Serum myeloperoxidase activity and serum paraoxonase-1 activity in patients with silicosis and observation subjects and their clinical significance / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the serum myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity and serum paraoxonase-1 (PON-1) activity in patients with silicosis and observation subjects and their clinical significance.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Seventy-two patients with silicosis (stage I: 30 cases, stage II: 22 cases, stage III: 20 cases) and 37 observation subjects were selected as a case group, and 110 healthy men were selected as a control group. Serum MPO activity was measured by double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and serum PON-1 activity was measured by chemical spectrophotometry.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Serum MPO activity was significantly higher in the case group than in the control group [(102.1 ± 15.7) U/L vs. (62.4 ± 11.4) U/L, P < 0.01], but serum PON-1 activity was significantly lower in the case group than in the control group [(85.4 ± 15.7) U/ml vs. (125.4 ± 13.7) U/ml, P < 0.01]. Serum MPO activity was significantly lower in patients with stages I, II, and III silicosis than in the observation subjects [(91.3 ± 13.5) U/L, (85.7 ± 14.4) U/L, and (88.6 ± 14.5) U/L vs. (128.4 ± 16.4) U/L, P < 0.01]. Serum PON-1 activity declined as the stage of silicosis increased; serum PON-1 activity was significantly lower in the patients with stages II and III silicosis than in the observation subjects and the patients with stage I silicosis [(70.4 ± 11.4) U/ml and (67.6 ± 13.7) U/ml vs. (101.5 ± 14.0) U/ml and (89.1 ± 10.1) U/ml, P < 0.01].</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Serum MPO activity and serum PON-1 activity are valuable for early diagnosis of silicosis and evaluation of patient's condition.</p>

Effect of Astragalus mongholicus on renal gene expression profile in mice with diabetic nephropathy / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the effect of Astragalus mongholicus on renal gene expression profile in mice with diabetic nephropathy by cDNA microarray.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The mice with diabetic nephropathy were fed A. mongholicus and normal saline respectively. cDNA microarray was used to measure gene expression profile in renal tissue after 12 weeks, and the data were analyzed by bioinformatics. RT-PCR was performed to detect the relative levels of some genes which were randomly selected.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Eighty eight genes were found differently expressed in two chips. Among these genes, 81 genes were found differently expressed in reverse direction change, 7 genes were found differently expressed in same direction change. The genes altered were mainly related to material metabolism, immunity and inflammatory reaction, signal transduction, translation, transcription, et al. The expressions of genes tested by RT-PCR were in accordance with those detected by cDNA microarray.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>A. mongholicus may play protective roles in diabetic nephropathy through multiple pathways at gene level. The effect of A. mongholicus in genes related to material metabolism is more significant.</p>