Fatty liver disease is caused by abnormal accumulation of lipids within hepatocytes. According to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) theory, lipids belong to the category of essence obtained from cereals and the normal distribution of essence relies on the function of spleen yang. When spleen yang is injured, the normal distribution of essence (lipids) will be affected, leading to formation of phlegm retention in the liver. That is the TCM pathogenesis of fatty liver disease. Hence the treatment of fatty liver disease should be concentrated on warming yang to activate qi. With such a treatment, the normal distribution of essence will be restored, essence will be distributed, and phlegm will be dissipated.

To study the effects of Qinggan Huoxue Recipe (QGHXR), the compound traditional Chinese herbal medicine, and its separated recipes on the expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) mRNA and serum TNF-alpha content in rats with alcoholic liver injury (ALI).

Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pharyngitis ; therapy ; Young Adult

To study the distribution pattern of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndromes in fatty liver disease.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of Qinggan Huoxue Recipe (QGHXR), a compound Chinese herbal medicine, and its decomposed formulas Qinggan Recipe (QGR) and Huoxue Recipe (HXR) on expressions of CD14, Toll like receptor 4 (TLR(4)) and nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) in Kupffer cells. METHODS: The isolated primary rat Kupffer cells were treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) for a certain period of time, a series of concentrations of drug-containing serums of QGHXR and its decomposed formulas were added, the expressions of NF-kappaB, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), CD14, and TLR(4) of the Kupffer cells were detected in different culture conditions by using Western blot, real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and ELISA methods respectively. RESULTS: QGR could down-regulate the expression of membrane receptor CD14, but the expression of NF-kappaB and TNF-alpha were not significantly decreased after QGR treatment. HXR could down-regulate the expression of membrane receptor TLR4 and inhibit the expressions of NF-kappaB and TNF-alpha. QGHXR could down regulate the expressions of membrane receptors CD14 and TLR(4) and inhibit the expressions of NF-kappaB and TNF-alpha. CONCLUSION: QGHXR can protect liver cells by down regulating the expressions of CD14, TLR(4) and NF-kappaB and inhibiting TNF-alpha expression.

Purpose To analyze the echocardiographic features of peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) using Logistic regression, and to screen the indexes which can be used for the prognosis of PPCM. Materials and Methods Fifty patients who were diagnosed as PPCM by echocardiography were divided into recovered group (30 cases) and non-recovered group (20 cases), all the patients underwent echocardiography, left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDd) was measured in the parasternal long axis view, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was measured using Simpson biplane method in the apical four-chamber and two-chamber view to look for the evidence of left ventricular thrombosis, if complicated with pulmonary hypertension, continuous wave Doppler was used for measuring the peak velocity of tricuspid valve regurgitation, and estimating of pulmonary artery systolic pressure, Logistic regression model was established and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was generated to evaluate the prediction value of Logistic regression model. Results Compared with non-recovered group, there was statistically significant difference of LVEDd, LVEF, left ventricular thrombosis, pulmonary hypertension and re-checked LVEF (t= -4.33, 7.64 and 11.54, P<0.05; χ2=10.93 and 4.43, P<0.05) in the first examination, while there was no statistical difference in pericardial effusion, mitral valve regurgitation and tricuspid regurgitation between the two groups (χ2=2.21, 0.67 and 3.46, P>0.05). Three sonographic features LVEDd, LVEF and left ventricular mural thrombus) could be used for the establishment of Logistic model (χ2=5.14, 11.59 and 14.58, P<0.05). The prediction accuracy of the model was 90.0% (45/50, P<0.001) and the area under ROC curve was 0.945±0.030 (P<0.001). Conclusion Logistic regression analysis can be applied for the screening of ultrasound index for PPCM, LVEDD, LVEF and left ventricular wall thrombus can predict the prognosis of PPCM accurately.

Gastric bronchogenic cysts （GBCs） is uncommon with atypical clinical features. It is difficult to diagnose by preoperative imaging examinations. Therefore , postoperative histopatho-logical examination is regarded as the golden bacteria in ultimate diagnosis. The treatment of GBCs：ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration and endoscopic mucosal resection is only used for small GBCs with intra-cavity growth pattern. However , GBCs with extra-cavity growth pattern is featured with deeply anatomical position , large size , and prone on attaching to vital blood vessels and organs , which makes laparoscopic resection is the first choice in treatment. The authors introduce the diagnosis and treatment of a case of GBCs attaching to lesser curvature , in order to provide references for clinical diagnosis of GBCs.

To study the mechanism of liver injury induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) in rats with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and the therapeutic effects of the extract mixture of Dangyao (Swertia pseudochinensis Hara) and Shuifeiji (Silybum marianum Gaertn) on NAFLD rats with liver injury.

Sailuotong (SLT) is a compound preparation composed of ginseng, ginkgo and saffron for the treatment of vascular dementia In order to identify its material foundation and provide evidence for therapeutic regimen, the pharmacokinetics and brain distribution of ginsenosides were investigated after intragastric administration of SLT. An LC-MS/MS method was developed for the determination of 7 ginsenosides in rat plasma simultaneously. Statistical analysis of obtained data demonstrated that the method has achieved the desired linearity, precision, accuracy and sensitivity. After administration of SLT at 60 mg x kg(-1) dose, 7 ginsengosides were all absorbed into systematic circulation. The quantitative and statistical analysis of gensenosides in plasma showed that protopanaxdiol saponins exhibited higher concentration and longer half life than protopanaxatriol saponins. The mean value of half life of ginsenosides Rg1, Re, Rb1, Rb2/b3, Rc and Rd were 15.26, 2.46, 18.41, 27.70, 21.86 and 61.58 h respectively. The peak concentration of them were 7.15, 2.83, 55.32, 30.22, 21.42, 8.81 microg x L(-1) respectively. The determination of brain distribution at different time after dosing revealed ginsenosides entered into brain promptly but the concentration declined along with time rapidly. The ginsenosides with higher concentration in brain were Rg1, Re, Rb1 and Rc. These findings demonstrated ginsenosides could be absorbed in blood and penetrated into brain rapidly. Some ginsenosides, especially Rg1 and Re, might be the main components directly effecting neurocyte in brain taking advantage of their better brain distribution. While ginsenosides of mostly protopanaxdiol saponins might protect brain mainly depending on peripheral efficacy in virtue of their long residence in blood, by which higher concentration could be reached after multiple dosing.
Animals ; Brain ; metabolism ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; Ginsenosides ; pharmacokinetics ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Time Factors

Background and purpose:The most clearly recognized benefit of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is that it can increase the proportion of patients who can be treated with breast-conserving therapy (BCT). However, the shrinkage modes of the primary breast tumor after NAC have been conifrmed as a predictor of BCT rate and prognosis. This study is to evaluate the accuracy of MRI predicting the shrinkage mode of the primary breast tumor after NAC with three-dimensional reconstruction technique.Methods:Sixty-one women with pathologically proven solitary invasive ductal carcinoma (ⅡA-ⅢC) were recruited. Breast specimens were prepared with PMSS, and residual tumors were microscopically outlined, scanned and registered by PHOTOSHOP software. The 3D model of residual tumors was reconstructed with 3D-DOCTOR software based on pathology and MRI imaging characteristics to evaluate the shrinkage mode. We devided the pathological shrinkage modes into surgical pCR (no residual tumors), solitary lesions without surrounding lesions, multinodular lesions, solitary lesions with adjacent spotty lesions and diffuse lesions. Further, the clinical-pathological shrinkage modes were divided into 2 categories: distinct shrinkage mode (DSM, the longest diameter of the pathological residual tumors was less than 50% and ≤2 cm in comparison with the primary tumor before NAC) and non-distinct shrinkage mode (NDSM, the longest diameter of the pathological residual tumors was more than 50% and/or >2 cm in comparison with the primary tumor before NAC).Results:The surgical pCR, solitary lesions without surrounding lesions, multinodular lesions, solitary lesions with adjacent spotty lesions and diffuse lesions were observed in 23, 17, 5, 9, 7 and 18, 3, 13, 20, 7 patients by MRI and pathology, respectively (P=0.001). The accuracy, sensitivity and speciifcity of MRI for predicting pathological shrinkage modes were 86.2%, 65.6% and 91.4%, respectively. The DSM was observed in 36 (59.0%) patients by pathology, and 38 (62.3%) patients by MRI. Two methods had a high consistency in clinical-pathological shrinkage modes (κ=0.863,P=0.000). The accuracy, sensitivity and speciifcity of MRI for predicting clinical-pathological shrinkage modes were 91.0%, 64.0% and 94.8%, respectively. There was not a statistic difference in prediction between DSM and NDSM by MRI (P>0.05). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed an AUC of 0.928 (P=0.000) for MRI to predict the clinical-pathological shrinkage mode.Conclusion:Three-dimensional MRI reconstruction after NAC could simulate and predict spatial location of residual tumors, and can be helpful in selecting patients who received BCT after NAC with tumor downstaging.