Objective:To establish a method for the determination of tanshinoneⅡA and salvianolic acid B in Zhiyou capsules by HPLC. Methods:The chromatographic column was Waters Atlantis@T3(150 mm × 4. 6 mm,3 μm)using acetonitrile and aqueous ammonium acetate solution(adjusting pH to 2. 4 with formic acid)as the mobile phase with gradient elution,the flow rate was 1. 0 ml ·min-1 and the detection wavelength was 260 nm. Results:The contents of salvianolic acid B and tanshinoneⅡA showed good linear relationship within the range of 1. 20-60. 00μg·ml-1(r=0. 999 7)and 0. 40-20. 00 μg·ml-1(r=0. 999 8),respectively. The av-erage recovery was 101. 53%(RSD=1. 14%)and 95. 17%(RSD=4. 33%),respectively. Conclusion:The method is efficient,con-venient and accurate,which can be used in the quality control of Zhiyou capsules.

OBJECTIVE: To establish an artificial neural network (ANN) for predicting mycophenolic acid (MPA) pharmacokinetics in renal transplantation recipients by limited sampling strategy. METHODS: Sixty-four Chinese renal transplantation recipients receiving mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) were investigated. Eleven serum samples were drawn on different days after transplantation. MPA plasma concentration was determined by HPLC and ANN was established after the network parameters were optimized by using momentum method combined with genetic algorithm. RESULTS: When using MPA plasma concentrations at 0, 0.5 and 2 h after MMF administration to predict MPA concentration, the mean prediction error and mean absolute prediction error were (0.39±1.24) and (0.90±0.94) μg·mL-1, respectively. There was no significant difference between the pharmacokinetic parameters obtained from the predicted MPA concentrations vs those obtained from the measured MPA concentrations. CONCLUSON: ANN can be used to predict MPA pharmacokinetics by limited sampling strategy.

AIM: To investigate the effects of auricularia auricular polysaccharide (AAP) on chronic cerebral ischemia injury in rats. METHODS: The chronic cerebral ischemia mode1 was made by permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) on the right side. AAP at different doses (50 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg) was intragastrically administered at the onset of ischemia and in the following days after operation, once a day for 4 weeks. After 4 weeks of MCAO, Morris water maze test was introduced to examine the learning and memory functions. Nissl staining was performed to detect the survival neurons in hippocampal slices. Level of malondialdehyde (MDA) and the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) in brain tissue were measured. RESULTS: Rats treated with AAP showed a shorter escaping latency in spacial navigation test because the AAP treated rats spent less time to find the platform in spatial probe test. More survival neurons in hippocampal slices were observed from AAP treated rats. Also, the MDA level in brain tissue was reduced and SOD activity in brain tissue was increased in the AAP treated rats with MCAO. CONCLUSION: AAP protects rats from chronic brain ischemic injury, in which its anti-oxidative effect might be involved.

Objective To study the dynamic change of polysaccharides from Bupleurum marginatum in Northwest of Hubei province,and to explore the optimal harvest period for Bupleurum marginatum. Methods The contents of soluble and crude Bupleurum polysaccharides were determined by anthrone-sulphuric acid colorimetric method and detected at 620 nm,and total polysaccharide content was calculated. Results The content of polysaccharides at various collecting periods was very different from 9. 642% to 15. 479%,and reached the highest level in November when the seed comes to mature. ConclusionThe optimal harvest period for Bupleurum marginatum in Northwest of Hubei is at the end of November.

Objective To compare anti-inflammatory and hepatoprotective effects of Bupleurum marginatum Wall. ex DC. and Bupleurum chinense DC. Methods The anti-inflammatory effect of two kinds of radix bupleuri decoction were compared using the xylene-induced ear edema mice model and the egg white-induced foot swelling rats model. Acute liver injury in mice was induced through intraperitoneal injection of peanut oil with 0. 1%carbon tetrachloride. Alanine aminotransferase ( ALT ) , aspartate aminotransferase ( AST ) , and alkaline phosphatase ( ALP ) in serum, superoxide dismutase ( SOD ) , malondialdehyde ( MDA ) , and glutathione ( GSH ) in liver tissue homogenate were detected. Histopathological changes, transforming growth factor-β ( TGF-β) and nuclear factor-κB ( NF-κB) in hepatic tissues were also observed. Results Ear swelling experiment showed that the decoction of both Bupleurum marginatum Wall. ex DC. and Bupleurum chinense DC. had equal anti-inflammatory effects (P>0. 05). Similarly,the decoction of Bupleurum marginatum Wall. ex DC. and Bupleurum chinense DC. improved levels of ALT,AST,SOD,GSH,and MDA to the same extent compared with the model control group ( P<0. 05 or P<0. 01 ). There was no significant difference among all groups in ALP levels ( P > 0. 05 ). Histopathological and immunohistochemical experiments showed that expressions of TGF-β and NF- κB were similar between the two kinds of radix bupleuri. Conclusion Bupleurum marginatum Wall. ex DC. and Bupleurum chinense DC. have similar anti-inflammatory and hepatoprotective effects.

ObjectiveTo investigate the expression of miR-155 and miR-146a in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and plasma of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients.MethodsPBMC and plasma were separated from the peripheral blood of 34 RA patients and 15 healthy individuals.Total RNAs were isolated and miRNAs were purified.The levels of miR-155 and miR-146a were determined by quantitative reverse transcription PCR(qRT-PCR).U6 was used as housekeeping control.The amount of target miRNA was normalized relative to the amount of U6(ΔCt=ΔCtmiRNA-ΔCtU6).Relative expression levels were expressed as 2 △-ΔCt.Data were analyzed using SPSS 13.0 software.The test of homogeneity of variance and unpaired t-test was used to compare between groups.P values(2-tailed) less than 0.05 were considered as statistically significant.ResultsThe expressions of PBMC and plasma miR-155 were higher in RA patients than those in the healthy control individuals(0.08±0.08 vs 0.05±0.03,t=-2.225,P＜0.05; 5.9±6.7 vs 1.3±2.0,t=-3.677,P＜0.05).The expression of miR-146a in PBMC and plasma of RA patients and controls were(1.3±1.2 vs 0.8±0.6,t=-2.154,P＜0.05)and(741±1001 vs 300±295,t=-1.669,P＞0.05).According to their DAS28 value,RA patients were divided into high activity group (23 cases,DAS28≥5.0) and low disease activity group( 11cases,DAS28＜5.0).The plasma miR-155 and miR-146a expressions were significantly higher in high activity group than those in low activity group.There were no significant differences in the expression of PBMC miR-155 and miR-146a between the two groups.ConclusionThe expression of PBMC and plasma miR-155 and miR-146a are higher in RA patients.The expression of plasma miR-155 and miR-146a are associated with RA patients' activity.Plasma miR-155 and miR-146a may be potential non-invasive biomarkers for RA diagnosis anddisease activity assessment.

Objective To explore the influence factors of health literacy in middle-aged and elderly people in Hunan province.Methods With multi-stage randomized cluster sampling, people aged 45 years and over were selected from both urban and rural areas of six geographical regions of Hunan province, using the China residents health literacy questionnaire developed by Chinese Health Education Center, by face to face survey to get data. The influence factors were analyzed retrospectively with univariate and ordinal regression analysis.Results The 1158 persons were investigated and the valid questionnaires were 1154, the effective recovery rate was 99.7%. Univariate analysis showed that there were significant differences in heath literacy among different degree of education, age, gender, marital status, income, region and occupation (all P＜0.05). The results of ordinal regression analysis Showed that the major influence factors were degree of education, income,age and occupation.Conclusions The people at low levels of education or income should be concerned about health education and health promotion strategies.

Objective To investigate the effect of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) transplantation on angiogenesis and functional recovery after focal cerebral ischemia in rats.Methods BMSCs were isolated and cultured using the whole bone marrow adherent method,and conducted phenotypic identification using flow cytometry analysis of surface positive antigen of CD29,CD90 and the negative antigen of CD34,CD45.Rats were subjected to middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) for 90 minutes,and divided into three groups randomly,the sham group,model group and BMSCs group.24 hours after cerebral ischemia,rats were injected with 1 ml BMSCs solution (1 × 106 cells/ml) or PBS via the tail vein.The modified neurological severity score(mNSS) test,the corner test and the adhesive tape test were used to evaluate sensorimotor function on the 1,7,14 and 28 days after ischemia.Infarcted volume was detected by toluidine blue staining,and the numbers of vWF positive microvessels and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) positive cells in the ischemic boundary were determined by immunofluorescence.Results By flow cytometric analysis,the cell phenotype of passage 3 BMSCs showed that CD29,CD90,CD34 and CD45 were 98.3％,97.4％,0.2％ and 4.8％,respectively.Compared with the model group,BMSCs significantly reduced the score of mNSS(P＜0.01),the number of right turn of corner test(P＜0.05),latency of removal adhesive tape(P＜0.05) and the infarcted volume (P＜0.01).The numbers of vWF positive vesscls and the VEGF positive cells were (42.97±8.64)/mm2 and (54.83± 10.66)/mm2 at the boundary zone in model group 14 days after ischemia,respectively.BMSCs significantly increased the numbers of vWF positive vessels ((69.43± 7.29)/mm2) and VEGF positive cells ((78.70±6.16)/mm2,P＜0.01).Conclusion BMSCs can improve the functions of cerebral lesions after cerebral ischemia,which may be associated with the enhanced angiogenesis and VEGF expression in the ischemic boundary.

Objective To prospectively investigate the characteristics and correlative influential factors of pulmonary hypertension (PHT) in patients on long-term maintenance hemodialysis (MHD). Methods Pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP) was assessed by echocardiography according to the guideline from the American Society of Echocardiography in 2010 and PASP more than 35 mm Hg was diagnosed as PHT.Echocardiography and pulse wall velocity (baPWV) was performed in the next day after hemodialysis.Arteriovenous fistula (AVF) flow was evaluated by the ultrasound dilution method.Hemodialysis-related informations and laboratorial parameters were detected in the same period. Results One hundred and eleven MHD patients [male 45,female 66,mean age (57.32±12.49) years old] in our hemodialysis center were included in the study.All of the patients received MHD treatment for more than 6 months with AVF as the vascular access.The patients with any possible diseases causing PHT were excluded.The mean MHD period was (70.51±44.98) months.Twenty-eight patients (25.32％) were diagnosed as PHT with mean PASP (45.68±10.83) mm Hg.Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction was severer in patients with PHT than that in patients without PHT.The prevalence of moderate to severe diastolic dysfunction was statistically higher in PHT group compared to non-PHT group (53.60％ vs 6.02％,P＜0.01).Ejection fraction (EF),fractional shortening of left ventricular diameter in PHT group were also significantly lower than those in non-PHT patients (62.06％±14.90％ vs 69.72％±8.60％,36.46％±10.04％ vs 40.20％±7.86％,P＜0.01).The patients with EF less than 50％ were 21.43％and 3.61％ in PHT and non-PHT group respectively.However,there were no significant differences in age,sex,MHD periods,body mass index (BMI),interval dialysis weight growth,blood pressure before dialysis,hemoglobin,albumin,pre-albumin,serum calcium and phosphorus,iPTH,nPCR,Kt/V,baPWV and AVF flow between the two groups. Conclusions PHT is a common complication of patients on long-term MHD.There is close relationship between PHT and left ventricular insufficiency.PHT is not significantly relevant to mineral metabolic disturbance,AVF flow,hemoglobin,dialysis adequacy and nutrition status.

Objective:To compare the content of total saponins in Paridis Rhizome from Wudang mountain area to explore the cor-relation between the quality of medicinal materials and the production areas and species. Methods: The content of total saponins in Paridis Rhizome was determined by an ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer at 406nm with perchloric acid as the chromogenic reagent. Results:The saponins content in Paridis Rhizome from Wudang mountain area had obvious differences:the minimum was 1. 29%, and the maximum was up to 10. 22%. The content of total saponins had no obvious correlation with species, production area and altitude. Conclusion:The quality of Paridis Rhizome is unstable in Wudang mountain area, and that will affect the effectiveness and safety of the clinical medication. Only by promoting the standardized planting of Chinese medicine materials, the stable quality of Paridis Rhizo-me can be ensured.