Echinococcosis(hydatid disease)is a global zoonotic parasitic disease. At present,surgery remains the preferred treatment for this disease,but there are problems such as incomplete treatment and secondary infection. Therefore,adjuvant therapy of drugs is also essential. Albendazole is considered to be one of the most effective drug,but it has many side effects. In contrast,botani- cals have fewer side effects,low cost,and high availability in the treatment of a wide range of diseases. Therefore,searching for herbs or plant extracts effectively treating echinococcosis has become an important topic. This paper summarizes the research progress in plant extracts and traditional Chinese materia medica in treatment of hydatid disease in vitro and in vivo,in order to provide reference for the treatment of echinococcosis by plant drugs.

OBJECTIVETo establish the method of cytological examination and the normal reference values for hypertonic saline solution-induced sputum of healthy children (age range from 5 to 15 years) with physical examination in Guangzhou.

METHODA total of 352 children, 5 to 15 years old, were enrolled from primary school and middle school in Guangzhou from January to December, 2010. All subjects completed a standardized questionnaire on the presence of respiratory, allergic symptoms and family history, the medical history and the physical examination was performed by doctors, lung function (forced expiratory volume at 1 s in predicted normal, FEV(1)%) was determined. There were 266 healthy children (137 males, 129 females) who were selected and undergone hypertonic saline solution induction of sputum, and cytological examination was performed. Hypertonic saline (5%) was nebulized and inhaled for 15 - 30 min. No expectoration within 30 min was defined as failure, and the procedure was terminated. The part of opaque and higher density sputum samples was detected by cytology. The proportion of neutrophils, lymphocytes, eosinophils, macrophages and monocytes was calculated. This study was approved by the institutional Ethics Review Committee of First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical College. Informed consent was obtained from the legal guardians of all participants following a detailed description of the purpose and potential benefits of the study.

RESULTThere were 175 subjects' induced sputum specimens (175/266, 65.8%), non-qualified sputum samples were obtained from 16 of the subjects. The proportions of median (IQR) of lymphocytes were 0.012 (0.020), 95%CI were ranged from 0.015 to 0.022; neutrophils 0.207 (0.330), 95%CI 0.266 - 0.356 macrophages 0.761 (0.327), 95%CI 0.607 - 0.699; eosinophils 0.004 (0.019), 95%CI 0.013 - 0.022. There were no significant differences in proportions of cytological findings of female or male, different age groups and second-hand smoking or not (all P > 0.05). The incidence of adverse event was 4.40% (7/159).

CONCLUSIONThe method and the preliminary data may be used for research, diagnosis and treatment of patients with chronic cough and airway inflammation.

Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; Cough ; diagnosis ; physiopathology ; Eosinophils ; cytology ; Female ; Forced Expiratory Volume ; Humans ; Leukocyte Count ; Lymphocyte Count ; Lymphocytes ; cytology ; Male ; Monocytes ; cytology ; Neutrophils ; cytology ; Reference Values ; Saline Solution, Hypertonic ; chemistry ; Sputum ; cytology ; metabolism

BACKGROUNDFew characteristic changes of linear electroencephalograph (EEG) have been reported in schizophrenia. The aim of the present study was to investigate the changes in temporal-spatial dimensional properties of EEG under different cognitive tasks in patients with schizophrenia.

METHODSEEG was recorded by using EEG-1518K system and mapping system (Nihon Kohden Tomioka Corporation, Japan) in 45 schizophrenic patients and 47 healthy adults (normal control, NC) under five states: eyes closed, eyes open, mental arithmetic test with eyes closed, memory test with eyes open, and number cancellation test. Correlation dimension (D2) and point-wise correlation dimension (PD2) were calculated for all EEG analyses.

RESULTS(1) There were no significant differences of D2 and PD2 between NC and schizophrenic patients under states of eyes open and closed. (2) Compared with NC, schizophrenic patients showed decreased performance of D2 in mental arithmetic test with eyes closed and number cancellation test (mental arithmetic test with eyes closed: Nc 5.9 ± 0.6, Sch 3.0 ± 0.8; number cancellation test: Nc 6.0 ± 0.6, Sch 4.4 ± 0.7; P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). (3) Schizophrenic patients also showed decrease performance of PD2 in mental arithmetic test with eyes closed, memory test with eyes open, and number cancellation test (mental arithmetic test with eyes closed: Nc 6.9 ± 0.7, Sch 4.0 ± 0.8; memory test with eyes open: Nc 6.6 ± 0.8, Sch 5.0 ± 0.9; number cancellation test: Nc 7.1 ± 0.7, Sch 4.8 ± 0.9; P < 0.05 or P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSNonlinear dynamic analysis provided a new approach in clinical investigation of EEG signals. It was helpful to further understand the cerebral mechanism in schizophrenic cognitive process.

Adult ; Cognition ; physiology ; Electroencephalography ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nonlinear Dynamics ; Schizophrenia ; physiopathology

OBJECTIVETo study the effect of CACNA1H gene mutation G773D on calcium channel function.

METHODSBy the overlap extension PCR we introduced G773D mutation into a human Cav3.2acDNA for constructing the mutant. And then using whole cell clamp technique, we studied the alterations of channel behavior in transfected HEK-293 cells.

RESULTSThere were no difference in kinetics of activation and inactivation of calcium channel between wild type and mutant. However comparing with the wild-type Cav3.2 channel, G773D mutant could increase the calcium current density significantly.

CONCLUSIONCACNA1H gene G773D mutation is able to increase calcium current and neuronal excitability.

Base Sequence ; Calcium Channels, T-Type ; genetics ; physiology ; Cell Line ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; Epilepsy, Absence ; genetics ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Family Health ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Mutation ; Patch-Clamp Techniques ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide