AIM Inhibitors of xanthine oxidase (XOD) may be potentially useful for the treatment of gout or other XOD inducing diseases, so the inhibition on XOD activity of diterpenoid tanshinones such as cyptotanshinone (CT) and methylenetanshinone (MT) from Tanshen (Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge.) was studied. METHODS The formation rate of uric acid from xanthine was determined by measuring the absorbance increment at 290 nm (ΔA290 nm) in the reactive medium of xanthine/XOD when CT or MT was added. RESULTS It was found that CT and MT inhibited XOD activity. Dixon plots showed that the inhibition mode was competitive type. The Ki values of CT and MT were 17.8 μmol·L-1 and 25.9 μmol·L-1, respectively. Their inhibitory potencies positively correlated with their concentrations and the IC50 values of CT and MT were 70 and 67 μmol·L-1, respectively. The IC50 value of allopurinol, the positive control, was 60 μmol·L-1. CONCLUSION CT and MT have inhibitory effects on XOD activity and may be potentially useful for the treatment of gout or other XOD inducing diseases.

ObjectiveTo summarize point Shenmai(BL62)indications and the characteristics of acupuncture and moxibustion by sorting out literature on point Shenmaiin ancient literature.MethodShenmai, Yangqiao and Guilu were used as search words to search Chinese Medical Classics to sift out items on indications for point Shenmai and its combination and the characteristics of point combination and acupuncture and moxibustion and establish the relevant database. Statistical analysis was made using the SPSS19.0 software.ResultTwo hundred and eighty-seven items on point Shenmai and 274 items on the indications met the inclusion criteria. There were 47 indications for the single acupoint and 19 kinds of diseases on which the single acupoint had a marked therapeutic effect. Lumbago, ophthalmalgia, vertigo, headache and mania were ranked in the top five. There were 64 indications for its combination and 22 kinds of diseases on which its combination had a marked therapeutic effect. Epilepsy, Lumbago, stroke, podalgia and headache were ranked in the top five. The commonly used depth of needle insertion was 3 fen, acupuncture time was 6-7 respiratory cycles and stimulation intensity of moxibustion was 3 moxa cones.ConclusionSingle point Shenmai and its combination are both good at treating internal medicaldiseases and especially meridian diseases in the limb. Acupuncture and moxibustion are the commonly used methods.

Science of Meridians and Acupoints is the bridge between basic medicine and clinical medicine of acupuncture and moxibustion. This teaching practice was conducted in reference to the teaching mode of problembased learning (PBL), in association with the clinical design problems, by taking as the students as the role and guided by teachers. In order to stimulate students' active learning enthusiasm, the writers implemented the class teaching in views of the typical questions of clinical design, presentation of study group, emphasis on drawing meridian running courses and acupoint locations, summarization and analysis, as well as comprehensive evaluation so that the comprehensive innovative ability of students and the teaching quality could be improved.
Acupuncture ; education ; Acupuncture Points ; Humans ; Meridians ; Problem-Based Learning ; Science ; education ; Teaching

Objective To express and detect the antigenicity of human laminin alpha4 LG3-4 module (hLN?4LG3-4) protein by gene engineering techniques. Methods The cDNA encoding hLN?4LG3-4 was amplified by RT-PCR from human placenta, then inserted into pMD-18T vector by T/A cloning and sequenced. Prokaryotic expression vector pET-28a-LG3-4 was constructed by recombinant DNA technique. The hLN?4LG3-4 fusion protein expressed in BL21(DE3)/pET system was identified by SDS-PAGE, purified by Ni-NTA resin, and assayed by Western blotting. Results The cDNA fragment of hLN?4LG3-4 was cloned successfully. While BL21 (DE3)/pET28a-LG3-4 bacterium was induced with IPTG, a new protein band with a relative molecular weight of 44 000 was shown on SDS-PAGE profile. hLN?4LG3-4 fusion protein of high purity (95%) was obtained and specific protein band was detected by Western blotting. Conclusion The hLN?4LG3-4 fusion protein was successfully expressed.

Objective: To establish a method of HPLC for determination of paeoniflorin in Yifu Capsules. Methods: HPLC analysis was carried out on ALLIMA C 18 column with acetonitrile water(15:85) as a mobile phase and detection wavelength at 230nm. Results: The linear range was 0.0798～0.7980?g (?=0.9998,n=6), and the average recovery was 99.00%(RSD=2.17%,n=5). Conclusion: The method is simple, accurate,highly sensitive and reproducible. It can be used for determination of paeoniflorin in Yifu Capsules.

Objective To investigate the polymorphism profile of cytochrome P_(450)2C19 (CYP2C19) in Chinese patients with invasive fungal infections. Methods Two major single nucleotide polymorphism loci of the CYP2C19 gene (CYP2C19 * 2 and CYP2C19 * 3) were genotyped with PCR and restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) in 134 patients with invasive fungal infections and 134 healthy volunteers. Allele frequencies and the proportions of metabolizer phenotypes were compared. Results In patients with invasive fungal infections, CYP2C19 * 1, CYP2C19 * 2 and CYP2C19 * 3 alleles showed frequencies of 58.2%, 36.6% and 5.2%. In healthy volunteers, the frequencies of CYP2C19 * 1, CYP2C19 * 2 and CYP2C19 * 3 were 63.4% , 34. 3% and 2. 2%. There was no significant difference in allele frequencies between the two groups. Of the patients with invasive fungal infections, 33. 6% were homozygous extensive metabolizers, 50.0% heterozygous extensive metabolizers and 16.4% poor metabolizers. Of the healthy volunteers, 40.3% were homozygous extensive metabolizers, 48.5% heterozygous extensive metabolizers and 11. 2% poor metabolizers. The proportions of metabolizer phenotypes were similar between the two groups. Conclusions Significant CYP2C19 polymorphism was detected in both groups. Approximately two thirds of the Chinese patients were either heterozygous extensive metabolizers or poor metabolizers. The genetic polymorphism may have important effect on drug metabolism in these patients

BACKGROUND:Previous studies have shown that kainic acid injected into hippocampus can significantly upregulate the expression of excitatory KA1 subunit of the kainate receptor in the hippocampus, and endoplasmic reticulum stress markers, phosphorylation of the alpha subunit of eukaryotic initiation factor 2, accompanied by celldeath. OBJECTIVE:To explore the mechanism of endoplasmic reticulum stress after kainic acid is injected into the hippocampus.METHODS:0.15 nmol kainic acid was injected into the hippocampal CA1 region of 32 adult male Kunming mice, the injection time was 60 seconds. At different time points (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 12 hours) after kainic acid was injected, the Bederson score analysis was performed, and then the brain was harvested after cerebral perfusion. FJB staining of brain sections and immunofluorescence double labeled observation were also performed. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1) At 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 hours after kainic acid injection, Bederson score showed severe injury of central nervous system function, and FJB staining showed the increased of celldeath in the hippocampus (P<0.05);At 1, 2, 12 hours after injection, Bederson score showed no obvious injury of central nervous system function, and FJB staining showed unobvious celldeath in the hippocampus (P>0.05). (2) According to the results of FJB staining, the brain sections were selected at 3, 8 hours for immunohistochemistry. The expressionlevels of KA1 receptors and endoplasmic reticulum stress marker P-eIF2αwere up-regulated at the same time after kainic acid was injected into hippocampus. Two single-staining KA1 and P-eIF2αimmunofluorescence images were synthesized into one over-lapped double-stained image, and two images overlapped, indicating that the up-regulated expression of KA1 and endoplasmic reticulum stress occurred in the same nerve cells. Kainic acid first up-regulated the excitatory receptor KA1 expression, which may cause cellendoplasmic reticulum dysfunction and result in the endoplasmic reticulum stress response, further promoting neuronal celldeath.

Objective To evaluate the significance of the level change of urinary conductivity (Cond) on the disease progress in the patients with type 2 diabetic nephropathy(DN) .Methods 138 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in our hospital were selected and divided into the normoalbuminuria (NUA) ,microalbuminuria (LUA) and macroalbuminuria (MUA) group;then among them 107 cases were re‐divided into the DN group and the diabetes mild renal injury (DC) group .The levels of urinary Cond were measured by using the Sysmex UF‐1000i urine flow cytometer .The urine specific gravity (SG) was detected by the ARKRAY AUTION MAX AX‐4280 analyzer ,and the urine albumin (U‐Alb) was tested by the Siemens BNⅡ automatic protein analyzer .Re‐sults The Cond level in the MUA group was (14 .1 ± 4 .5)ms/cm ,which was lower than (15 .7 ± 4 .3)ms/cm in LUA group(P<0 .05) ,while the Cond level in the LUA group was significantly lower than (17 .6 ± 5 .7) ms/cm in the NUA group(P<0 .05);the SG levels in the NUA group and the LUA group were 1 .014(1 .010-1 .019) and 1 .015(1 .010 -1 .020) respectively ,both were higher than 1 .011(1 .009-1 .012) in the MUA group SG (P<0 .05) .Cond was positively correlated with SG (r=0 .63 ,P<0 .05) and negatively correlated with 24 h‐UAE (r= -0 .183 ,P<0 .05) .The Cond level in the DN group was(13 .2 ± 4 .3)ms/cm ,which was significantly lower than (15 .0 ± 4 .4) ms/cm in the DC group (P<0 .05) ,there was no statistically significant differences in the SG level between the DN group and DC group (P>0 .05) .The area under curve (AUC) of ROC for Cond was 0 .612 (0 .502-0 .723) .When setting the cut‐off vales of Cond as 11 .85 ms/cm ,then the sensitivity was 43 .8% ,and the specificity was 78 .0% . Conclusion The urine Cond level change can reflect the disease progress of DN in T 2DM ,but can not be used as its early screening indicato r .

Objective To explore the diagnostic value of whole?body bone scan combined with SPECT/CT imaging for osteofibrous dysplasia( OFD) . Methods A total of 30 patients ( 14 males, 16 fe?males, age range 10-48 ( average age 29.2) years) with OFD confirmed by pathology from June 2007 to De?cember 2014 were included. The images of whole?body bone scan and SPECT/CT imaging were retrospec?tively analyzed. Results Nineteen patients (63.3%, 19/30) showed monostotic OFD, which mainly in?volved extremities (n=18), especially the femur. Eleven patients(36.7%, 11/30) showed polyostotic OFD, which frequently be seen unilaterally (n=7). Highly or obviously abnormal uptakes of radiotracer were shown in most lesions (95.3%, 81/85) on whole?body bone planar images, the ribs and extremities showed abnormal uptake along the backbone orientation, while the cranium, pelvis and spine showed irregu?lar bulky uptake of radioactivity. On SPECT/CT images, the lesions of high or obvious abnormal uptake of radiotracer mainly showed cystic expansion growth, ground glass, vegetable sponge and mixed appearance;and the higher the radioactive aggregation degree was, the more the morphological changes were. The density and morphological changes on CT were not obvious for lesions with moderately and mildly abnormal uptake of radiotracer. Conclusion The whole?body bone scan combined with SPECT/CT imaging is an effective diag?nostic method for OFD.

Objective To study the clinical features and antifungal therapeutic effects in nonacquired immune deficiency syndrome(AIDS)patients with cryptococcal meningitis. Methods One hundred and fifty-four non-AIDS patients with cryptococcal meningitis admitted to Huashan Hospital, Fudan University from 1997 to 2007 were reviewed retrospectively. Clinical characteristics, initial antifungal therapies and outcome of these patients were analyzed. Continuous variables were analyzed using t test and categorical variables were compared by X~2 test or Fisher's exact test. Kaplan-Meier survival curves of different therapies were compared with log-rank test. Results Fifty-one patients (33.12%)had one or more predisposing factors. Headache, fever, meningeal irritation, vomiting and altered mental status were common clinical symptoms and signs during the course of diseases. The positive rates of cerebrospinal fluid(CSF)smear, CSF culture and detection of CSF cryptococcal capsular polysaccharide antigen were 88.44%,78.95%and 100.00%,respectively.Twelve cases were excluded because treatment durations were less than 7 days, including 9 died,2 discharged against medical advice due to illness exacerbation and 1 lost after against medical advice discharge. The remaining 142 patients were evaluated for therapeutic effects. The effective rates in amphotericin B (AmB)group, fluconazole group and AmB plus fluconazole group were 78.3%(36/46),33.3%(8/24)and 76.0%(38/50),respectively. The therapeutic effects in AmB group and AmB plus fluconazole group were superior to fluconazole group(X~2=13.6354,12.5509;P＜0.01).Eleven patients were lost during 1-year follow-up. The attributable and overall mortality in the remaining 143 patients were 19.58% and 28.67%,respectively.The 1-year survival rates in AmB group and AmB plus fluconazole group were significantly higher than that in fluconazole group. Conclusions The mortality of non-AIDS cryptococcal meningitis is still high,which is closely correlated with initial antifungal therapies. AmB alone or combined with flucytosine is related to both higher successful response and higher survival rate, while the efficacy of initial fluconazole alone or combined with flucytosine is poor.