Gastrointestinal Tract ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods ; Phytotherapy ; methods ; Postoperative Period ; Recovery of Function

OBJECTIVETo study the efficacy and safety of Reinhartdt and sea cucumber capsule (RSC) combined with donepezil in treating Alzheimer's disease (AD), and its effect on thyroid function axis.

METHODSSixty-eight patients were randomly assigned to the RSC group, the Donepezil group and the combined treatment group, who were treated for 3 and 6 months with RSC, Donepezil and RSC combined with Donepezil, respectively. The curative effect was evaluated by scoring according to Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), ADAS-Cog and ADL chart, and the level of thyroid hormones, including TSH, FT3, FT4, TT3 and TT4, were measured with radioimmunoassay before treatment, 3 and 6 months after treatment respectively.

RESULTSAs compared with the baseline, MMSE score increased, ADAS-Cog score and ADL score decreased significantly in all the three groups after 3 months and 6 months of treatment (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01), but the improvement in the combined treatment group was more significant than that in the other two groups (P < 0.01). After 6 months of treatment, the levels of FT3 and FT4 in the combined treatment group were significantly changed (P < 0.01), but no significant change in all the thyroid hormones was found in the other two groups. No obvious adverse reaction occurred in all the three groups.

CONCLUSIONRSC combined with Donepezil in treating AD is effective and safe with no evident adverse reaction, better than single drug treatment, which may be through influencing the metabolism of thyroid hormones to improve the cognition function of AD patients.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Alzheimer Disease ; drug therapy ; Animals ; Capsules ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Female ; Humans ; Indans ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Middle Aged ; Nootropic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Piperidines ; therapeutic use ; Radioimmunoassay ; Sea Cucumbers ; chemistry ; Thyroid Hormones ; blood

Animals ; Cadmium Chloride ; toxicity ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Estradiol ; toxicity ; Female ; Organ Size ; drug effects ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Uterus ; drug effects ; pathology

The aim of this study is to establish stable transfected cell lines which could produce SPAG4L protein labeled with Myc and His tags in vitro. The open reading frame (ORF) of human SPAG4L was amplified by PCR and the fragments were cloned into eukaryotic expression vector pcDNA3.1/myc-His(-)A. The recombined plasmids of pcDNA3.1/myc-His(-)A/SPAG4L were verified by sequencing and digestion with enzymes. Then, the recombined plasmids were introduced into HeLa cells and screened by G418. Western blotting was performed to detect the expression of SPAG4L and its tags in stable transfected cell lines. SPAG4L and its tags were expressed in the stable cell lines transfected with pcDNA3.1/myc-His(-)A/SPAG4L, but not in the control group. Further study showed that SPAG4L colocalized with the endoplasmic reticulum(ER) marker PDI by immunofluorescence. The stable transfected cell lines established in this study will provide a powerful tool for further studies such as co-immunoprecipitation and pull-down.
Carrier Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Cloning, Molecular ; Female ; Genetic Vectors ; genetics ; HeLa Cells ; Histidine ; genetics ; Humans ; Male ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc ; genetics ; Recombinant Fusion Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Transfection

Objective To evaluate PDCA circle in training of cooperation quality in endoscopic nurse.Methods PDCA circle was applied to train endoscopic nurses.Knowledge of endoscopic nursing and techniques as well as operators' satisfaction with endoscopic examination were compared before and after PDCA circle training.Results Nursing scores increased from 92.40 to 96.00 with statistical significance (P ＜ 0.05).Performance scores increased from 93.03 to 98.13 (P ＜ 0.05).Operators' satisfaction increased from 81.3％ to 96.9％.Conclusion PDCA circle could improve not only endoscopic nursing but also the quality of endoscopic training.

The yeast Sacchromyces cerevisiae is most widely used for producing bioethanol in alcoholic industry due to its higher ethanol yield and fermentation rate. However, the toxic effect of accumulated ethanol is one of the main factors, which limit high ethanol production. Thus, investigating the mechanisms of yeast ethanol tolerance will provide the basis for solving the industrial problem. This article reviewed the mechanisms of Sacchromyces cerevisiae ethanol tolerance focusing on its cell physiological behaviors, structure and biochemical composition, as well as its genetic basis.

Objective To evaluate the relationship between serum matrix metalloproteinase-9(MMP-9), white blood cell(WBC)count and type 2 diabetes mellitus with macroangiopathy and to investigate the mechanism of the protective effects of rusiglitazone(RSG)on blood vessel.Methods Serum MMP-9 was determined by ELISA in 30 normal controls and 80 type 2 diabetic patients(including 40 cases with macroangiopathy and 40 without maeroangiopathy).WBC count and other clinical parameters were also determined.32 type 2 diabetic patients received RSG(4rag qd)for 12 weeks.All parameters were determined after 4 weeks(17 patients)and after 12 weeks(all patients)to observe the changes in MMP-9,WBC and other parameters.Results In the diabetic patients,serum MMP-9 and WBC were markedly higher as compared with normal controls;and MMP-9 and WBC in patients with macroangiopathy[579(440-949)?g/L,(7.51?1.47)?10~9/L]were higher than those [324(275-423)?g/L,(6.22?0.79)?10~9/L]in the cases without macroangiopathy(P

Aged ; Humans ; Lower Extremity ; Middle Aged ; Muscle, Skeletal/physiology* ; Vibration

This paper aimed to study phenylpropanoids of Tripterygium hypoglaucum. Twenty-four compounds were isolated from the 70% EtOH extracts of T. hypoglaucum by silica gel column chromatography, reversed phase column chromatography, gel column chromatography, preparative thin layer chromatography, and semi-preparative high performance liquid chromatography. Compounds 1-3 were three new phenylpropionds. Their structures were identified by ultraviolet spectrum, infrared spectroscopy, high resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, and nuclear magnetic resonance data as: threo-2-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenoxy)-3-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1,3-propanedol (1), erythro-2-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenoxy)-3-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1,3-propanediol (2), erythro-3-(4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxyphenyl)-3-ethoxypropane-1,2-propanediol (3). Compounds 4-6, 9, 14, 15, 18, 19, and 21-24 were obtained from Tripterygium genus for the first time. The cytotoxicity assay of cancer cells suggested that compound 20 displayed cytotoxicity on the breast cancer 4T1 cells whose 50% inhibitory concentration was 125.60 μmol·L^-1.

OBJECTIVETo study the effect of aqueous extracts of Polygonum multiflorum (AEPM) on bile acid synthesis, metabolism and transfer-related molecules in rat liver and the hepatotoxicity-related mechanism of P. multiflorum.

METHODSprague-Dawley rats were orally administered with 30, 60 g x kg(-1) APEM once everyday for consecutively 28 days. At the end of the experiment, mRNA and protein expressions of hepatic MRP3, MRP2, BSEP, FXR and CYP7A1 were detected by Real-time PCR and Western blot

RESULTCompared with the normal group, the AEPM high dose group showed significant increases in mRNA expressions of hepatic MRP3 and BSEP of male rats (P < 0.05); AEPM high and low dose groups revealed a notable decrease in mRNA expressions of hepatic FXR (P < 0.05) and remarkable rises in mRNA expressions of hepatic MRP3, MRP2, BSEP, CYP7A1 among female rats (P < 0.05). According to the test results of western blot assay, AEPM high and low dose groups showed consistent changes in protein and mRNA expressions hepatic MRP3, MRP2, BSEP, FXR, CYP7A1.

CONCLUSIONThe 28 oral administration with AEPM in rats showed a certain effect on expressions of bile acid synthesis, metabolism and transfer-related proteins, as well as cholestatic or choleretic effects in the mRNA expression.

Administration, Oral ; Animals ; Bile Acids and Salts ; metabolism ; Cholestasis ; chemically induced ; Fallopia multiflora ; Female ; Liver ; drug effects ; Male ; Plant Extracts ; toxicity ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley