Epidemiological Investigation of Asymptomatic Dogs with Leishmania Infection in Southwestern China Where Visceral Leishmaniasis is Intractable

Gui-Hua Zhao,Kun Yin,Wei-Xia Zhong,Ting Xiao,Qing-Kuan Wei,Yong Cui,Gong-Zhen Liu,Chao Xu,Hong-Fa Wang 대한기생충학열대의학회 2016 The Korean Journal of Parasitology Vol.54 No.6

Heishui county, located in northwest Sichuan province, southwestern China, is an endemic area of zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and is the most intractable area. VL is never destroyed in it. Asymptomatic dogs (Leishmania parasites have been diagnosed but clinically healthy) are considered to be a potential reservoir host in zoonotic VL area, and most can lead to infection of individuals, that is a new challenge for controlling VL in humans. The present study aimed to assess the Leishmania infection rate of asymptomatic dogs in Heishui county. Total 105 asymptomatic domestic dogs were gathered from 4 districts in Heishui county to investigate the infection rate with serological and molecular methods based on ELISA and kinetoplast minicircle DNA(kDNA) PCR, respectively. Out of 105 dogs, 44 (41.9%) were positive by more than 1 method; 21 (20.0%) were positive by ELISA, and 30 (28.6%) were positive by kDNA-PCR. Our study showed that Leishmania infection of domestic dogs which is clinically healthy is prevalent in the studied district, and the asymptomatic dogs infected by Leishmania may be the primary reason for the prevalence of visceral leishmaniasis in the area.

Preventive effect of Polysaccharide of Larimichthys Crocea Swimming Bladder on Activated Carbon- Induced Constipation in Mice

Gui-Jie Li,Yu Qian,Peng Sun,Xia Feng,Kai Zhu,Xin Zhao 한국응용생명화학회 2014 Applied Biological Chemistry (Appl Biol Chem) Vol.57 No.2

Effects of polysaccharide of Larimichthys croceaswimming bladder (PLCSB) on activated carbon-induced constipationin ICR mice were investigated. ICR mice were subjected to oraladministration with lactic acid bacteria for 9 days. Body weight,diet and drinking intake, defecation status, gastrointestinal transit,and defecation time, as well as motilin (MTL), gastrin (Gas),endothelin (ET), somatostatin (SS), acetylcholinesterase (AChE),substance P (SP), and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) levels inserum were used to evaluate the preventive effects of PLCSB onconstipation. Bisacodyl, a laxative drug, was used as a positivecontrol. The time to the first black stool defecation for normal,control, bisacodyl-treated (100 mg/kg), 50 and 100 mg/kg PLCSBtreatedmice were 88, 202, 126, 155, and 135 min, respectively. Following the consumption of oral administration of 50 and 100mg/kg PLCSB or bisacodyl (100 mg/kg), the gastrointestinaltransit was reduced to 62.6, 78.3, and 90.2%, respectively. Theserum levels of MTL, Gas, ET, AChE, SP, and VIP weresignificantly increased, and the serum levels of SS were reducedin the mice treated with PLCSB compared with those in theuntreated control mice (p <0.05). These results demonstrate thatPLCSB has preventive effects on mouse constipation and highconcentration of that demonstrated the better functional activity.

Preventive effect of Polysaccharide of Larimichthys Crocea Swimming Bladder on Activated Carbon-Induced Constipation in Mice

Li, Gui Jie,Qian, Yu,Sun, Peng,Feng, Xia,Zhu, Kai,Zhao, Xin The Korean Society for Applied Biological Chemistr 2014 Applied Biological Chemistry (Appl Biol Chem) Vol.57 No.2

Effects of polysaccharide of Larimichthys crocea swimming bladder (PLCSB) on activated carbon-induced constipation in ICR mice were investigated. ICR mice were subjected to oral administration with lactic acid bacteria for 9 days. Body weight, diet and drinking intake, defecation status, gastrointestinal transit, and defecation time, as well as motilin (MTL), gastrin (Gas), endothelin (ET), somatostatin (SS), acetylcholinesterase (AChE), substance P (SP), and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) levels in serum were used to evaluate the preventive effects of PLCSB on constipation. Bisacodyl, a laxative drug, was used as a positive control. The time to the first black stool defecation for normal, control, bisacodyl-treated (100 mg/kg), 50 and 100 mg/kg PLCSB-treated mice were 88, 202, 126, 155, and 135 min, respectively. Following the consumption of oral administration of 50 and 100 mg/kg PLCSB or bisacodyl (100 mg/kg), the gastrointestinal transit was reduced to 62.6, 78.3, and 90.2%, respectively. The serum levels of MTL, Gas, ET, AChE, SP, and VIP were significantly increased, and the serum levels of SS were reduced in the mice treated with PLCSB compared with those in the untreated control mice (p<0.05). These results demonstrate that PLCSB has preventive effects on mouse constipation and high concentration of that demonstrated the better functional activity.

Prognostic Factors Influencing Clinical Outcomes of Malignant Glioblastoma Multiforme: Clinical, Immunophenotypic, and Fluorescence in Situ Hybridization Findings for 1p19q in 816 Chinese Cases

Qin, Jun-Jie,Liu, Zhao-Xia,Wang, Jun-Mei,Du, Jiang,Xu, Li,Zeng, Chun,Han, Wu,Li, Zhi-Dong,Xie, Jian,Li, Gui-Lin Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.3

Malignant glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most malignant brain tumor and despite recent advances in diagnostics and treatment prognosis remains poor. In this retrospective study, we assessed the clinical and radiological parameters, as well as fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) of 1p19q deletion, in a series of cases. A total of 816 patients with GBM who received surgery and radiation between January 2010 and May 2014 were included in this study. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox regression analysis were used to find the factors independently influencing patient progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Age at diagnosis, preoperative Karnofsky Performance Scale (KPS) score, KPS score change at 2 weeks after operation, neurological deficit symptoms, tumor resection extent, maximal tumor diameter, involvement of eloquent cortex or deep structure, involvement of brain lobe, Ki-67 and MMP9 expression level and adjuvant chemotherapy were statistically significant factors (p<0.05) for both PFS and OS in the univariate analysis. Cox proportional hazards modeling revealed that age ${\leq}50$ years, preoperative KPS score ${\geq}80$, KPS score change after operation ${\geq}0$, involvement of single frontal lobe, deep structure involvement, low Ki-67 and MMP9 expression and adjuvant chemotherapy were independent favorable factors (p<0.05) for patient clinical outcomes.

RALY RNA Binding Protein-like Reduced Expression is Associated with Poor Prognosis in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

Cui, Zhi-Wen,Xia, Ye,Ye, Yi-Wang,Jiang, Zhi-Mao,Wang, Ya-Dong,Wu, Jian-Ting,Sun, Liang,Zhao, Jun,Fa, Ping-Ping,Sun, Xiao-Juan,Gui, Yao-Ting,Cai, Zhi-Ming Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.7

The molecular mechanisms involved in the progression of clear cell renal cell carcinomas (ccRCCs) are still unclear. The aim of this study was to analyse the relationships between expression of RALYL and clinical characteristics. In 41 paired samples of ccRCCs and adjacent normal tissues, we used real-time qPCR to evaluate the expression of RALYL mRNA. RALYL protein levels were determined in 146 samples of ccRCC and 37 adjacent normal tissues by immunohistochemistry. Statistical analysis was used to explore the relationships between expression of RALYL and the clinical characteristics (gender, age, tumor size, T stage, N stage, M stage, survival times and survival outcome) in ccRCC. In addition, these patients were follow-up period 64 months (range: 4~116months) to investigate the influence on prognosis. We found significantly differences between ccRCC tissues and normal tissues (p<0.001, paired-sample t test) in mRNA levels of RALYL. Immunohistochemistry analyses in 146 ccRCC samples and 37 adjacent normal tissues showed significantly lower RALYL protein levels in ccRCC samples (${\chi}^2$-test, p<0.001), inversely correlating with tumour size (p=0.024), T stage (0.005), N stage (p<0.001) as well as M stage (p=0.019), but not age (p=0.357) and gender (p=0.348). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis demonstrated that people with lower level of RALYL expression had a poorer survival rate than those with a higher level of RALYL expression, significantly different by the log-rank test (p=0.011). Cox regression analysis indicated that RALYL expression (p=0.039), N stage (p=0.008) and distant metastasis (p<0.001) were independent prognosis factors for the overall survival of ccRCC patients. We demonstrated that the expression of RALYL was significantly low in ccRCC and correlated with a poor prognosis in a large number of clinical samples. Our findings showed that RALYL may be a potential therapeutic target as well as a poor prognostic factor.

Influence of Controlled- and Uncontrolled-pH Operations on Recombinant Phenylalanine Ammonia Lyase Production in Escherichia coli

Jian Dong Cui,Gui Xia Zhao,Ya Nan Zhang,Shi Ru Jia 한국식품과학회 2009 Food Science and Biotechnology Vol.18 No.4

Effects of controlled- and uncontrolled-pH operations on phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) production by a recombinant Escherichia coli strain were investigated at uncontrolled-pH (pHUC) and controlled-pH (pHC) of 5.5, 6.0, 6.5, 7.0, 7.5, 8.0, and 8.5 in bioreactor systems. The results showed that the recombinant PAL activity was improved significantly by controlled pH strategy. Among the pHC operations, the highest PAL activities were obtained under pHC 7.5 strategy where cell mass (OD600 ㎚) and PAL activity was 1.3 and 1.8 fold higher than those of pHUC, respectively. The maximum PAL activity reached 123 U/g. The pHC 7.5 strategy made recombinant plasmid more stable and therefore allowed easier expression of PAL recombinant plasmid, which increased PAL production. It was indicated that the new approach (controlled-pH strategy) obtained in this work possessed a high potential for the industrial production of PAL, especially in the biosynthesis of Lphenylalanine.

Effect of Resistant Starch on HCl/ethanol-induced Gastric Injury in Rats

Yu Qian,Xin Zhao,Gui-Jie Li,Kai Zhu,Peng Sun,Xia Feng 한국응용생명화학회 2013 Applied Biological Chemistry (Appl Biol Chem) Vol.56 No.5

Three types of resistant starch (RS) products were purchased for the evaluation of gastric injury preventive effect in Sprague-Dawley rats. We used an animal model to check for gastric injury preventive activities of these RS products in vivo. RS3 reduced the levels of serum proinflammatory cytokines of IL-6 and TNF-α as compared to those of RS2 and RS4. The gastric secretion volumes from high to low order were control rats, RS2-treated rats, RS4-treated rats, RS3-treated rats, and normal rats, whereas pH levels of gastric juice showed the opposite trend. The gastric injury level was significantly decreased by RS, demonstrating its anti-inflammatory properties, with RS3showing the best anti-inflammatory effect. Gastric tissues of RS3group rats showed significantly decreased mRNA and protein expression levels of inflammation-related genes of iNOS, COX-2,TNF-α, and IL-1β compared with the control group, as shown by RT-PCR and Western blot analyses. These results suggest that RS shows a gastric injury preventive effect, with RS3 showing the best inhibitory effect on gastric injury.

Isolation and Preliminary Identification of a Novel Microorganism Producing Aspartame from Soil Samples

Jian Dong Cui,Ya Nan Zhang,Gui Xia Zhao,Shi Ru Jia,Guo Qun Zhao,Si Zhang,Jun Lu 한국식품과학회 2010 Food Science and Biotechnology Vol.19 No.2

To develop a new method for producing aspartame (APM), a simple and efficient strategy for the isolation of certain microorganisms producing APM from soil samples was designed. A newly strain with secreting certain specific dipeptidase to directly synthesize APM from the substrates of L-aspartic acid (L-Asp) and Lphenylalanine methyl ester (L-PM) without protection for amino acid side chains was screened from soil samples. APM concentration in reaction mixture was quantified by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), yield reached 0.015 g/L. Examination of the general morphological characteristics and data from the sequence analysis of the rDNA-ITS gene led to identification of the isolate as a strain of fungal endophyte spp. The newly isolated strain had a high potential for application in industrial processes for APM production. In particular, this new method was low cost for synthesis of APM during the reaction due to avoiding protection for amino acid side chains and optical resolution of the mixtures. As we known it, this is first report that a newly strain with a high potential for selective synthesis of the APM was isolated from soil.

Three P5CS genes including a novel one from Lilium regale play distinct roles in osmotic, drought and salt stress tolerance

Chi Wei,Qi Cui,Xi-Qing Zhang,Yu-Qian Zhao,Gui-Xia Jia 한국식물학회 2016 Journal of Plant Biology Vol.59 No.5

Proline accumulations in abiotically stressed plants is generally considered to benefit their stress tolerance. The Δ1-Pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase (P5CS) gene family, which encodes the rate-limiting enzyme in proline biosynthesis pathway, usually contains two duplicated genes in most plants. However, three P5CS genes including LrP5CS1, LrP5CS2 as well as a third one, LrP5CS3, were isolated from Lilium regale. LrP5CS3 is highly identical to LrP5CS1 in amino acid sequences, indicating they could come from a paralogous duplication. The phylogenetic tree suggested that the duplication of LrP5CS occurred independently after the divergence of Liliales and commelinoids. The expression of LrP5CS1 was strongly induced in leaves and roots both under drought and salinity, while that of LrP5CS3 was upregulated more moderately. LrP5CS2 stayed almost constitutive under stress. LrP5CS1 exhibited the highest activity after expressed in E. coli. Overexpression of LrP5CS genes conferred enhanced osmotic, drought and salt tolerance on transgenic Arabidopsis without negative effects in unstressed condition. Under salt stress, lines LrP5CS2 accumulated fewer proline than others, and lines LrP5CS1 grew better in root elongation. The roots of lines LrP5CS3 grew better than all others under unstressed condition and osmotic stress. Our study suggests that the three LrP5CS genes play distinct roles respectively in proline accumulation and abiotic stress tolerance.