[Tiaohe Yinyang acupotomy for knee osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled trial].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the clinical efficacy of Tiaohe Yinyang acupotomy (acupotomy for regulating and harmonizing yin and yang) for knee osteoarthritis (KOA). METHODS: A total of 88 patients with KOA were randomized into a acupotomy group and a sham-acupotomy group, 44 cases in each group. In the acupotomy group, acupotomy was applied at yin side (4-5 high stress points i.e. pes anserinus and terminal of popliteus) and yang side (1-2 high stress points i.e. stimulation point of infrapatellar ligament and suprapatellar bursa) of knee joint. In the sham-acupotomy group, sham-acupotomy was applied at the same points as the acupotomy group. The treatment was given once a week for 2 weeks in the two groups. Before and after treatment, the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities arthritis index (WOMAC) score, visual analogue scale (VAS) score, thickness of medial and lateral collateral ligaments of knee joint, motion range of knee joint and plantar pressure distribution were observed in the two groups. In the follow-up of 3 months after treatment, the WOMAC and VAS scores were recorded in the acupotomy group. RESULTS: After treatment, the sub item scores (pain, stiffness and function) and total scores of WOMAC and VAS scores were decreased in the both groups (P<0.05), pain score, function score and total score of WOMAC and VAS score in the acupotomy group were lower than those in the sham-acupotomy group (P<0.05). Before and after treatment, there were no statistical differences in thickness of medial and lateral collateral ligaments of knee joint and motion range of knee joint between the two groups (P>0.05). After treatment, the plantar medial pressure was increased while the plantar lateral pressure was decreased (P<0.05), and the plantar force line moved medially in the acupotomy group. In the follow-up, the sub item scores and total score of WOMAC and VAS score were lower than those before and after treatment in the acupotomy group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Tiaohe Yinyang acupotomy can improve the clinical symptoms of knee joint in patients with KOA by changing the local biological stress.

Effect of Soybean Protein Isolate-7s on Delphinidin-3-O-Glucoside from Purple Corn Stability and Their Interactional Characterization.

Anthocyanins are abundant in purple corn and beneficial to human health. Soybean protein isolate-7s (SPI-7s) could enhance the stability of anthocyanins. The stable system of soybean protein isolate-7s and delphinidin-3-O-glucoside complex (SPI-7s-D3G) was optimized using the Box-Behnken design at pH 2.8 and pH 6.8. Under the condition of pH 2.8, SPI-7s effectively improved the sunlight-thermal stabilities of delphinidin-3-O-glucoside (D3G). The thermal degradation of D3G conformed to the first order kinetics within 100 min, the negative enthalpy value and positive entropy value indicated that interaction was caused by electrostatic interaction, and the negative Gibbs free energy value reflected a spontaneous interaction between SPI-7s and D3G. The interaction of SPI-7s-D3G was evaluated by ultraviolet visible spectroscopy, circular dichroism spectroscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy. The results showed that the maximum absorption peak was redshifted with increasing the α-helix content and decreasing the ß-sheet contents, and D3G quenched the intrinsic fluorescence of SPI-7s by static quenching. There was one binding site in the SPI-7s and D3G stable system. The secondary structure of SPI-7s had changed and the complex was more stable. The stabilized SPI-7s-D3G will have broad application prospects in functional foods.

Molecular Mechanism of Ligustri Lucidi Fructus-Astragali Radix for Anti-cancer Based on Network Pharmacology / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective: To screen out active ingredients, and predict the anti-cancer targets of Ligustri Lucidi Fructus-Astragali Radix based on the "herbs-active ingredient-action targets" network. Method: The traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) system pharmacology platform (TCMSP) was employed to screen out the active ingredients and putative targets of anti-cancer of glossy privet fruit and astragalus. DisGeNET database and Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM database) were employed to predict the targets for treating cancer, and then "herbs-active ingredients-key targets" network was constructed by using Cytoscape software. The omicshare platform was employed to match the putative targets of ingredients and the targets for treating cancer. Finally, the protein interaction network of key targets was constructed by using String database, and the analysis of biological functions and pathways of them was carried out by using DAVID database. Result: Totally 33 drug active ingredients were screened out, involving a total of 203 targets, and 14 of them were related to cancer. These 14 key targets played an therapeutic role in treating cancer by regulating target proteins, such as ERBB2, AR, SRC, EGFR, ESR1, as well as proteoglycans in cancer, cancer pathways, microRNAs in cancer and other pathways. Conclusion: The therapeutic mechanism of Ligustri Lucidi Fructus-Astragali Radix reflects the multi-component, multi-target, and multi-pathway characteristics of TCMs, providing the scientific basis for further study and the material basis of Ligustri Lucidi Fructus-Astragali Radix against cancer.

Assessment for the Diagnostic Value of Soluble Suppression of Tumorigenicity-2 in Heart Failure by Meta-analysis / 中国循环杂志

Objective: To assess the diagnostic value of soluble suppression of tumorigenicity-2 (sST2) in heart failure (HF) by Meta-analysis. Methods: We searched the databases of CNKI, Wei Pu, CBMdisc,WanFang and Pubmed up to 2017-03-14 for diagnostic value of sST2 in HF patients. Corresponding references were enrolled and relevant data was extracted. Quality evaluation was conducted by quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies-2(QUADAS-2)method, effect of sST2 in HF diagnosis was analyzed by Stata14.0 and Revman software. Results: A total of 13 references were eligible including 5 English and 8 Chinese. Meta analysis showed that the diagnostic value of sST2 in HF had the pooled sensitivity at 79%, 95% CI (0.68-0.86);pooled specificity at 69%, 95% CI (0.58-0.79); positive like hood rate was 2.57, 95% CI(1.86-3.53), negative like hood rate was 0.31, 95%CI (0.21-0.46), diagnostic odds rate was 8.28, 95% CI (4.76-14.42); the area under ROC was 0.8. Deek's funnel plot demonstrated no publication bias in Meta-analysis. Conclusion: sST2 had moderate value in diagnosing HF; duo to the defect in methodology, large sample, scientific and reasonable random controlled trails should be conducted to confirm the diagnostic efficacy.

[Effects of Feiliuping Ointment Containing Serum on EMT Related mRNA and Protein Expressions under Co-culture Conditions of A549 Cells and Macrophage].

Objective To observe the effects of Feiliuping Ointment (FLP) containing serum on A549 cell epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) related mRNA and protein expressions under macro- phage co-culture conditions. Methods FLP containing serum was prepared. A co-culture system of A549 cells and macrophages was established. A549 cells were divided into 3 groups, i.e., the blank serum group (A549 +NRS) , the co-culture cells + blank serum group (co-culture + NRS) , the co-culture cells with FLP containing serum group (co-culture + FLP). The effects of FLP on A549 cell EMT related gene (SNAIL1, SNAIL2, ZEB1, CDH1, CDH2, VIM, TJP1, CLDN1, CTNNB1, FLRT1) and proteins (E-cadherin, N-cadher- in, ZO-1, Vimentin) expressions were observed under co-culture conditions by fluorescent quantitative PCR. Results A549 cells developed into mesenchymal-like cells in co-culture conditions, which could been blocked by FLP containing serum in part. Compared with the A549 +NRS group, mRNA expressions of SNAIL1, ZEB1, CTNNB1, FLRT1, CDH2, and VIM were up-regulated (P <0. 05), but the expression of TJP1 was down-regulated in the co-culture + NRS group (all P <0. 05). Compared with the co-culture + NRS group, mRNA expressions of SNAIL2, TJP1, CLDN1, CDH1, and VIM were up-regulated, but mRNA ex- pressions of CTNNB1, FLRT1, and CDH2 were down-regulated in the co-culture + FLP group (all P <0. 05). Immunofluorescent results showed that E-cadherin expressed on cell membrane and inside cytoplasm, and most expressed on cell membrane. N-cadherin expressed on cell membrane and inside cytoplasm, and most expressed inside cytoplasm. Vimentin expressed within the cytoplasm. ZO-1 expressed mainly in cell junction. Parts of the cell membrane were positively stained. Compared with the A549 +NRS group, mRNA expression of E-cadherin was down-regulated in A549 cells, and mRNA expressions of N-cadherin and Vi- mentin were up-regulated in the co-culture +NRP group. However, E-cadherin was up-regulated and protein expressions of N-cadherin and Vimentin were down-regulated after intervention of FLP containing serum. (all P <0. 05). Conclusion FLP could inhibit the EMT of A549 cells under co-culture conditions.

Overview of Probe-based Storage Technologies.

The current world is in the age of big data where the total amount of global digital data is growing up at an incredible rate. This indeed necessitates a drastic enhancement on the capacity of conventional data storage devices that are, however, suffering from their respective physical drawbacks. Under this circumstance, it is essential to aggressively explore and develop alternative promising mass storage devices, leading to the presence of probe-based storage devices. In this paper, the physical principles and the current status of several different probe storage devices, including thermo-mechanical probe memory, magnetic probe memory, ferroelectric probe memory, and phase-change probe memory, are reviewed in details, as well as their respective merits and weakness. This paper provides an overview of the emerging probe memories potentially for next generation storage device so as to motivate the exploration of more innovative technologies to push forward the development of the probe storage devices.

Osteopontin is a novel prognostic biomarker in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer after surgical resection.

PURPOSES: Osteopontin (OPN), an extracellular matrix-secreted phosphorylated glycoprotein, has been reported overexpressed in many solid tumors. As an important part of lung cancer, the high recurrence of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) also attracted great attention of scientists. METHODS: In this study, we investigated the expression of OPN and the relationship with prognosis of NSCLC patients. We measured the expression of OPN among 163 NSCLC samples by immunohistochemical method and compared the expression of these 28 matched cDNA between tumor and peritumoral tissue by real-time polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: We demonstrated that the percentages of positive OPN expression is 66.8 % and OPN expression in tumor site was much higher than the tissue adjacent to carcinoma (p = 0.0046). By further analysis, we found that OPN expression was significantly correlated with poor prognosis of NSCLC. Moreover, for early-stage patients, OS and DFS rates of OPN (-) group were significantly higher than OPN (+) group. For advanced-stage patients, OPN expression was only associated with OS rates. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that OPN is commonly expressed in NSCLC and may guide the evaluation of prognosis with NSCLC, especially for early-stage patients.

Gene therapy in B-NHL cell line using adenovirus-mediated transfer of secretable trimeric TRAIL gene expression driven by CD20 promoter.

CD20 is a crucial target to B-non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), in fact, a humanized anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody, rituximab, is widely applied in clinical practice. However, resistance to rituximab often occurs in B-NHL patients, which has encouraged us to find new medications to treat B-NHL. In this study, we designed a gene therapy strategy targeting CD20 at a transcriptional level mediated by adenovirus, in which the stTRAIL gene was driven by a specific CD20 promoter fragment. We cloned the CD20 promoter from genome DNA of BJAB cell, a CD20-positive cell line, and identified its specific transcriptional activity with a dual-luciferase reporter assay system. Meanwhile, we constructed the stTRAIL gene sequence, which contained secretion signal, isoleucine zipper, and soluble TRAIL gene sequence, in which the isoleucine zipper facilitated the product of this gene sequence to form a functional homotrimer. The recombinant adenovirus was termed as AdP20-stTRAIL, which carried on the fused gene of the CD20 promoter fragment and the stTRAIL gene. Our studies confirmed that the stTRAIL could be expressed and secreted from BJAB cells infected with AdP20-stTRAIL specifically, and it inhibited the growth of these infected BJAB cells in vitro and in vivo. Our results indicate that the gene therapy using stTRAIL gene driven by a CD20 promoter may be an effective strategy in B-NHL treatment.

Effects of melatonin on blood pressure in stress-induced hypertension in rats.

Melatonin, acting through its receptors, is involved in numerous physiological processes, including blood pressure (BP) regulation. In present study, the effect of melatonin inhibition on stress-induced hypertension was investigated. The hypertensive model consisted of male Sprague-Dawley rats subjected to electrical foot-shock combined with noise. Microinjection of melatonin (0.1 and 1.0 mmol/L) into the anterior hypothalamic area (AHA) produced a fall in BP in nomortensive rats and stress-induced hypertensive rats (SIHR). Luzindole (10 mmol/L), a competitive antagonist of melatonin MT1 and MT2 receptors, almost completely abolished the depressor effect of melatonin, the MT2 receptor-specific antagonist 4-phenyl-2-propionamidotetralin (10 mmol/L) partially blocked (by approximately 60%) the depressor effect of melatonin, whereas the MT3 receptor-selective antagonist prazosin (10 mmol/L) failed to antagonize the effects of melatonin. Brain microdialysis was performed in the AHA and the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM). Melatonin and amino acids in the dialysate samples collected were detected by high-performance liquid chromatography combined with fluorescence detection. The results indicated that melatonin concentrations in the AHA were reduced in SIHR. Microinjection of melatonin into the AHA decreased glutamate release and increased GABA and taurine release in the RVLM, which were paralleled by a decrease in arterial pressure. The mRNA expression of MT2 in the AHA of SIHR was higher than that in normotensive control rats, whereas there was no significant difference in MT1 mRNA expressin between the two groups. The results of the present study suggest that both a decrease of melatonin and an increase in the MT2 receptor in the AHA are involved in the manifestation of stress-induced hypertension. Both MT1 and MT2 receptors participated in the antihypertensive effect of melatonin in the AHA. The antihypertensive effect of melatonin was related to the decreases in the excitatory amino acid glutamate and increases in the inhibitory amino acids taurine and GABA in the RVLM.

Autophagy is involved in cytotoxic effects of crotoxin in human breast cancer cell line MCF-7 cells.

AIM: To investigate the role of crotoxin (CrTX)-induced autophagy in the death of MCF-7 cells, a caspase-3-deficient, human breast cancer cell line. METHODS: Cultured MCF-7 cells were treated with various doses of CrTX, a phospholipase A2 (PLA2) isolated from the venom of the South American rattlesnake, Crotalus durissus terrificus. The cytotoxicity of CrTX in the presence and absence of caspase inhibitors was measured with methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) leakage assays. The activation of autophagy was determined with transmission electron microscope and monodansylcadaverin (MDC) labeling. The upregulation of lysosomal enzymes, the release of cytochrome c (cyto-c), and the nuclear translocation of the apoptosis inducing factor (AIF) were examined by immunoblotting and immunofluorescence. RESULTS: CrTX inhibited the viability of MCF-7 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. CrTX-activated autophagy was revealed by punctuate MDC labeling, and an increase in the formation of autophagosomes as well as apoptosis, as evidenced by nuclear condensation and fragmentation. The activation of cathepsin B, D, and L, in addition to the release of cytochrome c and the relocation of AIF into nuclei, were observed after CrTX treatment. Autophagy inhibitors 3-methyladenine (3-MA), NH4Cl, and the pan-caspase inhibitor, Z-Val-Ala-Asp-fluoromethylketone (Z-Vad-fmk), attenuated CrTX-induced cell death. CONCLUSION: An autophagic mechanism contributes to the apoptosis of MCF-7 cells induced by CrTX.

Contributions of autophagic and apoptotic mechanisms to CrTX-induced death of K562 cells.

Previous studies reported that the neurotoxin, Crotoxin, isolated from the venom of South American rattlesnake had potent anti-tumor activity. Here, we investigated the involvement of autophagy and apoptosis in the Crotoxin-induced death of chronic myeloid leukemia cell line K562 cells. The neurotoxin dose dependently inhibited the viability of K562 cells. Crotoxin stimulated the autophagic activity as evidenced by the appearance of punctuate monodansylcadaverine (MDC) fluorescence staining in the cytoplasm and increased the formation of autophagosomes. Crotoxin caused the collapse of the mitochondrial membrane potential, release of cytochrome c and activation of caspase-3. Caspase inhibitors attenuated Crotoxin-induced K562 cell death, while blockage of autophagy maturation with 3-methyladenine (3-MA) and NH4Cl potentiated the neurotoxin's cytotoxicity. These results suggest that an apoptotic mechanism contributes to the Crotoxin-induced death of K562 cells, while the activation of autophagy delays neurotoxin-induced apoptosis.

[A case control study on the relationship between trace elements and human neural tube defects].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship between multi-trace elements levels in hair and human neural tube defects as well as other risk factors. METHODS: Using 88 paired cases and controls, an 1:1 matched case control study was carried out. The study subjects were collected from the China-U. S. Collaborative Project on Neural Tube Defects Prevention and Birth Defects Surveillance System. Risk factors were obtained by field investigation with standardized questionnaires and hair trace elements levels were determined by AAS and ICP-MS methods. Microwave digestion was used to digest hair samples. The detected elements would include three groups, namely nutritional elements: Cr, Mn, Cu, Zn, Co, Mo; toxic elements: Pb, As, Cd, Hg; and Lanthanons: Y, La, Pr, Nd. Cox Proportional Hazard Regression Model was used to perform risk factors analysis. RESULTS: Pregnancy fever appeared to be a risk factor of neural tube defects (OR = 6.525, P = 0.034) while hair zinc level (OR = 0.541 microg/100 g, P = 0.02) and times of prenatal physical examination (OR = 0.634, P < 0.001) served as two protective factors appeared in the last model. CONCLUSION: Zinc deficiency might serve as a risk factor for human neural tube defects, suggesting that the avoidance of pregnancy infection together with more periodical prenatal physical examination might reduce the incidence of neural tube defects.

A case control study on the relationship between trace elements and human neural tube defects / 中华流行病学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the relationship between multi-trace elements levels in hair and human neural tube defects as well as other risk factors.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Using 88 paired cases and controls, an 1:1 matched case control study was carried out. The study subjects were collected from the China-U. S. Collaborative Project on Neural Tube Defects Prevention and Birth Defects Surveillance System. Risk factors were obtained by field investigation with standardized questionnaires and hair trace elements levels were determined by AAS and ICP-MS methods. Microwave digestion was used to digest hair samples. The detected elements would include three groups, namely nutritional elements: Cr, Mn, Cu, Zn, Co, Mo; toxic elements: Pb, As, Cd, Hg; and Lanthanons: Y, La, Pr, Nd. Cox Proportional Hazard Regression Model was used to perform risk factors analysis.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Pregnancy fever appeared to be a risk factor of neural tube defects (OR = 6.525, P = 0.034) while hair zinc level (OR = 0.541 microg/100 g, P = 0.02) and times of prenatal physical examination (OR = 0.634, P < 0.001) served as two protective factors appeared in the last model.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Zinc deficiency might serve as a risk factor for human neural tube defects, suggesting that the avoidance of pregnancy infection together with more periodical prenatal physical examination might reduce the incidence of neural tube defects.</p>