AIM: To measure and compare the content of glycyrrhizic polysaccharides in Glycyrrhiza in three different growth time. METHODS: The contents of polysaccharides were determined by phenol-sulfuric acid method and by reference to glucose, and wavelenth in spectrophotometer was set at 490 nm. RESULTS: There was difference of the content of the extracted polysaccharides among Glycyrrhiza for 1, 2 and 3 year, amounted to 11.75%, 11.07%, 7.88%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Annual glycyrrhiza appeared to be the appropriat crude drug for polysacchrides content. 1.Colle

Objective To evaluate the significance of human interleukin-31(IL-31)in the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis and its correlation with pruritus in patients with atopic dermatitis(AD).Methods Twenty-two children with mild to severe atopic dermatitis and 22 age-matched healthy controls were included in this study.Patients and controls were randomly and equally assigned into stimulation and non-stimulation groups.Venous blood samples were obtained from all participants,peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated from these samples and cultured with(stimulation groups)or without(non-stimulation groups)staphylococcal enterotoxin B(SEB)for 24 hours.Then,the mRNA expression of IL-31 on PBMCs was assessed via real-time reverse transcription-PCR.ELISA was used to detect the total serum IgE level in these objects.The severity of AD in patients was rated according to scoring atopic dermatitis(SCORAD).The relationship between the mRNA expression of IL-31 and the level of serum total IgE.severity of atopic dermatitis,and degree of pruritus.was evaluated.Results The expression of IL-31 mRNA on non-stimulated PBMCs from patients was 23.2 folds as high as that from the healthy controls(P＜0.01).The stimulation with SEB upregulated the mRNA expression of IL-31 on PBMCs.and the increase on PBMCs from patients was 20.44 times of that from the controls.The total serum IgE level was 260.05 IU/mL(5.9-1131.01 IU/mL)and 17.7 IU/mL(5-140.7 IU/mL)in the Patients and controls respectively(P＜0.01).There was no significant correlation between the mRNA expression of IL-31 and disease severity or total serum IgE level(r=0.07.0.22respectively.both P＞0.05)in patients witll AD.Condusions IL.3 1 is involved in t11e pathogenesis of AD,which is unlikely to be IgE-dependent.SEB can induce the rapid expression of IL-31 on PBMCs of healthy human,and is an important modulator for the production of IL-31.

AIM:To explore the preventive effect of resveratrol on spatial memory loss of the mice induced by intralateroventricular injection of calyculin A (CA).METHODS:Kunming mice of 2 months (n=44) were divided into saline control group, CA group, low-dose resveratrol group and high-dose resveratrol group.The mice in control group and CA group were intraperitoneally injected with equal volume of saline for 21 d, while the mice in low-dose resveratrol group and high-dose resveratrol group were intraperitoneally injected with resveratrol at 5 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg, respectively.At 22 d, CA (4 μL) was injected into the lateral ventricles in CA group, low-dose resveratrol group and high-dose resveratrol group.Morris water maze test was applied to examine the changes of learning and memory abilities of the mice at 27 d.The Golgi staining was used to observe the morphological changes of dendrites and dendritic spines.The hippocampal tissues were homogenated to detect SOD activity.RESULTS:Low-dose resveratrol significantly decreased the escape latency delay induced by CA.Low-dose resveratrol attenuated the decreases in the number of dendrites and the density of dendritic spines of neurons in hippocampal CA1 region induced by CA.High-dose resveratrol but not low-dose resveratrol attenuated the decreased SOD activity induced by CA.CONCLUSION:Resveratrol at low dose attenuates memory loss in the mice induced by CA though preventing dendrite injury.

Literatures on pain intervention with transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) were collected by searching the databases both in Chinese and English, and summarized to understand the research progress of TEAS effects on pain mediators in recent years. This will provide a more objective and scientific theoretical basis for clinical practice of TEAS to treat pain syndrome, thus promoting the clinical application of TEAS. Our literature analysis indicated that TEAS effectively regulated the release levels of various pain factors such as prostaglandin, 5-hydroxytryptamine, interleukins, substance P and tumor necrosis factor-α to achieve the analgesic effects by affecting the conduction pathways. TEAS is a safe, non-invasive and effective treatment for pain syndrome. However, further research is necessary due to the lack of rigor of the current clinical trial design.

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of radiofrequency thermocoagulation with pulsed radiofrequency for V1 trigeminal neuralgia patients. Methods The prospective cohort study enrolled 70 patients with V1 primary trigeminal neuralgia,who were admitted to Pain Department,Hangzhou First People′s Hospital from January to December 2012. The patients were divided into RF group(n = 35)and RF plus PRF group(n =35)and followed up for 3 years for pain relief rate and complications. Results Postoperative cure rate of immedi-ate pain in RF group was 88.57%(BNI class I,II)and that in RF plus PRF group 91.43%(BNI class I,II).The pain relief rate was higher in RF plus PRF group,and the difference was statistically significant(χ2=5.178,P=0.023). Fourteen patients in RF group suffered corneal hypoesthesia and their recovery time was(12.1 ± 7.5) months and 6 in RF plus PRF group experienced corneal hypoesthesia and their recovery time was(8.9 ± 2.3) months.The differences of incidence rate and recovery time were significant(χ2=4.48,P=0.034;t=2.25,P=0.028). Conclusions RF plus PRF is conducive to decreasing the recurrence of V1 trigeminal neuralgia,reduc-ing the numbers of corneal hypoesthesia and shortening the recovery time,which is worth of clinical promotion.

To investigate the genetic stability (including the vector of vaccinia virus and six foreign genes: gp160, gag, pol, rev, tat and nef) of the HIV-1 non-replicating recombinant vaccinia virus (rNTV-C). rNTV-C was serially passaged to passage 25 (P25) in primary chicken embryo fibroblast (CEF). P9, P12, P15 and P25 were selected to study the genetic stability in four aspects, including the genetic stability of viral vector, the genetic stability of six foreign genes, the expressing stability of foreign genes and the genetic loss of foreign genes. The results showed that the viral vector was non-replicated vaccinia virus of Tiantan strain and was passaged stably; foreign gene sequences matched with designed sequences, the insert sites were right, and the nucleotide mutation rate was less than one over ten thousands within different passages of rNTV-C; the target proteins could be expressed effectively, and the expression level was stable within different passages of rNTV-C; the genetic loss of gag and nef was less than 5% within different passages of rNTV-C. The above results provided important data for the vaccine production.
Animals ; DNA, Recombinant ; genetics ; Fibroblasts ; metabolism ; virology ; Gene Expression ; Genes, Viral ; genetics ; Genetic Engineering ; methods ; Genetic Vectors ; genetics ; HIV-1 ; genetics ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Vaccinia virus ; genetics

To understand the effect of various gene structures of HIV B'/C subtype on the gene expression and immunity in DNA vaccine, replicating DNA vector pSCK2 was used to construct seven DNA vaccines carrying one or more of HIV B'/C subtype genes: gagpol, gp160 and rtn (rev, tat and nef fusion gene). Immunofluorescence staining indicated that Gag, Gp160, Rev, Tat and Nef could be expressed from the seven DNA vaccines. Stronger expression was observed with the gene in single-gene expression plasmid or with the gene located at upper-IRES in double- or multi-gene expression plasmid. ELISA test showed that Gag induced higher antibody response, but the antibody titers stimulated by Gp160, Pol, or RTN were very low. Both Gag single-gene expression plasmid and Gag-RTN double-gene expression plasmid separately inoculating induced stronger antibody response against Gag than Gag-Gp160 double-gene expression plasmid and Gagpol-Gp160-RTN multi-gene expression plasmid or combined inoculation of Gag and Gp160 single-gene expression plasmids did. ELISPOT detection showed that all the seven DNA vaccines could stimulate cellular immune response against Gag, Pol, Gp160, Tat, and Nef, respectively. Gagpol or Gp160 single-gene expression plasmid separately inoculating stimulated the strongest cellular immune response. Tat and Nef expressed in all the plasmids induced similar immune response. These results indicated that HIV B'/C subtype genes gagpol, gp160 and rtn could be efficiently expressed in the replicating DNA vaccine vector, single-gene expression plasmid had the higher gene expression level and induced stronger immune response; combined immunization of Gagpol and Gp160 had dramatically lower immunity than Gagpol or Gp160 separated immunization did. Immunity of RTN had no difference between combined and separated immunizations. Therefore, in case of immunization with DNA vaccines containing different HIV genes, it is necessary to optimize the combined immunization procedure, especially for the combination of Gag and Gp160-containing vaccines.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Animals ; Antigens, Viral ; immunology ; Cell Line ; DNA Replication ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Epitopes ; chemistry ; immunology ; Female ; Gene Expression ; Genes, Viral ; genetics ; Genetic Vectors ; genetics ; HIV ; classification ; genetics ; immunology ; physiology ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Vaccines, DNA ; genetics ; immunology ; Virus Replication

OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinical effect of the minimally invasive surgical treatment with per-pancreat region for sever acute pancreatitis (SAP).

METHODSFify-four cases of SAP were divided into two groups, patients of group A (n = 28) were given minimally invasive surgical treatments (step 1: under local anesthesia, patients were put the home-made double cannula in the abdominal around the region of pancreas.step 2:patients with biliary stone were performed by laparoscopical operations). Patients of group B (n = 26) were treatment by open operations including biliary decompression, gastrostomy, jejunostomy, removing necrotic pancreatic organizations and puting the double cannula around the region of pancreas. Through double cannula around the pancreas area, all patient's cavity were persistently douched using 0.5% 5-FU saline solution.

RESULTSWashed after one week, two groups patient's drainage fluid amylase concentration were decreased significantly (t = 2.68, P = 0.013; t = 2.41, P = 0.028), patient's white cell count, body temperature, heart rate of Groups A were also decreased significantly (t = 2.32, P = 0.035; t = 2.39, P = 0.021; t = 2.38, P = 0.023). Compared with group B, the mortality, the incidence of complications, hospitalization time and total cost of treatment of group A patients were significantly lower than that of group B (chi(2) = 8.62, P = 0.001; chi(2) = 6.35, P = 0.014; t = 2.22, P = 0.034; t = 2.67, P = 0.010), but the cure rate was significantly higher than that of group B (chi(2) = 3.89, P = 0.045).

CONCLUSIONSMinimally invasive surgical treatment of per-pancreatic region for SAP can not only remove the causes, but also fully drainage and timely block the pathological vicious cycle of SAP. What is more, it is simple, minimally invasive and have few complications and significant effect.

Drainage ; Humans ; Laparoscopy ; Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures ; Pancreas ; Pancreatitis ; therapy

OBJECTIVETo observe the expressions of human beta-defensin 1 and 2 (hBD-1 and hBD-2) in nasal mucosa before and after the endoscopic sinus surgery and investigate the effects of hBD-1 and hBD-2 on the healing process after the surgery.

METHODSThe patients undergoing endoscopic sinus surgery for chronic sinusitis were divided into 3 groups according to the response to the surgery, namely cured group, response group and non-response group. With those from healthy control subjects as the control, nasal mucosa samples were collected from the patients at 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months and 6 months after the surgery for detection of hBD-1 and hBD-2 mRNA and protein expressions by RT-PCR and Western blotting.

RESULTShBD-1 and hBD-2 were expressed in both normal and chronic sinusitis mucosa, but the expression levels varied significantly between the individuals. The expression levels of hBD-2 was significantly correlated to the patients' response to the surgical treatment (P<0.05). hBD-1 showed slight differences between the individuals, but was not associated with the patients' prognosis.

CONCLUSIONThe expressions of hBD-2 mRNA and protein are significantly increased in patients with good response to endoscopic sinus surgery for chronic sinusitis, suggesting the value of hBD-2 as an indicator of the patients' prognosis.

Case-Control Studies ; Chronic Disease ; Endoscopy ; Humans ; Nasal Mucosa ; metabolism ; Postoperative Period ; Prognosis ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; Sinusitis ; metabolism ; surgery ; beta-Defensins ; metabolism

Objective To determine the changes of cerebrospinal fluid(CSF) ?-endorphin(?-EP) and C-reactive protein(CRP) in children with central nervous system(CNS) infection.Methods Sixty-five children suffered from CNS infection were determined the plasma and CSF ?-EP and CRP concentration during the acute and recovering stage with radioimmunoassay, which included 48 viral encephalitis, 12 purulent meningitis and 5 tuberculou meningitis,and 24 non-CNS disease children were as control group.Results The concentrations of plasma and CSF ?-EP of every experimental group were obviously higher than those of control group during the early stage of CNS infection and these were obviously lower during the recovering stage. The serum concentration of CRP during acute stage was significantly higher than that during recovering stage. No change of serum and CSF CRP concentration was determined during either the acute or recovering stage in the other two experimental groups.Conclusions Determining the plasma and CSF ?-EP is mea-(ningful) in early diagnosis of CNS infection,and determining the serum CRP at the same time may be helpful in differentiating septic and inseptic infection.