Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of ginger-partitioned moxibustion in improving blood flow velocity in lower limbs of post-stroke patients.Methods Ninety post-stroke patients were randomized into a treatment group and a control group, 45 in each group. The treatment group was intervened by ginger-partitioned moxibustion, while the control group was by conventional acupuncture. Before and after intervention, the blood flow velocity in lower limbs, National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) and modified Barthel Index (MBI) were evaluated.Results After 4-week treatment, the maximum blood flow velocity (Vmax) was significantly changed in the treatment group (P<0.05), and there was a significant difference in comparing the Vmax between the two groups after intervention (P<0.05); the NIHSS and MBI scores were significantly changed after intervention in the treatment group (P<0.05), and there was a significant difference in comparing MBI score between the two groups after intervention (P<0.05).Conclusions Ginger-partitioned moxibustion can accelerate the blood flow velocity in lower limbs of the post-stroke patients, improve blood circulation and the activities of life.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Anthracosis ; complications ; microbiology ; Cerebral Infarction ; etiology ; Cross Infection ; complications ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pneumonia ; complications

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 study on the changes of the DNT cells and T lymphocyte subtype in children with infectious mononucleosis (IM) and its clinical significance.Methods The flow cytometry (FCM) was used to detected the DNT cells and other T lymphocyte subtype in 48 cases of IM.Results The study showed that DNT cells( 9.39 ± 4.89 )% were greatly increased in comparison with normal controls (NC) (4.26 ± 1.68)% ( P ＜0.01 ).CD4 cells(21.45 ±9.87)% were decreased ( P ＜0.01 ) and CD8 cells increased in comparison with NC (32.43 ± 5.07) % ( P ＜ 0.01 ).Conclusion DNT cells and T lymphocyte subtype can be used to evaluate the immune function of children with infectious mononucleosis (IM) and provide guidance for adoptive immunotherapy.

Objective To compare the roles of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/NF-κB signal pathway in acute lung injury (ALl) induced by blunt chest trauma and by blunt chest trauma-hemorrhagic shock and resuscitation (double hits) in rats.Methods Forty male Sprague-Dawley rats,aged 8 weeks,weighing 240-280 g,were randomly assigned into 3 equal groups (n =10 each) using a random number table:sham operation group (S group),blunt chest trauma group (T group),and blunt chest trauma and hemorrhagic shock and resuscitation group (group THSR).Lung contusion was induced in anesthetized rats by dropping a 300 g weight onto a precordial protective shield to direct the impact force away from the heart and toward the lungs.Blood was withdrawn via the femoral artery 5 min later until MAP was decreased to 35-45 mmHg within 15 min and maintained at this level for 60 min,followed by resuscitation.At 6 h after the model was established,the arterial blood samples were collected for blood gas analysis and detection of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) concentrations in serum.Oxygenation index (PaO2/FiO2) was calculated.The rats were then sacrificed and pulmonary specimens were obtained for determination of TLR4 expression and NF-κB ac tivity (by immunohistochemistry and Western blot) in lung tissues and for microscopic examination.Results Compared with group S,PaO2 and PaO2/FiO2 were significantly decreased,PaCO2 and TNF-α concentrations in serum were increased,TLR4 expression was up-regulated,and NF-κB activity was enhanced in T and THSR groups (P ＜ 0.05).Compared with group T,PaO2 and PaO2/FiO2 were significantly decreased,PaCO2 and TNF-α concentrations in serum were increased,TLR4 expression was up-regulated,and NF-κcB activity was enhanced in THSR group (P ＜ 0.05).The histopathological damage to lung tissues was aggravated in THSR group as compared with T group.Conclusion The role of TLR-4/NF-κB signal pathway in ALI induced by blunt chest traumahemorrhagic shock and resuscitation (double hits) is significantly stronger than that in ALI induced by blunt chest trauma alone in rats.

4-Hydroxycoumarins ; blood ; Animals ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods

This study was aimed to detect the expression of CD4(+)CD25(+) regulatory T cells (Treg), sFas and sFasL in patients with autoimmune thrombocytopenic purpura (AITP), and to explore their roles in the pathogenesis of AITP and clinical significance, so as to provide a theoretical basis for effective treatment for AITP. The expressions of CD4(+)T, Treg, CD4(+)CD25(-)T, Treg/CD4(+)T in peripheral blood of 30 the patients with AITP and 18 controls were detected by flow cytometry, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect the levels of sFas and sFasL in peripheral blood of controls and the patients with AITP before and after treatment. The results indicated that the expression rate of CD4(+)T in AITP patients was lower than that in the control (p < 0.05), and the expression rates of Treg and Treg/CD4(+)T were significantly lower than those of control (p < 0.01), but the expression rate of Treg between the two group had no difference (p > 0.05). The levels of sFas and sFasL in the peripheral blood of the patients before treatment were significantly higher than that after treatment and control group (p < 0.01), and no difference between the patients after treatment and the control group (p > 0.05) was found. The expression rates of Treg, Treg/CD4(+)T were positively related with the platelet count and the level of sFas was positively related with the level of sFasL in the peripheral blood of AITP before treatment. There were no significant correlation between the levels of CD4(+)T, Treg, sFas, sFasL and the platelet count. No correlation was seen between the expression of Treg and sFas, sFasL. It is concluded that CD4(+)CD25(+) Treg play a role in the pathogenesis of AITP; the expression rate of Treg is associated with the severity of AITP; the abnormal levels of sFas and sFasL participate in the immune pathogenesis of AITP.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Case-Control Studies ; Fas Ligand Protein ; blood ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Purpura, Thrombocytopenic, Idiopathic ; blood ; T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory ; metabolism ; Young Adult ; fas Receptor ; blood

Evidence of the pharmacological activity of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) provides the basis for clinical prescription. Study of the classification of Chinese medicines according to these activities is key to understanding the general active tendencies of medicinal prescriptions, exploring their material basis, investigating their properties and searching for their alternatives. Taking the herbal classic Shennong's Materia Medica Classic (Shennong Bencao Jing) for the data source, this paper studied the classification of Chinese medicines based on semi-supervised incremental clustering algorithm using "micro-cluster" concept in order to investigate the complex similarity among Chinese medicines. The results showed that 253 Chinese medicines were reasonably classified into 14 types, such as invigoration, clearing heat, diuresis, dredging blockages in the channels, treating gynecological conditions and treating strange diseases caused by ghosts. The results also showed that the other 112 Chinese medicines were classified into 112 individual types and the same high similarity to different known types was the main reason for this. The semi-supervised incremental clustering algorithm employed in the study had a high quality and a good development for clustering which is suitable for classification of Chinese medicines. This study illustrated the diversity of Chinese medicines and their complex similarities, thus aiming to provide innovative ideas and methods for related research.

Objective To study the changes of T lymphocyte subtype levels and serum levels of leukotriene B4 ( LTB4 )in children with acute leukemia (AL). Methods The activity of T lymphocyte subsets:CD3+ T cells,CD4+ T cells,CD8 + T cell levels and NK cell were detected in 40 cases of AL and 40 control by Flow Cytometry(FCM). The serum level of LTB4 was measured by ELISA in all subjects. ResultsCompared with normal control , the percentages of CD3 + T cells ( [ 49.51 ± 6.53 ] ％ vs [ 67.63 ± 5.23 ] ％ ), CD4 + T cells ([22.15±4.87]％ vs [34.43 ±5.07]％),CD8+ T cell ([23.41 ±3.96]％ vs [28. 17 ±4.61]％),NK cell ( [5.41 ± 4.25 ] ％ vs [ 13.10 ± 4.91 ] ％ ) were significantly lower in children AL patients, ( Ps ＜0.01 ). However,the serum levels of LTB4 increased significantly in AL patients compared with normal control ( [ 25.23 ± 6.24 ] ng/L vs [ 8.28 ± 2.53 ] ng/L, P ＜ 0.01 ). ConclusionT lymphocyte subtype and serum level of LTB4 showed significant changes in children AL patients compared with normal control, which revealed an important theoretical basis to AL pathogenesis.

Objective To evaluate the role of phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN) in diabetes mellitus-induced reduction of hypoxic postconditioning (HPO)-induced protection of cardiomyocytes and the relationship with glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β)-mediated mitochondrial apoptotic pathway.Methods H9c2 cells incubated in high-glucose (30 mmol/L) medium for 24 h were divided into 6 groups (n =5 each) using a random number table:normoxia group (group N),hypoxia-reoxygenation (H/R) group,group HPO,PTEN gene silencing normoxia group (group P-N),PTEN gene silencing H/R group (group P-H/R),and PTEN gene silencing HPO group (group P-HPO).H9c2 cells were exposed to 95％ N2-5％ CO2 for 4 h followed by 2 h reoxygenation with 90％ O2-10％ CO2.HPO was induced by 3 cycles of 5 min reoxygenation followed by 5 min hypoxia before reoxygenation.At the end of reoxygenation,the level of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in the supernatant was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay,the changes in mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP were assessed by JC-1 fluorescence assay,the cell apoptosis was detected by AnnexinV-FITC/PI flow cytometry,and the expression of PTEN and phosphorylated GSK-3β (p-GSK-3β) was determined by Western blot.The JC-1 monomer/polymer ratio and apoptosis rate were calculated.Results Compared with group N,the amount of LDH released,JC-1 monomer/polymer ratio and apoptosis rate were significantly increased,and the expression of PTEN was up-regulated in H/R and HPO groups (P＜0.05).There was no significant difference in the parameters mentioned above between group H/R and group HPO (P＞0.05).Compared with group HPO,the amount of LDH released,JC-1 monomer/polymer ratio and apoptosis rate were significantly decreased,PTEN expression was down-regulated,and the expression of p-GSK-3β was up-regulated in group P-HPO (P＜0.05).Compared with group N,the expression of PTEN was significantly down-regulated,and no significant changes were found in the other parameters mentioned above in group P-N (P＞0.05).Compared with group H/R,the expression of PTEN was significantly down-regulated,and no significant changes were found in the other parameters mentioned above in group P-H/R (P＞0.05).Conclusion PTEN is involved in diabetes mellitus-induced reduction of HPO-induced protection of cardiomyocytes,and the mechanism is associated with PTEN-induced activation of GSK-3β-modulated mitochondrial apoptotic pathway.