Matrix Metalloproteinases ; Neovascularization, Pathologic ; Neovascularization, Physiologic

Objective To analyze the effect of cervical.curvature and intervertebral height on the surgical outcome of posterior decompression in patients with multi-level cervical spondylotic myelopathy.Method A total of 50 patients with multi-segment cervical spondylotic myelopathy (≥ 3 segments),treated with posterior decompression from June 2006 to January 2009 were retrospectively analyzed.Twenty six patients underwent cervical omni-posterior decompression and lateral mass screw internal fixation (group A); 24patients underwent expansive open-door laminoplasty (group B).The effects of changing of cervical curvature and intervertebral height on JOA score and VAS score were analyzed.Results All patients were followed up for 8 months to 4 years (average,24 ±5.5 months).There were statistical differences of cervical curvature angles between preoperative and 3 days postoperatively in group A,while no statistical differences in group B.There were no statistical differences of cervical curvature angles between 3 days,6 months and 3 years postoperatively in group A,while there were differences in group B After further analysis of the loss of cervical curvature and intervertebral height,the result showed that JOA score and VAS score in the low-loss group were better than those in the high-loss group.Conclusion Lateral mass screw internal fixation after cervical omni-posterior decompression had many advantages such as reducing the change of cervical curvature,the loss of intervertebral height and incidence of cervical axial symptoms.

OBJECTIVETo find out the suitable time for collecting gallnuts. When Kaburgaia rhusicola parasailed on leaflets of Rhus potainii, the parts of the leaflets developed into gallnuts.

METHODThe regulation of development and tannin amount during whole growing stage were studied.

RESULTK. rhusicola lived in gallnuts for about 80 days. The gallnuts developed quickly during earlier stage and slowly during later stage. Gallnuts maturated from 12th, July to 30th, July, which had no relations with the size and the time for forming, but had relations with development at earlier stage. It developed quickly with earlier maturation and developed slowly with later maturation. Its tannin amount kept stable during the whole growing stage.

CONCLUSIONThe best harvesting days are those shortly after 7th, July.

Animals ; Aphids ; chemistry ; Hydrolyzable Tannins ; analysis ; Materia Medica ; analysis ; Plant Leaves ; parasitology ; Plants, Medicinal ; parasitology ; Rhus ; parasitology ; Time Factors

OBJECTIVETo study the effect of Guanxin No. 2 (GX2) on gene variant expression profile in rats after myocardial infarction (MI).

METHODSSix SD rats were equally randomized into the sham operated group, the model group and the GX2 group, and they received gastric perfusion with water and GX2 (10 g/kg) respectively. MI model was established by ligating the left-anterior descending branch of coronary artery after 10 days of perfusion, and rats' myocardial tissue in the junction zone was assessed 24 h later for gene chip detection with DNA microarray. Then a cluster analysis was conducted, and the different expressions of key genes were verified by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction.

RESULTSThe up-regulating gene expressions in myocardial tissue in the junction zone increased after ischemia. After GX2 intervention, the up- or down-regulating gene expressions, especially the 2 genes, all-trans-13,14-dihydroretinol saturase (AF465614) and similar to expressed sequence AW413625 (AA799328) decreased significantly. In the common genes, more genes involving activity of signal transducer presented in the model group and the GX2 group and those in the latter showed a certain specificity.

CONCLUSIONGX2 could improve the characteristics of variant gene expression profile in MI rats to a certain extent.

Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Gene Expression ; drug effects ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Myocardial Ischemia ; genetics ; metabolism ; Myocardium ; metabolism ; Oxidoreductases Acting on CH-CH Group Donors ; genetics ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Clinical intemship is an important part of medical education.Medical eduezlion for foreign individuals in China has been initiated for a few years.Given the cultural and language background of foreign medical students,It is necessary to study and accumulate experience in developing an effective systern to manage their clinical intemship.We are here to present our approaches,such as teaching with both Chinese and English,arranging for Chinese students and foreign students to work together,to impmve surgical internship for foreign medical students in West China Medical School

OBJECTIVETo compare the ability of osthole (OST) and genistein (GEN) in enhancing bone peak bone mass of rats to prevent osteoporosis.

METHODSThirty-six female one-month-old SD rats of (125 +/- 3) g body weight were randomly divided into three groups, 12 rats in each group, one group was orally administered osthole at 9 mg x kg(-1) d(-1), one group was given genistein at 10 mg x kg(-1) d(-1) and another was given equal quantity of distilled water as the control. The body weight was monitored weekly and the bone mineral density (BMD) of total body was measured every month. All rats were sacrificed after three months, the femoral bone mineral density, the serum levels of osteocalcin (OC) and anti-tartaric acid phosphatase 5b (TRACP 5b) were measured by Elisa. The bone microarchitectures were analyzed with micro-CT and the bone biomechanics properties were tested with universal material machine.

RESULTSNo significant differences were observed between O-treated or GEN group and the control for the food-intake and body weight during three months. However, the rats treated with OST had significant higher BMD for both total body and femur than the control and GEN group. The O-treated rats also had higher level of serum OC and lower level of TRACP 5b. Besides, they owned bigger bone volume/tissue volume, trabecular thickness, trabecular number but smaller trabecular spacing. In the three point bending tests of femurs,they were found to have larger maximum load, the young's modulus and structural model index (SMI).

CONCLUSIONOrally administered osthole could efficiently increase the peak bone mass of rats,which provide new ideas for preventing osteoporosis.

Acid Phosphatase ; blood ; Animals ; Body Weight ; drug effects ; Bone Density ; drug effects ; Coumarins ; pharmacology ; Female ; Femur ; diagnostic imaging ; drug effects ; pathology ; Genistein ; pharmacology ; Isoenzymes ; blood ; Osteocalcin ; blood ; Radiography ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Tartrate-Resistant Acid Phosphatase

The purpose of this study is to investigate the penetration effects and mechanism of N-arginine chitosan (ACS). This novel transdermal enhancer with a mimetic structure of cell-penetration peptides was synthesized by introducing hydrophilic arginine groups to the amino-group on chitosan's side chain. The structure of ACS was confirmed by FT-IR, 1H NMR and element analysis. In addition, attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) was used to study the protein conformation and the water content of stratum corneum, and the result suggested that ACS can change the orderly arrangement of the molecules in the stratum corneum, making the stack structure of keratin become loose. And ACS can increase the water content of the stratum corneurn. Inverted fluorescence microscope and flow cytometry were used to examine penetration effect of ACS on Hacat cell. The result confirmed that the uptake of ACS was enhanced with increased substitution degree of arginine by 4-8 folds compared to chitosan. In vitro penetration studies on three electrical types of drugs were carried out using three model drugs of negatively charged aspirin, positively charged terazosin and neutral drug isosorbide mononitrate by the method of Franz diffusion cells. The results showed that ACS has obviously penetration of the negatively charged drug aspirin, and certain penetration of neutral drug issorbide mononitrate, but inhibition of positively charged terazosin. In vivo imaging technology research results show that the ACS can significantly enhance the fluorescence intensity of morin, which is the auto-fluorescence anionic drug. These obtained results suggested that ACS, as a promising transdermal enhancer, can change the structure of the keratinocytes and analog penetrating peptides promote absorption, but have certain selectivity for the drug.
Administration, Cutaneous ; Animals ; Arginine ; chemical synthesis ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Aspirin ; administration & dosage ; pharmacokinetics ; Cell Line ; Cell Survival ; drug effects ; Cell-Penetrating Peptides ; chemical synthesis ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Chitosan ; chemical synthesis ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Drug Carriers ; Humans ; Isosorbide Dinitrate ; administration & dosage ; analogs & derivatives ; pharmacokinetics ; Keratinocytes ; cytology ; Male ; Mice ; Prazosin ; administration & dosage ; analogs & derivatives ; pharmacokinetics ; Skin Absorption ; drug effects

Medicinal plants always suffer from diseases and pests in their cultivation and growing, and the yield and quality are reduced. At present, chemical pesticide is mainly used to control the diseases and pests. The long-term use and over-use of pesticide result in pesticide residue, pests resistance to pesticide, water and soil pollution and other environmental contamination. It is necrssary to provide the integrated pests management, including new technology of biological control for developing green drug. This project makes research on the following aspects: 1. Applied studies on bethyloid wasp (Scleroderma guani) control for stem borer; 2. To develop Trichoderma spp. and use it to control the diseases of medicinal plants; 3. Applying Agro-antibiotics 120 to control phytophthora root rot of ginseng; 4. Researches on application of entomopathogenic nematodes against ten-spotted lema (Lema decempuntata) et al.
Animals ; Hymenoptera ; Pest Control, Biological ; Plant Diseases ; Plants, Medicinal ; growth & development ; Trichoderma

Objective To observe the effects of iguratimod ( IT) combined with methotrexate ( MTX) in patients with refractory rheumatoid arthritis ( rRA) . Methods Sixty patients with rRA were randomly divided into 2 groups ( n=30 each group) . The cases in treatment group received 50 mg.d-1 of iguratimod and 10 mg of MTX for 16 weeks. The cases in control group were treated by 10-15 mg of MTX. DAS28 was analyzed. Levels of VEGF and endostatin ( ES) were quantified. Results In the treatment group,after 16-week treatment,DAS28,levels of VEGF and ES were (3.0±1.2),(818.9±178.8) pg.mL-1, (337.8±132.6) ng.mL-1,and those in the control group were (5.7±1.9),(1000.2±245.9) pg.mL-1,(253.8±77.8) ng.mL-1,respectively. In the treatment group,DAS28 and VEGF after the treatment were significantly decreased as compared with those before the treatment ( P<0.01) . The decrement was more significant in the treatment group than in the control group ( P<0.01) . At the 16th week of treatment,ES was significantly increased as compared with that before the treatment ( P<0.01) , and there was a significant difference between the treatment group and the control group (P<0.01). Conclusion Iguratimod combined with MTX have a prominent effect on rRA with high safety. The efficacy of IT on RA might be related with decreasing VEGF release,increasing ES production and alleviating synovium angiogenesis.

Humanin(HN,its analogue [Gly14]-Humanin,HNG)was originally identified as an endogenous peptide that protects neuronal cells from apoptosis induced by various types of Alzheimer's disease-related insults.But the relative low content of this peptide in its natural sources limits its further characterization.An expression vector pET32a/HNG was corstructed and transformed it into E.coli BL21 trxB(DE3).HNG was expressed as a fusion protein in the soluble fraction and was purified by nickel affinity chromatography.Subsequently,the purified fusion protein was cleaved by enterokinase and was further purified by reverse-phase HPLC.A 23 mg recombinant HNG(rHNG)from 1 L bacterial culture was purified.The molecular weight of rHNG determined by ESI-MS was 2876.5 Da which was the expected size for correctly processed peptide.The N-terminal amino acid sequence of rHNG determined by Edman degradation method is identical to the theoretical sequence.Neuroprotective bioassay studies of rHNG exhibited its potential neuroprotective effect comparable to that of the natural HNG peptide.