OBJECTIVETo study the effects of Chinese drugs based on strengthening the spleen and replenishing qi treatment rule on neoformative capillaries and fibroblast during the soft tissue repair after serious trauma in rats, so as to explore the biological basis of the TCM theory "the spleen dominate extremities and muscles" applied to the treatment of soft tissue injuries.

METHODSThe model rats were established by bleeding from femoral artery and lancing method, and the rats were randomly divided into the control group, strengthening the spleen group and activating blood and resolving stasis group. The samples were got from the tissue of the wounded area at the 5th, 10th and 15th days after oral administration of the traditional Chinese medicine. After fixation and section, the tissues were stained by CD31 and PCNA staining. The amount of the capillaries and fibroblasts in the tissue of the wounded area were observed through multi-purpose microscope (ZEISS Axioskop2). Quantitative analysis was carried out on Image-ProPlus image analyzer.

RESULTSThe amount of the capillaries and fibroblasts in the wounded tissue in the strengthening the spleen group were larger than that in the control group at the 5th, 10th and 15th day. And the proliferation speed of capillaries and fibroblasts was faster than those in the control group or the activating blood and resolving stasis group.

CONCLUSIONThe Chinese drugs according to strengthening the spleen and replenishing qi treatment rule were effective to promote growth of the granulation tissue and facilitate healing of the wounded area. And it has better effect than the treatment of promoting blood circulation and removing stasis.

Animals ; Capillaries ; pathology ; Cell Count ; Cell Proliferation ; Female ; Fibroblasts ; pathology ; Male ; Qi ; Rats ; Soft Tissue Injuries ; pathology ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Spleen ; physiology ; Wound Healing

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the correlation between the mean of time blood flow velocity (TVmean) of feeding artery around hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the microvessel density (MVD) in relation to tumor cell differentiation, and to evaluate the usefulness of TVmean as a noninvasive preoperative marker of biologic characteristic of HCC.

METHODSTo measure TVmean of feeding arteries around the HCC in 45 patients before operation and TVmean of minute arteries in hepatic tissue in 45 normal subjects by ultrasonographic examination. Tumor cell differentiation grade was determined by routine histopathological staining. Tumor MVD was measured by immunohistochemical staining with monoclonal antibodies against F VIII RAg of excised HCC. Correlationship between TVmean of feeding arteries and MVD of HCC was studied.

RESULTSA linear correlation between TVmean of feeding arteries around the tumors of HCC and MVD of HCC tissue (r = 0.794, y = 18.2764 + 1.5544x) was obtained. With TVmean > or = 21.3 cm/s, the positive and negative predictive values of poorly differentiated HCC were 97.4% and 87.5%, respectively. With TVmean < 21.3 cm/s, those of well differentiated HCC were 88.5% and 97.3%, respectively. The degree of reliability of calculating HCC cell differentiation according to TVmean was 89.5%.

CONCLUSIONTumor growth and cellular differentiation, the two major factors affecting prognosis of HCC, may be evaluated by TVmean of feeding arteries around the tumor. It offers a useful preoperative information for predicting prognosis of HCC patients.

Adult ; Aged ; Arterioles ; pathology ; Blood Flow Velocity ; Capillaries ; pathology ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; blood supply ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Female ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; blood supply ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neovascularization, Pathologic ; pathology

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Nailfold capillaroscopy (NFC) has been used to examine morphological and functional microcirculation changes in connective tissue diseases. It has been demonstrated that NFC patterns reflect abnormal microvascular dynamics, which may play a role in fibromyalgia (FM) syndrome. The aim of this study was to determine NFC patterns in FM, and their association with clinical features of FM. METHODS: A total of 67 patients with FM, and 30 age- and sex-matched healthy controls, were included. Nailfold capillary patterns were quantitatively analyzed using computerized NFC. The parameters of interest were as follows: number of capillaries within the central 3 mm, deletion score, apical limb width, capillary width, and capillary dimension. Capillary dimension was determined by calculating the number of capillaries using the Adobe Photoshop version 7.0. RESULTS: FM patients had a lower number of capillaries and higher deletion scores on NFC compared to healthy controls (17.3 +/- 1.7 vs. 21.8 +/- 2.9, p < 0.05; 2.2 +/- 0.9 vs. 0.7 +/- 0.6, p < 0.05, respectively). Both apical limb width (microm) and capillary width (microm) were significantly decreased in FM patients (1.1 +/- 0.2 vs. 3.7 +/- 0.6; 5.4 +/- 0.5 vs. 7.5 +/- 1.4, respectively), indicating that FM patients have abnormally decreased digital capillary diameter and density. Interestingly, there was no difference in capillary dimension between the two groups, suggesting that the length or tortuosity of capillaries in FM patients is increased to compensate for diminished microcirculation. CONCLUSIONS: FM patients had altered capillary density and diameter in the digits. Diminished microcirculation on NFC may alter capillary density and increase tortuosity.
Adult ; Capillaries/*pathology/physiopathology ; Case-Control Studies ; Female ; Fibromyalgia/*diagnosis/pathology/physiopathology ; Humans ; Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted ; Male ; Microcirculation ; *Microscopic Angioscopy ; Nails/*blood supply ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Regional Blood Flow

OBJECTIVESTo explore the effects and significance of Huanshuai Recipe Oral Liquid (, HSR), a formula with supplementing qi, nourishing blood and activating blood on restructuring glomerular microvasculature and expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in subtotal nephrectomized (SNX) rats.

METHODSA total of 76 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups: 16 in the sham-operated group and fed with tap water 10 mL/kg per day; 20 in the model group were operated with 5/6 SNX and fed with tap water 10 mL/ kg per day; 20 SNX rats in the HSR group were treated with HSR 10 mL/kg per day; 20 SNX rats in the losartan group were treated with losartan 40 mg/kg per day. Serum creatinine (SCr) and urinary protein excretion (Upro) were examined at the 2nd, 4th, 8th, and 12th weeks of the treatment, and the remnant kidneys were harvested. Changes in histological microstructure were evaluated using light microscopy, and the expression of VEGF was detected by using ELISA.

RESULTSUpro, microvasculature injury and glomerulosclerosis were found to be alleviated in HSR and Losartan groups, respectively. The change of VEGF expression showed positive correlation with glomerular capillary area and peritubular capillary number (r=0.448, r=0.422, P<0.01), but negative correlation with that of SCr and Upro (r=-0.592, r=-0.481, P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONSHSR could regulate the VEGF expression, reduce the loss of microvasculature, which demonstrated similar renal protective effects to losartan in SNX rats. Examination of Chinese herbal medicine influence on VEGF signaling and restructuring renal microvasculature may elucidate the molecular mechanism of renal protection to a certain degree.

Administration, Oral ; Animals ; Capillaries ; drug effects ; metabolism ; pathology ; Collagen Type IV ; metabolism ; Creatinine ; blood ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; Extracellular Matrix ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Fibronectins ; metabolism ; Immunohistochemistry ; Kidney Cortex ; drug effects ; metabolism ; pathology ; Kidney Function Tests ; Kidney Glomerulus ; blood supply ; drug effects ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Microvessels ; drug effects ; Nephrectomy ; Proteinuria ; blood ; drug therapy ; physiopathology ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Time Factors ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; metabolism