Berberine improves insulin sensitivity by inhibiting fat store and adjusting adipokines profile in human preadipocytes and metabolic syndrome patients.

Berberine is known to inhibit the differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells in vitro, improve glycemic control, and attenuate dyslipidemia in clinical study. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of berberine on preadipocytes isolated from human omental fat and in metabolic syndrome patients treated with berberine for 3 months. We have shown that treatment with 10 μM berberine resulted in a major inhibition of human preadipocyte differentiation and leptin and adiponectin secretion accompanied by downregulation of PPARγ2, C/EBPα, adiponectin, and leptin mRNA expression.

[Reduced resistin levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus].

Objective: To measure the serum resistin level of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus so as to examine whether there exists a relationship between resistin, obesity and diabetes.

Methods: ELISA was used to examine the fasting serum resistin, leptin, and true insulin and those 2-hours after taking 75-g glucose in 51 untreated type 2 diabetic patients, 30 males and 21 females, and 52 sex and age-matched normal control subjects. Blood glucose, blood pressure, height, weight, waist circumstance, hip girth were measured.

[Gene expression and pathological changes of rat submandibular glands after adenovirus-mediated gene transfer].

Objective: To investigate luciferase gene expression and pathological changes of submandibular glands (SMG) of rats after adenovirus-mediated gene transfer.

Methods: Adenovirus-mediated luciferase gene (AdCMVLuc, 10(8) pfu in 50 microl) was injected in to SMG of forty wistar rats. The SMGs were harvested for gene expression measurement and pathological study after 3 days, 1,2,4 and 8 weeks.

[Genotypic analysis of hepatitis C viruses and its significance in interferon treatment].

To study the genotypes of HCV infection in Shanxi Province and the response of HCV genotypes to interferon therapy, the genotypes of HCV were analysed by restriction fragment length polymorphism in 94 chronic hepatitis C patients who were positive for HCV RNA (RT-PCR). It was shown that 80 patients (85.1%) were group I infection, 12 (12.