Objective: To investigate the chemical constituents of Isodon flavidus. Methods: All compounds were isolated and purified by silica gel, Sephadex LH-20, and MCI column chromatography. Their structures were elucidated by analysis on the physicochemical properties and spectral data. Results: Nine compounds were obtained from the Miao medicine I. flavidus and respectively elucidated as lophanic acid (1), isopimara-7,15-dien-19-oic acid (2), isopimara-7,15-dien-3β-ol (3), rubesanolide D (4), ursolic acid (5), β-sitosterol (6), oleanolic acid (7), 2α,3α-dihydroxy-12-ene-28-oic acid (8), and sesamin (9). Conclusion: Compounds 1-5 and 8-9 are isolated from this plant for the first time, compound 3 is isolated from the plants of Rabdosia (BL.) Hassk for the first time.

The imaging appearances of 99Tc(m)-HL91, a new hypoxic imaging agent, in ischemic myocardium were studied and the value of 99Tc(m)-HL91 in the evaluation of regional ischemic viable myocardium was explored. Acute myocardial ischemia models were made by coronary artery legations in 18 rats and randomly divided into 2 groups: 99Tc(m)-HL91 group and 99Tc(m)-MIBI group. Evan blue infusion during ischemia and TTC staining after operation were used to delineate the area of ischemic and viable myocardium. The isolated heart was sliced in the short axis and then autoradiography was performed. The electron microscopic examination was also done for the myocardial samples. 99Tc(m)-HL91 and 99Tc(m)-MIBI uptake activities (counts/g) were measured in the area of ischemic myocardium (T) and normal myocardium (NT) separately. The uptake ratios of 99Tc(m)-HL91 and that of 99Tc(m)-MIBI in ischemic myocardium were calculated as T/NT. It was found that the normal myocardium was blue and ischemic or infarct myocardium was negative with Evans blue in all experiment rats. Both the normal and ischemic myocardium was in red color with TTC staining. In the 99Tc(m)-HL91 group the ischemic myocardium showed much higher uptake over normal myocardium, that was demonstrated both in the autoradiography and quantitative analysis. The ischemic/normal activity ratios were 1.634 +/- 0.354. It was suggested that 99Tc(m)-HL91 might accumulate in ischemic and viable myocardium, which is helpful in the evaluation of hypoxic but viable myocardium and potentially used as a imaging agent to assess myocardial viability.

Objective To study the clinical significance of the serum angiopoietin-2(Ang-2) in the diagnosis,recurrence,invasion and metastasis of gastric cancer.Methods The serum Ang-2 and carcino-embryonic antigen (CEA) levels in 158 patients with gastric cancer (gastric cancer group) and 30 normal controls(control group) were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) technique respectively.The serum Ang-2 and CEA levels were also measured 2 weeks after operation in gastric cancer group and reexamined in the recurred gastric cancer patients in 2 years after operation (recurred and metastasis group).The correlation between the serum Ang-2 level and pathologic c haracterization of gastric cancer was evaluated.Results The serum Ang-2 and CEA levels in gastric cancer group [ (331.8 ±64.3),(42.6 ±37.3)μg/L] and recurred and metastasis group [(318.7 ±72.9),(40.5 ±36.7)μg/L] were significantly higher than those in control group [ (187.4 ± 32.7),(4.2 ± 3.1 )μ g/L] (P ＜ 0.01 ),and the serum Ang-2 level 2 weeks after operation [ (211.6 ± 75.1 ) μ g/L ] was significantly decreased to the control group (P ＞ 0.05 ),while the serum CEA level [ (33.4 ± 30.6) μ g/L ] was still significantly higher than the control group (P ＜ 0.01 ).The sensitivity of the serum Ang-2 for diagnosis of gastric cancer was markedly higher than that of the serum CEA (P ＜ 0.01 ).There was correlation between serum Ang-2 and degree of tumor differentiation,TNM pathological staging,lymphatic metastasis,invasion depth and tumor size (p ＜0.01 ),but there was no correlation between serum Ang-2 and tissue classification and location of gastric cancer (P＞ 0.05).Conclusion The serum Ang-2 level is suggested to be a valuable gastric cancer marker and conduce to the diagnosis of gastric cancer,the monitoring of recurrence after operation and evaluation of prognosis.

Small interfering RNA (siRNA) is the initiator of RNA interference and inhibits gene expression by targeted degradation of specific messenger RNA. siRNA-mediated gene regulation has high efficiency and specificity and exhibits great significance in the treatment of diseases. However, the naked or unmodified siRNA has poor stability, easy to degrade by nuclease, short half-life, and low intracellular delivery. As an emerging non-viral nucleic acid delivery system, ionizable lipid nanoparticles play an important role in improving the druggability of siRNA. At present, one siRNA drug based on ionizable lipid nanoparticles has been approved for the treatment of rare disease. This review introduces the research progress in ionizable lipid nanoparticles for siRNA delivery, focusing on the effect of each component of lipid nanoparticles on the efficiency of siRNA-mediated gene silencing, which provides new references for the studies on ionizable lipid nanocarriers for siRNA delivery.

Objectives To investigate the characteristics of changes in serum metabolic profile before and after resection of carcinoma tissues to establish a disease distinguishing model,to analyze the changing trend of characteristic metabolites,and to determine the molecular mechanism and potential clinical value of characteristic metabolic markers for HBV-related liver cancer.Methods Ultraperformance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS) was used to analyze the serum metabolites of 15 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) before and after partial hepatectomy and on 25 healthy volunteers.The pattern recognition method and nonparametric test analyzes were used to analyze the data and to identify the specific metabolites and their changes after resection of carcinoma tissues.Results We established the principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) disease distinguishing model for HCC patients before and after operation as against the healthy volunteers.To distinguish between the liver cancer group and the normal control group,27 characteristic metabolites were selected from the patients before and after resection of carcinoma tissues.Eight moved towards the normal control after resection of carcinoma tissues.This indicated that liver carcinoma was an important impacting factor for these metabolites.Finally,7 metabolites were identified,and these metabolites had high diagnostic value as shown on ROC curves.Conclusions Through serum metabolic profiling of patients before and after resection of carcinoma tissues,a high correlation between metabolism and hepatocellular carcinoma was found.Researches on endogenous metabolites and pathways in liver diseases will provide a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms and provide further directions for clinical diagnosis and treatment.

Amino Acid Metabolism, Inborn Errors ; complications ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Male

Air ; analysis ; Chromatography, Gas ; methods ; Ethylene Oxide ; analysis ; Furans ; analysis ; Methylene Chloride ; analysis ; Workplace

OBJECTIVETo explore the effect of Yixintai Granule (YG) on mRNA and protein expression levels of AQP2 in renal medulla of chronic heart failure (CHF) rabbits.

METHODSCHF rat model was established by ear marginal vein injection of adriamycin. Successfully modeled rabbits were divided into the model group, the high (8.4 g/kg), middle (4.2 g/kg), and low dose (2.1 g/kg) YG group, and the Furosemide group (2 mg/kg). Besides, a normal control group was set up. Equal volume of physiological saline was administered to rabbits of the model group and the normal control group by gastrogavage. YG at different doses was administered to rabbits of the 3 YG groups by gastrogavage. The intervention lasted for 4 weeks, once per day. After treatment the urine volume and pathomorphological changes of renal medulla tissue were observed. mRNA and its protein expression levels of AQP2 were detected.

RESULTSCompared with the normal control group, the urine volume decreased significantly, mRNA and protein expression levels of renal medulla AQP2 increased significantly in the model group (all P < 0.01). Compared with the model group, the urine volume increased significantly, and mRNA and protein expression levels of renal medulla AQP2 decreased significantly in all medicated groups (all P < 0.01). Compared with the low dose YG group, the urine volume significantly increased and the mRNA expression level of renal medulla AQP2 significantly decreased in the middle and high dose YG groups (all P < 0.01). The expression level of AQP2 protein significantly decreased in the high dose YG group (P < 0.01). Pathological changes of the renal medulla was the most obviously seen in the model group. But they were alleviated to various degrees in all medicated groups. They were more obviously attenuated in the middle and high dose YG groups.

CONCLUSIONYG could improve CHF possibly through down-regulating mRNA and protein expression levels of AQP2 in renal medulla, and elevating the urine volume.

Animals ; Aquaporin 2 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Chronic Disease ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Heart Failure ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; RNA, Messenger ; metabolism ; Rabbits ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

AIM To observe the combinative therapeutic effects of Mailuo Shutong Granules and routine synthetic medications on patients with superficial thrombophlebitis (STP).METHODS Seventy patients randomly and equally divided into control group and observation group were subjected to a two-week conventional treatment and a two-week intervention of Mailuo Shutong Granules on the basis of routine treatment,respectively,and they had the before and after the treatment assessment in terms of main clinical symptoms and signs,endothelial function indices (NO,ET-1,TXB2,6-Keto-PGF1α,VEGF,vWF),hemorheology indices (plasma viscosity,blood sedimentation,erythrocyte aggregation index,fibrous protein).RESULTS The observation group generally demonstrated significantly higher effective rate than the control group (P ＜ 0.05).Markedly decreased post-treatment scores for main clinical symptoms and signs,TXB2,ET-1,vWF,plasma viscosity,blood sedimentation,erythrocyte aggregation index,fibrous protein,and increased 6-Keto-PGF1 α,VEGF and NO (P ＜ 0.05) in both groups were observed,as well as the between-group variance showing the observation group's priority (P ＜ 0.05).The respective 8.57％ and 14.29％ incidence rates of adverse reactions in the observation group and control group were also noticed.CONCLUSION For patients with STP,a combination therapy of Mailuo Shutong Granules on the basis of synthetic medications contributes to an effective main clinical symptoms alleviation due to its vascular endothelial cells protection,cellular secretion function and hemorheological improvement.

Objective To investigate the distribution of surfactant protein-C( SP-C) gene single nu-cleotide polymorphisms and to study the association between the SP-C gene polymorphisms and neonatal respiratory distress syndrome( NRDS) in infants. Methods Fifty-one infants with NRDS( NRDS group) and 51 infants without RDS( control group) were selected. PCR gene analysis and polymerase chain reaction were used to establish the genotype and allele frequencies of SP-C exon 4(T138N) and exon 5(S186N),SP-C exon 4 and 5 for the mutation,and then the association between the polymorphisms and NRDS was analyzed. Results SP-C gene mutations were not found in exon 4 and 5. In the Mongol nationality of the Inner Mon-golia region,SP-C exon 4(T138N) genotypes could check out three genotypes:namely AA,AC and CC. The frequencies of allele A and allele C of SP-C exon 4(T138N) were not statistically different between NRDS group and control group(χ2 =0. 454,P=0. 797). In the Mongol nationality,SP-C exon 5(S186N) genotypes could check out three genotypes:namely AA,AG and GG. The frequencies of allele A and allele G of SP-C exon 5(S186N) were not statistically different between NRDS group and control group(χ2 =0. 493,P =0. 782). Conclusion SP-C exon 4(T138N) and exon 5(S186N) gene polymorphism in Inner Mongolia newborns displays no significant correlation with sex,birth weight or gestational age. SP-C gene mutations are not found in exon 4 and 5. SP-C gene exon 4(T138N) and exon 5(S186N) polymorphisms are not found to be associated with NRDS in Mongol nationality of the Inner Mongolia.