Valeriana jatamansi (syn. V. wallichii), a traditional Chinese medicine recorded in Chinese Pharmacopeia (1977 and 2010 edition), has been used for treatment of a variety of conditions including sleep problems, obesity, nervous disorders, epilepsy, insanity, snake poisoning, eye trouble, and skin diseases. Also, it was used as an important substitute for the European V. officinalis, whose root preparation, popularly known as valerian, has been employed as a mild sedative for a long time. In recent years, much attention has been draw to the iridoids, one of the major bioactive constituents of V. jatamansi, leading to the discovery of a series of new iridoids with anti-tumor and neuroprotective activities. Their action machnism also has been discussed. This paper summerized the iridoids and their bioactivities from V. jatamansi in recent years, which could provide basic foundation for development and research of V. jatamansi.
Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Iridoids ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Valerian ; chemistry

Breast Neoplasms ; epidemiology ; metabolism ; pathology ; Cadherins ; metabolism ; Carcinoma, Lobular ; epidemiology ; metabolism ; pathology ; Catenins ; metabolism ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Humans ; Keratins ; metabolism ; Lymphoma ; metabolism ; pathology ; Mastitis ; metabolism ; pathology ; Plasmacytoma ; metabolism ; pathology

Angiogenesis Inhibitors ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Neovascularization, Pathologic ; drug therapy ; Phytotherapy

Objective To investigate the relationship between carotid atherosclerosis(CAS)plaque and its related factors and cerebral infarction(CI).Methods The 91 patients with CI were detected by Color Doppler and the levels of plasma lipid,blood glucose(BG)and fibrinogen(Fbg)were evaluated,and compared with normal control(NC)group.Results(1)Compare with NC group,the IMT,prevalence of CAS plaque,the rates of soft plaque in CI group were significantly higher(all P

Objective To study the validity of furosemide test for predicting the hematoma enlargement in pa- tients with hypertensive cerebral hemorrhage.Methods Four hundred fifty-one patients with hypertensive cerebral hemorrhage were diagnosed using CT after oneset of the disease and 24 h reexamined 24 h after.The incidence of enlarged hematoma was evaluated by comparison the baseline and 24 h CT scanning.Furosemide(20 mg iv)was ad- ministered and blood pressure was measured 30 min after furosemide.Results The decreasing level of MAP after furosemide was significantly inversely related with incidence rate of hematoma enlargement{ r=-0.94,t=58.4,P 10 mmHg as the cut-off point,with the rate of hematoma enlargement as being 6.4 %,MAP decreased≤10 mmHg was associated with increases in prevalence of hematome to 33.2 %(?~2=51.82, P

Stroke is one of the most important causes of disability throughout the world.Epide- miological and clinical studies have demonstrated that statins significantly decrease the incidence of ischemic stroke.In addition to lipid-lowering effect,statins may also have a number of other acting mechanisms that are not dependent on reducing cholesterol levels.Moreover,statins inhibit cerebral vasospasm caused by subarachnoid hemorrhage.For most of the individuals,the safety and tolerability of statins are well.

BACKGROUND:To construct tissue engineering cartilage would open up a novel way for the repair of cartilage damage in avoidance of the disadvantages of traditional therapeutic method.OBJECTIVE: To probe the techniques for the isolation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from bone marrow, as well as the in vitro differentiation into chondrocytic phenotype in a specific culture fluid.DESIGN:A complete randomized experimentSETTING:The Department of Traumatic Orthopedics and Hand Surgery of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, and Teaching and Research Faculty of Histology and Embryology of Guangxi Medical University.METHODS: The experiment was carried out at Guangxi Medical University between August 2002 and April 2003. Twenty SD neonatal weaning rats were selected. Bone marrow was aspirated from the bones of rat limbs and was isolated by gradient centrifugation in Percoll, and MSCs could be obtained in combination with adherent screening method, which were then cultured in DMEM-LG with 15% fatal bovine serum (FBS) in the incubator of 37℃ with 5% CO2 for 10-14 days. The passage cells were induced in DMEM-HG with 15% FBS (containing TGF-β1 10 μg/L, 10-7 mol/L dexamethasone, 50 mg/L VitC).MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES :The morphology, growth, as well as proliferation and specific expression of chondrogenic matrix of in vitro cultured MSCs due to specific induction.RESULTS: Totally 20 SD rats were observed and analyzed with no loss SCs grew in visible symmetric colonies, displaying a long-spindle shape,and the morphological characteristics of marrow-derived MSCs had no obvious changes during passage-culture, but its proliferation time was found from a shuttle fibroblastic appearance to polygonal shape, displaying posiHC staining of type Ⅱ collagen of cartilage specific matrix.bronectin adherent screening technique is a convenient, effective and practical method to separate and collect MSCs from rat bone marrows in chondrogenic phenotype when induced by a specific medium and can secrete cartilage specific matrix, and they can be the optimal seed cells for cartilage tissue engineering.

Objective To investigate the effect of progesterone pretreatment of focal cerebral ischemic and reperfusion injury (fCIRI) and underlying molecular mechanisms.Methods A single intraperitoneal injection of progesterone (8 mg/kg) given 1 h,48 h and 96 h before fCIRI was established in male Sprague-Dawley rats.The number of survival of neurons in hippocampal CA1 region of the ischemiaside,as well as spatial memory function,was detected on days 3-8 after fCIRI.Extracellular-signalregulated kinase 1/2 phosphorylation (p-ERK1/2) and nuclear translocation of p-ERK1/2 in hippocampal CA1 region were examined using western blot.Results The number of survival of neuronal cells was significantly increased in ischemic groups treated with progesterone at 1 h and 48 h pre-fCIRI (164.3 ± 11.0,218.5 ± 9.1 and 142.7 ± 12.1,F =29.4,P ＜ 0.01) compared with fCIRI group treated with vehicle.Likewise,the escape-latency to reach the hidden-platform recorded in day 5 of Morris water maze test was reduced markedly in fCIRI-treatment groups compared with the vehicle group(10.3 ± 11.1,19.2 ±9.6 and 32.4 ± 14.3 ;F =35.8,P ＜0.01).The level of p-ERK1/2 was elevated notably during 24 h to 48 h postprogesterone by western blot,while restored to the baseline at 96 h post-progesterone.Improved nuclear translocation of p-ERK1/2 was observed from 2 h to 48 h post-progesterone.The progesterone receptor antagonist RU486 blocked the exaltation of either intracellular level or nuclear translocation of p-ERK1/2,which was induced by progesterone.Conclusions The pretreatment with progesterone exerts a neuroprotective effect against the ischemia-induced neuronal death and ameliorates the deficits in spatial memory through enhancing the activation of ERK1/2.The neuroprotection derived from pretreatment with progesterone achieves a time window of not less than 48 h,which is progesterone receptor-mediated ERK1/2 signaling pathway-dependent.

To establish a sensitive and specific method for simultaneous determination of gestodene, etonogestrel and ethinylestradiol in plasma by LC-MS/MS, plasma samples were extracted and derivatized before injection. An ESI ion source was used and operated in the positive ion mode with multiple reaction monitoring (MRM). Norgestrel was chosen as internal standard and performed on a C18 (100 mm x 2.1 mm, 5 microm) column. The concentrations of gestodene, etonogestrel and ethinylestradiol were measured, using step-gradient mobile phase and step-gradient flow rate. The method was validated over the concentration range of 0.1-20 ng x mL(-1) for gestodene and etonogestrel and 0.01-2 ng x mL(-1) for ethinylestradiol, and showed excellent linearity. The intra- and inter-assay accuracy and precision were below 10.0% and recovery was 93.6%-110.9% over the three concentration levels evaluated. The method was applied in pharmacokinetic study of the compound gestodene patch and the compound etonogestrel patch in rabbits. The LC-MS/MS method was selective, accurate and sensitive, especially the LOQ were 100 pg x mL(-1) for gestodene and etonogestrel and 10 pg x mL(-1) for ethinylestradiol. The method was successfully applied in pharmacokinetic study for contraceptives.