A combination of spectral experiment and molecular modeling techniques has been used to characterize the binding mechanism between an active component 5-hydroxymethyl-furfural (5-HMF) of traditional Chinese medicine and human serum albumin (HSA) or bovine serum albumin (BSA). The interaction mechanism of 5-HMF binding with HSA/BSA is analyzed. Although the drug can bind with HSA/BSA to form stable complexes, there are some differences in the bond strength. The values of binding distances (r) are different and low, which indicated the occurrence of energy transfer. The drug had conformational effect on HSA/BSA, which resulted in different changes of hydrophobic environment of the binding domain in HSA/BSA. The 'phase diagram' of fluorescence revealed that the changes on the conformational pattern of proteins have been affected by drug conformed to the "all-or-none" pattern. The interactions between drug and protein influenced by Co(II) were also discussed. Its effects acting on 5-HMF-HSA/BSA interactions are different. The computational modeling method was used to study the interaction between 5-HMF and HSA/BSA. The results of molecular model studies revealed that the binding modes for drug-serum albumin systems are mainly hydrophobic interactions and hydrogen bonding. These results are in accordance with spectral results. The research results have given a better theoretical reference for the study of pharmacological mechanism of 5-hydroxymethyl-furfural.

Objective: To systematically evaluate the clinical effects of Maxing Shigan Decoction (MXSGD), a compound traditional Chinese herbal medicine, combined with Western medicine on pneumonia in children. Methods: In this study, the relative trials published from 1994 to 2008 were searched in Chongqing Weipu Database, Chinese Journal Full-text Database, Wanfang database, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database and other electronic database by using the method of Cochrane systematic review. At the same time the information from related journals, professional data and network were hand-searched. The methodological quality of the included trials was assessed by two evaluators, and homogeneous evaluation by meta-analysis was performed. Statistical analysis of clinical data was performed by using RevMan 4.2.7 software provided by the Cochrane Collaboration. Results: A total of 146 reports were found, while only eight randomized controlled trials met the inclusion criteria. The methodology quality of the reports included in the study was evaluated by the Jadad scale, and the specific random method, allocation concealment, blinding and intention-to-treat analysis were not described in all of the eight trial reports. As MXSGD combined with Western medicine group (treatment group) was compared with Western medicine group (control group), the meta-analysis indicated that the odds ratio for the total effective rate was 4.06, and the 95% confidence interval was from 2.63 to 6.27. MXSGD combined with Western medicine was good at increasing the total effective rate as compared with Western medicine, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.000 01). Conclusion: MXSGD combined with Western medicine can improve clinical symptoms and increase the total effective rate of the patients with pneumonia in children. However, its clinical effects should be further identified by high quality, multicenter and randomized controlled trials with large-scale design.

Animals ; Humans ; Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Hypertension, Pulmonary ; drug therapy

Nicotinic acid could increase high density lipoprotein and reduce serum total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides in human bodies, thus is frequently applied in treating low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and hypertriglyceridemia in clinic. However, according to the findings, nicotinic acid could also cause adverse effects, such as skin flush, beside its curative effects. In this study, bioisosterism, fragment-based search and Lipinski's Rule of Five were used to preliminarily screen out potential TCM ingredients that may have similar pharmacological effects with nicotinic acid from Traditional Chinese medicine database (TCMD). Afterwards, homology modeling and flexible docking were used to further screen out potential nicotinic acid receptor agonists. As a result, eleven candidate compounds were derived from eight commonly used traditional Chinese medicines. Specifically, all of the candidate compounds' interaction with nicotinic acid receptor was similar to nicotinic acid, and their docking scores were all higher than that of nicotinic acid, but their druggability remained to be further studied. Some of the eight source traditional Chinese medicines were used to lower lipid according to literature studies, implying that they may show effect through above means. In summary, this study provides basis and reference for extracting new nicotinic acid receptor agonists from traditional Chinese medicines and improving the medication status of hyperlipidemia.
Drug Evaluation, Preclinical ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Humans ; Models, Molecular ; Molecular Structure ; Nicotinic Acids ; chemistry ; Nicotinic Agonists ; chemistry ; Protein Binding ; Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled ; agonists ; chemistry ; Receptors, Nicotinic ; chemistry

Objective To discuss the clinical value of the suture of sacral ligament and pubovaginalis fascia plus sacrospinous ligament fixation in the treatment of moderate and severe pelvic organ prolapse ( POP) . Methods Thirty-two cases with moderate or severe POP,who were treated by the suture of sacral ligament and pubovaginalis fascia besides sacrospinous ligament fixation,were retrospectively analyzed. Results The locations of POP in the 32 patients were mainly in the anterior and middle pelvis cavity. The degree of uterine prolapse was not less than POP-Q Ⅲ phase. The anterior and/or posterior vaginal walls were also prolapsed. The patients were treated by the transvaginal panhysterectomy,vaginal wall neoplasty,sacrospinous ligament fixation and the suture of sacral ligament and pubovaginalis fascia. Those with stress incontinence were also treated with urethral posterior ligament plication. The operation time was 60~120 min,and the hemorrhage vol-ume was 100~300 mL. There were no severe complications or recurrence in all patients. Conclusion The suture of sacral ligament and pubovaginalis fascia could greatly reduce the hazard rate of the recurrence of anterior pelvic organ defects in POP patients treated by sacrospi-nous ligament fixation. The suture operation could strengthen the anterior pelvis cavity,and was proven to be simple,secure and effective. Therefore,the operation is valuable to be used in clinical application.

Hoxa3-Pax1/Pax9-Eya1-Six1/4 regulatory pathway seems to be operating during forming the bilateral parathyroid/thymus common primordial in early embryonic development.The specification of the parathyroid domain in the parathyroid/thymus primordial is regulated through a Shh-Tbx1-Gcm2 pathway.Gcm2 also may play roles in later steps of parathyroid development,including CaSR and PTH gene expression.MafB and Gcm2 interact with each other and synergistically activate PTH transcription.Genetic basis and the etiology of some hypoparathyroid disorders in man are involved defects in transcription factors that include GCMB,GATA3,Tbxl,SOX3 and GNA11.This marker expression in thymus and parathyroid primordium includes HoxA3,Pax1,Eya1,and Six1;and expression of parathyroid cell-like cells includes Gcm2,CaSR,and PTH.These expressions may serve as markers of stem cell differentiation into parathyroid cell-like cells.

Skin aging principles play important roles in skin disease diagnosis, the evaluation of skin cosmetic effect, forensic identification and age identification in sports competition, etc. This paper proposes a new method to evaluate the skin aging objectively and quantitatively by skin texture area. Firstly, the enlarged skin image was acquired. Then, the skin texture image was segmented by using the iterative threshold method, and the skin ridge image was extracted according to the watershed algorithm. Finally, the skin ridge areas of the skin texture were extracted. The experiment data showed that the average areas of skin ridges, of both men and women, had a good correlation with age (the correlation coefficient r of male was 0.938, and the correlation coefficient r of female was 0.922), and skin texture area and age regression curve showed that the skin texture area increased with age. Therefore, it is effective to evaluate skin aging objectively by the new method presented in this paper.
Algorithms ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Skin ; Skin Aging

Objective To explore the value of transthoracic echocardiography in diagnosis of Berry syndrome and analyze the sonographic typing.Methods The echocardiographic results of 6 Berry patients were reviewed retrospectively.Their sonographic typing were also analyzed connected with the reports in the literature.Results The ultrasound diagnosis of 5cases were confirmed by surgery(3)or angiography(3) and the remain one infant was died 14 days after the echocardiographic procedure.The malformations of Berry syndrome consisted of the distal aorto-pulmonary septal defect(APSD),aortic origin of the right pulmonary artery(RPA),interruption of the aortic arch(5 cases,type A with patent ductus arteriosus)or coarctation of the aortic isthmus(1 case)with intact ventricular septum.In 6 cases,there were 2 sonographic types:(1)Type A(3 cases),the aorto-pulmonary septum was almost absent and the left and right pulmonary arteries remained widely separated,the blood of the RPA came almost from the aorta,the aortic arch was interrupted.(2)Type B(3 cases),the left and right pulmonary arteries remained adjacent and the bifurcation straddled the distal APSD,the blood of the RPA came from the aorta and the pulmonary trunk separately,the aortic arch was coarctated or interrupted. Conclusions The transthoracic echocardiography can be used to evaluate all containing malformations of Berry syndrome and it may be the first diagnostic choice.

Diseases in Twins ; Erythroblastosis, Fetal ; genetics ; Female ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; MNSs Blood-Group System ; immunology

To investigate the effects of manual acupuncture at Shenmen (HT7) or Taiyuan (LU9) on the attention function of the brain, and to lay an experimental foundation for researching brain function and integration mechanisms of the human brain in relation to acupuncture stimulation.