Objective In order to standardize plantation and get bumper crops cultivation technique of Abrus cantoniensis Hance (a general term: "Herba Abri"). Methods To cultivate A. cantonients guiding by the instructive rules of productive quality and standard of management of Chinese medicinal materials, productive A. cantoniensis under good agriculture practice (GAP) promulgated by State Administration of Food and Drug. Results Comparing to production under non-GAP, the content of extract and flavones was higher, while the content of pesticide residue and heavy metal was lower under GAP. Conclusion Plantation of A. cantoniensis under GAP through choosing soil strictly, selecting seeds, optimizing pollution-free environment and friendly fertilizer and agriculture chemical, the harmful heavy metal and residues of pesticides amount in crude medicinal materials could be controled effectively so that the quality and output of A. cantoniensis could be improved.

OBJECTIVETo compare the clinical effects between ginger-partition moxibustion combined with glucocorticoid and simple oral glucocorticoid for thyreoitis at subacute stage.

METHODSEighty-one patients were randomly divided into an observation group (41 cases) and a control group (40 cases). In the observation group, ginger-partition moxibustion and hormone were applied. Moxa cones were used at local ashi points, Zusanli (ST 36), Guanyuan (CV 4) and Qihai (CV 6), six cones every point, once every other day and three times a week. Besides, 24 mg methylprednisolone tablets were adopted orally every day, and in two weeks the dose was 16 mg/d, in four weeks 8 mg/d, in six weeks 4 mg/d; all the patients were observed for 8 week. In the control group, simple methylprednisolone was prescribed orally, and the dose, the usage and treatment time were the same as those in the observation group. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxin (T4) and ultra-sensitive thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) before and after treatment were observed in the two groups, as well as fever, the pain of thyroid gland, the regression time of swelling and adverse reaction.

RESULTSThe time of thyroid gland pain relieved of the observation group was earlier than that of the control group [(3.07 ± 0.78) days vs (3.62 ± 0.92) days, P < 0.05]. After treatment, T3, T4 and ESR were declined apparently (all P < 0.01), and TSH was obviously increased in the two groups (both P < 0.01). After 2-week treatment, ESR in the observation group was lower than that in the control group (P < 0.05). After 4-week treatment, T3, T4, TSH and ESR in the observation group were better than those in the control group (all P < 0.05). After 8 weeks, all indices in the observation group were superior to those in the control group, without statistical significance between the two groups (all P > 0.05). The effects of the observation group in 2 weeks, 4 weeks and 8 weeks were better than those in the control group (all P < 0.05). The cured course was shorter in the observation group than that in the control group (P < 0.05). The adverse reaction rate in the observation group was lower than that in the control group [4.9% (2/41) vs 22.5% (9/40), P < 0.05]. Three months later after treatment, the cured patients were followed. There was no recrudescence in the observation group and three patients caught the disease again in the control group, but there was no statistical significance between the two groups (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONGinger-partition moxibustion combined with glucocorticoid achieves better effect than simple oral glucocorticoid for thyreoitis at subacute stage, and the adverse reaction is less, which presents the clinical advantages of the integration of Chinese and western medicine.

Adult ; Female ; Ginger ; chemistry ; Glucocorticoids ; administration & dosage ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Moxibustion ; Thyroid Gland ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Thyroid Hormones ; metabolism ; Thyroiditis ; drug therapy ; pathology ; therapy ; Thyrotropin ; metabolism ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo observe the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) at different acupoints on apoptosis-related serum and expression of microRNA (miRNA) in rats with myocardial ischemia, so as to explore its mechanism of action.

METHODSA total of 48 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into a normal group, a model group, a Neiguan group and a acupoint compatibility group, 12 rats in each group. Isoprenaline hydrochloride (ISO) with a daily dose of 2 mg/kg was subcutaneously injected for 14 days to establish the myocardial ischemia model in the model group, Neiguan group and acupoint compatibility group. Rats in the normal group were subcutaneously injected with an equal volume of normal saline. After modeling, rats in the Neiguan group were treated with EA at "Neiguan" (PC 6), while rats in the acupoint compatibility group were treated with EA at "Guanyuan" (CV 4), "Zusanli" (ST 36) and "Neiguan" (PC 6). Rats in the normal group and model group were treated with immobilization, once day for 21 days. The contents of creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB), vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and endothelin-1 (ET-1) in serum were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA); apoptosis index (AI) of myocardial cells was detected by TUNEL method; the expressions of miRNA-1, miRNA-133, miRNA-208 and miRNA-499 were detected by real-time PCR method.

RESULTSCompared with the normal group, the serum CK-MB, VCAM-1 and ET-1 were significantly increased in the model group, Neiguan group and acupoint compatibility group (all P < 0.01), and the apoptosis index was significantly increased (all P < 0.01). The CK-MB, VCAM-1 and ET-1 in the Neiguan group and acupoint compatibility group were significantly lower than those in the model group (all P < 0.01); the AI was reduced, which was more significant in the acupoint compatibility group (P < 0.05). Compared with the normal group, the expression of miRNA-133 was reduced (P < 0.01) and those of miRNA-208, miRNA-1 and miRNA-499 were significantly increased in the model group (all P < 0.01). Compared with the model group, the expression of miRNA-133 was increased (both P < 0.01) and that of miRNA-208, miRNA-1 and miRNA-499 were significantly reduced (all P < 0.01) in the Neiguan group and acupoint compatibility group. Compared with the Neiguan group, the expression of miRNA-133 was increased (P < 0.01) and those of miRNA-208, miRNA-1 and miRNA-499 were significantly reduced in the acupoint compatibility group (P < 0.01, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONEA at acupoints, especially acupoint compatibility group, could effectively prevent and treat myocardial ischemia, and the protective effect is possibly correlated to the double regulation on increasing the expression of miRNA-133 and inhibiting the expression of miRNA-1, miRNA-208, miRNA-499.

Acupuncture Points ; Animals ; Apoptosis ; Disease Models, Animal ; Electroacupuncture ; Endothelin-1 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Humans ; Male ; MicroRNAs ; genetics ; metabolism ; Myocardial Ischemia ; genetics ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar

Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of thermal electroacupuncture therapy in treating lumbodorsal myofascitis. Method Sixty-two patients with lumbodorsal myofascitis were randomized into a treatment group of 30 cases and a control group of 32 cases. The treatment group was intervened by thermal electroacupuncture therapy, while the control group was by orally taking Meloxicam tablets. The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) was observed before and after treatment, and the clinical efficacies were compared.Result The total effective rate was 100.0% in the treatment group versus 78.1% in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The VAS scores were significantly changed after treatment in both groups (P<0.05). After treatment, the VAS score in the treatment group was significantly different from that in the control group (P<0.05).Conclusion Thermal electroacupuncture therapy is an effective approach in treating lumbodorsal myofascitis.

Objective:To investigate the effect of miRNA-34b/c-5p on the expression of neurokinin 1 receptor-truncated(NK1R-Tr)in breast cancer and the effect of miRNA-34b/c-5p and NK1R-Tr on the migration and invasion abilities of breast cancer cells.Methods:Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR(RT-PCR)was used to detect the expression of miRNA-34b/c-5p and NK1R-Tr in 50 breast can-cer specimens that were collected at Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute&Hospital from February to May 2013.Western blot analysis was performed to detect the expression of miRNA-34b/c-5p and NK1R-Tr in breast cancer cell lines MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7. Scratch and Transwell assays were carried out to explore the effects of miRNA-34b/c-5p and NK1R-Tr on the migration and invasion abilities of MDA-MB-231 cells.Results:The expression of miRNA-34b/c-5p and NK1R-Tr in breast cancer tissues and cells were signifi-cantly negatively correlated.The relative expression of NK1R-Tr in breast cancer patients with lymph node metastasis was 5.75,and the relative expression of NK1R-Tr in patients with non-lymph node metastasis was 4.29.The relative expression was significantly dif-ferent between the two groups(P=0.026).Overexpression of miRNA-34b/c-5p and knockdown of NK1R-Tr could significantly inhibit the migration and invasion abilities of MDA-MB-231 cells(all P<0.001).Conclusions:The expression of miRNA-34b/c-5p and NK1R-Tr was significantly negatively correlated.MiRNA-34b/c-5p and NK1R-Tr might be potential therapeutic targets for inhibiting the invasion of breast cancer cells.

In Korea and China, ilaprazole is a widely used proton pump inhibitor in the treatment of gastric ulcers. In this study, a specific and sensitive LC-MS/MS method has been developed and validated for the quantification of ilaprazole enantiomers in the rat plasma, using R-lansoprazole as the internal standard. The enantioseparation was achieved on a CHIRALPAK AS-RH column (4.6 mm × 150 mm, i.d. 5μm), with a mobile phase composed of 10 mM ammonium acetate aqueous solution and acetonitrile (60:40, V/V), at a flow-rate of 0.5 mL/min. The method was validated over the concentration range of 0.5-300 ng/mL for both, R- and S -ilaprazole. The lower limit of quantification was 0.5 ng/mL for both enantiomers. The relative standard deviation (RSD) of intra- and inter-day precision of R-ilaprazole and S-ilaprazole was less than 10.9％, and the relative error accuracy (RE) ranged from -0.5％-2.0％. Finally, the method was successfully evaluated in rats in a stereoselective pharmacokinetic study of the ilaprazole racemate.