Cytotoxic gelsedine-type indole alkaloids from Gelsemium elegans.

The ethanol extract of the leaves and branches of Gelsemium elegans afforded three new gelsedine-type indole alkaloids, 11-methoxy-14,15-dihydroxyhumantenmine (1), 11-methoxy-14,15-dihydroxy-19-oxogelsenicine (2), and 11-methoxy-14-hydroxygelsedilam (3), along with one known alkaloid 11-methoxy-14-hydroxyhumantenmine (4). The structures of isolated compounds were established based on 1D and 2D (1H-1H COSY, HMQC, and HMBC) NMR spectroscopy, in addition to high-resolution mass spectrometry. The isolated alkaloids were tested in vitro for cytotoxic potential against four laryngeal tumor cell lines including Hep-2, LSC-1, TR-LCC-1, and FD-LSC-1. As a result, compounds 1 and 4 exhibited some cytotoxic activities against all tested tumor cell lines with IC50 values of 10.9-12.1 µM and 9.2-10.8 µM, respectively.

Resting-state brain activation correlates with short-time antidepressant treatment outcome in drug-naïve patients with major depressive disorder.

OBJECTIVE: A resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study (fMRI) to investigate pretreatment regional differences in brain function, in patients with early treatment responsive (ERD) and early treatment nonresponsive (END) major depressive disorder (MDD). METHODS: Patients with MDD and healthy control subjects underwent fMRI. Intrinsic neural activity at baseline was evaluated via amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF). Antidepressant treatment was initiated after MRI. All patients received selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor type antidepressants at the minimum effective dose. RESULTS: There were significant differences in brain activity between patients (n = 56) and control subjects (n = 33). Brain activity in patients with ERD (n = 26) differed from those with END (n = 30) in the lingual gyrus and cerebellum. There was a significantly correlation between activity in these regions and disease duration in patients with ERD, and with amelioration of depressive symptoms in patients with END. CONCLUSIONS: Brain regions related to the neural mechanism of MDD early treatment outcome were identified. These regions may have important implications for the treatment of MDD.

Neuropsychological study of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder and their parents in China: searching for potential endophenotypes.

OBJECTIVE: The existence of neuropsychological deficits has been implicated in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), particularly memory, attention, and executive functions. However, few studies have focused on neuropsychological deficits in the relatives of OCD patients. The aim of this study was to investigate cognitive deficits in OCD patients and their parents. METHODS: Forty patients with OCD, 48 parents of these patients, and 87 healthy controls completed a neuropsychological testing battery. RESULTS: Both OCD patients and their parents showed impairments in delayed verbal memory and delayed visual memory. Furthermore, they performed worse than healthy controls in problem-solving ability. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrated familial aggregation of delayed memory deficits and impaired problem-solving ability, which may be the potential neuropsychological endophenotypes of hereditary susceptibility to OCD.

Association of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit alpha-4 polymorphisms with smoking behaviors in Chinese male smokers.

BACKGROUND: It has been reported that the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit α4 gene (CHRNA4) might be associated with smoking behaviors in the previous studies. Up to now, there are few reports on the relationship between CHRNA4 and smoking initiation. In this study, we tried to explore the role of two polymorphisms in CHRNA4 (rs1044396 and rs1044397) in smoking initiation and nicotine dependence in Chinese male smokers. METHODS: Nine hundred and sixty-six Chinese male lifetime nonsmokers and smokers were assessed by the Fagerström test for nicotine dependence (FTND), smoking quantity (SQ) and the heaviness of smoking index (HSI). All subjects were divided into four groups based on their tobacco use history and the FTND scores. The polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) was performed to find two polymorphisms of CHRNA4 in these subjects. RESULTS: The χ(2) test showed that rs1044396 was significantly associated with smoking initiation (χ(2) = 4.65, P = 0.031), while both rs1044396 and rs1044397 were significantly associated with nicotine dependence (χ(2) = 5.42, P = 0.020; χ(2) = 7.58, P = 0.005). Furthermore, the T-G (3.9%) haplotype of rs1044396-rs1044397 showed significant association with smoking initiation (χ(2) = 6.30, P = 0.012) and the C-G haplotype (58.9%) remained positive association with nicotine dependence (χ(2) = 8.64, P = 0.003) after Bonferroni correction. The C-G haplotype also significantly increased the HSI (P = 0.002) and FTND scores (P = 0.001) after Bonferroni correction. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that CHRNA4 may be associated with smoking initiation and the C-G haplotype of rs1044396-rs1044397 might increase the vulnerability to nicotine dependence in Chinese male smokers.

Fluoxetine as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effectiveness of fluoxetine in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adults. METHODS: A meta-analysis was conducted between April 2008 and December 2010 at West China Hospital, Chengdu, China. Any randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in which fluoxetine were used for PTSD were considered through computerized databases up to September 2010 such as MEDLINE, EBSCO, EMBASE, and ELSEVIER. The RCTs were strictly assessed by investigators for inclusion in the study, collated trial data, and trial quality. The results of 7 RCTs included were combined in this meta-analysis to determine the effectiveness of fluoxetine on PTSD. RESULTS: Significant findings from the randomized and placebo-controlled trials suggest that fluoxetine could be an effective medication for PTSD (Respond: relative risk=1.21, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.03-1.43; Davidson Trauma Scale total score: weighted mean differences=-7.73, 95% CI: -11.69-3.76). In addition, fluoxetine can cause fairly mild adverse effects for those PTSD patients. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that fluoxetine is an effective treatment for PTSD, with mild adverse effects on individuals.

[Isolation and identification of human periodontal ligament stem cells in vitro].

OBJECTIVE: To isolate and identify human periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSC) by improved methods and assess the characteristics of PDLSC ex vivo. METHODS: The periodontal ligament cells were obtained from the healthy impacted third molars and teeth extracted for orthodontic purposes and used to isolate PDLSC by limiting dilution assay. PDLSC were cultured and expanded in alpha-MEM supplemented with 10% FBS. Colony-forming assay, immunohistochemistry, flow cytometry, osteogenic and adipogenic induction were used to identify PDLSC. RESULTS: The obtained cells had high colony-forming efficiency and were positive staining for vimentin and negative for pancytokeratin. Flow cytometry revealed that the isolated cells were positive for STRO-1 and CD146 antibodies and most were in the G0/G1 phase of cell cycle. Under specific conditions, they could differentiate to the osteoblast and adipocyte lineages in vitro. CONCLUSION: Limiting dilution assay is an effective method to isolate PDLSC and the single-cell-derived colonies demonstrate the properties of stem cells in vitro.

[Advances in the studies of the dysbindin gene in schizophrenia].

Recent reports indicate that the dysbindin gene located on chromosome 6p22.3 is a major susceptibility gene for schizophrenia. In the brain, the dysbindin gene may influence glutamatergic neurotransmission by multiple post- and pr- synaptic mechanisms. This paper reviews the research progress on the dysbindin gene in schizophrenia, including the dysbindin gene and its product, the possible pathogenic mechanisms, the association study of the dysbindin gene with schizophrenia, and the cognitive decline caused by the dysbind in variations.

[Application of the Children's Impact of Event Scale (Chinese Version) on a rapid assessment of posttraumatic stress disorder among children from the Wenchuan earthquake area].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the reliability and validity of the Children's Impact of Event Scale (Chinese version, CRIES-13) and to determine the value and the optimal cutoff point of the score of CRIES-13 in screening posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), so as to provide evidence for PTSD prevention and identify children at risk in Wenchuan earthquake areas. METHODS: A total of 253 children experienced the Wenchuan earthquake were tested through Stratified random cluster sampling. The authors examined CRIES-13's internal consistency, discriminative validity and predictive value of the cut-off. PTSD was assessed with the DSM-IV criteria. Area under the curve while sensitivity, specificity and Youden index were computed based on the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Optimal cutoff point was determined by the maximum of Youden index. RESULTS: 20.9% of the subjects were found to have met the DSM-IV criteria for PTSD 7 months after the Wenchuan earthquake accident. The Cronbach's coefficient of CRIES-13 was 0.903 and the mean inter-item correlation coefficients ranged from 0.283 to 0.689, the correlation coefficient of the three factors with the total scale scores ranged from 0.836 to 0.868 while the correlation coefficient among the three factors ranged from 0.568 to 0.718, PTSD cases indicated much higher scores than non-PTSD cases, the Youden index reached maximum value when the total score approached 18 in CRIES-13 with sensitivity and specificity as 81.1% and 76.5% respectively. Consistency check showed that there were no significant differences between the results of CRIES-13 score >/= 32 and clinical diagnosis (Kappa = 0.529) from the screening program. CONCLUSION: CRIES-13 appeared to be a reliable and valid measure for assessing the posttraumatic stress symptoms among children after the earthquake accident in the Wenchuan area. The CRIES-13 seemed to be a useful self-rating diagnostic instrument for survivors with PTSD symptoms as a clinical concern by using a 18 cut-off in total score. Consistency check showed that there was no significant difference between the screening result of CRIES-13 score >/= 32 and clinical diagnosis.

Characteristic distribution of L-tuple for DNA primary sequence.

We consider construction of a characteristic distribution of an L-tuple in a DNA sequence. The mathematical characteristic of the characteristic distribution is selected as invariant to characterize the L-tuple. With the invariant, we can perform the sequence comparison. The graphs of characteristic distributions of dinucleotide GC for the coding sequences of the first exon of beta-globin gene of eleven different species and the construction of phylogenetic tree of twenty four coronavirus genomes illustrate the utility of the approach.