AIM: To conclude the characteristics of flash visual evoke potentials (FVEP), and pattern visual evoke potentials (PVEP) of the healthy school-age children.And to compare the two methods, in order to find the association of them, and to find the impact of sex, age, and the other biological variables.METHODS: A total of 101 healthy children were recruited (age from 5 to 14.4y, mean 8.27y).Each of them was underwent FVEP and PVEP examinations.Then the results were statistically analyzed by SPSS 13.0.RESULTS: The curves of PVEP are simple and stable, while FVEP waveforms are variable.The latency of P100 of females is shorter than males.However there was no significant difference for FVEP in sex control.To compare the parameters between the two hemispheres, the amplitude of P100 of left eyes were higher than the right side.FVEP showed no difference in the two hemispheres either.There was no significant difference for age-dependent decreased in neither PVEP nor FVEP.And in a regression analysis of the FVEP and PVEP, we could not find the inner connection of the two methods.CONCLUSION: Based on our research, there were no significant differences in age level or sex control in the period of school-age children.And there is no inner connection of the two methods.The differences between the PVEP and FVEP results might be due to the origin of these two responses.And these two stimuli should be used in a complementary manner not as alternative examinations.

Migraine headache causes significant burdens for both the individual and society.The pathogenesis of migraine is incompletely understood until now.The clinical therapies mainly include medical treatment,surgical treatment,behavior therapy,acupuncture and so on.However,drug treatment could only relieve symptom temporary and bring many side effects for long term use including nausea,vomiting.Surgical therapy maybe becomes an efficient method for migraine headache.The authors have reviewed the pathogenesis of migraine,anatomical basis for surgical therapy and clinical application in this article.

In traditional Chinese medicine(TCM),abnormal and diseased conditions have been defined as Zheng Hou, a unique disease definition system in the context of holism. For over 3000 years the main clinical treatment method for TCM therapeutics has been so called Fang-ji, a TCM medicinal formula usually composed of several herbs and medical materials. The compositions of Fang-ji are based on the clinical practice under the guidelines of "bian-zheng-lun-zhi" and the principles of "Jun-chen-zuo-shi". Each Zheng is treated with a correspondingly-individualized Fang-ji.The modern approach to the study of Fang-ji pharmacology,however,has been focusing on the isolation and identification of individual active components for cellular and molecular targets. Although this approach has led to the development of many new monomers purified from Fang-ji as new drugs widely used in clinical practice such as the an-timalarial artemsinin,which has earned a Nobel Prize,the pharmacological bases of these purified effective monomers or active components have lost the TCM characteristics and are far different from the phar-macological theory and clinical applications of Fang-ji,in terms of the principles of"bian-zheng-lun-zhi"and "Jun-chen-zuo-shi". Here we introduce the emerging pharmacophenophenics as a systematical paradigm for the pharmacological study of Fang-ji.Pharmacophenomics studies the orchestrated multi-target pharmacology of combination therapy.With well-defined molecular mechanisms of Zheng Hou at the level of multi-omics and a suite of new phenomics technologies and platforms, the pharmacophe-nomics may be used to characterize the drug-response phenome of Fang-ji and to identify the corre-sponding multiple therapeutic targets according to the TCM theory of Jun-chen-zuo-shi.Pharmacophe-nomic study of Fang-ji will also lay a theoretical foundation for the new science of precision medicine.

OBJECTIVETo study the thin layer chromatographic (TLC) fingerprint of flavonoid constituents from Polygonatum odoratum, to set up the identification protocol of the herbal and provide scientific information for its quality control.

METHODThe ethanol extracts were separated on silica gel G precoated plate with a mixture of toluene-ethylacetate-formic acid (5:4:1) as the mobile phase. The spots were visualized with ammonia vapor, then were examined under ultraviolet light (365 nm). The plate was scanned at wavelengths of lambdaR = 500 nm, lambdaS = 280 nm.

RESULTA fingerprint of flavonoids of P. odoratum, with 10 specific fluorescent spots while examined under ultraviolet light, was set up.

CONCLUSIONThe method can be used for quality control of P. odoratum.

Chromatography, Thin Layer ; methods ; Flavonoids ; analysis ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Polygonatum ; chemistry ; Quality Control ; Rhizome ; chemistry

Administration of the immunosuppressive drug cyclosporine (CSA) after autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (APBSCT) induces a systemic auto-immune syndrome resembling graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), this syndrome termed autologous GVHD has significant antitumor activity, it can reduce the incidence of tumor relapse after APBSCT. The antitumor effect of this auto-aggression syndrome can be enhanced by the administration of gamma-interferon (gamma-IFN). Five consecutive patients who received APBSCT received therapy inducing autologous GVHD. Intravenous administration of CSA [1 mg/(kg.d) for 28 days] was begin on the day of transplantation. gamma-interferon (0.025 mg/m(2) qod) was administered sub-cutaneously from days 7 throngh 28 after transplatation. Results showed that four of five occured autologous GVHD-skin demage, five in control didn't occur autologous GVHD. The relapse rate of the treated cases was 20% (1/5) versus 60% (3/5) of the control, and the median survival time of the treated cases was 20 (4 - 30) months versus 10 (2 - 20) months of the control. The data indicates that autologous GVHD results in low relapse rate of the patients rececving APBSCT.

OBJECTIVETo study the cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) response induced by dendritic cells (DC) transduced with recombinant adenovirus vector bearing hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg) gene in hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2. 2. 15 cells in vitro.

METHODSFull length HBsAg cDNAs were subcloned into pIND vector, followed by being cloned into pShuttle vector. The HBsAg gene fragments resulted from the pShuttle-S digested with PI-Sce and I-Ceu were linked to the linear adeno-X virus DNA. After packaged with HEK293 cells, the adenovirus expression vector was obtained. Then the recombinant adenovirus expression plasmid AdVHBsAg was transfected into human monocyte-derived dendritic cells, to construct AdVHBsAg hepatocarcinoma tumor vaccine. The effectiveness of transfection was detected by Western blot. Surface molecules of AdVHBsAg-DC were detected by FACS. Autologous T cell proliferation stimulated by AdVHBsAg-DC was detected by 3H-TdR assay. Cytotoxic CTL activity induced by AdVHBsAg-DC in vitro was detected by LDH assay.

RESULTSHBsAg gene in the inserted DNA of AdVHBsAg was confirmed by PCR, and predictive fragments proved by restriction enzyme digestion analysis were exhibited. Cell pathological changes appear after 10 days HEK293 cells transfected AdVHBsAg. Western blot analysis showed that HBV surface antigen gene was expressed in transfected DC, indicating that the transfection was effective. AdVHBsAg-DC was able to upregulate CD1a, CD11c, CD80, CD86 and HLA-DR. Autologus T cell proliferation induced by AdVHBsAg-DCs was significantly higher than that in DC control group and LacZ-DC group (P < 0.05). AdVHBsAg-DC activated CTL presented the specific killer ability to the hepatocellular carcinoma cells expressing HBsAg.

CONCLUSIONDC transduced with recombinant adenovirus HBsAg can express HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma antigen (HBsAg), and AdVHBsAg-DC can induce potent immune response against HBsAg-positive hepatocellular carcinoma cells in vitro.

Adenoviridae ; genetics ; Antigens, CD1 ; metabolism ; CD11c Antigen ; metabolism ; Cancer Vaccines ; immunology ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; immunology ; pathology ; virology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; Cytotoxicity, Immunologic ; immunology ; Dendritic Cells ; cytology ; immunology ; metabolism ; Genetic Vectors ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens ; genetics ; metabolism ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; immunology ; pathology ; virology ; Plasmids ; Recombinant Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic ; cytology ; immunology ; Transfection

OBJECTIVETo study the chemical constituents in roots of P. fallax and their anti-oxidation activities in vitro.

METHODColumn chromatographic techniques were employed for isolation and purification of chemical constituents of the plant. The structures were elucidated on the basis of the spectral evidence and the physical and chemical character. The isolated compounds were screened with four anti-oxidation models in vitro.

RESULTSeven xanthones, 1,7-dihydroxy-2,3-methylenedioxyxanthone (1), 1-methoxy-2,3-methylenedioxyxanthone (2), 3-hydroxy-1,2-dimethoxyxanthone (3), 1,6,7-trihydroxy-2,3-dimethoxyxanthone (4), 7-hydroxy-1-methoxy-2,3-methylenedioxyxanthone (5), 1,3-dihydroxy-2-methoxyxanthone (6) and 1,3,7-trihydroxy-2-methoxyxanthone (7), were isolated from the roots of P. fallax. And compounds 1 - 7 showed different anti-oxidation activities in the different pharmacological models.

CONCLUSIONCompounds 2, 3, 5 and 7 were isolated from this plant for the first time. Xanthones from this plant showed anti-oxidation activities. The pharmacological activities of the pure compounds from this plant were also reported for the first time.

Animals ; Antioxidants ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Lipid Peroxidation ; drug effects ; Macrophages ; physiology ; Mitochondria, Liver ; metabolism ; Oxidation-Reduction ; drug effects ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Polygala ; chemistry ; Rats ; Respiratory Burst ; drug effects ; Xanthones ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology

OBJECTIVETo analyze the correlation of Chinese medicine syndrome evolvement and cardiovascular: events in patients with stable coronary heart disease (CHD).

METHODSThis prospective cohort study investigated and: collected the clinical information of patients with stable CHD and observed the syndrome type at the baseline and 6-month at follow-up, as well as the cardiovascular events during the 6-month and 12-month follow-up. The patients were divided into the event group and the non-event group. The interaction and the impact of syndrome evolvement on cardiovascular events were examined through multifactor dimensionality reduction (MDR) analysis and the results were verified by Chi-square test.

RESULTSTotally 1,333 of 1,503 stable CHD patients enrolled met the inclusion criteria: of MDR analysis. Among them, 959 (71.9%) cases were males and 374 (28.1%) cases were females. Thirty seven cases had cardiovascular events during 6 to 12 months after the study began. The results of the MDR analysis and verification using Chi-square test showed that the development of cardiovascular events was positively correlated with interaction between blood stasis and toxic syndrome at the baseline, blood stasis at the baseline and qi deficiency at the 6-month follow-up, toxic syndrome at the baseline and qi deficiency at the 6-month follow-up, toxic syndrome at the base line and blood stasis at the 6-month follow-up, qi deficiency and blood stasis at the 6-month follow-up (P<0.05 for all).

CONCLUSIONSBlood stasis, toxic syndrome and qi deficiency are important factors of stable CHD. There: are positive correlation between cardiovascular events and syndrome evolution from blood stasis to qi deficiency, from toxic syndrome to qi deficiency and from toxic syndrome to blood stasis, indicating the pathogenesis of toxin consuming qi, toxin leading to blood-stasis in stable CHD patients prone to recurrent cardiovascular events.

Aged ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; etiology ; Coronary Angiography ; Coronary Disease ; complications ; physiopathology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Middle Aged ; Multifactor Dimensionality Reduction ; Syndrome

OBJECTIVETo explore the association between high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) in patients with ST-segment elevated myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) .

METHODSA total of 220 STEMI patients undergoing primary PCI from Guangdong general hospital were recruited. Patients were divided into four groups according to the quartile of hs-CRP (Q1 group:hs-CRP < 6.26 mg/L,Q2 group:6.26-14.44 mg/L, Q3 group:14.45-33.08 mg/L, Q4 group:hs-CRP > 33.08 mg/L) . Baseline data, CIN incidence and other in-hospital outcomes were compared among groups. CIN was defined as an increase in serum creatinine of more than 5 mg/L from baseline within 48-72 hours after contrast media exposure. Receiver operator characteristics (ROC) curves and multivariate logistic regression were used to assessed the correlation between hs-CRP and CIN.

RESULTSCIN occurred in 21 (9.8%) patients. CIN incidence of hs-CRP quartitles were 1.8%(1/55), 1.8% (1/55), 14.5% (8/55) and 20.0% (11/55) (P-trend < 0.01), respectively. In-hospital death (P-trend > 0.05) , required renal replace therapy (P-trend > 0.05) were similar among groups. ROC analysis revealed that the optimal cutoff value of hs-CRP to predict the onset of CIN was 16.85 mg/L (sensitivity: 81.0%, specificity: 61.8%, AUC: 0.748). Univariate logistic analysis showed that hs-CRP was strongly related with CIN incidence (OR = 6.88,95%CI:2.23-21.21, P < 0.01). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that after adjusting other traditional risk factors including female gender, anemia, ACEI/ARB use, IABP support, LVEF < 40%, age > 75 years, baseline eGFR and diabetes, hs-CRP > 16.85 mg/L was still a significant independent predictor of CIN in patients with STEMI undergoing primary PCI. Additionally, age > 75 years (OR = 7.27,95%CI:1.85-28.63, P < 0.01), eGFR (OR = 6.38,95% CI:1.48-27.41, P < 0.05) were also independent risk factors of CIN.

CONCLUSIONShs-CRP is positively correlated with CIN incidence. STEMI patients with higher hs-CRP level post PCI is at higher risk of developing CIN.

Aged ; C-Reactive Protein ; metabolism ; Contrast Media ; adverse effects ; Female ; Humans ; Kidney Diseases ; chemically induced ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention ; ROC Curve

Aim To investigate the protective effect of paeoniflorin on TNF-α induced intestinal epithelial barrier dysfunction and its mechanisms.Methods The Caco-2 cells were cultured and the MTF assay was used to determine the effects of the paeoniflorin on Caco-2 cell activity.The Caco-2 cell intestinal epithelial barrier dysfunciton model was established through incubation of cells with TNF-α.The effects of paeoniflorin on intestinal epithelial barrier dysfunciton were studied.Results The transmembrane resistance in Caco-2 epithelial barrier was significantly reduced by TNF-α incubation;MLCK significantly increased,while tight junction protein occludin and ZO-1 significantly decreased by TNF-α.These changes were significantly reversed by paeoniflorin,which reduced MLCK expression and enhanced expression of occludin and ZO-1.The protective effects against epithelial barrier dysfunction could be abrogated by small interfering RNA(siRNA) of MLCK.Conclusions Paeoniflorin alleviates the epithelial barrier dysfunction induced by TNF-αthrough down-regulation of MLCK and enhancement of tight junction protein occludin and ZO-1.This study supplies a potential candidate drug for the clinical treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases.