An iodine analysis instrument with sequential injection of urine samples was developed. A method for measurement of urine iodine was also developed by combining sequential injection and catalysis kinetics,and making use of catalysis facilitation of the iodine in the redox reaction of As~(3+) and Ce~(4+) . The sequential injection and stopped-flow stabilization determination were made possible by the program-controlled injector with controlled flow rate and the 16-hole program-controlled selection valves. The arsenic-cerium reaction with iodine-catalyzed at constant temperature state might proceed with the constant temperature flow cell. Using the syringes with program-controlled velocity,pushing and suction,Using the digital connected circuit and micro-iodine determination software,the reaction temperature of (32.0±0.1)℃,injection time of 45 s,stabilization time of 60 s,detection time of 20 s,injection volume of 400μL,linear range of 15 -600μg/L,detecting limitation of 5.01 μg/L(n=11) and recovery rate of 94. 1 % - 105. 1 % were obtained. With this method,the detecting result of the National Standard Reference (GBW09109 and GBW09110) materials was within a given standard range. Through this method,the detecting results had no significant differences comparing with those by standard method of National Health Service(P >0.05).

This study was designed to observe the negative pressure in the cup during cupping, and to investigate the influence of negative pressure on the depth of filiform-needle inserted and retained. In the beginning, the change of pressure after cupping on acupoint BL23 for a span of 20 minutes was recorded. Acupuncture on acupoint BL23 was performed; the filiform-needle was retained and followed by cupping at different levels of negative pressure, and the changes of the depth of needle insertion was measured. The results showed: the absolute value of the negative pressure in the cup goes down with time and is significantly lower after 20 minutes (P < 0.05); the negative pressure in the cup causes the retreat of the inserted needle; and under the same pressure, there is a greater length measurement in needle retreat for male than for female (P < 0.01). The length of needle retreat is related to the pressure in the cupping-cup and to gender.
Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; methods ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods ; Pressure ; Sex Factors ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy of round window catheter placement with dexamethasone perfusion for 13 patients with intractable sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL). METHOD: Dexamethasone (2.5 mg) was perfused transtympanically through round window catheter by Micro-infusion pump. The perfusion was taken twice a day and continued for an hour each time, for a total of 7 days. RESULT: Thirteen patients have been followed up for 1 month. Five of them (38.5%) were demonstrated a 17-54 dB improvement in pure-tone threshold average (PTA). The other 8 patients (61.5%) had no effect. CONCLUSION Round window catheter placement with dexamethasone perfusion is a cost-effective and useful treatment for SSNHL patients who had no effect through conventional therapy, although hearing thresholds of these patients had hardly improved to normal levels.
Adult ; Aged ; Catheterization ; Dexamethasone ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural ; drug therapy ; Hearing Loss, Sudden ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Round Window, Ear

Objective To investigate the effects of apolipoprotein E (ApoE) deficiency on neuromyelitis optica (NMO) model of spinal cord sections induced by NMO-IgG and complement in vitro.Methods NMO-IgG was extracted from the patients with NMO,and complementary serum from healthy people.The spinal cord sections of seven days old C57BL / 6J mice with wild type (WT) or ApoE knockout (ApoE-/-) were cultured for seven days.The spinal cords of the two genotypes were randomly divided into experimental groups (NMO-ApoE-/-group,NMO-WT group) and control groups (C-AopE-/-group,C-WT group),respectively.The experimental groups were treated with NMO-IgG and complementary serum,and the control groups only with complementary serum.Then all the sections were continued incubating for 24 h before harvested.Immunofluorescence staining and modified thick tissue film immunofluorescence were used to detect the expression of aquaporin 4 (AQP4),glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP),ionic calcium fibronectin (IBA1),myelin basic protein (MBP) and human neurofilament protein L (NFL) respectively.The lesion score was calculated according to the areas percentage of AQP4 and GFAP deficiency in spinal cord sections.Results Compared with the respective control groups,the expressions of AQP4,GFAP,MBP and NFL were deficient in the experimental groups (The percentages of missing area in the NMO-ApoE-/-group were 83.88％ ± 5.01％,82.44％ ± 6.11％,45.02％ ± 5.11％ and 54.65％ ± 7.66％ respectively,while the percentages of missing area in the C-ApoE-/-group were 10.44％ ± 4.07％,5.73％ ±0.82％,9.12％ ±1.41％ and 5.72％ ±0.81％,t=34.143,37.269,20.300,19.051,allP ＜0.05;The percentages of missing area in the NMO-WT group were 77.74％ ± 6.75％,75.62％ ± 5.76％,37.60％ ± 4.88％ and 46.29％ ± 4.98％,while the percentages of missing area in the C-WT group were 9.31％ ± 2.97％,5.80％ ± 0.82％,9.10％ ± 1.63％,5.80％ ± 0.81％ respectively,t =27.828,35.934,16.613,24.057,all P ＜ 0.05).While IBA1 was up-regulated and the damage scores were higher in both the NMO-ApoE-/-group and the NMO-WT group.The percentages of missing area in the NMO-ApoE-/-group and the NMO-WT group showed statistically significant difference (t =2.194,2.436,3.149,2.746,all P ＜ 0.05).The expression level of IBA1 in the NMO-WT group was higher than that in the C-WT group (19.88 ± 1.11 vs 11.18 ±0.65,t =25.270,P ＜0.05),while the expression level of IBA1 in the NMO-ApoE-/-group was higher than that in the NMO-WT group (25.81 ± 1.61 vs 19.88 ± 1.11,t =9.101,P ＜0.05).The degree of deficiency or up-regulation of above-mentioned proteins was more obvious in the NMO-ApoE-/-group than that in the NMO-WT group.Conclusions NMO-IgG extracted from NMO patients can induce NMO-like damage in isolated tissue at the presence of complement.ApoE deficiency promotes the further activation of microglia,thereby aggravates the injury of astrocyte in the model of NMO.

Objective: To investigate the mechanism of Yishen Tongluo Formula in ameliorating renal pyroptosis in diabetic nephropathy mice by regulating the toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88)/nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling pathway. Methods: Sixty C57BL/6 male mice were randomly divided into control (10 mice) and intervention groups (50 mice) using random number table method. The diabetes nephropathy model was established by intraperitoneally injecting streptozotocin(50 mg/kg). After modeling, the intervention group was further divided into model, semaglutide (40 μg/kg), and high-, medium-, and low-dose Yishen Tongluo Formula groups (15.6, 7.8, and 3.9 g/kg, respectively) using random number table method. The high-, medium-, and low-dose Yishen Tongluo Formula groups were administered corresponding doses of medication by gavage, the semaglutide group received a subcutaneous injection of semaglutide injection, and the control group and model groups were administered distilled water by gavage for 12 consecutive weeks. Random blood glucose levels of mice in each group were monitored, and the 24-h urinary protein content was measured using biochemical method every 4 weeks; after treatment, the serum creatinine and urea nitrogen levels were measured using biochemical method. The weight of the kidneys was measured, and the renal index was calculated. Hematoxylin and eosin, periodic acid-Schiff, periodic Schiff-methenamine, and Masson staining were used to observe the pathological changes in renal tissue. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect urinary β2-microglobulin (β2-MG), neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), and kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) levels. Western blotting and real-time fluorescence PCR were used to detect the relative protein and mRNA expression levels of nucleotide-binding domain leucine-rich repeat and pyrin domain-containing receptor 3 (NLRP3), Caspase-1, gasdermin D (GSDMD), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and interleukin-18 (IL-18) in renal tissue. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the proportion of protein staining area of the TLR4, MyD88, and NF-κB in renal tissue. Results: Compared with the control group, the random blood glucose, 24-h urinary protein, serum creatinine, urea nitrogen, and renal index of the model group increased, and the urine β2-MG, NGAL, and KIM-1 levels increased. The relative protein and mRNA expression levels of NLRP3, Caspase-1, GSDMD, IL-1β, and IL-18 in renal tissue increased, and the proportion of TLR4, MyD88, and NF-κB protein positive staining areas increased (P<0.05). Pathological changes such as glomerular hypertrophy were observed in the renal tissue of the model group. Compared with the model group, the Yishen Tongluo Formula high-dose group showed a decrease in random blood glucose after 12 weeks of treatment (P<0.05). The Yishen Tongluo Formula high- and medium-dose groups showed a decrease in 24-h urinary protein, creatinine, urea nitrogen, and renal index, as well as decreased β2-MG, NGAL, and KIM-1 levels. NLRP3, Caspase-1, GSDMD, IL-1 β, and IL-18 relative protein and mRNA expression levels were also reduced, and the proportion of TLR4, MyD88, and NF-κB protein positive staining areas was reduced (P<0.05). Pathological damage to renal tissue was ameliorated. Conclusion Yishen Tongluo Formula may exert protective renal effects by inhibiting renal pyroptosis and alleviating tubular interstitial injury in diabetic nephropathy mice by regulating the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling pathway.

ObjectiveTo investigate the effect and mechanism of Yishen Tongluo prescription in protecting mice from oxidative stress injury in diabetic kidney disease （DKD） via the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 （Nrf2）/heme oxygenase-1 （HO-1）/NAD（P）H quinone oxidoreductase 1 （NQO1） signaling pathway. MethodsSpecific pathogen-free （SPF） male C57BL/6 mice were assigned into a control group （n=10） and a modeling group （n=50）. The DKD model was established by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin. The mice in the modeling group were randomized into a model group， a semaglutide （40 μg·kg^-1） group， and high-， medium-， and low-dose （18.2， 9.1， 4.55 g·kg^-1， respectively） Yishen Tongluo prescription groups， with 10 mice in each group. The treatment lasted for 12 weeks. Blood glucose and 24-h urine protein levels were measured， and the kidney index （KI） was calculated. Serum levels of creatinine （SCr）， blood urea nitrogen （BUN）， alanine aminotransferase （ALT）， and aspartate aminotransferase （AST） were assessed. The pathological changes in the renal tissue were evaluated by hematoxylin-eosin， periodic acid-Schiff， periodic acid-silver methenamine， and Masson’s trichrome staining. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits were used to measure the levels of β2-microglobulin （β2-MG）， neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin （NGAL）， kidney injury molecule-1 （KIM-1）， liver fatty acid-binding protein （L-FABP）， nitric oxide synthase （NOS）， glutathione （GSH）， total antioxidant capacity （T-AOC）， and 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine （8-OHdG）. Immunohistochemical staining was performed to examine the expression of Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 （Keap1） and malondialdehyde （MDA）. Real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Real-time PCR） and Western blot were employed to determine the mRNA and protein levels， respectively， of factors in the Nrf2/HO-1/NQO1 signaling pathway. ResultsCompared with the control group， the DKD model group showed rises in blood glucose， 24-h urine protein， KI， SCr， BUN， and ALT levels， along with glomerular hypertrophy， renal tubular dilation， thickened basement membrane， mesangial expansion， and collagen deposition. Additionally， the model group showed elevated levels of β2-MG， NGAL， KIM-1， L-FABP， NOS， and 8-OHdG， lowered levels of GSH and T-AOC， up-regulated expression of MDA and Keap1， and down-regulated expression of Nrf2， HO-1， NQO1， and glutamate-cysteine ligase catalytic subunit （GCLC） （P<0.05）. Compared with the model group， the semaglutide group and the medium- and high-dose Yishen Tongluo prescription groups showed reductions in blood glucose， 24-h urine protein， KI， SCr， BUN， and ALT levels， along with alleviated pathological injuries in the renal tissue. In addition， the three groups showed lowered levels of β2-MG， NGAL， KIM-1， L-FABP， NOS， and 8-OHdG， elevated levels of GSH and T-AOC， down-regulated expression of MDA and Keap1， and up-regulated expression of Nrf2， HO-1， NQO1， and GCLC （P<0.05）. ConclusionYishen Tongluo prescription exerts renoprotective effects in the mouse model of DKD by modulating the Nrf2/HO-1/NQO1 signaling pathway， mitigating oxidative stress， and reducing renal tubular injuries.