Bioassay, which construct the characteristics consistents with Chinese medical science, is the core mode and methods for the quality control of Chinese materia medica. Taking the bioassay of Radix Isatidis as an example, the contribution, status and application of bioassay in the quality control of Chinese materia medica were introduced in this article, and two key issue (the selection of reference and measurement methods) in the process of establishing bioassay were also explained. This article expects to provide a reference for the development and improvement of the bioassay of Chinese materia medica in a practical manipulation level.
Aconitum ; Materia Medica ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; utilization ; Quality Control

Objective:To compare the efficacy of the Preterm Infant Oral Feeding Readiness Assessment Scale (PIOFRA) and Preterm Infant Oral Feeding Ability Readiness Assessment Scale (POFARA) in predicting the outcome of first oral feeding in preterm infants.Methods:This study was a cross-sectional study. From February 2021 to February 2022, 276 premature infants treated in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Air Force Medical University of People's Liberation Army and the Second Affiliated Hospital of Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine were selected by convenience sampling method. According to the outcome of the first oral feeding, the premature infants were divided into a successful first oral feeding group ( n=227) and a failed first oral feeding group ( n=49). PIOFRA and POFARA were used to evaluate premature infants. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve ( AUC), sensitivity, specificity, Youden index and other indicators were used to compare the predictive efficacy of the two scales for the first oral feeding outcome of premature infants. Results:The success rate of first oral feeding for premature infants was 82.25% (227/276). The PIOFRA and POFARA scores of the successful first oral feeding group were higher than those of the failed first oral feeding group ( P<0.01). The AUC of PIOFRA was 0.830. When the total score of PIOFRA was 27.00, the sensitivity was 78.40%, the specificity was 75.50%, and the Youden index was 0.539 ( P<0.01), and its prediction efficiency was the highest. The AUC of POFARA was 0.928. When the total score of POFARA was 33.00, the sensitivity was 79.70%, the specificity was 95.90%, and the Youden index was 0.757 ( P<0.01), and its prediction efficiency was the highest. The AUC, sensitivity, specificity and Youden index of POFARA were higher than those of PIOFRA. Conclusions:The predictive efficacy of POFARA is higher than that of PIOFRA. It is recommended to use POFARA for the evaluation and prediction of the outcome of first oral feeding in premature infants.

Objective:To explore the echocardiographic characteristics of isolated brachiocephalic artery branches, and to analyze the reason of missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis in order to improve the diagnostic accuracy.Methods:Echocardiographic features of isolated subclavian artery and brachibrachial trunk confirmed by operation or CT angiography (CTA) or digital subtraction angiography (DSA) were retrospectively analyzed in Hebei Children′s Hospital from May 2017 to July 2021. Related literatures of other rare types of isolated brachiocephalic artery branches retrieved in PubMed were reviewed, and the echocardiographic characteristics of such vascular malformations were summarized.Results:A total of 4 children with isolated brachiocephalic artery branches were included. Echocardiography correctly diagnosed isolated brachiocebrachial trunk in 1 case and missed or misdiagnosis in 3 cases, including isolated subclavian artery was missed in 1 case, isolated subclavian artery was misdiagnosed as aberrant subclavian artery in 1 case and patent ductus arteriosus in 1 case. A total of 105 cases of isolated brachiocephalic artery branches were reviewed, including isolated brachiocephalic artery in 31 cases (53.3%), isolated common carotid artery in 15 cases (29.5%), isolated common carotid artery in 15 cases (14.3%) and isolated internal carotid artery in 3 cases (2.9%). The characteristic of echocardiography was that the brachiocephalic branch of the aortic arch was disconnected from the aortic arch, often via the ductus arteriosus or directly connected to the bifurcation of the pulmonary artery.Conclusions:Isolated brachiocephalic artery branches have certain characteristic echocardiographic features and these kinds of vascular malformations are accompanied by different degrees of stealing blood phenomenon. Careful tracing of the origin of brachiocephalic artery branches and combined with cervical vascular ultrasound when necessary can improve the diagnosis rate of isolated brachiocephalic artery branch lesions.

Objective:To investigate the diagnostic method and value of echocardiography in screening right patent ductus arteriosus(PDA) of infants.Methods:This was a prospective study.Thirty-one infants with right PDA diagnosed by ultrasound and confirmed by prenatal ultrasonography, electronic computed tomography angiography, angiocardiography and/or surgery in Hebei Children′s Hospital from April 2014 to May 2022 were collected as research subjects, and the association of right ductus arteriosus with aortic arch anomalies and complex cardiac malformations were summarized. The diagnostic method and value of ultrasonic screening were summed up.Results:Of the 31 cases, 30 cases were correctly diagnosed by ultrasound and 1 case was misdiagnosed, who was a left aortic arch descending to the right, a crossover variation of the right and left pulmonary arteries, and a rightward displacement of the ductus arteriosus. Among these cases diagnosed correctly, 27 cases (including 24 cases with right aortic arch and 3 cases with left aortic arch) presented that ductus arteriosus was open and its ostium of pulmonary artery end was located in the proximal right pulmonary artery in views of parasternal short-axis view of great vessels at cardiac base with the combination of two dimensions and color Doppler flow imaging. Other 3 cases of right aortic arch were all single ventricle with transposition of the great artery. Due to the parallel relationship of the two great arteries, the standard parasternal short-axis view of great vessels could not be obtained, and the right ductus arteriosus was found in the high parasternal views.In all of the 27 cases with right aortic arch and right ductus arteriosus, high parasternal views showed that one end of the ductus arteriosus was connected to the right aortic arch isthmus and the other end was connected to the right pulmonary artery. In all of the 3 cases with left aortic arch and right ductus arteriosus, the high parasternal views showed that one end of the ductus arteriosus was connected to the right subclavian artery and the other end was connected to the right pulmonary artery. Among the 27 cases with right aortic arch, 16 cases were accompanied with mirror image branches, 9 cases of which had complex cardiac malformations; 10 cases were associated with aberrant left subclavian artery, 1 case of which had complex cardiac malformations; 1 case was with isolated left subclavian artery, and without complex cardiac malformations. All 3 cases of left aortic arch were accompanied with isolated right subclavian artery and none of them were associated with complex cardiac malformations. Clinical outcomes of 30 cases with right PDA: 14 cases underwent ductus arteriosus ligation due to thick ductus or other heart malformations. In other 16 cases, 4 cases were closed spontaneously, 9 cases had persistent small ductus arteriosus, and 3 cases were lost to follow-up.Conclusions:Right ductus arteriosus is mostly related to the right aortic arch, and those with mirror image branches are prone to complex cardiac malformations; cases of left aortic arch with right ductus arteriosus are tend to accompany isolated right subclavian artery. Ultrasound has an important application in the screening and diagnosis of right PDA.

Objective:To investigate the feasibility of "twelve-section ultrasonic screening diagnosis method" in screening for neonatal complex congenital heart disease (CHD) in primary hospitals.Methods:This is a prospective study. A total of 71 580 newborns were screened for CHD using the "twelve-section ultrasonic screening diagnosis method" from four pilot units in Hebei province, which were Bo'ai Hospital of Huanghua Development Zone, Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital of Fengning County, Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital of Tang Country, and Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital of Rongcheng Country, from November 2015 to December 2019. Another 262 children with CHD were enrolled, including 39 with complex CHD. These cases received ultrasonography at four pilot units above and then were transferred to CHD Screening Diagnosis and Treatment Center of Hebei Children's Hospital (our center) prior to the implementation of "twelve-section ultrasonic screening diagnosis method" from June 2012 to June 2014, who were all confirmed by surgery. Set the diagnosis results of our center as the gold standard, the sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic consistency rate in screening for complex CHD cases were calculated. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis and Chi-square test were used to compare and analyze the sensitivity for screening neonatal complex CHD before and after implementing the method. The screening results of complex CHD after implementing the method between the pilot units and our center as well as between the four pilot units were compared and analyzed using Chi-square test. Results:A total of 553 (0.77%) CHD cases were detected by the "twelve-section ultrasound screening diagnosis method", including 66 cases of complex CHD and 487 cases simple CHD. Among the cases screened using the method, there were three false negative cases (one case with total anomalous pulmonary venous drainage, one with abnormal coronary artery originating from pulmonary artery, and one with atresia of distal to the left subclavian artery, aortic arch and left aortic arch of double-arch), one false positive case (false echo loss of aortopulmonary septal that was misdiagnosed as aortopulmonary septal defect), five cases of misdiagnosis (one common pulmonary venous atresia case that was misdiagnosed as total anomalous pulmonary venous drainage, one persistent stenosis of the fifth aortic arch that was misdiagnosed as coarctation of aorta, one pulmonary artery sling that was misdiagnosed as absence of left pulmonary artery, one severe coarctation of aorta that was misdiagnosed as interruption of aortic arch, and one aortic isthmus atresia that was misdiagnosed as coarctation of aorta), and all were complex CHD cases. A total of 68 cases (12.3%) of complex CHD were confirmed by our center. The overall sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic consistency rate of screening were 95.6% (65/68), 99.8% (484/485), and 86.8% (59/68), respectively and the area under ROC curve was 0.98. Before the implementation, the overall sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic coincidence rates of ultrasonic screening for complex CHD were 69.2%(27/39), 95.5%(213/223), and 61.5% (24/39), respectively, and the area under ROC curve was 0.82. The sensitivity of complex CHD screening was significantly increased after implementing the method ( χ2=14.28, P<0.05). There was no significant statistical significance in the sensitivity for screening complex CHD after the implementation between the pilots and our center or between the four pilots (all P>0.05). Conclusions:"Twelve-section ultrasonic screening diagnosis method" is suitable for the screening of neonatal complex CHD in hospitals at the county level. However patients with some special types of complex CHD are recommended to be transferred for a more accurate diagnosis.

Objective: To evaluate the disinfection efficacy of peracetic acid disinfectant (type Ⅲ ) on gastrointestinal endoscopy. Methods: Endoscopes were disinfected respectively by 2% glutaraldehyde (GA group) and peracetic acid disinfectant (type Ⅲ ) (PAA group) according to the process by the 2016 version of "Regulation for cleaning and disinfection technique of flexible endoscope" , and then samples were collected through biopsy channel at the specified steps. The bacterial count and pathogenic bacteria of these samples were detected. Hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg), hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody and Treponemia pallidum antibody (TP-Ab) were detected by chemiluminesent microparticle immunoassay (CMIA) in the PAA group. The PAA group were continuously sampled for 5 days. Results: A total of 56 gastroscopes and 16 colonoscopes were disinfected in the GA group, and 46 gastroscopes and 15 colonoscopes were disinfected in the PAA group. Compared with pre-disinfection, the bacterial count was both significantly reduced in the two groups after disinfection (P<0.05). The qualified rate of gastroscopes disinfection and total qualified rate of the PAA group were higher than those of the GA group [the qualified rate of gastroscopes: 97.83% (45/46) VS 92.86% (52/56), P>0.05; total qualified rate: 98.36% (60/61) VS 94.44% (68/72), P>0.05]. The qualified rate of colonoscopes in the two groups were both 100.00% (15/15, 16/16). After disinfecting by peracetic acid disinfectant (Type Ⅲ), HBsAg, anti-HCV and TP-Ab were negative. There were no significant differences on colonies number at different steps in a 5-day continuous sampling (P>0.05). Conclusion Peracetic acid disinfectant (type Ⅲ) can provide a satisfied disinfectant effect, and be applied in clinic to meet the requests of high-level disinfection for gastrointestinal endoscopy.

More than 85% of patients with uveal melanoma (UM) carry a GNAQ or GNA11 mutation at a hotspot codon (Q209) that encodes G protein α subunit q/11 polypeptides (Gα_q/11). GNAQ/11 relies on palmitoylation for membrane association and signal transduction. Despite the palmitoylation of GNAQ/11 was discovered long before, its implication in UM remains unclear. Here, results of palmitoylation-targeted mutagenesis and chemical interference approaches revealed that the loss of GNAQ/11 palmitoylation substantially affected tumor cell proliferation and survival in UM cells. Palmitoylation inhibition through the mutation of palmitoylation sites suppressed GNAQ/11^Q209L-induced malignant transformation in NIH3T3 cells. Importantly, the palmitoylation-deficient oncogenic GNAQ/11 failed to rescue the cell death initiated by the knock down of endogenous GNAQ/11 oncogenes in UM cells, which are much more dependent on Gα_q/11 signaling for cell survival and proliferation than other melanoma cells without GNAQ/11 mutations. Furthermore, the palmitoylation inhibitor, 2-bromopalmitate, also specifically disrupted Gα_q/11 downstream signaling by interfering with the MAPK pathway and BCL2 survival pathway in GNAQ/11-mutant UM cells and showed a notable synergistic effect when applied in combination with the BCL2 inhibitor, ABT-199, in vitro. The findings validate that GNAQ/11 palmitoylation plays a critical role in UM and may serve as a promising therapeutic target for GNAQ/11-driven UM.
Humans ; Mice ; Animals ; Lipoylation ; NIH 3T3 Cells ; Uveal Neoplasms/genetics* ; Melanoma/genetics* ; Cell Proliferation ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; GTP-Binding Protein alpha Subunits, Gq-G11/genetics*