Objective:To explore the effects of total saponins of Cornus offlcinalis Sieb.(TSCO) on the contractility and relaxation of mesenteric artery in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats.Methods:Sprague Dawley rats were administrated STZ intra-peritoneally at a dosage of 60 mg/kg to induce diabetes.TSCO was administrated at a dosage of 60 mg/kg or 120 mg/kg (per os) to the diabetic rats for 28 days.Glucose and insulin in the serum as well as the responsiveness ofmesenteric artery rings were determined.Results:TSCO decreased the contractile responsiveness to phenylephrine of mesenteric artery rings from diabetic rats,but increased the reactivity to acethylcholine.TSCO (120 mg/kg) ameliorated the baseline release of nitric oxide of mesenteric artery,but had little effect on the induced release of nitric oxide.Rosiglitazone had less effect on the mesenteric artery function than that of TSCO,though it was more effective on lowering blood glucose.Conclusion:The effects of TSCO on mesenteric artery of diabetic rats are dose dependent,and are possibly exerted by lowering blood glucose and ameliorating the release of nitric oxide in the endothelium.

BACKGROUND:Cartilage tissue engineering scaffold is a substitution for extracellular matrix, and there is a great significance on the shape and pore structure of the scaffold.
OBJECTIVE:To retrospectively focus on the fabrication technology of three-dimensional porous cartilage tissue engineering scaffolds.
METHODS:The first author searched PubMed, ELSEVIER SCIENCEDIRECT, Wanfang and CNKI databases (2000/2013) to retrieve relevant articles about the fabrication technology tissue-engineered cartilage scaffolds. The key words were“cartilage tissue engineering;scaffolds;fabrication”in English and Chinese, respectively. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The fabrication technologies of three-dimensional porous cartilage tissue
engineering scaffolds are as fol ows:Phase separation/freeze-drying, hydrogels, rapid prototyping manufacturing, electrospinning, solvent casting/particulate leaching, gas foaming. The current cartilage studies have demonstrated that the pore size has a significance on the regeneration of the cartilage tissue, the pore size ranging from 100-250μm al ows for the regeneration of bone and cartilage tissue. The scaffold fabricated by the solvent casting/particulate leaching and gas foaming technology at a pore size of 100-250μm is suitable for the bone and cartilage tissue regeneration. To obtain the adequate biological and mechanical properties, researchers usual y combine a variety of methods to fabricate the cartilage tissue engineering scaffolds.

Objective To evaluate the symptom improvement of anxiolytics and antidepressant to hemifacial spasm(HFS)patients with anxiety and depression. Methods A total of 60 HFS patients with anxiety and depression were enrolled for the study and divided into experimental group and control group. Experimental group were treated with escitalopram and BTX-A ,and control group only received BTX-A. SAS and SDS were used to test all the patients before and after treatment. Results Both experimental group and control group were significantly improved after BTX-A therapy. There was no different between two groups at 1 week and 1 month,respectively. At 2 weeks and 3 months,more obvious improvement was seen in experimental group. The SAS and the SDS standard average scores of experimental group were significantly decreased compared with the control group. There was statistical significance in control group after 1 month and 3 months treatment(P<0.05),and in experimental group,the differences appeared after 2-week treatment(P<0.05). Additionally,after 1 month treatment,there were statistical differences between the two groups(P<0.05),and experimental group shown a longer effective period compared with control group. Conclusion Anxiety and depression state serves as a complication of HFS ,which is positively correlated with HFS. HFS patients with anxiety and depression benefit better from escital-opram and BTX-A combination therapy than BTX-A alone.

Objective To assess the effect of two-dimensional speckle tracking imaging (STI) on prognosis of patients with acute infarcted myocardial(AMI).Methods Eighty patients with AMI and 30 healthy subjects were selected as our subjects.Among the AMI patients,there was 30 cases were emergency percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI),25 cases were selective PCI group and 25 cases with conservative.All were performed a 4-6 months following up after discharge from hospital.Left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF) was measured by Simpson's.Rotation were measured in the left ventricular basal and apical short-axis views using STI.LV Peak twist (Ptw),apical Peak rotation (PAR),the basal Peak rotation (PBR),twist at aortic valve closure(AVC tw),twist at mitral valve opening(MVO tw),untwisting rate (Untw R),and half time of untwisting (HTU) were calculated.And the correlation between Ptw and LVEF was analyzed.Results Compared with the control group,the value of Ptw,PAR,AVC tw and MVO tw were significantly decreased in myocardial infarction group(F =22.481,12.899,18.923 ;P ＜ 0.05).Ptw,PAR in emergency PCI group at following up periods were (18.61 ± 8.08) ° and (12.16 ± 6.98) °,higher than that in hospital periods ((13.76 ± 6.31) °,(7.03 ±5.76)°).Ptw,PAR in selecting PCI group were (19.5 ±7.73)° and (13.4 ±7.02)°,higher than that in hospital periods((15.25 ± 6.83) °,(9.69 ±.6.72) ° ; t =-2.607,-3.104,-2.079,-1.955 ; P ＜ 0.05).Significant correlation was found between Ptw and LVEF (r =0.527,P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Left ventricular twist can be measured using STI.LV rotation can be the quantitative index to evaluate the systolic function of LV.STI can be the new method to guide clinic diagnosis and therapy.

Objective To explore the effect of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)/c-Met signaling in doxorubicin (DOX) treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods Different biologic and genetic characteristics human HCC cell lines, Huh7, HepG2, MHCC97-L and MHCC97H were used in this experiment. Variation in c-Met mRNA expression level among different HCC cell lines was analyzed by RT-PCR. Western blot analysis was performed to detect c-Met and p-Met expression levels in these cell lines. CCK-8 experiment was carried to analyze the DOX sensitivity in various cell lines. t test and repeated measure analysis of variance were used for statistical analysis. Results Both c-Met and p-Met were overexpressed in MHCC97-L and MHCC97-H cell lines and these cell lines were resistant to DOX compared to Huh7 and HepG2. However, treatment of HGF in Huh7 and HepG2 cells activated c-Met signaling pathway and decreased the sensitivity of these two cell lines to DOX [inhibition rate: Huh7 (34.848 ±5.370) vs. (66.409±5.792)%, HepG2 (34.351±3.305) %vs. (62.308±5.453) %, both P=0.002]. Whereas administration of c-Met inhibitor in MHCC97-L and MHCC97-H cell lines significantly increased the sensitivity to DOX [inhibition rate: MHCC97-L (73.106 ±3.472) % vs. (13.636 ±4.097) %; MHCC97-H (64.444 ±4.006) % vs. (6.296 ±2.796) %, both P< 0.001]. Conclusion HGF/c-Met signaling pathway is related the treatment efficacy of DOX in HCC.

Objective To prepare sustained-release tablet contained paeoniflorin and evaluate its drug release mechanism.Methods Orthogonal design was used to obtain the best formula.Hydroxypropykmethyl cellulose(HPMC K4M)and ethylcellulose(EC 20CPS)were used as hydrophilic matrix material,and PVP which dissolved in ethanol was used as adhesive material,then the sustained-release tablet was prepared by the wet granule compression technique.The best formula was determined by powder technology,including compression ratio,angle of repose,flow rate,and angle of contact as indexes.The optimum formula was obtained by comprehensive scoring method.The drug release in vitro was determined,and the release formula was made to investigate the release mechanism.Results The optimized prescription was with HPMC 20%,EC 20%,PVP 0%,and ethanol concentration 80%.The dissolution curves in vitro showed that the drug release could be best described by the Higuchi equation(Q=0.367 5 t1/2-0.165 8,r=0.993 2)and Peppas equation(lnQ=0.72 lnt-1.608 6,r=0.991 8).It showed that the release mechanism was Fick diffusion and backbone corrosion.The release rate could meet the requirement of quality control on sustained-release tablet in Chinese Pharmacopoeia(2005).Conclusion The method of content determination is simple and sustained-releasing rate is significant.The release mechanism follows the kinetic model of sustained-release tablet.It is worth doing further research for the clinical use.

Objective To establish an in vitro isolation and culture system for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)-associated fibroblast (CAF) and identify based on its specific markers of CAF. Methods CAF was isolated from the tumor tissue of the HCC patients after hepatectomy, by digesting with collagenase enzyme, centrifugation and resuspension. The morphology of CAF was observed by electron microscopy. Immunofluorescence staining was performed for detecting α-SMA and fibronectin as well as other specific markers such as AFP on the surface of HCC cells and CD31 on the surface of vascular endothelial cells. On the basis of the study, the function work between CAF and HCC cell line Huh7, HepG2 was detected under co-culture system. Meanwhile, CCK-8 was used to observe the effect of CAF on the proliferation of Huh7 and HepG2 cells, and Transwell assay was used to analyze CAF effect on the invasion of Huh7 and HepG2 cells. Results Compared with the other cells, the morphological analysis showed that CAF was more elongated or spindle-shaped. Moreover, the cell size and the nucleus were larger than normal epithelial cells. Immunofluorescence staining revealed that the CAF surface specific markers including α-SMA and fibronectin were positive, and mainly were the cell membrane staining. The proliferation and invasion of Huh7 and HepG2 were significantly increased by CAF. The results show that the increasing percentage of cells in 24 hours between blank group and the experimental group was (63 ± 4) %, (78 ± 5) % and (69 ± 5) %, (81 ± 3) %respectively after co-culture with CAF, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). In transwell model, the number of cells in the blank group and the experimental group was (59.4 ± 3.1), (162.9 ± 3.9) and (104.8 ± 2.6), (166.4 ± 4.2), and the difference was also statistically significant (P< 0.05). Conclusion The isolated CAF from HCC enhances the ability of tumor's proliferation and invasion.

Objective:To study the determination method of scutellarin in BREVISCAPINE INJECTION using HPLC.Methods:The waters ODS C 18 column (5?m,3.9?150mm) was used. The methanol water glacial acetic acid (40∶60∶1) was used as a mobile phase. The detection wavelength of scutellarin was set at 335nm and internal standard baicalin at 280nm. The resolution of scutellarin's and baicalin peaks was at least 5. Number of theoretical plates of column is no less than 1000 to scutellarin. Results:The recovery of additive sample is 99.8%. RSD is no more 2.0%.Conclusion: It is generally in agreement with external standard method.

Objective To explore the feasibility of blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) MRI to detect the chronic hepatitis b-induced early kidney injury. Methods Seventeen clinically diagnosed chronic hepatitis b patients with early kidney injury and 10 healthy volunteers were enrolled in this preliminary study. The 17 patients underwent dynamic nuclear renography and then subdivided into stage 1 kidney injury group (n=7) and stage 2 kidney injury group (n=10). All of the enrolled subjects underwent BOLD examination and T2* relaxation rates (R2*) of renal cortex and medulla of split kidney, and the ratio between them (R2*med/cor) were measured separately. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were performed on the control group and chronic hepatitis b patients group (kidney injury stage 1 and stage 2 group) to compare the difference of renal cortical and medullary R2*values and R2*med/cor ratio. ROC curves were used to evaluate the efficacy of renal cortical and medullary R2* values and R2*med/cor ratio to diagnose the chronic hepatitis b-induced kidney injury. Results The cortical R2*values of control group, stage 1 kidney injury group and stage 2 kidney injury group were(16.87 ± 0.74)/s,(17.88 ± 0.73)/s,(20.29 ± 2.87)/s, respectively;the medullar R2*values of control group, stage 1 kidney injury group and stage 2 kidney injury group were (28.07±1.03)/s,(31.14±2.49)/s,(32.81±3.28)/s, respectively;R2*med/cor of the of control group, stage 1 kidney injury group and stage 2 kidney injury group were 1.67 ± 0.09, 1.75 ± 0.16, 1.63 ± 0.13, respectively, and the differences among the three groups were statistically significant (F values were 17.779, 19.170 and 3.439 , all P<0.05). Furthermore, the renal cortical and medullary R2* values of chronic hepatitis b patients were significantly higher than the control group, and the the renal cortical R2* value of the patients in stage 2 kidney injury group was also higher than the stage 1 kidney injury group. The area under curve (AUC) of ROC of the renal cortical and medullary R2*values and R2*med/cor to diagnose chronic HBV hepatitis-induced early kidney injury were 0.903, 0.949 and 0.526, respectively. Conclusion It's feasible and has great value to use renal BOLD MRI for the diagnosis of chronic hepatitis b-induced early kidney injury, and the renal cortex is more sensitive than the medulla to the kidney injury.

Objective: To explore the dose-response relationship between pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), so as to provide insights into the cut-off values of pre-pregnancy BMI and optimizing GDM prevention and control strategies. Methods: Pregnant women that admitted to Zhengzhou Central hospital in 2021 were recruited, and demographics, family history, pregnancy and delivery history and blood glucose levels during pregnancy were collected. The dose-response relationship between pre-pregnancy BMI and GDM was analyzed using restricted cubic spline (RCS) analysis. The predictive ability of pre-pregnancy BMI for GDM risk was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results: A total of 2 279 participants were included in the study. The median age was 29.0 (interquartile range, 5.0) years. The median pre-pregnancy BMI was 21.1 (interquartile range, 3.8) kg/m2. There were 312 underweight women (13.69%), 825 women with low-normal weight (36.20%), 730 women with high-normal weight (32.03%), 345 overweight women (15.14%) and 67 obese women (2.94%).The prevalence of GDM was 17.20%. RCS analysis suggested a linear dose-response relationship between age, pre-pregnancy BMI and GDM (P<0.05). When pre-pregnancy BMI was higher than 21.1 kg/m2, the risk of GDM increased with pre-pregnancy BMI (P<0.05). When women aged over 29.0 years, the risk of GDM increased with age, and the dose-response relationship of GDM caused by pre-pregnancy BMI was stronger in the women aged over 29.0 years than in the women aged 29.0 years and below (P<0.05). The area under curve (AUC) was 0.654 (95%CI: 0.624-0.684). If the cut-off value of pre-pregnancy BMI was 23.0 kg/m2, the Youden index, sensitivity and specificity was 0.238, 0.472 and 0.766, respectively. If it was 24.0 kg/m2, the Youden index, sensitivity and specificity was 0.195, 0.342 and 0.853, respectively. If it was 21.1 kg/m2, the Youden index, sensitivity and specificity was 0.213, 0.676 and 0.537, respectively. Conclusions There is a linear dose-response relationship between pre-pregnancy BMI and GDM, and higher than 21.1 kg/m2 of the pre-pregnancy BMI could increase the risk of GDM.