Astragalus polysaccharide has been widely used in food and medicinal industry owing to its health-promoting properties. In order to characterize better the relationship among molecular weight, structure-activity and activities, a simple method was used different concentration of ethanol including 30% (PW30), 50% (PW50), 70% (PW70), 75% (PW75), 80% (PW80) and 90% (PW90) to precipitate Astragalus polysaccharides into different molecular weight. As a result, PW90 showed smooth surface and the strongest antioxidant activity among these six fractions (P < 0.05). In conclusion, graded ethanol precipitation was a simple method to separate Astragalus polysaccharides into different molecular weight with different antioxidant activity fractions.
Antioxidants ; pharmacology ; Astragalus Plant ; chemistry ; Chemical Precipitation ; Ethanol ; chemistry ; Polysaccharides ; chemistry ; pharmacology

OBJECTIVETo study the acting mechanism of endothelial cell line ECV304 in regulating angiogenesis induced by Xuefu Zhuyu Decoction (XFZY).

METHODSThe angiogenesis effect of XFZY-contained serum (XFZY-CS) was confirmed by observing its impact on proliferation, cell cycle, migration of ECV304 and on vascular neogenesis in vitro. Then the effect of XFZY on various angiogenesis controlling factors was analyzed with gene chip microarray technique.

RESULTSTreatment of XFZY-CS in 2.5% concentration for 48 h showed evident actions of enhancing ECV304 activity, increasing cell numbers of S phase, inducing cell migration and promoting the in vitro angiogenesis. Meanwhile, expressions of four angiogenesis controlling genes were up-regulated and 10 were down-regulated.

CONCLUSIONThe angiogenesis mechanism of ECV304 induced by XFZY is complex, it shows a multi-pathway and multi-target feature.

Angiogenesis Inducing Agents ; Animals ; Cell Line ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Endothelial Cells ; drug effects ; Female ; Gene Expression Regulation ; drug effects ; Male ; Neovascularization, Physiologic ; drug effects ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch. ex DC is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Among its various active components, glycyrrhizic acid is believed to be the marker component. Squalene synthase (SQS) and beta-amyrin synthase (beta-AS) are key enzymes in the biosynthetic pathway of glycyrrhizic acid in G uralensis. To reveal the effects of co-expression of SQS1 and beta-AS genes on this pathway, 7 yeast expression vectors harboring different SQS1 variants and beta-AS were constructed and expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae as fusion proteins. TLC and GC-MS results showed that co-expression of SQS1 and beta-AS enhanced the accumulation of beta-amyrin. The effects of SQS12 were more obvious than the other two SQS1 variants. This study is significant for further investigations concerned with exploring the biosynthesis of glycyrrhizic acid in vitro and strengthening the efficacy of G. uralensis by means of increasing the content of glycyrrhizic acid.
Farnesyl-Diphosphate Farnesyltransferase ; genetics ; metabolism ; Glycyrrhiza uralensis ; genetics ; Intramolecular Transferases ; metabolism ; Oleanolic Acid ; analogs & derivatives ; metabolism ; Plant Proteins ; genetics ; Recombinant Proteins ; metabolism ; Saccharomyces cerevisiae ; metabolism

So far there exists no corresponding quality test procedures and grading standards for the seed of Prunus humilis, which is one of the important source of base of semen pruni. Therefor we set up test procedures that are adapt to characteristics of the P. humilis seed through the study of the test of sampling, seed purity, thousand-grain weight, seed moisture, seed viability and germination percentage. 50 cases of seed specimens of P. humilis tested. The related data were analyzed by cluster analysis. Through this research, the seed quality test procedure was developed, and the seed quality grading standard was formulated. The seed quality of each grade should meet the following requirements: for first grade seeds, germination percentage ≥ 68%, thousand-grain weight 383 g, purity ≥ 93%, seed moisture ≤ 5%; for second grade seeds, germination percentage ≥ 26%, thousand-grain weight ≥ 266 g, purity ≥ 73%, seed moisture ≤9%; for third grade seeds, germination percentage ≥ 10%, purity ≥ 50%, thousand-grain weight ≥ 08 g, seed moisture ≤ 13%.
Cluster Analysis ; Germination ; Prunus ; growth & development ; Seeds ; physiology

Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch. ex DC is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Among its various active components, glycyrrhizic acid is believed to be the marker component. Squalene synthase (SQS) and beta-amyrin synthase (beta-AS) are key enzymes in the biosynthetic pathway of glycyrrhizic acid in G uralensis. To reveal the effects of co-expression of SQS1 and beta-AS genes on this pathway, 7 yeast expression vectors harboring different SQS1 variants and beta-AS were constructed and expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae as fusion proteins. TLC and GC-MS results showed that co-expression of SQS1 and beta-AS enhanced the accumulation of beta-amyrin. The effects of SQS12 were more obvious than the other two SQS1 variants. This study is significant for further investigations concerned with exploring the biosynthesis of glycyrrhizic acid in vitro and strengthening the efficacy of G. uralensis by means of increasing the content of glycyrrhizic acid.

Objective To explore the effect of Shenqi Fufang (参芪复方,SF) on skeletal muscle damage of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and its possible mechanism.Methods Eighteen rats with spontaneous type 2 diabetes mellitus (GK) were randomized into the model group,SF group and sitagliptin group with six rats in each group,and six more Wistar rats were selected as the control group.Each group was given high fat diet for 8 weeks to build T2DM model except for the control group.At the same time,the control group and the model group were given normal saline 5 ml/(kg-d) by gastric perfusion,the SF group was given SF extract 1.44g/(kg · d) by gastric perfusion,and sitagliptin group was given sitagliptin phosphate suspension 16ml/(kg · d) by gastric perfusion.Eight weeks later,the levels of serum insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1),tumor necrosis factor-αr (TNF-a) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β)were measured in each group,the gastrocnemius muscle was taken out to get the wet weight and observe the pathological changes,and the expression of p70s6k1 protein was detected.Results Compared with the control group,the wet weight of the gastrocnemius muscle,the serum IGF-1 level and p70s6k1 protein expression in the model group significantly decreased (P ＜ 0.05),while the levels of serum TNF-α and IL-1β significantly increased (P ＜ 0.05).Through pathological observation,there existed gastrocnemius muscle cells atrophy,a larger area of edema and interstitial lymphocyte infiltration.Compared with the model group,the wet weight of the gastrocnemius muscle,IGF-1 content and p70s6k protein expression in the sitagliptin group and the SF group significantly increased,the contents of TNF-α and IL-l β significantly decreased (P ＜0.05),and there were no obvious muscle cell atrophy and edema,and also little inflammatory cell infiltration.There was no significant difference between the sitagliptin group and SF group (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion SF could reduce the diabetic skeletal muscle injury;the potential mechanism seems to reduce the inflammatory factor content,improve IGF-1 resistance and maintain the skeletal muscle mass.

The academic origin of homogeny of spleen and pancreas is explained from the aspect of Chinese medicine.The authors think spleen faihng to spread essence is the basic pathogenesis to diabetes mellitus.Spleen function of spreading essence is impaired.Thus essence of water and grain could not be spread in the whole body but amass sugar-turbidity,which manifests high blood sugar.Differentiating diabetes mellitus from the viewpoint of spleen,invigorating spleen and benefiting Qi could help spleen to ascend clear.Invigorating spleen-yin and clearing endogenous heat are used.The liver and kidney should be considered.The methods of dissipating phlegm and activating blood circulation could be combined.The treating idea of treating spleen is treating pancreas should be used in preventing and treating diabetes mellitus.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the relationship between lamivudine-resistant mutants of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and serum HBV DNA loading before antiviral therapy.

METHODSThis study involved 106 patients with hepatitis B receiving lamivudine treatment for an average of 32 months (rang 12-48 months). Serum HBV DNA loadings were measured with PCR before and every 4 to 6 months during lamivudine therapy. HBV YMDD mutants were detected using mismatched PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) during lamivudine treatment.

RESULTSHBV DNA loading was significantly higher in patients infected with HBV YMDD mutants during lamivudine therapy than those infected with HBV without YMDD mutation.

CONCLUSIONHigh viral loading in hepatitis B patients before treatment is associated with high likeliness of HBV YMDD mutation during lamivudine treatment. HBV DNA loading may be indicative for the occurrence of YMDD mutation during lamivudine therapy.

Antiviral Agents ; pharmacology ; DNA, Viral ; blood ; Drug Resistance, Viral ; genetics ; Female ; Hepatitis B ; blood ; Hepatitis B virus ; drug effects ; genetics ; physiology ; Humans ; Lamivudine ; pharmacology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mutation ; Viral Load ; genetics

Intraoperative awareness is a very serious complication of general anesthesia.Several studies have evaluated the potential association between bispectral index (BIS) and intraoperative awareness,however,the results obtained were controversial.Therefore,we performed a meta-analysis to further assess the association between the BIS monitoring and the incidence of intraoperative awareness.A comprehensive search was conducted to identify all eligible studies from the online literature databases published prior to Feb.2017.A total of five studies with 17 432 cases and 16 749 controls were included.An odds ratio (OR) and a 95％ confidence interval (CI) were calculated to examine the strength of the association.The results showed that in the overall analysis,the association between the BIS monitoring and the incidence of intraoperative awareness was not significant (OR=0.58,95％ CI=0.22-1.58,P=0.29).A stratified analysis by comparing different anesthesia methods revealed that BIS monitoring group showed a lower incidence of intraoperative awareness in patients with intravenous anesthesia when compared with non-BIS monitoring group (OR=0.20,95％ CI=0.08-0.49,P=0.0004),whereas there was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of intraoperative awareness between BIS and non-BIS monitoring groups in patients with inhalation anesthesia (OR=1.13,95％ CI=0.56-2.26,P=0.73).In conclusion,our meta-analysis showed that BIS monitoring had no appreciable advantage in the reduction of the intraoperative awareness incidence in inhalation anesthesia,while showed a remarkable superiority in intravenous anesthesia.

This paper aims to construct a Bayesian(BN) fault diagnosis model of traditional Chinese medicine dry granulation based on the failure model and effect analysis(FMEA), effectively control risk factors and ensure the quality of granules.Firstly, the risk ana-lysis of dry granulation process was carried out with FMEA, and the selected medium and high risk factors were taken as node variables to establish corresponding BN network with causality.According to the mathematical reasoning method of probability theory, the model was accurately inferred and verified by Netica, and the granule nonconformance was used as the evidence for reversed reasoning to determine the most likely cause of the failure that affected the granule quality.The BN fault diagnosis model of traditional Chinese medicine dry gra-nulation was established based on the medium and high risk factors of process, prescription and equipment screened out by FMEA, such as roller pressure, raw material viscosity, clearance between rollers in the paper.The fault diagnosis of traditional Chinese medicine dry granulation process was then carried out according to the model, and the posterior probability of each node under the premise of nonconforming granule quality was obtained.This method could provide strong support for operators to quickly eliminate faults and make decisions, so as to improve the efficiency and accuracy for fault diagnosis and prediction, with innovation in its application.
Bayes Theorem ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Probability