Objective To establish the disease-syndrome integrated animal models suitable for the studies of TCM through differen- tiating the property of TCM syndromes of spontaneous diseased animal models.Methods With the observation on general behaviors, irritable degree,turning endurance time,pain threshold,urine and stools,luster of hair,growing speed of hair,body weight,tongue condition,degree of eyeball protruding,conjunctiva chroma,blood pressure,heart rate,etc.of spontaneous hypertension rats(SHR) and the comparison with normal rats,the study was carried out on the macroscopic description of property of TCM syndrome of SHR (14～18 weeks of age)and their ethology.Results The blood pressure of SHR at the early stage tended to raise with age growing. Compared with the normal group,the heart rate of SHR rats was obviously quicker(P

BackgroundThe research of corneal thickness after pars plana vitrectomy in DM patient plays an important role not only theoretically but clinically.Objective Present study was to evaluate the change in corneal thickness after pars plana vitrectomy.Methods A prospective coherent study was designed.Seventy-five eyes of 70 consecutive diabetic retinopathy(DR) patients were collected in Tianjin Medical University Eye Center.Pentacam was used to assess the central and periphery corneal thickness by the same investigator preoperatively and 7 days,1 and 3 months postoperatively,respectively.The thickness values from five corneal zone were obtained,including cornea vertex,the thinnest point of the cornea,periphery cornea near the scleral incision of 4 mm away to vertex of cornea on vertical and 240°,120°,60° meridian ( right eye) or 300°,120°,60° meidian ( left eye ).These results were compared and analyzed with ANOVA of repeated measurement data.Subgroup analysis was performed to evaluate the influence of different corneal positions,the use of conventional 20g or 23g transconjunctival sutureless vitrectomy(TSV) groups,surgery duration,gas or fluid endotamponde on corneal thickness.This study was approved by Ethic Committee of this hospital.Written informed consent was obtained from the subjects before any relative medical procedure.Results The mean corneal thickness was ( 639.9 ± 103.1 ),( 689.5 ± 119.3 ),( 666.5 ±113.7),( 650.8 ± 108.6 ) μm before operation,postperative 7 days,1 and 3 months respectively.As covariates appearing in the model,the corneal thickness change rates were revised as the parameters as following: diabeitc duration =13.0 and age =57.2.The revised corneal thickness was significant different among various time points( F=210.928,P=0.000) and different corneal zones(F=24.843,P=0.000) with the size order in turn P4＞P3＞P1＞P2＞P5.The corneal thickness change rates were less in 23g TSV group compared with conventional 20-g group (F =53.843,P =0.000) and BSS tamponade group compared with gas tamponade group ( F =5.288,P =0.022).But no significant difference was found in the revised corneal thickness among surgery duration ＜ 1 hour group,1-2 hour group and ＞2 hour group( F=1.233,P =0.293).ConclusionsVitrectomy is a safe procedure on the ground of cornea,but TSV and fluid endotamponade appear to be more beneficial to the protection of cornea.Pentacam could offer the reliable data in not only central cornea but also periphery cornea.

Silent information regulator protein 1 (SlRT1) is one of the sirtuins and belongs to histone deacetyase. lts activity depends on nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide ( NAD+) and is regulated by NAD+. Experimental and clinical studies have shown the neuro-protective effect of SlRT1 in the pathogenesis of age-related eye diseases. ln this review, the relationship between SlRT1 activator and apoptosis in the retinal cells were discussed. The review also points to SlRT1 as a potential therapeutic target for the clinical management of age-related retinal disease.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the dosage-efficacy/toxicity relationship of prepared rhubarb, in order to explore the bidirectional effects in hepatoprotection and hepatotoxicity of prepared rhubarb and the objective authenticity for attenuating toxicity by processing.

METHODNormal and pathological animals were adopted simultaneous to investigate the effect of total extracts from prepared rhubarb within a high dose range (2.0, 5.4, 14.7, 40.0 g x kg(-1) x d(-1)) on normal state, biochemical index and histopathology of experimental animals. The factor analytic approach was used to analyze the dosage-efficacy/toxicity relationship of prepared rhubarb.

RESULTThe factor analytic approach was used to extract two common factors from the nine biochemical indexes. The firs common factor was mainly dominated by HA, LN and TGF-β1, and could be explained as fibrotic factors. The second common factor was mainly dominated by ALT, AST and ALP, and could be explained as cellular factor. The results of the factor analysis suggested that prepared rhubarb showed significant bidirectional effects in hepatoprotection and hepatotoxicity, which could protect liver in CC14 injured chronic hepatic injury, but had a certain hepatotoxic effect to normal animals. The pathological examination showed consistent results with the factor analysis. Under comparable dosages, prepared rhubarb showed a stronger liver protecting effect than crude rhubarb, with a lower toxicity.

CONCLUSIONAlthough prepared rhubarb has a certain hepatotoxic effect to normal animals, it has also a significant therapeutic effect to animals with liver injury. The results proved the symptom-based prescription theory and the scientificity of the symptom-based medication. The symptom-based prescription theory is important to correctly realize the dosage-efficacy/toxicity relationship of traditional Chinese medicines and guide the symptom-based medication.

Animals ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Drug Prescriptions ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; toxicity ; Female ; Fibrosis ; Liver ; drug effects ; metabolism ; pathology ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Rheum ; chemistry ; Toxicity Tests

Animals ; Lung ; immunology ; pathology ; Male ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reperfusion Injury ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Spleen ; immunology ; pathology ; fas Receptor ; analysis

BACKGROUND: Silk fibroin film showed an anti-coagulated blood activity following sulfurous acid treatment; however, its flexibility and anti-tension were poor. If the silk flbroin film was coated on small-caliber expanded poly(tetrafiuoroethylene) (ePTFE) vascular grafts prior to surface sulfonation, the adverse effects were improved and the blood compatibility of ePTFE vascular grafts were remarkably enhanced. OBJECTIVE: To research the preparation of ePTFE vascular grafts applied by surface sulfonation of silk flbroin film by low temperature plasma treatment. METHODS: The ePTFE vascular grafts were treated with low temperature plasma and coated on the surface of silk fibroin. The compound was then sulfonated with low temperature plasma. The ePTFE vascular grafts were considered as the controls to detect contact angle and sulfonation. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The contact angle was decreased gradually form 87.7°to 65.1° following low temperature plasma treatment. Moreover, the contact angle was 106.2° following coating silk flbroin film and 92.9°following sulfonation. X-raylight-electron spectrometer demonstrated that percents of sulfur element on the surfaces of the combined blood vessel was 2.89%, respectively, while that of the control film was only 0.12%. The X-ray light-electron spectrometer also showed that most of the sulfur element were sulfonic group (-SO_3H). The results suggested the feasibility of the preparation of the combined blood vessel.

With thousands of sequenced 16 S rRNA genes available,and advancements in oligonucleotide microarray technology,the detection of microorganisms in microbial communities consisting of hundreds of species may be possible.The existing algorithms developed for sequence-specific probe design are not suitable for applications in large-scale bacteria detection due to the lack of coverage,flexibility and efficiency.Many other strategies developed for group-specific probe design focus on how to find a unique group-specific probe that can specifically detect all target sequences of a group.Unique group-specific probe for each group can not always be found.Hence,it is necessary to design non-unique probes.Each probe can specifically detect target sequences of a different subgroup.Combination of multiple probes can achieve higher coverage.However,it is a time-consuming task to evaluate all possible combinations.A feasible algorithm using relative entropy and genetic algorithm (GA) to design group-specific non-unique probes was presented.

Objective To investigate the sensitivity and variability factors that were assessed on the forced swimming test (FST) using BALB/C and Kunming mice. Methods The immobility time of FST was compared using Kunming and BALB/C mice in different experimental conditions including circadian rhythm ( day and night) ,gender and water temperature ( 12,22 and 32℃ ) . Results (①) The immobility time of BALB/C during the daytime( ( 142.42 ± 33.58) s) was significantly increased than that at night ( ( 104.89 ± 34.33 ) s). (② The immobility time of Kunming mice( (91.95 ± 40.32) s) was significantly decreased than that of BALB/C mice ( ( 142.42 ± 33.58 ) s). (③)The immobility time under the water temperature of 22 C ( ( 92.24 ± 25.81 ) s) was significant longer than that under the water temperature of 32C ( (60.72 ± 11.11 ) s). Conclusion BALB/C stain,male mice,daytime and water temperature of 22℃ should be chosen in the FST.

Objective To analyze the clinical features of pandrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (PDR-Ab) in a hospital and compare the efficacy of different antibiotic treatments on patients with pneumonia caused by PDR-Ab.Methods Data were ret- rospectively collected from all isolated PDR-Ab strains in our hospital from February 2004 to March 2005.The clinical features and outcomes were reviewed.Results A total of 77 strains of PDR-Ab were collected, 45 of which were pathogens causing clini- cal infections (35 strains from lower respiratory tract, 6 from bloodstream, 3 from drainage fluid, and 1 from wounds).Lower respiratory tract was the most common source of PDR-Ab.More than 90% of the isolated PDR-Ab strains produced OXA-23 type?-lactamase.Cefoperazone-sulbactam plus minocyeline showed good efficacy for patients with PDR-Ab pneumonia.The total clinical cure rate was 68.4%.Bacterial eradication rate was 42.1%.The factors influencing bacterial clearance were pro- longed mechanical ventilation prior to positive culture (17.5 d vs 5.5 d).mixed infection (100% vs 12.5%) and lower GCS score (9.1?0.7 vs 13.2?2.1).Concomitant septic shock (OR=13.8) and APACHEⅡscore (OR=2.1) were independent factors of clinical outcome.Conclusions Nosocomial infections caused by PDR-Ab are not untreatable.Our analysis suggests that cefoperazone-sulbactam plus minocycline may be an effective treatment for lower respiratory tract infections caused by PDR-Ab in our hospital.

Objective:The immunological effects of HCV-DNA vaccine with different adjuvants were detected by ELISPOT in mice.Methods:Female BALB/c mice were primed with naked HCV-DNA, HCV-DNA encapsulated by liposome DDAB/EPC or DC-Chol/DOPE, HCV-DNA mixed with Montanide ISA 720 or aluminum hydroxide, respectively, and boosted twice accordingly in a four-week interval. Cytokine production by splenocytes was assessed by ELISPOT.Results:In most cases, splenocytes from mice vaccinated with DDAB/EPC liposome produced more IFN-?. These splenocytes also have significant higher IL-2 production compared with the other groups. In expansion with NS5b, splenocytes from alum group have significance in IL-4 production compared with other groups. The profile of cytokine production revealed that the INF-? overwhelmed IL-4 in naked DNA, DDAB/EPC, and DC-Chol/DOPE groups while IL-4 surmounted IFN-? in alum and Montanide groups.Conclusion:Encapsulation with liposome DDAB/EPC has the strongest adjuvant effect in inducing Th1 dominated immunity. Alum and Montanide can convert the Th1 nature of DNA vaccine to Th2-biased immunity.