body weight, viral loads, absolute CD ratios between the two groups after treatment (P > 0.05). The altered TREC multiple showed an obvious decreasing tendency in the control group, while it showed an increasing tendency in the treatment group (P < 0.05). In both groups, destroyed structures of the thymus tissue could be seen, filled with pink unstructured material. Increased connective tissues, lowered connective cell density, and confused arrangement could also be seen in the two groups, with no obvious difference. TREC contents were positively correlated with naive CD4 counts after removing extremum (r = 0.926, P = 0.001). Naive CD4 counts were positively correlated with CD4 counts (r = 0.961, P = 0.005).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>TREC content determination, as a marker of newly thymic emigrants, could be taken as a testing method for evaluating the thymic output function. Besides, HNA-1 treatment increased the thymic output significantly in SIV chronically infected monkeys. Correlation existed among TREC contents, naive CD4 counts, and pathologies of thymus tissues, especially in late infection stage.</p>

Overlapping transcription structure of human cytomegalovirus UL140 and UL141 genes.

Transcription of human cytomegalovirus UL/b′ region has been studied extensively for some genes. In this study, transcripts of the UL140 and UL141, two of the UL/b′ genes, were identified in late RNAs of three HCMV isolates using Northern blot hybridization, cDNA library screening and RACE-PCR. At least three transcripts with length of 2800, 2400 and 1700 nt, as well as a group of transcripts of about 1000–1300 nt, were found in this gene region with an accordant 3′ ends. Among the transcripts, two initiated upstream of the start code of the UL140 gene and contained the UL140 and UL141 open reading frame (ORF), one initiated in the middle of the UL140 gene, and could encode short ORFs upstream of the UL141 ORF. A group of transcripts initiated upstream or downstream of the start code of the UL141 gene, and could encode ‘nested’ ORFs, including the UL141 ORF. These ‘nested’ ORFs possess different initiation sites but the same termination site as that of the UL141 ORF.

Transcription pattern of UL131A-128 mRNA in clinical strains of human cytomegalovirus.

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) mRNA was obtained from human embryonic lung fi broblast cells infected by HCMV clinical strains from urine samples of infants at different kinetic periods. The cDNA of UL131A-128 mRNAs was amplifi ed using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and analysed by sequencing. Meanwhile, clones containing UL131A-128 transcripts in an HCMV cDNA library of a clinical strain were selected and sequenced. It was demonstrated that UL131A-128 mRNA was expressed with immediately early, early and late kinetics. Sequences obtained by RT-PCR showed that the UL131A gene consisted of two exons and the coding region of the UL130 gene was not interrupted by any intron in the region as reported earlier. However, the transcript of the UL128 gene showed two patterns: one pattern consisted of three exons as reported earlier; the other contained the three exons and also the fi rst intron. Moreover, the above characteristics of UL131A-128 spliced transcripts were confi rmed by the sequences of clones selected from the HCMV cDNA library. Our results demonstrated that the UL131A, UL130 and UL128 genes were transcribed with the 3′-coterminal, although the initiation points of their mRNA may be different. The variation in the transcripts found in our study indicated the complex nature of transcription of UL131A- 128 genes in clinical strains of HCMV.

Molecular evolution of the E8 promoter in tomato and some of its relative wild species.

The E8 gene is related to ethylene biosynthesis in plants. To explore the effect of the expression pattern of the E8 gene on different E8 promoters, the molecular evolution of E8 promoters was investigated. A total of 16 E8 promoters were cloned from 16 accessions of seven tomato species, and were further analysed. The results from 19 E8 promoters including three previously cloned E8 promoters (X13437, DQ317599 and AF515784) showed that the size of the E8 promoters varied from 2101 bp (LA2150) to 2256 bp (LA2192); their sequences shared 69.9% homology and the average A/T content was 74.9%. Slide-window analysis divided E8 promoters into three regions – A, B and C – and the sequence identity in these regions was 72.5%, 41.2% and 70.8%, respectively. By searching the cis-elements of E8 promoters in the PLACE database, mutant nucleotides were found in some functional elements, and deletions or insertions were also found in regions responsible for ethylene biosysnthesis (–1702 to –1274) and the negative effect region (–1253 to –936). Our results indicate that the size of the functional region for ethylene biosynthesis in the E8 promoter could be shortened from 429 bp to 113 bp (–1612 to –1500). The results of molecular evolution analysis showed that the 19 E8 promoters could be classifi ed into four clade groups, which is basically consistent with evolution of the tomato genome. Southern blot analysis results showed that the copy number of E8 promoters in tomato and some other wild species changed from 1 to 4. Taken together, our study provides important information for further elucidating the E8 gene expression pattern in tomato, analysing functional elements in the E8 promoter and reconstructing the potent E8 promoter.