Preventive effect of artemether on schistosome infection

OBJECTIVE

To study the preventive effect of artemether (Art) in protecting the people from schistosome infection during flood fighting in schistosomiasis endemic area of Poyang Lake, Jiangxi Province.

METHODS

From mid July to mid August in 1996, the water level in Poyang Lake rose due to torrential rains and 2 embankments, Zhedi and Jiangtongdi, which appeared in dangerous situation and were selected as the pilot spots. After those who went to fight against flood arrived at the pilots their sera were collected within 48 hours and were examined with indirect hemagglutination test (IHA), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and McAb-ELISA. Individuals with negative outcome in the 3 tests were then selected as the study subjects and were allocated randomly to the Art or the control group. The first dose of Art given to the individuals contacted with the infested water within 11-15 days was 6 mg/kg. If the individual continually contacted the infested water, the same dose of Art was given once every 15 days. After the individuals withdrew from the pilot, one more dose of Art was administered 7-15 days later. Placebo (starch) was given to individuals in the control group at the same period as in artemether group. Stool examinations were made in both groups 40-50 days after the last medication for evaluation of the preventive effect of artemether. Double blind method was used in the administration of both artemether and placebo.

RESULTS

In Zhedi pilot, the individuals fought against flood for about 1 month. In Art group, 99 individuals receiving 3 doses of the drug completed the stool examination with egg-positive rate of 4% and no acute schistosomiasis was seen. In the control group, among 110 people who completed the observation, 44 were egg-positive with an infection rate of 40%, and 29 were identified as having acute schistosomiasis. In Jiangtondi, the studied individuals contacted the infested water for only about 4 hours. But in the control group 4 out of 102 individuals were egg-positive, while none of the 103 individuals in Art group receiving 2 doses of the drug showed schistosome infection. No apparent side effect was seen in the people treated with artemether.

CONCLUSION

After oral Art was given to the people fighting against flood in schistosomiasis endemic area of Poyang Lake, it was shown that the oral Art has a promising effect on controlling acute schistosomiasis and reducing the infection rate.

[Effect of artemether on nucleoside uptake and nucleic acid content in Schistosoma japonicum]

AIM

To observe the effect of artemether (Art) on nucleoside uptake and nucleic acid content in Schistosoma japonicum.

METHODS

RNA and DNA contents of both male and female worms harbored in mice treated intragastrically (i.g.) with Art 300 mg/kg for 24 h or 48 h were determined, respectively. After in vivo drug treatment, the schistosomes recovered were in vitro maintained in drug-free medium containing [3H]adenosine, [5-(3)H] uridine or [methyl-3H]thymidine at a final concentration of 37 MBq/L or 74 MBq/L for 2 h or 4 h, the tritiated nucleoside uptake and incorporation into nucleic acid of schistosomes were measured.

RESULTS

The RNA and DNA contents of female worms recovered from the host 48 h after dosing were markedly decreased by 51.6% and 23.5%, respectively, while the RNA content of male worms showed 42.4% reduction. When the above-mentioned schistosomes were in vitro exposed to the tritiated nucleoside for 2 h or 4 h, apparent decrease in tritiated nucleoside uptake with reduction rates of 35.2%-50.1% was seen in female worms. The incorporation of [methyl-3H]thymidine into the female worm DNA 2 h after incubation was reduced by 71.4% while the incorporation of [3H]adenosine into the female worm RNA and DNA 4 h after incubation was reduced by 65.2% and 50.0%, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Art exhibited an apparent effect on the nucleic acid metabolism in schistosomes, especially in female worms.

[Effect of eosinophil major basic protein on histamine release from nasal epithelial mast cells]

Eosinophils and nasal epithelial mast cells (NEMCs) are closely related in nasal allergy. The activity of the eosinophil cationic protein, major basic protein (MBP) on histamine release from human NEMCs has not been documented. We examined the effects of MBP on histamine release from NEMCs. Nasal scrapings (containing NEMCs) from 59 patients with house dust mite nasal allergy were incubated with MBP or alkylated MBP. Specimens were also pre-incubated with MBP followed by incubation with house dust mite allergen (HDM) or preincubated with HDM followed by incubation with MBP or HDM. Histamine released in incubated media and remained in incubated mast cells was quantified by radio-immunoassay. MBP at the concentration of 10(-5) mol/L induced mild but statistically significant histamine release from the NEMCs. Preincubation with MBP at the concentration of 1.57 x 10(-5) mol/L produced slight inhibition of subsequent HDM-induced histamine release but preincubation with HDM showed no effect on the subsequent MBP-induced or HDM-induced histamine release from NEMCs. These results suggest that accumulated and activated eosinophils may release MBP resulting in clinical symptoms by interaction with NEMCs and inhibit of histamine release from NEMCs by subsequent interaction with allergen.

PLAG1 fusion oncogenes in lipoblastoma

Lipoblastomas are pediatric neoplasms resulting from transformation of adipocytes. These benign tumors are typically composed of adipose cells in different stages of maturation within a variably myxoid matrix, and they contain clonal rearrangements of chromosome band 8q12. Because lipoblastomas resemble embryonic adipose tissue, characterization of their transforming mechanisms might reveal biological pathways in physiological adipogenesis. Herein, we demonstrate that lipoblastoma chromosome 8q12 rearrangements bring about promoter-swapping events in the PLAG1 oncqgene. We show that the hyaluronic acid synthase 2 (HAS2) or collagen 1 alpha 2 (COL1A2) gene promoter regions are fused to the entire PLAG1 coding sequence in each of four lipoblastomas. PLAG1 is a developmentally regulated zinc finger gene whose tumorigenic function has been shown previously only in epithelial salivary gland cells. Our findings reveal that PLAG1 activation, presumably resulting from transcriptional up-regulation, is a central oncogenic event in lipoblastoma.

Transfection and expression of HCV-NS5B gene in Huh-7 cells

OBJECTIVE

To study the mechanism of hepatitis C virus (HCV) replication and to test gene therapy for hepatitis C, a human liver cell line expressed HCV RNA polymerase has been established.

METHODS

NS5B gene has been transfected into Huh-7 cells by lipofectamine. The results of transfection were confirmed by PCR and Southern blot analysis, and the level of the non-structural protein 5B (NS5B) in Huh-7 cells was detected by Western blot analysis.

RESULTS

There were NS5B gene fragments and the expression of NS5B protein in Huh-7c cells transfected with pTeT-NS5B or pcDNA-NS5B plasmid.

CONCLUSIONS

We have established a HCV RNA polymerase expression system in Huh-7 cells which can be further used to analyze the mechanism of HCV replication and provide a cell model for gene therapy in vitro.

ZNF198-FGFR1 transforming activity depends on a novel proline-rich ZNF198 oligomerization domain

An acquired chromosomal translocation, t(8;13)(p11;q11-12), observed in a distinctive type of stem cell leukemia/lymphoma syndrome, leads to the fusion of the 5' portion of ZNF198 and the 3' portion of FGFR1. ZNF198-FGFR1 fusion transcripts encode 4 to 10 zinc fingers, a proline-rich region, and the intracellular portion of the FGFR1 (fibroblast growth factor receptor 1) receptor tyrosine kinase. We demonstrate that the ZNF198 proline-rich region constitutes a novel self-association domain. When fused to the intracellular domain of FGFR1, the ZNF198 proline-rich region is sufficient to cause oligomerization, FGFR1 tyrosine kinase activation, and transformation of Ba/F3 cells to IL-3 independent growth. (Blood. 2000;96:699-704)

[Prognostic factors analysis for the long-term survival in solitary large hepatocellular carcinoma patients after hepatectomy]

OBJECTIVE

To explore the prognostic factors that have affected the long-term survival of solitary large hepatocellular carcinoma (SLHCC) patients after hepatectomy.

METHODS

The clinical data of 215 SLHCC patients accepted hepatectomy in the Xiangya Hospital, Central South University from January 2004 to December 2012 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 182 males and 33 females aged from 24 to 69 years(median age was 46 years). Using a variety of statistical methods, including the Kaplan-Meier estimator and the Log-rank test, the impacts of an array of clinicopathologic factors, such as age, gender, liver cirrhosis, chronic viral hepatitis, the Child-Pugh grading, microvascular invasion, macrovascular invasion and TNM staging, on the overall survival and the disease-free survival of SLHCC patients after hepatectomy were analyzed.The prognostic factors were evaluated by univariate and multivariate analyses for the long-term survival of SLHCC patients after hepatectomy.

RESULTS

The whole group of patients with SLHCC showed 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival rates of 88.1%, 60.2%, and 41.7%, respectively, and exhibited 1-, 3-, and 5-year disease-free survival rates of 80.1%, 49.4%, and 33.6%, respectively. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival rates and disease-free survival rates of SLHCC patients with microvascular invasion were 82.0%, 45.1%, 29.0% and 69.6%, 36.1%, 23.5%, respectively. In addition, the 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival rates and disease-free survival rates of SLHCC patients with macrovascular invasion were 64.7%, 34.3%, 18.3% and 54.2%, 24.1%, 0, respectively. In contrast, the 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival rates and disease-free survival rates of SLHCC patients without vascular invasion were 95.0%, 72.3%, 51.8% and 90.1%, 60.9%, 42.9%, respectively. The results of univariate analysis indicated that liver cirrhosis, microvascular invasion, macrovascular invasion, TNM staging were hazardous factors for the overall survival of SLHCC patients(χ(2)=4.953, 8.835, 15.237, 19.789 respectively, all P<0.05); while microvascular invasion, macrovascular invasion, TNM staging were risk factors for the disease-free survival of SLHCC patients(χ(2)=12.974, 13.247, 24.516 respectively, all P<0.05). Furthermore, the multivariate analysis suggested that microvascular invasion, macrovascular invasion, TNM staging were the independent prognostic factors that have affected the overall survival and disease-free survival of SLHCC patients(all P<0.05).

CONCLUSION

Microvascular invasion, macrovascular invasion and TNM staging were the independent prognostic factors for the long-term survival of patients with SLHCC after hepatectomy.

Real-time PCR analysis of the heat-shock response of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans ATCC 23270

As one of the most important bioleaching bacterial species, Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans is subjected to different kinds of environmental stress such as temperature changes, presence of some toxic heavy metals or pH changes, which normally take place in bioleaching operations and may affect the activity of the bacteria. To obtain further knowledge of the protective mechanisms employed by A. ferrooxidans in response to elevated growth temperature, temporal gene expression profiles were examined in cells subjected to heat stress by using real-time PCR. The majority of predicted genes, including those encoding chaperones and heat-shock proteins, were significantly up-regulated (P < 0.05 and the fold change >or= 2.0) over a 25-min period after upshift to the heatshock temperature (from 30 to 42 degrees C) and then decrease to readjust their transcript levels to a new steady state at 42 degrees C. Finally, based on the gene expression data and computational analysis, a putative regulatory site having T-T-T-T-T-T-n-n in the -35 region and n-T-A-T-n-A-T-C in the -10 region with average 19 base pairs separating the two elements was predicted upstream of a number of heat-inducible genes.

Giant Zero Bias Anomaly due to Coherent Scattering from Frozen Phonon Disorder in Quantum Point Contacts

We demonstrate an unusual manifestation of coherent scattering for electron waves in mesoscopic quantum point contacts, in which fast electron dynamics allows the phonon system to serve as a quasistatic source of disorder. The low-temperature conductance of these devices exhibits a giant (≫2e^{2}/h) zero bias anomaly (ZBA), the features of which are reproduced in a nonequilibrium model for coherent scattering from the "frozen" phonon disorder. According to this model, the ZBA is understood to result from the in situ electrical manipulation of the phonon disorder, a mechanism that could open up a pathway to the on-demand control of coherent scattering in the solid state.

Metal-insulator transition in the quasi-one-dimensional transport of fractional quantum Hall states

We investigate edge state transmission in quantum point contacts (QPCs) in the fractional quantum-Hall regime, finding behavior reminiscent of a metal-insulator transition. The transition is suggested by an unusual behavior of the differential conductance in the fractional-quantum-Hall regime, and by the presence of a fixed point and universal scaling in the temperature dependence of the linear conductance. Noting that the 0.7 feature evolves continuously into a last fractional plateau at high magnetic fields, we suggest that this still unresolved feature may itself be viewed as a manifestation of a local, microscopic, metal-insulator transition.

[Effects of erythropoietin or nitric oxide synthesis inhibitor on hyperdynamic circulatory state in cirrhotic rats]

OBJECTIVE

To observe the effects of erythropoietin or nitric oxide synthesis (NOS) inhibitor NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) on hyperdynamic circulatory state in rats with cirrhosis.

METHODS

Cirrhotic rat model was made. Cirrhotic rats were treated with NOS inhibitor L-NAME (0.5 mg.kg-1.d-1) by gavage or with erythropoietin (100 U/kg) injected subcutaneously for two weeks. The hemodynamic parameters in cirrhotic rats treated with L-NAME or with erythropoietin were determined by using 57Co-labled microsphere technique. Serum nitric oxide (NO) levels were also measured by using a fluorometric assay.

RESULTS

Hyperdynamic circulatory state was observed in all rats with cirrhosis. Serum NO levels in cirrhotic rats were significantly higher than that in normal controls. Hyperdynamic circulation status in cirrhotic rats treated with erythropoietin or with L-NAME was markedly attenuated. As compared with untreated-cirrhotic rats, serum NO concentration in erythropoietin-treated and L-NAME-treated cirrhotic rats were significantly lower.

CONCLUSION

L-NAME treatment could reverse the hyperdynamic circulatory state in cirrhotic rats which might be ameliorated by inactivation of overproduced NO by increasing hemoglobin with erythropoietin.

Cathepsin B on invasion and metastasis of gastric carcinoma

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the expression of cathepsin B (CB) in human gastric carcinoma tissue.

METHODS

The expression of CB in human gastric tissue was studied by using monospecific polyclonal rabbit antibody raised against human liver CB for immunohistochemistry, and full length cDNA of CB for in situ hybridization and dot blot.

RESULTS

CB overexpression in gastric carcinoma was found when compared with non-neoplastic gastric tissue at both mRNA and protein levels. Diffuse cytoplasmic CB staining of mRNA and protein were identified in malignant cells of 53.3% and 69.1% of gastric adenocarcinoma respectively. The increased staining of CB in malignant cells was associated with the depth of the invasiveness and growth pattern as well as metastasis of lymph nodes, but not with the histological classification. It was also found that there were the expression of CB in stromal cells of the tumor and the expression localized mainly in the endothelial cells of the microvessels which correlated with angiogenesis.

CONCLUSION

These results indicate that the expression of CB in gastric carcinoma is related to tumor progression, and leads to development of the invasive phenotype.

[The influence of external stimulation on content and quality of volatile oil in Lignun Santali albi]

The authors analyzed the quality of Ligmum Santali Albi formed by the external stimulation of hormone and windburn by GC-MS-DS. The results showed that the content of volatile oil is 2.34% in the heart wood formed in 10 years tree age of Santalum album (SA) after 2 years stimulation continuously with a definite concentration of hormone, which is near to the 25 years tree age of SA in the same place. The GC-MS analysis showed that the content of santalol and other chemical components in volatile oil are similar to the 25 years tree age of SA. It is indicated that a definite concentration of hormone stimulated the SA may shorten the formation of the heart wood. The heart wood can be also formed by the broken branches after 2 years windburn, but its content of volatile oil is only 1/2 of the heart wood formed by hormone stimulation.

On the zero-bias anomaly and Kondo physics in quantum point contacts near pinch-off

We investigate the linear and non-linear conductance of quantum point contacts (QPCs), in the region near pinch-off where Kondo physics has previously been connected to the appearance of the 0.7 feature. In studies of seven different QPCs, fabricated in the same high-mobility GaAs/AlGaAs heterojunction, the linear conductance is widely found to show the presence of the 0.7 feature. The differential conductance, on the other hand, does not generally exhibit the zero-bias anomaly (ZBA) that has been proposed to indicate the Kondo effect. Indeed, even in the small subset of QPCs found to exhibit such an anomaly, the linear conductance does not always follow the universal temperature-dependent scaling behavior expected for the Kondo effect. Taken collectively, our observations demonstrate that, unlike the 0.7 feature, the ZBA is not a generic feature of low-temperature QPC conduction. We furthermore conclude that the mere observation of the ZBA alone is insufficient evidence for concluding that Kondo physics is active. While we do not rule out the possibility that the Kondo effect may occur in QPCs, our results appear to indicate that its observation requires a very strict set of conditions to be satisfied. This should be contrasted with the case of the 0.7 feature, which has been apparent since the earliest experimental investigations of QPC transport.

Dicliptera Chinensis polysaccharides target TGF-β/Smad pathway and inhibit stellate cells activation in rats with dimethylnitrosamine-induced hepatic fibrosis

This study aims to study impact of Dicliptera chinensis polysaccharide (DCP) on hepatic fibrosis (HF) and activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). Liver fibrosis model was induced by intraperitoneal injection of dimethyl nitrosamines (DMN) in rat. Rats in treatment group were administrated with different concentrations of DCP (0, 100, 300 mg/kg) by intraperitoneal injection. Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and Masson's trichrome staining were used to assess histo-pathological change. α-SMA, TGF-β1 and pSmad 2/3 were assayed by immuno-histochemistry. HSC-T6 cells were stimulated by recombined rat TGF-β1 (1 ng/mL) to simulate an activating model in vitro and then interfered with DCP (concentration of 0, 25, 50, 100, 200, 400 µg/ml). MTT assay was used to determine cell proliferation and western blotting was used to detect α-SMA and pSmad 2/3 expression. Results demonstrated that DCP alleviated DMN-induced liver fibrosis in rat and significantly down-regulated TGF-β1 expression, pSmad2/3 and α-SMA in liver tissue in a dose-dependent way. DCP inhibited proliferation and activation of TGF-β1-stimulated HSC-T6 in vitro and significantly down-regulated α-SMA and pSmad2/3 expression. In conclusion, this study revealed that DCP attenuates progression of liver fibrosis through suppressing TGF-β/Smad pathway. DCP is a potential botanical polysaccharide to management liver fibrosis.

A mechanism-based fate model of pesticide solutions on the plant surface under aerial application

Pesticide residues on plant surfaces are a primary source of pesticide bioaccumulation in crops. In this context, we propose a mechanism-based model for understanding the pesticide fate on the plant surface following aerial application, taking into account fate modelling of the pesticide spray solution on the plant surface. Using chlorothalonil as an example, the simulation results revealed that the spray solution dissipated rapidly after aerial application, resulting in the formation of a saturated pesticide solution, which facilitated the diffusion process of the pesticide residue from the plant surface into the peel tissue. The proposed model generated higher simulated residue concentrations in the peel or pulp than the current model, owing to the proposed model's assumption of rapid dissipation of the spray solution. This indicated that the proposed model specified the influence of the spray solution on the plant's exposure to residues via the surface deposition pathway, whereas the current modelling approach presented a generic estimate of the residue dissipation on the plant surface that linked to the residue's fate in the soil.

[An observation of the anticancer activity of mitoxantrone hydrochloride injection]

Experimental results of anticancer activity of DHAQ.HCl are reported in this paper. It was discovered that DHAQ.HCl, mitoxantrone hydrochloride, had an obvious anticancer effect on the experimental tumor strains:Ehrlich ascites cancer, Sarcoma-180, Leukemia P388, etc., and that it was more effective to Leukemia P388 than to other strains. The anticancer activity of DHAQ.HCl was better than DHAQ (P less than 0.05). No side effect was observed on the local sites (s.c.) of tumor planted or drug injected. And also a good anticancer effect was observed on the sites of tumor planted by local injection. It is suggested that this observation can provide some information on the choice of routes of administration of this drug clinically.

Field studies on the preventive effect of oral artemether against schistosomal infection

OBJECTIVE

To study the preventive effect of oral artemether (Art) against schistosomal infection in the field.

METHODS

In Minglang District of Yiyang City, Hunan Province, there is an islet with embankment type endemic area in the southern Dongting Lake region. From August to October 1994 the residents who frequently contacted the infested water were selected for study and allocated to the Art group and the control group. About one month before the preventive Art administration, all the residents understudied were examined by stool hatching technique, and then treated orally with praziquantel at a single dose of 40 mg/kg in stool egg-negative residents and 50 mg/kg in stool egg-positive ones. In the Art group, the first dose of 6 mg/kg was given at the end of August, followed by 3 repeated doses every 15 days. Placebo (starch) was given to the control group at the same time as in the Art group. The preventive efficacy was evaluated by stool examination 25-32 days after the last medication.

RESULTS

In the Art group, 20 out of 365 studied residents became stool positive with an infection rate of 5.5%, while in the control group, 51 out of 376 studied residents were stool positive with an infection rate of 13.6%. The egg count per gram of feces (EPG) determined by the Kato-Katz method was 122 +/- 79 in the Art group and 681 +/- 909 in the control group. Meanwhile, two cases of acute schistosomiasis were found in the control group, but none was observed in the Art group. No apparent adverse side effect was seen during the treatment with Art.

CONCLUSION

Oral Art exhibited apparent preventive effect on the residents who contacted the infested water in schistosomiasis endemic area.

[Evaluation of effectiveness of comprehensive control for diarrhea diseases in rural areas of east Fujian and analysis of its cost-benefit]

An intervention trial with comprehensive prevention and control for diarrhea diseases was carried out in the rural areas of East Fujian, China during 1991 to 1993, focusing on improvement of drinking water, health education, and supervision and direction to villagers to improve their environmental and family health. Results showed the intervention could reduce the incidence of diarrhea diseases by 55.1 percent in average. Economic benefit analysis of the effectiveness of the intervention showed ratios of cost to benefit were 1:5.6, 1:4.9 and 1:6.5 in 1991, 1992 and 1993, respectively, and net benefit amounted to 13,674,000 Chinese yuan. It suggests that effectiveness of this comprehensive control was significant and cost-effective.

[Amplification, cloning and sequence analysis of the variable region genes of monoclonal antibody against human bladder carcinoma]

We have designed two sets of oligonucleotide primers to amplify the immunoglobulin heavy- and light-chain variable region genes from genomic DNA by the polymerase chain reaction, PCR. The genomic DNA was extracted from hybridoma BDI-1 cell, which secrets a monoclonal antibody against human bladder carcinoma. The primers contain special restriction sites that allow the variable region genes to be easy to cloning for sequencing and expression. The PCR products were ligated to plasmid PUC19. The recombinants were sequenced with Sanger's method. It was proved that a full-length VH and V kappa genes was 366 and 324 base pairs respectively. Comparaing with other published sequences, the VH gene was a member of mouse heavy-chain VH subgroup II and originated from rearrangement of VH, Dsp2.2 and JH4; the V kappa gene was V kappa subgroup IV and from V kappa and J kappa 4. It was suggested that obtained VH and V kappa genes were potentially functional genes of the monoclonal antibody against human bladder carcinoma.