Adult ; Aged ; Bronchoalveolar Lavage ; methods ; Critical Pathways ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pneumoconiosis ; therapy

Analogous formulae (AF) refer to a set of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formulae sharing similar herbs and/or indications. Dissecting functional chemome of analogous formulae could enhance the understanding of the intrinsic nature of TCM. In this study, taking 5 Xiaoqinglong decoction analogous formulae (XQL AF) including Xiaoqinglong decoction, Mahuang Xingren Shigao Gancao decoction, Mahuang Fuzi decoction, Houpu Mahuang decoction and Daqinglong decoction as example, we systematically investigated the relationship between compounds and indications using network formulaology approach. The functional chemome of XQL AF were revealed by network analysis and molecular docking. This successful application in XQL AF suggests network formulaology could be a useful tool for AF-related research and therefore provide a new way to discover the scientific foundation of Zhang Zhongjing's herbal formulae.
Chemistry, Pharmaceutical ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Molecular Docking Simulation

Objective To clone and sequence the partial gene of Schistosoma japonicum phosphoglycerate kinase (SjPGK). Methods A pair of primers were designed and synthesized according to the cDNA sequence of Schistosoma mansoni phosphoglycerate kinase (SmPGK) gene. The gene fragment of SjPGK was amplified and isolated from the total RNA of S.japonicum by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The gene fragment was cloned into the cloning vector of pMD18-T, The positive clones were acquired and identified with restrictive enzymes and PCR amplification. After being sequenced with DNA auto-sequence analysis instrument,the cDNA sequence of SjPGK was searched for homologue identity with NCBI BLAST program. Results The gene encoding SjPGK was obtained and isolated by RT-PCR .The fragment of SjPGK was about 830 bp.The cDNA sequence of the phosphoglycerate kinase was highly homologous between Schistosoma mansoni and Schistosoma japonicum. The identity of nucleotide sequence was 85% and score 672, and the identity of amino sequence was 94% and score 473. Conclusion The partial gene of encoding SjPGK is cloned into the cloning vector of pMD18-T, which gives the basis for discovering new candidate vaccine molecular for schistosomiasis.

This research was a part of the investigation of traditional Chinese medicine resources survey in Markam. The medicinal plants in natural reserve were studied for the first in this paper. There were 300 species in 202 genera of 54 families, among them there were 7 species of ferns in 5 genera of 5 families, 6 species of gymnosperms in 4 genera of 3 families, and 287 species of angiosperms in 194 genera of 61 families. There were 166 species Tibetan medicinal plants in 102 genera of 47 families. Quantitative analysis was carried out in 6 aspects of family and genus composition, medicinal parts, drug properties, flavour of a drug, Tibetan medicine, toxicity and new plants. The concrete suggestions of protection and exploitation were put forward, which provided scientific basis for the sustainable utilization of medicinal plants in this area.
Biodiversity ; Conservation of Natural Resources ; Medicine, Tibetan Traditional ; Plants, Medicinal ; Tibet

Background Unfractionated heparin is the most commonly used anticoagulant in continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT),but it can increase the risk of bleeding.Citrate is a promising substitute.Our study was to assess the efficacy and safety of citrate versus unfractionated heparin in CRRT.Methods We searched the MEDLINE,the EMBASE,the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials,and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database until up to November 2011 for randomized controlled trials comparing citrate with unfractionated heparin in adult patients with acute kidney injury prescribed CRRT.The primary outcome was mortality and the secondary outcomes included circuit survival,control of uremia,risk of bleeding,transfusion rates,acid-base statuses,and disturbance of sodium and calcium homeostasis.Results Four trials met the inclusion criteria.Meta-analysis found no significant difference between two anticoagulants on mortality.Less bleeding and more hypocalcemic episodes were with citrate.Citrate was superior or comparable to unfractionated heparin in circuit life.Conclusions Citrate anticoagulation in CRRT seems to be superior in reducing bleeding risk and with a longer or similar circuit life,although there is more metabolic derangement.Mortality superiority has not been approved.

Objective To establish a micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography method for content determination of geniposide in Biyuanshu Oral Liquid. Methods Acetaminophen was used as an internal standard, and the separation was performed on an uncoated fused silica capillary of 52 cm × 50 μm ID (42 cm effective length) with the separation voltage of 25.0 kV. The running buffer contained 50 mmol/L borax, 100 mmol/L sodium dodecyl sulfate and 15％ acetonitrile (pH=10). The sample was injected by pressure (10 s, 0.5 psi) and detected at 238 nm. Results Geniposide was in good linearity range of 15.02–320.48 μg/mL (r=0.9995). The repeatability (low, medium and high concentration of samples) and intermediate precision assays gave satisfactory RSD values of less than 1.77％and 2.01％, respectively. The average recovery of geniposide in Biyuanshu Oral Liquid was 97.50％ and the RSD was 4.43％. The contents of geniposide determined by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography were in accordance with the results of HPLC analysis. Conclusion The method is simple, fast, accurate and precise, which can be used for the content determination of geniposide in Biyuanshu Oral Liquid.

12 strains of H2-producing bacteria were isolated and purified from anaerobic sludge, aerobic sludge and river bottom sludge by Hungate method. A new species of high efficient hydrogen production bacterium Enterococcus sp. LG1 (registration number: EU258743 ) was studied deeply. It was showed that the Enterococcus sp. LG1 was an anaerobic and Gram-negative bacterium. Sequence analysis of this type of clones showed that it was affiliated with the genus Enterococcus and it was not reported yet in other paper at present. Meanwhile, batch tests of anaerobic fermentative hydrogen production by Enterococcus sp. LG1 were investigated by using sterilization pretreated sludge as substrate. The changes of soluble COD, protein, carbohydrate and pH value during hydrogen fermentation were monitored. It was found that only hydrogen and carbon dioxide were produced by this strain and no methane was detected during fermentation. The maximal hydrogen yield was 36.48 mL/g TCOD and the hydrogen concentration in the gas phase was 73.5%. The Enterococcus sp. LG1 was a butyrate fermentation bacteria analyzed by metabolites.

Objective To evaluate the value of 3D-PCASL in the pre-operation brain gliomas-grading.Methods 3D-PCASL images of 41 cases of gliomas comfirmed by pathology,including 20 cases of low-grade and 21 cases of high-grade were retrospectively analyzed. The cerebral blood flows of the solid region of tumor (TBF),1cm and 1 cm-2 cm brain tissue around the tumor,and contralateral normal brain CBF were obtained based on the region of interest (ROI),respectively.Results According to independent sample t-test,all had statisti-cally significant differences (P <0.001)between high and low-grade gliomas except the 1-2 cm region around the tumor.One-way ANO-VA displayed that all of them had its statistically significant between differences region (P <0.001)in high-grade gliomas,which had statisti-cally significant differences (P <0.001)except 1 cm and 1 -2 cm of peri-tumor in low-grade gliomas.ROC curve analysis of TBF/contralateral gray matter showed that the area under the curve was 0.96.When 2 was chosen as threshold of rCBF,there was the highest sensitivity (85.7%)and specificity (100%).The accurate rate of conventional MRI for gliomas dianosis was 76% and the ac-curate rate of conventional MRI with ASL was 93%,which was statistically significant difference (χ2 =6.61,P =0.01)between two methodson the chi-square test.Conclusion 3D-PCASL can improve the accuracy of diagnosis of different grade brain gliomas.Com-pared with others parameters,rCBF have a higher sensitivity and specificity.

BACKGROUND: Platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 (PECAM-1), also known as CD31, is mainly distributed in vascular endothelial cells. Studies have shown that PECAM-1 is a very significant indicator of angiogenesis, and has been used as an indicator for vascular endothelial cells. The present study aimed to explore the relationship between the expression of PECAM-1 and the degree of acute lung injury (ALI) and fibrosis in paraquat (PQ) induced lung injury in rabbits. METHODS: Thirty-six adult New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into three groups (12 rabbits in each group) according to PQ dosage: 8 mg/kg (group A), 16 mg/kg (group B), and 32 mg/kg (group C). After PQ infusion, the rabbits were monitored for 7 days and then euthanized. The lungs were removed for histological evaluation. Masson staining was used to determine the degree of lung fibrosis (LF), and semi-quantitative immune-histochemistry analysis to determine the expression of PECAM-1. Pearson's product-moment correlation analysis was performed to evaluate the relationship between the expression of PECAM-1 and the extent of lung injuries expressed by ALI score and degree of LF. RESULTS: Rabbits in the three groups showed apparent poisoning. The rabbits survived longer in group A than in groups B and C (6.47±0.99 days vs. 6.09±1.04 days vs. 4.77±2.04 days) (P<0.05). ALI score was lower in group A than in groups B and C (8.33±1.03 vs. 9.83±1.17 vs. 11.50±1.38) (P<0.05), and there was statistically significant difference between group B and group C (P=0.03). LF was slighter in group A than in groups B and C (31.09％±2.05 ％ vs. 34.37％±1.62％ vs. 36.54％±0.44％) (P<0.05), and there was statistically significant difference between group B and group C (P=0.026). The PEACAM-1 expression was higher in group A than in groups B and C (20.31％±0.70％ vs. 19.34％±0.68％ vs. 18.37％±0.46％) (P<0.05), and there was statistically significant difference between group B and group C (P=0.017). Pearson's correlation analysis showed that the expression of PECAM-1 was negatively correlated to both ALI score (Coe=–0.732, P=0.001) and degree of LF (Coe=–0.779, P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The PECAM-1 expression significantly decreases in New Zealand rabbits after PQ poisoning, and the decrease is dose-dependent. The PECAM-1 expression is negatively correlated with ALI score and LF, showing a significant role in the development of lung injuries induced by PQ.

AIMTo investigate the effect of cilostazol on transient outward potassium current (I(to1) in isolated human atrial myocytes.

METHODSAtrial tissue samples were obtained from hearts of 15 patients ranging from 5 to 65 years of age (36.0 +/- 23.9 years). I(to1) was recorded by using the whole-cell patch clamp technique in enzymatically isolated atrial myocytes.

RESULTSCilostazol at 30 micromol/ L significantly decreased I(to1) at the test potential of +50 mV. The peak amplitude of I(to1) was decreased from (8.16 +/- 0.70) pA/pF to (4.84 +/- 0.60) pA/pF (P < 0.01). In addition, the drug inhibited the current in a concentration-dependent manner (IC50 = 13.18 +/- 2.60 micromol/L). The significantly inhibitive effect was observed from the concentration of 1 micromol/L, and the maximal effect was 51.09% +/- 3.0% at 50 micromol/L. Furthermore, voltage-dependence of activation and inactivation, and time-dependent recovery from inactivation of I(to1) were not altered by cilostazol.

CONCLUSIONThe results indicates that cilostazol inhibits I(to1) in human atrial myocytes.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; Female ; Heart Atria ; cytology ; drug effects ; Humans ; Male ; Membrane Potentials ; drug effects ; physiology ; Middle Aged ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; drug effects ; physiology ; Patch-Clamp Techniques ; Potassium Channels ; physiology ; Tetrazoles ; pharmacology ; Young Adult