Objective To determine the effects of practicing a simplified 24 movement form of Tai chi on the level of inflammatory cytokines and the quality of life of type 2 diabetes patients. Methods A group of type 2 diabetes patients practiced a simplified 24 movement Tai chi routine 60 min/d, 3 d/week for 6 months. Plasma glu-cose and insulin concentration were monitored. The plasma level of IL-6, IL-18, sCD40L, hsCRP and HBAc1 were measured. Changes in the patients' quality of life were also measured by using the SF-36. Results Serum IL-6,IL-18, hsCRP and sCD40L levels were all significantly lower compared with a control group. Significant quality of life improvements were seen in the Tai chi group compared with the controls. Significant reductions were seen in blood pressure, glycated haemoglobin, glucose, insulin resistance and urinary albumin. Conclusions These results sug-gest that regular Tai chi practice can prevent complications and improve the quality of life of diabetes sufferers through glyeaemic control and down-regulating inflammatory cytokine levels.

OBJECTIVE:To establish a method for the separation and detection of related substances in baicalein,identify its structure and preliminarily explore the degradation mechanism. METHODS:HPLC was adopted to detect the baicalein,related impurities and forced destruction of degradation products in synthesis process:the column was ES Industries? FluoroSep-RP Phenyl with mobile phase of 0.3%formic acid-methanol-acetonitrile(gradient elution)at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min,the detection wavelength was 275 nm,the column temperature was 10℃,and the injection volume was 10μL. LC-MS/MS was conducted to identify the related substances and conjecture degradation mechanism:the column was ES Industries? FluoroSep-RP Phenyl with mobile phase of 0.3%formic acid- methanol (gradient elution)at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min,the detection wavelength was 275 nm,column temperature was 10℃,and the injection volume was 10μL;ion source was electrospray ion source,positive and negative ions,nebulizer pressure was 55 psi and the drying gas flow was 11 L/min,drying gas temperature was 350℃,capillary voltage was 4.0 kV,detection modes were full-scan first-order MS and selective ion full-scan second-order MS,scan ranges were m/z 100-1000 (first-order MS) and 50-500(second-order MS),ionization voltage was 80-135 eV,and the collision energy was 10-30 eV. RESULTS:The linear range of baicalein was 2.4-480μg/mL(r=0.9999);RSDs of precision,stability and reproducibility tests were lower than 2.0%;the limit of quantitation was 7.2 ng,the limit of detection was 2.4 ng. Baicalein was well separated with related substance and 3 major degradation products,the related substance was chemical synthesis precursor wood butterfly;the degradation products were 6,7-quinone derivatives and 7,8-quinone derivatives,which were isomers;oxidative degradation products were benzoic acid phenyl ester derivatives. CONCLUSIONS:The main mechanisms of alkali degradation and oxidative degradation of baicalein include pyran, reciprocal rearrangement and oxidation reaction;the established method is specific and sensitive,and can be used for the detection of related substances in baicalein.

Objective To evaluate the effects of small interfering RNA (siRNA) against peptidylarginine deiminase 4 (PADI4) gene on apoptosis of fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) from synovium of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).Methods The siRNA targeting PADI4 was constructed and transfected into FLS cells in RA via LipofectamineTM 2000.The expression level of PDAI4 mRNA was detected by using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR).The protein expression of PADI4,CyclinB1 and P21 was detected by Western blotting.The apoptosis of FLS cells in RA was examined by flow cytometry.The levels of IL-1β were detected by ELISA.T-test was used for statistical analysis.Results siRNA-PADI4 efficiently down-regulated the PADI4 expression compared with control group,1.00±0.20 vs 0.38±0.20 (t=9.607,P＜0.01),0.39±0.23(t=8.394,P＜0.01).FCM analysis showed that the percentage of apoptosis cells in PADI4 siRNA group in FLS was (5.4±0.6)％ (t=-19.223,P＜0.01) and (6.1±0.6)％ respectively (t=-24.229,P＜0.01),which was significantly higher than that in the control group in FLS (1.6±0.3)％.The expression of CyclinB1 protein was decreased,and P21 increased.The concentrations of IL-1β in culture medium of the transfected group were (26.8±0.7) ng/ml (t=-10.747,P＜0.01) and (27.7±0.7) ng/ml (t=-10.967,P＜0.01),higher than the control group [(23.9±0.7) ng/ml].Conclusion After being transfected with PADI4 siRNA,the apoptosis of FLS cells in RA is increased.Our results have demonstrated the potential role of CyclinB1 and P21 in PADI4 signaling.