OBJECTIVETo observe the effects of Tongfu Decoction (TFD) on the gastric emptying of normal rats, thus exploring whether it could promote gastric emptying rapidly.

METHODSThirty Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into 3 groups, i.e., the normal control group, the domperidone group, and the TFD group, 10 in each group. They were respectively administered with normal saline, the domperidone suspension, and TFD by gastrogavage. Thirty min later the gastric emptying of mice was detected by single photon emission computed tomography technology (SPECT) labeled with 99m Tc-DTPA, and the gastric half-emptying time and the gastric emptying rate were calculated.

RESULTSThe gastric half-emptying time was (19.0 +/-1.7) min in the normal control group, (12.9 +/- 3.4) min in the domperidone group, and (12.7 +/- 4.1) min in the TFD group. Compared with the normal control group, the gastric half-emptying time was significantly shortened in the domperidone group and the TFD group (P <0.05). The gastric emptying rate at 15 min was 41.1% +/- 5. 8% in the normal control group, 52.9% +/- 10.9% in the domperidone group, and 56.0% +/- 10.3% in the TFD group, while at 30 min it was 65.6% +/- 2.8%, 72.9% +/- 2.6%, and 72.4% +/- 4.9%, respectively. Compared with the normal control group, the gastric emptying rate at 15 min and 30 min both significantly increased in the domperidone group and the TFD group (P <0.05). There was no statistical difference in the gastric half-emptying time or the gastric emptying rate between the two groups (P >0.05).

CONCLUSIONTFD showed similar effects as domperidone in rapidly promoting gastric emptying, and could shorten the gastric half-emptying time in normal rats.

Animals ; Domperidone ; pharmacology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Gastric Emptying ; drug effects ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

AIMTo investigate the effects of glycyrrhiza decoction on migrating myoelectric complex (MMC) and gastrointestinal hormone in small intestine in rats.

METHODSWe observed MMC cycle,phase Ill duration,fast wave numbers of phase III of MMC in one minute, fast wave numbers of one cluster in phase III of MMC of small intestine of glycyrrhiza group and control group rats with electrophysiology method, and immunohistochemistry to examine relative content of serotonin (5-HT), substance p(SP) and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) in small intestinal chromophil (EC) and myenteric nerve plexus in small intestine of control group and glycyrrhiza group rats.

RESULTSCompared glycyrrhiza group with control group,we found that glycyrrhiza was able to decrease fast wave numbers in one minute and fast wave numbers in one cluster in phase III of MMC of small intestine (P < 0.05), and evidently extend small intestinal cycle of MMC (P < 0.05), it also shortened the phase III III duration (P < 0.05) or made the phase III of MMC absent. Compared glycyrrhiza group with control group it was indicated that content of 5-HT in small intestinal mucous membrane and myenteric nerve plexus was evidently decreased (P < 0.05), and content of SP in myenteric nerve plexus of small intestine of rats was evidently decreased (P < 0.05), and content of VIP in small intestine of rats was evidently increased (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONGlycyrrhiza is able to inhibit small intestinal motility, this inhibition is related with the amount of 5-HT, SP, VIP secreted by small intestinal mucous membrane of rats.

Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Electromyography ; Gastrointestinal Motility ; drug effects ; physiology ; Glycyrrhiza ; Intestine, Small ; drug effects ; physiology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Serotonin ; analysis ; Substance P ; analysis ; Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide ; analysis

Objective To developed A laboratory diagnosis of Moraxella catarrhalis by an laboratories diagnostic method real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR assay. Methods The specific primers and probes were designed based on the sequence of outer membrane protein CopB(copB)gene in Moraxella catarrhalis,and the Taqman probe RT-PCR method was developed to detect the Moraxella catarrhalis.The standard plasmids ex-tracted from the Moraxella catarrhalis standard strains were used to constitute the standard samples,and compared with these standard samples,the sensitivity of the fluorescence quantitative PCR assay was tested by the estab-lished standard curves.The specificity of the fluorescence quantitative PCR assay was tested by the DNA samples of other bacterias in the laboratory.Meanwhile,321 throat swab samples from inpatient and outpatient child pa-tients,with asthma infection were collected as clinical samples to validate the fluorescence quantitative PCR as-say.Results The standard curve was drawn in the real-time PCR by the Taqman fluorescence reporter.During the sensitivity tests,the newly-developed real-time fluorescence PCR could detect at least 10 copies of Moraxella catarrhalis,and could successfully distinguish several DNAs of the pathogens.On the basis of the validation result of the 321 throat swab samples,there are 25 Moraxella catarrhalis with 7.79 % positive rate.Conclusion The fluorescence quantitative PCR assay is of great sensitivity and specificity,and it can be widely used for the detec-tion of Moraxella catarrhalis.

OBJECTIVETo understand pathogen patterns of enteric infectious diseases and its impact on this pattern due to aggregation of a great deal of foreign visitors during Beijing Olympic Games.

METHODSThe diarrheal patient's rectal swabs and stool specimens were collected from Olympic stadium and hospitals of four districts, including Dongcheng, Xicheng, Haidian and Chaoyang. Enteric multiple pathogens were detected from the total 45 specimens. The culture method was used for the enteric bacteria, ELISA and RT-PCR for the enteric viruses. Molecular typing of Salmonella Enteritidis isolation was completed by PFGE.

RESULTSIt was found that 26 out of 45 cases were positive with 57.8 percent for pathogen detection, and 24 were identified as enteric pathogenic bacteria, including Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Salmonella, diarrheagenic Escherichia coli and Campylobacter jejuni, two as norovirus. There were mixed infections of two pathogenic bacteria for three cases. Ten kinds of pathogens were detected from foreign cases, while five kinds from Chinese cases. A total of 5 PFGE patterns were identified in 10 Salmonella Enteritidis isolates from national and foreign diarrheal cases, which were concentrative in some extent.

CONCLUSIONVibrio parahaemolyticus, Salmonella, diarrheagenic Escherichia coli and Campylobacter jejuni were found to be the primary bacterial pathogens during the Olympic Games. Enteric virus infection existed in summer diarrhea.

Adult ; Bacterial Typing Techniques ; Campylobacter jejuni ; classification ; isolation & purification ; China ; Diarrhea ; epidemiology ; etiology ; microbiology ; virology ; Enterobacteriaceae ; classification ; isolation & purification ; Enterovirus ; isolation & purification ; Escherichia coli Infections ; microbiology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Salmonella ; classification ; isolation & purification ; Shigella ; classification ; isolation & purification ; Sports ; Vibrio parahaemolyticus ; classification ; isolation & purification

OBJECTIVETo evaluate four candidate variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) loci for genotyping Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex strains.

METHODSGenomic sequences for two M. tuberculosis strains (CCDC5079 and CCDC5180) were generated, and using published sequence data, four candidate VNTR loci were identified. The VNTRs were used to genotype 225 Chinese clinical M. tuberculosis complex strains. The discriminatory power of the VNTRs was evaluated using BioNumerics 5.0 software.

RESULTSThe Hunter-Gaston Index (HGI) for BJ1, BJ2, BJ3, and BJ4 loci was 0.634, 0.917, 0.697, and 0.910, respectively. Combining all four loci gave an HGI value of 0.995, thus confirming that the genotyping had good discriminatory power. The HGI values for BJ1, BJ2, BJ3, and BJ4, obtained from Beijing family strain genotyping, were 0.447, 0.878, 0.315, and 0.850, respectively. Combining all four loci produced an HGI value of 0.988 for genotyping the Beijing family strains. We observed unique patterns for M. bovis and M. africanum strains from the four loci.

CONCLUSIONWe have shown that the four VNTR loci can be successfully used for genotyping M. tuberculosis complex strains. Notably, these new loci may provide additional information about Chinese M. tuberculosis isolates than that currently afforded by established VNTR loci typing.

Cluster Analysis ; Genotyping Techniques ; Humans ; Minisatellite Repeats ; Mycobacterium bovis ; genetics ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis ; genetics

BACKGROUNDTreatment of ischemic heart disease remains an important challenge, though there have been enormous progresses in cardiovascular therapeutics. This study was conducted to evaluate whether Tongxinluo (TXL) treatment around the transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can improve survival and subsequent activities of implanted cells in swine hearts with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and reperfusion.

METHODSTwenty-eight Chinese mini-pigs were divided into four groups including a control group (n = 7); group 2, administration of low-dose TXL alone from the 3rd day prior to AMI to the 4th day post transplantation (n = 7); group 3, MSCs alone (n = 7) and group 4, TXL + MSCs (n = 7). AMI models were made by occlusion of the left anterior descending coronary artery for 90 minutes. Autologous bone marrow-MSCs (3 x 10(7) cells/animal) were then injected into the post-infarct myocardium immediately after AMI and reperfusion. The survival and differentiation of implanted cells in vivo were detected by immunofluorescent analysis. The data of cardiac function were obtained at baseline (1 week after transplantation) and endpoint (6 weeks after transplantation) by single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Apoptosis was detected by TUNEL assay and the oxidative stress level was investigated in the post-infarct myocardium at endpoint.

RESULTSAt endpoint, there was less fibrosis and inflammatory cell infiltration with more surviving myocardium in group 4 than in the control group. In group 4 the survival and differentiation of implanted MSCs were significantly improved more than that seen in group 3 alone (P < 0.0001); the capillary density was also significantly greater than in the control group, group 2 or 3 both in the infarcted zone (P < 0.0001) and the peri-infarct zone (P < 0.0001). MRI showed that parameters at baseline were not significantly different between the 4 groups. At endpoint, regional wall thickening and the left ventricular ejection fraction were increased while the left ventricular mass index, dyskinetic segments and infarcted size were decreased only in group 4 compared with control group (P < 0.0001). SPECT showed that the area of perfusion defect was significantly decreased at endpoint only in group 4 compared with control group (P < 0.0001). TUNEL assay indicated that TXL administration significantly decreased cell apoptosis in peri-infarct myocardium in groups 2 and 4. Furthermore, superoxide dismutase (SOD) significantly increased and malondialdehyde (MDA) decreased in groups 2 and 4 by the administration of TXL.

CONCLUSIONSOur study demonstrates the following: (1) immediate intramyocardial injection of MSCs after AMI and reperfusion resulted in limited survival and differentiation potential of implanted cells in vivo, thus being incapable of beneficially affecting post-hearts; (2) TXL-facilitation resulted in a significant survival and differentiation potential of implanted cells in vivo via inhibition of apoptosis and oxidative stress, accompanied by significant benefits in cardiac function.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; Cardiomyoplasty ; methods ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation ; Myocardial Infarction ; pathology ; therapy ; Myocardium ; pathology ; Oxidative Stress ; Swine ; Swine, Miniature ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon ; Transplantation, Autologous

OBJECTIVETo explore the associated factors on loss to follow-up among men who have sex with men (MSM) in a prospective cohort study.

METHODSWe recruited eligible HIV-negative MSM at baseline in eight cities from June to October 2009. Interviewer-administrated questionnaire and blood testings for HIV, syphilis and human simplex virus type 2, were accomplished upon enrollment, 6-month and 12-month follow-up visits in the program. Loss to follow-up was recorded at each visit in this cohort. Univariate and multivariate statistical analysis were conducted to examine the associated factors on loss to follow-up.

RESULTSA total of 3196 eligible MSM were enrolled at the baseline study. During one year of follow-up, 894 (28.0%) of them dropped out thoroughly while 2302 (72.1%) showed up at least on one visit. Factors as MSM who were at age 25 or younger, resided locally less than 1 year, being unemployed, self-recognized as heterosexuality or bisexuality, never taking HIV testing in the past year, having had sex with women in the past 6 months etc., were more likely to withdraw from the follow-up visits. Conclusion Age, length of residency, sex orientation and history of HIV testing were associated with the loss of follow-up among MSM cohort in our study. These factors should be considered in this kind of study design in the future.

Adult ; Bisexuality ; Cohort Studies ; Follow-Up Studies ; Homosexuality, Male ; Humans ; Male ; Prospective Studies ; Sexual Behavior