Objective: To explore the active components with toxic effects in five Aconitum L. herbal medicines on Tetrahymena thermophila. Methods: The fingerprints of five Aconitum L. herbal medicines were established by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) and the toxicity was evaluated by using a TAM Air Isothermal Calorimeter on Tetrahymena thermophila SB110. Results: By analyzing the spectrum-effect relationships between UPLC fingerprints and toxic effects, the active components which had the toxic effects were obtained. Conclusion: This work provides a general model of the combination of UPLC and microcalorimetry to study the spectrum-effect relationships of the five Aconitum L. herbal medicines, which could be used to evaluate the toxic effects and analyze the principal toxic components of the five Aconitum L. herbal medicines. On the whole, this result provides the experimental basis for the safe use of the five Aconitum L. herbal medicines in clinic. © 2014 Tianjin Press of Chinese Herbal Medicines.

Macrolactins are 24-membered macrolides produced by unidentified marine bacterium, Actinomadura sp. and Bacillus sp., which exhibit both antibacterial and antitumor activities in vitro. The environmental strain X-2 which was isolated from the sediment of the East China Sea produce Macrolatin A, B and O. In this study, a set of degenerate oligonucleotide primers, designed for amplification ketosynthase(KS) domains, had been employed to identify KS gene fragments of the X-2 DNA samples. One 645 bp KS fragment(GenBank accession no. EF486351)had been cloned and used as a probe to screen the genome DNA fosmid library of X-2. Three positive clones were selected and sequenced, Homologous analysis and the function prediction of the obtained PKS gene fragments suggested that macrolactin is the Polyketide Biosynthesis Product of the gene cluster obtained in the environmental strain X-2.

Objective:To assess the β-amyloid (Aβ) deposition of voxel-based PET imaging in Alzheimer′s disease (AD) and its relationships with blood biomarkers (Aβ).Methods:From January 2015 to December 2018, a total of 23 AD patients (9 males, 14 females, age (68.5±9.0) years; duration: (40.9±23.3) months; 8 mild patients, 15 moderate or severe patients) who underwent Aβ PET and with positive imaging results in Daping Hospital, Army Medical University were retrospectively enrolled. The information of Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) were collected. Blood level of Aβ42, Aβ40 were measured. Differences of those metrics including Aβ42/Aβ40 between mild and moderate or severe patients were compared. For all 11C-Pittsburgh compound B (PIB) PET images, voxel-based one-sample independent t test analyses were performed. Voxel-based two-sample independent t test analyses were also performed between mild and moderate or severe patients. The voxel-based Pearson correlation analyses were run to assess the associations between blood metrics and Aβ deposition of 11C-PIB PET. Results:Comparing with mild patients, moderate or severe patients had lower MMSE (9.67±4.37 vs 17.13±2.80; t=4.349, P<0.001) and longer duration ((48.8±23.8) vs (26.0±13.5) months; t=-2.489, P<0.05). On voxel-wise analysis, amyloid PET illustrated brain Aβ deposition in bilateral frontal, right temporal, right occipital and posterior cingulate regions ( t values: 0.44-0.67, all P<0.001). Within AD, Aβ42/Aβ40 ( r values: from -0.62 to -0.41, 0.41-0.66, all P<0.05) were associated with amyloid PET, but not associated with Aβ42 ( r values: from -0.33 to 0, all P>0.05) or Aβ40 ( r values: from -0.41 to 0, all P>0.05). Conclusions:Based on voxel-wise analysis, 11C-PIB PET has comparable value for brain Aβ deposition. Aβ42/Aβ40 has the potential to predict brain Aβ deposition.

Objective:To investigate the diagnostic value of 11C-Pittsburgh compound B (PIB) in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer′s disease (AD) and explore the factors that may affect the binding of 11C-PIB. Methods:From January 2017 to December 2019, the 11C-PIB uptake of 6 patients with normal cognitive (NC; 3 males, 3 females, age: (64.5±12.3) years), 11 patients with MCI (4 males, 7 females, age: (64.5±9.8) years) and 21 patients with AD (7 males, 14 females, age: (68.1±9.1) years) from Daping Hospital, Army Medical University were retrospectively analyzed. Regional 11C-PIB binding was assessed by using standardized uptake value ratio (SUVR) and visual reading of 11C-PIB scan. Clinical data, including age, gender, education level, cognitive impairment, neuropsychological scale score, vascular risk factors (VRF), apolipoprotein E (ApoE) gene, were collected and differences among groups were analyzed by using one-way analysis of variance, least significant difference t test or Fisher exact test. Factors that affected the 11C-PIB binding were analyzed by multiple linear regression. Results:SUVR of cerebral lobe among NC, MCI and AD groups were significantly different (range of mean SUVR: 1.16-1.26, 1.19-1.35 and 1.40-1.61; F values: 5.331-9.279, all P<0.05). For positive PIB patients, SUVR of posterior cingulate and precuneus were increased in MCI group compared with NC group (1.20±0.15 vs 1.50±0.12, 1.18±0.15 vs 1.59±0.13; F values: 6.389 and 10.668, t values: -2.33 and -3.10, both P<0.05), and there were no significant differences in all lobes between MCI and AD group ( t values: from -1.29 to -0.51, all P>0.05). Visual analysis showed that the positive rates of PIB in frontal lobe (85.7%(18/21)), posterior cingulate (85.7%(18/21)), precuneus (81.0%(17/21)), temporal lobe (81.0%(17/21)) and occipital lobe (47.6%(10/21)) in AD were higher than those in MCI (4/11, 4/11, 4/11, 3/11 and 1/11, respectively; all P<0.05). Multiple linear regression showed that the degree of cognitive impairment were independent risk factors for SUVR of all lobes ( b values: 0.377-0.536, all P<0.05). The ApoE ε4 gene was independent risk factor for SUVR of precuneus ( b=0.290, P<0.05). Conclusion:11C-PIB is helpful for clinical diagnosis of MCI and AD patients and the degree of cognitive impairment and ApoE ε4 gene may be independent risk factors for increasing 11C-PIB binding.

Natural products are important sources of drug discovery. However, the traditional methods of extraction and isolation, as well as chemical synthesis for obtaining natural products are associated with issues such as operational complexity, high costs, low efficiency, and environmental pollution. Constructing microbial cell factories through synthetic biology methods to produce medicinal natural products has the advantages of high efficiency, low cost, and environmental protection. Nevertheless, the scope and yield improvement of the products are limited by the limitations of enzymes in microbial cell factories. Protein engineering is considered one of the most effective approaches to overcome these limitations. This article introduces commonly used methods of protein engineering technology and summarizes its specific applications in improving enzyme performance, modifying the enzymatic environment, and promoting the development of synthetic biology tools in the field of pharmaceutical natural product synthesis. Furthermore, it analyzes the current bottlenecks and challenges in protein engineering and looks forward to its future application prospects, offering insights for the development and practical use of protein engineering technology.

Traditional sequence analysis depends on sequence alignment. In this study, we analyzed various functional regions of the human genome based on sequence features, including word frequency, dinucleotide relative abundance, and base-base correlation. We analyzed the human chromosome 22 and classified the upstream,exon, intron, downstream, and intergenic regions by principal component analysis and discriminant analysis of these features. The results show that we could classify the functional regions of genome based on sequence feature and discriminant analysis.

Objective To investigate the effect of Abro1 on acute respiratory distress syndrome(ARDS)/acute lung injury(ALI)in mice.Methods Abro1 knock-out(KO)mice and wild type(WT)mice were both randomly divided into two groups for intratracheal instillation of lipopolysaccharide(LPS)or normal saline.At 6 or 24 hours after treatment, the pathological changes in lung tissue were observed by HE staining.At 6 hours after treatment,inflammatory immune cells and cytokines production(IL-6)in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid were examined.Myeloperoxidase(MPO)and the mRNA level of IL-6 in the lung tissue were compared.Results At 24 hours after treatment, compared with WT mice treated with LPS,Abro1 KO mice showed a significantly lower lung injury score.At 6 hours after treatment,Abro1 depletion resulted in reduced levels of inflammatory immune cell infiltration and cytokines production(IL-6)in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid(P<0.05).In addition,the MPO content and the mRNA level of IL-6 in the lung tissue were much lower than those in WT mice treated with LPS for 6 hours(P<0.05).Conclusion Abro1 deficiency can attenuate LPS-induced ARDS/ALI.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of Jiawei Yupingfeng Mixture (YPF) on repeated respiratory tract infection (RRTI) and its impacts on T-cell subsets, immunoglobulin and erythrocyte immune.

METHODSTwo hundred children with RRTI were assigned equally to two groups, the test group treated with YPF and the control group treated by transfer factor. The clinical efficacy, and the changes of T-cell subsets, immunoglobulin and erythrocyte immune before and after treatment were observed in 31 patients randomly selected from each group.

RESULTSAfter treatment, the frequency of attacking was reduced and the course of attacking was shortened significantly in the test group as compared with before treatment and also with the control group (P < 0.01); IgG and IgA levels were improved in both groups, but the improvement was more significant in the test group (P<0.01, P<0.05); T-cell subsets indices, including CD3(+), CD4(+), CD8(+) and CD4(+)/CD8(+) ratio, all improved in the test group significantly (P <0.01), while in the control group, significant improvement only showed in rising of CD3(+) and CD4(+) (P <0.05, P <0.01), comparison between groups showed significant difference in terms of CD3(+), CD4(+) and CD8(+); in the control group, levels of C3b, RFER and RFIR were changed significantly (P<0.05, P<0.01), but the improvement of ICR was insignificant, while in the test group, the above indices were significant improved as compared with after treatment of the control group (P <0.01).

CONCLUSIONYPF plays a preventive and therapeutic role in children with RRTI by way of regulating the cellular and humoral immune.

Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins ; Infant ; Male ; Respiratory Tract Infections ; immunology ; prevention & control ; T-Lymphocyte Subsets ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo discuss the replantation of fingertip amputation in lack of availability of intravenous anastomosis.

METHODSFrom November 2009 to November 2010, 86 patients (104 fingers) with fingertip amputation were treated with replantatioin, including 64 males and 22 females, with an average age of 26 years ranging from 2 to 64 years. The time from injury to therapy was from 30 min to 12 h, time of broken finger ischemia was from 2.5 to 12 h. Preoperative examination showed no obvious abnormalities. Four different replantation methods were selectively applied to these 104 amputated fingertips of 86 cases: (1) replantation with anastomosis of single or bilateral proper digital artery in 37 fingers; (2) replantation with arteriovenous bypass in 27 fingers; (3) replantation with exclusive anastomosis of digital artery in 24 fingers; (4) replantation with removing the palmar pocket method in 16 fingers.

RESULTSOne hundred and two of 104 amputated fingertips were survived. Among these survived fingers,75 cases (92 fingers) were followed-up for 6 to 24 months. According to the assessment standard of Chinese Medical Association of Hand Surgery, the results were excellent in 52 cases, good in 19, poor in 4.

CONCLUSIONIt benefits to expand the indications and improve the survival rate of replantation of fingertip amputation with the correct choice of different replantation methods according to the injury situation of the broken fingertip artery after debridement under the microscope.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Amputation ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Debridement ; Female ; Fingers ; physiology ; surgery ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Recovery of Function ; Replantation ; methods ; Young Adult

Tumor thermal-treatment instrument is a newly developed medical instrument using HIFU technology. On the basis of a brief introduction of the system structure, this paper emphasizes the computer aided-therapy system applying a lot of computer technologies such as digital signal processing, digital signal communication computer aided design, artificial intelligence and database management system. Finally a concise therapy process using computer aided-therapy system is also introduced.
Artificial Intelligence ; Computer Systems ; Equipment Design ; Humans ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ; instrumentation ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Therapy, Computer-Assisted ; instrumentation ; Ultrasonic Therapy ; instrumentation