OBJECTIVE:To compare the five kinds of Sini powder prepared in accordance with the standards for antiquity decoction, Japanese standard decoction, traditional recipe, hospital medicine decocting or traditional Chinese medicine granules so as to provide theoretic bases for the experimental study of the decoction and the standardization of its clinical practice. METHODS: HPLC was applied with the comprehensive scores on the contents and the extractum yield of peoniflorin, naringin, ammonium glycyrrhizinate salt and saikoside a as index. RESULTS: The Sini powder decoction prepared in accordance with the traditional recipe showed the highest comprehensive scores. CONCLUSION: The traditional recipe decoction method was established as the preparation technology for the standard Sini powder decoction.

Objective To investigate the mechanism of electro-acupuncture (EA) at different frequency in improving synaptic plasticity injury in Alzheimer's disease(AD) rats, and to provide the theoretical basis for the clinical application of electro-acupuncture for the treatment of AD. Methods Ninety Wistar rats were randomly divided into normal group, model group, sham-operation group, and 2 Hz, 30 Hz, 50 Hz acupuncture groups, 15 rats in each group. AD rat model was established by injection of amyloid β1-42 (Aβ1-42) into the lateral ventricle. The rats in EA groups were treated with EA on Baihui and Shenshu acupoints at different frequencies (2, 30, 50 Hz). Learning and memory ability and space exploration ability of rats in each group were measured by Morris water maze test. The synaptic ultrastructure of hippocampus was observed by transmission electron microscopy. Nerve fibers were stained using Golgi techniques. The protein and phosphorylation levels of glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (GSK-3β) in the brain tissues were detected by Western blotting method. Results(1) Compared with the normal group, the average escape latency time in the model group was significantly prolonged (P < 0.05), and the number of platform crossing was significantly reduced (P < 0.05), indicating that AD model had been established successfully. The average escape latency of rats in EA groups was significantly shortened and the frequency of platform crossing was increased as compared with those of the model group (P < 0.05). (2) The synaptic morphology of the hippocampus showed that the anterior membrane, posterior membrane and the interspace of the synapses in the model group were blurred, and the membrane structures of synapses were incomplete and dissolved. But the synaptic ultrastructures of the 3 EA groups were improved.(3) In the model group, the neurofibrillary tangles were found in the brain tissue, while the neurofibrillary tangles were relieved and the nerve fibers became clear in EA groups.(4) The levels of GSK-3β and GSK-3β(pTyr216) in the model group were significantly higher than those in the normal group (P < 0.05), whearas the GSK-3β(pSer9) level was significantly down-regulated (P < 0.05). In the EA groups, the levels of GSK-3βand GSK-3β(pTyr216) were down-regulated, while GSK-3β(pSer9) level was increased with the frequency of EA, and there was significant difference compared with the model group (P<0.05). (5) Compared with 2 Hz and 30 Hz EA groups, the number of plateau crossing, the average escape latency and the protein and phosphorylation levels of GSK-3β in 50 Hz EA group were significantly improved (P < 0.05). The improvement of synaptic morphology and neurofibrillary tangles of 50 Hz EA group was superior to that of the other 2 EA groups. Conclusion EA at different frequency can improve the learning and memory ability of AD rats, and the effect of 50 Hz is stronger. The therapeutic effect might be achieved by regulating the expression level of GSK-3βprotein and phosphorylation levels, which can improve synaptic plasticity damage of AD rats.

Patch-clamp is used to study all sorts of ionic channels and their regulations with measuring pA current of cell ionic channel, but the fast capacitance (C-fast) compensation and slow capacitance (C-slow) compensation transient currents are caused by measuring objects and measuring instruments themselves which will change the properties of action potentials. The present paper firstly discusses the C-Fast transient currents affecting membrane capacitance and membrane potential, and then draws a conclusion that the changes of membrane potential affect the properties of action potential through analyzing the changes of membrane potential in H-H model. Based on this conclusion, we discuss the influence mechanisms mainly through the analysis of traditional C-fast compensation errors, and focus discussion on the shape of electrode capacitance affecting C-fast. This method can not only improve the compensation speed greatly, but also improve the compensation precision from the electrode shape as much as possible.
Action Potentials ; Electric Capacitance ; Ion Channels ; physiology ; Membrane Potentials ; Neurons ; cytology ; Patch-Clamp Techniques

It is very important to establish and execute the all -sided experimental animal quality monitoring in order to guarantee human health , animal health and welfare as well as the authenticity , validity, and repeatability of the experimental research results.Setting corresponding sentinel animals in the experiment can effectively monitor the quality of experimental animals.This article gives a general review of the selection of sentinel rats in the microbiological quality monitoring of the experiment animals , contact form and time between the sentinel rats and the rats being monitored , the placement of sentinel rats, and the number of rat cages being monitored by each cage of sentinel rats , as well as the test quantity, test frequency and the project.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Inonotus obliquus has been used as antidiabetic herb around the world, especially in the Russian and Scandinavian countries. Diabetes is widely believed to be a key factor in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), which is widely considered to be type III diabetes. To investigate whether I. obliquus can also ameliorate AD, it would be interesting to identify new clues for AD treatment. We tested the anti-AD effects of raw Inonotus obliquus polysaccharide (IOP) in a mouse model of AD (3×Tg-AD transgenic mice).MATERIALS/METHODS: SPF-grade 3×Tg-AD mice were randomly divided into three groups (Control, Metformin, and raw IOP groups, n = 5 per group). β-Amyloid deposition in the brain was analyzed using immunohistochemistry for AD characterization. Gene and protein expression of pertinent factors of the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) was determined using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting. RESULTS: Raw IOP significantly reduced the accumulation of amyloid aggregates and facilitated UPS activity, resulting in a significant reduction in AD-related symptoms in an AD mouse model. The presence of raw IOP significantly enhanced the expression of ubiquitin, E1, and Parkin (E3) at both the mRNA and protein levels in the mouse hippocampus. The mRNA level of ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase isozyme L1, a key factor involved in UPS activation, also increased by approximately 50%. CONCLUSIONS Raw IOP could contribute to AD amelioration via the UPS pathway, which could be considered as a new potential strategy for AD treatment, although we could not exclude other mechanisms involved in counteracting AD processing.

Objective To investigate whether there are differences in the detection of biochemical items such as electrolytes , total protein and urea between arterial plasma and venous plasma .Methods Self paired design was used to compare and study the biochemical results of different samples .70 samples ( 36 samples from male patients and 34 from female patients ) that were performed with both arterial blood gas analysis and biochemical item test of venous blood in Clinical Laboratory of Peking Union Medical College Hospital during the period from June to September of 2017 were collected.18 biochemical items like electrolytes in arterial blood and venous blood were synchronously detected by automatic biochemical analyzer.Statistic analyses were carried out by SPSS 18.00.Whether the deviation was of clinic significance was determined by National Health Standards ( WS/T 403-2012 ) and the total error admitted by Royal Society of Pathology of Australia .Regression analysis of Passing-Bablok was performed by MedCalc software . The difference between the results of different samples was investigated by drawing Bland -Altman diagram.Results The results of Ca, Cl, K, Na, P, TP, ALB, ALT, AST, LDH, Glu, Cr, Urea, TG, CHO, UA, CHE, TBA in the samples of arterial blood plasma were 2.46(2.25-2.56) mmol/L,(105.68 ±7.29)mmol/L, 3.81(3.54-4.03) mmol/L, 140.45(137.08-144.20) mmol/L, 0.97(0.77-1.11) mmol/L,(60.39 ±9.40)g/L,(31.23 ±6.81)g/L, 17.4(11.95 -30.05)U/L, 20.85(14.9 -34.03) U/L, 210.1(163.15-342.60) U/L, 7.58(5.95-10.04) mmol/L, 76.35(51.05-110.7) μmol/L, 6.94(3.98-11.08) mmol/L, 1.15(0.84-1.89) mmol/L, 3.31(2.73-4.35) mmol/L, 271.55(187.78-423.30) μmol/L,(4.71 ±2.17)KU/L, 2.19(1.09 -4.19) μmol/L,respectively, and 2.24(2.05-2.35) mmol/L,(103.98 ±7.32)mmol/L, 3.84(3.58 -4.19) mmol/L, 139.30(136.08 -142.33) mmol/L, 0.99(0.78-1.14) mmol/L,(60.37 ±9.67) g/L,(32.62 ±6.89) g/L, 17.6(12.75-31.2) U/L, 20.6(15.28-36.6) U/L, 233.95(176.48-363.75) U/L, 7.55(5.62-9.52) mmol/L, 77.15 (56.08-111.98) μmol/L, 6.94(3.97 -10.53) mmol/L, 1.13(0.83 -1.93) mmol/L, 3.23(2.71-4.37) mmol/L, 273.4(187.30-401.55) μmol/L,(4.74 ±2.21) KU/L, 2.29(1.02 -4.23) μmol/L respectively in the samples of venous blood plasma .The difference of results of TP、Glu、Cr、TG、CHE、TBA between two types of samples were of no statistic significance ( the values of t or Z were 0.121,-0.054,-0.269,-0.480,-1.730 and -1.843 respectively, P>0.05), among these items the difference of Glu was of notable clinical significance (>1/2 TE percentage:50％).The difference of results of Ca , Cl, K, Na, P, ALB, ALT, AST, LDH, Urea, CHO, UA between two types of samples were of statistic significance (the values of t or Z were -7.115,6.794,-2.119,-4.996,-3.483,-8.839,-2.419,-2.742,-3.833,-5.010,-2.060 and -2.467 respectively, P<0.05), among these items the difference of Urea, CHO, UA, Na, P and ALT was of no notable clinical significance ( >total TE percentage: 0％, 2.86％, 0％, 2.9％, 4.3％, 1.43％ respectively), while the difference of Ca, Cl, K, ALB, AST and LDH was of clinical significance (>total TE percentage:90％, 10％, 14.3％, 32.9％, 10.00％, 32.9％respectively).Conclusions The differences in the detected data of some biochemical items between venous plasma and arterial plasma demonstrated clinical significance .When detecting those biochemical items , clinicians should pay attention to the selection of arterial blood sample .It should be considered to establish a reference interval for related biochemical items of arterial blood when necessary .

Recently, some global cases of 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pneumonia have been caused by second- or third-generationtransmission of the viral infection, resulting in no traceable epidemiological history. Owing to the complications of COVID-19pneumonia, the first symptom and imaging features of patients can be very atypical and early diagnosis of COVID-19 infectionsremains a challenge. It would aid radiologists and clinicians to be aware of the early atypical symptom and imaging featuresof the disease and contribute to the prevention of infected patients being missed.

Background: Thyroid diseases are highly prevalent worldwide, but their diagnosis remains a challenge. We established reference intervals (RIs) for thyroid-associated hormones and evaluated the prevalence of thyroid diseases in China. Methods: After excluding outliers based on the results of ultrasound screening, thyroid antibody tests, and the Tukey method, the medical records of 20,303 euthyroid adults, who visited the Department of Health Care at Peking Union Medical College Hospital from January 2014 to December 2018, were analyzed. Thyroid-associated hormones were measured by the Siemens Advia Centaur XP analyzer. The RIs for thyroid-associated hormones were calculated according to the CLSI C28-A3 guidelines, and were compared with the RIs provided by Siemens. The prevalence of thyroid diseases over the five years was evaluated and compared using the chi-square test. Results: The RIs for thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), free thyroxine (FT4), free triiodothyronine (FT3), total thyroxine (TT4), and total triiodothyronine (TT3) were 0.71–4.92 mIU/L, 12.2–20.1 pmol/L, 3.9–6.0 pmol/L, 65.6–135.1 nmol/L, and 1.2–2.2 nmol/L, respectively. The RIs of all hormones except TT4 differed significantly between males and females. The RIs of TSH increased with increasing age. The prevalence of overt hypothyroidism, overt hyperthyroidism, subclinical hypothyroidism, and subclinical hyperthyroidism was 0.5% and 0.8%, 0.2% and 0.6%, 3.8% and 6.1%, and 3.3% and 4.7% in males and females, respectively, which differed from those provided by Siemens. Conclusions Sex-specific RIs were established for thyroid-associated hormones, and the prevalence of thyroid diseases was determined in the Chinese population.

Breast cancer is globally the most common invasive cancer in women and remains one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths. Surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and endocrine therapy are currently the main treatments for this cancer type. However, some breast cancer patients are prone to drug resistance related to chemotherapy or immunotherapy, resulting in limited treatment efficacy. Consequently, traditional Chinese medicinal materials (TCMMs) as natural products have become an attractive source of novel drugs. In this review, we summarized the current knowledge on the active components of animal-derived TCMMs, including Ophiocordycepssinensis-derived cordycepin, the aqueous and ethanolic extracts of O.sinensis, norcantharidin (NCTD), Chansu, bee venom, deer antlers, Ostreagigas, and scorpion venom, with reference to marked anti-breast cancer effects due to regulating cell cycle arrest, proliferation, apoptosis, metastasis, and drug resistance. In future studies, the underlying mechanisms for the antitumor effects of these components need to be further investigated by utilizing multi-omics technologies. Furthermore, large-scale clinical trials are necessary to validate the efficacy of bioactive constituents alone or in combination with chemotherapeutic drugs for breast cancer treatment.
Animals ; Breast Neoplasms/drug therapy* ; Cell Cycle Checkpoints ; China ; Deer ; Female ; Humans ; Immunotherapy

【Objective】 To study the annual financial expenditure in blood stations with different scales, and to establish the regression equation between blood collection units and total expenditure. 【Methods】 The annual total expenditure, the per capita cost of serving population, as well as the collection units of whole blood and apheresis platelet of 24 blood stations were collected. The financial expenditure required for collecting 10 000U blood was calculated.The statistical analysis was carried out with SPSS statistical software. 【Results】 From 2017 to 2020, the total annual financial expenditure of 24 blood stations showed an upward trend. The total expenditure among blood stations was different. The per capita cost of servicing population in the areas where the 24 blood stations were located had been increasing year by year. The 24 blood stations were divided into two grades according to the blood collection volume as 50 000 U, and the relationship equation between the blood collection volume and the annual total expenditure had been established. After testing, each equation was effective(P<0.05); There was no difference in the financial expenditure required for collecting 10 000U blood among blood stations with different scales. 【Conclusion】 From 2017 to 2020, the blood stations with an annual collection volume more than 50 000 U demonstrated a higher financial expenditure and the per capita cost of serving population than those <50 000 U. The blood collection volume of blood stations is significantly correlated with the annual total expenditure and the per capita cost of serving population.