OBJECTIVETo study the effect of Wu-He Dipsacus asper (WHDA), Traditional Chinese Medicine, injection on mice-aging model induced by D-galactose.

METHODSForty-eight Kunming mice (24 male and 24 female) were randomly divided into control group, model group, positive control group, 7.2 g/kg WHDA group, 3.6 g/kg WHDA group and 1.8 g/kg WHDA group with eight in each group. The model was induced through injecting D-galactose into peritoneal cavity and Morris water maze was used to detect the learning and cognitive ability of mice. The skin hydroxyproline, brain tissue malondialdehyde (MDA), lipofuscin (LP), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) levels of mice were detected; the IL-2 and IL-6 levels in serum of mice were detected by using double antibody sandwich ELISA method.

RESULTSEach WHDA group was significantly reduced in latency period compared with the model group during Morris water maze test (P < 0.05) and the number of mice in model group through the platform was less than other mice in each group (P < 0.05). The levels of MAD and LP of the control group and each WHDA group were less than model group in the detection of heart, brain tissue oxidation index (SOD, MAD, LP and GSH-Px, P < 0.05). The activity of SOD and GSH-Px in the control group and each WHDA group was significantly higher than that in the model group (P < 0.05). The skin hydroxyproline content of mice which had been injected with D-galactose was significantly lower than that in the control group (P < 0.05) and the skin hydroxyproline content of mice of WHDA group was significantly higher than that in the model group (P < 0.05). The IL-2, IL-6 levels in serum of mice in WHDA group were significantly higher than those in the control group and the model group (P < 0.05) and the IL-2, IL-6 levels in serum of mice in the model group were lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe effective constituents of WHDA have a variety of biological activity which can have a good effect on anti-aging by different ways, improving learning and memory function, eliminating free radicals antioxidant, and enhancing the body immunity and other aspects.

Aging ; drug effects ; physiology ; Animals ; Brain ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Dipsacaceae ; chemistry ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Female ; Galactose ; toxicity ; Glutathione Peroxidase ; metabolism ; Hydroxyproline ; metabolism ; Interleukins ; blood ; Learning ; drug effects ; Lipofuscin ; metabolism ; Male ; Malondialdehyde ; metabolism ; Memory ; drug effects ; Mice ; Skin ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Superoxide Dismutase ; metabolism

Objective To investigate the clinical value of serum procalcitonin (PCT) in diagnosis of urinary tract infection(UTI) in elderly patients.Methods 114 elderly patients with UTI in the department of infectious diseases of a hospital from January 2013 to December 2014 were analyzed retrospectively, clinical data of patients with abnormal and normal serum PCT were compared, PCT levels in patients with positive and negative blood cultures were compared, PCT receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for the diagnosis of bacteremia were drawn.Results Among 114 elderly patients with UTI, 46 were with abnormal PCT, 68 were with normal PCT.In abnormal PCT group, the proportions of patients with highest body temperature within 24 hours of admission, white blood cell count, neutrophil granulocyte percentage, C-reactive protein (CRP), blood urea nitrogen(BUN), creatinine(Cr), and urinary tract obstructive disease were all higher than those with normal PCT (all P<0.05).Among 42 patients with blood culture, PCT level in positive blood culture group(n=12) was higher than negative blood culture group(n=30)(1.93 [0.57-8.32] μg/L vs 0.36[0.15-1.01]μg/L, P=0.028).The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of the patients with bacteremia diagnosed by PCT was 0.72(95%CI:0.54-0.90),at the optimal value of 0.52 g/L, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 83.3%, 63.3%, 47.6%, and 90.5% respectively.Conclusion Serum PCT level can well reflect the severity of elderly patients with UTI, and is of great value in early diagnosis of bacteremia in elderly patients with UTI.

Objective To observe the therapeutic effect of consciousness-restoring needling combined with comprehensive rehabilitation training on motor function and the activities of daily living of poststroke patients with hemiplegia. Methods Sixty qualified patients were evenly randomized into observation group and control group. All of the patients were given conventional medicine treatment and conventional rehabilitation training, and the treatment group was given consciousness-restoring needling additionally. The therapeutic effects were compared at the end of first session of treatment for 4 weeks and 12 weeks after the first session of treatment. The Fugl-Meyer motor assessment scale (FMA), modified Barthel Index (MBI) and Stroke-Specific Quality of Life Scale ( SS-QQL) were taken as the main evaluation indexes. Results The differences of FMA, MBI and SS-QOL scores were insignificant between the two groups before treatment ( P>0.05). At the end of treatment for 4 weeks, FMA, MBI and SS-QOL scores were increased in the two groups (P<0.05), and the increase was more obvious in the observation group (P<0.05). The results of follow-up till the 12th week showed that FMA, MBI and SS-QOL scores were still higher than the baseline level ( P<0.05). Conclusion Consciousness-restoring needling combined with comprehensive rehabilitation training has better effect on improving motor function and the activities of daily living of poststroke hemiplegia patients than comprehensive rehabilitation training alone.

Objective To explore the possible effects of nutritional supplements on brain function as reflected by Water Maze test performance in mice after +Gz exposure.Method Mice were arranged into control group (group A),+Gz group without nutritional supplementation (group B) and +Gz plus nutritional supplementation group (group C).Each group contains 12 mice.Mice in group A were not exposed to +Gz while mice in both group B and group C were exposed to 8 min +10 Gz.Distilled water was gavaged to group B mice 3 h before +Gz exposure.On the day before +Gz exposure pyridoxol fortified water was given and 3 h before exposure mixed amino acids solution were gavaged to group C mice.Water Maze test was done and scores were recorded in all groups.After the Water Maze test was completed,blood was collected through the eyes for serum amino acid determinations and brain tissue was collected by decollation for monoamine determination and γ-glutamyl transferase (GGT) activity evaluation. Result After +Gz exposure,longer completion time and more mistakes were observed in Water Maze test in group B as compared with group A and a trend of improvement in group C was noticed. The ratio of brain 5-HT to dopamine(DA) was significantly reduced in group C as compared with group B.Gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT) activity in brain tissue in group C and group B increased significantly. Conclusion High sustained +Gz exposure significantly reduces Water Maze test performance in mice (longer completion time and more mistakes).It seems that there is a trend of improvement in Water Maze performance in mice in dietary nutritional supplementation group,which might be due to significant reduction in ratio of brain 5-HT to DA in mice with nutritional supplementation.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the bone development activity and differences in safety of ethanol extract (EE) and water decoction (WD) of Psoralea corylifolia L.efficiently.METHODS Zebrafish larvae were co-exposed to prednisolone 25 μmol· L-1 and different concentrations of EE and WD (0.1,1.0,10 and 100 mg crude drug· L-1),and etidronate disodium (ED) 30 mg·L-1.All these groups were incubated at 28.5℃ until 9 dpf.The medium solution was changed every other day.Zebrafish skeleton at 9 dpf was stained with alizarin red and inspected under an optical microscope,in addition,the death toll and organ toxicity of zebrafish were also observed.The mRNA expression of osteoprotegrin (OPG) and receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL) in 9 dpf zebrafish were determined with fluorescence quantitative PCR.Zebrafish embryos (1 dpf) were exposed to various concentrations of EE (10,20,30,35,40,50 and 60 mg crude drug· L-1),WD (10,50,100,125,150,175,200 and 500 mg crude drug· L-1),psoralen (12.5,25.0,50.0,100.0,200.0 and 400.0 μmol·L-1) and bakuchiol (1,5,10,25 and 50 μmol· L-1).Embryonic morphology of zebrafish (3 dpf) was inspected with an optical microscope and the death toll of embryos or larvale was counted from 2 dpf to 9 dpf and LC50was calculated.Components of EE and WD ware analyzed by HPLC method.RESULTS Both EE (0.1 mg crude drug· L-1) and WD (1.0 mg crude drug· L-1) groups could increase the staining area and optical density values of zebrafish skeleton compared with prednisolone group (P＜0.01),indicating the increase in bone mineralization;the OPG mRNA expression in both EE and WD (1.0 mg crude drug· L-1) groups increased,while the RANKL mRNA expression decreased (P＜0.01) and the ratio of OPG/RANKL improved obviously (P＜0.01).Embryos exposed to EE,WD,psoralen and bakuchiol showed swelling of the heart and yalk sac,and decrease in GOT.The LC50 of WD and psoralen was 5～8 and 5～21 times that EE and bakuchiol,respectively.The composition and relative content of EE and WD also varied considerably.CONCLUSION Bone development activity and toxicity of EE are both stronger than those of WD.The lipid soluble characteristic components of Psoralea corylifolia L.,may be critical components of toxicity.

Objective To evaluate the difference of carotid intimal medial thickness (IMT) among different glucose tolerance status and to investigate the association of IMT with different glucose levels of 4 time points during oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and the lipid metabolic indices in non-diabetic subjects. Methods Eleven normal control subjects, 69 subjects with impaired glucose regulation (IGR) newly diagnosed by OGTT (including 28 patients with non-elevated OGTT 30 min and 60 min glucose values (

Objective To explore the efficacy and safety of greenlight photoselective vaporization of prostate(PVP) in high-risk older patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia(BPH).Methods A total of 96 high-risk older patients with BPH underwent PVP.The operative time,blood loss,indwelling catheterization and operative complications were observed.The variables such as IPSS,QOL,uroflowmetry,post-void residual urine volume(RUV) were recorded and calculated pre-and post-operatively.Results All the 96 patients safely got through perioperative period.The mean operative time was(24.8?6.5)min,intraoperative blood loss was(55.4?16.8)ml and postoperative indwelling catheterization was(1.6?0.7)d.IPSS and QOL scores decreased form preoperative 29.8?5.2 and 5.2?0.8 to postoperative 8.4?2.3 and(1.4?)0.5,respectively.Qmax increased from(5.6?2.8)ml/s to(16.7?3.2)ml/s,and RUV decreased from(168.0?22.5)ml to(24.6?5.81)ml.There were significant differences of these parameters between pre-and post-operation(P

AIM: To investigate the protective effect and mechanisms of di-ao-xin-xue-kang (DK) on myocardial ischemia-reperfusion. METHODS: Models of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion were constructed with sixteen mongrel dogs. The left ventricular pressure (LVSP), the marximal/minimum rate of LVSP (?dp/dt max) and the serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), creatine kinase (CK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), malondialdehyde (MDA) were determined before and 90 minutes after occlusion, 120 and 240 minutes after reperfusion, and the MDA content in myocardial cell membrane prepared at 240 minutes after reperfusion was determined. The oxygen free radical was assayed with electron spin resonace spectroscopy (ESR) technique. RESULTS: ① LVSP and ?dp/dt max in the normal saline control (NS) group decreased with the time progress of occlusion-reperfusion, and it was the same in DK group, but the levels were significantly higher than that in NS group (P

This article firstly established a new efficient method for screening anti-osteoporosis ingredients, which used two-dimensional zebrafish model combined with hyphenated chromatographic techniques to evaluate anti-osteoporosis activities of epimedin A and its metabolite baohuoside I. Adult zebrafish was used for metabolism of epimedin A in 0.5% DMSO, and LC-MS was used for analysis of the metabolite, which was captured by HPLC, and prednisolone-induced osteoporosis model of zebrafish was used to evaluate the anti-osteoporotic activities of trace amounts of epimedin A and baohuoside I. The results indicated that epimedin A and baohuoside I can prevent prednisolone-induced osteoporosis in zebrafish. The developed method in this paper enables the separation, enrichment and analysis of micro-amount metabolite of epimedin A, and anti-osteoporosis activities in vivo of epimedin A and baohuoside I was simple and efficient screening resorting to zebrafish osteoporosis mode. This paper would provide new ideas and methods for a rapid and early discovery of anti-osteoporosis activities of micro-ingredients and its metabolite of traditional Chinese medicine.
Animals ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Chromatography, Liquid ; Drug Evaluation, Preclinical ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Flavonoids ; metabolism ; pharmacology ; Mass Spectrometry ; Osteoporosis ; drug therapy ; Zebrafish

OBJECTIVETo break through the restrictions of the evaluation model and the quantity of compounds by using the two-dimensional zebrafish model combined with chromatographic techniques, and establish a new method for the high-throughput screening of active anti-osteoporosis components.

METHODAccording to the research group-related studies and relevant foreign literatures, on the basis of the fact that the zebrafish osteoporosis model could efficiently evaluate the activity, the zebrafish metabolism model could efficiently enrich metabolites and the chromatographic techniques could efficiently separate and analyze components of traditional Chinese medicines, we proposed that the inherent combination of the three methods is expected to efficiently decode in vivo and in vitro efficacious anti-osteoporosis materials of traditional Chinese medicines.

RESULT AND CONCLUSIONThe method makes it simple and efficient in the enrichment, separation and analysis on components of traditional Chinese medicines, particularly micro-components and metabolites and the screening anti-osteoporosis activity, fully reflects that efficacious materials of traditional Chinese medicines contain original components and metabolites, with characteristic of "multi-components, multi-targets and integral effect", which provides new ideas and methods for the early and rapid discovery of active anti-osteoporosis components of traditional Chinese medicines.

Animals ; Chromatography ; methods ; Disease Models, Animal ; Drug Evaluation, Preclinical ; methods ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods ; trends ; Osteoporosis ; drug therapy ; physiopathology ; Phytotherapy ; methods ; trends ; Reproducibility of Results ; Zebrafish ; physiology