OBJECTIVETo observe the prevention and clinical efficacy of combination of Liuwei Dihuang Pill (LDP) and Ginkgo Leaf Tablet (GLT) for early diabetic retinopathy (DR).

METHODSUsing randomized, double-blind, double simulation, parallel controlled clinical trial, 140 type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) outpatients were recruited and assigned to the treatment group and the control group, 70 in each group. All patients received basic Western medicine treatment (such as blood glucose and pressure control). Patients in the treatment group took LDP (8 pills each time, 3 times per day) and GLT (19.2 mg each time, 3 times per day), while those in the control group took LDP placebos and GLT placebos. All treatment lasted for 24 consecutive months. All subjects were followed-up every month. The general clinical data as sex, age, and metabolic data such as blood glucose, blood pressure, blood lipid, and DR prevalence rate were collected and statistically analyzed.

RESULTSThere was no significant difference in levels of blood glucose, blood pressure, or blood lipid between the two groups (P > 0.05). After treatment the DR incidence rate was significantly lower in the treatment group than in the control group [3.1% (2/64) vs 18.6% (11/59), P < 0.05)]. Meanwhile, the DR prevalence rate of the treatment group was also significantly lower than that of the control group [6.3% (4/64) vs 20.0% (13/59), P < 0.05].

CONCLUSIONCombination of LDP and GLT could effectively prevent and treat the development of DR in T2DM patients.

Blood Glucose ; analysis ; Blood Pressure ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; complications ; Diabetic Retinopathy ; drug therapy ; Double-Blind Method ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Ginkgo biloba ; chemistry ; Humans ; Phytotherapy ; Tablets

Objective To compare the clinical pathological characteristics in young and old patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) and investigate their relationship with prognosis. Methods A retrospective review was made in 68 CRC patients less than 35 years old and 322 CRC patients older than 65 treated in our hospital from July 1993 to July 2003. Their clinical manifestation, pathological feature, Dukes staging, misdiagnosis rate and results of following-up were compared. Results The main manifestation in young group was abdominal pain (69.1%), but in old group was hemafecia or mucous bloody stools (53.7%). The ratio of poorly differentiated neoplasm was obviously higher in young group (48.5%) than in old group (20.5%) (P

Objective To investigate the effects of interventions on psychological stress factors of nurses in the emergency department of general hospital. Methods Symptom checklist 90(SCL-90)was used for investigation. The corresponding interventions were conducted based on the found problems. Results The mental health of the nurses in general hospital emergency department was worse than that of the general population. Each factor score, the total average score and the number of items after intervention had significant difference than that before intervention respectively. The incidence rate of top 10 symptoms was significantly decreased after the intervention than that before. Conclusions Implementation of comprehensive intervention can significantly improve the mental health of the nurses in emergency department of general hospital.

Background and purpose:Wuxing soup is popular for it's anti-cancer effect in folk medicine and deserved to be further studied by modern scientific methods.This research aimed to explore its anti-cancer effect and to study the influence on the immunity of melanoma in mice. Methods :Inhibition of different ingredients and concentrations of Wuxing soup on the growth of the mouse melanoma B16 cells was detected by MTT in vitro.Animal experiment was performed to determine its anti-cancer effect in vivo.C57/BL6 mice were randomly divided into three groups after vaccination of B16 cell,and then given intragastrically with different soups for 25 days.All mice were killed on day 26 after inoculation.The weight of tumors were recorded.The anti-tumor immune function was measured by T lymphocyte transforming assay and NK killing assay.The different effect of different ingredients was also observed. Results :Our result showed that different ingredients soup exerted different inhibition on B16 cell growth and Wuxing soup was the strongest one of all and in dose-dependent manner in vitro.The animal experiment indicated that different ingredients soup has different inhibition on melanoma,the soup-treated mouse display improved T lymphocyte transforming assay and NK killing ability.Among the different soups,Wuxing soup showed the strongest anti-cancer effect and immune enhancement. Conclusions :Wuxing soup is an effective anti-cancer agent in melanoma mice and can enhance the immunity of the mice with melanoma.

Objective: To investigate the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on cognitive function in D-galactose (D-gal)-induced aging rats, and the correlation between the effect and nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3)-ASC-Caspase-1 signaling pathway. Methods: Forty-six male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into a control group (n=10), a model group (n=12), an EA-7 d group (n=12) and an EA-21 d group (n=12). Except the control group, the other three groups received 42 consecutive days of intraperitoneal injection of D-gal to establish aging rat models with cognitive dysfunction. The control group received the same amount of normal saline via intraperitoneal injection. Two EA groups were given EA therapy for 21 consecutive days (began from the 22nd day of modeling) or 7 consecutive days (began from the 36th day of modeling) accordingly at Dazhui (GV 14), Baihui (GV 20), Shenshu (BL 23) and Zusanli (ST 36). After modeling/ intervention, all four groups received behavioral evaluations by Morris water maze (MWM) test, novel object recognition (NOR) test and step-down passive avoidance (SDPA) test followed by the Western blot (WB) detection of the expression levels of hippocampal NLRP3 inflammasome-associated proteins NLRP3, ASC and Caspase-1. Results: MWM (place navigation test, PNT) results showed that the escape latency in the model group was significantly longer than that in the other three groups (P<0.05), and there was no significant difference among the other three groups on the 1st day of the test (P>0.05). From the 2nd day to the 4th day of the test, there was no significant difference between the EA-21 d group and the control group (P>0.05) in the escape latency; the escape latency was significantly shorter in the EA-21 d group than in the model group and the EA-7 d group (P<0.05). MWM (spatial probe test, SPT) results showed that the time spent in the target quadrant was significantly shorter and platform crossover number was significantly lower in the model group than in the other three groups (P<0.05). The time spent in the target quadrant was longer in the EA-7 d group than in the model group (P<0.05), but was shorter than that in the control group and the EA-21 d group (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the swimming speed among the four groups (P>0.05). NOR results showed that there was no significant difference in the recognition ratio between the EA-7 d group and the EA-21 d group (P>0.05), and the recognition ratio was significantly higher in the two EA groups than in the model group (P<0.05), but was lower than in the control group (P<0.05). SDPA results showed that the electric shock number was higher in the model group than in the other three groups (P<0.05), and the differences among the other three groups were statistically insignificant (P>0.05). The model group had the shortest step-down latency, followed by the EA-7 d group, the EA-21 d group and the control group in order (P<0.05). The WB results indicated that the expression level of NLRP3 was significantly lower in the control group and the EA-21 d group than in the model group and the EA-7 d group (P<0.05). The expression levels of ASC and Caspase-1 were significantly higher in the model group than in the other three groups (P<0.05), and there was no significant difference among these three groups (P>0.05). Conclusion: NLRP3 inflammasome may be involved in the development of cognitive decline in aging rats; 7 consecutive days of EA intervention can partially improve the cognitive impairment in aging rats though the effect is rather limited; 21 consecutive days of EA intervention may improve the learning and memory abilities in aging rats via downregulating the expression levels of NLRP3 inflammasome-associated proteins in hippocampus.

Objective Autoantibodies and corresponding immune complexes involved directly in the development of rheuma -toid arthritis ( RA) .The effect of anti-mutated citrulline vimentin antibodies contained immune complex ( AMCV-IC) on the function of fibroblast-like synoviocytes ( FLSs) is still unclear .The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of AMCV-IC in serum of RA pa-tients on the proliferation of RA-FLSs. Methods Serum samples of RA , SLE ( systemic lupus erythematosus ) and healthy people were collected from outpatients and hospitalized patients in Nanjing General Hospital of Nanjing Military Region from March 2012 to March 2013 , including 20 RA patients ( 10 patients with serum AM-CV+and 10 patients with serum AMCV -) , 10 SLE patients and 10 healthy people .Serum AMCV of SLE patients and healthy people was negative .Serum IC was extracted by affinity chromatography with im-mobilized protein G and was divided into AMCV +-IC group,AMCV--IC group,SLE-IC group, and control group.The levels of AMCV were detected by ELISA .We cultivated RA patients'arthral FLSs in vitro .FLSs were stimulated with AMCV +-IC,AMCV--IC, SLE-IC and CON-IC (50,100,200,and 400μg/mL),respectively.And the effect of IC on RA-FLSs was detected by CCK-8. Results Compared with AMCV --IC group (1.37 ±0.86, 1.31 ±0.10),SLE-IC group (1.36 ±0.06, 1.38 ±0.03) and CON-IC group (1.08 ±0.02, 1.04 ±0.06),the A values of AMCV +-IC group (1.53 ±0.11, 1.58 ±0.05) were obviously higher after stimulating RA-FLSs with 50 and 100μg/mL IC for 24 h (P<0.05);Similarly, compared with AMCV --IC group (1.32 ±0.04, 1.38 ±0.07), SLE-IC group (1.31 ±0.10, 1.29 ±0.01) and CON-IC group (1.13 ±0.06, 1.03 ±0.09),the A values of AMCV +-IC group (1.53 ±0.16, 1.57 ±0.06) were obviously higher after stimulating RA-FLSs with 200 and 400μg/mL IC for 24 h (P<0.05). Meanwhile , the A values of AMCV --IC group and SLE-IC group were obviously higher than CON-IC group under different concentra-tions of IC(P<0.05). Conclusion AMCV+-IC can stimulate the proliferation of RA-FLSs more effectively compared with AM-CV--IC, SLE-IC and CON-IC under different concentrations of IC and involve in the pathogenesis of RA .

Animals ; Dentate Gyrus ; metabolism ; Epilepsy ; chemically induced ; metabolism ; Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein ; metabolism ; Hippocampus ; metabolism ; Kainic Acid ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Microtubule-Associated Proteins ; metabolism ; Neurons ; metabolism ; Neuropeptides ; metabolism

Objective To study the effects of electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure on osteoporosis in ovariectomized mice. Methods Sixty 8-week-old female Kunming mice were divided into four groups at random: a sham operation group (group A), an ovariectomized group (group B), an EMF and ovariectomized group (group C) and a nilestriol and ovariectomized group (group D). Bilateral ovariectomies were performed on all mice except those in group A. The mice of group C were exposured to a 15 Hz, 1.0 mT electromagnetic field. The mice of group D were given at nilestriol 1.5 mg/kg/week. The bone mineral density (BMD) of the lumbar vertebrae was measured before the mice were sacrificed at the 12th week. Blood specimens were collected every two weeks to measure the ac-tivity of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and the concentration of bone gamma-carboxyglutamic-acid-containing proteins (BGP), calcium and estradiol in the serum. Histological sections were taken to examine and analyze the changes in bone trabeculae in the lumbar vertebrae after 6 and 12 weeks. Results EMF at 15 Hz and 1.0 mT intensity signifi-cantly increased the activity of ALP and the concentrations of BGP and calcium in the serum. In addition, the absorp-tion of bone trabeculae in the lumbar vertebrae was significantly restrained. Conclusions EMF at 15 Hz and 1.0 mT can restrain the development of osteoporosis in ovariectomized mice.

Objective To study the effects of an electromagnetic field (EMF) on the expression of fibro-blast growth factor (FGF-2) and it' s receptor (FGFR-2) mRNA in rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) in vitro. Methods Rat BMSCs were isolated and cultured in vitro. The subcultured cells were divided into different groups to be EMF stimulated at 1.0 mT. The expression of FGF-2 and FGFR-2 mRNA were detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Results Different frequencies and durations of 1.0 mT EMF exposure induced FGF-2 and FGFR-2 mRNA expression in comparison to blank controls. The expression of FGF-2 mRNA reached a peak after stimulation at 15 Hz for 10 min, 50 Hz for 60 min and 75 Hz for 30 min. And the expression of FGFR-2 mRNA reached a peak after 30 minutes at all frequencies. At 1.0 mT with 30 min exposure, the expression of FGF-2 mRNA peaked after 50 Hz stimulation, and the expression of FGFR-2 mRNA peaked after stimulation at 75 Hz. Conclusions Moderate EMF stimulation can significantly increase the expression of FGF-2 and FGFR-2 mRNA in rat BMSCs in vitro.

ObjectiveTo observe the clinical effect of acupoint application on lipid metabolism in elderly diabetics with hyperlipidemia.Methods60 elder diabetics were divided into two groups.In the drugs group,patients were purely treated with simvastatin or lipanthyl.In the acupoint group, patients received acupoint application.The serum total cholesterol(TC), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C), high-density lipeprotein (HDL-C), aPoprotein A(ApoA) and apoprotein B(ApoB) ere measured respectively.Adverse events were observed.ResultsThe levels of TC、TG、LDL-C、ApoB were significantly dechned(all P ＜0.01 ～0.05).However,the rates of reduce lipid had no significant difference in two groups(P ＞0.05).The levels of HDL-C and ApoA were increased in the drugs group,but the homologous levels in the acupoint group showed no significantly change(all p ＞ 0.05).The adverse reaction in the acupoint group was significantly lower than that in the drugs group(P ＜0.05).ConclusionAcupoint application could decrease the blood lipid spectrum in the senile diabetics with hyperlipidemia.This therapeutics could reduce adverse drug reactions.