Ameliorative effect and potential mechanism of Ermiao san on adjuvant-induced arthritis in rats

Purpose: To investigate the effect and mechanism of action of Ermiao san (EMS), a traditional Chinese herbal formula, on inflammation development and production of inflammatory mediators in adjuvantinduced arthritis (AIA). Methods: AIA was induced by injection of 0.1 ml Freund’s complete adjuvant (FCA, 10 mg/ml) in the left hind footpad of the rats. AIA rats were intragastricly treated with 0.5, 1, 2 g/kg EMS or 0.1 g/kg methotrexate from day 7 to 28 after FCA challenge. Foot volume and histological score were measured. Osteoclast number was calculated by tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) staining assay. Levels of prostaglandin (PG) E2, tumor necrosis factor (TNF) -α and interleukin (IL)-1β in serum were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) while the level of nitric oxide (NO) in serum was analyzed by Griess reaction method. Results: Foot volume, histological score, osteoclast number and serum levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, PGE2 and NO were all increased in AIA group rats on day 28 after FCA challenge (all p < 0.01) compared with control. EMS (1 and 2 g/kg) significantly decreased the foot volume of AIA rats by 10 % (p < 0.05) and 19 % (p < 0.01), respectively, compared with AIA group. Furthermore, 1 and 2 g/kg EMS significantly reduced histological score by about 28 % (p < 0.05) and 46 % (p < 0.01), respectively, as well as osteoclast number by 12 % (p < 0.05) and 15 % (p < 0.05), respectively, compared with AIA group. In addition, 1 and 2 g/kg EMS significantly decreased the serum levels of TNF-α about 23 % (p < 0.05) and 43 % (p < 0.01), IL-1β by15 % (p < 0.05) and 26 % (p < 0.01), NO 13 % (p < 0.05) and 26 % (p < 0.01) as well as PGE2 by 11 % (p < 0.05) and 15 % (p < 0.01), respectively, compared with AIA group. Conclusion: These results suggest that EMS probably alleviates arthritis development and joint destruction by decreasing the production of inflammatory mediators in AIA rats.

Structural determination and gynecological tumor diagnosis using antibody chip captured proteins

Purpose: To identify markers for gynecological tumor diagnosis using antibody chip capture. Methods: Marker proteins, including cancer antigen 153 (CA153), CA125, and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), were analyzed using antibody chip capture of serum samples. Fifteen agglutinin types that specifically recognized five common glycans (fucose, sialic acid, mannose, N - acetylgalactosamine, and N-acetylglucosamine) were used to detect marker protein glycan levels. The levels of CA153, CA125, and CEA from 49 healthy control samples, 31 breast cancer samples, 24 cervical cancer samples, and 19 ovarian cancer samples were used to measure the glycan levels of these marker proteins. Results: In breast cancer samples, CA153 and CA125 were down-regulated (p < 0.01), while differences in ovarian cancer samples were not statistically significant (p > 0.01). The total accuracy was 85.1 %, with 96.8 % accuracy for breast cancer, 75 % in cervical cancer, and 78.9 % in ovarian cancer. Cross-validation analyses showed that breast cancer had 93.5 % accuracy, cervical cancer was 66.7 %, and ovarian cancer was 68.4 %, leading to 78.4 % total accuracy (58/74). Conclusions: The results indicate that better clinical diagnosis of gynecological tumors can be obtained by monitoring changes in glycan levels of serum proteins and types of proteoglycan changes.