Taking application of some isolation and purification technologies, such as solvent extraction, preliminary solvent isolation, column chromatographies over silica gel and Sephadex LH-20 gel and preparative HPLC, 10 compounds were obtained from Gynura nepalensis cultivated in the suburban area of Beijing. Their structures were identified by spectroscopic methods and comparison with literature as (3R) -3-hydroxy-β-ionone (1), (3S,5R, 6S, 7E) -5, 6-epoxy-3-hydroxy-7-megastigmen-9-one (2), (+) -boscialin (3), 3, 6-trans-3-hydroxy-α-ionone (4), 3, 6-cis-3-hydroxy-α-ionone (5), 3, 4-cis-3, 4-dihydroxy-β-ionone (6), ethyl caffeate (7), loliolide (8), 1H-indole-3-carbaldehyde (9), and 3-(hydroxyacetyl)indole (10), respectively. All compounds were isolated from the title plant for the first time, and with compounds 1, 2, 4-7, 9 and 10 being isolated from Gynura species for the first time. Structurally, the above compounds 1-6 belong to C13 nor-sesquiterpenoids, sharing the same carbon skeleton of megastigmane. According to this study, they are one of major kinds of chemical constituents of Gynura nepalensis and have important reference value for the investigation on phytotaxonomy of this species.
Asteraceae ; chemistry ; Caffeic Acids ; chemistry ; Cyclohexanones ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Glucosides ; Indoles ; chemistry ; Mass Spectrometry ; Molecular Structure ; Norisoprenoids ; chemistry

OBJECTIVE: To observe the chemical groups changing in rat kidney with regard to fatal hyperthermia by Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy (FTIR-MSP) and to provide a new method to diagnose fatal hyperthermia. METHODS: Rats were sacrificed by hyperthermia, brainstem injury, massive hemorrhage and asphyxiation and divided into groups. The renal samples were dissected immediately after death. The data of infrared spectroscopy in glomerulus were measured by FTIR-MSP. RESULTS: The absorbances of 3290, 3070, 2850, 1540 and 1396 cm(-1) significantly increased (P < 0.05), and the ratios of Al650/A3290 and A1650/A1540 significantly decreased (P < 0.05) in group of hyperthermia. CONCLUSION FTIR-MSP can analyze the changes of chemical groups of kidney as an auxiliary diagnosis for discriminating hyperthermia with other causes of death.
Animals ; Fever/mortality* ; Fourier Analysis ; Kidney/metabolism* ; Microspectrophotometry ; Rats ; Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared/methods*

OBJECTIVE: To investigate and analyze the changes of postmortem human biochemical indexes. METHODS: Subclavian venous blood samples were collected from 81 cases of traffic fatalities. Thirteen blood biochemical indexes including liver function (ALT, AST, TBIL and DBIL), renal function (UA and Cr), cardiac function (CK, CK-MB and LDH), electrolytes (K+, Na+ and Cl-), and glucose (GLU) were tested by Roche cobas c311 automatic biochemical analyzer. The descriptive analysis was made by SPSS 17.0 statistical software. RESULTS: The values of ALT, AST, CK, CK-MB, LDH and K+ were higher than normal reference values with more fluctuations. The values of TBIL, DBIL, UA, Cr, Na+, Cl- and GLU were relatively stable with less fluctuations. CONCLUSION The postmortem human blood biochemical indexes of liver function, renal function, cardiac function, electrolytes and glucose could be affected by the factors, especially hemolysis and autolysis. The biochemical indexes, particularly enzymes, increased significantly with higher standard deviation.
Accidents, Traffic/mortality* ; Autopsy ; Blood Chemical Analysis/methods* ; Heart Function Tests ; Humans ; Kidney Function Tests ; Liver Function Tests ; Reference Values

OBJECTIVE: To explore the changes and rules of biochemical markers in serum of guinea pigs after death caused by hypothermia and to provide references for fatal hypothermia diagnosis by serum biochemical markers. METHODS: Twenty guinea pigs were randomly divided into experimental group and control group. The guinea pigs in the experimental group were kept at -30 °C until death, while the ones in control group were decapitated after same survival intervals at 25 °C. The serum was extracted from the whole blood of right ventricular immediately. Subsequently, a series of serum biochemical markers were analyzed by auto bio-chemical analyzer. RESULTS: The levels of glucose, uric acid, creatinine and urea nitrogen in the experimental group were significantly higher than those in control group, respectively (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the levels of total protein and albumin were significantly lower in the experimental group (P<0.05). There were no significantly differences of the levels of other markers such as serum enzymes and ions observed between the two groups. CONCLUSION There are characteristic changes of some specific serum biochemical markers in fatal hypothermia, which may be potentially useful for auxiliary diagnosis of fatal hypothermia.
Animals ; Biomarkers/blood* ; Cause of Death ; Guinea Pigs ; Hypothermia

Objective:To observe the clinical efficacy of balance-impact tuina therapy for lumbar intervertebral disc herniation (LIDH).Methods:A total of 118 eligible LIDH patients were randomized into an observation group and a control group by the random number table method,with 59 cases in each group.The observation group was intervened by balance-impact tuina therapy,while the control group was intervened by conventional tuina therapy,both for consecutive two weeks.The scores of visual analog scale (VAS),Oswestry disability index (ODI),quality of life questionnaire-core 30 (QOL-C30) were observed before and after treatment;the relapse rate was estimated at the sixth month and twelfth month following the treatment.The data were statistically analyzed.Results:After intervention,the total effective rate was 96.6％ in the observation group versus 91.5％ in the control group,and the between-group difference was statistically significant (P＜0.05).The VAS and ODI scores declined significantly after treatment in both groups (all P＜0.05),and the observation group was markedly lower than the control group (P＜0.05,P＜0.01).The QOL-C30 score increased significantly after treatment in both groups (both P＜0.05),and the observation group was markedly higher than the control group (P＜0.05).The relapse rates at the post-treatment sixth month and twelfth month in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (P＜0.05,P＜0.01).Conclusion:Compared with the conventional tuina therapy,the balance-impact tuina therapy shows advantage in lessening pain,improving the function and enhancing the quality of life in the treatment of LIDH,and it has a lower relapse rate.Thus,this therapy is worth promoting in clinic.

Taking application of some isolation and purification technologies, including crushing, solvent extraction, preliminary solvent isolation, column chromatographies over silica gel and Sephadex LH-20 gel and preparative HPLC, 8 compounds were obtained from the seeds of Jufeng grape sourced from market. Their structures were identified by spectroscopic methods and comparison with literature values as Catechin (1), Epicatechin (2), quercetin (3), ethylgallate (4), rel-(2S, 3R) -2-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl) -3- (hydroxymethyl)-5-(3-hydroxypropyl)-2,3-dihydrobenzofuran-7-ol (5), rel-(2α, 3β)-7-O-methylcedrusin (6), rel-(1R,2S)-1-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl) -2-(4-(3-hydroxypropyl) -2-methoxyphenoxy) propane-1,3-diol (7), and (+) -isolariciresinol (8), respectively. Compounds 5-8 were serial lignans isolated from the seeds of grape for the first time. Structurally, 5 and 6 belong in benzofuran-8,3'-neolignans, 7 in 8,4'-oxyneolignan, and 8 in 8,8' :2,7'-cyclolignan. According to in vitro activity evaluation conducted in cell model, compound 6 showed significant anti-oxidative ability, with the activity of RAW264. 7 cell superoxide dismutase being raised evidently in the test as compared with the positive anti-oxidative agents, compounds 1 and 2.
Antioxidants ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ; Plant Extracts ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Seeds ; chemistry ; Vitis ; chemistry

A novel transferrin modified non-viral gene delivery system Tf-PLPD was developed and the related characteristics was investigated. Blank procationic liposomes were prepared by film dispersion-filteration method. PLPD was prepared as follows by first mixing the plasmid DNA and protamine together, then the resulted polyplexes were incubated for 10 min at room temperature, followed by addition of preformed blank procationic liposomes. Transferrin was adsorbed at the surface of PLPD via electrostatic interactions to form Tf-PLPD. Central composite design (CCD) was employed to optimize the formulation. The HepG2 cells were transfected using lacZ as reporter gene and characteristics such as the morphology, the mean particle size, the zeta potential and the transfection efficiency in HepG2 cells were further investigated by different methods. The resulting PLPD had a regular spherical surface with an average size of (228. 9 +/- 8. 0) nm (polydispersity index, PDI = 0. 122 +/- 0. 02, n = 3) , a zeta potential of ( - 25. 08 +/-2. 50) mV (n = 3) and a transfection efficiency of (12. 18 +/- 3. 80) mU x mg(-1) (protein). The Tf-PLPD had an average size of (240 +/- 12) nm (polydispersity index, PDI = 0. 150 +/- 0. 03, n = 3), a zeta potential of ( - 24. 10 +/- 2. 50) mV ( n = 3) and a transfection efficiency of (24. 26 +/- 2. 60) mU x mg(-1) (protein) , 20 times greater than that of the naked plasmid DNA. The presence of serum didn' t affect the tansfection activity of PLPD or Tf-PLPD. Compared to one kind of cationic liposomes (liposome-protamine-DNA, LPD), the PLPD and Tf-PLPD had much less cytotoxicity to three hepatic cell lines (including HepG2, SMMC7721 and Chang' s normal hepatocyte). The results indicated that the Tf-PLPD is a perspective non-viral vector for gene delivery systems.
Cations ; chemistry ; Cell Line ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Survival ; DNA ; chemistry ; genetics ; Hepatocytes ; cytology ; metabolism ; Humans ; Liposomes ; chemistry ; Liver Neoplasms ; genetics ; pathology ; Particle Size ; Plasmids ; chemistry ; genetics ; Protamines ; chemistry ; Transfection ; methods ; Transferrin ; chemistry ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo investigate if the interaction between TGF-beta1/Smad pathway and ERK pathway in vascular smooth muscle cells exists.

METHODSThe rat arota was removed. The primary VSMC were isolated and cultured in vitro, then the VSMC were divided into four groups: (1) control group, (2) (TGF-beta1 group, (3) ERK blocking agent group, (4) TGF-beta1 + ERK blocking agent group. The expression of Smad2/3, ERK1/2 proteins, the content of phosphorylated ERK1/2 and Smad2/3 proteins were detected by Western blot, and the expression of Smad2/3 mRNA was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) .

RESULTS(1) In contrast to control group, the content of phosphorylated Smad2/3 and phosphorylated ERK1/2 proteins in TGF-beta1 group was increased (P < 0.05), that in ERK blocking agent group was decreased (P < 0.05). There was no difference between control group and TGF-beta1 + ERK blocking agent group. Compared with TGF-beta1 group, the contents of phosphorylated Smad2/3 and phosphorylated ERK1/2 proteins in TGF-beta1 + ERK blocking agent group was decreased (P < 0.05). There was no difference in the expression of Smad2/3 and ERK1/2 proteins among different groups. (2) There were no differences in expression of Smad2 and Smad3 mRNA among different groups.

CONCLUSION(1) TGF-beta1 can induce Smad2/3 proteins to be phosphorylated dependent on the activated ERK pathway. (2) ERK pathway does not effect the expression of Smad2/3 at the level of protein and mRNA.

Animals ; Aorta ; cytology ; Cells, Cultured ; Female ; MAP Kinase Signaling System ; physiology ; Male ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3 ; metabolism ; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular ; cytology ; physiology ; Myocytes, Smooth Muscle ; physiology ; Phosphorylation ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Signal Transduction ; Smad Proteins ; metabolism ; physiology ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 ; physiology

Ongoing study on the chemical constituents of the roots of Macleaya microcarpa led to the isolation of eight compounds of derivatives of triterpenes and organic acids in addition to some previously identified benzophenanthridines. The eight compounds were identified by spectroscopic methods as well as comparison with literature values as 1-oxo-2, 22 (30)-hopandien-29-oic acid (1), 3-oxo-12-oleanen-30-oic acid (2), 3α-hydroxy-12-oleanen-30-oic acid (3), 3β-hydroxy-12-oleanen-30-oic acid (4), ferulic acid (5), ferulic acid 4-O-β-D-glucoside (6), 3-O-feruloylquinic acid (7), and methyl 3-O-feruloylquinate (8). Of which, 1 is a new triterpenoid of hopanes and 2-8 are isolated from M microcarpa for the first time. In order to discover natural active compounds as potential agents of anti-ulcerative colitis (UC), an in vitro drug high-throughput screening model targeted x-box-binding protein 1 (xbp1) was employed to evaluate the activity of the major chemical constituents of M microcarpa. The result confirmed that two dihydrobenzophenanthridines, dihydrosanguinarine (9) and dihydrochelerythrine (10), showed a certain activity on activating the transcription of xbpl, a transcription factor (TF) associated with the occurrence, development, and potential treatment of UC, with their relative activating ratios being 1.76 and 1.77 times, respectively, as compared with control group.
Anti-Ulcer Agents ; chemistry ; Benzophenanthridines ; chemistry ; DNA-Binding Proteins ; genetics ; Isoquinolines ; chemistry ; Papaveraceae ; chemistry ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; Regulatory Factor X Transcription Factors ; Transcription Factors ; genetics ; Transcription, Genetic ; Triterpenes ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of Chinese drugs for strengthening Pi, harmonizing Wei, and dispersing blood stasis (CDSPHWDBS) on the expression of gastric mucosal heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) in chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG) patients.

METHODSA total of 100 CAG patients were assigned to the control group and the treatment group by random digit table, 50 in each group. Patients in the control group took Folic Acid Tablet 10 mg each time, 3 times per day. Those in the treatment group took CDSPHWDBS, 100 mL each time, once per day. The treatment course was 6 months for all. Clinical symptoms and signs, endoscopic and histopathological changes were observed before and after treatment in the two groups. The expression of gastric mucosal HSP70 in CAG patients was determined using SP immunohistochemistry. Data were collected by HPIAS-1 000 pathological graphic analysis system, and its expression semi-quantitatively analyzed.

RESULTSThe total effective rate of clinical Chinese medical symptoms and signs was 88. 0% (44/50 cases) in the treatment group and 56. 0% (28/50 cases) in the control group, with significant difference between the two groups (P <0. 01). The improvement rate of endoscopic manifestations such as congestion and edema, erosion, bile regurgitation, pale gastric mucosa, exposed blood vessels, particles proliferation in the treatment group were superior to those in the control group (P <0. 05). The total effective rate of atrophy was 80. 0% (40/50 cases) in the treatment group and 54. 0% (27/50 cases) in the control group, with significant difference between the two groups (P<0. 01). The effective rate of intestinal metaplasia was 75. 0% (12/16 cases) in the treatment group and 33.3% (5/15 cases) in the control group, with significant difference between the two groups (P < 0. 05). The optical density value of gastric mucosal HSP70 was significantly elevated in the two groups after treatment (both P <0. 05). It was higher in the treatment group than in the control group after treatment with significant difference (P <0. 01).

CONCLUSIONCDSPHWDBS had obvious effect in treatment of CAG and could improve pathological changes of precancerous lesions possibly by promoting the expression of gastric mucosal HSP70 in CAG patients.

Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Gastric Mucosa ; metabolism ; Gastritis, Atrophic ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins ; metabolism ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Medicine, East Asian Traditional