UNLABELLEDOBJECTIVE; To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Jiangtang Xiaozhi Capsule (JTXZC) in treating type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) of qi-yin deficiency phlegm-stasis inter-obstruction syndrome (QYDPSIOS), and to observe its effect on inflammatory factors and fibrinolytic factors.

METHODSBy adopting a randomization grouping, parallel control, and prospective study, 73 T2DM patients of QYDPSIOS were assigned to two groups by random digit table, the Pioglitazone Tablet group (36 cases, as the control) and the JTXZC group (37 cases). All patients maintained their basic therapies and lifestyle as previous after recruitment. Patients in the JTXZC group took JTXZC, 4 pills each time, three times per day, while those in control group took Pioglitazone Tablet, 15 mg each time, once daily. The therapeutic course for all was 8 weeks. The body weight (BW), the height, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), hip circumference, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and scoring of Chinese medicine (TCM) symptoms were observed. Levels of fasting blood glucose (FBG), 2 h postprandial blood glucose (2 h PBG), glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB), and plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAL-1) were detected. The safety indices such as liver and renal functions and adverse reactions were also observed.

RESULTSCompared with before treatment, BW, BMI, HbA1c, and PBG were obviously lower after 8-week treatment than before treatment in the JTXZC group (P < 0.05). There was no statistical difference in post-treatment BW, BMI, HbA1c, or 2 h PBG between the two groups (P < 0.05). Compared with before treatment, levels of TNF-alpha and PAI-1 were lowered after 8 weeks of treatment in both groups (P < 0.01). The level of NF-kappaB was obviously lowered after 8 weeks of treatment in the control groups (P < 0.05), but it also decreased in the JTXZC group with no statistical difference. The scorings of CM symptoms were somewhat improved after treatment in the two groups (P < 0.01). Besides, better effects were obtained in the JTXZC group (P < 0.05). No severe adverse event occurred in either group during the whole therapeutic course.

CONCLUSIONSJTXZC showed similar therapeutic effect to pioglitazone. Both of them could effectively improve patients' clinical symptoms, the inflammation and fibrinolytic activities in different pathways, with no severe adverse reaction.

Adult ; Aged ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; drug therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prospective Studies ; Qi ; Thiazolidinediones ; therapeutic use ; Yin Deficiency ; drug therapy

To study the effect of Gegen Qinlian decoction and its major effective components on five hepatic microsomal CYP450 isozymes in rats. The in vitro hepatic microsomal incubation technique was used to co-culture Gegen Qinlian decoction and its major effective components together with each probe substrate. HPLC-MS/MS was used to establish the analytical method for metabolites of the five isoform probe substrates of CYP450 isozymes, detect the linearity among micoromal protein concentration, incubation time and metabolite formation amount. And HPLC-MS/MS was applied to determine the formation rate (V) of corresponding metabolites (acetaminophen, 4-OH-chlorzoxazone, dextrophan, 6-OH-chlorzoxazone and 6β-hydroxytestosterone) specific probe substrates of the five isoform probe substrates of CYP450 isozymes (phenacetin, polbutamide, dextromethorphan, chlorzoxazone, testosterone), in order to determine the activity of each isozyme. The result showed good linearity among acetaminophen, 4-OH-tolbutamide, dextrophan, 6-OH-chlorzoxazone and 6β-hydroxytestosterone, satisfactory precision, stability and average recovery, suggesting the method was feasible. The optimized in vitro microsomal incubation conditions conformed to the requirements in the guideline of drug-drug interaction. Gegen Qinlian decoction showed different degrees of inhibitor effect on 5 CYP450 isoforms (CYP1A2, CYP2C11, CYP2D2, CYP2E1, CYP3A1/2). Its major effective component berberine could inhibit each CYP450 isoform at high concentrations (except for CYP1A2, CYP3A1/2).
Animals ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme Inhibitors ; pharmacology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Isoenzymes ; antagonists & inhibitors ; Liver ; enzymology ; Rats ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry ; methods

Objective To investigate the characters of the COL3A1 gene polymorphisms in Chinese population of Hunan region and the relationship between the COL3A1 gene polymorphisms and ischemie stroke.Methods Objects examined were composed of 70 healthy controls,110 patients with acute cerebral infarction.The frequencies of the genotypes were detected by using PCR-SSLP techniques and correlated PCR segements were analyzed by directly sequence to detect the COL3A1 gene polymorphisms.Result There were significant differences in the distribution of VNTR with COL3A1 genotype polymorphism between the patients of acute cerebral infarction and healthy controls,the former being 0.93,the latter 0.43,with a significant difference(P

OBJECTIVETo improve the X-ray diagnosis of cervical spondylosis of vertebral artery type (VCS).

METHODSA blinded design research. The X-ray signs both 60 patients with VCS and 60 patients with cervical spondylotic radiculopathy were collected from January 2011 to November 2012. There were 36 males and 84 females, aged from 25 to 65 years old with an average of (48.4 ± 12.3) years old. Cervical curvature, atlanto-occipital joint angle, atlanto-axial joint angle, C2/C3 joint angle and lower cervical instability condition and segmental distribution were measured and recorded by X-rays. These data were analyzed and compared between the two groups after unblended. Combined with clinical manifestations,the X-ray imaging features of VCS were further analyzed.

RESULTSThere was significant difference in cervical curvature between two groups in anteflexion X-ray films (P < 0.05). There was significant difference in extension degree of atlanto-occipital joint angle between two groups (P < 0.01). There was significant difference in atlanto-axial joint angle between two groups in lateral X-ray films (P< 0.05). There was significant.difference in anteflexion degree of atlanto-axial joint angle between two groups (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in C2/C3 joint angle between two groups. There was no significant difference in the lower cervical instability condition and segmental distribution between two groups. In VCS group, the mild and moderate dizziness was main symptom, flexion and extension activities of neck was most common cause in the dizziness; and always accompanied with headache; tenderness mostly concentrated in the upper cervical area.

CONCLUSIONBoth X-ray signs and clinical manifestations can prompt the abnormalities of the upper cervical structure or function in patients with VCS. Anteflexion activities of neck observed by functional position of X-ray films should be emphasized in diagnosis of VCS.

Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Radiculopathy ; diagnostic imaging ; Radiography ; Spondylosis ; diagnostic imaging ; Vertebral Artery ; X-Rays

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the efficacy and safety of Jiangtang Xiaozhi Capsule (JTXZC) in treating type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients of qi-yin deficiency and inter-obstruction between phlegm and stasis.

METHODSAdopting prospective, randomized, controlled trial design, 73 T2DM patients of qi-yin deficiency and inter-obstruction between phlegm and stasis syndrome, were randomly assigned to two groups, the pioglitazone tablet group (36 cases) and the JTXZC group (37 cases). The therapeutic course for all was 8 weeks. The body weight, height, body mass index (BMI), waistline (WC), hipline, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and scoring for Chinese medicine (CM) symptoms assessment were observed. The fasting blood glucose (FBG), 2-h postprandial blood glucose (PBG), glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), plasma total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), plasma insulin (FINS) were detected. The HOMA-IR was also calculated. The safety indices such as liver and renal functions, adverse reactions were also observed.

RESULTSThe levels of HbA1c were lowered after treatment in the two groups after 8 weeks of treatment, showing statistical difference when compared with before treatment (-0.59% +/- 1.99% and -0.27% +/- 2.73%, P < 0.05). The PBG level also decreased with statistical difference (-1.71 +/- 2.52 mmol/L and -0.72 +/- 4.17 mmol/L, P < 0.05), but there was no statistical difference between the two groups. The body weight, BMI, TG obviously decreased (P < 0.05). The CM symptoms efficacy and CM symptom scoring were significantly reduced in the two groups (P < 0.01). Besides, better effects were shown in the JTXZC group (P < 0.05). No severe adverse event occurred in either group during the therapeutic course. There was no statistical difference in the incidence of adverse events (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSJTXZC showed similar therapeutic effects to pioglitazone. They both could effectively im- prove clinical symptoms with no severe adverse reaction.

Adult ; Aged ; Blood Glucose ; metabolism ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; blood ; drug therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Phytotherapy ; Prospective Studies ; Thiazolidinediones ; therapeutic use ; Yin Deficiency

Brix weight per stool (BW) of sugarcane is a complex trait, which is the final product of a combination of many components. Diallel cross experiments were conducted during a period of two years for BW and its five component traits, including stalk diameter (SD), stalk length (SL), stalk number (SN), stalk weight (SW), and brix scale (BS) of sugarcane. Phenotypic data of all the six traits were analyzed by mixed linear model and their phenotype variances were portioned into additive (A), dominance (D), additive x environment interaction (AE) and dominance x environment interaction (DE) effects, and the correlations of A, D, AE and DE effects between BW and its components were estimated. Conditional analysis was employed to investigate the contribution of the components traits to the variances of A, D, AE and DE effects of BW. It was observed that the heritabilities of BW were significantly attributed to A, D and DE by 23.9%, 30.9% and 28.5%, respectively. The variance of A effect for BW was significantly affected by SL, SN and BS by 25.3%, 93.7% and 17.4%, respectively. The variances of D and DE effects for BW were also significantly influenced by all the five components by 5.1%(85.5%. These determinants might be helpful in sugarcane breeding and provide valuable information for multiple-trait improvement of BW.
Alleles ; Body Weight ; Inheritance Patterns ; genetics ; Phenotype ; Saccharum ; anatomy & histology ; genetics ; growth & development

OBJECTIVETo investigate the frequency of JAK2V617F mutation in Chinese patients with chronic myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) and to study the relationship between JAK2V617F mutation and clinical characteristics.

METHODSJAK2V617F mutation was screened by allele-specific polymerase chain reaction (AS-PCR).

RESULTSJAK2V617F mutation was detected in 277 of the 412 patients with MPN. The frequency of JAK2V617F mutation was similar among essential thrombocythemia (ET), idiopathic myelofibrosis (IMF) and chronic myeloproliferative disorders-unclassified (MPD-U) (P > 0.05), but it was significantly lower than that in polycythemia vera (PV) (P < 0.05). The presence of JAK2V617F was found to be significantly correlative with advanced age at diagnosis (P < 0.01) and with higher hemoglobin levels and higher leukocyte counts (P < 0.05). Significant difference was found in complication of vascular events between JAK2V617 positive and negative patients (P < 0.05). JAK2V617F positive MPD-U patients were more prone to progress into typical MPN compared with JAK2V617F negative MPD-U patients. The association between abnormal karyotype and JAK2V617F was not found in cytogenetical analysis of 301 patients.

CONCLUSIONThe presence of JAK2V617F in MPD-U is associated with the disease development. There is a correlation between JAK2V617F mutation in MPN and advanced age, higher leukocyte counts, hemoglobin level and vascular events.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hemoglobins ; metabolism ; Humans ; Janus Kinase 2 ; genetics ; Leukocyte Count ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mutation ; Myeloproliferative Disorders ; blood ; complications ; genetics ; Polycythemia Vera ; blood ; complications ; genetics ; Primary Myelofibrosis ; blood ; complications ; genetics ; Thrombocythemia, Essential ; blood ; complications ; genetics ; Thrombosis ; etiology ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVECharacters of stem epidermis, leaf epidermis and stoma could be used as important microcosmic morphological characteristic when inheritance trend is studied in Ephedra breeding and identification.

METHODThe stomatic density, stoma major axis and mimor axis, stomatic morphylogy, characters of leaf and stem epidermis of 6 Ephedra plants' stems were examined by SEM.

RESULTThe stomatic density and characteristic of leaf epidermis and stem epidermis in six Ephedra species was differenc, there were no obvious morphological differences in stoma shape and size. The guard cells were covered with heavy cuticle and sunken stomata, which were the typical characteristics of xerophytes. The stomas of leaf lower epidermis were oblong or hexagon, but the stomas of steam epidermis were narrowed-oblong or dumbbell-shape, they all belonged to anomalous type.

CONCLUSIONThe stoma type and characters of Ephedra plants is stable and conservative, there was no obvious morphological differences in stoma shape and size between species, so it is difficult to distinguish different species by the variance of stomas, but that can be applyed to distinguish Ephedra from others at plant taxonomy.

Ephedra ; classification ; ultrastructure ; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning ; Plant Epidermis ; ultrastructure ; Plant Leaves ; ultrastructure ; Plant Stems ; ultrastructure ; Plant Stomata ; ultrastructure ; Plants, Medicinal ; ultrastructure ; Species Specificity

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

OBJECTIVETo investigate class I integron of Shigella flexneri, its prevalence in children, and its relation to bacterial resistance to antimicrobial agents.

METHODSTotally 51 strains of Shigella flexneri were isolated from fecal samples of children suffering from bacterial diarrhea seen between June 2004 and November 2004 at Children's Hospital of Fudan University. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was employed to amplify various integron markers, including intI1, gene cassette region and 3' conserved region of class I intrgron; susceptibility of Shigella flexneri strains to 7 antimicrobial agents was determined by K-B (Kriby-Bauer) method.

RESULTSForty-six strains of Shigella flexneri had intI gene with a positive rate of 90.2% (46/51); 24 strains of Shigella flexneri were positive for qacEDelta1-sul1, the positive rate was 47.1% (24/51); proportion of the isolates positive for all the three regions of class I integron was 43.1% (22/51); 46 strains of intI positive Shigella flexneri were all positive for ant (3'')-I. Among 46 strains of intI positive isolates, proportions of the isolates positive and negative for qacEDelta1-sul1 were 47.8% (22/46) and 52.2% (24/46), respectively. In the class I integron positive Shigella flexneri, the resistance rates of ampicillin (chi(2) = 10.13, P < 0.01) and chloramphenicol (chi(2) = 19.97, P < 0.01) were significantly higher than those in the class I integron-negative group.

CONCLUSIONSClass I integron was detected in 90.2% of Shigella flexneri in children; carriage of class I integron is related to antimicrobial resistance of Shigella flexneri.

Anti-Bacterial Agents ; pharmacology ; Child ; DNA, Bacterial ; genetics ; Diarrhea ; microbiology ; Drug Resistance, Bacterial ; genetics ; Dysentery, Bacillary ; drug therapy ; microbiology ; Feces ; microbiology ; Humans ; Integrons ; drug effects ; genetics ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Retrospective Studies ; Shigella flexneri ; drug effects ; genetics ; isolation & purification