For the establishment of chemical library of protoberberines provided for the bio-activity screening, the target compounds were synthesized by thermal degradation and nucleophilic substitution reactions with the bio-active alkaloid, palmatine (1), as the raw material, and their structures were identified and conformed by 1H-NMR and MS spectra. Among them, 13 compounds were new.
Berberine Alkaloids ; chemical synthesis ; chemistry ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemical synthesis ; chemistry ; Molecular Structure

Objective To determine whether the susceptibility to ischemia-reperfusion injury in aged heart is higher than that in adult heart and,if so,to clarify the mechanisms underlying this change.Methods Wister rats(5-or 20-month-old)were randomly divided into 4 groups(6 animals in each group).The rats were subjected to 30 minutes of myocardial ischemia via ligating the left anterior descending coronary artery,followed by 3 hours of reperfusion(Young-MI/R group and Old-MI/R group);A silk suture around the left anterior descending coronary artery was not ligated in young and old rats(Young-sham group and Old-sham group).Myocardial apoptosis was detected by terminal deoxynueleotidyl transferase biotin-d UTP nick end labeling(TUNEL)staining and caspase-3 activity was detected by using a caspase-3 colorimetrie assay.Nitrotyrosine content,a footprint of in vivo ONOO~-formation,and total NO content were determined by ELISA and chemiluminescence method respectively.Results A significantly exacerbated cardiac reperfusion injury was found in Old-MI/R group as evidenced by increased TUNEL positive myocytes[(19.0?2.1)% vs.(14.6?1.7)%],and increased myocardial caspase-3 activity[(436?35)?mool/mg vs.(340?32)?mol/mg] compared with Young-MI/R group(P＜0.05).Aged hearts had a markedly increased basal NOx level compared with young adult hearts.Marked higher myocardial nitrotyrosine content was found in OId-MI/R group[(7.25?0.18)nmol/g]than that in Young-MI/R group[(4.68?0.15)nmol/g] (P＜0.05).Conclusions In aged hearts,high levels of NO might form highly toxie derivant, ONOO~-,and its subsequent nitrified protein.This may attribute to the increased susceptibility of the aged heart to isehemic-reperfusion injury.

OBJECTIVETo analyze the relationship between high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fingerprints of the chloroform extract fractions of Peucedanum harrysmithii var. subglabrum (PHS) and its phlegm-reducing effect, in order to establish "active component group for reducing phlegm".

METHODHPLC was adopted to determine and analyze HPLC fingerprints of chloroform extract fractions of PHS. Phenol red expectorant experiment was used to observe the phlegm-reducing effect in mice. Mice were administered intragastrically with chloroform extract fractions for 6 days (1.4 g x kg(-1)), with acute bronchitis syrup as the positive control drug (12 mL x kg(-1)). The phenol red secretion in mice was determined by spectrophotometer. Then the grey relational analysis was used to study the spectrum-effect relationship.

RESULTThe phlegm-reducing effect of the chloroform extract fractions of PHS were resulted from the combined effect of all of its chemical components. Its various characteristic peaks represented different chemical components, and the order of their contributions to the phlegm-reducing effect was (number of peaks) 13 > 12 > 16 > 18 > 19 > 6 > 20 > 14 > 1 > 11 > 15 > 10 > 17 > 2 > 5 > 4 > 7 > 3 > 8 > 9, in No. 1, 3, 4, 10, 13 and 16 characteristic peaks were identified as marmesin, psoralen, xanthotoxin, Pd-Ib, pteryxin and peuformosin.

CONCLUSIONThe chloroform extract fractions of PHS show strongly phlegm-reducing effect. There may be certain relationship between their HPLC fingerprint and phlegm-reducing effect.

Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Ferns ; chemistry ; Mucus ; drug effects

Objective The 4-and 16-hydroxylated metabolites of estrogens have been implicated in carcinogenesis,whereas its 2-hydroxylated metabolites have been shown to have antiangiogenic effects.We aimed to examine whether the polymorphisms of catechol-O-methyltransferase(COMT)involved in the estrogen metabolism are associated with endometrial cancer risk.Methods Polymerase chain reaction- restrictive fragment length polymorphism(PCR-RFLP)analysis was used to study the variant allele frequency distributions of COMT Val158Met genetic polymorphism in a population based case-control study with 132 endometrial cancer cases and 110 controls.Odds ratios(OR)and 95% confidence intervals(CI) were estimated by unconditional logistic regression after adjustment for known or suspected risk factors for endometrial cancer.Results The most frequent genotype was COMT~(Val/Val)(47.2%,52/110)in control group and COMT~(Mal/Met)(58.3%,77/132)in endometrial cancer group.The difference between the two groups was of statistical significance(P

microRNA (miRNA or miR) is a small single stranded non-coding RNA (21-25nt) that regulates gene expression in almost creatures. Currently, plenty of researches on how miRNA affects human cardiovascular disease have been reported. This review highlights recent findings about the role of miRNA in heart tissue and circulation correlated with human cardiovascular disease and explores the application of miRNA in sudden cardiac death in forensic science.
Animals ; Biomarkers/blood* ; Cardiomyopathy, Dilated/metabolism* ; Cardiovascular Diseases/metabolism* ; Cause of Death ; Death, Sudden, Cardiac/pathology* ; Forensic Sciences/methods* ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Gene Expression Regulation ; Heart Failure/metabolism* ; Humans ; MicroRNAs/metabolism* ; Myocardium/pathology* ; Pulmonary Embolism/diagnosis* ; Up-Regulation

Animals ; Female ; Guinea Pigs ; Kidney ; microbiology ; pathology ; Leptospira interrogans ; isolation & purification ; pathogenicity ; Leptospirosis ; microbiology ; pathology ; Liver ; microbiology ; pathology ; Lung ; microbiology ; pathology ; Male ; Time Factors

BACKGROUNDEmbryo quality and receptivity of the endometrium are two factors that determine the results of in vitro fertilization/intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection-embryo transfer (IVF/ICSI-ET). There is no consensus of the optimal transfer strategy for normal responders or high responders. The current study aimed to find the optimal transfer strategy for different subgroups of patients.

METHODSFrom April 2010 to December 2010, patients who meet the following criteria were included in this study; primary infertility, female age ≤ 35 years, FSH level on female cycle day 2 - 3 ≤ 12 mIU/ml, at least six good quality embryos available on day three. The clinical outcomes using different transfer strategies between normal responders and high responders were reviewed and compared.

RESULTSFor the normal responders, the clinical pregnancy rate of day three double-embryo transfer (DET) was comparable to that of day five elective single blastocyst transfer (eSBT), 64.04% vs. 60.33% (P > 0.05). For the high responders, the clinical pregnancy rate of day five eSBT was significantly lower than that of day three DET, 43.35% vs. 57.21% (P < 0.05). For the high responders, the rates of clinical pregnancy and implantation in frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) cycles were notably higher than in eSBT cycles (64.56% vs. 43.35% and 62.11% vs. 43.35% respectively) (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSFor normal responders, eSBT might be an applicable strategy to reduce multiple pregnancy rates while maintaining acceptable overall pregnancy rates. And in order to reduce multiple pregnancies and increase the chance of pregnancy of high responders, FET may be a preferable strategy.

Adult ; Embryo Transfer ; methods ; Estradiol ; blood ; Female ; Humans ; Oocyte Retrieval ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Rate

OBJECTIVETo explore the effect of compound decoction on notoginsenosides in Panax notoginseng.

METHODNotoginsenoside R1, Rg1, Re, Rb1 and pH were used as the parameters to investigate the changes on the content of notoginsenosides in different compound extractions by heating for two hours and their correlation with pH.

RESULTWhen the pH values of solution of P. notoginseng with Fructus ligustri, P. notoginseng with Eupolyphaga seu steleophaga, P. notoginseng with Pheretima asiatica, and Zhitangjiang Fang (free of Hirudo) were rept higher than 5.7, the reserved rate (RR) of notoginsenside were higher than 90%; When the pH values of decoetion of P. notoginseng with Salvia miltiorrhiza, P. notoginseng with Paeonia lactiflora, P. notoginseng with Platycodon grandiflorum, P. notoginseng with Arctium lappa were kept 4.5-5.5, their RR of notoginsenside were 60% - 85%; When the pH values of the decotction of P. notoginseng with Hirudo nipponica was decreased to 3.4, its RR of of notoginsenside was 38.4%; When the pH values of Zhitangjiang Fang extraction was regulated by 0.1% NaOH solution to pH 6. 3, and the RR of notoginsenside increased to 97%.

CONCLUSIONThe pH of other Chinese herbal medicines extraction with P. notoginseng compound is a critical effect on the stability and yields of notoginsensides.

Animals ; Arctium ; chemistry ; Cockroaches ; chemistry ; Drug Combinations ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Ginsenosides ; analysis ; Hirudo medicinalis ; chemistry ; Hot Temperature ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Ligustrum ; chemistry ; Materia Medica ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Oligochaeta ; chemistry ; Paeonia ; chemistry ; Panax ; chemistry ; Platycodon ; chemistry ; Salvia miltiorrhiza ; chemistry

A new viral sampling concentration device was designed which was equipped with a new cationic filter membrane-Nanoceram suitable for field sampling. Norovirus Genegroup II was detected from environmental water with the aid of this device. The effects on virus recovery of prefiltration, various second-concentration methods, and different eluants were investigated through pre-experiment. The concentration optimized process, and the optimal concentration process were then determined. The results showed that the prefiltration had a profound effect on virus recovery, and two second-concentration method: PEG-NaC1 precipitation and celite adsorption, had almost the same concentration effects. The Na2 HPO4 solution of 0.15 mol/L was selected as the final eluant to elute the adsorbed Nuorovirus from the celite. The virus recovery of Nanoceram was determined to be 3.02%. Finally, successful detection of Norovirus GII in sewage from Yangqiao River, Fengtai District, Beijing was acheived. All these data had shown that the Naneceram filter concentration method could concentrate Norovirus from environmental water with a steady effects.
Filtration ; instrumentation ; methods ; Fractional Precipitation ; instrumentation ; methods ; Genotype ; Norovirus ; classification ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Rivers ; virology ; Water Microbiology

The changes of microRNA expression in rat hippocampus after traumatic brain injury (TBI) were explored. Adult SD rats received a single controlled cortical impact injury, and the ipsilateral hippocampus was harvested for the subsequent microarray assay at three time points after TBI: 1st day, 3rd day and 5th day, respectively. We characterized the microRNA expression profile in rat hippocampus using the microRNA microarray analysis, and further verified microarray results of miR-142-3p and miR-221 using quantitative real-time PCR. Totally 205 microRNAs were identified and up-/down-regulated more than 1.5 times. There were significant changes in 17 microRNAs at all three time points post-TBI. The quantitative real-time PCR results of miR-142-3p and miR-221 indicated good consistency with the results of the microarray method. MicroRNAs altered at different time points post-TBI. MiR-142-3p and miR-221 may be used as potentially biological markers for TBI assessment in forensic practice.