[Assessment of therapeutic effect of losartan on diabetes mellitus with gas chromatography-based metabonomics].

OBJECTIVE: To assess the therapeutic effect of losartan on type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) with gas chromatography (GC)-based metabonomics. METHODS: DM2 patients were dosed with losartan (100 mg/d) and urines were collected at week 8 and 12. The biochemical criteria (blood pressure, urinary albumen, urinary 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine and blood creatinine) were analyzed. Urine samples were derivatived and analyzed by GC. Multivariate metabonomics analysis was performed after peak alignment. RESULTS: After 8-12 weeks, losartan showed little curative effect and no remarked changes of biochemical criteria were observed. However, metabonomics analysis revealed that some biomarkers such as glucitol and inositol changed. CONCLUSION: GC-based metabonomics analysis enables the rapid identification of metabolic differences and provides information concerning therapeutic effect of losartan.

Effect of Helicobacter pylori infection on p53 expression of gastric mucosa and adenocarcinoma with microsatellite instability.

AIM: To investigate the relationship between Helicobacter pylori (H pylori) infection, microsatellite instability and the expressions of the p53 in gastritis, intestinal metaplasia and gastric adenocarcinoma and to elucidate the mechanism of gastric carcinogenesis relating to H pylori infection. METHODS: One hundred and eight endoscopic biopsies and gastric adenocarcinoma were available for the study including 33 cases of normal, 45 cases of gastritis, 30 cases of intestinal metaplasia, and 46 cases of gastric adenocarcinoma. Peripheral blood samples of these patients were also collected. H pylori infection and p53 expressions were detected by means of streptavidin-peroxidase (SP) immunohistochemical method. Microsatellite loci were studied by PCR-SSCP-CE using the markers BAT-26, D17S261, D3S1283, D2S123, and D3S1611. MSI was defined as the peak shift in the DNA of the gastric tissue compared with that of the peripheral blood samples. Based on the number of mutated MSI markers, specimens were characterized as high MSI (MSI-H) if they manifested instability at two or more markers, low MSI (MSI-L) if unstable at only one marker, and microsatellite stable (MSS) if they showed no instability at any marker. RESULTS: H pylori infection was detected in the samples of gastritis, intestinal metaplasia, and gastric adenocarcinoma and the infection frequencies were 84.4%, 76.7%, and 65.2%, respectively, whereas no H pylori infection was detected in the samples of normal control. There was a significant difference in the infection rates between gastritis and carcinoma samples (P = 0.035). No MSI was detected in gastritis samples, one MSI-H and two MSI-L were detected among the 30 intestinal metaplasia samples, and 12 MSI-H and 3 MSI-L were detected in the 46 gastric carcinomas. In those gastric carcinomas, the MSI-H frequency in H pylori-positive group was significantly higher than that in H pylori-negative group. No p53 expression was detected in the normal and gastritis samples from dyspeptic patients. P53-positive immunohistochemical staining was detected in 13.3% of intestinal metaplasia samples and in 43.5% of gastric carcinoma samples. The levels of p53 in H pylori-positive samples were higher than those in the negative group when the carcinoma samples were subdivided into H pylori-positive and -negative groups (P = 0.013). Eight samples were detected with positive p53 expression out of the 11 MSI-H carcinomas with H pylori infection and no p53 expression could be seen in the H pylori-negative samples. CONCLUSION: H pylori affect the p53 pattern in gastric mucosa when MMR system fails to work. Mutations of the p53 gene seem to be an early event in gastric carcinogenesis.

HMLH1 gene mutation in gastric cancer patients and their kindred.

AIM: To study the status of hMLH1 gene point mutations of gastric cancer kindreds and gastric cancer patients from northern China, and to find out gene mutation status in the population susceptible to gastric cancer. METHODS: Blood samples of 120 members from five gastric cancer families, 56 sporadic gastric cancer patients and control individuals were collected. After DNA extraction, the mutations of exon 8 and exon 12 of hMLH1 gene were investigated by PCR-SSCP-CE, followed by DNA sequencing. RESULTS: In the five kindreds, the mutation frequency was 25% (5/16) for the probands and 18% (19/104) for the non-cancerous members, which were significantly higher than the controls (P<0.01 chi2 = 7.71, P<0.01 chi2 = 8.65, respectively). In the sporadic gastric cancer, the mutation frequency was 7% (4/56), which was similar to that (5/100) in the healthy controls. The mutation point of exon 8 was at 219 codon of hMLH1 gene (A-G), resulting in a substitution of Ile-Val (ATC-GTC), whereas the mutation of exon 12 was at 384 codon of hMLH1 gene (T-A) resulting in a substitution of Asp-Val (GTT-GAT), which were the same as previously found in hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal carcinoma. CONCLUSION: The members of gastric cancer families from northern China may have similar genetic background of hMLH1 gene mutation as those of hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal carcinoma.

[Methylation of hMLH1 gene promoter in gastric carcinoma with microsatellite instability].

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Mismatch repair (MMR) deficiency, characterized by microsatellite instability (MSI), is a major cause of hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal carcinoma (HNPCC). Our previous study showed that loss of MMR protein expression can also be seen in gastric carcinoma, but MMR gene mutation seldom occur. Promoter methylation, a main cause of suppressor gene inactivation, might also lead to defect of MMR gene function. This study was designed to investigate the relationship of hMLH1 gene promoter methylation status to MSI in gastric carcinoma, and analyze its action as a risk factor of carcinogenesis. METHODS: DNA was extracted from 52 samples of gastric carcinoma and their adjacent non-cancerous gastric mucosa. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to amplify microsatellite loci BAT-26, D17S261, D3S1283, D2S123, and D3S1611. MSI was studied by capillary electrophoresis. Methylation of hMLH1 gene promoter was detected by restrictive endonuclease digestion, expression of hMLH1 protein was detected by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Of the 52 specimens of gastric carcinoma, 13 with high MSI (MSI-H), 2 with low MSI (MSI-l), and 37 with microsatellite stability (MSS). Frequency of hMLH1 promoter methylation was significantly higher in the 13 specimens of gastric carcinoma with MSI-H than in the 39 specimens of gastric carcinoma with MSI-L or MSS (100% vs. 2.6%, P<0.01). Furthermore, frequency of hMLH1 promoter methylation was significantly higher in the 13 specimens of adjacent non-cancerous gastric mucosa of gastric carcinoma with MSI-H than in the 39 specimens of adjacent non-cancerous gastric mucosa of gastric carcinoma with MSI-L or MSS (46.2% vs. 2.6%, P<0.01). The methylation status was accordant with loss of hMLH1 protein expression. Methylation of hMLH1 gene promoter had no relation with differentiation and clinical stage of gastric carcinoma. CONCLUSION: Methylation of hMLH1 gene promoter exists in gastric carcinoma tissues with MSI-H, and their adjacent non-cancerous gastric mucosa, it may be a risk factor of carcinogenesis of gastric carcinoma.

[Investigation of urinary nucleosides excretion of intestinal cancer patients by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography].

A method for the determination of urinary nucleosides with reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography is described. After nucleosides were extracted from urine on phenyl boronic acid affinity chromatography, the analysis was performed on a column (4.6 mm i.d. x 250 mm, 5 microns) at 22 degrees C using a linear gradient elution comprising 25 mmol/L KH2PO4 solution (pH 4.55) and 60% methanol in water with UV detection at 260 nm. This method was used for the determination of 15 urinary nucleosides of 41 intestinal cancer patients and 52 normal adults. The results showed that the average concentrations of 12 urinary nucleosides from intestinal cancer patients were much higher than those of normal adults with P < 0.001. Using the concentrations of 15 nucleosides as the data vectors, principal component analysis was applied to classify intestinal cancer patients and normal adults and 76% (31/41) of the cancer patients were correctly classified. It is concluded that the method is sensitive, reliable and suitable for basic research and clinical applications to malignant tumours.

[Application of fingerprint chromatogram in quality control of Shen-Mai injection].

The theory and practice of traditional Chinese medicine require some comprehensive methods to assess quality of the Chinese herbal medication. Fingerprint chromatogram is one of the feasible approaches to evaluate the quality of Chinese herbal medication. So the fingerprint chromatogram of Shen-Mai injection was established by using reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography. The chromatographic conditions were as follows: a Hypersil C18 column was used; the mobile phase was composed of water (A) and acetontrile (B) with linear gradient elution (0-50 min, 5%-95% B, volume fraction); the flow rate was 1.0 mL/min and the UV absorbance detection was set at 202 nm. The peak-area ratios of twenty-three fingerprint peaks and internal standard (diphenyl) were taken as the criteria for quality control. The quality differences in various batches and various manufacturers of Shen-Mai injections were investigated by projection discriminance based on principal component analysis. The results show the method developed is convenient, reliable and applicable for the quality control analysis of Shen-Mai injection.

[Development of capillary electrophoretic method for determination of the inorganic anions in the ash of black powder].

A capillary electrophoretic method for determining the inorganic anions in the ash of black powder has been developed. The components and pH of the buffer solution, the concentration of osmotic flow modifier and the separation voltage were investigated. The optimized parameters were 5.0 mmol/L sodium chromate buffer solution (pH 8.20) containing 0.5 mmol/L cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as osmotic flow modifier, a separation voltage of -20 kV and a detection wavelength of 254 nm. Under the specified conditions five anions were completely separated in four minutes, and the repeatabilities (RSD) of migration time and peak area were in the range of 0.17%-1.4% and 3.9%-5.0%, respectively. The detection limits were in the range of 5.0 mumol/L to 10.0 mumol/L. To show the usefulness, the method was applied to analyze the ash of a black powder and the results showed that the relative standard deviations of the determination for Cl- and NO2- were 6.0% and 3.9%, respectively.