[Pollution Characteristics and Risk Assessment of Tetracycline Antibiotics in Farmland Soil in Yinchuan].

A total of 43 surface soil samples were collected from Yinchuan farmland and high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC) was used to measure the concentrations of oxytetracycline(OTC), tetracycline(TC), chlortetracycline(CTC), and doxycycline(DOC). The pollution characteristics and spatial distribution of TC were further analyzed using spatial Kriging interpolation, and the ecological risks of OTC, TC, CTC, and DOC in farmland soils were also assessed. Tetracycline antibiotics were detected in all the soil samples at concentrations ranging from 40.68 to 1074.42 µg·kg-1 and an average of 462.24 µg·kg-1. The average proportions were ranked ΣTCs: CTC(69.26%) > OTC(16.34%) > TC(12.86%) > DOC(1.54%), and CTC pollution was the most serious among. The space tended to be high in the middle and low in the periphery, but the concentrations of TC were highest in the northwest. The average contents of ΣTCs in different soils was ranked as follows:vegetable field(596.01 µg·kg-1) > pasture(487.04 µg·kg-1) > cultivated land(437.52µg·kg-1) > garden plot(404.99 µg·kg-1). The average risk values of OTC, TC, CTC, and DOC in farmland soils were 0.14, 0.69, 0.14, and 1.02, respectively. TC and DOC represented a high level of risk in 23.26% and 6.98% of the samples, respectively, which requires particular attention.

Endogenous hydrogen sulfide and ERK1/2-STAT3 signaling pathway may participate in the association between homocysteine and hypertension.

BACKGROUND: Homocysteine (Hcy) is a risk factor for hypertension, although the mechanisms are poorly understood. METHODS: We first explored the relationship between Hcy levels and blood pressure (BP) by analyzing the clinical data of primary hypertensive patients admitted to our hospital. Secondly, we explored a rat model to study the effect of Hcy on blood pressure and the role of H2S. An hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) rat model was induced to explore the effect of Hcy on blood pressure and the possible mechanism. We carried out tissue histology, extraction and examination of RNA and protein. Finally, we conducted cell experiments to determine a likely mechanism through renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) signaling pathway. RESULTS: In primary hypertensive inpatients with HHcy, blood pressure was significantly higher as compared with inpatient counterparts lacking HHcy. In the rat model, blood pressure of the Wistar rats was significantly increased with increases in serum Hcy levels and decreased after folate treatment. Angiotensin converting enzyme 1 (ACE1) expression in the Wistar Hcy group was enhanced comparing to controls, but was decreased in the Wistar folate group. Angiotensin II receptor type 1 (AGTR1) levels in the kidney tissue increased in the Wistar folate group. Both serum H2S and kidney cystathionine γ-lyase decreased with elevated levels of serum Hcy. In vitro, increased concentrations and treatment times for Hcy were associated with increased expression of collagen type 1 and AGTR1. This dose and time dependent response was also observed for p-STAT3 and p-ERK1/2 expression. CONCLUSION: Endogenous H2S might mediate the process of altered blood pressure in response to changes in serum Hcy levels, in a process that is partly dependent on activated RAAS and ERK1/2-STAT3 signaling pathway.

[Effects of different antihypertensive strategies on reversing urinary albumin excretion].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effects of different antihypertensive strategies on blood pressure and urinary albumin excretion in patients with hypertension and microalbuminuria. METHODS: For this multi-center, randomized, positively controlled clinical trial, a total of 531 patients with mild-to-moderate essential hypertension and microalbuminuria were enrolled. They were divided randomly into calcium channel blocker (CCB), angiotensin II receptor antagonist (ARB) and CCB+ARB groups. The whole treatment period was 6 months. RESULTS: According to ANOVA analysis, the post-therapeutic urinary albumin level decreased 20.6, 27.6 and 30.9 mg/L in CCB, ARB and CCB+ARB groups respectively (P = 0.067). And the extents of urinary albumin reduction were 31.1 and 6.6 mg/L in patients with controlled and uncontrolled blood pressure respectively (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Effective antihypertensive therapy is a key for decreasing urinary albumin excretion in hypertensive patients. As compared with calcium antagonists, ARB-containing regimens appear to be better in reducing urinary albumin.

[Clinical observation on cake-separated mild-warm moxibustion for treatment of knee osteoarthritis].

OBJECTIVE: To observe clinical therapeutic effect of monkshood cake-separated mild-warm moxibustion at Zusanli (ST 36) and Xiyan (EX-LE 5) on knee osteoarthritis. METHODS: The patients of monkshood cake-separated mild-warm moxibustion group were treated with monkshood cake-separated mild-warm moxibustion at Dubi (ST 35), Zusanli (ST 36) and Neixiyan (EX-LE 4) on the affected side, and the medication group with oral administration of Xianling Gubao Capsules. After treatment for 4 weeks, VAS and index of severity of osteoarthritis (ISOA scale) were used for assessment of clinical therapeutic effect. RESULTS: After treatment, the arthralgia and the index of severity significantly improved in the two groups (P < 0.01), and the analgesic effect and improvement of ISOA in the monkshood cake-separated mild-warm moxibustion group were better than those in the medication group (P < 0.05). The basic clinical cured rate was 80.0% and the effect-producing time was (10.91 +/- 4.17) days in the monkshood cake-separated mild-warm moxibustion group, and 53.3% and (12.28 +/- 4.60) days in the medication group, respectively, with a significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Therapeutic effect of monkshood cake-separated mild-warm moxibustion on knee osteoarthritis is better than that of oral administration of Xianling Gubao Capsules.

[Association between coronary artery stenosis and peripheral artery function in normotensive and hypertensive patients with coronary artery disease].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the relationship between the parameters of artery elasticity and coronary artery stenosis in normotensive and hypertensive patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). METHODS: Systemic vascular compliance (SVC), systemic vascular resistance (SVR), brachial artery compliance (BAC) and brachial artery resistance (BAR) were measured by Dynapulse 200M (Pulse Metric, Inc., USA) in 88 hypertensive and 41 normotensive patients with chest pain before coronary artery angiography. RESULTS: (1) The prevalence rate of severe coronary disease (> or = 2 coronary branches) was higher in hypertensives than in normotensives (64.7% vs. 27.1%, P < 0.05); (2) the peripheral artery buffering function was significantly lower in hypertensives than in normotensives [SVC: (0.85 +/- 0.10) ml/mm Hg (1 mm Hg = 0.133 kPa) vs. (1.17 +/- 0.11) ml/mm Hg; BAC: (0.047 +/- 0.011) ml/mm Hg vs. (0.063 +/- 0.010) ml/mm Hg, all P < 0.05]; (3) Lower arterial elasticity was associated with severe coronary artery stenosis. CONCLUSION: The non-invasive obtained artery elasticity is associated with the degree of coronary artery stenosis in hypertensive patients with CAD.

[Clinical observation on treatment of rheumatoid arthritis with cake-separated mild moxibustion combined with Western medicine].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect-increasing action of cake-separated mild moxibustion on rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and to probe a new method for RA. METHODS: Sixty cases were randomly divided into 2 groups. The control group (n=30) were treated with oral administration of methotrexate (MTX) as basic treatment, and non-steroid anti-inflammatory agents (NSAIDs) according to conditions of the patient. The treatment group (n=30) were treated with the same treatment as the control group, and Fuzi case-separated moxibustion at Guanyuan (CV 4) and Zusanli (ST 36) was added. They were treated for 3 months. RESULTS: After treatment of 3 months, the total effective rate was 83.3% in the treatment group, which was higher than 60.0% in the control group (P < 0.05); there were significant differences before and after treatment in all indexes in the two groups (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01); the ratio of the patients who completely withdrew NSAIDs in the treatment group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P < 0.05); the rate of adverse reaction in the treatment group was significantly lower than that in the control group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Fuzi cake-separated mild moxibustion can increase clinical therapeutic effect on RA and reduce dosage of NSAIDs.

Involvement of calcium mobilization from caffeine-sensitive stores in mechanically induced cell cycle arrest in the dinoflagellate Crypthecodinium cohnii.

Mechanical loads can profoundly alter cell growth and cell proliferation. The dinoflagellates are especially sensitive to mechanical stimulation. Many species will be arrested in cell cycle in response to turbulence or shear stress. We demonstrate here that mechanical shaking and caffeine, the ryanodine-receptor agonist, induced an elevation of cytosolic calcium in the dinoflagellate Crypthecodinium cohnii. Dantrolene, a ryanodine-receptor antagonist, dose-dependently inhibited both shaking-induced and caffeine-induced calcium release. Similar to the effect of mechanical shaking, caffeine alone dose-dependently and reversibly induced cell cycle arrest in dinoflagellates. Prolonged shaking substantially abolished the magnitude of caffeine-induced calcium release and vice-versa, suggesting that both agents released calcium from similar stores through ryanodine receptors. Fluorescence-conjugated ryanodine gave positive labeling, which could be blocked by ryanodine, in the cortice of C. cohnii cells. In addition, caffeine or shaking mobilized intracellular chlortetracycline (CTC)-positive membrane-bound calcium, which could be similarly depleted by t-BuBHQ, a SERCA pump inhibitor. Prior treatment with shaking or caffeine also inhibited the ability of the other agent in mobilizing CTC-positive calcium. CTC-positive microsomal fractions could also be induced to release calcium by caffeine and cADPR, the ryanodinee receptor modulator. t-BuBHQ, but not calcium ionophores, induced cell cycle arrest, and the calcium chelator BAPTA-AM was unable to rescue caffeine-induced cell cycle arrest. These data culminate to suggest that mobilization or depletion of caffeine-sensitive calcium stores, but not calcium elevation per se, is involved in the induction of cell cycle arrest by mechanical stimulation. The present study establishes the role of caffeine-sensitive calcium stores in the regulation of cell cycle progression.