AIM To study the chemical constituents from Illicium brevistylum A.C.Smith and to evaluate their anti-inflammatory activities.METHODS The n-BuOH fraction of 80％ ethanol extract from I.brevistylum was isolated and purified by silica,ODS and Sephadex LH-20,the structures of obtained compounds were identified by spectral data.Then their anti-inflammatory activities were screened.RESULTS Nine compounds were isolated and identified as (7S,8R)-3,3',5-trimethoxy-4',7-epoxy-8,5'-neolignan-4,9,9'-triol (1),methylabieta-8,11,13,15-tetraen-18-oate (2),majusanin A (3),pubeside C (4),(+)-lyoniresinol-3a-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside (5),junipercomnoside D (6),lyoniside (7),nudiposide (8),rhyncoside A (9).The inhibition rates of compounds 2,6,9 on NF-κB were 47.81％,37.33％,33.37％,respectively.CONCLUSION Compounds 1,5,7-9 are isolated from genus Illicium for the first time,and compounds 2,6,9 exhibit good anti-inflammatory activities.

Objective To develop europium (Ⅲ) [Eu (Ⅲ)] chelated microparticles for homogeneous immunoassay.Methods Anti-human PCT antibodies were labeled with Eu (Ⅲ) chelated nanoscale microparticles as the detection antibody,and another anti-human PCT antibody was labeled with biotin as the solid-phase antibody.Magnetic microspheres labeled with streptavidin were used to separate the complexes of Eu-IgM-PCT-IgM-Biotin.Results In the homogeneous immunoassay,the standard curve fit was not linear.The quadratic curve was Y =19170.12 + 75493.74X-26.00X2(r =0.9986).According to the standard curve,the limit of detection for PCT was 0.04 ng/ml.Conclusion The homogeneous immunoassay which uses Eu (Ⅲ) chelated microparticles is highly sensitive for detection of PCT recombinant antigens and may serve as a promising method to measure serum PCT levels in the future.

Objective To evaluate the value of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in transthoracic minimally invasive device closure of ventricular septal defect(VSD).Methods A total of 164 cases of VSD were recruited as candidates to receive transthoracic minimally invasive device closure between January 2007 and October 2010,including 138 perimembranous VSDs,3 muscular VSDs and 23 supracristal VSDs.Among these groups,85 male patients were included.Four-champer view,five-champer view,left ventricular long-axis view,short-axis view and right ventricular inflow view were detected to evaluate the availability of device closure.Results A total of 152 cases(92.7%)were successfully closed with a device.All the patients were followed up more than 3 months arranged with a standard protocol.No complete atrioventricular block (CAVB) or associated valvular complications were observed.Three of the five cases with traced residual shunt after device closure closed spontaneously.Conclusion TEE plays an important role in transthoracic minimally invasive device closure of ventricular septal defect,which has been proved by the good follow-up results without CAVB and associated valvular complications.

AIM To establish the HPLC fingerprints of Kangfuxin Liquid (extract of Periplaneta americana L.) and to determine the contents of six constituents.METHODS The analysis of this drug was performed on a TOSOH TSK-GEL ODS column (250 mm × 4.6 mm,5 μm),with the mobile phase comprising of acetonitrile-water (containing 0.07％ acetic acid) flowing at 1.0 mL/min in a gradient elution manner,and the detection wavelength was set at 280 nm.RESULTS There were twenty-four common peaks in the fingerprints of ten batches of samples (Ⅰ-Ⅹ) with the similarities of 0.932-0.993 (except for sample Ⅰ).Uracil,hypoxanthine,xanthine,inosine,protocatechuic acid and Cyclo (Gly-Tyr) showed good linear relationships within the ranges of 3.460-173.0,3.960-198.0,3.596-179.8,1.338-66.9,3.672-183.6 and 3.552-177.6 μg/mL,whose average recoveries (RSDS) were99.8％ (2.65％),98.0％ (2.55％),99.7％ (1.59％),100.7％ (2.80％),102.0％ (2.09％) and 99.6％ (1.88％),respectively.CONCLUSION This accurate,stable and simple method can be used for the quality control of Kangfuxin Liquid.

AIM To establish an HPLC method for the simultaneous content determination of seven constituents in Gnaphalium affine D.Don.METHODS The analysis of 80％ methanol of G.affine was performed on a 30 ℃ Atlantis (C) T3 column (4.6 mm× 250 mm,5 μm),with the mobile phase comprising of acetonitrile-formic acid flowing at 1.0 mL/min in a gradient elution manner,and the detection wavelength was set at 288 nm.RESULTS Seven constituents showed good linear relationships within their own ranges (R2 ≥0.999 8),whose average recoveries were 98.58％-103.8％ with the RSDs of 0.88％-1.74％.CONCLUSION This accurate,stable and reproducible method can be used for the quality control of G.affine.