[Study on mitigating effect and mechanism of Cichorium glandulosum n-butanol extraction site on CCl_4-induced chronic liver injury in rats].

This study aims to investigate the mitigating effect and mechanism of Cichorium glandulosum n-butanol extraction site(CGE) on the disease in carbon tetrachloride(CCl_4)-induced chronic liver injury model in rats. A chronic liver injury model was constructed by subcutaneous injection of CCl_4 olive oil solution, and after four weeks of CGE treatment, serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase(AST), alanine aminotransferase(ALT), alkaline phosphatase(AKP), hydroxyproline(HYP), interleukin-4(IL-4), interleukin-6(IL-6), malondialdehyde(MDA), superoxide dismutase(SOD), and tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α) were detected. Liver tissue was processed by hematoxylin-eosin(HE) staining and Masson staining to observe the structure of the rat liver. qPCR and Western blot were used to examine the expression of transforming growth factor-ß1(TGF-ß1)/small mothers against decapentaplegic(Smad), Toll-like receptor 4(TLR4), α-smooth muscle actin(α-SMA), and fibronectin(Fn) in rat liver tissue and hepatic stellate-T6(HSC-T6) and evaluate the inhibitory effect of CGE on HSC activation. The results showed that CGE could significantly reduce the serum levels of AST, ALT, AKP, HYP, and affect the levels of related inflammatory indexes including IL-4, IL-6, and TNF-α, and MDA in CCl_4-induced chronic liver injury in rats and had no effect on SOD activity, which could delay the process of liver injury, alleviate the hepatic collagen deposition and inflammatory infiltration, and had significant efficacy in mitigating chronic liver injury in rats. CGE could inhibit α-SMA and TLR4 protein expression in the liver tissue and reverse the increased TGF-ß1/Smad, Fn, and TLR4-related expression in HSC-T6 in vitro. The above results indicated that CGE exerted hepatoprotective effects in rats by inhibiting HSC activation and alleviated CCl_4-induced chronic liver injury in rats and could ameliorate inflammatory response and slight liver fibrosis in rat liver tissue. Its pharmacodynamic mechanism might be related to TGF-ß1/Smad and TLR4-related expression.

Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) Analysis of the Volatile Oil of Cichorium Glandulosum Boiss et Huet and its Effects on Carbon Tetrachloride-Induced Liver Fibrosis in Rats.

BACKGROUND This study aimed to use gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to identify the chemical constituents of volatile oil extracted by steam distillation from Cichorium glandulosum Boiss et Huet (CG), a traditional Uyghur medicine, and to investigate its effects on carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced hepatic fibrosis in rats. MATERIAL AND METHODS Sprague-Dawley rats (n=60) included six groups: the control group (n=10), untreated model group (n=10), the volatile oil of CG high-dose group (0.15 ml/kg) (n=10), the volatile oil of CG medium-dose group (0.10 ml/kg) (N=10), the volatile oil of CG low-dose group (0.05 ml/kg) (n=10), and the silybin-treated group (0.20 ml/kg) (n=10). Rats given the essential oil extract of CG by intragastric administration, and then subcutaneously injected with a solution of CCl4 in olive oil to create the rat model of hepatic fibrosis. Serum samples were analyzed for markers of liver function, including aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), malondialdehyde (MDA), hydroxyproline (Hyp), γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (γ-GT), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and albumin (Alb). Histology and immunohistochemistry were performed on rat liver tissue. RESULTS Thirty-eight compounds were identified from the volatile oil of CG (total, 98.058%), with terpenoids, including citronellol, being the most abundant. In the animal model of liver fibrosis, all doses of volatile oil of CG significantly reduced the serum levels of AST, ALT, MDA, Hyp, γ-GT, LDH, ALP, and Alb. CONCLUSIONS GC-MS identified the components of the volatile oil of CG, which included citronellol. Treatment with volatile oil of CG reduced liver fibrosis in a rat model.

Complete mitochondrial genome of the radicine pond snail Radix plicatula (Gastropoda: Lymnaeidae).

Radix plicatula is broadly distributed in China, as well as Russia. It is one of the intermediate hosts of Fasciola species which leads to the spread of fascioliasis. Here, we first described the complete mitochondrial genome of R. plicatula. The mitogenome is 13,751 bp in length, containing 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, and 2 rRNA genes. The contents of each base are 30.7% A, 39.6% T, 15.7% G, and 13.9% C. The sequence is AT rich (70.3%). Mitochondrial phylogenomic analysis showed that R. plicatula is close to R. auricularia.

[Role of transient receptor potential melastatin 8 channels in migraine mechanism in rats].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the role of transient receptor potential melastatin 8 (TRPM8) channels in migraine mechanism in rats by measuring the changes in expression of TRPM8 in the trigeminal nerve of rats with migraine. METHODS: Twenty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly and equally divided into a blank control group and a model group. Nitroglycerin (10 mg/kg) was injected subcutaneously in the back of the neck once a week for 5 weeks, to prepared a rat model of migraine without aura. Normal saline was injected subcutaneously instead of nitroglycerin in the control group. At 4 hours after the final injection, behavior scoring of all rats was performed, and then the trigeminal nerve ganglions of rats in both groups were collected for measurement of expression of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR), protein kinase A (PKA), and TRPM8 using immunohistochemical staining, immunofluorescence, and Western blot, respectively. RESULTS: The behavior score in each week during the rat model preparing was significantly higher in the model group than in the control group (P<0.05). The expression of NMDAR, PKA, and TRPM8 in the model group was significantly higher than in the control group (P<0.01). Both the behavior score and the expression of NMDAR were positively correlated with the expression of TRPM8 (r=0.822 and 0.794 respectively; P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: TRPM8 may be involved in migraine mechanism probably by activation of the NMDAR pathway.

The dissipation rates of trichlorfon and its degradation product dichlorvos in cabbage and soil.

The residual levels and dissipation rate of trichlorfon, and its degradation product, dichlorvos, in cabbage crops and the soil in which these were grown, were determined by gas chromatography at two geographically distant experimental sites, one in Kunming and one in Beijing, China. Trichlorfon was applied at two dosages (900 g ai ha(-1) and 1350 g ai ha(-1)). Maximum final residues of trichlorfon in soil and cabbage were 1.23 mg kg(-1) and 1.81 mg kg(-1) respectively at Kunming, and 0.35 mg kg(-1) and 0.70 mg kg(-1) respectively at Beijing. However, the final residues of dichlorvos in both cabbage and soil was only 0.04 mg kg(-1) at Kunming, and only 0.03 mg kg(-1), or "not detectable", at Beijing. The mean half-life of trichlorfon in cabbage was 1.80 d with a dissipation rate of 90% over 5 d, while that in soil was 3.05 d with a dissipation rate of 90% over 14 d at one experimental site. The dissipation rates of trichlorfon and its degradation product dichlorvos at the two experimental sites were different, suggesting that degradation of these pesticides was affected by local soil characteristics and climate. When applied at both the recommended dosage and at 1.5 times this, no detectable residues of either trichlorfon or dichlorvos were found in soil or cabbage at harvest. Although trichlorfon can easily degrade into dichlorvos, which is highly toxic to humans and other animals, the observed low residual levels of dichlorvos suggest that trichlorfon is safe when applied at the recommended dosage.

Photodegradation of flumorph in aqueous solutions and natural water under abiotic conditions.

Flumorph is an oomycete fungicide that is now used extensively in China (Hu, J. Y.; Liu, C.; Yan, H. Degradation of flumorph in soils, aqueous buffer solutions, and natural waters. J. Agric. Food Chem. 2008, 56, 8574-8579). The photodegradation of flumorph in aqueous solutions and natural water have been assessed under natural and controlled conditions in this work. The kinetics of photodecomposition of flumorph was determined using the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-diode array detector (DAD), and the identification of photoproducts was carried out with HPLC-mass spectrometry (MS) [electrospray ionization (ESI) positive mode]. The rate of photodecomposition of flumorph in aqueous solutions and natural water followed first-order kinetics in both UV radiation and natural sunlight, and the Z isomer of flumorph could convert to the E isomer. The degradation rates were faster under UV light than sunlight, with the half-lives (t(1/2) = ln 2/k) of 36.5-64.2 min and 36.3-73.1 days, respectively. One major photoproduct was detected in UV light and tentatively identified according to HPLC-MS spectral information as (E or Z)-3-(3, 4-dimethoxyphenyl)-3-(4-fluorophenyl)-2-acrylamide. Photosensitizers, such as H(2)O(2) and riboflavin, could enhance photolysis of flumorph in natural sunlight. The results obtained indicated that photoreaction was an important dissipation pathway of flumorph in natural water systems.

[Automated classification of celestial spectra based on support vector machines].

The main objective of an automatic recognition system of celestial objects via their spectra is to classify celestial spectra and estimate physical parameters automatically. This paper proposes a new automatic classification method based on support vector machines to separate non-active objects from active objects via their spectra. With low SNR and unknown red-shift value, it is difficult to extract true spectral lines, and as a result, active objects can not be determined by finding strong spectral lines and the spectral classification between non-active and active objects becomes difficult. The proposed method in this paper combines the principal component analysis with support vector machines, and can automatically recognize the spectra of active objects with unknown red-shift values from non-active objects. It finds its applicability in the automatic processing of voluminous observed data from large sky surveys in astronomy.

[A PCA based efficient stellar spectra classification method].

Stellar spectra classification is an indispensable part of any workable automated recognition system of celestial bodies. This paper introduces an efficient method of automated classification of stellar spectra based on the principal component analysis (PCA). The method consists of two parts. In the first part, the eigen-matrix is built by a standard PCA technique where only the first two eigenvectors are selected due to their predominance. More specifically, the first two eigenvalues are found to always represent more than 95% of the total sum of all the eigenvalues, and much larger than others in our all experiments. The principal component space of stellar (V1, V2) then is constructed from the first two eigenvectors. In the second part, namely classification part, an unknown spectrum X is first mapped to a 2D space with the two coordinates defined respectively as (V1T X, V2T X), then the nearest neighbor approach in this 2D space is employed to determine the spectral type as well as luminosity class of the input spectrum. The experimental results show that our new method can achieve comparable performance with that by the standard MK spectral types classification criterion, which is regarded as a benchmark in astronomy field. Thanks to its high efficiency, our new method appears promising especially for the processing of spectra in large quantities collected from large survey projects, such as LAMOST project in our country.

[Analysis of the abnormal chromosome karyotype in habitual abortion].

An analysis was made of the chromosome karyotype from the peripheral blood taken from a couple who had experienced consecutive abortions for four times. The karyoype was determined as Rob(13;21) through G-band and high resolving power.