Effect of artesunate on cardiovascular complications in periodontitis in a type I diabetes rat model and related mechanisms.

PURPOSE: Both cardiovascular disease and periodontitis are complications of diabetes that have a great impact on human life and health. Our previous research found that artesunate can effectively improve cardiovascular disease in diabetes and has an inhibitory effect on periodontal disease. Therefore, the present study aimed to explore the potential therapeutic possibility of artesunate in the protection against cardiovascular complications in periodontitis with type I diabetes rats and to elucidate the possible underlying mechanisms. METHODS: Sprague‒Dawley rats were randomly divided into the healthy, diabetic, periodontitis, diabetic with periodontitis, and artesunate treatment groups (10, 30, and 60 mg/kg, i.g.). After artesunate treatment, oral swabs were collected and used to determine changes in the oral flora. Micro-CT was performed to observe changes in alveolar bone. Blood samples were processed to measure various parameters, while cardiovascular tissues were evaluated by haematoxylin-eosin, Masson, Sirius red, and TUNEL staining to observe fibrosis and apoptosis. The protein and mRNA expression levels in the alveolar bone and cardiovascular tissues were detected using immunohistochemistry and RT‒PCR. RESULTS: Diabetic rats with periodontitis and cardiovascular complications maintained heart and body weight but exhibited reduced blood glucose levels, and they were able to regulate blood lipid indicators at normal levels after artesunate treatment. The staining assays suggested that treatment with 60 mg/kg artesunate has a significant therapeutic effect on myocardial apoptotic fibrosis. The high expression of NF-κB, TLR4, VEGF, ICAM-1, p38 MAPK, TGF-ß, Smad2, and MMP9 in the alveolar bone and cardiovascular tissue in the type I diabetes and type I diabetes with periodontitis rat models was reduced after treatment with artesunate in a concentration-dependent manner. Micro-CT showed that treatment with 60 mg/kg artesunate effectively alleviated alveolar bone resorption and density reduction. The sequencing results suggested that each model group of rats had vascular and oral flora dysbiosis, but artesunate treatment could correct the dysbacteriosis. CONCLUSIONS: Periodontitis-related pathogenic bacteria cause dysbiosis of the oral and intravascular flora in type I diabetes and aggravate cardiovascular complications. The mechanism by which periodontitis aggravates cardiovascular complications involves the NF-κB pathway, which induces myocardial apoptosis, fibrosis, and vascular inflammation.

Biological and ecological evidences suggest Stipa krylovii (Pooideae), contributes to optimal growth performance and population distribution of the grasshopper Oedaleus asiaticus.

Oedaleus asiaticus Bey. Bienko is a significant grasshopper pest species occurring in north Asian grasslands. Outbreaks often result in significant loss in grasses and economic losses. Interestingly, we found this grasshopper was mainly restricted to Stipa-dominated grassland. We suspected this may be related to the dominant grasses species, Stipa krylovii Roshev, and hypothesized that S. krylovii contributes to optimal growth performance and population distribution of O. asiaticus. A 4 year investigation showed that O. asiaticus density was positively correlated to the above-ground biomass of S. krylovii and O. asiaticus growth performance variables (survival rate, size, growth rate) were significantly higher in Stipa-dominated grassland. A feeding trial also showed that O. asiaticus had a higher growth performance when feeding exclusively on S. krylovii. In addition, the choice, consumption and the efficiency of conversion of ingested food (ECI) by O. asiaticus was highest for S. krylovii compared with other plant species found in the Asian grasslands. These ecological and biological traits revealed why O. asiaticus is strongly associated with Stipa-dominated grasslands. We concluded that the existence of S. krylovii benefited the growth performance and explained the distribution of O. asiaticus. These results are useful for improved pest management strategies and developing guidelines for the monitoring of grasshopper population dynamics against the background of vegetation succession and changing plant communities in response to activities such as grazing, fire and climate change.

Genetic characteristics of Chinese isolates of the tapeworm Taenia pisiformis based on two mitochondrial genes.

Cysticercosis is caused by infections with embryonated eggs of the tapeworm Taenia pisiformis. Knowledge of the genetic characteristics of T. pisiformis could be applied to study the epidemiology and transmission of this parasite. In this study, 61 isolates of intraperitoneal cysticerci from eight geographically distinct regions in Sichuan province, China, were subjected to a molecular analysis in order to determine their intra-regional genetic characteristics. Partial sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (cox1, 1427 bp) and NADH dehydrogenase 1 (nad1, 738 bp) were concatenated. Five haplotypes were identified, and 89.04% of total genetic variation was found in collections of T. pisiformis isolates from a single region. According to the phylogenetic reconstruction, the T. pisiformis isolates from eight regions did not form geographical clusters. Our study highlights the genetic characteristics of T. pisiformis with the aim of accelerating the genetic research and control of cysticercosis.

Evaluating troponin C from Psoroptes cuniculi as a diagnostic antigen for a dot-ELISA assay to diagnose mite infestations in rabbits.

The mite Psoroptes cuniculi is globally widespread and has a serious impact on commercial rabbit breeding. In China, diagnosis of P. cuniculi is currently based on conventional clinical methods that entail numerous disadvantages, including their failure to diagnose subclinical infections. Hence, alternative measures are required, and dot-ELISA is one of the most promising strategies. We cloned and expressed the recombinant P. cuniculi troponin C gene for use as a basis for novel dot-ELISA assay to detect P. cuniculi infections in rabbits. This amplified sequence encoded a 153 amino acid protein of 17·6 kDa and theoretical pI 4·18 without signal peptide. The recombinant troponin C of P. cuniculi is an outer membrane protein and may also be a new P. cuniculi allergen. Results of dot-ELISA test showed that this novel assay had more than 90% sensitivity but low specificity in distinguishing infections with P. cuniculi or Sarcoptic scabiei, despite very high agreement between observers (97-99%; κ values ranged from 0·95 to 0·98 for inter- and intra-observer variability test). This study showed that this novel method, at present, lacks diagnostic utility. Therefore, although simple serological assays such as dot-ELISA show great promise as diagnostic tools, we suggest that troponin C is not a suitable diagnostic antigen candidate.

Protection against Taenia pisiformis larval infection induced by a recombinant oncosphere antigen vaccine.

Taenia pisiformis larvae cause significant health problems to rabbits. At present, it is not known whether the recombinant antigen from the T. pisiformis oncosphere is able to confer protective immunity against T. pisiformis larval infection. The full-length cDNA was cloned into a pET32a (+) vector, and the recombinant protein was then expressed in BL21 (DE3) cells. Vaccination with the purified rTpUbc2 coupled with QuilA was carried out in New Zealand rabbits to evaluate the immunoprotective effect against T. pisiformis infection. The full-length open reading frame of the TpUbc2 gene was 444 bp, and encoded a 16.63-kDa protein. Finally, rTpUbc2 was used to evaluate the ability to induce immunoprotective responses in rabbits. A 79.3-90.8% reduction (P < 0.01) in the recovery of larvae was observed in the experimental group compared to the control group. Specific anti-rTpUbc2 antibodies from immunized rabbits had significantly higher levels of IgG (P < 0.01) compared to the control group; however, no significant difference in IgA levels was found between groups (P > 0.05). Our data support the use of rTpUbc2 as a potential candidate to develop a vaccine against T. pisiformis larvae.

Vaccination with recombinant actin from scab mites and evaluation of its protective efficacy against Psoroptes cuniculi infection.

The mite Psoroptes cuniculi is globally widespread and has a serious impact on commercial rabbit breeding. Current treatment methods are based on chemotherapy. Because of the disadvantages of these methods, alternative measures are required, and vaccination is one of the most promising strategies. Here, we cloned and expressed the recombinant P. cuniculi actin gene (rPc-act). Antiserum levels against rPc-act in rabbits were used to locate actin distribution in mite sections. Challenge trials were carried out to evaluate the immunity protection of rPc-act in rabbits, with antibody levels determined by ELISA. Sequence analysis of this gene fragment showed 89·26% and 84·91% identity to Sarcoptes scabiei and Mayetiola destructor sequences, respectively. Immunohistochemistry showed rPc-act to locate widely throughout the mites, especially in feet and muscle tissues. Recombinant P. cuniculi actin with QuliA adjuvant was used to immunize six rabbits. Each animal was challenge-infested with 25-50 adult mites. Although IgE levels showed no significant difference to controls, IgG levels were significantly higher, and clinical development showed no significantly different severity of lesions in vaccinated rabbits than in the controls. This study showed that rPc-act is a muscular isotype actin and has no clinical protective efficacy against P. cuniculi.

Synonymous codon usage patterns in different parasitic platyhelminth mitochondrial genomes.

We analyzed synonymous codon usage patterns of the mitochondrial genomes of 43 parasitic platyhelminth species. The relative synonymous codon usage, the effective number of codons (NC) and the frequency of G+C at the third synonymously variable coding position were calculated. Correspondence analysis was used to determine the major variation trends shaping the codon usage patterns. Among the mitochondrial genomes of 19 trematode species, the GC content of third codon positions varied from 0.151 to 0.592, with a mean of 0.295 ± 0.116. In cestodes, the mean GC content of third codon positions was 0.254 ± 0.044. A comparison of the nucleotide composition at 4-fold synonymous sites revealed that, on average, there was a greater abundance of codons ending on U (51.9%) or A (22.7%) than on C (6.3%) or G (19.14%). Twenty-two codons, including UUU, UUA and UUG, were frequently used. In the NC-plot, most of points were distributed well below or around the expected NC curve. In addition to compositional constraints, the degree of hydrophobicity and the aromatic amino acids also influenced codon usage in the mitochondrial genomes of these 43 parasitic platyhelminth species.

Characterization and ontogenetic expression analysis of the myosin light chains from the fast white muscle of mandarin fish Siniperca chuatsi.

Three full-length complementary DNA (cDNA) clones were isolated encoding the skeletal myosin light chain 1 (MLC1; 1237 bp), myosin light chain 2 (MLC2; 1206 bp) and myosin light chain 3 (MLC3; 1079 bp) from the fast white muscle cDNA library of mandarin fish Siniperca chuatsi. The sequence analysis indicated that MLC1 and MLC3 were not produced from differentially spliced messenger RNAs (mRNA) as reported in birds and rodents but were encoded by different genes. The MLC2 encodes 170 amino acids, which include four EF-hand (helix-loop-helix) structures. The primary structures of the Ca(2+)-binding domain were well conserved among the MLC2s of seven other fish species. The ontogenetic expression analysis by real-time PCR showed that the three light-chain mRNAs were first detected in the gastrula stage, and their expression increased from the tail bud stage to the larval stage. All three MLC mRNAs showed longitudinal expression variation in the fast white muscle of S. chuatsi, especially MLC1 which was highly expressed at the posterior area. Taken together, the study provides a better understanding about the MLC gene structure and their expression pattern in muscle development of S. chuatsi.

Practitioners' knowledge and acceptance of paediatric dental procedures under general anaesthesia.

AIM: As paediatric treatment under dental general anaesthesia (DGA) in China is a fairly new technique that was first applied at the beginning of the 21st century, the purpose of this study was to explore practitioners' understanding and acceptance of paediatric dental procedures under general anaesthesia (GA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 300 practitioners at the Hospital of Stomatology, Guangxi Medical University, and Guangxi China. A questionnaire was used to collect information about the practitioners' knowledge and acceptance of DGA, and multiple logistic regression analysis was used to test the relationship between the practitioners' knowledge and their acceptance of DGA. RESULTS: The average scores for the practitioners' knowledge of DGA was 4.45 ±1.49. Also, 77.0% of them were willing to refer children for DGA. Practitioners who accepted DGA had higher DGA knowledge scores than those who did not accept it [(4.63 ± 1.38) vs. (3.82 ±1.48), p <0.001]. After controlling for demographic factors, the practitioners' knowledge of DGA was significantly related to their acceptance of DGA (OR=1.47, 95% CI=1.21 -1.79). CONCLUSION: Practitioners' knowledge of DGA is a significant indicator for their acceptance of DGA for children.

[Progress in the study of artemisinin and its derivatives against head and neck cancer].

The head and neck cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in the world. There are more than 600 000 new cases in the world every year. Cisplatin is often used in the treatment of head and neck cancer at present. However, because of its side effects and drug resistance, cisplatin often failed in the treatment of head and neck cancer. Artemisinin and its derivatives as first-line antimalarial drugs have the advantages of high efficiency, low toxicity and so on. Further study found that artemisinin and its derivatives had cytotoxic effects against head and neck cancer through inducing cell cycle arrest, inducing tumor cell apoptosis and inhibiting cell invasion and migration, oxidative damage, blocking the cell signal transduction and inhibiting angiogenesis. Studying the anti-tumor effects of artemisinin and its derivatives allows for development of safer and more effective antitumor drugs and pain-reduction caused by diseases and traditional treatment, then improve the survival rate and life quality of patients with head and neck cancer. This article reviews the progress in the study of artemisinin and its derivatives in the treatment of head and neck cancer.

[Comparison of two approach for facial nerve surgery on facial nerve injury in the parotid benign tumor].

Objective:To compare the function of facial nerves in patients with parotid benign tumors underwent surgery with retrograde method to expose nerve trunk or the marginal mandibular branch.Method:Fifty-five hospital patients from March 2013 to september 2015 were involved in this study and divided into group A(facial nerve trunk exposure, 27 cases), B group(facial nerve mandible branch exposure, 28 cases). Facial nerve injury in two groups was evaluated by observation of abnormal facial performance and electrophysiological techniques. Result:After a follow up of 1 year, the postoperative incidence of facial nerve injury in group A and group B were 7.41% and 25%, respectively, which was evaluated by observation of abnormal facial performance. Moreover,the rates were 14.81%, 30.29%, respectively, which was evaluated by electrophysiological techniques. The rate of postoperative facial nerve injury in group B of patients with was significantly higher than that of group A(P<0.05). Conclusion:Operation with facial nerve trunk exposure can obviously reduce the occurrence of symptoms of facial paralysis in diameter <5 cm of the parotid benign tumor surgery, is suitable for clinical application.

[The expression and clinical significance of survivin in salivary gland adenoid cystic carcinoma: a Meta analysis].

Objective:This Meta-analysis was performed to explore the association between survivin expression and clinical pathological features of salivary gland adenoid cystic carcinoma (SACC). Method:Literature was searched in some databases such as PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, web of science, OVID, Springerlink, CNKI, CBM, Wanfang and CQVIP. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were estimated to determine the correlation between survivin expression and SACC using a fixed or random effects model according to heterogeneity. Result:A total of ten studies with 367 SACC patients and 124 normal control subjects were included in this Meta-analysis. The results showed that survivin was overexpressed in SACC tissues (OR=38.26, 95% CI: 17.37-84.29, P<0.01). It also revealed significant correlations between survivin expression and pathological types (OR=0.3, 95% CI: 0.17-0.55, P<0.01), advanced tumor clinical stages (OR=0.23, 95% CI: 0.13-0.42, P<0.01) and lymph node metastasis (OR=3.7, 95% CI: 1.82-7.56, P<0.01). Conclusion:The current study demonstrated that survivin expression may be associated with the clinical pathological features of SACC. However, due to the influence of the quantity and quality of the included literature, additional high quality of studies with larger sample sizes are needed to confirm our findings.

[Effect of artesunate on the transplantation tumor of parotid gland in the nude mice with adenoid cystic carcinoma drug resistance cell].

Objective:To observe the effect of Artesunate on the transplantation tumor of parotid gland in the nude mice with adenoid cystic carcinoma drug resistance cell and to explore its clinical application prospect as an anticancer drug.Method:Twenty male BALB/C mice were chose to set up parotid gland transplantation tumor model, then used the method of random Numbers table 20 nude mice were randomly divided into normal saline control group, positive control group DDP 2 mg/kg group, the ART of 200 mg/kg group, ART 100 mg/kg+DDP 1 mg/kg group, a total of 4 groups. Abdominal cavity injection was performed twice a day, and we measured weight of each nude mice and transplantation tumor major axis and minor axis. Treatments were conducted for 4 weeks, then the mice were sacrificed, and tumor weight was measured to calculate the inhibitory rates. The tumors were examined by HE staining to observe each tumor tissue pathological changes and by immunohistochemical method to detect Survivin expression in transplanted tumor tissue. Result:Four weeks after treatments, the inhibitory rate of DDP 2 mg/kg group was 59.86%, but this group of nude mice lost weight obviously； the ART 200 mg/kg group was 43.54%，this group of nude mice had a good mental state, and weight had gaining continuously；the ART 100 mg/kg+DDP 1 mg/kg group was 41.16%, this group of nude mice had reducing weight slightly.HE staining showed:The tumor nuclei were hyperchromatic and shrinkage, nuclear chromatin condensed and cracked into flake in the ART 200 mg/kg group, DDP 2 mg/kg group and the ART 100 mg/kg+DDP 1 mg/kg group. Conclusion:Artesunate can inhibit adenoid cystic carcinoma resistant cells NACC/DDP proliferation in nude mice in vivo and promote its apoptosis, and the side effects of Artesunate on nude mice were lower than Cisplatin.

[Hemostatic effect of Dracaena cochinensis (Lour.) S.C. Chen].

Dracaena cochinensis helps to decrease the clotting time in mice, the recalcification time and eugloblinlysis time (ELT) of plasma in rabbits, but has no effect on the prothrombin time in rabbits.

[Pharmacologic effects of an extract of Arillus longan (Lour.) Steud. and Gecko].

ALG is an extract from Arillus longan and Gecko. Our experiment has shown that ALG ig 20 ml/kg/d X 10 elevates significantly tolerance in mice under low and high temperatures and anoxia, and also increases the body-weight of normal mice, while ALG ig 15 ml/kg/d X 14 protects body-weight from decreasing in reserpinized mice. An increase in spleen-weight has also been observed in normal mice with ALG ig 20 ml/kg/d X 7, and ALG ig 15 ml/kg/d X 10 elevates the clearance rate of iv charcoal particles in normal mice.

Mir-509-5p joins the Mdm2/p53 feedback loop and regulates cancer cell growth.

Although the Mdm2/p53 interaction has been well documented, it is not clear whether there are new microRNAs participating in this regulatory network. Here, we provide evidence that miR-509-5p, which is downregulated in a subset of newly diagnosed cervical cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma tissues compared with the adjacent nontumor tissue, can be activated by p53 through binding the promoter of miR-509-5p and it suppresses the growth and invasion/migration of cervical cancer and hepatoma cells by regulating apoptosis and the G1/S-phase transition of cell cycle. Furthermore, Mdm2 was identified to be a target of miR-509-5p by targeting its 3'-UTR. Restoration of Mdm2 abrogated the cell phenotypes induced by miR-509-5p. Moreover, ectopic expression of miR-509-5p in HeLa and QGY-7703 cells repressed the expression of Mdm2, subsequently enhancing its p53-activating effects. These results suggest that miR-509-5p is a new regulator of Mdm2/p53 pathway and may play a key role in cancer development.