OBJECTIVETo investigate the chemical constituents of Epimedium brevicornum.

METHODThe chemical constituents were isolated by using silica gel column chromatography and preparative TLC. The structures were identified on the basis of physical-chemical constants and spectral data.

RESULTFive compounds were isolated and identified as hyperoside, icariin, epimedin B, epimedin C, inositol.

CONCLUSIONCompound I and III - V were isolated from the plant for the first time.

Epimedium ; chemistry ; Flavonoids ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Plant Components, Aerial ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Quercetin ; analogs & derivatives ; chemistry ; isolation & purification

Adult ; Exons ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; Gene Deletion ; Humans ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit ; genetics ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo investigate the absorption of the water soluble components of Salvia miltiorrhiza and establish methods to determine Danshensu in rat serum after ig compound Salvia recipe.

METHODUsed liquid-liquid extraction to deal with the serum, then determined the sample by high-performance liquid chromatography. The conditions for HPLC were as the following: the mobile phase, CH3OH-CH3CN-0.5% CH3COOH (2.5:3.5:94) with a flow rate of 1.0 mL.min-1; detection wavelength, 281 nm; internal standard, 4-hydroxy-benzoic acid.

RESULTDanshensu and an unknown compound whose reserved time was little shorter than protocatechuic aldehyde were found in the rat serum after ig compound Salvia recipe, while protocatechuic aldehyde weren't found in the serum.

CONCLUSIONDanshensu can be absorbed into blood after ig compound Salvia recipe.

Animals ; Drug Combinations ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; isolation & purification ; pharmacokinetics ; Female ; Lactates ; blood ; Male ; Panax ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Salvia miltiorrhiza ; chemistry

OBJECTIVEIn order to provide scientific basis for introduction breeding and production regionalization of Panax notoginseng, the environment of producing area, agronomic traits and medicinal material output were investigated.

METHODUsing field survey sampling at harvest time, agronomic traits indicators of leaf segment, stem segment and roots segment etc. of commodity P. notoginseng, longitude and latitude, elevation, soil type, landform of producing area were measured and observed.

RESULTThe P. notogiseng cultivation was expanding from traditional area like Wenshang to new areas as Honghe, Kunming, Qujing at large scale. Comparing with traditional cultivated fields, the elevation of new fields, which are red soil of moderate or low mountain slopes and gentle hills between 1 800-2 130 m, increases markedly. The agronomic traits of new cultivated fields such as plant height, stem diameter, the ground and underground biomass were better than those of traditional cultivated fields in varying degree. Furthermore, the root weight, taproot weight, taproot length and other agronomic index augmented more than 20%. Comparison among different cultivated fields showed P. notoginseng of Honghe Shiping Niujie, Kunming Shilin Guishan, Honghe Jiangshui Guanting etc. had better agronomic traits, the plant were thick and tall, the taproot and the top of reed were large, the number of root was more. Inversely, P. notoginseng of Kunming Guandu Xiaoshao, Guangxi Jingxi Lutong, Wenshang Yanshan Jiangna were thin and small. Cluster analysis showed that cultivated fields of P. notoginseng which was across clustered by traditional and new cultivated fields can be divided into three groups, including a high-yielding region insist of three new cultivated fields Honghe Shiping Niujie, Kunming Shilin Guishan, Honghe Jiangshui Guanting and one traditional cultivated field Wenshan Yanshan Jiangna. Correlation analysis indicated that the size and weight of taproot and top of reed were significantly positive correlated with plant height, stem diameter, leaf size, leaf weight and stem weight. Regression analysis pointed out that stem diameter, leaf width, leaf length/width, leaf weight were the main factors affecting the dry weight of taproot, and the main factors influencing the dry weight of top of reed were plant height, petiole, leaf length, leaf width and other agronomic traits.

CONCLUSIONFrom agronomic traits, P. notoginseng in new cultivated fields were more robust than that in traditional fields, but besides the length of taproot, the difference of rest agronomic traits didn't reach the significant level. It is suggested that, in the west and the north of traditional area, the red soil land of moderate or low mountain slopes and gentle hills where the elevation is between 1 800-2 130 m is suitable for cultivating P. notoginseng. Honghe Shiping Niujie, Honghe Jianshui Guanting, Kuming Shilin Gongshan can be used as vital development area for commodity P. notoginseng.

Agriculture ; methods ; Breeding ; China ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; Panax notoginseng ; chemistry ; classification ; genetics ; growth & development ; Quality Control ; Quantitative Trait Loci ; Soil ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo analyze the mutations in Cx30 gene in a Chinese family with hidrotic ectodermal dysplasia (HED) and to make prenatal diagnosis on the embryo which has been pregnant for 5 months.

METHODSA family including 2 affected and 4 unaffected individuals was collected, and their informed consents were obtained. The affected woman had a five-month pregnancy. An 884 bp fragment containing the whole GJB6 coding sequence was amplified by PCR and the products were bi-direction sequenced directly. The mutation was further confirmed with restriction endoenzyme digesting. On the base of successful gene diagnosis, the following detection procedure on the pregnant baby was performed. First the whole coding region of Cx30 was amplified using primers Cx30-F and Cx30-R and the PCR products were digested by Hae II. Then the PCR products were cloned into pUCm-T vector. Blue-white blot screening method and PCR-restriction endoenzyme digesting technique were used to identify the correct clones. The mutant allele clone was sequenced to confirmed the mutation.

RESULTSA heterozygous missense mutation 263C --> T in the Cx30 gene was detected in the affected little girl and her affected mother, which led to an amino acid substitution (A88V) in the second transmembrane domain of GJB6. The mutation was confirmed by Hae II digestion. A88V mutant allele cannot be cut while the wild normal allele can be cut into two fragments, 520 and 278 bp. The result of analyse on the five-month pregnancy show the embryo carried the A88V mutation too. So the embryo will be a patient.

CONCLUSIONAn A88V missense mutation in the Cx30 gene can also cause HED in Chinese Han population. Based on the gene diagnosis, prenatal diagnosis can be played using bi-direction sequencing and confirmed with restriction endoenzyme digesting.

Adult ; Amino Acid Substitution ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; China ; Connexin 30 ; Connexins ; genetics ; Ectodermal Dysplasia ; ethnology ; genetics ; Female ; Fetal Diseases ; diagnosis ; ethnology ; genetics ; Genetic Testing ; Heterozygote ; Humans ; Mutation, Missense ; Pedigree ; Pregnancy ; Prenatal Diagnosis ; methods ; Sequence Analysis, DNA

OBJECTIVESTo evaluate the academic status and influence of the National Journal of Andrology (NJA).

METHODSThe data of articles and citations in 16 issues of NJA (2000-2002) were collected, then the quality of this journal was evaluated in terms of bibliometric parameters.

RESULTSExcept for reviews and translations, the sums of original papers accounted for 183 (53.5%), the articles with citation in 16 issues were 333 (97.08%), and funded project papers accounted for 62 (18.08%). The number of the articles and funded project papers increased every year; the average publishing cycle of the articles was 8.7 months; the average number of authors was 3.7 per article; the average age of the first author was 36.3 years old; the authors distributed in 30 provinces, 43.37% of the authors had senior professional title and 40.80% of the authors had master's or doctor's degrees, the journal had a high rate of self-citation (6.30%).

CONCLUSIONSNational Journal of Andrology is a high quality journal, with excellent authors, strong influence and bright future.

Andrology ; statistics & numerical data ; Bibliometrics ; China ; Periodicals as Topic ; statistics & numerical data

Action Potentials ; Animals ; Electromyography ; Environmental Exposure ; Hypothermia ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Seawater ; Thigh ; physiology ; physiopathology

Animals ; Cell Proliferation ; Hepatic Stellate Cells ; Liver Cirrhosis/metabolism* ; Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase, Non-Receptor Type 6 ; Rats

Objective To observe the effect of agmatine on brain ede-ma and examine the relation between blood brain barrier ( BBB) per-meability and aquaporin 4 ( AQP4 ) and aquaporin 9 ( AQP9 ) in rats with cerebral ischemic reperfusion.Methods Health male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into sham group , model group and test ( agmatine ) group.And 2 h after middle cerebral artery occlusion, giving agmatine ( 50 mg · kg -1 ) in test group or 0.9%NaCl in sham and model groups by intraperitoneal injection, respec-tively.Brain edema and the size of the brain infarct were assayed by brain water content and BBB permeability and 2,3,5 -triphenyltet-razoliumchloridstaining( TTC).The morphological changes of neurons were observed by hematoxylin and eosin staining and transmission electron microscopy.And the expression of AQP4 and AQP9 were assessed by Western -blotting.Results The BBB permeability de-creased significantly and the morphological changes of neurons were reduced significantly and the expression of AQP4 and AQP9 decreased significantly in rats with agmatine.Conclusion Agmatine reduce the injury of the BBB by decreasing the expression of AQP4 and AQP9 , and relieve the neuron injury induced by brain edema.

OBJECTIVETo study the relationship between esophageal cancer (EC) and the ingestion of folate, methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T gene polymorphisms in Kazakh area, Xinjiang.

METHODSA 1:2 matched case-control study was adopted. 120 cases diagnosed as esophageal cancer were collected with 240 population-based and hospital-based controls were selected by the same sex, same nationality and each pair's ages were permitted to differ within 5 years. MTHFR genotypes were detected by polymeerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and the conditional logistic regression model was performed in this study.

RESULTSData showed that the ingestion of folate was related to EC in Kazakh (chi2 = 7.868, nu = 1, P < 0.01) with OR: 0.519 (95% CI:0.329-0.821) while more folate intake appeared to be the protective factor of EC in Kazakh. The MTHFR C677T genotype frequencies of EC group was different from the control group (chi2 = 15.823, nu = 1, P < 0.01). The individuals with 677CT, TT genotype had a 2.613-fold (95% CI: 1.628-4.194) increased risk of developing EC, compared to those who had 677CC genotype. Data from Interaction Analysis showed that more folate intake could reduce the incidence of esophageal cancer to the individuals who carried the MTHFR 677CT or TT genotypes.

RESULTSfrom multivariate conditional logistic regression analysis showed that: unsanitary drinking water, irregular eating, prefer eating peppery food, engorgement, crusted rice or wheat, having history of stomach or esophagus illness, carrying MTHFR 677CT or TT genotypes were risk factors of esophageal cancer while taking in more folate was the protective factor of EC.

CONCLUSIONLacking of folate intake were mainly risk factor and the polymorphisms of MTHFRC677T gene were susceptibility factor of esophageal cancer in Kazakh in Xinjiang.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; China ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; epidemiology ; etiology ; genetics ; Female ; Folic Acid ; administration & dosage ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; genetics ; Genotype ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase (NADPH2) ; genetics ; Middle Aged ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; genetics ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length ; genetics