The effect of sitting baduanjin in patients with ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction after percutaneous coronary intervention: A quasi-experimental study.

BACKGROUND: Early cardiac rehabilitation plays a crucial role in the recovery of patients with ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI) following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). This study sought to determine the effect of a program of sitting Baduanjin exercises on early cardiac rehabilitation. OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to investigate the effects of sitting Baduanjin exercises on cardiovascular and psychosocial functions in patients with STEMI following PCI. METHODS: This quasi-experimental study employed a randomized, non-equivalent group design. Patients in the intervention group received daily sitting Baduanjin training in addition to a series of seven-step rehabilitation exercises, whereas those in the control group received only the seven-step rehabilitation training, twice daily. Differences in heart rate variability (HRV) indicators, exercise capacity (Six-Minute Walking Distance; 6-MWD), anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7; GAD-7), and depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9; PHQ-9) between the two study groups during hospitalization were analyzed. RESULTS: Patients in the intervention group exhibited lower rates of abnormalities in the time domain and frequency domain parameters of HRV. The median scores of GAD-7 and PHQ-9 in both groups were lower than those at the time of admission, with the intervention group exhibiting lower scores than the control group (P < 0.001; P < 0.001, respectively). The 6-MWD after the intervention was greater in the intervention group compared to the control group (P = 0.014). CONCLUSIONS: We found that sitting Baduanjin training has the potential to enhance HRV, cardiac function, and psychological well-being in patients with STEMI after PCI. This intervention can potentially improve the exercise capacity of a patient before discharge.

Identification of breast cancer subgroups and immune characterization based on glutamine metabolism-related genes.

Immunotherapy is a promising treatment for breast cancer (BC). However, due to individual differences and tumor heterogeneity, immunotherapy is only applicable to some BC patients. Glutamine metabolism plays a role in inhibiting immunotherapy, but its role in BC is limitedly studied. Therefore, we aimed to identify different BC subgroups based on glutamine metabolism and characterize the features of different subgroups to provide guidance for personalized immunotherapy for BC patients. Using unsupervised clustering analysis, we classified BC patients in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) with glutamine metabolism-related genes and obtained low-risk (LR) and high-risk (HR) subgroups. Survival analysis revealed that prognosis of LR subgroup was notably better than HR subgroup. Through ssGSEA and CIBERSORT methods, we disclosed that infiltration levels of B cells, Mast cells, T helper cells, and Th2 cells, and Type II IFN Response immune function were notably higher in LR subgroup than in HR subgroup. The Wilcox algorithm comparison denoted that DEPTH of LR subgroup was significantly lower than HR subgroup. The TIDE of LR subgroup was significantly higher than HR subgroup. Functional annotation of differentially expressed genes revealed that channel activity and the Estrogen signaling pathway may be related to BC prognosis. Ten hub genes were selected between the subgroups through the STRING database and Cytoscape, and their correlation with drugs was predicted on the CellMiner website. This study analyzed the immune characteristics of BC subgroups based on glutamine metabolism and provided reference for prognosis prediction and personalized immunotherapy.

Implementation of a motivational programme based on existence- relatedness-growth theory in nursing undergraduate interns: A quasi-experimental study.

BACKGROUND: Currently, a paramount issue in nursing education is to motivate nursing undergraduate interns to develop self-directed learning skills and improve their practice satisfaction and professional identity, so as to meet the growing demands in healthcare. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of a motivational programme based on the Existence-Relatedness-Growth (ERG) theory in developing self-directed learning skills, improving practice satisfaction and promoting the professional identity of nursing undergraduate interns in China. DESIGN: A quasi-experimental study design. SETTING: A government-funded tertiary teaching hospital in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, China. METHODS: This study was conducted with 99 nursing undergraduate interns in a hospital between June 2020 and April 2022. The interns in the experimental group (n = 50) participated in the motivational programme based on ERG theory, while those in the control group (n = 49) underwent a traditional training programme. The interns in the two groups were compared in terms of their degree of self-directed learning, practice satisfaction and professional identity after the training, using independent samples t-test. RESULTS: After the internship, interns in the experimental group showed a statistically significantly higher level of self-directed learning and practice satisfaction than those in the control group (p < 0.05). However, no significant difference was observed in professional identity between the two groups after the internship. CONCLUSIONS: The motivational programme based on ERG theory was shown to be effective in improving self-directed learning and practice satisfaction in nursing undergraduate interns. A large-scale randomized controlled trial is warranted to confirm the results.

A Review of the Pharmacokinetic Characteristics of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors and Their Clinical Impact Factors.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have been shown to be significant in improving the overall survival rate in certain malignancies with poor prognoses. However, only 20-40% of patients achieve long-term benefits, highlighting the relevance of the factors that influence the treatment, which can help clinicians improve their results and guide the development of new immune checkpoint therapies. In this study, the current pharmacokinetic aspects associated with the ICIs and the factors influencing clinical efficacy were characterised, including in terms of drug metabolism, drug clearance, hormonal effects and immunosuppressive effects.

The effectiveness of pressure support ventilation and T-piece in differing duration among weaning patients: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: A spontaneous breathing trial (SBT) is recommended to help patients to liberate themselves from mechanical ventilation as soon as possible in the ICU. The respiratory workload in SBT, which depends on being with or without respiratory support and a specific time, is more accurate to reflect how much support the weaning patients need compared with only considering SBT technologies. AIM: To compare and rank the effectiveness of different respiratory workloads during SBT via differing technologies (Pressure Support Ventilation and T-piece) and differing duration (30 and 120 min) in SBTs. STUDY DESIGN: A comprehensive literature search was performed in six English electronic databases to identify eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published before September 2020. The pooled risk ratio (RR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated by Markov chain Monte Carlo methods. A Bayesian network meta-analysis was conducted using "gemtc" version 0.8.2 of R software. Each intervention's ranking possibilities were calculated using the surface under the cumulative ranking analysis (SUCRA). RESULTS: A total of nine RCTs including 3115 participants were eligible for this network meta-analysis involving four different commonly used SBT strategies and four outcomes. The only statistically significant difference was between Pressure Support Ventilation (PSV) 30 min and T-piece 120 min in the outcome of the rate of success in SBTs (RR = 0.91; 95% CI, 0.84-0.98). The cumulative rank probability showed that the rate of success in SBT from best to worst was PSV 30 min, PSV 120 min, T-piece 30 min and T-piece 120 min. PSV 30 min and PSV 120 min are more likely to have a higher rate of extubation (SUCRA values of 82.5% for 30 min PSV, 70.7% for 120 min PSV, 36.4% for T-piece 30 min, 10.4% for T-piece 120). Meanwhile, T-piece 120 min (SUCRA, 62.9%) and PSV 120 min (SUCRA, 60.9%) may result in lower reintubation rates, followed by T-piece 30 min (SUCRA, 41.8%) and PSV 30 min (SUCRA, 34.4%). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: In comprehensive consideration of four outcomes, regarding SBT strategies, 30-min PSV was superior in simple-to-wean patients. Besides, 120-min T-piece and 120-min PSV are more likely to achieve a lower reintubation rate. Thus, the impact of duration is more significant among patients who have a high risk of reintubation. It is still unclear whether the SBTs affect the outcome of mortality; further studies may need to explore the underlying mechanism.

Comprehensive Characterization of Microbial Community in the Female Genital Tract of Reproductive-Aged Women in China.

The microbiota in the human body play critical roles in many physiological and pathological processes. However, the diversity and dynamics of the female genital tract (FGT) microbiota have not been fully unveiled. In this study, we characterized the microbiome variations in reproductive-aged Chinese women, and we revealed that the cervicovaginal microbiota were dominated by Lactobacillus. Overall, the composition of microbiota in the uterine cavity was more diverse than that in the vagina and cervix. A positive correlation between Lactobacillus iners and Lactobacillus crispatus was observed in both the vagina and the cervix, suggesting that these two species might have a symbiotic relationship in the cervicovaginal microbiota. Moreover, we, for the first time, stratified the reproductive-aged Chinese women into subgroups, based on their microbiome profiles. Furthermore, we identified the bacteria whose abundance changed in the uterine cavity of infertile patients when compared with healthy controls, such as L. iners and L. crispatus. Functionally, the metabolism-related pathways, neurotrophin signaling pathway, and adipocytokine signaling pathway were predominantly dysregulated in the uterine cavity of infertile patients. In conclusion, we characterized a comprehensive microbial landscape in FGT, as well as their functional roles in female infertility of the Chinese population.

Hyperoxalemia Leads to Oxidative Stress in Endothelial Cells and Mice with Chronic Kidney Disease.

INTRODUCTION: Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with ESRD. In addition to phosphate overload, oxalate, a common uremic toxin, is also involved in vascular calcification in patients with ESRD. The present study investigated the role and mechanism of hyperoxalemia in vascular calcification in mice with uremia. METHODS: A uremic atherosclerosis (UA) model was established by left renal excision and right renal electrocoagulation in apoE-/- mice to investigate the relationship between oxalate loading and vascular calcification. After 12 weeks, serum and vascular levels of oxalate, vascular calcification, inflammatory factors (TNF-α and IL-6), oxidative stress markers (malondialdehyde [MDA], and advanced oxidation protein products [AOPP]) were assessed in UA mice. The oral oxalate-degrading microbe Oxalobacter formigenes (O. formigenes) was used to evaluate the effect of a reduction in oxalate levels on vascular calcification. The mechanism underlying the effect of oxalate loading on vascular calcification was assessed in cultured human aortic endothelial cells (HAECs) and human aortic smooth muscle cells (HASMCs). RESULTS: Serum oxalate levels were significantly increased in UA mice. Compared to the control mice, UA mice developed more areas of aortic calcification and showed significant increases in aortic oxalate levels and serum levels of oxidative stress markers and inflammatory factors. The correlation analysis showed that serum oxalate levels were positively correlated with the vascular oxalate levels and serum MDA, AOPP, and TNF-α levels, and negatively correlated with superoxide dismutase activity. The O. formigenes intervention decreased serum and vascular oxalate levels, while did not improve vascular calcification significantly. In addition, systemic inflammation and oxidative stress were also improved in the O. formigenes group. In vitro, high concentrations of oxalate dose-dependently increased oxidative stress and inflammatory factor expression in HAECs, but not in HASMCs. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicated that hyperoxalemia led to the systemic inflammation and the activation of oxidative stress. The reduction in oxalate levels by O. formigenes might be a promising treatment for the prevention of oxalate deposition in calcified areas of patients with ESRD.

Attitudes and beliefs towards implementation of nurse prescribing among general nurses and nurse specialists in China: A cross-sectional survey study.

AIMS: To investigate the attitudes and beliefs towards the implementation of nurse prescribing among general nurses and nurse specialists. DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey among general nurses and nurse specialists was conducted in seven provinces and one autonomous region in mainland China using convenience sampling method. METHODS: The attitudes and beliefs towards nurse prescribing were assessed using the Nurse Attitudes and Beliefs towards Nurse prescribing scale, of which Cronbach's coefficient was 0.902, retest reliability was 0.808. Respondents from eight hospitals across the country were employed to complete an online questionnaire. RESULTS: Nurse specialists (n = 399) had statistically significantly more favourable intentions towards nurse prescribing than general nurses (n = 415; 105.64 ± 12.83 vs. 96.39 ± 13.16; p < .001). The years of clinical work experience, professional title, education degree were positively correlated with general nurses' and nurse specialists' attitudes and beliefs towards nurse prescribing (p < .05). Among nurse specialists, the variety of specialties and whether they work in nurse-led clinics on an outpatient basis have positively influence on their intentions towards nurse prescribing (p < .05).

Construction and reliability and validity tests of the dietary self-management ability scale for kidney transplant recipients.

BACKGROUND: To establish a dietary self-management evaluation indicators scale for kidney transplant recipients and to test the reliability and validity of the scale. METHODS: Based on the knowledge attitude practice model (KAP model) of health-related behavior changes, an evaluation indicators scale of dietary self-management ability of kidney transplant recipients was constructed through a literature review, expert consultation and group discussion. A questionnaire survey was carried out with 102 kidney transplant recipients from a large tertiary hospital to test the reliability and validity of the constructed scale. RESULTS: The dietary self-management ability scale for kidney transplant recipients had 29 items in 3 dimensions. The content validity at the scale level was 0.969, and the content validity at the item level was 0.778-1.000. Exploratory factor analysis extracted 3 common factors, and the cumulative variance contribution rate was 68.610%; the correlation coefficient between each dimension was 0.467-0.629, and the correlation coefficient between each dimension and the total score of the scale was 0.648-0.845. Cronbach's α for the scale was 0.831, and the test-retest reliability of the scale was 0.910. CONCLUSIONS: The constructed dietary self-management ability scale for kidney transplant recipients has good reliability and validity and can be used as a tool to evaluate the dietary self-management ability of kidney transplant recipients.

Genome Sequence of Oxalobacter formigenes Strain SSYG-15.

Colonization of the intestine with Oxalobacter formigenes reduces urinary oxalate excretion and lowers the risk of forming calcium oxalate kidney stones. Here, we report the genome sequence of Oxalobacter formigenes SSYG-15, a strain isolated from a stool sample from a healthy Chinese boy.

Truth-telling, decision-making, and ethics among cancer patients in nursing practice in China.

BACKGROUND: Truth-telling toward terminally ill patients is a challenging ethical issue in healthcare practice. However, there are no existing ethical guidelines or frameworks provided for Chinese nurses in relation to decision-making on truth-telling of terminal illness and the role of nurses thus is not explicit when encountering this issue. OBJECTIVES: The intention of this paper is to provide ethical guidelines or strategies with regards to decision-making on truth-telling of terminal illness for Chinese nurses. METHODS: This paper initially present a case scenario and then critically discuss the ethical issue in association with ethical principles and philosophical theories. Instead of focusing on attitudes toward truth disclosure, it aims to provide strategies regarding this issue for nurses. It highlights and discusses some of the relevant ethical assumptions around the perceived role of nurses in healthcare settings by focusing on nursing ethical virtues, nursing codes of ethics, and philosophical perspectives. And Confucian culture is discussed to explicate that deontology does not consider family-oriented care in China. CONCLUSION: Treating each family individually to explore the family's beliefs and values on this issue is essential in healthcare practice and nurses should tailor their own approach to individual needs regarding truth-telling in different situations. Moreover, the Chinese Code of Ethics should be modified to be more specific and applicable. Finally, a narrative ethics approach should be applied and teamwork between nurses, physicians and families should be established to support cancer patients and to ensure their autonomy and hope. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS: This paper was approved by the Ethics Committee of The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University. The authors have obtained consent to use the case study and it has been anonymised to preserve the patient's confidentiality.

The use of fluorescent techniques in combination with flow cytometry for fast counting of Bifidobacterium longum ATCC BAA-2753 in BIFICO capsule.

BIFICO is a main microecological drug that the main ingredient is Bifidobacterium longum ATCC BAA-2753. It's necessary to detect the number of Bifidobacterium longum ATCC BAA-2753 for quality control during the production of BIFICO. Plate count assay (PCA) is the most commonly used method for counting microbial cells. However, not all microorganisms can be counted by PCA. (e.g. uncultured microorganisms under specific growth conditions). In this study, a method of fluorescent techniques in combination with flow cytometry (FCM) was established for the counting of Bifidobacterium longum BAA-2753. Using SYTO9 and PI stain, flow cytometric analysis could easily differentiate live bacteria and dead bacteria. The number of live bacteria determined by FCM was about fourfold higher than that counted by PCA. Therefore, the FCM method could be a practical tool for the quality control of Bifidobacterium longum BAA-2753 in the industrial production of BIFICO.

Temporal Variation of Chlorophyll-a Concentrations in Highly Dynamic Waters from Unattended Sensors and Remote Sensing Observations.

Monitoring of water quality changes in highly dynamic inland lakes is frequently impeded by insufficient spatial and temporal coverage, for both field surveys and remote sensing methods. To track short-term variations of chlorophyll fluorescence and chlorophyll-a concentrations in Poyang Lake, the largest freshwater lake in China, high-frequency, in-situ, measurements were collected from two fixed stations. The K-mean clustering method was also applied to identify clusters with similar spatio-temporal variations, using remote sensing Chl-a data products from the MERIS satellite, taken from 2003 to 2012. Four lake area classes were obtained with distinct spatio-temporal patterns, two of which were selected for in situ measurement. Distinct daily periodic variations were observed, with peaks at approximately 3:00 PM and troughs at night or early morning. Short-term variations of chlorophyll fluorescence and Chl-a levels were revealed, with a maximum intra-diurnal ratio of 5.1 and inter-diurnal ratio of 7.4, respectively. Using geostatistical analysis, the temporal range of chlorophyll fluorescence and corresponding Chl-a variations was determined to be 9.6 h, which indicates that there is a temporal discrepancy between Chl-a variations and the sampling frequency of current satellite missions. An analysis of the optimal sampling strategies demonstrated that the influence of the sampling time on the mean Chl-a concentrations observed was higher than 25%, and the uncertainty of any single Terra/MODIS or Aqua/MODIS observation was approximately 15%. Therefore, sampling twice a day is essential to resolve Chl-a variations with a bias level of 10% or less. The results highlight short-term variations of critical water quality parameters in freshwater, and they help identify specific design requirements for geostationary earth observation missions, so that they can better address the challenges of monitoring complex coastal and inland environments around the world.

The necessity and possibility of implementation of nurse prescribing in China: An international perspective.

BACKGROUND: The number of countries where nurses are legally permitted to prescribe has grown rapidly due to a variety of external and internal forces. Despite its international popularity, nurse prescribing has not yet been implemented in China widely. OBJECTIVE: The intent of this paper is to review the current international literature regarding nurse prescribing so as to explore the necessity and possibility of implementation of nurse prescribing in China and classify the research gap. METHODS: Eight electronic databases including Embase, SpringerLink, EBSCO, CINAHL, Medline, Wiley, Science Direct, CochraneLibrary were electronically searched to identify related peer-review articles published in the English language only from 2007 to 2017. Relative references found from the identified studies were traced back to ensure that potentially eligible articles were included. RESULTS: Thirty-three publications which met the inclusion criteria were included in this literature review. The literature shows that not only could nurse prescribing provide quicker service, improvements in quality, but also could make better utilization of the nurses' professional skills and increase nurses' autonomy. Moreover, the barriers of nurse prescribing are explored to identify the factors that may facilitate the success of its implementation. CONCLUSION: The review advises that nurses' views towards nurse prescribing have played a significant role in the success of nurse prescribing. While no literature regarding Chinese nurses' attitudes towards nurse prescribing could be identified, it is imperative to examine their attitudes on it. This would help Chinese healthcare policymakers ascertain the necessity of the introduction of nurse prescribing and provide them with valuable information for service planning.

Antagonist effect of Interleukin 1 receptor on normal thymopoiesis and thymus toxicity of 5-azacytidine in mouse.

Thymopoiesis is essential and significant for development and maintenance of the robust and healthy immune system. The acute suppression of thymopoiesis induced by 5-Azacytidine (5-Aza) is an intractable clinical problem complicating chemotherapy. Interleukin 1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) is a cytokine that competitively blocks binding of interleukin 1 (IL-1) to its receptor. This study aims to investigate the effects of the IL-1Ra on the thymus toxicity of 5-Aza in mouse. In this study, we treated the mice with the 5-Aza (100 mg/kg per mouse). The GeneChip methodology developed by Affymetrix was used to monitor global gene expression during mouse thymus regeneration induced by a single injection of 5-Aza. The total thymocytes were counted using a hemocytometer. Cell cycle of samples were analyzed on a Becton Dickinson FACScan. Cells surfaces were labeled with anti-CD4, anti-CD8 and anti-CD45RA antibodies, and detected by flow cytometry. BrdU incorporation was detected by flow cytometry. The results indicated that administering exogenous IL-1Ra to normal mice inhibited cell cycle progress of thymocytes in a dosage-dependent manner. Proliferation of immature CD4(-)CD8(-) double negative (DN) and CD4(+)CD8(+) double positive (DP) thymocytes were both inhibited. The pretreatment of normal mice with exogenous IL-1Ra reduced acute toxicity on thymus and immune suppression induced by 5-Aza. Furthermore, thymus reconstitution after 5-Aza treatment was accelerated by IL-1Ra. In conclusion, interleukin 1 receptor antagonist could inhibit normal thymopoiesis and reduce thymus toxicity of 5-azacytidine in mouse. Pretreatment with IL-1Ra would offer a new and promising strategy to alleviate immunotoxicity of chemotherapy in clinical.

CCL18 from tumor-cells promotes epithelial ovarian cancer metastasis via mTOR signaling pathway.

CCL18 is a chemotactic cytokine involved in the pathogenesis and progression of various disorders, including cancer. Previously, our results showed high levels of CCL18 in the serum of epithelial ovarian carcinoma patients suggesting its potential as a circulating biomarker. In this study, we determined that CCL18 expression was up-regulated in ovarian carcinoma compared with adjacent tissue and was expressed in carcinoma cells in the tumor and not in normal ovarian epithelial cells by laser capture microdissection coupled with real-time RT-PCR. Moreover, correlation analysis showed that the CCL18 level was positively correlated with the metastasis of patients with ovarian cancer. Survival analysis also revealed that an increased level of CCL18 was associated with worse survival time in ovarian cancer patients. Over-expression of CCL18 led to enhanced migration and invasion of the Skov3 ovarian cancer cell line in vitro and in vivo. Finally, proteomics analysis demonstrated that CCL18-mediated ovarian cancer invasiveness was strongly correlated with the mTORC2 pathway. These findings suggest that the CCL18 chemokine has an important role in chemokine-mediated tumor metastasis, and may serve as a potential predictor for poor survival outcomes for ovarian cancer. © 2015 The Authors. Molecular Carcinogenesis published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Probiotic BIFICO cocktail ameliorates Helicobacter pylori induced gastritis.

AIM: To determine the protective effect of triple viable probiotics on gastritis induced by Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) and elucidate the possible mechanisms of protection. METHODS: Colonization of BIFICO strains in the mouse stomach was determined by counting colony-forming units per gram of stomach tissue. After treatment with or without BIFICO, inflammation and H. pylori colonization in the mouse stomach were analyzed by hematoxylin and eosin and Giemsa staining, respectively. Cytokine levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and Milliplex. The activation of nuclear factor (NF)-κB and MAPK signaling in human gastric epithelial cells was evaluated by Western blot analysis. Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction was used to quantify TLR2, TLR4 and MyD88 mRNA expression in the mouse stomach. RESULTS: We demonstrated that BIFICO, which contains a mixture of Enterococcus faecalis, Bifidobacterium longum and Lactobacillus acidophilus, was tolerant to the mouse stomach environment and was able to survive both the 8-h and 3-d courses of administration. Although BIFICO treatment had no effect on the colonization of H. pylori in the mouse stomach, it ameliorated H. pylori-induced gastritis by significantly inhibiting the expression of cytokines and chemokines such as TNF-α, IL-1ß, IL-10, IL-6, G-CSF and MIP-2 (P < 0.05). These results led us to hypothesize that BIFICO treatment would diminish the H. pylori-induced inflammatory response in gastric mucosal epithelial cells in vitro via the NF-κB and MAPK signaling pathways. Indeed, we observed a decrease in the expression of the NF-κB subunit p65 and in the phosphorylation of IκB-α, ERK and p38. Moreover, there was a significant decrease in the production of IL-8, TNF-α, G-CSF and GM-CSF (P < 0.05), and the increased expression of TLR2, TLR4 and MyD88 induced by H. pylori in the stomach was also significantly reduced following BIFICO treatment (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the probiotic cocktail BIFICO can ameliorate H. pylori-induced gastritis by inhibiting the inflammatory response in gastric epithelial cells.

[Establishment and biological characteristics of a platinum-resistance nude mouse model in epithelial ovarian cancer].

OBJECTIVE: To establish a platinum resistance nude mice model of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) and investigate its resistance to cisplatin (DDP) biological characteristics, so as to provide evidences for exploring chemoresistence mechanisms and screening for reversal targets in vivo micro-environment. METHODS: The resistance model was produced by repeating a crossover subcutaneous injection of human ovarian cancer SKOV3 cells labelled green fluorescent protein (GFP) and transplatation of tumor fragment into nude mice. Two kinds of cancer cell lines of SKOV3/DDP I and SKOV3/DDP II were induced with acquired resistence to DDP. The chemosensitivities of EOC cells to DDP were tested and half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) was measured by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) and flow cytometry (FCS). Dynamic analysis among the concentration of DDP treatment and cell apoptosis, cell cycle phase distribution and intracellular DDP concentration. The expression of PTEN, STAT5, XIAP, BRCA1 and MDR1 were examined by real time quantitative reverser transcription PCR (qRT- PCR) in vivo. RESULTS: IC50 value of cisplatin for SKOV3/DDP II were 2.83 ± 0.12 and 3.82±0.19 folds than those for SKOV3/GFP by MTT and flow cytometry, separately. SKOV3/DDP I were 2.20 ± 0.16 and 3.40 ± 0.20 folds. The apoptosis rate of SKOV3/DDP II and SKOV3/DDP I were decreased significantly at 29.7 and 39.6 µmol/L DDP when treatment for 36 hours, which were lower than that of SKOV3/GFP cells [(57.0 ± 1.4)% vs (37.6 ± 4.36)% vs (83.1 ± 2.71)%, P = 0.024; (74.4 ± 2.3)% vs (50.5 ± 3.4)% vs (87.4 ± 4.0)%, P = 0.001]. SKOV3/DDP I and SKOV3/DDP II was positively related with cisplatin processing time. Intracellular DDP accumulation of SKOV3/DDP II and SKOV3/DDP I were lower than SKOV3-GFP in dynamic processes(P < 0.05). Besides intracellular DDP accumulation of SKOV3/DDP II also lower than SKOV3/DDP I in dynamic processes (P < 0.05). Transplanted tumor of SKOV3/GFP appeared organelle degradation and nuclear membrane imcompleted after five times DDP injection with concentration of 4 mg/kg. SKOV3/DDP II and SKOV3/DDP I did not generate these phenomenon untill eighth DDP injections with concentration of 4 mg/kg. STAT5 and BRCA1 of SKOV3/DDP II were increased with DDP treatment at concentration of 4 mg/kg. Expression of XIAP from SKOV3/DDP II was positive correlated with injection times. STAT5, XIAP and BRCA1 of SKOV3/DDP II were up-regulated 3.86, 28.1 and 14.6 folds than those in SKOV3/GFP cells after eighth DDP treatment, separately. While PTEN of SKOV3/DDP II was decreased 3.77 folds. CONCLUSIONS: We have successfully established platinum-resistent EOC mice model, which provides a new platform for further study on chemoresistant reversal and individualized clinical treatment. The results shown that potential mechanisms of SKOV3/DDP II DDP-resistance included over-expressed BRCA1 gene may be promote DNA damage repair, elevate XIAP gene to decrease cell apoptosis, up- regulated STAT5 gene and decrease PTEN gene to stimulate proliferation.

Genome Sequence of the Bacterium Bifidobacterium longum Strain CMCC P0001, a Probiotic Strain Used for Treating Gastrointestinal Disease.

Bifidobacterium longum subsp. longum CMCC P0001, a standard probiotic strain in China, has been widely used in clinical medicine for more than 20 years. Here we report the genome features of B. longum strain CMCC P0001.

Expressions and purification of a mature form of recombinant human Chemerin in Escherichia coli.

Chemerin is a novel chemokine that binds to the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) ChemR23, also known as chemokine-like receptor 1 (CMKLR1). It is secreted as a precursor and executes pro-inflammatory functions when the last six amino acids are removed from its C-terminus by serine proteases. After maturation, Chemerin attracts dendritic cells and macrophages through binding to ChemR23. We report a new method for expression and purification of mature recombinant human Chemerin (rhChemerin) using a prokaryotic system. After being expressed in bacteria, rhChemerin in inclusion bodies was denatured using 6M guanidine chloride. Soluble rhChemerin was prepared by the protein-specific renaturation solution under defined conditions. It was subsequently purified using ion-exchange columns to more than 95% purity with endotoxin level <1.0 EU/microg. We further demonstrated its biological activities for attracting migration of human dendritic cells and murine macrophages in vitro using established chemotaxis assays.