Objective To study the anti-hepatofibrotic effects of rhubarb and tetrandrine in experimental rat model, and to explore its possible mechanism. Methods The experimental hepatic fibrosis was induced by subcutaneous injection of CCl 4. The rhubarb and tetrandrine were administered through gastric tube respectively. The liver function test was performed by enzyme kinetics and the extracellular matrix (ECM) contents were determined by radioimmunoassay. The pathological changes of liver tissues were detected by HE and VG staining; meanwhile, ultra microstructural changes were observed by electron microscope in randomly selected samples. Results Both rhubarb and tetrandrine could improve the liver function in liver fibrosis, decrease the contents of ECM and reduce the degree of liver fibrosis, with the best results in rats receiving high dosage of rhubarb and low dosage of tetrandrine. Conclusions Rhubarb and tetrandrine could protect hepatocytes, inhibit the ECM synthesis, and thereby could prevent the development of liver fibrosis and cirrhosis in the experimental animal models.

arkably increases with the development of cirrhosis,which may play an important role in the development of PHG.AG may remarkably ameliorate the degree of PHG，mainly by inhibiting the expression of iNOS in gastric musosa.

OBJECTIVE: To discuss the distribution laws of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome factor and their combination in coronary heart disease (CHD), and to study the correlation between the TCM syndrome factor combination and cardiac function as well as blood-lipid. METHODS: The parameters of the cardiac function of 300 patients with a final diagnosis of CHD by coronary angiography were measured by echocardiography, and the levels of blood lipids in the CHD patients were detected. An analysis of the correlation was done between the TCM syndrome factor combination and cardiac function as well as blood-lipid in CHD. RESULTS: The TCM syndrome factor combinations of CHD were blood stasis due to qi deficiency, qi and yin deficiency, intermingled phlegm and blood stasis, and yang deficiency and blood stasis. The ejection fraction of CHD patients with yang deficiency and blood stasis was markedly decreased. The levels of triglyceride and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in CHD patients with intermingled phlegm and blood stasis were markedly increased, and the level of triglyceride in CHD patients with qi and yin deficiency was markedly increased too. CONCLUSION: The treatment of CHD should aim directly at the symptoms and causes. It is also proved that some compound traditional Chinese herbal medicines for supplementing qi and activating blood circulation, nourishing yin and resolving phlegm, and activating yang should be used in treatment of CHD. In cases of CHD with low cardiac function, particular emphasis should be laid on activating yang and blood circulation, while in cases of CHD with blood-lipid disturbance, particular emphasis should be laid on resolving phlegm and activating blood circulation, replenishing qi and nourishing yin.

AIM: To investigate the effects of octreotide (Oct) on the proliferation and extracellular matrix (ECM) synthesis in hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). METHODS: HSCs were isolated from normal male Sprague-Dawley rat liver by a combination of pronase-collagenase perfusion and density gradient centrifugation. The concentration of 2.5 ?g/L transforming growth factor ?1 (TGF?1) was used in all the experiment settings. Oct at concentrations of 0.01 mg/L ,0.1 mg/L,1 mg/L and 10 mg/L,respectively,or 0.01 mg/L Oct + TGF?1,0.1 mg/L Oct+TGF?1,1 mg/L Oct+TGF?1,10 mg/L Oct+TGF?1 were respectively added to the cultured HSCs. Effects of Oct on HSC proliferation and ECM synthesis were respectively determined by MTT method,-TdR and -proline incorporation,or radioimmunoassay. RESULTS: Oct inhibited MTT intake by cultured hepatic stellate cells and down-regulated -TdR incorporation,compared with control group. The concentrations of hyaluronic acid,laminin,collagen type IV in the culture supernatant and -proline incorporation in HSCs were decreased by Oct. TGF?1 obviously up-regulated proliferation and ECM synthesis in cultured HSCs,and Oct significantly blocked these actions. CONCLUSION: Oct inhibited proliferation and ECM synthesis in cultured HSCs,and elicited the effects of anti-hepatofibrogenesis.

Background/Aims: Mean nocturnal baseline impedance (MNBI) is a new reflux metric for mucosal integrity. It remains unclear whether MNBI can help identify evidence against pathological reflux by the Lyon Consensus in patients with refractory gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) symptoms. Methods: Three hundred and forty-nine patients with refractory GERD symptoms enrolled in this study were subjected to high-resolution manometry, 24-hour multichannel intraluminal impedance-pH (MII-pH) monitoring, and endoscopy. Conventional indexes (ie, reflux events and acid exposure time) and the novel index (MNBI) of MII-pH monitoring were extracted and analyzed. The value of MNBI in diagnosing patients with evidence against pathologic reflux was evaluated by receiver-operating-characteristic analysis. Results: There were 102 (29.2%) patients with evidence against pathologic reflux, 149 (42.7%) with inconclusive or borderline evidence and 98 (28.1%) with conclusive evidence for pathologic reflux. The MNBI was significantly higher while the proportion of pathological MNBI was significantly lower in subjects with evidence against pathologic reflux than in patients with inconclusive or borderline evidence and in patients with conclusive evidence for pathologic reflux (2444.3 [1977.9-2997.4] vs 1992.8 [1615.5-2253.6] and vs 1772.3 [758.6-2161.3], both P < 0.001; 42.2% vs 79.7% and vs 80.0%, both P < 0.05). When identifying evidence against pathologic reflux in patients with refractory GERD symptoms, the MNBI yielded an area under the curve of 0.749 (P < 0.001) at a cutoff value of 1941.8 Ω. Conclusions The MNBI has a good diagnostic value for evidence against pathological reflux in patients with refractory GERD symptoms. For its simplicity and reproducibility, we believe that MNBI should be referred to in reports of impedance-pH tracings by physicians.

Objectives　To assess the effect of an ACE inhibitor and an Ang Ⅱ type 1 (AT1) receptor antagonist on preventing hepatic fibrosis induced by CCl4 in rats and to investigate whether there is the expression of AT1 receptors on hepatic stellate cells. Methods　Studies were conducted in male Sprague-Dawley rats. Except for model group and control group, in three treated groups, either enalapril (5?mg/kg), or losartan (10?mg/kg), or enalapril+losartan were given to the fibrotic rats (daily gavage). Saline vehicle was given to the control group. After 6 weeks, liver fibrosis was assessed directly by hepatic morphometric analysis. The expression of AT1 receptors and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) in liver tissue and isolated hepatic stellate cells (HSC) were detected by immunohistochemical techniques. Results　Compared with the fibrosis in rats of the model group, rats treated with either enalapril or losartan, or a combination of two drugs, showed a limited expansion of the interstitium (P<0.05), but no significant difference was observed among the three treated groups (P>0.05). The expression of AT1 receptors was found in abundance in the fibrotic interstitium of the fibrotic rats, whereas in the normal control rats they were limited to the vascular wall. AT1 receptors were also expressed on activated HSC in culture plates. Conclusions　Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and AT1 blockers might slow the progression of hepatic fibrosis. Activated HSCs expressed AT1 receptors. Activation of RAS might be related to hepatic fibrogenesis induced by CCl4.

Objective To evaluate the application of high-throughput shell vial assay in a clinical laboratory for detection of respiratory viruses from patients with ILI in Guangzhou between January and June, 2009. Methods Six hundred and fifty-two pharyngeal swab specimens were taken from ILI patents. Centrifugation-enhanced shell vials including 4 cell lines (MDCK, Hep-2, LLC-MK2 and MRC-5) were used for culture of respiratory viruses for 2-3 days. The cultures were identified by observation of cytopathic effect (CPE) , hemmaglution or hemmadsorption test as well as immunofluorescence staining. Results A total of 161 swab samples (24.69% ,161/652) were shown to have any one of the 5 common respiratory viruses including influenza A viruses ( 38. 51% , 62/161 ), influenza B virus ( 54. 65% , 88/161 ), parainfluenza viruses (4. 96% , 8/161 ) , adenovirus ( 1. 24% , 2/161 ), and respiratory syncytial virus (0. 62% ,1/161). The turnaround time was 2d for influenza viruses, 3d for adenovirus and parainfluenza viruses respectively. Conclusions (1) The shell vial method was effective, rapid and high throughout for the detection of respiratory viruses in clinical laboratories.(2)Influenza viruses were dominant in the swab samples from patients with ILI in Guangzhou between January and June with the highest appearance in the summer influenza B vires was the most common pathogen in patients with ILI in this study.

OBJECTIVETo study the effects of vitamin E on the proliferation and collagen synthesis of rat hepatic stellate cells treated with interleukin-2 (IL-2) or tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha).

METHODSHepatic stellate cells were isolated from male Sprague-Dawley rats by using modified Friedman's method. Using the isolated cells cultured and treated with IL-2 or TNF-alpha, we studied the effects of vitamin E on their proliferation and collagen synthesis through an (3)H-thymidine and (3)H-proline incorporation assay, as well as through observation of these cells under a contrary phase microscope.

RESULTSAdding IL-2 increased the both proliferation and collagen synthesis of hepatic stellate cells. Their proliferation was also increased by the addition of TNF-alpha, although it decreased collagen synthesis. Vitamin E had marked inhibitory effects on the ability of cells treated with IL-2 or TNF-alpha to reproduce or synthesize collagen.

CONCLUSIONVitamin E can inhibit the proliferation and collagen synthesis of hepatic stellate cells. It is possible that vitamin E affects liver fibrosis through these activities.

Animals ; Cell Division ; drug effects ; Cells, Cultured ; Collagen ; biosynthesis ; Interleukin-2 ; pharmacology ; Liver ; cytology ; metabolism ; Liver Cirrhosis ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Microscopy, Phase-Contrast ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; pharmacology ; Vitamin E ; pharmacology

ObjectiveTo investigate the clinical features of patients with different types of acute drug-induced liver injury (DILI) through a retrospective analysis. MethodsClinical data were collected from 790 patients who were diagnosed with acute DILI in Beijing YouAn Hospital and Beijing Tongren Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University from December 2010 to March 2019, and according to the type of damaged target cell, the patients were divided into hepatocellular injury type group with 554 patients, cholestasis type group with 99 patients, and mixed type group with 137 patients. The patients were evaluated based on severity grade and score, clinical outcome, and Hy′s rule. An analysis of variance was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between three groups, and the least significant difference t-test was used for further comparison between two groups; the Kruskal-Wallis H test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between groups. The chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between three groups. The Kruskal-Wallis H test was used for comparison of ranked data between three groups, and the Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison between two groups. ResultsMost of the patients were female in all three groups, and the hepatocellular injury type group had a significantly higher proportion of female patients than the cholestasis type group (70.8% vs 54.5%, P＜0.05), and the Cholestasis type group had a significantly lower proportion of female patients than the mixed type group(54.5% vs 54.7%, P＜0.05). There were 244 patients with grade 3 hepatocellular injury type DILI (244/554, 44.4%), 56 patients with grade 3 cholestasis type DILI (56/99, 56.6%), and 46 patients with grade 3 mixed type DILI (46/137, 33.6%), and there was a significant difference between the three groups (χ2=36.589, P＜0.05). Drugs inducing liver injury included traditional Chinese medicine, Western medicine, combination of traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine, and other drugs, among which traditional Chinese medicine was the most common cause of liver injury. There was a significant difference in the outcome at discharge between the patients with different types (H=14.390, P=0.001). Compared with the cholestasis type group, the hepatocellular injury type group had a significantly higher cure rate and significantly lower uncured rate and mortality rate (all P＜0.05). Among the 554 patients with hepatocellular injury type DILI, 388 (70.0%) met Hy′s rule and 166 (300%) did not meet Hy′s rule, and there was a significant difference in clinical outcome between these two groups (U=38 372.0, P=0.033). ConclusionDILI is more common in women, and most patients have hepatocellular injury type DILI. Traditional Chinese medicine is the main cause of liver injury. There is a high proportion of patients with severe DILI among the patients with hepatocellular injury type or cholestasis type. DILI often has good prognosis with a relatively low mortality rate. Hy′s rule cannot predict the death of patients with acute DILI.

Objective To investigate and analyze the factors and outcomes of the ICU admission for elderly patients after hip fracture surgery .Methods A retrospective study was carried out from February 2008 to February 2013.Totals of 98 cases of elderly patients after hip fracture surgery were admitted to ICU and their data was collected .Results Twenty-seven cases admitted to ICU because of excessive loss of blood or circulatory disorder; Twenty-five cases transferred to ICU due to respiratory insufficiency after anesthesia;Fourteen cases had severe pulmonary infection; Ten cases had acute heart failure; Seven cases had severe postoperative cognitive dysfunction; Four cases had pulmonary embolism; Two cases suffered from gastrointestinal ulcer;Two cases suffered from postoperative cerebral thrombosis recurrence; Eight cases were admitted to ICU because of other various health problems .Treated in ICU, fifty-six cases recovered; Twenty-eight cases transferred to other department due to underlying diseases;Eight cases discharged from ICU of their own accord; Six cases died after emergency treatment .Conclusions For elderly patients with serious postoperative complications , strict preoperative assessment and aggressive treatment of the underlying disease can improve the symptom of elderly patients and achieve a satisfactory therapeutic effect .