The study of traditional Chinese medicine and its complex prescription gradually adopted the methods of serum pharmacology, which has become a new researching thought and a gained more attention. In this article, the background of relevant researches, methodological discussions, analysis of the advantages and problems of serum pharmacology were reviewed. The serum pharmacology, for its unique value, will certainly has a brilliant prospect in its application to the research of traditional Chinese medicine and its complex prescription.

Caveolin are a family that proteins are highly conserved and located at the mammalian plasma membrane.They include four isoforms:Cav-1,Cav-2,Cav-3 and Cav-4.Caveolin proteins are implicated in endocytosis,lipid metabolism and cellular signaling.There is recent evidence that Cav-1 expression levels in tumour have been associated with tumour growth and metastasis,stromal car-1 expression downregulated have been also associated with mutli-tumor metastasis.

0.05). The LDL-C and apoB concentrations in fasting serum in men with 54T allele were significantly higher than those with 54A allele (2.38?0.63 vs 2.21?0.57mmol/L, P

Objective To establish a method used for quantitative determination of bufadienolides in human liver tissues by HPLC. Methods using solid phase extraction of human liver with Oasis (HLB car-tridge coupled with reserved phase HPLC and diode array detection. Results Recoveries obtained from spiked liver for the bufadienolides were better than 70% . The linearity was studied up to 1200ng/g and the detection limits of the method was 0.4ng for cinobufotalin and bufalin, 0.5ng for cinobufagin and resibufo-genin. Conclusion This method is fast and accurate. It is useful for forensic medicine detection.

Objective To investigate the effect of etomidate on porcine adrenal cortical cells and the influence of preconditioning with small dose etomidate. Methods Porcine adrenal cortical cells were cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) supplemented with 15% fetal bovine serum at 37℃ in 5% CO2 incubator for 24 h. The concentration was 2 × 106/ml. The experiment was performed in 2 parts. In part Ⅰ the cells were exposed to 50, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 and 1000 mol/L etomidate respectively and incubated for 6, 12and 24 h, while in control group, the cells were exposed to 0.5% dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO). Cell viability was measured using CCK-8 assay and apoptosis by flow cytometry, and the 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) of etomidate was calculated at 24 h of incubation. In part Ⅱ the cells were exposed to 0.6 μmol/L etomidate for 1 h and were allowed to recover for 4 h after etomidate washout, then etomidate 325 μmol/L was added and the cells were incubated for 24 h. Cell viability and apoptosis were assessed and the IC50 of etomidate was calculated as in part Ⅰ .Results Etomidate inhibited viability of porcine adrenal cortical cells and induced apoptosis in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The IC50 of etomidate at 24 h of incubation was 325 μmol/L. Preconditioning with0.6 μmol/L etomidate for 1 h attenuated the apoptosis induced by etomidate 325 μmol/L. Conclusion Etomidate can inhibit cell viability and induce apoptosis in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Preconditioning with small dose etomidate has protective effect.

Objective To investigate whether gastric hypersensitivity exists in functional dyspepsia patients, and to observe the number of mast cells in proximal gastric mucosa in gastric hypersensitivity patients and the change of mast cell degranulation after stimulation so as to evaluate the role of mast cells in gastric hypersensitivity. Methods Gastric sensation threshold was determined using barostat in 40 functional dyspepsia (FD) patients and 15 controls. Twenty three patients were divided into two groups on the basis of perception threshold: hypersensitivity group (FD H) and normal sensation group (FD N). Mast cells were stained by immunohistochemistry method, mast cell number was calculated by microscopy and the average optical density valves( A ) of mast cell were obtained by microspectrophotometry (MSP). The ultrastructure of mast cell was observed under electromicroscopy. Results Gastric sensation threshold (i.e. perception, discomfort and pain threshold) was significantly lower in FD patients than in controls ( P

Objective To investigate the association of expressions of cyclooxygenase-2(COX-2),matrix metanoproteinases-9(MMp-9)and Ki67 with occurrence,infiltration and metastasis of gastric cancer.Methods Fifty-eight surgically obtained and pathologically performed cancerous tissues were collected between Jan.2003 and Dec.2005.Among them,37 were males and 21 were females with mean age of 58.2 years(ranged from 31 to 76 years).Fifty-eight paracancerous tissues(5-6 cm apart form the cancer)were taken as controls.The expressions of COX-2,MMP-9 and Ki67 in cancerous or paracancerous tissues were examined by immunohistochemistry.Results The expressions of COX-2 and MMP-9 in cancerous tissues(82.76%and 68.9%,respectively)were higher than those in controls(37.93%and 24.14%,respectively,P＜0.01).The expressions of COX-2 and MMP-9 were not associated with sex,age,location and size of gastric cancer(P＞0.05),but were correlated with the depth of lymph node infiltration.metastasis and TNM stage(P＜0.05).The expression of MMP-9 was also associated with the degree of differentiation of gastric cancer(P＜0.05).There was a correlation between COX-2 and MMp-9 expressions in gastric cancer tissues(P＜0.05,C=0.359).The expression of Ki67 in tissues with positive expressions of COX-2 and MMp-9 was higher than that in negative ones(P＜0.O 1).Conclusion The COX-2,MMP-9 and Ki67 play important roles in metastasis and infiltration,which promote occurrence and development of gastric cancer.

Objective To summarize the clinical symptoms of patients with non-erosive reflux disease(NERD) and reflux esophagitis(RE),which is helpful to the differential diagnosis.Methods Outpatients who met the criteria of NERD or RE according to the Montreal definition in Gastroenterology Department Wuhan Union Hospital from 2010-2014 were enrolled in our study.Clinical data were comprehensively collected.Incidence of disease,severity,frequency of esophageal and extraesophageal symptoms,and the rates of overlapping with functional dyspepsia (FD) or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) were all studied.Results Totally 446 subjects were recruited,including 225 patients with NERD and 221patients with RE.The occurrence rates of esophageal symptoms including heartburn [76.0％ (171/225) vs 52.0％ (115/221),P ＜ 0.01] and acid regurgitation [74.7％ (168/225) vs 54.3％ (120/221),P ＜0.05] in NERD group were significantly higher than those in RE patients,with more severe and frequent (P ＜ 0.05).Despite the rates of food regurgitation were similar,NERD patients behaved more severely and frequently (P ＜ 0.05).Extraesophageal symptoms including throat burning and foreign body sensation in NERD group [40.9％ (92/225) vs 27.6％ (61/221),42.2％ (95/225) vs 31.7％ (70/221),all P ＜0.05] were also higher than those in RE group,the degree of which was more severe too (P ＜ 0.05).RE patients claimed a higher proportion of chronic cough.The incidences of overlapping with IBS in two groups were similar.But there were more patients with FD in NERD group [72.0％ (162/225) vs 62.9％ (139/221),P ＜ 0.05] than in RE group.Conclusions The menifestations and degree of esophageal and extraesophageal symptoms in patients with NERD or RE are different,as well as comorbidities such as FD and IBS.These results suggest that NERD and RE are independent diseases.

Objective To explore the effect of the exogenous phosphorylation cyclic adenosine monophosphate response element bind-ing protein (pCREB) antibody on the expression of apoptotic regulated genes (Bcl-2 and c-Jun) in hippocampus after status convulsivus (SC), to elucidate the role and regulation mechanism of pCREB in convulsive brain injury. Methods Seizures were induced in 24 adult Wi-star rats with lithium-pilocarpine intraperitoneal injection (SC group), another 24 rats were as the normal controls (NC group). Each group was divided into no injection subgroup, normal saline injection subgroup and anti pCREB subgroup according to the injection contents of lat-eral ventricle, with 8 cases in each group. They were sacrificed 6 hours after injection. Both the protein and mRNA expression of Bcl-2 and c-Jun in bilateral hippocampus were detected by immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization, respectively. Results There was no signifi-cant difference in Bcl-2 protein/mRNA expression among 3 subgroups in the NC group (P>0.05). In the SC group, the expression of Bcl-2 protein/mRNA were lower in the anti pCREB subgroup than in the no injection subgroup and normal saline injection subgroup (P<0.05). There was significant difference in c-Jun protein/mRNA expression among 3 subgroups in both NC group and SC group (P<0.001). The ex-pression of c-Jun protein/mRNA was higher in the normal saline injection subgroup and the anti pCREB subgroup than in the no injection group (P<0.05), especially in the anti pCREB subgroup (P<0.05). Conclusion Exogenous anti-pCREB antibody can down-regulate the ex-pression of Bcl-2 and up-regulate the expression of c-Jun in hippocampal cells after SC.

Objective To observe the effects of early exercise on the expression of synaptophysin pro-tein and Nissl bodies in the hippocampus after hypoxic-ischemic brain damage( HIBD) , and to investigate possi-ble mechanisms. Methods A total of 35 neonatal Wistar rats aged 7 days were randomly divided into a train-ing group of 13, a control group of 11 and a sham-operation group of 11. HIBD was induced in the rats of the training and control groups, while those in the sham-operation group had the left common carotid artery separa-ted, but without ligation. Seven days after successful modeling, the training group began swimming training for 10 min every day lasting for 14 days, while the other groups were not trained. Western blotting was used to detect the expression of synaptophysin in the affected hippocampus of the brain based on the ratio of the gray band val-ues for synaptophysin and beta. Nissl staining was applied to observe the number of Nissl bodies and the morphol-ogy of the neurons in the hippocampus. Results The average expression of synaptophysin in the sinistrocere-bral hippocampus of the rats in the control group was significantly lower than that in the sham-operation group, but significantly higher than that of the training group. The control group had significantly fewer Nissl bodies than the sham-operation group, but significantly more than the training group. Conclusion Early training can in-crease the expression of synaptophysin and the number of Nissl body in the hippocampus after hypoxic-ischemic brain damage.