Inhibitory effects of Ginkgo biloba extract on renal inflammation in diabetic nephropathy model mice and its mechanism / 中国药房

OBJECTIVE To investigate the inhibitory effects of Ginkgo biloba extract （GBE） on renal inflammation in diabetic nephropathy （DN） model mice， and its potential mechanism. METHODS KK/Ay mice were fed with high fat and high sugar to induce DN model. They were divided into model group， positive control group [metformin 200 mg/（kg·d）]， GBE low-dose and high-dose groups [100， 200 mg/（kg·d）]， with 6 mice in each group. Six C57BL/6J mice were fed with a regular diet as the control group. Administration groups were given relevant liquid intragastrically， control group and model group were given constant volume of normal saline intragastrically， once a day， for 8 consecutive weeks. The body weight， fasting blood glucose， 24-hour food intake， 24-hour urine output， monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 （MCP-1）， interleukin-12 （IL-12）， IL-10， advanced glycation end products （AGEs）， blood urea nitrogen （BUN） and serum creatinine （Scr） of mice were measured， and the ratio of bilateral kidneys to body weight was also calculated. The pathological injury and fibrotic changes of the renal cortex were observed， and the expressions of macrophage polarization marker proteins [type M1： inducible nitric oxide synthase （iNOS）； type M2： arginase-1 （Arg-1）] and AGEs-the receptor of advanced glycation end products （RAGE）/Ras homolog gene pharm_chenjing@163.com family member A （RhoA）/Rho-associated coiled-coil forming protein kinase （ROCK） signaling pathway-related proteins were determined in renal cortex. RESULTS Compared with the model group， the symptoms such as renal cortical hyperplasia， vacuoles， infiltration of inflammatory cells， and renal cortical fibrosis had been improved in GBE low-dose and high-dose groups； body weight， serum level of IL-10， the expression of Arg-1 in the renal cortex were significantly higher than model group （P＜ 0.01）； fasting blood glucose， 24-hour food intake， 24-hour urine output， serum levels of MCP-1， IL-12， BUN， Scr and AGEs， the ratio of bilateral kidneys to body weight， renal injury score， the proportion of renal interstitial fibrosis， the protein expressions of iNOS， RAGE， RhoA and ROCK1 （except for GBE low-dose group） in renal cortex were significantly lower than model group （P＜0.01）. CONCLUSIONS GBE could improve kidney damage and alleviate inflammatory response in DN model mice， the mechanism of which may be related to inhibiting the AGEs-RAGE/RhoA/ROCK signaling pathway and regulating macrophage polarization.

Atypical Lymphocytosis:Report of Two Cases and Literature Review / 中国医学科学院学报

To improve the diagnosis of atypical lymphocytes and reduce the misdiagnosis rate,we analyzed the medical records of 2 cases with cell morphology suggestive of atypical lymphocytes.One case was diagnosed with infectious mononucleosis and the other with aggressive NK cell leukemia.The purpose of this paper is to emphasize that the diagnosis of atypical lymphocytes based only on morphological interpretation of cells may be incorrect,which should be combined with clinical symptoms,signs,imaging examination,cell immunophenotype,and disease outcome.

Myosin Heavy Chain 7 Gene-derived miRNA-208b-3p Enhances the Fibrosis-related Gene Expression in Cardiac Fibroblasts / 中山大学学报(医学科学版)

ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of myosin heavy chain 7 gene-derived miRNA-208b-3p on the fibrotic phenotype of cardiac fibroblasts. MethodsmiRNA chip array was performed to detect the dysregulated miRNAs in the myocardium of diabetic db/db mice and db/m control mice. Neonatal mouse ventricular cardiomyocytes （NMVCs） and cardiac fibroblasts （CFs） were isolated from C57BL/6 mice and cultured. Real-time quantitative PCR （RT-qPCR） was conducted to determine the expression of miR-208b-3p in mouse CFs and NMVCs subjected to angiotensinⅡ（AngⅡ） and high glucose plus glucose oxidase （G/Go） treatment， respectively. Cell counting kit 8（CCk8） assay， flow cytometry and determination of fibrosis-related protein， including COL1A1， COL3A1and α-SMA， were performed in mCFs transfected with miR-208b-3p. Dual luciferase reporter assay was performed to confirm the interaction between miR-208b-3p and the 3'-UTR of metal response element binding transcription factor 2 （Mtf2） and progesterone receptor membrane component 1（Pgrmc1）， respectively. The expressions of Mtf2 and Pgrmc1 at the mRNA and protein levels in mCFs after miR-208b-3p mimic transfection were determined using RT-qPCR and Western blot assay， respectively. The small interfering RNA （siRNA） was used to inhibit Mtf2 and Pgrmc1 expression in mCFs， and the effects of Mtf2 siRNA， Pgrmc1 siRNA and miR-208b-3p on fibrosis-related protein expression in mCFs were investigated. ResultsResults of miRNA chip array and RT-qPCR assay showed that miR-208b-3p was up-regulated in the myocardium of the diabetic db/db mice. miR-208b precursor and the host gene of Myh7 were consistently increased in db/db mice. miR-208b-3p and Myh7 mRNA were expressed in mCFs and NMVCs， but the levels of miR-208b-3p and Myh7 mRNA in NMVCs were much higher than those in mCFs. miR-208b-3p was up-regulated in mCFs and NMVCs subjected to Ang Ⅱ and G/Go treatment， respectively. miR-208b-3p could significantly enhance fibrosis-related protein， including COL1A1， COL3A1 and α-SMA， in mCFs， without affecting the proliferation activity and cell cycle distribution of mCFs. Dual luciferase reporter assay revealed the interactions of miR-208b-3p with the 3'-UTR of Mtf2 and Pgrmc1. The results of RT-qPCR and Western blotting confirmed that miR-208b-3p inhibited Mtf2 and Pgrmc1 expression at the post- transcriptional level. Transfection with miR-208b-3p mimic， Mtf2 siRNA and Pgrmc1 siRNA could consistently enhance the fibrosis-related protein expression in the cardiac fibroblasts. ConclusionsmiR-208b-3p enhances fibrosis-related gene expression by targeting Mtf2 and Pgrmc1in mCFs.

Epidemiological characteristics of local COVID-19 epidemics and control experience in routine prevention and control phase in China / 中华流行病学杂志

The COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing in the world, the risk of COVID-19 spread from other countries or in the country will exist for a long term in China. In the routine prevention and control phase, a number of local COVID-19 epidemics have occurred in China, most COVID-19 cases were sporadic ones, but a few case clusters or outbreaks were reported. Winter and spring were the seasons with high incidences of the epidemics; border and port cities had higher risk for outbreaks. Active surveillance in key populations was an effective way for the early detection of the epidemics. Through a series of comprehensive prevention and control measures, including mass nucleic acid screening, close contact tracing and isolation, classified management of areas and groups at risk, wider social distancing and strict travel management, the local COVID-19 epidemics have been quickly and effectively controlled. The experiences obtained in the control of the local epidemics would benefit the routine prevention and control of COVID-19 in China. The occurrence of a series of COVID-19 case clusters or outbreaks has revealed the weakness or deficiencies in the COVID-19 prevention and control in China, so this paper suggests some measures for the improvement of the future prevention and control of COVID-19.

Novel carbohydrate-triazole derivatives as potential α-glucosidase inhibitors / 中国天然药物

A series of novel pyrano[2, 3-d]trizaole compounds were synthesized and their α-glucosidase inhibitory activities were evaluated by in vitro enzyme assay. The experimental data demonstrated that compound 10f showed up to 10-fold higher inhibition (IC74.0 ± 1.3 μmol·L) than acarbose. The molecular docking revealed that compound 10f could bind to α-glucosidase via the hydrophobic, π-π stacking, and hydrogen bonding interactions. The results may benefit further structural modifications to find new and potent α-glucosidase inhibitors.

Protective Effect of Tiaogeng Decoction in Improving Apoptosis of Hypothalamic Neurons Based on JNK Pathway / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective:To study the mechanism of Tiaogeng decoction in improving apoptosis of hypothalamic neurons through c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) pathway. Method:The GT1-7 cell line of hypothalamic neuron cells treated by tributyltin chloride (TBTC) was used to induce a model of neuronal apoptosis, with 17β-estradiol as a positive drug. They were divided into control group, model group (1 mg·L-1), 17β-E2 group(100 nmol·L-1) and low, middle and high-dose Tiaogeng decoction groups (31.25,62.5,125 mg·L-1). The cell morphology was observed under a fluorescent inverted microscope, and cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) was used to detect the cell viability. The cell nuclear morphology and the apoptosis rate of hypothalamic neurons were detected by Hoechst 33258 and Annexin V-FITC/propidium iodide(PI) double staining. Western blot was used to detect the expression levels of apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1(ASK1), JNK, p53 and cleaved Caspase-3 of JNK pathway in GT1-7 cell. Western blot was used to analyze apoptosis-associated protein apoptosis signal-regulated kinase 1 (ASK1), JNK, p53, cleaved Caspase-3 expressions in JNK pathway and phosphorylation of JNK after intervention with JNK inhibitor SP600125, protein expression level of cleaved Caspase-3. Result:Compared with normal control group, the cell viability of the model group was significantly decreased (PPPPP-1)treatment significantly inhibited the expressions of p-JNK and cleaved Caspase-3 in GT1-7 cells (PConclusion:Tiaogeng decoction can improve the apoptosis of hypothalamic neurons through JNK pathway, and provide a theoretical basis for the treatment of menopausal syndrome and central nervous system protection.

MicroRNA-199a-3p Enhances Cardiomyocyte Hypertrophy through Targeting Retinoblastoma Transcriptional Corespressor 1 / 中山大学学报(医学科学版)

@#【Objective】To investigate the role and the potential target of miR-199a-3p in mouse cardiac hypertrophy.【Methods】Neonatal mouse ventricular cardiomyocytes（NMVC）were isolated from the hearts of 0- 3- day- old newborn C57BL/6 mice. MiR-199a-3p mimic and retinoblastoma transcriptional corepressor 1（Rb-1）siRNA were transfected in? to NMVC to elevate the level of miR-199a-3p and inhibit Rb-1 expression，respectively. NMVC were stained with FITC- phalloidin solution to determine the size of NMVC. Dual luciferase reporter assay was performed to identify the interaction between miR- 199a- 3p and the 3’UTR of Rb- 1. mRNA and protein expression of cardiac hypertrophy associated genes were determined by RT-qPCR and Western blotting assay，respectively.【Results】（1）Over-expression of miR-199a-3pcould significantly enhance the expression of cardiac hypertrophy-related genes in NMVC ；（2）Dual-luciferase reporter assay results verified that miR- 199a-3p can interact with the 3’UTR of Rb-1. MiR-199a-3p could suppress Rb-1 ex? pression at the post-transcriptional level；（3）Functionally，miR-199a-3p mimic，consistent with Rb-1 siRNA，could increase cell size and the expression of Nppa，Acta1 and Myh7 in NMVC，and promote the nuclear translocation of E2f2 in NMVC.【Conclusions】MiR-199a-3p promotes the entry of E2f2 into the nucleus through inhibiting the expression of Rb-1，contributing to cardiomyocyte hypertrophy.

L-type calcium channel involved in heterogeneity of arterial constriction in different organs of rats / 中国药理学通报

Aim To study whether there was arterial heterogeneity and association with L-type calcium channel (LCC) in different parts of arteries in re-sponse to certain vasoconstrictor. Methods The aor-ta, renal arteries and coronary arteries were dissected from rats. Arterial ring contractions induced by pheny-lephrine (Phe), 5-hydroxyl tryptamine (5-HT) or U46619 in concentration-dependent manner were meas-ured using the Multi Myograph system and the response to nifedipne was observed. Results (1) Phe had no obvious effect on the tension of coronary artery,but in-duced concentration-dependent vasoconstriction in aor-ta and renal artery,and pEC50of aorta was significantly higher than that of renal artery (P<0.05). The inhi-bition rate of nifedipine on the aortic contractile re-sponses was significantly higher than that of renal arter-y (P<0.05). (2) The contraction induced by 5-HT on aorta was not obvious, but was significant on renal artery and coronary artery. The inhibitory rate of nife-dipine on coronary artery vasoconstriction was signifi-cantly higher than that of renal artery (P <0.05). (3) U46619 could induce aorta,renal artery and coro-nary artery concentration- dependent contraction, but the Emaxof them were both higher than that of renal ar-tery (P<0.05). And the pEC50of aorta was the lar-gest (P<0.05). Nifedipine significantly inhibited the contraction of aorta, renal artery and coronary artery induced by U46619 with the greatest inhibitory rate on the coronary artery vasoconstriction and minimal inhibi-tion on aortic vasoconstriction. Conclusions The re-sponse to certain vasoconstrictor is different among aor-ta, renal artery and coronary artery in rats, and the contraction mediated by L-type calcium channel is also different.

Changes of cardiac function, RAGE expression and calcium dysregula-tion in type 2 diabetic rats / 中国病理生理杂志

AIM:To investigate the changes of cardiac structure and function in rats with type 2 diabetic melli-tus(T2DM),and to explore the mechanisms underlying diabetic cardiomyopathy.METHODS:The cardiac structure and function were measured by echocardiography in Zucker diabetic fatty(ZDF)rats and their control Zucker lean(ZL)rats. The size of the cardiomyocytes was determined by wheat germ agglutinin staining.The protein expression of atrial natriuretic peptide(ANP),β-myosin heavy chain(β-MHC), receptor for advanced glycation end products(RAGE), L-type cal-cium channel α1C subunit(CaV1.2)and Orai1 was assessed by Western blot.RESULTS:Compared with the ZL control rats,the thickness of left ventricular wall,ejection fraction(EF),fractional shortening(FS)and the sizes of cardiomyo-cytes were significantly increased,and diastolic function was decreased in the ZDF rats(P<0.05).The protein expression of β-MHC, ANP, RAGE and Orai1 was increased, while the expression of Ca V1.2 was decreased in ZDF rats(P <0.05).CONCLUSION:T2DM rats show the prominent features including cardiomyocyte hypertrophy,ventricular hyper-trophy and compensatory enhancement of cardiac function, and the Ca2+handling and increase in RAGE expression may play important roles in the processes.

Effect of transcranial ultrasound stimulation on transcranial magneto-acoustic stimulation / 医疗卫生装备

Objective To explore the effect of the transcranial ultrasound stimulation(TUS)on transcranial magneto-acoustic stimulation(TMAS).Methods The healthy mice and Parkinson's disease(PD)mice were contrastively stimulated by TMAS and TUS.A TMAS group,a TUS group and a control group were established,and then the behavior and the electrophysiology results were analyzed and compared in the three groups. Results Both the chronic TMAS treatment and TUS treatment improved the motor ability and learning ability of the healthy mice and the PD mice. In addition, the TMAS-group mice showed better performances than the TUS-group mice and the ones in the control group.Conclusion TMAS has its effects promoted by TUS and mechanism explained in detail,which is actually a combined stimulation of coupling electric field and ultrasonic field.[Chinese Medical Equipment Journal,2018,39(5):17-21,49]

Influence of thermoacoustic effect for frequency of magnetoacoustic signals / 医疗卫生装备

Objective To research the influence of the thermoacoustic effect for the frequency of the magnetoacoustic signals in the magnetoacoustic tomography (MAT).Methods Some experiments were designed,and the magnetoacoustic signals and the thermoacoustic signals of several materials with different conductivities were analyzed and compared in the time domain and the frequency domain respectively,of which,copper and graphite were high-conductivity materials,and agar and pork were used as low-conductivity biological or similar tissue.Results The characteristics of the magnetoacoustic signals and the thermoacoustic signals of different materials were acquired.The results illustrated that there was a little drop in frequencies of acoustic signals of the materials with high conductivities while a big drop in frequencies of signals of the tissue-like materials comparing with the stimulant pulse.Furthermore,the main frequencies of acoustic signals were not accordant but much lower than the stimulant ones. Conclusion It is found that the thermoacoustic effect is related to the frequency of the acoustic signals. The drop in the center frequencies of the acoustic signals could be explained by the thermoacoustic effect of materials.The acoustic signals with lower main frequencies have the higher proportion of thermoacoustic signals.The studies could contributing to optimizing MAT method and improving MAT imaging quality.

I-Evans blue: evaluation of necrosis targeting property and preliminary assessment of the mechanism in animal models

Necrosis is a form of cell death, which is related to various serious diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, and neurodegeneration. Necrosis-avid agents (NAAs) selectively accumulated in the necrotic tissues can be used for imaging and/or therapy of related diseases. The aim of this study was to preliminarily investigate necrosis avidity of I-evans blue (I-EB) and its mechanism. The biodistribution of I-EB at 24 h after intravenous administration showed that the radioactivity ratio of necrotic to viable tissue was 3.41 in the liver and 11.82 in the muscle as determined by counting in model rats. Autoradiography and histological staining displayed preferential uptake of I-EB in necrotic tissues. nuclear extracts from necrotic cells exhibited 82.3% of the uptake in nuclei at 15 min, as well as 79.2% of the uptake at 2 h after I-EB incubation. The DNA binding study demonstrated that evans blue (EB) has strong binding affinity with calf-thymus DNA (CT-DNA) (=5.08×10 L/(mol/L)). Furthermore, the accumulation of I-EB in necrotic muscle was efficiently blocked by an excess amount of unlabeled EB. In conclusion, I-EB can not only detect necrosis by binding the DNA released from necrotic cells, but also image necrotic tissues generated from the disease clinically.

Effect of calcium sodium phosphosilicate and potassium nitrate on dentin hypersensitivity: a systematic review and Meta-analysis / 华西口腔医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>This systematic review and Meta-analysis aimed to compare the efficacy of calcium sodium phos-phosilicate (CSPS) and potassium nitrate as desensitizing agents for the treatment of dentin hypersensitivity (DH).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A thorough search in The Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, Chinese WanFang Data, CBM, and CNKI were conducted for studies published up to June 2017. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of the treatment of DH with CSPS and potassium nitrate toothpaste were included. Quality assessment and data extraction were performed by two reviewers independently, and Meta-analysis was performed by using RevMan 5.3 software.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Eight RCTs involving 411 patients were included. Experimental group comprised 203 and control group had 208 patients. The Meta-analysis indicated the superior effect of CSPS dentifrice on air blast sensitivity at 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks of follow-up [SMD=-1.85, 95%CI (-2.89, 
-0.81), P=0.000 5, I²=93%], [SMD=-1.61, 95%CI (-1.96, -1.26), P<0.000 01, I²=49%], [SMD=-3.79, 95%CI (-7.18, -0.40), P=0.03, I²=98%], and [SMD=-2.13, 95%CI (-2.69, -1.58), P<0.000 01] , respectively. No significant effects were seen at 12 weeks [SMD=-0.63, 95%CI (-1.47, 0.20), P=0.14, I²=71%]. CSPS dentifrice showed a better desensitizing effect at 2, 4, 6, 8, and 12 weeks of follow-up on cold water sensitivity [SMD=-1.07, 95%CI (-1.48, -0.66), P<0.000 01, I²=69%], [SMD=
-1.29, 95%CI (-1.81, -0.76), P<0.000 01, I²=64%], [SMD=-1.20, 95%CI (-1.57, -0.83), P<0.000 01, I²=86%], [SMD=-1.30, 95%CI (-2.51, -0.08), P=0.04, I²=82%], and [SMD=-0.79, 95%CI (-1.27, -0.31), P=0.001], respectively. No significant effects at 1 week of follow-up [SMD=0.00, 95%CI (-0.62, 0.62), P=1]. The favorable effect of CSPS dentifrice on tactile sensitivity was more obvious than the control group at 2, 4, and 8 weeks of follow-up [SMD=-1.31, 95%CI (-2.00, -0.62), P=0.000 2, I²=67%], [SMD=-1.37, 95%CI (-1.74, -0.99), P<0.000 01, I²=23%], and [SMD=-1.33, 95%CI (-1.82,-0.84), P<0.000 01], respectively. No significant effects at 1 week of follow-up [SMD=-0.32, 95%CI (-0.94, 0.31), P=0.32] were observed.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Current evidence indicated that CSPS was more effective than potassium nitrate at reducing DH. The evidence generated by this review was based on a small number of individuals. High-quality and large sample size as well as ideally-designed clinical trials are required in the future before definitive recommendations can be made.</p>

Method for Extracting Vascular Perfusion Region Based on Ultrasound Contrast Agent / 生物医学工程学杂志

Vascular perfusion distribution in fibroids contrast-enhanced ultrasound images provides useful pathological and physiological information, because the extraction of the vascular perfusion area can be helpful to quantitative evaluation of uterine fibroids blood supply. The pixel gray scale in vascular perfusion area of fibroids contrast-enhanced ultrasound image sequences is different from that in other regions, and, based on this, we proposed a method of extracting vascular perfusion area of fibroids. Firstly, we denoised the image sequence, and then we used Brox optical flow method to estimate motion of two adjacent frames, based on the results of the displacement field for motion correction. Finally, we extracted vascular perfusion region from the surrounding background based on the differences in gray scale for the magnitude of the rich blood supply area and lack of blood supply area in ultrasound images sequence. The experimental results showed that the algorithm could accurately extract the vascular perfusion area, reach the precision of identification of clinical perfusion area, and only small amount of calculation was needed and the process was fairly simple.

Progress of sulfur fumigation and modern processing technology of Chinese traditional medicines / 中国中药杂志

Infestation, moldy and other phenomenon in the processing and storage of Chinese herbal medicines is a problem that faced in the production of Chinese traditional medicine. The low productivity of traditional processing methods can not guarantee the quality of Chinese herbal medicines. Sulfur fumigation is the first choice of grassroots to process the Chinese herbal medicine with its low cost and easy operation. Sulfur fumigation can solve some problems in the processing and storage of Chinese herbal medicines, but modern pharmacological studies show that long-term use of Chinese traditional medicine which is fumigated by sulfur can cause some serious harm to human liver, kidney and other organs. This paper conducts a review about the application history of sulfur fumigation, its influence to the quality of Chinese herbal medicines as well as domestic and foreign limits to sulfur quantity, and a brief introduction of the status of modern processing technologies in the processing of food and some Chinese herbal medicines, the problems ex- isting in the Chinese herbal medicines processing, which can provide a reference basis for the further research, development and application of investigating alternative technologies of sulfur fumigation.

Research situation of effects of sulfur fumigation on quality of traditional Chinese medicine / 中国中药杂志

Sulfur fumigation (SF) is a universal phenomenon in primary processing of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in modern times. In the process, fumigation, sulfur or both of them act on the TCMs. Some active components of TCMs change quantitatively or qualitatively during the processing. At the same time, the sulfur dioxide and heavy metal would remain and cause a serious influence on quality and future development of TCM. This article reviews the chemical compositions change after SF to study the change law and their influence on quality. This article provide references for SF in TCMs' processing for a better and safer quality.

Research development of harmful substances and its harm of traditional Chinese medicine after sulfur fumigation / 中国中药杂志

Sulfur fumigation, which is traditional method for preservation, pest control, insecticide and sterilization, has long been widely used in processing and storage and played a positive role of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). As some businesses sided pursuit of profit, abused and repeated use of sulfur fumigation, have resulted in a large number of harmful residues, such as sulf dioxide (SO2) and harmful heavy metals, which brings a significant impact and danger on human health. This article summarizes the sulfur species and the sulfur fumigation methods and analyzes the harmful substances in TCM after sulfur fumigation, to provide a reference of the choice of species for the sulfur, the optimization of sulfur fumigation process and the standardized processing of TCM after sulfur fumigation.

Expression of fas protein of myocardium in dilated cardiomyopathy / 法医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate Fas protein expression of the myocardium in dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and its relationship with occurrence of sudden death caused by DCM.@*METHODS@#Nine autopsy cases of sudden death caused by DCM along with the heart samples were chosen from the archives in the Department of Forensic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, HUST from 1997 to 2007. Other 11 cases which died of violence and other diseases were selected as the control group. Expressions of myocardial Fas protein in the samples were quantitatively detected by immunohistochemistry and computerized imaging analysis.@*RESULTS@#Myocardial Fas protein expression increased significantly in the DCM group. Positive color showed brown-yellow granulated or striped distribution in the longitudinal section of myocardial within the cell membrane and cytoplasm, and showed circular brown granules in the cross section of the cell membrane, while these changes were not observed in the control group though there was focal weak staining noted. Statistical significance was observed between the experimental and control groups (P = 0.002), but no statistical significance was found for the average optical density value between these two groups (P = 0.675).@*CONCLUSION@#The expression of Fas protein increased obviously in the DCM group. Such alteration in expression quantity and distribution of myocardial Fas protein may be related to arrhythmia and heart failure in the patients with DCM.

Recent advance in carbohydrate-based cancer vaccines / 药学学报

The abnormal glycans expressing on the surface of tumor cells are good targets to develop carbohydrate-based anti-cancer vaccines. However, one of the major problems is that carbohydrate antigens possess weak immunogenicity. This review summarizes the recent efforts to overcome this problem: glycoconjugates produced by coupling the carbohydrate antigens and proper carrier proteins improve their immunogenicity, many glycoconjugates have entered clinical trials; the vaccines become chemically well-defined when coupling the carbohydrate antigens with a T-cell peptide epitope and an immunostimulant to form fully synthetic multi-component glycoconjugate vaccines; the modification of carbohydrate antigens in combination with the technology of metabolic oligosaccharide engineering of tumor cells induces a strong immune response; and the fact that the antibodies elicited against the unnatural carbohydrate antigens can recognize the native carbohydrate antigens on tumor cells provides a new promising strategy for the development of anti-cancer vaccines.

Effect of impaired glucose tolerance on cardiac dysfunction in a rat model of prediabetes / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>The effect of impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) on cardiac function during the chronic prediabetes state is complicated and plays an important role in clinical outcome. However, the molecular mechanisms are not fully understood. This study was designed to observe cardiac dysfunction in prediabetic rats with IGT and to determine whether glucose metabolic abnormalities, inflammation and apoptosis are linked to it.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The IGT rat models were induced by streptozocin, and the heart functions were assessed by echocardiography. Myocardial glucose metabolism was analyzed by glycogen periodic acid-Schiff staining, and the pro-apoptotic effect of IGT was evaluated by TUNEL staining. Additionally, caspase-3 activation, macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) and G-protein coupled receptor kinase 2 (GRK2) were detected by Western blotting in cardiac tissue lysates.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Area-under-the-curve of blood glucose in rats injected with streptozotocin was higher than that in controls, increased by 16.28%, 38.60% and 38.61% at 2, 4 and 6 weeks respectively (F = 15.370, P = 0.003). Abnormal cardiac functions and apoptotic cardiomyocytes were observed in the IGT rats, the ejection fraction (EF) being (68.59 ± 6.62)% in IGT rats vs. (81.07 ± 4.59)% in controls (t = 4.020, P = 0.002). There was more glucose which was converted to glycogen in the myocardial tissues of IGT rats, especially in cardiac perivascular tissues. Compared to controls, the cleaved caspase-3, MIF and GRK2 were expressed at higher levels in the myocardial tissues of IGT rats.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>IGT in the prediabetes period resulted in cardiac dysfunction linked to abnormal glycogen storage and apoptosis. Additionally, MIF and GRK2 may be involved in the pathogenesis of cardiac dysfunction in prediabetes and their regulation may contribute to the design of novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for those who have potential risks for diabetic cardiovascular complications.</p>