OBJECTIVE: To develop a method for the determination of neomangiferin, mangiferin, timosaponin BII, timosaponin A III, berberine, morroniside, loganin, paeoniflorin, and paeonol in Zhibaidihuang concentrated pills (traditional Chinese medicine) by HPLC-MS. METHODS: The samples were separated on a Diamonsil C18 column (4.6 mm × 150 mm, 5 μm) by gradient elution using acetonitrile and 0.1% aqueous formic acid as the mobile phase. The column temperature was 30°C. The elution program was optimized as follows; 0-2.5 min, linearly changed from A-B (5:95, V/V) to A-B (55:45, V/V); 2.5-5 min, linearly changed from A-B (55:45, V/V) to A-B (95:5, V/V); and 5-15 min, isocratic elution A-B (95:5, V/V); then quickly returned to initial A-B (5:95, V/V). This was followed by an equilibration period of 6 min prior to injection of next sample. The flow rate of mobile phase was set at 0.8 mL · min-1, and the injection volume was 10 μL. Multiple-reaction monitoring (MRM) scanning was employed for quantification with switching electrospray ion source polarity between positive and negative modes in a single run. RESULTS: There was significant correlation between the peak area and concentration of each compound within the test range (r > 0.9993). The average recoveries (n=3) of the nine compounds were 98.33%, 99.73%, 100.1%, 101.2%, 101.2%, 100.2%, 99.90%, 100.6% and 100.5%, respectively. The RSDs were 1.99%, 1.57%, 1.21%, 2.73%, 1.76%, 1.59%, 1.11%, 1.70% and 1.05%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The method is simple, accurate and highly reproducible, and can be used for the determination of nine compounds in Zhibaidihuang concentrated pills.

OBJECTIVE: To develop a method for the determination of orientin, vitexin, hyperin, neomangiferin, mangiferin, timosaponin BII and timosaponin AIII in Jinlianqingre granules(traditional Chinese medicines) by HPLC-MS. METHODS: The samples were separated on a Diamonsil C18 column (4.6 mm × 150 mm, 5 μm) by gradient elution using acetonitrile and 0.1% aqueous formic acid as the mobile phase at a flow rate of 800 μX · min-1. The column temperature was 30°C. Multiple-reaction monitoring (MRM) scanning was employed for quantification with switching electrospray ion source polarity between positive and negative modes in a single run. RESULTS: Complete separation was obtained within 15 min for the seven compounds. The regression equations showed linear relationships between the peak area and content of each compound (r > 0.9992). The average recoveries of the compounds listed above were 99.34%, 99.28%, 101.6%, 101.3%, 100.5%, 101.9% and 98.86% (n = 3), and the RSDs were 1.12%, 1.36%, 1.57%, 1.74%, 1.52%, 1.43% and 0.92%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The method is simple, accurate and highly reproducible, and can be used for the determination of seven compounds in Jinlianqingre granules.

Diagnosis, Differential ; Humans ; Intestinal Diseases ; etiology ; Intussusception ; etiology ; Pancreatitis ; complications ; diagnosis ; Purpura, Schoenlein-Henoch ; complications ; diagnosis

Adolescent ; Adult ; Anemia, Iron-Deficiency ; diagnosis ; etiology ; Child ; Female ; Hemoglobinuria, Paroxysmal ; complications ; diagnosis ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult

Objective To study the variables of behavioral function and TUNEL (terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling) figure in Bcl-2 transgenic (TG) mice and control mice after spinal cord injury (SCI), thus to find new ideas and ways for diagnosing and treating SCI. Method The genesis of Bcl-2 overexpression transgenic (TG) mice were produced by injection of Bcl-2 plasmid into the fertilized ova of mice.Nine Bcl-2 TG mice and nine control mice were subjected to SCI of moderate severity at T10, with the use of weight dropping (WD) method (impact force 2.5～3.0 g·cm). Up to 1 day , 7 days, and 14 days after SCI,functional deficits were evaluated with BBB scales, and the apoptosis of neurons was investigated by using TUNEL method. Another three mice of control group were only treated with laminectomy without SCI for comparison. Results The mean functional scores in the control mice were lower than those in the Bcl-2 TG mice, although the unpaired T -test revealed no significant differences. On the other hand, the number of TUNEL positive neurons and IOD(Integrated Optical Density)score in the Bcl-2 TG mice were both significantly lower than those in the control mice. Conclusions This experiment suggests that overexpression of Bcl-2 may suppress neuronal apoptosis after SCI. The Bcl-2 may be an important factor in relieving the damage within CNS after trauma.

Syndrome and formulae (or prescription) are two key issues in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and the premise research for material basis of TCM. However, vagueness of syndromes and complexity of formulae greatly limited the evaluation to syndromes and effective substance basis of prescription. Therefore, how to solve the evaluation of syndromes, confirming the efficacy material basis in prescription are the current hot issues of international concern. To solve these problems, establishing chinmedomics by integrated serum pharmacochemistry of TCM with metabolomics technology, that is a unique method of TCM research, made outstanding contributions in solving international concerns such as the effectiveness and security aspects of TCM. On the basis of the biological characterization of syndrome, the metabolic profiling of animal models of TCM syndrome, and related metabolic fingerprints as well as metabolic biomarkers were established to evaluate the overall effects of TCM formulae and corresponding relationship of syndrome-formulae. The active constituents were screened using the plotting of correlation between (endogenous) marker metabolites and (exogenous) serum constituents (PCMS), and is ongoing verification by further biological experiments. Correlation analysis between the ingredients in the body after oral formulae and endogenous markers in vivo can be used to clarify the active ingredients and synergistic properties. This method was successfully applied for rapid discovery of potentially bioactive components and metabolites from TCM, and through a series of studies on the chinmedomics, it proved that the established method could help to explore the effective substance for further research of TCM. As a new research approach, Chinmedomics is the best method to fit the holistic concept of TCM, and it can not only interpret the essence of syndrome but also elucidate the scientific connotation of Chinese medical formulae.
Animals ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Drug Prescriptions ; Drug Therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; pharmacokinetics ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional

Objective To investigate symptom characteristics and their their prevalence in terminally ill patients with ovarian carcinoma.Methods A retrospective study was carried out based on clinical data of 98 terminally ill patients with ovarian carcinoma who died in our hospital during January 1995 to December 2004.Fifteen most common symptoms were analyzed with a focus on the followings:symptom incidence,survival time after symptom occurrence,regularity of symptom cluster,and common causes of death.Fifteen symptoms were:pain,cachexia,pleural effusion and ascites,dyspnea,fever,intestinal obstruction,renal failure,bone marrow depression,lung infection,hemorrhage,deep venous thrombosis (DVT),intestinal or pancreatic fistula,mycotic infection,jaundice and emergency conditions.Results (1)The most prevalent symptom was pleural effusion and ascites(63%),followed by pain(60%), cachexia(59%),dyspnea(52%)and intestinal obstruction(49 %).(2)The symptom which lasted longest survival time was mycotic infection(77 days),followed by intestinal or pancreatic fistula(75 days), intestinal obstruction(67 days),pain(60 days)and eachexia(60 days).Symptoms such as bone marrow depression,renal failure,dyspnea and emergency conditions were comparatively critical associated with shorter survival times(14,13,12,7 days,respectively).(3)Terminal symptoms occurred typically in clusters,with 4.9?1.5 symptoms per case.Of 98 cases,84 cases(86%)had 4 or more symptoms,with the median survival time of 63 days from the last day of anti-cancer therapy,and a slow death process.The remaining 14 cases(14%)with 3 or fewer symptoms survived only 25 days,of which 10 cases(71%)died of emergency diseases.The survival time for two groups was significantly different(P

Objective To study the genotype of the thyroid hormone receptor ? (THRB) gene in a patient with thyroid hormone resistance syndrome. Methods The peripheral blood samples of the patient and his parents were collected, then DNA was isolated. PCR and direct sequencing techniques were performed to determine if there were mutations in their THRB gene. Results No mutation was found in exon 1-9. There was a point mutation in exon 10 of THRB which is a T to C transition in nucleotide 1658 resulting in the replacement of the normal Val (GTG) with an Ala (GCG) (V458A). The mutation was located in exon 10 of THRB gene and was a heterozygote. No mutation was found in THRB gene of his parents.Conclusion The gene diagnosis confirms that the patient has a mutation V458A located in the ligand binding area of THRB.

Objective To investigate clinical significance of computed tomography (CT) scan in diagnosis of bronchial foreign body in children.Methods Twenty-one suspected children with bronchial foreign body were studied with spiral CT cross-section scan and coronal reconstruction and diagnosis was confirmed with bronchoscopy.Results The foreign body was displayed in all of 21 cases. CT scan showed foreign body was located in right main bronchial 12 cases, right middle bronchial 1 case, right inferior lobar bronchial 2 cases and left main bronchial 6 cases. Foreign bodies were extracted with bronchoscopy.Conclusion CT scan can display and locate accurately foreign body in bronchial of children,and has very important diagnostic value in patients having atypical histories, clinical and radiological findings.

Prostate cancer is one of the common malignant tumors of male urogenital system, and the incidence of prostate cancer in China has increased significantly in the past decade. At present, endocrine therapy based on androgen blockade is the main method of clinical treatment except radical surgery and radiotherapy/chemotherapy for prostate cancer. However, the clinical benefit can only be obtained in the early stage of treatment, and nearly 90% of patients will develop to the castration resistance, and among them, nearly 90% of patients will have bone metastasis. The quality of life decreases sharply with the progression of disease for patients. In addition to the androgen signal pathway, studies have shown that many other oncogenic signal pathways have involved in the development of castration resistance, including classic cancer signaling pathways, immune and inflammatory signaling pathways, etc. Understanding the mechanism of androgen independent signal pathway in the formation of castration resistance will help to understand the off-target effect of androgen blocking therapy and introduce new treatment targets or strategies to get rid of the "no drug available" dilemma for clinical treatment of castration resistance.