The composition, nutritional evaluation and clinical trials of a nutritionally complete enteral preparation were presented. It was composed of glucose oligosaccharides, emulsified fat, solubilized proteins, twelve vitamins, certain minerals and trace elements. Rats were forced to negative nitrogen balance by means of protein-free diet. Body weight and serum total protein declined accordingly. When the feed was changed to this preparation in one group, and a routine one with equal nitrogen content in another, nitrogen balance was turned to positive, body weight increased, serum total protein returned to normal in both groups. The increments of nitrogen balance and body weight were, however, higher significantly in the group fed with the preparation than that with routine diet. The biological value, net protein utilization and protein efficiency ratio of the solubilized proteins in the preparation were higher than casein in the routine feed. Twenty surgical patients having the preparation as the sole source of nutrients could take around 8.37MJ(2000 kcal)a day. Nitrogen balance turned from negative to positive in an average time of 3.6 days. Body weight, serum total protein, serum albumin were all increased. Fourty patients took this as dietary supplement and the similar results were observed too. Clinical effects were excellent in all cases, especially for healing of surgical wounds and fistula. Incidence of diarrhea was 3.3%.

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of Tetramethyl pyrazine (TMP) on the cytokines and inflammatory mediators in the serum and the synovial fluid of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA)rats, and further to investigate its possible mechanisms for treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

METHODSType II CIA rat model was established. Rats in the TMP group were administered with TMP at 50 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg, once daily. Dexamethasone at 2.0 mg/kg was intramuscularly injected to those in the Dexamethasone treated group, once daily. Normal saline at 2 mL/kg was given to those in the normal control group and the model group, once daily. All medication was started from the 7th day, lasting to the 35th day. CIA rats' foot swelling degree was observed. Contents of serum IL-1, IL-6, IL-2, NO and PGE2in the synovial fluid were detected by radioimmunoassay and nitrate reduction method.

RESULTSCompared with the normal group, the foot swelling obviously increased, contents of NO and PGE2 in the synovial fluid were obviously elevated in the model group (P < 0.01). Compared with the model group, the foot swelling could be obviously inhibited by 100 mg/kg TMP and Dexamethasone; serum levels of IL-1 and IL-6 obviously decreased, serum IL-2 level obviously increased, contents of NO and PGE, decreased (P < 0.01). TMP 50 mg/kg could obviously inhibit the foot swelling of CIA rats (P < 0.01). There was no statistical difference in other indices (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSTMP at 100 mg/kg showed obvious inhibition on CIA rats. Its inhibitory effect might be correlated to inhibiting activities of endogenous cytokines and the generation of inflammatory mediators in inflammation local regions, improving contents of anti-inflammation cytokines, and inducing the balance of the inflammatory cytokine network.

Animals ; Arthritis, Experimental ; blood ; metabolism ; Dinoprostone ; metabolism ; Female ; Interleukin-1beta ; blood ; Interleukin-2 ; blood ; Interleukin-6 ; blood ; Male ; Nitric Oxide ; metabolism ; Pyrazines ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Synovial Fluid ; metabolism

Chemical constituents of ethyl acetate extract of Sapium sebiferum leaves were isolated and purified by various chromatographic methods, including column chromatographies over silica gel, macroporous adsorption resin, and Sephadex LH-20, as well as preparative TLC and semi preparative HPLC. As a results, 15 compounds were separated from Sapium sebiferum leaves and their structures were examined by spectral analysis including NMR and MS data and identified as( + )-(7R,7'R,7"S,7'"S,8S,8'S,8"S,8'"S)-4", 4"'-dihydroxy-3,3',3",3',5,5'-hexamethoxy-7,9';7',9-diepoxy-4,8";4',8'"-bisoxy-8,8'-dineo-lignan-7",7"',9",9"'-tetraol(1) ,1-(4'- hydroxy-3'-methoxyphenyl)-2-[4"-(3-hydroxypropyl) -2", 6"-dimethoxyphenoxy] propane-1, 3-diol (2), Thero-2, 3-bis-(4-hydroxy-3- methoxypheyl)-3-methoxy-propanol(3) , threo-5-hydroxy-3,7-dimethoxyphenyl propane-8,9-diol (4), boropinol B (5), threo-8S-7-methoxysyringylglycerol(6), 5-hydroxymethylfurfural(7), 5-( methoxy-methyl)-1H-pyrrole-2-carbaldehyde (8), quercetin (9) , kaempferol (10), ethyl gallate(11), coniferaldehyde(12), vanillin(13), 7-hydroxy-6-methoxy-2H-1-henzopyran-2-one(14),and 1-heptacosanol (15). All compounds except for compounds 9-11,14 were separated from this plant for the first time.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Mass Spectrometry ; Molecular Structure ; Plant Leaves ; chemistry ; Sapium ; chemistry

Objective To identify interleukin (IL)-17-producing T cells and Foxp3 positive CD4 positive T ceils from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and investigate their cytokine levels as well as their correlations. Methods Flow cytometry was used to analyze the subsets of T cells in peripheral blood from 39 RA patients and 40 healthy donors. IL-17, IL-6, IL-23 and transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta levels in sera of these subjects were tested by ELISA. Results IL-17+CD4+ T cells increased significantly and IL-17, IL-6 and IL-23 elevated markedly in peripheral blood of RA patients compared to healthy donors (P< 0.01 ). However,Foxp3+CD4+T cells decreased evidently (P<0.01) and TGF-beta did not increase in RA pati-ents when compared to healthy donors (P>0.05). Conclusion This study suggests that Th17 cells predomin-ance coupled with relatively insufficient CD4+ regulatory T cells in RA is mainly caused by alterations of rela-ted cytokines.

OBJECTIVE:To compare genetic diversity of Spatolobi caulis from different areas of Guangxi by random amplified polymorphic DNA(RAPD)and inter-simple sequence repeat(ISSR). METHODS:Through using POPGENE 32 software,Ntsys software and SPSS 17.0 software,RAPD and ISSR methods were used to study genetic diversity of 9 samples of S. caulis from dif-ferent areas of Guangxi. RESULTS:After amplification of screened 3 RAPD primers and 4 ISSR primers,and there were 198 and 315 locus,and 37 and 80 polymorphism locus. Rates of polymorphism locus were 18.7% and 25.4%;the number of effective al-leles were 1.416 8 and 1.584 0;genetic diversity index were 0.269 4 and 0.351 3;Shannon diversity index were 0.431 6 and 0.529 9. All the values of ISSR marker were higher than RAPD marker. The average genetic similarity coefficient of ISSR and RAPD were 0.757 64 and 0.683 80,indicating ISSR was more sensitive for the detection of genetic diversity. The clustering result of them was close to each other. The correlation coefficient of them were 0.847,indicating very significant positive correlation at the level of 0.001. CONCLUSIONS:ISSR could reflect more information of genetic diversity than RAPD,and is more suitable for research of genetic diversity of S. caulis from different areas of Guangxi.

Objective To investigate the effects of enteral nutrition support with different doses of glutamine on nutritional status and gastrointestinal function in elderly critically ill patients.Methods Totally 90 critically ill patients were randomly divided into three group:the control group without glutamine (group A),enteral nutrition with low glutamine [0.3 g/(kg· d)] (group B),and high glutamine [0.6 g/(kg· d)] groups (group C).Fasting blood samples were collected on days 1,7,and 14 after the initiation of study,and then the indicators including serum diamine oxidase,glutamine,transferin (TF),prealbumin (PA),hemoglobin (HGB),albunin,and nitrogen balance were determined.In addition,the gastrointestinal complications including bloating,diarrhea,and gastric retention were recorded.Results On the 7th and 14th days,the serum glutamine levels in groups B and C were (1 886.8 ±420.5),(2 228.6 ±440.2) μg/L;(1 889.6 ± 436.1),(2 174.3 ± 440.8) μg/L,respectively,which were significantly higher than those in group A [(1 612.0 ±493.5),(1 869.7 ±559.8) μg/L] (P =0.027,P =0.008).The serum diamine oxidase levels were also significantly lower in group B [(2 310 ± 1 271),(1 602.5 ± 1 137.9) U/L] and group C [(2 076.3 ±567),(1 586.3 ±530.9) U/L] than in group A [(3 250 ±923),(2 476 ±862) U/L] (P =0.000,P =0.000).The serum TF and PA levels were significantly increased on the 7th day (P =0.023,P =0.047),and the HGB was significantly higher on 14th day (P =0.003),The number of patients who had undergone successful implementation of enteral nutrition were 4 and 3 in groups B and C,and the number of patients who had achieved the target volume of enterral nutrition was 25 and 27 in groups B and C,which were significantly larger than those in group A (12 and 13,respectively) (P =0.008,P =0.000).The gastrointestinal complication was also significantly decreased after the administration of enterral nutrition with glutamine.Conclusions Enteral nutrition with glutamine can improve intestinal mueosa barrier and nutritional status in elderly critically ill patients.Thus,it helps to reduce gastrointestinal complications and transition time of total enteral nutrition.

Adjuvants, Immunologic ; therapeutic use ; Antigen-Presenting Cells ; drug effects ; immunology ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Dendritic Cells ; drug effects ; immunology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Immunotherapy ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; immunology ; Phytotherapy

One hundred Pseudomonas aeruginosa quorum-sensing-related genes were selected and their primers were synthesized. The fragments of specific sequences which are related QS genes were amplified by PCR. These verified sequences were inserted into the vector pMD-18T for sequencing. These DNA fragments were dotted onto glass slides to make cDNA microarray. Hybridization was performed with cy3/cy5-dCTP labeled probes. The scanning data of early stationary phase and mid-logarithmic phase indicated that 9 genes were up-regulated and 6 genes were down-regulated. Undergoing the different medicines,we took tobramycin as an example to compare the expression diversity. The results confirm that the QS cDNA chip is useful,and may contribute to better understand the mechanism of quorum-sensing,and can help us find the new targets for restraining the growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Objectives To summarize the characteristics,differential diagnosis and management of incomplete 17 alpha-hydroxylase/17,20-1yase deficiency(17 OHD)of Chinese patients.Methods Six cases of incomplete 17 OHD from Peking Union Medical College Hospital were studied retrospectively through analyzing their clinical data,and the molecular pathogenic mechanism was discussed after literature review.Results Four cases of 46,XX incomplete 17 OHD were reported.The clinical characteristics included female phenotype,various degrees of breast development and absent or sparse axillary/pubic hair, oligomenorrhea or secondary amenorrhea,recurrent luteinized ovarian cysts,hypogonadism with persistent hyperprogesteronemia or high serum 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone level,with or without hypokalemic hypertension.There were also 2 cases of 46,XY incomplete 17 OHD,in which ambiguous genitalia were present besides hypokalemic hypertension.Conclusions Incomplete 17 OHD is a very rare form of congenital enzymatic deficiencies of steroid synthesis,which should be included in the differential diagnosis when there are menstrual disorders,sexual infantilism,recurrent ovarian cysts or ambiguous genitalia.Under such circumstances,hyperprogesteronemia offers a valuable clue for further investigation.

Background Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are highly conserved proteins that are induced in cells when confronted with a wide variety of proteotoxic stresses.HSP27 has a high degree of similarity with α-crystallin protein.The abnormality of HSP27 structure and expression are closely related to the formation of cataracts.Our previous study showed sodium salieylate has the protective effect on H2O2-induced lens damage.Objective This study was to investigate the roles of MAPK signal pathway in sodium salicylate-induced the expression of HSP27 in human lens epithelial cells (LECs) in vitro.Methods Human LECs were incubated in the fresh media containing sodium salicylate at different concentrations (0-55 mmol/L) for different times (1-5 hours) and allowed to be recovered in fresh medium without sodium salicylate for 1-24 hours with or without pretreatment with P38MAPK inhibitor (SB203580), ERK1/2 inhibitor (PD98059) and JNK/SAPK inhibitor ( SP600125). The expressions of P38MAPK, EBK1/2, JNK/SAPK, phosphorylated P38MAPK, phosphorylated ERK1/2, phosphorylated JNK/SAPK and HSP27 were detected by Western blot. HSP27 mRNA was detected by RT-PCR. The expression of HSP27 was also detected by immunohistochemistry. Results There was only weak expression of HSP27 in normal human LECs.After stimulation of 35-55 mmol/L sodium salicylate was removed and human LECs were cultured again for 6 hours,the expression of HSP27 in LECs were significantly increased ( F= 509. 953,P<0. 01). HSP27 was absent expressed in human LECs in 55 mmol/L sodium salicylate stimulation for 1-5 hours groups, but LECs were re-cultured for 3,6 hours after removed the stimulation, the expression of HSP27 was elevated (F = 452. 534, P<0. 01). Activation of P38 M APK occurred after sodium salicylate stimulation 30 minutes and 1 hour ( F = 865.68, P<0. 01). However, ERK 1/2 was expressed after sodium salicylate was eliminated for 1-6 hours ( F = 388.84, P<0. 01). JNK/SAPK was inactived by sodium salicylate. The expression of HSP27 could be down-regulated with the pretreatment of SB203580 and PD98059. Conclusion Sodium salicylatc can induce the expression of HSP27 in human (LECs) . The effects are mediated,at least in part ,through the activation of P38MAPK and ERK1/2 signaling pathway .