Objective To explore the effects of salmeterol/fluticasone propionate complicated or combined with N-acetylcysteine on the pulmonary function and arterial blood gas analysis of the patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and to evaluate its curative effect.Methods 84 cases of COPD patients were randomly divided into combination treatment group (n=44)and simple treatment group (n=40).The patients in combination treatment group were treated with salmeterol/fluticasone propionate combinated with N-acetylcysteine while the patients in simple treatment group were treated only with salmeterol/fluticasone propionate, both of which were followed up for 6 months.The changes of pulmonary function (FEV1%FVC,FEV1%Pred,PEF daily variation rate:ΔPEF%)and the arterial blood gas analysis indexes (PaO2 and PaCO2 )of the patients in two groups were recorded before treatment, 3 months after treatment, and 6 months after treatment. Results The FEV1%FVC,FEV1%Pred and PaO2 of the patients in combination treatment group and simple treatment group were obviously increased 3 and 6 months after treatment compared with before treatment (P<0.01 ), and the PaCO2 were obviously decreased (P<0.01).And there were significant differences of the indexes mentioned above of the patients between two groups (P<0.05 );but the indexes of each group had no significant differences between 3 months and 6 months after treatment (P>0.05).TheΔPEF% of the patients in two groups had no significant differences between inter-group and intra-group before and after treatment (P > 0.05 ). Conclusion Combination of salmeterol/fluticasone propionate and N-acetylcysteine can obviously improve the pulmonary function and arterial blood gas analysis indexes of the COPD patients, which is superior to the simple application of salmeterol/fluticasone propionate and has definite and lasting curative effect on the treatment of COPD.

Objective To examine the changing levels of serum iron and hemoglobin in Streptococcus pneumoniae-induced rat pneumonia model and the relationship among infection severity,serum iron and hemoglobin.Methods Sixty Sprague Dawley (SD)rats were randomly assigned to one of the four groups,1 5 SD rats in each group,including three treatment groups and one control group. Low, medium and high doses of bacteria were administered to the animals in the treatment groups respectively through tracheal cannula.The severity of pneumonia was indicated by the level of bacterial load.The animals in the control group did not receive bacterial challenge.The mean serum iron and hemoglobin levels were calculated on day 3,5, and 7 to analyze the relationship between bacterial dose and serum iron or hemoglobin levels.Results The serum iron level in the animals receiving medium or high doses of bacteria was significantly lower compared with that in control group on day 3 (P=0.009,P=0.005).The serum iron level in the animals receiving low dose of bacteria showed significant difference compared with that in the control group on day 5 (P=0.007).The hemoglobin level in the animals receiving medium or high doses of bacteria was significantly different from that in the control group on day 5 (P=0.031,P=0.046).The hemoglobin level in the animals receiving low dose of bacteria did not show significant difference compared with that in the control group on day 3,5 or 7.The bacterial dose level was negatively correlated with the mean level of serum iron (correlation coefficient r=-0.65,r=-0.53,r=-0.61,respectively).There was no definite correlation between the bacterial dose and the mean hemoglobin level.Conclusions Streptococcus pneumoniae infection may be associated with lower serum iron and hemoglobin levels in rats.The severity of infection is negatively correlated with serum iron level,but not hemoglobin level.

Objective To investigate protective effect of tribulus terrestris L (TTL) on photoreceptor in the model of light-induced retinal degeneration.Methods BALB/c mice were exposed to bright light at the intensity of 10 000 lux for 30 minutes to establish the retinal light damage models.The BALB/c mice were divided into normal control group,model group and treatment group,6 cases in each group.TTL decoction was intraperitoneally administered to mice 30 minutes prior to illumination in the treatment group.Saline vehicle was administered in the normal control group and model group.Photoreceptor protection of TTL was assessed by optical coherence tomography (OCT) at 3 hours and 7 days after illumination.Gross histology and immunohistochemistry approaches were also taken to examine the retinal protection conferred by TTL at 7 days after bright light exposure.Results Compared to normal retinal morphology in the normal control group,prominent photoreceptor loss and diminished rod and cone photoreceptors evidenced by attenuated retinal expression of rhodopsin and M-opsin were observed in the model group.In contrast,TTL treatment resulted in significant protection against bright light-induced photoreceptor degeneration and remarkable preservation of rod and cone photoreceptor cells.The outer retinal nuclear layer in the model group was thinner than that in the normal control group (P ＜ 0.05),but the treatment group was thicker than the model group (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Bright light induces obviously degeneration in photoreceptors in BALB/c mice.Moreover,TTL is shown for the first to significantly protect the photoreceptors from bright light-induced degeneration.