In order to determine the suitable harvest time of Dendrobium officinale from different regions in Yunnan province, the drying rate, mannose and glucose peak area ratio, extract, contents of polysaccharide and mannose of D. officinale samples collected from six producing areas in Ynnnan province were determined. The results indicate that drying rate and the contents of polysaccharide and mannose arrived the peak from January to April, extract reached a higher content from September to December, and mannose and glucose peak area ratio from October to February of the coming met the requirment of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. Hence, the suitable harvesting time of D. officinale in Yunnan province is from December to February of the coming year,according to the experimental results and the request of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia.
China ; Dendrobium ; chemistry ; growth & development ; metabolism ; Glucose ; analysis ; metabolism ; Mannose ; analysis ; metabolism ; Time Factors

ObjectiveTo investigate the difference of pathogenicity between the two genotypes of human metapneumovirus(hMPV) for the further research.MethodsAt various time after hMPV infection in BALB/c mice,viral titers of lung tissue were measured by real-time RT-PCR,pathology was assessed by a histopathological scoring system,airway responsiveness was assayed by animal lung function monitoring equipment.Pathogenicity was then measured by detailed evaluation through the results above.Results There is no significant difference in weight of mice between control group and experimental group through dynamic monitoring ; though the difference was exists in airway responsiveness and pathological changes of mice between control group and experimental group,the differences were not statistically in airway reaction,pathological changes and virus drops among the three groups of experimental group.ConclusionThere is no difference in pathogenicity between the two subtypes of hMPV in infection of BALB/c mice,viral genotype do not appear to be associated with pathogenicity.

OBJECTIVETo study the mechanism of warm-hot nature Chinese drugs (WHNCD) for promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis (PBCRBS) for intervening model rats of cold coagulation and blood stasis syndrome (CCBSS).

METHODSCCBSS rat model was set up in outbred SD rats using ice water immersion method. Totally 300 successfully modeled CCBSS rats were randomly divided into 5 groups according to the principle of balance weight, 60 in each group. Contents of triothyrone (T3), tetraiodothyroine (T4), progesterone (P), 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), and noradrenalin (NE) were paralleledly detected in all groups. Then rats in each group were subdivided into 6 subgroups as the model group, the curcuma group, the Ligsticum Chuanxiong group, the safflower group, the Rhizoma Corydalis group, and the Olibanumg group. Besides, 5 normal control groups were set up for 5 indices, 50 rats in total. We need 70 rats (7 groups) to finish observing 1 index, 350 rats in total for 5 indices. Except those in the model group and the normal control group, rats were administered with corresponding decoction at 20 g crude drugs/kg body weight by gastrogavage, 3 mL each time, once daily for 7 successive days. Equal volume of normal saline was given to rats in the normal control group and the model group. Contents of T3, T4, P, 5-HT, and NE were detected before treatment and 1 week after treatment.

RESULTSCompared with before treatment in the same group, T3 increased in the Ligsticum Chuanxiong group and the Olibanumg group, 5-HT increased in the Ligsticum Chuanxiong group, T4, NE, and P increased in all medicated groups (P < 0.05). Compared with the normal control group, contents of T3, T4, 5-HT, NE, and P in the model group decreased (P < 0.05). Compared with the model group, contents of T3, T4, 5-HT, and NE increased in each medicated group (P < 0.05). There was statistical difference in contents of P between the Ligsticum Chuanxiong group and the Olibanumg group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSWHNCD for PBCRBS had regulatory roles in serum contents of T3, T4, P, and NE in modeled rats of CCBSS. They could promote the thyroid gland-gonadal axis function, enhance the function of the endocrine system, which might be one of the pharmacodynamic mechanism of WHNCD for PBCRBS in intervening CCBSS.

Animals ; Blood Coagulation ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Hot Temperature ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Norepinephrine ; metabolism ; Progesterone ; metabolism ; Rats ; Serotonin ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo investigate the relationship between the distribution of mononucleotide polymorphism of five regulation regions of alpha-IFN among HLA-DRB1*11 gene episodes and the therapeutic effects of alpha-IFN treatment in chronic hepatitis B patients.

METHODSOne hundred seven chronic hepatitis patients from Nanjing Second Hospital who were treated by alpha-IFN for 12 months and then followed at least six months without the treatment were randomly selected for this regressive analysis. They were grouped into a continuous responsive group and a non-continuous responsive group. Hepatitis B virus X interacting protein gene locus was searched in NCBI. Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) gene locus was detected based on a pooling sequencing method. Primer and TaqMan-MGB probes referring to different mononucleotide loci were designed respectively to detect SNP in five regulation regions of alpha-IFN. Then gene sequencing differences between the two groups were analyzed.

RESULTSAmong the 107 cases there were 30 cases (28.0%) in the continuous responsive group and 77 cases (71.9%) in the non-continuous responsive group. CT occupation rate in five regulation regions of IFN reached 18.0% in the continuous responsive group and 23.8% in the non-continuous responsive group. AG occupation rate reached 10.8% in the former group and 15.8% in the latter group. The differences in CT and AG between the two groups were significant.

CONCLUSIONSThe distribution of mononucleotide polymorphism of five regulation regions of alpha-IFN among HLA-DRB1*11 gene episodes affects the IFN anti-virus treatment. Detecting the gene distribution of mononucleotide in five regulation regions of alpha-IFN helps in predicting the therapeutic effects of alpha-IFN.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Antiviral Agents ; therapeutic use ; DNA, Viral ; Genotype ; HLA-DR Antigens ; genetics ; HLA-DRB1 Chains ; Hepatitis B virus ; genetics ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; drug therapy ; genetics ; Humans ; Interferon-alpha ; therapeutic use ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Regression Analysis ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo explore appropriate methods for the research of the theory of Chinese medicine nature property and find the relationship between Nature-Family-Component of Chinese herbs.

METHODSFrom perspective of systems biology, we used Associate Network to identify useful relationships among "Nature-Family-Component" of Herbs. In this work, Associate Network combines association rules mining method and network construction method to evaluate the complicate relationship among "Nature-Family-Component" of herbs screened.

RESULTSThe results of association rules mining showed that the families had a close relationship with nature properties of herbs. For example, the families of Magnoliaceae, Araceae had a close relationship with hot nature with confidence of 100%, the families of Cucurbitaceae has a close relationship to cold nature with confidence of 90.91%. Moreover, the results of constructed Associate Network implied that herbs belonging to the same families generally had the same natures. In addition, some herbs belonging to different families may also have same natures when they contain the same main components.

CONCLUSIONThese results implied that the main components of herbs might affect their natures; the relationships between families and natures were based on the main compounds of herbs.

Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; classification

DNA, Viral ; analysis ; Hepatitis B Core Antigens ; analysis ; Hepatitis B virus ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Liver ; virology ; Liver Cirrhosis ; virology ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; methods

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the clinical value of magnetic resonance (MR) diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) for diagnosing radiation-induced liver injury (RILI) and detecting changes in hepatic pathology at different post-irradiation times.

METHODSMale New Zealand white rabbits received no irradiation (C0, control group; n = 10) or irradiation of 50 Gy/10F once every other day by virtual three dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) for one day (C1; n = 10), three days (C2; n = 10), two weeks (C3; n = 10), one month (C4; n = 10) or two months (C5; n = 10). One member of all groups were sacrificed for DWI examination and pathologic study on post-irradiation day 1, day 3, week 2, month 1 and month 2. The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values were measured using a range of b values (50, 300, 600, 800 and 1000 s/mm2).

RESULTSHematoxylin-eosin (H-E) staining showed that livers of rabbits in the C3, C4 and C5 groups had the characteristic features of veno-occlusive disease. DWI examination showed that the irradiated livers of rabbits in C2, C3, C4 and C5 groups had significantly lower ADC values than the livers of the non-irradiated rabbits at b values of 300, 600, 800 and 1000 s/mm2 (P less than 0.05). When the b value was 600 s/mm2, the best negative correlation between ADC values and pathological stage was seen for the irradiated livers (Spearman's rank, r = -0.459, P less than 0.01). The threshold ADC value to distinguish the normal group (C0) from an irradiated group (more than or equal toC1) was 1.955 * 10-3 mm2/s at 600 s/mm2 b value. When the b value was 1000 s/mm2, the threshold ADC value to predict an irradiated group with normal H-E staining (C1) from an irradiated group with abnormal H-E staining (more than or equal toC2) was 1.5250 * 10-3 mm2/s; the ADC threshold value was 1.5150 * 10-3 mm2/s to predict groups C0-2 and groups C3-5.

CONCLUSIONDWI has high sensitivity for detecting RILI at three days after irradiation with proper b values. Use of the ADC value is feasible for estimating the evolutionary process of pathological features of RILI damage. DWI may represent an important clinical tool for detection of early pathological changes in RILI.

AIMTo study the metabolic kinetics of MN9202 in Beagle dog liver microsome.

METHODSBeagle dog liver microsomes were prepared by using ultracentrifuge method. After incubating 0.4 micromol x L(-1) MN9202 with 1 g x L(-1) microsomes for 30 min at 37 degrees C, the reaction was terminated by adding 0.5 mL alkalization. The RP-HPLC was used to determine the drug in the incubation mixture. The Michaelis-Menten parameters Km, and Vmax in Beagle dog liver microsomes were initially estimated by analyzing Lineweave-Brurk plot. Various selective CYP inhibitors were used to investigate their inhibitory effect on the metabolism of MN9202.

RESULTSThe Km, Vmax and CLint of MN9202 were (22.6 +/- 8.0) micromol x L(-1), (0.54 +/- 0.17) micromol x g(-1) x min(-1) and (0.0242 +/- 0.0009) L x g(-1) x min(-1), respectively. The metabolism of MN9202 was significantly inhibited by ketoconazole (Ket) and troleandomycin (Tro) in Beagle dog liver microsomes. Tranylcypromine (Tra) could inhibit the metabolism of drug as well. While other inhibitors showed little inhibitory effect on the metabolism of MN9202.

CONCLUSIONIt was shown that CYP3A and CYP2C19 were involved in MN9202 metabolism. The inhibitors of human CYP3A and CYP2C19 may have potential interaction with MN9202, and this can reduce the metabolism rate and increase the toxicity of MN9202.

Animals ; Aryl Hydrocarbon Hydroxylases ; antagonists & inhibitors ; Calcium Channel Blockers ; metabolism ; pharmacokinetics ; Cytochrome P-450 CYP2C19 ; Cytochrome P-450 CYP3A Inhibitors ; Dihydropyridines ; metabolism ; pharmacokinetics ; Dogs ; Ketoconazole ; pharmacology ; Microsomes, Liver ; metabolism ; Mixed Function Oxygenases ; antagonists & inhibitors ; Nitrobenzenes ; metabolism ; pharmacokinetics ; Tranylcypromine ; pharmacology ; Troleandomycin ; pharmacology

OBJECTIVETo study the bone state with ultimate stress by examining biomechanical distribution of upper femur in Chinese, in order to accumulate more experiences for clinical work.

METHODSTotally 60 Chinese femurs from fresh cadavers were randomly divided into two groups. All the femurs were cleaned, and the body age ranged from 36 to 72 years old, averaged 56.4 years, including 41 from males, and 19 from females. These two groups underwent mechanical stress and bending stress tests. Special mechanical laboratory and machines were used to get the information. Results about the loading value at each testing point under stress were collected.

RESULTSThe four faces of the upper femur suffered different stress under external forces. The bone on upper femur can tolerate more mechanical stress than bending stress. Medial and lateral region of the femur neck and the rear side of the small tuberosity section were themain position enduring the vertical stress. The rear position of the base femur neck and the small tuberosity section were the main regions enduring the bending stress. Those main positions had strong cancellous bones. The intertrochanteric fracture fixation and artificial femoral stems were designed depending on this biomechanical basis.

CONCLUSIONAccording to our experiment result, doctors need to chose more effective fixations for upper femur fracture, and femoral stems for the patients. More information should be collected by further researches.

Adult ; Aged ; Biomechanical Phenomena ; Female ; Femur ; chemistry ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Stress, Mechanical

OBJECTIVETo study the relations between different feeding patterns and the body weight retention of the perinatal women living in rural areas of China.

METHODSA cluster sampling method was used to investigate 409 women, who are currently living in rural areas of Tianjin, at pregnant and perinatal status. While, their body weights and heights before pregnancy, antepartum and postpartum were measured, respectively. Body weight retention was the difference of the measured data after postpartum minus pre-pregnant weight. Variance analysis was used for statistic comparison.

RESULTSThe rate of exclusive breastfeeding was 70.9% (290/409) within four months. The net body weight retention of women (5.8 kg) using the exclusive breastfeeding was lower than that of the women (7.0 kg) using artificial feeding within 4 - 6 months, but there was no significantly statistic difference (F = 1.45, P = 0.236). However, there was the opposite result within 7 - 9 months, the data showed that the body weight retention in the women using the exclusive breastfeeding was 4.9 kg, which was significantly higher than that the women (2.9 kg) with artificial feeding (F = 3.17, P = 0.043). The food consumption of the women (901 g) using exclusive breastfeeding was the highest, followed by those (877 g) using mixed feeding and the women (750 g) using artificial feeding.

CONCLUSIONThe body weight retention after postpartum should be related to infant feeding patterns. After postpartum, the weight loss of women using the exclusive breastfeeding is relatively low. While, for the women using the exclusive breastfeeding, the net weight retention during pregnancy and after postpartum were lower than those with artificial feeding. Therefore, it is necessary to enhance health education and guidance on promoting exclusive breast-feeding as well as increasing awareness on pre-pregnant health.

Body Weight ; Breast Feeding ; Feeding Behavior ; Female ; Health Status ; Humans ; Infant ; Rural Population ; Sampling Studies