Puerariae Lobatae Radix, also known as Gegen, is a root derived from Pueraria lobata. Based on field investigation and the developmental anatomy of root tuber, we have elucidated the relationship between the growth of root tuber and the anomalous structure. The results of analysis showed that the root system of P. lobata was developed from seed and adventitious root and there existed root tuber, adventitious root and conductive root according to morphology and function. The root tuber was developed from adventitious root, its secondary structure conformed to the secondary structure of dicotyledon's root. With the development of root, the secondary phloem of root tuber appeared abnormal vascular tissue, which was distributed like ring in the outside of secondary vascular tissue. The root tuber might have 4-6 concentric circular permutation abnormal vascular tissuelobate, and was formed by the internal development of abnormal vascular tissue. The xylem and phloem of abnormal vascular tissue were the main body of the root tuber. The results reveal the abnormal anatomical structure development of P. lobata, also provides the theoretical basis for reasonable harvest medicinal parts and promoting sustainable utilization of resources of P. lobata.
Plant Roots ; anatomy & histology ; growth & development ; Plant Tubers ; anatomy & histology ; growth & development ; Pueraria ; anatomy & histology ; growth & development

Objective To compare the safety , surgery effects , pain scores of the close-distance-two-port video-assisted lobectomy and systematic dissection of the mediastinal nodes , and single-port video-assisted thora-coscopic surgery (VATS). Methods Between October 2012 and January 2015 in Peking University First Hospi-tal and Beijing Hospital , 269 patients who were going to be performed lobectomy and systematic lymph node dissection, were gathered and 205 patients were included in this study finally. Of the total, 122 patients were performed close-distance-two-port VATS , and 83 patients underwent single-port VATS. The clinical data were gathered, and statistically analyzed. Result In both groups, no severe postoperative complications or death oc-curred. No significant differences existed between the two groups in terms of intraoperative blood loss , duration and volume of chest tube drainage , postoperative pain score , hospital stay after surgery and hospitalization ex-penses (P > 0.05) but the data about operating time, number of dissected lymph nodes, complications(subcuta-neous emphysema , air-leak from the port of drainage tube and poor wound healing ) were significantly different (P < 0.05). Conclusions Compared with the single-port VATS, the method of close-distance-two-port video-as-sistant lobectomy and systematic dissection of the mediastinal nodes is safe and practicable with definite thera-peutic effect, less operation difficulty and complications.

The urate transporter 1 (URAT1) which controls urate reabsorption is a membrane transporter in the apical membrane of human renal proximal tubule epithelial cells. It was found that about 90% of patients suffer from hyperuricemia due to insufficient uric acid excretion. Therefore, the development of URAT1 inhibitors that can reduce the level of serum uric acid in vivo by enhancing renal urate excretion has been a hot spot in seeking anti-gout drugs in recent years. In this article, the representative URAT1 inhibitors with uric acid-lowering or anti-gout effects are reviewed, and related medicinal chemical strategies are analyzed, hoping to provide valuable insights into the discovery of new URAT1 inhibitors.

In order to develop characteristic folk medicine resources in Jiangxi, a pharmacognostical study was systematically performed for four different origin plants of Sikuaiwa, the result of study provides the microscopic features of powder and tissue of the crude drug. The research provided reference for the identification of Sikuaiwa, as well as a theoretical basis for the further development and the formulation of quality standards.
Magnoliopsida ; anatomy & histology ; chemistry ; growth & development ; Medicine, Traditional ; Plants, Medicinal ; anatomy & histology ; chemistry ; growth & development

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the intermediate and long-term follow-up effect of posterior dynamic lumbar stabilization in lumbar degenerative disease.

METHODSThe clinical outcomes of 96 patients (male 51, female 45, age from 21 to 68 years, mean 41.5 years) whose follow-up time were more than 2 years with lumbar degenerative disease treated by posterior decompression with Wallis posterior dynamic lumbar stabilization implant or combined with posterior lumbar fusion from August 2007 to January 2010 were retrospectively studied, and assessed with visual analogue scale (VAS) and spinal operative standard of Chinese Medical Association. The early and long-term follow-up effect and complications associated with Wallis posterior dynamic lumbar stabilization were recorded. The height of intervertebral space at the treated level in lateral plain film were measured at preoperatively, 3 month postoperatively and last follow-up, respectively. The finds of MRI obtained at over 6 month postoperative were recorded.

RESULTSThe operative procedure of Wallis posterior dynamic lumbar stabilization implant was easy and less invasive. The VAS scores were 78 ± 24, 28 ± 16 and 14 ± 12 preoperatively, 3 month postoperatively and last follow-up, respectively. The good or excellent result was 91.7% at the last follow-up. No complication related with Wallis posterior dynamic lumbar stabilization was found. The rate of patient's satisfaction with the Wallis implant operation was 95.8%. The disc height at the treated level in lateral plain film were (8.2 ± 3.7), (10.4 ± 2.6) and (10.1 ± 1.9) mm at preoperatively, 3 month postoperatively and last follow-up, respectively. There is no further degenerative change found in MRI obtained at over 6 month postoperative. MRI 1 year after Wallis procedure showed rehydration of the formerly black disc at the treated level.

CONCLUSIONSIt is easy and safe to use Wallis posterior dynamic lumbar stabilization in treatment of degenerative lumbar disease, and the effect of the intermediate and long-term follow-up more than 2 years is good. The Wallis system provides an alternative for treatment of lumbar degenerative disease.

Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Internal Fixators ; Intervertebral Disc Degeneration ; surgery ; Lumbar Vertebrae ; surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Spinal Fusion ; instrumentation ; methods ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

BACKGROUNDParaquat (PQ; 1,1'-dimethyl-4,4'-bipyridinium), a widely used herbicide, has been repeatedly suggested as a potential etiologic factor for the development of Parkinson's disease (PD), owing to its structural similarity to the known dopaminergic neurotoxicant 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP). This study aimed to observe the influence of paraquat on nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons in C57BL/6 mice.

METHODSA total of 24 male C57BL/6 mice were assigned randomly to 3 groups: control group (treated by saline), PQ treated group, and MPTP treated group. Mice in PQ treated group were taken orally with PQ (10 mg/kg) daily for four months. Locomotor activity was measured. Level of dopamine (DA) and its metabolites levels in the striatum were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography with an electrochemical detector (HPLC-ECD), and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) positive neurons were detected by using immunohistochemistry. At the same time, the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX), and the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) in substantia nigra were measured by spectrophotometry. mRNA expression of dopamine transporter (DAT) in dopaminergic neurons of substantia nigra was also determined by reverse transcription (RT)-PCR technique.

RESULTSLocomotor activities were significantly impaired in the PQ treated group. Level of DA and its metabolites levels in the striatum were declined. The activities of SOD and GSH-PX were decreased, and the content of MDA was increased in PQ treated mice compared with that in control group. Numbers of TH positive neurons and the mRNA expression of DAT in substantia nigra of mice were also decreased after PQ taken orally for four months.

CONCLUSIONSThe present study suggests that chronic oral administration of PQ could trigger dopaminergic neuron degeneration. Oxidative stress could be involved in the pathogenic mechanism of PD induced by PQ.

Administration, Oral ; Animals ; Behavior, Animal ; drug effects ; Corpus Striatum ; drug effects ; Dopamine ; analysis ; metabolism ; Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins ; analysis ; genetics ; Glutathione Peroxidase ; metabolism ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Oxidative Stress ; Paraquat ; toxicity ; Parkinson Disease ; etiology ; RNA, Messenger ; analysis ; Substantia Nigra ; drug effects ; Superoxide Dismutase ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo determine the effect of three Jianpi Buqi recipes on intestinal microflora of Pi-qi-deficiency rat with molecular biology methods and attempt to clarify the mechanisms of therapy.

METHODRat model of Pi-qi-deficiency was induced by exercise fatigue simultaneously diet incontinence and then administrated with the decoctions of Si-jun-zi-tang (including crude drug) (10.8, 3.6, 1.2 g x kg(-1)), Li-zhong-tang (16.2, 5.4, 1.8 g x kg(-1)) and Buzhong Yiqi-tang (14.4, 4.8, 1.6 g x kg(-1)) recipes which were in common use of clinic of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). With application of ERIC-PCR (enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus-PCR) fingerprint analysis, the efficacy on Pi-qi-deficiency and perturbation of intestinal mircoflora of these recipes were examined and evaluated.

RESULTRemarkable differences of ERIC-PCR profile were found between Pi-qi-deficiency state rats and normal rats. The Shannon's Index (H') was increased when treated with all doses of three Jianpibuqi recipes decoctions and Sorenson's pairwise similarity coefficient (Cs) was also increased significantly after treatment.

CONCLUSIONERIC-PCR fingerprint can be utilized as an initial screening of changes of the composition of bacterial communities that are associated with the development of intestinal disease. It can also be used to build a better understanding of Pi-qi-deficiency and to investigate the pharmacodynamic effect of TCM on Pi-qi-deficiency. Three Jianpi Buqi recipes are demonstrated to produce pronounced recovery activities on intestinal microflora of Pi-qi-deficient rats, which may be considered one of mechanisms of their performances.

Animals ; Bacteria ; drug effects ; genetics ; growth & development ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Feces ; microbiology ; Female ; Intestines ; microbiology ; Male ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar

Objective • To explore the layer segmentation method of optical coherence tomography (OCT) images of retinal vascular diseases using an unsupervised learning method, and compare it with the built-in layering method of OCT machine. Methods • Standardized image acquisition was performed on OCT images from 50 patients with myopic choroidal neovascularization (mCNV) and 20 patients with diabetic macular edema (DME). Standards were established by manual marking of hierarchical information by professional physicians. A retinal multi-layer segmentation method based on the minimization of interlayer energy was proposed, and the results were compared with those obtained by the built-in layering method of OCT machine. The layering accuracy was verified by the unmarked boundary position error. Results • This segmentation method divided the retina of each patient into five layers: internal limiting membrane, lower layer of nerve fiber layer, upper layer of outer nuclear layer, upper layer of ellipsoid zone and Bruch's membrane. The average segmentation error in the overall data set was (4.831±7.015) μm. The error of mCNV group and DME group were (4.839±16.819) μm and (5.048±9.986) μm, respectively, both of which were lower than the automatic measurement results of OCT machine [(13.638±58.024) μm and (14.796±45.342) μm, respectively]. The accuracy of this method at each layer was higher than that of the automatic measurement. Conclusion • This multi-layer segmentation method can be used for segmentation of different types of retinal vascular diseases, and the results are significantly better than those obtained by the built-in method in OCT machine. It can be extended for layer segmentation of other retinal vascular diseases.

BACKGROUND: Edaravone (3-methyl-1-penyl-2-pyrazolin-5-one) is a potent free-radical scavenger and has the antioxidant ability to inhibit lipid peroxidation. The study aimed to examine the effect of edaravone on protecting the acute injury of human type Ⅱ alveolar epithelial cells (A549 cells) induced by paraquat (PQ) and the change of production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD). METHODS: A549 cells were cultured and divided into PQ group (group P), edaravone-treated group (group E) and normal control group (group C). The cells in group P were exposed to paraquat (600 mol/L), and the cells in group E were treated with edaravone (100 mol/L) additionally, and no drug intervention was given to the cells in group C. Real-time monitoring by LSCM was used to detect the cell response and the intracellular dynamic change of ROS level in A549 cells after administration of PQ and edaravone. And the levels of SOD and MDA were detected respectively by biochemistry colorimetry. Data were expressed as mean ± standard error of the mean. Statistical analysis was carried out with the soft SPSS 16.0. RESULTS: The concentration of intracellular ROS significantly increased when PQ was given to A549 cells. But after administration of edaravone, the concentration of intracellular ROS was decreased. Compared to the PQ group, the levels of SOD in the edaravone group were significantly increased while the levels of MDA were markedly decreased. CONCLUSIONS: Paraquat can increase the oxidative stress, and induce the lipid peroxidation of A549 cells. Edaravone has the effect to scavenge reactive oxygen species, and to protect against the PQ-induced lung toxicity.

Objective To study the L-carnosine induced apoptosis of human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells and its mechanism.Methods Human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells were cultured in vitro,then the cells in logarithmic phase were divided into 5 mM,20 mM,50 mM L-carnosine group and control group,treated with 5 mM,20 mM,50 mM L-carnosine and saline respectively.The proliferation of HepG2 cells was measured by CCK-8 assay after 24 hours and 48 hours treatment.The cell apoptosis and cell cycle were detected by flow cytometry after 48 hours treatment.The protein expression of Caspase-8,PI3K and Akt were detected by Western blot in each group after 48 hours treatment.Results CCK-8 and flow cytometry assay showed that both 20 mM and 50 mM L-carnosine treated group significantly inhibited the proliferation of HepG2 cells after 24 hours and 48 hours,and the inhibition were in a time and dose-dependent manner.Western blot revealed that the expressions of PI3K and Akt were down-regulated with the increase of L-carnosine concentration,while the expression of Caspase-8 was increased.Conclusion L-carnosine exhibits an inhibitory effect of the proliferation and promote apoptosis of human liver cancer cell line HepG2.The mechanism may be associated with the inhibition of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway and activation of Caspase-8 signaling pathway.