Objective To establish the murine animal model for acute graft-versus-host disease after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Methods T cell-depleted (TCD) BM cells from allogeneic C57BL/6 mice were harvested and prepared from the marrow of the femurs and tibias. Age of 4 to 6 weeks’ BALB/c mice received 900 cGy total body irradiation ( TBI) from a 137Cs source. Two to four hours later,the mice were injected intravenously ( i. v. ) 5 × 106 TCD-BM cells with 1. 25 × 106 or 2. 5 × 106 or 5 × 106 splenic cells from allogeneic C57BL/6 mice,and respectively divided them into experimental group 1,experimental group 2 and experimental group 3. TCD-BM only was used as the negative control group of GVHD. Ten mice were used for each group. The establishment of aGVHD model was evaluated with a clinical GVHD scoring system,survival rate and target-organ damage. Results On 7 to 14 days after transplanta-tion,the typical clinical GVHD manifestation of severe diarrhea,hogback,activity reduced and ruffling were observed in experimental group 2. Furthermore,the aGVHD target organs of colon,lung and liver were harvested and made histological paraffin sections,then the obviously path-ological tissue damages of GVHD were detected under microscope. And the survival rate was lowed down to 0 on 45 days after transplantation in experimental group 2. On the contrary,no obviously clinical manifestation of aGVHD were observed in the control group,experimental group 1 and group 3. On 60 days later, the survival rate was 80% in experimental group 1 and 100% in control group. However,no mice was sur-vived on 10 days later in group 3. Conclusion BALB/c mice aGVHD model after allogeneic HSCT is successfully established by injecting i. v. 5 × 106 TCD-BM cells with 2. 5 × 106 splenic cells from allogeneic C57BL/6 mice.

To discuss the availability of evaluation on the dissolution studies of the multicomponents in traditional Chinese medicine, the in vitro dissolution of total composition of the tablet of rhizomes of Ligusticum chuanxiong components and its correlation with the in vivo were studied by the method of area under the absorbance-wavelength curve (AUAWC). Taken the tablet of rhizomes of Ligusticum chuanxiong components which is composed of sodium ferulate and ligustrazine hydrochloride as subject model, the dissolution tests were carried out with basket method. The plasma concentrations of tablets in different rats were determined by AUAWC at different interval times. The in vivo absorption percentage was calculated by Wagner-Nelson equation to evaluate the in vitro and in vivo correlation. According to the results, the cumulative dissolution in vitro of total composition of tablets of rhizomes of Ligusticum chuanxiong components at 60 min was 90.65% in water by AUAWC. The in vivo pharmacokinetics is fitted with an one-compartment model. The linear equation based on the cumulative dissolution rate (fr) and absorption percentage (fa) at 5, 10, 20, 30 and 60 min was fa = 0.819 7 fr+0.183 and the correlation coefficient was 0.959 5, which showed a good correlation between the in vitro dissolution and the in vivo absorption percentage. The method of AUAWC can be used accurately, feasibly and conveniently to evaluate the in vitro and in vivo correlation of total composition of tablets of rhizomes of Ligusticum chuanxiong components, which will provide better guidance to study the in vitro and in vivo correlation of sustained release preparation etc under complex system of traditional Chinese medicine in the future.
Animals ; Coumaric Acids ; chemistry ; Delayed-Action Preparations ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacokinetics ; Ligusticum ; chemistry ; Rats ; Rhizome ; chemistry ; Solubility ; Tablets

Medicinal values and their chemical bases of Paris (Trilliaceae) are reviewed. Paris plants include 40 species and varieties. Among them, 18 ones are medicinal plants with similarity in traditional uses. Fourteen species have been studied phytochemically, which led to isolation of 207 compounds including 121 steroidal saponins. These saponins are major active constituents from Paris plants, which can explain the traditional uses of the plants to treat cancer, malignant boil, bleeding, gastritis, and so on. The similarity in medicinal uses and chemical constituents of Paris plants implies the possibility of resource substitution among these species. It is worth to further investigate Paris plants in chemical constituents, pharmacological activity, biological property, and toxicology.
Animals ; Drug Therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Magnoliopsida ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry

Objective To explore the relationships among attachment,parental attachment and parental rearing style of adolescent depression.Methods 36 outpatients and hospital patients in Anhui Mental Health Center with depression and their parents were involved as the case group,33 age-,gender-,and education-matched high school students and their parents as the normal controls.The case group and control group were assessed with Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory (ECR) and Parental Rearing Pattern Questionnaire (EMBU).Results ① The score of attachment avoidance and anxiety dimension in the depression group were obviously higher than that of the control group(73.19 ± 16.63 vs 66.25 ± 12.91,62.76 ± 13.90 vs 51.97 ± 13.69,P ＜ 0.01) ;the score of mother's attachment anxiety in the depression group were significantly higher than that of the control group (72.06 ± 14.23 vs 57.42 ± 12.81),and there were significant differences between two groups (P ＜ 0.01).②The attachment avoidance was positively correlated with parental attachment avoidance in the depression group (r =0.534,r=0.488 ; P＜ 0.01).The attachment anxiety dimension was positively correlated with mother's attachment anxiety in depression group (r =0.532,P ＜ 0.01).Attachment avoidance was negatively correlated with parental warmness(r =-0.406,r =-0.462,P ＜ 0.01),however attachment avoidance had positive correlation with father's punishment and mother's rejection in depression group (r=0.395,r=0.468; P＜0.05).Father's attachment avoidance was negatively correlated with father's warmness(r =-0.527,P＜ 0.01),and mother's attachment avoidance was negatively correlated with mother's warmness (r =-0.491,P ＜ 0.01),which was positively correlated with mother's rejection (r =0.392,P ＜ 0.05).③ Regression analysis showed that mother's warmness rearing style had full mediating effect on the relationship between mother's attachment avoidance and attachment avoidance in depression group,and then mother's refused rearing style partly mediated the relationship between them.But father's warmness didn(t) have mediating effect on the relationship between father's attachment avoidance and attachment avoidance in depression group.Conclusion The attachment pattern is insecure in the depression group.Parenting attachment and rearing style significantly influence on adolescent depression attachment patterns,and mother's rearing style has mediating effect on the relationship between mother's attachment and depression attachment.

In chronic kidney disease (CKD), inflammatory responses during the progression of renal tissue and tissue injury related causes its progression to end-state renal disease. Among them, nuclear factor (nuclear factor, NF)-kappaB signaling pathway by regulating the corresponding nuclear expression of target gene transcription, as well as affecting the synthesis of inflammatory mediators, induction of inflammation lead to kidney damage and renal fibrosis. Some single herbs and their extracts (such as Astragali Radix, Scutellariae Radix, Ginkgo Folium) and some traditional Chinese medicine (such as Danggui Buxue decoction, Qilian decoction) can reduce the inflammatory damage induced by renal tissue NF-kappaB signaling pathway and delay the progression of CKD.
Animals ; Humans ; Kidney ; drug effects ; pathology ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods ; NF-kappa B ; metabolism ; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Signal Transduction ; drug effects

Objective To determine the effects of Tempol, one of the nitroxides, in the presence of ultraviolet-AI (UVA1, 340 nm -400 nm) on superoxide enzyme (SOD) activity, lipid peroxidation, and expression of collagen Ⅰ, collagen Ⅲ and matrix metalloproteinases (MMP)-1, MMP-3 in human dermal fi broblasts in vitro. Methods Fibroblasts were irradiated by a single exposure to UVA1 and at the same time incubated with or without Tempol, and detected 24 h later. SOD activity and lipid peroxidation, as shown by accumulation of malondialdehyde (MDA), were detected by biochemical assay. Expression of collagen Ⅰ, collagen Ⅲ (protein levels) and MMP-1, MMP-3 (mRNA level) was examined by ELISA and semi-quantitative RT-PCR, respectively. Results A dose of 15 J/cm2 UVA1 significantly inhibited SOD activity and collagen Ⅰ , collagen Ⅲ protein levels, increased MDA level and stimulated MMP-1, MMP-3 mRNA expression (P

0.05).However,A-waves were recorded in 7 patients who were with normal F-waves.Conclusion The occur- rence of A-waves,especially of multiple type,in the ulnar and median nerves might be helpful for the early diagnosis of Guillain-Barr?Syndrome.

Objective To investigate the effect of local injection of Botulinum toxin type A(BTXA) on spasticity and function of the affected upper limb in stroke patients.Methods A total of 32 stroke patients were re- cruited and randomly divided into two groups:a BTXA group and a control group.All the patients had spasticity of upper limb muscles,which scored grade 2 to 3 with the Modified Ashworth Scale(MAS) ,and decreased elbow joint range of motion.The 16 patients in the BTXA group received BTXA injection in the biceps brachii muscles and flexor muscles of forearm on 10～15 points,while those in the control group did not.All the patients in both groups were treated with rehabilitation training techniques.The MAS,Fugl-Meyer upper limb function assessment and Barthel In- dex were employed to evaluate the changes of muscle tone,upper limb function and activity of living (ADL)perform- ance of the patients before injection and at 1st,2nd,6th 12th weeks after injection.Results The therapeutic effect between the BTXA group anti control group was significantly different in terms of biceps muscle tone,the scores of Fugl-Meyer upper limb function assessment and Barthel Index.Compared with preinjection,muscle tone was de- creased significantly and ADL performance was improved after injection in BTXA group.The effects of BTXA lasted more than 12 weeks.Conclusion Intramuscular muhipoint injection of BTXA was useful in reducing muscle spas- ticity,and was helpful for increasing motor ability of the affected upper limb and ADL performance of the stroke pa- tients.

The effects of epigenetic modification on the differentiation of islet cells and the expression of associated genes (Pdx-1, Pax4, MafA, and Nkx6.1, etc) were investigated. The promoter methylation status of islet differentiation-associated genes (Pdx-1, Pax4, MafA and Nkx6.1), Oct4 and MLH1 genes of mouse embryonic stem cells, NIH3T3 cells and NIT-1 cells were profiled by methylated DNA immunoprecipitation, real-time quantitative PCR (MeDIP-qPCR) techniques. The histone modification status of these genes promoter region in different cell types was also measured by using chromatin immunoprecipitation real-time quantitative PCR methods. The expression of these genes in these cells was detected by using real-time quantitative PCR. The relationship between the epigenetic modification (DNA methylation, H3 acetylation, H3K4m3 and H3K9m3) of these genes and their expression was analyzed. The results showed that: (1) the transcription-initiation-sites of Pdx-1, MafA and Nkx6.1 were highly methylated in NIH3T3 cells; (2) NIH3T3 cells showed a significantly higher level of DNA methylation modification in the transcription-initiation-site of Pdx-1, Pax4, MafA and Nkx6.1 genes than that in mES cells and NIT-1 cells (P<0.05); (3) NIT-1 cells had a significantly higher level of H3K4m3 modification in the transcription-initiation-site of Pdx-1, Pax4, MafA and Nkx6.1 genes than that in mES cells and NIH3T3 cells (P<0.05), with significantly increased level of gene expression; (4) NIH3T3 cell had a significantly higher level of H3K9m3 modification in the transcription-initiation-site of Pdx-1, Pax4, MafA and Nkx6.1 genes than that in mES cells and with NIT-1 cell (P<0.05), with no detectable mRNA expression of these genes. It was concluded that histone modification (H3K4m3 and H3K9m3) and DNA methylation might have an intimate communication between each other in the differentiation process from embryonic stem cells into islet cells.

Objective To appraise the bowel control and quality of life after transanal improvement of Soave one-stage pull-through operation for Hirschsprung′s disease(HD) in infants.Methods Twenty-five patients(aged from 2 months to 3 years old) with HD underwent improved endorectal pull-through procedure and postoperative follow-up for 5 months to 6 years(average 4.5 years) including the occurrence of operation related complications sush as bowel control,constipation or postoperative enterocolitis and quality of life.Results Twenty-one patients completed the study were with a mean follow-up.The assessment of anal continence was graded as normal(4 scores),good(3 scores),and fair(2 scores) according to the previous study of other investigators.Of the 21 patients,16 were graded as normal,whereas 4 were as good and 1 fair.One patient developed constipation and 2 patients had postoperative enterocolitis.Conclusion Modified Soave procedure for Hirschsprang′s disease can get a good bowel control outcome and quality of life.