Objective To determine the contents of free ferulic acid and total ferulic acid in different processed products of Rhizoma Chuanxiong.Methods With methanol-formic acid(95∶5) as the extraction solvent for free ferulic acid and with methanol-2% NaHCO3 water solution(95∶5) as the extraction solvent for total ferulic acid,ultrasonic method was used for the extraction.The contents of free ferulic acid and total ferulic acid were determined by HPLC,and the chromatographic conditions were as follows: C18 column(250mm?4.6mm,5?m),the mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile-1%acetic acid solution(20∶80),the detecting wavelength at 320nm,flow rate being 1.0 mL/min and detection at room temperature.Results The average contents of free ferulic acid and total ferulic acid in Rhizoma Chuanxiong roasted by wine were higher than those in raw and other processed Rhizoma Chuanxiong,and free ferulic acid content in raw and different processed Rhizoma Chuanxiong was lower than the total ferulic acid content.Conclusion The method is simple,accurate and can be used for the quality control standard for Rhizoma Chuanxiong,and the chemical assay of total ferulic acid content would be a better choice of assessing the herbal quality of Rhizoma Chuanxiong.

OBJECTIVETo understand the influence of different sleep stages on respiratory regulation in normal people.

METHODSWe measured ventilation (VE) and occlusion pressure (P0.1) responses to hyperoxia hypercapnia (deltaVE/deltaPaCO2, deltaP0.1/deltaPaCO2) and isocapnic hypoxia (deltaVE/deltaSaO2 and deltaP0.1/deltaSaO2) in eleven non-snoring healthy people during wakefulness and during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) I + II, NREM III+IV, and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep stages.

RESULTSDuring NREM I + II and NREM III+IV, the normal subjects showed no significant decrease in P0.1, deltaP0.1/deltaSaO2 and deltaP0.1/deltaPaCO2 (P > 0.05), but deltaVE/ deltaSaO2 and deltaVE/ deltaPaCO2 decreased significantly (P < 0.05). During REM sleep, P0.1 maintained the level during wakefulness, but both hypoxic and hypercapnic responses decreased significantly (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSSleep has significant influence on respiratory regulation in normal people. The respiratory drive (P0.1) in both NREM and REM sleep stages could maintain the awake level due to an effective compensation to the increase of upper airway resistance. The P0.1 responses to both hypoxia and hypercapnia decrease only in REM sleep stage, which is in consistent with the clinical phenomenon that sleep disordered breathing occurs in REM in normal people.

Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Hypercapnia ; physiopathology ; Hypoxia ; physiopathology ; Male ; Respiration ; Respiratory Physiological Phenomena ; Sleep Stages ; physiology ; Sleep, REM ; physiology ; Wakefulness ; physiology

OBJECTIVETo study the clinical efficacy of vardenafil on erectile dysfunction (ED) patients with kidney-yang deficiency, kidney-yin deficiency or liver-qi stasis.

METHODSBased on the syndromes of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 124 ED patients were divided into Groups A (kidney-yang deficiency, n=44), B (kidney-yin deficiency, n=41) and C (liver-qi stasis, n = 39). All the patients were treated with vardenafil at 5 mg daily for 8 weeks, and the therapeutic effects were evaluated by comparing the scores on IIEF-5 and Erection Quality Scale (EQS) before and after the treatment.

RESULTSAfter vardenafil treatment, the IIEF-5 and EQS scores of the ED patients were markedly increased, with statistically significant differences among the three groups (P < 0.01). The success rate of sexual intercourse was significantly improved in Groups A, B (P < 0.01) and C (P < 0.05). And the hardness of penile erection was enhanced by 81.82%, 73.17% and 43.59% respectively in the three groups of patients.

CONCLUSIONVardenafil is more effective for ED patients with kidney-yang or kidney-yin deficiency than for those with liver-qi stasis.

Adult ; Erectile Dysfunction ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Imidazoles ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Piperazines ; therapeutic use ; Sulfones ; therapeutic use ; Triazines ; therapeutic use ; Vardenafil Dihydrochloride ; Vasodilator Agents ; therapeutic use ; Yang Deficiency ; drug therapy ; Yin Deficiency ; drug therapy

Not Abstract.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of FK506 on cytokine secretions in whole blood from healthy individuals.

METHODSBlood samples collected from healthy volunteers were co-cultured with different concentrations of FK506 and stimulated with PMA and IONO. The concentrations of 8 cytokines including IL-2, IL-6, IL-12, IL-17, IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha, GM-CSF and G-CSF were detected by Bio-Plex suspension system.

RESULTSCompared with the control group, high-concentration FK506 (20 ng/ml) significantly inhibited the secretions of IL-2, IL-6, IL-12, IL-17, IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha, GM-CSF and G-CSF. At a moderate concentration (5 ng/ml), FK506 inhibited the secretion of GM-CSF significantly.

CONCLUSIONFK506 effectively inhibits the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines including IL-6, IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha and also the secretion of IL-2, IL-12, IL-17, GM-CSF and G-CSF. FK506 might play the role of immunosuppression by inhibiting the production of these cytokines by the immune cells. Monitoring the levels of these cytokines might be a potential method for evaluating the adequacy of FK506 doses administered.

Adult ; Cytokines ; blood ; secretion ; Down-Regulation ; drug effects ; Female ; Humans ; Immunosuppressive Agents ; pharmacology ; Interferon-gamma ; blood ; secretion ; Interleukin-6 ; blood ; secretion ; Male ; Tacrolimus ; pharmacology ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; blood ; secretion ; Young Adult

Adenine ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Adult ; Female ; Hepatitis B e Antigens ; blood ; Hepatitis B virus ; physiology ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; blood ; drug therapy ; virology ; Humans ; Male ; Organophosphonates ; therapeutic use ; Thymidine ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Treatment Outcome ; Viral Load

OBJECTIVETo compare the responses to sepsis between C57BL/6 and BALB/c mice.

METHODSThirty C57BL/6 mice and 30 BALB/c mice were randomized into sham-operated group and sepsis group (n=15). Sepsis model was established by cecal ligation puncture (CLP) in the mice, and 6 h after the operation, 5 mice from each group were selected randomly for cytokine detection including IL-1beta, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-10, GM-CSF, IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha by Bio-plex. The other 10 mice in each group were used for survival analysis.

RESULTSThe survival rates of BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice were both 100% in one week after the sham operation, but lowered to 10% and 50% in one week after CLP, respectively. The survival rate of C57BL/6 mice was significantly lower than that of BALB/c mice (P<0.05). After CLP, C57BL/6 mice showed significantly greater IL-4, TNF-alpha and IL-10 production than the sham-operated mice, but the concentrations of the 8 cytokines in BALB/c mice after CLP showed no significant increment.

CONCLUSIONCompared with BALB/c mice, C57BL/6 strain mouse is more sensitive to sepsis.

Animals ; Cytokines ; blood ; Disease Models, Animal ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Random Allocation ; Sepsis ; blood ; Species Specificity

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of transfusion of apoptotic and necrotic thymocytes prior to sepsis on the survival rate of mice.

METHODSBALB/c mice are divided into 3 groups and received intravenous injection of PBS (control), apoptotic thymocytes, or necrotic thymocytes. Three days later, cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) were performed to induce sepsis in these mice, and their survival and organ damage were observed.

RESULTSThe survival rates of mice in PBS group was 44.6% at the end of first week after CLP, and obvious lung and kidney damages were observed. A significant increase in the survival rate was found in apoptotic cell transfusion group (69.6%, P=0.012), with also lessened lung and kidney damages. The survival rate of mice in necrotic cell transfusion group was only 31.6% at 2 weeks, significantly lower than that in PBS group (P=0.035), and the lung and kidney damage was even more obvious.

CONCLUSIONTransfusion of apoptotic thymocytes 3 days before induction of sepsis can reduce organ damage and improve the survival rate of mice, while necrotic cell transfusion produces the opposite effect.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; Disease Models, Animal ; Lymphocyte Transfusion ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Necrosis ; Sepsis ; mortality ; therapy ; Survival Rate ; Thymus Gland ; cytology

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Plasma Exchange ; methods ; Severity of Illness Index ; Sorption Detoxification ; methods ; Treatment Outcome

Objective:To explore the drugs and clinical characteristics causing drug-induced liver injury (DILI) in recent years, as well as identify drug-induced liver failure, and chronic DILI risk factors, in order to better manage them timely.Methods:A retrospective investigation and analysis was conducted on 224 cases diagnosed with DILI and followed up for at least six months between January 2018 and December 2020. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to identify risk factors for drug-induced liver failure and chronic DILI.Results:Traditional Chinese medicine (accounting for 62.5%), herbal medicine (accounting for 84.3% of traditional Chinese medicine), and some Chinese patent medicines were the main causes of DILI found in this study. Severe and chronic DILI was associated with cholestatic type. Preexisting gallbladder disease, initial total bilirubin, initial prothrombin time, and initial antinuclear antibody titer were independent risk factors for DILI. Prolonged time interval between alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) falling from the peak to half of the peak (T 0.5ALP and T 0.5ALT) was an independent risk factor for chronic DILI [area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC)?=?0.787, 95%CI: 0.697~0.878, P ?