AIM:To explore the effect of gypenosides ( GPs) on PCSK9 gene expression in hyperlipidemic rat liver and the blood lipids lowered by simvastatin .METHODS: Healthy male SD rats ( n=60 ) were randomized into 5 groups:normal control group , hyperlipidemic model group , simvastatin group , GPs group and GPs combined with simvasta-tin group ( combined group ) .The rats in all groups were fed high-fat diet except normal control group which were fed with ordinary diet.The rats in control group and hyperlipidemic model group were gavaged with 0.3%CMC-Na every day.The rats in GPs group were gavaged with GPs at 160 mg? kg-1? d-1 .The rats in simvastatin group were gavaged with simvas-tatin at 5 mg? kg-1? d-1 .The rats in combined group were gavaged with GPs and simvastatin .The experiment lasted for 8 weeks.The rats were anesthetized with chloral hydrate , and abdominal arterial blood samples were collected to detect the total cholesterol ( TC) , triglyceride ( TG) , low-density lipoprotein cholesterol ( LDL-C) and high-density lipoprotein cho-lesterol ( HDL-C) .The body weight and the wet weight of the livers were measured , and the liver index was calculated . The pathological changes of the livers were observed under microscope with HE staining .The expression of PCSK9 and low-density lipoprotein receptor ( LDLR) at mRNA and protein levels was determined by real-time PCR and Western blot .RE-SULTS:The model of hyperlipidemia rats was established successfully .Compared with model group , the levels of TC , TG and LDL-C in simvastatin group, GPs group and combined group were obviously decreased (P<0.05), and the HDL-C levels were obviously upregulated (P<0.05).Compared with model group, the liver indexes in simvastatin group, GPs group and combined group were obviously decreased (P<0.05).The pathological changes of the liver tissues showed that hepatic adipose appeared in model group , and that in simvastatin group and GPs group had different degrees of relief , espe-cially in combined group .Compared with model group , the mRNA expression levels of PCSK 9 and LDLR in simvastatin group were obviously increased , while the mRNA expression levels of PCSK 9 in GPs group and combined group were obvi-ously decreased (P<0.05), and the mRNA expression of LDLR in combined group was obviously increased (P<0.05). Compared with model group , the protein expression of PCSK 9 and LDLR in simvastatin group was obviously increased , while the protein expression levels of PCSK 9 in GPs group and combined group were obviously reduced , and the LDLR pro-tein levels were obviously increased (P<0.05).CONCLUSION:Gypenosides inhibit the expression of PCSK9 and in-crease the expression of LDLR in the liver .The combination of gypenosides and simvastatin promotes the lipid-lowering effect of simvastatin and attenuates hepatic steatosis , which may be related to inhibiting the expression of PCSK 9 in the liv-er.

This study was aimed to explore whether gypenosides (GPs) can inhibit the expression of miRNA-122 and regulate the lipid metabolism enzyme activity to play a role in lipid-lowering effect. A total of 48 healthy male SD rats were randomly divided into 4 groups, which were the normal control group (C), hyperlipidemic model group (M), simvastatin group (S) and the GPs group (G). All groups were fed with high-fat diets except the normal control group which was fed with normal diets. The GPs, which were dissolved in 0.3% sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC-Na) solution, were given by the intragastric administration. The C group and M group were given 0.3% CMC-Na solution (1 mL/100 g) daily. The G group was given 160 mg·kg-1 of GPs daily. The S group was given 5 mg·kg-1 of simvastatin daily. The experiment was continued for 8 weeks. After the last medication, rats were fasted for 12 hours. Rats were anesthetized with chloral hydrate (7%). Abdominal arterial blood samples were collected to detect the total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). The wet weight of liver was weighed and the liver index was measured. The liver total RNA was extracted to determine the expression of miRNA-122 by the real-time PCR. The homogenates of liver tissues were prepared for the determination of hepatic lipase (HL), lipoprotein lipase (LPL) and HMG-CoA reductase activity. Cholesterol micelle formation experiments were implementedin vitro. The results showed that compared with the normal control group, TC, TG and LDL-C levels of the model group were significantly increased (P< 0.01), while the HDL-C levels in each group were obviously decreased (P< 0.05). Compared with the model group, TC, TG and LDL-C levels of the S group and G group were obviously decreased (P< 0.05), and the HDL-C level was obviously increased (P< 0.05). Compared with the model group, the liver indexes of the S group and G group were obviously decreased (P< 0.05). Compared with the hyperlipidemia model group, the expressions of miRNA-122 of the S group and G group were significantly reduced (P< 0.05). Compared with the hyperlipidemia model group, the activity of HMG-CoA reductase was obviously reduced in the S group and G group (P< 0.05), but the HL and LPL activities were obviously increased (P< 0.05). GPs can inhibit the formation of cholesterol micelles to some extent. It was concluded that GPs can effectively reduce the blood lipid level in hyperlipidemic rats, in order to relieve the hepatic fatty lesions. Its lipid-lowering mechanism was related to its inhibition of miRNA-122 expression and regulation of lipid metabolism enzyme activity, as well as the inhibition on the formation of cholesterol micelles.

Objective To examine the relationship between quetiapine serum concentration,dose,therapeu-tic efficacy and side effects in male patients with schizophrenia.Methods Sixty-three male patients with schizo-phrenia were collected.They were treated openly for 8 weeks with quetiapine,the dose was adjusted according to clini-cal improvement and tolerance.The plasma quetiapine concentrations,therapeutic efficacy and adverse drug reactions were observed after the 4 -week treatment period,and at the end of the 8 weeks of the treatment.Results After 4 weeks,the serum concentration had significant correlation with age,the disease duration and education level.After 8 weeks,there was significant correlation between serum concentration and age.We found a correlation between dose and serum concentration of quetiapine,and no relationship between serum concentration and PANSS scores.Side effects were correlated with 4 weeks′serum concentrations.Conclusion Quetiapine is effective for male patients with schizophrenia.Age,quetiapine dose and side effects have significant correlations with the serum concentration.It appears that plasma quetiapine concentration has no effects on therapeutic efficacy.

Objective To establish a method for the determination of quetiapine fumarate in human serum by RP‐HPLC and apply it into clinical .Methods Extracting with ethyl ether after serum‐drug was alkalized ,and then determined by RP‐HPLC .The determination was performed on Zorbax Eclipse XDB‐C18 column with mobile phase consisted of methanol‐water (70∶30 ,containing 0 .5% triethylamine and 0 .4% glacial acetic acid) at the flow rate of 0 .6 ml/min .The detection wave‐length was set at 254 nm ,and the column temperature was 35 ℃ .The method would be applied into analysis of clinical medica‐tion .Results Quetiapine fumarate and the impurities could be completely separated ,and the linear range of quetiapine fumar‐ate were 50‐1 000 ng/ml(r=0 .999 5) .The recovery of the method was 98 .2%‐100 .1% and the recovery of extracting was 75 .2%‐84 .6% .RSD of intra‐day was within 0 .8%‐3 .7% and RSD of inter‐day was within 1 .4%‐5 .1% .The limit of quantita‐tion for quetiapine fumarate was 2 .1 ng/ml .This method had been applied into clinical pharmacy and achieved a good effects . Conclusions The method is simple ,accurate ,reproducible ,and sensitive for determination of quetiapine fumarate in human se‐rum .It has important significance on instructing the rational use of clinical medicine and discovering the unreasonable drug combination .