The chemical constituents of Vaccinium bracteatum were studied by means of macroporous resin, ODS column chromatography and preparative HPLC. Eleven compounds were isolated from this plant. By using ESI-MS and NMR, the structures of the eleven compounds were determined as 10-O-trans-p-coumaroyl-6alpha-hydroxyl-dihydromonotropein (1), 10-O-cis-p-coumaroyl -6alpha-hydroxyl-dihydromonotropein (2), vaccinoside (3), 10-O-cis-p-coumaroyl monotropein (4), isolariciresinol-9-O-beta-D-xyloside (5), tectoridin (6), vicenin-3 (7), quercetin-3-O-alpha-L-rhamnoside (8), quercetin-3-O-alpha-L-arabinopyranoside (9), quercetin-3-O-beta-D-galactopyranoside (10), and quercetin-3-O-beta-D-glucuronide (11), respectively. Compounds 1 and 2 are new, and compounds 4, 6 and 7 are isolated from the genus Vaccinium for the first time.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Molecular Structure ; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization ; Vaccinium ; chemistry

Objective To analyze the clinical characteristics of Hashimoto's disease(HD) accompanying with thyroid cancer,and to explore the experience of diagnosis and treatment.Methods Clinical data of 41 cases of HD accompanying with thyroid cancer were retrospectively analyzed.The patients were diagnosed by postoperative paraffin pathological examination from Jan.2002 to July 2011.Results 10 cases of HD,37cases of thyroid cancer,and 8 cases HD accompanying with thyroid cancer were diagnosed before operation.The rate of preoperative diagnosis was only 19.51％.All patients underwent surgical treatment,including 22 cases total thyroidectomy,14 cases subtotal thyroidectomy,and 5 cases lesion side lobe resection.24 cases underwent ipsilateral neck dissection,and 4 cases underwent bilateral neck dissection (ipsilateral radical resection,contralateral selective resection).Postoperative paraffin pathological examination proved that there were 39 cases of HD accompanying with thyroid cancer,1 case of focal cancer and 1 case of B-cell lymphoma of mucosa-associated thyroid.All patients were followed up.Conclusions The preoperative diagnosis rate of HD accompanying with thyroid cancer is low and great attention should be paid to its diagnosis.For HD patients,if carcinoma can not be excluded,surgical exploration is recommended.Appropriate surgical method should be chosen according to intraoperative frozen section results.Postoperative thyroid hormone treatment is usually taken.

Objective To investigate the alterations of serological endothelin(ET) in patients with kawasaki disease(KD) and its relation with coronary dilatation(CAD).Methods Serological ET were measured in 50 cases of patients with KD in acute phase as well as subacute phase; 30 cases of patients with acute febrile infection(IC) in infective phases and 30 healthy children(HC).Results 1.ET in subacute phase significantly increased than that in acute phase.2.In both acute and subacute phases of KD, ET significantly elevated higher than that in HC; and ET in subacute phase significantly elevated than that of IC. 3. Fifty-four percentage patients with KD were complicated with CAD. For CAD subgroup, ET had no difference with CAD subgroup in subacute phase.Conclusion ET has still increases in subacute of KD,which indicates the relation with coronary artery lesion.

OBJECTIVETo study the protective effect of Ligustrazine Injection (LI) against cisplatin-induced ototoxicity and to explore its mechanism.

METHODSThirty healthy adult guinea pigs were randomly divided into three groups, 10 in each group, i.e., the normal control group, the cisplatin group, and the LI group. Guinea pigs in the normal control group were intraperitoneally injected with normal saline at 3 mL/kg for 7 consecutive days. Those in the cisplatin group were intraperitoneally injected with cisplatin at 3 mg/kg for 7 consecutive days. Those in the LI group were intraperitoneally injected with LI at 140 mg/kg for 7 days, but cisplatin (3 mg/kg) was intraperitoneally injected from the opposite side starting from the 4th day. Brainstem auditory evoked potential (BAEP) was performed in all animals before and after injection. All animals were sacrificed after the final testing under anesthesia and their cochleas collected. Half the cochleas of each group were collected for silver nitrate staining of cochlear basilar membrane stretched. The other half the cochleas of each group made into paraffin sections to observe the apoptosis of cochlea cells by TUNEL method and the expression levels of c-Jun detected by immunohistochemistry.

RESULTSThere was no statistical difference in the difference of BAEP threshold among the 3 groups before injection (P > 0.05), but the BAEP threshold increased in the cisplatin group and the LI group (P < 0.05). Besides, it was higher in the cisplatin group (P < 0.05). In the cisplatin group, most hair cells were missing, spiral ganglion cells obviously decreased, more TUNEL positive cells occurred, and the expression of c-Jun was stronger. But the aforesaid impairment in the LI group was obviously lessened (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSLI showed certain antagonist effect on cisplatin-induced ototoxicity. Its mechanism might be associated with scavenging oxygen radicals of the cochlea tissue, improving the microcirculation, and fighting against apoptosis.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Cisplatin ; toxicity ; Cochlea ; drug effects ; metabolism ; pathology ; Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem ; Guinea Pigs ; Pyrazines ; pharmacology ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; metabolism

To explore novel coumarin derivatives with more potent anti-proliferative activity, a series of novel compounds were designed and synthesized by linking Schiff base and N, N-bis (2-chloroethyl) amine pharmacophore of nitrogen mustards to the coumarin's framework. Their structures were confirmed by 1H NMR, MS and element analysis techniques. In vitro anti-proliferative activities were evaluated against HepG2, DU145 and MCF7 cell lines by the standard MTT assay. The results showed that some of the target compounds exhibited strong anti-proliferative activities against selected tumor cells, and compounds 7c, 7f, 7g, 7h and 7q were better than or equal to the activities of positive control, they deserved further development.
Antineoplastic Agents ; chemical synthesis ; pharmacology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Coumarins ; chemical synthesis ; pharmacology ; Drug Design ; Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor ; Humans ; Nitrogen Mustard Compounds ; chemical synthesis ; pharmacology ; Schiff Bases ; Structure-Activity Relationship

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

Objective To compare the tumor sizes of primary lesions in pancreatic cancer based on CT scan and postoperative pathological analysis and measure the extent of filtration under a microscope,and to determine the CTV in radiotherapy target delineation.Methods A total of 19 patients with pancreatic cancer who were admitted to PLA General Hospital and Air Force General Hospital,PLA from 2013 to 2014 were analyzed.In 15 patients,the maximum diameters of tumor cross-section were measured based on the images of preoperative multi-slice spiral CT and postoperative gross samples,respectively.In 19 patients,the extent of tumor infiltration was measured on pathological sections under a microscope and the actual extent of infiltration was calculated.The paired t-test was applied to analyze the differences in the results of different measurement methods.Results In the 15 patients,the maximum tumor diameters measured with gross samples and CT scan were 33.6 mm and 30.1 mm,respectively (P=0.000),and the median and mean of the differences were 3.1 mm (1.2-8.0 mm) and 3.6±2.0 mm,respectively (95％ CI 1.2-6.0).In the 19 patients,the maximum actual infiltration distance and the maximum distance measured were 3.50 mm and 3.19 mm,respectively (P=0.000),and the median and mean of the differences were 0.31 mm (0.15-0.50 mm) and 0.30±0.09 mm,respectively.The maximum distance between the margin of primary lesions and the infiltrating lesions was 5.21 mm,with a median of 3.34 mm (2.19-5.21 mm) and a mean of 3.50± 0.88 mm (95％ CI 2.19-5.06).Conclusions Contrast-enhanced CT scan underestimates the actual size of primary lesions in pancreatic cancer,and an extension of 5 mm outside gross tumor volume (GTV) as CTV may not be sufficient.It is recommended to extend another 1-3 mm outside GTV as CTV.

Objective To compare the saccharometabolism with the pancreatic islets functions and insulin resistance index in children with severe stress. Methods Thirty children with severe stress and 30 healthy children in control group were tested. The levels of fasting blood glucose (FBG), fasting insulin (FINS) and fasting C - peptide (FCP) were detected by radioimmunoassay respectively and insulin sensitivity index (ISI), insulin resistance index (IR) and fasting blood cell function index (FBCI) were calculated statistically. Results There were significant differences between the children with severe stress and the normal controls in the levels of FINS, FCP and FBG,(all P0.05). Conclusion There is insulin resistance with the significant decrease in the insulin sensitivity index and significant increase in insulin resistance index in the children with severe stress, which may cause the disorder in glucose metabolism in children with severe stress.

AIMTo observe the levels of interleukin-12 (IL-12) and platelet activating factor (PAF) in severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) in rats and the efficacy of Ginkgolide B (BN52021) in treating SAP.

METHODSWistar rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: model group (SAP), treatment group (BN) and negative control group (NC). SAP was induced by retrograde infusion of 5% sodium taurocholate into the pancreatic duct in Wistar rats. NC rats only receive abdominal incision. In groups of SAP and NC rats received the femoral vein injection of isotonic Na chloride 15 minutes after induction of SAP; in BN group,rats received BN52021 instead. After operation rats were sacrificed at 1, 6 and 12 hour for plasma IL-12 and PAF determined with ELISA.

RESULTSAn increase of IL-12 in group BN was observed VS group SAP or group NC at 1 h stage (p = 0.011, P < 0.01). At 6 h or 12 h stage,an increase of IL-12 in group SAP was observed VS group NC (P < 0.01, P < 0.05). The plasma level of PAF in group SAP or group BN was increased significantly at 1 h time stage VS group NC (P < 0.001). At 6 h or 12 h stage, a decrease of PAF in group BN or group NC was observed VS group SAP (P < 0.05, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONIt confirmed that the plasma level of cytokine IL-12 in SAP group was decreased significantly in early stage and it witnessed a remarkable increase of cytokine PAF. The plasma level of IL-12 was increased in early stage but PAF was decreased in rats treatment by BN52021 which inhibited the development of SAP.

Acute Disease ; Animals ; Ginkgolides ; pharmacology ; Interleukin-12 ; blood ; Lactones ; pharmacology ; Male ; Pancreatitis ; blood ; Platelet Activating Factor ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar

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