Objective To evaluate the therapeutic effect of hydrogen-rich saline on allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) in mice and to explore its underlying mechanisms.Methods Forty mice were equally divided into 4 groups:control group,control treatment group,ACD group and ACD treatment group.ACD was induced by repetitive topical application of dinitrofluorobene (DNFB) to the left ear of mice on day 1,2 and 5.Hydrogen-rich saline was intraperitoneally given to the mice in the ACD treatment group at a dose of 5 ml/kg per day from day 1 to 5.On day 6,the mice were sacrificed,ear tissue was removed from them and subjected to measurement of thickness and weight,detection of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α,interleukin (IL)-6,IL-17 and interferon (IFN)-γ expression by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay,as well as numeration of inflammatory cells in lesions after hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining.Data were processed by SPSS 18.0 software,and statistical analysis was carried out by one-way analysis of variance and least significant difference (LSD) procedure.Results Compared with the control group,the ACD group showed a significant increase in lesion score (7.33 ± 1.53 vs.0,P ＜ 0.05),differences in the thickness ((0.73 ± 0.15) mm vs.(0.13 ± 0.05) mm,P ＜ 0.05) and swelling degree (expressed as tissue weight:(18.67 ± 3.05) mg vs.(3.33 ± 1.52) mg,P ＜ 0.05) between the left and right ear,expressions of TNF-α ((1475.52 ± 233.81) pg/mg vs.(239.01 ± 52.39) pg/mg,P＜ 0.05),IL-6 ((184.65 ± 78.39) pg/mg vs.(42.28 ± 17.64) pg/mg,P＜ 0.05),IL-17 ((628.56 ± 201.44) pg/mg vs.(127.58 ± 50.28) pg/mg,P＜ 0.05) and IFN-γ ((197.72 ± 37.81) pg/mg vs.(24.57 ± 8.31) pg/mg,P ＜ 0.05),and the number of inflammatory cells per square millimetre in the left ear tissue (752.00 ± 166.06 vs.127.33 ± 77.18,P ＜ 0.05).However,hydrogen-rich saline treatment induced a statistical decrease in all of these parameters in the ACD treatment group compared with the ACD group,including lesion score (3.33 ± 0.58,P ＜ 0.05),difference in thickness ((0.46 ± 0.11) mm,P ＜ 0.05) and swelling degree ((11.00 ± 2.64) mg,P ＜ 0.05),expressions of TNF-α ((817.72 ± 101.13) pg/mg,P＜ 0.05),IL-6 ((95.86 ± 36.65) pg/mg,P＜ 0.05),IL-17 ((373.38 ± 126.74) pg/mg,P＜ 0.05),IFN-γ ((63.31± 17.38) pg/mg,P ＜ 0.05) and the number of inflammatory cells per square millimetre (384.00 ± 97.35,P ＜0.05).Conclusion Hydrogen may inhibit the release of inflammatory factors in ACD.

Objective To explore a method for establishing stable auditory deprived animal model of mouse.Methods Forty two-month old BALB/c mice with normal auditory brainstem response(ABR) thresholds were divided into two groups randomly.The experimental group underwent an incision inferior to the pinna,and the cochleas were destoried with a drill through the bulla bilaterally.The control group underwent only an incision without cochlea ablation.Mice were tested for ABR thresholds 4 month later to assess hearing sensitivity by comparing the ABR before and after operation.Results In the experimental group,auricle reflection disappeared after operation and ABR waves couldn't be detect.In the control group,the result of hearing test was normal.Conclusion Mouse cochlea ablation is a reliable method for establishing a stable auditory deprived animal model of mouse by the pinna inferior approach.It can be used to the research of auditory centre plasticity induced by auditory deprived.

Objective:To extract, separate and identify the flavonoids in Humulus Scandens and detect their cytotoxic effect on cells HepG2. Methods: After Humulus scandens bing was extracted by alcohol, luteolin-7-O-β-D-glucoside ( LGL) and cosmoiin ( AGL) were obtained by using column chromatography and identified by spectral analysis. The inhibitory effects of LGL and AGL on HepG2 cells were detected by a typan blue dye method. Results:The main flavonoids in Humulus Scandens were LGL and AGL. When the concentration of LGL and AGL was increased from 6. 25 μmol·L-1 to 100. 0 μmol·L-1 , the inhibition rate of LGL was increased from 28. 8% to 95. 2% and that of AGL was increased from 3. 6% to 21. 3%. Conclusion: LGL has notable inhibitory effect on HepG2 cells in a dose-dependent manner, while the inhibitory effect of AGL is not obvious.

Objective To observe the effect of hydrogen on ultraviolet B (UVB)-induced oxidative damage to skin fibroblasts.Methods Primary human skin fibroblasts from foreskin tissues were divided into five groups:normal control group receiving no treatment,hydrogen control group treated with hydrogen-rich saline,UVB group receiving irradiation only,post-treatment group irradiated with UVB followed by hydrogen-rich saline treatment,and pre-treatment group treated with hydrogen-rich saline followed by UVB irradiation.The dose of UVB was 30,60 and 90 mJ/cm2 in the cell proliferation assay and 90 mJ/cm2 in the other experiments.Methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay was performed to evaluate the proliferative activity of fibroblasts,a chemiluminescence method to estimate the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase as well as to determine the level of malondialdehyde in the culture supernatant of fibroblasts,enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to determine the supernatant level of 8-isoprostane-prostaglandin F2α (8-iso-PGF2α),Western blot to detect the expression of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) in fibroblasts.One-factor analysis of variance was conducted to assess differences in these parameters among these groups.Results UVB irradiation decreased the proliferative activity (absorbence value at 490 nm) of fibroblasts in a dose-dependent manner.Both the pre-treatment group and post-treatment group showed a statistical increase in proliferative activity of cells compared with the corresponding UVB control groups (all P ＜ 0.05).The activity of SOD and catalase as well as the protein expression of HO-1 were significantly higher (all P ＜ 0.05),whereas the supernatant levels of malondialdehyde and 8-iso-PGF2α were statistically lower (both P ＜ 0.05) in the pre-treatment group and post-treatment group than in the UVB control group.Conclusion Hydrogen may mitigate UVB-induced oxidative damage to skin fibroblasts.

Objective To identify the genetic loci associated with bipolar disorder in Chinese population by the ge?nome scan on chromosome 20 in bipolar disorder patients and healthy people from Shandong peninsula. Method Geno?typing was conducted on DNA pool samples of 104 bipolar disorder patients and 1000 controls using thirteen microsatel?lite markers on chromosome 20 spaced at intervals of approximately 10 cM and GeneMapper 4.0 software. CLUMP soft?ware was used to analyze multiallelic markers. Result Significant difference of allele frequencies was found at marker D20S186 (20p12.2) between patients and controls (P=0.022). Conclusion The data suggest that the D20S186 locus (20p12.2) is significantly associated with susceptibility to bipolar disorder in a Chinese Han population in Shandong pen?insula. Future studies should focus on the fine mapping of this region and assessment of candidate genes.

Seeds of Bupleurum chinense cultivar, Zhongchai No. 1, were sowed in plastic pots which used the arable layer soil as the nursery bed and putted in the artificial climate incubator at various temperatures (15, 20, 25, 15-25 degrees C) and light (8,12 h) to germinate, respectively. The lower constant temperature (15 degrees ) and the higher constant temperature (25 "C) were not conducive to the sprouting characteristics of B. chinese. While they were able to enhance root activity to some extent; The seeding growth of B. chinese was significantly better in the variable temperature than correspondence in the constant temperature, significantly. The emergence speed, emergence index, vigor index and root activity of Bupleurum were improved under the 12 h of light-time, but the germination rate was not improved. The sprouting of Bupleurum's seeds could be improved to some extent by soaking with hormone, such as gibberellin, cytokinin, salicylic acid. Gibberellin promoted seeds' sprouting and seedings's root activity of Bupleurum, while salicylic acid increased the root activity of seeding. There is a significant influence of light, temperatures and hormone treatment on the germination of Zhongchai No. 1 seeds, and all three are remarkably interacted; It is beneficial to promote seed germination by the temperature (20 + 5) degrees C, lighting (8 h) and gibberellin concentration (10 x 10(-6)).
Bupleurum ; drug effects ; growth & development ; radiation effects ; Germination ; drug effects ; radiation effects ; Gibberellins ; pharmacology ; Light ; Plant Growth Regulators ; pharmacology ; Seeds ; drug effects ; growth & development ; radiation effects ; Temperature

In order to select high quality and suitable Bupleuri Radix varieties in Qingchuan, and establish a new comprehensive method to evaluation the quality of Bupleuri Radix, 12 characters of 14 samples were evaluated by DTOPSIS and grey related degree. The results showed that varieties No. 8 and No. 10 had high quality. DTOPSIS and grey related degree gave the uniformity result, and the biggest difference of value of Ci in DTOPSIS method was 46. 33% , but the biggest difference of the weighting correlation number( r (i)) in grey related degree was only 13.10%. The DTOPSIS combined with grey related degree can evaluate the quality of Bupleuri Radix comprehensively and objectively.
Bupleurum ; chemistry ; China ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; supply & distribution ; Quality Control ; Statistics as Topic ; methods

Objective To investigate the feasibility of the low tube voltage setting and personalized contrast agent application in 64-row multi-slice spiral CT pulmonary angiography.Methods Ninety patients with high risk of pulmonary artery embolism were sequentially enrolled in the study and divided into 3 groups employing completely randomized design: (1) Regular group included 30 patients using 120 kV and fixed dose of 70 ml contrast agent, (2)Another 30 patients were in 120 kV group, using 120 kV and the contrast amount was determined according to the patient weight (1.0 ml/kg), (3) The remaining 30 patients were included in 100 kV group, using 100 kV and the contrast amount was also determined according to the patient weight(1.0 ml/kg).Administration of contrast agent was completed within 20 seconds for all the patients, followed by 20 ml of saline.The objective and subjective indexes for assessing CT image quality, CT dose index volume (CTDIvol) and effective received dose (ERD) were compared between 120 kV group and 100 kV group; then the contrast media volume, injection rate, objective CT image indexes and subjective indexes for image quality was compared between the 100 kV group and regular group.The variance analysis and post hoc test were employed for the statistical analysis.Results Compared with 120 kV group(3.4± 0.7), the image quality of 100 kV group(5.2±1.8)had higher noise(52.9%), but subjective index for the image quality demonstrated no differences(q=0.272 ,P=0.063)in mediastinum window while CTDIvol and ERD decreased for 34.9%[(9.5±0.0) vs (14.6±0.0) mGy]and 36.8%[(3.8±0.6) vs (2.4± 0.4) mSv].The mean CT values on pulmonary artery of 100 kV group[(269.2±54.7) HU]were 13.4% (31.8/237.4) higher than the 120 kV group[(237.4±62.9) HU], but there was no statistical differences eornpared to normal group(q=0.172,P=0.260).Conclusion Using low kV setting (100 kV) to reduce radiation dose is proved to be effective and feasible in 64-MSCT pulmonary angiography.Personalized contrast agent injection has clinical application value for specific patient group.

Objective To evaluate the clinical application values of 64-row MSCT for apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy(AHCM).Methods Twenty-one patients with AHCM were included in this study,14 patients were diagnosed by echocardiography(UCG),and 7 patients were diagnosed by MRL AU patients underwent MSCT exam,and 5 patients also had ventriculography and coronary angiography.The left ventricular wall thickness in end-systole and end-diastole phases were measured at MSCT workstation,the left ventricular apex thickening rate(LVAT)and the ratio of maximum wall thickness of the left ventrieular apex(LVA)to the left ventricular posterior wall thickness(LVA/LVPW)in end-diastole phase were calcdated.The left ventricular end-diastolie volume(LVEDV)and left venueular ejection fraction (LVEF)were quantitively evaluated with cardiac functional analysis software.The results were compared with the measurement results from the normal control group(30 volunteers).The independent-samples t test was used for the statistics.At the same time.the coronary stenosis was measured.Results Diffuse or partial thickening of the LV apical myocardium were found in the four-chamber view and two-chamber view of MSCT images.which leaded to the deformation of the left ventricle chamber.The LVEDV were(82.6±11.4)and(108.5±10.6)ml in the AHCM group and the control group,respectively;the LVA were (20.6±3.4)and(9.9±1.5)mm;LVA/LVPW were 2.1±0.5 and 1.1±0.2;the LVAT were(25.6±4.7)%and(81.5±8.5)%.There were significant differences in LVEDV,LVA,LVA/LVPW and LVAT between the two groups(t=8.32 and 15.29,P＜0.05;t=9.91 and 27.30,P＜0.05;respectively),but there were no statistical differences in LVPW and LVEF between the two groups(t=0.26 and 1.13.P＞0.05).Five patients had myocardium bridging and 4 patients had coronary stenosis.Conclusion AHCM can be diagnosed accurately with MSCT,and the cardiac anatomy.function and coronary artery are also assessed simultaneously.

Objective To discuss the clinical value of coronary artery imaging using 64-slice spiral CT in patient with atrial fibrillation.Methods The images of 31 patients with atrial fibrillation who underwent contrast-enhanced CT coronary angiography were evaluated.The presence of stenosis on each segment of coronary arteries was recorded and their degree of stenosis was measured using the vessel analysis software.Ten patients additionally underwent conventional coronary angiography.The results of conventional coronary angiography were compared with CT coronary angiography of the 10 patients.Results Image reconstruction was based on absolute timing.The image quality of 364 coronary vessel segments on the images from 31 patients was evaluated and defined as excellent,fine,moderate or poor.The image quality was excellent,fine,moderate and poor in 85,41,5,and 8 vessel segments respectively in patient group with heart rate between 47 beat per minent(bpm)and 69 bpm;and in 63,16,13,and 15 vessel segments respectively in patent group with heart rate between 70 bpm and 79 bpm;and in 46,25,23,and 24 vessel segments in patient group with heart rate between 80 bpm and 105 bpm.There was significant difference among the three patient groups(H=22.08,P＜0.01).Comparison was carried out between CT angiographic findings and conventional angiographic findings of the 125 segments of the coronary arteries in the 10 patients who underwent conventional coronary angiography.The sensitivity and specificity of CT angiography for diagnosing vessel with significant coronary stenosis(≥50% narrowing)was 85.0%(17/20)and 95.2%(100/105),respectively.Positive predictive value was 77.3%(17/22),and negative predictive value was 97.1%(100/103).Coronary CTA underestimated the lesions of 3 vessel segments and overestimated the lesions of 5 vessel segments.Conclusion Coronary artery imaging with 64-slice row CT had clinical value for patients with atrial fibrillation.