The PET tracer 5-([11C]methyloxy)-L-tryptophan (5-(11)CMTP) was prepared by nucleophilic fluorination and alkylation reaction via a two-step procedure in order to develop specific tumor probe. The biodistribution and microPET imaging of 5-(11)CMTP were executed. The results unveiled that the overall radiochemical yield with no decay correction was (14.6 ±7.2) %, the radiochemical purity was more than 95% and high uptake and long retention time of 5-(11)CMTP in liver, kidney and blood were observed but low uptake in brain and muscle were found, furthermore, high uptake of 5-(11)CMTP in tumor tissue was observed. It seems that 5-(11)CMTP will be a potential amino acid tracer for tumors imaging with PET.
Amino Acids ; Animals ; Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Radioactive Tracers ; Tissue Distribution ; Tryptophan ; analogs & derivatives

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

Objective To improve the knowledge and diagnostic ability of imagiology on neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (NRDS) computed radiograph(CR).Methods The doubtful patients were done to photographs bedside using the high resolution imaging plate, 50 cases of newborn with NRDS were selected whose clinical diagnosed clearly and had been treated and had the complete CR image documents.The CR change and clinical characteristics were observed dynamically.Results Nine of 50 cases were combined with aspirated pneumonia,8 cases with infective pneumonia,3 cases with intra-alveolar hemorrage,and 2 cases with pneumothorax.Accoding to X-ray manifestations,all cases were divided into four stages:Ⅰ stage(n=5), Ⅱ stage(n=20),Ⅲ stage(n=22),Ⅳstage(n=3).Typical CR signs included:the pulmonary lucency decreasd,wide-ranging net and grain shadowes of high density, and in companing with a lot of air brunchus sing.Conclusions Computed radiography is the most important imaging method in diagnosis of NRDS bedside ,and shall be improved the ability of diagnosis and differential of NRDS combined with the clinic.

Alanine Transaminase ; metabolism ; Animals ; Liver ; drug effects ; Male ; Mice ; Plant Extracts ; pharmacology

OBJECTIVESyncope is a common problem in children and adolescents. Such an event may have multiple possible causes, ranging from benign conditions to life-threatening diseases. Syncope is a major challenge for the practicing physicians. It is very important to know the etiologic and clinical characteristics of syncope in children. This study aimed to improve diagnostic efficacy of syncope in children by analyzing the etiology and clinical characteristics of syncope.

METHODSThe investigators retrospectively analyzed the causes of syncope and diagnostic workup of 154 consecutive children seen in Department of Pediatrics, Peking University First Hospital because of a syncopal event.

RESULTSAutonomic-mediated reflex syncope (AMS) was the most common cause of syncope (65.6%), whereas cardiac disorders were found in 10 cases (6.5%) comprising the second cause of syncope in children. Other causes included psychologic problems and neurological and metabolic disorders. Although many causes were studied, 25 cases (16.2%) were found to have uncertain etiologies yet. The children with AMS were commonly seen in pubertal girls, and they had clear inducement of syncope and prodromes. The children with cardiac syncope often had history of cardiac diseases, and they were often younger than those with AMS. Lack of prodromes of syncope, exercise-related syncope, syncope spells seen in any body position, frequent syncope spells and sudden death in family were clues of cardiac syncope. Neurological disorders should be considered if there are any of the followings: syncope with seizure activity, syncope spells seen in any position, and a postictal phase of disorientation or neurologic abnormal signs. A metabolic cause was entertained when the child had a history of metabolic diseases, prolonged anger, or violent vomiting and diarrhea. Children with psychiatric disorders were adolescent girls with prolonged syncope spells, and had more frequent syncopal episodes. Most children with syncope were evaluated by many of diagnostic tests, but most of those tests were not goal-directed approach. Since persons with cardiac syncope were at increased risk for death from any cause, electrocardiography was recommended in almost all children with syncope. Neurologic testing including electroencephalography, computed tomography, etc. were rarely helpful unless neurologic signs and symptoms are present. Holter electrocardiography and echocardiography were most useful in children with suspected cardiac syncope. There was little benefit of screening cardiac enzyme in children with syncope. Routine blood tests (blood electrolytes and blood glucose, etc) rarely yield diagnostically useful information unless the children had the history of metabolic diseases. Head-up tilt testing was most useful in children with recurrent syncope in whom heart disease was not suspected. The children with frequent syncope, long lasting syncopal episode and clear psychiatric inducement of syncope should be evaluated by psychiatric testing.

CONCLUSIONSyncope in children may result from a wide variety of causes, and clinicians often use a wide range of investigation to try to achieve a diagnosis. But most of investigations have low diagnostic yield. Thorough history taking, physical examination and electrocardiography are the core of the syncope workup.

Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Electrocardiography ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Retrospective Studies ; Syncope ; diagnosis ; etiology

The study was aimed to investigate the expression of COX-2 in bone marrow cells of chronic leukemia patients and its potential pathogenetic implications. Western blot was applied for detecting COX-2 expression levels in bone marrow cells of 67 chronic leukemia patients and beta-actin expression levels. Bone marrow aspirations from 14 healthy donors were used as negative controls. The results showed that the positive rates of COX-2 in chronic-phase group of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML-CP) and in group of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) were 76.32% (29/38) and 75.86% (22/29) respectively. Both CML-CP and CLL group showed a higher expression than control group (p = 0.0000, p = 0.0000 respectively). The expression of LDH in Cox-2 positive group was higher than that in Cox-2 negative group, and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (p < 0.001). It is concluded that the expression of COX-2 protein can be detected in bone marrow cells of CML-CP and CLL and the expression level of LDH were higher in cells of CML-CP and CLL. The expression of COX-2 may be correlated with prognosis of CML-CP and CLL.
Adult ; Aged ; Bone Marrow Cells ; enzymology ; Cyclooxygenase 2 ; metabolism ; Gene Expression ; Humans ; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase ; metabolism ; Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell ; enzymology ; Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive ; enzymology ; Middle Aged

Traditional Chinese medicine is a treasure of Chinese culture, absorbing the wisdom of the Chinese people. Continuous application of new technologies makes traditional Chinese medicine research advance with the times. After several years of development, high-throughput transcriptome study has become a mature research tool in biology. This paper reviewed the advances in medicine transcriptome study, and compared two sequencing platforms, Roche's GS FLX platform and Illumina's HiSeq 2000 platform. Moreover, this paper introduced medicine transcriptome analysis process, with Panax quinquefolius and Lonicera japonica for examples, showing the characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine transcriptome studies. High-throughput transcriptome studies facilitate traditional Chinese medicine research with overall understand of functional genes, give clear elucidation of metabolic pathways, lay molecular foundation for the traditional Chinese medicine research and offer modern interpretation for traditional Chinese medicine theory. However, the current study faces several difficulties, including weak molecular basis, high sequencing cost and staff shortages in data anaysis. In the future, with the development in sequencing technology, the combination of transcriptome and other genomics, such as proteome and metabolome, will lay a solid foundation for the new high-throughput screening and developing model for the traditional Chinese medicine industry.
Biomedical Research ; methods ; trends ; Forecasting ; Gene Expression Profiling ; methods ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ; Humans ; Lonicera ; genetics ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods ; trends ; Panax ; genetics ; Phytotherapy ; methods ; trends ; Transcriptome ; genetics

Uvaria kweichowensis is a folk nongovernmental herb used to treat cure inflammation and tumour in the Southwest area of China. During the course of our investigation for antitumour agents from the stems of Uvaria kweichowensis, six amides were obtained by means of solvent extraction, chromatography on silica gel and Sephadex LH-20 repeatedly. And their structures were identified as uvariadiamide (1), cepharanone (2), aristololactam A II (3), enterocarpam II (4), aristololactam A Ia (5), and 4,5-dioxodehydroasimilobine (6) on the basis of chemical methods and spectral analyses (EI-MS, 1H NMR, 13C NMR). Among them, compound 1 is a new compound; the other compounds were obtained from this plant for the first time.
Amides ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Aristolochic Acids ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ; Molecular Structure ; Plant Stems ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization ; Uvaria ; chemistry

OBJECTIVEThe pathogenesis of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a functional gastrointestinal disorder, is poorly understood. Treatment by Chinese medicine and pharmacy (CMP) is superior to treatment by Western medicine (WM). Therefore, we aimed to analyze Chinese medical experts' experiences in treating IBS by data mining.

METHODSBy retrieving related literatures from 1994 to 2012 from CNKI, we chose proved cases and screened effective medical records to establish a database using structural electronic medical case collecting system and data mining. The thinking ways of modern physicians in diagnosis and treatment of IBS were analyzed.

RESULTSTotally 116 medical cases from 46 Chinese medical experts were recruited and analyzed. Results showed that Gan depression and Pi deficiency were most basic syndrome elements. In addition, cold dampness, damp heat, yang deficiency, and Shen deficiency were main elements for the development of diarrhea predominant IBS (IBS-D). Qi stagnation, yin deficiency, qi deficiency, and blood stasis were main elements for the development of constipation predominant IBS (IBS-C). Soothing Gan-qi and strengthening Pi was the most important treatment method. White peony root, prepared atractylodes, prepared licorice, tangerine peel, poria, bupleurum, Radix sileris, lanceolata, and Radix aucklandiae were the most common Chinese herbs used in treating IBS.

CONCLUSIONS(1) Gan depression and Pi deficiency was the main pathogenesis for IBS. Diagnosis and treatment of IBS should be performed clinically according to its development. Tongxie Yao-fang should be used as the basic prescription with modification according to syndrome differentiation. (2) Data mining will have a wide application prospect in studying medical cases.

Data Mining ; Humans ; Irritable Bowel Syndrome ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods ; Phytotherapy ; methods

China ; epidemiology ; Congenital Hypothyroidism ; diagnosis ; epidemiology ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Neonatal Screening