OBJECTIVETo observe analgesic effect of electroacupuncture ( EA) on rats with chronic inflammatory pain and its regulatory mechanism on ispilateral dorsal root ganglion (DRG) and spinal dorsal horn (SDH) Mas-related G protein-coupled C receptor (MrgprC).

METHODSTotally 40 healthy male SD rats were divided into 4 groups according to random number table, i.e., the normal (N) group, the model (M) group, the acupuncture (Acu) group, the EA group, 10 rats in each group. The model of chronic inflammatory pain was established by subcutaneous injecting 0. 1 mL complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) into right hind paw. Paw withdrawal thresholds (PWTs) were measured before modeling, at day 1, 3, 5, 7, and after CFA injection, respectively. Expression levels of MrgprC in ispilateral DRG and SDH were detected by Western blot. The content of bovine adrenal medulla 22 (BAM22) in SDH was detected by immunohistochemical assay.

RESULTSCompared with N group at each time point, PWTs significantly decreased in M group (P <0. 01). Compared with M group, PWTs significantly increased at day 5 of EA and after EA in EA group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). Compared with Acu group at each time point, post-EA PWTs significantly increased in the EA group (P < 0.05). Compared with N group, expression of MrgprC in ispilateral DRG and ratio of BAM22 positive cells in ispilateral SDH increased in M group (P < 0.01). Compared with M group, expression of MrgprC in ispilateral DRG and ratio of BAM22 positive cells in ispilateral SDH increased in the EA group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONEA had favorable analgesic effect on chronic inflammatory pain induced by CFA, and its mechanism might be possibly associated with up-regulating MrgprC expression in ispilateral DRG and BAM22 content in ispilateral SDH.

Analgesia ; Animals ; Electroacupuncture ; Enkephalins ; metabolism ; Freund's Adjuvant ; Ganglia, Spinal ; drug effects ; Inflammation ; chemically induced ; drug therapy ; Male ; Pain Management ; methods ; Peptide Fragments ; metabolism ; Posterior Horn Cells ; drug effects ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Due to its effect of systems regulation and promotion on body, Ginseng is always referred to be long-term used as a dietary supplement. But it was still unclear about its target of the tonic effects and also the side-effects long-term use may bring. Urine metabolomic method is suitable for long-term studies of pharmaco-dynamics, pharmacology and toxicology of traditional Chinese medicine because of its characteristics of non-invasive and monitoring the whole-body metabolism. This study was designed to detect the dynamic variation of rat urine metabolome along with a long-term administration of total ginsenosides using GC-TOF based metabolomic technology. Our result showed that either short-term or chronic administration of ginsenosides did not impact the rat urine metabolome significantly (as the PCA subgroup was not successful). By comparison, the short-term (1-3 w) dose of ginsenosides had the biggest metabolic influence including TCA cycle, catecholamines and neurotransmitter amino acids. Medium-term (6-10 w) dose had a gradually lower effect and long-term (27 w) dose almost had no effect. Our study indicates that both short and long-term administration of ginsenosides showed almost no obvious side-effect on the experimental animals.
Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; metabolism ; Ginsenosides ; metabolism ; urine ; Male ; Metabolomics ; Panax ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Time Factors

Abstract?AIM: To obtain the prevalence and risk factors of symptomatic dry eye disease ( SDED ) among college students in China.?METHODS:Population-based cross-sectional study. Students in Medical School of Lanzhou University were approached. A questionnaire was used to evaluate the prevalence of SDED and its risk factors. The diagnosis of SDED was based on reported symptoms and was established if the participants reported “often” or “all the time” once or more for 6-item questionnaire. Positive tests included a tear-film breakup time ( TBUT)≤10s and a fluorescein staining score ( FSS ) ≥1. Demographic information and possible factors that may contribute to SDED were analyzed in a step-wise multivariate logistic regression modelto assess risk factors of SDED.? RESULTS: There were 1139 participants ( 84. 37%response rate ) have completed the questionnaire, 475 males and 664 females aged 16-26y. The prevalence of SDED was 18. 70% [95% confidence interval ( CI)= 16. 59-20. 81]. A TBUT of ≤10s and a FSS≥1 were noted in 47. 67%(95% CI=44. 95-50. 57) and 13. 97%(95% CI=11. 95-15. 99) for all participants, respectively. The multivariate regression analysis revealed the following risk factors:daily reading time of≥4h(OR=1. 58,95% CI=1. 15-2. 18), daily computer use of≥4h ( OR= 1. 52, 95% CI= 1. 02-2. 25), and constant eyeglasses wearing (OR=1. 54,95%CI=1. 08-2. 13). The female gender, refractive surgery and contact lens ( CLs) wearing were not risk factors for SDED in this analysis.? CONCLUSION: The prevalence for SDED is high in Chinese college students. The risk factors include daily reading time of≥4h, daily computer use of≥4h and constant eyeglasses wearing.

Based on SWOT analysis and relevant information about the premarital healthcare services through on-site survey and literature research , this paper systematically analyzed the Strengths , Weaknesses , Opportunities and Threats of “one-stop” premarital healthcare services .It also puts forward some strategic suggestions on premarital healthcare services in China including enhancing communication and cooperation between the related national minis -tries and commissions , building a government-led multi-sectoral coordination mechanism , increasing the resource in-vestment , promoting the premarital health care service and pre-pregnancy physical examination integration , and strengthening publicity and mobilization of “one stop” service for premarital healthcare service policy recommenda-tions to provide a basis for decision-making in the promotion of the policy-related works .

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the use of antibiotics in general hospitals of Ningbo. METHODS Totally 4 391 case history records in April,2004 of 12 hospitals were investigated on the use of antibiotics. RESULTS Medicines incomes accounted for 55.16% in total revenue in a hospital,and antibiotics accounted for 32.66% among medicines incomes.Antibiotics using rate was 62.11% in internal medicine departments.The percentage of antibiotics using without evidence was 23.92%,the combined antibiotics using rate was 49.89%.The average duration for antibiotics using was 10.83 days.Antibiotics using rate in surgery departments before operation was 71.00%,during operation was 20.48%,the combined antibiotics using rate during operation was 14.50%,antibiotics using rate after operation was 96.55%.Antibiotics using for treatment accounted for 62.37% and for prevention was 24.17%. CONCLUSIONS Antibiotics using rate is high in hospitals in Ningbo.Income of medicine is also an important part of total revenue in a hospital.We should pay more attention to management on clinical use of antibiotics.

Lomatogonium rotatum (L.) Fries, Gentianopsis barbata (Froel) Ma, and Gentianella acuta (Michx.) Hulten, the three kinds of Digeda-species Mongolian medicinal materials belonging to the family Gentianaceae, bad been widely used for the treatment of liver diseases. To analyze comparatively the content of swertiamarin and swertisin among these three kinds of Digeda-species Mongolian medicinal materials. HPLC method was applied for qualitative and quantitative analysis of swertiamarin and swertisin. The Phenomenex C18 (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 μm) was used, chromatographic methanol and water as mobile phase, the flow rate was 1.5 mL x min(-1) with UV detected at 237 nm, column oven temperature was 25 degrees C. Results showed that the contents of swertiamarin and swertisin were closely related the different species and producing areas. The content range of swertiamarin in L. rotatum from different habitats was 1.73% - 2.72%, 0.43% - 0.96% for the swertisin content; the content of swertiamarin in G. barbata from Alxa Left Banner was 0.38%, and the content of swertiamarin and swertisin in G. barbata from the others habitats and G. Acuta from different habitats were all detected qualitatively. The contents of swertiamarin and swertisin among these medicinal plants showed a significant difference due to the different species and producing areas. As a consequence, these medicinal plants should not be put together for clinical applications.
Apigenin ; analysis ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Gentianaceae ; chemistry ; classification ; Gentianella ; chemistry ; classification ; Iridoid Glucosides ; analysis ; Medicine, Mongolian Traditional ; Mongolia ; Plant Extracts ; analysis ; Pyrones ; analysis

Objective:To discuss the effects of premarital health care services on birth defects in order to pro-vide some references for promoting the premarital policy .Methods: The rate of premarital healthcare and the inci-dence of birth defects and other relevant data during the period from 2000 to 2014 were collected in Guangxi province using SPSS18 .0 statistical software to carry out descriptive analysis , rank correlation analysis and time series analysis of the relevant collected data .Results: With the increase in premarital healthcare rate , the incidence of birth de-fects, neural tube defects , cleft lip and fetal edema syndrome decreased .Having a premarital subsequent effect , the higher the premarital healthcare rate , the lower of the incidence of the congenital heart disease and neural tube de-fects in the next year .Conclusion:The premarital healthcare services play an important role in reduction of birth de-fects and people's health quality improvement .As a suggestion , more attention should be paid to premarital health-care services and strengthen them , intended to improve people's health and reduce birth defects incidence .

OBJECTIVETo investigate the changes of gene expression profile in transitional cell carcinoma of bladder T24 cell after crocin treatment, in order to find the possible crocin targets.

METHODThe bladder cancer T24 cell line was treated with crocin. MTT assay was adopted to determine the inhibition rate for selecting the best effect time and concentration of crocin. Differentially expressed genes on groups with or without treatment of crocin were screened with high throughout cDNA microarray. One up-regulated gene p21(WAF1) and one down-regulated gene cyclinD1 were selected to undergo analysis by the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Moreover, immunocytochemical method was used to evaluate p21(WAF1) and cyclinD1 protein expression.

RESULTThe growth of T24 cells was inhibited remarkably following a marked positive correlation between crocin concentration, time and inhibitor rate. When 3 mmol x L(-1) crocin treated T24 cells for 48h, the difference was significant compared with the control group (P < 0.05). Crocin induced wide changes of the gene expression profile of T24 cells. A total of 836 genes were up-regulated or down-regulated by more than 2 times, which were involved cell cycle controlling, DNA cell apoptosis, replication factor, and so on. The mRNA expression of p21(WAF1) and cyclinD1 detected by RT-PCR were in accordance with cDNA microarray data. The results of immunocytochemical method showed that p21(WAF1) and cyclinD1 protein expression were consistent with those mRNA expression.

CONCLUSIONCrocin can induce the significant alteration of gene expression profile of T24 cell. It is suggested that the widly konwn anti-tumor effects of crocin are medicated at least in part by regulating the cell cycle controlling gene expression.

Antineoplastic Agents ; pharmacology ; Carotenoids ; pharmacology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Down-Regulation ; drug effects ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; drug effects ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Time Factors ; Up-Regulation ; drug effects ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology

OBJECTIVETo prepare reference samples of Mycobacterium tuberculosis culture filtrate protein-10 (CFP-10) and CFP10-streptavidin fusion proteins (CFP10/SA) for time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay (TRFIA).

METHODSThe CFP10 gene was amplified by PCR from Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain H37Rv and cloned into pET24b, pET24b-streptavidin (SA) or pET21a-SA expression vectors. The recombinant proteins CFP10, CFP10-SA and SA-CFP10 were expressed in Rosetta cells, purified via nickel affinity chromatography and refolded by dialysis. The sensitivity and stability of the resultant proteins as reference samples were evaluated by double-antibody sandwich TRFIA.

RESULTSCFP10-SA and SA-CFP10 fusion proteins were expressed as inclusion bodies, whereas CFP10 was expressed in a soluble form. The resultant purity of the 3 recombinant proteins all exceeded 95%. TRFIA results showed that CFP-SA fusion protein possessed the best sensitivity (0.02 µg/L) and stability.

CONCLUSIONThe reference samples of CFP10 for TRFIA detection have been successfully prepared and can be used in the development of a diagnostic kit for Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Bacterial Proteins ; genetics ; standards ; Fluoroimmunoassay ; methods ; Gene Amplification ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis ; isolation & purification ; Reference Standards

Tumor-induced osteomalacia (TIO), or oncogenic osteomalacia (OOM), is a rare acquired paraneoplastic disease characterized by renal phosphate wasting and hypophosphatemia. Recent evidence shows that tumor-overexpressed fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) is responsible for the hypophosphatemia and osteomalacia. The tumors associated with TIO are usually phosphaturic mesenchymal tumor mixed connective tissue variants (PMTMCT). Surgical removal of the responsible tumors is clinically essential for the treatment of TIO. However, identifying the responsible tumors is often difficult. Here, we report a case of a TIO patient with elevated serum FGF23 levels suffering from bone pain and hypophosphatemia for more than three years. A tumor was finally located in first metacarpal bone by octreotide scintigraphy and she was cured by surgery. After complete excision of the tumor, serum FGF23 levels rapidly decreased, dropping to 54.7% of the preoperative level one hour after surgery and eventually to a little below normal. The patient's serum phosphate level rapidly improved and returned to normal level in four days. Accordingly, her clinical symptoms were greatly improved within one month after surgery. There was no sign of tumor recurrence during an 18-month period of follow-up. According to pathology, the tumor was originally diagnosed as "lomangioma" based upon a biopsy sample, "proliferative giant cell tumor of tendon sheath" based upon sections of tumor, and finally diagnosed as PMTMCT by consultation one year after surgery. In conclusion, although an extremely rare disease, clinicians and pathologists should be aware of the existence of TIO and PMTMCT, respectively.
Bone Neoplasms ; blood ; complications ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; surgery ; Female ; Fibroblast Growth Factors ; blood ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Hypophosphatemia ; blood ; diagnostic imaging ; etiology ; pathology ; surgery ; Mesenchymoma ; blood ; complications ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; surgery ; Metacarpal Bones ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasms, Connective Tissue ; blood ; complications ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; surgery ; Osteomalacia ; blood ; diagnostic imaging ; etiology ; pathology ; surgery ; Phosphates ; blood ; Radiography