OBJECTIVETo determine the suitable conditions for extracting alkaloidals from Aconitum carmichaili.

METHODUsing methods in Chinese Pharmacopeia for determining yields of extraction, which include spectrometry and single-factor tests, we investigated vavious factors that would affect the extraction of alkaloids from Aconiti.

RESULTThe suitable extractant was 85% ethanol, starting material was medium-size powder of aconiti, 10 times of the volume of the solvent was used in extraction for twice 1.75 h each time. The extraction yield was 1.21%, with a content of 0.33% alkaloids.

CONCLUSIONExtraction conditions determined with single factor test was consistent and feasible.

Aconitum ; chemistry ; Alkaloids ; analysis ; isolation & purification ; Ethanol ; Particle Size ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Powders ; Technology, Pharmaceutical ; methods ; Time Factors

The study was purposed to investigate whether the cyclooxygenase inhibitors from some dietary vegetables can inhibit platelet aggregation function by the arachidonic acid (AA). The vegetable juice was mixed with platelet rich plasma (PRP), and asprin was used as positive control. The maximum ratio of platelet aggregation induced by AA was measured on the aggregometer; heme and cyclooxygenase-1 (COX(1)) or cyclooxygenase-2 (COX(2)) were added to test tubes containing COX reaction buffer, the mixture was vortex-mixed and exposed to aspirin or vegetable juice, followed by addition of AA and then hydrochloric acid (1 mol/L) was added to stop the COX reaction, followed by chemical reduction with stannous chloride solution. The concentration of COX inhibitors was detected by the enzyme immunoassay kit; vegetable juice (aspirin as positive control) was mixed with whole blood, which was followed by the addition of AA, and then the reaction was stopped by adding indomethacin, centrifuged, then the supernatant was collected, and the plasma thromboxane B(2) (TXB(2)) was measured by radioimmunoassay. The results showed that spinach juice, garlic bolt juice, blanched garlic leave juice and Chinese leek juice could inhibit by 80% human platelet aggregation induced by AA. 4 kinds of vegetables were all found a certain amount of cyclooxygenase inhibitors, which COX(1) and COX(2) inhibitor concentrations of spinach were higher than that of aspirin; 4 vegetable juice could significantly reduce the human plasma concentrations of TXB(2) induced by AA (p < 0.05). It is concluded that 4 kinds of raw vegetables containing cyclooxygenase inhibitors inhibit the production of TXA(2) and thus hinder platelet aggregation. Raw spinach, garlic bolt, blanched garlic and chinese leek inhibit significantly AA-induced human platelet aggregation in vitro. 4 kinds of vegetables may have a good potential perspective of anti-platelet aggregation therapy or prevention of thrombosis.
Adult ; Arachidonic Acid ; metabolism ; Blood Platelets ; drug effects ; Cyclooxygenase Inhibitors ; pharmacology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Platelet Aggregation ; drug effects ; Vegetables ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo examine the relationship of biologic behavior and prognosis in patients with gastric carcinoid.

METHODSA total of 26 gastric carcinoid patients proven by pathology from Jan. 1964 to Jan. 2005 were enrolled. All the patients survived after operations. Tumor size, invasion depth, regional lymph node metastasis, liver metastasis, adjuvant chemotherapy and 5-year survival were analyzed retrospectively. A univariate analysis of survival rate with respect to gastric wall infiltration, regional lymph node metastasis, liver metastasis, and adjuvant chemotherapy were accomplished by Kaplan-Meier estimation method. The Log-rank test was used to evaluate the level of significance.

RESULTSThe average age of 26 patients was 58 years. Infiltration beyond the serosa occurred in 18 patients (69.2%), and regional lymph node metastases in 12 patients (46.2%). During the follow-up period, liver metastases occurred in 14 patients (53.8%). Tumor size was not associated with gastric serosa invasion, regional lymph node metastasis, liver metastasis and 5-year survival (P>0.05). Analysis of cumulative survival showed different survival time depending on gastric serosa invasion, regional lymph node metastasis and liver metastasis. The difference was significant (P< 0.05). In patients with gastric serosa invasion, regional lymph node metastasis and liver metastasis, estimated 5-year cumulative survivals were 16.7%, 16.7% and 0 respectively. Their prognosis was poor. Adjuvant chemotherapy was administrated in 10 patients (38.5%) and was not beneficial to prolong the survival time and increase the 5-year survival rate. The difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONSSurgical resection is the major strategy for the treatment of gastric carcinoid, and adjuvant chemotherapy is not proved to produce obvious effects. The prognosis of gastric carcinoid depends on the tumor infiltration of gastric wall, regional metastasis and liver metastasis.

Adult ; Aged ; Carcinoid Tumor ; pathology ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Stomach Neoplasms ; pathology ; surgery ; Survival Rate ; Treatment Outcome

Correlated firings among neurons have been extensively investigated; however, previous studies on retinal ganglion cell (RGC) population activities were mainly based on analyzing the correlated activities between the entire spike trains. In the present study, the correlation properties were explored based on burst-like activities and solitary spikes separately. The results indicate that: (1) burst-like activities were more correlated with other neurons' activities; (2) burst-like spikes correlated with their neighboring neurons represented a smaller receptive field than that of correlated solitary spikes. These results suggest that correlated burst-like spikes should be more efficient in signal transmission, and could encode more detailed spatial information.
Action Potentials ; Animals ; Computer Simulation ; Darkness ; Electrophysiology ; In Vitro Techniques ; Light ; Patch-Clamp Techniques ; Postsynaptic Potential Summation ; Rana catesbeiana ; physiology ; surgery ; Retina ; physiology ; Retinal Ganglion Cells ; physiology ; Retinal Neurons ; physiology ; Signal Transduction

Objective To study the expression levels ofinterlenkin-6 (IL-6), IL-6 receptor (IL-6R),its soluble IL-6 receptor (sIL-6R) and soluble glycoprotein 130 (sgp130) in brain tissues of refractory temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and explore their role in TLE. Methods Forty patients with TLE and other 40 patients with trauma/hypertensive cerebral hemorrhage (controls), admitted to and performed surgery in our hospital from January 2010 to December 2010,were chosen in our study.Brain tissues from temporal lobe were collected during the surgery.By using real time-PCR and ELISA,the mRNA or protein expression levels of IL-6,IL-6R,sIL-6R and sgp130 were analyzed. Results The mRNA expressions of IL-6 and IL-6R in the TLE brain tissues were significantly higher as compared with those in controls (P＜0.05).ELISA indicated that sIL-6R level in the TLE brain tissues was significantly higher than those in controls (P＜0.05); however,sgp130 level in the TLE brain tissues was slightly higher than those in controls without significant difference (P＞0.05). Conclusion The high level of IL-6 may influence the function of varies types of cells within the epileptic foci of patients with TLE through classical signaling pathway or trans-signaling pathway, which is potentially involved in the epileptogenesis of TLE.

Objective To study the correlation of neural cell adhesion molecule 1 (NCAM1) with pathogenesis of cognitive dysfunction in epileptic rats and explore its effect on cognitive dysfunction in epileptic rats.Methods A total of 120 Wistar rats were randomly assigned to control group (n=20) and experimental group (n=100); and rats in the experimental group were subdivided into 5 groups (n=20),the epilepsy models were induced by pilocarpine,and rats in these 5 groups received daily treatments for 30 days with either saline,carbamazine,oxcarbazine,aniracetam or donepezil (nootopic).Spatial learning and memory abilities were assessed with Water Maze test.Hippocampus tissue was assessed for NCAM1 mRNAs by RT-PCR and proteins by immunochemistry.Results The mean escape latency of rats in the Morris water maze test:carbamazepine treatment group ＞oxcarbazepine treatment group ＞aniracetam treatment group ＞epilepsy group ＞donepezi treatment group; significant differences were noted between each two groups (F=91.920,P=0.000).Immunohistochemical and RT-PCR results:donepezi treatment rgroup ＞aniracetam treatment group ＞epileptic group ＞oxcarbazepine treatment group ＞carbamazepine treatment group＞ control group; there were differences between each 2 groups (Immunohistochemical result:F=324.510,P=0.000; RT-PCR result:F=81.160,P=0.000).Conclusion NCAM1 expression in the hippocampus rises within 30 days of epileptic attack,who participates in the pathogenesis of cognitive dysfunction; carbamazepine can aggravate the cognitive dysfunction and donepezil can obviously improve the cognitive function of epilepsy.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the association between the polymorphisms of excision repair cross complementation group 1 (ERCC1), X-ray repair cross complementing 1 (XRCC1), glutathione S-transferase Pi 1 (GSTP1) and the survival of advanced gastric cancer patients treated with oxaliplatin-based combination chemotherapy.

METHODSEighty five patients with advanced gastric cancer accepted oxaliplatin/5-FU-based chemotherapy as first-line chemotherapy were investigated. Peripheral venous blood was taken before chemotherapy. DNA was extracted from peripheral venous blood. The genetic polymorphisms were detected by real-time PCR assay. The association between time to progression, overall survival and the polymorphisms was analyzed.

RESULTSThe median time to progression of the 85 cases was 5.3 months, and the median overall survival was 8.0 months. ERCC1-118 C/C, XRCC1-399 G/G and GSTP1-105 A/G + G/G were favorable genotypes and the number of the favorable genotypes was associated with survival of the patients. The median overall survival was 12.5 months, 10.0 months, 6.5 months and 4.5 months for patients with 3 favorable genotypes, 2 favorable genotypes, 1 favorable genotype and none favorable genotype, respectively, with a significant difference (χ(2) = 35.54, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONGenetic polymorphisms of ERCC1-118, XRCC1-399 and GSTP1-105 are associated with TTP and OS of advanced gastric cancer patients treated with oxaliplatin/5-Fu-based combination chemotherapy as the first-line chemotherapy.

Adenocarcinoma ; drug therapy ; genetics ; pathology ; Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous ; drug therapy ; genetics ; pathology ; Adult ; Aged ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; therapeutic use ; DNA-Binding Proteins ; genetics ; Disease Progression ; Endonucleases ; genetics ; Female ; Fluorouracil ; administration & dosage ; Follow-Up Studies ; Glutathione S-Transferase pi ; genetics ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Organoplatinum Compounds ; administration & dosage ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Stomach Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; genetics ; pathology ; Survival Rate ; X-ray Repair Cross Complementing Protein 1

OBJECTIVETo investigate the whole sequence of the SLC26A4 gene in moderate to profound sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) patients with IVS7-2A to G mutation of the gene in China.

METHODSWhole SLC26A4 gene sequence was analyzed by direct sequencing in 80 SLC26A4 gene IVS7-2A to G mutation carriers for the occurrence of a second mutation in the gene.

RESULTSForty-seven out of the 80 patients were found to have a second heterozygous mutation, whereas a single IVS7-2A to G mutation could be responsible for SNHL in the remaining 33 patients. Three novel mutations, 5+ 2T to A, 14-2A to G and 1825del G, were identified. The five most common mutations include H723R (20%), T410M(5%), C.1705+ 5G to A (15+ 5G to A)(5%), L676Q(5%), and N392Y (3.75%). Exon 17 harbored the most types of compound heterozygosity with the IVS7-2A to G mutation.

CONCLUSIONA Chinese specific SLC26A4 diversity was found, and comparable SLC26A4 contributing to deafness. This study suggested that if a heterozygous SLC26A4 mutation is found in a patient with deafness, other exons of the SLC26A4 gene should be analyzed. Furthermore, double heterozygosity of the SLC26A4 gene may also account for some of the disease phenotype.

Adolescent ; Amino Acid Sequence ; Animals ; Base Sequence ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; methods ; Female ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural ; genetics ; pathology ; Humans ; Male ; Membrane Transport Proteins ; chemistry ; genetics ; Mice ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; genetics ; Rats ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo investigate the value of serum globulin levels before treatment in predicting the prognosis of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).

METHODSA total of 127 patients with non-disseminated NPC were recruited between January, 2009 and December, 2013 at Nanfang Hospital. The pretreatment serum globulin levels were analyzed with the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis to select the cut-off point for low and high pretreatment serum globulin levels. Kaplan-Meier and multivariable analyses were used to evaluate the predictive value of serum globulin levels.

RESULTSThe ROC curve analysis determined 30.05 g/L as the optimal cut-off value for pretreatment serum globulin level, which was significantly associated with gender (P=0.024) and N stage (P=0.016). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that a high pretreatment serum globulin level (>30.05 g/L) significantly predicted poor progression-free survival (P=0.019), overall survival (P=0.034) and distant metastasis-free survival (P=0.049); multivariate analysis identified pretreatment serum globulin level as an independent prognostic factor for progression-free survival (HR=2.344, P=0.031).

CONCLUSIONPretreatment serum globulin level may serve as a valuable marker to predict the prognosis of patients with NPC.

Carcinoma ; Disease-Free Survival ; Humans ; Kaplan-Meier Estimate ; Multivariate Analysis ; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms ; blood ; diagnosis ; Prognosis ; ROC Curve ; Serum Globulins ; analysis

The aim of this study was to evaluate the predictive value of the polymorphism Glutathione S-transferase P1 (GSTP1) Ile(105)Val on oxaliplatin/5-FU-based chemotherapy in advanced gastric cancer. Patients with advanced gastric cancer accepted oxaliplatin/5-FU-based chemotherapy as first-line chemotherapy were investigated. GSTP1 Ile(105)Val polymorphism was detected by TaqMan-MGB probe allelic discrimination method. Response to treatment was assessed by disease controlled rate. Time to progression, overall survival and toxicities were recorded. Final patient outcomes were as follows: the allele frequencies of GSTP1 were (105)Ile/(105)Ile 52%, (105)Ile/(105)Val 41% and (105)Val/(105)Val 7%. For patients with (105)Ile/(105)Ile and those with at least one (105)Val allele, disease control rate was 39% and 71% (P=0.026), respectively; median time to progression was 4.0 and 7.0 months (P=0.002); median overall survival time was 7.0 and 9.5 months (P=0.002). Neurological toxicity was more frequently occurred in patients with two (105)Ile alleles (P=0.005). In conclusion, patients with at least one (105)Val allele have better prognosis and response to oxaliplatin/5-FU-based regimen as first-line treatment for patients with advanced gastric cancer.