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 explore the effect of blocking the JAK/STAT signal pathway on the activity of Caspase-3 in the synovial tissue of rheumatoid arthritis rats.MethodsFifty rat models of collageninduced arthritis,which had arthritis index more than 2 were divided into the model group,the low dosage of AG490 group,the medium dosage of AG490 group and high dosage of AG490 group.Inaddition,6 rats were treated as normal control group.Normal saline,AG490 1,5,10 mg·kg-1 ·d-1 were given by intraperitoneal injection.Then the volume claws and pathologic scores of the rat models were recorded and the activity of Caspase-3 in the synovial tissue were compared.The results were analyzed by one-way ANOVA and LSD-t or Tamhane's T2 test.ResultsThe arthritis of the CIA models progressed fast,the volume of the claws and the pathological score of them were significantly higher than those of the control group.At the same time,no Caspase-3 positive express could be detected in the control group,whilethe model group had slightly increased expression.After different dosages of AG490 were applied,the swollen of joints was significantly improved compared with the model group.The histopathological score of the medium AG490 dosage of group and high dosage group(2.7±0.8,1.8+0.9) were remarkably decreased than those of the model group(4.3+1.2),the differences were statistically significant (P＜0.01).In addition,the Caspase-3 expression in the low,medium and high AG490 dosage group ( 1.90±0.15,3.13±0.33,3.56+0.34) was significantly higher than that of the model group(1.48±0.18)(P＜0.05 or P＜0.01 ).ConclusionBlocking JAK/STAT signal pathway can increase the activity of Caspase-3,reduce the excessive proliferation of synovial tissue,and improve arthritis symptoms.

The experiment is designed to explore pathological festures and material basis of pseadoanaphylactoid reaction induced by notoginseng total saponin preparation. Mouse pseadoanaphylactoid reaction was used, 50 ICR mice were randomly assigned to control group, positive medicine group, notoginseng total saponin preparation low-dose group, notoginseng total saponin preparation middle-dose group, notoginseng total saponin preparation high-dose group on average. They are treated by intravenous injection of test substance solutions containing 0.4% Evans blue (EB). 30 min later, scores of ear blue staining and quantitation of ear EB exudation were recorded. Another two experiment were repeated in the same way excluding EB, just to. detect the related cytokines in serum using ELISA. We found that the scores of pseudoanaphylactoid reaction in notoginseng total saponin preparation injection middle-dose group and high-dose group was evidently higher than that in control group, suggesting that notoginseng total saponin preparation injection may be can lead to pseadoanaphylactoid reaction. HE staining showed that pseadoanaphylactoid reaction induced by notoginseng total saponin preparation injection is related to inflammation. Histamine, VEGF and TNF-α levels in notoginseng total saponin preparation middle-dose group and high-dose group significantly increased (P < 0.05, P < 0.01) than control group and showed a dose-dependent manner as well as consistent with the degree of ear blue dye. While IL-6 and IL-10 content did not increase significantly in notoginseng total saponin preparation low-dose group and middle-dose group, but they significantly higher than control group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01) when it increased to quadrupe clinical concentrations, eight times of the clinical dose. So pseadoanaphylactoid reaction caused by notoginseng total saponin preparation may be related to histamine, VEGF, TNF-α, and it is possible that IL-6 and IL-10 can play a role when pseadoanaphylactoid reaction achieve a certain high degree.
Anaphylaxis ; chemically induced ; Animals ; Capillary Permeability ; drug effects ; Cytokines ; blood ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Drug Hypersensitivity ; etiology ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred ICR ; Panax notoginseng ; adverse effects ; chemistry ; Saponins ; adverse effects

Based on the transcriptome database of Salvia miltiorrhiza, specific primers were designed to clone a full-length cDNA of ent-kaurene oxidase synthase (SmKOL) using the RACE strategy. ORF Finder was used to find the open reading frame of SmKOL cDNA, and ClustalW has been performed to analysis the multiple amino acid sequence alignment. Phylogenetic tree has been constructed using MEGA 5.1. The transcription level of SmKOL from the hairy roots induced by elicitor methyl jasmonate (MeJA) was qualifiedby real-time quantitative PCR. The full length of SmKOL cDNA was of 1 884 bp nucleotides encoding 519 amino acids. The molecular weight of the SmKOL protein was about 58.88 kDa with isoelectric point (pI) of 7.62. Results of real-time quantitative PCR analyses indicated that the level of SmKOL mRNA expression in hairy roots was increased by elicitor oMeJA, and reached maximum in 36 h. The full-length cDNA of SmKOL was cloned from S. miltiorrhiza hairy root, which provides a target gene for further studies of its function, gibberellin biosynthesis and regulation of secondary metabolites.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Cloning, Molecular ; Computational Biology ; methods ; Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System ; chemistry ; genetics ; Models, Molecular ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; Protein Structure, Tertiary ; Salvia miltiorrhiza ; enzymology

OBJECTIVETo analyze the radiological parameters of the conservatively in treating distal radius fracture and investigate whether the final re-displacement can be predicted after primary reduction.

METHODSFrom January 2013 to June 2014,212 patients with distal radial fracture conservatively were treated in our hospital, 107 patients of them were excluded because of their incomplete radiological parameters;the remaining 105 patients were available for radiological were assessed after injury, there were 56 male patients and 49 female patients in this study, the average age of the patients was 51 years old (ranged from 22 to 80 years). According to AO classification, there were 47 cases of type A2 and C1, and 58 cases of type A3, C2, C3. All patients were treated by closed reduction and below-elbow cast immobilization for 4 to 6 weeks. All patients were followed up for 3 to 6 months (means 4.5 months) by X-ray, all fractures were healed. Standard AP and lateral radiographic examination was conducted before reduction and after reduction and bony consolidation,the dorsal angulation and the radial angle were measured at each time point. The linear regression was used for the analysis to find out whether the final re-displacement can be predicted after primary reduction.

RESULTSAmong 105 patients,the significant correlations were found for the dorsal angulation between the reduction time and the end time (r = 0.82) and for the radial angulation between the reduction time and end time (r = 0.85).

CONCLUSIONThe dorsal angulation and the radial angulation after complete healing can be predicted from linear the regression functions. Due to the possibility of predicting the end result, whether the fracture should receive further conservative treatment or surgical treatment can be decided immediately.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Radiography ; Radius Fractures ; diagnostic imaging ; therapy

OBJECTIVETo study the semen quality of male infertility patients in Suzhou area, China.

METHODSWe detected the semen quality of 2 640 infertility patients in Suzhou area using computer-assisted semen analysis technology.

RESULTSOf the 2 640 semen samples, 27.35% were found normal in all seminal indexes, 47.35% (1 250/2 640) abnormal in the percentage of grade a + b sperm, and 42.39% (1 119/2 640) abnormal in sperm motility. The percentage of grade a + b sperm and sperm motility were decreased with the increase of age, more obviously in those over 40 years. The incidences of asthenospermia and oligospermia were 37.31% (985/2 640) and 8.94% (236/2 640), rising with the increase of age, especially in those older than 30 years. The 9 sperm motion parameters, including VSL, VCL, LIN, MAD, VAP, STR, WOB, ALH and BCF, were significantly reduced with the decrease of sperm motility and sperm concentration.

CONCLUSIONThe infertile men in Suzhou area are mainly characterized by a decrease in sperm motility, especially in the percentage of grade a + b sperm. The correlation of age with sperm motility and incidence of asthenospermia and oligospermia suggests that men also have an appropriate childbearing age.

Adult ; China ; epidemiology ; Humans ; Infertility, Male ; epidemiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Semen Analysis ; Sperm Count ; Sperm Motility

Objective To provide the feasible basis for the implementation of integration processing technology of origin of Moslae Herba by comparing the traditional cutting processing and integration processing of origin of Moslae Herba. Methods Taking the softening time, the length of cutting section and the drying temperature as the investigation factors of the traditional cutting processing, and the cutting length, drying temperature and drying time as the investigation factors of the integration processing of origin, L9(34) orthogonal test was used. Carvacrol, thymol, volatile oil content were setting as the evaluation indexes, the traditional cutting processing and the integration processing of origin were optimized, and the two selected process were compared. The contents of carvacrol and thymol were deterrmined by Agilent 1200 high performance liquid chromatography and ECOSIL-C18 column. The mobile phase was acetonitrile-0.2％ acetic acid, gradient elution, with wavelength of 274 nm, flow rate of 1.0 mL/min, sample volume of 20 μL. The extraction of the volatile oil was in accordance with the volatile oil determination method in Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2015 edition. Results The optimized traditional cutting processing: softening 1 h with 3 times amount of water, cutting to 1.0 cm, drying at 50–60 ℃. The optimized integration processing of origin: cutting to 1.0 cm in fresh, drying at 50–60 ℃, drying to 36 h. The contents of carvacrol, thymol, and volatile oil in the optimum integration processing of origin were all higher than the traditional cutting processing. Conclusion The technology of integration processing of origin is simple and convenient, which can make up the defects of the complicated traditional cutting processing and the lessen of effective components, and is feasible.

Objective To establish a gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric (GC-MS) analysis method for quantifying 1-methylhydantoin concentration in whole blood. To provide technical support to forensic identification related cases of 1-methylhydantoin. Methods As an internal standard, 500 ng SKF525A was added to 0.5 mL blood sample, and then 2 mL 0.01 mol/L dilute hydrochloric acid and 0.5 g ammonium carbonate were added in order to buffer the pH value to 9, and following 2 mL ethyl acetate. The organic solvent layer was obtained after centrifuge and then analysed by GC-MS after drying. Results Good linear relationship of 1-methylhydantoin in blood was obtained in the range of 0.5-50 ng/mL. The equation of linear regression was y=0.01551 x+0.00726(R2=0.9997) with 0.1 ng/mL detection limit, and the recovery was 93.02％-108.12％. The intra-day and inter-day precision were less than 6.07％ and 13.37％, respec-tively. Conclusion The results gotten by this method is accurate and reproducible, which can be used for the determination of 1-methylhydantoin concentration in blood samples.

Two new labdane diterpenoids were isolated from 95% ethanol extract of the leaves of Callicarpa formosana Rolfe by using silica gel column, MCI column, ODS column and HPLC. Their structures were elucidated by HR-ESI-MS, NMR and ECD spectral data. All of them are new compounds, named 13E-6β-hydroxylabda-8(17),13-dien-15-oic acid (1) and 13E-7α-hydroxylabda-8(17),13-dien-15-oic acid (2). Compounds 1 and 2 were tested for antioxidant activity, and none of them had obvious activity.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the changes of autophagy in ischemic myocardium of rats treated with fasudil for inhibiting Rho kinase.

METHODSThe hearts isolated from male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to 30 min of occlusion of the left anterior descending artery followed by 120 min of reperfusion with or without treatment with fasudil or fasudil+Wort. The left ventricular hemodynamics were continuously recorded, and the coronary effluent was collected during the reperfusion to determine lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels. The mRNA expressions of autophagy-related genes Atg5 and Beclin1 and apoptosis-related genes bax and bcl-2 were detected by RT-PCR, and the protein expression of caspase-3 was detected by Western blotting.

RESULTSCompared with I/R group, fasudil significantly improved the left ventricular developed pressure, maximal rise/fall rate of left ventricular pressure and rate pressure product, reduced LDH release during reperfusion, increased Atg5 and Beclin1 mRNA expression and the ratio of Bcl-2/Bax, and lowered caspase 3 protein expression. The autophagy inhibitor Wort significantly attenuated the effect of fasudil in the rat hearts.

CONCLUSIONFasudil treatment for inhibiting Rho kinase promoted autophagy in ex vivo rat heart to protect against myocardial ischima-reperfusion injury possibly by reducing apoptosis of the cardiac myocytes.