This study aimed to investigate viral infections and the prevalence of influenza-like illness (ILI) in Shijiazhuang, China, in 2011 and to provide a scientific basis for the diagnosis and control of respiratory tract infections. Throat swab specimens were collected from 483 cases of ILI who were outpatients in the influenza surveillance sentinel hospitals in Shijiazhuang between January and December 2011. All specimens were examined by multiplex RT-PCR for the following 15 respiratory tract viruses: adenovirus (ADV), human rhinovirus (HRV), human parainfluenza virus (PIV types 1-4), influenza virus A (FluA), influenza virus B (FluB), human enterovirus (HEV), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV-A and -B), human metapneumovirus (HMPV), human coronavirus (HCoV-229E/NL63 and -OC43/HKU1), and human bocavirus (HBoV). Among the 483 cases of ILI, 214 (44.31%) were positive for viruses, including ADV (8.7%), HEV (8.7%), RSV-A (8.07%), HRV (7.45%), FluA (5.38%), HCoV-OC43/ HKU1 (2.9%), PIV-3 (2.9%), HMPV (1.86%), PIV-1 (1.24%), HCoV-229E/NL63 (1.04%), PIV-2 (1.04%), HBoV (0.83%), and FluB (0.41%). Twenty-six (5.38%) of all cases were co-infected with two or more viruses, most commonly HEV/HRV with other viruses. Cases of viral infection were detected throughout the year, with peaks in January and February. ADV and HRV were detected throughout almost the whole year without obvious seasonality. HEV was detected between April and November, with a peak of prevalence in summer and autumn. FluA and FluB reached epidemic levels mainly in winter and spring. All cases of RSV were identified to be subtype A. PIV infection was mainly caused by PIV-3. The positive rate of HCoV-OC43/HKU1 infection was significantly higher than that of HCoV-229E/NL63. The leading five viruses that resulted in ILI Shijiazhuang in 2011 were HEV, ADV, RSV-A, HRV, and FluA, and these viruses have different epidemiological features.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Influenza, Human ; epidemiology ; virology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Respiratory Tract Infections ; epidemiology ; virology ; Virus Diseases ; epidemiology ; virology ; Viruses ; classification ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo study the effect of astragalosides (AST) on the anoxia/reoxygenation (A/R) injured neuron in rat.

METHODSPrimary cultured rat's hippocampal neurons were made into A/R model cells. The cell viability was detected by MTT assay and lactate dehydrogenase releasing methods; the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), and contents of malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitride oxide (NO) in culture supernate were detected; the apoptosis rate of hippocampal neurons after A/R was measured by flow cytometry with double-staining of Hoechst33258 and AnnexinV-PI; and intracellular calcium ion [Ca2+]i was observed with a cofocal laser-scanning microscope and determined by fluorescent probe Fluo-3/AM.

RESULTSAST enhanced the cell viability of neurons after A/R injury, increased SOD activity and decreased the MDA and NO contents in supernate, reduced the A/R-induced apoptosis and decreased the calcium overload in neurons.

CONCLUSIONAST has the protective effects on A/R injured neurons, the mechanism is possibly related with its anti-oxidation and calcium overload reducing actions.

Animals ; Calcium ; metabolism ; Cell Hypoxia ; drug effects ; Female ; Fetus ; Hippocampus ; cytology ; Malondialdehyde ; metabolism ; Neurons ; cytology ; Neuroprotective Agents ; pharmacology ; Nitric Oxide ; metabolism ; Pregnancy ; Primary Cell Culture ; methods ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reperfusion Injury ; prevention & control ; Saponins ; pharmacology ; Superoxide Dismutase ; metabolism ; Triterpenes ; pharmacology

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the antiproliferative activity of 3-(2-chlorophenyl)-1-(2-hydroxy-4, 6-dimethoxy-3-((ethyl(methyl) amino) methyl) phenyl) prop-2-en-1-one (DMF) against human androgen-independent prostate cancer PC3 cells in vitro and its underlying mechanisms.

METHODSThe cytotoxic effect of DMF on PC3 cells was measured by MTT assay. Induction of apoptosis was assessed by propidium iodide staining and flow cytometric analysis. Changes of mitochondrial membrane potential (DeltaPsim) were detected by JC-1 staining. The levels of apoptosis related proteins were analyzed by Western blot.

RESULTSDMF exhibited high efficiency on cell growth inhibition in PC3 cells with an IC50 value of (9.5 +/- 0.2)micromol/L. Flow cytometric analysis indicated that DMF could induce apoptosis in PC3 cells. A significant decrease of mitochondrial membrane potential was observed in PC3 cells treated with DMF, which was in a time- and dose-dependent manner. The results of Western blot indicated that DMF induced the activation of caspase-3, increased the ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 and downregulated the expression of phosphate-p38.

CONCLUSIONDMF is a potential compound against PC3 cells and the mitochondrial pathway might be involved in DMF-induced apoptosis in PC3 cells.

Antineoplastic Agents ; pharmacology ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Blotting, Western ; Caspase 3 ; metabolism ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Chlorobenzenes ; pharmacology ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Enzyme Activation ; drug effects ; Flavonoids ; pharmacology ; Flow Cytometry ; Growth Inhibitors ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Male ; Membrane Potential, Mitochondrial ; drug effects ; Piperidines ; pharmacology ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; metabolism ; bcl-2-Associated X Protein ; metabolism ; p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases ; metabolism

Apoptosis ; Fas Ligand Protein ; metabolism ; Germinal Center ; pathology ; Humans ; Janus Kinases ; metabolism ; Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse ; etiology ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; NF-kappa B ; metabolism ; Positive Regulatory Domain I-Binding Factor 1 ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-6 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Repressor Proteins ; metabolism ; STAT3 Transcription Factor ; metabolism ; Signal Transduction ; Translocation, Genetic ; fas Receptor ; metabolism

To investigate the induction of apoptosis of mouse colonic adenocarcinoma CT26 cells by recombinant Clostridium difficile toxin B (rTcdB), CT26 cells were exposed to different concentrations of rTcd B. Inhibition of cell proliferation was measured by MTT assay. The activation of Caspase 3 was measured by colorimetric method. Cell morphological analysis and flow cytometry were performed to confirm cell apoptosis. rTcd B inhibited the proliferation of CT26 cells in a timeand dose-dependent manner. Caspase 3 activity in CT26 cells was elevated remarkably after rTcd B exposure for 6 h, 12 h, 18 h or 24 h, as compared with the control group. Morphological changes were observed by fluorescence microscopy. The exposure of rTcd B to CT26 cells induced a timeand dose-dependent apoptotic cell death as determined by flow cytometry analysis. The results showed that recombinant Clostridium difficile toxin B induced apoptosis of CT26 cells.

Multi-component traditional Chinese medicines are an innovative research mode for traditional Chinese medicines. Currently, there are many design methods for developing multi-component traditional Chinese medicines, but their common feature is the lack of effective connection of the traditional Chinese medicine theory. In this paper, the authors discussed the multi-component traditional Chinese medicine design methods based on medicinal property combination modes, provided the combination methods with the characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine for the prescription combinations, and proved its feasibly with hypertension cases.
Animals ; Antihypertensive Agents ; administration & dosage ; chemistry ; Blood Pressure ; drug effects ; Drug Combinations ; Drug Therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; chemistry ; Humans ; Hypertension ; drug therapy ; physiopathology ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Rats

Animals ; Chlorine Compounds ; toxicity ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Female ; Lung ; drug effects ; metabolism ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; biosynthesis ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo compare the efficacy of Chinese herbal medicine (therapy A) or Chinese herbal medicine plus indomethacin (therapy B) with that of indomethacin alone (therapy C) in treating polyhydramnios.

METHODSLiteratures published up to April 2012 were retrieved from PubMed, Embase and Cochrane library, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese Scientific and Technological Periodical Database (VIP), Wangfang, and Traditional Chinese Medicine online. Two researchers collected data independently. The assessment of methodological quality was based on Cochrane handbook and the materials were analyzed with software RevMan 5.1.2. The outcome measure index was relative risk or difference of mean value (95% confidence interval). The following outcomes were evaluated (1) general clinical improvement rate; (2) maximum vertical pocket depth; (3) amniotic fluid index (AFI) value; (4) rate of fetal ductus arteriosus constriction; (5) incidence of adverse events.

RESULTSBased on the search strategy, 5 trails involving 1017 patients were finally included. Compared with therapy C, therapy A decreased the rate of fetal ductus arteriosus constriction (P<0.01). Therapy B was more effective than therapy C in general clinical improvement and decrease of AFI for polyhydramnios (P<0.01). No serious adverse events were reported in therapy A and therapy B.

CONCLUSIONSCompared with therapy C, therapy A and therapy B may appear to be more effective for polyhydramnios. However, the exact effect needs to be confirmed with well-designed large-scale clinical trials.

Female ; Herbal Medicine ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Polyhydramnios ; drug therapy ; Pregnancy

Adiponectin ; blood ; Animals ; Fatty Liver ; pathology ; Rabbits

A novel method was developed for the rapid determination of multi-indicators in corni fructus by means of near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. Particle swarm optimization (PSO) based least squares support vector machine was investigated to increase the levels of quality control. The calibration models of moisture, extractum, morroniside and loganin were established using the PSO-LS-SVM algorithm. The performance of PSO-LS-SVM models was compared with partial least squares regression (PLSR) and back propagation artificial neural network (BP-ANN). The calibration and validation results of PSO-LS-SVM were superior to both PLS and BP-ANN. For PSO-LS-SVM models, the correlation coefficients (r) of calibrations were all above 0.942. The optimal prediction results were also achieved by PSO-LS-SVM models with the RMSEP (root mean square error of prediction) and RSEP (relative standard errors of prediction) less than 1.176 and 15.5% respectively. The results suggest that PSO-LS-SVM algorithm has a good model performance and high prediction accuracy. NIR has a potential value for rapid determination of multi-indicators in Corni Fructus.
Algorithms ; Calibration ; Cornus ; chemistry ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Fruit ; chemistry ; Least-Squares Analysis ; Models, Theoretical ; Neural Networks (Computer) ; Quality Control ; Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared ; Support Vector Machine