AIM To study the central role of genistein (GST) in regulating cardiovascular function of nervous center by examining the effects of GST on the electrical activity of rat paraventricular nucleus neurons in slice preparation and to elucidate the mechanism involved. METHODS Using extracellular single-unit discharge recording technique to examine discharges of neurons in paraventricular nucleus of hypothalamic slices at the resting potential level. RESULTS ①In response to the application of GST 10, 50 and 100 μmol·L-1, respectively, in the perfusate for 2 min, the spontaneous discharge rates (SDR) of neurons in 25/26 hypothalamic slices were significantly decreased in a concentration-dependent manner. ②Pretreatment with L-glutamate 0.2 mmol·L-1 led to a marked increase in the SDR of slices in an epileptiform pattern. GST 50 μmol·L-1 significantly attenuated the increased SDR in all 7 slices. ③In 8/8 slices, the G protein-coupled inwardly rectifying K+ channels (GIRKs) antagonist, tetraethylammonium 1 mmol·L-1 completely blocked the inhibitory effect of GST 50 μmol·L-1. ④Pretreatment with nitric oxide synthase inhibitor Nω-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester 50 μmol·L-1 increased SDR in all 7 slices, but did not affect the inhibitory effect of GST 50 μmol·L-1. CONCLUSION GST can inhibit the electrical activity of paraventricular neurons, and play a protective role on the central neurons. The inhibitory effect of GST may be related to the activation of GIRKs which induce K+ outward current and then engender the cell membrane hyperpolarization, but be not due to the NO release.

Objective To evaluate the clinical impact of 18F-FDG PET/CT on patients with suspected cervical cancer recurrence. Methods Fifty-one cervical cancer patients, clinically suspected to have tumor recurrence during follow-up, underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT examination. 18 F-FDG PET/CT results were compared with those of conventional images, as referred to histopathology or clinical follow-up. Impacts of 18F-FDG PET/CT were evaluated based on documented changes of clinical management. Results In total, 43 patients were found to have positive lesions by 18F-FDG PET/CT, in which 40 were true recurrence,but 2 were pelvic abscess and 1 was radiation enterocolitis. Other 8 patients were found negative by 18F-FDG PET/CT and confirmed by pathology or follow-up. In patient-based analyses, the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 18F-FDG PET/CT for the detection of tumor recurrence were 100% (40/40), 72. 73% (8/11),and 94.12% (48/51) respectively. In 7 patients, the clinical management was changed due to 18F-FDG PET/CT findings. Conclusion 18F-FDG PET/CT is an efficient tool for determining the recurrence of cervical cancer and instructing the clinical management.

Objective To investigate the clinical and electroencephalogram (EEG) characteristics of children with electrical status cpilepticus during sleep (ESES), and the response to medication therapy. Methods AEEG and VEEG including an entire sleeping c-ycle were performed on 26 patients with ESES. The clinical and EEG changes, neuropsychological impairment and the response to medication therapy were followed up. Results Twenty five patients had seizures,21 cases had normal psychomotor development before ESES. After the onset of the disease,Fifteen cases developed language disorder, 16 cases developed psychological and behavior abnormalities, 13 cases had both of the problems Seventeen patients belonged to epileptic syndrome. Patients in this cohort had good response to clonazepam and valproate treatment. Cortical steroid could dispel the electrical discharge. Eighteen patients had been followed up. Seizures stopped in 15 cases after treatment ESES disappeared in 16 cases, 4 of them still had neuropsychological impairment ESES sustained in 2 cases Conclusions ESES is a specific EEG phenomenon. Continue epileptic form discharge during non - rapid cye movement sleep is the major cause of neuropsychological impairment in patients with ESES. To control the seizures and electrical state are very important for the prevention and treatment of neuropsychological impairment.

Objective To study effects of cadmium on rat sperm motility evaluated with computer assisted sperm analysis. Methods 　Different doses of cadmium chloride (0.2,0.4,0.8mg Cd/kg BW) were administrated ip to adult male Sprague-Dawley rats. Control animals received the same volume of 0.9% NaCl solution. After 7 days, the rats were sacrificed with their testes removed. A part of one testis was used for testicular sperm head counts and daily sperm production observation. The motility of spermatozoa obtained from cauda epididymides using the “diffusion”method was measured by computer assisted sperm analysis(CASA). Results 　The sperm head counts and daily sperm production decreased significantly in the high dose group. The motility of spermatozoa in the middle dose group was reduced significantly. No motile sperm was found in the high dose group. The results suggest that germinal epithelium was impaired irreversibly in a short time to produce toxic effects on spermatogenesis at high cadmium doses. Conclusion 　Cadmium may reduce sperm motility at a dose far below the dose affecting sperm production at this time point. The motility of sperm is an early and sensitive endpoint for the assessment of cadmium toxicity on male reproduction.

This study aims to construct a dynamic two-dimensional characterization technique for the hygroscopicity of traditional Chinese medicine extracts and investigate the effect of material properties of powders on hygroscopicity. The dynamic hygroscopicity-time curves of the powders were measured at 25 ℃ and 75% humidity, and the semi-equilibrium hygroscopicity time (t_1/2) and equilibrium hygroscopicity (F^∞) were derived as two-dimensional evaluation indicators. Finally, the correlation between the material properties and the hygroscopic behavior was analyzed by principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares analysis (PLS). The results showed that the dynamic two-dimensional characterization system of hygroscopicity constructed with 1/t_1/2 = 0.1 h^-1 and F^∞ = 15% as the center can classify the hygroscopic behavior of traditional Chinese medicine extracts into four categories: fast hygroscopicity with strong hygroscopicity, slow hygroscopicity with strong hygroscopicity, fast hygroscopicity with weak hygroscopicity and slow hygroscopicity with weak hygroscopicity. The moisture absorption was negatively correlated with D₅₀, D₉₀, ρ_b and ρ_t; the moisture absorption rate was negatively correlated with D₁₀, D₅₀, D₉₀, ρ_b, ρ_t, and positively correlated with moisture content. The hygroscopicity dynamic two-dimensional characterization indicators of Chinese medicine extracts (CMEs) constructed in this study matched with the physical properties. The method of dynamic multi-dimensional characterization technology is feasible and scientific, and the idea has strong promotional value.

BACKGROUNDZengshengping (ZSP) tablets had inhibitory effects on oral precancerous lesions by reducing the incidence of oral cancer. However, the severe liver toxicity caused by systemic administration of ZSP limits the long-term use of this anti-cancer drug. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the tumor inhibitory effects due to the topical application of extracts from ZSP, a Chinese herbal drug, on 7, 12-dimethlbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA) induced oral tumors in hamsters. The study also investigated the anti-cancer mechanisms of the ZSP extracts on oral carcinogenesis.

METHODSDMBA (0.5%) was applied topically to the buccal pouches of Syrian golden hamsters (6 - 8 weeks old) three times per week for six weeks in order to induce the development of oral tumors. Different fractions of ZSP were either applied topically to the oral tumor lesions or fed orally at varying dosages to animals with oral tumors for 18 weeks. Tumor volume was measured by histopathological examination. Tumor cell proliferation was evaluated by counting BrdU labeled cells and by Western blotting for mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) protein levels. The protein levels of apoptosis marker Caspase-3 and regulator Bcl-2 protein were also measured by Western blotting.

RESULTSTopical application of DMBA to the left pouch of hamsters induced oral tumor formation. Animals treated with DMBA showed a loss in body weight while animals treated with ZSP maintained normal body weights. Both the ZSP n-butanol fraction and water fraction significantly reduced tumor volume by 32.6% (P < 0.01) and 22.9% (P < 0.01) respectively. Topical application of ZSP also markedly decreased the BrdU-positive cell numbers in oral tumor lesions and reduced the expression level of MAPK. In addition, ZSP promoted tumor cell apoptosis by increasing Caspase-3 expression but decreasing Bcl-2 protein production.

CONCLUSIONThe n-butanol and water fractions of ZSP are effective at inhibiting tumor cell proliferation and stimulating apoptosis in oral cancer suggesting that these fractions have chemopreventive effects on DMBA induced oral carcinogenesis.

9,10-Dimethyl-1,2-benzanthracene ; toxicity ; Animals ; Antineoplastic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Cell Transformation, Neoplastic ; drug effects ; Cricetinae ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Mesocricetus ; Mouth Neoplasms ; chemically induced ; drug therapy ; prevention & control

Objective To establish high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detector(HPLC-ECD) method for the determination for metanephrine and normetanephrine in 24 h urine, and provide a superior test for the diagnostic of pheochromocytomas over plasma/urine catecholamine.Methods MCX solid-phase cartridge was used for extraction of metanephrine and normetanephrine,HPLC-ECD was used for their measurements.The intra-assay CVs,interassay CVs and recoveries of metanephrine and normetanephrine were also calculated.104 hypertensive patients without pheochromocytomas and 5 pheochromocytomas patients were selected in this study.The concentrations of metanephrine and normetanephrine were compared with the plasma and 24h urinary catecholamines concentrations.Results The intra-assay CV,inter-assay CV and recovery of metanephrine were 5.9%, 7.5%,91.1% respectively;the intra-assay CV,inter-assay CV and recovery of normetanephrine were 6.3%,6.6%,88.5%,respectively.The MN,NMN,plasma CA and urine CA of all pheochromocytomas patients were positive.MN and NMN were negative in controls,while plasma CA and urine CA are false positive in 15 patients and 14 patients in controls,respectively.Conclusions The study establish a fast and accurate method for quantification of metanephrine and normetanephrine in 24 h urine by HPLC-ECD.These findings also prove that it is the best biochemical assays for pheochromocytomas at present.

Objective To study the value of fast dynamic contrast enhanced MRI in the diagnosis of orbital occupying lesions. Design Retrospective ease series.Participants 21 patients with orbital occupying lesions.Methods All the 21 patients were performed on fast dynamic contrast enhanced MRI and were verified by pathology.The raw datum were processed by the software of GE Functool. Parameters such as time-intensity curve(TIC),time to peak(Tpeak),1 minute enhancement ratio(ERlmin)and maximum enhancement ratio(ERmax)were analyzed to study the characteristics of orbital diseases on fast dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI.Main Outcome Measures TIC,ERlmin,and ERmax.Results The characteristics of TIC between benign diseases and malignant tumors were different. Of the 16 cases of benign lesions,12 demonstrated as continuous increasing type,and of 5 cases of malignant lesions,3 cases of lym- phoma were all platform type.The ER1min of the malignant tumors(150.47?42.18)was higher than that of the benign lesions (101.37?43.02)(P=0.021).Cavernous hemangiomas had special progressing enhancing model.Conclusions Fast dynamic contrast enhanced MRI is valuable to distinguish malignant tumors from benign occupying lesions.(Ophthalmol CHN,2007,16:305-308)

An enhancer-like element VV16 from Vaccinia virus genome DNA was obtained by using the plasmid with CAT reporter gene. Sequence analysis showed the element of 112bp is a part of the DNA-dependent RNA polymerase, polyA polymerase and DNA polymerase (RPO30 gene). It contains 4 AT-rich regions. Detection of β-galactosidase activity showed that VV16 in the positive direction can increase the activity 9.0 times and VV16 in the negative direction can increase 4.1 times. The RNA dot blotting confirmed the enhancing activity of the element are on the transcription level. DNA deletion experiment indicated the sequences of 10bp at the 5′ end and 12bp at the 3′ end in the element are important to its function and the sequence from nt76 to nt82 is essential to its activity.

Objective To clarify the understanding of types of laboratories and manufacturers for GB 9706.1-2020 Medical electrical equipment-Part 1:General requirements for basic safety and essential performance by laboratory proficiency testing for creepage distance and electrical clearance test.Methods An operation guide was formed according to the testing program in GB 9706.1-2020,and the homogeneity and stability of the samples were evaluated according to CNAS-GL003:2018 Guidance on Evaluating the Homogenneity and Stability of Samples Used for Proficiency Testing.Robust statistic methods were used to assess the quantitative parameters of the test results of the participating laboratories according to the requirements in GB/T 28043-2019 Statistical methods for use in proficiency testing by interlaboratory comparison;the results reported by the expert laboratories were used as the specified values of the qualitative parameters.SPSS 25.0 statistical software was used for data analysis.Results All the results of the crreepage distance and electrical clearance tests met the requirements for homogeneity and stability.Of the 46 laboratories involved in,37 ones did have comprehensive satisfactory determinations while the remained 9 ones not.Conclusion Some laboratories don't behave well in understanding the standard,which have to be reformed accordingly to enhance their proficiencies.[Chinese Medical Equipment Journal,2024,45(10):54-59]