[Effects and action mechanisms of apocynin in the treatment of oligoasthenozoospermia in the mouse].

Objective: To investigate the therapeutic effect of apocynin on oligoasthenozoospermia (OAS) and its action mechanisms in mice. METHODS: Forty male Kunming mice were randomly divided into four groups of equal number, blank control, OAS model, low-dose apocynin, and high-dose apocynin. OAS models were made in the latter three groups of mice by intraperitoneal injection of cyclophosphamide for five days. The animals in the blank control, OAS model, low-dose apocynin, and high-dose apocynin groups were given drinking water (ï¼»5.1±0.4ï¼½ ml daily) containing 0, 0, 200, and 1 000 µg/ml apocynin, respectively, for 30 days. Then all the mice were sacrificed for observation of pathological changes of the testicular tissue, examination of sperm quality, and measurement of malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels in the testis. RESULTS: Apocynin treatment raised sperm concentration from (2.94±0.57)×106/ml in the OAS models to (3.88±0.43) and (4.12±0.53)×106/ml in the low- and high-dose apocynin groups and elevated the percentage of progressively motile sperm from (6.25±3.40)% in the OAS models to (8.03±6.71) and (17.50±2.74)% in the low- and high-dose apocynin groups, respectively (P<0.05). The MDA level in the testicular tissue was decreased from (1.34±0.22) nmol/mg prot in the OAS models to (1.13±0.19) and (0.98±0.19) nmol/mg prot in the low- and high-dose apocynin groups (P<0.05), and the SOD level increased from (26.46±4.36) U/mg prot to (32.46±3.28) and (37.39±5.77) U/mg prot, respectively (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Apocynin can significantly improve sperm quality of oligoasthenozoospermia mice by eliminating reactive oxygen free radicals and improving antioxidant activity of the body. And it can be applied in the prevention and treatment of male infertility.

Immune Cell Landscape in Gastric Cancer.

BACKGROUND: The tumor-infiltrating immune cells are closely associated with the prognosis of gastric cancer (GC). This article is aimed at determining the composition change of immune cells and immune regulatory factors in GC and normal tissues, depicting their prognosis value in GC, and revealing the relationship between them and GC clinical parameters. METHODS: We used CIBERSORT to calculate the proportion of 22 immune cells in the GC or normal tissues; a t-test was applied to assess the expression difference of immune cells and immune regulatory factors in normal and GC tissues. The relationship of the immune cells, immune regulatory factors, and GC patients' clinical characteristics was assessed by univariate analysis. RESULTS: In this study, we found that the proportion of macrophages increased, while plasma cells and monocytes decreased in GC tissues. In these immune fractions, Tregs and naïve B cells were found to be correlated with GC patients' prognosis. Interestingly, the expression of immune regulatory factors was ambiguous with their classical function in GC tissues. For example, TIM-3, FOXP3, and CMTM6 were overexpressed, while CD27 and PD-1 were underexpressed in GC tissues. We also found that IDO1, PD-1, TIGIT, and TIM-3 were highly expressed in high-grade GC tissues, the HERC2 expression level was related to patients' gender, and the TIGIT expression level was sensitive to targeted therapy. Furthermore, our results suggested that the infiltration of Tregs and naive B cells was strongly correlated with the T stage, radiation therapy, targeted molecular therapy, and the expression levels of TIM-3 and FOXP3 in GC. CONCLUSION: The expression pattern of tumor-infiltrating immune cells and immune regulatory factors was systematically depicted in the GC tumor microenvironment, indicating that individualized treatment based on the tumor-infiltrating immune cells and immune regulatory factors may be beneficial to GC patients.

[Clinical observation of the lead discharging effect of paiqian chewing tablet].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of paiqian chewing tablet (PQCT) on lead discharging and health in children. METHODS: Adopting self-control and inter-group control method, 94 children with blood lead level exceeding 100 microg/L were randomly divided into the observed group and the control group. The observation period for both groups was 30 days. RESULTS: At the 20th and 30th day of treatment, the urinary lead output in the observed group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01), and showed significant difference as compared with that before treatment (P < 0.05). Besides, the total amount of urinary lead discharging in the observed group was significantly more than that in the control group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: PQCT has markedly lead discharging improvement action with no influence on urinary calcium and zinc excretion. As all the routine indexes of blood and urine ranged within the normal extent, it demonstrated that PQCT was harmless to the health of observed individual.

Subcutaneous Injections of the Mannose-Sensitive Hemagglutination Pilus Strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Stimulate Host Immunity, Reduce Bladder Cancer Size and Improve Tumor Survival in Mice.

We wished to evaluate the effects of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (mannose-sensitive hemagglutination pilus strain, PA-MSHA) as an immunostimulating and anti-tumor agent for treatment of bladder cancer. Immunostimulating effects were assessed by the in vitro proliferation assay of murine splenic lymphocytes. Anti-tumor effects were studied in a subcutaneous tumor model established in female C57BL/6 mice using the MB49 bladder cell line. These mice received subcutaneous injections of normal saline (control group) or PA-MSHA (high, medium, or low dose, respectively, 1.6-2.0 × 10(9), 3.2- .0 × 10(8), 6.4-8.0 × 10(7) CFU/ml) twice a week for 3 weeks. Mice survival, tumor volume, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression, microvessel density (MVD), serum levels of TNF-α and IFN-γ, and blood CD4(+) /CD8(+) counts were the study outcomes. We observed that PA-MSHA promoted the growth of splenic lymphocytes in vitro. In the murine tumor model, PA-MSHA prolonged mice survival and reduced tumor growth. Furthermore, VEGF and MVD were also diminished by PA-MSHA. Mice that received high and medium dose of PA-MSHA had significantly higher serum levels of IFN-γ and TNF-α (days 21 and 28), and higher levels of CD4(+) /CD8(+) cells (days 21 and 28). In conclusion, PA-MSHA exerts beneficial effects on increasing proliferation of murine splenic lymphocytes in vitro and inhibits the growth of bladder tumor in a murine model. Therefore, PA-MSHA may be useful an immunostimulating and anti-tumor agent for bladder cancer therapy.

An improved trilinear decomposition algorithm based on a Lagrange operator.

An improved trilinear decomposition algorithm based on a Lagrange operator (LO) is developed in this paper, which introduces a Lagrange operator and penalty terms in the loss function to improve the performance of the algorithm. Compared to the traditional parallel factor (PARAFAC) algorithm, the algorithm not only may converge much faster, but also overcome the sensibility to estimate the number of components. A set of simulated and measured excitation/emission fluorescence data were treated by both the proposed and traditional PARAFAC algorithm to compare their efficiencies. The analytical results obtained with real chemical system containing aspirin and its metabolic products show that the trilinear decomposition methodology is a promising tool to obtain spectral and composition information from mixtures without chemical separation.

[Endemic situation of schistosomiasis after transmission-interrupted in debao county: a 25-year surveillance].

OBJECTIVE: To understand the dynamics of schistosomiasis prevalent factors after the transmission interruption in Debao Country, so as to provide the evidence for establishing a control strategy. METHODS: By using the system sample method combined with environmental sample method, the Oncomelania hupensis snail situation was surveyed through the general survey, round survey and selection check. Schistosomiasis cases were detected from local population and floating population by serological tests and stool tests. RESULTS: Four residual snail foci were found in a village from 1988 to 1991, covering an area of 1024 m2, and 853 snails were dissected but no positive snail was discovered. No schistosomiasis patient was detected among 42,641 persons. No positive was found from 3165 cattle and 2063 wild mice. CONCLUSION: The schistosomiasis situation is stable in Debao County, but the surveillance of schistosomiasis still should be continued.

Bisphosphonates for osteoporosis in nonmetastatic prostate cancer patients receiving androgen-deprivation therapy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

This systematic review was conducted to assess the efficacy and safety of bisphosphonates for prevention and treatment of osteopenia or osteoporosis in men with non-metastatic prostate cancer receiving androgen- deprivation therapy. We searched for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of bisphosphonates compared with placebo from Pubmed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, and ISI - Science Citation Index. Meta-analyses of pre- specified outcomes (bone mineral density, fractures, and adverse events) were performed using Review Manager. Ten RCTs with a total patient population of 1,017 were identified. There was generally more improvement in bone mineral density of the lumbar spine for patients who received bisphosphonate treatment than placebo or other medical treatment at 12 months (WMD 6.02,95%CI 5.39 to 6.65). Similar effects were also observed for total hip, trochanter or femoral neck bone mineral density. However, there was no significant reduction in fractures. Fever and gastrointestinal symptoms were the most common adverse events (10.4% vs. 1.2%; 0.10% vs. 0.03%). Currently, our meta-analysis suggested that oral and intravenous bisphosphonates caused a rapid increase in spine and hip or femoral BMD in non-metastatic prostate cancer patients receiving androgen-deprivation therapy. Fever and gastrointestinal symptoms were common with the use of bisphosphonates. These short-term trials (maximum of 12 months) did not show fracture reduction. In future, more efficient performance of higher quality, more rigorous, large sample, long-term randomised controlled trials (>12 months) are needed where outcomes are detailed.

Highly sensitive chemiluminescence technology for protein detection using aptamer-based rolling circle amplification platform.

A robust, selective and highly sensitive chemiluminescent (CL) platform for protein assay was presented in this paper. This novel CL approach utilized rolling circle amplification (RCA) as a signal enhancement technique and the 96-well plate as the immobilization and separation carrier. Typically, the antibody immobilized on the surface of 96-well plate was sandwiched with the protein target and the aptamer-primer sequence. This aptamer-primer sequence was then employed as the primer of RCA. Based on this design, a number of the biotinylated probes and streptavidin-horseradish peroxidase (SA-HRP) were captured on the plate, and the CL signal was amplified. In summary, our results demonstrated a robust biosensor with a detection limit of 10 fM that is easy to be established and utilized, and devoid of light source. Therefore, this new technique will broaden the perspective for future development of DNA-based biosensors for the detection of other protein biomarkers related to clinical diseases, by taking advantages of high sensitivity and selectivity.

Zeolite-based cataluminescence sensor for the selective detection of acetaldehyde.

The reactions of acetaldehyde with O atoms in the cages of large-pore zeolites have been discovered to result in light emission. The luminescence characteristics of acetaldehyde vapours passing through the surface of chosen zeolites were studied using a cataluminescence-based detection system. To demonstrate the feasibility of the method, the detection of acetaldehyde using catalysts was studied systematically and a linear response of 0.06-31.2 microg/mL acetaldehyde vapour was obtained. Methanol, ethanol, isopropanol, methylbenzene, chloroform, dichlormethane and acetonitrile did not interfere with the determination of acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde vapour could also be distinguished from some homologous series such as formaldehyde, cinnamaldehyde, glutaraldehyde and benzaldehyde on this catalyst, possibly due to the stereoselectivity of the zeolite and its specific reaction mechanism. Moreover, acetaldehyde was quantified without detectable interference from formaldehyde in four artificial samples. Thus, this kind of cataluminescence-based sensor could be potentially extended to the analysis of volatile organic compounds in air, and the simple and portable properties of cataluminescence-based sensors could also make them beneficial in many areas of analytical science.

In vitro enhanced cytotoxicity of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes transfected with tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand and/or interleukin-2 gene in human renal cell carcinoma.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) transfected with tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) and interleukin-2 (IL-2) genes are capable of improving the potency and efficacy of propagation and cytotoxicity against renal cell carcinoma (RCC) cells in vitro. METHODS: A mammal expression vector system was constructed. TILs were transfected by liposome-mediated gene transfection. The degree of cytokine mRNA expression was evaluated with Northern blot. Protein expression was determined with Western blot and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Cytotoxicity of TILs against autologous RCC cells and the human RCC cell line (786-0) were examined by chromium release assay. Flow cytometric analyses were performed to determine the apoptosis of tumor cells. RESULTS: A high level of expression of the human TRAIL and IL-2 stable transfected TILs was observed. The mean IL-2 production was 22.6 +/- 5.2, 507.7 +/- 52.4, and 549.0 +/- 74.0 ng/10(6) cells/24 hours in the TIL/parental, TIL/IL-2, and TIL/TRAIL+IL-2 genes, respectively. The mean cytotoxicity (effector/target ratio 20:1) of TIL/parental, TIL/IL-2, TIL/TRAIL, and TIL/TRAIL+IL-2 against autologous RCC cells in the percentage of cytolysis was 21.2% +/- 4.8%, 32.1% +/- 5.5%, 63.5% +/- 6.6%, and 78.1% +/- 9.63%, respectively. These four groups showed cytotoxic activity against allogeneic 786-0 RCC cells; the corresponding values were 9.8% +/- 3.5%, 12.3% +/- 3.4%, 24.1% +/- 4.9%, and 30.4% +/- 6.2%. The number of apoptotic cells was significantly greater for autologous RCC cells than for 786-0 cells after TIL/TRAIL and TIL/TRAIL+IL-2 treatment. CONCLUSIONS: TIL/TRAIL+IL-2 and TIL/IL-2 were expanded by autocrine IL-2. TIL/TRAIL+IL-2 and TIL/TRAIL showed significant cytotoxicity that was induced by TRAIL. TILs, including parental TILs and transfected TILs, demonstrated a potent cytotoxicity against RCC cells with remarkable selectivity. Autologous RCC cells seemed more sensitive than allogeneic RCC cells.

Urothelial injury to the rabbit bladder caused by calcium dissolving agents including two new citrate solutions.

We compared the urothelial injury to the bladder caused by four agents capable of dissolving calcium salts. The solutions were administrated in an antegrade way through left ureterostomies in 54 rabbits for periods of 24, 48 and 72 h. The bladders were then removed and three routine histological sections were made for each. The following six solutions were used: physiological sodium chloride solution (Phys), artificial urine (Art), 0.03 M disodium EDTA buffered to pH 8.5 with triethanolamine (EDTA), 10% Renacidin (R), test solution 2 (S2, using D-gluconic acid-lactone and other compounds that differ from R in terms of ingredients or quantity), and test solution 1 (S1, using D-gluconic-acid instead of D-gluconic acid-lactone in S2 but keeping the other ingredients the same) for irrigation. At 24 h there was no observable urothelial damage caused by perfusion with Phys or Art; solutions R, S1 and S2 caused approximately the same level of injury to the rabbit bladder mucosa; however, irrigation with disodium-EDTA caused more serious urothelial injury than R, S1 and S2 (P<0.05, chi2-test) and may be unacceptable. The damage to bladder tissues treated with S1 and S2 was less than that caused by R, but this was not significant (P>0.05, chi2-test). Following a prolonged irrigation time, all of these solutions cause further urothelial damage, but EDTA caused the most, followed by R, S1, S2, Phys or Art, respectively, at 48 and 72 h. In view of the better solubility effect of solutions S1 and S2 compared with R, it might be justified in accepting the more pronounced urothelial irritation caused these solutions, but in order to enhance their effectiveness and reduce urothelial injury further study will be needed.

[Simultaneous determination of isomers of dihydroxybenzene using alternating trilinear decomposition algorithm combined with reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography/diode array detection].

Alternating trilinear decomposition (ATLD) algorithm is a promising method for second-order calibration, which is based on an alternating least-squares principle to overcome some shortcomings of the traditional parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) algorithms, such as the sensitivity to the estimated component numbers and slow convergence. It utilizes an iterative procedure involving Moore-Penrose generalized inverse computations based on singular value decomposition and can be applied to the simultaneous determination of several organic components even in the presence of unknown interfering components. The overlapped chromatogram and spectra system of dihydroxybenzenes were resolved by ATLD combined with reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC)/ diode array detection (DAD). The elution time was set from 1.086 min to 1.399 min with an interval of 1/150 min and the ultraviolet wavelength from 268 nm to 298 nm with an interval of 1 nm. The resolved results were in agreement with the actual results excellently. Catechol (CAT), resorcinol (RES) and hydroquinone (HYD) in aqueous solution were determined simultaneously, whose recoveries were (100.1 +/- 1.0)%, (99.4 +/- 1.4)% and (100.5 +/- 1.7)%, respectively. The results showed this experiment can be easily performed without resorting to time-consuming and complicated procedures and quantified accurately. It successfully solved the resolving problem caused by chromatogram and spectra overlapping in the presence of interfering components. It also revealed the ATLD algorithm can be efficiently applied to solve the second-order calibration problem in HPLC-DAD.

Effects of reactive oxygen species on lymphokine-activated killer cells in patients with bladder cancer.

AIM: To investigate the effect of reactive oxygen species on the proliferation of lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells in patients with bladder cancer and their cytolysis to bladder tumor cells. METHODS: Sodium nitroprusside (SNP) was used as nitric oxide (NO) donor. The superoxide anion (O2-.) was generated in the complete medium (CM) supplemented with N-methylphenazonium methyl sulfate (PMS) 3-120 micromol/L and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) 18 - 600 micromol/L. The hydroxyl radical (.OH) was produced by adding ascorbic acid (AA) 0.5 - 400 micromol/L and ferrous sulfate (Fe2+) 0.05 - 40 micromol/L in CM. LAK cell proliferation and cytotoxicity were assayed in the presence of NO, .OH, or O2-. Bladder cancer cell lines BIU-87 and EJ were cultured as target cells and cytotoxicity of LAK cells were determined by MTT assay. RESULTS: The proliferation of LAK cells induced by interleukin-2 (IL-2) was inhibited by hydroxyl radical from 48 h to 96 h in a dose-dependent fashion and was inhibited to 34.5 % compared with control at 96 h in the concentration of ascorbic acid 400 micromol/L and ferrous sulfate 40 micromol/L. The inhibition induced by.OH can be overcome by certain concentrations of mannitol or editic acid. On the contrary, the proliferation of LAK cells induced by IL-2 was stimulated by certain concentrations of NO or O2-. The stimulation induced by O2-. can be overcome to control level by superoxide dismutase (SOD) 3 10(5) U/L. Exogenous O2-. resulted in an increase in cytotoxicity of LAK cells against BIU87 and EJ cells. However, the LAK cells cytotoxicity treated with hydroxyl radical or SOD showed no difference as compared with the control. CONCLUSION: NO and O2-. enhanced the proliferation and activation and O2-. up-regulated antitumor cytotoxicity of LAK cells in patients with bladder cancer. The growth of LAK cells induced by IL-2 was down-regulated by hydroxyl radical. The effects of these reactive oxygen species on the proliferation of LAK cells induced by IL-2 were different.