AIM: To investigate and optimize the technology of ultrasonic-assisted extraction of arctiin and arctigenin from Fructus arctii.METHODS: The effects of ultrasonic power,particle size,ratio of liquid to solid,extraction time,extraction temperature and duty factor on the extraction rates of arctiin and arctigenin were investigated,and optimized with orthogonal experiments.RESULTS: The results showed that the optimal extraction conditions were as follows: particle 80 ～ 100 mesh 14 mL/g,ratio of liquid to solid 400 W ultrasonic power,50 ℃ of extraction temperature,and 10 min of extraction time.CONCLUSION: The optimized conditions are reasonable and reliable.

Objective To examine the galectin-3 expression in bladder cancer and explore the relationship between the galectin-3 expres-sion and the clinicalpathological characteristics of bladder cancer.Methods Immunohistochemical streptavidin-peroxidase（S-P）method was employed to examine the expression of galectin-3 in 45 bladder cancer tissues and 6 normal bladder tissues.The relationship between galectin-3 expression and the clinicopathological parameters was analyzed in bladder cancers.Results The positive rate of galectin-3 ex-pression in bladder cancer was 62.2%,significantly higher than that in 6 normal bladder tissues（P 〈 0.05）.The positive rates of galectin-3 expression in primary cases and recurrent cases were 60% and 70% respectively without significant difference（P 〉 0.05）.The up-regulated expression of galectin-3 was positively correlated with the pathological degree and clinical stage of bladder cancer（P 〈 0.05）.Conclusion Galectin-3 expression is up-regulated in bladder cancer and its increased expression is useful for diagnosis of bladder cancer.Additionally,it could be used as an important index to evaluate the pathological degree and clinical stage of bladder cancer.

BACKGROUND: Ions doping is an important method for the modification of bioceramic.OBJECTIVE: To evaluate a novel co-substituted bioceramic scaffolds as bone repair material.METHODS: The microstructure and crystallization of the scaffolds were detected by scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffraction. Compression strength test,degradation test and cell culture experiment were assumed to evaluate the properties of KSCPP in vitro. After a short period of muscle pouches implantation,the performance of KSCPP in vivo was evaluated.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The results show that KSCPP scaffold has a higher compressive strength and degradation rate. Moreover,the MTT assay and implantation test reveal that the KSCPP scaffold exhibits lower cytotoxicity and better tissue biocompatibility than CPP and HA. The study proved the great potential of KSCPP in bone repair applications.

Objective This study is designed to observe the effect of ischemic postconditioning in rats underwent acute myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury and to investigate the related mechanism.Methods A total of 30 SD rats were randomly divided into sham operation group (control group,n =10),ischemia/reperfusion group (IR group,n =10) and ischemic postconditioning group (PC group,n =10) based on random number table.Rats in IR group underwent 30 minutes myocardial ischemia by occlusion of the proximal portion of left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery followed by 2 hours reperfusion.In control group,there was no IR intervention.In PC group,at the start of reperfusion,three cycles of 30 seconds reperfusion and 30 seconds LAD reocclusion preceded the 2 hours of reperfusion.The hemodynamic values were measured via a cannula inserted into the right common carotid artery.The area at risk was assessed by Evans blue staining and the infarct size as measured by TTC staining.Western blot and Real time PCR were respectively used to assess the expression of predicted target gene Bim and microRNA-214(miR-214) in the area at risk at the end of 2 hours reperfusion.Results (1) The hemodynamic monitoring in different groups:the left ventricular systolic pressure (LVSP),± dp/dt and heart rate of IR group and PC group were lower than those of control group,but left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP) was higher than that of control group (all P ＜ 0.05).The LVSP and ± dp/dtmax of PC group were higher than those of IR group,and LVEDP was lower than that of IR group (all P ＜ 0.05).(2) Myocardial ischemia area and infarction range in different groups:there was no statistically difference in the proportion of area at risk (AAR) in left ventricle (LV) (AAR/LV) between PC group and IP group ((27.00 ± 7.55) ％ vs.(26.67 + 11.68) ％,P ＞ 0.05).The proportion of infarct size in the area at risk (IS/AAR) of PC group was lower than that of IR group((30.67 ±3.51)％ vs.(48.67 ±4.62)％,P＜0.05).(3) The expression of Bim protein in rats ischemic myocardial tissue in different groups:the expression of Bim protein in ischemic myocardial tissue of IR group was higher than that of control group (2.34 ± 0.15 vs.0.75 ± 0.05,P＜0.05),and that of PC group was lower than IR group (1.25 ±0.14 vs.2.34 ±0.15,P＜0.05).(4) The expression of of miR-214 in rats ischemic myocardial tissue in different groups:the expression of miR-214 of IR group was lower than that of control group(0.20 ±0.04 vs.1.00,P ＜0.01),and that of PC group was higer than that of IR group (0.85 ±0.20 vs.0.20 ±0.04,P ＜0.01).There was no statistically difference between PC group and control group (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusions Postconditioning could significantly decrease the ischemia/reperfusion injury by reducing the infarct size and improve cardiac function in this in vivo rat model.The expression of Bim in postconditioning group is significantly depressed,which may play an important role in the protection process of postconditioning,and the downregulation of Bim might be mediated with the increase of miR-214 expression.