Objective To investigate the feature of regional grey matter volume changes in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients by voxel-based morphometry ( VBM) and presume the possible pathophysiological basis.Methods Conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and T1-weighted three-dimensional MRI were obtained from 32 RRMS and 32 sex- and age-matched normal controls.The comparison of grey matter volume between the two groups was analyzed by statistical analysis software SPM5 and VBM.A Pearson correlational analysis was used to assess correlation between gre matter loss and disease duration,expanded disability status scale (EDSS) and visible brain lesion volume.Results Compared with normal controls,RRMS patients had extensive bilateral grey matter atrophy in thalami (left 2031 and right 1711),caudate (left 815 and right 1031) and parahippocampal gyrus (left 313 and right 467),as well as several cortical regions in frontal,temporal,parietal,and occipital lobes (t value were between 8.853 and 11.163,all P ＜ 0.01).Regional grey matter loss in bilateral thalami ( r value were - 0.596 on left and were - 0.694 on right) and right caudate ( r = - 0.409 ) were strongly negatively correlated with visible brain lesion volume in RRMS (all P ＜ 0.05 ).Conclusions By means of VBM,extensive grey matter atrophy are found in RRMS patients,especially in deep grey matter.Axonal degeneration secondary to visible brain lesions may be a key pathogenesis of grey matter atrophy in RRMS.

As one of the most serious types of psoriasis, pathogenesis of erythrodermic psoriasis (EP) is unclear so far. In this study, we aimed to detect the levels of Th1/Th2 cytokine-associated transcription factors and T-lymphocyte clone in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) derived from EP patients, and gene expression level of T-bet/GATA-3 in skin lesion. The potential role of Th1/Th2 reaction pattern played in the pathogenesis of EP was also discussed. Serum levels of IFN-γ, IL-2, IL-4 and IL-10 were quantified by ELISA among 16 EP patients, 20 psoriasis vulgaris (PV) patients and 15 healthy controls. The expression levels of T-bet/GATA-3 in the skin lesion and PBMCs were examined by real-time qPCR. The ratio of Th1/Th2 was measured by flow cytometry. The levels of IFN-γ, IL-2, IL-4 and IL-10 were higher in EP patients than in the healthy controls. The levels of IL-4 and IL-10 were 69.44±11.45 and 12.62±4.57 pg/mL, respectively, in EP patients, significantly higher than those in PV patients and healthy controls (P<0.05). Flow cytometry revealed the levels of both Th1 and Th2 in PBMCs from EP patients were higher than those in healthy controls, and the Th1/Th2 ratio was dramatically lower than in PV patients (P<0.01). The ratios of IFN-γ/IL-4 and T-bet/GATA-3 in EP patients were both less than 1.0, suggesting a reversal when compared with the other two groups. Our study indicated that the EP patients exerted a Th1/Th2 bidirectional response pattern, and the balance of Th cell subsets inclines to Th2, which might be one of the important mechanisms of EP pathogenesis.

Hepatic encephalopathy is a common metabolic neuropsychiatric syndrome in the development of end-stage liver disease. Since the concept of intestinal-liver-brain axis was proposed, the relationship between the pathogenesis of hepatic encephalopathy and the gut microbiota has been a hot research topic. In recent years, studies have confirmed that gut microbiota is involved in and affects various pathological processes of hepatic encephalopathy. This article combines the latest research progress at home and abroad to elaborate on the research status of regulating gut microbiota and thus interfering with the pathological process of hepatic encephalopathy, hoping to provide new ideas and methods for the intervention of hepatic encephalopathy based on the regulation of gut microbiota.

This paper reviewed the phytochemical and pharmacological research progress in Leontopodium medicinal plants, including the resource distribution, the chemical constitutes, the pharmacological activities and clinical application. The review has provided some information for the study and development of Leontopodium medicinal plants in future.
Amaryllidaceae Alkaloids ; isolation & purification ; Animals ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Asteraceae ; chemistry ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Flavanones ; isolation & purification ; Humans ; Isoquinolines ; isolation & purification ; Nephritis ; drug therapy ; Oils, Volatile ; isolation & purification ; Phytotherapy ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo investigate the antiviral activity of 3-hydroxyphthalic anhydride-modified ovalbumin (HP-OVA) against herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2) in vitro.

METHODSBy chemical modification, ovalbumin (OVA) was treated with 3-hydroxyphthalic anhydride (HP) to prepare HP-OVA. The anti-HSV-2 activity against HSV-2 333 virus in vitro and the cytotoxicity of HP-OVA in African green monkey kidney cells (Vero cells) were detected by MTT colorimetric assay. The inhibitory effects of HP-OVA on 17 strains of vaginal lactobacilli were observed by microscopy.

RESULTSAnhydride-modified ovalbumin significantly inhibited the infection by HSV-2 with an IC(50) of 23.56±8.33 µg/ml. HP-OVA showed only low cytotoxicity to the host cells with a CC(50) over 1 mg/ml. HP-OVA did not produce significant inhibitory effect on the 17 strains of vaginal lactobacilli (MIC>1 mg/ml).

CONCLUSIONAnhydride-modified protein HP-OVA exhibits potent anti-HSV-2 activity in vitro and can be a good microbicide candidate for prevention of sexually transmitted diseases.

Animals ; Antiviral Agents ; pharmacology ; Cercopithecus aethiops ; Herpesvirus 2, Human ; drug effects ; Ovalbumin ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Phthalic Anhydrides ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Vero Cells

OBJECTIVETo establish a method for real-time recording the oxygen consumption of mice under normobaric hypoxia.

METHODSThe experimental apparatus was made up of animal container, filling water control system, electronic balance, hose, a computer with weight recording software, etc. The working principle was that the oxygen consumed by animal was replaced by water filling which was controlled by the pneumatic and hydraulic actuator. The water was weighted by an electronic balance and the weight signal was recorded into excel file at the same time. The accuracy and precision of the apparatus were detected by a 10 ml syringe. The oxygen consumption characteristics of 6 acute repetitive hypoxia mice and 6 normal mice were observed.

RESULTSThe P value for the paired t test was 1 and the CV value was 4%. The survival time and total oxygen consumption of acute repetitive hypoxia mice were both significantly increased compared to normal mice (P < 0.05), which were (58.8 +/- 6.8) min and (46.0 +/- 8.7) min respectively for the survival time and (85.1 +/- 8.5) ml and (73.6 +/- 5.4) ml respectively for total oxygen consumption.

CONCLUSIONThe hypoxia tolerance of the acute repetitive hypoxia mice can significantly improved by taking more oxygen in the animal cabin. The accuracy and precision of the apparatus are high and it can be used for the determination of oxygen consumption in hypoxia research.

Animals ; Hypoxia ; physiopathology ; Mice ; Monitoring, Physiologic ; instrumentation ; Oxygen Consumption ; physiology

OBJECTIVETo compare the predictive values of eight staging systems for primary liver cancer in the prognosis of combined hepatocellular-cholangiocellular carcinoma (cHCC-CC) patients after surgery.

METHODSThe clinical data of 54 cHCC-CC patients who underwent hepatectomy or liver transplantation from May 2005 to Augest 2013 in Chinese PLA General Hospital were collected. We evaluated the prognostic value of the Okuda staging system, Cancer of the Liver Italian Program (CLIP) score, French staging system, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging system, 7th edition of tumour-node-metastasis (TNM) staging system for hepatocellular carcinoma and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC), Japan Integrated Staging (JIS) score, and Chinese University Prognostic Index. The distribution, Kaplan-Meier method, Log-rank test, and area under a receiver operating characteristic curve were used to compare the prognosis-predicting ability of these different staging systems in 54 cHCC-CC patients after surgery.

RESULTSThe TNM staging system for ICC and JIS score had a better distribution of cases. The 12-and 24-month survivals of the entire cohort were 65.5% and 56.3%, respectively. A Log-rank test showed that there was a significant difference existing in the cumulative survival rates of different stage patients when using TNM staging system for ICC (stage 1 vs. stage 2, P=0.012; stage 2 vs. stage 3-4, P=0.002), Okuda staging system (stage 1 vs. stage 2, P=0.025), and French staging system (stage A and stage B, P=0.045). The 12-and 24-month area under curve of TNM staging system for ICC, BCLC staging system, JIS score, and CLIP score were 0.836 and 0.847, 0.744 and 0.780, 0.723 and 0.764, and 0.710 and 0.786, respectively.

CONCLUSIONThe 7th edition of TNM staging system for ICC has superior prognostic value to other seven staging systems in cHCC-CC patients undergoing surgical treatment.

Bile Duct Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; surgery ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; diagnosis ; surgery ; Cholangiocarcinoma ; diagnosis ; surgery ; Hepatectomy ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; surgery ; Neoplasm Staging ; methods ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Prognosis ; ROC Curve ; Survival Rate

The current situation of plant extract in domestic and international market was analyzed in the paper. The quality control of 20 plant extracts which have reasonably good sales in USA market was compared and analyzed. The analysis of the quality control of six plant extracts indicated that there were two main reasons leading to the varied quality specifications among different suppliers. One reason was that the plant species utilized by different companies were different. The other reason was that the extraction processes were different among different production plants. Comparing with the significant international suppliers of plant extracts, the product quality of Chinese companies were not satisfactory. It was suggested that chromatography and chromatographic fingerprint techniques should be applied to improve the quality control standard of plant extract in our country.
Anthocyanins ; isolation & purification ; China ; Chromatography ; methods ; Plant Extracts ; isolation & purification ; standards ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Proanthocyanidins ; isolation & purification ; Quality Control ; Species Specificity ; Vaccinium ; chemistry ; Vitis ; chemistry

Cholelithiasis is one of the clinically common and frequently encountered diseases. In this paper, the Chinese Meteria Medica and prescriptions utilized to treat cholelithasis were discussed in four aspects. In addition, we discussed the clinical effect and mechanism of actions of these drugs in order to provide some reference for future drug development in this area.
Animals ; Cholelithiasis ; drug therapy ; prevention & control ; Drug Combinations ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; isolation & purification ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Phytotherapy ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry

Compared with other countries, the industrialization of medicinal plant tissue culture is more important for our country because China is consuming and exporting the most amounts of herb materials in the world. Each year, many papers and patents are published on cell cultures of popular medicinal plants, such as Taxus sp., Catharanthus roseus, and Panax ginseng, and, meanwhile, the research on organ cultures of medicinal plants is increasing very quickly, which is deepening the study of medicinal plant tissue culture. During the past 30 years, Chinese scientists have cultured many medicinal plant cells, organs and hairy roots. In addition, the large-scale cultures have been tested on medicinal plants, such as Catharanthus roseus, Panax notoginseng, Anisodus acutangulus, Lithospermum erythrorhizon, and Taxus chinensis. However, the bioreactor size is not big enough for the commercial cultivation and we have not mastered the culture technique on a large scale. We should clearly understand the importance and great potential benefit of medicinal plant tissue culture and develop the tissue culture techniques for the modernization of TCM. To develop the technique that we have the property right, the pioneering spirit is needed in our research, and, meanwhile, it should be pointed out emphatically the collaboration is indispensable among scientists from different research fields.
Bioreactors ; Catharanthus ; growth & development ; China ; Culture Media ; Culture Techniques ; methods ; trends ; Fermentation ; Industry ; Panax ; growth & development ; Plants, Medicinal ; growth & development ; Taxus ; growth & development