To evaluate in vitro release and transdermal behaviors of Huoxue Zhitong gel, modified Franz diffusion cell methods was applied to investigate in vitro transdermal absorption of Huoxue Zhitong gel and the content of paeonolan in receptor fluid composed of PEG400%-95% ethanol-water (l:3:6)were determined by HPLC. The results were processed and different equations were fitted. The release law were in accordance with Weibull equation and the fitting equation was In[-1/(1 - Q)] = -0.790 51nt - 1.7012 (r = 0.9809). In 8 hours, cumulative release of paeonol was 85. 18% and the release rate was 2.827 µg . cm-2 h-1. Transdermal actions were consistent with zero-level model fit and the fitting equation was Q(t) = 1.7579t + 0. 7213 (r = 0.9991). In 8 hours, cumulative transdermal rate and transmission rate of paeonol was 54. 85%, 1. 820 µg . cm-2 h-1. So the Huoxue Zhitong gel had a good release and transdermal properties.
Acetophenones ; administration & dosage ; pharmacokinetics ; Administration, Cutaneous ; Animals ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; pharmacokinetics ; Gels ; Mice ; Skin Absorption

Objective: To investigate the incidence of CMV infection(CMV-I) and CMV related diseases (CMV-D) after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cells transplantation in 70 consecutive allogeneic hematopoietic stem cells transplantation(allo-HSCT) patients and to search for the optimal prophylactic strategy.Methods: Blood samples were monitored using the CMV pp65 antigenemia assay.Of the 70 patients observed,30 patients with chronic myeloid leukemia［CML:CP(27),AP(2),BC(1)］,12 with acute myeloblastic leukemia(AML),10 with acute lymphoblastic leukemia(ALL)and other cases were NHL(3), AA(5), MDS(7), SCLC with pancytopenia (1),CLL(1), and MF (1). Sixty six patients received HLA - identical siblings transplantation and four received tranplants from their HLA- haploidentical donors. Seventy cases included allo-PBPCT (64 cases) , allo-BMT (4 cases) and allo-PB+BMT (2). Before transplantation, all patients and donors received CMV serological examination except 4 pairs of donors/recepients. All 66 patients (3 cases were CMV IgM positive) and 64/66 donors were CMV IgG positive. Results：After transplantation, 64/70 patients developed CMV viremia during monitoring period. Forty three of 70 patients developed CMV-D.Thirty five of them suffered from CMV-associated interstitial pneumonia(CMV-IP). The high peak levels of CMV antigenemia were associated with development of CMV disease　. Close correlation was found between acute graft vs host disease(GVHD) and CMV disease. The patients were followed up for 2 to 24 months. The patients who received preemptive therapy(group A)had significantly better outcome than CMV disease group(group B, P=0.0001). Conclusions: The results suggest that CMV antigenemia has high predictive value for subsequent CMV disease and CMV pp65 antigenemia -guided early therapy has particular advantage for avoiding morbidity and mortality caused by CMV disease.

The molecular electronegativity-distance vector (MEDV) was used to describe the chemical structural characterization of 46 components of essential oils in the flower of Rosa banksiae. Various multiple linear regression (MLR) models were created with variable screening by the stepwise multiple regression technique and statistics. The QSRR models of 10 and 6 variables were built by MLR with the correlation coefficients (R) of molecular modeling being 0.906 and 0.903. Cross-validation of the models, which contain selected vectors were performed by leave-one -out procedure (LOO) and the satisfied results with correlation coefficients (Rcv) of 0.904 and 0.903, respectively. The results showed that the models constructed can provide estimation stability and favorable predictive ability.
Flowers ; chemistry ; Linear Models ; Molecular Structure ; Oils, Volatile ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship ; Regression Analysis ; Rosa ; chemistry

Objective To induce human-induced pluripotent stem cells(iPSCs)to differentiate into spinal motor neuron precursor (MNP)and compare the induction efficiency in systems of feeder and feeder-free. Methods iPSCs cultured on mouse feeder cells or in feeder-free condition were induced into neuroepithelial progenitors (NEP) on the sixth day and MNP on the twelveth day.Their morphology was observed under inverted micro-scope,and the markers of iPSCs,NEP,MNP were detected with immunofluorescence.NEP-related genes SOX1 and HOXA3,MNP-related genes OLIG2 and PAX6,and pluripotency genes SOX2 and OCT4 were detected with real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Results iPSCs expressed pluripotency markers,while NEP and MNP expressed high levels of neural related markers and low levels of pluripotency markers in two systems. The expression of the genes SOX1, HOXA3, OLIG2 and OCT4 was higher in the feeder system,and there was no significant difference in the expression of genes SOX2 and PA X 6. Conclusion iPSCs can differentiate into MNP in culture systems of feeder and feeder-free,and the induction efficiency is higher in the feeder system.

BACKGROUNDMolecular hydrogen, as a novel antioxidant, has been proven effective in treating many diseases. This study aimed to evaluate the therapeutic effects of hydrogen saturated saline in treatment of a rat model of diabetes mellitus and a rat model of insulin resistant.

METHODSA rat diabetes mellitus model was established by feeding a high fat/high carbohydrate diet followed by injection of a small dose of streptozotocin, and an insulin resistant model was induced with a high glucose and high fat diet. Hydrogen saturated saline was administered to rats with both models conditions on a daily basis for eight weeks. A pioglitazone-treated group and normal saline-treated group served as positive and negative controls. The general condition, body weight, blood glucose, blood lipids, and serum insulin levels of rats were examined at the 8th week after treatment. The oxidative stress indices, including serum superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH) and malondialdehyde (MDA) were also evaluated after eight weeks of treatment using the commercial kits.

RESULTSHydrogen saturated saline showed great efficiency in improving the insulin sensitivity and lowering blood glucose and lipids. Meanwhile, the therapeutic effects of hydrogen saturated saline were superior to those of pioglitazone. Hydrogen saturated saline markedly attenuated the MDA level and elevated the levels of antioxidants SOD and GSH.

CONCLUSIONHydrogen saturated saline may improve the insulin resistance and alleviate the symptoms of diabetes mellitus by reducing the oxidative stress and enhancing the anti-oxidant system.

Animals ; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental ; drug therapy ; Hydrogen ; therapeutic use ; Hypoglycemic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Insulin Resistance ; Oxidative Stress ; drug effects ; Rats ; Sodium Chloride ; chemistry ; Thiazolidinediones ; therapeutic use

In order to investigate the sleep quality and influencing factors in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD),201 PD patients were enrolled and underwent extensive clinical evaluations.Subjective sleep evaluation was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI),and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS).It was found that poor sleep quality (77.11％) and excessive daytime sleepiness (32.34％) were commonly seen in PD patients and positively correlated with disease severity.Then 70 out of the 201 PD patients and 70 age-and sex-matched controls underwent a polysomnographic recording.The parameters were compared between PD group and control group and the influencing factors of sleep in PD patients were analyzed.The results showed that sleep efficiency (SE) was significantly decreased (P＜0.01),and sleep latency (SL) and the arousal index (AI) were increased (P＜0.05) in the PD group as compared with those in the control group.SE and total sleep time (TST) were positively correlated with the Hoehn and Yahr (H&Y) stage.There was significant difference in the extent of hypopnea and hypoxemia between the PD group and the control group (P＜0.05).Our results indicate that PD patients have an overall poor sleep quality and a high prevalence of sleep disorder,which may be correlated with the disease severity.Respiratory function and oxygen supply are also affected to a certain degree in PD patients.

OBJECTIVETo construct the recombinant vectors that express mouse Dishevelled 2 (Dvl2), and to evaluate its expression level in transfected RAW264.7 cells.

METHODSA pair of specific primers were designed according to the mouse Dvl2 cDNA sequence published in GenBank. Total RNA of RAW264.7 cells was extracted, and open reading frame of Dvl2 was obtained by RT-PCR, which was then cloned into pEZ-M29 plasmid. Electrophoresis after macrorestriction and DNA sequence analysis were used to identify the reconstructed plasmids. After transient transfection via liposome, the transfection of RAW264.7 cells was confirmed under a fluorescence microscope, and the expression level of Dvl2 was evaluated by real-time RT-PCR.

RESULTSThe recombinant plasmid containing mouse Dvl2, namely pEZ-M29/ Dvl2, was successfully constructed, and confirmed by DNA sequence analysis. After 48 h of tranfection, the expression of enhanced green fluorescene protein was observed under a fluorescence microscope, and real-time RT-PCR analysis revealed that the Dvl2 mRNA level was prominantly elevated in the transient transfected RAW264.7 cells.

CONCLUSIONThe recombinant plasmids pEZ-M29/Dvl2 are successfully constructed and can elevate the Dvl2 mRNA level in the transient transfected RAW264.7 cells, which can be used in further studies aiming at revealing the functional significance of Dvl2 in the osteoclastogenesis.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing ; biosynthesis ; Animals ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Dishevelled Proteins ; Genetic Vectors ; Mice ; Phosphoproteins ; biosynthesis ; Plasmids ; RNA, Messenger ; Transfection

OBJECTIVETo explore the morphometric abnormalities of brain gray matter (GM) in patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP).

METHODSThirty patients with CLBP and 30 healthy individuals were enrolled and examined with a 3.0 T magnetic resonance (MR) scanner. High-resolution T1 structural MR data were acquired and data analysis was performed using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) in FMRIB Software Library. The morphological differences were compared between the two groups.

RESULTSs Compared with the healthy control subjects, patients with CLBP showed decreased GM volumes in several brain cortical areas including the bilateral superior frontal gyrus, right frontal pole, left insular cortex, left middle and left inferior temporal gyrus (P<0.05, after TFCE correction). Increased GM volumes were found in the patients in the subcortical structures including the left thalamus, bilateral putamen, bilateral nucleus accumben and right caudate nucleus (P<0.05, after TFCE correction).

CONCLUSIONPatients with CLBP have different patterns of GM abnormalities in different brain regions, characterized by reduced GM volume in cerebral cortical regions and increased GM volume in the subcortical nuclei. Such changes might be associated with the maladaptation of the brain in chronic pain state.

Cerebral Cortex ; Frontal Lobe ; Gray Matter ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Humans ; Low Back Pain ; physiopathology ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Temporal Lobe ; Thalamus

BACKGROUNDUltrasound (US) is a popular method in the diagnosis and treatment of uterine leiomyomas, but the lack of accuracy greatly limits its application. Recently, microbubble enhancement technique affords direct depiction of tumor neovascularity and establishes a more precise vascular map of the tumor. This study was undertaken to describe the distribution patterns of SonoVue, a second-generation contrast agent, in the microcirculation of uterine leiomyomas, and to investigate the potential use of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in the characterization and treatment of uterine leiomyomas.

METHODSNinety-six patients with uterine leiomyomas were enrolled in this study. The CEUS was performed using cadence pulse sequencing technique (CPS) and SonoVue. Enhancement patterns of different lesions were observed. The diagnostic accuracy of CEUS was compared with that of conventional ultrasound.

RESULTSAfter contrast injection, vessels of macro- and micro-circulation of the myoma first appeared, followed by the normal myometrium and finally the endometrium. During the washout phase, the myoma exhibited homogeneous enhancement followed by apparent hypoenhancement. The margin of the tumor was depicted clearly. There was no agent perfusion in the benign degenerative or necrotic area. However in sarcomas degeneration, the feeding vessels appeared markedly earlier than those in myometrium. In addition, the tumor exhibited heterogeneous hyperenhancment with no agent perfusion in the center and no membraniform sign was observed in the late phase. In subserous and submucous leiomyomas, the feeding arteries in the pedicle arising from the uterine could be seen. In this study, the diagnostic accuracy of CEUS and conventional US for uterine leiomyomas was 96.7% (160/165) and 82.4% (136/165) respectively.

CONCLUSIONSCEUS can provide a precise description of the leiomyomas vascularization. The specific enhancement pattern may be helpful for the characterization, treatment choice and therapeutic monitoring of leiomyomas.

Adult ; Contrast Media ; Female ; Humans ; Leiomyoma ; diagnostic imaging ; Middle Aged ; Ultrasonography ; Uterine Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVEEnriching the hemostatic active part total iridoid glycosides from the aqueous extract of herbal Lamiophlomis rotata.

METHODFirst derivative spectrophotometry was used as the detection method and the content of total iridoid glycosides was used as tracking target. The abilities of absorption and anti-absorption of ten different types of macroreticular resin were compared, after being used to absorb the iridoid glycosides from aqueous extract of herbal L. rotata. The best purification process was optimized.

RESULTWith the optimized purification process, the content of total iridoid glycosides was 67.53%.

CONCLUSIONXDA-1 macroreticular resin has good ability of absorption and anti-absorption for iridoid glycosides and 50% ethanol was the best solvent for anti-absorption. The macroreticular resin could be reused.

Glycosides ; isolation & purification ; Iridoids ; isolation & purification ; Lamiaceae ; chemistry ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Resins, Synthetic ; Technology, Pharmaceutical ; methods