Biomedical subjects

Xin Yao

Publications and source records attributed to Xin Yao.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2007

Two distinct types of blood vessels in clear cell renal cell carcinoma have contrasting prognostic implications.

PURPOSE: Intratumoral microvascular density (MVD) has been controversial as an indicator of prognosis in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (CCRCC). Classification of the intratumoral blood vessels based on differential expressions of blood vessel markers has not been correlated with patient prognosis in CCRCC. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the association of different categories of blood vessels with the patients' outcomes. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Seventy-eight CCRCC patients who underwent nephrectomy alone were enrolled. Paraffin-embedded CCRCC tissues, together with 16 nonmalignant kidney cortex tissues, were used in tissue microarray analyses and conventional section analyses. The characteristics of intratumoral blood vessels were identified by multiple blood vessel markers and pericyte markers. A computerized image analysis program was used to quantitatively calculate the vascular density. RESULTS: Two distinct types of microvessels were identified in CCRCC: undifferentiated (CD31(+)/CD34(-)) and differentiated (CD34(+)) vessels. A higher undifferentiated MVD significantly correlated with higher tumor grades and shorter patient survival. In contrast, a higher differentiated MVD significantly correlated with lower tumor grade and longer survival. Multivariate analyses showed that undifferentiated MVD was an independent prognostic factor for patient survival. An inverse correlation between undifferentiated MVD and differentiated MVD was also identified in CCRCC. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first report showing distinct types of vasculature in CCRCC correlated with contrasting prognoses. A refined classification of CCRCC based on vasculature is therefore important for evaluating prognosis, and it may also have therapeutic implications.

Aged↗

PubMed2006

Absolute protein expression profiling estimates the relative contributions of transcriptional and translational regulation.

We report a method for large-scale absolute protein expression measurements (APEX) and apply it to estimate the relative contributions of transcriptional- and translational-level gene regulation in the yeast and Escherichia coli proteomes. APEX relies upon correcting each protein's mass spectrometry sampling depth (observed peptide count) by learned probabilities for identifying the peptides. APEX abundances agree with measurements from controls, western blotting, flow cytometry and two-dimensional gels, as well as known correlations with mRNA abundances and codon bias, providing absolute protein concentrations across approximately three to four orders of magnitude. Using APEX, we demonstrate that 73% of the variance in yeast protein abundance (47% in E. coli) is explained by mRNA abundance, with the number of proteins per mRNA log-normally distributed about approximately 5,600 ( approximately 540 in E. coli) protein molecules/mRNA. Therefore, levels of both eukaryotic and prokaryotic proteins are set per mRNA molecule and independently of overall protein concentration, with >70% of yeast gene expression regulation occurring through mRNA-directed mechanisms.

Algorithms↗

PubMed2006

Controllable synthesis and enhanced electrochemical properties of multifunctional Au(core)Co(3)O(4shell) nanocubes.

Multifunctional Au(core)Co(3)O(4shell) nanocubes were synthesized through the introduction of chloroauric acid (HAuCl(4)) into a typical hydrothermal system after a solvothermal process was completed to form metastable Co(3)O(4) hollow nanospheres in the presence of sodium dodecyl benzenesulfonate (SDBS), which served as the surfactant. The strategy suggested that HAuCl(4) played a vital role in the shape transformation and core/shell structure formation, and the sizes of the nanocubes can be tunable through control of the acid concentration. The core/shell structure of the nanocubes was demonstrated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and element analysis (EA) measurements. Moreover, Li ion battery measurement indicated that trace Au intercalation altered not only the size and shape of the Co(3)O(4) nanoparticles but also greatly increased their electrochemical properties. These multifunctional nanocubes will be not only helpful to study physical chemistry properties of magnetic nanocrystals but also are expected to find use in many fields such as biomolecular detection and analysis, sensor, electrochemistry, and Li ion batteries.

Cobalt↗

PubMed2006

Therapeutic effect of hepatitis B surface antigen-antibody complex is associated with cytolytic and non-cytolytic immune responses in hepatitis B patients.

To study the responses of chronic hepatitis B patients to yeast-derived HBsAg-HBIG complexes (YIC) and the mechanisms involved, twenty HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B patients were immunized with 60microg of YIC or alum as the control at 4-week intervals, for 24 weeks. Five of ten patients responded to 60microg YIC immunization showing > or =2 logs decrease of serum HBV DNA with loss or marked reduction of HBeAg and appearance of anti-HBe; two of these patients developed anti-HBs. Flares of alanine aminotransferase were observed in 4 of the 5 responders, and in 2 out of 10 control patients. HBsAg-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) secreted Th1/Th2 cytokines around 24 weeks after immunization. Dendritic cells incubated with YIC showed the highest levels of IL-12 secretion and up-regulation of functional markers. Thus, the therapeutic effect of YIC is associated with cytolytic and non-cytolytic responses in patients.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

A wavelet-based data pre-processing analysis approach in mass spectrometry.

Recently, mass spectrometry analysis has a become an effective and rapid approach in detecting early-stage cancer. To identify proteomic patterns in serum to discriminate cancer patients from normal individuals, machine-learning methods, such as feature selection and classification, have already been involved in the analysis of mass spectrometry (MS) data with some success. However, the performance of existing machine learning methods for MS data analysis still needs improving. The study in this paper proposes a wavelet-based pre-processing approach to MS data analysis. The approach applies wavelet-based transforms to MS data with the aim of de-noising the data that are potentially contaminated in acquisition. The effects of the selection of wavelet function and decomposition level on the de-noising performance have also been investigated in this study. Our comparative experimental results demonstrate that the proposed de-noising pre-processing approach has potentials to remove possible noise embedded in MS data, which can lead to improved performance for existing machine learning methods in cancer detection.

Algorithms↗

PubMed2006

Interaction dynamics of neuronal oscillations analysed using wavelet transforms.

This paper describes the use of a computational tool based on the Morlet wavelet transform to investigate the interaction dynamics between oscillations generated by two anatomically distinct neuronal populations. The tool uses cross wavelet transform, coherence, bi-spectrum/bi-coherence and phase synchronization. Using specimen data recorded from the hippocampus of a rat with experimentally induced focal epilepsy, linear and non-linear correlations between neuronal oscillations in the CA1 and CA3 regions have been computed. The results of this real case study show that the computational tool can successfully analyse and quantify the temporal interactions between neuronal oscillators and could be employed to investigate the mechanisms underlying epilepsy.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

In situ amplified chemiluminescent detection of DNA and immunoassay of IgG using special-shaped gold nanoparticles as label.

BACKGROUND: Au(III) catalyzed luminol chemiluminescence (CL) is classic in luminescence analysis. Recently, spherical gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) were found displaying far stronger catalytic activity on luminol CL than that of Au(III). Some methods based on Au-NPs probes have been developed for DNA detection or immunoassay. However, more complicated labeling or stripping procedures are often inescapable in these protocols. METHODS: We synthesized specially shaped, irregular gold nanoparticles (IGNPs) and found their catalytic efficiency on luminol CL to be 100-fold greater than that of spherical Au-NPs. Using the IGNPs-functionalized DNA oligomers and the IGNPs-modified anti-IgG as in situ chemiluminescent probes, we established sandwich-type analytic methods for rapid, simple, selective, and sensitive sequence-specific DNA detection and for human plasma IgG immunoassay, respectively. We used 12 clinical human plasma samples to examine the precision and accuracy of the proposed method for IgG content determination. RESULTS: Calibration curves for the oligonucleotide [DeltaI = 15.73 + 27.55 (DNA) x 10(10) (mol/L); R(2) = 0.9936] and IgG [DeltaI = 48.84 + 30.23 (IgG) x 10(10) (mol/L); R(2) = 0.9964] show good correlation, demonstrating the linear response over the concentrations tested (0.04-10 nmol/L for DNA, 0.05-10 nmol/L for IgG). The limit of detection, calculated based on 50 microL of a solution of calibrators, was 13 pmol/L for DNA and 17 pmol/L for IgG, with a signal-to-noise ratio of 3. We obtained good intra-and interassay reproducibility. The IgG contents in 12 human plasma samples obtained by the proposed method are identical with the data of clinical laboratory. CONCLUSIONS: We developed a simple and sensitive method for in situ amplified chemiluminescence detection of sequence-specific DNA and immunoassay of IgG by use of highly active, specially shaped, irregular gold nanoparticles (IGNPs) as label and confirmed by clinical samples test. This method has many desirable features including rapid detection, selectivity, and little required instrumentation. This new protocol may be quite promising, with potentially broad applications for clinical immunoassays and DNA hybridization analysis.

Catalysis↗

PubMed2006

Hairpin DNA probe based electrochemical biosensor using methylene blue as hybridization indicator.

In this paper, a label-free, rapid and simple method was proposed to study the hybridization specificity of hairpin DNA probe using methylene blue (MB) as a hybridization indicator. Thiolated hairpin DNA probe was immobilized on the gold electrode by self-assembly. The voltammetric signals of MB were investigated at these modified electrodes by means of cyclic voltammetry (CV) detection. Single-base mutation oligonucleotide and random oligonucleotide can be easily discriminated from complementary target DNA. The effect of mismatch position in target DNA was investigated. Experimental results showed that mutation in the center of target DNA had greatest effect on the hybridization with hairpin DNA probe. The relationship between electrochemical responses and DNA target concentration was also studied. The reduction current of MB intercalation decreased with increasing the concentration of target DNA. Taken together, these experiments demonstrate that the hybridization indicator MB provides great promise for rapid and specific measurement of target DNA.

Biosensing Techniques↗

PubMed2006

Sub-attomole oligonucleotide and p53 cDNA determinations via a high-resolution surface plasmon resonance combined with oligonucleotide-capped gold nanoparticle signal amplification.

Oligonucleotide (ODN)-capped gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) were used in a sandwich assay of ODN or polynucleotide by a flow injection surface plasmon resonance (SPR). A carboxylated dextran film was immobilized onto the SPR sensor surface to eliminate nonspecific adsorption of ODN-capped Au-NPs. The tandem use of signal amplification via the adlayer of the ODN-capped Au-NPs and the differential signal detection by the bicell detector on the SPR resulted in a remarkable DNA detection level. A 39-mer target at a quantity as low as 2.1 x 10(-20)mol, corresponding to 1.38 fM in a 15 microl solution, can be measured. To our knowledge, both the concentration and quantity detection levels are the lowest among all the gene analyses conducted with SPR to this point. The method is shown to be reproducible (relative standard deviation values <16%) and to possess high sequence specificity. It is also demonstrated to be viable for sequence-specific p53 cDNA analysis. The successful elimination of nonspecific adsorption of, and the signal amplification by, ODN-capped Au-NPs renders the SPR attractive for cases where the DNA concentration is extremely low and the sample availability is severely limited.

Adsorption↗

PubMed2006

Gene selection algorithms for microarray data based on least squares support vector machine.

BACKGROUND: In discriminant analysis of microarray data, usually a small number of samples are expressed by a large number of genes. It is not only difficult but also unnecessary to conduct the discriminant analysis with all the genes. Hence, gene selection is usually performed to select important genes. RESULTS: A gene selection method searches for an optimal or near optimal subset of genes with respect to a given evaluation criterion. In this paper, we propose a new evaluation criterion, named the leave-one-out calculation (LOOC, A list of abbreviations appears just above the list of references) measure. A gene selection method, named leave-one-out calculation sequential forward selection (LOOCSFS) algorithm, is then presented by combining the LOOC measure with the sequential forward selection scheme. Further, a novel gene selection algorithm, the gradient-based leave-one-out gene selection (GLGS) algorithm, is also proposed. Both of the gene selection algorithms originate from an efficient and exact calculation of the leave-one-out cross-validation error of the least squares support vector machine (LS-SVM). The proposed approaches are applied to two microarray datasets and compared to other well-known gene selection methods using codes available from the second author. CONCLUSION: The proposed gene selection approaches can provide gene subsets leading to more accurate classification results, while their computational complexity is comparable to the existing methods. The GLGS algorithm can also better scale to datasets with a very large number of genes.

Algorithms↗

PubMed2006

Double loading of dendritic cell MHC class I and MHC class II with an AML antigen repertoire enhances correlates of T-cell immunity in vitro via amplification of T-cell help.

Therapeutic vaccination with dendritic cells presenting tumor-specific antigens is now recognized as an important investigational therapy for the treatment of neoplastic disease. Dendritic cell cross-presentation is credited with the ability of tumor lysate-loaded dendritic cells to prime both CD4 and CD8-specific T-lymphocyte responses, enabling the generation of cancer specific CTL activity without the loading of the classical MHC class I compartment. Recently, however, several reports have raised doubts as to the efficiency of cross-presentation as a mechanism for CTL priming in vivo. To examine this issue, we have doubly-loaded human dendritic cells with both AML-specific tumor lysate and AML-specific tumor mRNA. Our results show that these doubly-loaded dendritic cells can mediate superior primary, recall, and effector lytic responses in vitro in comparison to those of dendritic cells loaded with either tumor lysate or tumor mRNA alone. Enhanced recall responses appeared to be influenced by CD40/CD40L signaling, underscoring the importance of T-cell help in the generation and perpetuation of the adaptive immune response.

Antigens, Neoplasm↗

PubMed2006

Composite system based on chitosan and room-temperature ionic liquid: direct electrochemistry and electrocatalysis of hemoglobin.

A novel polymer/room-temperature ionic liquid (RTIL) composite material based on chitosan (Chi) and 1-butyl-3-methyl-imidazolium tetrafluoroborate (BMIM.BF(4)) was explored. The composite system can be readily used as an immobilization matrix to entrap proteins and enzymes. Hemoglobin (Hb) was chosen as a model protein to investigate the composite system. A pair of well-defined quasireversible redox peaks of hemoglobin were obtained at the Chi-BMIM.BF(4)-Hb composite-film-modified glassy carbon (GC) electrode by direct electron transfer between the protein and the GC electrode. Dramatically enhanced biocatalytic activity was exemplified at the Chi-BMIM.BF(4)-Hb/GC electrode by the reduction of oxygen and trichloroacetic acid. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) suggests that the Chi-BMIM.BF(4)-Hb composite has higher thermal stability than Chi-Hb itself. The Chi-BMIM.BF(4)-Hb film was also characterized by UV-visible spectra, indicating excellent stability in solution and good biocompatibility for protein. The unique composite material based on polymer and ionic liquid can find wide potential applications in direct electrochemistry, biosensors, and biocatalysis.

Biocompatible Materials↗

PubMed2006

[Improvement of PVC bio-carrier surface property by remote plasma].

The effects of various remote plasma, such as Ar, He, O2 and N2 on PVC bio-carrier surface modification were studied. The surface properties were characterized by the contact angle measurement and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The role of all kinds of active species such as electrons, ions and free radicals involved in plasma surface modification were evaluated. Results show that the remote plasma treatments modify the PVC surface in both wettability and composition, the (O + N)/C of PVC surface increases from 7% to 22%, and the water contact angle decreases from 97 degrees to 15 degrees. The optimal results was achieved when plasma treatment parameters were set, that is treatment time 3 min, Ar flux at 20 cm3/s, power at 60W, sample position of 40 cm. The results show that the modified PVC Bio-carrier adhesion rate and capacity on the modified surface are greatly increased.

Argon↗

PubMed2006

[Cyclin D1 and its association with airway remodeling in a murine model of asthma].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the expression of cyclin D(1) in asthmatic mouse lungs, and to explore the role of cyclin D(1) in bronchial asthma and airway remodeling. METHODS: Forty BALB/c mice were randomized to group A (normal), group B (sensitized for 2 weeks), group C (sensitized for 4 weeks) and group D (sensitized for 8 weeks), 10 mice each group. The mice were sensitized with 10% ovalbumin and challenged with 1% ovalbumin to establish the asthmatic model. The number of eosinophils and the cell percentages in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were counted by cytology method. Pulmonary functions were measured to evaluate the resistance of expiration. Airway inflammation and eosinophil infiltration were evaluated by HE staining, and the airway wall thickness (WAt/Pi), smooth muscle thickness (WAm/Pi) and smooth nucleus counts (N/Pi) were quantified by computer-assisted image analysis system. The mRNA expression of cyclin D(1) was measured by RT-PCR and Real-time PCR. The protein expression of cyclin D(1) was assayed by Western blot. The correlation between airway resistance of expiration and the expression of cyclin D(1) was studied. RESULTS: The eosinophil count and differential in BALF of group B, C, and D [(42.6 +/- 0.9) x 10(4)/L, (54.7 +/- 1.4) x 10(4)/L, (44.8 +/- 2.4) x 10(4)/L] were higher than those of group A (3.4 +/- 0.5) x 10(4)/L (q = 79.75, 91.42, 84.82, all P < 0.01). The airway resistance of expiration after challenge with 45 microg/kg acetylcholine in group B, C, and D [(5.27 +/- 0.16) cmxL(-1)xmin(-1), (6.68 +/- 0.20) cmxL(-1)xmin(-1), (7.14 +/- 0.41) cmxL(-1)xmin(-1)] was higher than that in group A [(4.11 +/- 0.15) cmxL(-1)xmin(-1), q = 5.58, 6.39, 7.11, all P < 0.05]. Eosinophil infiltration, cilium loss, formation of mucus plug and smooth muscle cell layer thickening were observed in group B, C, and D. The morphological changes of the airways became evident following airway remodeling. WAm/Pi in group B, C, and D (2.8 +/- 0.6, 4.8 +/- 0.6, 6.4 +/- 0.7) were higher than in group A (2.4 +/- 0.4, q = 6.40, 8.28, 9.27, all P < 0.05), and WAt/Pi in group B, C, and D (6.4 +/- 0.8, 8.3 +/- 1.2, 9.3 +/- 1.0) were higher than in group A (5.6 +/- 1.0, q = 2.80, 4.83, 6.37, all P < 0.05). The protein expression of Cyclin D(1) in group B, C, and D (0.587 +/- 0.015, 0.808 +/- 0.029, 0.826 +/- 0.022) were higher than in group A (0.404 +/- 0.016, q = 5.87, 8.08, 8.26, all P < 0.01). There was a positive correlation between the expression of cyclin D(1) and airway resistance (r = 0.83, P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The expression of cyclin D(1) in the asthmatic mouse lung was increased, and positively correlated to airway reactivity. Cyclin D(1) might be essential in the airway remodeling of asthma through ERK signaling pathway.

Airway Remodeling↗

PubMed2005

Chemiluminescence of CdTe nanocrystals induced by direct chemical oxidation and its size-dependent and surfactant-sensitized effect.

CdTe nanocrystals (NCs) capped with thioglycolic acid (TGA) were synthesized via a microwave-assisted method. The chemiluminescence (CL) of CdTe NCs induced by directly chemical oxidation and its size-depended and surfactant-sensitized effect in aqueous solution were then investigated. It was found that oxidants, especially hydrogen peroxide and potassium permanganate, could directly oxidize CdTe NCs to produce strong CL emission in basic conditions. The oxidized CL of CdTe NCs displayed size-dependent effect and its intensity increased along with increasing the sizes of the NCs. Moreover, the CL intensity could, if surfactants CTAB or beta-cyclodextrin were added to the above CL system, be sensitized to some degree. The sensitized CL induced by CTAB and beta-cyclodextrin is mainly contributing to the formation of aggregate nanostructure and the micellar micronanoenvironment, respectively. The possible oxidized CL mechanisms were further examined by means of photoluminescence spectra, CL spectra, and transmission electron microscopy studies. The CL properties of CdTe NCs not only will be helpful to study physical chemistry properties of semiconductor nanocrystals but also are expected to find use in many fields such as luminescence devices, bioanalysis, and multicolor labeling probes.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2005

Adenovirus-mediated overexpression of novel mutated IkappaBalpha inhibits nuclear factor kappaB activation in endothelial cells.

BACKGROUND: Nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) overactivation, requiring phosphorylation and degradation of its inhibitor IkappaBalpha, is the basis for chronicity of airway inflammation in asthma. Based on our previous plasmid pShuttle-IkappaBalpha, carrying an IkappaBalpha gene from human placenta, we optimized a novel IkappaBalpha mutant (IkappaBalphaM) gene, constructed and characterized its replication-deficient recombinant adenovirus (AdIkappaBalphaM), and tested whether AdIkappaBalphaM-mediated overexpression of IkappaBalphaM could inhibit the NF-kappaB activation in endothelial cells. METHODS: IkappaBalphaM gene (203 - 1003 bp) encoding 267 amino acids, acquired by site-directed deleting N-terminal phosphorylation sites of serine 32/36, was subcloned into the pShuttle and pGEM-T vectors for further polymerase chain reaction (PCR), restriction digestion, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequencing and homology analyses. Subsequent to inserting the expression unit of pShuttle-IkappaBalphaM, containing cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter, IkappaBalphaM complementary DNA (cDNA) and polyadenylic acid (PolyA) signals, into the type 5 adenovirus (Ad5) vector, the resultant AdIkappaBalphaM was packaged in human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells by cotransfection with lipofectamine. Western blot analysis and electrophoretic mobility shift assay were utilized to detect the AdIkappaBalphaM-mediated overexpression of IkappaBalphaM in HEK293 cells and its suppressive effect on phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA)-induced NF-kappaB activation in human umbilical vein endothelial (ECV304) cells, respectively. RESULTS: The relevant nucleotides and deduced amino acids of 801 bp IkappaBalphaM gene were consistent with those of IkappaBalpha gene (GenBank accession number: M69043). The titer of the prepared AdIkappaBalphaM was 4.0 x 10 (12) plaque-forming units (pfu)/L. Moreover, the IkappaBalphaM gene was overexpressed in HEK293 cells, and potently inhibited the PMA-induced NF-kappaB activation in ECV304 cells dose-dependently. CONCLUSIONS: AdIkappaBalphaM is a novel vector for both efficient transfer and specific overexpression of IkappaBalphaM gene, as well as potent inhibition of NF-kappaB activity, providing a promising strategy for gene therapy of asthma.

Adenoviridae↗

PubMed2005

Efficacy of Chinese medicine Yi-gan-kang granule in prophylaxis and treatment of liver fibrosis in rats.

AIM: To investigate the efficacy of a Chinese medicine, Yi-gan-kang granule (granules for benefiting the liver), in prophylaxis and treatment of liver fibrosis in rats and its possible mechanism. METHODS: One hundred and forty Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into seven groups (20 each): group 1, blank control group without any interference during the study; group 2, CCl4-induced liver fibrosis group; group 3, pig serum-induced liver fibrosis group; group 4, prophylaxis group of CCl4-induced liver fibrosis by Yi-gan-kang; group 5, prophylaxis group of pig serum-induced liver fibrosis by Yi-gan-kang; group 6, treatment group of CCl4-induced liver fibrosis by Yi-gan-kang; group 7, treatment group of CCl4-induced liver fibrosis by Yi-gan-kang. At wk 6, 10, 14 and 20 (baseline for CCl4 or big serum induction), five rats in each group were anesthetized and their livers were removed for pathological studies including immunohistochemical studies for alpha-SMA, type I collagen and in situ hybridization of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) mRNA of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). Anti-lipid peroxidation in isolated mitochondria and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) colorimetric assay for proliferation and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-medicated dUTP-biotin nick end-labeling (TUNEL), flow cytometry and electron microscopy for apoptosis in isolated HSCs were also studied. RESULTS: The mean number of pseudolobuli at wk 10, 14 and 20 in the prophylaxis group was significantly less than that in the control group (P<0.05 or 0.01). The effect of prophylaxis at wk 14 in CCl4 rats and at wk 10 in pig serum-induced rats was much better than that of treatment group (P<0.01). The thickness (in microm) of fibers both in pig serum-induced prophylaxis and in treatment groups at wk 14 and 20 was significantly less than that in control group (P<0.05). The number of fibers both in prophylaxis and in treatment groups from wk 10 or 14 to 20 was significantly less than that in control group (P<0.05 or P<0.01). The tissue HSC positive rates of type I collagen, alpha-SMA and TIMP-1 mRNA, which represented the active phenotype of HSCs in tissues, remained very high from wk 6 to the end of model making in control group. While in prophylaxis group, they were at a relatively low level. In treatment group, there was a gradual decreasing trend. Time- and dose-dependent effects of anti-lipid peroxidation on isolated mitochondria, cell proliferation and apoptosis in cultured HSCs were also observed during the study. CONCLUSION: Yi-gan-kang can effectively inhibit or inverse the course of liver fibrogenesis in CCl4- and pig serum-induced rat models.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Clinical empathy as emotional labor in the patient-physician relationship.

Empathy should characterize all health care professions. Despite advancement in medical technology, the healing relationship between physicians and patients remains essential to quality care. We propose that physicians consider empathy as emotional labor (ie, management of experienced and displayed emotions to present a certain image). Since the publication of Hochschild's The Managed Heart in 1983, researchers in management and organization behavior have been studying emotional labor by service workers, such as flight attendants and bill collectors. In this article, we focus on physicians as professionals who are expected to be empathic caregivers. They engage in such emotional labor through deep acting (ie, generating empathy-consistent emotional and cognitive reactions before and during empathic interactions with the patient, similar to the method-acting tradition used by some stage and screen actors), surface acting (ie, forging empathic behaviors toward the patient, absent of consistent emotional and cognitive reactions), or both. Although deep acting is preferred, physicians may rely on surface acting when immediate emotional and cognitive understanding of patients is impossible. Overall, we contend that physicians are more effective healers--and enjoy more professional satisfaction--when they engage in the process of empathy. We urge physicians first to recognize that their work has an element of emotional labor and, second, to consciously practice deep and surface acting to empathize with their patients. Medical students and residents can benefit from long-term regular training that includes conscious efforts to develop their empathic abilities. This will be valuable for both physicians and patients facing the increasingly fragmented and technological world of modern medicine.

Empathy↗