Objective To study the relationship between irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and the quantity of bowel gas using plain abdominal radiographs. Methods Plain abdominal radiograph were digitized and transmitted to a computer in 48 IBS patients and 25 normal controls. The quantity of bowel gas, determined as the pixel value on images and standardized by physique, was defined as the gas volume score (GVS). The ?2s of GVS in the control group was used as the normal score. The relationship between GVS and subtype of IBS was analyzed. Results The mean GVS of normal control was 0.055?0.012, and coefficient of variation was 21.8%, and all subjects were in normal score. The mean GVS was 0.076?0.027 for the constipation type IBS, significantly higher than that for control ( t =3.599, P 0.05) and the control in the mean GVS. However, the coefficient of variation in the diarrhea type IBS was as high as 66.7%, and low score was seen in 42.9% of patients and high score in 14.3%.Conclusions There is a significant subtype related change of bowel gas volume in IBS patients. The bowel gas is increased in the constipation type, and decreased markedly in the diarrhea type.

OBJECTIVETo identify Tongren Dahuoluo pills and Tongren Niuhuangqingxin pills respectively by analysis of IR fingerprint.

METHODBoth drugs were extracted with hexane, ethylether and butanone respectively and then the obtained extracts were measured with the ET-IR spectrometer.

RESULTBy analyzing IR fingerprint of 25 batches of Tongren Dahuoluo pills and 27 batches of Tongren Niuhuangqingxin pills, we found that different batches of the same drug hadstabile and repeatable fingerprint.

CONCLUSIONBy using IR fingerprint, either Tongren Dahuoluo pills or Tongren Niuhuangqingxin pills can be exactly identified. It provides a rapid method for drug identification and quality control.

Drug Combinations ; Drug Contamination ; prevention & control ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Quality Control ; Spectrophotometry, Infrared