0.05).Conclusion: Lamiophlomis rotata capsule showed the similar curative effect and safety as Radix Notoginseng capsule did on dysmenorrhea.

Adult ; Altitude ; Arteries ; metabolism ; Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide ; blood ; Humans ; beta-Endorphin ; blood

Objective To establish a rapid, sensitive and selective liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for the determination of acyclovir (the metabolite of valacyclovir hydrochloride) in human plasma. Methods After addition of ganciclovir as internal standard (IS), plasma samples were prepared by one-step protein precipitation using acetonitrile as precipitant, followed by an isocratic elution with 0.1% formic acid 3.5μm) column. Detection was performed on a triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer utilizing electrospray ionization (ESI) interface operating in positive ion and selected reaction monitoring (SRM) mode with the precursor to product ion transitions m/z 226.2→152.1 for acyclovir and m/z 256.2→152.1 for the IS. Results The analytical results demonstrated a good linearity over the ranges from 0.005 to 4μg/mL (r=0.9999) for valacyclovir hydrochloride. The relative standard deviations (RSD) of intra-batch and inter-batch were less than 4.06% and 9.23%, respectively. The limit of detection and lower limit of quantification in human plasma were 2ng/mL and 5ng/mL, respectively. Conclusion The method was simple, sensitive, accurate and reproducible and has been successfully applied to a bioequivalence study of valacyclovir hydrochloride capsules in Chinese healthy male volunteers.

ObjectiveTo compare the performance of color Doppler utrasonography (CDUS) alone,magnetic resonance imagine (MRI) alone, and the combination of the two in the diagnosis of thyroid carcinona (TC). MethodsCDUS and MRI results of 54 focuses of carcinoma in 45 cases diagnosed as TC by postoperative pathological results were reviewed. The sensitivity of CDUS, MRI, and the combination of the two in the diagnosis of TC was compared. ResultsThe sensitivity of CDUS and MRI was 77.78％ (42/54)and 81.48％(44/54) respectively. The difference had no statistical significance (P ＞ 0.05 ). The specificity of CDUS and MRI was 88.17％ and 92.47％ respectively, the positive predictive value was 79.25％ and 86.27％ respectively,and the negative predictive value was 87.23％ and 89.58％ respectively. The sensitivity of the combination of CDUS and MRI was 94.44％ (51/54). The difference between the combination and CDUS or MRI alone had statistical significance( P ＜0.05). ConclusionsCDUS has higher detection rate than MRI in microcalcification of TC focus. However, MRI can show more clearly of the peripheral invasion and cervical lymph node metastasis.The combination of the two can improve the accuracy of TC diagnosis.

Aim To establish a model of the vascular endothelial cell (VEC) injury in SDrats.Methods SD rats were randomly divided into the control and the modelgroups. The model rats were injected with adrenaline diluted to 2. 5 times 0. 05 mg?100 g-1 (tid) for 5 d continously. From the 4th d, they were irritated for 5 min in the0℃ cold-water in the middle between adrenaline injections.The control rats weregiven 0. 9% NS as above. At 6th d, blood samples were taken from carotid arteries ofthe rats and the CEC counts, t - PA、PAI activities, 6-keto-PGF1? concentrations andthe platelet aggregation rate(max) were detected respectively. Results In the modelgroup, as compared with those in the control group, t - PA activity and 6-keto-PGF1?concentration decreased significantly(P

Sulfur fumigation, which is traditional method for preservation, pest control, insecticide and sterilization, has long been widely used in processing and storage and played a positive role of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). As some businesses sided pursuit of profit, abused and repeated use of sulfur fumigation, have resulted in a large number of harmful residues, such as sulf dioxide (SO2) and harmful heavy metals, which brings a significant impact and danger on human health. This article summarizes the sulfur species and the sulfur fumigation methods and analyzes the harmful substances in TCM after sulfur fumigation, to provide a reference of the choice of species for the sulfur, the optimization of sulfur fumigation process and the standardized processing of TCM after sulfur fumigation.
Animals ; Drug Contamination ; Fumigation ; methods ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods ; Safety ; Sulfur ; chemistry ; Technology, Pharmaceutical ; methods

Objective To investigate complications associated with Coflex interspinous process device for degenerative lumbar disc diseases and methods to treat.Methods Clinical data of 121 patients with degenerative lumbar disc diseases,who had undergone surgical decompression and additional fixation of Coflex between November 2007 and June 2011,was analyzed retrospectively.There were 76 males and 45 females,aged from 37 to 75 years (average,54.6 years).Surgery-related complications and sequelae were recorded and analyzed.Results Surgery-related complications occurred in 10 patients,and the incidence was 8.3％ (10/121).There were 3 cases of device-related complications,including wing break in 1 case,prosthetic loosening in 1 case and spinal process fracture in 1 case; all 3 cases were treated conservatively and received good results.There were 7 cases of non-device-related complications,including dura mater dilaceration in 2 cases,superficial wound infection in 1 case,insufficient decompression of spinal canal in 2 cases,recurrence of disc herniation in 1 case,and intraspinal hematoma in 1 case; the former 3 patients recovered after corresponding treatment,and the latter 4 patients also recovered after re-operation.Conclusion The incidences of complications and re-operation associated with application of Coflex are low,and the incidence of device-related complications is also low.The precise intraoperative manipulation is the key to reduce incidence of device-related complications.It's absolutely necessary to strictly master surgical indications and perform sufficient decompression in order to receive good surgical results and avoid non-device-related complications.

When the glomerular mesangial cells of rats were cultured in vitro at high glucose concentration,the activity of extraeellular signal-regulated kinase(ERK),the expression of transforming growth factor-?_1(TGF-?_1)mRNA and the content of typeⅣcollagen in the supematant were higher than those at normal glucose concentration.These effects were inhibited by fluvastatin.The results showed that the activation of ERK signal transduction pathways appeared to play a role in the onset and progression of diabetic nephropathy. Furthermore,fluvastatin could protect the kidney by inhibiting ERK signal transduction pathway and TGF-?_1 expression.

Objective:To discuss the treatment options for patients with azoospermia factor (AZF)c microdeletion on Y chromosome.Methods:One hundred and eighty three patients,who were diagnosed as AZFc microdeletion on Y chromosome in Peking University Third Hospital,were recruited in our stu-dy.In order to get better treatment option for this kind of patients,we retrospectively analyzed their clinic data including the treatment process and pregnancy outcome and found out the characteristics of their se-men.Results:Among the 183 patients,sperms can be found in ejaculated semen in 105 patients (57.4%,105 /183).One hundred and three patients (98.1%,103 /105)were diagnosed as severe or extremely severe oligospermia.Regular medication was given to 98 patients,6 patients (6.1%,6 /98) of which got natural pregnancy.The other 99 patients who have sperms in their semen received intracyto-plasmic sperm injection (ICSI),68 patients (68.7%,68 /99)of which got pregnancy.Seventy eight patients were diagnosed as azoospermia among all the 183 patients.Forty nine patients received testicular sperm aspiration (TESA),and 21 patients choose to receive micro-TESE directly.Among the 49 patients with TESA,sperms were retrieved in 17 patients (34.7%,17 /49),and sperms were not retrieved in 32 patients (65.3%,32 /49),of which 12 patients (37.5%,12 /32)gave up treatment and 20 patients (62.5%,20 /32)choose micro-TESE.Among the 41 patients who choose to receive micro-TESE,ope-ration has been done on 19 patients,of which 11 patients (57.9%,11 /19)got sperms.Among the 11 patients,TESA has been done on 6 patients before micro-TESE,of which 4 patients (66.6%,4 /6)got sperms.ICSI has already been done on 7 azoospermia AZFc microdeletion patients who underwent micro-TESE,of which 4 patients (57.1%,4 /7)get pregnancy.Conclusion:AZFc microdeletion patients who had sperms were always diagnosed as severe or extremely severe oligospermia.ICSI was their first choice instead of drug therapy.For AZFc microdeletion patients who were diagnosed as azoospermia, TESA was one of their choices,however,the success rate is not high.Micro-TESE is still possible to get sperms even after the failure of TESA.Therefore,we may choose micro-TESE instead of TESA in some azoospermia patients in order to reduce surgical trauma on patients.

OBJECTIVETo explore the effect of curcumin (CUR) on cycteinyl aspirate specific protease-12 (Caspase-12) and pneumocyte apoptosis in pulmonary ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury mice.

METHODSThe in vivo unilateral in situ pulmonary I/R injury mouse model was established in C57BL/6J mice. Sixty experimental mice were randomly divided into six groups by random digit table, i. e., the sham-operation group (Sham), the I/R group, the I/R + dimethyl sulfoxide group (I/R + DMSO), the I/R + low dose CUR pre-treated group (I/R + CUR-100), the I/R + middle dose CUR pre-treated group (I/R + CUR-150), the I/R + high dose CUR pre-treated group (I/R + CUR-200), 10 in each group. Mice were euthanized and their left lungs were excised. Wet lung weight to dry lung weight (W/D) and the total lung water content (TLW) were tested. The morphological changes of the lung tissue were observed and index of quantitative evaluation for alveolar damage (IQA) detected under light microscope. The ultra-microstructure of the lung tissue was observed under electron microscope. The mRNA and protein expression levels of Caspase-12 and glucose regulated protein (GRP78) were detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot. Apoptosis index (AI) of the lung tissue was determined by terminal-deoxynucleoitidyl transferase mediated nick end labeling (TUNEL) method.

RESULTSCompared with the Sham group, expression levels of Caspase-12, GRP78 mRNA and protein all significantly increased in the I/R group (P < 0.05); W/D, TLW, IQA, and AI were all notably higher (P < 0.05, P < 0.01); the morphological and ultrastructural injury of the lung tissue were notably observed in I/R group. Compared with the I/R + DMSO group, expression levels of GRP78 mRNA and protein were increasingly higher in the I/R + CUR-100 group, the I/R + CUR-150 group, and the I/R +CUR-200 group (P < 0.05), expression levels of Caspase-12 mRNA and protein were lower (P < 0.05); W/D, TLW, IQA, and AI also decreased (P < 0.05, P < 0.01); the morphological and ultrastructural injury of the lung tissue were gradually alleviated in the I/R + CUR groups.

CONCLUSIONCUR had better effect on the lung protection against I/R injury, which might be related to inhibition for pneumocyte apoptosis associated with Caspase-12 in excessive unfolded protein response (UPR).

Animals ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Caspase 12 ; metabolism ; Curcumin ; pharmacology ; Heat-Shock Proteins ; metabolism ; Lung ; blood supply ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Reperfusion Injury ; metabolism ; pathology ; prevention & control