This study was performed to investigate the chemical constituents in the twigs and leaves of Harrisonia perforate. Six compounds were isolated from the 95% EtOH extract of the twigs and leaves of Harrisonia perforate by silica gel, ODS, Sephadex LH-20 column chromatographies and preparative HPLC. On the basis of chemical properties and spectra data, these compounds were identified as harriperfin E (1), kihadanin A (2), kihadanin B (3), 6α-acetoxyobacunol acetate (4), gardaubryone C (5), and β-sitosterol methyl ether (6), respectively. Compound 1 is a new chromone, and compounds 2-6 are isolated from this plant for the first time.
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Phytochemicals ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Plant Leaves ; chemistry ; Simaroubaceae ; chemistry

AIMTo study the characteristics of the interaction between insulin and liposome.

METHODSThe interaction between insulin and liposome was studied by fluorescence spectra and microcalorimetry methods. The sample of insulin liposome interaction after separation by supper-centrifugalization or gel filtration was determined by fluorescence and HPLC.

RESULTSThe results indicate that there was only little increase in fluorescence intensity and no blue shift of peak in fluorescence spectrum. Fluorescence quenching experiments with NaI and acrylamide as quenchers showed that the KSVs (the slope of Strm-Volmer equation) of insulin were more similar to that with added liposome, indicating low interaction between insulin with liposome. The microcalorimetric results indicate that the heat released during the mixture of liposome with insulin, was 1.98 kcal.mol-1, suggesting that the reaction belongs to weak reaction. The quantity of insulin in the insulin-liposome mixture sample after separation by ultracentrifuge or by Sephadex G-75 determined by HPLC, the combination percent was only 0.2%, indicating low interaction between insulin and liposome.

CONCLUSIONThe interaction between insulin and liposome was weak.

Chemistry, Pharmaceutical ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Drug Carriers ; Drug Delivery Systems ; Hypoglycemic Agents ; administration & dosage ; chemistry ; Insulin ; administration & dosage ; chemistry ; Liposomes ; Spectrometry, Fluorescence

Objective To assess the nerve-sparing radical hysterectomy (NSRH) technique and its impact on postoperative voiding function. Methods Forty-fonr patients with International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics(FIGO) stage Ⅰ b1 - Ⅱ a cervical cancer were enrolled and randomized into NSRH group ( study group, n = 22) and conventional radical hysterectomy (CRH) group ( control group, n = 22). The pelvic autonomic nerve pathway (including hypogastric nerve, pelvic splanchnic nerve, inferior hypogastric plexus and bladder branch) was completely preserved in the NSRH group. Related parameters were compared between the two groups. Results The estimated blood loss in NSRH group and CRH group were (550±241) ml and (475±284) ml, respectively, with no significant difference (P >0. 05). The mean operation time in NSRH group and CRH group were (329±43) min and (272±56) min, respectively, with a significant difference (P < 0. 01). More patients in NSRH group had post-void residual urine volume (PVR) < 100 ml than that in CRH group on day 8 after surgery (68% vs. 18%, P <0. 01). The median duration of postoperative catheterization was significantly shorter in NRSH group (8 - 23 days, median 8 days) than that in CRH group ( 8 - 32 days, median 20 days; P < 0. 01 ). Neither surgery-related injury nor pathologically positive margin was reported in either of the groups. Conclusions NSRH is a feasible and safe technique for preserving bladder function. Larger prospective studies are needed to confirm the efficacy of this technique.

AIMTo study the role of the caudate-putamen (CPu)-hippocampus (HPC)-medial temporal lobe neocortex (MTNC) neural pathway in re-establishment of pathophysiological neural networks related to epileptogenesis.

METHODSExperiments were performed under anaesthesia on 45 SD rats. The right HPC, the right MTNC, bilateral HPC, the right HPC and the right MTNC depth electrographs were recorded with bipolar concentric electrodes. Tetanization (60 Hz, 2 s, 0.4 - 0.6 mA) of the right CPu or of the right HPC trains were used to establish acute rat epilepsy model. These depth electrographs were detected before or after tetani were delivered about 10 times at 10 min intervals.

RESULTSTetanization of the right CPu induced (1) primary afterdischarges and unilateral or bilateral HPC electrographic afterdischarges and kindling effect or inhibition-rebound-kindling effect were induced by repetitive tetani into the right CPu. (2) After injection of scopolamine (0.05 mg/kg i.p.), 3 Hz slow oscillations in HPC electrographs exhibited long-term potentiation followed by repetitive tetani into the right CPu. (3) After administration of scopolamine (i.p.) electrographic oscillations at 3Hz with synaptic modification in bilateral HPC were induced and epileptiform activities in the RHPC were synchronized with those in the RMTNC.

CONCLUSIONPathophysiological neural networks from the Cpu into the HPC might be reestablished by overactivation of the right CPu, in which two hemispheres are involved while temporal lobe epileptogenesis was facilitated.

Animals ; Caudate Nucleus ; physiology ; Electric Stimulation ; Hippocampus ; physiology ; Male ; Neocortex ; physiology ; Neural Pathways ; Putamen ; physiology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Temporal Lobe ; physiology

According to the designed specific primers of gene fragment based on the Salvia miltiorrhiza transcriptome data, a full-length cDNA sequence of SQS2 from S. miltiorrhiza f. alba was cloned by the method of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The SmSQS2 cDNA sequence was obtained, this sequence is named SmSQS2 and its GenBank registration number is KM244731. The full length of SmSQS2 cDNA was 1245 bp, encoding 414 amino acids including 5'UTR 115 bp and 3'UTR 237 bp. Sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that SmSQS2 had relative close relationship to the SQS2 of S. miltiorrhiza. The induction of E. coli [pET28-SQS2] in different temperature, induction time, IPTG concentrations and density of inducing host bacterium (A600) were performed, Shaking the culture at 30 degrees C until the A600 is approximately 0.6 and add IPTG to final concentration of 0.2 mmol x L(-1), and then the optimal expression of SmSQS2 recombinant protein were accumulated after the induction time of 20 h. The research provided important base for the study of sterol and terpene biosynthesis of SQS2 in S. miltiorrhiza f. alba.
Cloning, Molecular ; Farnesyl-Diphosphate Farnesyltransferase ; chemistry ; genetics ; metabolism ; Models, Molecular ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; Plant Proteins ; chemistry ; genetics ; metabolism ; Salvia miltiorrhiza ; chemistry ; classification ; enzymology ; genetics ; Sequence Alignment

The marine biological source of mineral drugs recorded in Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2010 version) mainly including pearl, nacre, clam shell, common oyster shell, ark shell, cuttle bone, and sea-ear shell are widely used in clinical. Calcium carbonate and a small amount of protein are the main components in this type of drugs. In this paper, a systematical and comparable study were carried out by determination of calcium carbonate by EDTA titration method, the crystal of calcium carbonate by X-Ray powder diffraction and the total amino acids (TAAs) of the hydrolyzed samples by ultraviolet spectrophotometry method. As a result, the crystal structure is calcite for common oyster shell, mixture of calcite and aragonite for nacre and sea-ear shell, aragonite for the other drugs. The content of calcium carbonate ranged from 86% to 96%. Cuttle bone has the highest amount of TAAs among the seven drugs which reached 1.7% while clam shell has the lowest content of 0.16% on average. In conclusion, an effective method was developed for the quality control of marine mineral drugs by comprehensive analysis of calcium carbonate and TAAs in the seven marine mineral drugs.
Amino Acids ; analysis ; chemistry ; Animal Shells ; chemistry ; Animals ; Calcium Carbonate ; analysis ; chemistry ; Crystallization ; Edetic Acid ; chemistry ; Mollusca ; chemistry ; classification ; Pharmaceutical Preparations ; analysis ; chemistry ; standards ; Quality Control ; Reproducibility of Results ; Seawater ; Species Specificity ; Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet ; X-Ray Diffraction

Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) offer a non-selective and receptor-independent mode to promote cellular uptake. Although the non-specificity of CPP-mediated internalization allows this approach applicable to a wide range of tumor types potentially, their universality is a significant obstacle to their clinical utility for targeted delivery of cancer therapeutics and imaging agents. Accordingly, many reports have focused on selective switching of systemically delivered inert CPPs into their active form in lesions (tumor). In this review, our attention is mainly confined to such an enzyme-sensitive domain incorporated delivery system with activatable CPPs (ACPPs), which have displayed the exciting strength in balancing the CPPs' pros and cons, and potential in the treatment and diagnosis of some diseases.
Cell-Penetrating Peptides ; chemistry ; Drug Delivery Systems ; Enzymes ; chemistry ; Humans ; Neoplasms ; drug therapy

Objective To study the prevalence of food intolerance and to explore its related factors among adult health check-up receivers.Methods A total of 863 adults who took physical examinations in our hospital from April to October 2011 were enrolled in this investigation.Height,body weight and blood pressure were measured,and serum IgG level was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Results The total positive rate of food intolerance was 73％,and the leading intolerance items were crab (40.1％ ),egg (29.8％ ),cod fish ( 21.6％ ),milk ( 20.0％ ) and soybean ( 14.4％ ).Females showed significantly higher prevalence of food intolerance than males.Various positive rate of milk or soybean intolerance was found in different age groups.No correlations of serum specific IgG with body mass index and systolic or diastolic blood pressure were observed.In logistic regression analysis,the odds ratio of food intolerance of women was 1.67 ( 95 ％ confidence interval 1.190 to 2.607 ).ConclusionsThe prevalence rate of food intolerance was high.The risk for food intolerance was significantly increased in women.Specific IgG antibody detection may help to early prevent and diagnose food intolerance-related diseases.

To investigate the epidemic and evolutionary trends of enterovirus (EV) in the external environment of Yunnan Province, China, molecular typing was performed on 4 EV strains that were isolated from environmental sewage in Yunnan. The VP1 region of isolates was amplified by RT-PCR using universal enterovirus primers, and the amplified VP1 region was sequenced for GenBank BLAST search and genotype analysis. The 4 EV strains were identified as ECHO7. Their nucleotide and amino acid homologies with the VP1 sequences of 68 ECHO7 strains retrieved from GenBank were measured by Mega software analysis. Our findings showed that ECHO7 strains from environmental sewage and population samples were in different evolutionary branches. These strains showed typical geographical and temporal differences; In addition, there were different transmission chains at the same time and in the same area. ECHO7 strains isolated from sewage water and patients with acute flaccid paralysis during the same period in Yunnan belonged to different clusters and evolved at different speeds. Special concerns are needed for this problem. Continuous molecular biological surveillance of human EV in the external environment of Yunnan will provide strong support for early warning of EV diseases.
China ; Databases, Genetic ; Enterovirus ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Evolution, Molecular ; Humans ; Molecular Epidemiology ; Sequence Analysis ; Sewage ; virology

AIM:To investigate the effects of silymarin on lipopolysaccharide(LPS)-induced acute lung injury in rats and its possible molecular mechanisms.METHODS: Fifty-eight male SD rats,weighting 230-250 g,were divided into four groups randomly: normal control(n=12);acute lung injury group(n=15),receiving intravenous LPS(O55∶B5,5 mg/kg);silymarin alone group(50 mg/kg,n=15);intervention group(n=16,receiving silymarin 50 mg/kg and LPS 5 mg/kg).The specimens were collected 6 hours later.The following changes,including blood gas analysis,the lung wet/dry weight ratio,the pulmonary vascular permeability,histological manifestations,lung tissue myeloperoxidase activity,the levels of TNF-?,IL-1?,MCP-1 and SOD,GSH-Px as well as malonaldehyde and conjugated diene in plasma and lung tissue,were observed.RESULTS: Compared with control group,the lungs of the rats in LPS treatment group showed significant hyperemia and spotted hemorrhage.The inflammatory granulocyte infiltrating,diffused alveolar septum thickening and spotted hemorrhage were observed in pathological examinations.The lung wet/dry weight ratio and Evans blue content(per gram) increased significantly after LPS treatment.The myeloperoxidase activity in plasma and lung tissue,the levels of TNF-?,IL-1?,MCP-1 and SOD,GSH-Px as well as malonaldehyde and conjugated diene were increased significantly in LPS treatment group.However,in intervention groups,all the above-mentioned measurements were reversed significantly by silymarin treatment compared with LPS treatment group.CONCLUSION: Silymarin may decrease inflammatory reaction and oxidative stress,and further decrease lung damage induced by LPS in rats,all indicating protection of silymarin against acute lung injury.