Mitochondrial Oxidative Stress Enhances Vasoconstriction by Altering Calcium Homeostasis in Cerebrovascular Smooth Muscle Cells under Simulated Microgravity / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

Objective@#Exposure to microgravity results in postflight cardiovascular deconditioning in astronauts. Vascular oxidative stress injury and mitochondrial dysfunction have been reported during this process. To elucidate the mechanism for this condition, we investigated whether mitochondrial oxidative stress regulates calcium homeostasis and vasoconstriction in hindlimb unweighted (HU) rat cerebral arteries.@*Methods@#Three-week HU was used to simulate microgravity in rats. The contractile responses to vasoconstrictors, mitochondrial fission/fusion, Ca @*Results@#An increase of cytoplasmic Ca @*Conclusion@#The present results suggest that mitochondrial oxidative stress enhances cerebral vasoconstriction by regulating calcium homeostasis during simulated microgravity.

Ant i-inflammatory mechanism of active components in Olibanum and Myrrha based on network pharmacology and cell experiments / 中国中药杂志

Two terpenes, 3-keto-tirucalla-8,24-dien-21-oic acid(KTDA) and 2-methoxy-5-acetoxy-furanogermacr-1(10)-en-6-one(FSA), are isolated from Olibanum and Myrrha respectively, which are characterized by high yield and easy crystallization during the preparation. The present study explored the regulatory targets and anti-inflammatory mechanism of KTDA and FSA based on network pharmacology and cell viability assay. First, the drug-likeness of KTDA and FSA was predicted by Swiss ADME. The target prediction of active components was carried out by Swiss Target Prediction and Pharmmapper. TTD, Drug Bank, and Gene Cards were searched for inflammation-related target genes of KTDA and FSA. Protein-protein interaction(PPI) analysis was performed on the inflammatory targets of KTDA and FSA by STRING, and Cytoscape was used to conduct topological analysis of the interaction results and construct the PPI network. GO function and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses of inflammatory targets of KTDA and FSA were carried out by DAVID, and a " component-target-pathway" network was constructed. Finally, lipopolysaccharide(LPS)-induced RAW264. 7 cells were treated with KTDA and FSA at different concentrations, and nitric oxide(NO) concentration and protein and m RNA expression levels were detected. The results showed that both KTDA and FSA showed good drug-likeness. A total of 157 and 142 inflammation-related targets of KTDA and FSA were screened out. PPI network analysis showed that MAPK1, AKT1, MAPK8, PIK3 CA,PIK3 R1, EGFR, etc. might be the key proteins for the anti-inflammatory effect. PI3 K/AKT and MAPK signaling pathways were obtained by KEGG and GO-BP enrichment. Cell experiment results showed that KTDA and FSA could exert anti-inflammatory effects by inhibiting NO production, reducing the phosphorylation levels of JNK, p38, and AKT proteins, and down-regulating the m RNA expression of interleukin(IL)-1β and IL-6. Meanwhile, FSA could also inhibit ERK phosphorylation. The results indicated that KTDA and FSA had significant anti-inflammatory activity, which provided a scientific basis and important support for the further research,development, and utilization of Olibanum and Myrrha.

Mechanism of Olibanum-Myrrha in treatment of rheumatoid arthritis based on network pharmacology and molecular docking / 中国中药杂志

In this paper, network pharmacology method and molecular docking technique were used to investigate the target genes of Olibanum and Myrrha compatibility and the possible mechanism of action in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis(RA). Our team obtained the main active components of Olibanum-Myrrha based on literatures study, relevant traditional Chinese medicine systematic pharmacological databases and literature retrieval, and made target prediction of the active components through SwissTargetPrediction database. At the same time, RA-related targets were collected through DrugBank, GeneCards and Therapeutic Target Database(TDD) databases; and VENNY 2.1 was use to collect intersection targets to map common targets of drug and disease of Venn diagram online. The team used STRING database to construct PPI protein interaction network diagram, and screen out core targets according to the size of the interaction, and Cytoscape 3.6.0 software was used to construct network models of "traditional Chinese medicine-component-target" "traditional Chinese medicine-component-target-disease" and core target interaction network model. The intersection target was analyzed by using DAVID 6.8 online database for GO function analysis and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis, and Pathon was used to visualization. AutoDock Vina and Pymol were used to connect the core active components with the core targets. Sixteen active components of Olibanum-Myrrha pairs were found and collected in the laboratory, and 320 relevant potential targets, 468 RA-related targets and 62 intersection targets were obtained through the Venn diagram. It mainly acted on multiple targets, such as IL6, TNF, IL1 B and MAPK1, involving TNF signaling pathway and Toll-like receptor signaling pathway in RA treatment. Finally, in this study, possible targets and signaling pathways of Olibanum-Myrrha compatibility therapy for RA were discussed, and molecular docking between core targets and core active components was conducted, which could provide scientific basis for the study on the mechanism of Olibanum-Myrrha compatibility.

Expression of PTEN in atherosclerosis and its effect on proliferation and apoptosis of vascular endothelial cells / 中国免疫学杂志

Objective:To investigate the expression of PTEN in atherosclerosis and its effect on the proliferation and apoptosis of vascular endothelial cell (VEC).Methods:The atherosclerotic mouse models were constructed,and the levels of PTEN in atherosclerotic tissues were detected by Real-time,PCR and Western blot;Rat VEC was treated with different concentrations of ox-LDL, cell proliferation activity was detected by MTT.VEC was transfected with PTEN overexpression vector(pSicoR-PTEN),processing cells with ox-LDL,the levels of PTEN was detected by Real-time,PCR and Western blot,cell proliferation was detected by MTT,apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry,the levels of p-STAT3,STAT3 and Cleaved Caspase-3 were detected by Western blot.Results:The level of PTEN in atherosclerotic tissue was lower than that in normal arterial tissue(P<0.05).The survival rate of VEC decreased obviously after treatment with different concentrations of ox-LDL, and the cell survival rate decreased with the increase of ox-LDL concentration.The expression of PTEN decreased in VEC after ox-LDL action,transfection of pSicoR-PTEN could increase the expression level of PTEN in VEC.The apoptotic rate of VEC increased after ox-LDL treatment,elevated levels of Cleaved Caspase-3 in cells,the level of p-STAT3 decreased,compared with normal VEC,and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05).After transfection of pSicoR-PTEN,the survival rate and p-STAT3 level of VEC were significantly increased after ox-LDL treatment,but the apoptosis rate and the level of Cleaved Caspase-3 were significantly decreased,compared with the cells treated with pure ox-LDL,the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05).Conclusion:Downregulation of PTEN expression in atherosclerosis,PTEN inhibits the proliferation and apoptosis of VEC by ox-LDL,the mechanism of action may be related to the activation of STAT3 signaling pathway.

Characterization of microbial community structure in a hybrid biofilm-activated sludge reactor for simultaneous nitrogen and phosphorus removal.

The microbial communities in a hybrid biofilm-activated sludge reactor (HY) for nitrogen and phosphorus removal were characterized by 16S rRNA-based clone libraries and phylogenetic analysis. The hybrid reactor removed over 90% of COD, 92% of total nitrogen (TN) and 95% of total phosphorus (TP) from the municipal wastewater, respectively. The mean removal rates of COD, TN, and TP in the conventional suspended activated sludge reactor were above 80%, 80% and 94%, respectively. Community structures were determined by phylogenetic analyses of six clone libraries (each nearly 100 clones). The dominant bacterial group with which clones were affiliated to the b subclass of the Proteobacteria (31%~77%), following the Bacteroidetes group (10%~34%). In addition, several clone groups affiliated with unknown bacterial assemblages were identified in the clone libraries. Acinetobacter sp., which was thought to had played an important role in phosphate removal systems, was scarcely represented by clone sequences in both libraries. Differences in community structure were observed between the hybrid reactor and activated sludge reactors. Such differences may account for the differing wastewater treating capabilities of the two different systems.

utility of platelet, mean platelet volume, and red cell distribution width in the diagnosis of active Crohn's disease and intestinal tuberculosis

To evaluate the diagnostic utility of platelet count [PLT], mean platelet volume [MPV], and red cell distribution width [RDW] in patients with active Crohn's disease [CD] and intestinal tuberculosis [ITB]. This study was conducted in the Department of Gastroenterology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China. Sixty-eight patients with active CD, 35 with ITB, and 22 as control group were recruited. Blood routine test including white blood cell, red blood cell, PLT, MPV, RDW, and so forth was investigated. Patients with active CD and ITB have increased PLT and RDW [both p<0.001], and decreased MPV [p=0.002]. The RDW performed preferably in predicting both active CD [odds ratio [OR]=2.390, p=0.007], and ITB [OR=2.338, p=0.017], and had better diagnostic value [area under the receiver operating characteristics curve [AUC] - 0.812; p<0.001] than CRP [AUC - 0.716; p=0.007] and ESR [AUC - 0.804; p<0.001] in ITB diagnosis. Among the laboratory markers, RDW not only possessed the favorable capability to predict active CD, but also showed outstanding predicting capability, and good diagnostic value in ITB

Preventive Effect of Gastrodin on Cognitive Decline after Cardiac Surgery with Cardiopulmonary Bypass: A Double-Blind, Randomized Controlled Study / 华中科技大学学报（医学）（英德文版）

Cognitive decline is a common complication after cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB),but as such no pharmacological therapy has been shown to be efficacious in preventing the decline.However,gastrodin has been shown to have multi-pharmacological effects on neurological functions.We undertook this study to test the hypothesis that gastrodin would potentially prevent CPB-associated neurocognitive decline.We randomly assigned 200 patients undergoing mitral valve replacement surgery to receive either gastrodin (40 mg/kg) or saline after the induction of anesthesia and subsequently evaluated cognitive function before surgery,at discharge,and at 3rd month after surgery by using a battery of five neurocognitive tests,or adverse effects of gastrodin postoperatively.Neurocognitive decline in postoperative function was defined as a drop of 1 SD or more in the scores on tests of any one of the four domains of cognitive function.Cognitive decline occurred in 9％ of the patients in the gastrodin group in contrast to 42％ in the control group (P＜0.01) at discharge.Cognitive outcome could be determined at 3rd month in 87 patients in the gastrodin group and 89 in the control group.Cognitive decline was detected in 6％ in the gastrodin group and 31％ in the control group (P＜0.01).The incidences of possible adverse effects were similar between two groups.These results indicate that gastrodin is an effective and a safe drug for the prevention of neurocognitive decline in patients undergoing mitral valve replacement surgery with CPB.

Role of serotonergic neurons in dorsal raphe nuclei in regulation of sleep / 中国应用生理学杂志

<p><b>AIM</b>To investigate the roles of serotonergic neurons in dorsal raphe nuclei (DRN) in sleep.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Stereotaxic, microinjection and polysomnography (PSG) were used in the experiment.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Microinjection of L-glutanate (L-Glu) into the DRN decreased slow wave sleep (SWS) and paradoxical sleep (PS), and increased wake (W). Microinjection of kainic acid (KA) and p-chlorophenylalanine (PCPA) respectively into the DRN, SWS and PS were promoted, and W was reduced.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Serotonergic neurons in dorsal raphe nuclei involved in the regulation of sleep. Sleep was reduced when the serotonergic neurons were excited, and when the neurons were inhibited. sleep was increased</p>