This study was aimed to diffuse the lung and promote urination for the observation of cardiopulmonary re-lated index change of cor pulmonale rats to further explore the treatment effect on the pulmonary function, pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and the influence of right heart hypertrophy of rats, in order to further illustrate the ef-fect of diffusing the lung and promoting urination for cor pulmonale. Sixty Wistar rats were randomly divided into the control group, model group and Xiao-Qing-Long decoction (XQLD) group with 20 rats in each group. The AniRes2003 animal lung function analysis system was applied to measure the pulmonary function of rats. And the multi-guide physiological recorder was used in the recording of the pulmonary artery pressure of rats. The conven-tional weighing method was applied to calculate and obtain the change of right heart hypertrophy. The results showed that compared to the control group, symptoms in the model group became severe obviously, which include reduced activity, slow movement and occasional airway sputum sound, and the right heart hypertrophy index of the model group increased obviously (P < 0.01). Compared to the model group, the pulmonary function and pulmonary artery pressure of the XQLD group have obvious difference (P< 0.05). It was concluded that to diffuse the lung and pro-mote urination can effectively improve the pulmonary function, PAH and the right heart hypertrophy index of rats with cor pulmonale (fluid retention). The effect of this method is definite in the treatment of cor pulmonale.

To explore the effect of different processing methods and conditions of coumarin and volatile compounds in Angelica Dahuricae Radix and their change regularity, in order to optimize and establish appropriate drying methods and conditions. After being cleaned, fresh Angelica Dahuricae Radix herbs were baked, sun-dried, shade-dried, sun-dried after sulfur-fumigation, dried by quick-lime embedding, freeze-dried, microwave-dried. Finally, 24 groups of samples were obtained after being mashed and passing through the 60-mesh screen. The HPLC-PDA method was adopted to simultaneously determine the content of coumarin compounds. The GC-MS method was used to determine the content of volatile compounds. The principal component analysis (PCA) was made on the standardized analysis results for the 24 groups of samples processed with different drying methods. According to the PCA results, the comprehensive scores of coumarin and volatile compounds in Angelica Dahuricae Radix herbs processed with different methods in the order from high to low were that unpeeled and dried by quicklime embedding > unpeeled and dried with hot-air at 100 degrees C > unpeeled and dried with hot-air at 40 degrees C > peeled and infrared-dried > peeled and dried with hot-air at 60 degrees C > peeled and dried with hot-air at 40 degrees C > peeled and sun-dried > peeled and dried with hot-air at 60 degrees C > peeled and dried with hot-air at 100 degrees C > peeled and microwave-dried > peeled and dried with hot-air at 80 degrees C > unpeeled and sun-dried > unpeeled and dried with sulfur-fumigation > peeled and dried with sulfur-fumigation > unpeeled and dried with hot-air at 120 degrees C > unpeeled and freeze-dried > unpeeled and infrared-dried > peeled and dried with hot-air at 120 degrees C > peeled and freeze-dried > peeled and dried by quicklime embedding > unpeeled and dried with hot-air at 80 degrees C > peeled and shade-dried > unpeeled and shade-dried > unpeeled and microwave-dried. According to the findings, different drying processing methods have certain impacts on the content coumarin and volatile compounds in Angelica Dahuricae Radix herbs. The traditional method of drying by quicklime embedding is recommended as the optimum origin processing method of Angelica Dahuricae Radix, which is followed by the method for being peeled and dried with hot-air at 100 degrees C.
Angelica ; chemistry ; Coumarins ; analysis ; Desiccation ; methods ; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry ; Hot Temperature ; Principal Component Analysis ; Volatile Organic Compounds ; analysis

Objective To evaluate the effects of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) combined with drug therapy on patients with delayed encephalopathy caused by carbon monoxide poisoning ( COP). Methods Twenty to forty sessions of HBO therapy were used to treat 34 COP patients. Assessment relied on 99mTc-ethyl cysteinate dimer (~(99m)Tc-ECD) single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging of cerebral perfusion before and after treatment. Results After HBO therapy, cerebral perfusion in the COP patients improved significantly. There was a significant difference of the SPECT images before and after treatment. Conclusions SPECT imaging of cerebral perfusion can play an important role in the diagnosis of delayed encephalopathy caused by carbon monoxide poisoning, and it can be used for the therapeutic surveillance of HBO treatment.

OBJECTIVEThe research aimed to analyze the significance of Pont Index in the dental crowding.

METHODSRespectively selected 91 normal occlusion persons and 101 dental crowding patients, measured every item of Pont Index of these two sample groups, and compared the results.

RESULTSThe premolar index and molar index of dental crowding patients were obviously bigger than that of normal occlusion, and there was apparent significant difference. There was no significant gender difference of Pont Index either in normal occlusion or dental crowding patients. Whereas there was significant gender difference of premolar arch width and molar arch width in normal occlusion.

CONCLUSIONThe occurrence of dental crowding is clearly related to Pont Index.

Bicuspid ; Cephalometry ; Dental Arch ; Dental Occlusion ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Malocclusion ; Molar

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of astragalus (As) on calcium accumulation and SERCA2a gene expression in left ventricular tissues in rats with pressure overload-induced cardiac hypertrophy.

METHODcardiac hypertrophy was induced by clipping the abdominal aorta in rats. Male SD rats were allocated to six groups: sham-operrated (Sham), aortic stenosis (Model), model +As-L (5 g x kg(-1) x d(-1)), model+As-M (10 g x kg(-1) x d(-1)), model+As-H (20 g x kg(-1) x d(-1)) and model + captopril (0.05 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1), a positive control). The drugs were administered orally from the 13 th week after surgery. Rats were examined after 12 week treatment with drugs. The cardiac hypertrophy was evaluated by left ventricular mass index (LVMI, left ventricular weight/ body weight). The calcium content in left ventricular tissue was measured by atomic absorption spectrometry. SERCA2a mRNA and protein expressions in left ventricular tissues were determined by half-quantitative RT-PCR and Western blot normalized to abundance of GAPDH mRNA and protein, respectively.

RESULTThe increase of LVMI was dose-dependently lessened by As (P < 0.01, P < 0.001). The effect of As-H was similar to that of Captopril. As markedly attenuated calcium accumulation in myocardial tissure (P < 0.01). RT-PCR and Western blot results demonstrated that SERCA2a gene expressions were downregulated (P < 0.05) significantly in model group compared with sham group. As-H upregulated SERCA2a gene expressions (P < 0.05), whereas Captopril had no effect on that.

CONCLUSIONThe inhibition of As on left ventricular hypertrophy induced by pressure overload in rats may partly contribute to its attenuation of calcium accumulation and up-regulation of SERCA2a gene expressions in left ventricular tissues.

Animals ; Astragalus Plant ; chemistry ; Blotting, Western ; Calcium ; metabolism ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Gene Expression Regulation ; drug effects ; Heart ; drug effects ; Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Male ; Myocardium ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Calcium-Transporting ATPases ; genetics ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo detect serum HER-2 oncoprotein levels in patients with operable and metastatic breast cancers, and to study the correlations between serum HER-2 level and lymph node status as well as other clinical parameters.

METHODSA total of 120 women were studied consisting of 10 healthy volunteers, 31 benign breast disease, 53 operable breast cancer, and 26 metastatic breast cancer patients. The levels of serum HER-2 were measured using an enzyme-liked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

RESULTSThe mean serum HER-2 levels were 9.6 +/- 1.5 ng/mL in healthy volunteers, 11.9 +/- 1.6 ng/mL in benign breast disease, 13.2 +/- 4.2 ng/mL in operable breast cancer, and 30.5 +/- 30.8 ng/mL in metastatic breast cancer patients. The former is much lower than the latter three (P = 0.02, 0.001, 0.03, respectively). If using 15 ng/mL as a normal baseline, elevated serum HER-2 levels were observed in none of the healthy volunteers as well as patients with benign disease, but in 18.9% (10/53) operable breast cancer patients and 61.5% (16/26) metastatic patients. In patients with operable breast cancer, there was a positive correlation between serum concentrations of HER-2 and the size of primary tumor (P < 0.05), whereas there was no correlation between serum concentration and axillary lymph node or estrogen receptor status. In patients with metastatic disease, there was no correlation with site of metastases (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSerum HER-2 level was strongly correlated with tumor loads and clinical stages, thus acting as a promising predictor of cancer recurrence in breast cancer patients.

Biomarkers, Tumor ; blood ; Breast Neoplasms ; blood ; pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; chemistry ; secondary ; Lung Neoplasms ; chemistry ; secondary ; Lymph Nodes ; pathology ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; Neoplasm Staging ; Receptor, ErbB-2 ; blood ; Receptors, Estrogen ; metabolism ; Receptors, Progesterone ; metabolism

Transumbilical single-incision laparoscopic surgeries have attracted the attention of surgeon. Here we report a patient with multiple hepatic hemagiomas and symptomatic cholelithiasis who underwent laparoscopic left lateral hepatecomy and left hepatic hemangioma enucleation with single incision followed by cholecystectomy. The duration of the operation was 155 minutes and the blood loss was 100 ml. There were no complications during or after the treatment. This surgical treatment yields a good cosmetic effect and rapid recovery.
Female ; Hepatectomy ; methods ; Humans ; Laparoscopy ; methods ; Middle Aged ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the influence of fast-track surgery in perioperative period on the clinical outcomes of patients with esophageal cancer.

METHODSClinical data of 117 patients with esophageal cancer between January 2011 and June 2011 were retrospectively analyzed. Sixty-three cases (study group) were treated with fast-track surgery and 54 cases(control group) were treated according to routine protocol in the perioperative period.

RESULTSThe operative time, time to drainage tube removal, and length of hospital stay were significantly shorter in the study group than those in the control group(all P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the medical cost was lower(P<0.05). The overall postoperative complication rate was 7.9% in the study group and 24.1% in the control group(P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONFast-track surgery in the perioperative period for patients with esophageal cancer can promote bowel function recovery and decrease morbidity.

Esophageal Neoplasms ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Perioperative Care ; methods ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo examine serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and to explore the relationship between vitamin D level and ASD.

METHODSSerum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were determined by the HPLC-MS/MS method in 117 children with newly diagnosed ASD and 109 healthy controls. Vitamin D status were classified into normal (>30 ng/mL), insufficiency (10-30ng/mL) and deficiency (<10 ng/mL) according to 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels.

RESULTSSerum level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (19±9 ng/mL)in children with ASD was significantly lower than that in healthy controls (36±13 ng/mL; P<0.01). The rate of vitamin D insufficiency plus deficiency in the ASD group was significantly higher than in the control group (89.7% vs 52.3%; P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONSVitamin D insufficiency or deficiency is common in children with ASD and might be as one of the environmental or genetic factors for ASD.

Child ; Child Development Disorders, Pervasive ; blood ; Child, Preschool ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Vitamin D ; analogs & derivatives ; blood ; Vitamin D Deficiency ; epidemiology

Abstract: Our previous work revealed berberine can significantly enhance the susceptibility of fluconazole against fluconazole-resistant Candida albicans, which suggested that berberine has synergistic antifungal activity with fluconazole. Preliminary SAR of berberine needs to be studied for the possibility of investigating its target and SAR, improving its drug-likeness, and exploring new scaffold. In this work, 13-substitutited benzyl berberine derivatives and N-benzyl isoquinoline analogues were synthesized and characterized by 1H NMR and MS. Their synergetic activity with fluconazole against fluconazole-resistant Candida albicans was evaluated in vitro. The 13-substitutited benzyl berberine derivatives 1a-1e exhibited comparable activity to berberine, which suggested that the introduction of functional groups to C-13 can maintain its activity. The N-benzyl isoquinolines, which were designed as analogues of berberine with its D ring opened, exhibited lower activity than berberine. However, compound 2b, 2c, and 4b showed moderate activity, which indicated that berberine may be deconstructed to new scaffold with synergistic antifungal activity with fluconazole. The results of our research may be helpful to the SAR studies on its other biological activities.
Antifungal Agents ; pharmacology ; Berberine ; pharmacology ; Candida albicans ; drug effects ; Drug Resistance, Fungal ; Drug Synergism ; Fluconazole ; pharmacology ; Isoquinolines ; pharmacology ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests