BACKGROUND: Vascular dementia is a syndrome characterized by cognitive impairment, which is induced by ischemic or hemorrhagic apoplexy or ischemic-anoxic brain injury. It is assigned to "imbecility", "dementia", "sluggish consciousness", "susceptible to forget things" etc. By traditional Chinese medicine. Impairments of memory and cognition etc. Caused by dementia seriously affect psychosomatic health and quality of life of elderly people.OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of shuanggen cephalocathartic decoctum on learning, memory and spatial discrimination ability of vascular dementia rats.DESIGN: Randomized control trail taking experimental animals as objects.SETTING: Teaching and Research Section of Basic Theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Preclinical Medicine College, Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine.MATERIALS: The experiment was performed in Laboratory of Viscerastate of Teaching and Research Section of Basic Theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Preclinical Medicine College, Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, from January to February 2004. A total of 40 male SD rats were selected and randomly divided into sham operation group, model group, model plus traditional Chinese medicine group and model plus Western medicine group, with 10 in each group. Before the experiment, all the rats were adaptively fed for one week, free drinking and eating before and during the experiment. Medicine and reagent are shuanggen cephalocathartic decoctum and Nimotop tablet, and main experimental apparatuses are DTT-2 jumping apparatus and SMG-2 water maze apparatus.METHODS: Blood was collected from left ventricle under aseptic condi tion, and dried in incubator at 37 ℃, after trituration, it was sifted with sieve of 200μm meshes and embolus was prepared. 1 mg embolus and 0.3 mL physiological saline was mixed and shaken up into suspension. Common carotid artery was temporarily occluded with a vascular clamp, and external carotid artery was retrogradely intubated and the embolus suspension was injected into encephalon to establish model of multiple cerebral infarction. In sham operation group, canulate tubule was intubated only to the bifurcation of common carotid artery, with no fluid injected in. Before the experiment, rats in model group and sham operation group were normally fed, while rats in model plus traditional Chinese medicine group were additionally given shuanggen cephalocathartic decoctum [4 g/(kg·d)] infusion and rats in model plus western medicine group were additionally given Nimotop [2 mg/(kg·d)] infusion, once a day for consecutive 15 days. Passive escape jumping experiment was conducted on rats in each group on the 9th day.Recorded the reaction time for rat jumping onto the rubber cushion after electric shock and the frequency of mistakes of suffering electric shock due to jumping down from the platform in 3 minutes, and took the results as learning indexes. The test was repeated on the 10th day. Put the rat into the box for 3-minture adaptation, then put it on the rubber cushion; recorded the latency for rat first jumping down from the rubber cushion and the frequency of jumpingdown from the rubber cushion in 3 minutes, and took the results as memory indexes. Water maze spatial discrimination experiment was conducted on rats in each group on the 11th day, recorded the frequency of mistakes of rats entering dead end and the latency for landing on safe platform. Every time, took a 40-second rest after swimming. Each rat was trained 10 times a day for consecutive three days. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Results of passive escape jumping experiment and water maze spatial discrimination experiment. RESULTS: Each group had a rat dead in the process of operation except sham operation group in which all rats moved normally. Totally 37 rats entered results analysis. ① Results of passive escape jumping experiment: On the 9th day, compared with model group, the reaction time of rats in sham operation group, model plus traditional Chinese medicine group and model plus western medicine group significantly shortened (P < 0.01 -0.05), the frequency of mistakes in 3 minutes remarkably decreased in sham operation group and model plus traditional Chinese medicine group (P < 0.05); on the 10th day, the latency was significantly prolonged in sham operation group as compared with model group (P < 0.05); compared with model group, the frequency of mistakes in 3 minutes significantly decreased in sham operation group, model plus traditional Chinese medicine group and model plus western medicine group (P < 0.05). ② Results of water maze spatial discrimination: On the 3rd day, compared with model group, the frequency of mistakes of rats entering dead end significantly decreased in sham operation group, model plus traditional Chinese medicine group and model plus western medicine group (P < 0.001-0.05); the frequency of mistakes in model plus traditional Chinese medicine group obvi ously decreased as compared with model plus western medicine group (P < 0.05). During the 2nd and 3rd days of water maze experiment, the time for the rat reaching terminal was significantly shortened in sham operation group, model plus traditional Chinese medicine group and model plus western medicine group as compared with model group (P < 0.05).CONCLUSION: Shuanggen cephalocathartic decoctum can significantly improve learning and memory ability of rat model of vascular dementia, and is more effective than Nimotop in the aspect of improving spatial discrimination ability of rat.

Macrophages are involved in many important biological processes and membrane proteins are the key effector molecules for their functions. However, membrane proteins are difficult to analyze by 2-DE based method because of their intrinsic tendency to self-aggregate during the first dimension separation (IEF). To circumvent the obstacle hampering membrane protein analysis, we combined one-dimensional SDS-PAGE with capillary liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Using this technique, we identified 458 GO annotated membrane proteins with extremely high confidence, including most known markers of peritoneal macrophages (e.g., CD11b, F4/80, CD14, CD18, CD86, CD44, CD16 and Toll-like receptor). Thirteen other CD antigens and 18 Ras-related small GTPase were also identified. In addition to those known macrophage membrane proteins, a significant number of novel proteins have also been identified. This research provides a valuable data set of macrophage membrane proteins, thus allowing for more comprehensive study of membrane proteins and a better understanding of the function mechanisms of macrophages in many biological processes.

OBJECTIVETo investigate an effective method for the correction of the narrow nostril secondary to cleft lip.

METHODSA "bird wing shape" incision was made on the nasal tip to form a "W-shape" flap for repairing the nasal deformities secondary to cleft lip, especially for the cases with narrow nostril.

RESULTSTwenty-eight patients were treated with this method. All the cases achieved a symmetry shape of nasal ala, nostril, nasal columella and a normal height of nasal tip except for 2 cases with malformation at nasal tip who achieved improvement after reoperation. 21 cases were followed up for 6-12 months with good cosmetic result and no recurrence.

CONCLUSIONS"W-shape" flap at the nasal tip is an ideal way for the correction of mild to moderate narrow nostril deformity secondary to cleft lip.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Cleft Lip ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Nose ; abnormalities ; surgery ; Nose Deformities, Acquired ; etiology ; surgery ; Rhinoplasty ; methods ; Skin Transplantation ; Surgical Flaps ; Young Adult

To compare the differences on current ethical issues in the areas of epidemiological practice between China and America,to identify the major ethical problems existing in the epidemiological studies in China.Through searching and reviewing papers published on Chinese Journal of Epidemiology and American Journal of Epidemiology from Jan.2006 to Dec.2010,we made a comparison on ethical issues involved in the original studies that focusing on human beings.In total,749 Chinese articles and 1221 American articles were recruited,with the following findings: (1)The proportion with announcements of “Informed consent by the subjects” was 29.24％ in Chinese literature and 38.08％ in the Americans (x2=16.02,P＜0.001 ).The proportion with “having had approvals from the ethic committees” was 29.24％ in Chinese,while 38.08％ in American ( x2=604.40,P＜ 0.0001 ).(2) Both in China and America,there had been an increase of ethical issues in the last 5 years.(3)Articles derived from trial studies had better involvement on ethics than those from observational studies.(4) The level on ethical issues in the American Research Institutes exceeded those in China (5)American studies also had showed better ideas on Ethic issues on biological specimens collection and privacy protection,than those in Chinese studies.Among the studies on Chinese Journal of Epidemiology,the proportion of ‘informed consent' was higher than in ethical review,but both ethical review and awareness on ‘informed consent' had left far behind than the American Journal of Epidemiology.This could be seen at the institution level of the writers,during specimen collection and privacy protection,as well as at the overall level.The results reminded us that the Departments of Technology Management should spend more efforts on the improvement of public education regarding ethics for researchers and to update the process of edition for Journals as well as to reinforce the rules of ethics in epidemiological research.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of a modified technique for repairing secondary defect of unilateral cleft lip.

METHODSThe incision line was designed along the oral-nasal contour line. The lateral crus of nasal alar were rotated and repositioned in order to reconstruct the nasal sill and base. V-Y plasty was performed with a muco-cartilage flap inside the nasal cavity to reset the alar cartilage backwards and correct the nasal deformity.

RESULTSSatisfactory results were achieved in all 69 patients with this modified technique. The post-operative scar was inconspicuous.

CONCLUSIONSThis modified technique with advantages of contour line incision and alar cartilage backward re-reposition is a good option for the repair of secondary defect of unilateral cleft lip.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Cleft Lip ; complications ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Lip ; abnormalities ; Male ; Nose ; abnormalities ; Nose Deformities, Acquired ; surgery ; Reconstructive Surgical Procedures ; methods ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVEDisruptive behavior disorder (DBD) is one of the main comorbidity of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Previous studies showed significantly different serotonin function between ADHD children with and without the comorbidity of DBD. Therefore, it is needed to compare these two groups in terms of serotonin receptor gene polymorphisms, which may provide further evidence for the previous studies. The current study aimed to investigate the relationship between two serotonin receptor 2C (HTR2C) gene polymorphisms, that are C-759T and G-697C polymorphisms, and ADHD with or without concomitant DBD.

METHODBlood samples were taken from 237 trios with probands of ADHD with DBD comorbidity and 251 trios with probands of ADHD without comorbidity of DBD. All the subjects were from the ADHD clinic of Peking University Sixth Hospital. DNA was extracted and PCR was performed to amplify the fragments containing both C-759T and G-697C polymorphisms. AciI was used to detect different alleles of the two polymorphisms. Both allele-based and haplotype-based TDT analyses were used to test the association of the two polymorphisms of HTR2C gene and ADHD with or without comorbidity of DBD.

RESULTSThe haplotypes -759C (chi(2) = 4.25, P = 0.04), -697G(chi(2) = 3.21, P = 0.07), as well as -759C/-697G were over-transmitted (chi(2) = 4.31, P = 0.04) to the probands of ADHD without DBD. No biased transmission of any allele and haplotype were found in families with probands of ADHD with DBD.

CONCLUSIONADHD with or without the comorbidity DBD was different at the level of HTR2C gene polymorphisms of C-759T and G-697C. HTR2C is related to ADHD without DBD, while not related to ADHD with DBD. The results suggested that the two groups may have different genetic background, at least in HTR2C.

Alleles ; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity ; complications ; genetics ; Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders ; complications ; genetics ; Child ; Comorbidity ; Gene Frequency ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Genetic Testing ; Genotype ; Haplotypes ; Humans ; Linkage Disequilibrium ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT2C ; genetics ; Receptors, Serotonin ; Serotonin ; genetics

Abstract: Our previous work revealed berberine can significantly enhance the susceptibility of fluconazole against fluconazole-resistant Candida albicans, which suggested that berberine has synergistic antifungal activity with fluconazole. Preliminary SAR of berberine needs to be studied for the possibility of investigating its target and SAR, improving its drug-likeness, and exploring new scaffold. In this work, 13-substitutited benzyl berberine derivatives and N-benzyl isoquinoline analogues were synthesized and characterized by 1H NMR and MS. Their synergetic activity with fluconazole against fluconazole-resistant Candida albicans was evaluated in vitro. The 13-substitutited benzyl berberine derivatives 1a-1e exhibited comparable activity to berberine, which suggested that the introduction of functional groups to C-13 can maintain its activity. The N-benzyl isoquinolines, which were designed as analogues of berberine with its D ring opened, exhibited lower activity than berberine. However, compound 2b, 2c, and 4b showed moderate activity, which indicated that berberine may be deconstructed to new scaffold with synergistic antifungal activity with fluconazole. The results of our research may be helpful to the SAR studies on its other biological activities.
Antifungal Agents ; pharmacology ; Berberine ; pharmacology ; Candida albicans ; drug effects ; Drug Resistance, Fungal ; Drug Synergism ; Fluconazole ; pharmacology ; Isoquinolines ; pharmacology ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests

OBJECTIVETo prepare the polyclonal antibody of human endothelial-overexpressed lipopolysaccharide-associated factor 1 (EOLA1), and to determine the expression of EOLA1 in human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC).

METHODSThe protein samples (sample 1 and 2) expressing EOLA1 were purified and renatured. The protein concentrations were determined with bicinchoninic acid assay. The protein samples were identified with peptide mass fingerprinting (PMF) analysis. Protein sample with higher coincidence rate of amino acid sequence with theoretic protein was used to inoculate 4 mice; another 4 mice inoculated with adjuvant were used as control. Serum was isolated from collected mice blood. Polyclonal antibody of EOLA1 was purified with saturated ammonium sulfate precipitation, and was determined with ELISA for the titer (data were denoted by absorbance value). The expression of EOLA1 in HUVEC was determined with Western blot.

RESULTSThe concentration of protein sample 1 and 2 was respectively 0.124 16 mg/mL and 0.132 15 mg/mL. According to PMF analysis, the coincidence rate of amino acid sequence between protein samples and theoretic protein were 32% (protein sample 1) and 24% (protein sample 2). The polyclonal antibody of EOLA1 with titer more than 1:10 000 was obtained from mice inoculated with protein sample 1. The expression of EOLA1 protein in HUVEC was determined with polyclonal antibody of EOLA1.

CONCLUSIONSThe polyclonal antibody of EOLA1 can be prepared by inoculating mice with EOLA1 prokaryotic expressing protein, which can be used for determination of EOLA1 protein.

Animals ; Antibodies ; Cells, Cultured ; Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells ; metabolism ; Humans ; Lipopolysaccharides ; metabolism ; Membrane Proteins ; immunology ; metabolism ; Mice

Adult ; Cytokines ; Humans ; Lymphocyte Subsets ; Lymphohistiocytosis, Hemophagocytic ; Lymphoma ; T-Lymphocyte Subsets ; Th1 Cells ; Th2 Cells

Objective： There were variations of EBV genome from different areas and they may affect the biologic function of EBV (such as LMP1). EBV-BARF0 was highly detected in the patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC) and it s variations have not been reported. This study was designed to determine the sequence and variation of EBV-BARF0 gene in the patieats with NPC from Guangdong area. Methods： PCR was used to amplify the EBV-BARF0 gene in 20 patients with NPC and the productions were sequenced on the ABI377. Results： Comparing with standard B95-8, there were four loci with variances including： 160473 （ G→ T） , 160545 （ C→ T） , 160701 （ C→ A） , 160707 （ G→ C） of sequences and 2 （ Ala→ Ser） , 26 （ Leu→ Phe） , 78 （ Arg→ Ser） , 80 （ Ala→ Pro） of amino acid in 20 patients with NPC. Conclusion： Since the BARF0 gene of EBV is expressed in all nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell line and biopsies, but it is not expressed or less frequenly in lymphoma tissues and cell lines,the authors firstly reported the variation of EBV-BARF0 which compared with B95-8 in the patieats with NPC from Guangdong area. These suggest that the gene may play an important role in the carcinogenesis and development of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.