The effects of salvia miltiorrhiza Bge (SMB) on left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and the expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) in the left ventricle of spontaneously hypertensive rats and the action mechanism were investigated. Normal Wistar-kyoto (WKY) rats were used as negative control, and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) were randomly assigned to receive placebo or SMB. SMB (1 g/kg.d) was injected intraperitoneally for 12 weeks. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and left ventricular mass index (LVMI) were measured. HE, VG and immunohistochemical staining combined with computed morphometry were employed to evaluate the cardiomyocyte size, diameter, the collagen volume fraction (CVF), perivascular circumferential area (PVCA), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) expression in the left ventricular tissue. The results showed, as compared with WKY rats, the SBP, LVMI, cardiomyocyte size, diameter, CVF, PCVA, and TNF-alpha expression were increased markedly in the 20-week-old spontaneously hypertensive rats. SMB decreased LVMI (P<0.01), size of cardiomyocytes (P<0.01), collagen volume fraction (P<0.01), perivascular circumferential area (P<0.01), and TNF-alpha expression (P<0.01), but had no effect on SBP (P>0.05). It was suggested that chronic administration of SMB could inhibit and reverse the development of LVH in spontaneously hypertensive rats independent of BP. TNF-alpha may be involved in the reversal mechanism of LVH by SMB.

The effects of salvia miltiorrhiza Bge (SMB) on left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and the expression of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in the left ventricle of spontaneously hypertensive rats and the action mechanism were investigated. Normal Wistar-kyoto (WKY) rats were used as negative control, and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) were randomly assigned to receive placebo or SMB. SMB (1 g/kg·d) was injected intraperitoneally for 12 weeks. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and left ventricular mass index (LVMI) were measured. HE, VG and immunohistochemical staining combined with computed morphometry were employed to evaluate the cardiomyocyte size,diameter, the collagen volume fraction (CVF), perivascular circumferential area (PVCA), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) expression in the left ventricular tissue. The results showed, as compared with WKY rats, the SBP, LVMI, cardiomyocyte size, diameter, CVF, PCVA, and TNF-α expression were increased markedly in the 20-week-old spontaneously hypertensive rats. SMB decreased LVMI (P＜0.01), size of cardiomyocytes (P＜0.01), collagen volume fraction (P＜0.01), perivascular circumferential area (P＜0.01), and TNF-α expression (P＜0.01), but had no effect on SBP (P＞0.05). It was suggested that chronic administration of SMB could inhibit and reverse the development of LVH in spontaneously hypertensive rats independent of BP. TNF-α may be involved in the reversal mechanism of LVH by SMB.

Objective To establish the quality standard for Tibetan medicine MNXT granule.Methods Inula racemosa,Tinospora sinensis were identified by TLC; Isoalantolactone and alantolactone were determined by HPLC.Results Inula racemosa,Tinospora sinensis could be identified by TLC.The concentration of isoalantolactone was linear in the range of 0.281～0.842 μg,r=0.9998,with the average recovery rate being 98.5％,RSD being1.14％.The concentration of alantolactone was linear in the range of 0.232～0.696 μg,r=0.9999,with the average recovery rate being 97.4％,RSD being 1.10％.Conclusion The method was simple,accurate,repeatable and able to control the quality of preparation effectively.

10.3969/j.issn.1000-3606.2013.06.018

Objective To develop and test a stressor scale for in-patients with spinal cord injury (SSIPSCI). Methods Based on in-depth interviews and the second-level International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) categories, a 39-item SSIPSCI was generated and pilot tested. It was then used with 284 inpatients with spinal cord injury. Principal components factor analysis and correlation analysis were performed.Results The exploratory components factor analysis revealed 7 significant stress factors: social activity, economy security, individual activity, relationship with others, physical disorders, bowel and bladder problems and medical fees. Internal consistency was high, with a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0. 950 overall and 0. 741 ～ 0. 920 for the individual factors. Test-retest reliability was 0.848. The correlation between SSIPSCI scores and Beck depression inventory (BDI) scores was strong ( r = 0. 665 ). Conclusions The reliability and validity of the SSIPSCI are both satisfactory enough to meet psychometric requirements.

OBJECTIVE: Bipolar disorder (BD) is often misdiagnosed as unipolar depression (UD), leading to mistreatment and poor clinical outcomes. However, little is known about the similarities and differences in subcorticalgray matter regions between BD and UD. METHODS: Thirty-five BD patients, 30 UD patients and 40 healthy controls underwent diffusional kurtosis imaging (DKI) and three dimensional arterial spin labeling (3D ASL). The parameters including mean kurtosis (MK), axial kurtosis (Ka), radial kurtosis (Kr), fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (Da), radial diffusivity (Dr) and cerebral blood flow (CBF) were measured by using regions-of-interest analysis in the caudate, putamen and thalamus of the subcortical gray matter regions. RESULTS: UD exhibited differences from controls for DKI measures and CBF in the left putamen and caudate. BD showed differences from controls for DKI measures in the left caudate. Additionally, BD showed lower Ka in right putamen, higher MD in right caudate compared with UD. Receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed the Kr of left caudate had the highest predictive power for distinguishing UD from controls. CONCLUSION: The two disorders may have overlaps in microstructural abnormality in basal ganglia. The change of caudate may serve as a potential biomarker for UD.
Anisotropy ; Basal Ganglia* ; Bipolar Disorder ; Cerebrovascular Circulation ; Depressive Disorder ; Diffusion* ; Gray Matter ; Humans ; Perfusion Imaging* ; Perfusion* ; Putamen ; ROC Curve ; Thalamus*

Objective To investigate the changes of microstructure and blood perfusion of thalamus and basal ganglia in patients with untreated depressive disorder using diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) and three-dimensional arterial spin labeling (3D ASL) perfusion imaging.Methods Totally 21 untreated patients with depressive disorder (disease group) and 32 healthy volunteers (control group) underwent DKI,3D ASL and routine MR scanning were enrolled.DKI parameters (mean kurtosis [MK],axial kurtosis [Ka],radial kurtosis [Kr],fractional anisotropy [FA],mean diffusivity [MD],axial diffusivity [Da] and radial diffusivity [Dr]) and 3D ASL parameters (cerebral blood flow [CBF]) of bilateral heads of caudate nucleus,thalamus and putamens were measured and compared between the 2 groups.Results Compared with control group,Ka of left caudate head in disease group was significantly higher,while Kr was significantly lower (both P＜ 0.05).Ka of right putamens in disease group was significantly higher than that in control group (P＜0.05).Compared with control group,CBF of left caudate head and bilateral putamens decreased significantly in disease group (all P＜0.05).Conclusion Untreated depressed patients show abnormal DKI parameters and blood perfusion in basal ganglia,which indicating that microstructure integrity is impaired and blood perfusion decreases.The abnormalities in basal ganglia microstructure and blood perfusion may serve as one of the neuroimaging features of depressive disorders.

Infectious diarrhea is an important public health problem, which has a significant impact on global disease burden. Under the background of climate change, rainstorms increase and floods occur frequently. Most studies show that the incidences of infectious diarrhea disease increase significantly after rainstorm and flood events. However, there is a lack of systematic summary on the path of rainstorm and flood events affecting the incidence of infectious diarrhea, including the key links and mechanisms underlying environmental-social interaction. This study comprehensively combed the literature from environmental factors, socio-economic and cultural factors, and population and individual susceptibility factors. The potential mechanisms of infectious diarrhea caused by rainstorm and flood events were discussed from the aspects of spreading of pathogens, affecting sanitation facilities and (or) drinking water treatment infrastructure, the regulatory role of individual and behavioral factors, and long-term effects. Based on the "pressure-state-response" model, a social driving process model of rainstorm and flood leading to incidence of infectious diarrhea was constructed. This model could provide reference for future quantitative modeling and other research directions. It is helpful to guide the public health departments to accurately identify factors affecting the incidence of infectious diarrhea after rainstorm and flood, so as to take targeted intervention measures.

Background Climate change has resulted in long-term impacts on human health. Implementing efficient adaptation strategies among primary healthcare facilities is well determined by whether staff of different genders recognize the health risks related to climate change and are willing to take active measures. Objective To investigate gender differences on perceptions of health risks and attitude towards adaptation strategies among primary healthcare workers in China, and provide relevant suggestions. Methods By adopting a multi-stage cluster sampling method, we selected 21 urban and 10 rural healthcare facilities in Guangdong Province to collect information with a questionnaire. Then chi-square test, Wilcoxon rank sum test, and logistic regression analysis were used to explore the gender differences in climate change-related health risk cognition, knowledge acquisition channels, attitudes towards adaptation strategies, main obstacles, and resource requirements among the healthcare workers. Results Of 733 participants, 38.47% (282 participants) were male and 61.53% (451 participants) were female. The percentages of male healthcare workers who agreed that climate change is happening and recognized the causes of climate change (70.21%, 60.99%) were higher than the percentages of female counterparts (59.87%, 49.00%) (both Ps＜0.05), but no obvious gender differences existed in recognizing health risks of heatwaves and infectious diseases as well as sensitive population identification (all Ps＞0.05). Most of the participants (92.50%) received climate change and health-related information from mass media like TV, radio, and newspapers. Meanwhile less men chose new media channels than women (OR=0.62, 95%CI∶ 0.41-0.94). Only 30.56% of the participants (33.69% of men and 28.60% of women) reported involvement of relevant training and lectures. Most of them (90.96%) agreed to take active measures to deal with the health threats associated with climate change without gender differences for various measures (all Ps＞0.05). The leading obstacles were hard to integrate health adaptation to climate change into main work of institutions (most female agreed, 72.28%) and the lack of funds (most male agreed, 77.66%). Increasing funding for primary health care was regarded as the most needed resource by male (86.88%) and female (89.14%). After controlling the influence of other social factors, more men agreed with the lack of funds than women (OR=1.57, 95%CI∶ 1.10-2.24). Conclusion There are some gender differences in the perceptions of health risks and adaptation strategies of climate change among primary healthcare workers: Male staff are more likely to agree with climate change and regard the lack of funds as the main obstacle, while women prefer to choose new media channels to obtain information. It’s suggested that the government and relevant institutions focus on the learning and training of climate change and health-related knowledge and expand diversified information access, and promote capacity building to cope with health threats at grass-root level, in the light of recognized gender differences among primary healthcare workers.

Background Climate change leads to frequent heavy rainfall events, and higher incidences of bacillary dysentery after heavy rainfall have been observed. The impacts of heavy rainfall and its antecedent rainfall conditions on the disease are worth paying attention to. Objective To quantitatively analyze how the relationship between heavy rainfall events and bacillary dysentery occurrence is modified by antecedent rainfall conditions in Anhui Province and explore the different moderation effects in urban and rural contexts. Methods CN05.1 meteorological data of Anhui Province and cases of bacillary dysentery of the same area were collected from January 1, 2006 to August 31, 2017. An exposure-response Poisson regression model of heavy rainfall events and the number of daily cases was constructed to explore the moderation effect of antecedent rainfall conditions on the incidence of bacillary dysentery, and further stratified by urban and rural areas. Results This study included 129 459 cases of bacillary dysentery, with a daily average of 30.39. Compared with dry antecedent conditions without heavy rainfall, dry antecedent conditions with heavy rainfall had no obvious different effect on the incidence of bacillary dysentery for the whole province (P>0.05). But wet antecedent conditions significantly increased the risk of bacillary dysentery for the whole province after heavy rainfall (wet antecedent conditions without heavy rainfall: RR=1.281, 95%CI: 1.264-1.298; wet antecedent conditions with heavy rainfall: RR=1.267, 95%CI: 1.167-1.376). After urban and rural stratification, antecedent rainfall conditions also showed a significant moderation effect on the incidence of bacillary dysentery following heavy rainfall events. Compared with dry antecedent conditions without heavy rainfall, dry antecedent conditions with heavy rainfall had no obvious effect on the incidence of bacillary dysentery for the urban and the rural populations (P > 0.05). However, wet antecedent conditions without heavy rainfall (urban: RR=1.391, 95%CI: 1.362-1.421; rural: RR=1.222, 95%CI: 1.201-1.243) and wet antecedent conditions with heavy rainfall (urban: RR=1.364, 95%CI: 1.193-1.559; rural: RR=1.218, 95%CI: 1.098-1.352) significantly increased the risk of bacillary dysentery in both rural and urban areas. Conclusion In the influence of heavy rainfall on the incidence of bacillary dysentery in Anhui Province, antecedent rainfall conditions have a certain moderation effect in the whole province and in both urban and rural areas, and the risk of bacillary dysentery is increased under wet antecedent conditions.