OBJECTIVETo explore the repair of Xiangsha Liujunzi Decoction (XSLJZD) on interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) and gap junction (GJ) in the gastric muscular layer of rats of Pi-qi deficiency syn- drome (PQDS).

METHODSPQDS was established using purgative method with bitter and cold drugs in 30 healthy Wistar rats. After successful modeling they were randomly divided into the treatment group and the model group, 15 in each group. Another 15 healthy Wistar rats were recruited as the healthy control group. Rats in the treatment group were gastric administered with XSLJZD at 2 mL/100 g body weight, once daily for 14 successive days. Equal volume of normal saline was gastrically administered to those in the healthy control group and the model group. The gastric muscle tissues were taken out before modeling, before intervention, and after intervention, respectively. Ultrastructural changes of ICC and GJ were observed using transmission electron microscope (TEM). The number and distribution of Connexin43 (Cx43) were detected using immunohistochemistry.

RESULTSResults of TEM indicated that compared with the healthy control group, both ICC and GJ in the model group showed obvious injury. ICC and GJ were apparently repaired after intervention in the treatment group. Compared with the same group before modeling, the integrated optical density (IOD) of the Cx43 expression significantly decreased in the model group before and after intervention (P <0.05). Compared with before intervention, the IOD of the Cx43 expression significantly increased in the treatment group (P <0.05). Compared with the healthy control group, the IOD of the Cx43 expression significantly decreased in the model group before and after intervention (P <0.05). Compared with the model group, the IOD of the Cx43 expression significantly increased in the treatment group (P <0.05).

CONCLUSIONSUltrastructures of ICC and GJ in the gastric muscular layer of rats of PQDS were obviously damaged. XSLJZD could repair the structural damage of ICC and GJ in the gastric muscle tissues of rats of PQDS.

Animals ; Connexin 43 ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Gap Junctions ; Interstitial Cells of Cajal ; drug effects ; Leydig Cells ; Male ; Muscle, Smooth ; Qi ; Rats, Wistar ; Syndrome

ZHU Lian is a deceased famous acupuncture and Moxibustion specialist, the first director and the founder of institute of Acupuncture-Moxibustion of China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences. This article discusses the thought and idea of education and teaching of acupuncture-moxibustion from the following three aspects: diversified education and training mode, teaching idea of new acupuncture-moxibustion with a lot of characteristics, and the founding of professional acupuncture-moxibustion college. All above have both distinct characteristics of the times and positively enlightening significance of reality.
Acupuncture ; education ; history ; Acupuncture Therapy ; history ; China ; Education, Medical ; history ; History, 20th Century ; Humans ; Teaching ; history

Objective To investigate the relationship between the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) in the perihematomal tissues in human hypertensive,intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and brain edema formation following ICH.Methods Paraffin-embedded brain tissues of 39 human fatal cases of ICH from the perihematomal tissues,1—3 cm away from the margin of the hemorrhagic lesion,as well as tissues from the corresponding area at the opposite side as controls,were stained with HE and immunohistochemistry staining.The expressions of MMP-9 and ICAM-1 in the pefihematomal tissues were analyzed with the SPSS 11.5 system.Results ①With MMP-9 immunohistochemical staining positive capillaries in the perihematomal tissues were identified at 2 h ((1.2? 0.8)/HP).The number of MMP-9 positive capillaries began to rise at 5—10 h ((4.1?0.8)/HP) reaching the peak at 45—48 h ((10.6?1.4)/HP,P

Objective To construct an adenoviral vector carrying the gene encoding ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF). Methods The gene fragment encoding CNTF was amplified from pMEG-CNTF plasmid by PCR and the Psp-CNTF-IRES-GFP and PDC316-CNTF-IRES-GFP plasmids were constructed. Using PDC316-CNTF-IRES-GFP and PBHG plasmids, the Ad-CNTF-IRES-GFP vector was constructed, and the constructed vector was amplified, purified and identified in 293-LP cells. Ectopic overexpression of CNTF was induced using the constructed vector in human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to investigate the role of CNTF in promoting remyelination. Results The Ad-CNTF-IRES-GFP vector was successfully constructed with a pfu of 2.3x1011. CNTF concentration in the MSCs transfeeted with Ad-CNTF-IRES-GFP vector was 20-fold higher than that in either non-transfected or Ad-EGFP-transfected MSCs. Conclusion The constructed Ad-CNTF-IRES-GFP vector allows CNTF overexpression in human MSCs by 20 folds, which provides a strategy for gene therapy targeting CNTF.

Objective To evaluate the safety of high pressure injection of iodine contrast material into the external jugular vein.Methods 50 cases who accepted the CM injection via upper extremity veins were chosen as the control group,40 cases injected CM via external jugular vein were assigned to the observation group all of whose upper extremity veins were difficult to puncture.We designed an evaluation table to compare the two different high pressure vein injection methods,the observation indexes included:success rate of puncture,total time spend of puncture process,leakage ratio,dose of CM,injection speed,lag time,image quality,adverse effect incidence,heart rate and blood pressure changes before and after injection.Results There was 1puncture failure in the control group,the success rate of puncture was 98％ with no leakage cases.There was no puncture failure in the observation group except for two remaining needles slipped off after successful puncture.The variations of heart rate before and after puncture were[ (3.25 ± 11.53 ) beats/min vs( - 1.31±7.91) beats/min ],diastolic pressure[ ( - 6.75 ± 24.24 ) mm Hg vs( 3.04 ± 8.82 ) mm Hg ] in the control group and observation group,respectively,with no significant difference( t =1.59,- 1.91; both P ＞ 0.05 ).However,the changes of systolic pressure were[ ( - 2.60 ± 13.09 ) mm Hg vs ( 7.39 ± 13.52 ) mm Hg ],with statistically significant difference( t =- 2.52,P ＜ 0.05 ).No iodine contrast material related adverse effects happened in the two groups.The image quality were very high; Choosing external jugular vein puncture could improve the success rate of puncture,shorten the total time spend of puncture process and ease the pain of the patients,and the only added job was to adjust the dose of iodine contrast material and the lag time of screening.Conclusions Iodine injection via external jugular vein route is safe for patients with normal cardiac function,and it is an important method for those with poor vein condition.

The authors preliminarily analyze and compare influence of different stages of attack and remission, different syndrome types, and age of the patient, duration of illness, state of illness on the therapeutic effects of acupuncture and moxibustion for treatment of bronchial asthma by analysis and summarization of 381 clinical papers about acupuncture and moxibustion treatment of bronchial asthma. It is found that most studies hold that acupuncture has better therapeutic effect on asthma at acute stage, and moxibustion has a better effect at the remission stage. Acupuncture and moxibustion have a better effect on cold asthma than hot asthma, and the shorter the course of disease and the younger, the better the effect, conversely, the effect is worse. Mild asthma is the main indication of acupuncture and moxibustion, but considerable more clinical studies show that above factors have no obvious influence on the therapeutic effect, even show contrary to this result. It is indicated that in the studies from now on, only strictly design and fully consider the effects of various factors, can scientifically reveal various disease factors influencing therapeutic effect of acupuncture and moxibustion on bronchial asthma, and expound the indications of different acupuncture and moxibustion methods for treatment of bronchial asthma.
Acupuncture Therapy ; Age Factors ; Asthma ; pathology ; therapy ; Disease Progression ; Humans ; Moxibustion ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo isolate and identify Bartonella strains from native dogs in Shandong province in China.

METHODSEDTA-anticoagulated blood samples were collected from 71 native dogs in Yanggu county of Shandong province in March 2005. All isolates were grown on brain heart infusion agar plates containing 5% defibrinated rabbit blood. The agar plates were incubated at 37 degrees C in a humidified with 5% CO2 environment for 4 weeks or longer. All Bartonella-like isolates were examined by routine Gram and Giménez staining and then followed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and PCR-RFLP analysis for identification and differentiation of the isolates. Sequencing 16S rRNA, citrate synthase (gltA) gene and 16S-23S rRNA ITS were carried out and sequential similarities were calculated using the DNASTAR5 software package. The phylogenetic tree was inferred from each bootstrap sample, using the neighbor-joining methods as executed in the MEGA 3.1 software. The translation from DNA to protein were determined by DNASIS 2.5.

RESULTSThe two Bartonella-like organisms (strains Q52SHD and Q64SHD) were isolated from the blood of 71 dogs. Light microscopic examination of the Gram and Giménez-stained micro-organisms showed small, short and slightly curved pleomorphic gram-negative bacilli. Amplified products of the three pairs of Bartonella genus-specific primers carried the same size as the predicted of those Bartonella species. Data from PCR-RFLP analysis showed that the two strains that having the same profiles were all different from the B. henselae type strain-16S rRNA, gltA and 16S-23S rRNA ITS sequences from the two isolates were 100.0%, 99.7% and 97.2% homologous to B. vinsonii berkhoffii.

CONCLUSIONSBased on these findings, the two isolates Q52SHD and Q64SHD were demonstrated as B. vinsonii berkhoffii. To our knowledge, this was the first report on the presence of Bartonella infection in native dogs from China, which constituted a large reservoir of Bartonella species in this country.

Animals ; Bartonella ; classification ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Bartonella Infections ; veterinary ; Disease Reservoirs ; Dogs ; microbiology ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S ; genetics ; Rabbits

BACKGROUNDNucleostemin is essential for the proliferation and survival of stem and cancer cells, but it is unknown whether this newly identified molecule is involved in prostate cancer pathogenesis.

METHODSTotal RNA and protein were extracted from prostate cancer tissues and PC-3, LNCap and DU145 cell lines. The nucleostemin mRNA and protein expression were measured by RT-PCR and Western blot. Immunohistochemistry was also used to detect the nucleostemin protein expression in prostate cancer tissues and PC-3 cells. A nucleostemin specific, short hairpin RNA, expression plasmid was used to transfect PC-3 cells. The changes of nucleostemin gene were detected and the proliferative capacity of the cells was determined.

RESULTSNucleostemin was highly expressed in prostate cancer tissues and cell lines. Nucleostemin expression level in the silencer group PC-3 cells remarkably reduced. The proliferation rate of silencer group PC-3 cells decreased and the percentage of G1 stage cells increased. The neoplasm forming capacity in nude mice of the silencer group PC-3 cells decreased significantly.

CONCLUSIONSNucleostemin is highly expressed in prostate cancer tissues and cell lines. The proliferative capacity of PC-3 cells is remarkably reduced after silencing nucleostemin gene expression.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; Carrier Proteins ; analysis ; genetics ; physiology ; Cell Cycle ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; GTP-Binding Proteins ; Humans ; Male ; Mice ; Nuclear Proteins ; analysis ; genetics ; physiology ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; genetics ; pathology ; RNA, Messenger ; analysis

OBJECTIVETo detect Bartonella henselae IgG antibody among healthy people in Changping, Beijing.

METHODSUsing indirect enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunofluorescence antibody assay (IFA) to detect IgG antibody of Bartonella henselae among human beings.

RESULTSThe sensitivity and specificity of ELISA were 70.6% and 91.6% respectively, with the positive predictive value of serological test as 82.2%, and the negative predictive value as 84.9%, based on results of IFA. The positive rate was 34.5% among 357 healthy people on indirect ELISA but was 35.6% among 239 people with IFA.

CONCLUSIONThe results indicated that the indirect ELISA was a very quick, sensitive and available method for detecting Bartonella henselae in human beings, as well as a high positive percent age of Bartonella henselae among the healthy people of Changping Beijing.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Antibodies, Bacterial ; immunology ; Bartonella henselae ; immunology ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; methods ; Female ; Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect ; methods ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; immunology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVEThrough maternal inheritance, to explore the genetic structures and relationships of Dong, Gelao, Tujia and Yi ethnic population in Guizhou of China.

METHODSThe mtDNA D-loop hypervariable segment I (HVS I ) in 108 samples of four ethnic populations were sequenced. Then, the nucleotide diversity was estimated and a phylogenetic tree was constructed by Neighbor-Joining method.

RESULTSIn the detected 497 bp fragments, 86 polymorphic sites were found, and 82 different haplotypes were identified. The phylogenetic tree of four ethnic populations showed: Yi, Tujia and Gelao clustered more closely than Dong did.

CONCLUSIONYi and Tujia population are very closely related, the reason may be that they either originate from a common ancestry or frequently undergo the gene exchanges and admixtures. The genetic relationship between Tujia and Gelao population is nearer, perhaps because they have settled in the adjacent regions. Dong and Yi population show the farthest genetic relationship, this is probably due to their different historical origins and geographic segregation.

Base Sequence ; China ; DNA, Mitochondrial ; chemistry ; classification ; genetics ; Ethnic Groups ; genetics ; Genetic Variation ; Humans ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; genetics ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid