OBJECTIVETo explore efficacy enhancing and detoxification roles of Jiedu Quyu Zishen Recipe (JQZR) in treating systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) by studying its effect on Toll like receptor 9 (TLR9) signal pathway of murine macrophage cells after JQZR stimulated CpG oligodeoxynucletide (CpG ODN).

METHODSMurine macrophage cells in vitro cultured were randomly divided into 4 groups, i.e., the blank serum group, the CpG ODN stimulus group, the CpG ODN + dexamethasone group, the CpG ODN + medicated serum group. Murine macrophage cells were collected after 24-h intervention. The expression of TLR9, myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88), NF-KB, IFN-α mRNA were analyzed by RT-PCR. The expression of TLR9 and NF-κB protein were analyzed by Western blot. Changes of the NF-KB transcriptional activity were assayed by Dual-Luciferase reporter assay system.

RESULTSmRNA expressions of TLR9, MyD88, NF-κB, and IFN-α, protein expressions of TLR9 and NF-κB, and NF-κB transcriptional activities were enhanced, showing statistical difference when compared with those of the blank serum group (P <0. 05, P <0. 01). Compared with the CpG ODN stimulus group, mRNA expressions of MyD88, NF-κB, and IFN-α, the protein expression of NF-κB and the NF-κB transcriptional activities decreased in the CpG ODN + dexamethasone group with statistical difference (P <0. 01). Compared with the CpG ODN stimulus group, mRNA expressions of TLR9, MyD88, NF-κB, and IFN-α, protein expressions of TLR9 and NF-κB, and NF-κB transcriptional activities were decreased in CpG ODN+ medicated serum group with statistical difference (P <0. 01).

CONCLUSIONEfficacy enhancing and detoxification roles of JQZR in treatment of SLE might be realized through regulating TLR9 signal pathways.

Animals ; Cell Line ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Macrophages ; metabolism ; Mice ; Myeloid Differentiation Factor 88 ; NF-kappa B ; RNA, Messenger ; Signal Transduction ; Toll-Like Receptor 9 ; metabolism

Objective: To compare tea polysaccharides(TPS) characteristics and their role in scavenging free radicals and reducing blood glucose(BG) in diabetic mice(DM). Methods: TPS was extracted from green,Oolong and black tea which were made from the same fresh leaves from Hubei,Fujian and Yunnan. Then the recovery rate of TPS, contents of neutral sugar, uronic acid and protein were analysed, and scavenging rate of -2Oand 稯H in vitro and hypoglycemic effect were also determined. Results: 1. The yield and contents of neutral sugar, uronic acid and protein of green tea TPS were the highest, and those of black tea TPS were the lowest. Oolong tea TPS acted the best in scavenging-2O and 稯H . 2. The hypoglycemic effect of TPS from Hubei tea was the best . The effect of TPS extracted from semi-fermented Oolong tea and fermented black tea was better than that of non-fermented green tea. 3. There were obvious differences in yield, free radical scavenging rate and effect of reducing BG among TPS extracted from tea in different regions. TPS extracted from Fujian tea had the best effect in reducing BG,but that from Yunnan tea had not. Conclusion: There was remarkable effect of region and process on physico-chemical characteristics,effect of scavenging radical and reducing blood sugar TSP.

Objective To investigate the expression of immunohistochemistry of gastrin(GAS),somatostatin(SS),proliferating cell nuclear antigen(PCNA) and Fas-ligand(Fas-L) in the sinus ventriculi of children with pediatric gastritis and to explore the significance of their expression in the pathogenesis of pediatric chronic gastritis.Methods Fifty cases of the sinus ventriculi mucosa samples were enrolled in 3 groups:chronic gastritis,helicobacter pylori(Hp) positive(group A,n=20);chronic gastritis,Hp negative(group B,n=19);control group,normal sinus ventriculi mucosa,Hp negative(group C,n=11).Immunohistochemistry En Vision were carried out including GAS,SS,PCNA and Fas-L.Results In the expression of GAS and SS,the values of group A and B were comparatively higher than those of group C,but there was no significant difference among them in statistics.In the expression of PCNA,the value of group A was comparatively higher and that of group B.The value difference between 2 groups was significant(P=0.019);in the expression of Fas-L,no significant difference was found among these 3 groups.Conclusions Expressions of GAS and SS both increase in children with chronic gastritis and maybe the increase of GAS and SS play a role in the pathogenesis of pediatric chronic gastritis;Hp infection promotes the multiplication of the sinus ventriculi membrana mucosa epithelium cell in pediatric chronic gastritis.

Objective To investigate the effects of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy performed at different times on the cognitive dysfunction of rats with traumatic brain injury. Methods The traumatic brain injured models were established by use of lateral fluid percussion in rats. Ninety-six rats were equally randomized into 4 groups: control group (group A), traumatic brain injured model group (group B), traumatic brain injured model plus conventional therapy group (group C), traumatic brain injured model plus both conventional therapy and HBO therapy group (group D). And group D also divided into 4 subgroups (n=6): D-3 h group, D-12 h group, D-24 h group and D-72 h groups that HBO therapy was performed at 3, 12, 24 and 72 h of the traumatic brain injury, respectively. The changes of learning and memory abilities before or after the therapy in each group were tested by Morris water maze method. Results Group B had the longest latency of finding the underwater platform as compared with the other 3 groups, followed by group C, group D and group A; as to the 4 sub-groups, D-72 h group had the longest latency of finding the underwater platform as compared with the other 3 groups, followed by group D-24 h, group D-12 h and group D-3 h. Group A could cross the original platform in the spatial probe test most often among all the 4 groups, followed by group D, group C and group B; group A, group C and group D was significantly different in clossing the original platform in the spatial probe test as compared with group B (P<0.05); group D-3 h could cross the original platform in the spatial probe test most often among all the 4 sub-groups, followed by group D-12 h, group D-24 h and group D-72 h.Conclusion HBO treatment can effectively improve the cognitive dysfunction of rats with traumatic brain injury, especially those within 12 h of injury.

Bronchiolitis is an acute lower respiratory tract infection in early childhood. Respiratory syncytial virus(RSV)is the most common etiology of bronchiolitis. Infections with Mycoplasma pneumoniae,Chlamydia pneumonia and Chlamydia trachomatis can also cause bronchiolitis. Bronchiolitis mainly occurs in infants under 2 years of age,with a peak age of 2 to 6 months. Bronchiolitis is the most common reason for hospitalization in infants,and infants under 6 months of age have the highest hospitalization rate. Since bronchiolitis is mainly caused by RSV infection,its seasonal characteristics are similar to those of local RSV infection. Bronchiolitis is a disease with a high incidence but a low mortality rate. Being less than 3 months,prematurity,congenital heart disease and so on are risk factors of severe bronchiolitis.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate and analyze the occurrence of 64,101 perinatal birth defects from 2000 to 2004, to determine the tendency of the incidence rate of birth defects and perinatal mortality, and to explore feasible and effective intervention strategy. METHODS: We investigated 64,101 perinatal infants who were born in 13 hospitals in Changsha from January 2000 to December 2004. The incidence rate of all birth defects, mortality of perinatal infants, the incidence rate of various kinds of birth defects, and the component rate of birth defects were analyzed. RESULTS: Altogether 1,050 neonate birth defects were found, with the incidence rate of 1.638%. The incidence rate of birth defects was increasing year-by-year in 2000 compared with that in 2002, 2003 and 2004, with significant differences (all P values<0.05): the incidence rate of birth defects in 2001 compared with that in 2002, 2003 and 2004, also with significant differences (P<0.05). Eight hundred seventy nine perinatal infants died, and the mortality was 1.371%. The mortality perinatal of infants increased in 2001 compared with that in 2002 and in 2003, with significant differences (P<0.05). The top 5 birth defects with the highest incidence were congenital heart disease, polydactly, auricle malformation, cheiloschisis, and palatoschisis, congenital hydrocephal in turn. The incidences of congenital heart disease and hydrocephal increased significantly. One hundred seventy seven fetuses were performed induced labor because of fetal defects from 2003. CONCLUSION We must pay attention to the increasing tendency of birth defect incidence and perinatal mortality. Strengthening environmental protection and antenatal care can decrease the birth defect incidence. Performing antenatal examination and neonatal screening regularly can discover the birth defects in time. When severe birth defects occur, the induced labor should be performed.
China ; epidemiology ; Congenital Abnormalities ; mortality ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant Mortality ; trends ; Infant, Newborn ; Perinatal Mortality ; trends ; Pregnancy

The clinical tumor therapy was greatly challenged due to the complex characteristics of tumor microenvironment, however, which also provide arena for novel therapeutic strategies. In this study, poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline)-poly(lactic acid)-SS-poly(β-amino ester (PEOz-PLA-SS-PBAE) triblock copolymers with pH and GSH double response were synthesized, polymer micelles were prepared by thin film hydration method for loading of silybin to improve its antitumor activity. The critical micelle concentration was determined by pyrene fluorescence method as 1.8 μg·mL^-1. The particle size was 155.30 ± 1.80 nm as determined by dynamic light scattering, with polydispersity index of 0.168 ± 0.004. The drug loading and entrapment efficiency of the micelles were determined by HPLC as (5.48 ± 0.04)% and (68.52 ± 0.48)%, respectively. The in vitro drug release profiles showed that the micelles have low pH sensitivity and high GSH responsiveness, and exhibited sustained release profiles. The good biocompatibility of the material was proved by measuring the hemolysis rate and cytotoxicity of the blank micelle. The cytotoxicity and apoptosis rate of tumor cells showed that the drug loaded PEOz-PLA-SS-PBAE micelles had significant inhibitory effect and apoptosis-inducing effect on MDA-MB-231 cells. The results of wounding healing assay and Transwell invasion test showed that the drug loaded PEOz-PLA-SS-PBAE micelles could significantly inhibit the metastasis of MDA-MB-231 cells. The PEOz-PLA-SS-PBAE drug-loaded micelles prepared in this study have good inhibitory effect on tumor growth and anti-tumor metastasis in vitro, which lays the foundation for the further application of silybin.

Objective To evaluate the changes of nerve conduction velocity in degenerative rabbit sciatic nerve authograft induced by 60Co irradiation after orthotopic replantation. Methods A 30-mm-long segment was severed from normal adult rabbit sciatic nerve and exposed to 60Co irradiation at the dose of 350 Cry to induce neural degeneration. The nerve segment was then replanted orthotopicaily, and the nerve conduction velocity was determined using electrophysiological test at 4, 6 and 8 months after the replantation. Results At 6, 8 months after the replantation, the nerve conduction velocity in the degenerative nerve autograft showed no significant difference from that in normal sciatic nerve (P>0.05). But at 4 months after the replantation, the nerve conduction velocity in the autograft was significantly lower than the normal velocity (P<0.05). Conclusion The nerve conduction velocity can be obtained by replantation of a long (3 mm) degenerative nerve segment due to 60Co irradiation.

The sequence variation of medicinal fish of Culter (Pisces: Cyprinidae) was analyzed by using cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) sequencing collected from different regions of the Yangtze River basin, and we examine whether barcoding of COI can be used to discriminate medicinal fish of Culter. The AT content in the COI region of medicinal fish of Culter was higher than that of GC, which was similar with other species of Cypriniformes. Ninty-six percent of nucleotide changes were observed at the 3rd codon position of COI sequence, but the amino acid compositions translated by COI sequences of all Culter fish stayed the same. It is suggested that most synonymous mutations might occur at the 3rd position. The average Kimura-2-parameter (K2P) distance within-species was lower than 1%, and the K2P distance of pairwise-species was 10 times as much as that of within-species. The phylogenetic tree estimated by Neighbour-joining method indicated that species within genera invariably clustered, and generally so did individuals within species. Individuals from operational taxonomic units designated as different Culter species, supporting morphological evidence for each of these being separate species. It is suggested that the COI barcoding can be used to identify medicinal fish species of Culter.
Animals ; China ; Cyprinidae ; classification ; genetics ; DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic ; DNA, Mitochondrial ; genetics ; Electron Transport Complex IV ; genetics ; Fish Proteins ; genetics ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny

Out of the 20 channels in the channel and collateral system, only 5 enter the brain, with unclear circulation pathway in the brain. Electrophysiologic and imaging studies indicate that the signal induced by acupuncture at acupoints can enter the brain no matter whether the channel connecting the acupoint enters the brain. Therefore, the authors put forward the hypothesis of "all the 12 channels enter the brain", i.e., the hypothesis of "channels and collaterals in brain". In the theory system of channels, less channels enter the brain with unclear circulation pathway. This possibly is related with that sensation is main way for descovery of channels. In future, we should adopt modern scientific and technical ways and strengthen the study on circulation of channels in the brain, so as to perfect the channel theory.
Acupuncture Therapy ; Brain ; physiology ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Meridians