Association between the epidermal growth factor gene and intelligence in major depression patients / 中国医学科学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the association between the epidermal growth factor (EGF) gene and intelligence in patients with major depression.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Intelligence measurement using Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) was performed on 120 unrelated patients with major depression and 46 control subjects. Blood was collected from all subjects for extraction of genomic DNA. Four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the EGF gene were genotyped using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI- TOF-MS).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Mean scores of both score lang and score task, two subtests in WAIS, differed significantly between major depression patients and controls (P<0.0001). Quantitative trait analysis showed that the genotype of rs2250724 was closely associated with score lang and score task in major depression patients. The associations were still significant after 10 000 permutations.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Although preliminary, our results provide evidence for association between the EGF gene and intelligence in patients with major depression. Genetic variation in the EGF gene may increase the susceptibility of major depression.</p>

Isolation,Purification and Biological Activity of the Polysaccharides from Phellinus nigiricans / 中国生物工程杂志

The water-soluble polysaccharide PNM isolated from the submerged culture of Phellinus nigiricans by hot water extraction and ethanol precipitation, was purified by freeze thawing, methods of Sevag, and then fractionated by Sepharose CL-6B gel filtration chromatography, giving a polysaccharide fraction named as PNMⅠ. HPLC analysis showed that PNMⅠwas a homogeneous polysaccharide, with a weight-average molecular weight of 29 kDa. GC analysis indicated that PNMⅠis a heteropolysaccharide composed of mannose, galactose and glucose with a ratio of 0.35:0.44:1.00. Pharmaceutical experiments showed both PNM and PNMⅠ have a significant effect on the immunomodulatory activities of murine splenic lymphocytes in vitro. Also PNMⅠ could inhibit the growth of sarcoma 180 solid tumor in vivo.

Studies on the Effects of Different Carbon Sources and Nitrogen Sources on the Growth of Phellinus Nigricans / 微生物学通报

The effects of four kinds of carbon sources and nine kinds of nitrogen sources on the fungus Phellinus nigricans mycelia were studied.The four kinds of carbon source are sucrose,lactose,glucose,soluble starch.The nine kinds of nitrogen source are corn meal,wheat bran,potato,soybean meal,yeast extract powder,peptone,potassium nitrate,ammonium nitrate,and urea.Polysaccharides were extracted from different generations of mycelia and the contents,monosaccharide components and molecular weight were analyzed.The results were that the optical carbon source and nitrogen source were starch and corn meal.The optical combination was sucrose and corn meal.The properties of polysaccharides from different generations of mycelia were stable.