Sixteen compounds including daphnoretin (1), isofraxidin (2), scopoletin (3), kaempferol (4), quercetin (5), guaijaverin (6), astragalin (7), quercetin-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (8), naringenin-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (9), 5-O-methylapi- genin-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (10), methyl gallate (11), prionitiside A (12), (2S)-2,3-dihydroxypropyl-1,6,8-trihydroxy-3- methyl-9,10- dioxoanthracene-2-carboxylate (13), 3,3'-di-O-methyl ellagic acid (14), 3'-O-methyl-3,4-O,O-metheneellagic acid-4'-O-β-D- glucopyranoside (15) and 3,4-methylenedioxy-3'-O-methylellagic acid (16), were isolated from the 70% acetone extract of Euphorbia dracunculoides Lam. Among them, compounds 1-3, 6-9, 11, and 14 were isolated from E. dracunculoides for the first time, and compounds 10, 12, 13, 15, and 16 were firstly obtained from the genus Euphorbia. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic analysis, including 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, and ESI-MS.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Euphorbia ; chemistry ; Molecular Structure ; Plant Leaves ; chemistry ; Plant Stems ; chemistry ; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization

The aim of this paper is to apply near infrared spectroscopy techniques to construct a rapid identification method for 8 kinds of mineral Chinese Medicines containing carbonates. The qualitative model using clustering analysis method in OPUS software can identify accurately 8 kinds of carbonate-containing mineral Chinese medicines. The near-infrared quantitative model was established by using partial least squares method (PLS) for 7 mineral Chinese Medicines in which main component is calcium carbonate. Compared with the results by EDTA titration, the established quantitative analysis model for calcium carbonate content showed a good prediction result that when the content is between 47.61% -99.17%, the average relative deviation of the prediction result is 0.24% and the average recovery rate was 100.3%. The results also showed that the model using near infrared spectroscopy can get not only a rapid identification of the 8 mineral Chinese medicines containing carbonates, but also an accurate and reliabe content determination of calcium carbonate for the 7 mineral Chinese medicines which contain the component.
Carbonates ; analysis ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Minerals ; chemistry ; Software ; Spectrophotometry, Infrared ; methods ; Time Factors

The expression of Attractin mRNA and protein in testis and semen of human and male mice was investigated. Human testis and semen samples were all collected from Reproductive Center of Renmin Hospital, Wuhan University in December, 2012. Testis samples were collected from 7 cases of obstructive azoospermias when they were subjected to diagnosed testis biopsy, and 30 normal human semen samples were obtained from those cases of semen analysis. Adult mice testis tissues were obtained from 10 2-month-old male BALB/c mice, and 60 male mice at different ages were classified into 10 groups (day 1, 5, 10, 15, 21, 28, 35, 42, 56, and 120 respectively, n=6 each). The expression of Attractin mRNA and protein in testis was detected by RT-PCR and Western blotting respectively. Human semen samples were centrifuged into sperm plasma (SP) and sperm extract (SE), and mice sperm samples were collected from the epididymis of 10 adult male BALB/c mice. Western blotting was used to determine the Attractin protein expression level. Attractin mRNA and protein were expressed in the testis of both patients with obstructive azoospermias and adult Bcl/B mice. Quantitative RT-PCR revealed that no Attractin mRNA was detectable in day 1 male BALB/c mice group. The Attractin mRNA and protein levels were low on the day 10, and increased with age until day 56. On the day 120, the expression levels of Attractin were decreased. As for human semen samples, Attractin protein was expressed in both SP and SE, but didn't exist in samples from the epididymis of male BALB/c mice. It was suggested that Attractin acted as a novel active substance and was involved in male reproduction in both human and BALB/c mice, but it exerted a different expression profile in different mammal species.

Objective:To discuss the causes and effective measures of prevention and treatment of chylous fistula after central lymph node dissection (CLND) of thyroid cancer. Methods:A total of 6 127 patients who underwent CLND of thyroid cancer in the Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital between July 2013 and June 2015 were analyzed;of which, 14 patients acquired the complication of postoperative chylous fistula. The following conservative treatments were initially performed:systemic therapy, local pressure bandaging, normal pressure drainage, 50%glucose injection, or pingyangmycin injection through a drainage tube. Surgical op-eration was then conducted when the efficacy of the treatment was poor. Results:After the conservative treatment of the 14 patients, the drainage volume gradually decreased in 12 patients, and surgery was performed on the remaining two patients. Conclusion:The CLND of thyroid cancer must be carefully conducted to prevent postoperative chylous fistula. An active conservative treatment must be the first option when chylous fistula occurs. Surgery must only be performed if the treatment is invalid.

OBJECTIVETo present a method of quantitative diagnosis of craniofacial skeleton deformities based on three-dimensional computed tomography (3D CT).

METHODS20 cases with facial asymmetric deformities underwent 3D CT and the 3D images were reconstructed by Mimics 10.0 (Belgium). Anatomical landmarks were located and the coordinate of the landmarks obtained. Axial images of 1 patient with Romberg disease was used as representative case. The differences in the distance between the right landmarks and the left were calculated and analyzed.

RESULTSThe measurement results were not significantly different between two stages with an interval of 4 weeks ( P > 0.05), showing a reproducible resutls. The deviation of landmarks at facial midline increased gradually from upward to downward, reaching (2.63 +/- 0.54) mm at menton point. Paired landmarks showed asymmetry in three dimensions, especially gonion point on the left side, which was deviated 10.21 mm inward, 9.26 mm forward, 6.30 mm upward, compared to the opposite side.

CONCLUSIONSThe method of 3D CT quantitative analysis can provide precise information in the diagnosis and treatment planning of facial asymmetry deformity.

Anatomic Landmarks ; diagnostic imaging ; Cephalometry ; Craniofacial Abnormalities ; diagnostic imaging ; Facial Asymmetry ; diagnostic imaging ; Humans ; Imaging, Three-Dimensional ; methods ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; methods

OBJECTIVETo explore the relationship of aging with the changes of endogenous carbon monoxide (CO), cGMP and cAMP contents in the penile tissues of rats.

METHODSTwenty-four male rats were equally divided into an 8-month, a 16-month and a 24-month group, and their penile erection was detected by injecting apomorphine, their penile cavernous body harvested, and the contents of CO, cAPM and cGMP detected by improved dual wavelength spectrophotometry.

RESULTSThe contents of CO, cAPM and cGMP were reduced with the increase of age, with statistically significant differences between the three age groups (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONAging significantly decreased the contents of CO, cAMP and cGMP in the penile tissues of the rats, which suggests that aging might play an important role in erectile dysfunction.

Aging ; physiology ; Animals ; Carbon Monoxide ; metabolism ; Cyclic AMP ; metabolism ; Cyclic GMP ; metabolism ; Male ; Penis ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar

OBJECTIVETo investigate the mRNA expressions of RASSF1A, Galectin-3 and TPO in papillary thyroid carcinoma and some other thyroid benign lesions, and evaluate their diagnostic significance.

METHODSReverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to detect the mRNA expression of RASSF1A, galectin-3 and TPO in the samples from 73 cases, including 23 cases with papillary thyroid cancer, 16 with nodular goiter, 29 with thyroid adenoma and 5 with Hashimoto's disease.

RESULTSA statistically significant difference in the mRNA expression of RASSF1A, Galectin-3 and TPO was observed between papillary thyroid carcinoma and follicular benign lesions (P<0.05). However, there was no significant difference among various kinds of benign lesions (P>0.05). A negative correlation of the expression of RASSF1A and Galectin-3 mRNA was found between thyroid benign lesions and malignant ones (P = 0.000). While the mRNA expression of RASSF1A and TPO was positively correlated between benign and malignant lesions (P = 0.028).

CONCLUSIONLoss of expression of RASSF1A and TPO mRNA but high expression of Galectin-3 mRNA in papillary thyroid carcinoma are common. Therefore, the products of these three genes may be closely related to the development of thyroid papillary carcinoma, and may be used as useful markers in differential diagnosis of papillary thyroid carcinoma from the benign lesions. The results are more reliable if this detection method is used in combination with other techniques.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Autoantigens ; genetics ; metabolism ; Biomarkers, Tumor ; metabolism ; Carcinoma, Papillary ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Galectin 3 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Goiter, Nodular ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; Hashimoto Disease ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; Humans ; Iodide Peroxidase ; genetics ; metabolism ; Iron-Binding Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Male ; Middle Aged ; RNA, Messenger ; metabolism ; Thyroid Neoplasms ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; Tumor Suppressor Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Young Adult

INTRODUCTIONNon-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is garnering increasing interest and acceptance as one of the most important causes of chronic liver disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the risk factors for NAFLD among selected adolescent students in Hualien City, Taiwan.

MATERIALS AND METHODSA stratified random sampling scheme was carried out among 1724 adolescent students aged 12 or 13 years old in Hualien City. In total, 220 students (normal: overweight: obese = 97:48:75) agreed to join the study. They underwent physical examination, laboratory tests and ultrasonography examination of the liver. Diagnosis of NAFLD in this study was based on sonographic evidence of a fatty liver and testing negative for serum HBsAg and anti- HCV antibody.

RESULTSOf the 220 participants, 4 were excluded because they tested positive for HBsAg or anti-HCV antibody. NAFLD was detected in 86 (39.8%) out of the 216 subjects. The rate of NAFLD in the adolescents increased progressively from 16.0% in the normal group to 50.5% in the overweight group, and 63.5% among the obese subjects. Compared to their normal counterparts, adolescents with NAFLD had a significantly higher weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), triglyceride and nonhigh- density-lipoprotein (non-HDL) cholesterol. However, among the participants with NAFLD, only 20 (23.3%) showed ALT abnormality but there was an increasing trend of ALT abnormality as the severity of fatty liver increased. In addition, the higher ALT, Homeostasis model assessment- insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), cholesterol, triglyceride, and non-HDL levels and lower HDL-C as the severity of fatty liver increased. In a stepwise logistic regression analysis, the most significant factor associated with the presence of NAFLD was weight category. When compared with their normal counterparts, overweight and obese adolescents had a 4.14 and 5.98 times the risk of having NAFLD, respectively. Elevated ALT was the second most important factor as adolescents with elevated ALT were more likely to have NAFLD (odds ratio = 3.32, 95% CI: 1.16 to 9.50). Non-HDL cholesterol level was the third most important factor associated with NAFLD with a 3.81-fold increase in risk incurred for every l n (1 mg/dL) increment.

CONCLUSIONSObesity, ALT abnormality and elevated non-HDL-cholesterol are risk factors for NAFLD in adolescents. However, only 23.3% of the adolescents with NAFLD showed an abnormality for ALT. Therefore, ALT alone is not a sufficient indicator; and it is recommended that ultrasonography of the liver should be part of the routine health examination of obese adolescents.

Adolescent ; Alanine Transaminase ; blood ; Child ; Cholesterol ; blood ; Fatty Liver ; blood ; diagnostic imaging ; etiology ; Humans ; Obesity ; complications ; Risk Factors ; Taiwan ; Ultrasonography

Scm in volume(42/60),multiple site involvement(44/60),blood type"O"(31/41),in comparison with those of survival group,and the difference was statistically significant.C-erbB-2,p16,p53,P-gp,CD_(44) and CD_(25)expression were not significantly different in these two groups. Conclusion The clinical stage, lymph node metastasis,lymphatic tumor emboli and/or neural involvement,infiltration depth,histological dif- ferentiation,tumor volume,involvement extension are important prognostic factors in patients with gastric can- cer,while the significance of cancer-related gene expression in gastric carcinomas needs to be studied further.

Background/Aims: Ineffective esophageal motility (IEM) is common in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and can be associated with poor esophageal contraction reserve on multiple rapid swallows. Alterations in the esophageal microbiome have been reported in GERD, but the relationship to presence or absence of contraction reserve in IEM patients has not been evaluated. We aim to investigate whether contraction reserve influences esophageal microbiome alterations in patients with GERD and IEM. Methods: We prospectively enrolled GERD patients with normal endoscopy and evaluated esophageal motility and contraction reserve with multiple rapid swallows during high-resolution manometry. The esophageal mucosa was biopsied for DNA extraction and 16S ribosomal RNA gene V3-V4 (Illumina)/full-length (Pacbio) amplicon sequencing analysis. Results: Among the 56 recruited patients, 20 had normal motility (NM), 19 had IEM with contraction reserve (IEM-R), and 17 had IEM without contraction reserve (IEM-NR). Esophageal microbiome analysis showed a significant decrease in microbial richness in patients with IEM-NR when compared to NM. The beta diversity revealed different microbiome profiles between patients with NM or IEM-R and IEM-NR (P = 0.037). Several esophageal bacterial taxa were characteristic in patients with IEM-NR, including reduced Prevotella spp.and Veillonella dispar, and enriched Fusobacterium nucleatum. In a microbiome-based random forest model for predicting IEM-NR, an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.81 was yielded. Conclusions In symptomatic GERD patients with normal endoscopic findings, the esophageal microbiome differs based on contraction reserve among IEM. Absent contraction reserve appears to alter the physiology and microbiota of the esophagus.