Terpinen-4-ol inhibits proliferation of VSMCs exposed to high glucose via regulating KLF4/NF-κB signaling pathway / 中国中药杂志

This study aimed to observe the effect of terpinen-4-ol(T4O) on the proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells(VSMCs) exposed to high glucose(HG) and reveal the mechanism via the Krüppel-like factor 4(KLF4)/nuclear factor kappaB(NF-κB) signaling pathway. The VSMCs were first incubated with T4O for 2 h and then cultured with HG for 48 h to establish the model of inflammatory injury. The proliferation, cell cycle, and migration rate of VSMCs were examined by MTT method, flow cytometry, and wound healing assay, respectively. The content of inflammatory cytokines including interleukin(IL)-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha(TNF-α) in the supernatant of VSMCs was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA). Western blot was employed to determine the protein levels of proliferating cell nuclear antigen(PCNA), Cyclin D1, KLF4, NF-κB p-p65/NF-κB p65, IL-1β, and IL-18. The KLF4 expression in VSMCs was silenced by the siRNA technology, and then the effects of T4O on the cell cycle and protein expression of the HG-induced VSMCs were observed. The results showed that different doses of T4O inhibited the HG-induced proliferation and migration of VSMCs, increased the percentage of cells in G_1 phase, and decreased the percentage of cells in S phase, and down-regulated the protein levels of PCNA and Cyclin D1. In addition, T4O reduced the HG-induced secretion and release of the inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and TNF-α and down-regulated the expression of KLF4, NF-κB p-p65/NF-κB p65, IL-1β, and IL-18. Compared with si-NC+HG, siKLF4+HG increased the percentage of cells in G_1 phase, decreased the percentage of cells in S phase, down-regulated the expression of PCNA, Cyclin D1, and KLF4, and inhibited the activation of NF-κB signaling pathway. Notably, the combination of silencing KLF4 with T4O treatment further promoted the changes in the above indicators. The results indicate that T4O may inhibit the HG-induced proliferation and migration of VSMCs by down-regulating the level of KLF4 and inhibiting the activation of NF-κB signaling pathway.

Analysis of hyperuricemia and its risk factors in male pilots / 中国职业医学

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the prevalence and risk factors of hyperuricemia in male pilots.METHODS: By using the convenient sampling method, 1 561 male pilots were selected as the study subjects. Among them, 678 patients with hyperuricemia were taken as the observation group, and 883 pilots without hyperuricemia were taken as the control group. The incidence of hyperuricemia in the two groups was compared. RESULTS: The prevalence of hyperuricemia in male pilots was 43.4%(678/1 561). The pilots in the observation group had higher body mass index(BMI), higher triglyceride(TG), lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, higher low-density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C), higher mixed hyperlipidemia and higher non-alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD)(all P<0.05) compared with the control group. The result of multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that high BMI, high TG, high LDL-C and NAFLD were the risk factors for hyperuricemia in male pilots(odds ratios were 1.517, 1.559, 1.384 and 1.782, respectively, all P<0.01), while age≥40 was a protective factor for hyperuricemia(odds ratio was 0.593, P<0.01).CONCLUSION: The prevalence of hyperuricemia in male pilots is relatively high. The prevention and treatment of hyperuricemia in pilots should be strengthened.

Long non-coding RNA HULC affects downstream-related targets to regulate migration and invasion of hepatoma cells / 中华肝脏病杂志

Objective@#To investigate the effects of long non-coding RNA HULC on downstream related targets regulating the migration and invasion of hepatoma cells and theirs mechanism of action.@*Methods@#The expression of highly upregulated in liver cancer (HULC) in hepatocellular carcinoma, and adjacent normal liver tissues and different hepatocellular carcinoma cells were detected by qPCR. The correlation between clinicopathological data of HULC and liver cancer patients were analyzed. Dual-luciferase reporter gene detected the interaction between HULC and miR-186. CCK-8 assay was used to detect the effect of HULC on proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma cells. The change in hepatocellular carcinoma cell invasions ability after HULC inhibition was detected by transwell invasion assay and migration ability after inhibition of HULC was assessed by scratch assay. Differences between groups were compared using one-way ANOVA. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.@*Results@#Compared with adjacent normal liver tissue, the expression of HULC in hepatocellular carcinoma was significantly higher [(1.79 ± 0.25) vs. (0.23 ± 0.05), P < 0.05]. The expression level of HULC was highest in hepatocellular carcinoma HepG3 cells. HULC specifically banded to the 3′UTR of miR-186 and regulated the expressional activity of miR-186. After inhibiting the expression of HULC, the proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma cells was 72 h (0.35 ± 0.09) vs. (0.82 ± 0.16), P < 0.05; 96 h (0.42 ± 0.08) vs.(1.28 ± 0.19), P < 0.05), and the ability of migration and invasion was relatively decreased in 24 h (11.2% ± 1.6%) vs. (23.5% ± 3.6%), P < 0.05; 48 h (18.6% ± 3.0%) vs. (38.6% ± 5.6%), P < 0.05; 72 h (43.6% ± 5.3% ) vs. (69.6% ± 7.6%), P < 0.05]. After inhibiting the expression of HULC, the tumor volume and body weight of tumor-bearing mice were significantly reduced [volume (2.89 ± 0.29) cm3 vs. (0.89 ± 0.18) cm3, P < 0.05, body weight (3.18 ± 0.41) g vs. (0.45 ± 0.09) g, P < 0.05].@*Conclusion@#HULC plays an important role in the occurrence and development of hepatocellular carcinoma and can influence the biological behavior of hepatoma cells by regulating the expression of downstream-related targets.

Development of wearable monitor for human vital signs and environment information / 医疗卫生装备

Objective To develop a set of wearable device for dynamic monitoring of human vital signs and environmental information during exercise.Methods By using system integration mode,multiple sensor modules were integrated in the design of the device.A microcontroller was selected as the core of the hardware circuit.Then serial ports simulation was used to connect all sensors to the microcontroller.Wireless data transmission between the handset and the primary control module was implemented with Bluetooth component.Results The device behaved well in low energy consumption,small volume,low weight and data accuracy,and met the design requirements for wearable mobile monitoring device.Conciusion The device provides real-time data monitoring to the users so as to contribute to human health.

Advanced glycation end products inhibit testosterone production in rat Leydig cells / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the expression of the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) and the inhibitory effect of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) on testosterone production in rat Leydig cells.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Rat Leydig cells were primarily cultured and the expression of RAGE in the Leydig cells was detected by RT-PCR and immunofluorescence staining. The Leydig cells were treated with AGEs at the concentrations of 25, 50, 100 and 200 microg/ml, respectively, and the testosterone content was determined by ELISA.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>RT-PCR and immunofluorescence staining exhibited the expression of RAGE in the rat Leydig cells. AGEs remarkably suppressed hCG-induced testosterone production in the Leydig cells in a concentration-dependent manner in the 50, 100 and 200 microg/ml groups as compared with the control (P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>RAGE exists in rat Leydig cells and AGEs can significantly inhibit the secretion of testosterone in primarily cultured rat Leydig cells.</p>

Berberine inhibited apoptosis of human umbilical vein endothelial cells induced by Staphylocoocus aureus: an experimental research / 中国中西医结合杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the inhibition of berberine (BBR) against ECV-304 apoptosis induced by Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>ECV-304 cells were pre-treated with 128 microg/mL BBR for 2 h and then S. aureus was added (1:100). The viability of cells was detected by MTT (3-4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay. The morphological changes were observed by Hoechst 33258 staining. The protection of BBR for infected cells was detected by DNA Ladder.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>ECV-304 cells' viability were not obviously affected by berberine. But S. aureus induced ECV-304 cells' viability could be significantly inhibited by pre-treatment of BBR (P < 0.05). Besides S. aureus-induced ECV-304 apoptosis could be reduced, with significantly lessened apoptotic body and unobvious DNA degradation.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>BBR could significantly inhibit S. aureus induced ECV-304 apoptosis.</p>

Non-compaction cardiomyopathy in a 5-generation Chinese family / 中华心血管病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>Familial left ventricular noncompaction(LVNC) is quite rare. We screened for the presence of LVNC and related clinical characteristics in a 5-generation Chinese family.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Comprehensive medical history was obtained from 40 members in a 5-generation Chinese family. Systemic clinical investigations including echocardiography (UCG), routine and ambulatory electrocardiogram (ECG), X-rays were performed in 33 family members. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance image (MRI) was carried out in 2 family members.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Sudden cardiac death (including 1 occurred while following-up) was reported in 7 family members (17.5%, 7/40). LVNC was diagnosed in 10 out of the 33 family members (30.3%) and heart enlargement was evidenced in 3, heart failure in 2, complete left branch conductive block in 3, serious sick sinus syndrome (SSS) treated with permanent pacemaker implantation in 1 and paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia treated with radiofrequency ablation procedure in 1 out of these 10 LVNC patients. Primary pedigree analysis revealed that offspring from female patients were at the highest risk to be affected by LVNC (15/18, 83.3%) while LVNC was absent in offspring of male LVNC patients (0/8). Moreover, clinical heart failure symptoms and arrhythmias were more severe in female LVNC patients than in male LVNC patients.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Primary familial investigation reveals the matrilineal inheritance of familial LVNC in this 5-generation Chinese family, further investigations are warranted to explore the potential mutations in the mitochondrial genome responsible for LVNC in this family.</p>

Laparoendoscopic single-site surgery for male pseudohermaphroditism: the initial report / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the therapeutic effect of laparoendoscopic single-site surgery (LESS) for treatment of male pseudohermaphroditism.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A 17-year-old patient with male pseudohermaphroditism and a female social sex was admitted. According to the request by the patient and the relatives for a female gender, LESS vaginoplasty and cryptorchidectomy were performed using a single multilumen port inserted through a 2.5 cm incision below the umbilicus, followed by reconstruction of the perineal region by open surgery.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The total operative time was 7 h, and the LESS procedure lasted for about 3.5 h. No other port incision was needed. The estimated intraoperative blood loss was 400 ml. No electrolyte or metabolic acid-base balance disorders were observed perioperatively. In the follow-up examination at 6 months after the operation, the reconstructed vagina healed smoothly without obvious contraction or fixation failure, and the perineal region showed good appearance.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>With minimal invasiveness, LESS surgery produces good cosmetic effect and allows rapid postoperative recovery, thus may become a promising alternative to the management of pseudohermaphroditism.</p>

NSP5/NSP6 of rotavirus strain TB-Chen and preliminary genotyping analysis / 病毒学报

Strain TB-Chen is a group A rotavirus (RV) isolated from a Chinese infant suffering from gastroenteritis in hospital. The NSP5 and NSP6 of strain TB-Chen are encoded by the 10th gene segment (816bp in whole length) of the viral genome. The results obtained in this study showed that the NSP5 was encoded in the first open-reading-frame (ORF) of the gene segment (from 22bp to 624bp), and NSP6 was encoded in the second ORF (from 80bp to 355bp). The NSP5 protein consisted of 200 amino acid residues with a putative molecular mass of 21.9 kD, and a putative isoelectric point of 7.86. The NSP6 protein consisted of 92 amino acids with a putative molecular mass of 11 kD, and a putative isoelectric point of 9.65. This study further analyzed phylogenetic relationship of the NSP5/NSP6 ORF nucleotide sequence. The results showed that the NSP5s of group A rotavirus could be at least classified into 7 genotypes (H1-H7), the NSP6s could be at least classified into 8 genotypes (hl-h8); the genotypes of the NSP5 and NSP6 derived from strain TB-Chen was classified as H2 and h2. This was the first report on the genotype classification of the NSP6 of group A RVs, and it was proposed English letter "h" to represent genotype of the NSP6, e. g. strain 69M classified as H7h7, strains Wa and KU classified as H1h8.

Value of computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging in diagnosis and differential diagnosis of small hepatocellular carcinoma / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To analyze the computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings of small hepatocellular carcinoma to improve the accuracy in the diagnosis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>This retrospective analysis involved 41 patients with small hepatocellular carcinoma cases confirmed by pathological examination of the biopsy samples or follow-up. These patients were assessed for CT and MRI findings including lesion size, density or signal intensity, enhancement patterns, and presence of tumor capsules.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>On unenhanced CT images, small hepatocellular carcinomas were displayed mainly as low-density masses, and the majority of tumors presented with low signal intensity on T1-weighted unenhanced MR images with increased signal intensity on T2-weighted images in comparison with the surrounding liver parenchyma. Most of tumors showed intense enhancement during the arterial phase (CT in 15 cases and MRI in 13 cases), but some appeared isointense to the liver parenchyma (CT in 4 cases and MRI in 4 cases). In portal and delayed phases, the tumors typically had lower signal intensity than that of the surrounding liver tissues (CT in 25 cases and MRI in 12 cases) with enhancement of the tumor capsules (13 cases).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Dynamic enhanced scanning can be more informative of the pathology and blood supply of small hepatocellular carcinoma. Early and late arterial phase imaging may help in detecting the small lesions and in making differential diagnosis.</p>

Prokaryotic Expression and Immunological Reactivity of Rotavirus NSP6 / 中国生物工程杂志

Little is known about the non-structural protein 6(NSP6)of rotavirus.This report describes expression of the NSP6 of a group A human rotavirus strain TB-Chen in bacteria,and its immunological properties and cellular distribution.The results showed that the recombinant NSP6(rNSP6)was expressed in high efficiency without any other proteins fused(possesses about 34.2% of total bacterial proteins).rNSP6 elicited mono-specific antibodies in immunized guinea pigs and the antibodies could react with the rNSP6 itself and the viral NSP6 proteins synthesized in SA11-or Wa-infected MA104 cells in Western blot and immunofluorescence assay.The NSP6 distributed evenly in the cytoplasm mainly around the nucleus of virus-infected cells,no viroplasm-like gathering observed;The top amount of NSP6 synthesized in SA11-infected cells or Wa-infected cells could be detected at 12h after infection.This is the first report about the high expression of entire NSP6(without any other proteins fused)in prokaryotic expression system and detection of NSP6 synthesis in virus infected cells by immunofluorescence assay.The results are important to understand the structure,biological properties and further application of the NSP6.

Cloning of Full Genome and Genotyping of a Group A Human Rotavirus / 中国生物工程杂志

By means of genetic cloning and recombinant techniques, full genome cDNA sequences of rotavirus strain TB-Chen were isolated from an infantile hospitalized with acute gastroenteritis. Nucleotide sequences analyses showed that the full genome of strain TB-Chen contains 18613 nucleotides, encoding 5791 amino acids. Genotyping results showed that the strain TB-Chen belongs to genotype G2P[4]/NSp4[A]. This is the first report on a full genome of Group A rotavirus in China, and has important significance for deep understanding structure and functions of rotaviruses and developing rotavirus vaccines.

Construction of recombinant adenoviruses carrying hepatocyte nuclear factor 4?and evaluation of its effect on hepatoma gene expression / 中华消化杂志

Objective To construct replication-deficient recombinant adenoviruses AdHNF4?that co-expresse human hepatocyte nuclear factor 4?(HNF4?) and green fluorescent protein(GFP) gene,and to evaluate the effect of HNF4?up-regulation on hepatocyte gene expression.Methods The HNF4?cDNA was obtained through RT-PCR from human hepatocyte.The recombinant adenoviral plasmid- pAdHNF4?was established using AdEasy system and packed in 293 cells.After transfection of human hepatoma cell lines HepG2 and Hep3B with AdHNF4?,the expression of HNF4?and other liver-associ- ated functional genes were evaluated by RT-PCR and Western blot.Results The recombinant plasmid pAdHNF4?was confirmed by restriction endonuclease digestion and sequencing.GFP expression was observed on the fourth day after packing the linearized pAdHNF4?in 293 cells.Stable transfection of AdHNF4?with a titer of 1?10~(10) efu/ml was obtained after repeated amplification.More than 90% of human hepatoma cells had GFP expression in 72 hours after transfection of AdHNF4?.The expression of HNF4?mRNA and protein were significantly up-regulated compared with the control group(3.4 folds in HepG2 infected with AdHNF4a and 5.2 folds in Hep3B infected with AdHNF4?).Furthermore,the transcriptional expressions of some liver-associated functional genes such as apolipoprotein,cytochrome P450 families,glutamine synthetase,phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase and glucose-6-phosphatase also increased after transfection of the virus,and the apoptosis ratio of the cells increased.Conclusions Up- regulating the expression of HNF4?in human hepatoma cells with AdHNF4?could enhance normal liver- specific function.Our study would provide a new idea for the researches on gene regulation of transplan- ted hepatocytes.