This study was aimed to investigate renal protective effects and mechanism of Gui-Zhi(GZ) decoction in hyperuricemic mice.Potassium oxonate was used to induce hyperuricemia mouse model.Mice were randomly divided into 6 groups,which were the blank control group,model group,allopurinol group (5 mg·kg-1) and GZ decoction group (900,1 799 and 3 598 mg·kg-1).Hematoxylin eosin staining was used to observe the histopathological changes of renal tissues in mice.Commercial assay kits were used to measure levels of uric acid (UA),creatinine (Cr) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) in serum and urine,as well as the xanthine oxidase (XOD) activity in liver.Renal protein levels of urate transporter 1 (URAT1),glucose transporter 9 (GLUT9),ATP-binding cassette G member 2 (ABCG2),organic cation transporter 1 (OCT1),OCT2,organic cation/carnitine transporter 1 (OCTN1) and OCTN2 were detected by western blot.The results showed that compared with the model group,GZ decoction can obviously decrease serum levels of UA,Cr and BUN,increase urine levels of UA and Cr,resulting in the elevation of fractional excretion of UA in hyperuricemic mice.Additionally,GZ decoction obviously inhibited hepatic XOD activity in hyperuricemic mice.Furthermore,GZ decoction downregulated renal URAT1 and GLUT9 protein levels,upregulated renal ABCG2,as well as OCT1,OCT2,OCTN1 and OCTN2 protein levels in hyperuricemic mice.It was concluded that GZ decoction had hypouricemic and renal protective effects in hyperuricemic mice,which might be associated with the reduction of UA production via inhibiting hepatic XOD activity,promoting UA and other organic ion excretion via regulating renal organic ion transporter protein levels.

Objective: To observe the clinical efficacy of heat-sensitive moxibustion for adjuvant treatment of depression in Parkinson disease and explore its mechanism. Methods: A total of 80 patients with Parkinson disease coupled with depression were randomized into an observation group and a control group, with 40 cases in each group. The control group was treated with levodopa and benserazide hydrochloride tablets and paroxetine tablets, while the observation group was treated with heat-sensitive moxibustion on the basis of the medications in the control group. The treatment course was 2 months. The Hamilton depression scale-17 (HAMD-17), unified Parkinson's disease rating scale (UPDRS) and Parkinson's disease quality of life questionnaire-39 (PDQ-39) were scored before and after the treatment, and the efficacy was evaluated after treatment. Levels of patients' serum dopamine (DA), 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were detected before and after the treatment. Results: After treatment, the total effective rate of the observation group was higher than that of the control group (P<0.05). The HAMD-17 scores in the two groups decreased significantly after treatment (both P<0.05), and the score in the observation group was obviously lower than that in the control group (P<0.05). The component scores and total scores of UPDRS in both groups decreased significantly (all P<0.05), and the scores in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (all P<0.05). The score of PDQ-39 in the observation group decreased significantly (P<0.05), and was lower than that in the control group (P<0.05). After treatment, the serum DA and 5-HT levels in the observation group increased significantly (both P<0.05) and the TNF-α and IL-6 levels decreased significantly (both P<0.05), which were statistically different from those in the control group (all P<0.05). Conclusion: Heat-sensitive moxibustion has certain auxiliary effect in treating depression in Parkinson disease, significantly improving clinical symptoms and the quality of life, which may be related to the up-regulation of DA and 5-HT levels and down-regulation of TNF-α and IL-6 levels.

AIM: To inspect the quality of field processed products of Radix Scutellariae in Shandong Province. METHODS: TLC and UV identification, ethanol-soluble extract, moisture content, total ash and acid-insoluble ash and baicalin were determined. RESULTS: The field processing is superior to traditional processing methods. CONCLUSION: Field processing of Radix Scutellariae in Shandong province has feasible standardization and industrial benefits.

Objective To investigate the prevalence of herpes simplex virus(HSV) infection of central nervous system(CNS) in newborn infant,and analyze its clinical characteristics.Methods Cerebrospinal fluid(CSF) was collected from 40 acute viral infection of central nervous system who were hospitalized during June 2001 to June 2002.Polymerse chain reacton techniques(nested-PCR)was used to detect HSVspecific DNA in CSF,enzyme-linked immunosorbert assays(ELISA)was applied to detect HSV-specific IgM and IgG antibody in CSF and serum specimens.Results Two cases of neonatal patients were HSV-1 DNA PCR positive in CSF,both(mo)-ther were normal during pregnancy without a history of genital herpes.Clinical presentations of one case belonged to disseminated HSV infections and the other was limited to CNS infections.HSV-2 DNA PCR of 40 cases of neonatal patients were negative in CSF.Conclusions The rate of HSV neonatal CNS infection was 5% among viral neonatal CNS infections.HSV type 1 in the period,which showed that HSV type 1 may be the common type of HSV neonatal CNS infections.The result seems to be related to low prevalence for HSV-2(among) pregnancy women in China.

Objective To investigate the applicative value of acoustic radiation force impulse imaging (ARFI) in the differential diagnosis of small hypoechoic thyroid nodules.Methods 31 patients were pathologically confirmed as having a total of 44 small hypoechoic thyroid nodules ≤ 1 cm in diameter,followed by analyses of the characteristics of their ARFI images,including virtual touch tissue imaging (VTI) and virtual touch tissue quantification (VTQ).Based on VTI images of the nodules,the hardness of small hypoechoic thyroid nodules was respectively scored,and the ratios of VTI images to gray scale image areas were calculated.With pathological diagnosis as the gold standard,VTI scores,area ratios and VTQ values of the ROC curve in diagnosis of thyroid malignant nodules were sketched so as to explore the optimal cut-off points in VTI scores,area ratios and VTQ values in the diagnosis of malignant nodules.Results By the ROC curve test,VTI score of 3 was determined as the cut-off point of areas ratio,with the sensitivity and specificity of diagnosing thyroid cancer being 96.0 ％ and 94.7％,respectively.There were 34 nodules with VTI score greater than 3 (including 9 benign nodules and 25 malignant nodules) and 10 nodules with VTI score of 3 or less (all benign nodules).Malignant thyroid nodules had higher ratio of VTI images to gray scale image area than that of the benign nodules (1.58 ± 0.18 vs 1.30 ± 0.10,P ＜0.05).When 1.47 was set as the cut-off point of areas ratio,the sensitivity and specificity of diagnosing thyroid cancer were 80.0％ and 94.7％,respectively.The VTQ value of 2.76 m/s in diagnosis of thyroid malignant nodules was designated as the cut-off point,with a sensitivity of 88.0 ％,specificity of 94.7 ％.Conclusions The ARFI technique is able to provide information of thyroid nodule hardness,which guarantees its high applicative value in the differential diagnosis of small hypoechoic thyroid nodules.

(1)H-NMR and (13)C-NMR assignments of 12-oleanene-3,11-dione (compound 1) were completely described for the first time through conventional 1D NMR and 2D shift-correlated NMR experiments using (1)H-(1)HCOSY, HMQC, HMBC techniques. Based on its NMR data, the assignments of 28-hydroxyolean-12-ene-3,11-dione (compound 2) were partially revised.
Euonymus ; metabolism ; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ; Molecular Conformation ; Oleanolic Acid ; analogs & derivatives ; analysis ; chemistry ; Triterpenes ; analysis ; chemistry

Objective To assess the value of three-dimensional contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (3D-CEUS) in evaluation of hepatic arteries variants.Methods Both two-dimensional contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (2D-CEUS) and 3D-CEUS were used to assess 30 patients including living donor candidates and patients with upper abdomen tumors.The reference standard was operation or CTA or DSA or MRA,and the accuracy for detecting hepatic artery variants provided by the two methods was evaluated.Arterial anatomic types were defined by using Michels classification.Results The total accuracy for detecting hepatic artery anatomy types by 2D-CEUS was 40.0% (12/30),while 83.3% (25/30) by 2D-CEUS.For convention anatomy types the accuracy on 2D-CEUS and 3D-CEUS were 40.9%(9/22)and 90.9%(20/22),respectively.The difference was statistically significant (P<0.05).For anatomy variants types the accuracy on 2D-CEUS and 3D-CEUS were 37.5%(3/8)and 62.5%(5/8),respectively.No significant difference between these two methods was observed.Conclusion 3D-CEUS was a new method in diagnosis of hepatic arteries anatomy types with practical clinical value in evaluation of the living liver donors.

Objective:To establish an HPLC method to simultaneously determine the content of protocatechualdehyde, rosmarinic acid and salvianolic acid A in Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge. Methods: The chromatographic column was a Linksil-ODS ( 250 mm × 4. 6 mm,5 μm) column,the mobile phase was 1% acetic acid water solution-acetonitrile (7∶3) with the flow rate of 0. 8 ml·min-1 . The detection wavelength was 280nm , the column temperature was 30℃ and the injection volume was 20 μl. Results: The linear range of protocatechualdehyde, rosmarinicacid and salvianolic acid A was 3-300 μg·ml-1(r>0. 999 0), and the recovery was within the range of 95. 22%-99. 68% with RSD below 2% (n=5). Conclusion:The method is accurate, rapid and reproducible, and can be used to control the quality of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge.

Objective To study the expressions of HSP70 and AQP4 in the H.Pylori-associated gastritis mice of Pi-Wei hygropyrexia syndrome;To investigate the mechanism of Mieyou Soup. Methods The mice were randomly divided into high concentration of Mieyou Soup group, low concentration of Mieyou Soup group, gastric triad group, model group and control group. BALB/c mice of H.Pylori-associated gastritis mice of Pi-Wei hygropyrexia syndrome model was established by composite factor. After modeling, the mice were administered for of continuous 14 days. The drug dosage of high concentration of Mieyou Soup group, low concentrations of Mieyou Soup group, and gastric triad group were 12.4, 6.2 g/kg, and 0.279 8 mg/kg, respectively. Western Blot was used to detect the expression of HSP70 protein, and immunohistochemistry was employed to detect the expression of AQP4 protein. Results Compared with control group, the expression of HSP70 and AQP4 in model group significantly increased (P<0.05);compared with the model group, the HSP70 in high concentration of Mieyou Soup group, low concentrations of Mieyou Soup group, gastric triad group increased, the AQP4 in high concentration of Mieyou Soup group, low concentrations of Mieyou Soup group, gastric triad group decreased, with statistical significance (P<0.01). Conclusion Mieyou Soup may play a role in treatment of H.Pylori-associated gastritis mice of Pi-Wei hygropyrexia syndrome by raising the expression of HSP70, and reducing the expression of AQP4 protein expression.

Objective To examine the effects of acute hypobaric hypoxia on abilities of learning and memory,the water content in brain,the level of nitric oxide(NO) and endothelin-1 (ET-1) in hippocampus of mice.Methods The acute hypobaric hypoxia environment were made by putting the mice in a hypobaric chamber simulated at altitude of 6 000 meters for 8 hours.The capabilities of learning and memory of mice were detected by Morris water maze test.The content of water in hippocampus were examined by measuring the ratio of dry/wet weight,and the level of NO and ET-1 in brain was detected by colorimetric method.Results Morris water maze test showed that the mean escape latency of mice in the hypobaric hypoxia group were longer than that in the normobaric normoxia group((44.60±7.80) s vs (26.39±8.44)s,P＜0.01),and the target quadrant residence time were decreased((19.78±2.74) s vs (22.98±6.14)s,P＜ 0.05).Compared with the normobaric normoxia group (NO:(2.37 ± 1.07) μmol/gProt,ET-1:(38.87 ± 6.17) ng/L),the water content in brain of mice in the hypobaric hypoxia group was increased (P＜ 0.05),meanwhile,both the level of NO ((4.48 ± 1.45) μmol/gProt) and ET-1 ((52.09±6.75)ng/L) in brain were increased too(P＜0.01).Conclusion Hypobaric hypoxia can decrease the abilities of learning and memory of mice,and these changes might be related with the increased water content and the increased level of NO and ET-1 in hippocampus of mice.