Hepatocyte growth factor(HGF) is a mesenchyme-derived pleiotropic factor which regulates cell growth,cell motility,and morphogenesis of various types of cells,and is thus considered a humoral mediator of epithelial-mesenchymal interactions responsible for angiogenesis,apoptosis and oxidative stress,etc.This article reviewed the relationships between HGF and cardiovascular diseases.

The isolate XGH2321,which isolated from the rhizospheric soil of Rhizophora stylosa Griff in Dongzhaigang Mangrove Nature Reserve in China,was identified as a fungus in the genera of Penicillium based on its morphological characteristics and internal transcribed spacer(ITS) sequence analysis.After in-oculated in the modified CzapeK-DoX medium(consisted of 4% corn steep,0.3% NaNO3,0.05% KCl,0.1% K2HPO4,0.05% MgSO4,pH 7.4,9% salinity),and cultured under the condition of 28?C in a rotary shaker at 160 r/min for 7 days,the extracts of ethyl acetate and water-soluble from the fermentation broth showed the apparent antibacterial activities against the growth of Staphylococcus aureus,Sarcina lutea,and Bacillus subtilis with the minimum inhibitory concentration(MIC) of 800 ?g/mL and 400 ?g/mL,respectively.While at the same time,these two extracts could also suppress the growth of the plant pathogen,Rhizoctonia solani with MIC of 400 ?g/mL and 200 ?g/mL,respectively.

BACKGROUND:So far, the pathogenesis of discogenic low back pain is poorly understood. A great diversity of therapeutic means is developed for discogenic low back pain, but the therapeutic outcomes are mixed. OBJECTIVE:To review the research progress in mechanisms and repair of intervertebral disc degeneration in recent years. METHODS: The first author retrieved the PubMed and CNKI databases for relevant articles published before November 2014 using the keywords of “disc degeneration factor, discogenic low back pain, disc degeneration therapy” in English and Chinese, respectively. Initialy, 78 relevant articles were retrieved, but only 30 articles were included in result analysis folowing elimination of duplicate studies. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The relatively respected factors for intervertebral disc degeneration include changes in morphology, inflammatory neurotransmitters and the extracelular matrix as wel as role of growth factors. The treatment for intervertebral disc degeneration stil focuses on the morphological restoration. Some surgical therapies, including percutaneous disc decompression, interbody fusion, artificial disc replacement, dynamic stabilization system, have the exact effects on the symptoms due to intervertebral disc degeneration.

A 19-year-old Chinese woman presented with progressive ulcers and recurrent fever for 1 year.The lesions originally began with purplish red maculopapules,then rapidly developed into ulcer with severe pain and spread to the trunk and extremities accompanied by intermittent fever.Histopathology revealed lymphoid infiltration of middle and large atypical T cells throughout the dermis and subcutaneous fat laver along with focal epidermotropism.The lymphoid infiltrates were positive for CD3,CD8,T-cell intercellular antigen(TLA)and T-cell receptor β(TCR-β).Gene analysis showed the rearrangement of T-cell receptor gene.According to the above findings,the patient was diagnosed as primary cutaneous aggressive epidermotropic CD8-positive cytotoxic T-cell lymphoma. Combined thempy with cyclophosphamide,vincristine,prednisone and bleomycin resulted in partial remission of skin lesions,but she eventually died 22 months after the onset of disease.

OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the improvement and rectification effects about prescription checking and intervention skills of pharmacists. METHODS:By retrospective investigation,2417 outpatient prescriptions and 1698 outpatient prescriptions were respectively selected from some one hospital during Oct.-Dec. 2015 (before improvement and rectification) and Jan.-Mar. 2016 (after improvement and rectification). According to standards,guidelines and references as Prescription Administrative Poli-cy,Prescription Review Management Standard(trial)and drug instructions,irrational drug use and prescription checking and inter-vention skills of pharmacists were compared before and after the implementation of rectification measures as optimizing hospital in-formation system,improving comprehensive skills of pharmacists,strengthening pharmacists'concept,establishing feedback mech-anism. RESULTS:After the implementation of rectification measures,unsuitable indications,clinical diagnosis inconsistent with medication,antibiotics use without indications,unsuitable usage and dosage,unsuitable drug combination and irrational drug use were all decreased,but repeated drug use was increased,without statistical significance (P>0.05). The number of non-standard prescriptions and unsuitable prescriptions checked by pharmacists were decreased,without statistical significance(P>0.05). The in-cidence of checking missing,excessive checking and checking error were all increased from 2.40%,0.99%,3.39% before im-provement and rectification to 0.47%,0.29%,0.77%,with statistical significance(P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS:The improvement and rectification measures of the hospital can improve comprehensive prescription checking and intervention skills of pharmacists. Ir-rational drug use should be further standardized.

Object To investigate the stability of baicalin in different conditions Methods The stability of baicalin in water with different pH values, methanol, ethanol, chloroform and in the mouse lung homogenate, mouse liver homogenate, mouse plasma and bovine serum was investigated by the classical isothermal method Results The experiments showed the baicalin was stable in acidic water and these organic solutions, but unstable in basic water and these biological media Conclusion The stability of baicalin in different media was different, which should be considered in practice

Objective: In order to provide an effective reference to the study on its preparation, the stability in vitro of andrographolide was investigated. Methods: Andrographolide was dissolved in phosphate buffer solutions of different pH values; classical isothermal method was employed; the content of andrographolide was determined by RP HPLC; then the stability of the drug in different biological media and organic solvents at 37?C was investigated. Results: The stability of andrographolide was different at different pH values and was best in the condition of pH=3～5. In biological media, it was most stable in bovine serum and the next was in mice homogenate. Conclusion: In different conditions, the stability of andrographolide was different. It provided a reference to the study on andrographolide and its preparation.

Objective To investigate the effects of sinomenine on hind limb ischemia?reperfusion ( I∕R) injury and expression of Bcl?2 and Bax in skeletal muscle cells of rats. Methods Fifty?four healthy adult male Wistar rats, aged 6-8 weeks, weighing 180-220 g, were divided into 3 groups ( n=18 each) using a random number table: sham operation group ( group S) , group I∕R and sinomenine group ( group SIN) . The rats were subjected to 4 h of ischemia on the proximal part of the right hind limb using elastic rubber bands followed by reperfusion in I∕R and SIN groups. Sinomenine 60 mg∕kg was injected intraperito?neally at 30 min before reperfusion in group SIN, and the equal volume of normal saline was given instead of sinomenine at 30 min before reperfusion in S and I∕R groups. Immediately after onset of reperfusion and at 4 and 24 h of reperfusion, blood samples were collected from the cardiac apex to measure the concentra?tions of serum lactate dehydrogenase ( LDH) and creatine kinase ( CK) . The animals were sacrificed imme?diately after blood sampling, and the gastrocnemius specimens of the hind limb were immediately removed for determination of the wet to dry weight ratio ( W∕D ratio) and expression of Bcl?2 and Bax in gastrocnemi?us cells ( by immunohistochemistry) and for examination of the pathological changes after haematoxylin and eosin staining. The Bcl?2∕Bax ratio was calculated. Results Compared with group S, the gastrocnemius W∕D ratio and concentrations of serum LDH and CK were significantly increased, the expression of Bcl?2 was significantly down?regulated, the expression of Bax was significantly up?regulated, and the Bcl?2∕Bax
ratio was significantly decreased in I∕R and SIN groups ( P<0?05) . Compared with group I∕R, the gastroc?nemius W∕D ratio and concentrations of serum LDH and CK were significantly decreased, the expression of Bcl?2 was significantly up?regulated, the expression of Bax was significantly down?regulated, and the Bcl?2∕Bax ratio was significantly increased in group SIN ( P<0?05) . The pathological changes of the gastrocne?mius were significantly attenuated in group SIN as compared with group I∕R. Conclusion Sinomenine can attenuate hind limb I∕R injury, and the mechanism may be related to maintenance of the balance between Bcl?2 and Bax and to inhibition of apoptosis in skeletal muscle cells of rats.

To establish an HPLC-MS/MS method for the analysis of quercetin, kaempferid and isorhamnetin in rats plasma and study its pharmamacokinetics after an intragastrical administration of Hippophae rhamnoides extracts. Five healthy male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were given single doses of H. rhamnoides extracts (quercetin 26.35 mg x kg(-1), kaempferid 4.040 mg x kg(-1), isorhamnetin 31.37 mg x kg(-1)), and then their orbital sinus blood samples were collected at different time points. The drug plasma concentration of the three flavonoids was determined by HPLC-MS/MS method. After that, the main pharmacokinetics parameters were calculated by using Kinetica 5. 0. 11 software. The methodological test showed that the linear concentration ranges of quercetin, kaempferid and isorhamnetin were 7.500-600.0 μg x L(-1) (R2 = 0.998 5), 1.000-80.00 μg x L(-1) (R2 = 0.998 5 ) and 10.00-800.0 μg x L(-1) (R2 = 0.998 0), respectively. The inner and inter-days precisions were both less than 14.0%. The plasma samples showed a good stability and consistency with the requirement of biological sample analysis after the samples were frozen once and placed at - 20 degrees C for 15 d and room temperature for 6 h and the treated analytes were placed at -20 degrees C for 24 h. For quercetin, the pharmacokinetic parameter t(½β), AUC(0-∞), MRT(0.∞), C.(max) and T(max) were (113.3 ± 19.37) min, (12 542.14 ± 3 504.05) μg x h x L(-1), (119.6 ± 13.29) h, (164.6 ± 27.33) μg x L(-1) and (5.199 ± 0.840 3) h, respectively. For kaempferid, the pharmacokinetic parameters t(½β), AUC(0-t), MRT(0-∞), C(max) and T(max) were (79.85 ± 17.15) min, (934.51 ± 94.59) μg x h x L(-1), (81.50 ± 13.75) h, (80.15 ± 14.24) μg x L(-1) and (3.827 ± 0.902 7) h, respectively. For isorhamnetin, the pharmacokinetic parameters t1,2,, AUC(0-t), MRT(0-∞), C(max) and T(max) were (118.3 ± 20.73) min, (26 067.77 ± 4 124.60) μg x h x L(-1), (129.0 ± 16.30) h, (269.6 ± 29.32) μg x L(-1) and (6.513 ± 1.450) h, respectively. The HPLC-MS/MS analysis method established in this study was proved to be sensitive and accurate and could be applied in the pharmacokinetic study of quercetin, kaempferid and isorhamnetin in rat plasma.
Animals ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; pharmacokinetics ; Hippophae ; chemistry ; Kaempferols ; blood ; pharmacokinetics ; Male ; Quercetin ; analogs & derivatives ; blood ; pharmacokinetics ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry ; methods

Lanosterol synthase is encoded by the erg7 gene and catalyzes the cyclization of 2, 3-oxidosqualene, which is a rate-limiting step of the inherent mevalonate (MVA)/ergosterol metabolic pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The intermediate 2, 3-oxidosqualene is also the precursor of triterpenoids. Therefore, the cyclization of 2, 3-oxidosqualene is the key branch point of ergosterol and triterpenoids biosynthesis. Down-regulation of 2, 3-oxidosqualene metabolic flux to ergosterol in S. cerevisiae may redirect the metabolic flux toward the triterpenoid synthetic pathway reconstructed by the synthetic biology approach. To construct erg7 knockout cassette harboring the loxP-Marker-loxP element, long primers were designed, which were homologous to the sequences of both erg7 ORF and plasmid pUG66. The cassette was transformed into diploid wild strain INVSc1 by LiAc/SS Carrier DNA/PEG method and then erg7 gene haploid deficient mutant was obtained by homologous recombination. The results of semiquantitative PCR and real-time quantitative PCR revealed that erg7 expression level in erg7 gene haploid deficient mutant is one time lower than that in wild strain. The results of TLC and HPLC showed that the ergosterol content in deficient mutant decreased to 42% of that in wild strain.
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; DNA Primers ; Down-Regulation ; Ergosterol ; metabolism ; Haploidy ; Intramolecular Transferases ; genetics ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Saccharomyces cerevisiae ; genetics ; Squalene ; analogs & derivatives ; metabolism