[Status of household disaster preparedness and affecting factors among the general public of four counties in Shaanxi].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the status of household disaster preparedness in 4 counties of Shaanxi province and explore the affecting factors. METHODS: During the period from September to October in 2008, multi-stage sampling was used to select subjects from urban and rural residents in Xincheng district, Hantai district, Fuping county and Xunyang county of Shaanxi province. Questionnaire survey was conducted among 1945 subjects aged 18-88 years to investigate their experience and expectation of disaster events, preparedness knowledge, activities and emergency supplies. Logistic regression was used to analyze the factors influencing household disaster preparedness. RESULTS: The average age of the 1945 subjects was (43.55 ± 12.76) years old. A total of 7.12% (138/1939) of respondents never experienced disaster. Earthquake and fire (57.35% (1175/2049), 19.81% (406/2049), respectively) were rated as the two disasters most likely to occur. The awareness rate of knowledge about household disaster preparedness was 51.43% (989/1923), and 23.41% (454/1939) discussed how to prepare for disaster with their family, only 9.27% (179/1932) attended evacuation drill. The rates of preparing household emergency supplies were 23.64% (230/973), 30.56% (55/180), 31.19% (141/452) and 54.49% (97/178) for urban residents, subjects with junior college or above education, subjects having frequent family discussions of disaster preparedness and subjects participating in emergency rescue drills, respectively. For subjects with junior high school, senior high school and junior college or higher education, the likelihood of preparing household emergency supplies was 5.02 (95%CI: 1.12 - 22.42), 5.74 (95%CI: 1.27 - 26.04) and 6.84 (95%CI: 1.44 - 32.39) times as that of illiterate, respectively. Urban residents, subjects who often discussed disaster preparedness with their family, and who participated in emergency rescue drills were more likely to prepare emergency supplies than rural residents (OR = 4.38, 95%CI: 2.74 - 7.00), those who never discussed (OR = 4.99, 95%CI: 2.52 - 9.91), and who didn't participate (OR = 5.72, 95%CI: 3.84 - 8.51). CONCLUSION: The residents in 4 counties of Shaanxi lack comprehensive knowledge and appropriate activities of disaster preparedness, the rate of preparing household emergency supplies is low. Higher education, living in urban area, frequent family discussions of disaster preparedness and participating in emergency rescue drills are facilitating factors of preparing household emergency supplies.

[The application of uncut Roux-en-Y esophagojejunostomy with distal jejunal pouch on behalf of the stomach surgery in the digestive tract reconstruction after total gastrectomy].

OBJECTIVE: To study the clinical value of uncut Roux-en-Y esophagojejunostomy with distal jejunal pouch on behalf of the stomach (URYAJP) surgery in the digestive tract reconstruction after total gastrectomy. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of radical resection of the whole stomach in 486 cases of gastric cancer patients, divided into the URYAJP group (n = 189), the P-loop Roux-en-Y behalf of the stomach surgery (PRY) group (n = 150) and pure Roux-en-Y reconstruction (RY) group (n = 147). Three groups were compared in patients with surgical reconstruction time, the occurrence of postoperative complications, the postoperative weight after 6, 12 and 24 months, the single meal food intake and prognostic nutritional index (PNI) and Visick points class situation after 12 and 24 months. RESULTS: (1) The URYAJP group and RY group had no significant difference in digestive tract reconstruction time ((37 ± 6) minutes and (38 ± 6) minutes respectively), but PRY group was significantly prolonged ((47 ± 6) minutes, t = 7.52 and 6.54, P < 0.05). (2) In the comparison of the incidence of complications, URYAJP group has 2.1% rate of Roux stay syndrome (RSS) incidence, significantly less than PRY group (21.3%) and RY group (19.7%) (χ² = 14.84, P < 0.05). (3) In the comparison the postoperative nutritional status, URYAJP group clear asset, showing the degree of ((3.1 ± 1.0) kg) weight loss after 12 months (t = 25.03 and 22.99, P < 0.05). And after 12, 24 months, a single meal eating reached the preoperative level is 94.8% and 96.9% in URYAJP group, while PRY group and RY group is less than 50% (χ(2) = 61.10, 69.17, 65.17 and 73.29, P < 0.05). URYAJP Group reach the preoperative levels of PNI in 24 months after surgery, while PRY and RY group were still lower than per-operation (t = 106.97 and 100.37, P < 0.05). (4) The Visick points class I-II postoperative 12 and 24 months in URYAJP group were 92.7% and 93.8%, significantly better than group B and C (χ² = 10.63, 14.19, 10.10 and 10.74, P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: URYAJP surgery give full play to maintain intestinal continuity, simple operation, and advantages of food storage bags, it can reduce the long-term postoperative complications, improve the nutritional status of patients and improve quality of life. It is worthy of promoting a way of gastrointestinal reconstruction.

Sustained release of chlorogenic acid-loaded nanomicelles alleviates bone loss in mouse periodontitis.

Periodontitis is a prevalent chronic inflammatory disease that destroys the periodontal supporting tissues, impinges on oral health, and is correlated with an increased risk of systemic disease. Currently, the main drug treatment is antibiotic therapy; however, systemic antibiotic therapy still has various drawbacks such as bacterial resistance, low bioavailability and burst release. It is noteworthy that the local use of non-antibiotic drugs with sustained release characteristics can effectively overcome these problems. It has been documented that chlorogenic acid (CGA) has good anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. To achieve the sustained release of CGA, we synthesized CGA-PLGA@PVP nanomicelles by loading CGA onto poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) and modified them with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) for better dispersion. The results demonstrated that CGA-PLGA@PVP nanomicelles could prolong the release time of CGA, and could not only effectively remove reactive oxygen species (ROS) but also downregulate the overexpression of proinflammatory cytokines in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated RAW264.7 cells. Moreover, CGA-PLGA@PVP nanomicelles could remain in gingival tissue for more than 24 hours after local injection, inhibit alveolar bone resorption and prevent the progression of periodontitis in a mouse model, showing good biocompatibility. Therefore, CGA-PLGA@PVP nanomicelles have great properties and are expected to be a novel therapeutic strategy for periodontitis.

ROS-responsive resveratrol-loaded cyclodextrin nanomicelles reduce inflammatory osteolysis.

Bone loss in inflammatory disorders such as osteomyelitis, septic arthritis, and periodontitis is caused by excessive osteoclastic activity. Meanwhile, reactive oxygen species (ROS) have been identified as contributors to osteoclast differentiation, and the application of ROS scavengers has emerged as a promising strategy to protect against bone loss. Recently, resveratrol (RSV), a polyphenolic phytoalexin, has been demonstrated to inhibit osteoclastogenesis by scavenging ROS; however, the application of RSV as an antioxidant is limited by its low water solubility, structural instability, and short elimination half-life. In this study, we developed a PEGylated cyclodextrin (CD)-based nanoplatform (PCP) for local delivery of RSV as nanomicelles (RSV-NMs). In addition, polymer functionalization with phenylboronic acid ester in RSV-NMs successfully achieved ROS-responsive release of RSV. The RSV-NMs in a well-dispersed state possessed good biocompatibility as well as improved solubility and stability compared with RSV compound. In vitro, RSV-NMs significantly inhibited the formation of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP)-positive multinuclear cells and suppressed F-actin (filamentous actin) ring formation. Additionally, the mRNA expressions of osteoclastic marker genes, including matrix metalloprotein-9 (MMP-9), nuclear factor of activated T cells 1 (NFATc1), TRAP, and cathepsin K, were consequently downregulated in the presence of RSV-NMs. In vivo, RSV-NMs provided protection against LPS-induced bone destruction, as evidenced by a decreased number of osteoclasts, increased bone density, and reduced area of bone resorption. Taken together, these results indicate that our ROS-responsive RSV-NMs can be employed as a potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of inflammatory osteolysis.

Tree species identification based on the fusion of bark and leaves.

For trees, leaves are often used for identification, but the shape of leaves changes greatly, bark will be another identifying feature. However, it is difficult to recognize by a single organ when there are intra class differences and inter class similarities between leaves or bark. So we fuse features of leaf and bark. Firstly, we collected 17 species of leaves and bark of trees through field shooting and web crawling. Then propose a method of combining convolution neural network (CNN) with cascade fusion, additive fusion algorithm, bilinear fusion and score level fusion. Finally, the features extracted from the leaves and bark are fused in the ReLu layer and Fully connected layer. The method was compared with single organ recognition, Support Vector Machines (SVM), and existing fusion methods, results show that the two organ fusion method proposed are better than the other recognition methods, and recognition accuracy is 87.86%. For similar trees, when it is impossible to accurately determine its species by a single organ, the fusion of two organs can effectively improve this situation.

The Comparison of Laparoscopic Colorectal Resection with Natural Orifice Specimen Extraction versus Mini-Laparotomy Specimen Extraction for Colorectal Tumours: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Short-Term Outcomes.

AIM: The aims of this study were to compare the short-term outcomes of natural orifice specimen extraction surgery (NOSES) and conventional laparoscopic surgery (CLAPS) for colorectal tumours and to evaluate the safety and feasibility of NOSES in colorectal resection. METHODS: A literature review was performed on the PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Embase databases up to March 2019. Papers conforming to the inclusion criteria were used for further analysis. The short-term outcomes included intraoperative outcomes and postoperative recovery results. The weighted mean difference (WMD) was calculated for continuous outcomes and odds ratio (OR) for dichotomous results. Study quality was evaluated using the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale (NOS) or the 6-item Jadad scale. RESULTS: Eight studies comprising 686 patients met the inclusion criteria. Compared with CLAPS, NOSES had more advantages in terms of postoperative complications, postoperative pain, recovery of gastrointestinal function, duration of hospital stay, and cosmetic results. The lymph nodes harvested and intraoperative blood loss in NOSES were comparable with CLAPS; however, a prolonged operative time was observed in NOSES. CONCLUSIONS: NOSES was shown to be a safe and viable alternative to CLAPS in colorectal oncology in terms of short-term results. Further long-term and randomized trials are required.

[Study on indicator system for evaluating the adult health literacy in China].

OBJECTIVE: To establish a comprehensive evaluation indicator system for healthy literacy based on national survey data. METHOD: A multi-stage stratified sampling method was carried out to select the sample population in six provinces of China, which were adults aged 18 - 69 years old. The national health literacy questionnaire was used to investigate the sample populations. The answers were scored according to the error answer of 0, uncertain answer of 1 and the correct answer of 2. The degrees of difficulty and difference were calculated and be used to screen the indicators from the questionnaire as to establishing the comprehensive evaluation indicator system of the health literacy. The Cronbach alpha coefficient, correlation analysis, regression analysis and cluster analysis methods were used to assess the reliability and validity of the indicator system. RESULTS: The samples were 11 759 people, the valid questionnaires were 11 693 and the effective recovery rate was 99.4%, the Myer' index of sample was 4.92. There were 40 indexes selected to establish the comprehensive evaluation indicator system of health literacy. The correlation coefficient between indicator system and the questionnaire scores was 0.948 (P < 0.01), there were the significant differences between groups of being clustered by Q cluster analysis method (P < 0.01). The VIF of these four dimensions was less than 5. CONCLUSION: In this study, the comprehensive evaluation indicator system had a good reliability and validity, and there existed no collinearity among four dimensions of indicator system, it should be the foundation for developing comprehensive evaluation index of health literacy.

[Public health situation and needs assessment after Wenchuan earthquake in Anxian, Sichuan province].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the public health situation and needs in Anxian after Wenchuan earthquake so as to make an effective strategy for disease control and prevention. METHODS: 69 concentrated settlements with 100 residents were investigated. Probability proportion to size was adopted for sampling of 2200 residents from 687 scattered households (about 440 000 scattered residents). The content of this survey included drinking water, food hygiene, environment sanitation, planning immunity and medical health service, disease surveillance and so on. SPSS 16.0 was used for data analysis, and statistical interpretation was used to describe the results. RESULTS: 90.9% (31/66) resettled residents in Anxian lived in tents, 7.6% (5/66) lived in the movable-plate house, 93.3% (621/666) scattered households lived in tents and 71.9% (446/621) of them lived in tents which were built by residents themselves; the rate of drinking water disinfection in resettlement sites and scattered households were 97.1% (66/68) and 94.6% (650/687); 12.8% scattered residents had mouldy or food; 50% of resettlement sites raised animals; 43.6% (17/39) medical station didn't have bacterin inoculation service; 66.7% (10/15) lacked sufficient disinfection equipment; register rate was 50.0% (33/66) and report rate of symptoms and infectious diseases was 56.1% (37/66). CONCLUSION: There was still some risk of enteric and vector-borne diseases in Anxian, therefore, some tailored measures should be very important.

[Mental health assessment among scattered residents after Wenchuan earthquake in Anxian, Sichuan province].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the mental health status of residents scattered living in Anxian after Wenchuan earthquake so as to provide scientific basis for further mental health intervention. METHODS: A face to face interview was conducted among the scattered residents with designed questionnaire, which had three parts of the physical and emotional reaction, the relax methods and the social care and supports expected. Two-stage probability proportional to size (PPS) sample method was performed to sample 2184 from 0.44 million scattered residents in Anxian. On the basis of statistical description, mental health of different characteristics groups was compared. RESULTS: Three main symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorders in 2184 residents (11.23+/-3.44) were higher than the 103 fire victims in Hunan in 2003 (10.06+/-3.26), three factor scores of SCL-90 (5.76+/-1.74) were higher than normal in 1998 repair mode (n=23 891) (4.72+/-1.44), and the statistical difference was observed (t=10.77, P<0.05; t=706.04, P<0.05). Comparing the mental health of different groups, some significant differences were found by age, gender and education background. CONCLUSION: The earthquake disaster brought prevalent physical and emotional reaction. Elderly people, female, junior students need mental intervention immediately. Therefore, strengthen the mental education and assistance (especially in high risk groups) would be of more significance.

Inhibition of ALDH2 expression aggravates renal injury in a rat sepsis syndrome model.

Mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) is closely associated with organ injury. The aim of the present study was to investigate the change of ALDH2 expression in a rat model of sepsis-induced acute renal injury, and to observe the effect of ALDH2 inhibition on the kidney. A model of sepsis syndrome was established in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). The rats were divided into sham, CLP and CLP + cyanamide (CYA, an ALDH2 inhibitor) groups. The hemodynamic parameters heart rate (HR) and mean arterial blood pressure (MABP) were measured. Plasma creatinine (CRE) and urea nitrogen (BUN) levels were measured using an automatic biochemical analyzer. Malondialdehyde (MDA) content and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in the kidney tissue were measured. Histological changes of the kidney tissue were observed using hematoxylin and eosin staining and NF-κB p65 expression was observed by an immunohistochemical staining method. The expression of renal ALDH2 at the mRNA and protein levels was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and western blotting. In the CLP compared with the sham group after 24 h, the MABP was decreased, plasma CRE and BUN levels were elevated, the renal MDA level was increased and SOD activity was decreased. In addition, glomerular atrophy occurred, the renal protein expression of NF-κB p65 was increased, and the mRNA and protein expression levels of ALDH2 were decreased. In contrast with the CLP group, in the CLP + CYA group, the MABP and ALDH2 expression were further decreased while glomerular atrophy was aggravated. Furthermore, CRE, BUN, MDA levels and NF-κB p65 expression were further increased and SOD activity was further reduced. In this rat model of sepsis syndrome, the reduction of renal ALDH2 expression was accompanied by kidney injury. Inhibition of ALDH2 with CYA aggravated the renal injury, and was associated with the overproduction of reactive oxygen species and inflammatory reaction.

Testin is a tumor suppressor in non-small cell lung cancer.

The Testin gene was previously identified in the fragile chromosomal region FRA7G at 7q31.2. It has been implicated in several types of cancers including prostate, ovarian, breast and gastric cancer. In the present study, we investigated the function of the candidate tumor-suppressor Testin gene in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In NSCLC cell lines, we observed lower expression of Testin compared to that noted in normal human bronchial epithelial cells. MTT assays, flow cytometry, clonogenic assay and invasion assay showed that the overexpression of the Testin gene inhibited cancer cell proliferation, invasion and colony formation. In tumor xenograft models, Testin markedly inhibited lung cancer cell xenograft formation and growth in athymic nude mice. Taken together, these data suggest that Testin plays an important role in the development and progression of NSCLC. Testin may be an effective novel target in NSCLC prevention and treatment.

[Meta analysis for relationship between exposure of free silicon dioxide and lung tumor].

OBJECTIVE: Meta-analysis is applied to process a systematic, comprehensive evaluation on the relationship between silica exposure and lung cancer in order to provide scientific evidences for controlling measures and offer a case for EBOM. METHODS: According to established entrance standards, the collected original articles on silica exposure and lung cancer were classified and put in order, then fixed effects model and random effects model were used which suited to analyze occupational epidemiology and occupational tumor materials, and their correlation intensity were analyzed. First, combined SMR and 95% CI values for case-control study and cohort study were calculated respectively. Then all case-control studies and cohort studies were combined according to different study designs, mixed factors adjusted and stratification analysis processed, and their SMR and 95% CI calculated respectively. In order to lessen bias or errors, fail safe number was calculated. RESULTS: When combining all the cohort study and all the case-control study respectively, corresponding combination SMR(cohort) = 1.93, 95% CI is 0.55 - 6.92; SMR case = 1.73, 95% CI is 1.01 - 2.99; SMR(sum) = 2.19, 95% CI is 1.45 - 3.31. Statistical test showed a statistically significant relationship lied between silica exposure and lung cancer, with P < 0.05. CONCLUSION: Middle intensity relation is drawn between silica exposure and lung cancer incidence at worksite. This result is consistent with a lot of public reports.

[Effects of low-concentrations alcohol consumption on the expression of mitofusin-2 in myocardial injury of diabetic rats].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of low-concentrations of alcohol consumption on the expression of mitofusin-2 (mfn2) in myocardial injury of diabetic rats. METHODS: Diabetic rat model was simulated by intraperitoneal injection of 55 mg/kg streptozotocin (STZ) and divided into control group, diabetes mellitus(DM) and diabetes+ethanol (DM+EtOH) groups (n=6). When diabetic model was suc-ceed, daily consumption of 2.5% ethanol was used in ethanol+diabetic group after one week, then changed to 5% ethanol continued until 8 weeks. Eight weeks after the modeling, heart perfusion ex vivo. The ventricular hemodynamic parameters were recorded, the serum levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were determined by automatic biochemistry analyzer, the mfn2 protein ex-pression of left anterior myocardium was evaluated by Western blot and immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Compared with control group, the left ventricular development pressure (LVDP), heart rate (HR) and rate pressure product (RPP) were decreased, however, left ventricular and diastolic pressure (LVEDP) and LDH, AST release were increased, the expression of mfn2 protein was decreased in DM group. Compared with DM group, LVDP, HR and RPP and the expression of mfn2 protein were increased, LVEDP and LDH, AST were decreased in DM+E-tOH group. CONCLUSIONS: The expression of mfn2 protein was decreased in myocardial injury of diabetic rats, low-concentrations of alcohol consumption increased the expression of mfn2. It suggests that mfn2 may be participated in the cardiac protective role of low-concentrations al-cohol intervene in diabetic rat.

[The expression of survivin messenger RNA in sputum and cancerous tissue in human lung cancer].

OBJECTIVE: To study the diagnostic significance of the expression of survivin mRNA in transbronchial biopy samples and sputum samples in lung cancer. METHODS: The resected lung cancer tissues and their para-carcinomatous normal tissue specimens of 41 patients with lung cancer and tissue specimens of 9 patients with benign pulmonary diseases were studied. 110 bronchial biopsy specimens from 80 patients with lung cancer and 30 patients with benign pulmonary diseases and their 160 sputum samples were also evaluated. RT-PCR was performed for the detection of survivin mRNA expression in specimens. The results were compared with their histological or cytological examinations. RESULTS: (1) The positive rate of survivin mRNA in resected lung cancer tissues (29/41; 70.7%) was higher than that in the para-carcinomatous normal tissues (7/41; 17.1%) and the benign pulmonary tissues (1/9; 11.1%, P < 0.05). There was no statistical difference (P > 0.05) in the positive rate of survivin mRNA between para-carcinomatous normal tissues and the benign pulmonary disease tissues. In the bronchial biopsy samples, the positive rate of survivin mRNA in 80 lung cancer tissues (51/80; 63.8%) was also higher than that in the benign pulmonary tissues (4/30; 13.3%, P < 0.05). There were no relationships between survivin mRNA expression and age, sex, histopathological subtype, differentiation, or lymph node metastases of the patients. The sensitivity and specificity of diagnosis for lung cancer by detecting survivin mRNA in resected cancer tissue and transbronchial biopsy tissue were 63.8% - 70.7% and 86.7% - 88.9%, respectively. (2) The sensitivity of cytological examinations combined with detecting survivin mRNA in sputum samples was higher than that of either cytological examination or survivin mRNA detection of sputum samples alone (P < 0.05). The sensitivity of the diagnosis for lung cancer increased from 47.1% (sputum cytology alone) to 80.2% (sputum survivin mRNA detection combined with sputum cytology, P < 0.05) and the negative predictive value increased from 37.9% for sputum cytology alone to 57.9% (P < 0.01) for sputum survivin mRNA detection combined with sputum cytology. The specificity did not change significantly. CONCLUSIONS: Detecting survivin mRNA expression from bronchial biopsy specimens might be used as one of the specific molecular markers for diagnosis of lung cancer, while the detection of survivin mRNA from sputum samples as a new ancillary diagnostic method for lung cancer.

[Studies on effect enhancement of the Schistosoma japonicum DNA vaccine pVIV02-IL12-Sj23 by vegetal polysaccharides].

OBJECTIVE: To enhance the immunogenicity of the recombinant pVIVO2-IL12-Sj23 vaccine of Schistosoma japonicum by using mixed vegetal polysaccharides as adjuvant. METHODS: The plasmid pVIVO2-IL12-Sj23 was constructed. 3 groups of BALB/C mice were injected intramuscularly with normal saline (Group A), pVIVO2-IL12-Sj23 plasmid DNA (B), and pVIVO2-IL12-Sj23 plus mixed vegetal polysaccharides (C) respectively, and challenged with S. japonicum cercariae on the 4th week after immunization. Mice were killed to calculate the worm reduction rate and egg reduction rate in liver tissue on the 6th week after infection. Before and 4 weeks after immunization blood samples were collected. RESULTS: The worm reduction rate and egg reduction rate were 64.3% and 79.9%, respectively in group C, 45.5% and 58.4%, respectively in group B, showing a remarkable difference hetween them (P < 0.05). ELISA analysis showed a significantly higher level of IgG specific for Sj23 4 weeks after vaccination in groups B and C (P < 0.05). However, there was no significant difference in IgG level between groups C and B (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: When mixed vegetal polysaccharides are used as adjuvant, the effect of the vaccine pVIVO2-IL12-Sj23 can he considerably enhanced.

[Protective effect of Gastrodia elata and E-gelatin on lead-induced damage to the structure and function of rat hippocampus].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the counteraction of Gastrodia elata and E-gelatin on the effect of subchronic lead poisoning on the ability of learning and memory and the ultrastructure in hippocampus. METHODS: Subchronic lead acetate exposure was given to rats (0.2 g x kg(-1) x d(-1)). Single and combined administration of Gastrodia elata (4 g x kg(-1) x d(-1)) and E-gelatin (1 g x kg(-1) x d(-1)) were conducted at the same time. Pb concentration in blood, and the ability of learning and memory (Y-maze test) of rats were measured. Ultrastructure of CA3 pyramidal cells in hippocampus under transmission electron microscope was observed. RESULTS: Blood Pb concentrations in each group (Pb group: 690.6 micro g/L, Pb + Gastodiae eleta group: 688.8 micro g/L, Pb + E-gelatin group: 663.8 micro g/L, Pb + combined group: 667.2 micro g/L) were higher than that in the control (28.24 micro g/L, P < 0.01). But there was no significant difference (P > 0.05) among these groups. In Y-maze test, the number of electric stroke in Pb group is higher than that in control (P < 0.01). Gastrodia elata or E-gelatin used singly could significantly reduce the number of electric stroke of lead-exposed groups (P < 0.05 in the first month and P < 0.01 in the second and third month). And the effect of combined use of them was more efficient than single use (P < 0.01). Under electron microscope, no anomaly was seen in the pyramidal cells of CA3 area in hippocampus of control group. But there was significant anomaly such as neucleus separation in the cells of Pb exposed group. In Pb-Gastrodia elata group, there were some stress response phenomena such as the occurrence of huge mitochondria while in Pb-E-gelatin group, the anomaly was mild. The cells in the CA3 area in hippocampus of the pb-Gastrodia-E-gelatin group were almost normal, and also showed some stress response phenomena. CONCLUSION: Gastrodia elata and E-gelatin may protect the neurons in CA3 area of hippocampus against damage induced by lead to improve the ability of learning and memory, and they have synergistic effect.

[The antagonistic action of Gastrodia elata combined with E-gelatin on lead-induced down regulation of c-fos expression in rat brain].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of lead on the expression of c-fos mRNA in hippocampus and cerebellum and the ability of learning and memory in rat, and to observe the antagonistic action of Gastrodia elata and E-gelatin on the effect mentioned above. METHODS: Rats were exposed to lead acetate (0.2 g x kg(-1) x d(-1) and 0.1 g x kg(-1) x d(-1)). The single and combined administration of Gastrodia elata (4 g x kg(-1) x d(-1)) and E-gelatin (1 g x kg(-1) x d(-1)) were conducted at the same time. Blood lead concentration in rats were measured. The ability of learning and memory by Y-maze test were examined. The expression of c-fos mRNA in hippocampus and cerebellum during Y-maze test were observed by in situ hybridization (ISH). RESULTS: (1) Blood lead concentrations were significantly increased in both high and low doses of lead-exposed rats (P < 0.01). But there were no differences among high dose groups or low dose groups (P > 0.05). (2) In Y-maze test, the number of electric stroke during learning in lead-exposed group was significantly increased (P < 0.01) while that in Gastrodia elata and E-gelatin groups was significantly decreased (P < 0.05), and that in combined use group was more significantly decreased (P < 0.01). (3) There were much more deep-colored c-fos positive cells in CA3 area of hippocampus in low dose of Pb-exposed with Gastrodia elata + E-gelatin group. These cells were also found in high Pb with combined use or single use group, but which were not so densely distributed as the former. And they were hardly found in high and low doses of Pb alone groups. The changes of expression of c-fos cells in cerebellam were similar to those in hippocampus. CONCLUSION: The down regulation of c-fos expression may be one of the molecular mechanism of lead-induced impairment of learning and memory. Gastrodia elata and E-gelatin may antagonize the effect of lead on c-fos expression, and combined use of both drugs may potentiate the antagonism.

Ethanol at low concentration attenuates diabetes induced lung injury in rats model.

To observe the changes of lung injury when diabetic rats were treated with low concentration of ethanol (EtOH) and analyze the related mechanisms, male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were divided into control, diabetic (DM), and EtOH+DM groups. Diabetic rat was mimicked by injection of streptozotocin intraperitoneally. Fasting blood glucose (FBG) level, lung weight (LW), body weight (BW), and LW/BW were measured. The changes of lung tissue and Type II alveolar cell were detected. Pulmonary malondialdehyde (MDA) content and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity were measured; meanwhile, ALDH2 mRNA and protein expressions were detected by RT-PCR and western blotting, respectively. Compared with control group, in DM group, SOD activity was decreased; FBG level, LW/BW, MDA content, ALDH2 mRNA, and protein expressions were decreased. Compared with DM group, in EtOH+DM group, SOD activity, ALDH2 mRNA, and protein expressions were increased; LW/BW and MDA content were decreased. The structures of lung tissue and lamellar bodies were collapsed in DM group; the injury was attenuated in EtOH+DM group. Our findings suggested that, in diabetic rat, pulmonary ALDH2 expression was decreased accompanying lung injury. EtOH at low concentration decreased diabetes induced lung injury through activating ALDH2 expression.