Objective To investigate the effect of prolonged stroboscopic illumination exposure on the growth of eyeball of guinea pig. Methods Thirty 2-week-old guinea pigs were randomized into three groups ( n=10 for each) . Two strobe-reared groups were raised with 20 Hz sinusoidal and 20 Hz square wave stroboscopic illumination, respectively. The control group received usual light illumination. The illumination intensity was 500 lux. All animals underwent refraction and biometric measurements prior to and after 2, 4, 6 and 8 weeks of treatment. Finally, flash electroretinograms were com-pared, and retinal microstructures were examined. Results There was a significant correlation between refractive errors and axial eye elongation, and myopia increasing was observed with eye elongation. After 8 weeks of treatment, the animals raised in 20 Hz sinusoidal and 20 Hz square wave stroboscopic illumination were (-0. 75 ± 0. 79)D and (-1. 50 ± 0. 91) D more myopic than the group raised in continuous illumination. The implicit time of the a-wave was delayed by 3. 8 and 7. 9 ms, respectively. No significant difference was found in retinal ultrastructures among the three groups. Conclusions Chronic exposure to 20 Hz sinusoidal or square wave stroboscopic illumination alters the emmetropization of the guinea pig eye to some extent.

Current study was carried out to optimize the priming condition of Oldenlandia diffusa seeds, and improve germination rate and seed vigor of 0. diffusa seeds under drought conditions. Uniform design was used to optimize the concentration and priming time of three priming materials (PEG, KNO3, GA3). Different concentrations of polyethylene glycol (PEG) was used to simulate drought stress. The seedling was cultured in 1/4 Hoagland medium for 30 d. The results showed that seed priming treatment with 366 mg x kg(-1) GA3 for 1h resulted in significant increase in germination rate, germination index, vigor, root length, plant height and biomass of O. diffusa seeds under drought stress (15% PEG), while seed priming with 3.0% KNO3 for 1 h showed little effect on germination and growth of O. diffusa seeds under drought stress. Seed priming treatment with appropriate GA3 concentration and priming time could enhance seed germination and drought resistance of O. diffusa in seedling stage.
Droughts ; Germination ; Oldenlandia ; growth & development ; physiology ; Seedlings ; growth & development ; physiology ; Seeds ; growth & development ; physiology ; Stress, Physiological

Zanthoxyli Radix is a traditional Chinese medicine. It can be used for the treatment of wind-cold-dampness arthralgia, muscle and bone pain, fall fracture, hernia, sore throat, toothache and other diseases. Due to possessing many excellent and mild pharmacological properties, there are lots of reports about Zanthoxyli Radix worldwide. At present, more than 100 bioactive components have been extracted and purified from Zanthoxyli Radix. Nitidine chloride (NC), one of the most important alkaloids in Zanthoxyli Radix, has the activities of anti-tumor, anti-inflammation, anti-bacteria, etc. In this review, we summarize the chemical components of Zanthoxyli Radix, pharmacological activity and mechanism of action of NC to provide references for further research and utilization of Zanthoxyli Radix.

OBJECTIVETo study neuro-protective effect of naomaitong on brain damage after focal cerebral ischemia reperfusion (I/R) in the aged rats.

METHOD11 groups of 20-22-month old SD rats were subjected to 3 hours of middle cerebral artery occlusion with the intraluminal filament technique, followed by 12 hours of reperfusion. Nervous symptom, oedema of brain, infarct size, morphology and superfine structure of brain, etc were monitored thoughout cerebral ischemia and reperfusion.

RESULTInfarct size of brain in ischemia and reperfusion groups were significantly greater. Oedema of it was higher, nervous symptom of it was more serious, and morphology and superfine structure brain were more obvious than those of sham-operated group. Nervous symptom, oedema of brain, infarct size, morphology and superfine structure of brain in treated groups were ligher than those of untreated groups (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONNaomaitong can protect brain damage after focal cerebral I/R in the aged rats.

Age Factors ; Animals ; Behavior, Animal ; drug effects ; Brain ; pathology ; Brain Ischemia ; complications ; Drug Combinations ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Male ; Neuroprotective Agents ; pharmacology ; Panax ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Pueraria ; chemistry ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reperfusion Injury ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Rheum ; chemistry

Objective To confirm the correlation between general information、physical functioning and delirium among elderly patients in medical units by systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods With strictly designed search strategies, electronic databases as follows: CBM, CNKI, VIP, WanFang, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Embase, MEDLINE, MEDLINEIn-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations(OVID), PsycInFo, CINAHL (EBSCO), SCI(Web of Science)were searched dated from the database building to October 2015.Two researchers confirmed the included studies according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, evaluated the methodological quality of studies and extracted data independently. The Revman 5.3 was used for data analysis. Results (1) Age:results reported indichotomous,combined OR=2.57 (95％CI:1.69-3.89), P<0.00001;results reported in continuous,combined MD=2.67 (95％CI:1.57-3.77), P< 0.01.(2) Male:OR=1.34 (95％CI:0.91-1.97),P=0.14;inverse variance, OR=1.11(95％CI:0.95-1.30), P=0.20. (3)Activities of daily living: OR=2.66 (95％CI:1.90-3.70),P< 0.01. (4)Vision impairment: combined OR=2.31 (95％CI:1.24-4.32), P = 0.009.(5) Physical restraints: OR=6.60(95％CI:4.22-10.31), P < 0.01. Conclusions Physical restraintsis correlative with delirium among elderly patients in medical units. Age, vision impairment, activity of daily living may be correlative with delirium among elderly patients. We suggest to pay attention to those factors to implement delirium prevention, treatment and nursing to reduce the incidence and improve clinical outcomes for elderly patients.

This study was amid to construct the pharmacophore model of L-type calcium channel antagonist in the application of screening Drugbank and TCMD. This paper repositions the approved drugs resulting from virtual screening and discusses the relocation-based drug discovery methods, screening antihypertensive drugs with L-type calcium channel function from TCMD. Qualitative hypotheses wre generated by HipHop separately on the basis of 12 compounds with antagonistic action on L-type calcium channel expressed in rabbit cardiac muscle. Datebase searching method was used to evaluate the generated hypotheses. The optimum hypothesis was used to search Drugbank and TCMD. This paper repositions the approved drugs and evaluates the antihypertensive effect of the chemical constituent of traditional Chinese medicine resulting from virtual screening by the matching score and literature. The results showed that optimum qualitative hypothesis is with six features, which were two hydrogen-bond acceptors, four hydrophobic groups, and the CAI value of 2.78. Screening Drugbank achieves 93 approved drugs. Screening TCMD achieves 285 chemical constituents of traditional Chinese medicine. It was concluded that the hypothesis is reliable and can be used to screen datebase. The approved drugs resulting from virtual screening, such as pravastatin, are potentially L-type calcium channels inhibitors. The chemical constituents of traditional Chinese medicine, such as Arctigenin III and Arctigenin are potentially antihypertensive drugs. It indicates that Drug Repositioning based on hypothesis is possible.
Animals ; Antihypertensive Agents ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Calcium Channel Blockers ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Calcium Channels, L-Type ; genetics ; metabolism ; Drug Repositioning ; methods ; Molecular Structure ; Myocardium ; metabolism ; Rabbits

OBJECTIVETo investigate the indication of bone scan for patients with newly diagnosed prostate cancer.

METHODSThe clinical data of continual 95 patients with newly diagnosed prostate cancer was involved between January 2006 and December 2010. The relationship between age, PSA, Gleason scores, clinical stage and positive bone scans was respectively compared.

RESULTSThe 33 patients (34.7%) with positive bone scans and 62 patients (65.3%) with negative bone scans. The mean age was (74±7) years and (76±7) years respectively in 2 groups respectively. PSA was (70.7±38.1) ng/ml and (28.4±27.2) ng/ml respectively, the difference was significant (t=-5.499, P=0.000). Clinical stage had positive correlation with positive bone scan, the OR value was 4.684. If the Gleason score>7, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of positive bone scan was 64%, 63%, 48% and 77% respectively. If PSA>50 ng/ml, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value was 67%, 86%, 71% and 83% respectively. If Clinical stage>T2, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value was 82%, 81%, 69% and 89% respectively.

CONCLUSIONSFor patients with PSA≤10 ng/ml or simultaneously PSA≤50 ng/ml and Gleason score≤7 and clinical stage≤T2, bone scan is not necessary. Patients with newly diagnosed prostate cancer and PSA>50 ng/ml or Gleason score>7 or clinical stage>T2 should undergo bone scan.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Bone Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; secondary ; Bone and Bones ; diagnostic imaging ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Radionuclide Imaging ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity

AIM:To investigate the effects of losartan on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) expression,and to determine whether adenosine 5'-monophosphate (AMP)-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activation is involved in the mechanism.METHODS:Adult male KM mice were divided into control group,LPS model group,losartan treatment group,and losartan and Compound C co-treatment group.To establish a model of central nervous system inflammation,the mice received daily intracerebroventricular injection of LPS (24 μg/d) for 2 d.Daily losartan administration (0.5,1 or 5 mg · kg-1 · d-1,ip) initiated at 14 d prior to LPS injection.Compound C (10 mg/kg,ip),a selective AMPK inhibitor,started to be injected daily at 2 d prior to LPS injection.The hippocampal tissues in each group were isolated at 3 d after the last LPS injection,and then the protein levels of GFAP,AMPK,p-AMPK,mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and p-mTOR were determined by Western blot.RESULTS:Twice LPS injections significantly increased the expression of GFAP in the hippocampus (P ＜ 0.01).Losartan inhibited LPS-induced GFAP expression in a concentration-dependent way,and losartan at 5 mg· kg-1 · d-1 significantly inhibited GFAP expression and AMPK activation (P ＜ 0.05),but it had no obvious effect on mTOR activation.Furthermore,Compound C significantly reversed the effect of losartan treatment on LPS-induced GFAP expression and AMPK phosphorylation (P ＜ 0.05).CONCLUSION:Losartan inhibits LPS-induced GFAP expression in the mouse hippocampus,and AMPK activation but not mTOR,is involved in the mechanism.

Adult ; Brugada Syndrome ; Defibrillators, Implantable ; adverse effects ; Electrocardiography ; Humans ; Male

In order to explore the feasibility of inducing the human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) to differentiate into insulin-secreting cells with biological products alone, hUC-MSCs were separated and purified from the whole umbilical cord by the sequent digestion of collagenase II and trypsin followed by two-step centrifugation. hUC-MSCs were induced with IMDM culture medium containing epidermal growth factor (EGF), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and Ginkgo biloba extract (GBE). Before and after the induction, the morphological changes were observed under inverse microscope; the islet-related genes were detected by RT-PCR; islet-like clusters (ILCs) were identified by dithizone (DTZ) staining; PDX-1 and immunoreactive insulin (IRI) were examined by immunofluorescence method; the quantity and quality of IRI secretion were assayed by chemiluminescence immunoassay and Western blot respectively. The results showed that the purified hUC-MSCs presented long spindle-like shape and parallel or spiral arrangement which are typical morphological features of MSCs. After the induction, hUC-MSCs changed gradually into round or oval shape and gathered together to form ILCs; there were more than one hundred clusters on the growth surface of a flask of T25; ILCs were stained into positive mauve by DTZ and positive for PDX-1 and IRI; Western blot displayed that most of the IRI was proinsulin (PI). Therefore, hUC-MSCs can rapidly differentiate into insulin-secreting cells under the sole induction of EGF, bFGF, GBE and IMDM, but ILCs are not mature enough to produce sufficient true insulin.
Cell Differentiation ; Cells, Cultured ; Epidermal Growth Factor ; pharmacology ; Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 ; pharmacology ; Ginkgo biloba ; chemistry ; Humans ; Insulin-Secreting Cells ; cytology ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; cytology ; Plant Extracts ; pharmacology ; Umbilical Cord ; cytology