BACKGROUND:After cerebral tissue ischemia and anoxia in young rats,the cerebral edema gets serious, and the levels of nitric oxide (NO) and malondialdehyde (MDA) decrease. Radix Astagali seu Hedysari has the pharmacological effects of enhancing immunity, anti-anoxia and improving myocardial ischemic reinfusion injury.OBJECTIVE: To investigate the influences of Radix Astagali seu Hedysari (huangqi) on contents of NO and MDA in brain tissue of young rats with cerebral injury after cerebral ischemia and anoxia.DESIGN:A randomized and controlled trial.SETTING: Department of Pediatrics, Second Hospital, Hebei Medical University; Department of Internal Medicine, Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hebei Medical University; Department of Pathophysiology, Hebei Medical UniversityMATERIALS:The experiment was conducted from January to April 2004at Department of Pathophysiology, Hebei Medical University. Total 40 SD rats, 7-day old, were at random divided as normal control group, model group, humgqi low-dose group and huangqi high-dose group, with 10 rats in each group. Huangqi injection (The content in 10 mL injection is consistent with 20 g raw drug) was provided by Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine of Hebei Medical University (produced in Chengdu Di'ou Jiuhong Pharmaceutical Factory, Batch No. 0005028).METHODS:Except rats in normal group, those in the rest groups, under conscious and local anesthesia, were all given common carotid artery ligation, establishing cerebral injury model due to ischemia and anoxia. Rats in normal group were intraperitoneally injected 0.1 mL normal saline; rats in model group were intraperitoneally injected 9 g/L normal saline, 0.1 mL each day; rats in huangqi low-dose group and huangqi high-dose group were respectively given 0.1mL, 0.5 mL huangqi injection, once a day, intraperitoneally. Cerebral blood flow was detected immediately, 2 and 4days after injection. Then the rats were decapitated for collecting the brains to measure the water content in brain, the contents of NO and MDA.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: [1] Water contents in brains of rats in every group. [2] Cerebral blood flow, and the contents of NO and MDA.RESULTS:Totally 40 rats were involved in the trial and all entered in the final result analysis. [1] The water content in brain of each group: Compared with normal group, the content in model group was increased immediately after model establishment [(87.316±0.275)%, (88.259±0.297)% ,P ＜ 0.05 ],and did not return to the normal level at the second day [(86.973±0.265)%,(88.173±0.445)%,P ＜ 0.05]; compared with model group, the content in huangqi high-dose group was obviously decreased at second day[(88.173±0.445)%, (86.542±0.141)% ,P ＜ 0.05]. [2] Measurement of cerebral blood flow: compared with control group, the blood flow in model group was obviously decreased immediately after model establishment[(231.88±13.33), (139.54±10.58)mV,P＜ 0.05], and did not return to normal level till the 4th day [(234.57±14.38), (145.38±13.33)mV,P ＜ 0.05];compared with model group, the blood flow in huangqi low-dose group and huangqi high-dose group, at day 4, was obviously increased [(145.38±13.33),(288.45±12.89), (313.82±21.74)mV,P ＜ 0.01]. [3] The contents of NO and MDA: The contents in model group, immediately after model establishment, were obviously higher than those in normal control group [(26.55±5.23 ), ( 19.67±7.17 )μmol/L,P ＜ 0.05; (7.88±2.55), (4.22±0.12) μmol/L, P＜ 0.01], and at day 4, were significantly higher than those in normal control group [(48.65±17.06), (18.65±2.12)μmol/L,P ＜ 0.01; (5.29±0.68),(4.06±0.39)μmol/L,P ＜ 0.05]; compared with model group, the contents in huangqi low-dose group and huangqi high-dose group were obviously decreased at day 4 [(48.65±17.06), (23.77±12.79), (24.67±11.54)μ mol/L,P＜ 0.01; (5.29±0.68), (4.51±2.30), (3.68±0.39)μmol/L,P ＜ 0.01].CONCLUSION:Huangqi could obviously reduce cerebral edema from ischemia and anoxia, increase cerebral blood flow. It could decrease the contents of NO and MDA that is metabolite of free radical injury, thus playing its role to inhibit lipid peroxidation injury.

Objective To explore the safety of bedside bowel movement during the earlY phase of patients with acute myocardial infarction(AMI).Methods 55 patients were randomly divided into the experimental group(28 cases)and the control group(27 cases).The experimental group adopted bedside bowel movement while the control group used routine in-bed bowel movement.The heart rate,blood pressure and myocardial oxygen comsumption(D-P)were observed.Results The heart rate,systolic blood pressure,and diastolic blood pressure in the control group were higher than those in steady state(P＜0.05).While in the experimental group the above factors were not statistically different from those in steady state (P＞0.05).The D-P both increased in the two groups compared with that in steady state(P＜0.05).The incidence of uncomfortable complaint and complications were not different between the two groups but the rate of constipation and mean in-hospital days were lower than those in the control group(P＜0.05).Conclusion It proved safe and applicable for patients with AMI to adopt bedside bowel movement during 24 to 72hours after infarction under the electrocardiac and blood pressure monitoring if their vital signs were steady and did not have any serious complications.

Objective To evaluate the vascular endothelial dilatation function in elderly patients with obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS). Methods Thirty elderly patients with moderate to severe OSAHS and twenty-eight control subjects were studied. Their blood concentration of nitric oxide (NO) were quantified. Brachial artery diameter was measured with Doppler ultrasound under baseline conditions, during reactive hyperemia (an endothelium-dependent dilatation) and after sublingual administration of nitroglycerin ( an endothelium-independent vasodilator). The dilative rate of brachial artery in different conditions was calculated to evaluate the endothelial function. Subjects with OSAHS were treated by nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) for 4 weeks, and the level of NO in plasma and vascular endothelial function were measured. Results Compared with control group, there was a significant decrease of NO level in elderly patients with moderate to severe OSAHS [(50. 35±8.65)μmol/L vs. (57.31±9.31)μmol/L, t=2.95,P=0.005], and the level of NO in plasma was increased after nCPAP treatment for 4 weeks [(55.77±8.87)μmol/L vs. (50.35± 8.65)μmol/L,t=2.40,P=0.023. The elderly patients with moderate to severe OSAHS had lower endothelium-dependent flow-mediated dilation (FMD) compared with control subjects [(9.78± 4.82)%vs. (13.21±5.81)%,t=2.45, P=0.017], and there was no significant difference in endothelium-independent nitroglycerin ( NTG)-induced dilation [( 16.87±6.15)% vs. (14.74 ± 5.82)%,t=1.36,P=0.18]. After nCPAP treatment for 4 weeks, the patients with moderate to severe OSAHS had significant increase in FMD[(14.33±6.13)% vs. (9.78±4.82)%, t=3.20,P= 0.002], whereas there was no significant change in NTG-induced dilation [(14.74±5.82)% vs. (15.15±4.21)%, t=0.31,P=0.76]. Conclusions The elderly patients with moderate to severe OSAHS have abnormal vascular endothelial function, and nCPAP treatment can reverse the dysfunction effectively, which may be associated with the reversal of intermittent hypoxia.

Objective To determine the effect of iron deficiency on hemoglobin A2(HbA2) expression in patients with β-thalassemia.Methods The participants were recruited from the out-patient clinics of the Pediatrics Department and Obstetrics Department of Affiliated Hospital of Guilin Medical College and from some β-thalassemia major families.Blood samples from the participants were used for blood smear tests and hemoglobin electrophoresis and to analyze serum ferritin (SF),3 alpha-globin gene deletions,and 17 beta-globin point mutations.Results Of the 408 individuals,304 were assigned to group A (normal controls),26 to group B (iron deficiency),56 to group C (β-thalassemia),and 22 to group D (β-thalassemia combined with iron deficiency). The results for the comparison of the mean HbA2 values among pairs of groups were as follows: group A vs group B,q=5.074 7,P<0.05; group A vs group C,q=37.650 8,P<0.05; group A vs group D,q=16.043 0,P<0.05;group C vs group D,q=7.682 9,P<0.05; Group B vs group D,q=15.806 6,P<0.05. There were no significant correlation between SF and HbA2 in all 4 groups.Conclusions Iron deficiency decreased the HbA2 level in both controls and individuals with β-thalassemia. HbA2 levels decreased significantly in individuals with both β-thalassemia and iron deficiency as compared with β-thalassemia group alone. However,they remained significantly higher than both the control and iron-deficient groups. Therefore,the elevation of HbA2 could be used to diagnose β-thalassemia reliably even in the presence of iron deficiency.

AIM: To observe the activity and distribution of astrocytes and glial fibrillary acid protein(GFAP) after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). METHODS: The rat MCAO model was made by two-kidney, tow clip renovascular hypertensive rat stroke prone(RHRSP). Rats were killed and brain samples were collected at the end of 1,3,6 and 9 weeks after MCAO, respectively. The ultrastructure of astrocytes was determined at broder of infarct (A area); distant of infarct (B area) and opposite of hemisphere (C area) by electron microscope. The number and optical density of GFAP-positive cells were also observed. RESULTS: The astrocyte proliferation distributed in the whole brain after MCAO. The highest numbers of GFAP-positive cells were observed at A area, then B area. The lowest numbers of GFAP positive cells were found in C area. The time course of GFAP-positive cell change was that the highest number was observed at 1 week after MCAO, then decreased by time from 3, 6 weeks to 9 weeks. The optical density of GFAP-positive cells showed the same patterns. CONCLUSION: The correlation between astrocyte proliferation and tissue damage after MCAO can be estimated by GFAP expression. The astrocyte proliferation plays an important role in healing process after MCAO.

Purpose To study the malignant transformation after treating rat oval cell line ( WB-F344 ) with chemical carcinogen N-methyl-N′-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine ( MNNG) . Methods WB-F344 cells were cultured with MNNG for severe times. The biological characteristics of induced cells were detected through the following methods:to check proliferation activity by flow cytometry analysis, to examine malignant transformation degree of induced cells by soft agar assay and tumor formation in NOD/SCID mice, and to investi-gate the transcriptional and protein levels of hepatocellular carcinoma marker GGT, GST-P by real time-PCR. Results Oval cells in-duced by MNNG showed changes in biological characteristics and malignant molecular markers. Conclusion Hepatic oval cells model is successfully established, which can be confirmed by tumor formation in NOD/SCID mice.

The study aims to develop a rapid, sensitive and specified method of liquid chromatography with heated electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-HESI/MS/MS) for simultaneous determination of amlodipine, benazepril and benazeprilat in human plasma using amlodipine-d4 and ubenimex as internal standards (ISs). Selected reaction monitoring (SRM) with heated electrospray ionization (HESI) was used in the positive mode for mass spectrometric detection. Analytes and ISs were extracted from plasma by simple protein precipitation. The reconstituted samples were chromatographed on a C18 (100 mm x 4.6 mm, 5 microm) column with mixture of methanol-acetonitrile-5 mmol.L- ammonium acetate-formic acid (30 : 30 : 40 : 0.1) as mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.6 mL.min-1. The standard curves were demonstrated to be linear in the range of 0.02 to 6.00 ng.mL-1 for amlodipine, 0.2 to 1,500 ng.mL-1 for benazepril and benazeprilat with r2>0.99 for each analyte. The lower limit of quantitation was identifiable and reproducible at 0.02, 0.2 and 0.2 ng mL-1 for amlodipine, benazepril and benazeprilat, respectively. The intra-day and inter-day precision and accuracy results were within the acceptable limit across all concentrations. The plasma samples were stable after four freeze-thaw cycles and being stored for 93 days at -20 degrees C. The method was applied to a pharmacokinetic study of a fixed-dose combination of amlodipine and benazepril on Chinese healthy volunteers.
Administration, Oral ; Amlodipine ; administration & dosage ; blood ; Benzazepines ; administration & dosage ; blood ; Chromatography, Liquid ; Humans ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Andrographis paniculata from different parts and origins were analyzed by UPLC-PDA fingerprint to provide refererice for related preparation technology. Using the peak of andrographolide as reference, 27 common peaks were identified, and digitized UPLC-PDA fingerprints for 23 batches of andrographis paniculata were established in this research. Principal component analysis (PCA) was carried out after feature extraction. The contents of andrographolide, neoandrographolide, deoxyandrographolide, dehydroandrographolide were determined by external standard method. The Plackett-Burman design combined with pareto chart was used to analyze the factors influencing the robustness of the method. It was found that the medicinal part has a more remarkable influence on the quality of andrographis paniculata than the origin. The contents of the 4 lactones the differ greatly in the different parts of andrographis paniculata, and the pH of the mobile phase is an important factor that influenced the robustness of the method.
Andrographis ; chemistry ; Chromatography, Liquid ; methods ; Diterpenes ; analysis ; Drug Stability ; Glucosides ; analysis ; Principal Component Analysis ; Tetrahydronaphthalenes ; analysis

Objective: To examine the effect of chronic exposure to sodium arsenite on liver damages in rats. Methods: Fifty-six healthy adult SD rats (28 males and 28 females) were randomly divided into 4 groups. Rats in the low-, medium- and high-dose groups were given sodium arsenite solutions at doses of 2, 10 and 50 mg/L for successive 24 weeks, while animals in the control group were given deionized water. The rat body and liver weights were measured and the liver coefficient was estimated. The urine arsenic level was detected using atomic fluorescence spectrometry, and hepatic tissue sections were stained with uranium acetate and lead citrate for morphological observations under an electron microscope. Results: The body weights of both male and female rats appeared a tendency towards a rise with the duration of exposure to sodium arsenite (male rat: Wald χ2=3 610.621, P<0.001; female rat: Wald χ2=2 186.217, P<0.001, and there were no significant differences in the rat body weight 24 weeks post-exposure to sodium arsenite in each group, while there was an interaction between time and group (male rat: Wald χ2=15.874, P=0.001; Wald χ2=9.460, P=0.024). There were significant differences in the rat liver weight and liver coefficient in each group (male rat: F=18.964 and 29.968, both P<0.001; female rat: F=11.919 and 15.070, both P<0.001), with the lowest liver weight (10.17±1.15) g and liver coefficient (1.99±0.21)% measured in male rats in the high-dose group, and the highest liver weight (12.91±1.29) g and liver coefficient (4.10±0.56)% in female rats in the high-dose group. The median urine arsenic levels (interquartile range) were 25.60 (30.27), 146.56 (101.06), 1 034.68 (600.06) and 3 796.98 (19 966.89) μg/L in rats in the control, low-dose, medium-dose and high-dose groups, respectively (χ2=50.211, P<0.001), and the urine arsenic level was significantly higher in the medium- and high-dose groups than in the control group (both P<0.001). Hepatic edema was seen in rats in the low- and medium-dose groups, and hepatic edema, focal hepatic cell necrosis, hyperplasia of bile capillaries and peri-bile capillary endolysis were observed in rats in the high-dose group. Conclusions Chronic exposure to arsenic may cause morphological alterations of rat hepatic tissues, and the rat hepatic damage aggravates with the dose of exposure to arsenic.

OBJECTIVETo observe the therapeutic effect and prognosis of wrist-ankle acupuncture for treatment of paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia.

METHODSNinety-five cases of paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia were randomly divided into a wrist-ankle acupuncture group (n = 55) and a control group (n = 40). The treatment group were treated with acupuncture at the points, Wanshang No. 1 and 2, and the control group with oral administration of diltiazem. After being treated for 3 courses, their therapeutic effects were evaluated.

RESULTSThe total effective rate was 81.8% in the treatment group and 54.0% in the control group with a significant difference between the two groups (P < 0. 05); the long-term therapeutic effect in the treatment group was better than that in the control group.

CONCLUSIONWrist-Ankle acupuncture has obvious therapeutic effect on paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia.

Acupuncture Therapy ; methods ; Adult ; Aged ; Ankle ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Tachycardia, Paroxysmal ; therapy ; Tachycardia, Supraventricular ; therapy ; Wrist