OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effect and safety of Nuanxin Capsule (NXC) in treating patients with chronic heart failure (CHF).

METHODSAdopting the randomized, positive controlled, double-blinded design, 150 CHF patients were assigned to the treatment group and the control group equally, they were treated with optimal western medical therapeutic scheme in combining respectively with NXC and placebo for 24 weeks. The indices for effectiveness and safety evaluation, such as Chinese medicine syndrome, grade of heart function, myocardial contraction, as well as the re-hospitalization rate and mortality, were observed.

RESULTSThe total effective rate on heart function in the treatment group and the control group was 78.87% and 64.38% respectively, that on Chinese medicine syndrome was 85.9% and 63.0% respectively, comparisons of the two indices between the two groups all showed significant difference (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). And a better efficacy for improving patients' cardiac contraction function and quality of life was shown in the treatment group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). The re-hospitalization rates in them were 23.9% and 53.4% respectively (P < 0.05), and 22.54% and 42.5% of the re-hospitalized patients had attack of acute heart failure, a significant difference was found between the two groups (P < 0.05). The mortality in them was 2.90% and 8.95% respectively, showing no significant difference between groups (P > 0.05). No obvious adverse effect was found in both groups.

CONCLUSIONSNXC could improve the heart function of patients, it has obvious curative effect and good safety in treating chronic heart failure.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Double-Blind Method ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Heart Failure ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Phytotherapy ; Treatment Outcome

Metabolic abnormalities were identified and carotid intima-media-thickness(IMT)was measured in 221 individuals at risk for metabolic syndrome(MS).The results indicated that IMT was significantly thicker in MS individuals than that in non-MS individuals(P＜0.01).And there was a tendency of progressive increase in IMT with increasing components of metabolic syndrome.

OBJECTIVETo study the distribution laws of Chinese medicine syndromes in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) by clinical epidemiologic investigation.

METHODS512 CHF patients were studied, including 168 items of symptoms and 48 items of tongue and pulse pictures. A database of Chinese medicine syndromes was established, and 9 disease nature elements and 5 disease location elements were extracted. Frequency analysis was performed on all symptoms, tongue and pulse pictures. The variables with frequency constituent ratio less than 10.0% were deleted. Then the features of clinical epidemiology, syndrome patterns, syndrome elements, main symptoms, as well as tongue and pulse pictures were analyzed.

RESULTS(1) The disease nature elements of CHF covered qi deficiency, yin deficiency, and yang deficiency (categorized as the essential deficiency), as well as blood stasis, turbid phlegm, and the retained fluid (categorized to the superficiality excess). Among them, frequencies of qi deficiency and blood stasis (both more than 85.0%) were the highest. The disease location elements of CHF were ordered in frequency as Xin (97.9%), Pi (88.1%), followed by Shen (43.0%), Fei (30. 1%), and Gan (7.0%). (2) In the distribution of syndrome patterns in CHF patients, qi deficiency phlegm-stasis syndrome was the most (59.2%), followed by qi-yin deficiency with phlegm-stasis intermingle syndrome (20.3%), Xin-yang decline with phlegm-stasis obstruction syndrome (7.0%), and yang-deficiency with water overflowing syndrome (5.5%). (3) Patients with heart function grade II, III, and IV mainly manifested as qi-deficiency with phlegm-stasis syndrome. Besides, qi-yin deficiency with phlegm-stasis intermingle syndrome could be often seen in those with grade III. And Xin-yang decline with phlegm-stasis obstruction syndrome and yang-deficiency with water overflowing syndrome could often be seen in those with grade IV.

CONCLUSIONSThe pathogenesis of CHF is essential deficiency and superficiality excess. The essentiality consists of qi deficiency, yin deficiency, and yang deficiency, and the superficiality consists of blood stasis, turbid phlegm, and retained fluid. The disease was located at the five zang-organs, mainly dominated at Xin and Pi, and associated with Fei, Shen, and Gan. Qi deficiency phlegm-stasis syndrome was dominated in Chinese medicine syndrome patterns. Along with the aggravation of CHF, Chinese medicine syndrome pattern shows certain development laws.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Chronic Disease ; Female ; Heart Failure ; diagnosis ; epidemiology ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Middle Aged ; Yang Deficiency ; diagnosis ; epidemiology ; Yin Deficiency ; diagnosis ; epidemiology ; Young Adult

Objective To study the feasibility and clinical significance of internal tourniquet (temporary arterial lumen blood flow occlusion by balloon catheter) for controlling the hemorrhage from traumatic neck and adjacent trunk arteries by temporarily occluding the arterial lumen blood flow.Methods The study involved 35 patients with traumatic neck and near trunk arteries who were firstly managed by internal tourniquet during operation to temporarily occlude the proximal aorta blood flow from May 1987 to February 2009.Each blocking time ranged from 30 to 70 minutes and the blocking was performed at an interval of 15 to 20 minutes.Then,surgical therapy was taken.Results After temporary proximal aorta blood flow occlusion with internal tourniquet,the operation presented few bleeding,with a clean operating field and clear anatomic structures.The total intraoperative blood loss was 100-400 ml.All patients were healed without ischemia of brains and limbs or relapse during the 3-14 years of followup.Conclusion Internal tourniquet,which can effectively reduce intraoperative blood loss and improve operation safety by temporarily occluding the proximal aorta blood flow,is an auxiliary approach for treating hemorrhage from traumatic neck and adjacent trunk arteries.

Fourteen compounds were isolated from the n-butanol fraction of the 95% aqueous ethanol extract of the stems and twigs of Strychnos cathayensis by D101 macroporous resin, silica gel, ODS, Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography, and semipreparative RP-HPLC. Their structures were elucidated as ethyl 4-O-β-D-allopyranosyl-vanillate (1), n-butyl 4-O-β-D-allopyranosyl-vanillate (2), n-butyl 4-O-(6′-O-syringoyl)-β-D-allopyranosyl-vanillate (3), n-butyl 4-O-(6′-O-vanilloyl)-β-D-allopyranosyl-vanillate (4), n-butyl 4-O-(6′-O-syringoyl)-β-D-glucopyranosyl-vanillate (5), n-butyl 4-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-syringate (6), methyl 3-methoxy-4-(β-D-allopyranosyloxy) benzoate (7), pseudolaroside B (8), butyl syringate (9), glucosyringic acid (10), methyl syringate (11), methyl 4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzoate (12), clemochinenoside C (13), and clemoarmanoside A (14), respectively, on the basis of spectroscopic data interpretation and by comparison with literature information. Compounds 1-6 are artificial products of phenolic acid esterified by ethanol or n-butanol. It is noted that the precursors (4-O-(6′-O-syringoyl)-β-D-allopyranosyl-vanillic acid and 4-O-(6′-O-vanilloyl)-β-D-allopyranosyl-vanillic acid) of compounds 3 and 4 are new compounds. The hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and cytotoxic activities of compounds 1-13 were evaluated in vitro at a concentration of 10 μmol·L^-1. Compounds 1, 2 and 6-10 exhibited potential hepatic protection effects with cell survival rates ranging from 53.6% to 55.5% (acetaminophen, 45.4% at 8 mmol·L^-1). Compound 4 demonstrated anti-inflammatory activity with nitric oxide inhibitory rate of 74.6%. Compounds 3 and 5 showed potential antioxidant activities with malondialdehyde inhibitory rates of 53.2% and 56.1%, respectively.

As a member of orphan G protein-coupled receptors (oGPCRs), hGPCRc was cloned from human colon tissue and analyzed by bioinformatic softwares. It was showed that the corresponding amino acids of hGPCRc formed seven-transmembrane domains as the key characteristic of GPCRs. Then, the recombinant GFP-hGPCRc was constructed by fussing hGPCRc into pEGFP-N1 carrying green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene, and CHO-K1 cells were subsequently transfected with the GFP-hGPCRc or pEGFP-N1. The green fluorescence protein expression in the two different transfected cells was observed under the laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM). It was showed that green fluorescence protein was distributed in the whole bodies of the cells transfected with pEGFP-N1, but mainly distributed on the plasma membrane and cytoplasm membrane transfected with GFP-hGPCRc. Thus, the localization on the membrane of hGPCRc was accorded with the predication by bioinformatic analysis. The expression analysis of hGPCRc by RT-PCR indicated that hGPCRc was abundantly expressed in heart, kidney, cerebel and colon etc., but absent in liver, cerebra, small intestine and muscle etc. The expressing profile of hGPCRc could provide some useful clues to understanding its effects on embryonic development and physiological functions.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Animals ; CHO Cells ; Cell Membrane ; metabolism ; Cricetinae ; Cricetulus ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Green Fluorescent Proteins ; genetics ; Humans ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled ; genetics ; metabolism ; Tissue Distribution ; Transfection

Radio-synthesis of PET tracers in microfluidic chip system for imaging research could fa-cilitate synthesis and screening of radiotracer. Moreover, modular and multi-functional microfluidic chip syn-thesis system could realize the combination of functional modules, synthetic automation, system integration and improvement of radiochemical protection. In this review, research progress in microfluidic chip system for radio-synthesis of PET tracers has been summarized.

OBJECTIVETo review the experience of staged total cavopulmonary connection (TCPC) in complex congenital heart diseases.

METHODSFrom June 1998 to March 2008, 22 patients underwent staged TCPC for complex congenital heart diseases. Among them, 9 were univentricular and pulmonary artery valve stenosis; 3 were univentricular and pulmonary artery atresia; 1 was transposition of great arteries, crisscross heart and pulmonary artery valve stenosis; 1 was complete atrioventricular canal defects, left ventricular hypoplasia, pulmonary artery atresia and atrioventricular valvular regurgitation; 1 was complete atrioventricular canal defects, left ventricular hypoplasia, pulmonary artery valve stenosis and atrioventricular valvular regurgitation after Glenn procedure; 1 was mirror image dextrocardia, single ventricle, pulmonary artery atresia, major aortopulmonary collateral arteries (MAPCAs) and right pulmonary arteriovenous fistula after Glenn procedure; 4 were tricuspid atresia and pulmonary artery valve stenosis; 1 was tricuspid atresia and pulmonary atresia; 1 was mirror image dextrocardia, double-outlet of right ventricle, left ventricular hypoplasia, pulmonary artery valve stenosis, tricuspid incompetence, and MAPCAs. Among them, 5 patients received systemic-to-pulmonary artery shunt, bidirectional Glenn procedure and TCPC. Seventeen patients received bidirectional Glenn procedure, the mean age was (5.9+/-4.4) years old. Pulmonary artery pressure pre-Glenn procedure was 17 to 20 mm Hg (1 mm Hg=0.133 kPa). Atrioventricular valve incompetence in 3 patients. Nakata index was less than 200 mm2/m2 in 4 patients before the first stage operation. The age of TCPC procedure was (9.6+/-4.9) years old, the interval time was (3.7+/-1.2) years.

RESULTSThere was one in-hospital death, the mortality was 4.5%. The patient with univentricular and pulmonary atresia, received systemic-to-pulmonary artery shunt, bidirectional Glenn procedure and TCPC and died of pneumorrhagia. Other patients were recovered well, postoperative central venous pressure was 12 to 18 mm Hg, percutaneous oxygen saturation was 90% to 96%. The cardiac function were in NYHA class I to II.

CONCLUSIONSThe staged TCPC was a good procedure in high-risk Fontan candidates. The results were satisfactory for those patients. This staged strategy may extend the operative indications for the Fontan procedure.

Adolescent ; Anastomosis, Surgical ; methods ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Heart Bypass, Right ; methods ; Heart Defects, Congenital ; surgery ; Humans ; Male ; Pulmonary Artery ; surgery ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome ; Venae Cavae ; surgery ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the feasibility and post-operation stability of extreme lateral transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (E-TLIF) and other traditional surgical approach via bio-mechanical test.

METHODSThere were 24 normal lumbar spine segment of swine were divided into the following four groups: control group, standard group (internal fixed with pedicle screws only), transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) group and E-TLIF group. The specimen in anteflect, hypsokinesis, lateral flexion and rotate movements were tested respectively with bio-mechanical devices to study on the load-straining changes and biomechanics index.

RESULTSAfter TLIF or E-TLIF, specimen turned out more steady than normal control group (t = 4.17 - 4.53, P < 0.01). Compared with TLIF group [linear displacement (3.98 ± 0.22) mm, angular displacement 3.03° ± 0.18°], specimen after E-TLIF [linear displacement (3.40 ± 0.09) mm, angular displacement 2.57° ± 0.12°] were more stable in biomechanics index on lateral flection movement (t = 2.61, P < 0.05), but no difference on axial or rotational movements (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONE-TLIF is a safe and more efficient operation approach.

Animals ; Biomechanical Phenomena ; Lumbar Vertebrae ; surgery ; Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures ; Spinal Fusion ; methods ; Swine

OBJECTIVETo study the chemical constituents of Cornus officinalis extracted by supercritical carbon dioxide fluid extraction (SFE).

METHODThe process was performed at 40 centigrade with pressures of 15 MPa for 2 hours and with CO2 fluid and gas at the flow rate of 22.0 kg x h(-1) and 18.0 kg x h(-1) respectively. The chemical constituents of the SFE extractions were determined by GC-MS.

RESULTThe total amount of extractable substances or yields by SFE is 2.42% (mass). 31 Chemical constituents were identified and their relative contents were determined by normalization method of area.

CONCLUSIONThe major components identified in the extractions are 1,2-benzenedicarboxylic acid, butyl 2-methylpropyl ester, isopropyl myristate etc.

Carbon Dioxide ; Chromatography, Supercritical Fluid ; Cornus ; chemistry ; Fruit ; chemistry ; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry ; Myristates ; analysis ; Oleic Acid ; analysis ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry