An Unexpected Alteration Colonic Mucus Appearance in the Constipation Model via an Intestinal Microenvironment.

Due to the lack of research between the inner layers in the structure of colonic mucous and the metabolism of fatty acid in the constipation model, we aim to determine the changes in the mucous phenotype of the colonic glycocalyx and the microbial community structure following treatment with Rhubarb extract in our research. The constipation and treatment models are generated using adult male C57BL/6N mice. We perform light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to detect a Muc2-rich inner mucus layer attached to mice colon under different conditions.

Activation of dopamine D receptor promotes pepsinogen secretion by suppressing somatostatin release from the mouse gastric mucosa.

In vivo administration of dopamine (DA) receptor (DR)-related drugs modulate gastric pepsinogen secretion. However, DRs on gastric pepsinogen-secreting chief cells and DA D receptor (DR) on somatostatin-secreting D cells were subsequently acquired. In this study, we aimed to further investigate the local effect of DA on gastric pepsinogen secretion through DRs expressed on chief cells or potential DRs expressed on D cells.

Reduced acetylcholine and elevated muscarinic receptor 2 in duodenal mucosa contribute to the impairment of mucus secretion in 6-hydroxydopamine-induced Parkinson's disease rats.

Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) have a higher incidence rate of duodenal ulcers. The mucus barrier provides the first line of defense for duodenal mucosal protection. However, it is unknown whether duodenal mucus secretion is affected in PD.

Pancreatic acinar cells utilize tyrosine to synthesize L-dihydroxyphenylalanine.

The pancreatic β cells can synthesize dopamine by taking L-dihydroxyphenylalanine, but whether pancreatic acinar cells synthesize dopamine has not been confirmed. By means of immunofluorescence, the tyrosine hydroxylase -immunoreactivity and aromatic amino acid decarboxylase (AADC)- immunoreactivity were respectively observed in pancreatic acinar cells and islet β cells. Treatment with L-dihydroxyphenylalanine, not tyrosine, caused the production of dopamine in the incubation of INS-1 cells (rat islet β cell line) and primary isolated islets, which was blocked by AADC inhibitor NSD-1015.

Rhubarb extract relieves constipation by stimulating mucus production in the colon and altering the intestinal flora.

Background: Constipation, mainly characterized by the difficulty in defecation, is a clinical symptom caused by a variety of factors. It can be manifested as normal or slow colonic transport abnormalities, which can occur alone or concurrently with defecation disorders. As there is not uniform definition and assessment standard, no clear plan could be used for the treatment of constipation.

Source of dopamine in gastric juice and luminal dopamine-induced duodenal bicarbonate secretion via apical dopamine D receptors.

Background And Purpose: Dopamine protects the duodenal mucosa. Here we have investigated the source of dopamine in gastric juice and the mechanism underlying the effects of luminal dopamine on duodenal bicarbonate secretion (DBS) in rodents.

Experimental Approach: Immunofluorescence, UPLC-MS/MS, gastric incubation and perfusion were used to detect gastric-derived dopamine.

Downregulated Dopamine Receptor 2 and Upregulated Corticotrophin Releasing Hormone in the Paraventricular Nucleus Are Correlated With Decreased Glucose Tolerance in Rats With Bilateral Substantia Nigra Lesions.

Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) have a high prevalence of glucose metabolism abnormalities. However, the mechanism underlying these symptoms remains unclear. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is the major neuroendocrine axis that regulates homeostasis in mammals, including glucose metabolism.

Unique MicroRNAs Signature of Lymphocyte of Yang and Yin Syndromes in Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients.

Objective: To identify the differentially expressed microRNAs (miRNAs) profiles of yang and yin syndromes in patients with acute ischemic stroke, and to provide the molecular basis of the classification of these two syndrome types in acute ischemic stroke patients.

Methods: A microarray assay was performed to assess the expression pattern of miRNAs in the lymphocyte of acute ischemic stroke patients. Target genes for the deregulated miRNAs were predicated using the online bioinformatic algorithms and functional annotation via Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes pathway analysis for miRNAs predicted targets was carried out.

Methionine-directed fabrication of gold nanoclusters with yellow fluorescent emission for Cu(2+) sensing.

In the past few years, fluorescent gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) have gained much attention in many areas of physics, chemistry, materials science, and biosciences due to their unique physical, electrical, and optical properties. Herein, we reported for the first time the synthesis of water soluble, monodispersed AuNCs by using methionine both as a reductant and a stabilizer. The synthetic process is green and simple, and the resulting AuNCs capped by methionine (Met-AuNCs) would be biocompatible with bioorganisms.

Research on the infiltration processes of lawn soils of the Babao River in the Qilian Mountain.

Using a Guelph Permeameter, the soil water infiltration processes were analyzed in the Babao River of the Qilian Mountain in China. The results showed that the average soil initial infiltration and the steady infiltration rates in the upstream reaches of the Babao River are 1.93 and 0.

Colorimetric sensor based on dual-functional gold nanoparticles: analyte-recognition and peroxidase-like activity.

A novel colorimetric sensor based on the interaction ability with specific analytes and peroxidase-like activity of gold nanoparticles was established in this work. Combining the high-affinity binding between bare gold nanoparticles and melamine with signal amplification procedure based on the catalytic activity of gold nanoparticles for oxidation of TMB, melamine with the concentration as low as 0.02 mg/L can be easily distinguished by naked-eye observation.

An IMPLICATION logic gate based on citrate-capped gold nanoparticles with thiocyanate and iodide as inputs.

Herein we developed an IMPLICATION logic gate based on citrate-capped AuNPs by employing thiocyanate (SCN(-)) and iodide (I(-)) as inputs, and devised a colorimetric sensor for the determination of I(-) with good selectivity and sensitivity. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first example in which two species of anions serve as inputs to obtain visually observed Boolean outputs. Under the optimum conditions, 0.

[Impact of hepatitis B virus infection on liver function after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation].

To analyze the impact of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection on liver function of patients after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), the transplantation outcome of 48 patients infected with HBV prior to transplantation among 185 patients received HSCT was investigated retrospectively. The results showed that during a follow-up for 6 months after HSCT, the alanine aminotransferase (ALT) peak average values of the patients with HBsAg(+), HBsAb(+) and control groups were (281.6 ± 414.

Chemiluminescent cholesterol sensor based on peroxidase-like activity of cupric oxide nanoparticles.

A chemiluminescent cholesterol sensor with good selectivity and enhanced sensitivity was constructed based upon the peroxidase-like activity of cupric oxide nanoparticles. Cupric oxide nanoparticles can catalyze the oxidation of luminol by H2O2, which was produced by the reaction of cholesterol and oxygen that was catalyzed by cholesterol oxidase. Therefore, the oxidation of cholesterol could be transduced into the chemiluminescence of luminol by combining these two reactions.

Oral epidemic diseases of exposure personnel in long-term low dose radiation.

Oral epidemic diseases of exposure personnel in long-term low-dose radiation yet have rarely been studied. Referred to WHO oral health survey method and symptom grading standard, data of 341 exposure persons in long-term low-dose radiation including α particle, β particle, and γ rays, etc., were collected from one camp in China in 2011 with cluster sampling and analyzed? with Foxpro 6.

[Correlation study between carotid atherosclerosis and hypertension].

Objective: To study the correlation between carotid atherosclerosis (CAS) and hypertension.

Methods: Color Doppler ultrasonography data of CAS were observed in 150 hypertension patients [as the hypertension group, including 70 patients in the phlegm-stasis syndrome (PSS) group and 80 in the non-PSS group] and 30 non-hypertension patients (as the control group). The difference of the CAS occurrence was compared among the three groups.

Relationship between carotid atherosclerosis and cerebral infarction.

Objective: To study the relationship between carotid atherosclerosis and cerebral infarction (CI).

Methods: Between November 2008 and March 2009, 147 CI patients (CI group) and 48 patients with non-cerebrovascular diseases (control group) were enrolled from inpatients of Neurology Department of our hospital. The diagnostic criterion of thickened carotid intima was set as 1.

A critical role of the cAMP sensor Epac in switching protein kinase signalling in prostaglandin E2-induced potentiation of P2X3 receptor currents in inflamed rats.

Sensitization of purinergic P2X receptors is one of the mechanisms responsible for exaggerated pain responses to inflammatory injuries. Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), produced by inflamed tissues, is known to contribute to abnormal pain states. In a previous study, we showed that PGE2 increases fast inactivating ATP currents that are mediated by homomeric P2X3 receptors in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons isolated from normal rats.

Prostaglandin E2 potentiation of P2X3 receptor mediated currents in dorsal root ganglion neurons.

Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) is a well-known inflammatory mediator that enhances the excitability of DRG neurons. Homomeric P2X3 and heteromeric P2X2/3 receptors are abundantly expressed in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons and participate in the transmission of nociceptive signals. The interaction between PGE2 and P2X3 receptors has not been well delineated.

Mechanisms underlying enhanced P2X receptor-mediated responses in the neuropathic pain state.

P2X3 and P2X2/3 receptors in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) appear to participate in producing nociceptive responses after nerve injury. However, the mechanisms underlying the receptor-mediated nociception in the neuropathic state remain unclear. Using spared nerve injury (SNI) rats, we found that allodynic and nocifensive (flinch) behavioral responses developed after injury can be reversed by P2X receptor antagonists, indicating an involvement of P2X receptors.

Remote nerve injection of mu opioid receptor adeno-associated viral vector increases antinociception of intrathecal morphine.

Unlabelled: We have shown previously that using recombinant adeno-associated viral vector (rAAV) to up-regulate mu opioid receptors (muORs) in dorsal root ganglia (DRGs) increases the potency of subcutaneous morphine. Here we report an improved method of introducing rAAV-muOR viral vectors into DRGs. Instead of injecting the rAAV-muOR gene directly into DRGs as shown before, the vector was introduced into the sciatic nerve of rats.

Efficiencies of transgene expression in nociceptive neurons through different routes of delivery of adeno-associated viral vectors.

Transferring therapeutic genes into the nociceptive system, including dorsal root ganglia (DRGs) and the spinal cord, is potentially a powerful approach for the treatment of chronic pain in humans. Adeno-associated viral vectors (AAVs) are particularly useful in delivering foreign genes to targeted tissues because they seldom induce immune responses or produce cytotoxicity. To determine the efficiency of transgene expression and the best route(s) of delivery, a recombinant AAV type 2 vector containing the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) gene driven by the neuron-specific enolase (NSE) promoter (rAAV-EGFP) was constructed.