Objective: To design and prepare a field battle "Windbreaker" stretcher for fixation of spinal cord injury using macromolecular material, and to determine its application index and assess its efficacy. Methods: Using shape memory waterborne polyurethaneurea/SiO2 nano-composite, we prepared a field battle "Windbreaker" stretcher for fixation of spinal cord injury according to the physique of the Chinese. The time spent to finish the fixation procedure under different conditions (raining, cold weather, land and rivers) was recorded, and the time of solidification was also observed. Results: The weight of a complete set of the field battle "Windbreaker" stretcher was (7.5±1.4) kg. The time to complete a fixation was (2.1±0.55) min in the water, (1.9±0.35) min under dry environment. The time of solidification was(7.7±1.45) min in the water and was (6.9±1.23) min under dry environment. The maximum strength the stretcher could bear was (80±5.7) kg. Conclusion: Our self-designed "Windbreaker" stretcher can be used for rapid and simple fixation of different spinal cord injuries, and the mechanics intensity meet the requirement for fixation. The stretcher can be used for fixation of spinal cord injury under different conditions of field battle.

Objective: To design a portable real-time monitoring tool for spine surgery and to preliminarily evaluate its application,so as to reduce the iatrogenic injury during the treatment of battle field spinal cord injury. Methods: A portable spine guiding device for spinal fixation was designed and prepared. The spinal specimens were randomly divided into control group (n = 10) and experimental group (n = 10). In the control group the way was cleared for the pedicle according to the doctor's experience; in the experimental group the way was cleared using our self-designed guiding device. The operation time was recorded in the two groups. After manipulation the specimens were opened along the pedicle level; the location and the depth of the needle were compared. Results;The manipulation time of a single vertebral body was (0. 5 + 0. 2) min in the control group and (0. 6 + 0. 1) min in the experimental group (P>0. 05). The edge of the puncture to the pedicle wall in the control group was significantly shorter than that in the experimental group ([1. 1 + 0. 3] vs [1. 8 + 0. 2] mm,P = 0. 037). Conclusion:The designed portable guiding device for spinal fixation is easy to carry, simple to operate; and initial in vitro application is satisfactory and can provide reliable reference for early operation.

We evaluated the effect of Tu-Chung (Eucommia ulmoides OLIV.) extract on anabolic action in castrated exercise and non-exercise rats in which the effects of male sex hormone from the testis were excluded. Castration was performed on 32 male Wistar rats aged 4 weeks. The rats were then divided into 4 groups: a non-exercise group treated with Tu-Chung extract (non Ex. Tu-chung G, n = 8), on exercise group treated with the extract (Ex. Tu-Chung G, n = 8), a non-exercise control group not treated with the extract (non Ex. Cont. G, n8), = and an untreated exercise control group (Ex. Cont. G, n=8) .
The Tu-Chung extract was administered orally at a dose of 1g/kg body weight once daily for 4 weeks. Distilled water was given by a similar method to the control groups. As the exercise load, the rats exercised on an animal treadmill at a starting speed of 20 m/min with an increase of 10 m/min every week for 30 min without rest daily for 4 weeks.
The following results were obtained:
1. The relative weight of the adrenal gland (gland weight/100 g body weight ) after 4 weeks was significantly higher in the non Ex. Tu-Chung G than in the non Ex. Cont. G (p<0.001) and in the Ex. Tu-Chung G than in the Ex. Cont. G or the non Ex. Cont. G (p<0.001 each) .
2. The relative weight of the kidneys (kidney weight/100 g body weight) after 4 weeks was significantly higher in the non Ex. Tu-Chung G than in the non Ex. Cont. G (p<0.001) and was slightly higher in the Ex. Tu-Chung G than in the Ex. Cont. G.
3. The relative weight of the musculus levator ani (muscle weight/100g body weight) after 4 weeks was significantly higher in the non Ex. Tu-Chung G than in the non Ex. Cont. G (p<0.001) and also in the Ex. Tu-Chung G than in the Ex. Cont. G (p<0.001) .
4. The 17-KS level in a 24h urine sample after 4 weeks was significantly higher in the non Ex. Tu-Chung G than in the non Ex. Cont. G or the Ex. Tu-Chung G (p<0.001 each) and also in the Ex. Tu-Chung G than in the Ex. Cont. G (p<0.001) .
5. The total urinary nitrogen level after 4 weeks was significantly lower in the non Ex. Tu-Chung G than in the non Ex. Cont. G (p<0.001) or the exercise group treated with the extract (p<0.05) and also in the Ex. Tu-Chung G than in the Ex. Cont. G (p<0.05) .
These results suggest that administration of Tu-Chung extract significantly increases the relative weight of the adrenal gland, enhances androgen secretion from the reticular layer of the adrenal cortex, and promotes protein anabolic action in castrated rats. In addition, this extract appears to increase the adaptation ability of the adrenal cortex to the stress caused by exercise.

This study examined the secretion capacity of the gonadal and adrenal cortex systems and the morphology of the adrenal cortex in male rats treated with Tu-chung (Eucommia ulmoides O_LIV) extract, the main component of Tu-chung extract, geniposide, or both agents during exercise load testing.
Twenty-four 4-week-old male Wistar rats were used. The rats were divided into four groups : those treated with Tu-chung extract and geniposide (n=7), those treated with Tu-chung extract (n=6), those treated with geniposide (n=7) and a control group treated with distilled water. The dose of each agent was 0.1 ml/100g body weight. The agents were administered orally for 25 days. For the exercise load test, a treadmill for small animals was used, with a tilting angle set at 0. Exercise load testing was performed for 30 min (2-min warm up and 28-min running) daily for 25 days. The running speed was 20 m/min for the first 5 days, and then increased by 5 m/min every 5 days.
The following results were obtained.
1. The relative weight of the adrenal gland (gland weight/100 g body weight) in the group treated with Tu-chung extract and geniposide was significantly higher than that in the group treated with geniposide or the control group (p<0.01) . The relative weight of the adrenal gland in the group treated with Tu-chung extract was significantly higher than that in the group treated with geniposide or the control group (p<0.01, p<0.001) . Furthermore, the relative gland weight in the group treated with geniposide was significantly higher than that in the control group (p<0.05) .
2. In the group treated with Tu-chung extract and geniposide, the group treated with Tu-chung extract and the group treated with geniposide, the relative gland weight of the testis (testis weight/100g body weight) was significantly higher than that in the control group (p<0.001) . However, there were no significant differences among the three groups.
3. The 24-h urinary excretion of 17-ketosteroid (17-KS) in the group treated with Tu-chung extract and geniposide was significantly higher than that in the group treated with Tu-chung extract, the group treated with geniposide or the control group (p<0.01, p<0.01, p<0.001) . In the group treated with geniposide, the 24-h urinary excretion of 17-KS was significantly higher than that in the control group (p<0.05) .
4. In the three groups treated with Tu-chung extract and/or geniposide, serum testosterone levels were significantly higher than those in the control group (p<0.001, p0.05, p<0.05) .
5. Concerning the morphology of the adrenal cortex, the thickness of the reticular layer of the adrenal cortex was most markedly increased in the group treated with Tu-chung extract and geniposide, followed in order by the group treated with Tu-chung extract, the group treated with geniposide and the control group.
Administration of Tu-chung extract and the main component of Tu-chung extract, geniposide, during exercise load testing significantly increased the weights of the adrenal gland and testis, and promoted testosterone secretion in the adrenal cortex reticular layer and testis.
These findings suggest that geniposide plays an important role in the pharmacological action of Tu-chung.

We evaluated the effect of Tu-Chung (Eucommia ulmoides OLIV.) extract on anabolic action in castrated exercise and non-exercise rats in which the effects of male sex hormone from the testis were excluded. Castration was performed on 32 male Wistar rats aged 4 weeks. The rats were then divided into 4 groups: a non-exercise group treated with Tu-Chung extract (non Ex. Tu-chung G, n = 8), on exercise group treated with the extract (Ex. Tu-Chung G, n = 8), a non-exercise control group not treated with the extract (non Ex. Cont. G, n8), = and an untreated exercise control group (Ex. Cont. G, n=8) .
The Tu-Chung extract was administered orally at a dose of 1g/kg body weight once daily for 4 weeks. Distilled water was given by a similar method to the control groups. As the exercise load, the rats exercised on an animal treadmill at a starting speed of 20 m/min with an increase of 10 m/min every week for 30 min without rest daily for 4 weeks.
The following results were obtained:
1. The relative weight of the adrenal gland (gland weight/100 g body weight ) after 4 weeks was significantly higher in the non Ex. Tu-Chung G than in the non Ex. Cont. G (p<0.001) and in the Ex. Tu-Chung G than in the Ex. Cont. G or the non Ex. Cont. G (p<0.001 each) .
2. The relative weight of the kidneys (kidney weight/100 g body weight) after 4 weeks was significantly higher in the non Ex. Tu-Chung G than in the non Ex. Cont. G (p<0.001) and was slightly higher in the Ex. Tu-Chung G than in the Ex. Cont. G.
3. The relative weight of the musculus levator ani (muscle weight/100g body weight) after 4 weeks was significantly higher in the non Ex. Tu-Chung G than in the non Ex. Cont. G (p<0.001) and also in the Ex. Tu-Chung G than in the Ex. Cont. G (p<0.001) .
4. The 17-KS level in a 24h urine sample after 4 weeks was significantly higher in the non Ex. Tu-Chung G than in the non Ex. Cont. G or the Ex. Tu-Chung G (p<0.001 each) and also in the Ex. Tu-Chung G than in the Ex. Cont. G (p<0.001) .
5. The total urinary nitrogen level after 4 weeks was significantly lower in the non Ex. Tu-Chung G than in the non Ex. Cont. G (p<0.001) or the exercise group treated with the extract (p<0.05) and also in the Ex. Tu-Chung G than in the Ex. Cont. G (p<0.05) .
These results suggest that administration of Tu-Chung extract significantly increases the relative weight of the adrenal gland, enhances androgen secretion from the reticular layer of the adrenal cortex, and promotes protein anabolic action in castrated rats. In addition, this extract appears to increase the adaptation ability of the adrenal cortex to the stress caused by exercise.

Animal models with kidney disease are generally divided into two types. One belongs to the models which imitate human kidney disease by the artificial operations, such as anti-glomerular basement membrane antibody nephritis, Heymann nephritis, anti-Thyl. 1 antibody nephritis, BSA nephritis and puromycin nephropathy. The other one pertains to the models which make themselves kidney disease, and appear the pathological characteristics naturally as like as human, such as HIGA mice with IgA nephropathy and NZB/WF1 and MRL/1pr mice with lupus nephritis. In addition,the transgenic animal models with kidney disease can also be established by the modern molecular biologic techniques including gene knockout and siRNA transfection. As for the studies related with kidney disease in pharmacodynamics and pharmacology of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM), it is important to understand deeply the features of each animal model with kidney disease, and select accurately the proper models according to the different experimental objectives, and then, build the special models provided with the combination of disease with syndrome in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Therefore,it is the developmental direction for the further study to establish animal models with kidney disease, which should possess the characteristics of syndrome in TCM.
Animals ; Diabetic Nephropathies ; etiology ; Disease Models, Animal ; Humans ; Kidney Diseases ; etiology ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Mice ; Streptozocin

Traditional Chinese medicine Curcuma Zedoary ( E'Zhu) contains essential oil, curcuminoid and other effective constituents, with such pharmacological actions as anti-platelet aggregation, lowing blood lipid, anti-oxidation and anti-inflammation. In recent years, studies have showed that certain extracts and chemical components of E'Zhu could mitigate myocardial cell mitochondria injury and protect vascular endothelium by enhancing heme oxygenase-1 activity, inhibit nuclear factor NF-kappaB, target genes interleukin-associated kinase-1 (IRAK-1), tumor necrosis factor receptor-6 (TRAF-6) and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), reduce inflammatory infiltration, and inhibit growth factor-induced smooth muscle cells (SMCs) proliferation and migration by impacting oxidation of cellular phosphatases. Due to its different functions in vascular endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells, E'Zhu has been applied in drug-eluting stents, with a potential effect in preventing in-stent restenosis and thrombogenesis. In this paper, studies on pharmacological effects and mechanisms of extracts and main chemical constituents from E'Zhu in preventing vascular restenosis were summarized.
Animals ; Constriction, Pathologic ; drug therapy ; prevention & control ; surgery ; Curcuma ; chemistry ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Endothelium, Vascular ; drug effects ; Humans ; Stents

AIM: To examine the relationship between corneal lymphangiogenesis and hemangiogenesis after keratoplasty.METHODS: Nineteen human corneas were obtained from 19 patients undergoing a second corneal transplantation in Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center in 2005. Blood and lymphatic vessels in human transplanted corneas were identified by lymphatic vessel endothelial receptor(LYVE-1) and platelet endothelial cell adhesion modecule-1(PECAM-1) immunohistochemistry, and double enzyme-histochemistry; then the association of corneal blood vessel counting (BVC) with lymphatic vessel counting (LVC) was examined.RESULTS: Corneal hemangiogenesis was present in 12 cases (63%), and lymphangiogenesis occurred in 5 cases (26%) of human transplanted corneas. In addition, corneal lymphangiogenesis was only present in vascularized corneas. LVC was strongly and positively correlated with BVC(r=0.725;P<0.01).CONCLUSION: Corneal lymphangiogenesis develops after keratoplasty, and strongly associates with hemangiogenesis.

In clinic, some urinary protein makers can dynamically and noninvasively reflect the degree of renal tubular injury in patients with diabetic nephropathy (DN). These urinary biomarkers of tubular damage are broadly divided into two categories. One is newfound, including kidney injury molecule-1 (Kim-1), neutrophil getatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), liver-type fatty acid-binding protein (L-FABP) and cystatin C (CysC); the other one is classical, including beta2 microglobulin (beta2-MG), retinal binding protein (RBP) and N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase (NAG). It is reported that, the increases in urinary protein markers are not only closely related to the damage of tubular epithelial cells in DN patients, but also can be ameliorated by the treatment with Chinese herbal compound preparations or Chinese herbal medicine. Recently, although urinary proteomics are used in the protein separation and identification, the traditional associated detection of urinary protein markers is more practical in clinic. At present, it is possible that the associated detection of urinary biomarkers of glomerular and tubular damages may be a feasible measure to reveal the clinical significance of urinary protein markers in DN patients and the interventional effects of Chinese herbal medicine.
Biomarkers ; urine ; Diabetic Nephropathies ; complications ; drug therapy ; urine ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods ; Proteinuria ; complications

OBJECTIVETo demonstrate the effects and mechanisms of Huangkui capsule (HKC) on renal fibrosis in rats with diabetic nephropathy (DN).

METHODRats were randomly divided into 5 groups, the sham-operated group (Sham group, n = 5), the vehicle-given group (Vehicle group, n = 7), the low dose of HKC-treated group (L-HKC group, n = 7), the high dose of HKC-treated group (H-HKC group, n = 7) and the lipoic acid (LA)-treated group (LA group, n = 7). DN models were induced by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ,35 mg x kg(-1)) twice and unilateral nephrectomy. After models were successfully established, the rats in HKC and LA groups were daily administrated with HKC suspensions (0.75, 2 g x kg(-1)) or LA suspensions (60 mg x kg(-1)) respectively, and at the same time, the rats in Vehicle group were daily administrated with distilled water (2 mL) for 8 weeks. All rats were sacrificed at the end of week 8 to collect blood and renal tissues. UAlb, renal function, renal fibrotic morphologic characteristics, as well as oxidative stress (OS)-related markers, the protein expressions of the key signaling molecules in p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38MAPK) signaling pathway, fibrogenic cytokines and inflammatory factors were examined respectively.

RESULTHKC, similar to LA, improved the general state of health, body weight, UAlb, BUN, UA and Alb in DN model rats. Of note, renal fibrosis was ameliorated in HKC groups,especially in H-HKC group which was better than that in LA group. In addition, HKC not only improved the main indexes of OS in the kidney like LA, but also down-regulated the protein expressions of phosphorylated-p38MAPK (p-p38MAPK), transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 and tumor necrosis factor(TNF)-α in the kidney, whereas, LA only decreased the protein expression of TNF-α in the kidney in DN model rats.

CONCLUSIONHKC, similar to LA, has the actions of anti-OS in vivo. Moreover, HKC could attenuate renal fibrosis by suppressing the activation of p38MAPK signaling pathway and the protein expressions of fibrogenic cytokines and inflammatory factors in the kidney in DN model rats, which is different from LA.

Abelmoschus ; chemistry ; Animals ; Capsules ; Diabetic Nephropathies ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; pathology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Fibrosis ; Kidney ; drug effects ; pathology ; MAP Kinase Signaling System ; drug effects ; Male ; Oxidative Stress ; drug effects ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases ; antagonists & inhibitors