Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has a good reputation for preventing or healing diseases in clinic due to its higher efficacy, minor toxicity and abundant resources. Screening bioactive components in TCMs is not only crucial for clarifying their action mechanisms, but also the basis of their safety and quality control. TCM is characterized by multiple components, multiple targets and multiple mechanisms, however the complex composition of TCM makes it difficult to study the therapeutic material basis which has become the bottleneck in the process of its modernization and internationalization. Recently, with the rapid development of modern technologies and the unceasing progress of various disciplines, multidisciplinary approach, such as analytical chemistry, chemistry of TCM, pharmacology, cell biology, systems biology and bioinformatics has been successfully applied to the study of TCM. Multidisciplinary approach realizes the communication and interaction of multi-discipline, and accelerates the research and development of TCM. This review summarizes the application of multidisciplinary approach which may have certain potential of bringing new thoughts to TCM research and provide references for screening and identification of therapeutic material basis of TCMs.
Chemistry, Pharmaceutical ; Computational Biology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Phototherapy ; Systems Biology

Objective To explore the effect of action observation therapy (AOT) on upper limb function in children with spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy,and the better program. Methods From March to November,2017,45 children with spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy were randomly assigned to control group and AOT group.The control group was further divided into group A(n=11)and group B(n=11), and received conventional rehabilitation treatment and scenic-observation therapy, 20 minutes every time for group A,and 30 minutes every time for group B.AOT group was further divided into group C(n=10)and group D (n=11), and received AOT in addition, 20 minutes every time for group C, and 30 minutes every time for group D,five times each week for twelve weeks for all the groups.Before treatment,eight and twelve weeks af-ter treatment, they were assessed with hand grip strength, Upper Extremities Functions Test (UEFT), and Wee Functional Independence Measure(WeeFIM). Results After treatment,the hand grip strength and the score of UEFT were better in group D than in groups B and C(P<0.05),and were better at twelve weeks than at eight weeks(P<0.05).No significant difference was found in the score of WeeFIM among groups after treatment(P>0.05). Conclusion AOT could improve upper limp function in children with spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy,and it's more ef-fective after more training.

OBJECTIVETo acquire teeth and prosthetic conditions of the elderly.

METHODS1166 patients of over 60 years old had been given prosthetic treatment, and the teeth conditions were analyzed.

RESULTSThe average number of missing teeth was 10.25. The maxillary missing teeth were more than mandibular ones. The rate of missing teeth were as follows: maxillary teeth > mandibular teeth; molars > bicuspids > incisors > cuspid. 1120 cases were treated with removable dentures. 59% of the removable partial dentures had free-end saddles. 46 cases were treated with fixed bridges.

CONCLUSIONThe characteristics of prosthetic patients in the elderly were as follows: a large number of missing teeth and free-end missing teeth, attrition of resident teeth, food impaction, existing-residual root and loosen teeth. Removable denture was the main method of the prosthetic therapy for the elderly patients. Fixed bridge was used when the patient condition was good. The cuspid, treated residual root and the third molar should be used for the retention and support of the prosthesis.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Denture, Partial, Fixed ; statistics & numerical data ; Denture, Partial, Removable ; statistics & numerical data ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Tooth Loss ; therapy

OBJECTIVESto verify the feasibility and reliability of the electronic version of Chinese SF-36 based on the Quality-of-Life-Recorder.

DESIGNA crossover randomized controlled trial, comparing a paper-based and an electronic version of the Chinese SF-36, was conducted. According to generated random numbers, interviewees were asked to fill out either the electronic version or the paper version first. The second version was filled in after a pause of at least 10 min.

SETTINGS AND PARTICIPANTSOne group of 100 medical students at the School of Medicine of Zhejiang University and the other group of 50 outpatients at a clinic for general practice in Hangzhou City (China) were eventually recruited in this study.

RESULTSThe acceptance of the electronic version was good (60% of medical students and 84% of outpatients preferred the electronic version). At the level of eight-scale scores, the mean-difference for each scale (except for general health) between the two versions was less than 5%. At the level of 36 questions, the percentage of "exact agreement" ranged within 64%-99%; the percentage of "global agreement" ranged within 72%-99%; 77% of the kappa coefficients demonstrated "good/excellent agreement" and 23% of the kappa coefficients demonstrated "medium agreement".

CONCLUSIONThis study, for the first time, can provide empirical basis for the confirmation of the feasibility and reliability of the electronic version of the Chinese SF-36 and may provide an impulse towards widespread deployment of the Quality-of-Life-Recorder in Chinese populations.

Adult ; China ; Cross-Over Studies ; Electronics ; instrumentation ; Female ; Health Surveys ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Quality of Life ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Time Factors

OBJECTIVETo explore the effect of acupoint massage dominant early comprehensive intervention on the prognosis of premature infants with brain injury.

METHODSTotally 210 premature infants with brain injury were assigned to the intervention group (112 cases) and the control group (98 cases). All patients received routine therapy (medicinal + routine care instructions). Patients in the intervention group additionally received acupoint massage. Those with abnormal early motion received physical sports treatment. Those with upper limbs dysfunction or with fine movement disorders received occupational therapy. Premature infants' development quotient (DQ) was performed at corrected age of 6 and 12 months by using neuropsychological development examination table for 0 - 6 years old children. The incidence of cerebral palsy was statistically calculated.

RESULTSAt corrected age of 6 months, DQ of gross motor, fine motor, language three functional areas was higher in the intervention group than in the control group with significant difference (P < 0.05). At corrected age of 12 months, DQ of gross motor, fine motor, language, social and adaptive capacities was higher in the intervention group than in the control groupwith significant difference (P < 0.05). The incidence of cerebral palsy was 4.46% (5/112) in the intervention group and 12.24% (12/98) in the control group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONAcupoint massage dominant early comprehensive intervention could obviously improve the intelligence development level and lower the incidence of cerebral palsy in premature infants with brain injury.

Acupuncture Points ; Brain Injuries ; therapy ; Cerebral Palsy ; prevention & control ; Early Medical Intervention ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Male ; Massage ; Prognosis

Abstract?AIM: To investigate mechanism of bradykinin ( BK) on inflammations of retinal pigment epithelium ( RPE) cells.?METHODS: ARPE -19 cells were cultured in vitro, stimulated by 100nM BK for 24h. Cell morphology changes were observed by microscope, and BK receptor localization was detected through cell immunofluorescence. Changes of Ca2+in BK and BR antagonist stimuli were detected by laser scanning confocal microscopy.The expressions of COX-1, COX-2, eNOS and iNOS protein in control group and BK group were detected by Western Blot.?RESULTS: After the stimulation of BK, there was no significant changes of ARPE-19 cells in morphology.Kinin B1 receptors ( B1R ) and B2 receptors ( B2R ) could be detected in ARPE-19 cells.Compared with control group, Ca2+concentrations significantly increased in BK group; in B1R antagonist group and B2R antagonist group Ca2+concentrations increased less than BK group; B1R and B2R antagonist group showed no obvious changes in Ca2+concentrations.Compared with control group, COX-2 and iNOS protein concentrations were significantly increased in BK group (P<0.001).?CONCLUSION:BK induces the increasing expression of COX-2 and iNOS in the cultured ARPE cells through binding with either B1R or B2R.

Objective:To observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) pretreatment on adenine nucleotides in the myocardial tissues of the myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (MIRI) rats, and to explore the mechanism of EA pretreatment on myocardial prevention and protection in MIRI rats. Methods:Forty SPF male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into 5 groups: a blank group, a sham operation group, a model group, an EA at Neiguan (PC 6) group and an EA at Hegu (LI 4) group, with 8 rats in each group. Rats in the blank group only received binding to the rat plate, 30 min/time, once a day for 7 d; on the 7th day, rats in the sham operation group were subjected to threading for 40 min at the left anterior descending coronary artery without ligation, and then the rats were allowed to stand for 60 min before collection of the specimens; on the 7th day, rats in the model group were subjected to threading at the left anterior descending coronary artery with ligation, for 40 min before the blood flow was restored, and then the rats were allowed to stand for 60 min before collection of the specimens; on the 7th day of pretreatment with EA at Neiguan (PC 6) or Hegu (LI 4) for 30 min per day (once a day for 7 d), rats in the EA at Neiguan (PC 6) group and EA at Hegu (LI 4) group were subjected to modeling and sample collection same as in the model group. The left ventricular myocardium of the lower left anterior descending coronary artery was collected from rats in all 5 groups. Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining and transmission electron microscope (TEM) were used to observe the changes in myocardial pathological morphology. The change in the adenine nucleotide level of myocardial tissue was measured by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Results:The HE staining and ultrastructure showed that the myocardial injury was severer in the model group compared with the sham operation group. Compared with the model group, the myocardial injury in the EA at Neiguan (PC 6) and the EA at Hegu (LI 4) groups was mild or hardly any. The adenine nucleotide levels in the sham operation group and the model group were all decreased compared with the blank group (allP<0.05); compared with the sham operation group, the adenine nucleotide level of the model group was also decreased, but the difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05); compared with the model group, the adenine nucleotide level in the EA at Neiguan (PC 6) group was increased (P<0.05), and the adenine nucleotide level in the EA at Hegu (LI 4) group was significantly increased (P<0.01). The adenine nucleotide level in the EA at Hegu (LI 4) group was higher than that in the EA at Neiguan (PC 6) group, but the difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05). Compared with the EA at Neiguan (PC 6) group, the levels of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and adenosine monophosphate (AMP) in the EA at Hegu (LI 4) group were significantly increased (allP<0.01). Conclusion:Both EA at Neiguan (PC 6) and Hegu (LI 4) can alleviate the pathological damage to myocardium in MIRI rats, and increase the adenine nucleotide level in myocardial tissues, and thus protect MIRI rats. EA at Hegu (LI 4) has a better protective effect than Neiguan (PC 6).

OBJECTIVETo investigate the correlations of serum interleukin-18 (IL-18) level and IL-18 gene promoter polymorphisms to the development of sepsis in children.

METHODUsing enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), the authors tested the serum IL-18 level in 90 patients with sepsis and 123 normal controls, and their single nucleotide polymorphisms of the promoter region of IL-18 gene at position -607C/A and -137G/C were detected using polymerase chain reaction with sequence specific primers method and sequencing technique.

RESULT(1) The serum IL-18 level in sepsis groups was (196.56 +/- 157.32) pg/ml that was significantly higher than (66.16 +/- 41.63) pg/ml in normal controls (P < 0.01), the more severe the degree of sepsis was, the more significantly higher the serum IL-18 level was. The serum IL-18 level in non serious sepsis group was (152.87 +/- 114.96) pg/ml that was significantly higher than (66.16 +/- 41.63) pg/ml in normal controls, the serum IL-18 level in serious sepsis group was (191.98 +/- 169.72) pg/ml that was significantly higher than that in non serious sepsis group, and the serum IL-18 level in extremely serious sepsis patients was (323.89 +/- 159.35) pg/ml, the difference was highly significant (P = 0.000). The difference was significant among the groups with different severity of sepsis (P < 0.01). There was a negative correlation between PCIS (pediatric critical illness score) of sepsis and the serum IL-18 level (P < 0.01). (2) There were polymorphisms in IL-18 gene promoter of matched healthy children and sepsis in children. The GG genotype frequency (61.8%) of IL-18-137G/C in healthy children was the highest, followed by GC genotype (35.8%) and CC genotype (2.4%) in sequence. The G allele frequency (79.7%) was higher in IL-18-137G/C of healthy children than C allele (20.3%). The GG genotype frequency (71.1%) of IL-18-137G/C in septic children was the highest, the next were GC genotype (26.7%) and CC genotype (2.2%). The G allele frequency (84.4%) was higher in IL-18-137G/C of septic children than C allele (15.6%). The CA genotype frequency (61.0%) of IL-18-607C/A in healthy children was the highest, followed by CC genotype (26.8%) and AA genotype (12.2%). The C allele frequency (57.3%) was higher in IL-18-607C/A of healthy children than A allele (42.7%). The CA genotype frequency (76.7%) of IL-18-607C/A in septic children was the highest, followed by CC genotype (21.1%) and AA genotype (2.2%) in sequence. The C allele frequency (59.4%) was higher in IL-18-607C/A of septic children than A allele (40.6%). (3) The genotype frequency of IL-18-607 CA was 76.7% in sepsis groups that was significantly higher than 61.0% in normal controls, and the genotype frequency of -607 AA was 2.2% in sepsis groups that was significantly lower than 12.2% in normal controls, the difference was significant (P < 0.05). (4) In the order of -137CC, -137GC, -137GG, the serum IL-18 level in normal controls were as follows: (45.67 +/- 28.36) pg/ml, (53.27 +/- 37.91) pg/ml, (76.91 +/- 42.44) pg/ml, and with (140.50 +/- 60.10) pg/ml, (184.42 +/- 157.33) pg/ml, (237.02 +/- 161.76) pg/ml respectively in sepsis groups. In the order of -607AA, -607CA, -607CC, the serum IL-18 level in normal controls were: (48.80 +/- 32.11) pg/ml, (68.41 +/- 42.53) pg/ml, (70.17 +/- 43.87) pg/ml; and with (141.50 +/- 64.35) pg/ml, (151.21 +/- 121.19) pg/ml, (211.16 +/- 163.64) pg/ml respectively in sepsis groups. The difference was not significant among different groups (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe serum IL-18 level in sepsis groups was significantly higher than that in normal controls, which was related to the severity of sepsis. It was possible that the genotype of -607CA carriers was susceptible to sepsis, which mean that the genotype of -607CA might be susceptible genotype of sepsis. However, the genotype of -607AA might play an oppose role in the risk of sepsis.

Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Gene Frequency ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Genotype ; Humans ; Infant ; Interleukin-18 ; blood ; genetics ; Male ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; Sepsis ; blood ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo identify differentially expressed genes in recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma (rNPC) by DNA microarrays, and analyze chromosomal localizations and molecular function by bioinformatics.

METHODSThe primary nasopharyngeal carcinoma (pNPC) tissue samples and rNPC tissue samples were selected, and Affymetrix Gene1.0 ST gene chips were used to identify differential expressed genes in rNPC, and the bioinformatics was used to analyze their chromosomal localizations as well as molecular functions.

RESULTSA total of 44 genes were identified to be differential expressed in rNPC. Thirty-six genes were down regulated, 8 genes were up regulated. Functional classification of down-regulation genes showed that most genes (10 genes, 27.8%) belonged to the enzyme activity genes, followed by calcium ion binding genes (7 genes, 19.4%), protein binding genes (5 genes, 13.9%), receptor activity genes (4 genes, 11.1%), ATP binding genes (2 genes, 5.6%), transcription factor genes (2 genes, 5.6%), extracellular matrix binding and growth factor binding have 1 gene respectively (each accounted for 2.8%). In addition, the functions of 4 genes (11.1%) were unknown. Functional classification of up-regulation genes showed most genes (3 genes, 37.5%) were unknown, followed enzyme activity genes (2 genes, 25.0%), receptor activity, calcium ion binding and voltage-gated ion channel activity genes have 1 genes respectively (each accounted for 12.5%). These genes were localized randomly on the most the chromosomes, with a majority of them localized on chromosomes 1, 17. Chromosome 1 contained the most differentially expressed genes (10, 22.7%), followed by chromosomes 17 (5, 11.3%).

CONCLUSIONSThe differential expressed genes in rNPC were supposed to be randomly distributed on most chromosomes, but the majorities were found on chromosomes 1, 17. Abnormality in three groups of genes, including in enzyme activity, calcium ion binding and protein binding associate genes, might play important roles in rNPC. Those genes need to be further studied.

Adult ; Aged ; Carcinoma ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; genetics ; pathology ; Female ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Genes, Tumor Suppressor ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms ; genetics ; pathology ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; genetics ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis

OBJECTIVETo analyze factors influencing the choice of atrial septal occluder (ASO) for transcatheter closure of patients with secundum atrial septal defect (ASD).

METHODSA total of 1114 ASD patients [388 males, aged from 2 to 75 years, mean age (26.3 +/- 17.0) years] were enrolled. Patients were divided to adult (> 14 years, mean 34.4 years, n = 779) and child (< or = 14 years, mean 7.3 years, n = 335) groups. ASD size in different ultrasound cross-sections was determined by transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). ASO size was chosen on the basis of the maximum diameter of the defect (MD). Defect-shapes and rim lengths of ASD, the difference choice of ASO in the two groups were compared.

RESULTSMD of the defects ranged from 5 to 40 mm [mean (19.7 +/- 7.8) mm]. ASD was successfully occluded in 1085 out of 1114 patients (97.4%). Occluder size ranged from 6 to 46 mm [mean (25.8 +/- 8.9) mm] and the difference between occluder size and MD ranged from 2 to 10 mm [mean (6.1 +/- 3.4) mm, ASO/MD ratio 1.3:1]. Though the diameter of the defect was similar between the 2 groups, the size of occluder was significantly larger in adult group than that in child group (ASO/MD ratio 1.1 - 1.6:1 vs. 1.2 - 1.8:1, P < 0.05). MD was significantly correlated with ASO in both groups (r = 0.911 and r = 0.944 in adults and child groups, respectively, all P < 0.01). The size and increment of the occluder used in patients with deficient anterior rims was significantly bigger than patients with sufficient anterior rims (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe maximum diameter of the defect was the major determinant for selecting occluder size and choice of occluder size was also influenced by patient age, defect-shape and defect rim for transcatheter closure of secundum ASD.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Cardiac Catheterization ; instrumentation ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Echocardiography ; Female ; Heart Septal Defects, Atrial ; therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Physicians ; psychology ; Practice Patterns, Physicians' ; Prosthesis Design ; Septal Occluder Device ; Young Adult