[Differential expression of PRDX4 in alveolar macrophages of patients with silicosis].

Objective: To identify the differential expression of Peroxiredoxin 4 (PRDX4) in alveolar macrophages (AMs) from patients with silicosis in different phases using Western blot. Methods: From June 2017 to June 2018, Twelve pneumoconiosis patients in the pneumoconiosis Department of Beidaihe Sanitarium were selected by random sampling. A msong them, there were 4 groups, that was lung with dust, silicosis with grade one, silicosis with grade two, silicosis with grade three. There were 3 persons in each group, a total of 12. AMs was obtained by filtration and centrifugation. The intracellular protein was extracted and PRDX4 was detected by using Western blot method. Results: It results showed that PRDX4 was expressed in AMs in 4 groups; with the increase of fibrosis, the average relative expression of PRDX4 in AMs was 0.258±0.026, 0.214±0.012, 0.180±0.004, 0.165±0.008. The highest expression level was in the lung with dust group, and the lowest was in the silicosis with grade three group. The difference of the expression level of PRDX4 protein in AMs between groups was statistically significant (P<0.05) . Conclusion: This experiment verified that PRDX4 expressed differentially in AMs in patients with silicosis. With the development of silicosis, PRDX4 expression in AMs reduced significantly.

Real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction to detect propionibacterial ribosomal RNA in the lymph nodes of Chinese patients with sarcoidosis.

The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic value of using the copy number of propionibacterial rRNA as a biomarker for sarcoidosis. Ribosomal RNA of Propionibacterium acnes and P. granulosum was measured by real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue of lymph node biopsy from 65 Chinese patients with sarcoidosis, 45 with tuberculosis and 50 controls with other diseases (23 with non-specific lymphadenitis and 27 with mediastinal lymph node metastasis from lung cancer). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was analysed to determine an optimal cut-off value for diagnosis, and the diagnostic accuracy of the cut-off value was evaluated in additional tissue samples [24 patients with sarcoidosis and 22 with tuberculosis (TB)]. P. acnes or P. granulosum rRNA was detected in 48 of the 65 sarcoidosis samples but only in four of the 45 TB samples and three of the 50 control samples. Analysis of the ROC curve revealed that an optimal cut-off value of the copy number of propionibacterial rRNA for diagnosis of sarcoidosis was 50·5 copies/ml with a sensitivity and specificity of 73·8 and 92·6%, respectively. Based on the cut-off value, 19 of the 24 additional sarcoidosis samples exhibited positive P. acnes or P. granulosum, whereas only one of the 22 additional TB samples was positive, resulting in a sensitivity and specificity of 79·2 and 95·5%, respectively. These findings suggest that propionibacteria might be associated with sarcoidosis granulomatous inflammation. Detection of propionibacterial rRNA by RT-PCR might possibly distinguish sarcoidosis from TB.

PUMA gene transfection can enhance the sensitivity of epirubicin-induced apoptosis of MCF-7 breast cancer cells.

We explored whether p53 upregulated modulator of apoptosis (PUMA) gene transfection could enhance the sensitivity of epirubicin-induced apoptosis of MCF-7 breast cancer cells. The liposome-mediated recombinant eukaryotic expression vector PU-MA-pCDNA3 and empty vector plasmid were stably transfected into MCF-7 cells. Epirubicin (0.01-100 µM) was applied to MCF-7, MCF-7/PUMA, and MCF-7/pCDNA3 cells for 72 h. The MTT assay was used to calculate the cell survival rate in each group, and the 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) was calculated. The IC50 values of epirubicin in MCF-7, MCF-7/PUMA, and MCF-7/pCDNA3 cells were 13 ± 1.4, 1.8 ± 0.2, and 10.7 ± 1.3 µM, respectively. The sensitivity of MCF-7/PUMA cells to epirubicin increased 7.2-fold. Epirubicin induced apoptosis in MCF-7 cells dose-dependently, but MCF-7/PUMA cell-induced apoptosis was more significant compared to controls. Low concentrations of epirubicin (0.1 µM) caused low levels of apoptosis of MCF-7/pCDNA3 (1.15 ± 0.26%) and MCF-7 cells (0.9 ± 0.24%), but significantly induced apoptosis of MCF-7/PUMA cells (6.44 ± 1.46%). High epirubicin concentration (1 µM) induced apoptosis in each group, but the epirubicin MCF-7/PUMA apoptosis rate (35.47 ± 9.36%) was significantly higher than that of MCF-7 (12.6 ± 3.73%) and MCF-7/ pCDNA3 (15.2 ± 5.17%) cells (P < 0 01). Flow cytometry and TUNEL assays for apoptosis detection showed similar results. PUMA protein expression in MCF-7/PUMA cells was significantly higher than that in MCF-7 and MCF-7/pCDNA3 cells by Western blot analysis. There-fore, stable transfection of PUMA can significantly enhance epirubicin-induced apoptosis sensitivity of MCF-7 breast cancer cells.

Bioactivity of Essential Oil of Zingiber purpureum Rhizomes and Its Main Compounds against Two Stored Product Insects.

The insecticidal and repellent activities of the essential oil extracted from Zingiber purpureum Roscoe rhizomes were evaluated against Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) and Lasioderma serricorne (L.) adults. During our screening program for agrochemicals from Chinese medicinal herbs and wild plants, the essential oil of Z. purpureum rhizomes was found to possess strong contact toxicity against T. castaneum and L. serricorne adults, with LD50 values of 39.0 and 16.3 µg per adult, respectively, and also showed strong fumigant toxicity against the two grain storage insects with LC50 values of 13.6 and 9.3 mg/liter of air, respectively. The essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation was investigated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The main components of the essential oil were identified to be sabinene (48.1%), terpinen-4-ol (25.1%), and γ-terpinene (6.7%), followed by α-terpinene (4.3%), ß-thujene (3.4%), and α-phellandrene (2.7%). Sabinene, terpinen-4-ol, and γ-terpinene were separated and purified by silica gel column chromatography and preparative thin-layer chromatography. Terpinen-4-ol showed the strongest contact toxicity against T. castaneum and L. serricorne (LD50=19.7 and 5.4 µg per adult, respectively) and also the strongest fumigant toxicity against T. castaneum and L. serricorne (LC50=3.7 and 1.3 mg/liter of air, respectively). Otherwise, sabinene and terpinen-4-ol were strongly repellent against T. castaneum as well as the essential oil, while γ-terpinene exhibited weaker repellency against T. castaneum compared with the positive control, DEET (N, N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide). Moreover, only the essential oil exhibited strong repellency against L. serricorne, the three compounds exhibited weaker repellency against L. serricorne relative to DEET.

[Epidemiological characteristics of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome in China, 2018-2021].

Objective: To understand the epidemiological characteristics and incidence trend of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) in China. Methods: The incidence data of SFTS in China from 2018 to 2021 were collected from Chinese Disease Prevention and Control Information System for a statistical and descriptive epidemiological analysis by using software such as Excel 2016, Joinpoint 5.0.2, SPSS 26.0, and GraphPad Prism 8.0, especially, the SFTS cases reported monthly by key provinces were analyzed. Results: From 2018 to 2021, a total of 8 835 SFTS cases were reported in 25 provinces and the annual incidence showed an upward trend. The distribution of SFTS cases showed clustering, but the cases were mainly sporadic ones. The cases began to increase in March, mainly occurred during April to October (96.79%,8 551/8 835), and peaked during May to July. The cases were mainly distributed in middle-aged and old farmers, and slight more cases were women. The average case fatality rate was 5.38%, which varied greatly with areas. The case fatality rate tended to increase with age. Conclusion: From 2018 to 2021, the epidemiological characteristics of SFTS in China remained stable, but the number of reported cases gradually increased and the distribution showed an expanding trend, to which close attention should be paid.

Expression of lncRNA TUG1 in hypertensive patients and its relationship with change state of an illness.

The article "Expression of lncRNA TUG1 in hypertensive patients and its relationship with change state of an illness, by S.-S. Du, X.-J. Zuo, Y. Xin, J.-X. Man, Z.-L. Wu, published in Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2020; 24 (2): 870-877-DOI: 10.26355/eurrev_202001_20071-PMID: 32016993" has been withdrawn from the authors stating that "subsequently to the publication of this article, they realized that there are some errors in the data statistics and result analysis in the manuscript, which cannot support the previous conclusion after recalculation". The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. https://www.europeanreview.org/article/20071.

Expression of lncRNA TUG1 in hypertensive patients and its relationship with change state of an illness.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression of LncRNA TUG1 in hypertensive patients and its relationship with the change state of illness. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A prospective analysis was carried out. Eighty-two patients with hypertension admitted to our hospital from March 2016 to February 2019 were regarded as a research group, and 79 healthy people admitted to our hospital during the same period were regarded as a control group. The serum LncRNA TUG1, platelet activating factor (PAF), endothelin-1 (ET-1), serum tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), high sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP), and the relationship between the expression of LncRNA TUG1 and the clinicopathological characteristics of patients with hypertension in the two groups were detected, and finally, the risk factors of hypertension were analyzed. RESULTS: The expression levels of LncRNA TUG1, PAF, ET-1, TNF-α, and hsCRP in the serum of patients in research group were significantly higher than those in control group (p<0.05). LncRNA TUG1 has a positive correlation with the severity of an illness of hypertensive patients (r=0.881, p<0.001), and also has a positive correlation with the expression levels of PAF, ET-1, TNF-α, and hsCRP (r=0.735, p<0.001; r=0.756, p<0.001; r=0.712, p<0.05; r=0.723, p<0.05). The expression of LncRNA TUG1 in the serum of patients with hypertension was related to hypertension mode, severity of disease, hyperlipidemia, and obesity (p<0.05). Obesity (OR: 3.469, 95% CI: 2.175-4.095), drinking (OR: 3.677, 95% CI: 1.695-4.892), hyperlipidemia (OR: 3.374, 95% CI: 1.759-6.988), and the high expression of TUG1 (OR: 2.693, 95% CI: 1.679-7.472) are independent risk factors for the attack of hypertension. CONCLUSIONS: LncRNA TUG1 is highly expressed in the serum of hypertensive patients and it is closely related to the progression of hypertension. Also, it may be one of the independent risk factors for hypertension and a new molecular target for hypertension treatment.

[Studies on the fingerprint of radix notoginseng and its preparation].

OBJECTIVE: A fingerprint of raw material, extracted and injections of radix notoginseng has been studied and provides the quality information. METHOD: Polaris C18-A column was used, with mixtures of acetonitrile and water as mobile phase in a gradient mode. The wavelength of measurement was 203 nm. RESULT: According to the selected chromatographic conditions, a good fingerprint of radix notoginseng and its extract, preparation has been described. CONCLUSION: The method is simple, accurate with good reproducibility. It may be practical value for the quality control of sample for radix notoginseng and its preparation.

[Contents of total flavonoids in Rhizoma Arisaematis].

OBJECTIVE: Comparing the contents of total flavonoides of Rhizoma Arisaematis, which collected in different time, regions, different varieties and processed. METHOD: Determining the contents by ultraviolet spectro-photometry. RESULT AND CONCLUSION: The contents were found in the following sequence: 1. the end of July, the begin of July, August, September; 2. Beijing, Shanxi, Sichuan, Anhui; 3. Arisaema erubenscens, A. heterophyllum, A. amurense; 4. unprocessed product, processed product.

MicroRNA-207 enhances radiation-induced apoptosis by directly targeting Akt3 in cochlea hair cells.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have important roles in various types of cellular biological processes. Our study aimed to determine whether miRNAs function in the regulation of ionizing radiation (IR)-induced cell death in auditory cells and to determine how they affect the cellular response to IR. Microarray and qRT-PCR were performed to identify and confirm the differential expression of miRNAs in the cochlea hair cell line HEI-OC1 and in vivo after IR. Upregulation or downregulation of miRNAs using miRNA mimics or inhibitor were detected to characterize the biological effects of the indicated miRNAs. Bioinformatic analyses, luciferase reporter assays and mRNA knockdown were performed to identify a miRNA target gene. We determined that miR-207 was significantly upregulated after IR. MiR-207 enhances IR-induced apoptosis and DNA damage in HEI-OC1 cells. Furthermore, Akt3 was confirmed to be a direct target of miR-207. Downregulation of Akt3 mimics the effects of miR-207. MiR-207 enhances IR-induced apoptosis by directly targeting Akt3 and anti-miR-207 may have a potential role in protecting cochlea hair cells from IR.

Study on anti-metastasis of heparin derivatives as ligand antagonist of p-selectin.

Heparin has a potential value as therapeutic agents that block P-selectin-mediated cell adhesion and prevent tumor metastasis. However, the strong anticoagulant potency limits its applicability for the anti-metastasis activity. Carboxyl and sulfate groups of heparin are closely related to its anticoagulant activity, so seven kinds of heparin derivatives related to carboxyl and sulfate groups were prepared, and their effects on anti-metastasis as ligand antagonist of p-selectin were studied. The results showed that heparin, carboxyl reduction heparin, 2-O-desulfated heparin and N-desulfated- N-acetylated heparin could inhibit the adhesion of tumor cells to endothelial cells and platelets effectively as ligand antagonist of P-selectin.