Pigment Characterization of the Giant-Colony-Forming Haptophyte Phaeocystis globosa in the Beibu Gulf Reveals Blooms of Different Origins.

The giant-colony-forming haptophyte Phaeocystis globosa has caused several large-scale blooms in the Beibu Gulf since 2011, but the distribution and dynamics of the blooms remained largely unknown. In this study, colonies of P. globosa, as well as membrane-concentrated phytoplankton samples, were collected during eight cruises in the Beibu Gulf from September 2016 to August 2017. Pigments were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with a diode array detector (HPLC-DAD). The pigment 19'-hexanoyloxyfucoxanthin (hex-fuco), generally considered a diagnostic pigment for Phaeocystis, was not detected in P. globosa colonies in the Beibu Gulf, whereas 19'-butanoyloxyfucoxanthin (but-fuco) was found in all colony samples. Moreover, but-fuco in membrane-concentrated phytoplankton samples exhibited a similar distribution pattern to that of P. globosa colonies, suggesting that but-fuco provided the diagnostic pigment for bloom-forming P. globosa in the Beibu Gulf. Based on the distribution of but-fuco in different water masses in the region prior to the formation of intensive blooms, it is suggested that P. globosa blooms in the Beibu Gulf could originate from two different sources. IMPORTANCE Phaeocystis globosa has formed intensive blooms in the South China Sea and even around the world, causing huge social economic losses and environmental damage. However, little is known about the formation mechanism and dynamics of P. globosa blooms. 19'-Hexanoyloxyfucoxanthin (hex-fuco) is often used as the pigment proxy to estimate Phaeocystis biomass, while this is challenged by the giant-colony-forming P. globosa in the Beibu Gulf, which contains only 19'-butanoyloxyfucoxanthin (but-fuco) but not hex-fuco. Using but-fuco as a diagnostic pigment, we traced two different origins of P. globosa blooms in the Beibu Gulf. This study clarifies the development process of P. globosa blooms in the Beibu Gulf, which provides a basis for the early monitoring and prevention of the blooms.

Chinese medicine syndrome distribution of chronic hepatitis B virus carriers in immunotolerant phase.

OBJECTIVE: To explore Chinese medicine (CM) syndrome distribution of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) carriers in immunotolerant phase (ITP). METHODS: One hundred and eighty-five chronic HBV carriers in ITP, seen in the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from May 2009 to December 2010, were admitted in an observational study under the guidance of CM. Patients' CM symptoms and signs, demographics, liver biochemistries, and qualitative HBV DNA were recorded in the questionnaires. CM syndromes were then differentiated to 15 detailed types and analyzed by generalization. Lastly, the location, pathogenic factors and nature of the disease were also assessed. RESULTS: When CM syndrome patterns were differentiated to 15 types, there were 27 (15%) no syndrome cases, 94 (50%) single syndrome cases and 64 (35%) compound syndromes cases. The main detailed syndromes included Liver (Gan)-qi depression (LQD), Kidney (Shen)-qi deficiency (KQD), Spleen (Pi)-qi deficiency (SQD) and Kidney-yang deficiency (KYAD). After CM syndromes generalized to five types, their frequency was Spleen-Kidney deficiency (SKD)>LQD>inner dampness-heat retention (IDHR)>Liver-Kidney deficiency (LKD)>blood stasis blocking collateral (BSBC). SKD and LQD occupied 64%. The disease location included Liver, Gallbladder (Dan), Spleen, Stomach (Wei) and Kidney. The pathogenic factors were mainly qi stagnation, qi deficiency, yang deficiency, concurrently dampness-heat and blood stasis. The deficiency syndrome was more than excess syndrome in its nature. CONCLUSIONS: Most of chronic HBV carriers in ITP have their CM syndrome, and the most common types are SKAD, LQD. This study suggests that the natural history may be improved through breaking the state of immune tolerance or shorten the time of ITP by strengthening Spleen-Kidney and reliving Liver qi.

Down-regulation of telomerase activity and activation of caspase-3 are responsible for Tanshinone I-induced apoptosis in monocyte leukemia cells in vitro.

Tanshinone I (Tan-I) is a diterpene quinone extracted from the traditional herbal medicine Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge. Recently, Tan-I has been reported to have anti-tumor effects. In this study, we investigated the growth inhibition and apoptosis inducing effects of Tan-I on three kinds of monocytic leukemia cells (U937, THP-1 and SHI 1). Cell viability was measured by MTT assay. Cell apoptosis was assessed by flow cytometry (FCM) and AnnexinV/PI staining. Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and PCR-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were used to detect human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) expression and telomerase activity before and after apoptosis. The activity of caspase-3 was determined by Caspase colorimetric assay kit and Western blot analysis. Expression of the anti-apoptotic gene Survivin was assayed by Western blot and Real-time RT-PCR using the ABI PRISM 7500 Sequence Detection System. The results revealed that Tan-I could inhibit the growth of these three kinds of leukemia cells and cause apoptosis in a time- and dose-dependent manner. After treatment by Tan-I for 48 h, Western blotting showed cleavage of the caspase-3 zymogen protein with the appearance of its 17-kD subunit, and a 89-kD cleavage product of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), a known substrate of caspase-3, was also found clearly. The expression of hTERT mRNA as well as activity of telomerase were decreased concurrently in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, Real-time RT-PCR and Western blot revealed a significant down-regulation of Survivin. We therefore conclude that the induction of apoptosis by Tan-I in monocytic leukemia U937 THP-1 and SHI 1 cells is highly correlated with activation of caspase-3 and decreasing of hTERT mRNA expression and telomerase activity as well as down-regulation of Survivin expression. To our knowledge, this is the first report about the effects of Tan-I on monocytic leukemia cells.

Therapeutic effect of traditional Chinese medicine on coagulation disorder and accompanying intractable jaundice in hepatitis B virus-related liver cirrhosis patients.

AIM: To observe the therapeutic effects of new traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) therapy on coagulation disorder and accompanying intractable jaundice in HBV-related liver cirrhosis patients. METHODS: Using stratified random sampling according to fibrinogen (Fib) levels, 145 liver cirrhosis patients due to hepatitis B complicated by coagulation disorder were treated. Of them, 70 in research group were treated with TCM by "nourishing yin, cooling blood and invigorating blood circulation" and Western medicine, 75 in control group were treated with conventional Western medicine. The indexes of liver function, coagulation function and bleeding events were observed and compared. RESULTS: The prothrombin time (PT) was shorter and the fibrinogen (Fib) level was higher in the research group than in the control group (Fib = 1.6-2.0 g/L, 1.1-1.5 g/L, and < or = 1.0 g/L). The total bilirubin (TBIL) level was significantly lower in the research group than in the control group, except for the subgroup of FIB < or = 1.0 g/L. CONCLUSION: TCM therapy can improve coagulation fuction and decrease TBIL.

Traditional Chinese medicine syndromes of chronic hepatitis B with precore mutant.

AIM: This study aims at exploring the distribution of TCM syndromes in CHB patients with HBV pre-core mutation (1896) and the relationship between pre-core mutation and T lymphocytes subgroup, through which to provide objective data on clinical syndrome differentiation of TCM, and further to suggest the therapeutic principle and guide clinical treatment. METHODS: One hundred and forty CHB patients were evenly divided into two study groups, HBV pre-core mutant group and HBV pre-core wild-type group. Besides, 30 healthy blood donors were selected as a healthy control group. HBV-labeled compound, T lymphocytes subgroup, and HBV-DNA pre-core mutant were tested in the study groups. T lymphocytes subgroup were also tested in the control group. All the patients were both diagnosed by syndrome differentiation of TCM and western medicine. RESULTS: The most common syndrome in mutant group was damp-heat combined with blood stasis, and the most common syndrome in the wild-type group was damp-heat stasis in the middle-jiao. There were more cases of medium and severe hepatitis in mutant group than that in wild-type group. The content of CD4+ lymphocytes and CD4+/CD8+ ratio were decreased gradually (healthy control group>wild-type group>mutant group). In the wild-type group, severe and medium CHB patients had considerably lower level of them than mild CHB patients. However, in the mutant group, the opposite result appeared. Meanwhile, the content of HBV-DNA in mutant group was higher than that in wild-type group. CONCLUSION: Damp, heat, toxin and blood stasis were the basic pathogens of CHB, whether pre-core mutant or not. CHB with precore mutant may lead to more severe hepatitis. The decreased content of CD4+ lymphocytes and ratio of CD4+/CD8+ may be taken as one of the indices in confirming the deficiency syndrome of CHB patients with pre-core mutation.