Objective:To establish an HS-GC method for the determination of menthol in Xiao ’ er Fufang Mahuangjian Jiegeng syrups. Methods:An Agilent DB-WAX column(30 m × 0. 53 mm,1. 0 μm)with an FID detector was used;the inlet temperature was 150℃, the detector temperature was 250℃;the flow rate of the carrier gas ( N2 ) was 2. 0 ml·min-1 , the split ratio was 1∶1; the headspace equilibrium temperature was 80℃, the balance time was 30 min, and the sample volume was 1ml. Results:The calibration curve of menthol was within the range of 2. 09-20. 92 μg·ml-1, which showed a good linear relationship (r=0. 999 1). The average recovery of menthol was 98. 0%(RSD=1. 8%, n=6). Conclusion: The method is simple, accurate and reproducible, and can be used for the determination of menthol in Xiao’ er Fufang Mahuangjian Jiegeng syrups.

Objective To investigate effects of very early hyperbaric oxygen treatment (HBOT) on patients with malignant brain edema after surgical operation for treatment of severe traumatic brain injury (TBI).Methods A total of 146 patients who suffered from malignant brain edema after last surgical operation for severe TBI were enrolled for this study.According to the intervention time of HBOT,they were randomized into a very early group (HBOT within 3 days after operation,n =55),an ordinary group (HBOT at 4 to 10 days after operation,n =65) and a control group (non-HBOT,n =26).Mortality rate of the 3 groups were recorded within 4 weeks after operation,and GCS (Glasgow Coma Scale) score were assessed in 1,2,3 and 4 weeks after operation.Dynamic head CT scan were performed for detecting brain status and for determine the duration of brain edema.Results The mortality of the very early group,the ordinary group and the control group were 10.9％,7.7％ and 11.5％,respectively,and no statistically significant difference was revealed among the groups (P ＞ 0.05).In very early group,the GCS scores of 1,2,3 and 4 weeks after operation were (8.837 ±3.350),(10.755 ± 3.388),(11.633 ± 3.408) and (12.367 ± 3.408),respectively,with significant difference between the time points 1 week and 2,3 and 4 weeks as well as 2 and 4 weeks after surgery (P ＜0.05),but not between 2 and 3 as well as 3 and 4 weeks after surgery (P ＞ 0.05).In ordinary group,the GCS scores at 1,2,3 and 4 weeks after surgery were (8.509 ±3.042),(9.458 ±3.115),(10.186 ±3.203) and (10.627 ±3.439),respectively,with significant difference between 1 week and 2,3 and 4 weeks after operation (P ＜ 0.05).In control group,the GCS scores at 1,2,3 and4 weeks after surgery were (8.042 ±2.881),(8.417 ±2.962),(8.542 ±3.02) and (8.958 ± 3.043),with no statistical difference among different time points (P ＞ 0.05).When compared with the very early group,the GCS sores of the ordinary group and the control group were significantly lower after intervention (P ＜ 0.05),and the GCS of control group was lower than that of the ordinary group (P ＜ 0.05).As for brain edema duration,the very early group was the shortest among the 3 groups (P ＞ 0.05) Conclusion Very early hyperbaric oxygen treatment could improve consciousness state and alleviate malignant brain edema after surgical operation in TBI patients.

Objective To study the effects of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) on brain tissue tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-o),interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and IL-10 levels in serum and brain tissues after blast brain injury in rabbits.Methods Twenty New Zealand white male rabbits were randomly divided into sham-operated group (n=6),traumatic brain injury (TBI) group (n=10),TBI+VNS group (n=8).Rabbit brain blast injury models of TBI group and TBI+VNS group were established; and the right cervical vagus nerves of the rabbits in TBI+VNS group were stimulated (10 V,5 HZ,5 ms,20 min).The TNF-α,IL-1β and IL-10 changes in the serum (6 h after injury) and brain tissues (24 h after injury) and the water content in the injured brain tissues were observed and recorded.Results The TNF-α and IL-1β levels in the serum and brain tissues,the water content in the brain tissues of the TBI group were significantly higher than those in the sham-operated group and TBI+VNS group (P＜0.05); the IL-10 level in the TBI+VNS group was significantly higher than that in the sham-operated group and TBI group (P＜0.05).Conclusion VNS can reduce the brain edema degree by increasing the IL-10 level and decreasing the TNF-α and IL-1 β levels,which plays a key role in brain protection effect after brain blast injury in rabbits.

ObjectiveTo explore the effect of different drying conditions on the appearance and intrinsic quality indicators of Pinelliae Rhizoma for screening suitable drying conditions， so as to provide reference for its standardized production and quality evaluation. MethodsDifferent dried samples of Pinelliae Rhizoma were prepared by lime-assisted sweating method and intermittent drying method. Visual analysis was employed to measure the color brightness values（L^*） of the surface， cross-section and powder of the samples， texture analyzer was used to determine the hardness of the samples under different drying conditions. The total starch content was calculated by measuring the contents of amylose and amylopectin in the samples with ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. High performance liquid chromatography（HPLC） was used to determine the contents of seven nucleoside components（uracil， hypoxanthine， uridine， inosine， guanosine， β-thymidine and adenosine） in the samples. Pearson correlation analysis was conducted to explore the correlation between the external characteristics and intrinsic indicators of the different dried samples. Principal component analysis（PCA） was used to comprehensively rank the data of various indicators， and partial least squares-discriminant analysis（PLS-DA） was used to screen differential components with variable importance in the projection（VIP） value>1. Furthermore， the difference between the optimal drying condition for Pinelliae Rhizoma and the traditional sun-drying method was explored by independent samples t-test. ResultsWith the increase of temperature， the color of the intermittently dried samples gradually deepened， while their hardness gradually decreased. Concurrently， the contents of extract， total starch， uridine and adenosine exhibited an upward trend， whereas the contents of uracil， hypoxanthine and inosine displayed a downward trajectory. Compared with the intermittent drying group， the content of extract in the samples subjected to lime-assisted sweating increased. With the increase of lime dose， the hardness and the total content of nucleoside components in the samples showed a downward trend， while the total starch content showed an upward trend. Correlation analysis showed that the comprehensive score of L^* was negatively correlated with the contents of uracil， hypoxanthine and inosine， and positively correlated with the contents of uridine， guanosine and adenosine. Hardness was negatively correlated with adenosine content， and positively correlated with the contents of inosine， uracil and hypoxanthine. Through comprehensive consideration and comprehensive score of principal components， the method of 5% lime-mixed sweating for 6 days emerged as the top-ranking approach. Except for the extract， the results of independent samples t-test showed that there was no significant difference between the 5% lime-mixed sweating for 6 days and the traditional sun-drying in terms of other content indicators. ConclusionThe whiteness and firmness of Pinelliae Rhizoma exhibit significant correlations with its chemical composition， while uridine， uracil， guanosine， adenosine and inosine are the key constituents responsible for the quality difference of Pinelliae Rhizoma under different drying conditions. The lime-assisted sweating method optimized in this study can be proposed as a viable alternative to the traditional sun-drying method. This method not only ensures the quality of the medicinal material but also effectively reduces the drying time and prevents mold contamination， which provides a valuable reference for the standardization of drying conditions and the establishment of quality evaluation criteria for Pinelliae Rhizoma.