Objective To study the biofilm formation ability and related gene distribution of Staphylococcus (S .) aureus iso‐lated from urinary tract infections to provide the theoretical basis for the prevention and treatment of clinical infection .Methods The minimal inhibitory concentration was detected using the agar double dilution method .The bacterial adhesion ability was deter‐mined by flat colony counting method .The biofilm formation ability was analyzed by the 96‐well crystal violet staining method .The biofilm‐associated genes were detected by PCR amplification .Results Eleven clinical strains of S .aureus were high resistant to pen‐icillin and erythromycin ,whereas were all sensitive to vancomycin and nitrofurantoin .All the isolates had a strong ability of adhe‐sion ,but the biofilm formation ability was weak .Among them ,the icaAD and icaBC genes were amplified in 10 S .aureus isolates . Conclusion The adhesion ability and biofilm formation ability of S .aureus isolated from urinary tract infections have the strain differences ,and ica is an important gene of S .aureus biofilm formation .

Hearing Loss, Sudden ; therapy ; Humans ; Hyperbaric Oxygenation ; adverse effects ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neck ; Subcutaneous Emphysema ; etiology

Adult ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Female ; Humans ; Long QT Syndrome ; genetics ; Mutation, Missense ; Pedigree

Retinal pigment epithelium ( RPE ) is a vital tissue for the maintenance of photoreceptor function and environment of outer retina, also the predominant cell type of proliferative vitreoretinopathy ( PVR ) . lt is also affected by many diseases of the retina and choroid, including diabetic retinopathy ( DR) , age-related macular degeneration ( AMD ) and retinal pigmentosa ( RP ) . Although of neural origin, the RPE is capable of local repair, and cells may migrate and take on altered characteristics. These findings indicate that RPE-based therapy is a promising option for congenital or degenerate disease of the retina.

Objective: To characterize rhizospheric microbial flora of Hunyuan Astragali Mongolici Radix (HAMR) and to provide scientific evidence for understanding quality formation of the herb. Methods: The soil microbial flora were fingerprinted by automated ribosomal intergenic-spacer analysis (ARISA). The raw data were processed and analyzed by GeneMarker and PAST, respectively. Results: Compared with non-rhizospheric soil flora, the rhizospheric flora from 2-and 3-year-old herbs shifted obviously, and the similarities were decreased but diversities increased. Meanwhile, the flora from 5-year-old herbs had no significant similarity difference to non-rhizospheric ones and their sample rare fraction curves were more consistent with each other. When compared to the ones from other production areas, the flora from HAMR had relatively lower core OTUs but had significantly higher abundance of core OTUs shared by all areas. Conclusion: The structure of rhizospheric microbial flora of HAMR is associated with the herb's age and is quite different from thoes from other areas.

Objective To confirm the predictive value of diaphragm thickening fraction (DTF) on successful weaning by bedside ultrasound in patients with myasthenia gravis crisis. Methods A prospective study was conducted. The patients with myasthenia gravis crisis undergoing mechanical ventilation admitted to Department of Critical Care Medicine of the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University from March 2015 to February 2017 were enrolled. All patients underwent a low level pressure support mode of spontaneous breathing test (SBT), and rapid shallow breathing index (RSBI) was recorded. The indicators of right diaphragm thickness at the end of inspiration (DTei) and expiration (DTee) were determined by bedside ultrasound at 5 minutes and 60 minutes of SBT, and DTF was calculated, the changes in above parameters were observed during SBT. The patients were divided into successful weaning group and failure weaning group, and the differences in above indexes were compared between the two groups. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was used to evaluate the predictive value of DTF and RSBI at 60 minutes of SBT on successful weaning. Results A total of 37 patients were enrolled in the study. Ultrasonic measurement data of 63 person-times at 5 minutes of SBT and 50 at 60 minutes of SBT were obtained. There were no statistical differences in RSBI, DTei, DTee, and DTF at 5 minutes of SBT between successful weaning group (n = 33) and failure weaning group (n = 30). At 60 minutes of SBT, compared with successful weaning group (n = 33), the patients in failure weaning group (n = 17) had a higher RSBI (times·min-1·L-1: 80.41±29.08 vs. 63.94±23.84, t = 2.146, P = 0.037), and lower DTee, DTei and DTF [DTee (mm): 22.00±6.25 vs. 25.45±4.99, t = 2.127, P = 0.039; DTei (mm): 27.94±6.19 vs. 38.48±6.15,t = 5.731, P = 0.000; DTF: (24.46±14.11)% vs. (62.04±30.21)%, t = 4.845, P = 0.000]. There were no statistical differences in RSBI, DTei, DTee, and DTF between 5 minutes and 60 minutes of SBT in 33 person-time successful weaning (all P > 0.05). In 17 person who had 60 minutes of SBT but failed weaning, the RSBI at 60 minutes of SBT was significantly higher than that at 5 minutes (times·min-1·L-1: 80.41±29.08 vs. 57.29±22.46, t = 2.400, P = 0.029), and DTei and DTF were significantly decreased [DTei (mm): 27.94±6.19 vs. 35.35±6.84, t = 3.024, P = 0.000; DTF:(24.46±14.11)% vs. (61.89±23.97)%, t = 5.810, P = 0.000], but the change of DTee during SBT showed no statistical significance. ROC curve analysis showed that the area under ROC curve (AUC) of DTF at 60 minutes of SBT for predicting successful weaning was 0.898; when DTF ≥ 27.9% as the cut-off point, the sensitivity was 93.9%, specificity was 70.6%. The AUC of RSBI for predicting successful weaning was 0.669; when RSBI ≥ 86.50 times·min-1·L-1 as the cut-off point, the sensitivity was 81.8%, specificity was 52.9%. Conclusion DTF at 60 minutes of SBT is the effective index of successful weaning prediction in mechanical ventilation patients with myasthenia gravis crisis.

In this study, cardiotonic and cardiotoxic effects of Buthus martensi Karsch (BmK) I, a modulator of voltage-gated sodium channels, were investigated on the isolated rat hearts. The results showed that BmK I evoked complex effects characterized by a change in both cardiac mechanical and electrical activity. Langendorff perfusion showed that: (1) maximal left ventricular developed pressure (LVDP(max)) and dp/dt(max) were markedly increased by BmK I (0.5-10 micromol/L) in a dose-dependent manner (n=6, P<0.05), positive chronotropic effects were also induced by BmK I (n=6, P<0.05); (2) negative inotropic action and bradycardia could be elicited at a larger dose of BmK I (20 micromol/L); (3) the coronary flow varied inversely with the positive inotropic effects, coronary flow reduced during positive inotropic effects from 14.5 to 8.6 ml/min after administration of 500 nmol/L BmK I (n=6, P<0.05). In addition, tachycardia and complex cardiac arrhythmias were induced by BmK I (0.5-10 micromol/L). The modulating of BmK I on the heart mechanical, electrical activity could be partially recovered after washing. As propranolol was applied to block the release of catecholamines before administration of BmK I, suggesting that the changes in cardiac mechanical and electrical activity induced by BmK I might not due to catecholamine release from the nerve terminal and subsequent stimulation of the beta-adrenoceptor but attributable to the modulation of BmK I on cardiac voltage-gated sodium channels.
Action Potentials ; drug effects ; Animals ; Electrophysiology ; In Vitro Techniques ; Insect Proteins ; Male ; Myocardial Contraction ; drug effects ; NAV1.5 Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel ; Neurotoxins ; pharmacology ; Patch-Clamp Techniques ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Scorpion Venoms ; pharmacology ; Sodium Channel Blockers ; pharmacology ; Sodium Channels ; drug effects

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of Salvia miltiorrhiza Injection (SMI) and Shengmai Injection (SI) on liver function and fibrosis related indexes in patients with chronic hepatitis B.

METHODSSeventy-nine chronic hepatitis B patients were randomly divided into the SMI group (n=47) and the SI group (n=32), they were treated with SMI and SI respectively on the basis of conventional treatment. The therapeutic course was 35 days for both groups. The changes of main symptoms and physical signs were observed, and indexes of liver function and fibrosis including serum hyaluronidase, laminin, III type precollagen (PC-III) and IV type collagen (IV-C) were investigated before and after treatment.

RESULTSSymptoms, physical signs and liver functions were improved obviously in both SMI and SI groups, SI showed better effect than SMI (P < 0.05). The four liver fibrosis indexes declined significantly in the SMI group after treatment (P < 0.05), but no obvious change of those was found in the SI group (P > 0.05), showing significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.05). Conclusion SMI is effective in improving liver function and inhibiting liver fibrosis, and SI has even better effect in improving liver function than SMI, though it shows no anti-liver fibrosis effect.

Adult ; Collagen Type IV ; blood ; Drug Combinations ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; blood ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Hyaluronoglucosaminidase ; blood ; Injections, Intravenous ; Laminin ; blood ; Liver Cirrhosis ; prevention & control ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Phytotherapy ; Salvia miltiorrhiza ; Treatment Outcome

To prepare sagittatoside B with epimedin B Hydrolyzed from cellulase. With the conversion ratio as the index, the effects of pH value, temperature, reaction time, dosage of enzyme and concentration of substrates on the conversion ratio were detected. L9 (3(4)) orthogonal design was adopted to optimize the preparation process. Hydrolyzed products were identified by MS, 1H-NMR, and 13C-NMR. The results showed that the optimum reaction conditions for the enzymatic hydrolysis were that the temperature was 50 degrees C, the reaction medium was pH 5.6 acetic acid-sodium acetate buffer solution, the concentration of substrates was 20 g x L(-1), the mass ratio between enzyme and substrate was 3: 5, and the relative molecular mass of the reaction product was 646.23. NMR data proved that the product was sagittatoside B. The process is simple and reliable under mild reaction conditions, thus suitable for industrial production.
Cellulase ; metabolism ; Drug Compounding ; methods ; Flavonoids ; chemistry ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Hydrolysis ; Temperature ; Time Factors

In this paper, the action of suet oil in the preparation of self-assembled micelles of the active flavonoids in Epimedium in the simulated human environment was researched. Twelve suet oil samples were collected from different growing areas and different positions of sheep or goat to simulate the formation of micelles. Then the effects of the fatty acids in suet oil on the preparation of self-assembled micelles were studied furthermore. The results showed that the micelles had a dispersed state and spherical smooth surface. To compare the diameter, potential, encapsulation efficiency and drug loading of the 12 batches micelles, the micelles prepared by the suet oil from Qinghai were more stable and had a higher encapsulation efficiency. The fatty acids in suet oil could promote the formation of self-assembled micelles, but the whole suet oil had a better effect. Above all the study, we confirmed that the suet oil promoted the formation of self-assembled micelles of the flavonoids in Epimedium, it laid foundation for further research about increasing the efficacy of Epimedium and improved the absorption of the active flavonoids in Epimedium.
Animals ; Chemistry, Pharmaceutical ; methods ; China ; Drug Carriers ; chemistry ; Electric Conductivity ; Epimedium ; chemistry ; growth & development ; Fatty Acids ; chemistry ; Flavonoids ; chemistry ; Geography ; Goats ; Humans ; Micelles ; Oils ; chemistry ; Sheep