italic>Anoectochilus roxburghii (Wall.) Lindl. is a medicinal species belonging to the Orchidaceae, whose whole plant can be used as a medicinal herb, known as "JinXianLian". It has antidiabetic, liver-protecting, anti-inflammatory, etc. A. roxburghii has long been used as food and medicine in Guangdong and Fujian provinces. With the wide recognition of the concept of "medicine and food homology" and the surge of market demand, wild A. roxburghii has been far from meeting the supply. It is important to establish an artificial propagation system. Resource characteristics are the key basis for optimizing germplasm and propagation systems. Therefore, this paper summarizes the germplasm resource characteristics and propagation technologies of A. roxburghii in China to provide a reference for sustainable development and subsequent mechanistic research.

OBJECTIVETo study the influence of different drying methods on the quality of Schisandrae Chinensis Fructus and thus provide useful reference for its proper drying methods.

METHODSchisandrae Chinensis Fructus was processed by eight drying methods including vacuum freeze drying, natural drying in the shade, drying in the sun, oven drying and vacuum drying under different temperature. The contents of the functional ingredients includes chisandrin, gomisin D, gomisin J, schisandrol B, angeloylgomisin H, angeloylgomisin Q, gomisin G, schisantherin A, deoxyschisandrin, schisandrin B, schisandrin C, 5-HMF, total aids and total sugars. The main components change after drying were analyzed by HPLC, ultraviolet spectrophotometry and potentiometric titration. Principal component analysis (PCA) was carried out by SPSS software to evaluate the quality of different processed products from Schisandrae Chinensis Fructus.

RESULTAll these results are in accordance with the requirements of Chinese Pharmacopoeia published in 2010, the contents of schisandrin and total eleven lignans were the highest using vacuum drying, and 5-HMF were the lower, oven drying made little difference but with lower schisandrin and higher 5-HMF as the heat increased.

CONCLUSIONDifferent drying methods have significant influence on the quality of Schisandrae Chinensis Fructus. Oven drying under 5°C should be adopted to substitute drying in the sun according to the China Pharmacopoeia published in 2010 for Schisandrae Chinensis Fructus by comprehensive analysis of the cost, content and practicality.

Objective To evaluate the olfactory functions in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) with a smell identification test developed for the Chinese population and to examine possible factors contributing to PD patients' olfactory performance.Methods Fifty-five patients with idiopathic and nondementia PD and 55 demographically matched healthy controls (HC) were recruited and their olfactory identification tested using the Chinese Smell Identification Test developed by the Institute of Psychology at Chinese Academy of Sciences.Results Olfactory identification score was significantly lower (t =-6.827,P＜0.01) in the PD group (19.3 ±5.4) as compared with the HC group (26.5 ±5.7).Of all PD patients,63.6％ scored over 1 SD below the age norm.In particular,of those with Hoehn-Yahr ratings between 2 to 3,77.8％ scored over 1 SD below the age norm.Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis indicated that a cut-off score of 22.5 on the Chinese Smell Identification Test distinguished between PD patients and HC with a sensitivity of 74.6％ and specificity of 70.9％.Within the PD group,age,education,Hoehn-Yahr rating and Mini-Mental State Examination score were not found to correlate with olfactory performance (all P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion PD patients in China show significant impairment of olfactory identification,which is effectively captured by the Chinese Smell Identification Test.

A new method for the determination of organic acids from mainstream cigarette smoke using ultra low temperature solvent extraction-comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry(GC×GC-TOF/MS)was established. The mainstream smoke was directly trapped by ethyl ether with ultra low temperature solvent extraction device, and cleaned up with liquid-liquid extraction. The concentrated extracts were further derived by N,O-bis(trimethylsily)trifluoroacetamide (BSTFA). The good separation of silanized product was achieved by the column set of DB-1 (30 m × 0. 25 mm, 1. 0 μm) as the 1st column and DB-wax (1. 5 m × 0. 1 mm, 0. 1 μm) as the 2nd column with modulation period of 6 s and scan range of m/z 45-450 . The results showed that linearity correlation coefficients were larger than 0 . 99 , and the average recoveries were between 80. 17% and 107. 81% with the relative standard deviations (RSD) in the range of 0 . 4%-12 . 1% ( n=5 ) . The detection limit and the quantitation limit were 1 . 3-24 . 5 μg/kg and 4. 1-77. 1 μg/kg, respectively.

Objective To observe the learning and memory ability of rats after injection of Aβ25-35 protein in different concentrations into the lateral ventricle assessed by Morris water maze test, and to explore the optimal concentration of Aβ25-35 in the preparation of AD model rats.Methods Male SD rats were randomly divided into sham operated group and model group.The rats of model group received Aβ25-35 injection in concentrations of 2 μg/μL, 4 μg/μL and 8 μg/μL, respectively.According to the Rat Brain Stereotaxic Atlas, 5 μL of aggregation of Aβ25-35 was injected into the right lateral ventricle to establish the AD rat model.7 days after successful modeling, Morris water maze was used to test thechanges of learning and memory ability of the rats.Results There was no significant difference in the average swimming speed between the two groups (P > 0.05).The escape latency time of rats in the model group was significantly increasedcompared with the sham group (P < 0.05).In the model group, the escape latency time of rats treated with 4 μg/μL and 8 μg/μL Aβ25-35 was significantly increased compared with the rats injected with 2 μg/μL (P < 0.05), while there was no significant difference between rats treated with 4 μg/μL and 8 μg/μL Aβ25-35 (P > 0.05).The activity time and distance of target quadrant of the rats injected with different concentration of Aβ25-35in the model group were significantly reduced compared with the sham group (P < 0.05), but no significant difference amongthe rats treated with different Aβ25-35 concentrations (P > 0.05).Compared with the sham-operated group, the number of platform-crossing of rats injected with different doses of Aβ25-35in the model group were significantly reduced (P < 0.05).In the model group, the rats treated with 4 μg/μL and 8 μg/μL was significantly reduced compared with the group with 2 μg/μL injection (P < 0.05).There was no significant difference between the rats injected with 4 μg/μL and 8 μg/μL (P > 0.05).Conclusions The recommended dose and concentration of Aβ25-35 to be injected into the unilateral ventricle to establisha rat model of Alzheimer's disease is 4 μg/μL in a volume of 5 μL.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the expression pattern of caspase-3 and HCLS1-associated protein X-1 (HAX-1) at different time after cerebral contusion in rat, and explore the new method for estimating the injury interval. METHODS: The cerebral contusion model was established using adult SD male rats. Then the rats were randomly allocated into 8 groups: 2 h, 6 h, 12 h, 1 d, 3 d, and 7 d after cerebral contusion, sham-operation and normal control. Expression of caspase-3 and HAX-1 protein after cerebral contusion in rat was detected by Western blotting. Laser scanning confocal microscope was used to observe the number of HAX-1 positive cells and TUNEL-stained cells after cerebral contusion. RESULTS: The expression of caspase-3 increased parallelly with the time after cerebral contusion and reached the peak value on 3 d. The expression of caspase-3 decreased gradually and still maintained a high level expression on 7 d (P < 0.05). The expression of HAX-1 positive cell went up after injury, and reached the peak value at 6 h (P < 0.05), then turned down gradually after 12 h and went out of detection after 3 d. The number of TUNEL-stained cells increased obviously at 2 h and reached the peak value on 3 d. The number of TUNEL-stained apoptotic cells decreased gradually and still maintained a high level expression on 7 d (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION The expression of caspase-3 and HAX-1 after cerebral contusion has time sequential regularity, which may provide new evidence for forensic diagnosis of cerebral contusion interval.
Animals ; Blotting, Western ; Brain Injuries/pathology* ; Carrier Proteins/metabolism* ; Caspase 3/metabolism* ; Cerebellum/pathology* ; In Situ Nick-End Labeling ; Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Based on ultra high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS), a rapid and simultaneous quantitative method for the measurement of seven components (kinsenoside; rutin; kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside; quercimeritrin; narcissin; isorhamnetin-3-O-glucoside; quercetin) of A. roxburghii was established. The separation was performed over 8.0 minutes on a Waters Acquity UPLC BEH Shield RP18 (2.1 mm × 100 mm; 1.7 μm) with a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile (A) and 0.1% formic acid water solution (B) with gradient elution at a flow rate of 0.2 mL·min^-1; the column temperature was 30 ℃ and the injection volume was 2 μL. Electrospray spray ionization source (ESI source) was used for mass spectrometry, and positive and negative ion modes were detected at the same time. The results showed good linearity (R² ≥ 0.998 0), with good precision, repeatability and stability, and the average recovery was 97.71%-103.33%. Through cluster heat map and redundancy analysis, we found that kinsenoside was mainly distributed in stems, followed by leaves, and the lowest content in roots. The content of kinsenoside increased significantly in the stems of plants 6 months, but less change was evident in the roots and leaves. Flavonoids and flavonoid glycosides were mainly distributed in leaves. The UHPLC-MS/MS method established in this paper can be used for the quality control of A. roxburghii and provides a reference for establishing a more comprehensive quality detection method for this medicinal.

ObjectiveTo investigate the effectiveness and feasibility of intraoperaive recurrent laryngeal nerve(RLN) monitoring via lateral cricoarytenoid muscle(LCA) compound muscle action potential (CMAP) monitoring by bipolar electrode implanting. MethodsSeventy-four cases were evenly divided into nerve monitoring group and non-monitoring group,NIM-Response 2.0 was applied into monitoring group for intraoperative nerve monitoring.A bipolar electrode was inserted into LCA to record CMAP,stimulating electrode intermittently stimulated exposed or unexposed recurrent laryngeal nerve to monitor the RLN function during cervical operation under the block anaesthesia of cervical plexus. ResultsThere were no statistically significant differences (P ＞ 0.05 ) in postoperative hospitalization days (5.14 ± 1.44 days,5.05 ± 1.31 days),operation time ( 125.54 ±42.23 min,107.30 ± 39.36 min) between monitoring group and the control group.Thirty-two RLNs were mapped their anatomical course with the NIM-Response 2.0 assistance before exposure,and 25 RLNs were anatomically exposed.The stimulating threshold between unexposed RLN (2.23 ± 0.57 mA) and exposed RLN ( 0.44 ± 0.20 mA) were statistically different ( P ＜ 0.01 ),but the evoked EMG amplitude(307.98 ± 253.47 μV,234.36 ± 142.18 μV) were not statistically different (P ＞ 0.05 ).With the NIM-Response 2.0 assistance the course of the unexposed RLNs detected were consistent to the course of the RLNs when exposed completely.ConclusionsIt is a effective and feasible method to monitor the RLN function by recording the CMAP of lateral cricoarytenoid muscle(LCA) via bipolar electrode implanted into LCA under block anaesthesia of the cervical plexus.

Objective To assess the safety,efficacy and reliability of IUPU(Abbreviation of Institute of Urology,Peking University)technique in setting up the retroperitoneal cavity for retroperitoneoscopy. Methods From February 1996 to March 2006,more than 1100 retroperitoneoscopic procedures were performed with the IUPU technique in setting up the retroperitoneal cavity,First,at the cross point of the line 2 cm above the iliac crest and the longitudirml line close to the anterior auxiliary line,a 1 cm skin incision was made and the Veress needle was penetrated into the retroperitoneal space(RPS)with a 0°-30° angle to the perpendicular line.The CO2 gas was pumped into the RPS till the pressure increases to 14mmHg and the first port was inserted into the RPS.The laparoscope was then inserted into the RPS through the first port and kept swinging right and left with its tip and trunk tO set up the retroperitoneal cavity.Other 2 ports were put into the RPS at cross points of the sub-costal line and anterior and posterior auxiliary lines under monitor observation.Then other appliances are introduced into the RPS to expand the cavity.More than 1100 procedures had been done with the IUPU technique,including 54 cases of simple nephrectomy (loss of function due to tuberculosis,hydronephrosis and atrophy), 188 radical nephrectomy, 154 ureteronephrectomy, 344 adrenalectomy, 302 renal cyst decortications, 35 partial nephrectomy, 37 pyeloplasty. Results The average time for the IUPU technique was (5.4±2.8)min (range 4. 5 to 14. 5 min) to set up the RPS. Complications included converting to open surgery due to bleeding in 8 cases(8/1114,0. 72%) when the first port was inserted into the RPS and entered into the peritoneal cavity for the first port penetration in 32 cases (32/1114,2. 87%),although the retroperitoneal cavity could be set up successfully by adjusting the laparoscope into the RPS.There was no injury to other viscera. Conclusions The IUPU technique is safe, efficient and reliable in setting up the RPS and no other special instrument is needed. It can be finished within 5 min on skilled hands and is valuable as a routine method to set up the retroperitoneal cavity.