[Effect of triptolide on the expression of RANTES in the renal tissue of diabetic nephropathy rats].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of triptolide (TPL) on the renal tissue of diabetic rats and its possible mechanisms. METHODS: SD rats were randomly divided into the normal control group (as the normal group), the diabetic model group (the model group), the low dose TPL treatment group (the low dose TPL group, TPL 0.2 mg/kg by gastrogavage), the high dose TPL treatment group (the high dose TPL group, TPL 0.4 mg/kg by gastrogavage). Equal volume of normal saline was given to rats in the normal group and the model group. Five rats were randomly selected from each group at week 4, 8, and 12 of the experiment to detect body weight, kidney weight, 24 h urinary albumin (24 h UAL), plasma glucose (FBG), total cholesterol (TC), total triglyeride (TG), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), white blood cell (WBC), and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c). The mRNA and protein expression of regulated upon activation normal T-cell expressed and secreted (RANTES) in the renal tissue was assessed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The renal tissue was pathologically stained by HE, PAS, and Masson staining. The glomerular and renal tubular interstitial lesions were observed at each time point. The glomerular sclerosis index (GSI) was observed by PAS staining, and the renal interstitial filrosis index (RIFI) was calcutated. RESULTS: Compared with the same group at week 4, the expression of 24 h UAL, RANTES, GSI, and RIFI at week 12 significantly decreased in two TPL groups (P <0.01). Compared with the same group at week 8, the expression of 24 h UAL, RANTES, GSI, and RIFI at week 12 also significantly decreased in the two TPL groups (P <0. 05, P <0.01). Compared with the normal group, body weight and the kidney weight obviously decreased at week 4, 8, and 12 in the model group (P <0. 01); 24 h UAL, FBG, TG, TC, HbA1c, RANTES, GSI, and RIFI were obviously elevated (P <0.01). Compared with the model group, 24 h UAL, RANTES, GSI, and RIFI also decreased in the two TPL treatment groups (P <0.01). Compared with the low dose TPL group, they were attenuated in the high dose TPL group (P <0. 05, P <0. 01). CONCLUSION: TPL could not only inhibit the over-expression of RANTES, but also improve the glomerular sclerosis and renal interstitial fibrosis in the renal tissue of diabetic rats.

[Application of Vis/NIR diffuse reflectance spectroscopy to the rapid detection and identification of tomato fruit via space mutation breeding].

In order to quickly analyze varieties of tomato via space mutation breeding with near infrared spectra, characteristics of the pattern were analyzed by partial least square. The model was built with radial basis function neural network and regarded the compressed data as the input of neural network input vectors. The model regarded the compressed data as the input of neural network input vectors and the training process was speeded up. For one hundred and five fruit samples of CK, M1 and M2 the training model was built. Forty five samples formed the prediction set. The discrimination rate of these two models achieved 95.6% and 97.8%. It offered a new approach to the fast discrimination of varieties of tomato via space mutation breeding.

Preparation of high-affinity rabbit monoclonal antibodies for ciprofloxacin and development of an indirect competitive ELISA for residues in milk.

A convenient competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for ciprofloxacin (CPFX) was developed by using rabbit monoclonal antibodies (RabMAbs) against a hapten-protein conjugate of CPFX-bovine serum albumin (BSA). The indirect competitive ELISA of CPFX had a concentration at 50% inhibition (IC(50)) of 1.47 ng/ml and a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.095 ng/ml. The mAb exhibited some cross-reactivity, however, not so high with enrofloxacin (28.8%), ofloxacin (13.1%), norfloxacin (11.0%), fleroxacin (22.6%), and pefloxacin (20.4%). And it showed almost no cross-reactivity with other antibiotics or sulfonamides evaluated in this study. The competitive ELISA kit developed here could be used as a screening tool to detect and control illegal addition of CPFX in food products. This kit had been applied to milk detection and the recovery rates from samples spiked by CPFX were in a range of 63.02%-84.60%, with coefficients of variation of less than 12.2%.

[Research on discrimination method of tomato via space mutation breeding based on spectroscopy technology].

In order to quickly analyze varieties of tomato via space mutation breeding with near infrared spectra, firstly, principal component analysis was used to analyze the clustering of tomato leaf samples, and then abundant spectral data were compressed by wavelet transform and the model was built with radial basis function neural network, which offered a quantitative analysis of tomato varieties discrimination. The model regarded the compressed data as the input of neural network input vectors and the training process speeded up. One hundred and five leaf samples of CK, M1 and M2 were selected randomly to build the training model, and forty five samples formed the prediction set. The discrimination rate of 97.8% was achieved by this method. It offered a new approach to the fast discrimination of varieties of tomato via space mutation breeding.

Effects of krill oil on serum lipids of hyperlipidemic rats and human SW480 cells.

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and colon cancer incidence are known to be closely related to dietary factors. This article evaluated effects of krill oil (KO) on serum lipids of hyperlipidemia rats and human colon cancer cells (SW480). Serum lipids of rats fed with high fat diet (HFD) and different doses of KO were measured by automatic analyzer. Effect of KO on viability of cells was determined by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay. RESULTS: Except for higher dose group, body weights decreased significantly. Total cholesterol (TC), LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) of all dose groups, Triglycerides (TG) of low and mid dose groups descended significantly, while there were no significant differences of HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), compared with control group. Treatment of colon cancer cells with KO also resulted in time-dependent inhibition of cell growth. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicated that the consumption of KO may provide benefits to control serum lipid levels in certain diseases and inhibit growth of colon cancer cells. Therefore, KO may be a good candidate for development as a functional food and nutraceutical.