Resveratrol: A new approach to ameliorate hyperhomocysteinaemia-induced renal dysfunction.

Hypertension is a common cause of kidney injury and renal damage occurs earlier and is more serious in patients with hypertension and hyperhomocysteinaemia (HHCY). Folic acid (FA) is widely used to ameliorate the organ damage caused by HHCY. However, the effective dose of FA remains controversial and certain studies have suggested that FA increases the risk of cancer. Therefore, it is necessary to identify a safe, effective drug. Resveratrol (RSV) is a natural polyphenol antioxidant. Therefore, the present study explored the effects of RSV on renal damage in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) with HHCY and its potential underlying mechanism. SHRs were divided randomly into control, HHCY, HHCY + FA and HHCY + RSV groups. Blood pressure, plasma homocysteine, indexes of oxidative stress [serum malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels] and indexes of renal function [glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and urinary albumin creatinine ratio (UACR)] were assessed. The mRNA and protein expression levels of nephrin and NAPDH oxidase (NOX)2 and NOX4 were detected via reverse transcription-quantitative PCR and western blotting. The results demonstrated that there was no significant difference in BP (blood pressure) among the groups, while the levels of homocysteine (HCY) in the HHCY intervention groups were significantly increased compared with the control. Both FA and RSV decreased the level of HCY, but the decrease was more obvious in the HHCY + FA group. Compared with the control the serum SOD levels and GFR were significantly decreased in the HHCY group, whereas the serum MDA levels and UACR were significantly increased. Moreover, the NOX2 and NOX4 expression levels were significantly increased, whereas those of nephrin were significantly decreased in the HHCY group. The changes caused by HHCY were significantly counteracted in both the HHCY + FA and HHCY + RSV groups and the antioxidant effect was markedly stronger in the HHCY + RSV group. In conclusion, RSV, like FA, potentially improved the renal function damage aggravated by HHCY in SHRs. Furthermore, RSV improved renal function mainly via the inhibition of oxidative stress. RSV may be a potential safe and effective treatment for HHCY-induced hypertensive renal damage.

Isolation and identification of a new phytopathogen causing root rot of Rehmannia glutinosa / 中国中药杂志

Root rot was occurred widely in the production area of Rehmannia glutinosa, and which result in serious influence on the yield and quality of R. glutinosa. In the present work, a new phytopathogen was isolated from roots with root rot symptom in the production area of R. glutinosa. The colony of the pathogen growing on PDA medium was gray-black, the structure of hyphae was compact, the aerial hyphae was less developed, and the back of the colony was black. The hyphae of the pathogen were uneven in size, about 2 to 3 μm in diameter and twined with each other, the conidia of the pathogen were small, nearly round and about 1 μm in diameter. The healthy roots of R. glutinosa were inoculated with the pathogen in vitro, black-brown rot was observed at the inoculate sites after a few days' incubation. The rhizosphere soil of healthy R. glutinosa seedlings were inoculated in vivo, the leaves were wilted and the roots were black-brown rotted after several days' normal culture, the symptoms were consistent with those observed in the field. The genomic DNA of the pathogen was amplified by fungus rDNA-ITS universal primer ITS1/ITS4 and homologous analyzed, the pathogen was in a branch with Heterophoma sp., Phoma sp., P. novae-verbascicola and P. herbarum with the nuclear acid homology of 99.21% to 99.43%. The pathogen shown 97.00% to 98.02% nuclear acid homology with H. verbascicola, H. novae-verbascicola, H. poolensis, P. herbarum, H. sylvatica, H. verbascicola and H. verbasci-densiflori when amplified by the tub2 gene special primer Btub2 fd/Btub4 rd, and H. novae-verbascicola was the highest. The pathogen was in a branch with H. novae-verbascicola when amplified by the lsu gene special primer LR0 R/LR7. Based on the morphological characteristics, nucleotide sequence analysis and Koch's test results, the isolated pathogen causing root rot of R. glutinosa was identified as H. novae-verbascicola. This study is of great significance for the further theoretical research on root rot of R. glutinosa and root rot control in field.

Effects of NKG2D and its ligands RAE-1 and H60 on graft-versus-tumor response / 中国实验血液学杂志

The study was purposed to explore the effects of NKG2D receptor and its ligands RAE-1 and H60 on graft-versus-tumor (GVT) response induced by MHC haploidentical bone marrow/spleen cell transplantation. Female (BALB/c x C57BL/6) F1 mice (CB6F1, H-2K(b/d)) inoculated with H22 cells to develop a solid tumor model were the recipients, and bone marrow mixed with spleen cells of the healthy male C57BL/6 (H-2K(b)) mice were the donor cells. GVT response was observed after transplantation that from donor cells T and NK cells were purged with anti-CD3 and anti-NK monoclonal antibody, and the NKG2D receptor was blocked with anti-NKG2D monoclonal antibody, the expression levels of RAE-1 and H60 mRNA in tumor tissue were measured by means of semi-quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) at different time points after transplantation. The results showed that the GVT response of transplantation was reduced after in vitro depletion of T and NK cells or blocking NKG2D receptor in donor cells of the graft, the expression levels of RAE-1 and H60 mRNA in tumor tissue increased after transplantation of haploidential bone marrow mixed with spleen cells. It is concluded that NKG2D and its ligands RAE-1 and H60 may play important roles in GVT response.

The diagnosis and monitoring of transitional cell cancer of the urinary tract through nuclear matrix protein 22 / 中华预防医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the urinary nuclear matrix protein (NMP22) as an adjuvant diagnostic index for transitional cell carcinoma of urinary tract and monitoring the state of disease.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Urinary samples were collected from 262 patients with transitional cell carcinoma, 198 non-transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary tract and 65 patients with benign diseases. Urinary NMP22 concentration was determined through enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The urinary NMP22 concentration had significant difference among the three groups (Kruskal Wallis, chi(2) = 197.17 P < 0.001). The detection sensitivity and specificity of urinary NMP22 to transitional cell carcinoma were 71.37% and 87.69% respectively. The NMP22 concentration showed significant difference among three groups divided according to the pathological grade (Kruskal-Wallis test, chi(2) = 34.06 P < 0.01). The NMP22 concentration was significant lower in the recovery patients after the operation than the peoples of pre-operation and recurrence (Kruskal-Wallis test, chi(2) = 37.53, P < 0.001).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>MP22 is a helpful tumor marker for the diagnosis of transitional cell carcinoma and monitoring the state of illness with increased efficacy.</p>

Effect of Ciclosporin Treatment on Refractory Nephrotic Syndrome in Children / 实用儿科临床杂志

Objective To observe the effect of ciclosporin(CsA) treatment on children with refractory nephrotic syndrome(NS).Met-hods Combination treatment of CsA[3-5 mg/(kg?d)] and prednisone were given 55 cases with refractory NS,in which including steroid-dependent NS(SDNS) 3 cases,steroid-resistant NS(SRNS) 22 cases,frequent-relapses NS(FRNS) 30 cases.Concentration of CsA was maintained 100-200 ng/L.Course of treatment was 10 months,the dose was tapered gradually in 4 months.Scr,BUN,Alb,ALT,Ccr,Chol,24 hours urine protein quantitation was measured before and after CsA treatment.Side effect of CsA was observed at the same time.SPSS 13.0 software was used to analyze the data.Results Forty-one cases(74.5%) were complete remission,6 cases(10.9%) were partial remission,total effective rate was 85.5%.Remission rate was 97.6% in simple type NS,50.0% in nephritis type NS,100% in SDNS and FRNS groups,63.6% in SRNS group.In group minimal change disease(MCD),the remission rate was 100.0%,while 60.0% in group mesangial prolife-rative glomerulonephritis(MsPGN),and 42.9% in group focal segmental glomerulosclerosis(FSGS).Fifteen cases(31.9%) relapsed when the dose of CsA was tapering.The adverse effects included hairiness(55 cases),gum hypertrophy(16 cases),hypertension(9 cases),gastroi-ntestinal tract reaction(8 cases),but no obvious nephric adverse effects were observed during the treatment process.Conclusion CsA is safe and effective on refractory NS children,especially to those with SDNS,FRNS and MCD.