Breast Neoplasms ; therapy ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Yin Deficiency

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association of PROC rs5936 polymorphism with warfarin maintenance dose in the Han population in the south of Jiangsu province. METHODS: The single nucleotide polymorphism was detected by base-quenched probe technique and PCR-RFLP technique. VKORC1-1639G > A, CYP2C9 1075A > C and PROC rs5936 polymorphisms were analyzed in 188 patients after mechanical heart valve replacement. RESULTS: Among the 188 patients, the genotypic frequency of PROC rs5936 was T 54.78% and G 45.22%. The required warfarin doses for patients with different PROC rs5936 GG genotypes were (2.55 ± 0.81) mg · d-1 for GG, (2.65 ± 0.96) mg · d-1 for TG, and (2.64 ± 0.74) mg · d-1 for TT, respectively. PROCrs5936 genotype did not show association with warfarin dose (P > 0.05). The genotypes of VKORC1-1639G > A and CYP2C9 1075A > C had significant association with warfarin dose (P < 0.001), and accounted for respectively 30.2% and 7% variance of warfarin dose. CONCLUSION: VKORC1-1639G > A and CYP2C9 1075A > C genotypes have significant association with the dose of warfarin, yet, no impact was observed for PROC rs5936 in the Han population of the south of Jiangsu province.

Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Facial Nerve Injuries ; etiology ; Female ; Male ; Rabbits

Objective: To explore the distribution of pelvic lymph node metastasis in patients with cervical carcinoma. Methods: The positron emission tomography (PET)-CT was performed to analyze the distribution of pelvic lymph node metastasis in 43 patients with cervical cancer at I A2 to IV stage. Results: The metastasis rate of pelvic lymph nodes declines in the following order: parametrial and obturator lymph nodes → internal iliac and external iliac lymph nodes → common iliac, inguinal and para-aortic lymph nodes. Out of the 16 patients who received surgery, 6 groups of positive lymph node metastasis were identified which were confirmed by postoperative pathological examination. The metastatic lymph nodes were mainly distributed in parametrial and obturatum area. Common iliac metastasis of lymph nodes was detected in 6 patients and para-aortic metastasis was detected in 5 patients. All of the 11 patients has lymph node metastasis in other pelvic regions and died in 5 years. Conclusion: The distribution of pelvic lymph nodes metastasis had some features. The metastatic rate of parametrial and obturator lymph nodes is the highest which can accurately predict the status of pelvic lymph node metastasis. The metastatic rate of internal iliac and external iliac lymph nodes is lower than parametrial and obturator lymph nodes but higher than common iliac, inguinal and para-aortic lymph nodes. The metastatic rate of common iliac, inguinal, and para-aortic lymph nodes is the lowest.

The Tongmai Yangxin pill (TMYX) has potential clinical effects on no-reflow (NR); however, the effective substances and mechanisms by which this occurs remain unclear. This study evaluates the cardioprotective effects and molecular mechanisms of TMYX against NR. We used a myocardial NR rat model (2 h after myocardial ischemia and 2 h after reperfusion) to confirm the effect and mechanism of action of TMYX in alleviating NR. In vitro studies in isolated coronary microvasculature of NR rats and in silico network pharmacology analyses were performed to reveal the underlying mechanisms of TMYX and determine the main components, targets, and pathways of TMYX, respectively. The experiment was approved by the Ethics Committee of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine (LLBH-202212160001). TMYX showed therapeutic effects on NR by improving cardiac structure and function, reducing NR, ischemic areas, and cardiomyocyte injury, and decreasing the content of cardiac troponin I (cTnI). Moreover, the mechanism of TMYX predicted by network pharmacology is related to the hypoxia inducible factor-1 (HIF-1), nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB), and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) signaling pathways. TMYX increased the expression of G protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER), phospho-extracellular signal-regulated kinase (p-ERK), and HIF-1α. In vitro, TMYX enhanced the diastolic function of coronary microvascular cells; however, this effect was inhibited by GPER inhibitor (G-15), eNOS inhibitor (L-NAME), and sGC inhibitor (ODQ). This study integrates pharmacology and experimental evaluation to reveal that TMYX activates HIF-1α/eNOS signaling pathway by upregulating GPER to relax coronary microvessels, thereby significantly alleviating NR.

An actinomycete B37 was isolated from an intertidal marine sponge Hymeniacidon perleve, which has strong activity against Gram positive bacteria and moderate activity against tumor cells. The mycelium and spore morphology, physiological properties and 16SrDNA sequence suggested that B37 is Streptomyces pseudogriseolus. The fermentation conditions of this strain were investigated for the biosynthesis of bioactive metabolites.

Hide melting presents itself as one of the most critical processes in the production of donkey-hide gelatin. Here a NIR-based method was established for the rapid analysis of in-process hide melting solutions as well as for end-point determination of this process. Near infrared (NIR) spectra of hide melting solutions were collected in transflective mode. With the contents of total nitrogen determined by the Kjeldahl method as reference values, partial least squares regression (PLSR) was employed to build calibration models between NIR spectra and total nitrogen. Model parameters including wavelength range and PLS factors were optimized to achieve best model performance. Based on the contents of total nitrogen predicted by calibration model, end point of hide melting was determined. The constructed PLS model gave a high correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.991 3 and a root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) of 0.807 g x L(-1). With the predicted total nitrogen and predefined limit, decisions concerning the proper times of melting were made. This research demonstrated that NIR transflectance spectroscopy could be used to expeditiously determine the contents of total nitrogen which was subsequently chosen as the indictor for determining the end-point of hide melting. The proposed procedure may help avoid unnecessary raw material or energy consumption.
Animals ; Calibration ; Endpoint Determination ; methods ; Equidae ; anatomy & histology ; Gelatin ; chemistry ; Least-Squares Analysis ; Nitrogen ; analysis ; chemistry ; Skin ; chemistry ; Spectrophotometry, Infrared ; Time Factors ; Transition Temperature

Administration, Topical ; Adult ; Aged ; Double-Blind Method ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Phytotherapy ; Pruritus ; drug therapy ; etiology ; Renal Dialysis ; adverse effects ; Renal Insufficiency ; therapy

Feasibility Studies ; Humans ; Ligation ; Paranasal Sinuses ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Objective: To observe the clinical efficacy of thunder-fire moxibustion for hypomenorrhea after induced abortion. Methods: A total of 74 patients with hypomenorrhea after induced abortion were randomized into two groups, with 37 cases in each group. The control group was treated with conventional hormone sequential therapy, and the observation group was treated with thunder-fire moxibustion. The course of treatment was 3 menstrual cycles. The traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) symptom scores, menstrual volume, endometrial thickness and the sex hormone levels were observed before and after treatment. The clinical efficacy was compared after treatment. Results: The total effective rate in the observation group and the control group was 91.4％ and 73.5％, respectively, and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P<0.05). After treatment, the TCM symptom scores in both groups decreased significantly (all P<0.05), and the scores in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). The menstrual volume, endometrial thickness and each sex hormone level of the patients in both groups were significantly improved after treatment (all P<0.05), and the improvements in the observation group were more significant than those in the control group (all P<0.05). Conclusion: Thunder-fire moxibustion can significantly improve the clinical symptoms of patients with hypomenorrhea after induced abortion; it can increase menstrual volume and endometrial thickness, and regulate the sex hormone levels, producing a better curative effect than the conventional hormone sequential therapy.