Herbal property theory of traditional Chinese medicines is the theoretical guidance on authentication of medicinal plants, herborization, preparation of herbal medicines for decoction and clinical application, with important theoretical value and prac- tical significance. Our research team proposed the "three-element" theory for herbal properties for the first time, conducted a study by using combined methods of philology, chemistry, pharmacology and mathematics, and then drew the research conclusion that herbal properties are defined as the chemical compositions-based comprehensive expression with complex and multi-level (positive/negative) biological effects in specific organism state. In this paper, researchers made a systematic mathematical analysis in four aspects--the correlation between herbal properties and chemical component factors, the correlation between herbal properties and organism state fac- tor, the correlation between herbal properties and biological effect factor and the integration study of the three elements, proposed future outlook, and provided reference to mathematical studies and mathematical analysis of herbal properties.
Drug Compounding ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Models, Theoretical ; Phytotherapy ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry

Objective To observe the interferon-γ(IFN-γ),interhukin-2(IL-2)levels of Th1 cytokine and IL-4、IL-10 levels of Th2 cytokine in serum and culture supernatants of splenic cells of the rats in the prevention of experimentaI autoimmune uveoretinitis(EAU)by oral tolerance. Methods 72 Lewis rats were randomly divided into EAU group,oral tolerance group(which including 10 μg、100 μg、1 mg、10 mg of S antigen group respectively)and control group,12 rats in each group.The animal model of EAU was induced by immunization with S antigen(50 μg)and Freund's complete adjuvant.Oral tolerance 10 μg、100μg、1 mg and 10 mg group were fed with 1 ml mixture of 10 μg、100μg、l mg、10 mg S antigen and 1 mg trypsin inhibitor respectively by intuhation,once the other day,totally 7 times,and then induced EAU according to above methods;control group was fed with 1 ml mixture of phosphate buffered saline and 1 mg trypsin inhibitor,once the other day,totally 7 times,and then induced EAU.The clinical manifestation of EAU in the eye were recorded,the eyeballs were enucleated at the peak of EAU,followed by pathological grading.Meanwhile the serum was colleced;splentic cells were separated and cultured to collect the supernatant.Cytokine levels of IFN-γ,IL-2,IL-4 and IL-10 in serum.cultured supernatant of splenic cells were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA). Results Compared with EAU and control group,the levels of IFN-γ and IL-2(Th1 eytokine)in the serum in 100 μg and 1 mg group were decreased while the levels of IL-4 and IL-10(Th2 eytokine)were inereased,the diffefences were statistically significant(F=51.9,68.8,35.7,7.5,P＜0.01).Compared the levels of Th1 and Th2 cytokines in the serum in 10 μg,10 mg group with EAU and control group.the differences were not statistically significant.In 100 gg、1 mg group,the levels of IFN-γ and IL-2(Th1 cytokine)in the culture supernatant of splenic cells were decreased while the Ievels of IL-4 and IL-10(Th2 cytokine)were increased,compared with EAU and control group,the differences were statistically significant(F=57.1,15.6,33.1,167.7,P＜0.01).Compared the levels of Th1 and Th2 eytokine in the culture supernatant of splenic cells in 10 μg、10 mg groups with EAU and control group,the difference are not statistically significant. Conclusions In the process to prevent EAU by oral intake,the levels of IFN-γ and IL-2 (Th1 cytokine)were decrease while the levels of IL-4 and IL-10(Th2 cytokine).Oral administration with tOO high or low dose of the antigen can not prevent EAU as well as the cytokine levels do not change obviously.Cytokines has played an important role in the prevention of EAU.

Objective To observe the efficacy of the anti-tumor necrosis factor-α monoclonal antibody(TNF-α MCAb)in the treatment of experimental autoimmune uveoretinitis(EAU). Methods EAU animal models were induced by interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein(IRBP)R16 peptide with immunization.The rats were divided into 2 groups according to the injection times.TNF-α MCAh was administered intravenously on day 6 or 4,6 and 8 post-immunization respectively,and then to observe the clinical expression by slit-lamp microscope.Meanwhile,take the rats which did not accept TNF-α MCAb as conttol group.Delayed type hypersensitivity(DTH)responses were measured on day 13 postimmunization of IRBP R16;the rats were killed on day 14 post-immunization of IRBP R16,and then enucleated the eyes for histopathological examination.To detect the cytokine level of IFN-γ,IL-4 in serum and IFN-γ in aqueous humor by enzyme-liked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)on day 14 postinjection.The hyperplasia responses of antigen specific lymphocyte of draining lymph node cells were detected. Results The TNF-αMCAb group had mitigated ocular inflammation and decreased pathological grades compared with the control group;the IFN-γ concentrations in aqueous humor and serum were decreased,IL-4 was increased in serum;DTH responses were decreased;the hyperplasia responses of draining lymphocytes to IRBP R16 peptide were decreased,all the differences were statistically significant(P＜0.01).The rats accepted TNF-α MCAb thrice had much better curative effect than the rats injected once(P＜0.05). Conclusions Injection of TNF-α MCAb can inhibit ocular inflammation and specific immune cells of EAU remarkably and change the Th1/Th2 balance.Many times injections of TNF-α MCAb were more effective than once.

Objective To explore the significance of combined detection of urinary podocalyxin (PCX), nephrin and mono-cyte chemoattractant protein-1(MCP-1) for diabetic nephropathy in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic patients.Methods A total of 132 newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients and 36 healthy subjects were recruited .The concentrations of urinary PCX (UPCX), nephrin (UNephrin) and MCP-1(UMCP-1) were measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and urina-ry UAE ( UAlb) concentration was measured with turbidimetric immunoassay method .All the results were shown by dividing the urine creatinine ( UCR) concentration in the same sample .The comparisons among UAlb/UCR, UPCX/UCR, UNephrin/UCR, and UMCP-1/UCR among groups were investigated .The correlation among UAlb/UCR, UPCX/UCR, UNephrin/UCR and UMCP-1/UCR was in-vestigated in T2DM patients.The comparison among positive rate of UMCP-1/UCR, UNephrin/UCR, UPCX/UCR and UAlb/UCR was investigated in T2DM patients.Results The levels of UPCX/UCR and UMCP-1/UCR were significantly higher in diabetes melli-tus(DM) group (37.37 ±22.83 and 47.19 ±29.98, respectively) than in healthy subjects (9.59 ±2.28 and 9.98 ±3.63, respec-tively) ( P <0.05 ) .The levels of UAlb/UCR、UPCX/UCR and UMCP-1/UCR were significantly higher in diabetic nephropathy (DN) group (90.39 ±59.35, 72.11 ±58.88, and 104.82 ±82.77, respectively) than in DM group (17.50 ±9.49, 37.37 ± 22.83 , and 47.19 ±29.98 , respectively ) and in healthy subjects ( 8.93 ±3.81 , 9.59 ±2.28 , and 9.98 ±3.63 , respectively ) ( P<0.05).The level of UNephrin/UCR was significantly higher in DN group (83.60 ±61.61) than in DM group (38.74 ±35.27) ( P <0.05).The levels of UPCX/UCR, UMCP-1/UCR, and UNephrin/UCR were positively correlated with UAlb/UCR ( r =0.619, 0.568, and 0.535, respectively) ( P <0.05) in T2DM patients.The level of UPCX/UCR was positively correlated with the levels of UMCP-1/UCR and UNephrin/UCR ( r =0.799 and 0.718 , respectively ) ( P <0.05 ) .The level of UNephrin/UCR was positively correlated with the level of UMCP-1/UCR ( r =0.635 P <0.05) in T2DM patients.The positive rate of UMCP-1/UCR, UNephrin/UCR, and UPCX/UCR was significantly higher than that of UAlb/UCR(χ2 =9.818, 6.673, and 5.395, respectively, P <0.05)in T2DM patients.Conclusions The combined detection of urinary PCX , Nephrin and MCP-1 is very important for the early renal dam-age in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic patients .

Objective: The primary aim of this research is to systematically sort out and analyze available documents for yang deficiency syndrome in traditional Chinese medicine, providing innovative ideas and methods for statistical study of yang deficiency syndrome. Methods: Based on the China National Knowledge Internet (CNKI) and Chongqing VIP databases, using "yang deficiency", "deficiency cold", and "patient" as keywords, we searched literature of clinical researches and used "ratio-comparison" and "integration-comparison" to analyze objective data after data preprocessing. Relative importance value of physiological and biochemical parameters were reflected by P value calculated by ratio-comparison or Q value by integration-comparison. Results: With calculation of relative importance values of clinical indicators among various systems, we got the ranking of relative importance of different indexes. Triiodothyronine and urine 17-hydorxycorticosteroid of endocrine system, immunoglobulin A of immune system, and the ratio of cyclic adenosine monophosphate to cyclic guanosine monophosphate, which had great |P| (or |Q|) values and negative P (or Q) values, had a clearly lower level in yang deficiency patients than in the control; hemorheological indicators such as plasma viscosity, whole blood reduced viscosity and erythrocyte electrophoresis time had small |P| (or |Q|) values. These indicators, however, showed less importance for reflecting yang deficiency. Conclusion: Ratio-comparison method and integration-comparison method employed in this study have merits of efficiency and robustness. After detailed compiling and mining of all available data, we have made reasonable advice on the most relevant index of yang deficiency for further study of the essence of this syndrome.

Studying the essence of syndromes (Zheng) in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a fundamental challenge in basic theoretical research of TCM. The relationship between any given syndrome and biochemical indicators is one of the important aspects of the study. As the indexes selected in each study are specific to a particular Western medical disease diagnosis, and the disease factor is inevitably introduced into the study, the effect of disease factor on the index changes cannot be assessed effectively by traditional data processing methods. This is known as "the same syndrome with different reasons", which has resulted in confusion in TCM research. This study aimed at providing a mathematical tool to address this issue. Based on information theory and the residual-split method, the syndrome information, which was covered in the index variation, was quantitatively calculated in this paper as an independent part of the disease factor. A mathematical model capable of objectively assessing and statistically testing the effect of the syndrome factor on the index changes was established. Applying this model to literature data of studies on the relationship between cyclic nucleotides and yang-deficiency syndrome showed following results. First, the values of yang-deficiency syndrome information were negative for cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) while positive for cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) in all included literature. This indicated that the group of yang-deficiency syndrome was correlated with an obvious trend of reduced cAMP levels and increased cGMP levels. Second, the statistical test results of yang-deficiency syndrome information of the two indexes were different among the literature included. The quality of original data was considered as a possible reason. Third, the significant differences between the yang-deficiency group of a specific disease and the normal group may, in some cases, be caused by a disease factor rather than a syndrome factor. The mathematical model provided a reasonable mathematical tool for the analysis of disease factor and syndrome factor in clinical research of TCM, suggesting that the mathematical model may give rise to innovative ideas and methods in the study of syndromes.

Objective To determine the distribution of IL-4, IL-17, IFN-γ in the lacrimal gland lesions and submaxillary lymph nodes of MRL/Ipr mice-a model for idiopathic dacryoadenitis, and investi-gate the possible role of T-belper cells in the disease. Methods Frozen sections of lacrimal glands and sub-maxillary lymph nodes from MRL/lpr and BALB/c mice age 3 months were stained with antibodies to the cy-tokines IL-4, IL-17 and IFN-γ, then calculated the numbers or proportions of positive cells respectively,double staining for CD4 and each cytokine was taken in lymph nodes of MRL/Ipr mice additionally. Results The major cytokine in lacrimal gland lesions is IL-4, which contrasts to little IL-17 or IFN-γ/stained(P <0.05), the numbers of cells staining for each cytokine in submaxillary lymph nodes elevate in MRL/lpr mice, and the expressions of IL-4 and IL-17 are greater than IFN-γ significantly. Conclusion Th2 may play an important role in the development of local dacryoadenitis and systemic abnormality in MRL/lpr mice,the role of IL-17 maybe different in lacrimal gland lesions and lymph nodes which need more research.

Objective To introduce the technique and treatment outcome of the fingertip soft tissue defect with improved transverse palmar island flap.Methods From January 2011 to February 2013,15 cases(17 fingers) fingertip defect were repaired by improved transverse palmar island flap,the vascular pedicled of flap was a side of the neurovascular bundle,the flap revolved 90° to coversoft tissue defect.Defect area:1.2 cm × 0.8 cm to 1.7 cm × 1.6 cm.The time between the injury and admission was 40 minutes to 27 hours.Five cases were repaired defection with flap immediately,10 cases were repaired defection in stage Ⅱ.Results The wounds of injury in 15 cases get primary healing,and all the flaps were successfully survived.The 13 cases were followed up for 6 months to 14 months.The blood circulation of flap was fine,and the fingertip shape as well.The two point discrimination of the skin pulp was 6 mm to 11 mm.Conclusion The improved transverse palmar island flap for repairing transverse finger pulp defect and a small area of skin defect in patients.The procedure has a simple surgery,donor area don't skin graft,postoperative appearance and hand finger satisfactory functional recovery,etc.

Hydrocortisone-induced yang-deficiency animal model has now become the generally accepted model of yang deficiency. However, assessing the most appropriate dose of hydrocortisone is a long-term challenge. For analyzing the modeling dose, the authors have built several kinds of yang-deficiency models induced by hydrocortisone at different doses, and analyzed the experimental data with various mathematical statistical methods. In order to discuss the effects of the modeling dose on the basis of previous research, the authors introduced Ridit analysis.

To compare the effects of Oleum Cinnamomi and water extract of Cortex Cinnamomi in rats with yang-deficiency cold syndrome based on mathematical analysis.