The effects of Wumeiwan (WMW) on TNF-alpha, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10 and NF-kappaBp65 in rats with ulcerative colitis (UC) were investigated, the curative effectiveness of WMW vs salicylazosulfapyridine (SASP) was compared, and the action mechanism was analyzed. Fifty-Six Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into four groups (n=14 in each group, with equal ratio of male and female): normal control group, model group, SASP group, and WMW group. Except normal control group, the rat UC models in the remaining three groups were established using the method of 2.4-dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) immunization and acetic acid local enema. The rats in model group, SASP group, and WMW group were treated with distilled water, SASP, and WMW respectively. The changes in the symptoms and signs were observed, and levels of IL-6, IL-8, TNF-alpha, IL-10 and the expression of NF-kappaBp65 in the colonic tissues were statistically analyzed. The results showed that the levels of IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-alpha were significantly increased (P<0.01), while those of IL-10 significantly reduced (P<0.01) after establishment of rat UC models as compared with normal control group. The levels of IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-alpha were obviously lower, but the level of IL-10 was obviously higher in WMW and SASP groups than those in model group (P<0.05). The levels of IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-alpha were lower, while the level of IL-10 was higher in WMW group than in SASP group. NF-kappaBp65 was expressed negatively or weakly in normal colonic tissues. The positive expression rate of NF-kappaBp65 in WMW group and SASP group was obviously lower than in model group (P<0.01), and there was significant difference between WMW group and SASP group (P<0.05). It was concluded that rat UC model was established successfully. WMW could up-regulate the expression of IL-10, down-regulate the expression of TNF-alpha, IL-6, IL-8, and inhibit the NF-kappaBp65 activity to adjust immune function, indicating WMW had better curative effects on UC in rats.

Objective To investigate the efficacy and security of cypher stent(sirolimus-eluting stent)in the treatment of old patients with coronary heart disease(CHD).Methods From November 2002 to May 2005,328 elderly CHD cases(age:60-86 years)were treated with 415 Cypher stents.Among the 328 patients,66 had ST-segment elevation of myocardial infarction,21 had non ST-segment elevation of myocardial infarction,149 had unstable angina and 92 had stable angina.As for lesion characteristics,diffuse disease was found in 91 case(26.1%),bifurcation lesions in 68 cases(19.6%),chronic total occlusion lesions in 56 cases(16.0%),in-stent restenosis in 14 cases and ostial lesions in 15 case.The immediate angiographic outcome,major cardiac event(MACE) and angiographic follow-up at 6 months were assessed.Results Stent implantation was successfully achieved in 99% patients with CHD.Acute and sub-acute stent thrombosis occurred in 2 patients,late stent thrombosis with AMI occurred in 2 patients,1 died during the 6 months follow-up.The MACE rate during hospitalization was 0.6% and 3.6% during 6 months follow-up.Angiographic follow-up in 84 patients at 6 months showed that in-stent restenosis rate(ISR)was 8.3%(restenosis within the stents was 2.4%).The target vessel revascularization(TLR)rate was 5.9%.Conclusions Cypher stent implantation in CHD is safe and effective,the ISR rate and TLR rate are significantly lower than those of bare metal stents.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effect of staged surgical treatment on central cord syndrome of the cervical spine.

METHODSA retrospective analysis was conducted in 36 cases of central cord syndrome of the cervical spine treated with staged surgery. The patients (aged 50 to 79 years, mean 56.9 years) were divided into group A (50 to 64 years old, n=20) and group B (above 65 years old, n=16), and each group was further divided into 2 subgroups according to the range of decompression in the second stage, namely A1, B1 and A2, B2. ASIA motor score (AMS) was analyzed before the first-stage surgery, before the second-stage surgery and at the last follow-up after the second-stage surgery.

RESULTSAll the surgeries were performed successfully. The patients were followed up for 12 to 32 months (mean 18.4 months) after the second-stage surgery. After the first-stage surgery, the AMS was 75.8-/+14.6 in group A, 73.2-/+13.1 in group B, 78.5-/+10.2 in group A1, 76.8-/+9.5 in group A2, 72.2-/+12.6 in group B1 and 77.4-/+18.3 in group B2. The AMS at the last follow-up was 90.7-/+10.5 in group A, 89.5-/+12.4 in group B, 91.3-/+13.2 in group A1, 90.7-/+14.8 in group A2, 88.5-/+11.2 in group B1 and 92.4-/+13.6 in group B2. There was no significant difference between groups A and B or between the subgroups A1 and A2 and groups B1 and group B2. The AMS was 75.8-/+14.6 after the first-stage surgery and 90.7-/+10.5 at the last follow-up in group A, significantly higher than those in group B (73.2-/+13.1 and 89.5-/+12.4, respectively, P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONStaged surgery is effective for treatment of central cord syndrome of the cervical spine, and the effect of the surgery is not related to the patients' age or the range of decompression.

Aged ; Central Cord Syndrome ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo investigate the pathogenetic mechanism of beta-arrestin1 in the rat's experimental colitis, whether the delta opioid receptor-beta-arrestin1 -Bcl-2 signal transduction pathway involves the pathological process of experimental colitis in rats, and whether oxymatrine could attenuate colitis through this pathway.

METHODSTwenty-six SD rats were randomly divided into four groups, the normal control group, the model group, the mesalazine treated group and the oxymatrine treated group (8 rats in the last group and 6 each in the others). The colitis model was established with trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS), and rats in the latter two groups were treated by oxymatrine (intramuscular injection) and mesalazine (3 mL solution gavaged) for 15 days, respectively, while rats in the former two groups were fed with equal volume of distilled water. Symptoms of diarrhea and bloody stool as well as colonic patho-histologic changes were observed, and changes in expressions of delta opioid receptor, beta-arrestin1 and Bcl-2 in rat's colon tissue and spleen T lymphocytes were detected with immuno-histochemistry and Western immune-blotting techniques, respectively.

RESULTSIn contrast to the normal control group, expressions of delta opioid receptor, beta-arrestin1 and Bcl-2 were significantly higher in the model group (P < 0.01); compared with the model group, they were significantly lower in the two treated groups (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSDelta opioid receptor-beta-arrestin1 -Bcl-2 signal transduction pathway participates in the pathogenesis of TNBS-induced experimental colitis in rats. Oxymatrine can intervene the signal transduction, which may be one of the mechanisms of oxymatrine in attenuating colitis in rats.

Alkaloids ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Arrestins ; metabolism ; Colitis ; chemically induced ; etiology ; physiopathology ; Colon ; drug effects ; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases ; etiology ; physiopathology ; Male ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; metabolism ; Quinolizines ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Receptors, Opioid, delta ; metabolism ; Signal Transduction ; Trinitrobenzenesulfonic Acid ; beta-Arrestins

A rapid and highly selective liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) method for the determination of megestrol in human plasma was described using medrysone as internal standard (IS). Blood samples were collected from 20 healthy volunteers after oral administration of 160 mg megestrol acetate dispersible tablets. The analytes were extracted by liquid-liquid extraction procedure and separated on a hanbon lichrospher column with the mobile phase of methanol and water containing 0.1% formic acid and 20 mmol/L ammonium acetate (5:1, v/v). Positive ion electrospray ionization with multiple reaction-monitoring mode (MRM) was employed by monitoring the transitions m/z 385.5-325.4 and m/z 387.5-327.4 for megestrol and medrysone, respectively. Under the isocratic separation conditions, the chromatographic run time was approximately 2.54 min for megestrol and 2.59 min for medrysone. The calibration curve range was from 0.5 to 200.0 ng/mL. The inter-batch and intra-batch precision and accuracy were less than 5.2% relative standard deviation (RSD) and 6.4% relative error (RE). The proposed method was successfully applied in the bioequivalence study of megestrol acetate dispersible tablets.
Calibration ; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry ; methods ; standards ; Humans ; Megestrol ; blood ; chemistry ; pharmacokinetics ; Therapeutic Equivalency

Objective:To investigate the mechanism of Oxymatrine on epithelial-mesenchymal transition mediated by RhoA/Rho-associated kinase(ROCK) signaling pathway to prevent and treat ulcerative colitis(UC) and its related canceration by detecting the changes of ROCK, E-cadherin and transforming growth factor-β(TGF-β)in colon tissues of mice. Method:Totally 48 male Balb/c mice were randomly divided into normal control group, model group, low, medium and high-dose Oxymatrine groups (25,50,100 mg·kg^-1)and Y-27632 group(10 mg·kg^-1), with 8 mice in each group. Mice in control group received distilled water, while all the other mice were treated with 3% dextra sulfate sodium for 7 days to induce the ulcerative colitis model. Since the first day of modeling,Y-27632(10 mg·kg^-1)and different doses of Oxymatrine(25, 50, 100 mg·kg^-1) were intraperitoneally injectedfor 7 days, and equal volume of PBS was intraperitoneally injected in normal group and model group. Body weight loss, stool consistency and fecal blood loss were observed on a daily basis. On the 8^thday, mice were put to death,colon was collected and its length was measured; the scores of disease activity index (DAI) were evaluated; part of the colons were fixed and stained with hematoxylin and eosin (HE) for a histopathological analysis; the ultrastructural changes of mucosa tissue in ulcerative colitis were observed by transmission electron microscope. The expression levels of TGF-β in tissue mucosa were tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbentassay(ELISA). The expression levels of Rho-associated kinase-1, Rho-associated kinase-2, E-cadherin and TGF-β in colon were measured by Western blot and Real-time PCR. Result:Compared with normal group, model group showed the infiltration of a large number of inflammatory cells in mucosa and submucosa, disordered gland arrangement, varying degrees of intestinal mucosal defect and even ulcer formation. Under electron microscopy, microvilli were sparse on the surface of intestinal epithelial cells, the gap between cell junctions was widened, goblet cells were reduced and organelles were swollen. The disease activity index,and the expression levels of ROCK-1 and ROCK-2 proteins in the colonic mucosa of model group were increased(P<0.01), while the colon length and the protein and mRNA contents of E-cadherin, TGF-β were decreased(P<0.01). Compared with model group, there were different degrees of alleviations in pathological manifestationsunder the light and electron microscopy in each treatment group. DAI score and colon length reduction were significantly decreased in each treatment group (P<0.01). The proteins and mRNA expression levels of colonic mucosa ROCK-1 and ROCK-2 of the treatment group were decreased(P<0.01), while the protein and mRNA expression levels of E-caherin and TGF-β were increased(P<0.01), which was statistically significant compared with model group. Compared with middle-dose Oxymatrine group, the ROCK-1 and ROCK-2 protein and mRNA levels were significantly increased in low-dose and high-dose groups(P<0.05,P<0.01), and the TGF-β and E-cadherin protein and mRNA levels were significantly decreased(P<0.01). Conclusion:Oxymatrine may alleviate ulcerative colitis by down-regulating the expression of Rho kinase,up-regulating the expressions of E-cadherin and TGF-β, inducing the apoptosis of intestinal epithelial cells, and mediating epithelial-mesenchymal transition.

OBJECTIVETo explore the effect and its mechanism of acupoint catgut-embedding for experimental colitis in rats.

METHODSEighteen SD rats were randomly divided into a normal control (NC) group, a model (MO) group and a acupoint catgut-embedding (AC) group, 6 rats in each group. Animals in MO group and AC group were treated by trinitro-benzene-sulfonic acid (TNBS) to establish model with colitis. No other treatment was given to the rats in MO group, but acupoint catgut-embedding was implanted at "Shangjuxu" (ST 37), "Tianshu" (ST 25) and "Dachangshu" (BL 25) in the rats in AC group. The symptoms of diarrhea and bloody stool, and histopathology changes in colon were observed 15 days after the treatment. Expression of IL-17, beta2AR, NFkappaBp65 were observed by immunohistochemistry. Expressions of NF-kappaBp65 and beta2AR in splenic lymphocyte were detected by the Western blot method.

RESULTSDiarrhea and mucus bloody purulent stool were soon controlled, and colon mucosa injures were obviously improved in AC group. The NF-kappaBp65 value in splenic lymphocytes of 249.70 +/- 13.66 in MO) group was higher than 86.22 +/- 8.09 in NC group (P < 0.01), and 219.02 +/- 7.42 in AC group was less than that in MO group (P < 0.01). The expression of beta2AR in splenic lymphocytes of 594.97 +/- 173.22 in MO group was less than 957.45 +/- 171.56 in NC group (P < 0.01), and 1335.93 +/- 244.34 in AC group was higher than that in MO group (P < 0.01). The expression of IL-17 in colon mucosa in MO group was increased, while the expression of IL-17 in colon mucosa in AC group was decreased.

CONCLUSIONAcupoint catgut-embedding at Shangjuxu (ST 37), Tianshu (ST 25) and Dachangshu (BL 25) has obviously effect in treating experimental colitis and the mechanism may be related to regulate the expression of IL-17, beta2AR and NF-kappaBp65.

Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Animals ; Catgut ; Colitis ; genetics ; metabolism ; therapy ; Disease Models, Animal ; Female ; Gene Expression Regulation ; Humans ; Interleukin-17 ; Male ; NF-kappa B ; genetics ; metabolism ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Receptors, Androgen ; genetics ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo investigate the β2-adrenoceptor (β2AR)-β-arrestin2-nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signal transduction pathway and the intervention effects of oxymatrine in a rat model of ulcerative colitis.

METHODSForty SD rats were randomly divided into four groups, which included the normal control group, the model group, the mesalazine group and the oxymatrine treatment group, with 10 rats per group. Experimental colitis induced with trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS) was established in each group except the normal control group. The rats in the oxymatrine treatment group were treated with intramuscular injection of oxymatrine 63 mg/(kg·d) for 15 days and the rats in the mesalazine group were treated with mesalazine solution 0.5 g/(kg·d) by gastric lavage for 15 days. The rats in the normal control group and model group were treated with 3 mL water by gastric lavage for 15 days. Diarrhea and bloody stool were carefully observed. Histological changes in colonic tissue were examined on day 7 in 2 rats per group that were randomly selected. The expression of β2AR, β-arrestin2 and NF-κB p65 in colon tissue and spleen lymphocytes were detected with immunohistochemistry and Western immunoblotting techniques on day 16 after fasting for 24 h. Six rats died of lavage with 2 each in the normal control, the model group and the mesalazine group; and were not included in the analysis.

RESULTSThe rats in the model group suffered from looser stool and bloody purulent stool after modeling. But in the oxymatrine and mesalazine groups, looser stool and bloody purulent stool reduced after treatment. And the colonic wall in the model group was thickened and the colon length shortened. The colon mucosa was congested in multiple areas with edema, erosion, superficial or linear ulcer and scar formation, while the intestinal mucosa injury reduced in the mesalazine and oxymatrine groups (P<0.01). In colonic mucosa and in spleen lymphocytes, compared with the normal control group, the expression of NF-κBp65 were significantly increased (P<0.01) in the model group while the expressions of β 2AR and β-arrestin2 were significantly decreased (P<0.01). Compared with the model group, the expression of NF-κ Bp65 was significantly decreased in the mesalazine group (P<0.01) and oxymatrine treatment group (P<0.01) while the expressions of β2AR and β-arrestin2 were significantly increased (P<0.01). There were no statistically significant differences in the expression of β2AR, β-arrestin2 and NF-κBp65 between the mesalazine group and oxymatrine group (P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe β2AR-β-arrestin2-NF-κB signal transduction pathway participated in the pathologic course of ulcerative colitis. Oxymatrine attenuated ulcerative colitis through regulating the β2AR-β-arrestin2-NF-κB signal transduction pathway.

Alkaloids ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Arrestins ; metabolism ; Colitis, Ulcerative ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; Colon ; drug effects ; pathology ; Intestinal Mucosa ; drug effects ; metabolism ; pathology ; Lymphocytes ; metabolism ; pathology ; Male ; NF-kappa B ; metabolism ; Quinolizines ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Receptors, Adrenergic, beta-2 ; metabolism ; Signal Transduction ; drug effects ; Spleen ; pathology ; beta-Arrestins

Bile Duct Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; Bile Ducts, Intrahepatic ; CA-19-9 Antigen ; blood ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; diagnosis ; Cholangiocarcinoma ; diagnosis ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; diagnosis

Investigation of traditional Chinese medicine resources is the most important issue of the protection and use of traditional Chinese medicine resources. Real-time monitoring of medicinal plant species and coverage of an area are of great significance to the sustainable development of the medicinal plant species diversity and ecological environment. Flower has unique spectral characteristics. Comparing the vegetative stage through the flowering stage it is easier to identify species. The flowering stage is a critical period for identifying species with remote sensing. Carthamus tinctorius as a traditional Chinese medicine resources in XinJiang region, attracted widespread attention in recent years. In this paper, the hyperspectral data of canopy and other vegetation canopy was measured in 2011. The spectral curve was analyzed, the result indicated that C. tinctorius canopy and the canopy after picking showed absorption peak near 770 nm, the first derivative of red edge spectra and invert-Gaussian model were analyzed, the result indicated that there was significant difference between C. tinctorius canopy and other vegetation canopy. The proposed method is designed to provide initial theoretical foundation for growth condition and physiological parameters of C. tinctorius, and make theoretical groundwork for the distribution and elaborate monitoring of C. tinctorius in future.
Carthamus tinctorius ; chemistry ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry