Objective To observe the alteration of bone metabolism and to study the pathogenesis of osteoporosis and factors in elderly patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD). Methods The biochemical markers of bone metabolism, bone mineral density (BMD) of the lumbar spine and the right femur, parameters of calcaneal quantitative ultrasound(QUS), blood partial pressure and pulmonary functions in 39 male patients with COPD and 30 controls were measured. Results The broadband ultrasonic attenuation (BUA) and the speed of sound (SOS), BMD of the lumbar spines and the femur were significantly lower than that in control group. The biochemical markers of bone metabolism such as HOP/Cr, Ca/Cr, and PTH in the COPD group was significantly raised than that in control group〔(60 2?7 0)dB/MHz vs (66 5?4 9)dB/Mhz,(1 328 4?41 5)m/s vs (1 505 8?26 9)m/s,23% vs 34%,21% vs25%〕. The serum levels of Testosterone(T) reduced significantly ( P

Objective To investigate effects of atorvastatin on the development from macrophages (HMDM) to foam cells.Methods Monocytes were isolated from human peripheral blood by Ficoll-Hypaque density gradient centrifugation and plastic adsorptive process.The isolated cells were stimulated by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) (50 nmol/L) for 48 h and transformed to macrophages.Macrophages were co-incubated with 80 mg/L ox- idized low density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) and atorvastatin (0-100 ?mol/L),respectively for 0,6,12 and 24 h. Total cholesterol (TC),free cholesterol (FC) and protein (Pro) in cultured cells were quantitatively analyzed by high performance chromatography (HPLC) analysis and modified Lowry protein assay.Results When macropha- ges were incubated with 80 mg/L ox-LDL,the ratio of TC/Pro was greater than 20,and large amount of lipid drop- lets were displayed indicating the formation of foam cells.Atorvastatin decreased TC/Pro ratio in foam cells in a concentration and time dependent manner (0-100 ?mol/L)(P

In this study, we explored the rationality of processing methods and mechanism of Aconiti Lateralis Radix (Fuzi) through comparing the chemical contents of diester alkaloids (DAs) and monoester alkaloids (MAs) in the raw material of Fuzi and its processed products. The results showed that the toxicity potency of MAs is at least lower than 1/64 to 1/180 of the toxicity potency of DAs. The contents of DAs in processed Fuzi decreased to 1/76.5 to 1/38.3 of the value of raw Fuzi. The contents of MAs in processed Fuzi significantly increased by 4.6 to 5.2 fold or basically the same as that of the raw Fuzi. The values of MAs/DAs of processed Fuzi were enhanced by 30 to 390 fold of the raw Fuzi. It was found that the contents of DAs were insignificantly different between "Wu dan fu pian" (steaming or stir-frying without Danba) and "Dan fu pian" (steaming or stir-frying with Danba). The result suggested that the abilities of "eliminating toxicity" of different processing methods were equivalent at all. In contrast, the contents of MAs contained in "Wu dan fu pian" were of 5.3 to 8.7 fold higher than the values in "Dan fu pian". This result suggested the processing method by steaming or stir-frying without Danba might have better effect for "conserving property" than the method processed with Danba stipulated by China Pharmacopoeia. We believe that the new processing method without Danba can be recommended in further application due to it offers a simple procedure and it will not introduce inorganic impurities in the products.

PURPOSE: Caffeine is the most widely consumed psychostimulant. It is often adopted as a tool to modulate brain activations in fMRI studies. However, its pharmaceutical effect on task-induced deactivation has not been fully examined in fMRI. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the effect of caffeine on both activation and deactivation under sustained attention. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Task fMRI was acquired from 26 caffeine naive healthy volunteers before and after taking caffeine pill (200 mg). RESULTS: Statistical analysis showed an increase in cognition-load dependent task activation but a decrease in load dependent de-activation after caffeine ingestion. Increase of attention and memory task activation and its load-dependence suggest a beneficial effect of caffeine on the brain even though it has no overt behavior improvement. The reduction of deactivation by caffeine and its load-dependence indicate reduced facilitation from task-negative networks. CONCLUSION: Caffeine affects brain activity in a load-dependent manner accompanied by a disassociation between task-positive network and task-negative network.
Brain ; Caffeine* ; Eating* ; Healthy Volunteers ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Memory ; Memory, Short-Term*

Objective To determine the incidence and prevalence of transient ischemic attack (TIA) and to evaluate its epidemiological situation in Hunan province.Methods Seven monitoring points were randomly selected from the province,a total of 8 311 subjects aged≥50 years were then chosen by stratified sampling.The cases counted in prevalence was defined as patients diagnosed before 24:00 o'clock August 31st,2013,and the new diagnosis for incident counting was defined as those diagnosed between 00:00 September 1st,2012 and 24:00 August 31st,2013.Results Among all 8 311 screened subjects,the number of TIA patients was 24 (288.8 per 100 000 people),the incidence of TIA was 7 (85.2 per 100 000 people).Standardized prevalence and incidence were 283.2 and 82.4 per 100 000 respectively using 2010 China census population.Among them,the standardized incidence rate of female was higher than that of male (114.8 per 100 000 person-years vs.48.8 per 100 000 person-years),and the prevalence rate of males was higher than that of female (288.2 per 100 000 people vs.273.2 per 100 000 people).Hypertension is the most important risk factor for TIA (55.2％).Conclusion The incidence and prevalence of TIA in Hunan province are higher than the national average.Hypertension is the main risk factor.

In the context of the national strategy of promoting the research and development of food and drug homologous substances, it is necessary to study the regulatory model of food and drug homologous substances as food. Medicinal and food homologous substances are regulated as "Chinese medicinal materials" or "Chinese decoction pieces" in the drug category, and as "food and drug homologous substances", "agricultural products" or "traditional Chinese medicine healthy food" in the food category. Drug supervision focuses on quality, while food supervision focuses on safety, and it is worth exploring whether there is a blind spot in the supervision of food and drug substances completely based on the food concept. In this paper, Lonicerae Japonicae Flos, as drug and food homologous substance, is selected as the research object, and its quality regulation status is investigated by reviewing the relevant laws and regulations and standards on food, analyzing the quality information and test results of the samples, and analyzing the necessity of quality regulation when serving as food, in order to provide a basis and reference for the way food substances are regulated.

Strengthening the standard formulation and quality management of traditional Chinese medicine（TCM） dispensing granules is an important part of the strategic planning for the development of TCM in China. In order to examine the clinical application and overall quality control of the existing national standards for TCM dispensing granules， this study classified and summarized the varieties in the existing standards， analyzed their clinical applicability， and discussed the characteristics of the test methods for identification， content determination and specific chromatogram/fingerprint. It was found that the coverage of the existing standards was inadequate in terms of quantity， and it was even weaker in the aspects of therapeutic efficacy， herb family， processing method and preparation method of TCM dispensing granules. It was concluded that the characteristics of national standards in test methods were summarized as follows：guided by clinical application， based on the reference system， taking specific chromatogram as a breakthrough， so as to improve the overall quality control of TCM dispensing granules. It is suggested that the coverage of national standards should be subsequently expanded to meet the needs of market development. In order to enhance clinical applicability， the content of national quality standards should be increased， including increasing variety diversity to meet the needs of clinical application， raising the standard requirements to improve the clinical medication experience， and strengthening effectiveness research to highlight clinical efficacy. At the same time， the accessibility of regulatory inspection is enhanced， the rules for the management of varieties without national standards are promulgated to lay the foundation for the healthy and orderly development of TCM dispening granule industry.

Objective:To explore the influence of static mechanical strain(SMS)on the osteoclastogenic gene expression of healthy periodontal ligment stem cells(HPDLSCs)and periodontitis periodontal ligment stem cells(PPDLSCs).Methods:HPDLSCs and PP-DLSCs were respectively isolated and cultured by low density in vitro.The expression of mesenchymal stem cell markers were detected by flow cytometry.Then,6％,8％,10％,12％and 14％SMS were respectively loaded to the HPDLSCs and PPDLSCs by Flexcell Tension Unit,and the expression of RANKL and C-fos was detected by real time RT-PCR.Results:Both HPDLSCs and PPDLSCs strongly expressed the mesenchymal stem cell markers STRO-1,CD146,CD90 and CD29,and higher expression of the above markers was found in HPDLSCs compared with PPDLSCs(P＜0.05).The expression of RANKL and C-fos in PPDLSCs was more obvious than that in HPDLSCs without SMS loading(P＜0.05).For HPDLSCs,the SMS of 14％induced significant up-regulation of RANKL and C-fos(P＜0.05),while no alteration was confirmed for the above osteoclastogenic genes when the SMS≤ 12％(P＞O.05).In addition,the expression of RANKL and C-fos was up-regulated significantly in PPDLSCs when the SMS≥ 10％(P＜0.05),and the expression of the above genes was not activated when the SMS ≤8％.Conclusion:HPDLSCs and PPDLSCs response differently to SMS,and ex-cessive SMS may lead to enhanced expression of osteoclastogenic genes in PPDLSCs.