Tablet 912 - II. active ingredients from Fructus Tribuli, was applied for treating 40 cases of cerebral vascular disorders. After a course of 3 months, it was found that the tablet markedly improved the clincal symptoms, lowered the blood viscosity, regulated platelet functions, ameliorated the microcirculation, increased the cerebral blood flow. When compared with Carlan tablet, the action of improving clinical manifestations was basically the same, while for that of correlated clinical indices, 912-II is better than the latter tablet.

Background: Fatty acid-binding protein 4 (FABP4) has been demonstrated to be a predictor of early diabetic nephropathy. However, little is known about the relationship between FABP4 and diabetic retinopathy (DR). This study explored the value of FABP4 as a biomarker of DR in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods: A total of 238 subjects were enrolled, including 20 healthy controls and 218 T2DM patients. Serum FABP4 levels were measured using a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The grade of DR was determined using fundus fluorescence angiography. Based on the international classification of DR, all T2DM patients were classified into the following three subgroups: non-DR group, non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) group, and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) group. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were employed to assess the correlation between FABP4 levels and DR severity. Results: FABP4 correlated positively with DR severity (r=0.225, P=0.001). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to assess the diagnostic potential of FABP4 in identifying DR, with an area under the curve of 0.624 (37% sensitivity, 83.6% specificity) and an optimum cut-off value of 76.4 μg/L. Multivariate logistic regression model including FABP4 as a categorized binary variable using the cut-off value of 76.4 μg/L showed that the concentration of FABP4 above the cut-off value increased the risk of NPDR (odds ratio [OR], 3.231; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.574 to 6.632; P=0.001) and PDR (OR, 3.689; 95% CI, 1.306 to 10.424; P=0.014). Conclusion FABP4 may be used as a serum biomarker for the diagnosis of DR.