OBJECTIVETo study the effect of triangle drugs as ginseng, Trichosanthes kirilowii Maxim, and rhubarb on the levels of blood lipids as [total cholesterol (TC), triglyeride (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C)] and pro-inflammatory cytokines as intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), and high sensitive C reactive protein (hs-CRP) during the process of treating atherosclerosis.

METHODSTwenty New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into three groups after one-week adaptive feeding, i.e., the normal control group (n=6), the model group (n=6), and the triangle drugs group (n=8). High fat diet was fed to rabbits in the triangle drugs group and the model group at the daily dose of 100 g for six weeks. Iliac artery was injured in the model group and the triangle drugs group at the seventh week using balloon injury. High fat diet was successively fed to those after surgery for six weeks. At the same time of modeling, preventive medication (at the daily dose of dry ginseng 0.64 g/kg, Trichosanthes kirilowii Maxim 2.14 g/kg, and prepared Radix et Rhizoma Rhei with wine 0.43 g/kg, with the volume of 2 mL/kg) was administered by gastrogavage to rabbits in the triangle drugs group. Changes of blood lipids levels and related pro-inflammatory cytokines were dynamically observed.

RESULTSOn the 7th week (before surgery), the levels of TC, TG, HDL-C, and LDL-C in the model group, TC, HDL-C, and LDL-C in the triangle drugs group significantly increased, showing significant difference when compared with those of the normal control group (P < 0.05). The levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the model group and the triangle drugs group were significantly higher than those in the normal control group (P < 0.05). Levels of TC, TG, and LDL-C were lower in the triangle drugs group than in the model group, showing statistical difference (P < 0.05). After the 8th week the levels of blood lipids and ICAM-1 in the model group, and levels of TC, LDL-C, HDL-C, and ICAM-1 in the triangle drugs group were significantly higher than those of the normal control group, showing statistical difference (P < 0.05). After the 12th week levels of blood lipids in the model group, LDL-C and HDL-C in the triangle drugs group were significantly higher than those of the normal control group, showing statistical difference (P < 0.05). The LDL-C level was lower in the triangle drugs group than in the model group, showing statistical difference (P < 0.05). The levels of VCAM-1, ICAM-1, and hs-CRP in the model group were obviously higher than those in the triangle drugs group and the normal control group, showing statistical significance (P < 0.05). The hs-CRP level was higher in the triangle drugs group than in the normal control group, showing statistical difference (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe triangle drugs may postpone the process of atherosclerosis by lowering blood lipids levels, especially by lowering the elevating levels of TC and LDL-C. Its roles in decreasing the level of pro-inflammatory cytokines might be associated with lipids lowering and anti-inflammation. Its roles may also be associated with improvement of the endothelial function and inhibition of the smooth muscle proliferation.

Animals ; Atherosclerosis ; blood ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; C-Reactive Protein ; metabolism ; Cholesterol ; blood ; Cholesterol, HDL ; blood ; Cholesterol, LDL ; blood ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 ; blood ; Male ; Panax ; Phytotherapy ; Rabbits ; Rheum ; Trichosanthes ; Triglycerides ; blood ; Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 ; blood

To study the protective effect of Danshen Tongluo capsule on rat hearts in the myocardial infarction (MI) model. After being fed with high fat diets for one month, the SD rats were randomly divided into the sham group and the model group according to the left ventricular ejection fraction (EF). The MI model group was duplicated by ligating coronary artery and then divided into five groups: the model group, the positive control group (model + captopril), the small dose group (model + Danshen Tongluo), the medium dose group (model + Danshen Tongluo) and the high dose group (model + Danshen Tongluo). Four weeks later, changes in myocardium ultra-structure were observed by hemodynamics, cardiac ultrasound and electron microscope. The results showed: (1) All doses of Danshen Tongluo capsule could significantly reduce the left ventricular end diastolic pressure (LVEDP) (P <0.01), increase the maximum internal pressure of the left ventricle (+ dp/dtmax), and lower the drop rate of left ventricular pressure (- dp/dtmax), with statistical significances in medium and high dose groups; (2) The B ultrasound results showed increase in EF and left ventricular shortening fraction (FS) in all dose groups of Danshen Tongluo capsule; (3) The medium dose group showed significant decrease in myocardial infarction index (P <0.01) and injured and fractured myofilament and sarcomere of ischemic myocardium in myocardial ultra-structure; All of Danshen Tongluo capsule-treated groups revealed reduction in myocardial injury and myocardial infraction area. The study preliminarily proves that Danshen Tongluo capsule can improve hemodynamic function, and has a protective effect on myocardial ischemia.
Animals ; Capsules ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Hemodynamics ; drug effects ; Male ; Myocardial Infarction ; drug therapy ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; ultrastructure ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Ventricular Function, Left ; drug effects

OBJECTIVETo construct a phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase beta (PI4K-beta) mutant with the 325th to 373rd amino acid codons deleted, and try to develop a simple method for constructing middle fragment deletion mutant.

METHODSIn line with the mechanism of gene splicing by overlap extension(SOE), an additional PCR was used to get the PI4K-beta mutant in which the 325th to 373rd amino acid codons were deleted. Then the mutated gene was cloned into pCMV-Tag4A mammalian expression vector.

RESULTSA mutant with the 325th to 373rd amino acid codons deleted was constructed successfully.

CONCLUSIONThe improved SOE is a very effective and reliable method to construct middle fragment deletion mutant. It is worthy to be popularized.

1-Phosphatidylinositol 4-Kinase ; genetics ; Base Sequence ; Genetic Vectors ; genetics ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Mutagenesis, Site-Directed ; Mutation ; genetics ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; methods ; Protein Engineering ; methods ; Recombinant Proteins ; genetics ; Sequence Deletion

OBJECTIVETo develvp a RP-HPLC method for the determination of flavonoids in fifteen kinds of flowers such as Iris lacteal pall, prunus persica and rosa chinensis.

METHODThe contents of quercetin, kaempferol and isorhamntin in fifteen kinds of flowers were extracted with methanol. The analysis was performed on a Kromasil C18 column (4.6 mm x250 mm, 5 microm) with methanol-0.1% phosphoric acid (50:50) as mobile phase.

RESULTThe quercetin, kaempferol and isorhamntin were separated well, and the result shows that the content of quercetin in the Iris lactea Pall was the highest (1.536%), the contene of kaempferol in Persica persice was the highest (0.572%), and the content of isorhamntin in chrysamthemum morifolium was up to 0.290%.

CONCLUSIONThe contents of flavonoids in these flowers were by determined RP-HPLC for the first time and the method can be used for quantitative determination of flavonoids in the flowers.

Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Flavonoids ; chemistry ; Flowers ; chemistry ; Iris Plant ; chemistry ; Kaempferols ; chemistry ; Prunus ; chemistry ; Quercetin ; chemistry ; Rosa ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo investigate the impact of intrauterine infection induced by LPS injection on long-term brain development of premature rats.

METHODSEighteen day-gestation pregnant rats were randomly assigned to a control group receiving an intraperitoneal injection of normal saline, and two infection groups that were intraperitoneally injected with 0.3 mg/kg or 0.6 mg/kg LPS. Twenty-four hours after injection, 7 pregnant rats of each group were sacrificed. The pathological changes of the placenta after hematoxylin and eosin staining were observed under a light microscope. The neural cell apoptosis of fetal brains was examined by the TUNEL assay. The remained pregnant rats were induced to labour before 21 gestation days. The long-term brain development of premature rats was tested with the Y type electric maze on postnatal day 42.

RESULTSObvious pathological changes were observed in the placenta in the infection groups. The apoptotic neural cells in the fetal brain increased in the infection groups compared with that in the control group (32.41+/-5.36 in the 0.3 mg/kg infection group and 66.41+/-7.61 in the 0.6 mg/kg infection group vs 8.00+/-0.36 in the control group; P<0.01). The number of trials to criterion in the Y type maze test in the infection groups was much more than that in the control group [117.8+/-8.7 (0.3 mg/kg infection group) and 194.4+/-13.7 (0.6 mg/kg infection group) vs 56.8+/-3.7 (control group); P<0.01]. The number of correct reactions in memory retaining in the infection groups was lower than that in the control group (0.62+/-0.09 in the 0.3 mg/kg infection group and 0.37+/-0.09 in the 0.6 mg/kg infection group vs 0.92+/-0.06 in the control group; P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSIntrauterine infection can cause fetal rats' neural cell apoptosis and affect adversely long-term brain development of neonatal rats.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; Bacterial Infections ; physiopathology ; Blood-Brain Barrier ; Brain ; growth & development ; pathology ; Female ; Maze Learning ; Neurons ; pathology ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious ; physiopathology ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Uterus ; microbiology

OBJECTIVE: To obtain scores in a community-dwelling population over 60 using the SF-36, to assess the reliability and validity of this general health questionnaire, and to analyze the difference in dimension scores among the elderly Chinese in Changsha. METHODS: We randomly selected 602 elders, aged 60 to 91 years, in multi-phases. All the subjects had resided in Changsha for at least one year. The reliability of the SF-36 was assessed by split-half reliability and Cronbach's alpha coefficient and the validity through factor analysis and correlation analysis, etc. The dimension scores of different people were obtained by analysis of variance and independent-samples t-test. RESULTS: The split-half reliability was 0.72 and the Cronbach's alpha coefficients of all the 8 dimensions were more than 0.8; the Pearson correlate coefficients of all the items to their dimensions were more than 0. 59. SF-36 contained 8 domains and 2 summary scales in the factor analysis. Health-related quality was different in different elders. CONCLUSION The SF-36 is practical in studying the quality of life among community-dwelling elders.
Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Community Health Services ; Female ; Geriatric Assessment ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Quality of Life ; Reproducibility of Results ; Sampling Studies ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; standards

To observe therapeutic effect of early use of nicorandil on patients with myocardial infarction (MI) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and its influence on cardiac function .Methods : A total of 124 MI patients undergoing PCI in our hospital from 2016 to 2018 were randomly and equally divided into PCI group and nicorandil + PCI group (received nicorandil based on PCI group ) , both groups were treated for 28d. Therapeutic effect , incidence of adverse , LVEF , LVEDd and cardiac index (CI) before and three months after PCI were recorded and compared between two groups .Results : Compared with PCI group , there was significant rise in total effective rate (72.6% vs .90.3%) , and significant reductions in incidence rates of recurrent angina pectoris (25.8% vs.11.3%) and malignant arrhythmia (22.6% vs.8.1%) in nicorandil + PCI group , P＜0. 05 all.Compared with before PCI , there were significant rise in LVEF and CI , and significant reduction in LVEDd in two groups on three months after PCI ;compared with PCI group , there were significant rise in LVEF [ (40.52 ± 4.38)% vs.(46.81 ± 4.53)%] and CI [ (2.43 ± 0.35) L·min－1 ·m－2 vs.(2.66 ± 0.38) L·min－1 ·m－2 ] , and significant reduction in LVEDd [ (54. 32 ± 6.23) mm vs.(48. 24 ± 5.34) mm] in nicorandil + PCI group on three months after PCI , P＝0.001 all.There was no significant difference in incidence rate of adverse drug reactions dur‐ing treatment between two groups , P＝0.753. Conclusion : Early use of nicorandil can significantly improve thera‐peutic effect , contribute to recovery of cardiac function with good safety in MI patients undergoing PCI , which is worth extending .

Objective:To explore the mechanism of miR-30e-5p inhibiting the invasion and migration of hepatoma cells by targeting phosphoinositide-3-kinase catalytic delta polypeptide(PIK3CD)-mediated phosphoinositide 3-kinase(PI3K)/protein kinase B(AKT)/mammalian target of the rapamycin(mTOR)signaling pathway.Methods:HepG2 cells were divided into control group,miR-30e-5p mimics group,PIK3CD knockdown group,negative control group,and miR-30e-5p mimics+PIK3CD overexpression group by transfecting the corresponding plasmids,the expression of miR-30e-5p,PIK3CD and PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway was detected by qRT-PCR and Western blot;the proliferation rate of Hep G2 cells in each group was detected by CCK-8 method;cell migration and invasion were measured by cell scratch test and Transwell test;the expression of matrix metalloproteinase(MMP)2,MMP9,E-cadherin,N-cadherin,Vimentin in Hep G2 cells of each group were detected by Western blot.The targeting regulation of miR-30e-5p on PIK3CD in Hep G2 cells was detected by double luciferase report assay.Results:Compared with the control group,the proliferation rate,migration rate,invasion number,the expression of N-cadherin,MMP2 and MMP9 proteins,the expression of PIK3CD protein and mRNA,p-P13K/PI3K,p-AKT/AKT,and p-mTOR/mTOR in the miR-30e-5p mimics group and PIK3CD knockdown group were lower(P＜0.05),the expression of E-cadherin protein was higher(P＜0.05).Overexpression of PIK3CD attenuates the inhibitory effects of miR-30e-5p mimics on proliferation,migration and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma cells and elevates the expression of PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway-related proteins;miR-30e-5p targets down-regulation of PIK3CD expression.Conclusion:Up-regulation of miR-30e-5p can prevent PI3K/AKT/mTOR signal activation by decreasing the expression of PIK3CD,thereby inhibiting the proliferation,migration and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma cells.

OBJECTIVETo explore the effects and anti-depression mechanisms of Kaixin Jieyu Decoction (, KJD).

METHODSThe rat vascular depression (VD) model was established by ligation of bilateral common carotid arteries (LBCCA) combined with chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS). Forty Wistar rats were randomly divided into sham, VD model, VD + high-dose KJD [15.4 g/(kg·d) of crude drug], VD + medium-dose KJD [7.7 g/(kg·d) of crude drug], and VD + fluoxetine [2.4 mg/(kg·d)] groups (n=8 in each group), and the treatments lasted for 21 days. Changes of behavior and hippocampus pathology were observed. The level of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) protein and mRNA in hippocampus was detected respectively by immunohistochemistry and real-time polymerase chain reaction.

RESULTSCompared with the sham group, rats in model group showed a variety of behavioral obstacles, including a significant reduction in sucrose consumption percentage, horizontal and vertical activity scores in open-field tests (P<0.05 or P<0.01), pathological damage like neuronal degeneration, necrosis, and a significant decrease of GFAP protein and mRNA in hippocampus (P<0.01); compared with the model group, rats in the high-dose KJD group, medium-dose KJD group and fluoxetine group obtained notable higher behavioral scores, and pathological injury lessened in hippocampus with a increased expression of GFAP protein and mRNA P<0.05 or P<0.01); compared with the medium-dose KJD group and fluoxetine group, GFAP mRNA in high-dose KJD group expressed higer (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONLBCCA combined with CUMS may cause depression-like behavioral changes resulting in the VD model of rats whose depression state can be ameliorated by KJD, and the mechanism of cerebral protection is related possibly with promoting expression of GFAP in hippocampus.

Animals ; Behavior, Animal ; Depression ; drug therapy ; genetics ; Disease Models, Animal ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Electrophoresis, Agar Gel ; Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein ; genetics ; metabolism ; Hippocampus ; drug effects ; metabolism ; pathology ; Immunohistochemistry ; Male ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; metabolism ; Rats, Wistar ; Transition Temperature

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of effective components extracted from medicines compatibility on ischemic myocardial remodeling.

METHODThe animal models of ischemic myocardial remodeling was copied by ligating the left anterior descending branch of coronary artery in rat. And then decoction and effective components extracted from the same medicines were administrated to rats. The heart function was detected by ultrasound diagnostic apparatus and the heart morphology was examined by Hematoxylin and Eosin, picrosirius staining respectively on the 3rd and 56rd day.

RESULTBoth concentrated decoction and effective components compatibility showed good restrained effects on ventricle malignant remodeling, such as improved heart function, reduced the area of myocardial infarction, lowered heart index, mitigated the fibrosis level and decreased apoptosis cell numbers in infarction and non-infarction areas. The difference were statistically significant when compared with the control group (P < 0.01, P < 0.05), and effective components treated group had better effects than concentrated decoction group (P < 0.05). Concentrated decoction group showed little effects on the 3rd day, while effective components group showed significant effect (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONEffective components compatibility has better effects on inhibiting the process of ischemic myocardial remodeling than concentrated decoction. Effective components compatibility has better effects on ventricle malignant remodeling by eliminating the interfrence non-pharmacodynamic elements of the medicine.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Collagen ; metabolism ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Heart ; physiopathology ; Ischemia ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Male ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; drug effects ; pathology ; Rats ; Ventricular Remodeling ; drug effects