Objective To explore the association between acute ischemic stroke and albumin to creatinine ratio (ACR).Methods A case-control study.During January to December in 2013, 127 acute ischemic stroke patients as case group and 150 controls who were similar with case group in age and gender were recruited in Tianjin Union Medicine Center . According to diabetes , hypertension , cardiovascular diseases and patients without these three diseases , case group was divided into A1, B1, C1 and D1 subgroups, control group was divided into A2, B2, C2 and D2 subgroups in the same way.The first morning urine from participants were collected .Urinary albumin concentration was tested by nephelometry , urinary creatinine was examined by using enzymic method , ACR were calculated(≥30 mg/g as the cutoff value). Then difference of ACR between case and control group was compared , the cutoff value of albuminuria for ischemic stroke patients was analyzed by ROC , and the risk factor of ischemic stroke were analyzed by logistic regression analysis.Results The prevalence of albuminuria in ischemic stroke patients was 38.58%(49).According to analysis of covariance, after adjustment for age, gender, cardiac-disease, diabetes, hypertension, lnACR in case group was significantly higher than control group (3.18 mg/g vs 2.78 mg/g, t=2.13 P=0.03), especially D1 was significantly higher than D2 subgroup (3.01 mg/g vs 2.51 mg/g,t=5.56,P=0.009) .If 19.82 mg/g from ROC analysis was used as the cut-off value, the sensitivity and specificity are 68.5% and 61.7%.The odds ratio ( OR ) of ACR >19.82 mg/g was about 2-fold when compared with ACR<19.82 mg/g adjusted for stroke risk factors , and the OR value is 2.43 in comparison of patients without diabetes , hypertension and cardiovascular diseases .Conclusions Urinary albumin excretion is the independent risk factor of ischemic stroke .The increased urinary albumin has important clinical significance to predict the risk of ischemic stroke for the patients without diabetes , hypertension and cardiovascular diseases.

Dust ; Humans ; Inflammation ; metabolism ; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins ; metabolism ; Silicon Dioxide ; adverse effects ; Silicosis ; metabolism

Objective: To observe the clinical efficacy of acupuncture plus medicine in treating laryngopharyngeal reflux due to liver-qi stagnation and spleen deficiency. Methods: A total of 70 patients were divided into a control group and an observation group by the random number table method, with 35 cases in each group. Both groups were treated with conventional medications, and the observation group was treated with additional acupuncture therapy. The reflux symptom index (RSI) and reflux finding score (RFS) were evaluated. Esophageal motility indicators such as lower esophageal sphincter pressure (LESP) and upper esophageal sphincter pressure (UESP), and salivary pepsin level were measured. The clinical efficacy was also compared. Results: The total effective rate of the observation group was higher than that of the control group (P<0.05). After treatment, the RSI and RFS scores in both groups decreased significantly (all P<0.05), and the RSI and RFS scores in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group (both P<0.05). There were no significant changes in the LESP and UESP in the control group (both P>0.05), while LESP and UESP in the observation group increased significantly (both P<0.05), and higher than those in the control group (both P<0.05). The salivary pepsin levels in both groups decreased (both P<0.05), and the salivary pepsin level in the observation group was significantly lower than that in the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion: Acupuncture plus medicine can improve symptoms and signs in patients with laryngopharyngeal reflux due to liver-qi stagnation and spleen deficiency, and regulate esophageal motility and salivary pepsin level. Its efficacy is more significant compared with medicine alone.

The marine biological source of mineral drugs recorded in Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2010 version) mainly including pearl, nacre, clam shell, common oyster shell, ark shell, cuttle bone, and sea-ear shell are widely used in clinical. Calcium carbonate and a small amount of protein are the main components in this type of drugs. In this paper, a systematical and comparable study were carried out by determination of calcium carbonate by EDTA titration method, the crystal of calcium carbonate by X-Ray powder diffraction and the total amino acids (TAAs) of the hydrolyzed samples by ultraviolet spectrophotometry method. As a result, the crystal structure is calcite for common oyster shell, mixture of calcite and aragonite for nacre and sea-ear shell, aragonite for the other drugs. The content of calcium carbonate ranged from 86% to 96%. Cuttle bone has the highest amount of TAAs among the seven drugs which reached 1.7% while clam shell has the lowest content of 0.16% on average. In conclusion, an effective method was developed for the quality control of marine mineral drugs by comprehensive analysis of calcium carbonate and TAAs in the seven marine mineral drugs.
Amino Acids ; analysis ; chemistry ; Animal Shells ; chemistry ; Animals ; Calcium Carbonate ; analysis ; chemistry ; Crystallization ; Edetic Acid ; chemistry ; Mollusca ; chemistry ; classification ; Pharmaceutical Preparations ; analysis ; chemistry ; standards ; Quality Control ; Reproducibility of Results ; Seawater ; Species Specificity ; Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet ; X-Ray Diffraction

In order to investigate the antioxidant properties of the polysaccharides from the brown alga Sargassum fusiforme, the crude polysaccharides from S. fusiforme (SFPS) were extracted in hot water, and the lipid peroxidation inhibition assay exhibited that SFPS possessed a potential antioxidant activity. Hence, two purely polymeric fractions, SFPS-1 and SFPS-2 were isolated by the column of DEAE (2-diethylaminoethanol)-Sepharose Fast Flow, with their molecular weights of 51.4 and 30.3 kDa determined by high performance gel permeation chromatography (HPGPC). They were preliminarily characterized using chemical analysis in combination of infrared (IR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopies and found to contain large amounts of uronic acids and beta-glycosidical linkages. The antioxidant activities of these two SFPS fractions were evaluated using superoxide and hydroxyl radical-scavenging assays. The results show that the antioxidant ability of SFPS-2 was higher than that of SFPS-1, probably correlating with the molecular weight and uronic acid content.
Antioxidants ; chemistry ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Molecular Weight ; Pilot Projects ; Polysaccharides ; chemistry ; Sargassum ; metabolism

AIMTo identify the main metabolites of hydrochloride 4-methyl-piperazine-1-carbodithioc acid 3-cyano-3,3-diphenyl-propyl ester (TM208) in rats.

METHODSRat feces, urine and plasma samples were collected after ig 500 mg x kg(-1) TM208, then the samples were extracted and concentrated using ethyl acetate. The treated samples were analyzed by HPLC-ESI/ITMSn. The structures of metabolites were elucidated according to the rules of drug metabolism and disposition in vivo and the characteristic fragmentation behaviors of TM208 in ESI-ITMSn.

RESULTSEight phase I metabolites were identified existing in rat feces, five of them were also found in rat urine and plasma, but no phase II metabolite was found.

CONCLUSIONThe HPLC-ESI/ITMSn method is rapid, highly sensitive and specific and it is suitable for the identification of TM208 and its metabolites in rats.

Animals ; Antineoplastic Agents ; blood ; metabolism ; urine ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Feces ; chemistry ; Male ; Molecular Structure ; Piperazines ; blood ; metabolism ; urine ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reproducibility of Results ; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization ; methods

OBJECTIVE:To observe the changes of insoluble particles in traditional Chinese drugs injections(TCDI)mixed with infusion fluid and to study the way to solve METHODS:61 kinds of TCDI in therapeutic dosages were mixed in 0 9% sodium chloride solution,then the insoluble particles formed with diameters of 2 5?5 0?10 0 and 25 0?m were counted with Coulter counter,and determined with physical method and microscope The precise filter for liquid medicine were investigated in respect to its flow rate,quantity of flow,adsorbability and scavenging action RESULTS:(1)The number of insoluble particles in 26 kinds of TCDI exceeded the standard in ChP accounting for 42 6% of total samples observed (2)The insoluble particles included glass fragments,active carbon,rubber particles,soft flocks and residue of drugs (3)The flow rate and quantity of flow met the clinical requirement with a scavenging rate of 88 5%,and no adsorbability was found CONCLUSION:Precise infilter for liquid medicine can scavenge the particles in TCDI so as to ensure the safe use of drugs for patients

Background & Objective:Background &Objective: The class Ⅰ Alcohol Dehydrogenases (ADH) play a key role in hepatic alcohol catabolism. Human ADH is encoded by at least seven genes, and three class Ⅰ ADH genes-ADH1, ADH2 and ADH3, which encode the α, β, and γ subunit respectively, had been isolated and mapped on chromosome 4q21-q25. This experiment tends to clone the human class Ⅰ ADH and investigate its role in the hepatic alcohol catabolism. Methods: A pair of primers were designed and the full-length cDNAs encoding human Class Ⅰ ADH were cloned at one time. Class Ⅰ ADH cDNAs were amplified with RT-PCR from total RNA extracted from fetal human liver and kidney, and cloned into pGEM-T vector. To identify cDNA segments, a pair of differential primers was designed. By using them, a portion of the ADHs which encodes the segment from -4 to 296 was cloned. These cDNA segments then were detected directly when being digested with Kpn Ⅰ and Pst Ⅰ, respectively. Then all the full-length cDNAs were subcloned in the plasmid pTYB11 and expressed in E. Coli. Stably. Alcohol Dehydrogenase activity of catalyzing alcohol were monitored at 340 nm. Results: Here we had successfully the human class Ⅰ ADH cloned and the full-length cDNAs expressed in E.col.I stably. The relative activity of recombinant enzymes metabolizing ethanol was 0.81 ～1.31 U/mg,0.09 ～0.15 U/mg and 0.76～1.11 U/mg, respectively. Conclusions: In the paper, the full-length cDNAs encoding human class Ⅰ AD H were successfully cloned and expressed and the recombinant enzymes showed the activities similar to the ones isolated from liver.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the anti-hyperlipidemic effects of apple polyphenols extract (APE) in Triton WR-1339-induced endogenous hyperlipidemic model.

METHODSFirstly, APE was isolated and purified from the pomace of Red Fuji Apple and contents of individual polyphenols in APE were determined using high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS). Secondly, forty male National Institude of Health (NIH) mice were randomly divided into 5 groups with 8 animals in each group. The Fenofibrate Capsules (FC) group and APE groups received oral administration of respective drugs for 7 consecutive days. All mice except those in the normal group were intravenously injected through tail vein with Triton WR-1339 on the 6th day. Serum and livers from all the mice were obtained 18 h after the injection. The changes in serum total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), lipoprotein lipase (LPL) and hepatic triglyceride lipase (HTGL) were measured by respective kits. Finally, expression of hepatic peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα) mRNA was measured by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method. RESULTS SERUM TC AND TG LEVELS SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED IN TRITON WR-1339-INDUCED MODEL GROUP COMPARED WITH THE NORMAL GROUP (P<0.01). ORAL ADMINISTRATION OF APE [200 AND 400 MG/(KG DAY)] DOSE-DEPENDENTLY REDUCED THE SERUM LEVEL OF TG IN HYPERLIPIDEMIC MICE (P<0.01). SERUM LPL AND HTGL ACTIVITIES SIGNIFICANTLY DECREASED IN TRITON WR-1339-INDUCED MODEL GROUP COMPARED WITH THE NORMAL GROUP (P<0.05). ORAL ADMINISTRATION OF APE [200 AND 400 MG/(KG DAY)] DOSE-DEPENDENTLY ELEVATED THE SERUM ACTIVITY OF LPL IN HYPERLIPIDEMIC MICE (P<0.05 OR P<0.01). FURTHERMORE, COMPARED WITH THE NORMAL GROUP, HEPATIC MRNA LEVEL OF PPARα IN THE MODEL GROUP SIGNIFICANTLY DECREASED (P<0.01). ORAL ADMINISTRATION OF APE [200 AND 400 MG/(KG DAY)] DOSE-DEPENDENTLY ELEVATED THE EXPRESSION OF PPARα IN HYPERLIPIDEMIC MICE (P<0.05 OR P<0.01):

CONCLUSIONAPE could reduce TG level via up-regulation of LPL activity, which provides new evidence to elucidate the anti-hyperlipidemic effects of APE.

Animals ; Chlorogenic Acid ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Cholesterol ; blood ; Flavonoids ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Hyperlipidemias ; blood ; drug therapy ; enzymology ; pathology ; Hypolipidemic Agents ; pharmacology ; Lipoprotein Lipase ; blood ; genetics ; Male ; Mice ; PPAR alpha ; genetics ; metabolism ; Phytotherapy ; Polyethylene Glycols ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; metabolism ; Tannins ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Triglycerides ; blood ; Up-Regulation ; drug effects

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the value of ascitic bacterial 16S rRNA gene determination in the rapid diagnosis of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP).

METHODS16S rRNA gene from bacterial DNA in ascites was determined by quantitative fluorescent polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 76 patients with suspected SBP and 6 patients with non-infectious ascites. The results were compared with those obtained from bacterial culture.

RESULTSThe positive rate of SBP was 22.4% among patients detected with ascitic bacterial 16S rRNA gene determination-based quantitative fluorescent PCR, which was significantly higher than that (7.9%) in patients only received bacterial culture (P<0.05). In addition,in 6 patients with non-infectious ascites,both the 16S rRNA gene determination-based quantitative fluorescent PCR and bacterial culture showed negative results.

CONCLUSIONS16S rRNA gene determination-based quantitative fluorescent PCR can be an effective tool for the rapid diagnosis of SBP. It is more sensitive than the bacterial culture.

Adult ; Aged ; Ascitic Fluid ; microbiology ; Bacterial Infections ; diagnosis ; DNA, Bacterial ; analysis ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Peritonitis ; diagnosis ; microbiology ; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S