Objective To verify the performance of quantitative detection of interleukin-6 by using IMMUNITE1000 chemilumi-nescence analyzer.Methods According to the requirements of International Organization for Standardization(ISO)1 5 189,serum specimen were collected and levels of IL-6 were detected.The precision,accuracy,analytical measurement range,reportable range amd normal reference range of quantitative detection of interleukin-6 by using IMMUNITE1000 chemiluminescence analyzer were verified,and its performance was evaluated.Results The coefficient variation(CV)of between-day precision of high and low value was 6.42% and 1.97% respectively,and that of within-run precision was 3.40% and 3.82% respectively.Compared the test re-sults with the target values,the bias % was 0.91%.The regression equation:Y =0.986X - 7.1 (r 2 = 0.999,P < 0.05 ).With 27 times diluted,the recovery rate was from 97% to 100%,and the clinical reportable range was 2 to 27 000 pg/mL.The 95% refer-ence interval ranged from 0 to 5.3 pg/mL.Conclusion The performance of this system meets the manufacturer′s declaration,and could satisfy the quality requirements of clinical laboratory.

Objective To investigate the actual situation of implementation of the project to reduce water arsenic in endemic arsenic poisoning areas in Shanxi province,and to provide a scientific basis for prevention and control of the disease.Methods In June 2011,a questionnaire survey of 151 arsenic endemic villages was carried out in Shanxi province.The actual situation of implementation of the project to reduce water arsenic was investigated.Water samples were collected and arsenic level was determined by atomic fluorescence spectrometry.Results In the 151 arsenic poisoning villages 126 villages had changed the water,and the rate was 83.44％.In these villages,22 villages did not use the water improvement utilities properly.Of the 33 water improvement projects to reduce arsenic,23 operated normally.The projects covered 110 villages,beneficiary population of 97 920 people,accounting for 46.9％(97 920/208 736) of the total population.Water arsenic exceeded the national standards(≤0.05 mg/L) in 10 of the water improvement projects which covered 31 villages,including 15 nonendemic villages and 16 diseased villages.There were a population of 24 764 people in the diseased villages.Conclusions In Shanxi endemic arsenic poisoning areas,water improvement efforts need to be strengthened; the quality of water improvement project needs to be improved,and the project's later management and maintenance also need to be further strengthened.

BACKGROUND: Neonatal rat liver cells are moderately differentiated cells with the characterization and function of both liver progenitors and hepatocytes, thus, it is an ideal cell source for the study of the hepatocyte characterization. OBJECTIVE: To explore the isolation and in vitro culture of neonatal rat liver cells.DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING: An in vitro cytology trial was carried out at the Institute of General Surgery, General Hospital of Chinese PLA from March to August 2008.MATERIALS: Neonatal SD rats with 3 months old were used, irrespective of genders.METHODS: Liver cells from neonatal rat were isolated by tissue piece-cold trypsin digestion combining with multi-step low centrifuge, and cultured onto the plate in HepatoZYME-SFM supplemented with 10% fetal serum. The growth and function of the cultured liver cells was evaluated by contrast microscopy, MTT assay, PAS staining and urine enzyme test. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Cell morphology and viability, content of glycogen, as well as urea level in the supernatant.RESULTS: Totally 1.0×10~6-2×10~6 cells per whole liver could be obtained with viability above 90%. The cells displayed round or orbicular-ovate shapes with big nuclei, and cell body was smaller than mature cells. More than 95% purity achieved after removal erythrocyte, nonparenchymal cells and dead cells with multi-step low-speed centrifugalization. The viability of cells were gradually increased at the beginning of culture, noticeably alleviated at the 3 days, and reached a peak at the 11 days, and then gradually decreased. The difference between day 1 and days 11, as well as days 15 and days 11 had significance (P=0). Liver cells cultured in HepatoZYME-SFM attached and kept hepatocyte-specific morphology. PAS staining showed the cultured liver cells at day 7 were strongly positive and then the positive cells decreased gradually, until 15 days, only few positive cells could be seen. Urea level in the supernatant remained stable at the initial time and dramatically decreased after 7-day culture. CONCLUSION: The tissue piece-cold trypsin digestion and HepatoZYME-SFM is a simple and efficient isolation and culture system for neonatal rat liver cells.

Traditional processes are mostly adopted in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) preparation production and the quality of products is mostly controlled by terminal. Potential problems of the production in the process are unpredictable and is relied on experience in most cases. Therefore, it is hard to find the key points affecting the preparation process and quality control. A pattern of research and development of traditional Chinese medicine preparation process based on the idea of Quality by Design (QbD) was proposed after introducing the latest research achievement. Basic theories of micromeritics and rheology were used to characterize the physical property of TCM raw material. TCM preparation process was designed in a more scientific and rational way by studying the correlation among enhancing physical property of raw material, preparation process and product quality of preparation. So factors affecting the quality of TCM production would be found out and problems that might occur in the pilot process could be predicted. It would be a foundation for the R&D and production of TCM preparation as well as support for the "process control" of TCMIs gradually realized in the future.
Drug Compounding ; methods ; standards ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; standards ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; standards ; trends ; Quality Control ; Research ; standards ; trends ; Research Design ; standards ; Technology, Pharmaceutical ; instrumentation ; methods ; standards

Professor LI Zhi-dao, according to acupoint selection of syndrome differentiation in TCM basic theory, concluded a new therapy, namely "tonifying three qi" that is mainly based on three acupoints in the Conception Vessel. This method is consisted of Danzhong (CV 17), Zhongwan (CV 12) and Qihai (CV 6) in the Conception Vessel, which could successively nourish clear qi, stomach qi and original qi. In clinic, according to the severity of symptoms of three qi, the acupoints are selected flexibly, which could respectively treat deficiency of heart-lung qi, deficiency of stomach-spleen qi and deficiency of original qi. Some examples are also given in the article.
Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; history ; methods ; China ; History, 20th Century ; History, 21st Century ; Humans ; Qi

AIM:To observe the effects of sevoflurane preconditioning on brain injury in hypoxic mice and its possible mechanism. METHODS:Male C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into control (C) group, hypoxia (H) group,2% sevoflurane preconditioning for 30 min + hypoxia(S1+H) group,2% sevoflurane preconditioning for 60 min+hypoxia (S2+H) group and 4% sevoflurane preconditioning for 30 min + hypoxia(S3+H) group. The hypoxia model was established by continuous inhalation of(6.5±0.1)% O2for 24 h. The sevoflurane preconditioning treatments,S1,S2 and S3,were conducted by inhalation of 2% sevoflurane for 30 min,2% sevoflurane for 60 min and 4% sevoflurane for 30 min,respectively,with the carrier of(21.0±0.5)% O2,followed by washout for 15 min and then hypoxia treatment. The histological changes of the hippocampal CA1 area were observed under light microscope and transmission electron micro-scope(TEM),and serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity was measured by colorimetric method. Furthermore, the protein levels of erythropoietin (EPO) and vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) in brain tissue homogenate were ex-amined by ELISA,and the content of malondialdehyde(MDA) and the activity of superoxide dismutase(SOD) and gluta-thione peroxidase(GPx) were measured by microplate reader. RESULTS:After hypoxia for 24 h,cell edema or pyknosis in the hippocampal CA1 area was observed in H group. Sevoflurane preconditioning reduced hypoxic injury, and the cell ultrastructure under TEM was significantly improved in S2+H group. Compared with C group,the serum LDH activity and the levels of EPO,VEGF and MDA in brain tissues were significantly increased in H group,while the activity of SOD and GPx decreased. After sevoflurane pretreatment,the serum LDH activity and the levels of EPO and VEGF in brain tissues were lower than those in H group,and the most significant difference was observed in S2+H group. Moreover, the MDA content and SOD activity decreased,and the GPx activity increased in the sevoflurane preconditioning groups. CONCLU-SION:Sevoflurane preconditioning attenuates brain injury in hypoxic mice by regulating antihypoxic protein synthesis and reducing oxidative stress.

Adult ; Antigens, Neoplasm ; genetics ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; genetics ; pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Liver ; pathology ; Liver Neoplasms ; genetics ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics

This study is to establish the fingerprint for Phyllanthus emblica and their tannin parts from different habitats by HPLC for its quality control. The determination was carried out on a Diamonsil C18 (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 microm) column, with methanol-0.2% glacial acetic acid as mobile phase with gradient elution at a flow rate of 1 mL x min(-1). The temperature was maintained at 30 degrees C and the detected wavelength is 260 nm, Thirteen chromatographic peaks were extracted as the common peaks of the fingerprint of P. emblica, and eleven as the common peaks of P. emblica tannin parts, and five peaks were identified by comparing with referent samples. The fingerprints of 8 samples were compared and classified by similarity evaluation, cluster analysis and principal component analysis (PCA). The similarity degrees of eight P. emblica were between 0.763 and 0.993, while tannin parts were between 0.903 and 0.991. All the samples of P. emblica and their tannin parts were classified into 3 categories. The method was so highly reproducible, simple and reliable that it could provide basis for quality control and evaluation of P. emblica from different habitats.
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; Medicine, Tibetan Traditional ; Phyllanthus emblica ; chemistry ; classification ; Quality Control ; Tannins ; analysis ; Tibet

Background and purpose:Coventional radiation has been used for decades,but the 3D dose distribution has not been studied as yet.In this study,different treatment plans of conventional irradiation technique for esophageal carcinoma have been evaluated by 3-D TPS.Methods:Five patients with esophageal carcinoma at upper-thoracic and five patients at middle-thoracic were enrolled in this study.Three conventional treatment plans were created for each patient,with a prescribed dose of 70 Gy.For tumor at upper-thoracic,plan 1 consisted of one anterior field and bilateral posterior oblique fields with wedges,plan 2 consisted of anterior bilateral oblique fields with wedges ,plan 3 consisted of a pair of AP-PA portals,then followed by right anterior oblique portals and left posterior oblique portals to spare spine cord.For tumor at middle thoracic,plan 1 consisted of one anterior field and bilateral posterior oblique fields.Plan 2 consisted of a pair of AP-PA portals and followed by another pair of parallel-opposed lateral off- cord fields as boost.Plan 3 used the same plan as for the lesion at upper-thoracic.The evaluation of each treatment plan was carried out by dose-volume histogram(DVH).Results:For tumor at upper-thoracic,on average,the maximum dose to spinal-cord in plan 3 was (57.1?4.9)Gy,and was higher than that in plan 1 and plan 2.Plan 1 increased mean lung dose from (12.8?2.1)Gy to (18.2?4.1)Gy(P=0.045)compared with plan 2,but it improved the homogenous dose of PTV2,especially in the patient with long tumor.For tumor at middle-thoracic,on average,plan 2 increased mean lung dose from (11.9?1.1)Gy to (13.0?0.6)Gy(P=0.045) compared with plan 3.Plan 2 increased V_(20) and V_(30) from (23.6?2.3)% to (29.2?1.9)%(P=0.004) and (13.9?2.3)% to (20.9?1.3)%(P=0.006) compared with plan 1.The trachea volume of(?)70 Gy(V_(70))in plan 3 was larger than that in plan 1[(20.3?15.9)% VS (10.5?9.8)%,P=0.058].Conclusion:For tumor at upper-thoracic,plan 1 and 2 were superior to plan 3.Irradiation to lung in plan 2 was lower than that in plan 1,but plan 1 improved the homogenous dose of PTV2 compared with plan 2,especially for patient with longer lesion.For tumor at upper-thoracic,plan 2 increased irradiation dose to lung compared with plan 1 and plan 3.Plan 1 was comparable with plan 3,but the dose of trachea in plan 1 may lower than that in plan 3.

Objective To investigate the mRNA level of glucose-6-phosphate isomerase(GPI)ex- pression in patients with rheumatoid arthritis(RA).Method Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)was applied to semiquantitatively analyze GPI mRNA expression in the peripheral blood mononu- clear cells(PBMCs)of 30 active RA patients,30 stable RA patients,30 patients with other rheumatic disease and 30 healthy subjects.Results There was statistically significant differences between patients with RA and other rheumatic diseases(P