Vascular calcification (VC) is a chronic systemic vascular disease characterized by abnormal deposition of hydroxyapatite minerals in the vascular system and is closely associated with aging, diabetes, atherosclerosis, and chronic kidney disease. Perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT), a special type of adipose tissue that surrounds blood vessels, is thought to be a supportive component of the vascular structure and is capable of playing a role in homeostatic regulation during vasodilatation and contraction. Currently, there is growing evidence that perivascular adipose tissue acts as an endocrine and paracrine organ and interacts closely with cellular components of the vascular wall, which may be involved in the development of vascular calcification. This article reviews the role of perivascular adipose tissue in the pathophysiological process of vascular calcification and its potential as a target for therapeutic intervention, with the aim of providing new ideas for the prevention and treatment of vascular calcification.

Aged ; Astragalus Plant ; Cerebral Infarction ; drug therapy ; Drug Combinations ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Phytotherapy ; Plant Extracts ; Platelet Aggregation ; drug effects ; Salvia miltiorrhiza

China ; Humans ; Industry ; statistics & numerical data ; Lead ; blood ; Occupational Exposure

Objective To Analyze the development tendency and major influential factors of the resource and service of traditional medicine (TM) by contrasting the statistical data between China and India.Methods The research data came from the governmental statistical date of traditional medicine.The main statistical indicators included:number of TM hospitals,number of beds in TM institutions,number of health personnel of TM,number of visits and inpatients of TM institutions.A contrastive analysis was given based on these data over the period of 2008-2012.Results In 2012,the number of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) hospital per ten million populations was 25.1,the number of Traditional Indian Medicine (TIM) hospital per ten million populations was 25.9; the number of beds in TCM institutions per ten thousand populations was 4.5,the number of beds in TIM institutions per ten thousand populations was 0.5; the number of TCM physicians and physician assistants per ten thousand populations was 2.6,the number of TIM physicians and physician assistants per ten thousand populations was 5.9.In 2012,the numbers of visits and inpatients of governmental public TCM hospitals were 426.671 million and 16.882 million; the numbers of visits and inpatients of governmental public TIM hospitals were 73.445 million and 0.947 million.Conclusion There was no significant difference in the number of TM hospitals per ten million populations between China and India.China had obviously advantages in the number of beds in TM institutions,number of visits and inpatients of TM institution.India had obviously advantages in the number of TM health personnel.

The theoretical basis of the alcohol precipitation process control was provided, the alcohol precipitation was optimized and the relationship equation was got. The monod glycoside, loganin and paeoniflorin were used as the evaluation indexes to determine the impact factors of alcohol precipitation techniques of Liuwei Dihuang decoction by the Plackett-Burman experimental design and the levels of non-significant factors were identified. Then, Box-Behnken response surface methodology was used to research and discuss the critical process parameters influence the effect of alcohol precipitation and draw interaction between key process parameters and the correlation equation with index components. Through the establishment and solving the quadratic regression model of composite score, the optimum preparation conditions of alcohol precipitation techniques of liuwei were as follows: stirring speed was 580 r x min(-1), standing time was 17 hours, alcohol concentration was 34%, the density of Liuwei Dihuang decoction was 1.13. The response surface methodology for optimized alcohol precipitation techniques of Liuwei Dihuang decoction is. reasonable and feasible.
Chemical Precipitation ; Chemistry, Pharmaceutical ; methods ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Ethanol ; chemistry

Child ; Child, Preschool ; Erythema ; drug therapy ; etiology ; Fatal Outcome ; Female ; Fever ; drug therapy ; etiology ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; adverse effects ; Humans ; Leukocyte Count ; Male ; Transplantation, Homologous

ObjectiveTo study the role and mechanism of resisitin in prophylactic and therapeutic treatments of rosiglitazone,a specific peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ(PPARγ) ligand,in rats with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) and pancreatitis-associated pulmonary injury.MethodsThe levels of amylase ( AMY ),Resistin,TNF-α,IL-1 β and C reactive protein (CRP) in blood plasma,lung myeloperoxidase ( MPO ) activity,pancreas/body weight ratio and lung wet/dry weight ratio were evaluated.Pancreatic and pulmonary pathology were observed.The expression of resistin in pancreas was detected byimmunohistochemistry.The gene expression of resistin mRNA was investigated by real-time PCR.ResultsBoth prophylactic and therapeutic treatments with rosiglitazone could obviously ameliorate the levels of AMY,resistin,TNF-αt,IL-1β and CRP ( all P ＜ 0.01 ).Compared with the control group,both prophylactic and therapeutic treatment groups were higher( all P ＜ 0.01 ).The prophylactic treatment group was not different from the therapeutic treatment group.Both prophylactic and therapeutic treatments with rosiglitazone could significantly reduce pancreas/body weight ratio,pancreatic pathology,MPO,pulmonary pathology ( all P ＜ 0.01 ).Compared with the SAP group,the expression of resistin mRNA in the prophylactic and therapeutic treatment groups were obviously decreased.ConclusionRosiglitazone could obviously ameliorate pancreatitis and pulmonary injury induced by L-arginine.

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of oxycodone hydrochloride injection for postoperative analgesia in patients undergoing the operation under general anesthesia in a prospective,randomized,blind,multicenter,positive-controlled,clinical trial.Methods Two hundred and forty ASA Ⅰ or Ⅱ patients of both sexes,aged 18-64 yr,weighing 40-95 kg,scheduled for elective abdominal operation or orthopedic surgeries under general anesthesia,were randomly divided into 2 groups (n =120 each):morphine sulfate injection group (group M) and oxycodone hydrochloride injection group (group O).Morphine or oxycodone 1 mg was injected intravenously when the patients complained of pain after tracheal extubation or removal of the laryngeal mask,and administration was repeated if necessary until VAS≤40 mm.Then patient-controlled intravenous analgesia (PCIA) (100 ml,0.5 mg/ml) with morphine or oxycodone was used for postoperative analgesia (lasting for 48 h).The PCIA pump was set up with a 1 ml bolus dose,a 5 min lockout interval and background infusion at a rate of 0.5 mg/h.Pain at rest and during movement was assessed using VAS score at 3,24 and 48 h after administration,and non-inferiority test was performed.Total morphine or oxycodone consumption,requirement for rescue analgesic,the number of unsuccessfully delivered dose,the number of attempts,and the level of patient' s satisfaction were recorded within 48 h after operation.The adverse events were recorded and laboratory examinations (blood and urine routine test,blood biochemical examination) were performed within 72 h after administration.Results There was no significant difference in the VAS scores at rest and during movement at different time points,requirement for rescue analgesic,the number of unsuccessfully delivered doses and attempts,level of patient' s satisfaction,total morphine or oxycodone consumption,and adverse events between the two groups (P ＞ 0.05).No serious adverse event occurred in the two groups.The most common adverse event was nausea,followed by vomiting.There was no significant difference in the incidences and degree of nausea and vomiting between the two groups (P ＞ 0.05).The incidences of nausea and vomiting in patients underwent orthopedic surgeries were significantly lower in group O than in group M (P ＜ 0.05).The other adverse events were fewer and abnormal laboratory examinations were rare in the two groups.95％ confidence interval of the difference between the mean VAS scores at rest and during movement at each time point was within 15 mm (boundary values of non-inferiority testing) in the two groups.Conclusion PCIA with oxycodone hydrochloride injection is safe and effective in reducing pain after moderate or major operation,and the analgesic efficacy is similar to that of morphine sulfate injection,however,the development of nausea and vomiting is reduced when PCIA with oxycodone hydrochloride injection is used for orthopedic surgeries as compared with that when morphine sulfate injection is used and the ratio between the analgesic efficacy of the two drugs is close to 1∶1.

Objective To explore the effect of iron chelators on labile iron pool and expression of apoptosis associated genes in cells of K562, an erythroleukemia cell line.Methods K562 cells were incubated at 37 ℃ in RPMI 1640 containing 10% heat-inactived fetal bovine serum in an saturated humidity and 5% CO_2 incubator. K562 cells were incubated with different concentrations of desferro-(xamine(DFO)). The study groups were divided as following: DFO group, iron+DFO group and the control group. Following indices were detected which included apoptosis by flow cytometry (FCM) assay, expression of Rb, c-myc, bax mRNA by RT-PCR. The intracellular LIP was measured with a fluorimetric assay using the metalsensitive probe calcein-AM.Results 1. The viability of K562 cells incubated with different concentrations of DFO was lower than that of control group at 12 h,24 h and 48 h (P

Objective To induce mouse embryonic stem(ES)cells to differentiate into insulin-secreting cells by means of a 5-step model system.Methods E14.1 mouse ES cells were cultured in the presence of leukemia inhibitory factor(LIF)for 2 days(step 1),then the cells were cultured in hanging drops to form embryonic bodies(EBs)and the resulting EBs were cultured in suspension for 6 days in the presence of basic fibroblast growth factor bFGF(step 2).Subsequently the EBs were cultured in the medium containing glucagon- like peptide 1(GLP-1),hepatocyte growth factor(HGF),nerve growth factor(NGF)and nicotinamide for 10 days(step 3).After that,the EBs were dissociated into single cells,and the cells were cultured in monolayer in the presence of GLP-1,betacellulin,activin A,bFGF and nicotinamide for 10 days(step 4).Finally,the cells were cultured in low-glucose medium containing nicotinamide for 4 days(step 5).Insulin and some other islet- related genes expressions were investigated using RT-PCR and insulin expression was also investigated by DTZ- staining and immunohistochemistry.The percentage of insulin-secreting cells was evaluated by flowcytometry and insulin concentrations were measured by RIA.Results mRNA expression of insulin became visible at step 3 and more evident at step 5.Additionally,at step 5,mRNAs of glucagon,somatostatin,pancreatic polypeptide(PP), pancreatic duodenal homeobox 1(PDX-1),beta-cell E box transactivator 2(Beta2)and neurogenin 3(Ngn3) were detected.DTZ-staining positive cells and insulin immunohistochemical staining positive cells were observed. The percentage of insulin-positive cells was(24.0?2.5)%(n=6).In the presence of 5.6 mmol/L and 25 mmol/L glucose,insulin concentrations were(0.05?0.01)?g/L and(0.13?0.02)?g/L respectively(n= 6).Conclusion E14.1 mouse ES cells can be induced to differentiate into insulin-secreting cells by the 5-step model system.Insulin-secreting cells can release insulin into culture medium when treated with glucose,and insulin concentrations increase with rising concentration of glucose.