Objective To investigate the effects of hyperbaric oxygen preconditioning (HBOP) on brain edema, inflammatory reaction and neuronal cell apoptosis induced by experimental hemorrhage in rats. Method Eighteen male Spraque-Dawley rats, weighing 300 - 350 g,received five successive sessions of HBOP with 3 atmosphere absolute pressure and 100% O2 one hour daily for five successive days, and other eighteen rats received five successive sessions of pretreatment with one atmosphere absolute pressure, air, one hour daily for five successive days. Twenty-four hours after the final pre-conditioning, rats received an infusion of 100 μL autologous blood into the basal ganglion. Seventy-two hours later, rats were sacrificed for brain edema measurements in 12 rats of each group. The histopathological changes around the hematoma were observed microscopically, and the neuronal cell apoptosis was detected by using the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated nick end labeling (TUNEL) in six rats of each group. Data of brain water content were analyzed by using Stata 7.0 software and statistical analysis was carried out by two-tailed Student t -test. Results Compared with the control group, HBOP significantly attenuated brain edema 72 hours after intra-cerebral hemorrhage in experimental rats (81. 6± 0. 7% vs. 82. 8± 0.9%, P < 0.01). Inflammatory cell infiltration and neuronal cell apoptosis were also significantly decreased in the HBOP group. Conclusions HBOP protects the rats against brain edema formation, and quells inflammatory reaction and neuronal cell apoptosis following intra-cerebral hemorrhage in experimental rats.

Objective To optimize supercritical extraction technique from four medicinal materials, which are the part components in the recipe of Keganliyan Oral Liquor and are extracted traditionally for essential oils. Methods Extraction ratio and menthol extraction quantity were taken as evaluated indexes. Supercritical extraction technique was researched with orthogonal tests, gas chromatography, and SAS statistic. Results Within the test levels, temperature and time showed evident effect on extraction ratio and menthol extraction quantity, while pressure did not show any evident effect on them、 The preferable technique to extraction ratio is temperature at 55 ℃, time for 120 min, and extracted pressure at 27 MPa; and the preferable technique to menthol extraction quantity is temperature at 45 ℃, time for 120 min, and extracted pressure at 22 MPa. Conclusion The optimized supercritical extraction technique for Keganliyan Oral Liquor is feasible.

Objective To evaluate the quality status of recombinant human interferon α1b injection and find out some quality problems.Methods Totally 31 batches of recombinant human interferon α1b for injection and 11 batches of recombinant human interferon α1b injection from two enterprises were examined according to Chinese Pharmacopoeia Volume Ⅲ (2010),and the quality status of recombinant human interferon α1b injection was evaluated by statistical analysis of the results.Results All 42 batches of samples were qualified.The production process of each enterprise was steady.Conclusion At present the quality of recombinant human interferon αlb injection is generally good.The current standards are feasible,but the specified standard of osmolality needs to be improved.

A total of 40 patients with COPD (excluding those with correlated/relevant diseases)were measured for inflammation parameters of erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and c-reactive protein (CRP) after hospital admission and some coagulation/fibrinolysis parameters including D-dimer,thrombinantithrombin (TAT),prothrombin fragment 1 + 2,(tissue plasminogen activator) tPA,plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1),von Willebrand factor (von WF),endothelin receptor A,thromboxane B2,P-selectin and pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP) by ultrasonic cardiography after the settling of the symptons of acute period.All patients were then divided into 2 groups according to PAP [＜ 40 mm Hg (1 mmHg=0.133 kPa) (n=24),＞40 mm Hg (n=16)].The values of CRP and ESRin the group with PAP ＞ 40 mm Hg were significantly higher than those in another group (P =0.044 and P =0.002respectively) while tPA was lower (P =0.04).A moderate positive correlation existed between tPA and TXB2 (r =0.547).Moreover,a highly positive correlation was found between TXB2 and PAl-1 (r =0.929).The results indicated that the COPD patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) tend to have a higher level of inflammation,and their fibrinolysis becomes impaired leading to a prothrombotic state.

Objective:To review the treatment of life threatening head and neck space infection.Methods:Retrospective was con-ducted to analyse the patient characterization,signs and symptoms at the time of presentation,presence of concomitant systemic co-morbidities,treatment,prognosis and bacteriology.Results:32 patients from 2007.01 to 2013.01(mean age was 57.71 years)were included.The cases were increased year by year.1 1 (34.37%)patients had breathing difficulty requiring tracheostomy and 19 (59.3%)had concomitant systemic comorbidities.23 cases recovered completely,8 with severe mediastinal infection were trans-ferred to the department of thoracic surgery or the department of respiratory medicine.1 patient died.Pus submission rate was 96.87%,the bacteria detection rate was 37.50%.Pus culture showed mixed infection dominated by streptococci.Staphylococcus au-reus,pseudomonas aeruginosa,enterococcus faecalis,prevotella and neisseria were detected.Conclusion:Annually incidence of life threatening head and neck space infection is increasing.Treatment of the infection should include:①Ensuring the airway patency;②Surgical incision and drainage as early as possible;③ Hypoglycemic control,maintenance of hemodynamic,nutritional support,and multi-disciplinary approach are the key points in the management of such infections;④ Systemic antibiotics.

Nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) fingerprint of Rhodiola rosea medicinal materials was established, and used to distinguish the quality of raw materials from different sources. Pulse sequence for water peak inhibition was employed to acquire 1H-NMR spectra with the temperature at 298 K and spectrometer frequency of 400.13 MHz. Through subsection integral method, the obtained NMR data was subjected to similarity analysis and principal component analysis (PCA). 10 batches raw materials of Rhodiola rosea from different origins were successfully distinguished by PCA. The statistical results indicated that rhodiola glucoside, butyl alcohol, maleic acid and alanine were the main differential ingredients. This method provides an auxiliary method of Chinese quality approach to evaluate the quality of Rhodiola crenulata without using natural reference substances.
Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ; methods ; Principal Component Analysis ; Rhizome ; chemistry ; Rhodiola ; chemistry

Objective To compare the diagnostic value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and contrast-enhanced helical computed tomography (CECT) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with liver cirrhosis. Methods Two hundreds and forty-one focal liver lesions in 207 patients with Hepatitis B virus (HBV) cirrhosis were detected with CEUS and CECT, respectively. Pathological results were used asgold standardto compare the two methods. Diagnostic results of the two methods were compared with pathological results. Differences were assessed using the McNemar test, and the Kappa test was used for consistency evaluation. Results (1) For 113 liver lesions that were ≤2 cm, the number of HCC lesions was 63, and the number of benign lesions was 50. There were no significant differences in results of CEUS and CECT compared with that of the gold standard of McNemar test results (P = 0.824, P = 0.082). Consistency of the Kappa test results of CEUS and CECT in comparison with the gold standard was general (Kappa = 0.643, Kappa = 0.421). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy of HCC diagnosed by CEUS were higher than those of CECT. The rate of arterial enhancement was better for CEUS [87.30% (55/63)] than that for CECT [69.84%(44/63),χ2=5.704, P=0.017]. (2) For 128 liver lesions that were>2 cm, the number of HCC lesions was 77, and the number of benign lesions was 51. There were no significant differences in the diagnostic results between McNemar test and CEUS and CECT tests (P = 0.481, P = 0.167). Consistency of the Kappa test results of CEUS and CECT and gold standard was general (Kappa = 0.710, Kappa = 0.697). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy of HCC were not different between two diagnostic methods. The rate of arterial enhancement was 89.61%(69/77) for CEUS and 85.71%(66/77) for CECT, and there was no significant difference between the two groups (χ2=0.540, P=0.462). Conclusion For HCC≤2 cm, the diagnostic performance of CEUS is better than that of CECT. For HCC>2 cm, the diagnostic performance is similar for the two diagnostic methods.

OBJECTIVETo study the antagonism of Zn-metallothionein (Zn-MT) to oxidative stress of rats with severe scalding after delayed resuscitation.

METHODS27 Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups: normal control; burn with delayed fluid resuscitation group; and Zn-MT protected group. The rats were scalded with 30% total body surface area (TBSA) third degree burn. Four hours after injury, they were resuscitated, but Zn-MT (1 x 10(-5) mol/L) was given in the third group rats. 24 hours after they were scalded, blood was taken, RBCs were separated and labeled with electron spin resonance (ESR) spin label 3-maleimido-proxy l to detect membrane protein conformation. The serum was collected and added into the reaction system of xanthine, xanthine oxidase and ESR spin trap 5, 5-dimethylpyroline-N-oxide to assay the levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD) by ESR.

RESULTSThe ratios of strong solidity and weak solidity of RBC membrane proteins in the three groups were 0.352 +/- 0.043, 0.409 +/- 0.027, and 0.386 +/- 0.062 respectively, and the revolved times of membrane proteins were 1.300 +/- 0.210, 1.576 +/- 0.190 and 1.381 +/- 0.210 seconds respectively. Compared to the first group, the membrane protein conformation in the second group was changed remarkably, and the speed of membrane protein movement decreased significantly. However, those changes were alleviated obviously by Zn-MT. The SOD levels in serum of the three groups rats were 73.2% +/- 1.4%, 48.8% +/- 3.8% and 66.8% +/- 3.2% respectively. Compared to the normal control group, the SOD levels in serum of the second group decreased obviously. However, an excess of oxygen free radicals produced after injury could be scavenged by Zn-MT.

CONCLUSIONRBC membrane proteins of rats with severe scalding after delayed resuscitation were injured by oxygen free radicals produced after injury, and Zn-MT could alleviate this injury.

Animals ; Burns ; enzymology ; therapy ; Disease Models, Animal ; Erythrocyte Membrane ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Female ; Male ; Metallothionein ; pharmacology ; Protective Agents ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; metabolism ; Superoxide Dismutase ; metabolism ; Zinc ; pharmacology

BACKGROUNDPolypharmacy and potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) are prominent prescribing issues in elderly patients. This study was to investigate the different prevalence of PIM use in elderly inpatients between 65-79 years of age and 80 years or older, who were discharged from Geriatric Department in West China Hospital.

METHODSA large-scale cohort of 1796 inpatients aged 65 years or over was recruited. Respectively, 618 patients were 65-79 years and 1178 patients were 80 years or older. Updated 2012 Beers Criteria by the American Geriatric Society was applied to assess the use of PIM among the investigated samples.

RESULTSA review of the prescribed medications identified 686 patients aged 80 years or older consumed at least one PIM giving a rate of 58.2%. Conversely, 268 (43.4%) patients aged 65-79 years consumed at least one PIM (χ2 = 40.18, P < 0.001). Patients aged 80 years or older had higher hospitalization expenses, length of stay, co-morbidities, medical prescription, and mortality than patients aged 65-79 years (all with P < 0.001). Patients aged 80 years or older were prescribed with more benzodiazepines, drugs with strong anticholinergic properties, megestrol, antipsychotics, theophylline, and aspirin. In multiple regression analysis, PIM use was significantly associated with female gender, age, number of diagnostic disease, and number of prescribed medication.

CONCLUSIONSThe finding from this study revealed that inpatients aged 80 years or older encountered more PIM use than those aged 65-79 years. Anticholinergic properties, megestrol, antipsychotics, theophylline, and aspirin are medications that often prescribed to inpatients aged 80 years or older. Doctors should carefully choose drugs for the elderly, especially the elderly aged 80 years or older.

Age Distribution ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; China ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Potentially Inappropriate Medication List ; statistics & numerical data

In order to obtain a yeast strain able to produce L-lactic acid under the condition of low pH and high lactate content, one wild acid-resistant yeast strain isolated from natural samples, was found to be able to grow well in YEPD medium (20 g/L glucose, 20 g/L tryptone, 10 g/L yeast extract, adjusted pH 2.5 with lactic acid) without consuming lactic acid. Based on further molecular biological tests, the strain was identified as Candida magnolia. Then, the gene ldhA, encoding a lactate dehydrogenase from Rhizopus oryzae, was cloned into a yeast shuttle vector containing G418 resistance gene. The resultant plasmid pYX212-kanMX-ldhA was introduced into C. magnolia by electroporation method. Subsequently, a recombinant L-lactic acid producing yeast C. magnolia-2 was obtained. The optimum pH of the recombinant yeast is 3.5 for lactic acid production. Moreover, the recombinant strain could grow well and produce lactic acid at pH 2.5. This recombinant yeast strain could be useful for producing L-lactic acid.
Candida ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; metabolism ; Genetic Vectors ; genetics ; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase ; genetics ; metabolism ; Lactic Acid ; biosynthesis ; Metabolic Engineering ; Recombination, Genetic ; Rhizopus ; enzymology ; genetics ; Transformation, Bacterial