Objective To explore the mechanism of Xiao Chaihu decoction in t he treatment of endometriosis in rats.Methods The rat model of endometriosis w as established. Fas and Caspase- 3 protein expression in the eutopic endometriu m and eutopic endometrium were observed by immunohistochemical method.Results The protein expression of Fas and Caspase- 3 in ectopic endometrium of Xiao Cha ihu decoction group was higher than that in the eutopic endometrium, while the r esult in the control group was just the opposite. No significant difference was shown in Danazol group. Conclusion The therapeutic mechanism of Xiao Chaihu de coction for endometriosis may be related to the promotion the apoptosis of ectop ic endometrium tissue by increasing Fas protein expression.

AIM: To investigate the effects of Xiaochaihutang (XCH), a Chinese medicine, and danazol on angiogenesis factor and microvessel density (MVD) of endometriosis (EM). METHODS: EM rats were treated with XCH, Danazol (D), and XCH plus D (group S) for 4 weeks, respectively. The histomorphology and volumes of ectopic endometrium were observed, the amount of macrophages in peritoneal fluid of EM model rats was counted, the concentration of interleukin-8 (IL-8) and tumor necrosis factor-? (TNF-?) of EM model rats in serum, peritoneal fluid, and supernate of cultured macrophages were measured. In addition, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was detected in ectopic endometrium by immunohistochemical SABC technique, MVD was determined by immunostaining for CD34. Similar studies were performed in rats without treatment (U group) and another group with sham operation (C). RESULTS: Compared with U group, XCH group, D group, and S group displayed a significant atrophy of ectopic endometrium, reduced number of endometrial glands, decreased macrophage amounts and low concentrations of IL-8 and TNF-? in blood, peritoneal fluid, and supernate of cultured macrophages . The expression of VEGF and MVD of ectopic endometrium in U group were significantly higher than that of C group. After treatment, they all decreased significantly, especially in S group. CONCLUSIONS: Both XCH and danazol can affect angiogenesis of EM model rats, cause an obvious atrophy in ectopic endometrium. XCH in combination with danazol can enhance the inhibitory effect on angiogenesis of EM model rats.

Objective To observe the effect of Xiaochaihu decoction(XCD) on experimental endometriosis in rats.Methods Rat models of endometriosis were established and the effect of XCD were evaluated by measuring the volume of ectopic endometrium (EE) and its ultrastructure with transmission electron microscopy.Results After treatment,moderate and high-dosage of XCD(10g/kg and 15g/kg respectively) could markedly inhibit endometrial explant growth and decrease the volume of EE(P 0.05).Meanwhile,the glandular cells in the endometrium after treatment in the moderate and high-dosage groups showed characteristic features of apoptosis:cellular atrophy,condensation of cytoplasm and nuclear chromatin and increase of their density,occurrence of the intercellular apoptotic bodies as well as degeneration and necrosis of stromal cell.Conclusion XCD has obvious effects in inhibiting ectopic endometrium and its mechanism may be related to the reduction of cell death (including apoptosis and necrosis) by regulating the immune function.

Objective To evaluate whether the reverse phase protein array (RPPA) method can be used for detecting TORCH infection in pregnant women .Methods The RPPA method was established for detecting TORCH infection .The positive coinci‐dence rates of TORCH infection detected by the RPPA method and ELISA method in 2000 fresh serum samples from pregnant women were compared for evaluating the feasibility of RPPA in TORCH detection .Results The positive coincidence rates of estab‐lished RPPA and ELISA for detecting TORCH infection was 100 .0% ,91 .1% ,97 .2% ,91 .3% and 93 .0% respectively ,indicating that the detection results of various indexes by RPPA and ELISA had better consistency (P>0 .05) ,but the positive detection rates of RPPA for Rubellavirus ,CMV and HSV‐1 ,2 were higher than those of correspondent ELISA method .Conclusion RPPA method for detecting TORCH infection has the advantages of simpleness ,rapidness ,high sensitivity and strong specificity ,is an effective method of auxiliary diagnosis for bearing and rearing better children in clinical ,and is worthy of being promoted and used in the fu‐ture .