OBJECTIVETo study the analgesic effects and mechanism of Yuanhuzhentong capsule.

METHODThe rats trigeminal nerve headache model, the migraine model caused by nitroglycerim, and the mice hot plate test. The rat formalin test were used to evaluate the analgesic effects. The effects on mice automative activities, the content of monoamine neurotansmitters in rats trigeminal nerve headache model and the hemorrheology in model of blood stasis were investigated to analyze the analgesic effects.

RESULTYuanhuzhentong capsule can prolong the latency of the rats trigeminal nerve headache model and reduce the durante dolors. It can relieve the reaction caused by nitroglycerim in different times and increase the threshold in mice hot plate test. It can decrease obviously the response time of the chronicity pain model rat caused by formalin in second phase and also decrease the counts of automative activities in 5 min. It can increase the content of 5-HT and decrease blood viscosity in blood stasis model rats.

CONCLUSIONThe results indicated that Yuanhuzhentong capsule has obvious analgesic effects, and the mechanism concernes with the sedation, adjusting the secretion of NT in brain and improving the blood circulation.

Analgesics ; administration & dosage ; Animals ; Capsules ; Disease Models, Animal ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; Female ; Headache ; drug therapy ; physiopathology ; Humans ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred ICR ; Pain ; drug therapy ; physiopathology ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

OBJECTIVES: Fluorouracil chemotherapeutic drugs are the classic treatment drugs of gastric cancer. But the problem of drug resistance severely limits their clinical application. This study aims to investigate whether hypoxia microenvironment affects gastric cancer resistance to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and discuss the changes of gene and proteins directly related to drug resistance under hypoxia condition. METHODS: Gastric cancer cells were treated with 5-FU in hypoxia/normoxic environment, and were divided into a Normoxic+5-FU group and a Hypoxia+5-FU group. The apoptosis assay was conducted by flow cytometry Annexin V/PI double staining. The real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blotting were used to detect the expression level of hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α), multidrug resistance (MDR1) gene, P-glycoprotein (P-gp), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) which were related to 5-FU drug-resistance. We analyzed the effect of hypoxia on the treatment of gastric cancer with 5-FU. RESULTS: Compared with the Normoxic+5-FU group, the apoptosis of gastric cancer cells treated with 5-FU in the Hypoxia+5-FU group was significantly reduced (P<0.05), and the expression of apoptosis promoter protein caspase 8 was also decreased. Compared with the the Normoxic+5-FU group, HIF-1α mRNA expression in the Hypoxia+5-FU group was significantly increased (P<0.05), and the mRNA and protein expression levels of MDR1, P-gp and VEGF were also significantly increased (all P<0.05). The increased expression of MDR1, P-gp and VEGF had the same trend with the expression of HIF-1α. CONCLUSIONS Hypoxia is a direct influencing factor in gastric cancer resistance to 5-FU chemotherapy. Improvement of the local hypoxia microenvironment of gastric cancer may be a new idea for overcoming the resistance to 5-FU in gastric cancer.
Humans ; Fluorouracil/therapeutic use* ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A/metabolism* ; Stomach Neoplasms/drug therapy* ; Drug Resistance, Multiple ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors/metabolism* ; Hypoxia ; ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B/genetics* ; ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B, Member 1/genetics* ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Hypoxia ; RNA, Messenger/metabolism* ; Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit/genetics* ; Tumor Microenvironment

Objective : To investigate the role of endoplasmic reticulum stress in hepatic insulin resistance induced by intermittent hypoxia in rats． Methods : Twenty-four SD rats were randomly divided into control group ( NC group) and intermittent hypoxia group ( CIH group) ．The NC group was placed in a normoxia environment for 12 weeks，and the CIH group was given intermittent hypoxia for 8 weeks，and then returned to normoxia until the 12th week．In both groups，fasting blood glucose (FBG) ，fasting insulin (FINS) ，and liver inositol-requiring enzyme- 1 α(IRE1 α) ，X-box binding protein 1s(XBP1s) ，forkhead box transcription factor O1 (FoxO1) ，activating transcription factor-6(ATF6) ，cAMP-response element binding protein( CREB) ，CREB-regulated transcription coacti- vator-2( CRTC2) ，double-stranded RNA-dependent protein kinase-like ER kinase ( PERK) ，eukaryotic initiation factor 2 α(eIF2 α) ，protein kinase B ( AKT) ，phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase ( PEPCK) ，glucose-6-phosphat- ase( G6Pase) mRNA were measured at baseline，week 8，and week 12 . Results : There was no significant differ- ence in each observation index between the two groups at baseline ; at 8 weeks，the levels of FBG，FINS and the mRNA levels of IRE1α , XBP1s，ATF6，PERK，eIF2 α , PEPCK and G6Pase in the CIH group were higher than those in the NC group (P＜0. 05) ，while the mRNA levels of CREB，CRTC2 and AKT were lower than those in the NC group (P＜0. 05) ; at 12 weeks，there was no significant difference in each observation index between the two groups．Pearson correlation analysis showed(8th week of intermittent hypoxia group) : homeostasis model as- sessment-insulin resistance(HOMA-IR) was positively correlated with FoxO1，CREB，CRTC2 and PERK，eIF2 α mRNA levels (r = 0. 172，0. 595，0. 183，0. 702，0. 608 ; P＜0. 05) while it was negatively correlated with IRE1α , XBP1s，ATF6，AKT mRNA levels (r = －0. 422 ，－0. 327 ，－0. 309 ，－0. 399 ; P＜0. 05) ． Conclusion Intermittent hypoxia can lead to insulin resistance，and endoplasmic reticulum stress may mediate this effect.