Mechanism of Chuanxiong Rhizoma intervention on central sensitization of Panx1-Src-NMDAR-2B signaling pathway in neuropathic pain model rats / 中国中药杂志

Excitatory toxicity(ET) is an important factor of neuropathic pain(NPP) induced by central sensitization(CS), and the association of pannexin-1(Panx1)-Src-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor subunit 2 B(NMDAR-2 B) is an important new pathway for ET to initiate CS. The present study confirmed whether the central analgesic effect of Chuanxiong Rhizoma extract(CRE) was achieved through the synchronous regulation of the brain and spinal pathways of Panx1-Src-NMDAR-2 B. In this study, dynamic and simulta-neo-us microdialysis of the brain and spinal cord in vivo combined with behavioristics, high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC)-fluorescence detection, microdialysis analysis(ISCUS~(flex)), ultrasensitive multifactorial electrochemiluminescence immunoassay, ELISA, and Western blot was employed to investigate the protein expression of NMDAR-2 B, Src, and Panx1, extracellular excitatory amino acids, cytokines, energy metabolites, and substance P in spinal dorsal horn(SDH) and anterior cingulate cortex(ACC) after CRE intervention with the rat model of spared sciatic nerve injury(SNI) as the experimental tool. Compared with the sham group, the SNI group exhibited diminished mechanical withdrawal threshold(MWT)(P<0.01), increased cold spray scores(P<0.01), glutamate(Glu), D-serine(D-Ser), and glycine(Gly) in extracellular fluids of ACC, and Glu, D-Ser, interleukin-1β(IL-1β), and lactic acid(Lac) in extracellular fluids of SDH(P<0.05), dwindled tumor necrosis factor(TNF-α)(P<0.05), and elevated protein levels of NMDAR-2 B, Src, and Panx1 in ACC(P<0.05). Compared with the SNI model rats, high-and medium-dose CRE(CRE-H/M) could potentiate the analgesic activity as revealed by the MWT test(P<0.05) and CRE-M enabled the decrease in cold spray scores(P<0.05). CRE-H/M could inhibit the levels of Glu, D-Ser and Gly in the extracellular fluids of ACC(P<0.05), and the levels of Glu in the extracellular fluids of SDH(P<0.05) in SNI rats. CRE-M significantly increased the levels of glucose(Gluc), Lac, interferon-gamma(IFN-γ), keratinocyte chemoattractant/human growth-regulated oncogenes(KC/GRO), and IL-4 in extracellular fluids of SDH in SNI rats(P<0.05). CRE-H/M/L could also inhibit the levels of NMDAR-2 B, Src and Panx1 in ACC and SDH in SNI rats(P<0.05). The central analgesic effect of CRE is presumedly related to the inhibited release of excitatory amino acid transmitters(Glu, D-Ser and Gly) in ACC and SDH of SNI rats, decreased protein expression of NMDAR-2 B, Src and Panx1 in the two regions, and the regulation of the Panx1-Src-NMDAR-2 B pathway in the spinal cord and brain. The above findings partially clarified the scientific basis of clinical analgesic effect of Chuanxiong Rhizoma.

Advance in Exercise Intensity of Rehabilitaion for Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease (review) / 中国康复理论与实践

Exercise training is applying in renal rehabilitation. Intensity is an important parameter of exercise prescription for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Exercise intensity can be measured in both subjective and objective ways, the former such as Borg Score Scale and International Physical Activity Questionnaire, the latter such as peak oxygen uptake and lactic acid threshold, etc. The ways based on oxygen consumption are the most accurate, and the subjective measurement can be a supplement. The benefits of low-intensity exercise are unclear for CKD patients since insufficient researches; moderate-intensity exercise has been proved to be safe and beneficial; vigorous-intensity exercise may protect renal function of CKD, but the safety needs more studies.

Research on APOBEC3C / 中国免疫学杂志

APOBEC3 C is special as it has only weak antiviral functions and weakly restricts retroelements compared to other APOBEC3 s. APOBEC3 has only one cytidine deaminase domain which coordinates a zinc ion, and then is classified to A3 Z2 according to the amino acid specificity. APOBEC3 C induces less cytidine deamination in HIV-1 DNA than APOBEC3 G and has reduced ability to inhibit HIV-1 reverse transcription and integration compared to APOBEC3 G. APOBEC3 C induces G-to-A mutation that cannot block viral replications but contribute more to viral diversity. A single nucleotide polymorphism in human APOBEC3 C, a change from serine to isoleucine at position 188, results in increased enzymatic activity and potent antiviral activity against HIV-1. Dimerization of human APOBEC3 C increases the ability of continuous synthesis of single-stranded DNA, resulting in higher levels of mutation during reverse transcription in vitro and in cells. APOBEC3 C has evolved under positive selection in primates, and it is an important barrier that must be countered by the virus during natural infections. Therefore, research on APOBEC3 C may provide some ideas for anti-retroviral and anti-cancer therapeutic design.

Correlation of tumor necrosis factor-β and interleukin-1 gene cluster polymorphism with susceptibility to bacteremia in patients undergoing kidney transplantation / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Bacteremia remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality after kidney transplantation. This study was conducted to investigate whether the polymorphisms of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-β, interleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) gene predicted the susceptibility to bacteremia within the first 6 months after kidney transplantation.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Subjects comprised 82 infected kidney transplant recipients and 60 non-infected kidney transplant recipients. Bacteremia was diagnosed in 16 of the 82 infected recipients. Genomic DNA from these 142 kidney transplant recipients was extracted from peripheral blood leukocytes. Regions containing the NcoI polymorphic site at position +252 of TNF-β gene and the AvaI polymorphic site at position -511 of IL-1β gene were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and subsequently digested with NcoI and AvaI restriction enzymes, respectively. The polymorphic regions within intron 2 of IL-1ra gene containing variable numbers of a tandem repeat (VNTR) of 86 base pairs were amplified by PCR.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Genotypic and allelic frequencies were similar between infected recipients and non-infected ones. Individual locus analysis showed that recipient TNF-β and IL-1ra gene polymorphisms were not associated with the presence of bacteremia (P = 0.684 and P = 0.567, respectively). However, genotype analysis revealed that recipient IL-1β-511CC genotype was strongly associated with susceptibility to develop bacteremia (P = 0.003). Recipient IL-1β-511CC genotype (odds ratio 5.242, 95% confidence intervals 1.645-16.706, P = 0.005) independently predicted the risk for bacteremia within the first 6 months after kidney transplantation.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>These findings indicate a critical role of IL-1β gene polymorphisms in susceptibility to bacteremia after kidney transplantation, which may be useful to screen for patients at higher risk for post-transplant bacteremias. Thus, the identified individuals can benefit from preventive treatment and a less potent immunosuppressive regimen.</p>

Difference of HBV DNA levels and HBV genotypes between the patients with primary hepatocellular carcinoma and liver cirrhosis with hepatitis B / 中华实验和临床病毒学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To compare the difference of HBV DNA levels and HBV genotypes between the patients with primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and liver cirrhosis who infected with hepatitis B virus.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Total 430 patients with hepatitis B were enrolled and further divided into the HCC group (210 cases) and liver cirrhosis group (HBV LC, 220 cases). The levels of HBV DNA and HBV genotypes were detected in all of the serum samples from the two groups, and the differences in the genotypes and virological markers between HCC patients and HBV LC patients were further analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The positive rates of HBV DNA of HCC patients and HBV LC patients were 84.3% (177/210) and 94. 5% (208/220), respectively. The mean values of serum HBV DNA in HCC patients and HBV-LC patients were (5.06 +/- 1.01) log10 cps/ml and (5.36 +/- 1.13) log10 cps/ml, respectively. The positive rates of HBV DNA and the mean values of serum HBV DNA were higher in HBV-LC patients than those in HCC patients (P < 0.01). Furthermore, the main genotype was C in both groups and the distribution of genotype C and genotype B had no statistical difference.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Mainly presented as a C genotype in both groups, the total levels of serum HBV DNA in HCC patients were lower than those in HBV-LC patients.</p>

Identification of differentially expressed genes in myocardium of patients with heart failure by human whole genomic oligonucleotide microarray-assisted pathways analysis / 中华心血管病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To identify the differentially expressed gene profiles in myocardium of patients with heart failure using human whole genomic oligonucleotide microarray-assisted pathway analysis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Phalanx whole genomic oligonucleotide microarrays were used to detect the gene expression profiles of myocardium in four patients died of heart failure and 4 brain died patients without heart diseases. The microarray findings were confirmed by real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. The genes with a threshold of 1.2 times fold-change were selected and BioCarta Pathway and KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopaedia of Genes and Genomes) pathway databases were used to identify functionally related gene pathways.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>A total of 2806 genes with differentially expression were detected between the failing and non-failing heart samples, expression changes of 399 genes were more than 2-folds. Eleven pathways were identified by BioCarta pathway database and sixteen pathways were identified by KEGG PATHWAY Database.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Genomic microarray-assisted pathway analysis could help to identify gene expression profiles in failing heart.</p>

Expression of the soluble human Fas ligand in Dictyostelium discoideum / 生物工程学报

An expression system is described for high-yield production of recombinant soluble human FasL (shFasL) in Dictyostelium discoideum cells. DNA encoding amino acids 141 - 281 of hFasL was PCR amplified from cDNA derived from activated human neutrophils. The resulting product was fused with a DNA fragment encoding hCG-beta signal peptide and cloned in the expression vector pMB12neo. Dictyostelium strain AX3 was transfected with this plasmid, yielding a recombinant strain called AX3-pCESFL95-H3. In order to improve the shFasL expression level, pMB12neo was optimized by replacing its transcriptional terminator/ polyadenylation segment of the 2H3 gene with an actin8 terminator/polyadenylation segment, yielding derived expression vector pMB74. The recombinant Dictyostelium strain called AX3-pLu8 was generated with this new plasmid. When the recombinant cells were cultivated in a complex HL-5C medium, a cell density of (1.5 - 2) x 10(7)/mL was reached, and the shFasL level expressed by strains AX3-pCESFL95-H3 and AX3-pLu8 was 23.5 microg/L and 206 microg/L, respectively. By using a newly developed synthetic medium called SIH as culture medium, higher cell density of (4 - 5) x 10(7)/mL was achieved. Correspondently, 111 microg/L and 420 microg/L shFasL were secreted by recombinant strains AX3-pCESFL95-H3 and AX3-pLu8, respectively.

Influential factors of systemic lupus erythematosus activity during pregnancy and its relationship with pregnancy outcome / 中华妇产科杂志

Objective To investigate the influential factors of systemic lupus erythematosus(SLE) activity during pregnancy and their relationship with pregnancy outcome.Methods A retrospective analysis of the clinical history of 66 pregnant women with SLE from 1991 to 2005 was carried out.Results(1) Those patients with unstable status progestation,patients being newly diagnosed with SLE during pregnancy or patients irregularly using prednisone became active during pregnancy.The disease was active in 32 cases(the active group)and inactive in 34 cases(the inactive group).(2)Obstetric complications in the active group included:9 cases of preeclampsia,13 cases of fetal growth restriction(FGR),7 cases of therapeutic abortion and 15 cases of premature labor;and the corresponding numbers in the inactive group were 1,5,1 and 4, respectively.All the numbers were significantly different between the two groups(P