ObjectiveTo study the influence of different culture conditions in vitro on phenotype, proliferation and cytoskeletal proteins expression of vascular smooth muscle cells(VSMCs). Methods The cultured VSMCs from rat aorta were divided into six groups: P2 control,P2 starvation,P4 control,P4 starvation,P6 control and P6 starvation. The proliferating cells were labeled by 5-bromodeoxyuridine (5-BrdU); The mRNA expression of smooth muscle 22 alpha (SM22α) was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction method (RT-PCR); The cytoskeletal proteins including SMα-actin,β-Tubulin and Desmin were observed through immunohistochemical staining. Results With the increase of cell passage, cytoskeletal proteins expression of VSMCs decreased,cellular organs increased and secretory vesicles were abundant; in serum-free cultured cells mitochondria increased and electron density enhanced in cytoplasm of VSMCs.On the contrary the expression of SMα-actin decreased, and the expression of SMα-actin increased. The expression of β-Tublin and Desmin decreased more obviously, and at 6 passages failed to express. Conclusion The conditioned medium and serum-free had the different effects on the phenotype,proliferation and cytoskeleton of VSMCs in different passage, and there was internal relationship among them. The internal relationship played an important role in the maintaining of cell morphology, contractile function and vascular remodeling. The disappearance of expression of β-Tubulin and desmin might have important biological significance.

Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Fracture Fixation ; methods ; Humans ; Humeral Fractures ; surgery ; Infant ; Male ; Splints

OBJECTIVETo establish chromatographic fingerprint of Sichuan native medicinal plant Alisma plantago-aquatica by RP-HPLC for the quality control.

METHODThe gradient elution mode was applied in chromatographic separation, and data were analyzed by "Computer Aided Similarity Evaluation" software to compare the quality of A. plantago-aquatica samples from different habitats.

RESULTThe HPLC chromatographic fingerprinting of A. plantago-aquatica with 26 characteristic peaks was established from 17 lots of A. plantago-aquatica samples, peak 16 and 22 were identified as 24-acetyl alisol A and 23-acetyl alisol B, respectively.

CONCLUSIONThe chromatographic fingerprinting of A. plantago-aquatica with high specificity can be used to control its quality and assure lot to lot consistency. The RP-HPLC fingerprint method is repeatable, feasible in analysis of A. plantago-aquatica.

Alisma ; chemistry ; China ; Cholestenones ; analysis ; standards ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; standards ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Quality Control ; Reproducibility of Results

OBJECTIVETo search for low-molecular-weight neuritogenic compounds from the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

METHODAn extract library of TCM was prepared. Targeted isolation guided by biological screening led to the discovery of compound 1, and its structure was elucidated by analysis of spectroscopic methods and comparison of spectroscopic data with these reported from the literature.

RESULTA neuritogenic compound 1, 3-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-22E, 24R-5alpha, 8alpha-epidioxyergosta-6, 22-diene, was isolated and identified from the methanol extract of T. fuciformis. This compound showed a significant neuritogenic activity against PC12 cells at 3 micromol x L(-1)).

CONCLUSIONMethonal extract of T. fuciformis and targeted compound 1 both showed significant neuritogenic activity against PC12 cells. These results suggested that the extract and compound 1 might be used to prevent and treat neurodegenerative disease such as Alzheimer's disease.

Animals ; Basidiomycota ; chemistry ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Molecular Structure ; Nerve Growth Factor ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Neurites ; drug effects ; PC12 Cells ; Rats

To study the mechanism of proliferous vascular disease as well as its prevention and treatment, an organic model was established with cultured aortas of rats, and the mechanism there-in invloved was probed. Immunostaining histology showed that smooth muscle cell (SMC) proliferation was observed in the aorta segments of rats, after their endothelia being injured and cultured in vitro with 20% fetal bovine serum. After being cultured for 5 days, various degrees of proliferation of SMC on cultured artery segments were observed by HE staining, and conspicuous plaques were developed after being cultured for 13 days. The proliferous SMC was also observed by Brdu labeling. RT-PCR examination showed that the mRNA expression of hypertension-related gene-1 (Hrg-1) and smooth muscle 22 alpha (SM22a) in the aortas decreased with the prolongation of culture time, and completely disappeared after being cultured for 13 days . But when cultured in vitro for ten days, the ET-1 content of supernatant and the proliferous SMC labeled by Brdu increased obviously and the expressions of Hrg-1 and SM22a decreased after the endothelium was destroyed. Compared with the injured endothelium groups, the proliferous SMC of injured endothelium plus BQ123 groups decreased visibly. The same significant differences between serum groups and serum-free groups were also observed. These results suggest that the culturing of rat aorta segments in vitro can induce the proliferation of SMC and the transform of phenotype from contractile type to synthetic type. The ET-1 and serum are the main factors in the proliferation of SMC and in the transform of phenotype. This organic model could serve as a good experimental platform for the researches into the mechanism of proliferous vascular disease as well as its prevention and treatment.
Animals ; Aorta, Abdominal ; cytology ; Cell Proliferation ; Disease Models, Animal ; Endothelin-1 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Female ; Male ; Microfilament Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Muscle Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular ; cytology ; Organ Culture Techniques ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

This article introduced the herbal medicine studies on Bupleurum in recent years, focused on the classification just like morphological and chemical classification, microscopic characteristics and molecular biology classification for Bupleurum. Identification combined with a variety of classification is the most effective method for Bupleurum. Due to the short supply of Bupleurum in the current market the current Bupleurum classification studies should focuses on combining pharmacological research to expand the Bupleurum's herbal sources.
Bupleurum ; chemistry ; classification ; cytology ; Microscopy

OBJECTIVETo study the yield of different Houttuynia cordata and the changing regularity of their main officinal components in different periods, and provide a basis for harvesting in good time and breeding new varieties.

METHODThe main officinal composition and wet weight of overground parts per acreage of different accessions were determined periodically. The plot yields were tested when harvested and analyzed by analysis of variance.

RESULTThe difference of the yields of different accessions was significant. The varying tendency of the content of main officinal component methyl nonyl ketone and its total content per acreage of different accessions were different.

CONCLUSIONThe integrate characters of Qionglai and Wangyu wild accessions are relatively better, worthy to be widely applied in production.

China ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; Ecosystem ; Plant Components, Aerial ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; anatomy & histology ; chemistry ; growth & development ; Saururaceae ; anatomy & histology ; chemistry ; growth & development ; Seasons ; Species Specificity

ObjectiveTo investigate the mechanism of Magnolia officinalis cortex for constipation-type irritable bowel syndrome（IBS-C） rats before and after sweating. MethodIBS-C rat model was established by gavage of ice water， and rats were randomly divided into the blank group， model group， mosapride group（1 mg·kg^-1）， M. officinalis cortex group（10 g·kg^-1） and sweated M. officinalis cortex group（10 g·kg^-1）. The changes of body weight， fecal number and fecal water content of rats were observed， 16S rRNA sequencing was used to detect the structural changes of fecal intestinal flora in rats， the levels of 5-hydroxytryptamine（5-HT） and substance P（SP） in colonic tissues of rats were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay（ELISA）. ResultCompared with the model group， the fecal water content and fecal number of mosapride group， M. officinalis cortex group and sweated M. officinalis cortex group were significantly increased（P<0.05）. At the phylum level， the top four species of flora abundance were Firmicutes， Bacteroidetes， Spirochaetes and Proteobacteria. Compared with the blank group， the proportion of Firmicutes in the model group was significantly reduced（P<0.05）， while the proportion of Spirochaetes was significantly increased（P<0.05）. Compared with the model group， the proportion of Firmicutes and Spirochaetes in M. officinalis cortex group and sweated M. officinalis cortex group tended to be similar to that in the blank group， and the proportion of Spirochaetes in sweated M. officinalis cortex group was lower than that of M. officinalis cortex group. At the family level， the top four species of flora abundance were Lactobacillaceae， S24_7， Ruminococcaceae， Bacteroidaceae， compared with the blank group， the proportion of Lactobacillaceae in the model group decreased significantly（P<0.05）， and its proportion in the M. officinalis cortex group and sweated M. officinalis cortex group increased significantly after administration（P<0.05）， and the flora structure of the two groups tended to be similar to that of the blank group. At the genus level， the top four species of flora abundance were Lactobacillus， Unspecified_S24_7， Bacteroides and Treponema. Compared with the blank group， the proportion of Lactobacillus in the model group decreased significantly（P<0.05）， while the proportion of Treponema increased significantly（P<0.05）. Compared with the model group， ratio of bacterial structure of Lactobacillus and Treponema in the M. officinalis cortex group and sweated M. officinalis cortex group tended to be similar to those in the blank group， indicating that M. officinalis cortex could restore the intestinal microbial structure of IBS-C rats before and after sweating. Compared with the model group， the 5-HT content in mosapride group was significantly reduced（P<0.05）， the contents of 5-HT and SP in the M. officinalis cortex group and sweated M. officinalis cortex group were significantly increased（P<0.01）， and the sweated M. officinalis cortex group was higher than the M. officinalis cortex group. ConclusionM. officinalis cortex can play a therapeutic role on IBS-C rats by regulating 5-HT pathway and intestinal flora structure before and after sweating.

Objective To assess and compare the incidence,clinical characteristics,treatment,and prognosis of acute heart failure patients from different grades hospitals in Beijing.Methods In this prospective internet prognosis registered study (Beijing AHF Registry),a total of 3 335 consecutive patients admitted to 14 emergency departments in Beijing from January 1st 2011 to September 23rd 2012 were enrolled.According to hospital grade,these patients were divided into two groups,349 patients were from secondary hospitals,and 2 956 patients were from tertiary hospitals.Results Among the 3 335 patients,the medium age was 71 (58,79) years,and male accounted for 53.16％.The most common underlying disease were coronary disease (43.27％),hypertension (17.73％),cardiomyopathy (16.07％) etc.The average treatment time in Emergency Department was 66.82 h.The emergency department mortality rate was 3.81％ (127 cases).The 30-day and 1-year cumulative all-cause mortality were 15.3％ and 32.27％,respectively.The 30-day and 1-year cumulative all-cause readmission were 15.64％ and 46.89％,respectively.Compared with patients in tertiary hospitals,patients in secondary hospitals had more onset acute heart failure patients (63.64％ vs.49.93％),shorter emergency department treatment time (12 h vs.41 h),lower discharge rate (3.43％ vs.37.45％) and emergency department mortality(1.58％ vs.4.09％).Compared with those in tertiary hospitals,1-year cumulative all-cause mortality (25.6％ vs.33.2％),cardiovascular disease mortality (20.2％ vs.26.0％),aggravated heart failure mortality (22.4％ vs.28.8％) were lower in secondary hospitals.Following propensity score matching,compared to tertiary hospitals,patients in secondary hospitals showed lower utilization rate of beta-blockers and ACEFARB (4.51％ vs.28.17％,1.41％ vs.9.58％),except the pironolactone.Conclusion Acute heart failure in emergency department is associated with a high mortality rate and readmission rate.There is still a big gap between guidelines recommend medication current treatments for acute heart failure.

As an effective antipyretic medicine,Indigo Naturalis has a long history of application in the field of Chinese medicine.The content of organics,mainly indigo and indirubin,is about 10%. However,the active ingredients and mechanism of its antipyretic effect have not yet been fully elucidated. In view of this,they were investigated in this study with the rectal temperature change as an indicator and 2,4-dinitrophenol-induced fever rats as subjects. The content of PGE2 and c AMP in the hypothalamus and the serum levels of TNF-α,IL-1β and IL-6 were determined by ELISA. Moreover,the plasma samples of fever rats were analyzed by metabonomics in combination with UPLC-Q-TOF-MS for the exploration of potential biomarkers and the discussion on the antipyretic mechanism of Indigo Naturalis and its active ingredients. The results showed that the rising trend of rectal temperature in rats was suppressed 0. 5 h after the treatment with Indigo Naturalis,organic matter,indigo or indirubin as compared with the rats of model group( P < 0. 05),among which Indigo Naturalis and organic matter had better antipyretic effect. ELISA results showed that organic matter and indigo can inhibit the expression of PGE2 and c AMP( P<0. 01),while Indigo Naturalis and organic matter were effective in curbing the increase in TNF-α( P<0. 05). A total of 21 endogenous metabolites were identified from the plasma samples of the Indigo Naturalis,organic matter,indigo and indirubin groups,which were mainly involved in glycerophospholipid metabolism.
2,4-Dinitrophenol ; Animals ; Antipyretics ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Indigo Carmine ; Indigofera ; Rats