Background Studies showed that inflammatory process participates in the pathogenesis anddevelopment of diabetic retinopathy targeting retinal vascular endothelial cells (RVECs).A growing body of evidence revealed that metformin reduces the risk of micro-and macro-vascular complications by protecting blood-brain barrier,however,whether it plays a protective effect on human retinal vascular by similar mechanism is still unelucidated.Objective This study was to investigate the effects of metformin on the proliferation,migration and secreting monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) of human retinal vascular endothelial cells (RVECs) under the stimulation of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α).Methods RVECs were cultured and divided into normal control group,metformin (5 mmol/L) group,TNF-α 2.5 ng/ml group,and TNF-α+metformin (5,10,20 and 40 mmol/L,respectively) groups.Corresponding drugs were added into medium according to grouping for 24 hours.Cell numbers were calculated before and after treatment.The metabolic activity (absorbancy) of RVECs was measured with MTS assay.Cell migration of RVECs was assessed with transwell migration assay.The MCP-1 and IL-8 concentrations in the cell supernatant were detected by ELISA assay.Results The number of the cells was significantly different among the normal control group,metformin group,TNF-α group,and TNF-α+metformin (5,10,20 and 40 mmol/L,respectively) groups (F =189.31,P ＜ 0.01).The metabolic activities of RVECs were 0.32 + 0.02,0.32±0.03,0.97 ± 0.02,0.90 ± 0.05,0.76 ± 0.15,0.74 ± 0.05 and 0.41 ± 0.03;migrated cell numbers were (1 214±49),(1 200±45),(1 648±43),(1 309±48),(1 279±73),(961±60) and (942±106)/field;the concentrations of MCP-1 were (0.385 ±0.050),(0.362±0.060),(2.285 ±0.200),(1.131 ±0.180),(0.622 ± 0.120),(0.537±0.090) and (0.492±0.130) μg/ml,and those of IL-8 were (0.385±0.080),(0.390±0.120),(1.123±0.130),(0.899±0.180),(0.680±0.060),(0.417±0.090) and (0.335±0.100) μg/ml in the normal control group,metformin group,TNF-α group,and TNF-α + metformin (5,10,20 and 40 mmol/L,respectively) groups,showing significant differences among the groups (F =73.31,103.89,150.92,268.32,all at P＜ 0.01).The cell number,cell metabolic activity,migrated cell number,and MCP-1 and IL-8 levels in the cell supernatant were evidently increased in the TNF-α group compared with the normal control group,and those in the TNF-α+10 mmol/L metformin group,TNF-e +20 mmol/L metformin group and TNF-α+40 mmol/L metformin group were significantly decreased in comparison with the TNF-α group (all at P＜0.05).Conclusions Metformin can inhibit TNF-α-induced proliferation,migration and MCP-1 and IL-8 secretion of the cells,and therefore plays a protective role on RVECs in the inflammatory environment.

OBJECTIVETo observe the curative effect of Qianjin Kouchuang Jiawei Granule (QKJG) on recurrent oral ulceration [yin deficiency fire excess type (YDFET)].

METHODSTotally 120 patients who suffered from recurrent oral ulceration (YDFET) were randomly assigned to two groups, the experiment group and the control group, 60 in each group. Patients in the experiment group took QKJG, 20 g each time, twice per day, while those in the control group took Kouyanqing Granule (KG) , 20 g each time, twice per day. Fourteen days consisted of one therapeutic course, two for all. Scores for patients' symptoms and signs (ulcer area, exudation, hyperaemia, edema, the number of ulceration, burning sensation, and pain degrees) were assessed before treatment, at day 3 and 7 after treatment. Short-term efficacy was assessed by visual analogue scale (VAS). The total paralysis time and the total number of ulceration at month 12 after treatment were taken as judgment for long-term efficacy. Results Compared with before treatment in the same group, symptoms and signs were obviously improved at day 3 and 7 after treatment in the two groups (P < 0.05). Compared with the control group at day 3 after treatment, the improvement of edema, exudation, pain degree, and burning sensation was more obvious in the experiment group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). The improvement of edema, pain degree, and burning sensation at day 7 after treatment was more obvious in the experiment group than in the control group (P < 0.05). As for short-term efficacy, the total effective rate was 86.67% (52/60 cases) in the experiment group and 83.33% (50/60 cases) in the control group, with no statistical difference between the two groups (P > 0.05). As for long-term efficacy, the total effective rate was 90.00% (54/60 cases) in the experiment group, significantly higher than that of the control group with statistical difference [81.67% (49/60 cases), P < 0.05]. At month 12 after treatment, the total number of ulceration was reduced and the paralysis time of ulcer attack prolonged in the experiment group, with statistical difference when compared with the control group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONQKJG showed better long-term efficacy than that of KG in treating recurrent oral ulceration (YDFET).

Chronic Disease ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Pain Measurement ; Phytotherapy ; Treatment Outcome ; Yin Deficiency ; drug therapy

Objective:To establish the quality standard for Naolingsu Tablets.Methods: Applying the technique of TLC, Radix Ginseng and Herba Epimedii were identified. The content of icariin was determined by HPLC. Results: Radix Ginseng and Herba Epimedii can be determined by TLC. Icariin showed a good linear relationship in the range of 0.011 ～ 0.424 ?g and the average recovery is 102.1% , RSD is 1.0% . Conclusion: The methods are simple, sensitive and accurate with good reproducibility. The methods may be used for quality control of Naolingsu Tablets.

Animals ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Myocarditis ; metabolism ; virology ; Myocardium ; metabolism ; Osteopontin ; metabolism ; Virus Diseases ; metabolism

Benzoates ; urine ; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry ; methods ; Humans

Objective To explore the changes of serum nitric oxide(NO) and trace element Zinc in children with pneumonia and their clinical significance.Methods The observing group contained 48 patients with pneumonia in our hospital from Oct.2005 to May 2006,who were collected 3 mL of blood sample on empty stomach on the second day.Twenty-six of them had been collected serum during their convalescence stage.The control group contained 20 children,who were healthy in the same stage.The levels of NO of 48 pneumonia,26 convalescence stage(recovery group) and 20 healthy patients were determined by UV-2100 spectrophotometer.The Zinc in serum was determined by P-E503-mode atomic absorption spectrophotometric analysis antigenic in those patients.Blood viscosity was measured and analyzed with the statistic analysis SPSS 10.0 software.Results The levels of NO in pneumonia children[(57.76?19.41) ?mol/L] were significantly higher than that in control group [(25.09?5.51) ?mol/L] and recovery group[(30.08?8.05) ?mol/L](P_a

Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, including coronary heart disease, periph-eral vascular disease and atherosclerosis, are the first cause of death worldwide. The pathogenesis of atherosclerosis is a complex process that involves a number of cellular processes and molecular mecha-nisms, such as disorder of lipid metabolism, inflammatory cell infiltration, oxidative stress, vascular en-dothelial cells injury and activation of smooth muscle cells. Their interaction eventually leads to plaque rupture and thrombus formation, causing serious cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events. Chinese medicine has displayed rich anti-AS activities and clinical applications. This review summarizes the anti-atherosclerosis effects and possible mechanisms of Chinese medicine in regulating lipid metabolism, anti-inflammation and antioxidation, protecting endothelial cells, inhibiting the proliferation and migration of smooth muscle cells, improving coagulation and fibrinolysis systems and stabilizing the plaque.

The paper analyzes and discusses the necessity of integrating computational thinking into basic computer teaching by combining characteristics of medical undergraduates and the current situation and tendency of basic computer teaching,and states the thought and method of solving problems with the computational thinking by taking mind mapping and program design thought as the teaching cases,in order to cultivate the consciousness and ability of students in constructing problem solutions by taking advantage of the computational thinking.

Objective To examine the relationship of heparanase expression and age, clinicopathological features and prognosis of ovarian cancer patients. Methods Forty-one ovarian cancer specimens, from the patients admitted to the 3 hospitals of our university during the period of Jan 2003 to Nov 2005, were of serous carcinoma (22 cases) and mucous carcinoma (10 cases) and other types (9 cases), of which 16 were well and moderately differentiated and 25 poorly differentiated. Ten specimens of normal ovarian tissues were taken as normal controls. The heparanase expression was detected in all specimens and its relationship with histologic type, differentiation, FIGO stage and prognosis of the ovarian cancer was analyzed. Results The positive rate of heparanase expression was 80.48% in ovarian cancer tissues and 10.00% in normal ovarian tissues (P

A simple and sensitive high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HPLC–FD) has been developed for simultaneous quantification of doxorubicin (DOX) and its dipeptide conjugate prodrug (PDOX) in mice plasma. The chromatographic separation was carried out on an Amethyst C18–H column with gradient mobile phase of 0.1%formic acid and 0.1%formic acid in acetonitrile at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The excitation and emission wavelengths were set at 490 and 550 nm, respectively. The method was comprehensively validated. The limits of detection were low up to 5.0 ng/mL for DOX and 25.0 ng/mL for PDOX. And the limits of quantification were low up to 12.5 ng/mL for DOX and 50 ng/mL for PDOX, which were lower than those for most of the current methods. The calibration curves showed good linearity (R2 4 0.999) over the concentration ranges. The extraction recoveries ranged from 84.0%to 88.2% for DOX and from 85.4% to 89.2% for PDOX. Satisfactory intra-day and inter-day precisions were achieved with RSDs less than 9.1%. The results show that the developed HPLC–FD method is accurate, reliable and will be helpful for preclinical pharmacokinetic study of DOX and PDOX.