OBJECTIVETo compare the effect of reinforcing Shen method (RSM) and activating blood method (ABM) in treating osteoarthritis (OA) at the molecular level.

METHODSThe physical and chemical characteristics of components from respective recipes of RSM and ABM, and network features of component-target interaction network were analyzed by computer simulation methods including chemical space, molecular docking, and biological network, etc.

RESULTSThe chemical components of RSM and ABM were scarcely scattered with larger overlapping. Among established networks, the distribution of network features was partially similar in RSM and ABM. The average target number correlated with each component was 1.86 in RSM and 2.11 in ABM respectively. Each average target number was respectively correlated with 4.46 compounds and 3.93 compounds, reflecting multi-component and multi-target actions.

CONCLUSIONComputer simulation could intuitively trace out similarities and differences of two different methods and their interaction with targets, which revealed that the compatibility of RSM and ABM could have broader protein targets and potential synergism at the molecular level.

Computer Simulation ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Osteoarthritis ; drug therapy ; Phytotherapy ; methods

Through the analysis of the problems of health service delivery system in rural areas and the causes of the abnormal operation of the three-tier rural health service network, this article probed into the continuity of health service in rural China. These issues are observed from the aspects of continuity of disciplines, institutions, relationship and health information. Policy recommendations include remolding the institutional relations in the three-tier rural health service network, constructing reasonable supporting environment and improving the health delivery quality.

The identity of higher-order neurons and circuits playing an associative role to control renal function is notwell understood.We identified specific neural populations of rostral elements of brain regions that project multisynaptically to the kidneys in 3~ days after injecting a retrograde tracer pseudorabies virus (PRV)-614 into kidney of 13 adult male C57BL/6J strain mice.PRV-614 infected neurons were detected in a number of mesencephalic (e.g.central amygdala nucleus),telencephalic regions and motor cortex.These divisions included the preoptic area (POA),dorsomedial hypothalamus (DMH),lateral hypothalamus,arcuate nucleus (Arc),suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN),periventricular hypothalamus (PeH),and rostral and caudal subdivision of the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN).PRV-614/Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) double-labeled cells were found within DMH,Arc,SCN,PeH,PVN,the anterodorsal and medial POA.A subset of neurons in PVN that participated in regulating sympathetic outflow to kidney was catecholaminergic or serotonergic.PRV-614 infected neurons within the PVN also contained arginine vasopressin or oxytocin.These data demonstrate the rostral elements of brain innervate the kidney by the neuroanatomical circuitry.

OBJECTIVETo compare the behavioral effects of psychoactive drugs between two strains of mice.

METHODSThe Kunming (KM) and ICR mice were injected intraperitoneally with caffeine (3, 10, 30, 100 mg/kg), ephedrine (3, 10, 30, 100 mg/kg), diazepam (1, 3,1 0 mg/kg) and chloral hydrate (10, 30, 100 mg/kg), respectively. Ten min after injection, the locomotor activity in the open field was recorded for 2 h. The total distance, the distance ratio to total distance and the time in central region were analyzed for each drugs. Thirty min after injection, the latent time in the passive avoidance test was measured in a shuttle box.

RESULTSCaffeine and diazepam prolonged the latent time, and ephedrine and chloral hydrate decreased the latent time, but there were no differences between the two strains. The two strains of mice exhibited significant differences in the total distance after injection of ephedrine 10 mg/kg, diazepam 3 mg/kg and chloral hydrate 100 mg/kg. Compared to KM mice, ICR mice exhibited an increase in the distance ratio and the time in central region after injection of ephedrine 10-100 mg/kg, but a decrease after diazepam 3-10 mg/kg.

CONCLUSIONKM and ICR mice show no differences in latent time, but significant differences in the total distance, the distance ratio and the time in central region in the locomotor activity. Therefore, selection of mouse strains is important in the study of psychoactive drugs.

Animals ; Caffeine ; pharmacology ; Central Nervous System Agents ; pharmacology ; Chloral Hydrate ; pharmacology ; Diazepam ; pharmacology ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Ephedrine ; pharmacology ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred ICR ; Motor Activity ; drug effects

OBJECTIVETo establish a high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) amalgamated to double UV waves method for simultaneous determination of loganin and paeonol in Liuwei Dihuang pills.

METHODA HPLC method was developed. The separation was carried out on a Agilent Zorbax SB C18 column (5 microm, 4.6 mm x 250 mm). The mobile phase consisted of water (A) and acetonitrile (B) with linear linear gradient elution [0-8 min, (B) from 1% to 12%; 8-21 min, B keep 12%; 21-40 min, (B) from 12% to 90%; 40-50 min, B keep 90% for 10 min]. The detection was Photodiode Array with the detection wavelengths were at 236 nm and 274 nm. The column temperature being 30 degrees C and the flow rate was 1.0 mL min(-1). Extracting the chromatergraph from 274 nm and 236 nm, we amalgamated the two chromatographs by matlab programmed.

RESULTThe calibration curves of loganin and paeonol were linear in the ranges of 0.0362-1.09 microg (r =0. 9998) and 0.0450-1.35 microg (r =0.9998), respectively. The average recoveries of loganin and paeonol were 97.3% (RSD 1.4 %) and 103.0% (RSD 1.9%), respectively. Three different batches of Liuwei Dihuang pills were determined with this method.

CONCLUSIONThis is a more convenient, reasonable and credible quality control method for the traditional Chinese medicine.

Acetophenones ; chemistry ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Iridoids ; chemistry ; Reproducibility of Results ; Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet

OBJECTIVETo compare the safety and efficacy between three-field lymphadenectomy and normative Ivor-Lewis two-field lymphadenectomy for thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma METHODS: Clinical data of 375 patients with thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma who underwent three-field lymphadenectomy(3FL) or Ivor-Lewis two-field lymphadenectomy(2FL, Ivor-Lewis) in Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center during 2013 were retrieved and collected from electronic medical record system. Ninety-one patients received three-field lymphadenectomy (3FL group), including 16 cases of intra-cervical gastro-esophageal anastomosis and 75 cases of intra-thoracic gastro-esophageal anastomosis, while 284 patients received Ivor-Lewis two-field lymphadenectomy (2FL group) with all intra-thoracic gastro-esophageal anastomosis. Short-term outcomes were compared between two groups, including postoperative anastomotic leakage, pneumonia and respiratory failure, chylothorax, reoperation and 90-day death. Total harvested lymph nodes and positive lymph nodes in each group were also compared. A total of 338 patients were enrolled into survival analysis. Survival curve was presented by Kaplan-Meier method.

RESULTSAs compared to 2FL group, the 3FL group had significantly higher ratio of N3 patients [19.8% (18/91) vs. 5.3% (15/284), P=0.000], stageIII( patients [58.2%(53/91) vs. 43.0%(122/284), P=0.007], and upper thoracic cancer patients [12.1%(11/91) vs. 3.5%(10/284), P=0.027]; also the 3FL group had more harvested lymph nodes (40.1±14.6 vs. 25.3±9.4, P=0.000) and more positive lymph nodes (3.3±4.0 vs. 1.7±3.2, P=0.000). With respect to pneumonia and respiratory failure, chylothorax, reoperation and 90-day death, no significant differences were found between the group (P=0.447, P=0.751, P=0.678, P=0.685). The 3FL group had a significantly higher incidence of anastomotic leakage than 2FL group [7.7% (7/91) vs. 1.8% (5/284), P=0.011], while its incidence of intrathoracic anastomosis leakage was 4.0% (3/75), which was not significantly different with 1.8%(5/284) of 2FL group (P=0.372). Median follow-up was 33 months. Overall 1-, 2-, 3-year survival rates were 94%, 81% and 70%, while 1-, 2-, 3-year survival rates of 3FL group were 90%, 73% and 66%, of 2FL group were 95%, 84% and 72%, respectively, without significant differences between the two group(P=0.135). Further subgroup analysis showed that no significant differences of postoperative survival in stage I(, II( and III( patients were observed between the two groups (P=0.541, P=0.511, P=0.402), meanwhile no significant differences of postoperative survival in patients with metastasis and without metastasis were found between the two groups as well (P=0.985, P=0.233).

CONCLUSIONSThree-field lymphadenectomy can be performed with acceptable perioperative morbidity and mortality. The prognosis value of three field lymphadenectomy needs further investigation. Patients with thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma may have favorable survival through normative Ivor-Lewis two-field lymphadenectomy.

Anastomotic Leak ; etiology ; Antineoplastic Protocols ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; mortality ; surgery ; China ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; mortality ; surgery ; Esophagectomy ; adverse effects ; methods ; mortality ; Humans ; Incidence ; Lymph Node Excision ; adverse effects ; methods ; mortality ; Lymph Nodes ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis ; Survival Analysis ; Survival Rate ; Thoracic Neoplasms ; mortality ; surgery ; Treatment Outcome

Background:The results of the Trial Assigning IndividuaLized Options for Treatment (TAILORx) suggested that approximately 70％ of T1-2N0M0,hormone receptor-positive,human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative breast cancer patients can avoid chemotherapy and receive only adjuvant endocrine therapy.We conducted a retrospective analysis of the clinicopathologic features and prognostic factors of patients with breast cancer who met the inclusion criteria of the TAILORx trial.Methods:According to the enrollment criteria of the TAILORx trial,a retrospective analysis was performed on patients with breast cancer who were treated from January 2008 to December 2015 at Peking University First Hospital.The clinicopathologic characteristics of all patients were analyzed,and prognoses were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method and a Cox proportionate hazards model.Results:A total of 2430 patients with early stage breast cancer who were admitted at our hospital had complete clinicopathologic data and follow-up information.Of these patients,722 met the inclusion criteria and were enrolled in the present study,accounting for 29.7％ of all patients.Among them,417 (57.8％) patients received only adjuvant endocrine therapy (the non-chemo group),and 305 (42.2％) patients received adjuvant chemotherapy followed by adjuvant endocrine therapy (the chemo group).No statistically significant difference was observed in overall survival (OS) between the two groups (non-chemo vs.chemo:5-year OS:97.9％ vs.97.9％,x2=1.00,P =0.995;hazard ratio [HR] =1.00,95％ confidence interval [CI]:0.46-2.21).A significant difference was observed in disease-free survival (DFS) between the two groups (non-chemo vs.chemo:5-year DFS:97.9％ vs.94.7％,x2 =8.65,P =0.003;HR =3.05,95％ CI:1.40-6.67).The choice of adjuvant therapy was associated with clinicopathologic factors,such as the age at diagnosis,T stage,histologic grade,the Ki67 index,the presence of intravascular tumor thrombus (P ＜ 0.001),pathologic type,and menstrual status (P =0.014).Conclusions:In the absence of internationally recognized multigene testing methods,for patients with early hormone receptorpositive,HER2-negative breast cancer,clinicians can develop a treatment plan based on clinicopathologic features only,which can effectively screen some patients who do not need adjuvant chemotherapy.However,nearly half of patients still receive adjuvant chemotherapy,and whether these patients can be exempted from chemotherapy warrants further exploration.

To investigate the crucial role of particle size in the biological effects of nanoparticles, a series of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) were prepared with particle size gradients (50, 100, 150, 200 nm) with the traditional Stober method and adjusting the type and ratio of the silica source. The correlation between toxicity and size-caused biological effects were then further examined both in vitro and in vivo. The results indicated that the prepared MSNs had a uniform size, good dispersal, and ordered mesoporous structure. Hemolytic toxicity was found to be independent of particle size. At the cellular level, MSNs with smaller particle sizes were more readily internalized by cells, which initiated to more intense oxidative stress, therefor inducing higher cytotoxicity, and apoptosis rate. In vivo studies demonstrated that MSNs primarily accumulated in the liver and kidneys of mice. Pharmacokinetic analysis revealed that larger MSNs were eliminated more efficiently by the urinary system than smaller MSNs. The mice's body weight monitoring, blood tests, and pathological sections of major organs indicated good biocompatibility for MSNs of different sizes. Animal welfare and the animal experimental protocols were strictly consistent with related ethics regulations of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University. Overall, this study prepared MSNs with a particle size gradient to investigate the correlation between toxicity and particle size using macrophages and endothelial cells. The study also examined the biosafety of MSNs with different particle sizes in vivo and in vitro, which could help to improve the safety design strategy of MSNs for drug delivery systems.

Objective To compare the clinical effect of nasal intubation with domestic video intubationscope and Macintosh direct laryngoscope. Methods One hundred patients scheduled for oro-maxillo-facial operation, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) grade I or II, aged 19 ~ 67 years, were randomly divided into the domestic video intubationscope group (group V) and the Macintosh direct laryngoscope group (group M), with 50 cases in each group. Nasal intubation was respectively performed with domestic video intubationscope (Group V) and Macintosh direct laryngoscope (group M). Cormark-Lehane grade (C-L classification), tracheal intubation time, first-time intubation success rate and tracheal intubation complications were recorded.Mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR) of before induction of anesthesia (T0), after induction of anesthesia (T1), at glottic exposure (T2), at intubation (T3), 1 min after intubation (T4) and 3 min after intubation (T5) were recorded. Results C-L classification in group V was significantly lower than that in group M (P < 0.05), intubation time in group V was significantly shorter than that in group M (P < 0.05), first-time intubation success rate in group V was significantly higher than that in group M (P < 0.05). Compared with T1, MAP was significantly higher at T3~ T4and HR was significantly faster at T3in group V, MAP was significantly higher at T2~ T4and HR was significantly faster at T2~ T3in group M (P < 0.05). Compared with group M, MAP and HR in group V were significantly lower at T2~ T4 (P < 0.05). The incidence of tracheal intubation complications in group V was significantly lower than that in group M (P < 0.05). Conclusions Compared with Macintosh direct laryngoscope,domestic video intubationscope in nasal intubation is better in glottic exposure,it could shorten tracheal intubation time ,increase first-time intubation success rate, maintain stable hemodynamics, has fewer tracheal intubation complications and is worthy of clinical application.

Objective To investigate the relationship between myocardial ischemia and slow coronary flow phenomenon with 99Tcm-methoxyisobutylisonitrile (MIBI) adenosine myocardial perfusion SPECT imaging. Methods Forty-four patients were divided to three groups according to the result of coronary angiography(CAG). There were GAG-positive(P-GAG) (n=12),slow coronary flow (CSF) (n =22),and normal coronary flow (NCF) (n = 10). Results of adenosine myocardial perfusion imaging were compared among these three groups. Semi-quantitative visual scoring method was used to evaluate the myocardial perfusion:0 = normal,1 = mild decrease,2 = moderate decrease,3 = severe decrease,4 = defect. Statistical analysis was performed using variance analysis,t-test and x2-test. Results No significance was observed at age ( t =0.27,0. 54 and 0. 59),sex (x2 = 0. 92),hypertension,hyperlipemia and diabetes (x2 = 1.23,all P ＞ 0.05 ) among the three groups. A significantly higher frames of the coronary thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) flow was noted in CSF than in NCF groups (33.7 ±5.5 vs 17.6 ±3.9,t = 9. 58,P ＜0. 001 ). The positive adenosine myocardial perfusion imaging rate were significant among these three groups with 100% (12/12) in P-CAG group,77.3% (17/22) in CSF group,and 20% (2/10) in NCF group. When using semi-quantitative visual scoring method,significantly higher average ischemia segments were noted in CSF group than in NCF group ( 1.06 ± 0.77 and 0. 91 ± 0.80,t = - 2. 02,P ＜ 0. 05 ),but was less than that in P-CAG group (2.41 ±0.79,t =4. 54,P ＜0.001 ). The degree of ischemia of CSF group was higher than that in NCF group ( 8.01 ± 6.06,and 2.73 ± 2.60,t = - 2.07,P ＜ 0.05 ) and was less than that in P-CAG group (14. 07 ±12. 77 ,t=1.44,P＞0. 05). Conclusion Slow coronary flow phenomenon can be detected by adenosine myocardial perfusion image to offer the evidence of diagnosis and treatment for the chest pain patients with negative coronary angiography results.