The purpose of this study is to evaluate the anti-aging effects and reveal the underlying mechanism of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi ethanol extract (SBG) in D-galactose-induced rats. Fifty rats were randomly divided into five groups: vehicle control group, D-galactose group, and D-galactose combined with 50, 100, 200 mg x kg(-1) SBG. A rat aging model was induced by injecting subcutaneously D-galactose (100 mg x kg(-1)) for ten weeks. At the tenth week, the locomotor activity (in open-field test) and the learning and memory abilities (in Morris water maze test) were examined respectively. The urine was collected using metabolic cages and analyzed by high-resolution 1H NMR spectroscopy combined with multivariate statistical analyses. The SBG at doses of 50, 100 and 200 mg x kg(-1) treatments groups could significantly ameliorate aging process in rats' cognitive performance. The 50, 100, 200 mg x kg(-1) SBG regulated citrate, pyruvate, lactate, trimethylamine (TMA), pantothenate, β-hydroxybutyrate in urine favorably toward the control group. These biochemical changes are related to the disturbance in energy metabolism, glycometabolism and microbiome metabolism, which is helpful to further understanding the D-galactose induced aging rats and the therapeutic mechanism of SBG.

Objective To summarize our experience in the modified total cystectomy and neobladder in patients with invasive bladder cancer.Methods Twenty one male patients with invasive bladder cancer were treated with modified total cystectomy and neobladder.Reconstruction of the lower urinary tract using modifiled ileal neobladder(in 17 patients)and sigmoid neobladder(in 4 patients)were performed.The median age of the patients was 62 years.The patients were followed up for 1-4 years.Clinical outcomes of these patients was evaluated,including the function of the neobladder,urinary function,renal function,serum electrolytes and QOL.Results There was no surgical mortality.The operating time was 3.5-6.5 h(mean,4.5 h).Blood transfusion was required in 4 cases.Fifteen patients(97 ％ had voluntary control of urination at daytime and 6 at night.They were functional to control urination 3-6 months after operation.Hydronephrosis to certain extent occurred in 5 patients,but was recovered after 6-8 months.There were one case of intestinal obstruction and one case of metabolic acidosis.Residual urinary volume was 30 ml in 1 cases and 40 ml in another.Conclusions Modified total cystectomy and neobladder is an ideal technique to treat invasive bladder cancer with good clinical outcomes of tumor control,high life quality,few severe complications and good urination control.

BACKGROUND: The quality of chest compressions can be significantly improved after training of rescuers according to the latest national guidelines of China. However, rescuers may be unable to maintain adequate compression or ventilation throughout a response of average emergency medical services because of increased rescuer fatigue. In the present study, we evaluated the performance of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in training of military medical university students during a prolonged basic life support (BLS). METHODS: A 3-hour BLS training was given to 120 military medical university students. Six months after the training, 115 students performed single rescuer BLS on a manikin for 8 minutes. The qualities of chest compressions as well as ventilations were assessed. RESULTS: The average compression depth and rate were 53.7±5.3 mm and 135.1±15.7 compressions per minute respectively. The proportion of chest compressions with appropriate depth was 71.7％±28.4％. The average ventilation volume was 847.2±260.4 mL and the proportion of students with adequate ventilation was 63.5％. Compared with male students, significantly lower compression depth (46.7±4.8 vs. 54.6±4.8 mm,P<0.001) and adequate compression rate (35.5％±26.5％ vs. 76.1％±25.1％,P<0.001) were observed in female students. CONCLUSIONS: CPR was found to be related to gender, body weight, and body mass index of students in this study. The quality of chest compressions was well maintained in male students during 8 minutes of conventional CPR but declined rapidly in female students after 2 minutes according to the latest national guidelines. Physical fitness and rescuer fatigue did not affect the quality of ventilation.

OBJECTIVE: To observe ultrastructure changes of electrical injury in rats. METHODS: An experimental model of rats suffered from the low voltage were designed. Ultrastructure changes of electrical injured tissues were observed under transmission electron microscope. RESULTS: (1) Plasma of epithelium was concreted in the affected areas and inner membrane system was broken. (2) Hypercontraction bands were observed in skeleton muscles. (3) There was dissolved necrosis and hypercontraction bands in the myocardium. (4) Vacuoles were found in plasma of endothelium of blood vessels on electrical current path, and myelin sheath of nerve fiber were loosed. CONCLUSION The above mentioned ultrastructure changes could be used as assistant diagnostic index of electrocution. The mechanism of the changes were discussed.
Animals ; Electric Injuries/pathology* ; Muscle, Skeletal/ultrastructure* ; Nerve Fibers/ultrastructure* ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

OBJECTIVETo study the biological effects of 585 nm pulsed dye laser (FLPDL) in the treatment of congestive scar.

METHODSBy histological study, collagen VG staining and microvascular staining, we investigated the changes of collagen fibers and the density of microvessels in the congestive scars after FLPDL treatment.

RESULTSHistological and immunohistochemistry examinations showed that FLPDL achieved normal vascularity in the scar after over 3 times of treatment.

CONCLUSIONSPDL treatment can change fundamentally the physiology of wound healing if applied in the early phases.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Cicatrix ; therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Lasers, Dye ; Low-Level Light Therapy ; methods ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Reconstructive Surgical Procedures ; methods ; Treatment Outcome ; Wound Healing ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo investigate the therapeutic effect of C-phycocyanin (C-PC) from Spirulina platensis on paraquat (PQ)-induced pulmonary fibrosis in rats.

METHODSA total of 90 healthy Wistar rats were randomly and equally divided into normal control group, model group (PQ group), and C-PC treatment group (C-PC group). Each rat in the PQ group and C-PC group were orally administered with a single dose of PQ (50 mg/kg) to establish a rat model of PQ poisoning. Then, the rats in the normal control group and PQ group were orally given saline solution (1 ml/100 g) every day, and the rats in the C-PC group were orally given C-PC (50 mg/kg) every day. Six rats were randomly selected from each group on days 1, 3, 7, 14, and 28. The inferior lobe of each rat's right lung was homogenized for the measurement of hydroxyproline (HYP) and maleic dialdehyde (MDA) levels and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity. Parts of each rat's left lung were subject to HE staining and Masson staining for pathological observation, and the expression of transforming growth factor-β(1) (TGF-β(1)), nuclear factor-kappa B p65 (NF-κB p65), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in lung tissue was measured by immunohistochemistry.

RESULTSThe HYP levels on days 1, 3, 7, 14, and 28 and MDA levels on days 14 and 28 were significantly lower in the C-PC group than in the PQ group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). The SOD activity was significantly higher in the C-PC group than in the PQ group on days 1, 7, 14, and 28 (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). The protein content of TGF-β(1) and the activities of NF-κB p65 and TNF-α in the PQ group and C-PC group were significantly higher than those in the normal control group, while the indices in the C-PC group were significantly lower than those in the PQ group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). The pathological observation showed that C-PC could alleviate pulmonary alveolitis and fibrosis in rats with PQ poisoning.

CONCLUSIONC-PC can significantly inhibit PQ-induced pulmonary alveolitis and fibrosis in rats.

Animals ; Lung ; metabolism ; pathology ; Male ; NF-kappa B ; metabolism ; Paraquat ; poisoning ; Phycocyanin ; pharmacology ; Pulmonary Fibrosis ; chemically induced ; metabolism ; prevention & control ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Transcription Factor RelA ; metabolism ; Transforming Growth Factor beta ; metabolism ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; metabolism

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the anti-aging effects and reveal the underlying mechanism of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi ethanol extract (SBG) in D-galactose-induced rats. Fifty rats were randomly divided into five groups: vehicle control group, D-galactose group, and D-galactose combined with 50, 100, 200 mg x kg(-1) SBG. A rat aging model was induced by injecting subcutaneously D-galactose (100 mg x kg(-1)) for ten weeks. At the tenth week, the locomotor activity (in open-field test) and the learning and memory abilities (in Morris water maze test) were examined respectively. The urine was collected using metabolic cages and analyzed by high-resolution 1H NMR spectroscopy combined with multivariate statistical analyses. The SBG at doses of 50, 100 and 200 mg x kg(-1) treatments groups could significantly ameliorate aging process in rats' cognitive performance. The 50, 100, 200 mg x kg(-1) SBG regulated citrate, pyruvate, lactate, trimethylamine (TMA), pantothenate, β-hydroxybutyrate in urine favorably toward the control group. These biochemical changes are related to the disturbance in energy metabolism, glycometabolism and microbiome metabolism, which is helpful to further understanding the D-galactose induced aging rats and the therapeutic mechanism of SBG.
Aging ; drug effects ; Animals ; Galactose ; Memory ; drug effects ; Metabolome ; Metabolomics ; Plant Extracts ; pharmacokinetics ; urine ; Rats ; Scutellaria baicalensis ; chemistry

BACKGROUNDMyocardial apoptosis is involved in the pathogenesis of sepsis-related myocardial depression. However, the underlying mechanism remains unknown. This study investigated the role of mitochondrial damage and mitochondria-induced oxidative stress during cardiac apoptosis in septic rats.

METHODSSeventy-two Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into a control group and septic group receiving lipopolysaccharide injection. Heart tissue was removed and changes in cardiac morphology were observed by light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. In situ apoptosis was examined using terminal transferase-mediated dUTP nick end-labeling assay and nuclear factor-kappa B activation in myocardium by Western blotting to estimate myocardial apoptosis. Appearance of mitochondrial cristae and activation of cytochrome C oxidase were used to evaluate mitochondrial damage. Oxidative stress was assessed by mitochondrial lipid and protein oxidation, and antioxidant defense was assessed by mitochondrial superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase activity.

RESULTSSepsis-induced inflammatory cell infiltration, myocardium degeneration and dropsy were time-dependent. Expanded capillaries were observed in the hearts of infected rats 24 hours post-challenge. Compared with sham-treated rats, the percentage of cell apoptosis increased in a time-dependent manner in hearts from septic rats at 6 hours, 12 hours and 24 hours post-injection (P < 0.05). The expression of nuclear factor-kappa B p65 decreased gradually in the cytosol and increased in the nucleus during sepsis, indicating that septic challenge provoked the progressive activation of nuclear factor-kappa B. Mitochondrial cristae and activation of cytochrome C oxidase increased in a time-dependent manner. Both superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase activities decreased, while mitochondrial lipid and protein oxidation increased between 6 and 24 hours after lipopolysaccharide challenge.

CONCLUSIONSSeptic challenge induced myocardial apoptosis and mitochondrial damage. Furthermore, mitochondrial damage via alteration of defenses against reactive oxygen species might play an important role in myocardial apoptosis during sepsis.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; physiology ; Male ; Mitochondria, Heart ; metabolism ; pathology ; Myocardium ; metabolism ; pathology ; Oxidative Stress ; physiology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Sepsis ; metabolism ; physiopathology

AIM To establish an HPLC-MS/MS method for the simultaneous content determination of pulegone,prim-O-glucosylcimifugin,5-O-methylvisammioside,columbianadin,saikosaponin a,saikosaponin d,ferulic acid,naringin,liquiritin and glycyrrhizic acid in Jingfang Granules.METHODS The analysis of methanol extract of this drug was performed on a 30℃thermostatic ZORBAX Eclipse Plus C18 column(2.1 mm×150 mm,1.8 μm),with the mobile phase comprising of methanol-0.1%formic acid flowing at 0.3 mL/min in a gradient elution manner,and electron spray ionization source was adopted in positive and negative ion scanning with multiple reaction monitoring mode.RESULTS Ten constituents showed good linear relationships within their own ranges(r>0.996 5),whose average recoveries were 96.7%-98.8%with the RSDs of 0.9%-1.9%.CONCLUSION This rapid,simple,sensitive and specific method can be used for the quality control of Jingfang Granules.