Efficacy of wIRA in the treatment of sacroiliitis in male patients with ankylosing spondylitis and its effect on serum VEGF levels.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to assess the efficacy of water-filtered infrared A (wIRA) in sacroiliitis in male patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and the effect of wIRA therapy on serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). METHODS: One hundred twenty male AS patients with active sacroiliitis were randomly divided into wIRA group and control group. wIRA treatment was performed twice daily for 5 consecutive days with 24-h interval before switching the treatment (crossover design). Bath ankylosing spondylitis disease activity index (BASDAI) scores, pain visual analogue scale (VAS), and morning stiffness VAS were recorded prior to and after each treatment period. Additionally, C-reactive protein (CRP), serum VEGF, and resistance index (RI) of sacroiliac joints detected by ultrasonography were recorded at baseline and after the first and second treatment period, respectively. The efficacy was examined by using repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). RESULTS: BASDAI, pain VAS, and morning stiffness VAS scores decreased significantly (P < 0.001) after wIRA treatment and no-wIRA treatment (control group), and the difference between the two groups was significant (P < 0.001). CRP declined and RI increased during the wIRA treatment as compared with the no-wIRA treatment (P < 0.001). The increase in RI was associated with improvement of pain VAS scores (P = 0.018), while serum VEGF was unaffected by the treatment. CONCLUSIONS: wIRA treatment achieved symptom and pain relief for AS patients with active sacroiliitis. wIRA treatment also improved RI revealed by ultrasonography, and this effect was associated with improved pain VAS scores.

The role of pro-inflammatory cytokines in lipid metabolism of metabolic diseases.

Adipose tissue has been considered as a crucial source of certain pro-inflammatory cytokines; conversely, these pro-inflammatory cytokines are involved in regulating the proliferation and apoptosis of adipocytes, promoting lipolysis, inhibiting lipid synthesis and decreasing blood lipids, etc. In recent decades, extensive studies have indicated that pro-inflammatory cytokines play important roles in the development of lipid metabolism of metabolic diseases, including obesity, atherosclerosis, steatohepatitis and hyperlipoproteinemia. However, the involved pro-inflammatory cytokines types and the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. The "re-discovery" of cancer as a metabolic disorder largely occurred in the last five years. Although pro-inflammatory cytokines have been intensively investigated in cancer research, there are very few studies about the roles of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the lipid metabolism of cancer. In the current review, we provide an overview of the progress that has been made in the roles of different pro-inflammatory cytokines in lipid metabolism of metabolic diseases including cancer.

Subtly Manipulated Expression of ZmmiR156 in Tobacco Improves Drought and Salt Tolerance Without Changing the Architecture of Transgenic Plants.

Plants in the juvenile state are more tolerant to adverse conditions. Constitutive expression of MicroRNA156 (miR156) prolonged the juvenile phase and increased resistance to abiotic stress, but also affected the architecture of transgenic plants. In this study, we investigated the possibility of subtle manipulation of miR156 expression in flowering plants, with the goal to increase tolerance to abiotic stress without altering the normal growth and development of transgenic plants. Transgenic tobacco plants expressing ZmmiR156 from maize were generated, driven either by the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter or the stress-inducible ZmRab17 promoter. Expression of ZmmiR156 led to improved drought and salt tolerance in both 35S::MIR156 and Rab17::MIR156 transgenic plants, as shown by more vigorous growth, greater biomass production and higher antioxidant enzyme expression after a long period of drought or salt treatment, when compared to wild type and transgenic vector control plants. However, constitutive expression of ZmmiR156 also resulted in retarded growth, increased branching and delayed flowering of transgenic plants. These undesirable developmental changes could be mitigated by using the stress-inducible ZmRab17 promoter. Furthermore, under drought or salt stress conditions, expression of ZmmiR156 reduced the transcript level of NtSPL2 and NtSPL9, the genes potentially targeted by ZmmiR156, as well as that of CP1, CP2, and SAG12, the senescence-associated genes in tobacco. Collectively, our results indicate that ZmmiR156 can be temporally manipulated for the genetic improvement of plants resistant to various abiotic stresses.

The Human Kinome Targeted by FDA Approved Multi-Target Drugs and Combination Products: A Comparative Study from the Drug-Target Interaction Network Perspective.

The human kinome is one of the most productive classes of drug target, and there is emerging necessity for treating complex diseases by means of polypharmacology (multi-target drugs and combination products). However, the advantages of the multi-target drugs and the combination products are still under debate. A comparative analysis between FDA approved multi-target drugs and combination products, targeting the human kinome, was conducted by mapping targets onto the phylogenetic tree of the human kinome. The approach of network medicine illustrating the drug-target interactions was applied to identify popular targets of multi-target drugs and combination products. As identified, the multi-target drugs tended to inhibit target pairs in the human kinome, especially the receptor tyrosine kinase family, while the combination products were able to against targets of distant homology relationship. This finding asked for choosing the combination products as a better solution for designing drugs aiming at targets of distant homology relationship. Moreover, sub-networks of drug-target interactions in specific disease were generated, and mechanisms shared by multi-target drugs and combination products were identified. In conclusion, this study performed an analysis between approved multi-target drugs and combination products against the human kinome, which could assist the discovery of next generation polypharmacology.

SIRT3 participates in glucose metabolism interruption and apoptosis induced by BH3 mimetic S1 in ovarian cancer cells.

The Bcl-2 antiapoptotic proteins are important cancer therapy targets; however, their role in cancer cell metabolism remains unclear. We found that the BH3-only protein mimetic S1, a novel pan Bcl-2 inhibitor, simultaneously interrupted glucose metabolism and induced apoptosis in human SKOV3 ovarian cancer cells, which was related to the activation of SIRT3, a stress-responsive deacetylase. S1 interrupted the cellular glucose metabolism mainly through causing damage to mitochondrial respiration and inhibiting glycolysis. Moreover, S1 upregulated the gene and protein expression of SIRT3, and induced the translocation of SIRT3 from the nucleus to mitochondria. SIRT3 silencing reversed the effects of S1 on glucose metabolism and apoptosis through increasing the level of HK-II localized to the mitochondria, while a combination of the glycolysis inhibitor 2-DG and S1 intensified the cytotoxicity through further upregulation of SIRT3 expression. This study underscores an essential role of SIRT3 in the antitumor effect of Bcl-2 inhibitors in human ovarian cancer through regulating both metabolism and apoptosis. The manipulation of Bcl-2 inhibitors combined with the use of classic glycolysis inhibitors may be rational strategies to improve ovarian cancer therapy.

Schisandrin B protects PC12 cells against oxidative stress of neurodegenerative diseases.

Increasing evidence places Schisandrin B (Sch B) at an important position in nerve protection, indicating that Sch B might play a positive role in the therapy of neurodegenerative diseases. However, there is little information on it. Our studies showed that pretreatment with Sch B could reduce lactate dehydrogenase, malondialdehyde, and reactive oxygen species release and significantly increase the cell viability and the superoxide dismutase level. Sch B (10 µM) markedly inhibited cell apoptosis, whereas LY294002 (20 µM), a phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase inhibitor, blocked the antiapoptotic effect. More importantly, Sch B (10 µM) increased the phosphoprotein kinase B/protein kinase B (Akt) and B-cell lymphoma-2/Bcl-2 associated X protein ratios on preincubation with cells for 2 h, which was then inhibited by LY294002 (20 µM). Results indicate that Sch B can protect PC12 cells from apoptosis by activating the phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase/Akt signaling pathway and may emerge as a potential drug for neurodegenerative diseases.

[Effect of Schisandra chinensis lignans on neuronal apoptosis and p-AKT expression of rats in cerebral ischemia injury model].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of Schisandra chinensis lignans (SCL) on neuronal apoptosis and PI3K/AKT signaling pathway of rats in the cerebral ischemia injury model, and study its possible mechanism. METHOD: Rats were orally administered SCL high, middle and low dose groups (100, 50, 25 mg x kg(-1)) for 14 days. The cerebral ischemia injury model was established by using the suture-occluded method to rate the neurological functions. The cerebral infarction area was observed by TTC staining. The pathological changes in brain tissues were determined by HE staining. Bcl-2 and Bax expressions were detected by immunohistochemical assay. The protein expressions of p-AKT and AKT were assayed by Western blotting. RESULT: Compared with the model group, SCL high, middle and low dose groups showed reduction in the cerebral infarction area to varying degrees, improve the pathological changes in brain tissues, promote the expression of apoptin Bcl-2 and p-AKT, and inhibit the expression of apoptin Bax. CONCLUSION: SCL shows a protective effect on rats with cerebral ischemia injury. Its mechanism may be related to the increase in p-AKT ability and antiischemic brain injury capacity and the inhibition of nerve cells.

Use of mobile phone text messaging to deliver an individualized smoking behaviour intervention in Chinese adolescents.

We evaluated the effectiveness of a mobile phone text-messaging based smoking cessation intervention package among Chinese adolescent smokers. Students aged 16-19 years were recruited from six vocational high schools located in Shanghai. We assigned the six schools to an intervention group or a control group by cluster randomization. The 92 participants in the intervention group were given tailored information via mobile phone text-messaging for 12 weeks. The 87 participants in the control group were provided with a self-help pamphlet about smoking cessation instead. After the intervention, attitudes towards the disadvantages of smoking were significantly improved, and the level of nicotine dependence and cigarette dependence significantly decreased in the intervention group. The intervention group had a relatively higher self-reported 7-day abstinence compared to the control group and 30-day abstinence, but the differences were not significant. However, the intervention group had a significantly higher rate of smoking reduction (66% vs. 35%) and moving forward in quitting stages (52% vs. 18%) compared to the control group. The interactive and tailored assistance provided by the mobile phone text-messaging was effective in smoking behaviour intervention in Chinese adolescent smokers.

[An SVM real-time method by utilizing curvelet transform in nonlinear laser-induced fluorescence of oil recognition].

This paper presents a real-time nonlinear laser fluorescence recognition method. First, the feature vectors consisting of transform coefficients were obtained by utilizing the three layers curvelet transform to decompose the pre-processing fluorescence spectrum of the heavy oil, diesel, crude oil and other types of common oils in various angles and different scales. Then the feature vectors were regarded as the parameters and sent into the support vector machines (SVM) for training. Finally, the trained SVM was used for spectral classification of the oil slicks. Results from the trial suggest that it didn't rely on a large number of samples, so that the number of support vectors was significantly reduced and the operation time was shortened for real-time running. Compared with traditional methods, the proposed method proves to be more efficient, faster and more reliable and has real-time capabilities.

XRCC1 polymorphisms and risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Previous studies on the association between X-ray repair cross-complementing protein 1 (XRCC1) polymorphisms and nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) risk showed inconsistent results. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of XRCC1 variants on NPC risk. METHODS: A meta-analysis was performed with all eligible studies covering a total of 1,341 cases and 1,425 controls for the Arg194Trp polymorphism, 1,260 cases and 1,207 controls for the Arg280His polymorphism, and 1,644 cases and 1,678 controls for the Arg399Gln polymorphism. RESULTS: No associations was found between Arg194Trp and Arg280His polymorphisms with NPC risk under all contrast models (co-dominant, dominant, and recessive models). However a deleterious effect of the 399Gln genotype was observed under the co-dominant model (Gln/Gln versus Arg/Arg, OR = 1.30, 95% CI : 1.01-1.69, P = 0.04). Under the recessive model (Gln/Gln versus Arg/Arg+Arg/Gln), the P value was marginally significant (OR = 1.28, 95% CI : 1.00-1.65, P = 0.05). However, the effect of the 399Gln genotype on NPC became non-significant after excluding one study from the meta-analysis because of departure from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. CONCLUSIONS: No associations were found between Arg194Trp and Arg280His polymorphisms with NPC risk, whereas the Arg399Gln genotype was associated with increased risk.

[Inhibitory effect of tripeptide compound tyroservaltide on invasion and metastasis of mouse melanoma cell line B16-F10].

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Tripeptide compound tyroservaltide (YSV) has obvious inhibitory effect on experimental liver cancer. This study was to evaluate the inhibitory effect of YSV on the invasion and metastasis of mouse melanoma cell line B16-F10. METHODS: The cytotoxic effect of YSV on B16-F10 cells was assessed by MTT assay, and the effects of YSV on the adhesiveness and invasiveness of B16-F10 cells were determined using Matrigel and a transwell system. B16-F10 cells were injected into the tail veins of C57BL/6 mice to establish an experimental lung metastasis model, and the effect of YSV on lung metastasis was observed. The effect of YSV on the expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) in lung tissue was detected by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: YSV (100 microg/ml, 48 h) inhibited the proliferation of B16-F10 cells, with an inhibitory rate of 24.36%; YSV (100 microg/ml, 24 h) inhibited the adhesiveness of B16-F10 cells to Matrigel, with an inhibitory rate of 36.51%; YSV (10 microg/ml, 48 h) inhibited the invasiveness of B16-F10 cells, with an inhibitory rate of 36.53%; YSV [640 microg.(kg.d)-1] inhibited lung metastasis by B16-F10 cells, with an inhibitory rate of 62.21%. The expression of ICAM-1 in lung tissue was lower in YSV group than in normal saline group. CONCLUSION: YSV can inhibit the growth, invasion, and metastasis of B16-F10 cells.