The effedt of ligustrum lucidum(LL)and acanthopanax senticosus(AS)on T cells was observed by Ea rosette formation and lymphocyte stimulation test with diff- erent experimental conditions.Both of the two drugs can promote the response of lymphocyte to PHA,but can not stimulate al one lymphocytes to proliferate.LL can raise EaRFC% of lymphocyte and accelerate the restoration of the EaRFC% of trypsin-treated lymphocytes,but AS not.AS can antagonize the inhibition of hydr- ocortisone,but LL not,In this paper,the mechanisms of the action of the two drugs were discussed.

Objective To explore the effects of stimulating vagus nerve with pulse current on peripheral blood CD4+T lymphocyte of rats with collagen induced arthritis and its mechanism.Methods To duplicate model rats of experimental arthritis(EA)by intradermal injection of Ⅱtype collagen,divide the rats into 2 groups:vagus nerve stimulation(VNS)group and sham operated group.Rats in VNS group were stimulated at the left cervical vagus nerves for 30 minutes a day with constant square wave,pulse current with intra train of 16 Hz,pulse duration of 1.0 ms,train duration of 10 s,interstimulus interval of 1.5 min and intensities of 3.0 mA.Then flow cytometry and immunofluorescence methods were used to detect the activation of CD4+T lymphocytes(expressing CD71)and the expression of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors alpha 7(nAChR?7)and choline acetyltransferase(ChAT)in peripheral blood CD4+T lymphocytes.Results In VNS group,the expression of nAChR?7 and ChAT were significantly raised in CD4+ T cells at 1st weekend(Pa

Objective To investigate the clinical and mammographic features of plasma cell mastitis.Methods Twenty-five patients(28 lesions)with histologically confirmed plasma cell mastitis, aged from 26 to 70 years(mean age 41 years),were examined with X-ray mammography.The clinical manifestations and imaging features were retrospectively reviewed.Results No case was in lactation.The painful irregular masses,ranged from 1.3 to 8cm in size,were found in 22 patients,while 3 patients with acute episode.Recurrent episodes of breast masses were noted in 4 patients.Based on the mammographic appearances,the plasma cell mastitis were classified as the following four types:inflammation-like type (2/28),ductal ectasia type(3/28),focal infiltration type(10/28)and nodular type(13/28).The valuable radiogyaphic signs:(1)An asymmetrically increased density along the lactiferous duct with a flame-like appearance,inhomogeneous low density tubular structures and scattered stick-shape calcifications.(2) Architectural distortion and oil cysts formation in adjacent area,(3)Subareolar ductal ectasia.Conclusions The clinical and mammographic characteristics of plasma cell mastitis are critical to avoiding unnecessary surgery.Histopathological result is needed for the diagnosis in patients highly suspected of malignancy.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate therapeutic effect of acupuncture at Sifeng (EX-UE 10) on infantile malnutrition.

METHODSMulticentral, randomized, controlled and single blind test was adopted. 222 infants of malnutrition were divided into an acupuncture group (n=110) and a medicine group (n=112). The acupuncture group were treated with acupuncture at bilateral Sifeng (EX-UE 10), once each week, for 4 times; and the medicine group were treated with oral administration of Yiqi Jianpi Oral Liquid, twice each day, one ample each time, for 4 weeks. The therapeutic effect was evaluated by improvement of symptoms and signs in the syndrome cumulative score scale, and changes of serum insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), pre-albumin (PA), hemoglobin and red-cell count.

RESULTSTwo hundred and twenty-two cases were enrolled in the 4 centers and 212 cases completed the test. The acupuncture group in improvement of appetite, body weight, subcutaneous fat thickness of the abdomen, etc. were superior to the medicine group (P < 0.01), but there was no significant difference between the two groups in improvement of the body height. There was no significant increase of serum IGF-I level in the two groups, and the acupuncture group in increase of PA was superior to the medicine group (P < 0.05). After treatment, hemoglobin and red-cell count increased significantly in the treatment group (P < 0.01), and hemoglobin increased significantly in the medicine group.

CONCLUSIONAcupuncture at Sifeng (EX-UE 10) has obvious therapeutic effect on infantile malnutrition.

Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Appetite ; Humans ; Infant Nutrition Disorders ; Single-Blind Method ; Treatment Outcome

AIM To establish the quality standard for Compound Tougucao Solution [Impatiens balsamina L.Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim.,Gleditsia sinensis Lam and Momordica cochinchinensis (Lour.) Spreng.].METHODS The fingerprints of ten batches of samples were established,after which TLC was used for the qualitative identification of I.balsamina and Z.bungeanum,HPLC was adopted in the content determination of quercetin.RESULTS There were twenty-seven common peaks in the fingerprints with the similarities of 0.978-0.986,four of which were sodium benzoate,rutin,hyperoside and quercetin,respectively.The clear TLC spots were free from negative interference.Quercetin showed a good linear relationship within the range of 1.68-107.6 μg/mL (R2 =0.999 9),whose average recovery was 104.3％ with the RSD of 2.2％.CONCLUSION This stable and reproducible method can be used for the quality control of Compound Tougucao Solution.

BACKGROUNDThioredoxin is one of the most important redox regulating proteins. Although thioredoxin has been shown to protect cells against different kinds of oxidative stress, the role of thioredoxin in myocardial ischemia and reperfusion injury has not been fully understood. This study was conducted to explore the protective role of human thioredoxin on myocardial ischemia and reperfusion injury and its potential mechanisms.

METHODSPurified human thioredoxin was injected into adult Wistar rats, which were subjected to 30 minutes of myocardial ischemia followed by 2 or 24 hours of reperfusion. We detected 1) the infarct size; 2) the level of malondisldehyde (MDA) in serum; 3) the expression of caspase-9, and cytochrome c in/out of mitochondria by Western blotting; 4) apoptosis by terminal-deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay and caspase-3 and its protein by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blotting; 5) the expression of bcl-2 and bax in cardium by immunohistochemical (IHC) assay.

RESULTSHuman thioredoxin reduced myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury as evidenced by significant decrease of myocardial infarct size (P < 0.01), notable reduction of myocyte apoptosis (P < 0.01), lower systemic oxidative stress level (P < 0.01) after reperfusion for 2 hours, and few inflammatory cell infiltration after reperfusion for 24 hours in rats. Furthermore, treatment with human thioredoxin significantly reduced the release of mitochondrial cytochrome C (P < 0.05), and inhibited the activity of caspase-9 (P < 0.05) and caspase-3 (P < 0.01 in mRNA and P < 0.05 at protein level). Meanwhile, human thioredoxin markedly increased bcl-2 expression (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThese results strongly suggest that human thioredoxin has cardioprotective effects on myocardial ischemia/reperfusion and its anti-apoptotic role may be mediated by modulating bcl-2 and the mitochondria-dependent apoptotic signaling pathway.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Caspase 3 ; genetics ; Humans ; Mitochondria, Heart ; drug effects ; physiology ; Mitochondrial Membrane Transport Proteins ; drug effects ; Myocardial Reperfusion Injury ; prevention & control ; Oxidative Stress ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Thioredoxins ; pharmacology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the incidence and the gene mutation frequencies and patterns of β-thalassemia (β-Thal) in ethnic Han children in Chongqing city.

METHODA total of 1726 children were screened by using automatic hemocytic analyzer, cellulose acetate electrophoresis and fetal hemoglobin alkali denaturation test. Samples with mean corpuscular volume (MCV) < 80 fl, cell hemoglobin content (MCH) < 27 pg and hemoglobin A2 (HbA2) levels >3.3%, fetal hemoglobin (HbF) >2% for β-Thal screening indicators. The positive samples of screening indicators were detected and identified by PCR-reverse dot blot method for 18 common β-Thal mutations in Chinese populations, unknown mutations samples were subjected to DNA sequencing analysis of the β-globin gene.

RESULTTwenty-five cases of β-Thal carriers were observed from the 1726 samples, with 24 cases of β-Thal heterozygote and one case of double heterozygote. Therefore, the β-Thal carrier rate was 1.51%. After 1726 peripheral venous blood samples analyzed by hematological parameters, 164 positive cases of β-Thal screening indicators were found, with the positive rate being 9.50% (164/1726). A total of 6 different gene mutations were detected, the four most common mutations were as the following: CD41-42, IVS-II-654, CD17 and beta E. These four mutations as the major types in this area accounted for 88.00% of all the mutations. In addition, one rare mutation of 5 'UTR; + (43 -40) was found, and one case of the hemoglobin variant of Hb Zurich was reported in Chinese people for the first time.

CONCLUSIONChongqing is a high risk region of the β-Thal. Epidemiological Data from the research was useul for the genetic counseling and the prevention of β-Thal major.

Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Blood Chemical Analysis ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Gene Frequency ; Genetic Counseling ; Hemoglobins ; analysis ; genetics ; Hemoglobins, Abnormal ; analysis ; genetics ; Heterozygote ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Mutation ; genetics ; Prevalence ; beta-Globins ; genetics ; beta-Thalassemia ; epidemiology ; ethnology ; genetics

BACKGROUNDBell's palsy involves acute facial paralysis due to inflammation of the facial nerve. Acupuncture and moxibustion (acu-moxi) is beneficial in treating facial palsy. In order to verify the efficacy of acu-moxi on Bell's palsy, a randomized single-blind, multicenter clinical trial was performed.

METHODSA total of 480 patients from four clinical centers were involved in this trial, of whom 439 completed the trial and 41 did not. All patients were randomly assigned to either the control group or to one of two treatment groups. The control group was treated with prednisone, vitamin B1, vitamin B12, and dibazole; the treatment groups were treated either with acu-moxi alone or in combination with prednisone, Vitamin B1, vitamin B12, and dibazole. Symptoms and signs, the House-Brackmann scale, and facial disability index (FDI) scores were assessed and determined both pre- and post-treatment to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment methods.

RESULTSThe characteristics of the control and two treatment groups were comparable without statistically significant differences before treatment. There were significant differences between the control and treatment groups after treatment (chi(2) = 15.265, P = 0.018). According to evaluations based on the House-Brackmann scale and FDI scores, the effectiveness of treatment in the two treatment groups was better than in the control group and was most effective in patients receiving acu-moxi treatment alone (Z = -2.827, P = 0.005).

CONCLUSIONThe efficacy of acu-moxi treatment for Bell's palsy is verified scientifically.

Acupuncture Therapy ; Adult ; Aged ; Bell Palsy ; therapy ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Moxibustion ; Treatment Outcome

AIM:To study the growth-inhibiting and proapoptotic effects of Pim-1 kinase inhibitor SMI-4a on human acute myeloid leukemia cell line U937.METHODS:The effect of SMI-4a on U937 cell viability was measured by CCK-8 assay.The apoptotic rate was assessed by flow cytometry with Annexin V-PI staining and by fluorescence microscopy with Hoechst 33342 staining.Methylcellulose was used to assess colony formation ability of the cells.The expression of β-catenin in the cell cytosol and nucleus was detected by Western blot,and the expression of apoptosis-related proteins in the U937 cells was also examined.Intracellular distribution of β-catenin was detected by the method of immunofluorescence.RESULTS:SMI-4a inhibited the viability of U937 cells.Annexin V-PI staining showed that SMI-4a induced apoptosis in dose-and time-dependent manners.Hoechst 33342 staining also verified the apoptosis.SMI-4a significantly inhibited the colony formation capacity of the U937 cells.The results of Western blot demonstrated that SMI-4a upregulated the expression of PARP and Bax,downregulated the expression of Bcl-2 and change the distribution of β-catenin in intracellular compartment.Immunofluorescence observation found that SMI-4a decreased the expression level of β-catenin in the U937 cells.CONCLUSION:SMI-4a induces U937 cell apoptosis through regulating the expression of apoptosis-related genes.

Tuberculous encephalopathy (TBE) is an important diagnosis in countries with a high prevalence of tuberculosis. TBE is a life-threatening condition but rarely reported in the modern literature. We reported a case of a man with extensive parenchymal lesions involving the brainstem and right cerebellar hemisphere that resolved after treatment. The clinical, laboratory and pathological features of this case are highlighted and the pathogenesis is discussed.
Aged ; Antitubercular Agents ; therapeutic use ; Brain Diseases ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; microbiology ; Humans ; Hydrocephalus ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; microbiology ; Male ; Tuberculosis, Central Nervous System ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; microbiology