OBJECTIVETo observe the primary prevention role of Wuling Capsule (WC) on poststroke depression (PSD) patients.

METHODSAcute stroke patients were recruited and randomized into 2 groups by stratification, 55 in each group. All patients received same routine treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Patients in the experimental group additionally took WC (0.33 g each pill), 3 pills per day, three times per day; while those in the control group additionally took placebos, 3 pills per day, three times per day. Two weeks consisted of one therapeutic course. The diagnosis of PSD was performed once every other week. Those in accordance with PSD diagnosis discontinued any drug therapy. Those not in accordance with PSD diagnosis continued the drug therapy for 1-12 therapeutic course(s) (in total of 6 months). If they were still not in accordance with PSD diagnosis, then they discontinued the drug therapy. The morbidity of PSD, the average time of depression occurrence, Hamilton depression rating scale (HAMD) score, and adverse reactions were observed.

RESULTSThe 1-, 3-, and 6-month morbidity of PSD was 8%, 16%, and 34% in the experimental group, while they were 19.6%, 29.4%, and 54.9% in the control group. The occurrence rate was lower in the experimental group than in the control group. Besides, there was statistical difference in the 6-month occurrence rate between the two groups (chi2 = 4.465, P < 0.05). The average time of PSD occurrence was longer in the experimental group than in the control group (14.96 +/- 8.31 weeks vs. 9.36 +/- 6.06 weeks; t=6.762, P < 0.05). The HAMD score at the PSD occurrence was 11.96 +/- 2.14 in the experimental group, lower than that of the control group (14.57 +/- 4.24), showing statistical difference (t=5.641, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONWC was superior to the placebos in lowering the incidence of PSD, delaying the occurrence time of PSD, attenuating the depression degree of PSD, and had certain preventive effect on the incidence of PSD.

Aged ; Capsules ; Depression ; etiology ; prevention & control ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Primary Prevention ; Stroke ; complications

OBJECTIVETo study the effect of ultrafiltration-membrane extracts of Radix Rehmanniae Praeparata (UMERRP) on theproliferation and genetic stability of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) induced by cadmium chloride (CdCl2).

METHODSProtective effects on the proliferation, micronuclear rates, chromosome aberration rates, and apoptosis rates were observed by micronuclei test, karyotype analysis, and flow cytometry.

RESULTSCompared with the CdCl2 group, UMERRP with different molecular weights at 0. 8 g/L could obviously promote the proliferation (P <0. 05). Compared with the control group, micronuclear rates, chromosome aberration rates, and apoptosis rates were obviously enhanced in the CdCl2 group (P <0. 05). Compared with the CdCl2 group, UMERRP with different molecular weights could obviously decreased CdCl2 induced micronuclear rates, chromosome aberration rates, and apoptosis rates (P <0. 05). Of them, BMSC micronuclear rates and chromosome aberration rates decreased most obvious in UMERRP groups with molecular weight below 10 000 (P <0. 05). The apoptosis rate decreased most obviously in UMERRP groups with molecular weight ranging 100 000 and 200 000 (P <0. 05).

CONCLUSIONUMERRP could reduce CdCl2 induced micronuclear rates, chromosome aberration rates, and apoptosis rates.

Apoptosis ; Bone Marrow ; Cadmium Chloride ; toxicity ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Flow Cytometry ; Hematopoietic Stem Cells ; Humans ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; Ultrafiltration

This study is to establish an HPLC-DAD-ELSD method for simultaneous determination of 5 flavones and saponins in Rhizoma Anemarrhenae including neo-mangiferin, mangiferin, timosaponin B II, timosaponin B III and timosaponin A III. Samples were analyzed on a Merck Purospher STAR column(4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 μm). The mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile( A) and 0. 1% formic acid (B) with gradient elution at a flow rate of 1.0 mL · min(-1). The column temperature was set at 40 °C. The DAD detector wavelength was set at 254 nm. The ELSD conditions were as follows: the nebulizing gas flow rate was 2.0 L · min(-1) and temperature of drift tube was 105 °C. The volume was 10 μL. The five compounds were well separated with good linear correlations. The mean recoveries were between 102.0%-104.0%. This method was quick and reliable which provides a foundation for quality control of R. Anemarrhenae.
Anemarrhena ; chemistry ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; instrumentation ; methods ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; Flavones ; analysis ; Rhizome ; chemistry ; Saponins ; analysis

OBJECTIVETo observe the therapeutic effect of hydrotherapy with Chinese drugs (HT-C) in early intervention on children hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE).

METHODSHIE children were assigned to the treatment group and the control group, 50 in each, at random depending on the willingness of patients' parents. Both groups received the conventional functional training, according to the "0 -3-year-old early intervention outline", but for the treatment group, HT-C was applied additionally. Indexes for quality of sleep, gross motor function, severity of spasm and intellectual development were observed and compared before and after treatment to assess the therapeutic effects.

RESULTSTherapeutic effect in the treatment group was better than that in the control group in all the indexes observed, showing statistical significance (all P <0.05).

CONCLUSIONEarly intervention of HT-C could improve clinical symptom, promote the functional recovery and intellectual development in children HIE, and also could reduce or prevent the sequelae occurrence of the nervous system in them.

Administration, Cutaneous ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; Female ; Humans ; Hydrotherapy ; methods ; Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain ; therapy ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Massage ; Phytotherapy ; Time Factors

OBJECTIVETo study the stereoselective glucuronidation of carvedilol (CARV) by three Chinese liver microsomes.

METHODSThe metabolites of CARV were identified by a hydrolysis reaction with beta-glucuronidase and HPLC-MS/MS. The enzyme kinetics for CARV enantiomers glucuronidation was determined by a reversed phase-high pressure liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) assay using (S)-propafenone as internal standard after precolumn derivatization with 2,3,4,6-tetra-O-acetyl-beta-D-glucopyranosylisothiocyanate.

RESULTSTwo CARV glucuronides were found in three Chinese liver microsomes incubated with CARV. The non-linear regression analysis showed that the values of K(m) and V(max) for (S)-CARV and (R)-CARV enantiomers were (118+/-44) micromol/L, (2 500+/-833) pmol/(min.mg protein) and (24+/-7) micromol/L, (953+/-399) pmol/(min.mg protein), respectively.

CONCLUSIONThese results suggested that there was a significant (P<0.05) stereoselective glucuronidation of CARV enantiomers in three Chinese liver microsomes, which might partly explain the enantioselective pharmacokinetics of CARV.

Carbazoles ; metabolism ; China ; Glucuronic Acid ; metabolism ; Glucuronides ; metabolism ; Microsomes, Liver ; metabolism ; Propanolamines ; metabolism ; Stereoisomerism

BACKGROUNDTo evaluate the safety of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) with epididymal or testicular sperm, this study compared children born after ICSI treatment with epididymal or testicular sperm with children conceived after ICSI with ejaculated sperm.

METHODSThis retrospective study included 317 children born after ICSI with percutaneous epididymal sperm aspiration (PESA), 103 children born after ICSI with testicular sperm aspiration (TESA), and a control group of 1008 children born after ICSI with ejaculated sperm. All of the patients received their assisted reproductive treatment in the Reproductive Medicine Center of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 2004 to December 2011. Data, such as the rate of stillbirths, perinatal mortality, gestational age, birth weight, and the rate of congenital malformations of the three groups, were compared.

RESULTSPESA and TESA children were not different from ICSI children in the rate of stillbirths, perinatal mortality, infant mortality rate, gestational age, the rate of prematurity, and the rate of malformations (P > 0.05). A slight increase in birth defects was reported in the TESA group compared with those in the control group, but there was no significant difference between the groups (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONICSI with epididymal or testicular sperm does not lead to more stillbirths or congenital malformations compared with ICSI using ejaculated sperm.

Adult ; Congenital Abnormalities ; epidemiology ; Epididymis ; Female ; Fetal Death ; epidemiology ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Pregnancy ; Retrospective Studies ; Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic

Objective To obtain the elasticity value of solid breast lesions with supersonic shear wave elastrography (SWE) and apply the binary Logistic regression in order to evaluate the value of SWE in differential diagnosis of benign and malignant breast lesions. Methods SWE quantitative elastography was preformed in 91 breast lesions of 91 patients in Zhenghai Longsai Hospital to obtain the maximum and mean elasticity value (Emax, Emean). And receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to assess the diagnostic performance. A Logistic regression for the gray scale ultrasound and the elastic modulus was conducted with multiple variables including Emax, Emean, border, echo, form, calcification. Results Pathological examination showed 73 benign lesions and 18 malignant lesions. Emax and Emean of malignant lesions were obviously higher than those of benign lesions [(99.73±41.15) kPa vs (38.59±14.28) kPa, (61.45±24.88) kPa vs (23.46±11.44) kPa, t=-15.05,-14.12, both P=0.000]. The area under the ROC curve of Emax and Emean were 0.932 and 0.915. Taking 63.70 kPa as the threshold of Emax, the sensitivity was 77.8%and the speciifcity was 97.3%. Then taking 44.22 kPa as the threshold of Emean, the sensitivity was 83.3%and the speciifcity was 94.5%. The results of Logistic regression analysis showed:the 3 most effective variables were Emax, border of the lesions and Emean. Conclusions The multivariate analysis model of binary Logistic regression can select the valuable indexes of differential diagnosis of benign and malignant breast lesions. SWE plays an important role in differentiating benign and malignant lesions and it is valuable in clinical practice.

Objective To investigate the changes of hydrogen sulfide (H_2S) level in plasma in order to explore the role of H_2S in the development of pulmonary hypertension (PH) secondary to congenital heart disease (CHD).Methods There were 9 CHD patients and 9 normal children in this study. The plasma concentration of H_2S and pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) of each child were measured. Meanwhile, the relationship between H_2S level and PAP was analyzed.Results The plasma level of H_2S in the group of CHD significantly decreased compared with control group (32.13?2.25) ?mol/L vs [(43.69?2.05)?mol/L, P

Objective To explore the relationship between immune and pathogenesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in the investigation of neurofilaments phosphorylation and ultrastructure features in spinal cord ventral horn motor neuron injury mediated by immune.Methods Using transmission electron microscope,we studied the uhrastructure features of abnormal accumulations of neurofilaments (NF) in motoneuron of the spinal cord ventral horn,and immunohistochemically investigated neurofilaments phosphorylation.Results Electron microscope found that there was abnormal accumulation of interwoven NFs in motor neuronal perikarya and proximal axons.Immunohistochemical study revealed that the SMI-32 immunoreactive positive neurons (12.00?1.05),compared with control (18.00?1.83),were reduced (P

Objective To observe the therapeutic effect and mechanism of acupuncture at Zusanli-Zhongwan combined matching points on rats with exercise-induced stress gastric ulcer.Methods Forty male SD rats were randomly divided into blank group,model group,acupuncture group and Omeprazole group,with 10 rats in each group.Except for the blank group,the rats in the other groups were used to construct the model of exercise stress gastric ulcer by daily exhaustive swimming.After successful modeling,the acupuncture group was intervened by acupuncture at Zusanli(ST36)and Zhongwan(RN12),once a day,10 minutes each time.Rats in the Omeprazole group were given Omeprazole Enteric-Coated Tablets distilled water suspension by gavage two hours before daily swimming.After continuous 7-day intervention,the overall state and behavior of rats were observed,the gastric mucosal injury index was calculated by Guth method,the pathological morphology of gastric mucosa was observed by hematoxylin-eosin(HE)staining,the contents of superoxide dismutase(SOD),glutathione peroxidase(GSH-PX)and malondialdehyde(MDA)in serum were correspondingly determined by WST-1 method,colorimetry and TBA method,respectively,enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)was used to detect the contents of gastrin(GAS),somatostatin(SS),tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α),interleukin-1 β(IL-1β),interleukin-6(IL-6)and interleukin-10(IL-10)in serum,the expression levels of epidermal growth factor receptor(EGFR),matrix metalloproteinase 3(MMP3),nuclear factor erythroid-related factor 2(NRF2),heme oxygenase 1(HO-1)and mitochondrial SOD2,TNF-α,IL-1β,IL-6 and IL-10 mRNA in gastric mucosa were detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction(qPCR).Results Compared with the blank group,the body mass of rats in the model group was increased slowly,the activity distance and activity in the open field test were decreased,the gastric mucosal ulcer index was increased significantly,the gastric mucosal function indexes involving GAS level was increased and SS level was decreased in serum,the mRNA expression level of EGFR in gastric mucosa was decreased and the mRNA expression level of MMP3 in gastric mucosa was increased.The serum levels of antioxidant substances SOD and GSH-PX were decreased significantly,and the serum level of oxidation product MDA was increased significantly.The mRNA expression levels of antioxidant genes NRF2,HO-1 and SOD2 in gastric mucosa were significantly decreased.The serum contents and the gastric mucosa mRNA levels of inflammatory factors TNF-α,IL-1α,IL-6 were significantly increased,while the serum content and the gastric mucosa mRNA level of IL-10 were significantly decreased.The differences were statistically significant(P＜0.05 or P＜0.01 or P＜0.001).HE staining showed obvious gastric mucosal injury.Compared with the model group,the above indexes in the acupuncture group and the Omeprazole group were significantly improved(P＜0.05 or P＜0.01 or P＜0.001).HE staining showed that the gastric mucosal injury was significantly reduced.Conclusion Acupuncture at Zusanli-Zhongwan combined matching points can reduce the local oxidative stress and inflammatory response in rats with exercise-induced stress gastric ulcer,reduce gastric mucosal injury,improve the emotional state of rats,and maintain the overall vitality of rats.