OBJECTIVETo explore the mechanism of natural moxibustion on regulating immune imbalance in asthma rats.

METHODSSeventy SD male rats were divided into a normal group, a placebo group, a dexamethasone group, a big-cake for long-course moxibustion group, a big-cake for short-course moxibustion group, a small-cake for long-course moxibustion group and a small-cake for short-course moxibustion group, ten rats in each one. The rat model of asthma was established by egg albumen sensitization and stimulation in all the groups except the normal group. The natural moxibustion was used in all moxibustion groups, in which big cake of 1 cmX 1 cm size was used in the big-cake groups and small cake of 0.5 cmX 0. 5 cm size was used in the small cake groups. According to relevant acupoints, the natural moxibustion was performed, 5 h per time, once a day. Four times of treatment was considered one course, and three courses were required in the long-course groups and one course was required in the short-course groups. Intraperitoneal injection of dexamethasone was applied in the dexamethasone group, which had the same course as long-course moxibustion group. After the treatment, changes of EOS in peripheral blood of asthma rats were observed; enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was applied to test the contents of IgE, IL-4 and IFN-gamma in the lung tissue; real-time Q-PCR method was adopted to measure the expression level of transcription factor T-bet and GATA binding protein 3 (GATA-3) in the lung tissue.

RESULTSCompared with the normal group, the EOS in whole blood as well as IL-4 and IgE in plasma were all increased in the placebo group (all P< 0. 01), IFN-gamma in plasma was obviously decreased (P<0. 01); while the levels of EOS, IgE and IL-4 were significantly reduced (all P<0. 01), the content of IFN-gamma was increased (P<0. 01) in all moxibustion groups and dexametnasone group. Compared with the normal group, the expression of T-bet mRNA in the placebo group was significantly reduced (P<0. 01). Each treatment group could significantly increase the expression of T-bet mRNA and reduce that of GATA-3 mRNA (P<0. 01). Compared with the short-course moxibustion groups, the expression of T-bet mRNA was obviously increased in the long-course moxibustion group and dexamethasone group (both P<0.01), and that of GATA-3 mRNA was reduced (P<0.01). There was no significant difference between long-course moxibustion group and dexamethasone group (P> 0. 05), and also no significant difference could be seen between big-cake moxibustion group and small-cake moxibustion group (P>0. 05).

CONCLUSIONThe natural moxibustion could obviously reduce airway inflammation in asthma rats. With time passing, the efficacy is enhanced, indicating evident timeliness, which has no apparent relationship with the size of moxibustion cake.

Animals ; Asthma ; genetics ; metabolism ; therapy ; Cytokines ; genetics ; metabolism ; Humans ; Male ; Moxibustion ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Transcription Factors ; genetics ; metabolism

Objective To observe effect of corticosteroid and long-acting ?2-agonist seretide to treat patients with moderate asthma who were uncontrolled on existing corticosteroid therapy.Methods From Oct.2005 to Feb.2007,85 asthmatic patients were randomly divided into two groups,treatment group were treated with seretide twice daily and the control group were treated with pulmicort(budesonide)twice daily.The clinical effect index and peak expiratory flow(PEF)were analyzed statistically.Results There were 61 cases in seretide group and 24 cases in pulmicort group who were follow-up examined and evaluated effectively the clinical effect.The treatment period was 1 year,the efficacy were 100% and 75% respectively,there was significant difference between two groups(P

Objective To investigate the characteristics and analyze the differences of choroidal neovascularization (CNV) image between exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and central exudative chorioretinopathy (CEC) using optical coherence tomography (OCT). Methods Twenty-three eyes of 22 patients with exudative AMD and 20 eyes of 19 patients with CEC, which were diagnosed as CNV using fundus fluorescein angiograph (FFA) or indocyanine green angiograph (ICGA), were exami- ned by OCT. The size of CNV and the thickness of retinal neurosensory layer in foveola were measured by OCT software. Results On OCT image, CNV had three main types of morphological features including simple CNV, CNV with serous retinal neurosensory layer detachment and CNV with choroidoretinal exudation. Exudative AMD mainly showed CNV with choroidoretinal exudation (56.52%) and CEC showed simple CNV (90 0%). The thickness of retinal neurosensory layer in foveola of patients with exudative AMD was thicker than that of patients with CEC and the size of CNV of patients with exudative AMD was larger than that of patients with CEC. Negative correlation was found between retinal neurosensory layer thickness in foveola and vision in both groups (?=-0.521, P =0.001). Conclusions There were certain discrepancy in morphology and area involved of CNV between exudative AMD and CEC on OCT images.

Objective To evaluate the value of peripheral blood neutrophil CD_(64) level for early diagnosis of neonatal septicemia.Methods Thirty-six cases of neonatal septicemia were recruited into the study according to diagnostic criteria for neonatal septicemia:white blood cell count,C-reactive protein(CRP),platelet count,micro-erythrocyte sedimentatio rate(mESR) and blood culture;26 cases of hospitalized neonates with non-infectious diseases were enrolled as controls.The level of peripheral blood neutrophil CD_(64) was measured by flow cytometry.Results The level of peripheral blood neutrophil CD_(64) in septicemia patients were(60.37?22.70)mean fluorescence intensity(MFI),which were significantly higher than that of control group(23.14?5.10)MFI(P

Animals ; Beer ; adverse effects ; Blood Glucose ; metabolism ; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental ; metabolism ; Lipid Metabolism ; Male ; Physical Conditioning, Animal ; physiology ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar

In this study, three methods for identification of E.coli were compared. The conventional method was employed to select and identify the suspicious E.coli isolates from a fecal sample. PCR based ARDRA analysis was then carried out to distinguish these E.coli isolates, E.coli MG1655 and other bacterial species. All the potential E.coli isolates and E.coli MG1655 had the identical ARDRA banding pattern while the other bacterial species showed the different patterns.The result indicated that the ARDRA analysis was consistent with the traditional method for identification of E.coli and could be the practical method for distinguishing E.coli from other intestinal bacterial species. The ERIC-PCR analysis provided abundant polymorphism between different E.coli isolates, and might be a powerful approach for elucidating the genetic diversity among isolates of the same species.

OBJECTIVE:To establish a method for the dissolution determination of Benidipine hydrochloride tablets.METHODS:According to Chinese Pharmacopeia(2005 edition),Benidipine hydrochloride tablets were added into hydrochloride acid 0.1 mo?lL-1 at rotation speed of 50 r?min-1,then samples were obtained after 30 min.The absorbance of samples was detected at detection wavelength of 359 nm and accumulative dissolution was calculated.RESULTS:The linear range of benidipine hydrochloride was 5～30?g?mL-1(r=0.999 9)with an average recovery of 99.76%(RSD=0.47%).The accumulative dissolutions of 3 batches of samples were all above 80%.CONCLUSIONS:Established method is simple and reliable for the dissolution determina-tion of Benidipine hydrochloride tablets.

The neurochemical features of the nitrergic and peptidergic innervation of the porcine esophagus were investigated by means of immunohistochemical methods combined with vagotomy. Neuronal cell bodies in both the submucosal and the myenteric plexus (MP) were detected immunoreactivities for nNOS, VIP, GAL, NPY, PACAP, L-ENK, SP, 5-HT and CB, while CGRP- and SOM-immunoreactive (ir) somata were not encountered. In addition, nNOS- and CB-ir myenteric neurons constituted the separate enteric subpopulations.Double immunostainings with a general neuronal marker (PGP9.5 ) and the specific markers, such as nNOS, VIP and SP revealed (1)nNOS-ir myenteric neurons in the porcine esophagus accounted for a higher percentage (63 % ) of all esophageal intrinsic PGP9.5-ir neurons in comparison of VIP-ir (36%) and SP-ir populations (28%); (2) An increasing rostrocaudal gradient in the number of myenteric neurons per ganglion as well as a significantly higher number of enteric ganglia within both plexuses in the abdominal segment; ( 3 ) The densest nerve fibers within the esophageal musculature were VIP-/GAL-/NPY-ir, some of which also co-expressed nNOS and/or PACAP immunoreactivity. The number of L-ENK- and/or SP-ir fibers was significantly higher in lamina muscularis mucosae ( LMM ) than in tunica muscularis externa (TME). In contrast to reports in other species, CGRP-ir fibers within the porcine esophagus constituted a very limited population and were extrinsic; (4) Vagotomy experiments revealed an obvious decrease of PACAP-and 5-HT-ir nerve fibers within the MP,suggesting that these fibers originate from the vagal nerve, while these nNOS- and/or VIP-/GAL-/NPY-ir fibers innervating both the TME and the LMM did not appear to be significantly affected by the vagotomy procedure, possibly being the intrinsic origin.

ObjectiveTo cultivate students innovative spirit and the ability of studying all their lives independently in the course of clinical transfusion laboratory medicine.MethodsBeginning with examination reform,we adopted the teaching mode,problem situation setting up-guidance to research and cooperation-evaluation of the students' learning effect by use of formative assessment.ResultsNew teaching mode acquired satisfactory results with development of students' activity and creativity.

Objective To screen out the polymerase chain reaction ( PCR) primers for specifically identifying Pheretima aspergillum (E. Perrier) , so as to establish a rapid and accurate method to identify the origin of Pheretima aspergillum. Methods Four kinds of earthworms recorded in pharmacopoeia and six kinds of their adulterants commonly seen in the market were collected. The 12SrRNA sequences related to earthworm were downloaded from GenBank database. PCR amplification for ten kinds of samples was performed using the universal primers, and then the products were sequenced. According to the differences between the above sequences, three pairs of specific primers in the non-conservative district were designed for identification of Pheretima aspergillum. Results High-specificity PCR amplification for Pheretima aspergillum with 12St/12Stf primer occurred when the annealing temperature was increased to 64℃, and only Pheretima aspergillum had single amplification strip, while no strips were found in the other adulterants under the same condition. The achieved specific primers could be well verified in 15 kinds of medicinal materials of earthworm purchased in the market, which had the same morphological features showed by the traditional identifying method. Conclusion With 12St/12Stf primer as a specific marker, the identifica tion of Pheretima aspergillum is rapid and accurate in related species of Pheretima aspergillum, and avoids the effect of some factors such as integrity of experimental materials and drying process.