Objective To establish a HPLC method for the assay of Dehydroandrographolide in Fufang Kumu Xiaoyan Pian. Methods Standard was Dehydroandrographolide, HPLC was used with Agilent ZORBAX SB-C18 column (4.6 mm?150 mm, 5 ?m). The mobile phrase was consisted of acetonitrile-0.1% Ammonia slution (30∶70). The detection wavelength at 253 nm. The flow rate was 1 mL/min. Results The assay displayed good linearity. The linear range of ephedrine Hydrochloride was 0.049 92~4.992 ?g (r =0.999 9, n =7). The average recovery was 99.70% and RSD was 0.63% (n =9). Conclusion This method is simple, accurate and can be used for the quality control of Fufang Kumu Xiaoyan Pian.

Objectives To understand current status of the admission and treatment for the patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in central hospitals of Shanghai area,and to evaluate the severity of patients admitted to the hospital with CAP by the criteria set in the Guidelines for Diagnosis and Treatment for CAP developed by the Chinese Medical Association in 2006 and provide evidence for its popularization and application throughout the country.Methods Medical records of 137 patients with CAP admitted to the hospital from January 1,2005 to September 30,2006 were retrospectively studied and analyzed with SPSS 10.0 software.Chi-square test and ANOVA were used to evaluate the severity of the patients with CAP by the criteria set in the Guidelines and to correlate it with pneumonia severity index (PSI).Statistical analysis was performed for the difference between length of hospitalization,cost,length of intravenous use of antibiotics,the number of risk factors,and fatality during hospitalization between three groups of patients categorized based on the severity criteria in the Guidelines.Results There existed a good relationship between the criteria for severity of CAP by the Guidelines and PSI,with a Pearson's coefficient of correlation of 0.577,P

Abstract Objective:To investigate whether mRNA of prolactin(PRL) ,an important immunomodulatory hormone,is expressed in thyroidglands of patients with Graves'disease(GD) .Methods:The expression of PRL mRNA was examined by nonisotopic in situ hybridization in GDthyroid glands and the control ones( including multinodular goiters and samples of normal thyroid tissue adjacent to adenomas) as well as intra-thyroidal mononuclear cells isolated from GD thyroid glands and primary thyroid follicular cell(TFC) cultures derived from them.Results:PRL mRNA was expressed in GD thyroid glands, but not in the control ones. It was localized in infiltrating mononuclear cells and vascular endothelial cells adjacent to mononuclear cell infiltrates, but not in TFC .(9.8?.3)% (x ?s) of intrathyroidal mononuclear cells isolated from GD thy-roid were found containing PRL mRNA.It was absent in the primary TFC cultures. Conclusion:PRL mRNA is expressed in GD thyroid tissue. This indicates that PRL-like substance can be locally produced in GD thyroid tissue, which may play an important role in GD pathogenesis by autocrine and paracrine mechanisms.

Objective To use peer education to guide community diabetic patients to adopt diet therapy using food exchange method in order to explore effective method for diet therapy of diabetes mellitus. Meth-ods 91 diabetic patients were selected using simple sampling method and randomly divided into the peer ed-ucation(45 cases) and the common education group(46 cases), the two groups adopted food exchange method for diet therapy for 1 year. The blood glucose, blood lipid, glycosylated hemoglobin and body weight index were compared between the two groups using t test. Results The blood glucose, blood lipid, glycosylated hemoglobin and body weight index all decreased in the two groups after intervention, but the the decreased de-gree in the peer education group was more obvious. The fasting blood glucose, 2 hour postprandial blood glu-cose, glycosylated hemoglobin, triglyceride, low-donordensity lipid protein and body weight index in the peer education were lower thanthose of the common education group, but HDL-C was higher. Conclusions Peer education is more effective in health education of food exchange method.

The immunoregulation effect to polysaccharides from Bifidobacterium spp. was investigated on the base of functional assessment standards of health food. Effects of the EPS on immunity were investigated by promoted the proliferation of spleen lymph cells, delayed type hypersensitivity reaction, the HC50 value and macrophage function assay in mice. Data showed that the EPS could obviously increase the ratio of swallowed chicken red blood cell by macrophage and the HC50 value in mice. However, no significant effect was found on the delayed type hypersensitive induced by sheep red blood cell, for only the low dose of 100 mg/(kg?d) EPS promoted the proliferation of spleen lymph cells. Bifidobacterium spp. EPS can certain immunomodulating function.

Objective To monitor the change of cardiac function in neonatal sepsis by using the ultrasonic cardiac output monitor(USCOM).Methods Thirty two cases of mild sepsis neonates and nineteen cases of severe sepsis neonates were enrolled and thirty three cases of healthy neonates were enrolled in the control group.The cardiac output indicators of three groups were monitored by USCOM.The differences of cardiac function among 3 groups and the changes of candiac function after treatment in septic neonates were investigated.Results Compared with control group,the heart rate,systemic vascular resistance of mild sepsis neonates group and severe sepsis neonates group were significantly higher,and the cardiac output,systolic volume,cardiac index,aortic peak velocity were significantly lower,the differences were statistically significant(P<0.05).The cardiac index,cardiac output were significactly lower in severe sepsis neonates group than those in mild sepsis neonates group(P<0.05).After improving cardiac function treatment,all cardiac function indexes of sepsis neonates were improved than before treatment,the differences were statistically significant(P<0.05).Conclusion There are significant cardiac function changes in sepsis neonates.The cardiac function and overall circulation state monitoring by USCOM is fast and convenient,and USCOM can provide the basis for treatment and evaluation of the neonatal sepsis.

Objective To investigate the effect of pigment epithelium- derived factor (PEDF) on p38MAPK-CREB pathway and the expression of fibronectin (FN) in human mesangial cells (HMCs) cultured with high glucose. Methods HMCs were treated with different concentrations of glucose and the osmotic control respectively in the presence or absence of PEDF for 24 h:normal glucose (5.6 mmol/L),24.4 mmol/L mannitol,high glucose (30 mmol/L),high glucose+PEDF(30 mmol/L glucose with 10 nmol/L PEDF,40 nmol/L PEDF or 100 nmol/L PEDF).After samples were collected,the expression of phospho-p38MAPK (p-p38) and p-CREB was assessed by Western blotting,while FN mRNA and protein expression was assessed with RT-PCR and ELISA respectively. Results In contrast to normal glucose and mannitol treatments,the expression of p-p38MAPK,p-CREB and FN increased significantly in high glucose group (all P＜ 0.01).However,PEDF abolished the up-regulation of p-p38MAPK,p-CREB and FN induced by high glucose (all P＜0.05). Conclusion PEDF may inhibit fibrosis through P38MAPK-CREB pathway in diabetic nephropathy.

OBJECTIVE:To establish a method for the content determination of kaempferol in Kaempferia galanga. METH-ODS:HPLC was performed on the column of Diamonsil ODS2 C18 with mobile phase of methanol-0.4% Phosphoric acid solution at a flow rate of 1 ml/min,detection wavelength was 367 nm,column temperature was 30℃,and injection volume was 10 μl. RE-SULTS:The linear range of kaempferol was 0.001 58-0.158 mg/ml;RSDs of precision,stability and reproducibility tests were low-er than 3%;recovery was 95.52%-99.32%(RSD=1.47%,n=6). CONCLUSIONS:The method is simple,accurate and reproduc-ible,and can be used for the content determination of kaempferol in K. galanga.

AIM:To observe the neuritogenic actions of botulinum neurotoxin serotype A heavy chain ( BoNT/A HC) on cultured Neuro-2a cells and to investigate the related signaling mechanisms for the effect of BoNT /A HC. METHODS:Neuro-2a cells were treated with different doses of BoNT/A HC (0.01, 0.1, 1 and 10 nmol/L), and then the cells were harvested at 24 h, 48 h and 72 h of BoNT/A HC exposure for detecting the neurite length and the percen-tage of the cells with neuronal processes by immunofluorescence staining .The most efficient dose of BoNT/A HC was cho-sen for exposure to Neuro-2a cells as the above.Whole cell protein was harvested at different time points for detecting the protein levels of phosphorylated ERK 1/2 ( p-ERK1/2 ) and phosphorylated Akt ( p-Akt ) by Western blot .RESULTS:Low doses of BoNT/A HC stimulated the neurite outgrowth , and increased the percentage of the cells with neurites com-pared with the negative controls (P<0.05), especially in the group with 1 nmol/L of BoNT/A HC treatment.Meanwhile, the phosphorylation of ERK 1/2 and Akt was increased after treated with BoNT/A HC.There was an increasing tendency for the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 after the exposure of the cells to BoNT/A HC.The obvious increase in p-ERK1/2 was seen from 60 min to 5 h with 1 nmol/L of BoNT/A HC treatment ( P<0.05 ) , and the increased protein level of p-Akt was mainly observed at 15 min and 60 min ( P<0.05 ) .CONCLUSION: BoNT/A HC stimulates the neuritogenesis .The neuritogenic mechanism of BoNT/A HC on Neuro-2a cells might be realized by activation of the phosphorylation of ERK 1/2 and Akt.

Recently, drug delivery materials have become the hotspot of medical study. Suitable delivery material plays an important role in constructing an excellent drug delivery system. Silk fibroin is a naturally occurring protein polymer with excellent biocompatibility, remarkable mechanical properties, biodegradability and outstanding processability. Due to its unique properties, silk fibroin has become a favorable carrier material for the incorporation and delivery of a range of therapeutic agents. Based on the structure and characteristics of silk fibroin, this article provides an overview of the recent research progress of silk fibroin used as drug delivery materials.
Biocompatible Materials ; Drug Delivery Systems ; Fibroins ; chemistry