ObjectiveTo explore the possible mechanism of Danggui Sini Granules （当归四逆颗粒） in treatment of coronary heart disease with cold congealing and blood stasis syndrome. MethodsFifty SD rats were randomly divided into a blank group， a model group， a Danshen Pill （丹参滴丸） group， and a low- and high-dosage Danggui Sini Granules group， with 10 rats in each group. Except for the blank group， the rat model of coronary heart disease with cold congealing and blood stasis syndrome was established by repeated cold stimulation at low temperature combined with intraperitoneal injection of posterior pituitary hormone in all other groups. In the 6th week of modelling， 0.073 g·kg^-1·d^-1 of compound Danshen Pill was given to the Danshen Pill group， 20.2 and 40.4 g·kg^-1·d^-1 of Danggui Sini Granules were given to the low- and high-dose Danggui Sini Granules groups， respectively， and 0.2 ml/10 g of sterile water was given to the blank group and the model group， all for 2 consecutive weeks. The general conditions of the rats were recorded， and the body mass was compared weekly. At the end of the intervention， electrocardiogram， blood rheological indexes， including whole blood low-cut viscosity， whole blood high-cut viscosity， erythrocyte aggregation index， and cardiac index were detected to evaluate the effect of the medication， and HE staining was used to observe the myocardial histopathological changes， TUNEL staining to detect the apoptotic situation of cardiomyocytes， and ELISA to detect the serum thyroid-stimulating hormone （TSH）， free triiodothyronine （FT₃）， free tetraiodothyronine （FT₄） levels and thromboxane B₂ （TXB₂）， 6-keto-prostaglandin F1α （6-Keto-PGF_1α）， endothelin 1 （ET-1）， and nitric oxide （NO） levels. ResultsCompared with the blank group at the same time point， the body mass of rats in the remaining groups decreased at all time points （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）； compared with the model group at the same time point， the body mass of rats in high-dose Danggui Sini Granules group and Danshen Pill group increased at the 6th and 7th weeks （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. In the blank group， the S-T segment of the electrocardiogram was close to the isoelectric line， the myocardial structure was regular， the fibres were closely arranged， and the nuclei of the cells were intact and neatly aligned； in the model group， the S-T segment of the electrocardiogram significantly elevated， and the arrangement of the myocardial fibres was obviously disordered， with myocardial cells appearing to be swollen， necrotic， and infiltrated by inflammatory cells， and the apoptosis-positive cells of the cardiac muscle cells obviously increased； in each of the medication groups， the electrocardiogram had a lowered S-T segment， and myocardial fibres were aligned， myocyte structure and morphology were improved， inflammatory cells reduced， and the number of apoptosis-positive cells significantly reduced. Compared with the blank group， the cardiac index， whole blood high cut viscosity， whole blood low cut viscosity， erythrocyte aggregation index increased in the model group， and the serum levels of TSH， FT₃， FT₄， NO， 6-Keto-PGF_1α significantly reduced， and the levels of ET-1 and TXB₂ significantly increased （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. Compared with the model group， the levels of cardiac index， whole blood high cut viscosity， whole blood low cut viscosity， erythrocyte aggregation index， ET-1 and TXB₂ significantly decreased and the levels of NO and 6-Keto-PGF_1α significantly increased in each medication group， and the serum levels of TSH， FT₃， and FT₄ elevated in the high-dose Danggui Sini Granules group and Danshen Pill group （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. The serum TSH level of rats in the low-dose Danggui Sini Granules group was lower than that in Danshen Pill group and the high-dose Danggui Sini Granules group （P＜0.01）. ConclusionDanggui Sini Granules have the effect of alleviating myocardial injury in coronary heart disease with cold congealing and blood stasis syndrome， and its mechanism may be related to reducing myocardial cell apoptosis， improving energy metabolism， and regulating the level of vasoactive factors.

ObjectiveTo explore the mechanism of Wutou Chishizhi Wan in regulating autophagy and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase （PI3K）/protein kinase B （Akt）/glycogen synthase kinase-3β （GSK-3β） signaling pathway in rats with myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury （MIRI）. MethodSixty male SD rats were randomly assigned into the normal group （normal saline）， model group （normal saline）， positive control （trimetazidine， 5.4 mg·kg^-1） group， and low-， medium-， and high-dose （1.63， 4.9， 14.7 g·kg^-1， respectively） Wutou Chishizhi Wan groups， with 10 rats in each group. The rats in other groups except the normal group underwent left anterior descending coronary artery ligation for modeling. Electrocardiogram was employed to detect the ST-segment elevation to evaluate the modeling. Hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining was performed to reveal the damage of myocardial tissue. The levels of aspartate aminotransferase （AST） and creatine kinase （CK） were determined by colorimetry， and those of cardiac troponin T （cTnT） and myoglobin （MYO） by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）. Western blot was carried out to determine the protein levels of microtubule-associated proteins 1 light chain 3 （LC3）， autophagy-related gene Beclin-1， PI3K， Akt， GSK-3β， p-GSK-3β， and p-Akt. ResultCompared with the normal group， the modeling elevated the serum levels of AST， CK， cTnT， and MYO （P<0.01）， destroyed the arrangement of myocardial cells abd nucle， twisted and broken myocardial fibers， up-regulated the protein levels of LC3Ⅱ/Ⅰ and Beclin-1 （P<0.01）， and down-regulated the protein levels of PI3K， p-Akt， and p-GSK-3β （P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， trimetazidine and Wutou Chishizhi Wan （all the doses） lowered the levels of AST， CK， cTnT， and MYO in serum （P<0.01）， restored the arrangement of myocardial cells and muscle fibers， reduced necrosis， down-regulated the protein level of Beclin-1 （P<0.01）， and up-regulated the protein levels of PI3K， p-Akt， and p-GSK-3β （P<0.01）. Additionally， Wutou Chishizhi Wan （all the doses） down-regulated the protein level of LC3Ⅱ/Ⅰ （P<0.05， P<0.01）. Compared with those in the trimetazidine group， the serum AST level rose in the low-dose Wutou Chishizhi Wan group （P<0.05） and declined in the high-dose group （P<0.01）， and the protein level of Beclin-1 was down-regulated in the medium-dose group （P<0.01）. Additionally， the trimetazidine group had higher protein level of LC3Ⅱ/Ⅰ than medium- and high-dose Wutou Chishizhi Wan groups （P<0.05， P<0.01）， higher protein level of PI3K than low-， medium-， and high-dose groups （P<0.01）， lower protein level of p-Akt than low- and medium-dose groups （P<0.01）， and higher p-GSK-3β protein level than the medium-dose group （P<0.01）. ConclusionDifferent doses of Wutou Chishizhi Wan can ameliorate MIRI， and the high dose has the best effect. Wutou Chishizhi Wan can reduce the activity of myocardial injury markers AST， CK， cTnT， and MYO， and alleviate the pathological damage of myocardial tissue. It can down-regulate the protein levels of beclin-1， LC3Ⅱ/Ⅰ， and up-regulate those of PI3K， p-Akt， and p-GSK-3β. In summary， Wutou Chishizhi Wan may inhibit excessive autophagy and regulate the PI3K/Akt/GSK-3β signaling pathway to exert protective effect on MIRI rats.

ObjectiveTo analyze and determine the differential components of freeze-dried and sun-dried Panacis Quinquefolii Radix（PQR）， and to compare the differences in their pro-angiogenic activities. MethodFingerprints of freeze-dried and sun-dried PQR were established based on ultra performance liquid chromatography（UPLC）， and chemometrics methods such as principal component analysis（PCA） and orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis（OPLS-DA） were combined to determine the differential saponin composition of the two decoction pieces， and six representative saponins were selected and their contents in freeze-dried and sun-dried PQR were determined by UPLC. Transgenic zebrafish line Tg（fli1a∶EGFP） embryos fertilized for 24 h were selected， and different doses of 70% methanol extracts of freeze-dried and sun-dried PQR（10， 30 mg·L^-1） were used to intervene in normal zebrafish and in a zebrafish model of intersegmental vascular（ISV） injury induced by vascular endothelial growth factor（VEGF） receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor Ⅱ（PTK787）， then the development of subintestinal vein（SIV） and ISV of zebrafish was observed， SIV diameter， mean number of crossings and mean number of germinations were determined， and the ISV vascular index was calculated， in order to compare the pro-angiogenic activities of the two decoction pieces. ResultThe similarity of the fingerprints of freeze-dried and sun-dried PQR decoction pieces was>0.950， and 17 common peaks were identified， of which 6 common peaks were designated as peak 6（ginsenoside Rg₁）， peak 7（ginsenoside Re）， peak 8（ginsenoside Rb₁）， peak 11（ginsenoside Rc）， peak 13（ginsenoside Rb₂）， and peak 16（ginsenoside Rd）， respectively. A total of 11 differential saponin components were screened by PCA and OPLS-DA， indicating that there were some differences in the contents of the components in the two decoction pieces. The results of determination showed that the contents of ginsenosides Rg₁， Re， Rb₁ and Rb₂ in freeze-dried PQR were higher than those in sun-dried PQR， while the contents of ginsenosides Rc and Rd were lower than those in sun-dried PQR（P<0.05， P<0.01）. In the study of the pro-angiogenic effect on normal zebrafish embryos， compared with the blank group， and the SIV vessel diameter， mean germination rate and mean crossover rate were significantly higher in the high-dose groups of freeze-dried and sun-dried PQR（P<0.01）， and the vessel diameter， mean numbers of crossings and germinations in the freeze-dried PQR group were higher than those of the sun-dried PQR group（P<0.05）. In the study of the pro-angiogenic effect on zebrafish embryos with ISV injury， the development of ISV in the model group was significantly inhibited when compared with the blank group， compared with the model group， different dose groups of freeze-dried and sun-dried PQR could promote the growth and sprouting of ISV， and the number of normal blood vessels in the freeze-dried PQR group was significantly higher than that in the sun-dried PQR group at the same dosage（P<0.05）. ConclusionFreeze-drying can effectively avoid the loss and secondary transformation of ginsenosides in PQR， and its angiogenic activity is better than that of sun-dried PQR， which can provide a reference for the production and development of high-quality PQR decoction pieces.

Objective To evaluate the safety of tubeless micro-percutaneous nephrolithotomy (MPCNL). Methods Forty patients who met the criteria(single percutaneous tract, no serious bleeding or perforation in the collecting system and absence of insignificant residual fragments under B-US)were included. After the operation of stone fragmentation, all patients were randomly divided into 2 groups. Twenty patients underwent standard MPCNL(group A), 16 eases had stones in kidney and 4 in upper ureter. Longitudinal sizes of calculi were 1.3-8. 6 era(mean 3.4 era). Twenty patients in group B were with tubeless procedures, 14 patients had stones in kidney and 6 in upper ureter. Longi-tudinal sizes of calculi were 1.1-7. 9 era(mean 3.1 era). Double J stents were placed in all eases. Changes of hemoglobins, pain and complications were recorded and ststistieally analyzed. Results There were no differences in stone size(P=0. 23), operation time (98±29 rain vs 92±31 min, P=0. 63) between the 2 groups. The changes of hemoglobin had no significant difference between 2 groups[(3.3±1.6)% vs (3.1±1.6)%, P=0. 49]. Postoperative pain was assessed using a visual analog scale. The scores of both groups on the first postoperative day were 3.6±1.8(group A) and 3.3±1.5(group B,P=0. 66). On the third day the scores were 1.6±1.2 and 1.8±1.3(P=0. 62). Both groups had 1 patient suffered from mild fever. No transfuaion was performed and no renal colic happened in 2 groups. Conclustion Under certain circumstance, tubeless MPCNL is a safe procedure for patients with urolithiasis.