The applicator therapy is a unique method to treat infant diarrhea in traditional Chinese medicines and widely applied in clinical practice. Currently, many researchers have proved the rationality of the therapy based on the traditional Chinese medicine mechanism and on the data from clinical practice, but its action mechanism is uncertain at present. In this study, with the assistance of pediatric practitioners, the automated ribosomal intergenic-spacer analysis (ARISA) was adopted to study the effect of the adjuvant therapy with Dingguier umbilical paste on intestinal flora of diarrhea infants, in which Dingguier umbilical paste served as the adjuvant therapy in oral traditional Chinese medicines and fecal samples of infants with different diarrhea symptoms were collected and used as the study materials. The results showed that the adjuvant therapy had a significant effect on the shift of intestinal flora, which was associated with the decrease in the similarity difference to the normal control group and the increase in the number of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) shared with the normal control group. Additionally, adjuvant therapy with Dingguier umbilical paste also showed long action duration and increased OTUs number. These results indicated that Dingguier umbilical paste has the effect in restoring the micro-ecosystem of unbalanced intestinal bacteria. Intestinal flora may be one of major targets for the applicator therapy for the infant diarrhea, but not for the single oral traditional Chinese medicine for infant diarrhea.
Adjuvants, Pharmaceutic ; therapeutic use ; Diarrhea ; drug therapy ; microbiology ; Feces ; microbiology ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Intestines ; drug effects ; microbiology ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods ; Ointments ; Treatment Outcome ; Umbilicus

Octapeptin has strong antibacterial activity against Gram-negative bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Acinetobacter baumannii, while it also has activity against some Gram-positive bacteria. This study used natural octapeptin A3 and B3 as lead compounds for structural modification. Twenty-one peptide derivatives (including A3 and B3) containing eight amino acid residues were prepared by solid-phase synthesis, and evaluated for antibacterial activity and renal cytotoxicity. Among them, three compounds 6, 7 and 17 exhibited broad-spectrum antibacterial activity and significantly enhanced the activity for Gram-positive bacteria while maintaining the activity of Gram-negative bacteria. Several compounds improved the activity for Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Compound 7 was active against all test strains and had relatively low renal cytotoxicity. The results provide a basis for the further development of novel polypeptide antibiotics.

Melittin exhibits high antibacterial potency against drug-resistant bacteria. However, the clinical utility of melittin is limited by its serious hemolytic activity. Thus, the need for developing novel melittin analogues with high antimicrobial activity and low hemolytic activity has grown. We designed, synthesized, and evaluated 20 novel melittin analogues with varying hydrophobic, polar or positively charged amino acids. The results showed that 8 compounds had antimicrobial activity (MIC: 1-4 μg·mL^-1) against gram-positive pathogens equal to or better than that of melittin, and 16 compounds had low hemolytic activity (HC₅₀ ≥ 11.9 μg·mL^-1). Compounds 13 (MIC: 2-4 μg·mL^-1) and 15 (MIC: 1-2 μg·mL^-1) showed equal or better antimicrobial activity against both susceptible and resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecium compared to melittin (MIC: 4 μg·mL^-1). Compound 13 (HC₅₀: 24.0 ± 4.3 μg·mL^-1) displayed noticeably decreased hemolytic activity compared to melittin (HC₅₀: 5.3 ± 0.4 μg·mL^-1). This work established a base for further study on the structure-activity relationships and structure-toxicity relationships of melittin.

Adult ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Knee Joint ; Male ; Mucin-1 ; metabolism ; Neurilemmoma ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; S100 Proteins ; metabolism ; Sarcoma, Synovial ; metabolism ; pathology ; Sweat Glands

Objective To investigate the constitution,density changes and carrier rate about Yersinia pestis of rodents in plague foci,and to provide the scientific evidence for plague prevention.Methods According to the program of national monitoring plague,two survey procedures,namely quadrat of single-ha for 24 h and 5 m mouse jam,were used to monitor the host animals; culture and identification of Yersinia pestis in liver or spleen of the experimental animals was carried out by using self-made medium in the north of Beiyuanzi village in Dingbian town Shaanxi province.Results One hundred twelve rodents were captured using the first procedures and the rodent average density was 8.62 ind./hm2 and six species of rodents were found namely Meriones unguiculatus ( 100 individuals),Microtusfortis(5 individuals),Ochotona daurica(3 individuals),Meriones meridianus (2 individuals),Mus musculus Linnaeus (1 individual) and Cricetulus barabensis (1 individual).One hundred seventy-three field mouses were captured using the second procedures including Mus musculus Linnaeus (136 individuals),Cricetulus barabensis (36 individuals),and Microtus fortis ( 1 individual ).Among them,Microtus fortis was found in the salt marshes in the southern edge of Ordos Plateau steppe in plague area of Dingbian county.Yersinia pestis was not identified in all animals.Conclusions Microtus fortis is found in natural foci of plague in Shaanxi province for the first time,and a new geographic region was found.Its epidemiological significance needs further study.

The main pathogenesis of functional constipation in children is the disturbance of large intestine conduction function, so the treatment of lubricating bowel and purging stool, dispersing food and abducting stagnation, nourishing blood and enriching yin is used in clinic. According to the characteristics of the physiopathologic of children, based on the clinical practice, this article believed that the occurrence of this disease was closely related to the ascending the clear of the spleen, the descending turbidity of the stomach, the dispersion of the lung and the catharsis of the liver. The root of pathogenesis is disturbance in ascending and descending of the functional activities of qi, so it is effective to treat the disease with the theory of qi ascending and descending.

Objective To analyze the general characteristics of voluntary blood donors, and to provide the basis for establishing effective recruitment mechanism. Methods The information of all whole blood donors (including mobile blood collection cars on the streets , blood donation houses and team blood donors) from 2006 to 2015 was obtained from the Zhejiang blood management information system. The sex, age, occupation, weight, and the amount of blood donation at a time of blood donors were descriptively analyzed. Results There were 5299700 frequencies of donating blood in Zhejiang Province from 2006 to 2015. The annual frequency was on the rise, with an average annual growth rate of 2.99％. There were 3098500 frequencies of male and 2201300 of female with the ratio of 1.4 :1. The frequency of female has declined since 2010. The majority of voluntary blood donors ranged from 18 to 45 years old, and the percentage was 91.44％ . The ratios of staff, students and workers were 14.61％, 12.27％, 10.09％, respectively. The annual frequency of staff was on the rise, with an average annual growth rate of 7.71％. The frequency of workers was on the decline, and the frequency of students fluctuated over the years. The ratio of blood donation 400 mL at a time was 41.23％. For 400 mL blood donation at a time, the ratio of male donors (48.86％) was significantly higher than the female donors (30.50％, P<0.001) . In addition, the ratio of blood donation 400 mL at a time was proportional to age and body weight (P<0.001) . Conclusion In Zhejiang Province, the frequency of blood donation has increased year by year. Staff, students and workers with 18 to 45 years old are the main force of blood donation. The frequency of female blood donation has a tendency of dropping, and the ratio of blood donation 400 mL at a time is relatively low. It's necessary to strengthen the propaganda of blood donation.

OBJECTIVETo analyze the influence of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) drugs on incidence and pathology grading of prostate cancer in China.

METHODSRetrospectively investigated the history of drug treatment in 1029 cases of BPH in patients from February 1998 to December 2004. According to the history of drug use, the patients were divided into 4 groups: finasteride group, alpha-receptor inhibitor group, finasteride and alpha-receptor inhibitor combination group and control group (untreated group). We gathered pathology sections of patients in all groups, and gave Gleason Score to each. The difference of incidence and pathology grading of prostate cancer were analyzed by Stata 7.0.

RESULTSThe incidence of prostate cancer in the population of our study was 13.5%; The incidence in finasteride group, alpha-receptor inhibitor group, combination group and control group was 9.8%, 16.0%, 10.3% and 18.6%, respectively. There was significant difference between the two groups with the use of finasteride and the two groups without it (P < 0.05). In our study, the ratio of middle or high level pathology grading (Gleason ≥ 7) in prostate cancer patients was 58.3%, the ratio of middle or high level pathology grading prostate cancer patients in the four groups was 71.4%, 59.6%, 67.7% and 40.0%, respectively. In the comparison of composition ratio of middle or high level prostate cancer, there was significant difference between the two groups with the use of finasteride and the two groups without it (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSFinasteride can lower the risk of prostate cancer, but increase the pathology grade of the prostate cancer which has occurred in the same time. The alpha-receptor inhibitor does not have the same effect.

Adrenergic alpha-Antagonists ; therapeutic use ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Finasteride ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prostatic Hyperplasia ; drug therapy ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; epidemiology ; pathology ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVETo explore the mechanism of acupuncture for treatment of perimenopausal syndrome.

METHODSThe rats of perimenopausal syndrome were randomly divided into 3 groups, including an acupuncture group treated with acupuncture, a medication group with Gengnian'an, and a perimenopausal control group, with young rats used for a control group. Granulocyte apoptosis and expressions of Bcl-2 and Fas proteins in the ovary of the rat were detected.

RESULTSGranulocyte apoptosis increased significantly (P < 0.01), expression of Bl-2 proteins decreased significantly (P < 0.01) and expression of Fas proteins increased significantly (P < 0.01) in the ovary of perimenopausal rats as compared with the young rats; after acupuncture treatment, granulocyte apoptosis decreased significantly (P < 0.05), expression of Bel-2 proteins increased significantly (P < 0.05) and expression of Fas proteins decreased significantly (P < 0.01); after treatment of Gengnian'an, granulocyte apoptosis did not significantly change (P > 0.05), expression of Bcl-2 prteins increased significantly (P < 0.05) and expression of Fas proteins decreased significantly (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONAcupuncture can inhibit granulocyte apoptosis, up-regulate expression of Bcl-2 proteins and down-regulate expression of Fas proteins in the ovary of the perimenopausal rat.

Acupuncture Therapy ; Animals ; Apoptosis ; Female ; Granulocytes ; pathology ; Ovary ; metabolism ; pathology ; Perimenopause ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; analysis ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; fas Receptor ; analysis

Liver regeneration depends on powerful immune system of ownself. TNF-α,IFN-γ,IL-6,IL-12,etc. that secreted by innate immune cells such as macrophages,dendritic cells,NK cells and NKT cells,could act on the hepatocytes and regulate liver regen-eration (LR) through corresponding signaling pathways. This article summarizes the mechanism of different innate immune cells on hep-atocytes,clarifies the recent advances of liver innate immune cellsduring liver regeneration process,lay the foundation for revealing the molecular mechanism of the development of liver regeneration and liver diseases, and for the research and development of new therapeutic methods for liver diseases.