OBJECTIVE:To study the spectrum-effect relationship of the antipyretic effect of Radix Bupleuri injection. METH-ODS:HPLC method was used to establish the fingerprint of Radix Bupleuri injection. The antipyretic effect of 10 batches of Radix Bupleuri injection on fever rats induced by dried yeast were determined respectively. The fingerprint peaks were screened,along with the temperature value of different time points(0,10,15,30,40,55,70 min). The principal components were extracted by principal component method and the indirect relationship between the fingerprint and antipyretic effect was analyzed,depending on the principal component correlation coefficient matrix. RESULTS:There were 39 common peaks in fingerprint(similarity>0.85), No. 8,12,14,19,26,31,34,35 and 39 common peaks with large peak area were included in the study. Four principal compo-nents were extracted by principal component analysis(87% of total variant). First principal component showed that the active com-ponents of the 12th peak may be related to the antipyretic effect of 6 to 13 hours. The second principal component showed that the active components of the 26th peak may be related to the antipyretic effect of 0.5 to 5 hours. The third principal component showed that the similar effect of the active components could be caused by 34th,35th and 39th peaks. The fourth principal component sug-gested that there were some similarities between the 14th and the 31st peaks. CONCLUSIONS:Radix Bupleuri injection have obvi-ous improvement for fever rats. There is certain corresponding relation between HPLC fingerprint and antipyretic effect of Radix Bu-pleuri injection .

Besides hematopoietic stem cells, bone marrow also contains another type of stem cells called mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). With different induced conditions, MSCs have the ability to differentiate into a variety of nonhematopoietic tissue cells, including osteoblasts, chondroblast, adipocytes, myoblasts, astrocytes, and so on. MSCs can be readily obtained from bone marrow by their adhesion to plastic and expansion in culture. Also they can be genetically engineered by transduced target genes. MSCs may be the farget cells for both cell therapy and gene therapy for diseases derived from many different nonhematopoietic tissues.

Objective To study the phenomena and the related mechanisms of malignant transformation of dermis derived multipotential stem cells in vitro . Methods Clonal populations of dermal multipotential stem cells were passaged sequentially in vitro , and the subcutaneous inoculation of cells in nude mice was used for observation of the tumor formation. The transcript profiles of the transformed cells were analyzed by DNA microarray technique. Results Dermal multipotential stem cells underwent spontaneous malignant transformation after serial subculture in vitro . Cells grew out of control, and chromosome number was abnormal. After cells were inoculated subcutaneously into BALB/c nu/nu athymic mice, tumors characterized by fibrous histiocytoma were produced. Immunohistochemistry showed that there were different cell populations for the expression of vimentin, cytokeratin, S 100, and ? smooth actin. Detection by DNA microarray technique revealed that the transformed cells expressed multilineage transcripts, indicating that the transformed cells might have the multipotency. Among the differentially expressed genes in transformed cells, most of the up regulated genes were related to the proliferation process, but most of the down regulated genes were growth factors and their receptors. The enhanced expression of the c ki ras gene and its relevant molecules may play important roles in the transformation process. A candidate gene with unknown functions related to the stem cell proliferation was also preliminarily identified. Conclusion Dermal multipotential stem cells can undergo spontaneous malignant transformation in vitro . Further studies of the mechanisms of this process at the molecular level may have significance both in stem cell application and in tumorigenesis.

Alzheimer's disease(AD)is a common degenerative disease of the central nervous system in which neuropathological changes precede cognitive dysfunction and behavioral impairment. Currently, early diagnosis of AD is based on invasive and expensive testing techniques that are difficult to use widely in the clinical setting. Therefore, there is an urgent need for new markers to detect AD at an early stage. The eye, as an extension of the brain, has been found to show earlier onset of ocular pathologic changes in patients with AD compared to brain pathologic changes, such as retinal structural abnormalities, visual dysfunction, retinal abnormal protein accumulation, choroidal thickness changes, decreased corneal nerve fiber density, deposition of abnormal Aβ proteins in the lens, and pupillary light decreased sensitivity of response, etc. This article reviews the ocular pathologic changes in AD patients in recent years to provide new ideas for the early clinical diagnosis of AD.