This paper aims to investigate the effects of artesunate (ART) on growth and apoptosis in human osteosarcoma HOS cell line in vitro and in vivo and to explore the possible underlying mechanisms. Cell viability was measured by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The induction of apoptosis was detected by light and transmission electron microscopy and flow cytometry. Western blot analysis was used to investigate the related mechanisms. Nude mice were further employed to investigate the antitumour activity of ART in vivo. MTT assay results demonstrated that ART selectively inhibits the growth of HOS cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Based on the findings of light and transmission electron microscopy, Hoechst 33258 staining, and fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-annexin V staining, the cytotoxicity of ART in HOS cells occurs through apoptosis. With ART treatment, cytosolic cytochrome c was increased, Bax expression was gradually upregulated, Bcl-2 expression was downregulated, and caspase-9 and caspase-3 were activated. Thus, the intrinsic apoptotic pathway may be involved in ART-induced apoptosis. Cell cycle analysis by flow cytometry indicated that ART may induce cell cycle arrest at G₂/M phase. In nude mice bearing HOS xenograft tumours, ART inhibited tumour growth and regulated the expressions of cleaved caspase-3 and survivin, in agreement with in vitro observations. ART has a selective antitumour activity against human osteosarcoma HOS cells, which may be related to its effects on induction of apoptosis via the intrinsic pathway. The results suggest that ART is a promising candidate for the treatment of osteosarcoma.

This paper aims to screen and identify sphere clone cells with characteristics similar to cancer stem cells in human gallbladder cancer cell line GBC-SD. GBC-SD cells were cultured in a serum-free culture medium with different concentrations of the chemotherapeutic drug cisplatin for generating sphere clones. The mRNA expressions of stem cell-related genes CD133, OCT-4, Nanog, and drug resistance genes ABCG2 and MDR-1 in sphere clones were detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Stem cell markers were also analyzed by flow cytometry and immunofluorescent staining. Different amounts of sphere clones were injected into nude mice to test their abilities to form tumors. Sphere clones were formed in serum-free culture medium containing cisplatin (30 μmol/L). Flow cytometry results demonstrated that the sphere clones expressed high levels of stem cell markers CD133⁺ (97.6%) and CD44⁺ (77.9%) and low levels of CD24⁺ (2.3%). These clones also overexpressed the drug resistance genes ABCG2 and MDR-1. Quantitative real-time PCR showed that sphere clones expressed stem cell genes Nanog and OCT-4 284 and 266 times, respectively, more than those in the original GBC-SD cells. Immunofluorescent staining showed that sphere clones overexpressed OCT-4, Nanog, and SOX-2, and low expressed MUC1 and vimentin. Tumor formation experiments showed that 1×10³ sphere clone cells could induce much larger tumors in nude mice than 1×10⁵ GBC-SD cells. In conclusion, sphere clones of gallbladder cancer with stem cell-like characteristics can be obtained using suspension cultures of GBC-SD cells in serum-free culture medium containing cisplatin.

A novel adsorber, polyvinylidene fluoride matrix immobilized with L-serine ligand (PVDF-Ser), was developed in the present study to evaluate its safety and therapeutic efficacy in septic pigs by extracorporeal hemoperfusion. Endotoxin adsorption efficiency (EAE) of the adsorber was firstly measured in vitro. The biocompatibility and hemodynamic changes during extracorporeal circulation were then evaluated. One half of 16 pigs receiving lipopolysaccharide (Escherichia coli O111:B4, 5 μg/kg) intravenously in 1 h were consecutively treated by hemoperfusion with the new adsorber for 2 h. The changes of circulating endotoxin and certain cytokines and respiratory function were analyzed. The 72 h-survival rate was assessed eventually. EAE reached 46.3% (100 EU/ml in 80 ml calf serum) after 2 h-circulation. No deleterious effect was observed within the process. The plasma endotoxin, interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) levels were decreased during the hemoperfusion. Arterial oxygenation was also improved during and after the process. Furthermore, the survival time was significantly extended (>72 h vs. 47.5 h for median survival time). The novel product PVDF-Ser could adsorb endotoxin with high safety and efficacy. Early use of extracorporeal hemoperfusion with the new adsorber could reduce the levels of circulating endotoxin, IL-6, and TNF-α, besides improve respiratory function and consequent 72 h-survival rate of the septic pigs. Endotoxin removal strategy with blood purification using the new adsorber renders a potential promising future in sepsis therapy.

Coronary artery bypass grafting surgery is increasingly being carried out on patients with multi-vessel coronary artery disease, but the best grafting candidate for non-left anterior descending coronary arteries is unclear. This research sought to systematically compare the efficacies and safeties of coronary bypass with radial artery and other available grafts. A systematic literature retrieval was performed for all clinical trials comparing the outcomes of coronary artery bypass surgery with radial artery and other grafts in PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library. Seven eligible clinical studies, comparing radial artery and great saphenous vein grafts, were found between 1966 and 2010: one prospective non-randomized and six prospective randomized trials. The pooling analysis obtained a relative risk of 0.507 (P<0.05) of graft occlusion in radial arteries compared with great saphenous veins. There was a significantly lower infection rate in arms (i.e., harvest sites for radial arteries) relative to legs (harvest sites for veins), with a pooled relative risk of 0.140 (P<0.05). From the reports on mortality after follow-up ranging from one year to six years, there was no significant difference in mortality between the two graft types (P=0.927). In addition, four cohort controlled trials for radial and right internal thoracic artery grafts were included. The radial graft was associated with less cardiac related events relative to the right internal thoracic artery graft (P=0.014), but with comparable mortality and comparable rates of repeat percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty. Subjects with radial arteries seemed to have a lower occlusion rate and a lower graft harvest site infection rate than those with great saphenous veins. Moreover there were fewer cardiac related events with radial arteries relative to the right internal thoracic artery grafts. More studies are needed to confirm these findings concerning the favorable outcomes of coronary artery bypass grafting with radial arteries on long-term patency and mortality.

Objective: Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) are idiopathic, chronic, and inflammatory intestinal disorders. The two main types, ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD), sometimes mimic each other and are not readily distinguishable. The purpose of this study was to present a series of hospitalized cases, which could not initially be classified as a subtype of IBD, and to try to note roles of the terms indeterminate colitis (IC) and inflammatory bowel disease unclassified (IBDU) when such a dilemma arises. Methods: Medical records of 477 patients hospitalized due to IBD, during the period of January 2002 to April 2009, were retrospectively studied in the present paper. All available previous biopsies from endoscopies of these patients were reanalyzed. Results: Twenty-seven of 477 IBD patients (5.7%) had been initially diagnosed as having IBDU. Of them, 23 received colonoscopy and histological examinations in our hospital. A total of 90% (9/10) and 66.7% (4/6) of patients, respectively, had a positive finding via wireless capsule endoscopy (CE) and double-balloon enteroscopy (DBE). The barium-swallow or small bowel follow-through (SBFT) was performed on 11 patients. Positive changes were observed under computer tomographic (CT) scanning in 89.5% (17/19) of patients. Reasonable treatment strategies were employed for all patients. Conclusions: Our data indicate that IBDU accounts for 5.7% of initial diagnoses of IBD. The definition of IBDU is valuable in clinical practice. For those who had no clear clinical, endoscopic, histological, or other features affording a diagnosis of either UC or CD, IBDU could be used parenthetically.

In this paper, we report the clinical and molecular features of the distinct TGFBI (human transforming growth factor β-induced, OMIM No. 601692) gene-linked corneal dystrophy. Altogether, five pedigrees and ten unrelated individuals diagnosed as corneal dystrophy were recruited. Peripheral venous DNA was extracted, and then amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and scanned for mutation by single-stranded conformation polymorphism (SSCP). Direct DNA sequencing was used to analyze the mutations of the TGFBI gene. In our study, thirty patients from five pedigrees and ten sporadic patients were diagnosed as four TGFBI gene-linked corneal dystrophies of granular corneal dystrophy type I (GGCD I), Avellino corneal dystrophy (ACD), lattice corneal dystrophy type I (LCD I), and lattice corneal dystrophy type IIIA (LCD IIIA), and in total, seven disease-causing mutations, namely R555W, A546D, A546T, and T538P mutations in exon 12, R124H and R124C mutations in exon 4, and P501T mutation in exon 11, were identified, while four polymorphisms of V327V, L472L, F540F, and 1665–1666insC were screened in exons 8, 11, and 12. The study ascertained the tight genotype-phenotype relationship and confirmed the clinical and genetic features of four TGFBI gene-linked corneal dystrophies.

Objective: To investigate the clinical value of a minimally-invasive treatment of communicating hydrocephalus using a percutaneous lumboperitoneal (LP) shunt. Method: The clinical and long-term follow-up data of 256 patients suffering from communicating hydrocephalus and undergoing percutaneous LP shunt during 1998 to 2008 were retrospectively analyzed. Results: After the follow-up, which lasted 6 months to 10 years, 219 cases of communicating hydrocephalus recovered well (ventricular size returned to normal and symptoms completely disappeared), 25 cases were brought under control (ventricle size reduced by 50% and symptoms partially abated), and 12 cases showed no obvious changes. Fifteen obese subjects needed modifications of the shunt due to the obstruction of the abdominal end following wrapping, and one subject underwent extubation as the subject was unable to tolerate stimulation of the cauda equina. The effectiveness of shunting was 91.40% and the probability of shunt-tube obstruction, which occurs predominantly in the abdominal end, was only 5.85%, far lower than that of ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt. Three subjects had a history of infection following VP shunting. Conclusion: LP shunting is minimally invasive and effective in treating communicating hydrocephalus, with fewer complications.

Coccidioidomycosis is an endemic disease of the Western hemisphere. The cases in non-endemic areas are mostly imported. Determining a history of exposure is critical for performing the diagnosis of coccidioidomycosis, especially for cases occurring in a non-endemic area. In this study, a 71-year-old Chinese male presented to our hospital with chronic cough and malaise, and was found to have a mass in the middle lobe of right lung. He had been visiting Arizona, USA for four months before admission. Pulmonary coccidioidomycosis was confirmed by the results of histopathological examination after lobectomy. Typical microscopic features of Coccidioides are definitely diagnostic, but need be differentiated from other budding yeast infection or carcinoma histopathologically.

This report describes in vitro micropropagation of Boscia senegalensis, so-called famine foods, that helped the people in Darfur and Kordofan, Sudan survive during the 1984–1985 famine. Four types of explants prepared from green mature zygotic embryos were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium augmented with 1–5 mg/L 6-benzyladenine (BA). The highest number of shoots per explant (14.3±0.9) was achieved on MS medium supplemented with 3 mg/L BA, while the highest shoot length [(3.5±0.4) cm] was obtained with 1 mg/L BA. The shoot cluster, when subcultured to its same medium, significantly increased the rate of shoot multiplication by the end of the third subculture. The maximum mean number of shoots per explant (86.5±3.6) was produced after three multiplication cycles on 3 mg/L BA-supplemented medium. In vitro induced shoots were excised and rooted on half strength MS medium fortified with 0.25 mg/L indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) to obtain complete plantlets. B. senegalensis-regenerated plantlets obtained in vitro for the first time, were hardened and 95% survived under greenhouse conditions.

This study was conducted to investigate the combined effects of elevated CO₂ levels and cadmium (Cd) on the root morphological traits and Cd accumulation in Lolium multiflorum Lam. and Lolium perenne L. exposed to two CO₂ levels (360 and 1 000 μl/L) and three Cd levels (0, 4, and 16 mg/L) under hydroponic conditions. The results show that elevated levels of CO₂ increased shoot biomass more, compared to root biomass, but decreased Cd concentrations in all plant tissues. Cd exposure caused toxicity to both Lolium species, as shown by the restrictions of the root morphological parameters including root length, surface area, volume, and tip numbers. These parameters were significantly higher under elevated levels of CO₂ than under ambient CO₂, especially for the number of fine roots. The increases in magnitudes of those parameters triggered by elevated levels of CO₂ under Cd stress were more than those under non-Cd stress, suggesting an ameliorated Cd stress under elevated levels of CO₂. The total Cd uptake per pot, calculated on the basis of biomass, was significantly greater under elevated levels of CO₂ than under ambient CO₂. Ameliorated Cd toxicity, decreased Cd concentration, and altered root morphological traits in both Lolium species under elevated levels of CO₂ may have implications in food safety and phytoremediation.

The phytochrome B (PHYB) gene of Arabidopsis thaliana was introduced into cotton through Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Integration and expression of PHYB gene in cotton plants were confirmed by molecular evidence. Messenger RNA (mRNA) expression in one of the transgenic lines, QCC11, was much higher than those of control and other transgenic lines. Transgenic cotton plants showed more than a two-fold increase in photosynthetic rate and more than a four-fold increase in transpiration rate and stomatal conductance. The increase in photosynthetic rate led to a 46% increase in relative growth rate and an 18% increase in net assimilation rate. Data recorded up to two generations, both in the greenhouse and in the field, revealed that overexpression of Arabidopsis thaliana PHYB gene in transgenic cotton plants resulted in an increase in the production of cotton by improving the cotton plant growth, with 35% more yield. Moreover, the presence of the Arabidopsis thaliana PHYB gene caused pleiotropic effects like semi-dwarfism, decrease in apical dominance, and increase in boll size.