For further improving the extraction efficiency of microwave extraction, a microwave-assisted contijuous extraction (MACE) device has been designed and utilized. By contrasting with the traditional methods, the characteristics and extraction efficiency of MACE has also been studied. The method was validated by the analysis of the triterpenoids in Ganoderma lucidum. The extraction conditions of MACE were: using 95% ethanol as solvent, microwave power 200 W and radiation time 14.5 min (5 cycles). The extraction results were subsequently compared with traditional heat reflux extraction ( HRE) , soxhlet extraction (SE), ultrasonic extraction ( UE) as well as the conventional microwave extraction (ME). For triterpenoids, the two methods based on the microwaves (ME and MACE) were in general capable of finishing the extraction in 10, 14.5 min, respectively, while other methods should consume 60 min and even more than 100 min. Additionally, ME can produce comparable extraction results as the classical HRE and higher extraction yield than both SE and UE, however, notably lower extraction yield than MASE. More importantly, the purity of the crud extract by MACE is far better than the other methods. MACE can effectively combine the advantages of microwave extraction and soxhlet extraction, thus enabling a more complete extraction of the analytes of TCMs in comparison with ME. And therefore makes the analytic result more accurate. It provides a novel, high efficient, rapid and reliable pretreatment technique for the analysis of TCMs, and it could potentially be extended to ingredient preparation or extracting techniques of TCMs.
Chemical Fractionation ; methods ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; isolation & purification ; Microwaves ; Reishi ; chemistry ; Terpenes ; analysis ; isolation & purification

Child ; Codon, Nonsense ; genetics ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; DNA Primers ; genetics ; Dent Disease ; diagnosis ; genetics ; Exons ; genetics ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Mutation ; Oculocerebrorenal Syndrome ; diagnosis ; genetics ; Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases ; genetics ; Polymerase Chain Reaction

AIM:To enhance the doctors` ability of disease diagnosis and treatment by using standardized patients in neuro-ophthalmology teaching.METHODS: Graduated students and visiting students accepting neuro-ophthalmology training courses in Department of Ophthalmology during 2014-2016 were enrolled as the research objects.Two groups were randomized allocated and 20 students each group.One group of students was applied standardized patients teaching method and the other group of students was applied traditional teaching method.A questionnaire and exam after the teaching were evaluated.The data were analyzed by SPSS 20.0.RESULTS: The data of questionnaire included content interest improving,satisfaction for teaching,the key points understanding,theory with practice effective linking,future practice instruction.Comparison questionnaire data between two groups were of statistical significance (P<0.05).The test scores of case analysis of two groups were statistically significant also(P<0.001).CONCLUSION: Standardized patients teaching method is helpful for students` training on the ability of clinical diagnosis and treatment.

Objective To evaluate the safety and therapeutic effect of covered expandable metallic stent placement combined with interventional chemotherapy in treating malignant esophago-tracheal fistulae. Methods A total of 60 patients with esophago-tracheal fistula were enrolled in this study. The patients were randomly divided into control group (n=28) and study group (n=32). Patients of the control group were treated with covered stent implantation only, while patients of the study group were treated with combination use of covered stent implantation and interventional chemotherapy. All the patients were followed up regularly, the short-term and long-term results were determined, and the effect rate, median survival time and complications were statistically analyzed. Results Among the 60 patients, successful obstruction of the fistula was obtained in 58 with a success rate of 96.7%. The median survival time of the 58 patients was 5.8 months. The median survival time of the control group and the study group was 3.6 months and 8.7 months respectively, the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P<0.05). The one-month, 3-month and 6-month effect rates were 78.1%, 68.8% and 62.5% respectively. The incidence of esophageal stent re-stenosis in the study group was much lower than that in the control group. Conclusion The combination use of covered stent implantation and interventional chemotherapy can effectively improve the median survival time of patients with malignant esophago-tracheal fistula, and reduce the occurrence of stent-related complications. Therefore, covered expandable metallic stent placement combined with interventional chemotherapy is an effective and safe treatment for malignant esophago-tracheal fistulae.

On the basis of web databases, 111 compounds with nephrotoxicity and 90 compounds without nephrotoxicity were collected as data set of nephrotoxicity discrimination model, 39 compounds with tubular necrosis and 39 compounds without tubular necrosis were collected as data set of tubular necrosis discrimination model. The 6 122 molecular descriptors, including physicochemical, charge distribution and geometrical descriptors were calculated to characterize the molecular structure of the above-mentioned compounds. CfsSubsetEval valuation method and BestFirst-D1-N5 searching method were used to select molecular descriptors. Two models with high accuracy were built based on the support vector machine (SVM) approach, respectively. Accuracy, sensitivity, specificity and matthew's correlation coefficient of the two models were all above 70%. By using 22 nephrotoxicity compounds of Chinese medicine, the nephrotoxicity discrimination model was further verified with an accuracy of 72.73%. Using the tubular necrosis discrimination model, 10 potential compounds which can cause tubular necrosis were screened from the positive results of nephrotoxicity discrimination model, 6 of them have been verified by literatures. The results demonstrated that the discrimination models can be applied to screen nephrotoxic compounds from Chinese medicinal materials, and they also offer a new research idea for the further studies on the mechanism of nephrotoxicity.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; toxicity ; Nephrons ; drug effects ; Support Vector Machine ; Toxicity Tests ; instrumentation ; methods

Objective To characterize and quantify the CD4 +CD25 + regulatory T (Treg) cell population in peripheral blood of patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and to determine the influence of treatment with tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a inhibitors on them.Methods Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were isolated from 25 patients with active AS,in which 10 patients were treated with 12 weeks of etanercept,and 21 healthy subjects.CD4+CD25high T cells were analyzed using flow cytometry,and mRNA expression of FOXP3 was determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR).Proliferation of T cells to PHA was measured by WST-1 assay using depleted CD25+ cells by immunomagnetic sorting.Results There was no significant difference in the percentage of CD4+CD25high cells in peripheral blood between patients with active AS and controls (P＞0.05).However,PBMC from patients with active AS expressed reduced levels of FOXP3 mRNA (P＜0.01) which were inversely correlated with C-reactive protein (CRP)(P＜0.01).CD4+CD25+ cells in peripheral blood of both active AS patients and controls exhibited suppressive capacity on the proliferation of effector T cells in vitro (both P＜0.01).Treatment with etanereept increased significantly CD4+CD25high cells and FOXP3 mRNA expression (both P＜0.01),with negative correlations between these increases and decrease in CRP levels (P＜0.05 and P＜0.01,respectively).Conclusion In AS patients,peripheral FOXP3-expressing CD4 +CD25 + Treg cells are abnormal,and are up-regulated by etanercept treatment.This suggests a possible pathogenesis of AS and a potential mechanism for clinical efficacy of TNF-α inhibitors.

In this study, based on web database, 324 neurotoxic compounds and 234 non-neurotoxic compounds were selected as a data set for neurotoxicity discriminative model. 6 122 molecular descriptors, including charge distribution, physicochemical and geometrical descriptors,were calculated to characterize the molecular structure of neurotoxic compounds. The combination of Cfs Subset Evaluation and Best First-D1-N5 searching was used to select molecular descriptors. A discrimination model with high accuracy was built based on the support vector machine (SVM) approach. Meanwhile, the model accuracy, sensitivity and specificity were all above 80%. Besides, 30 traditional Chinese medicine compositions with neurotoxicity were set as external validation to further verify the model accuracy,with anaccuracy of 73.333%. Using the model, 13 potential neurotoxic compounds were screened from Sophorae subprostrate Radix,4 of them were verified by literatures. The results demonstrated that the discrimination model can be applied to screen neurotoxic compounds from Chinese medicinal materials.
Computer Simulation ; Drug Evaluation, Preclinical ; methods ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods ; Models, Theoretical ; Neurotoxins ; analysis ; chemistry ; Reproducibility of Results ; Support Vector Machine

Objective To study the inhibitory effects of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and its metabolites-dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAs) on the proliferation of HepG2 and HT-29 and their mechanism.Methods HepG2 and HT-29 were incubated by DHEA or DHEAs with different concentrations (1,10,50,100 and 200 ?mol?L-1) for 8,24,48,72 h and routine culture was used as control.The inhibitory rate was detected by using MTT chromometry and BrdU assay respectively.The activities of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase(HMGR),glucose -6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were examined simultaneously.Results ①MTT chromometry:DHEA with different concentrations obviously inhibited the growth of HepG2 and HT-29 cells compared with control group(P0.05).②BrdU assay:the growth of cells were significantly inhibited by DHEA with concentrations of 50,100 and 200 ?mol?L-1,especially to HepG2 cells(P0.05).Conclusion DHEA has strong anti-proliferative effects on both HepG2 and HT-29 cell lines and inhibitory effects on the activities of G6PD or HMGR,however,DHEAs has no obvious effect.

Objective To investigate the effects of hypertension on left atrial myocardial properties by strain and strain rate(SR)imaging.Methods A total of 56 consecutive patients with hypertension were divided into 2 groups:33 with normal LVMI and 23 with left ventricular hypertrophy.These patients and 20 controls underwent transthoracic echocardiography,strain and SR imaging examination.Atrial strain and SR values of hypertensive patients were compared with those of controls.Results When compared with the controls,early diastolic SR(ESR)was significantly decreased in hypertensive patients(P＜0.01-0.001),with time to peak late diastolic SR corrected for heart rate(TASRe)significantly increased in normal LVMI subgroup(P＜0.05).Moreover,late diastolic SR(ASR)were significantly decreased(P＜0.05)in hypertensive patients with left ventricular hypertrophy as compared with normal LVMI.Conclusions Enlargement of left atrium leads to increased reservoir function in hypertensive patients,which compensates for the deterioration of conduit function.The duration of atrial systole may be prolonged to meet the need of ventricular filling in consequence of lower left atrial booster pump function.Noninvasive quantification of left atrial function by SR imaging enables evaluation of left atrial dysfunction due to hypertension.