AIM: To research how to separate the active component in Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort by high speed counter current chromatography. METHODS: Senkyunolide A and Z-ligustilide,the main components of volatile oil in Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort were one step separated by high speed counter current chromatography. n-hexane-ethyl acetate-ethanol-water,1 ∶ 1 ∶ 1 ∶ 1(v/v),was used as the solvent system for HSCCC. Top phase and bottom phase were respectively used as static phase and mobile phase. Optimum speed and flow rate were 900 r/min and 1. 2 mL/min respectively. RESULTS: Collected fractions were analyzed by HPLC and identified by EI-MS and 1HNMR. Purity could reach more than 95% . CONCLUSION: Lactone is fit to be separated and prepared by high speed counter current chromatography with good resolution and high purity. We find a fast and efficient way to separate these.

A rapid method for the simultaneous determination of berberine (BBR), matrine (MT) and oxymatrine (OMT) by nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis (NACE) was developed. Optimum separation of the analytes was obtained on a 50cm×50μm i.d. fused-silica capillary using a non-aqueous buffer system of 70mM ammonium acetate, 7.0% acetic acid and 10% acetonitrile at 25kV and 20℃. The relative standard deviations (R.S.D.) of the migration times and peak areas of the three active components were 0.06%-0.20% and 0.12%-3.41% for berberine, 0.11%-0.60% and 0.74%-1.63% for matrine, 0.15% and 0.45% for oxymatrine, respectively. Detection limits of berberine, matrine and oxymtrine were 0.18μg/mL, 4.08μg/mL and 4.16μg/mL, respectively. In the tested concentration range, good linear relationships (0.9992 for berberine, 0.9988 for matrine and 0.9988 for oxymatrine) were observed. The linear calibration ranges were 0.45-360.0μg/mL for berberine, 8.16-408.0μg/mL for matrine and 20.8-416.0μg/mL for oxymatrine. This method has been successfully applied to the phytochemical analysis of alkaloids extracts from two commonly used traditional Chinese herbal drugs: Sophora flavescens Ait. (Kushen) and Cortex phellodendri chinensis (Huangbai) and their medicinal preparations.

A growing number of children and adolescents are being diagnosed as Chiari malformation type Ⅰ (CM-Ⅰ) for behavioral disorders,developmental delay,seizures,or abnormal orpharyngeal function.The aim of this study was to compare the clinical characteristics,imaging findings and surgical outcomes of CM-Ⅰ in pediatric and adult patients.Between January 2014 and June 2017,84 patients with CM-Ⅰ underwent surgical treatment in our department.We divided the patients into two groups:pediatric group (n=1 1,age ＜18 years)and adult group (n=73,age ≥18 years).Data on clinical characteristics,imaging findings,surgical outcomes,and prognosis were retrospectively reviewed and compared between these two groups.For clinical presentation,scoliosis (36.4％) and developmental delay (36.4％) were more common in pediatric patients,whereas,sensory disturbance (58.9％) and motor weakness (41.1％) were more common in adult patients.Imaging findings showed that the incidence of hydrocephalus and craniovertebral junctional abnormalities was significantly higher in pediatric group than in adult group (P＜0.05).Compared to adult group,pediatric group showed a better improvement or resolution of syrinx and tonsillar herniation after surgical treatments (P＜0.05).The total Chicago Chiari Outcome Scale (CCOS) score in pediatric patients at the last follow-up was significantly higher than that in adult patients (P=0.002).In conclusion,the clinical characteristics and imaging findings appeared to be different in pediatric and adult patients with CM-Ⅰ.The surgical outcomes of pediatric patients were shown to be significantly better than those of adult patients.

A HPLC-MS/MS multiple-reaction monitoring (MRM) quantitative analysis was made to establish a determination method for drug concentrations of costunolide (Co) and dehydrocostuslactone (De) in blood samples in the positive ion mode, with diazepam as the internal standard substance, in order to study the pharmacokinetic process of sesquiterpene lactones costunolide and dehydrocostuslactone after the oral administration of Weichang'an pills, and provide an theoretical basis for further studies on the substance basis for the anti-diarrhea effect of Weichang'an pills. In the blood samples, Co and De showed a good linearity within concentration ranges 0.700 0-769.7, 2.510-956.0 μg x L(-1), respectively. The results of precision, stability and recovery experiences proved the stability and reliability of the plasma concentration determination method. After the oral administration, the concentrations of Co and De in plasma increased with the increase in dose, with T(max) between 10.65-12.98 h, indicating a long time to reach peak plasma concentrations; C(max) of costunolide and dehydrocostuslactone ranged between 3.750-5.450,15.34-44.52 μg x L(-1), respectively. The in vivo adsorption of Co and De conformed to the one-compartment model, with a longer time to attain the peak plasma concentrations. These results provided an experimental basis for revealing the active substance basis and clinical medication of Weichang'an pills.
Administration, Oral ; Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; chemistry ; pharmacokinetics ; Lactones ; administration & dosage ; blood ; pharmacokinetics ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Sesquiterpenes ; administration & dosage ; blood ; pharmacokinetics ; Tablets ; administration & dosage ; chemistry ; pharmacokinetics

Objective To observe he effects of new Tangshenkang on α-SMA and E-cadherin of human renal tubular epithelial cell HK-2 in high concentrations of glucose; To explore the mechanism of new Tangshenkang on the prevention and treatment of diabetic renal fibrosis. Methods The HK-2 cells were cultured and divided into control group, high glucose group, animal serum control group, new Tangshenkang low-, medium-, and high-dosage group. After medicine intervention, cell proliferation was tested by MTT assay, and contents of α-SMA and E-cadherin were observed by ELISA assay. Results Compared with control group, α-SMA of HK-2 cultured with high glucose was much notable, but the content of E-cadherin significantly decreased, with statistical significance (P<0.05). The content of α-SMA of HK-2 cultured with new Tangshenkang decreased, and the content of E-cadherin increased; cell proliferation was markedly inhibited in culture medium supernatant of HK-2 cells cultured with high glucose plus new Tangshenkang compared with only high glucose, with statistical significance. Conclusion New Tangshenkang can inhibit cell proliferation and epithelial-myofibroblast transdifferentiation of HK-2 cell induced by high glucose, and prevent the development of diabetic renal fibrosis to a certain extent.

AIM:To make a survey on people suffering trachoma in Gansu province, and to provide evidence for developing trachoma control and prevention therapy.
METHODS: We chose the zone on the basis of relative information. Provincial Office of Blindness Prevention carried out the survey in 3 counties including Tange Township of Wushan, Xiqu Township of Minqin and Hulinjia Township of Jishishan from October 14, 2013 to November 23, 2013. One hundred and fifty primary school students were selected, including 72 boys and 78 girls aging from 5a to 10a with the average age of 7. 5y. The targeted students received the fast trachoma assessment by the adoption of simplified trachoma classification system which was recommended by the World Health Organization.
RESULTS: No case of active trachoma, trachomatous trichiasis and corneal disease were examined among 150 students.
CONCLUSION: The rate of trachoma is low in Gansu province. But we still cannot get the conclusion that there is no epidemic of trachoma in Gansu. And we need to further expand the survey scope to correctly assess the trachoma case and to provide reliable evidence for trachoma prevention and control.

Objective:Using lasso regression analysis to screen out the blood lipid indexes closely related to coronary heart diseaseMethods:The clinical data of 3 062 patients with coronary heart disease who were hospitalized in the Department of Cardiology, Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical College from May 2013 to November 2015 were retrospectively analyzed.They were divided into control group ( n=2 427) and coronary angiography group ( n=635). R language was used for statistical analysis.Multiple logistic regression models were established for indicators of blood lipid related to CAD, and their multicollinearity severity was assessed.LASSO regression was used to screen out the representative lipid parameters in the CAD prediction model. Results:A total of 3 062 patients were enrolled, including 2 427 patients in coronary heart disease group and 635 patients in control group.The inclusion of lipid parameters into multiple logistic regression model leads to serious multicollinearity.Stepwise regression can only partially reduce multicollinearity severity, while LASSO regression model significantly reduces multicollinearity severity.Low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and non-high density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) were found to be the representative lipid indexes for predicting coronary heart disease by LASSO regression analysis.Conclusion:LASSO regression has advantages in processing multicollinearity data.LASSO regression showed that LDL-C, HDL-C and non-HDL-C were representative lipid indicators for predicting coronary heart disease..

The association rate constant and dissociation rate constant are important parameters of the drug-cyclodextrin supermolecule systems, which determine the dissociation of drugs from the complex and the further in vivo absorption of drugs. However, the current studies of drug-cyclodextrin interactions mostly focus on the thermodynamic parameter of equilibrium constants (K). In this paper, a method based on quantitative high performance affinity chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry was developed to determine the apparent dissociation rate constant (k(off,app)) of drug-cyclodextrin supermolecule systems. This method was employed to measure the k(off,app) of meloxicam and acetaminophen. Firstly, chromatographic peaks of drugs and non-retained solute (uracil) on β-cyclodextrin column at different flow rates were acquired, and the retention time and variance values were obtained via the fitting the peaks. Then, the plate heights of drugs (H(R)) and uracil (H(M,C)) were calculated. The plate height of theoretical non-retained solute (H(M,T)) was calculated based on the differences of diffusion coefficient and the stagnant mobile phase mass transfer between drugs and uracil. Finally, the k(off,app) was calculated from the slope of the regression equation between (H(R)-H(M,T)) and uk/(1+k)2, (0.13 ± 0.00) s(-1) and (4.83 ± 0.10) s(-1) for meloxicam and acetaminophen (control drug), respectively. In addition, the apparent association rate constant (k(on,app)) was also calculated through the product of K (12.53 L x mol(-1)) and k(off,app). In summary, it has been proved that the method established in our study was simple, efficiently fast and reproducible for investigation on the kinetics of drug-cyclodextrin interactions.
Acetaminophen ; chemistry ; Chromatography, Affinity ; Drug Interactions ; Kinetics ; Mass Spectrometry ; Thermodynamics ; Thiazines ; chemistry ; Thiazoles ; chemistry ; beta-Cyclodextrins ; chemistry

This study was aimed to evaluate whether human mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) and the Stro-1 positive subgroup have inducing immune tolerance effect in mouse skin graft model. Human MSC were isolated and cultured from bone marrow-derived mononuclear cells of healthy adults, and Stro-1 positive cells were sorted out. Female C57BL/6 mice and female BALB/c mice were respectively used as donors and recipients in skin allogenic graft model. The recipients were divided randomly into 4 groups: (1) Stro-1(+) MSC group: 2×10(6) Stro-1(+) MSC were injected into the irradiated recipient mice before skin graft. (2) MSC group: 2×10(6) MSC were injected into the irradiated recipient mice before skin graft. (3) Irradiation control group: the recipient mice were just irradiated before skin allogenic graft. (4) Congenic control group: the irradiated BALB/c mice received the skin from the congenic mice. The survival time and pathologic changes of skin grafts were observed by macro- and microscopy with HE staining. The transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) concentration in plasma of recipient mice was measured by ELISA before and after grafting. The results indicated that the survival time of skin grafts in the MSC group was (12.13 ± 3.34) d, which was not notably longer than the irradiation control group (11.38 ± 1.01) d. The survival time of skin grafts was significantly prolonged in the Stro-1(+) MSC group (30.68 ± 5.89) d, as compared with the irradiation control group and the MSC group, respectively; the pathologic examination of skin grafts showed a clear structure. After grafting, the TGF-β1 concentration in plasma of recipient mice was almost the same as before grafting in the irradiation control group and the congenic control group, but it significantly increased in the MSC group and the Stro-1(+) MSC group. It is concluded that the Stro-1(+) MSC induce greater immune tolerance than the unsorted MSC, and significantly prolong the survival time of skin grafts in vivo, while TGF-β1 does not contribute to the immune tolerance.
Animals ; Female ; Graft Survival ; immunology ; Humans ; Immune Tolerance ; Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation ; methods ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; immunology ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Skin Transplantation ; immunology ; methods ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 ; blood ; Transplantation, Homologous

Objective:To compare the effectiveness of fire needle versus Western medicine in the treatment of herpes zoster. Methods:Randomized controlled trials comparing fire needle with Western medicine in the treatment of herpes zoster were identified using 8 databases. A meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 software. Results:Eight trials involving 569 patients were included in this meta-analysis, and the results showed that fire needle was superior to Western medicine comparing the effective rate [risk ratio (RR)=1.13, 95％ confidence interval (CI): 1.06 to 1.20;P=0.0002], the visual analog scale (VAS) score [mean difference(MD)=–7.95, 95％ CI: –10.71 to –5.20;P<0.00001], time of pain disappearance (MD=–7.61, 95％CI: –9.38 to –5.84;P<0.00001), time of blister-stop (MD=–1.34, 95％CI: –1.51 to –1.18;P<0.00001), time of crusted scab (MD=–2.92, 95％CI: –3.62 to –2.23;P<0.00001), and time of scab off (MD=–4.64, 95％CI: –5.83 to –3.46;P<0.00001). In addition, a significantly lower incidence of postherpetic neuralgia was found in the fire needle group in 30 d (RR=0.23, 95％CI: 0.11 to 0.51;P=0.0002) and 60 d (RR=0.33, 95％CI: 0.12 to 0.91; P=0.03) after treatment. Conclusion:Fire needle has a favorable effect in increasing the effective rate, relieving pain, recovering skin lesions and decreasing incidence of postherpetic neuralgia in the treatment of herpes zoster. However, considering the limitations in this study, the findings should be interpreted cautiously.