BACKGROUND: Deposition of beta-amyloid protein is the main cause of Alzheimer disease. Overexpression of β-amyloid precursor protein gene (βAPP-gene) or mutation of it at certain part can be related with the attack of Alzheimer disease.OBJECTIVE: To observe the relationship of Alzheimer disease and β-amyloid protein with β APP-gene in Yimeng mountainous area.DESIGN: A case-control analysis study.SETTING: Department of Neurology, Linyi Municipal People's Hospital.PARTICIPANTS: Thirty-two Alzheimer disease inpatients were enrolled at the Department of Neurology, Linyi Municipal People's Hospital affiliated to Linyi Medical Professional College between January 2001 and December 2003. Thirty elderly patients who were treated with surgery of noncraniocerebral injury and were of the same sex and the similar age were regarded as the members of the control group [score of Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) was over 27 points].METHODS: Level of β-amyloid protein in cerebrospinal fluid was detected with enzyme-linked immunoadsordent assay (ELISA). Expression of βAPP-gene was measured with the technic of fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction.RESULTS: A total of 62 cases were involved in the result analysis. ①The level of β-amyloid protein in cerebrospinal fluid in the Alzheimer disease group was higher significantly than that in the control group[(13.63±9.34), (6.75±5.37)μg/L,t=3.354, P ＜ 0.01]. ② The expression ofβ APP in cerebrospinal fluid in the Alzheimer disease group was higher significantly than that in the control group [(1 624±298), (1275±269)copy/μL,t=4.42, P ＜ 0.01]. ③ The level of β-amyloid protein was posit ively correlated with the expression of β APP-gene in the Alzheimer disease group (r=0.44,P＜ 0.01).CONCLUSION: The level of β-amyloid protein and the expression of β APP-gene in cerebrospinal fluid of Alzheimer disease patients in the Yimeng Mountainous area increase. Besides, the higher the level of β-amyloid protein, the higher the expression of β APP-gene is, and the severer the degree of dementia is. It indicates that Alzheimer disease has closely relation with β-amyloid protein and β APP-gene. But the expression of the β APP-gene has no specificity in the diagnosis of Alzheimer disease.

AIM: To establish a sensitive HPLC method for determining the concentrations of paeonol in human plasma and to evaluate its pharmacokinetic characteristics. METHODS: A single oral dose of 160 mg paeonol capsules was given to 24 Chinese healthy volunteers. Paeonol was separated on a XB-C18 column with tetrahydrofuran-methanol-water-phosphonic acid (6∶60∶34∶0.1, V∶V) as mobile phase. The plasma concentrations of paeonol were determined and its pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated and evaluated using DAS 2.0. RESULTS: The linear range of the paeonol was 10-500 ng/mL and the determination limit was 10 ng/mL. The main pharmacokinetic parameters, as Cmax, tmax, t1/2,AUC0-3, AUC0-∞ after a single dose of paeonol capsules were (116±46)ng/mL,(1.02±0.13) h,(1.03±0.35) h, (174±45) ng/mL, (217±56) ng/mL,respectively. CONCLUSION: The HPLC method for determining paeonol concentration in plasma is rapid, sensitive and suitable for pharmacokinetic studies.

Objective To investigate the protective effects of the extract of ginkgo biloba(EGb)on the spiralganglion neuron(SGNs)in cochlea tissues on the hearing loss induced by noise in rats.Methods Thirty-six healthy animals were randomly divided into three groups:the normal control group(n=12).the noise exposured group(n =12)and the EGb treamment group(n=12).The control group received no noise and no medications.The other two groups were exposed to the noise of 110 dB SPL for consecutively 10 days,6 hours per day.The treatment group rats were injected with 10 ml/d EGb while the other two groups with 0.9%saline of the same amount.The experiment lasted for ten days.The rats were measured by auditory brainsterm response(ABR)before and after niose exposure.The ultrastructural changes of SGNs were detected by tranismision electron microscpoe(TEM) and the contents of malondiadehyde(MDA) and activities of superoxide dismutase(SOD)were also measured.Results Hearing were signifcantlly decreased in the experimental group.Nevertheless,EGb relatively reduced the contents of MDA while increased the activities of SOD.Conclusion EGb seems to be able to moderately pretect SGNs and to play a preventive and remedial role in noise-induced hearing loss.

Six cases of suicidal sedative-soporific drug poisoning is reported.The main clinical features were coma,respiratory depression,hypotension,disappearance of reflexes and peripherel circulatory failure.Thepathological fingdings were as follows:pulmonary congestion and edema;fatty degeneration of the liver;degeneration of the epithalial cells of the proximal convoluted tubules and cerebral edema.The severityof the pathological changes depend upon the duration between the drug administration and the time of deathThe longer the course,the more prominent the changes.The fatality rate related with the dose of drugadministration,the underlying deseases and the complications.

OBJECTIVE:To develop a method for the determination of paraquat in human plasma,and to provide experimen-tal evidence for the therapy and prognosis of paraquat-poisoned patients. METHODS:The human plasma samples were processed using Waters Oasis solid phase extraction column. HPLC determination was performed on DiamonsilTM C18 chromatographic column with mobile phase consisted of 0.1 mol/L phosphate buffer(containing 80 mmol/L sodium heptanesulfonate,pH adjusted to 3.0 by triethylamine)-acetonitrile (82∶18,V/V) at the flow rate of 0.9 ml/min. The detection wavelength was set at 258 nm. RESULTS:The linear range of paraquat were 20-5 000 ng/ ml;RSDs of inter-day and intra-day both were lower than 9%;average extraction recoveries were 90.72%-96.34%,and average method recoveries were 100.32%-103.10%. CONCLUSIONS:The solid phase ex-traction HPLC can determine the content of paraquat in human plasma rapidly and accurately.