Association between MTHFR C677T Gene Polymorphisms and the Efficacy of Vitamin Therapy in lowering Homocysteine Levels among Stroke Patients with Hyperhomocysteinemia.

BACKGROUND: The impact of the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T mutation on the relationship between plasma homocysteine (Hcy) levels and stroke has been extensively studied and documented in previous study. However, it remains unclear whether the MTHFR C677T mutation can affect the response to Hcy lowering treatment in stroke patients with hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy). Understanding the impact of genetic factors on treatment response can help optimize personalized treatment strategies for stroke patients with HHcy. We aimed to investigate the potential association between the MTHFR C677T gene polymorphisms and the effectiveness of Hcy lowering treatment using vitamin therapy in stroke patients with HHcy. METHODS: The MTHFR C677T genotype polymorphisms were identified using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism, and the distribution of three genotypes in the MTHFR C677T gene locus was compared. The treatment effects of Hcy lowering agents were compared among patients with different genotypes. RESULTS: Among the 320 stroke patients enrolled in the study, 258 (80.6%) were diagnosed with HHcy. Of these, 162 patients (Effective Group) responded well to the clinical Hcy lowering treatment, while 96 patients (Invalid Group) failed to achieve sufficient response even after taking combination supplements of folic acid, Vitamin B6, and methylcobalamin for one month. Significant differences were observed in terms of age (p < 0.001), hypertension (p = 0.034), dyslipidemia (p = 0.022), hyperuricemia (p = 0.013) and genotype distribution of MTHFR C677T gene polymorphism (p < 0.001) between the Invalid group and the Effective group. The multivariate regression analysis revealed that the T allele (odd rations [OR], 1.327; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.114-1.580; p = 0.0015) was independently associated with an insufficient Hcy lowering treatment effect. Additionally, the TT genotype was independently associated with insufficient response in both the codominant model (OR, 1.645; 95% CI, 1.093-2.476; p = 0.017) and the recessive model (TT versus CC + CT; OR, 1.529; 95% CI, 1.145-2.042; p = 0.004). However, no relationship was observed between CT + TT genotypes and poor treatment effect in the dominate model. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggested that the TT genotype and T allele of MTHFR C677T polymorphism were independently associated with an insufficient Hcy lowering treatment effect in stroke patients with HHcy.

Ferrerol overcomes the invasiveness of lung squamous cell carcinoma cells by regulating the expression of inducers of Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition.

In recent years Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) has been proposed as a mechanism indispensable to acquisition of metastatic properties by tumor cells. In this study we tested the ability of Ferrerol, a Chinese herb-derived compound to ablate the EMT in human lung squamous cell carcinoma cells. Human lung squamous cell carcinoma cells, Calu-1 were treated with various concentrations of Ferrerol for 24 h to examine its effect on their viability by the MTT assay. Only those concentrations which showed least effect on the viability of Calu-1 cells were further used to evaluate the expression of epithelial and mesenchymal markers by western blotting. Furthermore the effect of such concentrations on the migration and invasion of Calu-1 cells was determined by wound healing and transwell invasion assays respectively. The results demonstrated that Ferrerol treatment led to the downregulation of Slug and Zeb-1, transcriptional regulators of EMT with the concomitant increase and decrease in the expression of E-cadherin and vimentin respectively. These data were further supported by migration and invasion assays which demonstrated that Ferrerol treatment caused inhibited the migration and invasion of Calu-1 lung squamous cell carcinoma cells. Taken together, our results indicate that Ferrerol suppresses lung squamous cell carcinoma cell metastatic potential by modulating the expression of EMT proteins.

Traditional Chinese medicine and the positive correlation with homeostatic evolution of human being: based on medical perspective.

Adaptation is an eternal theme of biological evolution. The paper aims at exploring the conception of positive correlation between traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and human homeostatic evolution based on medical perspective. Discussions mainly involve TCM conforming to natural laws and natural evolution of life, spontaneous harmonization of yin and yang and operating system of human self-healing, modern human immunology and human endogenous immune function in TCM, self-homeostasis of human micro-ecological state and balance mechanism on regulating base in TCM, as well as adaptation-eternal theme of biological evolution and safeguarding adaptability-value of TCM. In perspective of medicine, theory and practice of TCM are in positive correlation with human homeostatic evolution, and what TCM tries to maintain is human intrinsic adaptive capability to disease and nature. Therefore, it is the core value of TCM, which is to be further studied, explored, realized and known to the world.

[Screening of endophytic fungi from Huperzia serrata for acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity and its taxonomic identification].

OBJECTIVE: To screen out fungus strains with acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity from Huperzia serrata. METHOD: Endophytic fungi fermentation products from 59 H. serrata strains were stained with acetylcholinesterase hydrolyzed alpha-naphthaleneacetic ethyl ester and fast blue B salt, and screened for acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity with thin-layer chromatography-bioautography. Target strains were classified and identified through the sequence analysis on 18s rDNA and 5.8s rDNA combined with morphological characteristics. RESULT: Fungus strain LQ2F01 from H. serrata showed positive color reaction in the screening for acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity. The sequence analysis on 18s rDNA and 5.8s rDNA combined with morphological characteristics showed the strain LQ2F01 belonged to Acremonium. CONCLUSION: Endophytic Fungi LQ2F01 from H. serrata shows identical acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity with the host plant, which is of great significance to the development of natural medicines and the studies on the relationship between the endophytic gungi and the host plant.

Initiating Hehe [see text] medical system of traditional Chinese medicine and biomedicine to realize health cycle of human beings.

This paper suggests a novel approach concerning the medical treatment of human beings, which appears to be economically and practically superior to either biomedicine or traditional medicine. A brand new medical system-Hehe [see text] medicine, has been proposed based on a preventive-biomedical-psycho-social treatment model. This is characterized by a dual approach in which life nurturing is consistently practised and medical treatment is applied when necessary in order to maintain a healthy life. Its core value would facilitate the self-restoration to health and self-adaptation to nature through health cultivation and medical means. Medical services would be firstly provided to the prevention of potential disease germinating in the human body, and clinical medical treatment would be the last resort of systematic medical practice. This paper discusses not only this new concept but also the advantages of traditional Chinese medicine and biomedicine, especially how both medical systems compare in cognitive style, on a cultural level, and on a technical level.

[Comparison of the English titles of articles in Chinese and foreign academic journals: influences of difference between China and the foreign in thinking and psychology].

By analyzing the East-West difference in psychology and thinking patterns, the author compared the frequency of conventional words applied and the usage of subtitle, as well as the selection of sentence structure in title of articles, and thus advocated that the differences of attention psychology and thinking patterns, linear in the West and spiral in China, were the primary causes for different expressions of articles' title.