Objective To explore the efficacy of Fushe Jiedu Decoction combined with red light on viper bites injury limb swelling and the effects on the inflammatory cytokines. Methods Totally 90 patients were divided into control group and experimental group by using random number table method, with 45 cases in each group. The wounds of the control group were sterilized and given anti-snake venom serum, antibiotics, and tetanus immunoglobulin and supplemented with energy to correct water and electrolyte disturbances. The experimental group was treated with Fushe Jiedu Decoction based on the treatment of control group,150 mL each time,orally,twice a day; Red light was applied at the site of the most obvious swelling of the injured limb, 20 minutes each time, twice a day. The treatment lasted for 6 d. The swelling of injured limbs, serum C-reactive protein (CRP), 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), histamine, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-6 levels before and after treatment in the two groups were observed. Results Compared with before treatment, the swelling of the limbs disappeared significantly in the experimental group at 3 d and 6 d and in the control group at 6 d, with statistical significance (P<0.01). Compared with the control group at the same time point, the swelling of the limbs in the treatment group was significantly better than that in the control group at 3 d and 6 d, with statistical significance (P<0.01). Compared with before treatment, the levels of CRP, 5-HT, TNF-α, and IL-6 were significantly lower in the two groups, with statistical significance (P<0.05). After treatment, CRP, 5-HT and histamine in the experimental group were significantly better than that in the control group(P<0.05).Conclusion Fushe Jiedu Decoction combined with red light has good efficacy for viper bites injury limb swelling, which can reduce inflammatory cytokines levels of patients.

Objective To investigate the operative methods and clinical significance of the treatment for large acoustic ncuroma with microsurgery by retrosigmoid approach.Methods 15 cases of large acoustic neuroma treated with microsurgery by retrosigmoid approach were systematic analyzed,including the operative approach,microsurgical technique,disposal after operation,prevention and cure of complications.Results Tumors were totally removed in 12 cases and were subtotally removed in 3 cases.Facial nerve was kept ana- tomic intact in 13 cases(86.7%) and acoustic nerve was kept anatomic intact in 6 cases(40.0%).The short period complications happened in 3 cases and no patient died in this series.Conclusion Treatment for large acoustic neuroma with microsurgery by retrosigmoid approach is a safe method,which give small hurt brain tissue and benefit to increase the total removal rate and protect effectively the function of facial nerve and acoustic nerve.

BACKGROUNDThe classic glycine receptor (GlyR) in the central nervous system is a ligand-gated membrane-spanning ion channel. Recent studies have provided evidence for the existence of GlyR in endothelial cells, renal proximal tubular cells and most leukocytes. In contrast, no evidence for GlyR in myocardial cells has been found so far. Our recent researches have showed that glycine could protect myocardial cells from the damage induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Further studies suggest that myocardial cells could contain GlyR or binding site of glycine.

METHODSIn isolated rat heart damaged by LPS, the myocardial monophasic action potential (MAP), the heart rate (HR), the myocardial tension and the activities of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) from the coronary effluent were determined. The concentration of intracellular free calcium ([Ca(2+)](i)) was measured in cardiomyocytes injured by LPS and by hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R), which excludes the possibility that reduced calcium influx because of LPS neutralized by glycine. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the GlyR in myocardial tissue. GlyR and its subunit in the purified cultured cardiomyocytes were identified by Western blotting.

RESULTSAlthough significant improvement in the MAP/MAPD(20), HR, and reduction in LDH release were observed in glycine + LPS hearts, myocardial tension did not recover. Further studies demonstrated that glycine could prevent rat mycordial cells from LPS and hypoxia/reoxygenation injury (no endotoxin) by attenuating calcium influx. Immunohistochemistry exhibited a positive green-fluorescence signaling along the cardiac muscle fibers. Western blotting shows that the purified cultured cardiomyocytes express GlyR beta subunit, but GlyR alpha1 subunit could not be detected.

CONCLUSIONSThe results suggest that glycine receptor is expressed in cardiomyocytes and participates in cytoprotection from LPS and hypoxia/reoxygenation injury. Glycine could directly activate GlyR on the cardiomyocytes and prevent calcium influx into the cardiomyocytes.

Animals ; Blood Pressure ; drug effects ; Blotting, Western ; Calcium ; metabolism ; Cytoprotection ; Glycine ; pharmacology ; Heart ; drug effects ; physiology ; Heart Rate ; drug effects ; Immunohistochemistry ; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase ; secretion ; Lipopolysaccharides ; toxicity ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Receptors, Glycine ; analysis ; physiology

OBJECTIVETo study the expression of protein kinase C (PKC) alpha subtype in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells.

METHODSThe PKC alpha primer pairs were designed based on the GenBank sequence of PKC alpha of a species with the highest homology to Chinese hamster identified using EMBL Data Library Clustalw tool. The sequence coding for PKC alpha, amplified from the CHO cells using RT-PCR, was ligated to the pGEM-T plasmid vector, and the recombinant vector was transformed into E.coli DH5alpha with the positive colones selected by blue/white screening. Restriction enzyme digestion, gel electrophoresis analysis, followed by sequencing of the digestion products were performed for identification of the recombinant. Western blotting was used to analyze the PKC alpha expression in the CHO cells.

RESULTSThe presence of PKC alpha mRNA was detected in the CHO cells by RT-PCR. Western blotting also identified PKC alpha expression in the cells.

CONCLUSIONSPKC alpha expression has been identified in the CHO cells, which may facilitate further structural and functional study of PKC alpha and investigation of its role in the intracellular signal transduction pathways.

Animals ; Blotting, Western ; CHO Cells ; Cloning, Molecular ; Cricetinae ; Cricetulus ; Female ; Protein Kinase C-alpha ; metabolism ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction

Design space approach is applied in this study to enhance the robustness of first ethanol precipitation process of Codonopsis Radix (Dangshen) by optimizing parameters. Total flavonoid recovery, dry matter removal, and pigment removal were defined as the process critical quality attributes (CQAs). Plackett-Burman designed experiments were carried out to find the critical process parameters (CPPs). Dry matter content of concentrated extract (DMCE), mass ratio of ethanol to concentrated extract (E/C ratio) and concentration of ethanol (CEA) were identified as the CPPs. Box-Behnken designed experiments were performed to establish the quantitative models between CPPs and CQAs. Probability based design space was obtained and verified using Monte-Carlo simulation method. According to the verification results, the robustness of first ethanol precipitation process of Dangshen can be guaranteed by operating within the design space parameters. Recommended normal operation space are as follows: dry matter content of concentrated extract of 45.0% - 48.0%, E/C ratio of 2.48-2.80 g x g(-1), and the concentration of ethanol of 92.0% - 92.7%.
Chemical Precipitation ; Chemistry, Pharmaceutical ; methods ; Codonopsis ; chemistry ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; isolation & purification

OBJECTIVETo understand the demography changes and behaviors in drug users.

METHODSelf-reported questionnaires was used and longitudinal investigation was conducted in one of the detoxication centers in Beijing in 1998 and 2000. Drug users were randomly chosen.

RESULTSResults showed that age of drug users tend to become younger with the numbers of drug users aged below 25, increased from 18.7% in 1998 to 28.2% in 2000. Majority of drug users remained males, but the proportion of females seemed to increase. Distribution of occupation showed that the largest increase fell among individual enterprisers, from 15.2% in 1998 to 25.9% in 2000. With educational back-ground, the proportion of lower than elementary education level, including illiterate, increased. Fifty percent of drug users were unmarried which increased from 40.8% in 1998 to 53.2% in 2000. Needle sharing was quite common, 16.5% in 1998 and 11.9% in 2000, but the decrease was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Fifty-seven point three percent of the injecting drug users did not have constant partners to share equipments. Proportion of extra-marriage sexual practice increased from 12.5% in 1998 to 27.5% in 2000, and significant difference (Chi-square = 12.50, P < 0.001). Multiple partners in extra-married drug users was also found (mean = 2). Compared to 1998, condom use during every sexual practice increased in 2000, but 47.7% drug users still never used condom.

CONCLUSIONIn summary, as the quick increase of drug users, sharing of injecting equipment and high-risk sexual behavior, including multiple partners and unprotected sex, were quite common, with the possibility of HIV epidemic in drug users.

Adult ; China ; epidemiology ; Demography ; Female ; HIV Infections ; epidemiology ; Humans ; Longitudinal Studies ; Male ; Needle Sharing ; adverse effects ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors ; Safe Sex ; statistics & numerical data ; Substance Abuse, Intravenous ; epidemiology ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVETo observe the change of cytokine interleukin IL-1 beta, IL-6, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) occurred in acute paraquat (PQ) poisoning rats and to investigate the mechanism of acute lung injury caused by paraquat (PQ) poisoning.

METHODSAll 72 healthy adult Wistar rats were random assigned into normal control groups, paraquat high dose group (120 mg/kg), paraquat middle dose (60 mg/kg) group, paraquat low dose group (30 mg/kg). Three observing periods of time included 8, 24, 72 h and the standards of TNF-alpha, IL-1 beta, IL-6, IL-10 were determined.

RESULTSEvery index of the PQ group was significantly higher than that in the NS group at the same period of time (P<0.05 or P<0.01). In the 72 h group, the high dose group was significantly higher than the middle and low dose group (P<0.05), and there was no significantly difference between the middle and low dose group (P>0.05). For the comparison of index in the same dose group, the group of 72 h was much higher than 8 h group and 24 h group (P<0.05), and there was no difference between the 8h group and 24 h group (P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe cytokine may play an important role in paraquat-induced acute lung tissue injury.

Acute Disease ; Animals ; Cytokines ; blood ; Disease Models, Animal ; Female ; Interleukin-10 ; blood ; Interleukin-1beta ; blood ; Interleukin-6 ; blood ; Male ; Paraquat ; poisoning ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; blood

OBJECTIVETo analyze the expression level of candidate tumor suppressor gene N-Myc downstream-regulated gene 2 (NDRG2) in human colon cancer.

METHODSThirty samples of colon cancer tissues with matched normal colon tissues were collected. The NDRG2 mRNA level was detected by semi-quantitive RT-PCR and the NDRG2 protein level was examined by Western blot and immunohistochemistry.

RESULTSTwelve samples of colon cancer tissues had low NDRG2 mRNA level and low protein level. The positive rates of NDRG2 in normal tissues and the tumorous colon tissues were 90.0%(27/30) and 53.3%(16/30) by immunohistochemistry respectively. There was a significant difference between two groups (P<0.05). The NDRG2 expression was not correlated with age, sex, metastasis of lymph node, depth of infiltration, as well as the Dukes staging(P>0.05), while it was correlated to the histology grading. The positive rate of NDRG2 in the well- and moderate-differentiation group was higher than that in the poor-differentiation group(P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe expression of NDRG2 is low in some colon cancer tissues, which indicates that the low level of NDRG2 expression may be engaged in the development of colon cancer.

Blotting, Western ; Colonic Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Female ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Male ; Middle Aged ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Tumor Suppressor Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism

Objective: To investigate the effect of Trichosanthis Pericarpium aqueous extract(TPAE)in protecting H9c2 cells from hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) injury by activating phosphatidylionsitol-3-kinase/protein kinase B/nitric oxide(PI3K/Akt/NO) signaling pathway. Method: The 2.5 mmol·L^-1 Na₂S₂O₄ was used to induce the model of H9c2 cardiomyocytes H/R injury in the experiments. The cultured H9c2 cardiomyocytes were randomly divided into normal group, H/R group (model group) and inhibition group (LY294002, 10 μmol·L^-1). In the H/R + TPAE group, 50 mg·L^-1 TPAE was added to the cultures at 24 h before H/R exposure. Cell viability was measured by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay. The amounts of NO, endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), and induced nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) were tested by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits. Reverse transcription-quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (Real-time PCR) was performed to analyze relative mRNA expressions of Akt, eNOS and iNOS. Western blot was used to detect the expressions of Akt, p-Akt (Ser 473), eNOS, and iNOS. Result: Compared with the normal control group,the cell viability significantly decreased in the model control group (P<0.01), the release of NO was obviously down-regulated (P<0.01), the mRNA and protein expressions of p-Akt, Akt, eNOS were remarkably decreased (P<0.01), while those of iNOS were up-regulated (P<0.01). Compared with the H/R group,the pretreatment with TPAE remarkably improved the morphological lesion of cardiomyocytes, enhanced cell viability(P<0.01),increased the expressions of Akt, p-Akt (Ser 473) and eNOS(P<0.01),decreased the expression of iNOS(P<0.01), and increased the release of NO(P<0.01). The PI3K inhibitor LY294002 was used. Obviously, cardioprotection of Trichosanthis Pericarpium aqueous extract was blocked by co-treatment LY294002, and cell viability was correspondingly reversed. Conclusion: TPAE can protect H9c2 cardiomyocytes from H/R injury by activating PI3K/Akt signaling pathway,which might be related to the up-regulation of the mRNA and protein expressions of eNOS, the down-regulation of the level of iNOS, and the increase of the production of physiological amounts of NO.

AIMGenetic diversity, relationship and molecular authentication of total 8 wild populations of Dendrobium officinale were investigated using RAPD markers.

METHODS10 random decamer primers were screened for Random Amplified Polymophic DNA (RAPD) fragments. A DNA molecular dendrogram was established based on cluster analysis by UPGMA (unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic average), and the relationship of the wild populations were analyzed, and all the wild populations were authenticated.

RESULTSA total of 439 loci with an average of 43.9 loci per primer and 54.9 loci per population were amplified from 8 wild populations by 10 effective primers. In the total 104 amplified bands, 95 were polymorphic, corresponding to 91.35% genetic polymorphism. The genetic distances were 0. 590 to 0. 727, with an average of 0. 686.

CONCLUSIONDistinct genetic differences and extensive genetic diversity were presented among the wild populations. RAPD markers were an informative and useful tool for the genetic diversity, evaluation and authentication of wild populations of Dendrobium officinale. Primer S412 could be used to authenticate 8 wild populations completely.

China ; Cluster Analysis ; DNA Fingerprinting ; DNA Primers ; DNA, Plant ; genetics ; Dendrobium ; genetics ; Ecosystem ; Genetic Markers ; Genetic Variation ; Phylogeny ; Plants, Medicinal ; genetics ; Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique