AIM To speculate the hypoglycemic mechanism for rats with type 2 diabetes by exploring the therapeutic effects of leaf aqueous extract from Cyclocarya paliurus on liver insulin receptor (InsR) and insulin receptor substrate 2 (IRS-2).METHODS The diabetic rat model was established through intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin and fed with high-fat diet.The moleled rats were equally assigned into the control group and leaf aqueous extract from Cyclocarya paliurus group (extract group).After the test extract was orally administrated for four weeks,body weight,urine output,food intake,water intake and fasting blood-glucose (FBG) were measured,and the levels of serum insulin,InsR and IRS-2 mRNA in liver tissue were investigated in rats.RESULTS Compared with the control group,the extract group showed a reduction in urine output,food intake,water intake,FBG and insulin levels.Meanwhile,the rats' body weights in extract group were presented a trend to increase.The gene expressions of InsR and IRS-2 in liver tissue were up-regulated.Moreover,the insulin sensitivity was improved.CONCLUSION The leaf aqueous extract from Cyclocarya paliurus can reduce FBS,improve insulin sensitivity,which may be associated with the increase of InsR and IRS-2 gene expression in liver tissue.

Aim To establish the rat model of Spleen-Qi deficiency, analyse the metabolic pathways and investigate the connection between the changed urinary metabolites and Spleen-Qi deficiency, in order to explore the potential mechanisms of Spleen-Qi deficiency.Methods With the binding methods of diarrhea induced by bitter and cold, abnormal of starvation and excessive tiredness, the rat Spleen-Qi deficiency model was established.Then the activity of creatine phosphokinase(CPK) was detected.The endogenous metabolites in the urine were detected by NMR, and the data were analyzed with multivariate and statistical methods.Then the metabolites were selected that could be clearly distinct in the two groups with the fold change value(>1.2) and the P<0.05 of Student′s t-test.Both the pathway analysis and enrichment analysis were performed with Metabo Analyst 3.0.Results Compared with the normal rats, the activity of CPK decreased significantly in model rats(P<0.05).A significant separation appeared in the principal components analysis(PCA) score plot when the control group and the model group were compared, indicating that the Spleen-Qi deficiency model was successfully duplicated.The 33 differential metabolites, which mainly involved in the metabolic pathways, were distinguished from the comparision of Spleen-Qi deficiency model group and control group.The metabolic pathways was related to energy metabolism, amino acid metabolism, nucleotide metabolism and disturbance of gut microbes.Conclusions The main energy metabolic pathways (tricarboxylic acid cycle, glycolysis and liquid oxidation) may be disturbed in Spleen-Qi deficiency rats.The energy supply function is suppressed, which leads to the fatigue and weight loss in rats.

Objective To observe the effect of kinesthetic imagery and visual imagery on upper limb rehabilitation among stroke survivors.Methods Forty-five hemiplegic stroke survivors were randomly assigned into a kinesthetic imagery training group (n=14),a visual imagery training group (n=15) or a control group (n=16).In addition to conventional rehabilitation,patients in the kinesthetic and visual imagery training groups were given 30 minutes of the appropriate imagery training once a day,five days per week for four weeks,while the control group relaxed or received health education for the same time.Before and after the 4-week intervention,the upper limb section of the Fugl-Meyer assessment (FMA-UE) and the modified Barthel index (MBI) were used to evaluate the motor function of the subjects' upper limb and their ability in the activities of daily living respectively.Results Before the intervention,there were no significant differences in the average FMA-UE and MBI scores among the 3 groups.After the intervention there was no significant difference between the average FMA-UE and MBI scores of the two training groups,but both were significantly better than the control group's averages.Conclusion Either kinesthetic or visual imagery training can improve the upper limb function of stroke survivors and their abihty in the activities of daily living.Their effectiveness is not significantly different.