Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Humans ; Lung ; physiopathology ; Middle Aged ; Pneumoconiosis ; physiopathology ; Pulmonary Ventilation ; physiology ; Respiratory Function Tests

Humans ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Pneumoconiosis ; diagnosis ; microbiology ; Sputum ; microbiology

Aim To investigate the changes in the expression of protein kinase C gamma (PKC?), phosphorylated cAMP response element binding protein(pCREB)and immediate-early gene(c-fos and c-jun) in the spinal cord in formalin-induced inflammatory pain and study the effect of agmatine on the changes of PKC? activation, phosphorylation of CREB and expression of c-fos and c-jun.Methods Rats were decapitated at 10, 20 min or 2 h after intraplantar injection of 50 ?l 5% formalin and L_4, 5 spinal cords were dissected. Immunohistochemistry and western blotting analyses were used to observe the expression of PKC?, pCREB, c-fos and c-jun in the spinal dorsal horn and the effect of agmatine on the changes of their expression. Results Unilateral peripheral inflammation induced PKC? activation and CREB phosphorylation bilaterally while c-fos and c-jun expression ipsilaterally in rat spinal cord. PKC activity increased in membrane fractions with unchanged levels in the cytosolic fractions. Pretreatment intraperitoneally with 160 mg?kg-1 agmatine 15 min before inflammation significantly inhibited the activation of PKC? in the membrane fraction, suppressed the phosphorylation of CREB and the expression of c-fos and c-jun. Conclusion The mechanism of the analgesic effect of agmatine may be associated with inhibiting PKC? activation in the plasma membrane, CREB phosphorylation, c-fos and c-jun up-regulation which play roles in the hyperalgesia with peripheral inflammation.

Objective: To evaluate the testing level of the relevant items in food inspection agency laboratory objectively, analyze the existing problems and help them enhance the ability of detection.Methods: The blind sample assessment of sodium saccharin in drinks was organized and performed.The test samples at high and low concentrations were prepared and studied by the tests of homogeneity and stability.Those met the requirements of blind sample assessment were randomly distributed to 193 laboratories and the returned data were analyzed statistically.Results: Totally 182 valid data were collected.Among the reported results, those from 85 laboratories were satisfied in the low concentration group with the satisfaction rate of 87.6% , those from 12 laboratories were not satisfied, and no results were suspicious;as for the high concentration group, the above data was 67(78.8%), 12 and 6, respectively.The overall satisfaction rate was 83.5%.The results, especially the dissatisfied and suspicious data, were analyzed by the original records of each participating laboratory, the analysis focused on 8 aspects including detection method, instrument brand, control product variety, pretreatment method, recovery rate, column selection and the other influencing factors, and suggestions were given to every laboratory to improve its own situation.Conclusion: The statistical data reflect that our food testing laboratory has strong detection ability in the determination of saccharin sodium in beverages, and can provide powerful technical support for the regulatory authorities.

To prepare the hawthorn leaves flavonoids self-microemulsifying membrane controlled-release coated drop pill, and to study its release rate in vitro and pharmacokinetics study in vivo. In order to improve the dissolution of hawthorn leaves flavonoids, self-microemulsifying technology was used to prepare the hawthorn leaves flavonoids self-microemulsion. Hawthorn leaves flavonoids self-microemulsifying drop pill was prepared with the PEG 6000. Studies were made on the in vitro release of flavonoids from hawthorn leaves self-micro-emulsifying membrane-moderated coated drop pills and the in vivo pharmacokinetic in rats. The prescription of flavonoids from hawthorn leaves self-micro-emulsifying drop pills was 0.25 g of flavonoids from hawthorn leaves, 0.25 g of iodophenyl maleimide, 0.375 g of polyethylene glycol 400, 0.375 g of cremophor RH 40 and 2 g of polyethylene glycol 6000. The optimized prescription was 4 g of ethyl cellulose 20, 0.64 g of polyethylene glycol 400, 1.8 g of diethyl phthalate, and the weight of coating materials increased by 3.5%. Flavonoids from hawthorn leaves self-micro-emulsifying membrane-moderated coated drop pills complied with the design of sustained-release in 12 h in terms of in vitro release and in vivo pharmacokinetic parameters in rats, and its bioavailability was 2.47 times of quick-release drop pills. Slightly soluble flavonoids from hawthorn leaves could be made into sustained-release preparations by the self-micro-emulsifying and coating technology.
Animals ; Chemistry, Pharmaceutical ; Crataegus ; chemistry ; Delayed-Action Preparations ; chemistry ; pharmacokinetics ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacokinetics ; Flavonoids ; chemistry ; pharmacokinetics ; Male ; Plant Leaves ; chemistry ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Objective To evaluate abdominal CT scan in predicting complications and mortality of acute pancreatitis patients. Methods CT imaging data of 606 AP patients from June 2010 to October 2011 were analyzed retrospectively. Fatty liver, pleural effusion, suprahepatic space effusion, biliary tract disease,gastric bare area involvement (GBAI),adrenal gland involvement (AGI) and perirenal space involvement (PSI) were evaluated,and the relationship between CT findings and complications and mortality was analyzed. Results (1) The Logistic regression analysis showed six risk factors for complications of AP,including obesity,fatty liver,PSI,AGI,GBAI and suprahepatic space effusion.The sensitivity,specificity and accuracy of Logistic regression model for predicting complications were 81.3％,89.1％ and 85.3 ％,respectively. (2) The Logistic regression analysis showed four risk factors for mortality of AP,including obesity,AGI,GBA and suprahepatic space effusion.The sensitivity,specificity and accuracy of Logistic regression model for predicting mortality were 33.3％, 98.6％, 96.0％, respectively.Conclusions Abdominal CT scan effectively indicates the signs of tissue and organ involvement in AP.These CT findings relate with the prognosis of AP.

Objective To establish embryonic stem cells (ESC) that can express green fluorescent protein (CFP) and differentiate them into neurons. It would provide tagging neurons for clinical transplantation to cure neural system diseases. Methods ESC (R1) was transfeeted with a plasmid containing the GFP by electroporation. A transgeuic cell line was obtained after selection with G418. The ESCs were characterized by AKP staining. Monolayer differentiation method was used to induce neural differentiation derived from GFP-ESC and immunofluorescence method was used to identify Tuj1 positive cells. Results There was no significant difference(X2=3.14,P0.05) in transfect rates between liposome and electroporation (65% vs 79%). The AKP staining of GFP-ESC was positive. GFP-ESC could be differentiated into neural cells. Conclusions These results show that ESC expressing GFP has been estabhshed, which can be differemiated into neurons.

Thirty healthy women and 101 patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) were recruited. According to serum testosterone (T) level and homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) ,the correlation of T and body mass index (BMI) with insulin resistance was analyzed. The results showed that there were 39. 8％ normal,24. 5％ overweight,and 35.7％ obese among 101 PCOS patients. However,there were no significantly differences in BMI, fasting plasma glucose ( FPG ), triglyceride ( TG ), total cholesterol ( TC), low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol ( LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol ( HDL-C ), and HOMA-IR levels between PCOS patients with hyperandrogenemia ( T ≥ 0. 51 μg/L) and normal androgenemia ( T ＜ 0. 51 μg/L). BMI, FPG, TG, TC, and LDL-C levels were higher and HDL-C level was lower in patients with insulin resistance( HOMA-IR ≥ 2. 29 ) than in patients without insulin resistance ( HOMA-IR ＜ 2. 29, P＜0. 05 or P＜ 0. 01 ). Serum T levels were not significantly different between two groups. HOMA-IR was significantly correlated with BMI(P＜0. 01 ), not with serum T, suggesting that the gain of body weight is correlated with insulin resistance independent of serum T level.

Aim To evaluate the analgesic effect of agmatine on inflammatory pain and its influence on the analgesic effect of morphine. To investigate whether the mechanism of analgesic effect of agmatine is related to activation of imidazoline receptor or to affect the release of endogenous glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) from rat spinal cord slices. Methods The formalin test in rats was used as a long-lasting inflammatory pain model. Effects of agmatine on basal and K+ evoked release of endogenous glutamate and GABA from rat spinal cord slices were determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Results Pretreatment with agmatine (ip or sc) inhibited the second phase of the nociceptive response of rats and potentiated the analgesic effect of morphine in phase 2, but not in phase 1. Idazoxan did not attenuate the analgesic effect of agmatine. Agmatine (1, 10, 100, 1000 ?mol?L -1 ) had no effect on the basal release of glutamate and GABA from spinal cord slices, nor did it affect the K+ (50 mmol?L -1 ) evoked release of glutamate and GABA contents. Conclusions Agmatine has an analgesic effect and enhances morphine analgesia in the second but not the first phase of formalin-induced nociception. Its analgesic effect does not likely involve imidazoline receptor. The mechanism of the analgesic effect of agmatine may not be associated with inhibiting glutamate release nor increasing the GABA content.

Studies have shown that women's menopause caused by permanent cessation of ovarian function is closely related to lipid metabolism disorders. Er-xian Decoction has been used in the clinical treatment for gynecological diseases and has a good effect on diseases related to reduced sex hormone function. In this study, metabolomics was performed on bilateral ovariectomized model rats within 12 weeks after modeling to mimic the physiological state of menopausal women in different menopausal stages and Er-xian Decoction dosed model rats. The results of liver oil red O staining sections showed lipid metabolic disorder of bilateral ovariectomized model rats and the regulating effects of Er-xian Decoction. 46 potential biomarkers (6 steroid hormones, 3 sphingolipids, 11 phospholipids and 26 glycerides) in plasma and 32 potential biomarkers (1 steroid hormones, 20 phospholipids and 11 glycerides) in liver were obtained based on lipidomics analysis. Then, we analyzed the differential metabolic pathways and construct the lipid metabolism network significantly regulated by Er-xian Decoction. The results provided valuable information for in-depth understanding of the gradual changes on lipid metabolism disorders under menopausal conditions and the characteristics and mechanisms of compound Er-xian Decoction's regulatory effects. The study complied with the procedures established by the Animal Experiment Ethics Committee of the Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and passed the animal experiment ethics examine (No. 00000918).