Abstract?AlM: To observe the effects of Shuangdanmingmu capsule on VEGF expression and retinal vascular morphology in rats with diabetic retinopathy ( DR) .?METHODS: DR rats were fed with Shuangdanmingmu capsule. By comparing with the normal group, the model control group, and positive control group, the effect of Shuangdanmingmu capsule on retinal tissue of DR rats was observed under electron microscopy. After HE staining, retinal structure was observed under the light microscope. lmmunohitochemical staining was used to detect the VEGF expression in retina.?RESULTS:Two months after treatment, the layers tissue of retina presented mild edema, capillary pericytes performed edema, mitochondria showed mild swelling and less clear structure, some endothelial cells showed slight proliferation in Shuangdanmingmu group. Compared with the normal group, the expression level of VEGF in retina increased in the other groups, especially in model control group. A significant differential in expression of VEGF was found between Shuangdanmingmu group, positive control group and model control group (P<0. 01).? CONCLUSlON: Shuangdanmingmu capsule can effectively improve the retinal microvascular, reduce edema and necrosis of each layer of retina, improve the ultrastructure of retina's tissue and inhibit VEGF expression in DR rats.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the prognostic factors in treating primary liver cancer (PLC) patients by Pi-strengthening and qi-regulating method (PSQRM), thus providing evidence and optimizing Pi-strengthening and qi-regulating program.

METHODSClinical data of 151 PLC patients treated by PSQRM at Oncology Department, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine from May 2007 to March 2009 were retrospectively analyzed. The univariate analysis was determined to analyze possible prognostic factors. Selected key factors were introduced into the COX proportional hazard model, and multivariate analysis was carried out.

RESULTSThe 1-year survival rate was 21.85%, the median survival time was 6.80 months, and the mean survival time was 8.98 months. The univariate analysis showed that Chinese medicine (CM) syndrome types, clinical symptoms at the initial diagnosis, ascites, tumor types, ratios of foci, portal vein tumor thrombus, intrahepatic metastasis, a-fetoprotein (AFP) levels, total bilirubin classification, albumin classification, Child-Pugh classification, and domestic staging of liver cancer were significant prognostic factors (P < 0.05). The statistic data of multivariate analysis indicated that CM syndrome types, ascites, tumor types, portal vein tumor thrombus, AFP levels, Child-Pugh classification, and domestic staging of liver cancer were independent factors influencing prognosis (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe prognosis of PLC treated with PSQRM is determined by multiple factors including CM syndrome types, ascites, tumor types, portal vein tumor thrombus, AFP levels, Child-Pugh classification, and domestic staging of liver cancer.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; epidemiology ; therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; epidemiology ; therapy ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo observe the effects of carboxymethyl chitosan calcium (CCC) on concentration of lead, calcium and zinc, and the liver antioxidative capacity in lead poisoned mice.

METHODSMice were randomly divided into 7 groups, including normal group, calcium carbonate group, lead-model group, and three experimental groups treated with CCC in three different doses, and the CaNa2EDTA positive control group. The lead poisoned mice model was established by giving water contained with lead acetate. CCC was administrated to mice i.g. once a day. Thirty days later, mice were killed and the concentrations of lead, calcium and zinc in blood, liver, brain and femur were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Maleic dialdehyde (MDA), total antioxidative capacity (T-AOC), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activities in liver were measured by using assay kit.

RESULTSCCC significantly reduced the concentration of lead in blood, brain, liver and femur from about 1.56 microg/g, 13.38 microg/g, 16.15 microg/g, 1011.62 microg/g to about 0.50 microg/g, 5.57microg/g, 5.64 microg/g, 457.86 microg/g, and markedly increased the concentration of calcium in femur in lead poisoned mice. CCC had no significant side-effects on concentration of zinc in lead poisoned mice. The antioxidative profile was favorably changed as manifested by decreasing the level of MDA, increasing the activities of SOD, GSH-Px and T-AOC in livers of the in lead poisoned mice.

CONCLUSIONCCC might significantly advance the excretion of lead, increase the concentration of calcium in femur and the antioxidative capacity in lead-loaded mice.

Animals ; Brain Chemistry ; Calcium ; metabolism ; Chitosan ; analogs & derivatives ; pharmacology ; Female ; Femur ; chemistry ; Lead ; metabolism ; Lead Poisoning ; metabolism ; Liver ; chemistry ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred Strains ; Zinc ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the influence of Shenfu Injection (SHF) on the quality of life of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) receiving chemotherapy.

METHODSA total of 133 patients with NSCLC receiving at least two cycles of chemotherapy with taxol plus cisplatin (TP)/vinorelbine plus cisplatin (NP) or gemcitabine plus cisplatin (GP) were randomized into SHF pre-treatment group (with SHF given only in the first cycle) and SHF post-treatment group (with SHF given only in the second cycle). The Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 (QLQ-C30) and the Functional Living Index-Cancer (FLIC) were used to evaluate the quality of life of the patients after the treatments.

RESULTSBoth of the groups showed improved quality of life after the treatments (P<0.01), but the improvements were more obvious in SHF pre-treatment group (P<0.05). SHF showed favorable effects in relieving such adverse effects as fatigue, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea associated with the chemotherapy.

CONCLUSIONSHF can improve the quality of life in NSCLC patients receiving chemotherapies.

Adult ; Aged ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; drug therapy ; Cisplatin ; administration & dosage ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nausea ; prevention & control ; Paclitaxel ; administration & dosage ; Phytotherapy ; Quality of Life ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Vinblastine ; administration & dosage ; analogs & derivatives ; Vomiting ; prevention & control

OBJECTIVEAstilbin in 28 Smilax glabra (red and white cross-section) from different sources was determined by HPLC. Pharmacodynamics and component of S. glabra was investigated through inflammation experiment (penetration type).

METHODThe analysis was performed on a Hypersil ODS2 column (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 microm) with the mobile phase of acetonitrile and 0. 1% acetic acid aqueous (21: 79) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL x min(-1). The detection wavelength was 291 nm, and the column temperature was 25 degrees C. Anti-inflammatory effect was compared from two type cross-section of Smilax glabra in capillary permeability experiment.

RESULTLinear correlation was good in the range of 0.003 379-4.004 microg, and the average recoveries were 100.1%, 101.9%, 99.3%, respectively. The content of astilbin in white and red transverse section were 0.19%-2.46% and 2.10%-5.92%, respectively. Anti-inflammatory efficiency of sectioned red and white were were 21% and 32%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONAstilbin content and anti-inflammatory effect is significantly different between red and white transverse section of S. glabra, the content of astilbin is not positively related with anti-inflammatory effect.

Animals ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; China ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Female ; Flavonols ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Male ; Mice ; Permeability ; Smilax ; chemistry

BACKGROUNDPrevious studies have indicated that the cognitive deficits in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) may be due to topological deteriorations of the brain network. However, whether the selection of a specific frequency band could impact the topological properties is still not clear. Our hypothesis is that the topological properties of AD patients are also frequency-specific.

METHODSResting state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 10 right-handed moderate AD patients (mean age: 64.3 years; mean mini mental state examination [MMSE]: 18.0) and 10 age and gender-matched healthy controls (mean age: 63.6 years; mean MMSE: 28.2) were enrolled in this study. The global efficiency, the clustering coefficient (CC), the characteristic path length (CpL), and "small-world" property were calculated in a wide range of thresholds and averaged within each group, at three different frequency bands (0.01-0.06 Hz, 0.06-0.11 Hz, and 0.11-0.25 Hz).

RESULTSAt lower-frequency bands (0.01-0.06 Hz, 0.06-0.11 Hz), the global efficiency, the CC and the "small-world" properties of AD patients decreased compared to controls. While at higher-frequency bands (0.11-0.25 Hz), the CpL was much longer, and the "small-world" property was disrupted in AD, particularly at a higher threshold. The topological properties changed with different frequency bands, suggesting the existence of disrupted global and local functional organization associated with AD.

CONCLUSIONSThis study demonstrates that the topological alterations of large-scale functional brain networks in AD patients are frequency dependent, thus providing fundamental support for optimal frequency selection in future related research.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Alzheimer Disease ; diagnosis ; Brain ; pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged

AIM To screen anti-inflammatory activity Q-markers for Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma.METHODS Lipopolysaccharide was used for stimulating RAW264.7 macrophages to establish inflammatory model,after which the NO inhibitory rates of different grades of medicinal materials were determined.The UHPLC-QTOF-MS fingerprints were established,after which chemical constituents were identified,heatmap was drawn,and orthogonal partial least squares analysis was performed.RESULTS Grade 1 and grade 2 medicinal materials demonstrated higher NO inhibitory rates than gradeless and uniformly-priced goods(P＜0.05,P＜0.01).There were 211 common peaks in the fingerprints of 47 batches of medicinal materials,total 56 compounds were identified,containing 17 saponins,6 flavonoids,8 flavanones,4 chalcones,12 isoflavones and 9 other kinds.The relative contents of isoflavones,coumarins,kaempferol and licoflavonol in grade 1 and grade 2 medicinal materials were higher than those in gradeless and uniformly-priced goods,while the relative contents of flavanones,chalcones and saponins in wild products were higher than those in cultivated products.Neoliquiritin,isoliquiritin,kaempferol,hedysarimcoumestan E,licorice saponin C2,licoarylcoumarin,glicoricone and liconeolignan were taken as Q-markers.CONCLUSION This stable and reliable method has a certain reference value for the quality control of Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma.

A strategy based on immunomagnetic nanospheres ( IMNs ) for rapid, efficient and accurate detection of lymphnode metastasis carcinoma cells ( LNMCCs ) was developed in this study. First, IMNs processing magnetism and biological targeting were fabricated by the approach developed by our group previously. Then, LNMCCs in lymph node fine needle aspiration ( LNFNA) specimens were separated and enriched by the immunomagnetic isolation using IMNs. At last, the captured cells were identified with Wright's staining and immunocytochemistry ( ICC) . The separation and enrichment of LNMCCs with immunomagnetic isolation could reduce the background interference of LNFNA specimens effectively; the identification with Wright ' s staining and ICC offered more reliable information for accurate diagnosis, so the sensitivity, specificity and overall diagnostic accuracy had an obvious improvement compared with the conventional cytologic diagnosis. Besides, the simple and rapid incubation of LNFNA specimens with IMNs needed just 5 min, so the cytomorphology of captured LNMCCs could be intactly retained, which enabled to provide important basis for classifying lymphnode metastasis carcinoma ( LNMC ) and the subsequent pathological study. Moreover, the specific capture of epithelial carcinoma cells in LNFNA specimens with IMNs could make a definite diagnosis of the captured cells as LNMCCs, thus realizing the differentiated diagnosis of LNMC and malignant lymphoma. Additionally, this strategy exhibited successful LNMCCs detection in LNFNA specimens from 110 patients and had higher sensitivity ( 98 . 0%) , specificity ( 100 . 0%) , and overall diagnostic accuracy (98. 2%) than the conventional cytologic diagnosis. Therefore, it was a new attempt to use IMNs for detection of LNMCCs in LNFNA specimens from LNMC patients, and offered new ideas for LNMC diagnosis and study.

The major contributing factors for growth of endangered medicinal plants of Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus were screened on the GIS platform by using the MaxEnt model, and spatial distribution data of the medicine quality suitability were generated by geostatistics interpolation based on reported measured data of ecology and quality suitability assessment. On this basis, a functional production cultivation regionalization with high feasibility and operability were formatted for protection, wild monitoring, and cultivation of this plant by fuzzy superposition of spatial suitability data of ecology and quality, as well as integrated with land use and cover data. Therefore, a novel assessment and regionalization method were presented for ecology, growth and quality suitability of the Chinese traditional medicinal plants. This method is expected to overcome shortage of traditional regionalization methods difficult to distinguish the contribution of ecological factors and quality factors, which provide an innovative theory and methodology for regionalization, and is helpful to practical application of wild resource protection, monitoring, and commercialization cultivation for traditional Chinese medicinal plants.

OBJECTIVETo explore the distribution of Chinese medicine (CM) syndrome types in primary liver cancer (PLC) and their differences of the survival time.

METHODSFrom May 2007 to March 2009, recruited were 151 PLC inpatients at Department of Tumor, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Their survival time were statistically calculated. Patients' average survival time and median survival time were calculated using Kaplan-Meier method. The Log-rank test was used to analyze their differences of survival time among different CM syndrome types.

RESULTSThe proportion of CM syndrome types in PLC patients were ranked from high to low as follows: mutual accumulation of dampness and blood stasis syndrome [MADBSS, 43.0% (65/151)], Gan-stagnation Pi-deficiency syndrome [GSPDS, 34.4% (52/151)], qi stagnation blood stasis syndrome [QSBSS, 9.3% (14/151)], retention of damp-heat syndrome [RDHS, 8.6%(13/151)], and Gan-Shen yin deficiency syndrome [GSYDS, 4.6% (7/ 151)]. The median survival time of different CM syndrome types were ranked from longer to shorter as follows: GSPDS (14.77 months), QSBSS (6.13 months), RDHS (5.27 months), MADBSS (4.78 months), and GSYDS (0.80 months). The mean survival times were ranked from longer to shorter as follows: GSPDS (12.40 months), QSBSS (8.84 months), MADBSS (6.99 months), RDHS (7.08 months), and GSYDS (0.72 months). There was statistical difference in the difference of the survival time among different CM syndrome types (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSGSPDS and MADBSS were the most common CM syndrome types in PLC patients. There was difference in the survival time between GSPDS and MADBSS/between RDHS and GSYDS. There was difference in the survival time between MADBSS and GSYDS. Patients of GSPDS might get the best prognosis, while patients of GSYDS might get the poorest prognosis.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; mortality ; pathology ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; Yang Deficiency ; Yin Deficiency