Objective To compare negative expiratory pressure (NEP)technique with conventional test in detecting expiratory flow limitation (EFL)in chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases( COPD) patients. Methods EFL was measured with NEP technique and conventional method respectively in 72 COPD patients;EFL was measured with NEP technique in 20 COPD patients who failed to perform conventional test. Results EFL was detected in 54 of the 72 COPD patients. NEP test was successfully performed on the 20 patients, and 19 of them were found with EFL. The level of forced expired volume in one second percentage( FEV_1 % ) of the patients with 2-score group (46. 92 ± 12. 74) % and 3-score group (33. 35 ± 8.96)% were significantly lower than that of the 1-score group(63. 60 ±16.65)%. Area under curve of NEP technique and conventional test in ROC is 0. 903 and 0. 761 respectively. Conclusions As compared with conventional test, EFL detected with NEP technique is more reliable in evaluating dyspnea of COPD patients. It is simple and doesn't require any cooperation of the patients. NEP technique can be applied in COPD patients who fail to receive conventional test.

AIM:To study and compare the outcomes of coaxial 2. 2 mm phacoemulsiflcation with conventional coaxial 3 mm small-incision cataract surgery.
METHODS: A randomized prospective study was conducted on 100 patients with age - related cataract:coaxial 2. 2 mm micro - incision cataract surgery was performed in 50 cases (50 eyes), and coaxial 3 mm small incision cataract surgery was performed in 50 cases ( 50 eyes) . Statistical analysis was takenwith the data of the two groups. Visual acuity, VF and QOL were compared at intervals of 1wk and 3mo after surgery. In addition, surgically induced astigmatism ( SIA ) was analyzed. Statistic analysis was taken by Student's t-test and Chi-square test.
RESULTS:There was no significant difference on BCVA (t=-1. 366, -1. 688; P=0. 148, 0. 107) between these two groups. One week and 3mo after the surgery, SIA was (0. 46±0.29)D, (0. 43±0. 26)D in the 2. 2 group; and (1. 55±0. 59) D, (0. 89±0. 28) D, in 3. 0 group. The differences between these two groups were statistically significant ( t=-7. 348, -3. 788; P = 0. 000, 0. 000 ) There were no statistically significant differences on VF scores between two group, while it's got a better score in 2. 2 groups on vision adaptation. (t=-3. 348, P<0. 05).
CONCLUSION:Coaxial 2. 2mm micro-incision cataract surgery could significantly reduce SIA and obtain morestable status of VF and QOL. This suggests that the coaxial 2. 2 phacoemulsification surgery implanted AkreosMI60 intraocular lens could get earliervisual rehabilitation postoperation.

Objective:To explore the expression of insulin-like growth factor-binding protein related protein 1(IGFBP-rP1) gene in children with acute leukemia and its potential significance. Methods:Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (RFQ-PCR) method was used for detecting IGFBP-rP1 mRNA expression in bone marrow (BM) cells of 168 children with acute leukemia. The results were compared with those of 30 non-leukemia children in control group. Meanwhile the relationship between IGFBP-rP1 expression level and clinical prognosis was analyzed according to clinical prognostic factors of children acute leukemia. Results:Expression level of IGFBP-rP1 in initial acute leukemia children was significantly higher than that of non leukemia children (P<0.01). It was higher in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) than in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)(P =0.013). The transcription level of IGFBP-rP1 mRNA in patients who had complete remission (CR) were lowest, which was nearly the same as non-leukemia childish patients. It increased again when leukemia relapsed, which was significantly higher than that in CR. However, as far as ALL was concerned, IGFBP-rP1 expression levels had no significant difference between newly-diagnosed, complete remission, and recurrent groups.Conclusion:IGFBP-rP1 may be involved in the initiation and development of childish leukemia. It has the potential to become a new target for AML treatment.

ObjectiveTo determine the potential natural foci of new bunyavirus,and isolate and identify the new bunyavirus strain in sera from suspected new bunyavirus-infected patients.MethodsImmunofluorescence assay was used to detect the antigens of new bunyavirus in different tissue specimens of wild rodent animals in Tiantai area of Zhejiang province.Fluorescence quantitative real-time RT-PCR was applied to detect the viral nucleic acid in sera of suspected new bunyavirus-infected patients and the amplification products were analyzed by sequencing.The new bunyavirus in the pateints'sera was isolated using Vero cells.Using nucleocapsid protein encoding gene of new bunyavirus as the target gene,the isolated suspected new bunyavirus strain was identified by RT-PCR and sequencing of the amplification product.Moreover,sequence identity of the amplification product of nucleocapsid protein encoding gene of new bunyavirus was analyzed and compared.ResultsOf the 70 wild rodent animals,5.71% were positive in the immunofluorescence assay.The fluorescence quantitative real-time RT-PCR confirmed that two of the four detected patients'serum specimens were positive.One suspected strain of new bunyavirus was isolated from one pf the two positive patients'serum specimens.The results of RT-PCR and sequencing confirmed that the viral strain exactly belongs to new bunyavirus with 92.2% sequence identity to that of the new bunyavirus isolates in Hubei province but distinct with the new bunyavirus isolates from other areas in China.ConclusionThe presence of natural foci of new bunyavirus and new bunyavirus-infected patients in Zhejiang province are firstly confirmed by this study.There is a geographical diversity of the distribution of new bunyavirus in different groups.

This study was aimed to observe the effect of Bai-Zhu Fu-Ling (BZFL) Decoction in different proportion-ing on VIP and VIPR1 in Crohn's disease (CD) rats with spleen deficiency syndrome, in order to further explore the immunologic mechanism of BZFL Decoction on CD. The CD rat model with spleen deficiency syndrome was estab-lished using exhaustion and hunger. The model rats were treated by BZFL Decoction with different proportioning, and immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to detect the expression of VIP and its receptor in colon tissues. The results showed that comparing to the blank control group, the level of VIP and its receptor of the model group significantly increased (P< 0.05). Comparing to the model group, the level of VIP and its receptor in BZFL Decoction B5 group (Rhizoma A tractylodis Macrocephalae:Poria = 12:15), B6 group (Rhizoma A tractylodis Macrocephalae:Poria = 15:12) and B7 group (Rhizoma A tractylodis Macrocephalae:Poria = 18:9) was significantly decreased (P< 0.05). It was con-cluded that the effect of BZFL Decoction of B5 group, B6 group and B7 group was better than other groups in VIP and its receptor which can regulate the VIP and its receptor, inhibit the releasing of inflammatory factors and reduce intestinal inflammation injury.

Objective To evaluate the anti-infection effects of biodegradable implant for sustained release of cefuroxime,which can be implanted into the anterior chamber in rabbits. Methods The implants for sustained release of cefuroxime were prepared with appropriate mixtures of cefuroxime axetil(CAE),poly(lactic-glycolic) acid(PLGA) and polyvinyl pyrrolidone by solvent evaporation method.Fifty rabbits were selected and divided into experiment group(n=35) and control group(n=15).The concentrations of cefuroxime in aqueous humor 0.5,1,2,6 and 24 h after subconjunctival injection of 125 mg cefuroxime were measured in control group,and those in aqueous humor and plasma 1,2,3,5,7,14 and 28 d after implantation into anterior chamber were detected in experiment group.Besides,for experiment group,the intraocular pressure before and after the implantation were obtained;the inflammation of anterior chamber was routinely observed by slit lamp;and cornea tissues were harvested for scanning electron microscopy and light microscopy. ResultsThe concentration of cefuroxime in aqueous humor in control group reached the highest at 0.5 h after injection of cefuroxime(47 736.18 ng/mL),while that was extremely low 24 h later(10.92 ng/mL).The concentrations of cefuroxime in aqueous humor were higher than 500 ng/mL within 7 d after implantation,and that was very low at d28(59.20?39.05 ng/mL).And the plasma concentrations of cefuroxime had been at lower levels ever since the implantation(

Objective To study the subacute inhalation toxicity of Ivermectin TC, and obtain its non-observed adverse effect level(NOAEL).Methods It was performed on the doses of Ivermectin TC 190, 380, 750 mg/m3, the solvent control group (0.03%Tween-80 solution) , the control group and additional group ( there were 6 female and 6 male Sprague-Dawley rats for each group) .The animals inhaled with nose-only exposure for 4 weeks (4 h/d, 5 d/week) .The additional group should be observed another 14 days after exposing.At the end of experiment, the rats were killed, the routine and biochemical detection, the body weight and organ to body weight ratios were all measured.Results In the high exposure group, clinical signs of rats included hair fluffy, dull, salivation, tremors were recorded at the exposure period;in female rats, feed efficiency was decreased, ALT and liver to body weight ratio were increased; in male rats, BUN and ALT were increased, CHOL and body weight for the 4th week were decreased.Histopathological examinations revealed that swelling in the liver cell was seen in some female rats at high exposure group.Conclusion The results suggested that the NOAEL of Ivermectin TC in SD rats was 380 mg/m3(4 h/d for 28 days).

In China, traditional Chinese medicines （TCMs） have been used in clinical applications for thousands of years. The successful hyphenation of high-performance liquid chromatography （HPLC） and mass spectrometry （MS） has been applied widely in TCMs and biological samples analysis. Undoubtedly, HPLC/MS technique has facilitated the understanding of the treatment mechanism of TCMs. We reviewed more than 350 published papers within the last 5 years on HPLC/MS in the analysis of TCMs. The present review focused on the applications of HPLC/MS in the component analysis, metabolites analysis, and pharmacokinetics of TCMs etc. 50% of the literature is related to the component analysis of TCMs, which show that this field is the most popular type of research. In the metabolites analysis, HPLC coupled with electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry has been demonstrated to be the powerful tool for the characterization of structural features and fragmentation behavior patterns. This paper presented a brief overview of the applications of HPLC/MS in the analysis of TCMs. HPLC/MS in the fingerprint analysis is reviewed elsewhere.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of volatile oils of Rhizoma Acori Tatarinowii (RAT), Semen Myristicae (SM) and Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae (PCR) on percutaneous penetration of bullatine A via hairless mouse skin in vitro.

METHODBy an improved Franz diffusion, the effects of three kinds of volatile oils on the percutaneous penetration of bullatine A were observed and compared with Azone, and the cumulative amount of bullatine A was determined by HPLC.

RESULTThe penetration enhancement ratios of bullatine A with 7% volatile oil RAT and SM, 5% volatile oil of PCR and 3% Azone were 6.52, 6.74, 2.18, 6.03, respectively.

CONCLUSIONThe volatile oil of RAT, SM and PCR enhance permeation of bullatine A, effectively.

Administration, Cutaneous ; Animals ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; pharmacokinetics ; pharmacology ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Nude ; Oils, Volatile ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Skin ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Skin Absorption ; drug effects

Zuotai (gTso thal) is a typical representative of Tibetan medicines containing heavy metals, but there is still lack of modem safety evaluation data so far. In this study, acute toxicity test, sub-acute toxicity test, one-time administration mercury distribution experiment, long-term mercury accumulative toxicity experiment and preliminary study on clinical safety of Compound Dangzuo were conducted in the hope of obtain the medicinal safety data of Zuotai. In the acute toxicity test, half of KM mice given the lethal dose of Zuotai were not died or poisoned, and LD50 was not found. The maximum tolerated dose of Zuotai was 80 g x kg(-1). In the subacute toxicity test, Zuotai could reduce ALT, AST, Crea levels in serums under low dose (13.34 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1)) and medium dose (53.36 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1)), with significant difference under low dose, and increase the levels of ALT, AST, MDA, Crea in serums under high dose (2 000 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1)); besides, the levels of BUN and GSH in serums reduced with the increase in dose of Zuotai, indicating a significant dose-effect relationship. In the one-time administration distribution experiment, the content of mercury in rat kidney, liver and lung increased after the one-time administration with Zuotai, with a significant dose-dependent relationship in kidney. In the long-term mercury accumulative toxicity experiment, KM mice were administered with equivalent doses of Zuotai for 4.5 months and then stopped drug administration for 1.5 months. Since the 2.5th month, they showed significant mercury accumulation in kidney, which gradually reduced after drug withdrawal, without significant change in mercury content in liver, spleen and brain and ALT, AST, TBIL, BUN and Crea in serum. At the 4.5th month after drug administration, KM mice showed slight structural changes in kidney, liver and spleen tissues, and gradually recovered to normal after drug withdrawal. Besides, no significant difference in weight gain was found between the Zuotai group and the control group. According to the findings of the clinical safety study of Dangzuo, after subjects administered Dangzuo under clinical dose for one month, their serum biochemical indicators, blood routine indicators and urine routine indicators showed no significant adverse change. This study proved that traditional Tibetan medicine Zuotai was slightly toxic, with a better safety in clinical combined administration and no adverse effects on bodies under the clinical dose and clinical medication cycle. However, long-term high-dose administration of Zuotai may have a certain effect on kidney.
Adult ; Animals ; Clinical Trials as Topic ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; pharmacokinetics ; toxicity ; Female ; Humans ; Kidney ; drug effects ; Liver ; drug effects ; Male ; Medicine, Tibetan Traditional ; Mice ; Middle Aged ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Young Adult