Study on the related factors of antiviral treatment in previously reported hepatitis C patients based on the Andersen model / 中华肝脏病杂志

Objective: To understand the basic characteristics of previously reported patients with hepatitis C and analyze the related factors affecting their antiviral treatment. Methods: A convenient sampling method was adopted. Patients who had been previously diagnosed with hepatitis C in the Wenshan Prefecture of Yunnan Province and Xuzhou City of Jiangsu Province were contacted by telephone for an interview study. The Andersen health service utilization behavior model and related literature were used to design the research framework for antiviral treatment in previously reported hepatitis C patients. A step-by-step multivariate regression analysis was used in previously reported hepatitis C patients treated with antiviral therapy. Results: A total of 483 hepatitis C patients, aged 51.73 ± 12.06 years, were investigated. The proportion of male, agricultural occupants who were registered permanent residents, farmers and migrant workers was 65.24%, 67.49%, and 58.18%, respectively. Han ethnicity (70.81%), married (77.02%), and junior high school and below educational level (82.61%) were the main ones. Multivariate logistic regression analysis results showed that married patients with hepatitis C (OR = 3.19, 95% CI: 1.93-5.25, compared with unmarried, divorced, and widowed patients) with high school education or above (OR = 2.54, 95% CI: 1.54-4.20, compared with patients with junior high school education or below) were more likely to receive antiviral treatment in the predisposition module. Patients with severe self-perceived hepatitis C in the need factor module (compared with patients with mild self-perceived disease, OR = 3.36, 95% CI: 2.09-5.40) were more likely to receive treatment. In the competency module, the family's per capita monthly income was more than 1,000 yuan (compared with patients with per capita monthly income below 1,000 yuan, OR = 1.59, 95% CI: 1.02-2.47), and the patients had a high level of awareness of hepatitis C knowledge (compared with patients with a low level of knowledge, OR = 1.54, 95% CI: 1.01-2.35), and the family members who knew the patient's infection status (compared with patients with an unknown infection status, OR = 4.59, 95% CI: 2.24-9.39) were more likely to receive antiviral treatment. Conclusion: Different income, educational, and marital statuses are related to antiviral treatment behavior in hepatitis C patients. Family support of hepatitis C patients receiving hepatitis C-related knowledge and their families knowing the infection status is more important in promoting the antiviral treatment of patients, suggesting that in the future, we should further strengthen the hepatitis C knowledge of hepatitis C patients, especially the family support of hepatitis C patients' families in treatment.

Chronic caffeine exposure attenuates blast-induced memory deficit in mice / 中华创伤杂志(英文版)

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effects of three different ways of chronic caffeine administration on blast- induced memory dysfunction and to explore the underlying mechanisms.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Adult male C57BL/6 mice were used and randomly divided into five groups: control: without blast exposure, con-water: administrated with water continuously before and after blast-induced traumatic brain injury (bTBI), con-caffeine: administrated with caffeine continuously for 1 month before and after bTBI, pre-caffeine: chronically administrated with caffeine for 1 month before bTBI and withdrawal after bTBI, post-caffeine: chronically administrated with caffeine after bTBI. After being subjected to moderate intensity of blast injury, mice were recorded for learning and memory performance using Morris water maze (MWM) paradigms at 1, 4, and 8 weeks post-blast injury. Neurological deficit scoring, glutamate concentration, proinflammatory cytokines production, and neuropathological changes at 24 h, 1, 4, and 8 weeks post-bTBI were examined to evaluate the brain injury in early and prolonged stages. Adenosine A1 receptor expression was detected using qPCR.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>All of the three ways of chronic caffeine exposure ameliorated blast-induced memory deficit, which is correlated with the neuroprotective effects against excitotoxicity, inflammation, astrogliosis and neuronal loss at different stages of injury. Continuous caffeine treatment played positive roles in both early and prolonged stages of bTBI; pre-bTBI and post-bTBI treatment of caffeine tended to exert neuroprotective effects at early and prolonged stages of bTBI respectively. Up-regulation of adenosine A1 receptor expression might contribute to the favorable effects of chronic caffeine consumption.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Since caffeinated beverages are widely consumed in both civilian and military personnel and are convenient to get, the results may provide a promising prophylactic strategy for blast-induced neurotrauma and the consequent cognitive impairment.</p>

Roles of Rho-associated coiled-coil protein kinase in multiple cell behaviors / 中国医学科学院学报

Rho-associated coiled-coil protein kinase (ROCK) is a serine/threonine kinase that belongs to AGC family of kinases. By inducing the formation of stress fibers and reorganizing the cytoskeleton, it is involved in many biological behaviors of cells including cell contraction, cell migration, cell division, and morphological changes, and thus exerts important roles in regulating the multiple functions of cells.

Effect of small interfering RNA-mediated Smad3 gene silencing on transforming growth factor-beta1-induced bi-directional effects on skin fibroblast proliferation / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the role of Smad3 in transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1)-induced bi-directional effects on skin fibroblast proliferation.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The Smad3 small interfering (siRNA) plasmid was constructed using a pSUPER vector. The efficiency of cell transfection was detected by fluorescence microscopy, and the inhibitory effect of the plasmid was assessed by real-time quantitative RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry. The effect of the plasmid on the fibroblast proliferation and Smad3 binding activity was analyzed by BRDU ELISA and EMSA, respectively.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The transfection efficiency of the plasmid into the cells was 41.2%. The Smad3 siRNA plasmid produced efficient and specific inhibition of the expression of Smad3, and promoted the cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner and abrogated the bi-directional effect of TGF-beta1 on the cell proliferation and Smad3 binding activity.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The siRNA targeting Smad3 gene can inhibit the protein expression and RNA transcription of Smad3, and TGF-beta1 exerts bi-directional regulation on fibroblast proliferation by modulating Smad3 activity.</p>

Effect of (S)-4C3HPG on brain damage in the acute stage of moderate traumatic brain injury model of mice and underlying mechanism / 生理学报

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of (S)-4-carboxy-3-hydroxy-phenylglycine [(S)-4C3HPG], a mixed group I glutamate metabotropic receptor antagonist and a group II agonist, on impairment in a cortical impact model of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in mice and to elucidate the possible mechanisms. Mice were injected (i.p.) with saline, 1 mg/kg (S)-4C3HPG, 5 mg/kg (S)-4C3HPG and 10 mg/kg (S)-4C3HPG (n=10 per group), respectively, at 30 min before moderate TBI. Neurological deficit scores, water content in injured brain and glutamate concentration in cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) were detected at 24 h after TBI. The expressions of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) mRNA in injured cortex were also detected by real-time RT-PCR. The results showed that the neurological deficits and cerebral edema were significantly attenuated in mice pretreated with (S)-4C3HPG (5 and 10 mg/kg respectively) compared with those in mice pretreated with saline. Furthermore, (S)-4C3HPG treatment also decreased the glutamate concentration in CSF and the expressions of TNF-α and IL-1β mRNA remarkably in a dose-dependent manner. These results suggest that (S)-4C3HPG treatment attenuates cortical impact-induced brain injury possibly via suppression of glutamate release and inhibition of excessive inflammatory cytokine production. These findings highlight the potential benefit of glutamate metabotropic receptor ligand for preventing TBI.

Association of glucocoid receptor binding activity and heat shock protein expressions after acute lung injury in mice / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the association between decreased ligand binding activity of glucocoid receptor (GR) and heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90), the molecular chaperone of GR, after acute lung injury (ALI) in mice.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>In mouse models of oleic acid-induced ALI, the levels of GR, Hsp90 and Hsp70 were dynamically observed using Western blotting, and the binding capacity and binding affinity of GR assessed with radioligand binding assay.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>After ALI, pulmonary edema was significantly aggravated in the mice with significantly increased lung body index and lung water ratio. GR increased within 1 h after the injury, but then decreased significantly to the lowest level at 12 h after the injury, and the levels of Hsp90 and Hsp70 was increased obviously and reached the highest at 12 h. Radioligand binding assay showed that the Bmax decreased gradually and Kd value increased, and these changes were consistent with the changes of Hsp90/GR.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The ligand binding activity of GR is related to the changes of Hsp90 after ALI.</p>