OBJECTIVETo investigate the apoptosis and proliferation effect of matrine on human medulloblastoma cell line D341 in vitro and the effect of the expression of the related caspase 3 and caspase 9 proteins.

METHODSThe D341 cells were cultivated successfully in vitro. Then the cells were divided into 5 groups according to the concentration of matrine (0.5 mg/mI group, 1.0 mg/ml group, 1.5 mg/ml group, 2.0 mg/ml group and the control group was 0 mg/ml). All the experiments were repeated three times. The cell morphologic and structure change was observed with the optical microscope and the transmission electron microscope. The proliferation of D341 cell was analyzed using Cell Counting Kit-8 assay. Apoptosis was detected by Annexin V-FITC/PI double staining. The expression of Caspase3 and Caspase9 was detected by Western blot.

RESULTSWith the effect of matrine, the proliferation inhibition rate gradually increased with drug concentrations increasing, and there was a significant difference (P < 0.01). The inhibitory effect of matrine on cell proliferation was different with the different treatment time, there was a significant difference between the 24 h to 72 h groups (P < 0.01). The apoptotic rate increased with matrine concentrations increasing. There were significant differences between the group of 0.5 mg/mI or 1.0 mg/mI to the group of 1.5 mg/mI or 2.0 mg/mI (P < 0.05). The apoptotic rate increased with the prolonged treatment time. There were significant differences between the group of 24 h or 48 h to the group of 72 h ( P < 0.05). With the increase of matrine concentration, the expression of Caspase 3 and Caspase 9 increased (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONMatrine induces the apoptosis, and inhibits the proliferation of human medulloblastoma D341 cells in vitro by up-regulation of the expression level of Caspase3, Caspase9.

Alkaloids ; pharmacology ; Apoptosis ; Caspase 3 ; metabolism ; Caspase 9 ; metabolism ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; Cerebellar Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Humans ; Medulloblastoma ; metabolism ; pathology ; Quinolizines ; pharmacology ; Up-Regulation

Objective To investigate the galectin-3 expression in squamous carcinioma of esophagus and analyze its relationship with clinicopathological characteristics.Methods S-P immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of galectin-3 in 80 paraffin-embedded specimens of esophageal carcinoma and 22 specimens of normal tissues adjacent to the benigh lesions of esophagus.RT-PCR was performed to detect galectin-3 mRNA expression in 36 pairs of fresh squamous carcinoma tissues and corresponding adjacent normal mucosa.Results Out of 80 specimens of squamous carcinoma of esophagus,62 specimens had positive expression of galectin-3,with the positive rate of 77.5%(62/80)that was significantly higher than 27.27% in normal esophageal tissues(6/22,P

OBJECTIVETo probe into an effective method for treatment of poststroke depression.

METHODSTwo hundred and fifty-six cases of poststroke depression were randomly divided into a control group (n = 76) treated by oral administration of amitilin and an acupuncture group (n = 180) treated by activating brain and regaining consciousness needling method. Their clinical therapeutic effects and changes of relative factors of poststroke depression and plasma contents of monoamine neurotransmitters were observed.

RESULTSIn the acupuncture group, the clinical symptoms and the relative indexes in the depression scales improved and plasma contents of the monoamine neurotransmitters increased significanty as compared with the control group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe needling method for activating brain and regaining consciousness can improve relative factors to cure poststroke depression.

Acupuncture Therapy ; Brain ; Consciousness ; Depression ; therapy ; Depressive Disorder ; Humans

The optometry in physical examinations is conducted manually at present and this method is neither precise nor efficient. After studying the standard logarithmic visual acuity charts which is popular in our country, we have designed an optometry system based on Client/Server Computing Mode. The system's architecture and its working principle are also presented in the article.
Algorithms ; Artificial Intelligence ; Computer Simulation ; Equipment Design ; Humans ; Information Storage and Retrieval ; methods ; Microcomputers ; Optometry ; instrumentation ; methods ; Physical Examination ; instrumentation ; methods ; Software Design

To explore the correlation between nucleated red blood cell (NRBC) count and perinatal asphyxia in neonates.Full-term newborns born from May 2011 to November 2012 were recruited and divided into perinatal asphyxia (n =40) and normal (n =30) groups.Apgar score was recorded immediately at delivery.The umbilical arterial blood was also collected into anticoagulant-treated tube and NRBC was counted by Japan OlympusCX41 biological microscope.NRBC count for perinatal asphyxia group [(10.70 ± 2.61)/100 WBC] was significant higher than that for normal group [(2.67 ± 0.35)/100 WBC].A statistically significant negative correlation existed between NRBC and umbilical arterial blood pH,Apgar score at 1 min,BE value (r =-0.802,P ＜ 0.05 ; r =-0.639,P ＜ 0.05 ; r =-0.566,P ＜ 0.05).Associated with perinatal asphyxia in neonates,NRBC may be used as a simple index for assessing the severity of neonatal perinatal asphyxia.

Objective To evaluate the CT findings of pancreatic carcinoid tumors.Methods The CT imaging data of five patients with pancreatic carcinoid tumors confirmed by pathology were retrospectively analyzed.Results The tumors ranged in maximum diameter from 2.0 to 11.0 cm with a mean of 6.4 cm. On unenhanced CT,the tumors were slightly hypodense relative to the pancreatic parenchyma,homogenous in 2 cases,and heterogenous in 3 cases.One tumor showed calcification.After contrast material injection, the solid component of the tumor showed marked heterogenous enhancement on the arterial phase scanning in 3 cases,and mild heterogenous enhancement in 2 cases.The degree of tumor enhancement was less intense than the surrounding pancreatic parenchyma due to necrosis of various degree,which led to the cystic appearance of the tumor in 1 ease.On the portal phase scanning,all tumors showed marked enhancement similar to that of the pancreatic parenchyma.On the delayed phase scanning,the degree of enhancement was more intense than the surrounding pancreatic parenchyma in 1 case.Liver metastases with retroperitoneal lymphadenopathy and peripancreatic vessels invasion were seen in 1 case.No dilatation of the biliary tract or pancreatic duct was present.Conclusion The CT features of pancreatic carcinoid tumors included infrequent dilatation of the biliary tract or pancreatic duct and unusual vascular involvement,calcification within the mass,marked enhancement similar to that of the surrounding pancreatic parenchyma during the portal phase scanning and more intense during the delayed phase scanning.

OBJECTIVETo establish discriminant functions of diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D) by studying it from quantitative diagnosis angle, hoping to reduce interference of subjective factors in diagnosing and differentially diagnosing Chinese medical syndromes of IBS-D.

METHODSA Chinese medical clinical epidemiological survey was carried out in 439 IBS-D patients using Clinical Information Collection Table of IBS. Initial syndromes were obtained by cluster analysis. They were analyzed using step-by-step discrimination by taking information of four Chinese medical diagnostic methods and serum brain-gut peptides (BGP) as variables.

RESULTSClustering results were Gan stagnation Pi deficiency syndrome (GSPDS), Pi-Wei weakness syndrome (PWWS), Gan stagnation qi stasis syndrome (GSQSS), Pi-Shen yang deficiency syndrome (PSYDS), Pi-Wei damp-heat syndrome (PWDHS), cold-damp disturbing Pi syndrome (CDDPS). Of them, GSPDS was mostly often seen with effective percentage of 34. 2%, while CDDPS was the least often seen with effective percentage of 5.5%. A total of 5 discriminant functions for GSPDS, PWWS, GSQSS, PSYDS, and PWDHS were obtained by step-by-step dis- crimination method. The retrospective misjudgment rate was 4.1% (16/390), while the cross-validation misjudgment rate was 15.4% (60/390).

CONCLUSIONThe establishment of discriminant functions is of value in objectively diagnosing and differentially diagnosing Chinese medical syndromes of IBS-D.

Alarmins ; Brain ; Cluster Analysis ; Diarrhea ; classification ; diagnosis ; Hot Temperature ; Humans ; Irritable Bowel Syndrome ; classification ; diagnosis ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Qi ; Retrospective Studies ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Yang Deficiency

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase is main regulatory enzyme for pentose phosphate pathway. To amplify the core sequence of G6PDH gene from Chimonanthus praecox, the primers were synthesized, based on the conserved nucleotide sequence of other reported plant G6PDH genes. The specific primers were designed according to the major fragment. The full length cDNA of the G6PDH1 gene was isolated by the 3' and 5' rapid amplification of cDNA ends approach. Transcript levels of G6PDH1 isoform was measured by real-time quantitative RT-PCR in different tissues and in responds to cold treatment. The G6PDH1 subcellular localization, transmembrane domain, three-dimensional structure, and phylogenetic analysis were predicted by different software to analysis the bioinformatics of G6PDH1 protein. The G6PDH1 cDNA sequence was 2 011 bp in length and consisted of 1 551 bp Open Reading Frame (ORF) , encoding a protein of 516 amino acids. Expression analysis results in different tissues showed that G6PDH1 was primarily observed in flowers and roots, as opposed to the leaves and stems. Cold treatment experiments indicated that cold treatment caused a rapid increase in G6PDH1 expression in flowers within 12 h. The full-length cDNA of G6PDH1 and its expression analysis will play an important role for further study on cold stress responses in Ch. praecox.
Calycanthaceae ; chemistry ; classification ; enzymology ; genetics ; Cloning, Molecular ; Enzyme Stability ; Glucosephosphate Dehydrogenase ; chemistry ; genetics ; metabolism ; Models, Molecular ; Open Reading Frames ; Phylogeny ; Plant Proteins ; chemistry ; genetics ; metabolism

Diagnostic ultrasound is a useful and noninvasive method in clinical medicine. Although due to its qualitative, subjective and experience-based nature, ultrasound image interpretation can be influenced by image conditions such as scanning frequency and machine settings. In this paper, a novel method is proposed to extract the liver features using the joint features of fractal dimension and the entropies of texture edge co-occurrence matrix based on ultrasound images, which is not sensitive to changes in emission frequency and gain. Then, Fisher linear classifier and support vector machine are employed to test a group of 99 in-vivo liver fibrosis images from 18 patients, as well as other 273 liver images from 18 normal human volunteers.
Algorithms ; Artificial Intelligence ; Fractals ; Humans ; Image Enhancement ; methods ; Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted ; methods ; Information Storage and Retrieval ; methods ; Liver Cirrhosis ; diagnostic imaging ; Pattern Recognition, Automated ; methods ; Reproducibility of Results ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Ultrasonography

Polygala hongkongensis Polycalaceae is mostly distributed in southern China, such as Guangdong, Jiangxi, Fujian and Sichuan provinces. And its herbs is used as a remedy of heat-clearing and detoxicating, removing food retention, promoting blood flow and expelling phlegm to arrest coughing in the folk medicine. Previous phytochemical investigations on Polygala plants have reported that the main chemical constituents are sapaonins, xanthones and oligosaccharide esters. To the best of our knowledge, there is no chemical report on the Polygala hongkongensis Hemsl. yet. In order to search and make use of natural resources from Polygala and to find the bioactive compounds and new compounds, we carried out studies on chemical constituents of this plant. The herbs of P. hongkongensis were extracted with 70% MeOH. The extract was combined and evaporated in vacuum to residue, which was suspended in water and successively partitioned with EtOAc and n-BuOH. Part of the n-BuOH extract was isolated and purified by various column chromatographs such as a macroporous resin, silica gel, Sephadex LH-20 column and semipreparative HPLC. The structures of isolated and purified compounds were determined by spectral analysis such as UV, IR, HRESI-MS, ESI-MS, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, HMQC, HMBC, H-H COSY, NOESY and physico-chemical property. Six compounds were identified as polyhongkonggaline (1), 3, 6'-di-O-sinapoyl-sucrose (2), tenuifoliside A (3), glomeratose D (4), cis-syringin (5), syringaresinol-4'-O-beta-D-monoglucoside (6). Compounds 1 is new compound, and 2-6 were isolated from this plant for the first time. Farther studies on the chemical constituents and pharmacological activities of P. hongkongensis will be carried out.
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Glucosides ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Molecular Structure ; Phenylpropionates ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Polygala ; chemistry ; Pyrrolidines ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Sucrose ; analogs & derivatives ; chemistry ; isolation & purification