Objective: To deepen students' comprehension on theory knowledge of pharmacognosy and reinforce the understanding of cultivar identification,quality evaluation and resources exploration on crude drug.Methods: Designing experiment of pharmacognosy on cultivar identification and quality evaluation which are divided into three stages: formulating experimental scheme,implementing experiment and making summary and analysis.Results: Students have complete and systematic recognition about cultivar identification and quality evaluation of pharmacognosy,their self-study ability has been enhanced and their innovation and ability cultivated.Conclusions: The designing experiment combined with practical work of pharmacognosy,and teaching theory has trained the students practical and innovational ability,and good teaching result has been obtained.

Background and purpose:To date, it mainly depended on imaging examination for detection of residual lesions, recurrence and distant metastasis, evaluation the sensitivity of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and prognosis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Thus, searching for new tumor markers for NPC early diagnosis and individualized treatment is still merited. This study was aimed to investigate the expressions of serum macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-3α and cystatin A in patients with NPC before and after treatment, and to explore two markers’ value in NPC diagnosis, clinicopathological characteristics and clinical outcome assessment. Methods:The serum levels of MIP-3αand cystatin A in 140 primary NPC patients without distant metastasis before and after treatment were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and compared with those in 100 healthy controls. Results:The sensitivity of MIP-3αand cystatin A were 92.1%and 42.1%, respectively;and the specificity of MIP-3αand cystatin A were 86.0%and 85.0%, respectively. All 140 NPC patients had complete remission (CR) or partial remission (PR). Serum levels of MIP-3αand cystatin A in pre-treatment patients with NPC were higher than those in post-treatment patients and controls. Serum MIP-3αand cystatin A levels were associated with overall stage of NPC, and MIP-3αwas also associated with T classification of NPC. The serum MIP-3αlevel in NPC with CR after treatment reduced to the level in control group, and that was still significantly higher in NPC with PR than in control group. No significant difference was found in the serum cystatin A level between NPC with CR or PR after treatment and control group. During 1-year follow-up, the post-treatment serum levels of MIP-3αand cystatin A were significantly higher in patients with distant metastasis than in patients without distant metastasis and controls. There was found statistically significant correlation between MIP-3α and cystatin A.Conclusion:MIP-3α may be a potential marker of NPC serological diagnosis. The detection of serum MIP-3αand cystatin A may contribute to the NPC staging and prediction of short-term clinical outcomes.

ObjectiveTo understand the epidemiological characteristics of syphilis in Ruian City, so as to provide a scientific basis for developing syphilis prevention and control strategies. MethodsDescriptive epidemiological methods were used to investigate the infection status of syphilis cases reported among the permanent resident population in Ruian City from 2014 to 2023, and its epidemiological characteristics were analyzed. ResultsA total of 5 482 syphilis cases were reported in Ruian from 2014 to 2023, with a male-female ratio of 1∶1.47. The average annual incidence rate from 2014 to 2023 was 37.51/100 000, with a declining trend in the incidence rate among females (APC=-4.78%, P<0.05). The incidence of primary and secondary syphilis decreased, while the proportion of latent syphilis cases increased. No cases of congenital syphilis were reported from 2017 to 2023. The majority of cases (60.29%) were reported among individuals aged 20‒<50 years. In terms of occupation, the highest proportion was found among housekeepers and the unemployed, constituting 42.70% the total cases. Dermatology departments reported the most cases in medical institutions, accounting for 33.38% of the total cases. The most likely route of infection was heterosexual transmission, accounting for 85.84%. ConclusionThe incidence of syphilis among females in Ruian City shows a declining trend, but the overall situation remains concerning. Prevention and control efforts should be intensified among key groups and high-risk populations, along with an enhancement on health education to curb the spread of syphilis.

The quality of Paeoniae Radix Alba and Paeoniae Radix Rubra is evaluated by root thickness, and paeoniflorin serves as a common quality indicator of them. However, the correlation between the content of bioactive compounds and the root size is still unclear. Therefore, this study characterized the distribution patterns and content of seven bioactive compounds including paeoniflorin in different tissues of Paeonia lactiflora roots, analyzed the correlation between the root size and the content of bioactive compounds based on the xylem-to-bark ratio, and further determined the index components for quality assessment. Nine samples of fresh P. lactiflora roots were collected from the genuine cultivation area. The distribution of bioactive compounds in different tissues on the cross-section of the root was firstly analyzed by desorption electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry imaging(DESI-MSI). Subsequently, the content of bioactive compounds was determined in the xylems and barks of the roots by UPLC. The compounds with the largest difference between the xylem and the bark were selected by orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis(OPLS-DA). The results indicated that paeoniflorin, benzoylpaeoniflorin, oxypaeoniflorin, gallic acid, and 1,2,3,4,6-pentagalloylglucose were significantly accumulated in the xylems, while albiflorin and catechin were mainly distributed in the barks. Paeoniflorin and albiflorin, with the largest differences in the xylem and the bark, had the highest content in the two tissues. The root diameter was positively correlated with paeoniflorin content and negatively correlated with albiflorin content. As isomers with different efficacies, paeoniflorin or albiflorin can be chosen as the quality marker corresponding to specific clinical application to launch quality classification evaluation of multi-functional Chinese medicines.
Bridged-Ring Compounds ; Catechin/analysis* ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid/methods* ; Gallic Acid/analysis* ; Monoterpenes/analysis* ; Paeonia/chemistry* ; Plant Roots/chemistry* ; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization