OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the economic effectiveness of three lipid regulation agents in treating patients with hyperlipemia.METHODS: 160 patients with hyperlipemia were divided into three groups: A, B, C.They received different therapeutic shemes: A: gemfibrozil B: lovastatin C: duoxikang.RESULTS: The levels of TG, TC and LDL- C of patients in group A reduced 43%, 9% and 10% respectively, which revealed that gemfibrozil was indicated in Ⅱ b, Ⅲ and Ⅳ hyperlipemia with good effect and low cost.The levels of TC and LDL-C decreased 21% and 25% respectively in group B. Lovastatin was used in Ⅱa, Ⅱb hyperlipemia.The levels of TC and TG declined 17% and 28% respectively in group C.Duoxikang was used in patients with high levels of TC and TG.CONCLUSION: It will improve therapeutic effect and decrease cost, if pharmacoeconomic cost- effectiveness analysis is used to guide rational use of lipid regulation agents in clinical practice.

The HPLC fingerprint differences ofRadix Platycodonis from different origins were studied to provide references for their quality control and production. The total platycodins were purified by DB101 macroporous resin. HPLC-ELSD fingerprints of the total platycodins for 39 batches ofRadix Platycodonis samples from 9 provinces were performed on an Agilent HC-C8 column (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5μm) with gradient elution. The mobile phase was acetonitrile-0.5% acetic acid. The injection volume was 6μL. The flow rate was 0.5 mL·min-1. The temperature of drift tube was set at 90℃. And the gas flow (N2) was set at 1.2 mL·min-1. The results showed that there were large differences in the quality ofRadix Platycodonis from different origins with the common fingerprints of 6 batches of samples fromChifeng in Inner Mongolia as references. The quality ofRadix Platycodonis was closely related to the seeds, the ecological environment, the way of drying and storing and so on. It was concluded that it was important to strengthen the provenance base construction, standardization of the seeds, reasonable formulation of the regionalization, and standardization of the production processing for the cultivation and production ofRadix Platycodonis.

This study was aimed to compare the expectorant and antitussive actions ofPlatycodon grandilforum from different production areas in order to provide references for its cultivation and production. The antitussive activities ofP. grandilforum water extract from different areas were investigated through testing the cough times induced by ammonium hydroxide in mice. And the expectorant activities were studied by testing the amount of tracheal phenolsulfonphthalein excretion in mice. The results showed that the minimum effective dose ofP. grandiflorum fromChifeng of Inner Mongolia was 0.2 g·kg-1. Under this dosage,P. grandiflorum fromChifeng of Inner Mongolia can significantly reduce the cough frequency in mice (P < 0.01), and significantly prolong the cough incubation period in mice (P < 0.01).P. grandiflorum fromSichuan province,Shangzhou ofShaanxi province andChongqing can significantly decrease the cough frequency in mice (P < 0.05). P. grandiflorum from Sichuan province,Shangzhou ofShaanxi province andChifeng of Inner Mongolia can significantly increase the phenolsulfonphthalein excretion quantity in mice (P < 0.05). It was concluded thatP. grandilforum was effective for relieving cough and removing sputum. The effect ofP. grandilforum fromChifeng of Inner Mongolia was obviously stronger than that from other areas.

Objective:To observe the effect of combined acupuncture and medication on hyperarousal state and serum copeptin(CPT)in patients with chronic insomnia(CI),and to explore its possible mechanism of action.Methods:A total of 70 CI patients meeting the inclusion criteria were divided into an observation group and a control group by the random number table method,with 35 cases in each group.The control group was given estazolam tablets before bedtime,1 mg/time,once a day.The observation group was treated with additional Yi Nao An Shen acupuncture therapy(acupuncture for benefiting the brain and tranquillization)on the basis of the medication treatment,4 times a week.After 4 weeks of treatment,the Pittsburgh sleep quality index(PSQI)score,insomnia severity index(ISI)score,pre-sleep arousal scale(PSAS)score,hyperarousal scale(HAS)score,and the change in serum CPT level were compared between the two groups.Results:During the study,there were 2 dropout cases in the observation group and 1 dropout case in the control group.After treatment,the PSQI,ISI,PSAS,and HAS scores and the serum CPT level in both groups decreased compared with the same group before treatment,and the intra-group differences were statistically significant(P<0.05).After treatment,changes in each above scale score and the serum CPT level in the observation group were much more significant and were statistically different from those in the control group(P<0.05).Conclusion:Acupuncture plus medication can improve sleep quality,reduce the degree of insomnia,and regulate hyperarousal state in patients with CI,and its mechanism of action may be related to the down-regulation of serum CPT level.

AIM:To investigate the activation and inactivation of nuclear factor kappa B(NF-κB)when tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand(TRAIL)is applied to induce the apoptosis of androgen-independent prostate cancer cell line PC-3M.METHODS:After the treatment of TRAIL or LPS at different doses,we tested the nuclear translocation of NF-κB by cell immunohistochemical staining and electrophoretie mobility shift assay(EMSA),and evaluated the level of IκB by RT-PCR under pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate(PDTC)treatment.RESULTS:EMSA and cell immunohistochemical analysis showed that the translocation of NF-κB was significantly activated when PC-3M cells were treated with TRAIL or LPS(P＜0.05).The pretreatment of PDTC upregulated the expression of IκB and blocked the nuclear translocation of NF-κB.CONCLUSION:TRAIL remarkably stimulates the activation of nuclear NF-κB in androgen-independent prostate cancer cells.On the other hand,the translocation of NF-κB can be significantly and efficiently inhibited in PC-3M cells by pretreatment with PDTC.The increased expression of IκB might be a clue for this inhibition,which means the possible way to enhance the effect of TRAIL in the apoptosis of prostate cancer cells.