Objective To study the effect of 3-n-butylphthalide on expression of MMP-2 ,MMP-9 andβ-APP in rats following chronic cerebral hypoperfusion at molecular level .Methods Seventy-two male Wistar rats were randomly divided into sham operation group ,ischemic group ,and bu-tylphthalide group (24 in each group) .Rats in ischemic group and butylphthalide group were di-vided into postischemic 7 ,14 ,30 ,60 d subgroups (6 in each group) .Expressions of β-APP ,MMP-2 , MMP-9 in each group were detected by Western blot .Results The β-APP expression level was significantly higher in postischemic 14 d ,30 d ,60 d subgroups than in postischemic 7 d subgroup (P<0 .05 ,P<0 .01) ,and in postischemic 30 d ,60 d subgroups than in postischemic 14 d sub-group (P< 0 .01) .The β-APP expression level differed greatly in 30 d and 60 d butylphthalide subgroups (P<0 .01) .The MMP-2 expression level was significantly higher in postischemic 60 d subgroup than in postischemic 30 d subgroup (P<0 .05 ,P<0 .01) .Theβ-APP and MMP-2 ex-pression levels were significantly higher in ischemic group and butylphthalide group than in sham operation group (P<0 .05 ,P<0 .01) ,and significantly lower in butylphthalide group than in is-chemic group (P< 0 .01) .Conclusion MMP-2 and β-APP tend to change similarly and are in-volved in blood brain barrier destruction and amyloid deposition .Butylphthalide intervenes in am-yloid deposition by downregulating the expression of MMP-2 andβ-APP .

Objective To establish the method of depict ing the left ventricular (LV) pressure-volume loop automatically by computer which incorporates LV catherization simultaneous with LV acoustic quantification echocardiography and to assess echocardiography non-invasive evaluation LV chamber stiffness. Methods Thirteen patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) underwent LV catherization simultaneously with echocardiography. LV pressure and volume curves were sent to computer, and LV pressure-volume loop was depicted automatically and modulus of LV chamber stiffness (Kc) was obtained. Pulsed Doppler echocardiography of mitral intraventricular flows was obtained in patients with HCM. Results Patients with HCM had significantly higher Kc obtained from LV pressure-volume loop ( 0.43 ? 0.11 vs 0.27 ). R-E 3/R-E 0, (R-E 2)-(R-E 1), (R-A 3)-(R-A 2) were correlated to Kc(r= 0.61 , 0.57 , 0.58 ,respectively). Conclusions This method provides a simple and reliable technique for automatically tracing pressure-volume loop and should facilitate further investigation of the left ventricular diastolic function in clinical practice. R-E 3/ R-E 0, (R-E 2)-(R-E 1), (R-A 3)-(R-A 2) offer new non-invasive indices in evaluating LV chamber stiffness.

Objective To investigate the independent factors associated with the apex of left atrial appendage(LAA) spontaneous echo contrast (SEC) in patients with valvular atrial fibrillation (VAF). Methods Seventeen normal subjects and 21 patients with VAF were included. Plasma fibrinogen (Fg),vov Willebrand factor (vWF),D-dimer (DD),P-selectin,thrombin-antithrombin complexes (TAT) and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1(PAI-1) were measured. The apex of LAA SEC was assessed quantitatively by integrated backscatter (IBS). LAA flow and pulmonary venous flow were detected by transesophageal echocardiography. Results Fg,vWF,DD,TAT and PAI-1 were increased significantly in patients with atrial fibrillation compared with control ( P

Objective To observe the effects of treating pulmonary infection of the aged people with the combination of TCM and WM.Methods A total of 120 the aged patients with pulmonary infection were randomly recruited into a control group and a treatment group,60 patients in each.The control group was treated with cefoperazone,sulbactam intravenously drop and inhalation of low flow oxygen(1～2L/min,2～4h,once/day),while the treatment group was added modified Xiaocaihu decoction and Shengmai injection on the basis of the control group.Both groups were treated for 14 days.Results The significant effective rate was 63.3%and 45.0%in the treatment group and the control group respectively,showing significant difference(U=0.5248,P<0.01).The effective rate was 96.7%and 83.3%in the treatment group and the control group respectively,also showing significant difference(U=0.5314,P<0.05).Conclusion It is effective to treat pulmonary infection of the aged patients with modified Xiaocaihu decoction and Shengmai decoction together with western medicine.

Objective To evaluate correlations between left atrial(LA) and left ventricular(LV) function in patients with hypertension by acoustic quantification(AQ) technique. Methods Forty-eight hypertensive patients and twenty control subjects were studied. Patients with hypertension were divided into two groups by left ventricular mass index(LVMI),normal LVMI group(32 cases) and left ventricular hypertrophy(LVH) group(16 cases). Left atrial ejection fraction(LAEF),atrial emptying volume(AE),conduit volume(CV) and reservoir volume(RV) were measured with AQ technique. Results RV and AE significantly increased in normal LVMI subgroup and LVH subgroup;CV and LAEF respectively decreased or increased in LVH subgroup. LA booster pump function positively correlated to onset atrial emptying volume and RV,negatively correlate to CV and LV diastolic function. LA conduit function positively correlated to LV diastolic function,negatively correlated to LAEF and AE,RV as well as onset atrial emptying volume. LA reservoir function positively correlated to onset atrial emptying volume and LAEF,negatively correlated to CV. There was no significant correlation between LA reservoir function and LV diastolic function. Conclusions LV diastolic dysfunction induces decreased LA conduit function and increased reservoir function,which may facilitate early diastolic filling of the left ventricle. The changes of LA conduit function and reservoir function may increase of LA preload. Enhancement of LA preload and LA systole makes increased LA booster pump function,which facilitate late diastolic filling of left ventricle.

Objective To evaluate the clinical application of contrast-enhanced digital subtraction MRI in vertebral metastases.Methods 50 patients with vertebral metastases were scanned by contrast-enhanced T_1WI with an injection of Gd-DTPA(0.1 mmol/kg).Digital subtraction were performed between post-contrast-enhanced images and pre-contrast-enhanced images.Vertebral metastases were evaluated by means of a contrast to noise ratio(CNR) and signal to noise ratio(SNR),and boundaries were compared between subtraction MRI images and conventional contrast T_1WI MR images.Results Contrast-enhanced digital subtraction MRI images were better than conventional contrast T_1WI MR images in showing the lesions. All lesions had a higher CNR and SNR on subtraction MR imaging than that on conventional contrast T_1WI MR images.CNR was 155.05 ? 24.73(mean ? standard error) for subtraction MR imaging and11.11?14.26 for conventional contrast T_1WI MR images,(t=35.65,P

OBJECTIVE Salvia miltiorrhiza bunge contains various active constituents, some of which have been developed as commercially available medicine. Moreover, some other ingredients in Salvia miltiorrhiza play great roles in anti-platelet activity. The aim of the present study was to investi-gate the effects and the underlying mechanism of miltirone,a lipophilic compound of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge. METHODS The ability of miltirone to modulate platelet function was investigated by a variety of in vitro and in vivo experiments.Platelet aggregation and dense granule secretion induced by various agonists were measured with platelet aggregometer.Clot retraction and spreading were imaged by digital camera and fl uorescence microscope. Ferric chloride-induced carotid injury model and pulmonary thromboembolism model were used to check miltirone effect in vivo. To elucidate the mechanisms of anti-platelet activity of miltirone,flow cytometry and Western blotting were performed. RESULTS Miltirone (2,4,8 μmol·L-1)was shown to suppress platelet aggregation,dense granule and α granule secretion in a dose-dependent manner. Meanwhile, miltirone inhibited the clot retraction and spreading of washed platelets.It reduced the phosphorylation of PLCγ2,PKC,Akt,GSK3β and ERK1/2 in the down-stream signal pathway of collagen receptor.It also reduced the phosphorylation of Src and FAK in the integrin αⅡbβ3 mediated"outside-in"signaling,while it did not suppress the phosphorylation of β3.In addition, miltirone prolonged the occlusion time and reduced collagen/epinephrine induced pulmonary thrombi. CONCLUSION Miltirone suppresses platelet "inside-out" and "outside-in" signaling by affecting PLCγ2/PKC/ERK1/2, PI3K/Akt and Src/FAK signaling. Therefore, miltirone might represent a potential anti-platelet candidate for the prevention of thrombotic disorders.

Objective To explore the clinical efficacy of reduced glutathione in the treatment of druginduced liver injury of elder.Methods Seventy-two cases of diagnosed drug-induced liver injury were randomly divided into regular treatment group (n =34) and reduced glutathione treatment group (n =38).Both groups were given conventional liver protection therapy including energy mixture,diammonium glycyrrhizinate and potassium magnesium aspartate.Patients with the reduced glutathione treatment group were additionally treated with reduced glutathione 1.8 g,iv for 4 weeks.Results The total effective rate were 84.2％ for reduced glutathione treatment group and 61.8％ for regular treatment group.There was significant difference between two groups (x2 =4.6541,P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Reduced glutathione can significantly improve drug-induced liver injury of the elder.

As a tumor suppressor, p53 is activated by numerous cellular and environmental signals, and plays a criticalrole in the cell cycle regulation, cell apoptosis and senenscence. The murine double minute (MDM)2 and double minute mu?rine 4 (MDMX) are two important regulators. MDMX is a p53 binding protein with strong sequence homology to MDM2, but lacks ubiquitin ligase activity, and which is unable to target p53 for proteasomal degradation. MDMX regulates p53 activity through its binding with p53 and its postranscriptional modification. MDMX in the closed and open structure binds to p53 to regulate its activity. As the main partner of MDMX, casein kinase 1 alpha (CK1α) disrupts the intramolecular binding in MD?MX in the cooperation to regulate p53 activity. The process of MDMX and CK1αin the regulation of p53 is multi-step and complicated. In this paper the mechanism of MDMX and CK1αin the regulation of p53 protein was reviewed.

Objective To investigate the effect of triptolide on asthmatic airway remodeling and signal transducer and activator of transcription 6 (STAT6), acid neutrophil chemokines (eotaxin) impact. Methods The total of 30 mice with ovalbumin (OVA) model of asthma were randomly divided into three groups, control group, asthma group and triptolide group. After 24 hours of the last shot, lung tissue was stained Bronchial inflammatory cell infiltration was determined by using semi-quantitative method and calculate the proportion of goblet cells in airway epithelial cells. Hydroxyproline was determined by McMillan airway mucus score. The mRNA level and protein level of STAT6 and eotaxin in airway epithelium were determined by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry. Results Compared with asthma group, peribronchial inflammatory cells infiltration of triptolide group were reduced, which mucus index is (1.31 ± 0.23) and hydroxyproline is (284 ± 13) μmg/100 mg. it had a significant in asthma group (P < 0.05). Besides, the protein level and mRNA level of STAT6 and eotaxin were significantly decreased (P < 0.05). Moreover, it was a positive correlation between STAT6 and eotaxin level in airway epithelial (r = 0.668, P < 0.05). Conclusion Triptolide can inhibit airway remodeling and might through the down regulation of STAT6 and eotaxin expression.