The determination of pantothenic acid in infant formula was carried out by means of HPLC. The sample was dissolved in deionizid water and put in an ultra-sonic generator for 15 minutes, adjust pH to precipitate protein. After centrifugation the supernatants were used as test sample for HPLC analysis. Column: Bondapak C18, Detector: ultraviolet 200nm, and 0.01M KH2PO4/CH3OH as eluant. Coefficient of variation was 6.58% and recovery was 93.78%.The method might be applicable to milk and milk products and alsoto the samples containing free pantothenic acid such as wheat germ and flour.

In this paper, murine natural killer (NK) cells were studied with cytochemistry and electron-microscopy after treated with interleukin-2 (IL-2) and polysaccharide of astragalus (PA). The results showed that acid phosphatase (AcP), acid naphthylacetate esterase (ANAE) and naphthol-AS-D chloroacetate esterase (NCAE) were positive in NK cells, and the activity of AcP and ANAE was enhanced by IL-2 and PA. Significant changes of NK cells in ultrastructure took place after preculturing with IL-2.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the role of cinnabar and realgar in Angong Niuhuang Wan (AGNH) -produced neuroprotection against lipopolysaccharide ( LPS) -mediated neuronal damage and further explore the corresponding mechanisms. METHODS Primary rat midbrain neuron-glia cultures were used as an in vitro model to investigate effects of AGNH on LPS-mediated degeneration of dopamine (DA) neurons. The experiment was divided into normal control group, LPS model group, LPS + cinnabar (4 and 40 mg·L-1) groups, LPS + realgar (4 and 40 mg·L-1 ) groups and LPS + AGNH (40 and 400 mg·L-1 ) group. Drugs were added 30 min before LPS treatment. After 7 d, dopaminergic neurotoxicity was assessed through the quantification of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-positive neurons and morphological analysis of TH-positive neurons; the activation of microglia was evaluated using OX-42 antibody; the gene expression of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and induced nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) mRNA in microglia was performed by real-time RT-PCR analysis, and the release of TNF-α and nitric oxide (NO) in the supernatant of neuron-glia cultures was determined respectively by the ELISA and Griess reagent. RESULTS Compared with normal control group, DA neurons in LPS model group decreased by 40% (P <0.05) , microglial activation was induced, the expression of TNF-α mRNA and iNOS mRNA in microglia increased 9 and 2 times, respectively ( P < 0. 05 ) , and subsequent production of TNF-α and NO in the supernatant of neuron-glia cultures increased 20 and 30 times, respectively (P<0.05). Compared with LPS model group, AGNH 400 mg·L-1 and realgar 40 mg·L-1 significantly attenuated LPS-mediated DA neuronal loss by 40% and 30% , respectively (P<0.05) and inhibited activation of microglia and expression of TNF-α mRNA by 61% and 52% (P <0.05). iNOS mRNA was reduced by 58% and 51% (P <0.05 ) in microglia. The subsequent release of TNF-α was reduced by 55% and 43% (P<0.05) and NO reduced by 53% and 34% (P<0.05) in the supernatant of neuron-glia cultures. Cinnabar had no inhibitory effect on LPS-induced changes. CONCLUSION AGNH protects LPS-induced neurotoxicity through its anti-inflammatory properties and realgar might be the key contributor to the neuroprotective action of AGNH, while cinnabar fails to show any neuroprotection.

The determination of vitamine D in fortified milk powder was carried out by means of HPLC. Its pre-treatments include extraction of fat, sap onification, isolation of the unsaponifiable matters, and digitonin-celite and bentonite column chromatography. The HPLC was performed with 15cm ? 4mm column of silica 5m 0.7% ethyl alcohol in iso-octane as mobile phase, at 254nm. Only 12 grams of sample which contained 400-500 IU vitamin D/100 g were used. Within the sample there were relatively large amounts of interfering materials such as fats, sterols,?-carotene, vitamin A, vitamin E and their decomposed products, but they could be separated by the above method. The recovery rate of vitamin D was 81% with standard deviation of 0.39?g/100g. This method could also be applied to other samples such as fortified cakes, confectionaries, infant foods and "Mairujing" (milk maltose mixture powder) etc.

Objective To investigate the effect of nuclear factor-?B(NF-?B) on the regulation of cyclooxygenase-2(COX-2) and Caspase-3 in hippocampal neurons after traumatic brain injury(TBI) in rats,and explore the neuroprotective effect and the possible mechanism of progesterone(PROG) in hippocampal neurons after TBI.Methods Forty-five male Spraque-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: sham-operated group(n=15),TBI group(n=15) and PROG-treated group(n=15,intraperitoneal injection of PROG 16 mg/kg in 1 and 6 h after injury).The rat model of TBI was duplicated with the improved Feeney's method.The rats were sacrificed in 24 h after injury and their brain was resected.Nissl staining,immunohistochemical staining and Western blot assay for NF-?B,COX-2 and Caspase-3 was used to observe the changes of positive cell numbers and protein levels in the hippocampal neurons.Results The numbers of immunoreactive neurons to NF-?B(24.0?2.5),COX-2(35.9?2.7) and Caspase-3(25.1?2.7) were significantly increased in the hippocampus at 24 h after TBI when compared with the positive neuron numbers of NF-?B(1.9?0.9),COX-2(1.5?0.7) and Caspase-3(1.8?0.8) in sham group.After the treatment of PROG,the positive cell number of NF-?B(14.2?1.8),COX-2(16.6?2.7),Caspase-3(11.2?2.4) was reduced obviously as compared with the TBI group(P

Objective　To evaluate the therapeutic effects of trabeculectomy through two right angle incisions.Methods　Trabeculectomy was performed on 23 cases (25 eyes)through two right angle incisions.Results　All operated eyes formed functional fistulizing blebs and their intraocular pressure were nomal in the follow up periods of 3～10 months.Conclusion　The trabeculectomy through two right angle incisions is better than traditional trabeculectomy and similar to clear-cornea trabeculectomy with the merits of simplicity and fewer complications.

OBJECTIVETo elucidate the effect of hydroxysafflor yellow A ( HYSA) on the proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) and the related mechanism.

METHODSVSMCs derived from SD rats were treated with DMEC culture medium (Control), 10 ng/ml PDGF (PDGF group), pretreatment with HYSA at different doses (1, 5, 10, 20, 40, 60 µmol/L) for 24 h then cotreatment with PDGF. After 24 h, MTT assay, Western blot and immunohistochemical staining were performed to evaluate the inhibitory effects of HYSA on VSMCs proliferation.

RESULTSHYSA inhibited PDGF induced VSMCs proliferation in a dose-dependent manner, dowregulated proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) expression and blocked PDGF activated PDGFR-MEK-ERK1/2 signaling pathway.

CONCLUSIONSHYSA inhibits VSMCs proliferation possibly via downregulating the expression of PCNA and blocking MEK-ERK1/2 signal transduction in VSMCs.

Animals ; Cell Proliferation ; Cells, Cultured ; Chalcone ; analogs & derivatives ; MAP Kinase Signaling System ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1 ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3 ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases ; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular ; Myocytes, Smooth Muscle ; Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen ; Quinones ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Influenza is a major threat to millions of people worldwide. Vaccines and antiviral agents are two main options available to reduce the impact of the influenza virus, while anti-influenza agents are the most effective means to prevent the transmission of the highly contagious virus and to treat the epidemics of disease. At present, four anti-influenza agents have been approved by the FDA for the treatment of influenza, including two M2 protein ion channel inhibitors-amantadine and rimantadine and two neuraminidase inhibitors-zanamivir and oseltamivir. Arbidol hydrochloride, launched in Russia, is a potent inhibitor of influenza virus, too. Neuraminidase inhibitors could be classified generally by structure into six different kinds: sialic acid derivatives, benzoic acid derivatives, cyclohexene derivatives, cyclopentane derivatives, pyrrolidine derivatives and natural products. In this paper, recent progress in the research of the action mechanisms and structure-activity relationships of these anti-influenza virus agents were reviewed.

Vitamine E in peanut oil was determined by means of f Juorometric method (Ex = 285nm, Em=324nm) and TLC scanning method (? = 292nm). Both methods include saponification of the oil, isolation o'f the unsaponifiable matters and the respective final measurements. The result of the former method indicates the total vitamine E in terms of ?-vitamine E and the latter method may indicate their ?,?,? and 6 analogues separately. These two methods are simple, time-saving and reliable. The recovery of VE and the standard deviation of replication of fluorometric method and TLC scanning method are 99.3%, ? 0.587mg/100g sample and 103.04%, ?0.959mg/100g sample respectively. Both methods are also applicable to other foods such as fortified cakes, confectionaries, infant foods etc., but the oil in these samples must be extracted before saponification.

Objective To clone cDNA sequence of geranyl pyrophosphate synthase (GPS) gene from Eleutherococcus senticosus and analyze genetic characteristics, gene expression level in different organs and the correlation between GPS gene expression and saponins content. Methods RNA was extracted from E. senticosus and reverse transcribed into cDNA. Gene specific primers were designed according to the unigene (c37362.graph_c0) of GPS from transcriptome sequencing data. The full length of the GPS gene cDNA was amplified by PCR. The expression level of GPS gene in different organs was analyzed by qRT-PCR. The content of E. senticosus saponins was detected by spectrophotometry method. Results GPS gene cDNA was cloned from E. senticosus and encodes 419 amino acids with full length of 1 260 bp. GPS protein located in mitochondria does not have transmembrane region. The GPS gene was expressed in each organ and had the highest expression in blade, which is 5.26 times in root. The relative expression of GPS gene and content of saponin showed the same trend and significant positive correlation (r = 0.851, P < 0.05). Conclusion The whole length of cDNA sequence of GPS gene is cloned for the first time, and there is a positive correlation between the expression level of GPS gene and the saponin content of E. senticosus.