Animals ; Cyclic AMP ; metabolism ; Cyclic GMP ; metabolism ; Male ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; metabolism ; Physical Conditioning, Animal ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Swimming

OBJECTIVETo explore the optimized rehabilitation program in the treatment of post-stroke hemiplegia at the recovery stage.

METHODSBased on the randomized controlled principle, 60 patients were randomized into an rehabilita tion + massage group (group A) and an rehabilitation + acupuncture group (group B), 30 cases in each one. Bobath sport therapy and functional training were adopted in the two groups. In the group A, the massage therapy was added. The rolling method and palm-rubbing method were used on the affected side, the pressing, kneading and plucking methods were applied to Jianliao (LI 15), Jianzhen (SI 9), Quchi (LI 11), Huantiao (GB 30), Weizhong (BL 40), Chengshan (BL 57), Zusanli (ST 36) and the other acu points; and the nipping method was adopted at the twelve Jing-well points. In the group B, acupuncture was applied to Baihui (BL 20), Jianliao (LI 15), Quchi (LI 11), Shousanli (LI 10), Huantiao (GB 30), Yanglingquan (GB 34), Jiexi (ST 41) and the other acupoints. The treatment was given once a day, 5 treatments a week in the two groups. The efficacy was evaluated in 3 weeks. Fugl-Meyer scale, Barthel index (BI) score, modified Rankin scale and stroke-specific quality of life (SS-QOL) were used to assess the limb motor function, the activity of daily life (ADL), independent activity of life and the quality of life of the patients in the two groups before and after treatment. Based on the total cost and benefit, the health economics evaluation was conducted in the patients of the two groups.

RESULTSThe treatments all improved the limb motor function (group A: 26.00 (22) vs 37.00 (33); group B: 30.50 (21) vs 39.50 (36)), the independent activity of life, ADL (group A: 43.50 +/- 22.25 vs 57.50 +/- 22.25; group B: 52.83 +/- 16.59 vs 66.67 +/- 12.82) and the quality of life (group A: 122.23 +/- 30.00 vs 145.50 +/- 28.14; group B: 132.43 +/- 23.87 vs 151.47 +/- 22.37) in the patients of the two groups. The differences in all the indices were significant statistically before and after treatment in the two groups (all P<0.05). Above indices after treatment were not different obviously between the two groups (all P>0.05). In terms of health economics, the expense was decreased by RMB 688.48 while BI was increased by every 5 score in group A in comparison with the group B.

CONCLUSIONBoth the rehabilitation and massage therapy and the rehabilitation and acupuncture therapy improve the limb motor function and the quality of life in the patients of post-stroke hemiplegia. The therapeutic efficacies are similar between the two therapeutic programs. The program of rehabilitation and massage is more economical in the aspects of ADL improvement, being advantageous at simple operation and low cost.

Acupuncture Therapy ; Aged ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Female ; Hemiplegia ; physiopathology ; rehabilitation ; therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Massage ; Middle Aged ; Motor Activity ; Stroke ; complications ; Treatment Outcome

Objective To investigate the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and nerve growth factor (NGF) after cerebral infarction and treatment with curcumin combined with electroacupuncture.Methods Middle cerebral artery occlusion was successfully introduced to simulate cerebral infarction in 60 healthy,male Wistar rats.They were then randomly divided into a control group,an electroacupuncture group,a curcumin group and a curcumin combined with electroacupuncture group (the observation group),each of 15.After the modeling,the four groups were given the planned interventions for 2 weeks,with the control group receiving no intervention.All of the rats were sacrificed after neurobehavioral scoring and immunological staining of brain tissue from the infarction area was used to detect the expression of BDNF and NGF.Results The average Bederson score in the observation group was significantly lower than those of the other groups.Cells expressing BDNF and NGF were significantly more numerous in the observation group than in the other three groups.Conclusion Curcumin combined with electroacupuncture can significantly improve the expression of BDNF and NGF in the infarcted area,and this may play a neuroprotective role.

Designing of natural product-like compounds using natural products as template structures is an important strategy for the discovery of new drugs. Gambogic acid (GA), which is a Garcinia natural product with a unique caged xanthone scaffold, inhibits potent antitumor activity both in vitro and in vivo. This review summarized the researches on the identification of the antitumor pharmacophore of GA, and the design, structural optimization and structure-activity relationship (SAR) of natural product-like caged xanthones based on it.
Antineoplastic Agents ; chemical synthesis ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Biological Products ; chemical synthesis ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor ; Garcinia ; chemistry ; Humans ; Molecular Structure ; Structure-Activity Relationship ; Xanthones ; chemical synthesis ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology

Objective To provide scientific evidence for the effectiveness of upper limb training after stroke.Methods Surface electromyograms (sEMGs) of the triceps braehii and biceps brachii were recorded in stroke patients during maximum isometric voluntary contraction (MIVC).A total of 18 patients with hemiparesis were studied.During the elbow's MIVC,flexor and extensor peak torque were measured,and sEMGs of the biceps and tri- ceps brachii were recorded.Results During MIVC,the biceps braehius of the intact side registered a stronger EMG than that of the affected side when the elbow flexed,but the differenees in the triceps braehii readings were not significant.The triceps bracbius of the intact side gave a stronger iEMG than the affected side when the elbow extend- ed,but the iEMG form the biceps brachius of the affeeted side was higher than that of the intact side.The co-contrac- tion ratio (CCR) of the triceps brachius on the affected side was higher than that of the intact side.Though there was a tendency for the CCR of the biceps brachius on the affected side to be higher than the intact side,any difference was not statistically significant.For both flexor and extensor MIVC,the peak torque on the affected side was lower than that of the intact side.Conclusions Elbow spastieity in hemiplegic patients is mainly attributable to the flexor muscles.In the rehabilitation of the upper limb after stroke,it is important when training extensor strength to inhibit co-contraction of the antagonistic muscle.

This article was aimed to explore the method of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) health maintenance knowledge base building. TCM health maintenance knowledge classification method was studied under the guidance of TCM health maintenance classification system to construct a special literature database to store TCM health maintenance knowledge. Based on TCM literature resources, TCM health maintenance knowledge service platform was designed and developed for the static display and dynamic query support of TCM health maintenance knowledge. The content of knowledge base will be accessed to the whole society. The results showed that the construction method can be a system arrangement and modern interpretation of TCM health maintenance knowledge, in order to support TCM health maintenance knowledge base and its update and service system. It was concluded that under the guidance of TCM theories, the construction of TCM health maintenance knowledge base will realize the health maintenance knowledge-sharing and service requirement of TCM.

OBJECTIVETo study the effects of JTS, Traditional Chinese Medicine caps. treating cerebral ischemia on metabolism and antioxidant system in cerebral ischemia rat.

METHODSI.m. dexamethasone and ligating common carotid artery, the model of cerebral ischemia rats was established to investigate the effects of JTS caps. and its mechanisms through detecting substance metabolism, energy metabolism and antioxidant system.

RESULTSJTS caps. (1.78 - 3.56 g/kg) could upgrade glucose (Glu), total amino acids (T-AA), ATP, Na(+)-K(+) -ATPase, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) of brain tissue and degrade lactic acid (LD), malondialdehyde (MDA) and water content of brain tissue in cerebral ischemia rat (P < 0.05, 0.01). JTS caps. (3.56 g/kg) could also depress extenuation of rat's body weight.

CONCLUSIONJTS caps. has some protections against the cerebral ischemia in rats, and one of the mechanisms may be improving the metabolism and antioxidant system.

Amino Acids ; metabolism ; Animals ; Antioxidants ; metabolism ; Brain ; metabolism ; Brain Ischemia ; metabolism ; Catalase ; metabolism ; Disease Models, Animal ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Energy Metabolism ; drug effects ; Glucose ; metabolism ; Lactic Acid ; metabolism ; Male ; Malondialdehyde ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Sodium-Potassium-Exchanging ATPase ; metabolism ; Superoxide Dismutase ; metabolism

ObjectiveTo investigate the inhibitory effect of 1-methyl-tryptophan (1-MT) on transplanted hepatocellular carcinoma in mice.MethodsHuman hepatocellular carcinoma subcutaneous tumor models were established in mice,and the mice were divided into hepG2 group,empty plasmid group,indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) saline group,IDO) 5-fluoropyrimidine (5-FU) group,IDO 1-MT group,and the group combining IDO 1-MT with 5-FU treatment (n=8 in each group).The tumor growth,tumor volume and pathological examination were observed and the expression of IDO in tumor tissues was determined by immunohistochemistry.ResultsCompared with hepG2 and the empty vector saline groups,IDO saline group had bigger tumor,faster growth,and the differences were statistically significant (P＜0.05).Compared with IDO saline group,5-FU group,1-MT group and combination treatment groups showed smaller tumor volume and weight,and the tumor inhibitory rates were 86.54％,79.95％,94.46％,respectively.There were significant differences between these groups (P＜0.05).However,there were no significant differences in tumor volumes between 5-FU group and 1-MT group (P＞0.05).HE pathological observation of ceils in each treatment group showed reduced density,increased necrotic area and significant decrease in peripheral blood alpha-fetoprotein (P＜0.05).ConclusionsIDO can promote the growth of liver cancer cells involved in immune escape.1-MT can inhibit the transplanted tumor growth in mice,and therefore may enhance the chemotherapeutic efficacy.

Aim To investigate whether pioglitazone has protective effect against glutamate induced neurotoxicity in cultured cortical neurons and its possible molecular mechanisms underlying pioglitazone's neuroprotective effects.Methods The cortical neurons were taken from newborn rats and used for experiments 7 days after culture.The neurons were randomly divided into control group;glutamate group; glutamate+piogli-tazone group;glutamate+SP600125 group;SP600125 group.Cell viability was determined by MTT.The morphology change of neurons was observed under a fluorescence microscope with fluorescence dye Hoechst 33258.Immunostaining was used to investigate the expression of phospho-ATF2 in neuronal cells.Western blot was performed to investigate the protein level of phospho-JNK1 and total JNK1.Results Pioglitazone markedly reduced the damage of cortical neurons caused by glutamate.Pioglitazone also significantly inhibited glutamate induced up-regulation of phospho-JNK1 protein level and phospho-ATF2 expression.SP600125, an inhibitor of JNK, antagonized the toxicity induced by glutamate.Conclusions Pioglitazone can protect cultured cortical neurons from glutamate induced damage.The protective effect of pioglitazone appears to be associated with inhibiting the c-Jun N-terminal protein kinase signaling pathway.

AIM:To explore the expression and possible function of histamine H3 receptor (H3R) in striated myogenesis and the differentiated C2C12 cells.METHODS: H3R and myogenesis late marker myosin heavy chain (MHC) were detected at mRNA and protein levels during C2C12 myogenesis.H3R antagonist ciproxifan was added and the expression of the myogenesis early marker desmin, intermediate markers myogenin and MHC was detected.Differentia-ted myoblasts were loaded with Fluo-4 calcium indicator dye and the effect of R-( a)-methylhistamine ( RMeHA) on the cy-toplasmic calcium concentration was determined under the 200 mA electrical stimulation.RESULTS: The expression of H3R and MHC was increased during myogenesis.Ciproxifan incubation had no influence on the 3 striated myogenesis mar-kers (P>0.05).In C2C12 myoblasts, RMeHA (10 nmol/L~100 μmol/L) effectively diminished cytoplasmic calcium peak when the cells were electrically paced (P<0.05).The best inhibitory effect of RMeHA was observed at dose of 100 nM for 10 min and 20 min, which was higher than that for 5 min (P<0.05).CONCLUSION: H3R might have little effect on the myogenic differentiation, but diminishes cytoplasmic calcium peak of the differentiated myoblasts under electri-cal stimulation.