Objective To investigate whether oral administration of probiotics can reduce complications induced by interventional therapy in patients with primary hepatic carcinoma and liver cirrosis.Methods Two hundred and sixty four patients with primary hepatic carcinoma and liver cirrhosis who underwent transarterial chemoembolization(TACE) were randomly divided into two groups.and patients in experimental group were given probiotics but not in control group.Shoa-term clinical manifestations.liver functions,blood routine and pain scores were compared between two groups.Results On the day 3 after therapy,the incidence of abdominal distension and constipation in experimental group were less than that in control group(x2=18.22 and 55.22,P=0.000);On the day 7 after therapy,the incidence of abdominal distension,constipation and infection in experimental group were less than that in control group(x2=5.35,13.5 and 19.14,P=0.021,0.000 and 0.000).There were no significant difference in other clinical manifestations,liver function,blood routine and pain scores between the two groups. Conclusion Oral administration of probiotics can reduce the incidence of some short-term complication induced by interventional therapy in patients with hepatic carcinoma and liver cirrhosis.

AIM: To study the effect of three kinds of drying methods on quality of Radix Angelicae Sinensis. METHODS: TLC, HPLC determination of volatile Oil and ethanol-extra ctives were used. RESULTS: The constitutents in three kinds of dried samples are the same, the contents of vo latile oil and ferulic acid have evident difference in three kinds of aried samp les. The content of fumed sample is the highest. CONCLUSION: The fuming method is the best drying one.

OBJECTIVE:To optimize the ultrasonic extraction technology of salidroside in Rhodiola rosea. METHODS:With the content of salidroside as the index,L16(45)orthogonal test was designed to observe the effects of 4 factors including the mass fraction of ethanol,solid-liquid ratio,extraction time and ultrasonic power on the content of salidroside in R. rosea extraction solu-tion. By using Matlab 6.5 software,mathematical simulation of ultrasonic extraction process of salidroside was made with the data of orthogonal test. Multiple regression analysis method was adopted to optimize the ultrasonic extraction technology of salidroside, and then the extraction result of optimal technology and that of traditional heating reflux technology were compared. RESULTS:The optimal extraction technology of salidroside was as follows as ethanol mass fraction of 77%,solid-liquid ratio of 1∶34 (g∶ml),extraction time of 34 min,ultrasonic power of 237 W(ultrasonic frequency of 40 kHz). Under the above-mentioned condi-tions,the content of salidroside was up to 0.982 4%,close to the predicted value of 0.989 4%. Compared to heating reflux meth-od,the ultrasonic method has similar content of salidroside but extraction time was shortened by 62.2%. CONCLUSIONS:The ul-trasonic extraction method for extracting the salidroside in R. rosea is simple,requires shorter time,and giving rise to higher extrac-tion rate.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of ethyl acetate extract of Huanglian Jiedu decoction (EAHD) on hyphae development of Candida albicans.

METHODInverted microscope, fluorescence microscope, SEM were applied to inspect the Morphological change of C. albicans treated by EAHD at different concentrations. Solid agar plate was utilized to evaluate the colony morphology. Quantitative Real-ime PCR(qRT-PCR) was adopted to observe the expression of hyphae-specific genes such as HWP1, ALS3, UME6, CSH1, SUN41, CaPDE2.

RESULTEAHD with concentration of 312 and 1 250 mg . L-1 could inhibit formation of hyphae and colony morphology. The expression of HWP1, ALS3, UME6, CSH1 were downregulated 4. 13, 3. 64, 2. 46, 2. 75 folds ,while the expression of SUN41 were upregulated 7. 26 folds, CaPDE2 keep unchanged.

CONCLUSIONEAHD could inhibit formation of hyphae and colony morphologies of C. albicans through downregulating HWP1, ALS3, UME6 and CSH1.

Acetates ; Biofilms ; drug effects ; growth & development ; Candida albicans ; cytology ; drug effects ; genetics ; growth & development ; Down-Regulation ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Fungal Proteins ; genetics ; Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal ; drug effects ; Hyphae ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Microscopy, Fluorescence ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction

A new algorithm using the geometric active contour model with the fusion of color and intensity priors to segment medical images is presented in this paper. The prior knowledge used here are firstly defined in different color spaces and represented as thresholds searched by the genetic algorithm. Then the prior knowledge is merged into active contour model with its contour evolution by the level set technique. The experiments on clinical marrow images and mammograms have successfully demonstrated its superiority of the proposed algorithm over the existing active contour models which deal with image gradient information.
Algorithms ; Artificial Intelligence ; Color ; Image Enhancement ; Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted

OBJECTIVETo develop an HPLC method for the determination of a Tibetan medicine Meconopsis quintuplinervia.

METHODA Hypersil-Keystone-C18 column (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 microm) was used with the isocratic elution of acetonitrile and 0.012% glacial acetic acid. The flow rate was 1.0 mL x min(-1), and the detection wavelength was set at 237 nm.

RESULTThe linear range of 0-methylflavinantine was 0.2-2.4 microg (r = 0.999 7). The average recovery was 96.26%.

CONCLUSIONThe developed method was reliable, and can be used for the quality control of M. quintuplinervia Regel.

Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; chemistry ; Morphinans ; analysis ; Papaveraceae ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of butyl alcohol extract of Baitouweng decoction ( BAEB) on yeast-to-hyphae transition of Candida albicans isolates from vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) in alkaline pH.

METHODSerial 2-fold dilution assay was used to determine the minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of Baitouweng decoction extracts against C. albicans isolates from VVC, XTT assay was applied to determine the metabolic activity of C. albicans hypha treated by BAEB for 6 h. The morphological change of C. albicans treated by BAEB was inspected at different pH by inverted microscope, fluorescence microscope, scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Solid agar plate and semi-solid agar were utilized to evaluate colony morphology and invasive growth of C. albicans, respectively. Quantitative Real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was adopted to observe the expressions of hyphae-specific genes including HWP1, ALS3, CSH1, SUN41 and CaPDE2.

RESULTThe MIC of BAEB against C. albicans is less than that of other extracts; hyphae grow best at pH 8. 0; 512 mg · L(-1) and 1,024 mg · L(-1) BAEB could inhibit formation of hyphae and influence colony morphology. When treated by 512 mg · L(-1) and 1,024 mg · L(-1) BAEB, the colonies became smooth; while by 0 and 256 mg · L(-1) BAEB, the colonies became wrinkled. In semi-solid agar, the length of hyphae decreased steadily as the concentration of BAEB lowered. The expression of HWP1, ALS3, CSHl, SUN41 were downregulated by 5.12, 4.26, 3.2 and 2.74 folds, and CaPDE2 was upregulated by 2.38 fold.

CONCLUSIONBAEB could inhibit yeast-to-hyphae transition of C. albicans isolates from VVC in alkaline pH.

Antifungal Agents ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Candida albicans ; drug effects ; genetics ; growth & development ; Candidiasis, Vulvovaginal ; drug therapy ; microbiology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Female ; Humans ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Hyphae ; drug effects ; growth & development

OBJECTIVETo investigate anti-attachment effect of ethyl acetate extract of Huanglian Jiedu decoction (EAHD) on Candida glabrata.

METHODSerial 2-fold dilution assay was used to determine the minimum inhibitory concentrations MICs of EAHD to C. glabrata. XTT assay was used to evaluate the effect of EAHD against adhesion of C. glabrata. Inverted microscope, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and fluorescein diacetate (FDA) staining were applied to observe the morphological changes of C. glabrata in adhesion. PCR was adopted to inspect the expression of attachment-related genes such as EPA1, EPA6 and EPA7.

RESULTThe MIC of EAHD and fluconazole to C. glabrata were 320 mg · L(-1) and 1 mg · L(-1) respectively. The total cells including budding cells decreased in a dose-dependent manner following EAHD treatment. The expressions of EPA1, EPA6 and EPA7 were downregulated dramatically after EAHD treatment.

CONCLUSIONEAHD could effectively inhibit adherence of C. glabrata.

Acetates ; Candida glabrata ; drug effects ; physiology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Fungal Proteins ; genetics ; Lectins ; genetics ; Plant Extracts ; pharmacology

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of lentivirus-mediated BMP-2 overexpression plasmid transfection into bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and silk fibroin scaffold on osteoblast transformation. METHODS: The lentivirus BMP-2 overexpression vector was constructed, bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells were cultured, and the combined culture system of nuclear scaffolds was constructed. Alizarin red staining and alkaline phosphatase staining were used to detect the osteogenic transformation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in vitro. Ten New Zealand white rabbits, weighing 3.2 to 4.5 kg(averaging 3.9 kg), aged (2.89±0.45) years old, were selected to construct the rabbit tibial defect model by drilling a conical tibial defect (5 mm in length, 2 mm in width and 3 mm in depth) with an oral drill. The repair of the tibial defect in the animal model was observed by HE staining. The experimental group was implanted with silk fibroin scaffold + BMP-2 overexpression vector bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell complex, while the negative control group was implanted with silk fibroin scaffold+non-transfected bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell complex. RESULTS: Compared with the control group(silk fibroin scaffold+non-transfected bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells), the number of adherent cells on the surface of the scaffold in the experimental group(silk fibroin scaffold+transfected BMP-2 overexpression vector BMP-2 complex) increased significantly. Compared with the control group, the ECM secretion in the experimental group increased significantly. EDX analysis showed that the content of calcium ion was 0.22% in the control group and 0.86% in the experimental group, which showed that the ability of inducing calcium ion formation in the experimental group was stronger than that in the control group. Alizarin red staining of calcium nodules showed that there was no obvious change in the naked eye of the control group, and a small amount of calcium nodules could be seen under the microscope. In the experimental group, obvious red area staining was observed by naked eye, and a large number of calcium nodules were observed by microscopy. The results of alkaline phosphatase staining showed that there was no obvious change in the naked eye of the control group, and no obvious change in the microscopic observation. In the experimental group, purple area staining was observed by naked eyes, and ALP staining was strongly positive by microscopy. The combined culture system of silk fibroin scaffold and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells can repair cartilage defects. The repair effect of BMP-2 bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells after transfection is obviously better than that of non-transfection group. HE staining showed that inflammatory cells decreased and scaffolds disappeared slightly in the control group. In the experimental group, inflammatory cells were significantly reduced, scaffolds disappeared and angiogenesis was observed. CONCLUSIONS Lentivirus-mediated BMP-2 overexpression plasmid can promote BMSC to differentiate into osteocytes and secrete more extracellular matrix containing Ca²⁺ to promote bone defect repair.
Animals ; Bone Marrow Cells ; Bone Morphogenetic Protein 2 ; Cells, Cultured ; Fibroins ; Lentivirus ; Mesenchymal Stem Cells ; Osteoblasts ; Osteogenesis ; Plasmids ; Rabbits ; Transfection

OBJECTIVETo explore the biological and clinical significance of the double mutations of C1673T/C1799G in HBV C promoter (CP).

METHODSTotally 136 patients were enrolled, including 25 asymptomatic carriers (AsC), 38 patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), 24 patients with chronic severe hepatitis B (CSHB), 36 cases with liver cirrhosis (LC) and 13 cases with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). HBV subgenotypes and mutations in CP of all samples were determined by nested-PCR and direct nucleotide sequence analysis. The C to T mutation at nucleotide 1673 and C to G at nucleotide 1799 were analyzed in different subgenotypes, and the relationships of C1673T/C1799G double mutations with HBV replication, the expression of HBeAg, and with the severity of liver disease after chronic HBV infection were studied.

RESULTSOf the 136 patients, 110 were subgenotype Ba, 1 was Bj, 7 were C1, and 18 were C2. C1673T/C1799G double mutations in Ba were determined in 106 (96. 4%) samples, which was significantly higher than in C1 (14.3%) and C2 (12.5%) subgenotype (P < 0.0001). In contrast to non-mutation group, HBV DNA content in mutation group had no significant difference (P > 0.05). The prevalence of the mutation was lower in HBeAg positive patients (71.4%) than in HBeAg negative patients (87.5%) (P < 0.05). The frequencies of the double mutations were not significantly different among ASC, CHB, CSHB, LC and HCC groups (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONIn Ba subgenotype, double mutations of C1673T/C1799G is much popular than in C1 and C2; the mutation has no effect on HBV replication, and may not be associated with the outcome of chronic HBV infection.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Genotype ; Hepatitis B e Antigens ; analysis ; Hepatitis B virus ; genetics ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; virology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mutation ; Promoter Regions, Genetic