OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of Wuzi Yanzong Decoction (WYD) in treating Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON).

METHODSThirty patients of LHON up to the requirement were assigned to two groups, the treated group administered with WYD plus coenzyme Q10, and the control group with coenzyme Q10 alone, all for 3 months. Patients' visual acuity, visual field, vision evoked potential (VEP) and their Chinese medicine syndrome were observed before and after treatment.

RESULTSAfter treatment, all the above-mentioned indexes were improved to some extents in the treated group, but showed no evident change in the control group excepting visual acuity, comparison between groups showed the differences were significant in all items.

CONCLUSIONWYD shows certain clinical therapeutic effect for treatment of LHON.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Evoked Potentials, Visual ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Optic Atrophy, Hereditary, Leber ; drug therapy ; genetics ; Phytotherapy ; Ubiquinone ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Visual Acuity ; Young Adult

The authors designed to separate, purify and determine the monosaccharide composition of the polysaccharide from Cordyceps militaris, and study its effect on reverse cholesterol transport in vivo by isotope tracing assay. Polysaccharides were separate and purify by ion exchange column Q-sepharose Fast Flow and size exclusion column Sephacryl S200HR; the molecular weight and monosaccharide composition of the polysaccharides were determined by high performance gel permeation chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography coming with pre-column derivation, respectively. Finally, three purified polysaccharides CMBW1, CMBW2 and CMYW1 were obtained, their total carbohydrate contents were 87%, 89%, 95%, respectively; their protein contents were 6.5%, 1.3%, 2.8%, respectively; their molecular weights were 772.1, 20.9, 13.2 kDa, respectively; CMBW1 was composed of mannose, glucosamine, rhamnose, glucuronic acid, glucose, galactose and arabinose with a molar ratio of 7.25: 0.17: 1.29: 0.23: 6.30: 11.08: 0.79; CMBW2 was composed of mannose, glucosamine, galactose and arabinose with a molar ratio of 2.40: 0.16: 2.92: 0.24; CMYW1 was composed of mannose, glucosamine, glucuronic acid and glucose with a molar ratio of 0.59: 0.57: 0.45: 25.61. Polysaccharide at 50 mg x kg(-1) could significantly improve the transport of 3H- cholesterol to blood and excretion from feces. All of the three purified polysaccharides CMBW1, CMBW2 and CMYW1 were heteropolysaccharide; and they could improve reverse cholesterol transport in vivo, the underlying mechanisms are being studied.
Animals ; Biological Transport ; drug effects ; Cholesterol ; metabolism ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; instrumentation ; methods ; Cordyceps ; chemistry ; Mice ; Monosaccharides ; analysis ; isolation & purification ; Polysaccharides ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Tritium

BACKGROUND:This study was undertaken to observe the concentration of SP-A/B and the pulmonary surfactant in the lung tissue of rats with acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome caused by paraquat poisoning after the treatment of metabolic antioxidant-lipoic acid and whether its influence was related to TNF-α. METHODS:Sixty-six male Sprage-Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups:normal control group (NS group), 6 rats; paraquat poisoning group (PQ group), 30 rats; and paraquat+lipoic acid treatment group (LA group), 30 rats. The rats in the PQ and LA groups were subdivided into 3-, 6-, 12-, 24-, 48-hour subgroups, with 6 rats in each group. After the rats were sacrificed, lung tissue from the same part was taken from the rats. After HE staining, histological changes were observed in the tissue under a light microscope. Lung tissue was also taken to test the levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA). Whole blood (0.8 mL) without anticoagulant was drawn from the tail vein of rats for the determination of the TNF-α level. The total RNA of the lung tissue was collected, and the Rt-PCR method was used to measure the levels of SP-A and SP-B mRNA. RESULTS:HE staining showed that histopathological changes were milder in the LA group than in the PQ group. There were significant differences in MDA and SOD levels between different intervals both in intergroups and intragroups except the 3-hour subgroup (P<0.01). Likewise, the significant differences in the levels of TNF-α were also present between the three groups and between different intervals (P<0.01). The significant differences in SP-A mRNA and SP-B mRNA amplification ratio were seen between the three groups at the same intervals (P<0.01), but the differences between different intervals in the PQ group were statistically significant (P<0.05). The differences between different intervals in the LA group were statistically significant (P<0.01). CONCLUSION:Lipoic acid in acute paraquat poisoning could diminish lung tissue damage by regulating directly tumor necrosis factor and indirectly the content of pulmonary surfactant so as to reduce pulmonary edema, improve lung compliance, and finally protect lung tissues.

OBJECTIVETo explore the relation of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene polymorphism, angiotensin II type I receptor (ATIR) gene polymorphism and other factors on cerebral infarction.

METHODSOne thousand three hundred fifty-one subjects from Tangshan coalmine were enrolled with study method of cluster sampling. Face to face interviews were conducted to fill in questionnaires by trained interviewers. ACE gene, ATIR gene and inflammation factors including tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-8, IL-10, C reactive protein (CRP), fibrinogen (Fg), fibrin monome polymerized velocity (FMPV), absorbance maximum (A(max)), FMPV/A(max), were measured.

RESULTSNo different prevalence rates of ACE genotype were found on cerebral infarction. The distributions of AA genotype of ATIR gene in the cerebral infarction was higher than that of the controls. The prevalence of AA genotype was higher than other groups, but the prevalence of combined genotype did not show much difference. Under the existence of factors that related to cerebral infarction, AA genotype frequencies were higher than those of non-smoking and with hypertension. IL-6, ATIR gene polymorphism, sex, FMPV/A(max) were strongly related to cerebral infarction. The level of IL-6 was higher than the normal ones.

CONCLUSIONSThe prevalence of cerebral infarction obviously increased in the hypertensive groups having AA genotype of ATIR gene. In the cerebral infarction groups, the level of IL-6 was higher than that in the normal population, indicating that these can be resulted from local inflammation and immunity reactivity. Environmental and genetic factors in the pathogenesis of cerebral infarction might have coordinating functions.

Aged ; Cerebral Infarction ; genetics ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; Genotype ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A ; genetics ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Receptor, Angiotensin, Type 1 ; genetics

To automatically infer the patterns of vessel structure such as the distal ends, segments, bifurvessel structures, and crossing of two vessels in X-ray angiographic images, a novel method is presented based on Gabor filter and circle detector. The method can cope with varying vessel curvature and intensity feature occur along the longitudinal vessel direction. The present study can facilitate 2-D quantitative description of vessel tree and 3-D vessel reconstruction, and provide an elementary clue for the diagnostics. The proposed method has been successively applied to both synthetic images for validation purposes and the actual angiographic images, which yielded encouraging results.
Algorithms ; Angiography ; methods ; Artifacts ; Blood Vessels ; anatomy & histology ; pathology ; Humans ; Image Enhancement ; methods ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ; Imaging, Three-Dimensional ; Pattern Recognition, Automated ; methods

A portable ECG monitor is introduced in the paper, which has a temporary intravenous and transesophageal fixable rate pacing function. During the PSVT attack, the tachyarrythmia can be stopped by the transesophageal cardiac pacing while the ECG signals are monitored. The instrument has some advantages such as small size, low price and good practicality. It is worth while introducing and popularizing it to all hospitals.
Electrocardiography, Ambulatory ; instrumentation ; Equipment Design ; Heart Block ; diagnosis ; therapy ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Monitoring, Ambulatory ; instrumentation ; Pacemaker, Artificial ; classification ; Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted ; Software ; Tachycardia ; diagnosis ; therapy

OBJECTIVETo verify the clinical efficacy of acupuncture on motor dysfunction in ischemic stroke of subacute stage.

METHODSThe multi-central randomized controlled trial was adopted. One hundred and twenty-six cases of ischemic stroke of subacute stage were randomized into an acupuncture group (61 cases) and a conventional treatment group (65 cases). The basic treatment of western internal medicine and rehabilitation training were applied to the patients of the two groups. In the acupuncture group, acupuncture was supplemented at the body points located on the extensor of the upper limbs and the flexor of the lower limbs. In combination, scalp acupuncture was applied to NS5, MS6 and MS6 on the affected side. The treatment was given 5 times a week and totally 8 weeks were required. The follow-up observation lasted for 3 months. The scores in Fugl-Meyer scale and NIHSS scale and Barthel index were compared between the two groups before treatment, in 4 and 8 weeks of treatment and the 3-month follow-up observation after treatment separately.

RESULTSIn 4 and 8 weeks of treatment and the follow-up observation, Fugl-Meyer scale score was improved obviously in the patients of the two groups (all P<0. 01). In 8 weeks of treatment and the follow-up observation, Fugl-Meyer scale score in the acupuncture groupwas im proved much apparently as compared with that in the conventional treatment group [68. 0 (43. 0,86. 5) vs 52. 5 (30.3, 77.0), 77.0 (49.5, 89.0) vs 63. 0 (33.0, 84.0), both P<0. 05]. Except that NIHSS scale score was not reduced apparently in 4 weeks of treatment in the conventional treatment group (P>0.05), the results of NIHSS scale at the other time points were all decreased obviously as compared with those before treatment in the patients of the two groups (all P<0. 01). In 8 weeks of treatment and the follow-up observation, the results in the acupuncture group were reduced much apparently as compared with those in the conventional treatment group [5. 0 (3.0,8.0) vs 7. 0 (3.0,13.8), 4. 0 (1.5,7.0) vs 6.0 (2.0,11.7) ,both P<0. 05]. In 8 weeks of treatment and the follow-up observation, Barthel index was improved obviously as compared with that before treatment in the patients of the two groups (all P<0. 05). The improvement in the acupuncture group was much more significant as compared with the conventional treatment group [75. 0 (60. 0,87. 5) vs 65. O (36. 3, 87. 5), P<0. 051.

CONCLUSIONBased on the conventional treatment, Acupuncture achieves the satisfactory clinical efficacy on motor dysfunction in ischemic stroke of subacute stage.

Acupuncture Therapy ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Motor Activity ; Stroke ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Treatment Outcome

Adult ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Gonorrhea ; epidemiology ; Hepatitis, Viral, Human ; epidemiology ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Syphilis ; epidemiology ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary ; epidemiology

OBJECTIVETo assess the optimal regimen and its mechanism of ZD1839 in combination with SN38, the active metabolite of irinotecan (CPT-11), in the colon cancer cell lines HT-29 and LoVo.

METHODSChou and Talalay method was used to analyze the combination effects of sequencing of ZD1839 and SN38. Western blotting and immunoprecipitation were used to determine the effects of ZD1839 and/or SN38 on their targeted enzymes and downstream markers. Apoptosis was assayed by analyzing histone-associated DNA fragment.

RESULTSSequential SN38 followed by ZD1839 produced a synergistic effect. In contrast, SN38 following ZD1839 exhibited an antagonist effect. SN38 markedly inhibited topoisomerase I (Topo-I) activity. ZD1839 did not alter epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression, but resulted in a complete inhibition of EGFR phosphorylation. Sequential ZD1839 followed by SN38 did not show any enhanced inhibition effect on Topo-I activity, phosphorylation of EGFR and one of its downstream markers MAPK. However, simultaneous SN38 plus ZD1839, and sequential SN38 followed by ZD1839 administrations showed modest inhibition effect on EGFR's another downstream marker AKT. The combination schedules also showed prominent influence on cell cycle distribution. ZD1839 maintained SN38-induced DNA damage and apoptosis.

CONCLUSIONSequential SN38 followed by ZD1839 may be a favorable combination schedule.

Antineoplastic Agents ; pharmacology ; Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic ; pharmacology ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Camptothecin ; analogs & derivatives ; pharmacology ; Cell Cycle ; drug effects ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Survival ; drug effects ; Colonic Neoplasms ; enzymology ; metabolism ; pathology ; DNA Topoisomerases, Type I ; metabolism ; Drug Synergism ; HT29 Cells ; Humans ; Inhibitory Concentration 50 ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinases ; metabolism ; Phosphorylation ; drug effects ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt ; metabolism ; Quinazolines ; pharmacology ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor ; antagonists & inhibitors ; metabolism ; Signal Transduction ; drug effects

OBJECTIVETo study the changes of vascular endothelial cell function and platelet activation in rabbit spinal cord following ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury and their roles in the spinal cord injury.

METHODSRabbit spinal cord I/R injury models were established using Zivin method, and the changes in plasma NO and GMP140 levels were dynamically monitored after the injury.

RESULTSPlasma NO level increased significantly in the I/R group at the end of the ischemia, and reached the peak level at 2 h of reperfusion as compared to that in sham-operated group (P<0.01). Plasma NO level decreased at 6 h of reperfusion, but still significantly higher than the level in the sham-operated group (P<0.05). Plasma GMP140 underwent no significant changes in the sham-operated group, but significantly increased in the I/R group at the end of the ischemia, followed by gradual declination to the normal level at 2 h of reperfusion.

CONCLUSIONSpinal cord I/R injury causes overexpressions of NO and GMP140, suggesting the involvement of endothelial cell injury and platelet overactivation in the pathological process and repair of spinal cord I/R injury.

Animals ; Endothelial Cells ; metabolism ; Nitric Oxide ; blood ; P-Selectin ; blood ; Platelet Activation ; Rabbits ; Reperfusion Injury ; blood ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Spinal Cord ; pathology ; physiopathology