Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic ; pharmacology ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Drug Resistance, Neoplasm ; drug effects ; Emodin ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Neoplasms ; pathology ; Tumor Cells, Cultured

Objective To evaluate the influence of Eperythrozoon infection on human and mouse erythrocytes and to explore the pathogenesis of Eperythrozoonosis. Methods The specific gene fragment of Eperythrozoon was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from the venous blood samples of five patients infected with Eperythrozoon. The complement receptor type I (CD35) expression on erythrocytes of these five patients was determined by flow cytometry. Thereafter, the Eperythrozoons were purified from human samples and injected into mice through the tail veins. Blood smear microscopy, PCR and transmission electron microscopy were used to assure the successful infection. The hematological indicators of human and mice, such as red blood cell (RBC) count,hemoglobin (Hb) content, hematocrit and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were evaluated. All results were analyzed by t test. Results More than 80% of treated mice were confirmed to be infected with Eperythrozoon successfully. A fragment of 801 bp specific gene of Eperythrozoon was detected by PCR in samples from both infected patients and infected mice, which were not detected in samples from healthy control people or control mice. CD35 was highly expressed on the erythrocytes of infected patients, but not expressed on the erythrocytes of infected mice. Both RBC counts and Hb content dramatically decreased in infected patients and infected mice. Hematocrit and the activity of SOD also slightly decreased in infected patients and infected mice. Conclusions Eperythrozoon can spread between human and mice and destroy erythrocyte structure. Eperythrozoon can upregulate CD35 expression in human, but there is no CD35 expression in mice.

Cassiae Semen is a common traditional Chinese medicine, and contents of anthraquinones of Cassiae Semen different significantly from area to area. According to Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2010 edition), only contents of aurantio obtusin and chrysophanol were used to evaluate the quality of Cassiae Semen, another data could be added later. Ten batches of Cassiae Semen from different areas were determined, and total anthraquinones, total free anthraquinones and total combined anthraquinones contents were assessed by ultraviolet visible spectrophotometer, contents of aurantio obtusin, rhein, aloe emodin, emodin, chrysophanol and physcion were determined by HPLC. After that, principal components analysis was used to evaluate these data determined previous by dimension reduction analysis. At last, the result suggests that three main components were found out, it shows that content of aloe emodin could be used to evaluate the quality of Cassiae Semen as well as contents of aurantio obtusin and chrysophanol. And Cassiae Semen from Hebei province posseses higher quality than Cassiae Semen from other different areas. All these results can provide a good reference for quality evaluating of Cassiae Semen medicinal materials at a certain extent.
Anthraquinones ; analysis ; Cassia ; chemistry ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Principal Component Analysis

GJ-4 is crocin enrichments extracted from Gardenia jasminoides J. Ellis, and our previous studies have shown that GJ-4 significantly improved learning and memory impairment induced by Aβ in mice. Herein, a memory deficit model was developed by injecting okadaic acid (OA) into the lateral ventricle of mice, and the neuroprotection and underlying mechanism of GJ-4 on neuronal injury caused by Tau hyperphosphorylation were investigated. The Animal Care & Welfare Committee, Institute of Materia Medica, CAMS & PUMC has approved all procedures (No.00000318). GJ-4 at different doses was intragastric administration to mice for 16 days. Step-down test and Morris water maze test showed that GJ-4 could significantly improve OA-induced memory impairment in mice, and reduced the loss of Nissl bodies in the hippocampus of mice. GJ-4 could also decrease the phosphorylation level of Tau protein at Ser396, Thr231 and Ser404 via increasing protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) activity and inhibiting glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) activity. Besides, further researches indicated that GJ-4 could inhibit the level of oxidative stress in the brain of OA mice, reduce neuronal apoptosis and inhibit the neuroinflammation mediated by activation of astrocytes in the hippocampus of mice, and eventually achieve its effects in improving learning and memory impairment in mice. According to these findings, we anticipated that GJ-4 might be a potential therapeutic drug for Alzheimer's disease.

OBJECTIVETo probe into the method for effectively increasing complete abortion rate of medicine-induced abortion and observe pathological changes.

METHODSTwo hundred cases were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group, 100 cases in each group. The observation group were treated by acupuncture at Hegu (LI 4), Sanyinjiao (SP 6), Neiguan (PC 6) and Kunlun (BL 60), and the control group were not treated by acupuncture. The abortion rate, bleeding condition, adverse reaction and pathological changes were observed in the two groups.

RESULTSThe complete abortion rate was 96.0% in the observation group, better than 88.0% in the control group (P < 0.05). There were significant differences between the two groups in bleeding time and pathological changes (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONAcupuncture can increase complete abortion rate of medicine-induced abortion, with shorter bleeding time and less residual villus.

Abortion, Induced ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Pregnancy

OBJECTIVETo study the anticancerous effect of Fuganchun 6 (FGC-6) and its immunoregulatory effect on tumor-bearing mice.

METHODThe mice inoculated by H22 cells were divided into 5 groups: model group, 5-Fu group and FGC-6 in high dose, medium dose, and low dose groups. The normal mice were also observed. These mice were treated for 10 days. The weight of tumor mass and mouse were examined. The target-cell-killing activity of NK cells. The proliferation activity of lymphocyte and the production of IL-2 of murine splenocytes were detected respectively. The serum containing FGC-6 was prepared and its inhibition effect on H22 cells was examined by MTT assay and growth curve in vitro.

RESULTGrowth of tumor was inhibited markedly by FGC-6 high dose. The inhibition of serum containing FGC-6 on the proliferation of H22 cells in vitro was observerd in a dose and time-dependent manner. The target-cell-killing activity of NK cells and the production of IL-2 of murine splenocytes of model group were lower than those of normal group (P < 0.05). When compared with model group, FGC-6 in high dose elevated the two indexes above-mentioned, and also enhanced the proliferation activity of lymphocyte markedly (P < 0.05). The production of IL-2 of murine splenocytes was also improved when treated by FGC-6 in medium dose (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONFGC-6 can inhibite the growth of H22 cells markedly and also can strengthen the immunity of H22 transplanted mouse.

Animals ; Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Cell Line ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Drug Combinations ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Interleukin-2 ; metabolism ; Killer Cells, Natural ; immunology ; Liver Neoplasms, Experimental ; immunology ; pathology ; Lymphocytes ; pathology ; Male ; Mice ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Spleen ; cytology ; metabolism

Metabolomics is an omics subject which studies on the metabolic network of organism and the intrinsic metabolic change of entirety with the aim of clarifying the mechanism of medicinal effect and pathogenesis of disease, is similar to the whole concept theory of Chinese medicine. The mectabolomics technology helps to promote the modern process of traditional Chinese medicine. This article illustrated the application research on the concept of metabolomics, the syndrome of Chinese medicine, quality and components of traditional Chinese medicine, traditional Chinese medicine compounds and so on, explored the problems on the current research and the prospect meanwhile.

OBJECTIVETo explore the value of dual-time-point (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose integrated positron emission and computed tomography ((18)F-FDG PET-CT) in differentiation of malignant from benign gastrointestinal diseases.

METHODSSixty five patients with suspected gastrointestinal lesions underwent dual-time-point (18)F-FDG PET-CT imaging. Standardized uptake value (SUV) was calculated for semi-quantitative assessment. The SUV of the two acquisitions were signed SUV(early) and SUV(delayed), respectively. Then the change of SUVmax (ΔSUVmax) was calculated. The ROC curves of the SUV(early), SUV(delayed) and ΔSUV were drawn to find the best cut-off point value for differential diagnosis, and then the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy were calculated, respectively.

RESULTSOf the malignant lesions, the SUVmax in delayed imaging were significantly higher than those in early imaging, while there were no significant differences of SUVmax between the two images of the benign lesions. The ΔSUVmax of the malignant lesions were significantly higher than that of the benign ones. Taking the SUVmax higher than 9.2 in early imaging as positive diagnostic criteria, the sensitivity was 72.7%, the specificity was 85.7%, the positive predictive value was 91.4%, the negative predictive value was 60.0%, and the accuracy was 76.9%. Taking the SUVmax higher than 10.9 in delayed imaging as positive diagnostic criteria, the sensitivity was 75.0%, the specificity was 90.5%, the positive predictive value was 94.3%, the negative predictive value was 63.3%, and the accuracy was 80.0%. Taking the ΔSUVmax higher than 5.1% as positive diagnostic criteria, the sensitivity was 95.5%, the specificity was 85.7%, the positive predictive value was 93.3%, the negative predictive value was 90.0%, and the accuracy was 92.3%. The accuracy of dual-time-point (18)F-FDG PET-CT imaging was significantly higher than that of single-time point (18)F-FDG PET-CT imaging.

CONCLUSIONDual-time-point (18)F-FDG PET-CT imaging is a useful method for differentiating malignant from benign gastrointestinal diseases, and it is superior to the single-time point (18)F-FDG PET-CT imaging.

Adenocarcinoma ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Colitis ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gastritis ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Gastrointestinal Diseases ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; methods ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Proctitis ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Proctocolitis ; diagnosis ; pathology ; ROC Curve ; Radiopharmaceuticals ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Stomach Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; methods

Aspergillosis ; diagnosis ; microbiology ; Aspergillus fumigatus ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; DNA, Fungal ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Dermatomycoses ; diagnosis ; microbiology ; Eye Diseases ; diagnosis ; microbiology ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Polymerase Chain Reaction