Object To provide a scientific basis for identification and rational use of the herbal medicine by the pharmacognostic study on Cortex Fraxini. Methods Microscopic identification, TLC, HPLC were used. Results There were remarkable differences in the genuine product, confusing product and fakements of Cortex Fraxini in characteristics of microscopic identification, fluorescence, TLC and HPLC. Conclusion The scientific basis has been established and provided for differentiation of confusing product and fakements.

Objective: To determine the contents of aesculin and aesculetin in periderms and leaves of Cortex Fraxini among differnet provenances. Methods: HPLC was used with acetonitrile-water(15∶85) as the mobile phase and detected wavelength at 348nm. C 18 column was adopted. Results: The calibration curves were linear. The value of correlation coefficient were 0.9992 and 0.9994, respectively. The average recovery of aesculin was 98.2% and aesculetin was 99.2%. RSD were 2.24% and 2.15%, respectively. The quality differences of Cortex Fraxini among different provenances were remarked. The quality of Cortex Fraxini from Shanxi province was the best. Conclusion: The method is applied in determination and analytics of content of Cortex Fraxini and is rapid, simple and easy to carry out. The method is with the feature of accuracy, repetition and stability.

Objective To compare the HPLC fingerprint of Rumex gmelini from different habitats by RP-HPLC (DAD). Methods In this paper, 12 different samples were studied. Separation was performed on an Planetsil C_ 18 column, with mobile phase consisting of methanol and 0.1% phosphoric acid-water and with gradient elution at the flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The UV detection wavelength was 254 nm, column temperature was 35 ℃, and the analysis time was 50 min. Results The results showed that this method has a good repeatability and the ratio of common peaksarea of different samples had some difference. Conclusion This method can be used to establish the chromatographic fingerprint of R. gmelini with high specificity.

Objective To evaluate the efficacy of endoscopic ultrasound guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) in diagnosis of enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes (LNs), mediastinal occupying lesion of unknown origin, as well as in N-staging for lung cancer. Methods EUS-FNA was performed via esophagus with a 22-gange needle in 61 patients, followed by pathological and cytological examinations. Results The positive diagnosis rate of EUS-FNA was 93.4% (57/61), and the cytological and pathological diagnostic accuracy were 85.2% (52/61) and 83.6% (51/61), respectively. Of 61 patients, 26 were suspected as having lung cancer with mediastinal lymph nodes metastasis, but the bronchoscopy failed to confirm the diag-nosis. EUS-FNA diagnosed lung cancer in 21 and benign lesion in 5. Of 22 patients with mediastinal occupying lesions of unknown origin, 19 (86.4%) were diagnosed by EUS-FNA. Of 7 patients with malignant tumor history and enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes, EUS-FNA confirmed mediastinal metastasis in 6 (85.7%). Six cases of lung cancer with suspected mediastinal lymph nodes metastasis were confirmed by EUS-FNA and the corresponding therapy regimen was modified. No complications related to EUS-FNA procedure occurred. Conclusion EUS-FNA is a safe and effective method for diagnosis of enlarged medistinal LNs, mediastinal lesion of unkown origin and N-stage of lung cancer.