Some documents had reported that plant-derived smoke water showed prominent effects of promoting seed germination, seedling growth and fruit quality of crops and horticultural plants. Recently, researches had also focused on the significant activity of smoke water in improving the yield and quality of medicinal plants, which provided new ideas for increasing the medicinal plants yield and quality. In this paper, physiological effects, active component, and mechanism of smoke water and its application in medicinal plants were summarized, which can be used as references of more value for the further development of medicinal plants.

Objective To investigate the effect of plasma erythropoietin ( EPO) concentration on left ventricular systolic function and its relationship with acute mountain sickness ( AMS ) .Methods A total of 289 healthy young men were recruited in this study and divided into five groups:plain control group (Ⅰ) with 55 subjects;acute high altitude exposure group(Ⅱ) with 74 subjects(3700 m exposure for 24 h); the group of acute exposure after acclimatization (Ⅲ) with 68 subjects(4400 m exposure for 24 h after 1 week acclimatization at 3700 m); high altitude migrate group (Ⅳ) with 19 subjects ( migration to 3700 m for more than 1 year ); and the group of exposure after migration (Ⅴ) with 73 subjects (4400 m exposure for 50 d after more than one year migration to 3700 m).Lake Louise Self-assessment Scoring System ( LLSS) was used to assess AMS .Plasma concentrations of EPO and echocardiography were also determined .Results EPO was significantly increased after acute high altitude exposure .There was no significant difference in EPO between groupⅡand Ⅲ(P>0.05), but significantly higher than in group Ⅰ (P<0.05).No significant difference was found between group Ⅳ,Ⅴ and Ⅰ (P>0.05).In group Ⅱ, positive correlation was found between EPO concentration and stroke volume (SV) as well as left ventricular diastolic diameter (LVDD) (R=0.278 and 0.236,respectively,P<0.05), while negative correlation was expressed between EPO concentration and the AMS score (R=-0.249,P<0.05).In other groups,there was no relationship between EPO concentration and the index of left ventricular function .Conclusion EPO may work on AMS through left ventricular systolic function enhancement after acute high altitude exposure .

Smoke water and distillation liquid were used to treat the seeds of Trichosathes kirilowii and to study the effects of smoke water and distillation liquid on the seed germination and seedling growth of T. kirilowii. The results showed that germination rate, germination index and germination vigor of T. kirilowii all were significantly improved with the treatment of SW and DL treatment. The activity of α-amylase were significantly increased with the treatment of SW and DL at 1:2,000. SW and DL treatment showed no significant effects on the activity of SOD. The activity of POD were markedly enhanced under the treatment of SW (1:000) and DL (1:2,000). CAT activity were increased with the treatment of SW and DL at 1:2,000 while were inhibited by SW and DL at 1:500. Seedling height and root length were increased with the treatment of SW and DL (1:1,000, 1:2,000). SW and DL treaments improved the content of chlorophyll, and moreover with the concentration of SW and DL, the stimulatory were also increased. This work demonstrated that smoke water and diatillation liquid at 1:2,000 could stimulate the seed germination and seedling growth of T. kirilowii, and it provided the references for the study of seed germination technology.
Agriculture ; instrumentation ; methods ; Distillation ; Germination ; Seedlings ; growth & development ; metabolism ; Seeds ; growth & development ; metabolism ; Smoke ; analysis ; Trichosanthes ; growth & development ; metabolism ; Water ; chemistry ; metabolism

Objective To investigate the spatial distribution and clustering areas of Budd-Chiari syndrome in Heze City,Shandong Province,and to provide epidemiological information for further exploring the etiology and related risk factors of the disease.Methods Detailed residential addresses of 342 cases of patients (residents of Heze City) with diaphragm type Budd-Chiari syndrome diagnosed between 1995 and 2004 in Heze Municipal Hospital,Heze Shan County Central Hospital,Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical College,Shandong Provincial Hospital and Beijing Xuanwu Hospital were collected.Geographic information system (GIS) was used as a platform for data management and display.The nearest neighbor index,Ripley's K(d) function,Ripley's L(d) function and the nearest neighbor clustering method were applied to detect the spatial characters of Budd-Chiari syndrome in Heze City,Shandong Province.Crimestat 3.0 was used for spatial analysis.Results The nearest neighbor distance analysis showed that the nearest neighbor index was 0.6767 (Z =-11.4387,P ＜ 0.01).That was an aggregation at the first-order spatial scale.Within the study area,the first clustering radius of Budd-Chiari syndrome was 6.66 km,and the first clustering strength was 5.40; the average radius of the strongest clustering area was 126.61 km,and the clustering strength was 12.52,while the biggest clustering radius was larger than 222 km.After corrected by population,the gathering strength was slightly higher than that before the correction.Ten first-order hot spots were formed,and 95％ confidence interval aggregation number was 7,which meant the results were statistically significant(P ＜ 0.05),main clustering areas are in Mudan District,Shan County and Juancheng.One secondorder hot spot was gathered based on the first-order hot spot.Conclusions Spatial distribution of Budd-Chiari syndrome in Heze City,Shandong Province has showed spatial aggregation and heterogeneity.This study has a great epidemiological significance for further exploring the cause of Budd-Chiari syndrome.

AIM: To investigate hemodynamic alterations of retrobulbar vessels in proliferative diabetic retinopathy ( PDR) patients with anterior segment neovascularization, before and 3mo after vitrectomy combined with panretinal photocoagulation and to explore the clinical significance.
●METHODS: Color Doppler flow imaging ( CDFl ) was used for measurement of blood flow velocities and resistive indexes ( Rl ) of the ophthalmic artery ( OA ) , short posterior ciliary arteries ( sPCA ) and central retinal artery ( CRA ) in 21 eyes of 21 PDR patients with anterior segment neovascularization. CDFl parameters were obtained before and 3mo after vitrectomy combined with panretinal photocoagulation ( PRP) .
● RESULTS: Peak systolic velocity ( PSV ) and end diastolic velocity ( EVD ) of CRA were significantly increased after surgeries, Rl were decreased significantly (P<0. 05). Parameters of sPCA and OA have no change after surgeries (P>0. 05).
●CONCLUSION: Vitrectomy combined with panretinal photocoagulation might increase the velocity of CRA, decrease Rl and improve ocular blood supply postoperatively. lt may delay or prevent the process of neovascular glaucoma.

Purpose To investigate the expression of transcriptional suppressor CtBP1,Zeb1,Zeb2 and their target gene E-cadherin,and their significance in cholangiocarcinoma.Methods The expression of CtBP1,Zeb1,Zeb2 and E-cadherin proteins in cholangiocarcinoma and the paired non-neoplastic tissue array were detected by the immunohistohemical staining.Results The positive rates of CtBP1 expression in cholangiocarcinoma and the paired non-neoplastic tissue were 44.44％ and 17.86％,these of Zeb2 were 34.92％ and 10.71％,and these of E-cadherin were 50.79％ and 100％,respectively.The differences between the groups were statistically significant (all P ＜ 0.05).There was only one case with expression of Zeb1 in cholangiocarcinoma,but no expression in the paired non-neoplastic tissue.CtBP1 was correlated with the degree of differentiation of cholangiocarcinoma (P ＜ 0.05).Ecadherin was related to the differentiation degree,and distant metastasis of cholangiocarcinoma (all P ＜ 0.05).The E-cadherin expression was negatively correlated with CtBP1 and Zeb2 (r =-0.034,-0.029,all P ＜ 0.05).The Zeb2 expression was positively correlated with CtBP1 (r =0.228,P =0.005).Conclusion CtBP1,Zeb2 and E-cadherin express abnormally in cholangiocarcinoma.CtBP1,Zeb2 may be involved in the regulation of E-cadherin expression.Joint detection of CtBP1 and Ecadherin is expected to be a reference index to evaluate the malignant biological behavior of cholangiocarcinoma.

Trichosanthes kirilowii has been widely cultivated as its medicinal use, health care and food value. Drought resistance of seedlings is an important feature in breeding. Seeds of two T. kirilowii strains were used to research the difference of surface ultrastructure characteristic and drought resistance. Scanning electron microscope was used to identify the surface ultrastructure characteristic of seeds and PEG was used to simulate drought stress. The seeds germination rate, MDA content, chlorophyll content and the antioxidant enzymes activity were measured under the drought stress. The results showed that the seed surface colour of KXY-001 was lighter than that of KXY-005. The testa cobwebbing of KXY-001 was more intensive than that of KXY-005. The germination rate of KXY-001 was higher than that of KXY-005 under drought stress. The MDA content was increased and the chlorophyll content was decreased with the increasing of drought degree. The SOD activity of KXY-001 was higher than that of KXY-005, while the activity of POD and CAT was also increased firstly and decreased later. Surface reticulate of seeds and hilar traits can be used as identification points to identify the investigated strains. SOD and POD are activated to resist drought in T. kirilowii seedlings and the drought resistance of KXY-001 is superior than that of KXY-005.
Adaptation, Physiological ; drug effects ; Catalase ; metabolism ; Chlorophyll ; metabolism ; Droughts ; Germination ; Malondialdehyde ; metabolism ; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning ; Peroxidase ; metabolism ; Polyethylene Glycols ; pharmacology ; Seedlings ; metabolism ; Seeds ; growth & development ; metabolism ; ultrastructure ; Species Specificity ; Superoxide Dismutase ; metabolism ; Trichosanthes ; classification ; growth & development ; metabolism

AIMTo develop an HPLC-MS assay for determination of donepezil in human plasma and to investigate the pharmacokinetics and bioequivalence of donepezil capsule in healthy volunteers.

METHODSA randomized crossover design was performed in 20 healthy volunteers. In the two study periods, a single 5 mg dose of either capsule or tablet was administered to each volunteer. After spiked with the internal standard (phenoprolamine) and treated with saturated sodium bicarbonate, plasma was extracted with ethyl acetate and separated with a C18 reversed phase column. LC-ESIMS was used in the selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode with target ions at m/z 380 for donepezil and m/z 344 for phenoprolamine. The fragmentor voltage was 120 V. The main pharmacokinetic parameters of donepezil and the bioequivalence of its two preparations were calculated.

RESULTSThe main pharmacokinetic parameters T1/2, Tmax and Cmax were (63 +/- 10) h, (3.3 +/- 0.4) h and (8.5 +/- 0.4) microgram.L-1 for the capsule; (57 +/- 9) h, (3.4 +/- 1.0) h and (8.1 +/- 1.0) microgram.L-1 for the tablet, respectively. The relative bioavailability of the donepezil capsule was 102% +/- 11%.

CONCLUSIONThe assay was shown to be sensitive, accurate and convenient. The two preparations of donepezil were bioequivalent.

Adult ; Area Under Curve ; Biological Availability ; Capsules ; chemistry ; Cholinesterase Inhibitors ; administration & dosage ; pharmacokinetics ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Cross-Over Studies ; Humans ; Indans ; administration & dosage ; pharmacokinetics ; Male ; Piperidines ; administration & dosage ; pharmacokinetics ; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization ; Tablets ; chemistry ; Therapeutic Equivalency

OBJECTIVETo investigate the relationship between beta-catenin and matrix metalloproteinase-7 (MMP-7) expression and development/biologic behavior of human colorectal cancer.

METHODSImmunohistochemical study for beta-catenin and MMP-7 was carried out on colorectal adenoma-carcinoma tissue microarrays and results analyzed.

RESULTSThe nuclear beta-catenin expression rate was 35.9% in adenoma with malignant transformation, significantly higher than that in adenoma (16.7%) and carcinoma (19.7%) (both P < 0.05). The cytoplasmic and nuclear beta-catenin expression rate in adenoma with severe dysplasia was significantly higher than that in adenoma with mild dysplasia (both P < 0.05). The nuclear beta-catenin expression rate in adenocarcinomas of the ulcerative type, with lymph node metastasis and in the late tumor stages were all significantly higher than that in adenocarcinomas of the polypoid type, with negative lymph node and in the early tumor stages (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). The MMP-7 expression rate in adenocarcinoma (69.2%) was significantly higher than that in normal colorectal mucosa (15.0%), adenoma (35.0%) and adenoma with malignant transformation (46.2%, P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). The MMP-7 expression rate in ulcerative type adenocarcinoma with lymph node metastasis and in late tumor stages was significantly higher than that in polypoid type adenocarcinoma with negative lymph node and in early tumor stages (all P < 0.05). The cytoplasmic and nuclear beta-catenin expression was thus in positive correlation with the expression of MMP-7 (both P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSThe cytoplasmic and nuclear beta-catenin expression, probably an early event, was related to the development of colorectal cancer. beta-catenin may enhance the degradative function of the target gene MMP-7 through nuclear translocation and may further facilitate local invasion and metastasis by the colorectal cancer cells.

Adenocarcinoma ; metabolism ; pathology ; Adenoma ; metabolism ; pathology ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Cell Nucleus ; metabolism ; Cell Transformation, Neoplastic ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Cytoplasm ; metabolism ; Female ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Humans ; Intestinal Mucosa ; metabolism ; Liver Neoplasms ; metabolism ; secondary ; Lung Neoplasms ; metabolism ; secondary ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 7 ; metabolism ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Precancerous Conditions ; metabolism ; pathology ; beta Catenin ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo study the chemical constituents and volatile oil of Xiaochengqi decoction.

METHODThe constituents in decoction were separated by means of column chromatography and their structures were identified by spectral data and compared with literature data. As well as the volatile oil of Xiaochengqi Fang were analyzed and identified by GC-MS.

RESULTEleven compounds were isolated and identified as chrysophanol (1), physcion (2), magnolol (3), beta-sitosterol (4), sitosterol trans-cinnamic acid (5), emodin (6), aloe emodin (7), rhein (8), gallic acid (9), chrysophanol-8-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (10), aurantiamarin (11). The volatile oils extracted with steam distillation from Xiaochengqi were identified 67 components, and the main components are including.

CONCLUSIONAll of the eleven compounds were isolated from Xiaochengqi decoction for the first time and the study on their activities in Chinese prescription is being carried out. D-limonene (42.61%), p-cymene (16.43%), and 8-terpinene (14.46%).

Anthraquinones ; chemistry ; Biphenyl Compounds ; chemistry ; Cinnamates ; chemistry ; Cyclohexenes ; chemistry ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Emodin ; analogs & derivatives ; chemistry ; Gallic Acid ; chemistry ; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry ; Lignans ; chemistry ; Monoterpenes ; chemistry ; Oils, Volatile ; chemistry ; Sitosterols ; chemistry ; Terpenes ; chemistry