Objective: To observe the effect of acupuncture on serum peptide YY (PYY) and nesfatin-1 in obese patients with insulin resistance. Methods: Ninety-eight obese patients with insulin resistance were divided into a control group and an observation group by the random number table method, with 49 cases in each group. The control group received exercise and dietary interventions, and the observation group received additional acupuncture treatment to the exercise and dietary interventions. The body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage, fasting insulin (FINS), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), and serum PYY and nesfatin-1 levels were compared before and after treatment. The efficacy was evaluated after treatment. Results: The total effective rate was significantly higher in the observation group than in the control group (P<0.05). After treatment, the BMI, body fat percentage, and serum TG and TC levels decreased significantly in both groups (P<0.05), and were significantly lower in the observation group than those in the control group (P<0.05). The FINS, FPG, HOMA-IR, and serum PYY and nesfatin-1 levels of the control group were not significantly changed after treatment (P>0.05). The FINS, FPG and HOMA-IR of the observation group decreased significantly after treatment (P<0.05), and were lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). The serum PYY and nesfatin-1 levels of the observation group increased significantly after treatment (P<0.05), and were higher than those in the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion: Based on exercise and dietary interventions, acupuncture is effective for obese patients with insulin resistance. It can reduce the BMI, body fat percentage, blood lipids, blood glucose, and serum insulin levels and improve insulin resistance. The action may be associated with the up-regulation of serum PYY and nesfatin-1.

ObjectiveTo explore whether the biocompatibility of phosphorylcholine (PC) modified alginate-chitosan microcapsules could be improved. MethodsPC modified alginate-chitosan microcapsules were obtained by high-voltage electrostatic system.Bradford method was adopted to determine the adsorption amounts of bovine serum albumin by chitosan alone and PC modified chitosan.Alginate-chitosan-PC microcapsules (experimental group) and alginate-chitosan microcapsules ( control group) were respectively implanted into the peritoneal cavity of mice and retrieved 4 weeks after transplantation.Fibrosis of the capsules was evaluated by HE staining.Glucose stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) assay was used to assess the insulin secretion response of encapsulated and nonencapsulated rat islets. Results The adsorption amount of protein was 189.4 μg/mg and 90.5 μg/mg respectively by chitosan alone and PC modified chitosan.The difference had statistical significance ( t =5.549, P ＜ 0.05 ).In contrast to the control group, the cellular reaction on the surface of the modified microcapsules was weaker, with no obvious fibrosis found.The insulin secreted by encapsulated islets and nonencapsulated islets was( 3.298 ± 1.680 ) μIU/ml VS (4.299 ± 1.159 ) μIU/ml ( t =1.096, P ＞ 0.05 ) in response to low-glucose stimulus and( 11.783 ± 4.175 ) μIU/ml VS ( 12.875 ± 2.268 ) μIU/ml ( t =0.514, P ＞ 0.05 ) in response to high-glucose stimulus.Conclusions PC can improve the biocompatibility of alginate-chitosan microcapsules, with no effect on the biological function of encapsulated islets.It may be more appropriate to use modified microcapsules encapsulating islets for transplantation.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the electrophysiological effect of Xin' an granule (XAG) on ventricular muscle cell in ischemic rabbits.

METHODSA total of 48 rabbits were divided into the normal group and the ischemic group, and then subdivided into three groups, the control group, the high and low-dose XAG groups, 8 in each group. Rabbits in the low-dose XAG group and the high-dose XAG group were gastrogavaged XAG at the daily dose of 0. 85 g/kg and 3.40 g/kg, while the others in the control group were given the equal dosage of normal saline. All the rabbits were treated three times per day for successive 10 days. The rabbit model of ischemia was established by intravenous injected with 2. 5 U/kg posterior pituitary injection. Five minutes later, the monophasic action potential (MAP) and electrocardiogram (ECG) of each rabbit in the different groups were recorded and compared.

RESULTS(1) To normal rabbits, XAG could significantly shorten the action 50% and 90% potential duration (APD)50 and APD90 of ventricular muscle cell (P < 0.05 ), and high-dose of XAG could significantly increased the Vmax of MAP(P <0. 05). (2) While to ischemic rabbits, XAG could significantly prolong APD50 and APD90, and significantly increased the action potential amplitude (APA) and Vmax of MAP (P < 0. 05).

CONCLUSION(1) XAG can significantly shorten APD50 and APD90 of ventricular muscle cell, and high-dose XAG significantly increase the Vmax of MAP of normal rabbits. (2) XAG can delay and alleviate the manifestation characteristics of action potential of ventricular muscle cell during ischemia.

Action Potentials ; drug effects ; Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Electrocardiography ; Heart Ventricles ; cytology ; drug effects ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Myocardial Ischemia ; physiopathology ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; drug effects ; physiology ; Rabbits

Objective To investigate the characteristic,diagnosis,clinical staging, treatment and clinical prognosis of occult breast carcinoma (OBC). Method Forty-six cases of OBC were analyzed retrospectively with the clinical and follow-up information that were confirmed by postoperative pathologic diagnosis from November 1981 to November 2005. Results All patients showed axillary node enlargement as the first sign and were operated.The operation included axillary node excision in 2 patients,radical mastec-tomy or modified radical mastectomy in 44 patients. Forty-five cases got follow-up for 1-22 years,33 cases had existed 3 years,18 cases had existed 5 years,8 cases had existed 10 years. Conclusions For axillary mass which causes are uncertain ,the possibility of OBC should be considered .Meanwhile excision and pathological examination is necessary.The metastatic histological structure and immunohistochemical index of the axillary nodes usually provide important clue for the source of this tumor.Radical or modified mastectomy is the best method, and pest-operative chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy should be done. It has been showed that targeted therapy is very important to breast cancer with C-erbB-2 positive recently.To the cases that neck lymphatic metastasis is M4G3 positive by immunohistochemical examination and no primary focus clinically, the diagnosis of OBC should be considered. The cases without primary focus have better prognosis than those with primary focus.

Objective To explore the suitable delayed time of MSCT mesenteric venography and to probe the value of different post-processing methods.Methods 49 patients with abdominal pain (group A)underwent MSCT mesenteric venography with a delayed time of 15-20 s after the arterial phase,and the CT showed the mesenteric vein(MV)was normal.Meanwhile,other 49 ones with abdominal pain (group B)underwent conventional biphasic CT with a delay-time of 35 s after arterial phase.The CT value and diameter of superior mesenteric vein between two groups were compared,and the grading,scoring and display of mesenteric vein with different post-processingmethods were assessed.Results The diameters of SMV were (10.52±2.19)mm in group A and (9.88±2.60)mm in group B,exhibiting no statistically significant difference (P >0.05);Meanwhile the average attenuations of SMV were (1 96.55±40.59)HU in group A and (1 64.32± 28.35)HU in group B,exhibiting a statistically significant difference (P<0.05).In addition,the display ability and scoring of mesenteric vein and its branches on volume rendering (VR)in group A were better than those in group B (P <0.05).VR was better in display of the vascular space distribution than maximum intensity projection (MIP)and sliding thin slab maximum intensity projection (STS-MIP),the STS-MIP was better in display of tiny blood vessels than VR and MIP,and the curved planner reformation (CPR)was superior in display of vascular lumen and the relationship with adjacent structures.Conclusion The image quality of mesenteric vein with the delayed time of 1 5-20 s after arterial phase is superior to that with delayed time of 35 s,and different advantages of the post-processing methods are showed in display of MV.

Rhubarb is a traditional Chinese medicines which possess laxative, lipid-lowering, and weight-loss activities, but the active compounds of lipid-lowering and underlying molecular mechanisms are not yet clear. This study aims to explore the effects of chrysophanol on the mRNA expressions of sterol regulatory element-binding proteins (SREBPs) and lipid metabolism in human liver carcinoma Huh-7 cells, which is one of the active compounds obtained from Rhubarb. A reporter gene assay was used to test the transcription of SREBP. The intracellular triglyceride and total cholesterol contents were measured by using commercially available test kits. The SREBPs target genes expressions were measured by Quantitative Real-Time PCR. Cell viability was evaluated by Cell Counting Kit-8. As the results shown, chrysophanol (40 μmol · L(-1), 16 h) could notably inhibited human SRE promoter activity in a dose-dependent manner and decrease intracellular cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Furthermore, the mRNA expressions of SREBPs target genes were significantly downregulated by chrysophanol treatment. However there are no significant differences on cell viability when compared with the control group. These results suggested that chrysophanol might improve lipid metabolism through suppressing the mRNA expressions of SREBPs target genes to attenuate intracellular lipid accumulation.
Anthraquinones ; pharmacology ; CCAAT-Enhancer-Binding Proteins ; Cell Line, Tumor ; drug effects ; Cholesterol ; analysis ; Down-Regulation ; Gene Expression ; Genes, Reporter ; Humans ; Lipid Metabolism ; drug effects ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; Sterol Regulatory Element Binding Proteins ; pharmacology ; Triglycerides ; analysis

Cytometric bead array (CBA) is a new analytical technique, which can achieve real-time and rapid detection of targeted components in a small amount of sample. With many advantages of high throughput screening, high specificity and sensitivity, low cost, easy operation and good repeatability, this CBA technique has been widely used for the detection of various components in foods, agricultural products and environmental samples. Recently, it has got significant development in rapid detection of small molecules. This review briefly introduced the theory of CBA technique, summarized the application in the analysis of small molecules, such as mycotoxins, pesticide residues, shellfish toxins, and then prospected the application of trace small molecules detection in the complex matrices of traditional Chinese medicine and the development trend of it.
Drug Contamination ; High-Throughput Screening Assays ; instrumentation ; methods ; Immunoassay ; instrumentation ; methods ; Microspheres ; Pesticides ; analysis ; Toxins, Biological ; analysis

Tripterygium glycosides preparation which extracted from the traditional Chinese herb Tripterygium wilfordii (TWHY), was widely used to treat the autoimmune diseases. Previous works demonstrated that TWHF had potent anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive properties. But the different quality and high incident rate of side effects of different manufactures inhibited its clinical application. Since TWHF had been generally known to play a therapeutical effect by synergism of multiple constituents, it was necessary to build the relationship between the HPLC fingerprint and bioactivity so as to ensure the quality safety and efficacy. The HPLC fingerprint showed that description and content of peaks from different manufactures were diverse. Only 11 common peaks were found. In this study, mice spleen cells stimulated by Con A were used to test the proliferation inhibition bioactivity of TWHF preparations, which were incubated with 30, 15, 7.5, 3.75, 1.88 and 0.94 mg x L(-1) TWHF preparations for 48 h. The results showed that mice spleen cells proliferation was inhibited by all TWHF preparations significantly compared with the control group, which suggested the TWHF preparations showed immune suppress activity. The TWHF preparations from 7 manufacture showed different IC50 value, which might belong to different contents which showed in the HPLC fingerprint. Moreover, a relationship between the HPLC fingerprint and the bioactivity were established to identify important constituents by grey relational analysis (GRA). The result showed that all the contents were relative with the IC50, especially No. 5 and 10 peaks, but No. 1 peak, which was proved to be triptolide, had few contribute to the inhibition of mice spleen cells proliferation. The study of relationship between the HPLC fingerprint and the IC50 by GRA could help to investigate mechanism of bioactive and provide an evidence for the quantification of multi-constituents.
Animals ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents ; analysis ; pharmacology ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; pharmacology ; Glycosides ; analysis ; pharmacology ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Spleen ; cytology ; drug effects ; Tripterygium ; chemistry

All kinds of traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) differed from each other with different chemical components and properties. Owing to poor conditions and technologies, and the lack of scientific preservation, most TCMs will easily become mouldy during the processes of growth, harvest, handling, translation and especially storage, which will not only influence the quality, safety and efficacy of TCMs, but also cause serious waste and economic losses, and even do great harm to human health. The process of storage is closely related to the qualities of TCMs with many interference factors. Therefore, scientific preservation of TCM during storage is crucial to prevent them from being mouldy. This review analyzed the important harm of mouldy TCMs, summarized the internal and external factors of resulting in TCMs to become mouldy. Based on the above discussion, together with the characteristics and limitations of current TCM preservation techniques, we prospect novel, scientific and reasonable preservation techniques, expecting to provide references for scientific preservation of TCMs to avoid becoming mouldy and guarantee their qualities.
Drug Contamination ; prevention & control ; Drug Storage ; methods ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Fungi ; growth & development ; isolation & purification ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; microbiology

Objective To observe the dynamic expressions of kielin/chordin-like protein (kcp) in mouse model of hepatic fibrosis and the effects of bone morphogenetic protein-7 (BMP-7)intervention on the expressions,and to explore a new target for treatment of fibrosis.Methods A total of 50 healthy male ICR mice were divided into three groups:control group(n=10) ; model group (n=30) and BMP-7 treatment group (n=10).The model group was further divided into three subgroups according to different time points:subgroups of 4,8 and 12 weeks with 10 mice in each subgroup.The mouse model of hepatic fibrosis was established by hypodermic injection of carbon tetrachloride(CCl4 ).The mice in BMP-7 treatment group began to receive human recombmant BMP- 7via intraperitoneal injection after 8 weeks of the first administration of CC14 and lasted for 4 weeks.The serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT),aspartate transaminase (AST) and albumin (Alb) were detected.The pathological changes of liver were observed under optical microscope after HE and Masson staining.The dynamic expressions of kcp mRNA and protein of each group were detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction,immunohistochemistry and Western blot.The comparison of means among groups was done by univariate ANOVA.Results In model group,ALT and AST levels increased,while Alb level gradually decreased,and peaked at week 12.BMP-7treatment could reduce the changes,and there were significant differences among groups (F=23.501,34.600 and 16.244,respectively; all P＜0.05).In normal control group,the expressions of kcp mRNA and protein were low,while those in model group were gradually increased.BMP-7 treatment could achieve remission and the changes were all significantly different among groups (F=30.362 and 10.727,respectively; P＜0.01 or 0.05).The expression of kcp mRNA was positively correlated with levels of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 mRNA and BMP-7 mRNA (r=0.760 and 0.769,respectively; both P＜0.05).Conclusions BMP 7 can improve the hepatic fibrosis in mice.kcp may play an important role in the occurrence and development of liver fibrosis which is a potential therapeutic target for hepatic fibrosis.