OBJECTIVETo observe the clinical efficacy of Qi-supplementing and blood-activating (QSBA) in treating diabetic peripheral nephropathy (DPN).

METHODSSixty-eight type 2 diabetes mellitus patients with Qi deficiency-blood stasis Syndrome were randomly divided into two groups, the neurotrophic agents were used in both groups, while QSBA herbs were used in the treated group additionally. The treatment course was 2 months. Blood glucose (BG), triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC) and nerve conduction velocity (NCV) were detected before and after treatment.

RESULTSAfter treatment, the BG, blood lipid, NCV were improved significantly (P < 0.05) in both groups, but the improvement was more significant in the QSBA treated group than in the control group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONQSBA, in treating DPN, can not only improve its symptoms, but also ameliorate the NCV.

Adult ; Aged ; Diabetic Neuropathies ; drug therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Middle Aged ; Neural Conduction ; drug effects ; Phytotherapy ; Qi

This study is to evaluate the therapeutic effect of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) on NAFLD in MSG-IR mice and to provide mechanism insights into its therapeutic effect. The MSG-IR mice with insulin resistance were treated with high dose (0.1 micromol.kg-1d-1) and low dose (0.025 micromol.kg-1d-1) of FGF21 once a day for 5 weeks. Body weight was measured weekly. At the end of the experiment, serum lipids, insulin and aminotransferases were measured. Hepatic steatosis was observed. The expression of key genes regulating energy metabolism were detected by real-time PCR. The results showed that after 5 weeks treatment, both doses of FGF21 reduced body weight (P<0.01), corrected dyslipidemia (P<0.01), reversed steatosis and restored the liver morphology in the MSG model mice and significantly ameliorated insulin resistance. Additionally, real-time PCR showed that FGF21 significantly reduced transcription levels of fat synthetic genes, decreased fat synthesis and promoted lipolysis and energy metabolism by up-regulating key genes of lipolysis, thereby liver fat accumulation was reduced and liver function was restored to normal levels. In conclusion, FGF21 significantly reduces body weight of the MSG-IR mice, ameliorates insulin resistance, reverses hepatic steatosis. These findings provide a theoretical support for clinical application of FGF21 as a novel therapeutics for treatment of NAFLD.
Animals ; Body Weight ; drug effects ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Dyslipidemias ; metabolism ; Energy Metabolism ; drug effects ; Fatty Liver ; chemically induced ; complications ; Female ; Fibroblast Growth Factors ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Insulin Resistance ; Lipolysis ; drug effects ; Liver ; metabolism ; pathology ; Male ; Mice ; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease ; drug therapy ; Sodium Glutamate

Objective:To study the chemical constituents from the ethyl acetate extract of Cyclosorus parasiticus. Method:The whole plant of C. parasiticus were repeatedly percolated with MeOH. The MeOH residue was dispersed in H₂O and successively extracted with petroleum ether,ethyl acetate and butyl alcohol. The chemical constituents from the ethyl acetate fraction were isolated by silica gel,Sephadex LH-20 and ODS columns,and semi-prep high performance liquid chromatography,and their chemical structures were determined on the basis of IR,MS,NMR analysis (¹H and ¹³ C-NMR) and spectroscopic data from literatures. Result:Sixteen compounds were isolated from the ethyl acetate fraction, and their chemical structures were identified as physcion (1),ent-kaur-16-ene-2β,15α-diol (2),ent-3β-hydroxy-kaur-16-ene (3),5,7,8,4'-tetramethoxyflavone (4),oleanolic acid (5),5-hydroxy-7,4'-dimethoxyflavone (6),1,7-dihydroxyxanthone (7),interruptin B (8),quercetin (9),apigenin (10),kaempferol (11),afzelin (12),apigenin-7-O-β-D-glucopyranosid (13),kaempferol-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (14),β-daucosterol (15) and β-sitosterol (16). Conclusion:Compounds 1-7 and 9-15 were isolated from the C. parasiticus for the first time. These results provide a foundation for studying the pharmacodynamics material basis and quality control of C. parasiticus.

OBJECTIVETo compare therapeutic effects of electroacupuncture at Houxi (SI 3) and medicine on acute lumbar sprain.

METHODSThree hundred cases of acute lumbar sprain were randomly divided into two groups, a electroacupuncture (EA) group and a medication group, 150 cases in each group. The EA group were treated with EA at Houxi (SI 3), once each day, 3 sessions constituting one course, and the medication group with Mobike, once daily, 7. 5 mg each time. Their therapeutic effects were evaluated after treatment for 7 days and one month respectively.

RESULTSFor the short-term therapeutic effect, the effective rate was 97. 3% in the EA group and 89. 2% in the medication group with a very significant difference between the two groups (P<0. 01); for the long-term therapeutic effect, the effective rate was 99. 3% in the EA group and 93. 2% in the medication group with a very significant difference between the two groups (P<0. 01).

CONCLUSIONBoth the short-term and the long-term therapeutic effects of EA at Houxi (SI 3) on acute lumbar sprain are better than those in the medication group.

Acute Disease ; Adult ; Electroacupuncture ; Female ; Humans ; Lumbosacral Region ; injuries ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Middle Aged ; Sprains and Strains ; therapy

Currently,the quick development of information technology is enriching the traditional teaching.As a new form of teaching resource,a micro-lecture focused on a specific topic is a good combination of information technology and traditional teaching.It not only increases the vividness and visualization of teaching,but also boosts the learning interest of students in the course.What's more,it helps to show an integral time-consuming experiment in 5-10 minutes'micro-vedio,which broadens the contents of the course and offers convenience of self-teaching for students.In this article,we took the example of micro-lecture"Western blot"in the course of immunologic technology to post-graduates in Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine to clarify the advantages and the procedures of a typical micro-lecture,and to discuss about it.The experience achieved from the construction of this micro-lecture may offer a new idea of modern information education reform.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the value of intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for patient with gynecological malignancies after treatment of hysterectomy and chemotherapy/radiotherapy.

METHODSAll 32 patients with cervical or endometrial cancer after hysterectomy received full course IMRT after 1 to 3 cycles of chemotherapy (Karnofsky performance status(KPS) > or =70). Seventeen of these patients underwent postoperative preventive irradiation and the other 15 patients were pelvic wall recurrence and/or retroperitoneal lymph node metastasis, though postoperative radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy had been given after operation.

RESULTSThe median dose delivered to the PTV was 56.8 Gy for preventive irradiation, and 60.6 Gy for pelvic wall recurrence or retroperioneal lymph node metastasis irradiation. It was required that 90% of iso-dose curve could covere more than 99% of GTV. However, The mean dose irradiated to small intestine, bladder, rectum, kidney and spinal cord was 21.3 Gy, 37.8 Gy, 35.3 Gy, 8.5 Gy, 22.1 Gy, respectively. Fourteen patients presented grade I (11 patients) or II (3 patients) digestive tract side-effects, Five patients developed grade I or II bone marrow depression. Twelve patients had grade I skin reaction. The overall 1-year survival rate was 100%. The 2- and 3- year survival rate for preventive irradiation were both 100%, but which was 5/7 and 3/6 for the patients with pelvic wall recurrence or retroperioneal lymph node metastasis.

CONCLUSIONIntensity modulated radiation therapy can provide a better dose distribution than traditional radiotherapy for both prevention and pelvic wall recurrence or retroperioneal lymph node metastasis. The toxicity is tolerable. The adjacent organs at risk can well be protected.

Adult ; Aged ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Diarrhea ; etiology ; Endometrial Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; radiotherapy ; surgery ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Hysterectomy ; methods ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; Radiotherapy Dosage ; Radiotherapy, Intensity-Modulated ; adverse effects ; methods ; Survival Analysis ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; radiotherapy ; surgery

OBJECTIVETo investigated the relationship between the serum levels of Th1/Th2 cytokines and the progress of viral hepatitis C and the outcome of interferon therapy.

METHODSSerum cytokine detection used the method of ELISA. HCV genotype were classified by direct sequencing. HCV RNA loads were determined by fluorescence quantitative PCR.

RESULTSThe levels of IL-2 and TGF-beta in serum of patients with chronic hepatitis C were lower hut IL-5 was higher than those of normal control. The level of IL-6 was positively related to the sera level of ALT and was negatively related to sera HCV RNA load. Patients of HCV genotype 1 had higher sera quantities of IL-6 than those of genotype 2 and patients of genotype 2a had lower sera quantities of IL-2 than those of 2b. The levels of IL-2 had the tendency to decrease whereas IL-6 had the tendency to increase when time went on. The level of TGF-beta increased at early phase but decrease later. There were no difference of all cytokines detected between the groups of response and nonresponse before interferon therapy, hut the quantity of serum IFN-gamma were increased after interferon therapy in the response group.

CONCLUSIONThe tested cytokines co-participate in the pathogenesis of chronic hepatitis C and have the relationship with the clinical manifestations of the patients. There were no correlation between the levels of Th1/Th2 cytokines in the serum before IFN treatment and the result of IFN therapy. Increasing IFN-gamma in the serum induced by IFN treatment is associated with sustained virological response.

Adult ; Aged ; Cytokines ; blood ; immunology ; Female ; Hepacivirus ; genetics ; immunology ; isolation & purification ; Hepatitis C, Chronic ; blood ; drug therapy ; immunology ; Humans ; Interferons ; administration & dosage ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Th1 Cells ; immunology ; Th2 Cells ; immunology ; Treatment Outcome

Objective To investigate clinical effect and indications of neuroendoscopic surgery for treatment of intracranial diseases. Methods A total of 386 cases treated with neuroendoscopic surgeries were analyzedd retrospectively in regard to the surgical approaches, treatment outcomes, advantages and disadvantages of neuroendoscopy. Results In the 386 cases, clinical cure was achieved in 340 cases and symptomatic improvement in 40 cases; 5 cases failed to respond to the treatment, and death occurred in 1 case during the follow-up for 6-12 months. Postoperative radiography demonstrated intracranial space-occupying lesions in 285 cases, for which total resection was achieved in 259 cases and subtotal resection in 26 cases with neuroendoscopic surgery, and relapse occurred in 7 cases. Hydrocephalus occurred in 101 cases. Cerebral ventricle recovery was found in 82 cases, and in 18 cases the ventricular expansion was obviously reduced; ventricular expansion remained unchanged in 1 case after the treatment. Conclusions With careful evaluation of the surgical indications, neuroendoscopic surgeries can achieve satisfactory effects for treatment of intracranial diseases.

This study is to evaluate the therapeutic effect of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) on hypertension induced by insulin resistance in rats and to provide mechanistic insights into its therapeutic effect. Male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were fed with high-fructose (10%) water to develop mild hypertensive models within 4 weeks, then randomized into 4 groups: model control, FGF21 0.25, 0.1 and 0.05 micromol x kg(-1) x d(-1) groups. Five age-matched normal SD rats administrated with saline were used as normal controls. The rats in each group were treated once a day for 4 weeks. Body weight was measured weekly, systolic blood pressure (SBP) was measured noninvasively using a tail-cuff method, insulin sensitivity was assessed using oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and HOMA-IR assay. At the end of the treatment, blood samples were collected, and blood glucose, serum cholesterol, serum triglyceride and serum insulin were measured. The results showed that blood pressure of the rats treated with different doses of FGF21 returned to normal levels [(122.2 +/- 3.5) mmHg, P < 0.01] after 4-week treatment, whereas, SBP of untreated (model control) rats maintained a high level [(142.5 +/- 4.5) mmHg] throughout the treatment. The observation of blood pressure in 24 h revealed that SBP of FGF21 treated-rats maintained at (130 +/- 4.5) mmHg vs. (143 +/- 5.5) mmHg for model control (P < 0.01). FGF21 treatment groups improved serum lipids obviously, total cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG) levels decreased significantly to normal levels. The serum NO levels of three different doses FGF21 treatment group were significantly higher than that of the model control group [(7.32 +/- 0.11), (7.24 +/- 0.13), (6.94 +/- 0.08) vs. (6.56 +/- 0.19) micromol x L(-1), P < 0.01], and the degree of improvement showed obvious dose-dependent manner, indicating that FGF21 can significant increase serum NO in fructose-induced hypertension rat model and improve endothelial NO release function. The results of OGTT and HOMA-IR showed that insulin resistance state was significantly relieved in a dose-dependent manner. Thus, this study demonstrates that FGF21 significantly ameliorates blood pressure in fructose-induced hypertension model by relieving insulin resistance. This finding provides a theoretical support for clinical application of FGF21 as a novel therapeutics for treatment of essential hypertension.
Animals ; Antihypertensive Agents ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Blood Glucose ; metabolism ; Blood Pressure ; drug effects ; Body Weight ; drug effects ; Cholesterol ; blood ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Fibroblast Growth Factors ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Fructose ; Glucose Tolerance Test ; Hypertension ; blood ; chemically induced ; drug therapy ; Insulin Resistance ; Male ; Nitric Oxide ; blood ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Triglycerides ; blood

This study was purposed to establish the mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) stably overexpressing mouse CXC chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4) gene and to explore their function. The recombinant lentiviral vector LV-CXCR4-IRES-EGFP with packaging plasmid pSPAX2 and envelope plasmid pMD.2G were co-transfected into 293FT packaging cell line using lipofectamine 2000 to produce the recombinant lentiviral vectors. The recombinant viruses were harvested and concentrated by using ultracentrifugation. Mouse bone marrow MSC were infected with the viral supernatants. Variable methods were used to optimize the transduction condition. EGFP expression was visualized using fluorescence microscope and efficiency of infection was determined by flow cytometry (FCM). Proliferation and apoptosis were detected by proliferation curve and FCM, respectively. Migration capacity was assessed by a chemotaxis assay using transwell. Expression of EGFP were detected by fluorescence microscopy in MSCs after infection. The results showed that through optimization of infection condition, the recombination lentiviral vectors had higher infection efficacy; after infection for 72 h, the higher expression of EGFP could be observed under fluorescence microscope; the expression of CXCR4 protein on MSC surface in CXCR4-MSC group significantly increased compared with those in the control group. Meanwhile, over-expression of CXCR4 had no effect on their capacity of proliferation and did not induce apoptosis. Moreover, CXCR4 enhanced the migration of cells in the transwell induced by SDF-1 gradient compared with the EGFP control group. It is concluded that the lentiviral vector can not only infect mouse MSCs efficiently, but also can make CXCR4 express stably in MSC.
Animals ; Apoptosis ; Cell Line ; Chemokine CXCL12 ; Flow Cytometry ; Genetic Vectors ; Lentivirus ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; metabolism ; Mice ; Plasmids ; Receptors, CXCR4 ; genetics ; Transfection