Angelica sinensis polysaccharide attenuates concanavalin A-induced liver injury in mice.

Angelica sinensis polysaccharide (ASP), extracted from the roots of A. sinensis (Oliv.) Diels, is a β-D-pyranoid polysaccharide with an average molecular weight of 72,900 Da.

B3GNT3 Expression Is a Novel Marker Correlated with Pelvic Lymph Node Metastasis and Poor Clinical Outcome in Early-Stage Cervical Cancer.

Background: The β1,3-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase-3 gene (B3GNT3) encodes a member of the B3GNT family that functions as the backbone structure of dimeric sialyl-Lewis A and is involved in L-selectin ligand biosynthesis, lymphocyte homing and lymphocyte trafficking. B3GNT3 has been implicated as an important element in the development of certain cancers. However, the characteristics of B3GNT3 in the development and progression of cancer remain largely unknown.

Upregulation of centrosomal protein 55 is associated with unfavorable prognosis and tumor invasion in epithelial ovarian carcinoma.

Centrosomal protein 55 (CEP55) is a cell cycle regulator implicated in development of certain cancers. However, characteristics of CEP55 expression and its clinical/prognostic significance are unclear in human epithelial ovarian carcinoma (EOC). Therefore, we investigated the expression and clinicopathological significance of CEP55 in patients with EOC and its role in regulating invasion and metastasis of ovarian cell lines.

Emergence of a hypervirulent carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae isolate from clinical infections in China.

Objectives: Hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae (hvKP) infections occur worldwide, but carbapenem-resistant hvKP strain has rarely been observed.

Methods: A retrospective study was conducted in 28 cases of carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae (CRKP) infections from 9 cities in China.

C14ORF166 overexpression is associated with pelvic lymph node metastasis and poor prognosis in uterine cervical cancer.

C14ORF166 (chromosome 14 open reading frame 166) is a transcriptional repressor related to the regulation of centrosome architecture. However, the role of C14ORF166 in the development and progression of cancer remains largely unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression and clinicopathological significance of C14ORF166 in cervical cancer.

Inflammatory unbalance of TLR3 and TLR4 in PCI patients with or without type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Background: Toll-like receptors, the most characterized innate immune receptors, have recently been demonstrated to play an important role in coronary atherosclerotic disease and diabetes mellitus (DM). TLR3 and TLR4 are known to act as anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory factors respectively in multi-factorial inflammatory disease states. However, there is less research about TLR3 and TLR4 expression in percutaneous transluminal coronary intervention (PCI) patients, particularly those with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2).

The action of JAK, SMAD and ERK signal pathways on hepcidin suppression by polysaccharides from Angelica sinensis in rats with iron deficiency anemia.

A crude polysaccharide was obtained by water extraction and ethanol precipitation from the root of Angelica sinensis (AS) to investigate its suppressive effect on hepcidin expression in rats with iron deficiency anemia (IDA). In this study, we showed that the Angelica sinensis polysaccharide (ASP) was mainly composed of arabinose, glucose and galactose in a molar ratio of 1 : 2.5 : 7.

Early effect of essential hypertension on the left ventricular twist-displacement loop by two-dimensional ultrasound speckle tracking imaging.

Objective: To investigate two-dimensional (2D) ultrasound speckle tracking imaging (STI) in the evaluation of the early changes in the left ventricular (LV) twist-displacement loop in patients with hypertension (EH).

Methods: Sixty-five EH patients with left ventricular normal geometry (LVN) - including 33 cases with non-left atrial enlargement (NLAE) and 32 cases with left atrial enlargement (LAE) - along with 45 healthy individuals were enrolled in this study. Basal and apical 2D LV short-axis images were acquired and analyzed to obtain the LV rotation (LVrot) and LV radial displacement.

Single-incision laparoscopic versus conventional laparoscopic endorectal pull-through for Hirschsprung's disease: a comparison of short-term surgical results.

Background: Single-incision laparoscopy has recently become a popular procedure in pediatric surgery. The current series is the largest study to evaluate the operative complications and results of single-incision laparoscopic endorectal pull-through (SILEP) for the treatment of HD through a retrospective comparison with conventional laparoscopic endorectal pull-through (CLEP).

Methods: Twenty eight patients who underwent single-incision laparoscopic endorectal pull-through for HD between July 2010 and August 2011 were compared to thirty patients who underwent CLEP.

Influence of chronic hyperglycemia on cerebral microvascular remodeling: an in vivo study using perfusion computed tomography in acute ischemic stroke patients.

Background And Purpose: To investigate the effect of chronic hyperglycemia on cerebral microvascular remodeling using perfusion computed tomography.

Methods: We retrospectively identified 26 patients from our registry of 2453 patients who underwent a perfusion computed tomographic study and had their hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) measured. These 26 patients were divided into 2 groups: those with HbA1c>6.

Exome sequencing identified NRG3 as a novel susceptible gene of Hirschsprung's disease in a Chinese population.

Hirschsprung's disease (HSCR) is a complex developmental defect characterized by the absence of enteric ganglia in the gastrointestinal tract. Although the genetic defect of enteric nervous system (ENS) was identified to play a critical role in the progress of HSCR, the systemic genetic dissection of HSCR still needs to be clarified. In this study, we firstly performed exome sequencing of two HSCR patients from a Han Chinese family, including the affected mother and son.

Study to establish the role of JAK2 and SMAD1/5/8 pathways in the inhibition of hepcidin by polysaccharides from Angelica sinensis.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Angelica sinensis polysaccharide (ASP) is one of the major active ingredients in Angelica sinensis (Oliv.) Diels. This traditional Chinese medicine has been used for thousands of years for treating gynecological diseases.

Atorvastatin preconditioning improves the forward blood flow in the no-reflow rats.

Atorvastatin is not only an antilipemic but also used as an anti-inflammatory medicine in heart disease. Our working hypothesis was that atorvastatin preconditioning could improve the forward blood flow in the no-reflow rats associated with inflammation. We investigated that two doses of atorvastatin preconditioning (20 and 5 mg/kg/day) could alleviate deterioration of early cardiac diastolic function in rats with inflammation detected by echocardiography and haemodynamics.

10 years of experience with laparoscopic-assisted endorectal Soave pull-through procedure for Hirschsprung's disease in China.

Objective: To report early and late results of laparoscopic-assisted endorectal Soave pull-through (LAEPT) with a short and V-shaped partial resection muscular cuff for Hirschsprung's disease (HD) over a 10-year period.

Methods: The clinical courses of 218 patients who underwent modified LAEPT for HD were reviewed. LAEPT was described by the Georgeson technique.

Transanal endorectal pull-through for Hirschsprung's disease using long cuff dissection and short V-shaped partially resected cuff anastomosis: early and late outcomes.

Background: Transanal endorectal pull-through was described by De la Torre-Mondragon's technique. In the original transanal pull-through procedure, a long rectal muscular cuff was dissected and left for anocolic anastomosis, which would sometimes lead to postoperative obstructive symptoms and enterocolitis. While a modified short mucosal dissection may increase the risk of injury to pelvic and perirectal nerves and other structures when dissected on the outside of the rectum deep in the pelvis.

Edaravone attenuates paraquat-induced lung injury by inhibiting oxidative stress in human type II alveolar epithelial cells.

Background: Edaravone (3-methyl-1-penyl-2-pyrazolin-5-one) is a potent free-radical scavenger and has the antioxidant ability to inhibit lipid peroxidation. The study aimed to examine the effect of edaravone on protecting the acute injury of human type II alveolar epithelial cells (A549 cells) induced by paraquat (PQ) and the change of production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD).

Methods: A549 cells were cultured and divided into PQ group (group P), edaravone-treated group (group E) and normal control group (group C).

[Utilization of functional surgery in benign parotid tumor of superficial lobe].

Objective: To investigate the utilization of functional surgery in benign parotid tumor of superficial lobe.

Method: Conventional parotidectomy were modified in the following aspects: incision, preservation of great auricular nerve, local facial nerve dissection, partial superficial parotidectomy and repairing of sunken deformity. The post-operative recurrence incidence, functional outcomes and complications of 21 patients with benign parotid tumor of superficial lobe undergoing functional surgery were analyzed retrospectively.

Selective enrichment of glycopeptides for mass spectrometry analysis using C18 fractionation and titanium dioxide chromatography.

Comprehensive glycoprotein characterization based on mass spectrometry (MS) is challenging because of low concentration of glycopeptides and suppression effect of abundant non-glycosylated peptides in MS. Therefore, it is vital to enrich glycopeptides before MS analysis. A new method was developed to selectively enrich glycopeptides from complex sample by coupling C18 fractionation with titanium dioxide (TiO(2)) enrichment.

[Role of microRNA-223 and its target gene oncogene c-myc in hepatocellular carcinoma pathogenesis].

To investigate the regulatory role of microRNA-223 (miR-223) on c-myc and its role in hepatocarcinogenesis. miR-223 and c-myc mRNA expressions in normal tissue, paraneoplastic tissue, liver cancer tissue and liver cancer cells were tested with microRNA microarray and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). C-myc protein expression was detected by Western blot.

Endoscopic transaxillary approach for congenital muscular torticollis.

Background: Surgical correction of the congenital muscular torticollis (CMT) is recommended for patients with unsuccessful conservative treatment. Open operative techniques all leave noticeable scars. We proposed a modified endoscopic 1-trocar transaxillary and neck microincision approach for the treatment of CMT.

Effects of pentoxifylline on Wnt/β-catenin signaling in mice chronically exposed to cigarette smoke.

Background: Previous discovery that long-term administration of pentoxifylline (PTX) to mice chronically exposed to smoke led to the development of pulmonary fibrosis rather than emphysema initiated our curiosity on whether the Wnt/β-catenin pathway, a set of signaling proteins essential to organ development and lung morphogenesis in particular were activated in the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis.

Methods: Male BALB/c mice were randomized into four study groups: Group Sm, smoke exposure and taken regular forage; Group PTX, no smoke but taken PTX-rich forage; Group Sm + PTX, smoke exposure and taken PTX-rich forage; Group control: shamed smoke exposure and taken regular forage. Animals were sacrificed at day 120.

Structure, chain conformation and antitumor activity of a novel polysaccharide from Lentinus edodes.

A water-soluble polysaccharide LT1 was isolated from the basidiocarps of Lentinus edodes by hot water extraction and ethanol precipitations, further purified by gel chromatography. The Mw of LT1 was estimated to be 642 kDa by using HPGPC. Chemical and spectroscopic studies illustrated that LT1 has a backbone chain composed of 1 → 4-linked and 1 → 3-linked glucopyranosyl residues and has branches of single glucosyl stubs at C-6 of β-(1 → 4)-linked glucopyranosyl.

Laparoscopic choledochal cyst excision, hepaticojejunostomy, and extracorporeal Roux-en-Y anastomosis: a technical skill and intermediate-term report in 62 cases.

Background: This study aimed to present the authors' technique and the intermediate-term outcome for laparoscopic choledochal cyst excision with Roux-en-Y hepatoenterostomy.

Methods: This retrospective study investigated 62 children (39 girls and 23 boys) who had undergone laparoscopic resection of choledochal cyst. The average age of the children was 2.

Berberine inhibits SDF-1-induced AML cells and leukemic stem cells migration via regulation of SDF-1 level in bone marrow stromal cells.

Berberine plays a prominent role on the control of tumor cell invasion and migration. SDF-1 is a homeostatic chemokine that signals through CXCR4 which is expressed by hematopoietic tumor cells. The SDF-1/CXCR4 axis is involved in the migration process of leukemic cells.

[Study on the controlling effect of Shenqi Fuzheng injection on plasma cytokine network in patients with thoracic tumor undergoing radiotherapy].

Objective: To investigate the effect of Shenqi Fuzheng Injection (SFI) in radiation pneumonitis and its influence on the levels of plasma transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) at various stages (pre-, mid- and post-radiation) of radiotherapy (RT).

Methods: Fifty-eight patients enrolled in this study were randomized into two groups, all received conventional radio therapy, but the treatment group was intravenously dripped with SFI additionally, once daily, starting 3 days before radiotherapy to 1 week after the end of it. Levels of TGF-beta, TNF-alpha and IL-10 in blood samples collected and frozen at different time point of RT, before radiotherapy (Pre-RT), after received 40-50 Gy radiation (Mid-RT) and in time of terminating RT (Post-RT), were measured with enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).