Meta-analysis on postoperative complications of wristband acupoint pressure therapy.

Through searching database such as MEDLINE, CNKI, etc., this paper assesses the effect of wristband acupoint pressure, acting on the neiguan acupoint, to relieve postoperative complications of adults (mainly nausea and vomiting) using nine randomized controlled trials (RCT) and RevMan5.0. In the experimental group, acupoint pressure wristband effectively reduced the incidence rate of postoperative vomiting by acting on the neiguan point, compared to the placebo control group (RR=0.50, 95% CI: 0.37~0.66, P < 0.01). As to the incidence rate of postoperative nausea, there was no statistical significance between the experimental group and the placebo control group (RR=0.85, 95% CI: 0.72~1.00, P < 0.05). It was revealed that the application of acupoint pressure wristband on neiguan point in postoperative care could effectively relieve postoperative vomiting; while postoperative vomiting was not relieved distinctly. Therefore, researchers are required to carry out more reliable RCT test for further study and discussion, and nurses can bring in acupoint pressure wristband for researches on its effectiveness and adaptability.

Virtual screening methods as tools for drug lead discovery from large chemical libraries.

Virtual screening methods have been developed and explored as useful tools for searching drug lead compounds from chemical libraries, including large libraries that have become publically available. In this review, we discussed the new developments in exploring virtual screening methods for enhanced performance in searching large chemical libraries, their applications in screening libraries of ~ 1 million or more compounds in the last five years, the difficulties in their applications, and the strategies for further improving these methods.

First Report of Tobacco curly shoot virus Infecting Pepper in China.

In recent years, whitefly-transmitted begomovirues (family Geminiviridae) have caused severe leaf curl disease on tobacco and tomato in southern China, but have not been found on pepper. In August 2009, pepper plants (Capsicum frutescens) grown in the field in Panzhihua City of Sichuan Province (southwestern China), from where the occurrence of begomoviruses has not been reported previously, showed stunting, leaf yellowing, and mild curling symptoms. To identify possible begomoviruses, total DNA was extracted from three infected pepper plants (SC117, SC118, and SC119) with typical symptoms. Using degenerate primer pair PA/PB specific for members of the genus Begomovirus (2), a 500-bp DNA fragment covering parts of the intergenic region and V2 gene of the genome of begomoviruses was amplified from all samples. No amplification was observed from healthy plant extracts. The PCR product from SC118 was cloned and two clones were chosen to be sequenced. Alignment of the partial DNA sequences revealed that the cloned products from isolate SC118 were nearly identical (98.5%) and most closely related to Tobacco curly shoot virus isolate Y35 (TbCSV-[China:Yunnan 35:2001]; Accession No. AJ420318) (96.9 and 97.3% identity, respectively). Therefore, the entire genome of isolate SC118 was sequenced. Overlap primers TbCSV-F(5'-CCGCCGTCTCAACTTCGACAG-3') and TbCSV-R(5'-ATCTGCTGGTCGCTTCGACAT-3') were designed to amplify the full-length genome of SC118. The complete genome sequence of SC118 was determined to be 2,746 nucleotides (Accession No. GU001879) long, with two open reading frames (ORFs) in the virion-sense strand and four ORFs in the complementary-sense strand, typical of the Old World begomoviruses. A comparison with other reported sequences of begomoviruses shows that the genome of SC118 shares the highest nucleotide sequence identity (99.7%) with TbCSV-[China:Yunnan 35:2001]. When PCR was used to detect TbCSV from the other two isolates (SC117 and SC119) with TbCSV specific primer pair Y35F1 and Y35+10R (4), which amplified the fragment covering the whole C2 and C3 genes and the partial C1 and V1 genes of the genome of TbCSV, an amplicon of approximately 1.0 kb was obtained from all samples. To determine whether a satellite molecule was associated with the three virus isolates, a universal betasatellite abutting primer pair (beta01 and beta02) was used (1). No amplification product was detected. In previous studies, it was demonstrated that only 11 isolates were associated with betasatellites among 39 TbCSV-infected, field-collected samples (3), and betasatellites could be associated with noncognate begomoviruses (4). Therefore, the three isolates examined in this study are too few to come to a conclusion that betasatellites are not associated with TbCSV infection of pepper plants. A detailed search for the presence of betasatellites needs to be conducted to draw a definitive conclusion. The above results confirmed that samples SC117, SC118, and SC119 were infected by TbCSV. To our knowledge, this is the first report of TbCSV on pepper in China. References: (1) R. W. Briddon et al. Mol. Biotechnol. 20:317, 2002. (2) D. Deng et al. Ann. Appl. Biol. 125:327, 1994. (3) Z. Li et al. Phytopathology 95:902, 2005. (4) L. Qing et al. Phytopathology 99:716, 2009.

Evaluation of virtual screening performance of support vector machines trained by sparsely distributed active compounds.

Virtual screening performance of support vector machines (SVM) depends on the diversity of training active and inactive compounds. While diverse inactive compounds can be routinely generated, the number and diversity of known actives are typically low. We evaluated the performance of SVM trained by sparsely distributed actives in six MDDR biological target classes composed of a high number of known actives (983-1645) of high, intermediate, and low structural diversity (muscarinic M1 receptor agonists, NMDA receptor antagonists, thrombin inhibitors, HIV protease inhibitors, cephalosporins, and renin inhibitors). SVM trained by regularly sparse data sets of 100 actives show improved yields at substantially reduced false-hit rates compared to those of published studies and those of Tanimoto-based similarity searching method based on the same data sets and molecular descriptors. SVM trained by very sparse data sets of 40 actives (2.4%-4.1% of the known actives) predicted 17.5-39.5%, 23.0-48.1%, and 70.2-92.4% of the remaining 943-1605 actives in the high, intermediate, and low diversity classes, respectively, 13.8-68.7% of which are outside the training compound families. SVM predicted 99.97% and 97.1% of the 9.997 M PUBCHEM and 167K remaining MDDR compounds as inactive and 2.6%-8.3% of the 19,495-38,483 MDDR compounds similar to the known actives as active. These suggest that SVM has substantial capability in identifying novel active compounds from sparse active data sets at low false-hit rates.

Risk of extrapyramidal syndrome in schizophrenic patients treated with antipsychotics: a population-based study.

To compare the prevalence of extrapyramidal syndrome (EPS) between the first-generation antipsychotics (FGAs) and second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs), the co-prescribing rate of anti-Parkinson drugs (APDs) of each antipsychotic drug was analyzed using population database. Fourteen antipsychotics had been prescribed during the 5-year study period. Among the SGAs, quetiapine had the lowest crude co-prescribing rate of APDs (27.09%), whereas risperidone had the highest rate (66.50%). Among the FGAs, thioridazine and loxapine had the lowest (60.99%) and highest rates (96.35%), respectively. The rankings of the co-prescribing rate of APDs among antipsychotics, in increasing order, were quetiapine, clozapine, olanzapine, thioridazine, zotepine, chlorpromazine, risperidone, sulpiride, clotiapine, flupentixol, haloperidol, zuclopentixol, trifluoperazine, and loxapine. The results indicate that the risk of EPS appears to be lower in SGAs than in FGAs; however, the considerably high rate of EPS in some of the newer generation of antipsychotics warrants clinical attention.

Genetic polymorphisms of XRCC1 and risk of the esophageal cancer.

A variety of environmental factors were identified to be associated with the risk of esophageal cancer. The variation in capacity of DNA repair might influence environmental chemical-associated carcinogenesis. We hypothesized that the polymorphic XRCC1 genes might modify cancer susceptibility of the esophagus. To investigate the effect of XRCC1 genetic polymorphisms on codons 194, 280 and 399, we evaluated data from 105 patients of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and 264 healthy controls, matching with age (+/-3 years), gender and ethnicity. The distribution of the 3 genotypes were not significantly different among patients and controls. However, among alcohol drinkers, the XRCC1399 Arg/Arg genotype was more frequently found in patients with esophageal cancer. After adjustment with other environmental confounders, the OR for the genotype of XRCC1399 Arg/Arg was 2.78 (95% CI =1.15-6.67) as compared with the XRCC1(399) Arg/Gln and XRCC1(399) Gln/Gln genotypes in the alcohol drinkers. Similar trends were observed among cigarette smokers and areca chewers. However, they did not reach a statistical significance. Our findings suggest that the polymorphic XRCC1 genes might modify the risk of alcohol-associated esophageal cancers.

Delta 3,5,delta 2,4-dienoyl-CoA isomerase is a multifunctional isomerase. A structural and mechanistic study.

Delta(3,5),Delta(2,4)-Dienoyl-CoA isomerase (DI), an auxiliary enzyme of unsaturated fatty acid beta-oxidation, was purified from rat mitochondria and peroxisomes and subjected to N-terminal sequencing to facilitate a mechanistic study of this enzyme. The mature mitochondrial DI from rat heart was lacking its 34 N-terminal amino acid residues that have the properties of a mitochondrial targeting sequence. The peroxisomal isomerase was identified as a product of the same gene with a truncated and ragged N terminus. Expression of the cDNA coding for the mature mitochondrial DI in Escherichia coli yielded an enzyme preparation that was as active as the native DI. Because the recombinant DI also exhibited Delta(3,5,7),Delta(2,4,6)-trienoyl-CoA isomerase (TI) activity, both isomerases reside on the same protein. Mutations of any of the 3 acidic amino acid residues located at the active site (Modis, Y., Filppula, S. A., Novikov, D. K., Norledge, B., Hiltunen, J. K., and Wierenga, R. K. (1998) Structure 6, 957-970) caused activity losses. In contrast to only a 10-fold decrease in activity upon replacement of Asp(176) by Ala, substitutions of Asp(204) by Asn and of Glu(196) by Gln resulted in 10(5)-fold lower activities. Such activity losses are consistent with the direct involvement of these latter two residues in the proposed proton transfers at carbons 2 and 6 or 8 of the substrates. Probing of the wild-type and mutants forms of the enzyme with 2,5-octadienoyl-CoA as substrate revealed low Delta(2),Delta(3)-enoyl-CoA isomerase and Delta(5),Delta(4)-enoyl-CoA isomerase activities catalyzed by Glu(196) and Asp(204), respectively. Altogether, these data reveal that positional isomerizations of the diene and triene are facilitated by simultaneous proton transfers involving Glu(196) and Asp(204), whereas each residue alone can catalyze, albeit less efficiently, a monoene isomerization.

Crystallization and preliminary diffraction data of 60-kDa glycosylated pollen isoallergens from Bermuda grass.

Crystals grown from a 60-kDa isoallergen mixture of Bermuda grass pollen have been obtained in 30% PEG 4000 and 25% isopropanol. The crystals diffract beyond 2-A resolution and belong to a tetragonal space group with the unit cell dimensions a = b = 86 A and c = 310 A. The preferential crystal growth of the larger isoallergens with a blocked N-terminus indicates that crystallization can isolate proteins with compact conformation.

Immunologic and physicochemical studies of Bermuda grass pollen antigen BG60.

BACKGROUND: In a previous study we showed that antigen BG60 of Bermuda grass pollen contains isoallergens. Because the yield of purified isoallergens was low when a chromatofocusing technique was used, it was difficult to carry out further studies, such as determination of carbohydrate composition and structure. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to establish a procedure to purify antigen BG60 proteins as a group and to characterize this group's physicochemical and immunologic properties. METHODS: A combination of chromatographic techniques (ion-exchange, gel filtration, blue gel affinity, and reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography) was used for the purification of BG60. Immunoblot and ELISA techniques were used to study BG60-specific IgE and IgG antibodies in patients' sera. The role of the carbohydrate moiety in antigenicity and allergenicity was examined with monoclonal antibodies and allergic sera by using periodate-treated BG60. Its carbohydrate composition was analyzed by high-performance anion-exchange chromatography with a pulsed amperometric detector. RESULTS: Homogeneity of BG60 was demonstrated by a single sharp peak in reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography, a single band in sodium dodecylsulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and only one band stained by anti-BG60 monoclonal antibody. BG60-specific IgE and IgG antibodies were shown to be present in allergic sera. Six plant lectins were found to react with BG60. On periodate treatment, BG60 reduced binding toward its monoclonal antibody and human IgE and IgG. Carbohydrate composition analysis showed that BG60 contains three kinds of sugars: mannose, N-acetylglucosamine, and fucose (in a ratio of approximately 3:2:1) and a minute amount of xylose. The carbohydrate content is approximately 7.5%, and peptide content is about 92.5%. CONCLUSION: A procedure was established for the purification of a large quantity of the BG60 antigen. The results suggest that the carbohydrate moiety of antigen BG60 may play an important role in the immune response.

The regulatory complex of HLA class I promoters exhibits locus-specific conservation with limited allelic variation.

The extensive genetic polymorphism of the classical MHC class I molecules provides an important distinguishing feature of the host's immune system. They influence the selection and function of effector cells against tumor and virally infected cells. In these cells, class I molecules are often selectively suppressed. This suppression is locus specific and, in certain cases, allele specific. We analyzed the HLA class I promoter sequences that include class I regulatory complex (CRC) in a total of 41 well-characterized HLA homozygous B lymphoblastoid cell lines, using locus-specific oligonucleotide probes complementary to the overlapping CRC elements. These include kappa B1, kappa B2, IFN response sequence, the putative negative regulatory element, and the HLA counterpart of the H-2RII region that contains the retinoid x receptor beta binding motif. The CRC of HLA promoters displayed locus-specific conservation; however, limited allelic variation was observed in each of the cis elements. In some, variations were apparently generated by gene conversion. The palindromic kappa B1 site, which has an active role in enhancing promoter activity, was found to be conserved in almost all HLA-A and -B alleles, but not in HLA-C. The core DNA binding motif for retinoid x receptor beta was absent within the HLA CRC region. Sequence analysis of promoters from HLA-A31, -B13, and -Cw1 genomic clones, as well as pairwise interallelic and intra-allelic comparison with those of published alleles, showed that locus-specific conservation extended throughout the promoter sequences. Locus specificity and the allelic variation seen in the CRC regions may provide a structural basis for the selective modulation of HLA class I genes.

Isolation and partial characterization of Bermuda grass pollen allergen, BG-60a.

In an earlier study we showed that Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon) pollen contains at least 12 IgE-binding proteins that can be analysed by immunoblot technique. One of the active components (BG-60) proved to be a basic protein of glycoprotein nature. It contained about 28% carbohydrate as determined from the dry weight and consisted of four molecules. One of the components was purified from the pollen extract by a combination of ammonium sulphate precipitation, ion-exchange chromatography on carboxymethyl-TSK, gel filtration on Ultrogel AcA 44 and chromatofocusing. Its molecular weight was approximately 60 kD by SDS-PAGE and 34 kD by gel filtration chromatography. The isoelectric point of the antigen was about 9.7. The homogeneity of the antigen BG-60a was assessed by one single arc of immunoprecipitation both in immunodiffusion and crossed immunoelectrophoresis and by one single band after SDS-PAGE. Its allergenicity was demonstrated by direct intradermal skin test on allergic patients and by examining IgE-binding reactivity with allergic patients' serum.

Isolation and partial characterization of Bermuda grass-pollen allergen: BG-60b.

Our earlier studies have shown that the pollen of Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon)-pollen contain at least 12 IgE-binding proteins which can be analyzed by the immunoblot technique. One of the highly active components was found to be a basic protein with a molecular weight of 60,000 daltons, designated as BG-60. This component was showed to consist of a group of proteins. One of them, BG-60a (pI 9.7), has been isolated and characterized. In this study, we have further isolated and characterized the second component of the antigen, designated as BG-60b. Its purity was demonstrated by gel electrophoresis experiment and antigen-antibody precipitation studies. The antigen is of glycoprotein nature with a pI of 10.0. It exhibits IgE-binding activity and shows cross-reactivity to antigen BG-60a in double diffusion. Its chemical and physical properties are similar to antigen BG-60a.

[Pharmacologic study of Curculigo orchioides Gaertn].

The experiments showed that ethanolic extract of Curculigo orchioides had adaptive effects, such as enhancing tolerance towards high temperature and hypoxia. It also had sedative, anticonvulsant and androgen-like effect. Besides, it increased the immunological activity of mice.

[Pregnancy and embryotoxicity of Rhizoma pinelliae in rats].

This experiment was conducted with sexually mature, virgin female rats. The body weight of the female rats was 230-350 g, that of male rats was 300-400 g. The female and male rats were mated overnight (the ratio was 3:1), the pregnant rats were divided into 7 groups. All drugs were given p.o. from the 6th to the 15th days of gestation. Pregnant rats were weighted on the 0th, 6th, 10th, 13th and 16th days of gestation. Vaginal bleeding of pregnant rats was examined on the 8th, 10th, 12th, 14th and 16th days of gestation. The rats were killed on the 20th day of gestation so as to count the number of implantation, dead and living fetuses. The living fetuses of rats were removes, weighted and inspected for gross abnormalities; the internal and skeletal malformations of live fetuses were examined. The following results were obtained: 9 g/kg dose of the crude Rhizoma Pinelliae powder was found to have the action in increasing the number of pregnant individuals with vaginal bleeding and dead embryo significantly. Comparing with the control, 9 g/kg dose of the powder of processed Rhizoma Pinelliae did not show any toxicity. But 30 g/kg dose of the decoction of processed or crude Rhizoma Pinelliae was found to increase the number of pregnant individuals with vaginal bleeding and dead embryo significantly.

[Experimental studies of hyperlipidemia in rats and mice given a hyperlipidemic diet].

Hyperlipidemia in rats and mice was induced by hyperlipidemic diet containing 1.5% cholesterol, 0.25% cholic acid, 7.5% lard and 90.75% essential diet. After feeding for 7 days, the serum cholesterol levels in the experimental group are about 5 times higher than that in the control group. It appears that there exist similarities between rats and mice and that these models may be used for screening tests of hypolipidemic drugs.