With the advantages of high throughput activity screening and toxicity evaluation, zebrafish has become popular model organism in pharmaceutical research in recent years. Being integrated advantages both in vivo and in vitro, with high efficiency and low cost, evaluation using zebrafish has become an effective method in quick screening of early safety of compounds on abroad. In past years, studies on toxicity of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with zebrafish model have attracted more attention in China. The development in drug toxicity studies based on zebrafish model was reviewed, and novel strategy for toxicity of TCM using zebrafish was suggested in the paper.

Enterocolitis, Necrotizing ; metabolism ; pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Infant, Newborn ; Intestinal Mucosa ; metabolism ; pathology ; Male ; Platelet Activating Factor ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo study the effect o f Bushen Huoxue Decoction (BHD) on neurobiochemical markers in the hippocampus of female rats with repeated immobilization stress.

METHODSSixty female rats were randomly divided into the normal group, the model group, the positive control group (treated with Liuwei Dihuang Pill at the dose of 3.3 g crude drug/kg), and the high, middle, and low BHD treated groups (at the dose of 8, 4, 2 g crude drug/kg), ten in each group. Chronic psychological stress was induced using repeated immobilization stress in rats. Medication was conducted by gastrogavage while modeling once a day for twenty successive days. The hippocampal neurohumoral levels were detected with high-performance liquid chromatography. The expression levels of BDNF and its receptor in the hippocampus were detected by Westem blot. Effect of BHD on neurobiochemical markers in the hippocampus of rats with repeated immobilization stress was observed.

RESULTSThe levels of Glu, GABA, and BDNF in the hippocampus of the normal group were 1280.0 +/- 258.3 ng/mg, 588.3 +/- 115.1 ng/mg, and 13.26 +/- 2.57 gray value, respectively. But the hippocampal neurohumoral levels and the expression of BDNF in the model group obviously decreased when compared with the normal group, being 1016.9 +/- 215.9 ng/mg, 485.1 +/- 71.0 ng/mg, and 7.23 +/- 0.61 gray value, respectively. The levels of Glu (ng/mg) in hippocampus of the three BHD treated groups were 1459.1 +/- 413.5, 1894.7 +/- 542.8, and 1373.3 +/- 345.7, respectively. GABA levels (ng/mg) inthe hippocampus were 631.6 +/- 161.4, 899.1 +/- 262.1, and 656.4 +/- 140.8, respectively. BDNF levels (gray value) were 16.57 +/- 1.52, 29.85 +/- 1.37, and 24.44 +/- 3.81, respectively, significantly higher than that of the model group (P<0.05, P<0.01). The level of Glu in the positive control group (1216.5 +/- 193.8 ng/mg) was significantly higher than that of model group (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONBHD showed significant accommodation on the hippocampal neurohumoral levels and the expression of BDNF in the female rats with repeated immobilization stress.

Animals ; Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor ; metabolism ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Female ; Glutamic Acid ; metabolism ; Hippocampus ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Receptor, trkB ; metabolism ; Restraint, Physical ; Stress, Psychological ; metabolism ; gamma-Aminobutyric Acid ; metabolism

Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Intervertebral Disc Displacement ; therapy ; Lumbar Vertebrae ; Male ; Manipulation, Spinal ; methods ; Middle Aged

Objective To understand the status on care and nutrition of children living in the rural areas (so called 'left-behind' children) while their parents were seeking for jobs in the urban areas. Methods Cross-sectional study was employed in this investigation.The group of‘left-behind' children (n=774) and the comparison group (n=774) were identified.The ascertainment methods mainly included questionnaire,anthropometries measurements,food-frequency,and laboratory examination.Results be poorly attended (X2=6.671,P=0.036;X2=15.053,P=0.001 ).Mothers who chose to work outside of their households would tend to choose bottle-feeding or decrease the duration of breastfeeding for their infants (X2=5.051,P=0.031;t=-7.201,P=0.001).The intake of milk and bean products in children were obviously lower than that seen in the control group (t=-2.150,P=0.032 ;t=-2.054,significant difference when comparing with the control group (X2=4.560,P=0.033 ).Conclusion communities,parents and extended families would facilitate more attention and effective intervention programs to improve the situation.

[Objective]To investigate the etiology,clinical manifestation,treatment and prognosis of optic disc vas-culitis.[Method]Twenty-four eyes of 21 patients were enrolled in this retrospective study.Eye examinations,treatment, and effect were recorded.[Result]Six were male and 15 were female.The age was between 19 and 43 years old(average:28.7±1.6).85.7% of the patients referred to the clinic with mild to moderate decreased vision.Edema of the optic disc can be seen in both types while tortuous veins can also be found in type 2.Similar characteristics were noticed in OCT,FFA, and etc.With a follow-up of 4.52±0.98 months after treatment(prednisone:initial dose 1.0-1.2 mg/kg),the BCVA of the affected eyes improved significantly.[Conclusion]Optic disc vasculitis is affected by autoimmune disorder,infection,hy-perlipidemia,and etc.Edema of the optic disc with/without tortuous veins and retinal hemorrhage can be noticed.Similar diseases should be excluded in avoidance of misdiagnosis. Systemic examination and complete solution should be per-formed.Glucocorticoid helps to improve the visual function.The application of anti-VEGF is effective in secondary macu-lar edema.However,the long-term efficacy is awaiting being confirmed.

Objective To understand the relationship between the concentration of air pollutants and daily emergency department visits for different diseases (circulatory system disease, digestive system disease, nervous system disease and respiratory system disease) in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province. Methods The daily average concentrations of sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2, carbon monoxide (CO) and PM2.5 and the daily maximum 8-hour concentrations of O3, the daily average temperature, the relative humidity and cause -specific emergency department visits of the four major diseases from 2015 to 2017 were collected in Guangzhou. Semi-parametric generalized additive model was used to analyze the relationship between the concentration of pollutants and daily cause-specific emergency department visits. Results The daily average concentrations of SO2, NO2, CO, O3 and PM2.5 during the study period were 13.24 μg /m3, 45.96 μg /m3, 0.97 mg /m3, 123.77 μg /m3 and 36.22 μg /m3, respectively. For circulatory system disease，the independently significant associations of SO2 with emergency department visits in single-pollutant models (2.91%, 95% CI: 1.00%-4.85%), and multipollutant models (4.39%, 95% CI: 1.22%-7.67%) were observed. Conclusion The ambient SO2 increases the risk of emergency department visits due to circulatory diseases in Guangzhou. Comprehensive prevention and control measures should be taken to reduce the emission of SO2.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effects of Tanguticum Maxim polysaccharide (TMP-1) on TNBS-induced colitis in rats.

METHODRats with TNBS/ethanol-induced colitis were used and treated with TMP-1 and dexamethasone (DX). Seventy-two rats, including animals with TNBS-induced colitis, were treated with saline, TMP-1 (100, 200, 400 mg.kg-1) and DX. White blood cells were counted on the fifth day and the rats were killed by ether on the sixth day. SOD activity in serum, MPO and SOD activity of colonic tissue were measured.

RESULTThe remarkable effects of TMP-1 at dosage of 200, 400 mg.kg-1 on TNBS-induced colitis were observed. The ulcerative area was diminished and weight of colon was reduced. White blood cell population was reduced, SOD activity in serum and SOD activity of colon tissue were remarkably increased, and, MPO activity of colonic tissue was reduced.

CONCLUSIONTMP-1 has significant effects on TNBS-induced colitis in rats with lower side effects, which suggests the effective component of rhubarb on colitis perhaps is TMP. The mechanism of the actions of TMP may relate to its antiflammation, antioxidation and immunoloregulation.

Animals ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal ; therapeutic use ; Colitis, Ulcerative ; chemically induced ; drug therapy ; Colon ; enzymology ; pathology ; Male ; Phytotherapy ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Polysaccharides ; isolation & purification ; therapeutic use ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Rheum ; chemistry ; Trinitrobenzenesulfonic Acid

The anhydrite and gypsum are the main sulfate minerals during evaporation of seawater or lake.They record the information about relative hydrogeology and the composition of mother liquor.Boron is diffluent element, and often occurs in all kinds of evaporites.Presently, the boron isotope has been applied widely in mineral deposits forming, geochemistry and palaeoenvironment.However, there is little research about characteristic of boron isotope in anhydrite and gypsum minerals, because of the low content of boron and micro-solubility in water and hydrochloric acid.This study developed a method of extracting and purifying boron in anhydrite and gypsum by phase transformation and ion-exchange.Firstly, the samples were mixed with ammonium hydrogen carbonate to transform the calcium sulfate to calcium carbonate.And diluted hydrochloric acid (1 mol/L) was added to resolve calcium carbonate.The percent conversion was about 85%in the first stage, and up to complete resolution by repeating this process.Secondly, boron specific ion-exchange resin ( Amberlite IRA 743 ) was used to gather the boron ions fully and further refined the samples with more than 1 μg of boron by anionic and cationic resin mixed by Ion Exchange Ⅱ and Dowex 50 W × 8.Finally, according to the modified method by He, the values of boron isotope were determined by TIMS.The boron content is analytically pure gypsum was 3.501 ± 0.128 μg/g ( n=12 , RSD=3.6%) and the average recovery was 100.47%.Besides, the δ11B value of analytically pure gypsum added with NIST SRM 951 was 17.98‰±0.21‰ (n=3, RSD=1.2%).This method has good repeatability and can meet the requirements of boron isotopic measurement of anhydrite and gypsum.

Aim To investigate the inhibitory effect of total C-21 steroidal glucosides (TCSG) from the root of Cynanchum auriculatum on activation of human hepatic stellate cells and the underlying mechanism. Methods The fibrosis model in vitro was established by treating LX-2 cells with TGF-β