Physiological and Biochemical Responses of Chinese Cabbage to La and Zn Stresses

[Objective] The aim of this study was to explore the physiological and biochemical responses of Chinese cabbage to La and Zn. [Method] The effects of La and Zn on seed germination and seedling growth were explored by tissue culture method. [Result] La and Zn had little effects on seed germination rate, but significantly inhibited the growth of root and seedling, decreased their fresh weight at higher concentration; the inhibition of La proved higher on Chinese cabbage. The contents of chlorophyll and soluble protein increased at lower concentrations of La and Zn, but decreased at higher concentrations. With increasing doses of La and Zn, the activities of CAT and POD rose gradually, while SOD activity decreased at lower doses and increased at higher doses. Both of La and Zn would promote Of. producing and MDA accumulation. [Conclusion] In higher concentration, La was more poisonous than Zn. It is clear that the poisonous mechanism of La is similar to that of Zn. Hence, La is possibly a kind of new pollutant.

Physiological and Biochemical Response of Artificial Wetland Plant under Electric Field

By measuring wetland plants chlorophyll content,malondialdehyde(MDA) content and superoxide dismutase(SOD) enzyme activity,the changes of wetland plant physiological characeristics under different power strength were studied,and the mechanism of electric field on plant physiological characteristics was analyzed to provide a theoretical basis for the pollutant removal ability strengthening of artificial wetland under electricfield.The results showed that compared with the control plants,low-intensity-voltage(1 V and 3 V) had no significant effect on the normal physiological and biochemical indexes of the plants,and the growth trend was better than the control group;with the voltage increasing,plant chlorophyll content,MDA content and SOD activity were greatly affected,indicating that plants were under strong oxidative stress,and the growth was damaged.Therefore,a suitable electric field could enhance the sewage treatment effect of constructed wetland.

Biochemical responses of freshwater fish Carassius auratus to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and pesticides

The freshwater fish Carassius auratus was chosen as an experimental subject, and their hepatic biochemical responses to the medium-term exposure of Benzo（k）fluoranthene （BkF） alone and in combination with PCB 118 and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane （DDT） were investigated by measuring the reduced glutathione （GSH）, glutathione S-transferase （GST）, and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances （TBARS）, to assess sublethal effects. The hepatic GSH content was significantly inhibited by organic pollutants, alone and in mixtures, while the TBARS content was significantly induced after three days of exposure. Bell-shaped concentration-response charts of GST activities were obtained. Significant dose-response relationships were found for hepatic GSH and TBARS contents of all concentrations and for the GST activity, except at the highest concentration. The GSH content, GST activity, and TBARS content in Carassius auratus were confirmed as useful biomarkers of exposure to organic pollutions.

Effects of 2,5-Norbornadiene （NBD） on Physiological and Biochemical Responses of Fresh-cut Winter Squash

Ethylene is one of the most important plant hormones that regulate physiological responses, maturity and senescence of postharvest fruits and vegetables. The determination of its role in the wound-healing response of fruits and vegetables is helpful in understanding the wound responses. 2,5-Norbornadiene （NBD）, inhibitor ethylene binding were used to determine the effect of ethylene action on wound-induced response of fresh-cut winter squash, a kind of vegetables known to produce ethylene markedly after cutting. The effect of NBD on the physiological and biochemical changes of fresh-cut winter squash was investigated in this experiment. The results showed that NBD had great effects on physio-biochemical metabolism of fresh-cut winter squash. Ethylene production was inhibited significantly by NBD. NBD also had an inhibition effect on polyphenol oxidase （PPO）, peroxidase （POD） and phenylalanine ammonia lyase （PAL） activity. The effect of NBD on lipoxygenase （LOX） activity and superoxide dismutase （SOD） was not obvious. NBD treated sample showed a more rapid increase in catalase （CAT） activity, which may help in healing the damage of the tissue. These information are important in understanding the fundamental biology of wound response and in the development of new technology to hasten wound-healing and, thereby, to minimize costly wound-related problems in fresh-cut industry.

Pegylated-interferon alpha 2a treatment for chronic hepatitis C in patients on chronic haemodialysis

AIM： To evaluate the response to pegylated-interferon alpha 2a in chronic hepatitis C patients on chronic haemodialysis. METHODS： Ten patients with chronic C hepatitis were enrolled in this study. All had increased aminotransferases for more than 6 too, positive antiHCV antibodies and positive PCR HCV-RNA. We administrated Peg-Interferon alpha 2a 180 μg/wk for 48 wk. After 12 wk of treatment we evaluated the biochemical and early virological response （EVR）. At the end of the treatment we evaluated the biochemical response and 24 wk after the end of the treatment we evaluated the sustained virological response （SVR）. We monitored the sideeffects during the treatment. RESULTS： Two patients dropped out in the first 12 wk of treatment and 2 after the first 12 wk of treatment. After 12 wk of treatment, 7 out of 8 patients had biochemical response and EVR and 1 had biochemical response but persistent viremia. We had to reduce the dose of pegylated-interferon to 135 μg/wk in 2 cases. Three out of 6 （50%） patients had SVR 24 wk after the end of the treatment. Intention-to-treat analysis showed that 3 out of 10 patients （30%） had SVR. Side-effects occurred in most of the patients （flu-like syndrome, thrombocytopenia or leucopoenia）, but they did not impose the discontinuation of treatment. CONCLUSION： After 12 wk of treatment with Peg-Interferon alpha 2a （40 ku） in patients on chronic haemodialysis with chronic C hepatitis, EVR was obtained in 87.5% （7/8） of the cases. SVR was achieved in 50% of the cases （3/6 patients） that finished the 48 wk of treatment.

Comparison of corneal biomechanical properties in normal tension glaucoma patients with different visual field progression speed

AIM：To compare the corneal biomechanical properties difference by ocular response analyzer（ORA） in normal tension glaucoma（NTG） patients with different visual field（VF） progression speed. METHODS：NTG patients with well-controlled Goldmann applanation tonometer（GAT） who routinely consulted Kitasato University Hospital Glaucoma Department between January 2010 and February 2014 were enrolled.GAT and ORA parameters including corneal compensated intraocular pressure（lOPcc）,Goldmann estimated intraocular pressure（lOPg）,corneal hysteresis（CH）,corneal resistance factor（CRF） were recorded.VF was tested by Swedish interactive threshold algorithm（SITA）-standard 30-2 fields.All patients underwent VF measurement regularly and GAT did not exceed 15 mm Hg at any time during the 3y follow up.Patients were divided into four groups according to VF change over 3y,and ORA findings were compared between the upper 25th percentile group（slow progression group） and the lower 25th percentile group（rapid progression group）.RESULTS：Eighty-two eyes of 56 patients were studied.There were 21 eyes（21 patients） each in rapid and slow progression groups respectively.GAT,lOPcc,lOPg,CH,CRF were 12.1＋1.4 mm Hg,15.8±1.8 mm Hg,12.8±2.0 mm Hg,8.4±1.1 mm Hg,7.9±1.3 mm Hg respectively in rapid progression group and 11.5±1.3 mm Hg,13.5±2.1 mm Hg,11.2±1.6 mm Hg,9.3±1.1 mm Hg,8.2±0.9 mm Hg respectively in slow progression group（P=0.214,〈0.001,0.007,0.017,0.413,respectively）.In bivariate correlation analysis,lOPcc,lOPcc-GAT and CH were significant correlated with m△MD（r =-0.292,-0.312,0.228 respectively,P =0.008,0.004,0.039 respectively）.CONCLUSION：Relatively rapid VF progression occurred in NTG patients whose lOPcc are rather high,CH are rather low and the difference between lOPcc and GAT are relatively large.Higher lOPcc and lower CH are associated with VF progression in NTG patients.This study suggests that GAT measures might underestimate the IOP in such patients.

Observation on therapeutic efficacy of ursodeoxycholic acid in Chinese patients with primary biliary cirrhosis:a 2-year follow-up study

The efficacy of ursodeoxycholic acid(UDCA)on long-term outcome of primary biliary cirrhosis(PBC)has been less documented in Chinese cohort.We aimed to assess the therapeutic effect of UDCA on Chinese patients with PBC.In the present study,67 patients with PBC were treated with UDCA(13–15 mg∙kg^(-1)∙day^(-1))and followed up for 2 years to evaluate the changes of symptoms,laboratory values and histological features.As the results indicated,fatigue and pruritus were obviously improved by UDCA,particularly in patients with mild or moderate symptoms.The alkaline phosphatase andγ-glutamyl transpetidase levels significantly declined at year 2 comparing to baseline values,with the most profound effects achieved in patients at stage 2.The levels of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase significantly decreased whereas serum bilirubin and immunoglobulin M levels exhibited no significant change.Histological feature was stable in patients at stages 1–2 but still progressed in patients at stages 3–4.The biochemical response of patients at stage 2 was much better than that of patients at stages 3–4.These data suggest that,when treated in earlier stage,patients in long-term administration of UDCA can gain favorable results not only on symptoms and biochemical responses but also on histology.It is also indicated that later histological stage,bad biochemical response and severe symptom may be indicators of poor prognosis for UDCA therapy.