Distribution characteristics of FcµR positive cells in small intestinal lymph nodes of Bactrian camel.

Exploring the expression characteristics of FcµR in small intestinal lymph nodes of bactrian camels can lay the foundation for further revealing the function of FcµR. The FcµR expression characteristics were systematically analysed by using prokaryotic expression, antibody preparation, immunohistochemical staining and statistical analysis. FcµR positive cells were mainly located in the lymphoid follicles and their numbers decreased in the order of duodenal lymph nodes, jejunal lymph nodes and ileal lymph nodes, and the number of positive cells was statistically significant between different intestinal segments (P<0.05). The FcµR is expressed in lymphoid follicular B cells, which not only facilitates the body's ability to regulate secretory IgM levels, but also acts as a local immune defence barrier. The small intestine has dual functions of immune tolerance and immune response, the proximal part mainly focuses on immune tolerance, and the distal part mainly focuses on immune response. This distribution ensures the unity of the duodenal absorption and immune defence, and also significantly increases the efficiency of the entire small intestine, which is why the number of FcµR positive cells decreases in the order of duodenal lymph nodes, jejunal lymph nodes and ileal lymph nodes.

Multitrack and multianchor point screw technique combined with the Wiltse approach for lesion debridement for lumbar tuberculosis.

BACKGROUND: The incidence of lumbar tuberculosis is high worldwide, and effective treatment is a continuing problem. AIM: To study the safety and efficacy of the multitrack and multianchor point screw technique combined with the contralateral Wiltse approach for lesion debridement to treat lumbar tuberculosis. METHODS: The C-reactive protein (CRP) level, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), visual analogue scale (VAS) score, oswestry disability index (ODI) and American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) grade were recorded and analysed pre- and postoperatively. RESULTS: The CRP level and ESR returned to normal, and the VAS score and ODI were decreased at 3 mo postoperatively, with significant differences compared with the preoperative values (P < 0.01). Neurological dysfunction was relieved, and the ASIA grade increased, with no adverse events. CONCLUSION: The multitrack, multianchor point screw fixation technique combined with the contralateral Wiltse approach for debridement is an effective and safe method for the treatment of lumbar tuberculosis.

The Application of Computed Tomography Perfusion in the Alberta Stroke Program Early Computed Tomography Score for Endovascular Treatment of Acute Ischemic Stroke in the Anterior Circulation.

OBJECTIVE: The present study investigated the predictive value of each perfusion parameter of the Alberta Stroke Program Early Computed Tomography Score (ASPECTS) in CT perfusion (CTP) imaging for the prognosis of endovascular treatment at the time of admission in patients with acute ischemic stroke in the anterior circulation. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The imaging data of 62 patients with acute ischemic stroke in the anterior circulation with an onset time of 6 h or less were retrospectively analyzed. All patients underwent the one-stop whole-brain dynamic volume four-dimensional (4D) CT angiography (CTA)-CTP and cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) within seven days after treatment. The patients were divided into better and worse prognosis groups according to their clinical symptoms, combined with an MRI-ASPECTS score of ≤ 6 within seven days after treatment. The observed perfusion parameters included cerebral blood flow (CBF)-ASPECTS, cerebral blood volume (CBV)-ASPECTS, mean transit time (MTT)-ASPECTS, and time to peak (TTP)-ASPECTS. The difference in ASPECTS scores involving the CTP parameter, as well as diagnostic power, was compared between the two groups of patients. RESULTS: All CTP-ASPECTS scores negatively correlated with clinical prognosis. The higher the CTP-ASPECTS scores preceding treatment in patients with ischemic stroke in the anterior circulation, the better the prognosis. There were statistically significant differences in the scores of CBF-ASPECTS and CBV-ASPECTS between the two groups (P < 0.05). Receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis showed that the parameter with the largest area under the curve (AUC) was the CBF-ASPECTS score (P = 0.003), with a sensitivity of 90.9%, a specificity of 59.1%, and an AUC of 0.806, which was the most valuable prognostic predictor. CONCLUSION: The CBF-ASPECTS score presented significant value as a primary indicator for predicting the outcome of endovascular treatment in patients with acute ischemic stroke in the anterior circulation, and it had good application prospects in clinical practice.

Causal effect between total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol as risk factors for chronic kidney disease: a mendelian randomization study.

BACKGROUND: While observational studies show an association between serum lipid levels and cardiovascular disease (CVD), intervention studies that examine the preventive effects of serum lipid levels on the development of CKD are lacking. METHODS: To estimate the role of serum lipid levels in the etiology of CKD, we conducted a two-sample mendelian randomization (MR) study on serum lipid levels. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), which were significantly associated genome-wide with serum lipid levels from the GLGC and CKDGen consortium genome-wide association study (GWAS), including total cholesterol (TC, n = 187,365), triglyceride (TG, n = 177,861), HDL cholesterol (HDL-C, n = 187,167), LDL cholesterol (LDL-C, n = 173,082), apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1, n = 20,687), apolipoprotein B (ApoB, n = 20,690) and CKD (n = 117,165), were used as instrumental variables. None of the lipid-related SNPs was associated with CKD (all P > 0.05). RESULTS: MR analysis genetically predicted the causal effect between TC/HDL-C and CKD. The odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of TC within CKD was 0.756 (0.579 to 0.933) (P = 0.002), and HDL-C was 0.85 (0.687 to 1.012) (P = 0.049). No causal effects between TG, LDL-C- ApoA1, ApoB and CKD were observed. Sensitivity analyses confirmed that TC and HDL-C were significantly associated with CKD. CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this MR study indicate causal effects between TC, HDL-C and CKD. Decreased TC and elevated HDL-C may reduce the incidence of CKD but need to be further confirmed by using a genetic and environmental approach.

Bacterial community analysis on the different mucosal immune inductive sites of gastrointestinal tract in Bactrian camels.

The microbial communities colonize the mucosal immune inductive sites could be captured by hosts, which could initiate the mucosal immune responses. The aggregated lymphoid nodule area (ALNA) and the ileal Payer's patches (PPs) in Bactrian camels are both the mucosal immune inductive sites of the gastrointestinal tract. Here, the bacteria community associated with the ALNA and ileal PPs were analyzed using of 16S rDNA-Illumina Miseq sequencing. The mutual dominant bacterial phyla at the two sites were the Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Verrucomicrobia and Proteobacteria, and the mutual dominant genus in both sits was Prevotella. The abundances of the Fibrobacter, Campylobacter and RFP12 were all higher in ALNA than in ileal PPs. While, the abundances of the 5-7N15, Clostridium, and Escherichia were all higher in ileal PPs than in ALNA. The results suggested that the host's intestinal microenvironment is selective for the symbiotic bacteria colonizing the corresponding sites, on the contrary, the symbiotic bacteria could impact on the physiological functions of this local site. In ALNA and ileal PPs of Bactrian camel, the bacteria which colonized different immune inductive sites have the potential to stimulate different immune responses, which is the result of the mutual selection and adaptation between microbial communities and their host.

Genetic variation and forensic characteristic analysis of 25 STRs of a novel fluorescence co-amplification system in Chinese Southern Shaanxi Han population.

We analyzed the genetic polymorphisms of 15 autosomal and 10 Y-chromosomal STR loci in 214 individuals of Han population from Southern Shaanxi of China and studied the genetic relationships between Southern Shaanxi Han and other populations. We observed a total of 150 alleles at 15 autosomal STR loci with the corresponding allelic frequencies ranging from 0.0023 to 0.5210, and the combined power of discrimination and exclusion for the 15 autosomal STR loci were 0.99999999999999998866 and 0.999998491, respectively. For the 10 Y-STR loci, totally 100 different haplotypes were obtained, of which 94 were unique. The discriminatory capacity and haplotype diversity values of the 10 Y-STR loci were 0.9259 and 0.998269, respectively. The results demonstrated high genetic diversities of the 25 STR loci in the population for forensic applications. We constructed neighbor-joining tree and conducted principal component analysis based on 15 autosomal STR loci and conducted multidimensional scaling analysis and constructed neighbor-joining tree based on 10 Y-STR loci. The results of population genetic analyses based on both autosomal and Y-chromosome STRs indicated that the studied Southern Shaanxi Han population had relatively closer genetic relationship with Eastern Han population, and distant relationships with Croatian, Serbian and Moroccan populations.

[Assessment on the ecological suitability in Zhuhai City, Guangdong, China, based on minimum cumulative resistance model].

Urban landscape has the characteristics of spatial heterogeneity. Because the expansion process of urban constructive or ecological land has different resistance values, the land unit stimulates and promotes the expansion of ecological land with different intensity. To compare the effect of promoting and hindering functions in the same land unit, we firstly compared the minimum cumulative resistance value of promoting and hindering functions, and then looked for the balance of two landscape processes under the same standard. According to the ecology principle of minimum limit factor, taking the minimum cumulative resistance analysis method under two expansion processes as the evaluation method of urban land ecological suitability, this research took Zhuhai City as the study area to estimate urban ecological suitability by relative evaluation method with remote sensing image, field survey, and statistics data. With the support of ArcGIS, five types of indicators on landscape types, ecological value, soil erosion sensitivity, sensitivity of geological disasters, and ecological function were selected as input parameters in the minimum cumulative resistance model to compute urban ecological suitability. The results showed that the ecological suitability of the whole Zhuhai City was divided into five levels: constructive expansion prohibited zone (10.1%), constructive expansion restricted zone (32.9%), key construction zone (36.3%), priority development zone (2.3%), and basic cropland (18.4%). Ecological suitability of the central area of Zhuhai City was divided into four levels: constructive expansion prohibited zone (11.6%), constructive expansion restricted zone (25.6%), key construction zone (52.4%), priority development zone (10.4%). Finally, we put forward the sustainable development framework of Zhuhai City according to the research conclusion. On one hand, the government should strictly control the development of the urban center area. On the other hand, the secondary urban center area such as Junchang and Doumen need improve the public infrastructure to relieve the imbalance between eastern and western development in Zhuhai City.

[Photocatalytic Oxidation of p-arsanilic Acid by TiO2].

The p-arsanilic acid (ASA) is an important organoarsenical compound and its removal is more difficult compared to inorganic arsenic, however, little attention has been paid to the removal of ASA in aqueous environment. The influence of P25 on the adsorption of ASA, effect of P25 dosage, pH and illumination intensity on the photo-catalysis, the production analysis and main mechanism of photo-degradation were investigated in this study. The results showed that in the P25 catalysis process, simulated natural light could degrade ASA into As (V) by oxidation. The total As was reduced to about 0.34 mg x L(-1) within 0.5 h under the following condition: the initial concentration of ASA was 2 mg x L(-1) and the dosage of TiO2 was 1 g x L(-1). The result showed that the removal rate of ASA in acidic conditions was much higher than that in alkaline conditions. The optimal strength of light was 68.5 mW x Cm(-2). Hydroxide radical played a major role in photocatalytic oxidation of ASA by P25.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of novel aniline-derived asiatic acid derivatives as potential anticancer agents.

Asiatic acid (AA) derivatives 4 and 5 modified at the C-11 and C-28 positions were designed and synthesized, their structures were confirmed using HRMS, (1)H NMR and (13)C NMR. In vitro antitumor activities of all compounds against MGC-803, NCI-H460, HepG2, Hela and 7404 cancer cell lines were evaluated and compared with commercial anticancer drug 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), employing standard MTT assay. The new compounds 5a-5t showed stronger anti-proliferative activity than AA, especially compound 5b was found to be the best inhibition activity on HepG2 cell line. In addition, the mechanism of compound 5b was preliminarily investigated by acridine orange/ethidium bromide staining, Hoechst 33258 staining, JC-1 mitochondrial membrane potential staining, flow cytometric, qRT-PCR (quantitative real-time PCR) and Western blot. Compound 5b induced the productions of ROS, and altered anti- and pro-apoptotic proteins, leading to mitochondrial dysfunction and activations of caspase-9 and caspase-3 for causing cell apoptosis. Moreover, the cell cycle analysis showed that compound 5b mainly arrested HepG2 cells in G1 stage.

Probucol via inhibition of NHE1 attenuates LPS-accelerated atherosclerosis and promotes plaque stability in vivo.

Activation of Na(+)/H(+) exchanger 1 (NHE1) by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) via Ca(2+)/calpain is responsible in vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) apoptosis and to the process of atherosclerosis. Probucol is a lipid-lowering drug which has an anti-atherosclerosis effect. The mechanism remains poorly understood. Here we hypothesized that probucol via inhibition of NHE1 in VSMCs attenuates LPS-accelerated atherosclerosis and promotes plaque stability. Our results revealed that treatment of VSMCs with LPS increased the NHE1 activity in a time-dependent manner, associated with the increased Ca(2+)i. Probucol inhibited the LPS-induced increase of NHE1 activity in a dose-dependent manner in VSMCs for 24-hour co-incubation, as well as the change of Ca(2+)i. In addition, LPS enhanced the calpain activity. Both probucol and calcium chelation of Ca(2+) abolished the LPS-induced increase of calpain activity. Treatment of VSMCs with LPS reduced the expression of Bcl-2 without altering the mRNA level. Probucol inhibited the LPS-reduced expression of Bcl-2 protein in VSMCs. Animal studies indicated administration of probucol suppressed LPS-accelerated apoptosis, atherosclerosis and plaque instability in Apoe(-/-) mice. In conclusion, probucol via inhibition of NHE1 attenuates atherosclerosis lesion growth and promotes plaque stability.

Functional and structural alterations of peritoneum and secretion of fibrotic cytokines in rats caused by high glucose peritoneal dialysis solutions.

OBJECTIVE: To determine functional and structural alterations of peritoneum and fibrotic cytokines expression in peritoneal dialysis (PD) rats. METHODS: 28 Sprague-Dawley (S-D) rats were randomly divided into four groups and dialyzed with various solutions daily for four weeks: (1) no solution (CON group), (2) 0.9% Saline solution (NS group), (3) 1.5% Dianeal (LG group), (4) 4.25% Dianeal (HG group). Peritoneal equilibration tests, ultrafiltration function and effluent protein quantification were measured. Peritoneum morphology was studied and immunohistochemistry were performed for detection of transforming growth factor ß1 (TGF-ß1), connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), and fibronectin (FN) proteins. Reverse transcriptional-polymerase chain reaction was used to analyze the expression of TGF-ß1, CTGF mRNA. RESULTS: Administration of 4.25% Dianeal caused functional and structural changes of peritoneum, including protein loss through the transport process, decrease of peritoneal solute transport rate and ultrafiltration capacity. The collagen of peritoneum in the HG group was thicker than the other groups. The levels of CTGF, TGF-ß1, and FN proteins were significantly the highest in the HG group, followed by the LG group. The liner correlation analysis showed positive correlations between the levels of CTGF, TGF-ß1, and FN proteins and the collagen thickness. The expression of TGF-ß1 and CTGF mRNA in the HG group were significantly higher than those in the other groups and were indicated positive correlation. CONCLUSION: Using high glucose peritoneal dialysis solutions in rats may not only lead to processing of peritoneal fibrosis, which is promoted by ectopic expression of TGF-ß1, but also increase the expression of CTGF. CTGF is an important fibrotic media of peritoneal fibrosis in PD rats.

Neuroprotective, anti-amyloidogenic and neurotrophic effects of apigenin in an Alzheimer's disease mouse model.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by extracellular senile plaques and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles in the brain. Amyloid-ß peptides (Aß) are considered to play a critical role in the onset and progression of AD. Apigenin (4',5,7-trihydroxyflavone) is a pharmacologically active agent. Even though some evidence suggests that it has potential neuroprotective effects, no preexisting study has reported any therapeutic effects of apigenin in AD models. In the present study, we examined the effects of apigenin on cognitive function in APP/PS1 double transgenic AD mice and explored its mechanism(s) of action. Three-month oral treatment with apigenin rescued learning deficits and relieved memory retention in APP/PS1 mice. Apigenin also showed effects affecting APP processing and preventing Aß burden due to the down-regulation of BACE1 and ß-CTF levels, the relief of Aß deposition, and the decrease of insoluble Aß levels. Moreover, apigenin exhibited superoxide anion scavenging effects and improved antioxidative enzyme activity of superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase. In addition, apigenin restored neurotrophic ERK/CREB/BDNF pathway in the cerebral cortex. In conclusion, apigenin may ameliorate AD-associated learning and memory impairment through relieving Aß burden, suppressing amyloidogenic process, inhibiting oxidative stress, and restoring ERK/CREB/BDNF pathway. Therefore, apigenin appears to represent an alternative medication for the prevention and/or therapy of AD.