Berberine is a taste of traditional Chinese medicine.With the progress of research on pharmacology and mechanism of drug action of extensive research,the new mechanism of berberine was revealed through a series of clinical trials,the clinical indications continue to expand,and berberine has a therapeutic effect in digestive and endocrine system disease.The current study confirmed that berberine not only has the broad-spectrum antibacterial activity,but also plays a strong anti-inflammatory and immune regulatory role,which makes more and more research began to concern its application value in the diseases of respiratory system.The strong anti-inflammatory effect of berberine cau effectively relieve the airway inflammation of patients who are suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary,and the broad-spectrum antibacterial effect brought hope for the treatment of tuberculosis and pneumonia.The subsequent animal and clinical studies have confirmed that berberine can effectively improve the symptoms of respiratory system diseases,and play a role in the treatment.

Hearing ; Humans ; Neuroma, Acoustic ; surgery ; Neurosurgical Procedures ; methods

Warming yang, which is one of the treatment principles of traditional Chinese Medicine, is very important in treating chronic heart failure, especially late-stage heart failure. It has been proved in many experiments and clinical trials that warming yang can improve the hemodynamic parameters. The treatment strategy for heart failure has changed from short-term correction of hemodynamic parameters to long-term rehabilitation approaches. We discussed the possible negative-effects of warming yang on neuroendocrine responses and myocardial remodeling. The potential beneficial effects of treatment for nourishing yin or nourishing yin combined with warming yang on heart failure were also explored.

Objective: To reconstruct three dimension (3D) model of a rtificial tooth and to establish standardized 3D artificial teeth graphic datab ase. Methods: Artificial teeth were incised with CGI autom atic cross section scanning instrument, then data points were picked up from e ach parallel layer contour of incised tooth, and 3D stereo models of artificia l tooth were retrieved using 3D reconstruction techniques. Results: 3D graphic models of 28 artificial teeth were established.The models may represent the graphic feature of the teeth. Conclusion: The present technic is feasible in the establishment of 3D graphic models of artificial tooth.

Objective To study the percentage and cause of new seizure types in epilepsy patients and attempt to evaluate the value of new seizure types.Methods All 1074 eapilepsy patients were envolled in the retrospectively study.The types of seizure were diagnosed according to International League Against Epilepsy seizure classification and neuroimaging results of the patients.The Wilcoxon signed rank sum test was used to assess the difference of age at first seizure and mean duration of epilepsy patients with and without new seizure types.The chi-square test was used to compare the abnormal proportion of EEG and neuroimaging results of epilepsy patients.Results Two hundred and thirty-one(21.5%)of 1074 epilepsy patients experienced new seizure type.Five hundred and eighty-four patients had partial seizure with 132 (22.6%)experiencing new types of seizure while 490 patients had generalized seizure with 99(20.2%)experiencing new types of seizure.Five hundred and seventy-six(53.6%)had abnormal EEG and 237 (22.1%)had abnormal neuroimaging in 1074 epilepsy patients.A hundred and twenty-three(52.3%)of 231 patients with new seizure types had abnormal EEG,and 75(32.5%)of them had abnormal neuroimaging. The possible causes for the new types of seizure could be found in 41 patients.There were no significant difference in the age of the first onset between the patients with and without the new types of seizure while there was significant difference in the average course of disease between them(χ~2=18.511-23.836.P＜0.05).There were significant differences in the rates of abnormal results of examination of nervous system and imaging outcomes.Conclusions There may be different causes of new seizure types.The study of new seizure types is helpful in diagnosis,treatment and prevention of epilepsy.

This article elucidates the relationship between the human susceptibility to obesity and gene polymorphisms such as peroxisome proliferators-activated receptors(PPARs)and PPAR?coactivator-1,along with milestones in the formation and development of capacity for fat deposition during evolutionary history of human.An biological evolutionary analysis,identifying factors favoring the energy stores,may be helpful to the development of preventive public health strategies.

Objective To explore the application of hysteroscopy in assisted reproduction. Methods A retrospective analysis was made on results of routine hysteroscopy in 150 cases of infertile women scheduled for assisted reproduction.Results Among the 150 cases,abnormal hysteroscopic findings were identified in 47 cases(31%),including endometrial polyps in 18 cases(12%),endometrial hyperplasia in 17 cases(11%),uterine deformity in 7 cases(5%),uterine adhesion and stenosis in 3 cases(2%),endometrial tuberculosis in 1 case(0.7%),and submucous myoma or adenomyoma in 1 case(0.7%).To think of hysteroscopic findings as the standard,the sensitivity,specificity,positive predicted rate,negative predicted rate,and accuracy were 66%(31/47),98%(101/103),94%(31/33),86%(101/117),and 88%(132/150) for transvaginal ultrasonography,respectively,and were 26%(12/47),100%(95/95),100%(12/12),73%(95/130),and 75%(107/142) for uterophotography,respectively.Conclusions Hysteroscopy is a simple and reliable way to explore the uterine cavity.It may be selected as a routine examination before assisted reproduction.

Objective To investigate the correlations between eosinophil counts in induced sputum and lung function (FENO) and evaluate these parameters in medication adjustment in patients with asthma.Methods Sixty-five outpatients with mild to moderate persistent asthma ( mild,32 ; moderate,33 ) from January to August 2008 were enrolled in the study.All were treated with combined medications comprising inhaled corticosteroids plus long-acting β2 agonists for 1 year.Lung function (FEV1％ and PEF％ ),eosinophil counts in induced sputum,FENO,and Asthma Control Test (ACT) scores were obtained at regular follow-up intervals.Twenty-one healthy volunteers served as controls,and lung function,eosinophil counts in induced sputum,and FENO were also obtained.Results Sixty-three subjects completed 1-year or longer follow-up.Lung function of 63 subjects recovered quickly in the early days and improved slowly during the following 6 months.FENO decreased from (61 ± 25 ) nmol/L at baseline to ( 32 ± 19 ) nmol/L by the third month (q =7.32,P＜0.05) and to (22 ± 12) nmol/L by the sixth month,which showed significant difference from normal controls [ ( 13 ± 8) nmol/L; q =6.63,P ＜ 0.05 ].Eosinophil counts in induced sputum of the asthma group at baseline were (0.093 ±0.023) × 109/L and decreased to (0.032 ±0.011)× 109/L by the third month,which was significantly different from baseline and normal controls [ (0.005 ±0.003) × 106/ml; q =5.49,P ＜0.05 and q =5.87,P ＜0.05,respectively].FENO showed a significantly positive correlation with eosinophil counts in induced sputum in the first 6 months (r1 =0.612,r2 =0.558,r3 =0.675; all P＜0.05) and a negative correlation with FEV1 (r1 =-0.537,r3 =-0.658,r6 ＝ -0.623,r9 =-0.537,r12 =-0.597 ; all P ＜0.05 ) at any time point of the study.The ACT score of 63 subjects at baseline was 14 ±3,and the scores after treatment for 1,3,6,9,and 12 months were 18 ±5,19 ±7,23 ±2,24 ± 1,and 24 ± 1,respectively; at the same time,significant difference was found ( F =5.72,P ＜ 0.05).Effectiveness was found according to the ACT score only 1 month after treatment.Conclusion The parameters of FENO and eosinophil counts in induced sputum were sensitive in the detection of airway inflammation and may be useful in evaluation of the efficacy of treatment and adjustment of medication regimens.

Objective To study whether sulphur fumigation can cause changes to the content of imperatorin in Angelicae Dahuricae Radix (Baizhi).Methods The fresh samples of Angelicae Dahuricae Radix were collected from some cultivation bases. Half of each batch root was fumigated with sulfur according to the conventional method, and another half was cut into slices and dried naturally (i.e. without sulfur fumigation). The content of imperatorin was determined by HPLC on C18 column (4.6 mm×250 mm, 5μm) with a gradient mobile phase of acetonitrile-water solution system at the follow rate of 1.0 mL/min, 35℃ of the column temperature, and the max plot in 210-800 nm of the detective wavelength.ResultsTotally 29 batches of fresh roots ofAngelica dahurica were collected. The average contents of imperatorin were 0.202% in the Angelicae Dahuricae Radix with sulfur fumigation and 0.120% in the Angelicae Dahuricae Radix without sulfur fumigation. Compared with the corresponding samples without sulfur fumigation, the content of imperatorin in every Angelicae Dahuricae Radix with sulfur fumigation decreased by 6.77%-77.56% with an average decrease of 39.86%.Conclusion The content of imperatorin decreased significantly in every batch of Angelicae Dahuricae Radix with sulphur fumigation. It shows that the sulphur fumigation method was not suitable for producing and processing Angelicae Dahuricae Radix from fresh roots ofA. dahurica.

Objective To investigate nontraumatic avascular necrotic of the femoral head with different etiology whether or not having similar MRI and pathologic findings.Methods MRI features of nontraumatic avascular necrosis of the femoral head caused by differant etiology in 98 patients(152 hips) were retrospectively analysed.The causes of osteonecrosis of the femoral head included steroid-induced in 49 patients(86 hips),alcoholic in 18 patients(25 hips) and idiopathic cause in 31 patients(41hips).Gross section and pathologic examinations were performed on 34 femoral heads obtained after total hip replacement from 25 patients.Results Osteonecrosis of the femoral head with different etiology occurred at the anterior superior part of femoral head.The necrotic zones both on pathological gross section and MRI were consisted of cartilage,necrotic focus,proliferative zone and normal bony zones along the lesions.The proliferative zone surrounded necrotic area was low signal intensity on both T1WI and T2WI.There was correlations between localized MRI signal behavior and specific histopathologic features of femoral head osteonecrosis.Conclusion Nontraumatic osteonecrosis of the femoral heads associated with different etiology have similar characteristics on both MRI and pathology