Phytoestrogens, which can bind with estrogen receptor and produce estrogen-like effects, are a kind of nonsteroidal compound in plant. Phytoestrogens chemically include isoflavones, coumarins, lignans and other compounds. Phytoestrogens are selective estrogen receptor modulator, and have therapeutical effects on breast cancer, prostate cancer, cardiovascular disease, menopausal symptoms, osteoporosis and other disease, however, do not produce stimulatory hyperplasia effects on uterus, mammary glands and other tissues and organs with positive estrogen receptor. Long-term exposure or excessive use of phytoestrogens maybe affects male reproductive system and hematopoietic function of fetus. Some questions need to be further studied, such as evaluation criteria on biological activity, adverse effects, and action mechanism of phytoestrogen. This review covers plant sources, chemical structure, pharmacological activity and safety of phytoestrogens. It will provide a useful reference for intensive research and rational utilization the phytoestrogens.
Animals ; Humans ; Phytoestrogens ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Phytotherapy ; Plant Extracts ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry

OBJECTIVE:To optimize the extraction technology of Compound Rhodiolae crenulatae granule. METHODS:The pharmacodynamic index of learning and memory ability was used to screen the water extraction,water extraction and alcohol pre-cipitation and alcohol extraction methods for Compound R. crenulatae granule in mice by Y-type water maze test. Using the compre-hensive scores of salidroside,ferulic acid extraction amount and extraction yield as indexes,orthogonal test was used to optimize the ethanol volume fraction,extraction time,solvent amount and extraction times,and verification test was conducted. RESULTS:Products by alcohol extraction can significantly improve learning and memory ability in the 3 methods;the optimal extraction tech-nology was confirmed to 8-fold 70% ethanol reflux extracting for 3 times,1.0 h each time. In verification test,average extraction amount of salidroside and ferulic acid were 4.884 mg/g and 1.669 mg/g,and average extraction yield was 33.52%(all RSD<2%, n=3). CONCLUSIONS:The optimized extraction technology is stable,reliable,simple and feasible,which can be used for indus-trial extraction of Compound R. crenulatae granule.

In this study, SD rats were orally administrated with oteracil potassium (300 mg . kg-1 . d-1 ) to prepare the hyperuricemia model, and divided into normal, model, Allopurinol, LE high dosage, middle dosage and low dose (200, 100, 50 mg . kg-1 . d-1) groups. The rats were orally administrated with test drugs 1 hour later after being orally administrated with Oteracil potassium. After 7 days, serum uric acid, serum creatinine, uric acid and expression of relevant transporters in kidney were tested to study the regulatory effect of leonurus extracts on serum uric acid, renal function and relevant transporters in kidney of rats with hyperuricemia. Compared with the model group, the leonurus extract group could significantly down-regulate serum uric acid and creatinine levels of rats with hyperuricemia, and increase the urine uric acid level. Meanwhile, leonurus extracts could notably down-regulate the mRNA expressions of urate transporter 1 (URAT1) and glucose transporter 9 (GLUT9), up-regulate the mRNA expressions of organic cation transportanter (OCT) and Carnitine transporter (OCTN) and promote the excretion of uric acid of kidney.
Allopurinol ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Blood Urea Nitrogen ; Creatinine ; blood ; Disease Models, Animal ; Down-Regulation ; Gene Expression Regulation ; drug effects ; Hyperuricemia ; blood ; drug therapy ; Kidney ; drug effects ; Leonurus ; chemistry ; Male ; Organic Anion Transporters ; genetics ; Oxonic Acid ; administration & dosage ; Plant Extracts ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Specific Pathogen-Free Organisms ; Up-Regulation ; Uric Acid ; blood

Objective To describe the epidemiological characteristics of profession related long-standing behavior during preconception and progestation,and to probe the relationship between prolonged standing jobs and the common pregnancy related complications among pregnant women,in Ma' anshan city,Anhui province.Methods In this cohort study,subjects who had their first antenatal examination at Ma' anshan Maternal and Child Care Centers were recruited under informed consent,from October 2008 to October 2010.All the information were collected through questionnaires in the first,second and third trimesters respectively.Three questionnaires were filled in by subjects under the guidance of healthcare takers.Results In the study,the 754 percentile of prolonged-standing times were 4.0 h/d and 3.0 h/d respectively in preconception and progestation.The characteristics of pregnant women with low social/economic status,prone to be involved in stand-long occupation.Results in logistic regression analysis,prolonged-standing jobs during preconception was the risk factor of pregnancy-induced hypertension and severe anemia.The adjusted odds ratios were 2.05 (95％CI:1.26-3.31) and 1.38 (95％CI:1.03-1.85) respectively.Conclusion Prolonged standing jobs appeared to be common occupational exposure to and risks of both pregnant woman and their fetus.Exposure to these kinds of jobs during preconception could increase the risk of pregnancy-induced hypertension and severe anemia.In order to promote maternal health programs,all the related occupational risk factors should be valued and avoided during preconception and pregnancy.

Objective To compare bacterial blocking rate of different medical packaging material,as well as weight loss rate,tear strength,and abrasion resistance of cotton cloth with different times of washing.Methods According to test methods for sterile medical device packaging,bacterial blocking rates of cotton cloth,non-woven fabric,and disposable filter paper were tested.Weight loss test,tensile test,and abrasion resistance test of cotton cloth were performed to test weight loss rate,tear strength,and abrasion resistance of cotton cloth with different times of washing.Results In test for microbial barrier ranking of porous package material,the average bacterial blocking rates of double-layer new cotton cloth,double-layer old cotton cloth,disposable filter paper,and nonwoven fabric were 62.15％,31.39％,82.04％,and 89.71％ respectively;after cotton cloth was washed 30 times,the weight loss rate decreased by 1.22％,tear strength decreased by 6.70％,fabric-rubbing test revealed there was no pilling.Conclusion Bacterial blocking effect ranked as follows:non-woven fabric,disposable filter paper,doublelayer cotton cloth.After 30 times of washing,the weight loss rate and tear strength decreased,and bacterial blocking effect was worse than that of new cotton cloth.

Objective To investigate the clinical significance of 5 kinds of inflammatory factors (MCP 1,IL 1β,IL-18,HMGB1,and IL-10) in severe EV71 hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD).Methods Hospitalized children who were diagnosed with severe EV71 HFMD in a hospital in March August,2014 were as HFMD group,healthy children who underwent physical examination in outpatient department of the same hospital during the sameperiod were as control group,changes in expression levels of peripheral blood MCP-1,IL-1β,IL-18,HMGB1,and IL-10 of both groups were dynamically observed,clinical data of HFMD group were collected.Results There were 102 children in HFMD group,the average age was (2.18 ± 0.91) years old,80.39％ of whom were ≤3 years old;there were 77,16,and 9 cases in HFMD group at stage 2,3,and 4 respectively at admission.77,52,21,and 88 cases went through stage 2,3,4,and 5 respectively.Expression levels of 5 kinds of inflammatory factors at stage 2,3,and 4 in HFMD group were compared respectively with control group,differences were all statistically significant(all P＜0.05);expression levels of IL-10 at stage 3 and 4 in HFMD group were not significantly different (P＞0.05).In HFMD group,the expression levels of HMGB1 of stage 2,3 progression groups were both higher than recovery group(both P＜0.05).The expression levels of 5 kinds of inflammatory factors in the death group and survival group at admission were all significantly different (all P＜0.05).Conclusion The expression levels of MCP 1,HMGB1,IL-1β,IL-10,and IL-18 are closely related to the severity of HFMD,and has certain clinical significance for the prognosis of children.HMBG1 has certain predictive value in the prognosis of HFMD.

Objective To investigate the value of three-dimensional speckle tracking imaging (3D-STI) in assessment of left ventricular (LV) strains. Methods Thirty healthy young adults examined by two-dimensional speckle tracking imaging (2D-STI) and 3D-STI. And the results of LV measurements were compared, which included mean peak systolic longitudinal strains, radial strains and circumferential strains. Also, the time consumption of these two methods was compared. Results The time needed for 3D-STI in acquisition and analysis of the images were (309.3±23.4)s, (305.5±11.2)s, while the time for 2D-STI were (490.6±14.4)s, (1261.4±39.9)s. The differences were signiifcant(t=-21.81, 69.94, both P<0.01). The global mean peak systolic radial strains was (48.59±7.68)%by 3D-STI and (33.25±7.27)%by 2D-STI. The difference was signiifcant(t=9.16, P<0.01). The global mean peak systolic longitudinal and circumferential strains were (-17.66±3.14)%, (-17.13±2.29)% by 3D-STI and (-21.35±2.46)%, (-21.97±3.84)% by 2D-STI. The differences were signiifcant(t=5.33, 5.99, both P < 0.01). The 3D-STI strains were different at different levels of LV. The longitudinal, circumferential and radial 3D-STI strains were largest at middle levels. However, 2D-STI strains didn′ t show such trend. Peak strains measured by 3D-STI and 2D-STI showed high inter-observer and intra-observer agreement in Bland-Altman chart. Conclusion 3D-STI is a novel, convenient and reproducible method to evaluate the strains of LV.

Objective To predict and identify liner B-cell epitopes in the hemagglutinin ( HA) of human-infected avian-origin H7N9 influenza virus and analyze the specificity of H7 subtype.Methods Three serum samples collected at different times from the same patient who was confirmed to be infected with H7N9 influenza virus were provided by Shaoxing People’s Hospital, and one serum sample from healthy person was collected as the control.The extracellular region of HA protein was predicted by TMHMM Sever v.2.0.The potential B-cell epitopes were predicted by DNAStar Lasergene’ s Protean, BcePred and ABCpred tools, and the immunogenicity of the predicted B cell antigen epitopes was assessed by indirect enzyme-linked immunosordent assay ( ELISA ) .H7 subtype specificity was analyzed by comparing HA protein amino acid sequence with H7N9 and H1-H16 subtype influenza virus from Genbank using Clustal X 2.1 software, and Cn3D 4.3.1 software was used to detect the distribution and 3D structure of predicted epitopes on the HA protein of H7N9.Results The potential B-cell epitopes may be located in 172-183, 363-380, 452-472 and 491-506 of extracellular N-terminus of HA protein.ELISA showed that four predicted eptiopes specifically reacted with positive serums from patient.Multi-sequence alignment demonstrated that peptide 172-183 and 363-380 had higher H7 subtype specificity compared with amino acid sequences of other subtypes.Moreover, the predicted linear B-cell epitopes all located on the surface of HA protein according to the 3D structure analysis.Conclusion Four potential B-cell epitopes were identified, in which peptide 172-183 and 363-380 have higher H7 subtype specificity, and may be used in the design of epitope-based vaccines and diagnostics tests.

Global longitudinal strain (GLS) at rest on two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (2D STE) was demonstrated to help detect coronary artery disease (CAD).However,the optimal cut-off point of GLS and its diagnostic power for detecting critical CAD in non-diabetes mellitus (DM) patients are unknown.In the present study,211 patients with suspected CAD were prospectively included,with DM patients excluded.All patients underwent echocardiography and subsequently coronary angiography within 3 days.Left ventricular (LV) GLSs were quantified by 2D STE.Territorial peak systolic longitudinal strains (TLSs) were calculated based on the perfusion territories of the 3-epicardial coronary arteries in a 17-segment LV model.Critical CAD was defined as an area stenosis ≥70％ in ≥1 epicardial coronary artery (≥50％ in left main coronary artery).Totally 145 patients were diagnosed as having critical CAD by coronary angiography.Significant differences were observed in all strain parameters between patients with and without critical CAD.The area under the receiver operating charcteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) for GLS in the detection of left main (LM) or threevessel CAD was 0.875 at a cut-off value of-19.05％ with sensitivity of 78.1％ and specificity of 72.7％,which increased to 0.926 after exclusion of apical segments (cut-off value-18.66％;sensitivity 84.4％ and specificity 81.8％).The values of TLSs were significantly lower in regions supplied by stenotic arteries than in those by non-stenotic arteries.The AUC for the TLSs to identify critical stenosis of left circumflex (LCX) artery,left anterior descending (LAD) artery and right coronary artery (RCA),in order of diagnostic accuracy,was 0.818 for LCX,0.764 for LAD and 0.723 for RCA,respectively.In conclusion,in non-DM patients with suspected CAD,GLS assessed by 2D STE is an excellent predictor for LM or three-vessel CAD with high diagnostic accuracy,and a higher cut-off point than reported before should be used.Excluding apical segments in the calculation of GLS can further improve the predictive accuracy of GLS.It is unsatisfactory for TLSs to be used to identify stenotic coronary arteries.

Objective To investigate the relationship between white blood cell count,neutrophils ratio and erythrocyte sedimentation rate and short outcomes among patients with acute ischemic stroke at admission to the hospital.Methods A total of 2675 acute ischemic stroke patients were included in this study.Data on demographic characteristics,life style,history of disease,white blood cell count( WBC),neutrophils ratio(NEUR),erythrocyte sedimentation rate(ESR) and clinical outcomes were collected for all the participants.Poor clinical outcome was defined as neurologic deficiency (NIHSS≥5) at discharge or death during hospitalization.Results White blood cell count,neutrophils ratio and erythrocyte sedimentation rate were higher in patients with poor outcome than m those without clinical outcome.According to the quartile range,WBC,NEUR and ESR were divided into four levefs at admission.After adjustment for multivariate,compared with WBC≤5.6 × 109/L,the odds ratio (95％ confidence intervals) of poor outcome with ≥8.7 × 109/L was 1.883 (1.306-2.716).When compared with NEUR≤0.56,the odds ratio (95％ confidence intervals) of poor outcome with 0.57-0.64 and with ≥0.74 were 1.572 (1.002-2.466) and 2.577 ( 1.698-3.910),respectively.When compared with ESR≤4 mm/h,the odds ratio (95％ confidence intervals) of poor outcome with ≥17 mm/h was 2.426 (1.233-4776).Elevated WBC count and NEUR at admission were significantly and positively associated with poor clinical outcomes among patients with acute ischernic stroke (trend test P＜0.05).Elevated ESR was not significantly or positively associated with poor clinical outcomes among patients with acute ischemic stroke (trend test P＞0.05).Conclusion There appeared associations between WBC,NEUR,ESR and poor outcome among patients with acute ischemic stroke at admission to the hospital.Both elevated WBC count and NEUR showed significantly positive association with poor clinical outcomes among patients with acute ischemic stroke at admission.