Pterygium is a common disorder of ocular surface with unknown etiology and pathogenesis. The epidemiological studies around the world have shown that the prevalence rates range from 0.3% to 37.46%. Pterygium is related to geographic setting, sunlight and ultraviolet exposure,age, gender, economic situation, dry eye syndrome and others. The purpose of this review is to present a summary of the more recent literature about the epidemiological study, paying particular attention to prevalence and risk factors of pterygium.

[Objective]To evaluate the efficacy of percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP) in managing vertebral compression fractures due to osteoporosis(OVCF).[Method]Thirty-one OVCFs patients (46 vertebrae) undergoing PKP were retrospectively analyzed.In these patients,there were 9 males and 22 females who were from 61 to 78 years old with averaged 68 years,and the injured vertebrae were from T7 to L3.All the patients had plain X-rays and CT scan as well as MR images preoperatively.With all of the patients,local infiltration anesthesia were performed,20 were injected bilaterally while 11 unilaterally.Before and after operarion,the visual analogue scale (VAS) score was estimated and sagittal index(SI) as well as Cobb′s angle of the vertebrae were measured.The data were statistically analyzed with the method of paired t-test.[Result]The duration of follow up after operetion were 6 to 30 months with a mean of 18 months.The VAS score reduced from 8.7 before operation to 2.5 after operation (P

Objective to investigate the therapeutic efficacy of multiple-point injection with absolute alcohol and pinyangmycin under digital fluoroscopic guidance for superficial venous malformations. Methods By using a disposal venous transfusion needle the superficial venous malformation was punctured and then contrast media lohexol was injected in to visualize the tumor body,which was followed by the injection of ethanol and pinyangmycin when the needle was confirmed in the correct position. The procedure was successfully performed in 31 patients. The clinical results were observed and analyzed. Results After one treatment complete cure was achieved in 21 cases and marked effect was obtained in 8 cases,with a total effectiveness of 93.5%. Conclusion Multiple-point injection with ethanol and pinyangmycin under digital fluoroscopic guidance is an effective and safe technique for the treatment of superficial venous malformations,especially for the lesions that are deeply located and ill-defined.

Taxus is the source plant of anti-cancer drug paclitaxel and its biosynthetic precursor, analogs and derivatives, which has been studying for decades. There are many endemic Taxus species in China, which have been studied in the field of multiple disciplines. Based on the recent studies of the researchers, this review comments on the study of Taxus biology and chemistry. The bibliometric method is used to quantify the global scientific production of Taxus-related research, and identify patterns and tendencies of Taxus-related articles. Gaps are present in knowledge about the genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics and bioinformatics of Taxus and their endophytic fungi. Systems biology and various omics technologies will play an increasingly important role in the coming decades.

Actinin ; genetics ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Athletes ; Athletic Performance ; China ; Ethnic Groups ; genetics ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Young Adult

With the surge of high-throughput sequencing technology, it is becoming popular to perform the phylogenetic study based on genomic data. A bundle of new terms is emerging, such as phylogenomics, pharmacophylogenomics and phylotranscriptomics, which are somewhat overlapping with pharmaphylogeny. Phylogenomics is the crossing of evolutionary biology and genomics, in which genome data are utilized for evolutionary reconstructions. Pharmaphylogeny, advocated by Prof. Pei-gen Xiao since 1980s, focuses on the phylogenetic relationship of medicinal plants and is thus nurtured by molecular phylogeny, chemotaxonomy and bioactivity studies. Phylogenomics can be integrated into the flow chart of drug discovery and development, and extend the field of pharmaphylogeny at the omic level, thus the concept of pharmacophylogenomics could be redefined. This review gives a brief analysis of the association and the distinguished feature of the pharmaphylogeny related terms, in the context of plant-based drug discovery and sustainable utilization of pharmaceutical resource.

Objective To investigate the protein expression of cyclooxygenase(COX)-2 and matrix metalloproteinase(MMP)-2 and their correlation in human gastric carcinoma.Methods The protein expression of COX-2 and MMP-2 was determined by immunohistochemistry in tumor tissues and adjacent cancerous tissues (3 cm and 6 cm away from tumor margin) of 30 patients with gastric cancer,and in gastric mucosa of 10 healthy individuals.Results Expression of COX-2 was found in cancer cells of 26 out of 30 cases (86.67%),which was significantly higher than that in normal control (0 of 10,P

Animals ; Chlorine Compounds ; toxicity ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Female ; Lung ; drug effects ; metabolism ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; biosynthesis ; genetics

Good medicinal herbs, good drugs. Good evaluation method and indices are the prerequisite of good medicinal herbs. However, there exist numerous indices for quality evaluation and control in Chinese medicinal materials. However, most of these indices are non-interrelated each other, as well as having little relationship with efficiency and safety. The results of different evaluatior methods may not be consistent, even contradictory. Considering the complex material properties of Chinese medicinal materials, single method and index is difficult to objectively and comprehensively reflect the quality. Therefore, it is essential to explore the integrated evaluation methods. In this paper, oriented by the integrated evaluation strategies for traditional Chinese medicine quality, a new method called integrated quality index (IQI) by the integration of empirical evaluation, chemical evaluation, and biological evaluation was proposed. In addition, a study case of hypertoxic herb Aconitum carmichaelii Debx. was provided to explain this method in detail. The results suggested that in the view of specifications, the average weight of Jiangyou aconite was the greatest, followed by Weishan aconite, Butuo aconite, Hanzhong aconite, and Anxian aconite; from the point of chemical components, Jiangyou aconite had the characteristic with strong efficacy and weak toxicity, next was Hanzhong aconite, Butuo aconite, Weishan aconite, and Anxian aconite; taking toxicity price as the index, Hanzhong aconite and Jiangyou aconite have the lower toxicity, while Butuo aconite, Weishan aconite, and Anxian aconite have the relatively higher one. After the normalization and integration of evaluation results, we calculated the IQI value of Jiangyou aconite, Hanzhong aconite, Butuo aconite, Weishan aconite, and Anxian aconite were 0.842 +/- 0.091, 0.597 +/- 0.047, 0.442 +/- 0.033, 0.454 +/- 0.038, 0.170 +/- 0.021, respectively. The quality of Jiangyou aconite is significantly better than the others (P < 0.05) followed by Hanzhong aconite, which is consistent with the traditional understanding of genuineness. It can be concluded that IQI achieves the integrated control and evaluation for the quality of Chinese medicinal materials, and it is an exploration for building the good medicinal herbs standards. In addition, IQI provides technical supports for the geoherbalism evaluation, selective breeding, the development of precision decoction pieces, high quality and favourable price in market circulation, and rational drug use.
Aconitum ; chemistry ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; standards ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; standards

Quality control is one of the key scientific tissues in the modernization of traditional Chinese medicines (TCM). In order to overcome the deficiencies of assessment indexes, including little systematization and quantification, as well as loose association with clinical efficacy and dosage, a new integrated method named controllability pyramid ( CP) is first proposed in this paper. In addition, some study cases are used to explain how this model is constructed. We hope the establishment of CP could promote the clinical-orien- ted integrated innovation research of TCM, and provide control strategy and technology examples for improving the quality of Chinese medicines and clinical efficacy.
China ; Drug Evaluation ; methods ; standards ; Drug Therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; standards ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; standards ; Quality Control