Objective:To establish fingerprint spectra of Pinelliae Rhizoma from different production areas; To comprehensively evaluate the quality of Pinelliae Rhizoma and Su Pinelliae Rhizoma from other main producing areas by screening and content determination of different components combined with chemometrics.Methods:Shimadzu Shim pack GIST C18-AQ (250 mm ×4.6 mm, 5 μm) chromatography column was used, with acetonitrile aqueous solution as the mobile phase, gradient elution, flow rate of 0.8 ml/min, detection wavelength of 260 nm, column temperature of 25 ℃, and injection volume of 20 μl. Chemometric analysis were performed using SIMCA 14.1 and SPSS 22.0 software. Heterogeneous indicator components were screened out basing on a VIP value greater than 1. Some components were identified and determined the contents. Three principal components were extract basing on the characteristic value λ>1 and cumulative variance contribution rate greater than 85%. Linear weighted sum was performed by variance contribution rate. The samples were calculated the comprehensive score and ranked to evaluated the overall quality.Results:There were a total of 11 common peaks in the fingerprint spectra of 16 batches of Pinelliae Rhizoma, and the results of methodological investigation met the technical requirements of fingerprints, with a similarity of 0.623-0.975. 5 chromatographic peaks were identified, which were cytidine (peak 3), uridine (peak 4), adenine (peak 5), guanosine (peak 6) and adenosine (peak 8), respectively. 16 batches of Pinelliae Rhizoma were grouped into 2 categories: S1, S4, S5, S7, S9-S18 were grouped into one category, and S2, S3, S6, and S8 batches of Su Pinelliae Rhizoma were grouped into another. The comprehensive score showed that the overall quality of wild Pinelliae Rhizoma in Dangshan, wild Pinelliae Rhizoma in Zhijin, Guizhou, and Pinelliae Rhizoma in Xihe, Gansu was good. Seven differential components with VIP values greater than 1 were screened out, and the active contents of uridine, guanosine and adenosine were determined. The results showed that in 5 batches of Su Pinelliae Rhizoma (S2, S3, S6, S7, S8) samples, the total amount of uridine, guanosine and adenosine(0.450-1.177 mg/g) was significantly higher than that of Pinelliae Rhizoma from other regions, especially the Su Pinelliae Rhizoma planted in Suixi County.Conclusions:The fingerprint spectrum combined with chemometrics and content determination of differential component is a stable and reliable method for evaluating the quality of Pinelliae Rhizoma from different regions. It can provide references for the overall quality control and evaluation of Pinelliae Rhizoma, as well as research on artificial cultivation and introduction of Su Pinelliae Rhizoma.

Objective To establish a high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry(HPLC-MS/MS)for the simultaneous determination of gefitinib,erlotinib,nillotinib and imatinib plasma concentrations and analyze the results.Methods The plasma samples were treated with acetonitrile precipitation and separated by Diamonsil C18 column(150 mm ×4.6 mm,3.5 μm)with mobile phase of 0.1％formic acid water(A)-0.1％formic acid acetonitrile(B).The flow rate of gradient elution was 0.7 mL·min-1,and the column temperature was 40 ℃ and the injection volume was 3 μL.Using arotinib as the internal standard,the scanning was carried out by using electrospray ionization source in positive ionization mode with multi-reaction monitoring.The specificity,standard curve,lower limit of quantitation,precision,accuracy,recovery rate,matrix effect and stability of the method were investigated.The concentrations of imatinib and erlotinib in 20 patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia(CML)and gefitinib and erlotinib in 3 patients with non-small cell lung cancer were measured.Results The standard curves of the four drugs were as follows,gefitinib:y=2.536 × 10-3x+9.362 × 10-3(linear range 20-2 000 ng·mL-1,R2=0.996 6);erlotinib:y=3.575× 10-3x+7.406 × 10-3(linear range 50-5 000 ng·mL-1,R2=0.994 9);nilotinib:y=1.945 x 10-3x+0.015 643(linear range 50-5 000 ng·mL-1,R2=0.990 6);imatinib:y=4.56 x 10-3x+0.010 451(linear range 100～104 ng·mL-1,R2=0.9963).RSD of intra-day and inter-day were less than 10％,and the accuracy ranged from 90％to 110％,and the recovery rates were 91.35％to 98.93％(RSD＜10％);the matrix effect ranged from 91.64％to 107.50％(RSD＜10％).Determination of 23 patients showed that the blood concentration of nilotinib ranged from 623.76 to 2 934.13 ng·mL-1,and the blood concentration of imatinib ranged from 757.77 to 2 637.71 ng·mL-1,and the blood concentration of gefitinib ranged from 214.76 to 387.40 ng·mL-1.The serum concentration of erlotinib was 569.57 ng·mL-1.Conclusion The method of this research is simple,fast,sensitive and dedicated,which can be monitored by the concentration of clinical blood.

With the development of molecular pharmacognosy, the advantages of DNA molecular markers in the identification of original plants of Chinese medicinal materials are becoming increasingly significant. To compensate for the limitations of existing markers in the quality supervision of Chinese medicinal materials, our team has independently designed a new molecular marker named DNA signature sequence(DSS). This marker is a nucleotide sequence that only appears in a specific taxonomic unit, with a length of 40 bp and high identification accuracy. This article aims to screen and verify the DSS markers that can accurately identify the original plants of the medicinal materials included in the volume one of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, establish the operating procedure for developing standard nucleotide sequences, and lay a foundation for the widespread application of polymerase chain reaction in the quality supervision of traditional Chinese medicine. Firstly, the Chloroplast Genome Information Resource(CGIR) was searched for the chloroplast genome sequences of the test samples, species of the same genus, and common background species. IdenDSS was used to obtain the DSS tags and specific identification primers of the tested species. After DNA extraction, PCR amplification, sequencing, and sequence alignments, a total of 203 DSS markers of Chinese medicinal materials were obtained for validation. The above sequences were uploaded to the Traditional Chinese Medicine Molecular Identification Platform(www.herbsdna.com), and a standard DSS library was established for identifying the original plants of medicinal materials, serving as an important tool for quality supervision of Chinese materia medica. On this basis, an operating procedure for DSS development is formed, laying a foundation for further DSS screening and application based on more diverse genome sequences.
Plants, Medicinal/classification* ; DNA, Plant/genetics* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Pharmacopoeias as Topic ; Genetic Markers ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional

Objective:To investigate the early curative effects of robot-assisted total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in the treatment of valgus knee.Methods:A retrospective study was conducted to analyze the data of 40 patients with valgus knee who had been treated by TKA at Department of Orthopaedics, The 920th Hospital of Joint Logistics Support Force of Chinese People's Liberation Army from January to December 2021. The patients were divided into 2 groups according to whether a robot had been used or not for TKA. In the observation group of 15 cases for which TKA was assisted by a robot, there were 4 males and 11 females with an age of (65.5±6.2) years, and the disease course was 42 (36, 54) months; in the control group of 25 cases for which conventional TKA was performed, there were 8 males and 17 females with an age of (65.8±7.5) years, and the disease course was 42 (36, 60) months. Surgical time, hemoglobin decrease, and knee joint range of motion, American Knee Society Score (KSS), hip-knee-ankle angle (HKA), lateral distal femoral angle (LDFA), and medial proximal tibial angle (MPTA) at 12 months after surgery were compared between the 2 groups.Results:There was no significant difference in the preoperative general data between the 2 groups, indicating comparability ( P>0.05). The surgical time in the observation group was (148.0±21.2) min, significantly longer than that in the control group [(115.2±7.1) min], and the hemoglobin decreased by (11.8±1.1) g/L in the observation group, significantly less than that in the control group [(18.1±1.8) g/L] ( P<0.05). The observation group and the control group were followed up for 13 (13, 14) and 13 (13, 14) months after surgery, respectively, showing no statistically significant difference ( P>0.05). At 12 months after surgery, the KSS knee score, KSS functional score, and knee range of motion in the observation group were (86.1±4.6) points, (86.9±3.1) points, and 115.7°±5.0°, significantly larger than those in the control group [(82.2±3.5) points, (82.8±0.9) points, and 108.2°±5.0°] ( P<0.05). Reexamination of full-length radiographs of both lower limbs in all patients showed good positions of the prostheses and no such adverse events as loosening or sinking at 12 months after surgery. The HKA (178.5°±1.2°) and LDFA (89.1°±0.7°) at 12 months after surgery in the observation group were significantly larger than those in the control group (176.6°±1.5°, 88.2°±8.2°) ( P<0.05); there was no statistically significant difference in MPTA between the 2 groups ( P>0.05). Conclusions:In the treatment of valgus knee, robot-assisted TKA can correct joint deformity, and achieve precise osteotomy and functional alignment of lower limbs, leading to better early curative effects than conventional TKA.

Objective: To investigate the expression of CD24 gene in human malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) cells and tissues, and evaluate its relationship with clinicopathological characteristics and clinical prognosis of MPM patients. Methods: In February 2021, UALCAN database was used to analyze the correlation between CD24 gene expression and clinicopathological characteristics in 87 cases of MPM patients. The TIMER 2.0 platform was used to explore the relationship between the expression of CD24 in MPM and tumor immune infiltrating cells. cBioportal online tool was used to analyze the correlation between CD24 and MPM tumor marker gene expression. RT-qPCR was used to analyze the expressions of CD24 gene in human normal pleural mesothelial cell lines LP9 and MPM cell lines NCI-H28 (epithelial type), NCI-H2052 (sarcoma type), and NCI-H2452 (biphasic mixed type). RT-qPCR was performed to detect the expressions of CD24 gene in 18 cases of MPM tissues and matched normal pleural tissues. The expression difference of CD24 protein in normal mesothelial tissue and MPM tissue was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. A Kaplan-Meier model was constructed to explore the influence of CD24 gene expression on the prognosis of MPM patients, and Cox regression analysis of prognostic factors in MPM patients was performed. Results: The CD24 gene expression without TP53 mutation MPM patients was significantly higher than that of patients in TP53 mutation (P<0.05). The expression of CD24 gene in MPM was positively correlated with B cells (r(s)=0.37, P<0.001). The expression of CD24 gene had a positive correlation with the expressions of thrombospondin 2 (THBS2) (r(s)=0.26, P<0.05), and had a negative correlation with the expression of epidermal growth factor containing fibulin like extracellular matrix protein 1 (EFEMP1), mesothelin (MSLN) and calbindin 2 (CALB2) (r(s)=-0.31, -0.52, -0.43, P<0.05). RT-qPCR showed that the expression level of CD24 gene in MPM cells (NCI-H28, NCI-H2052 and NCI-H2452) was significantly higher than that in normal pleural mesothelial LP9 cells. The expression level of CD24 gene in MPM tissues was significantly higher than that in matched normal pleural tissues (P<0.05). Immunohistochemistry showed that the expressions of CD24 protein in epithelial and sarcoma MPM tissues were higher than those of matched normal pleural tissues. Compared with low expression of CD24 gene, MPM patients with high expression of CD24 gene had lower overall survival (HR=2.100, 95%CI: 1.336-3.424, P<0.05) and disease-free survival (HR=1.800, 95%CI: 1.026-2.625, P<0.05). Cox multivariate analysis showed that compared with the biphasic mixed type, the epithelial type was a protective factor for the prognosis of MPM patients (HR=0.321, 95%CI: 0.172-0.623, P<0.001). Compared with low expression of CD24 gene, high expression of CD24 gene was an independent risk factor for the prognosis of MPM patients (HR=2.412, 95%CI: 1.291-4.492, P=0.006) . Conclusion: CD24 gene and protein are highly expressed in MPM tissues, and the high expression of CD24 gene suggests poor prognosis in MPM patients.
Humans ; Mesothelioma, Malignant ; Mesothelioma/diagnosis* ; Lung Neoplasms/genetics* ; Pleural Neoplasms/diagnosis* ; Prognosis ; Biomarkers, Tumor/analysis* ; Extracellular Matrix Proteins ; CD24 Antigen/genetics*

BACKGROUND: Currently, more and more infertility couples are opting for combined acupuncture to improve success rate of in vitro fertilization (IVF). However, evidence from acupuncture for improving IVF pregnancy outcomes remains a matter of debate. OBJECTIVE: To quantitatively summarized the evidence of the efficacy of acupuncture among women undergoing IVF by means of systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS: Four English (PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, and Cochrane Register of Controlled Clinical Trials) and Four Chinese databases (Wanfang Databases, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database, and SinoMed) were searched from database inception until July 2, 2023. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that evaluated the acupuncture's effects for women undergoing IVF were included. The subgroup analysis was conducted with respect to the age of participants, different acupuncture types, type of control, acupuncture timing, geographical origin of the study, whether or not repeated IVF failure, and acupuncture sessions. Sensitivity analyses were predefifined to explore the robustness of results. The primary outcomes were clinical pregnancy rate (CPR) and live birth rate (LBR), and the secondary outcomes were ongoing pregnancy rate and miscarriage rate. Random effects model with I² statistics were used to quantify heterogeneity. Publication bias was estimated by funnel plots and Egger's tests. RESULTS: A total of 58 eligible RCTs representing 10,968 women undergoing IVF for pregnant success were identifified. Pooled CPR and LBR showed a signifificant difference between acupuncture and control groups [69 comparisons, relative risk (RR) 1.19, 95% confifidence intervals (CI) 1.12 to 1.25, I²=0], extremely low evidence; 23 comparisons, RR 1.11, 95%CI 1.02 to 1.21, I²=14.6, low evidence, respectively). Only transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation showed a positive effect on both CPR (16 comparisons, RR 1.17, 95%CI 1.06 to 1.29; I²=0, moderate evidence) and LBR (9 comparisons, RR 1.20, 95%CI 1.04 to 1.37; I²=8.5, extremely low evidence). Heterogeneity across studies was found and no studies were graded as high-quality evidence. CONCLUSION Results showed that the convincing evidence levels on the associations between acupuncture and IVF pregnant outcomes were relatively low, and the varied methodological design and heterogeneity might inflfluence the fifindings. (Registration No. PROSPERO CRD42021232430).
Pregnancy ; Female ; Humans ; Live Birth ; Fertilization in Vitro/methods* ; Pregnancy Outcome ; Abortion, Spontaneous ; Acupuncture Therapy

This study aims to acetylate Rehmannia glutinosa polysaccharides by acetic anhydride method, optimize process parameters and evaluate their antioxidant activity. With the degree of substitution(D_s) as a criterion, the effects of reaction time, acetic anhydride-to-polysaccharides ratio and temperature were investigated. Process parameters were optimized by single-factor experiment and response surface methodology. The infrared spectroscopy(IR) and scanning electron microscopy(SEM) proved the successful acetylation and were employed to preliminarily analyze the structural characteristics of acetylated derivatives. The results showed that the D_s was 0.327 under the optimal technological conditions, including m(acetic anhydride):m(R. glutinosa polysaccharides)=2.70, reaction time 3.0 h and temperature 48 ℃. Further, the antioxidant properties of acetylated derivatives were investigated in vitro and acetylation was found effective to improve the antioxidant activity of R. glutinosa polysaccharides. This study provides a reference for the further development and application of R. glutinosa polysaccharides.
Acetylation ; Antioxidants/pharmacology* ; Polysaccharides/pharmacology* ; Rehmannia/chemistry*

Objective:To study the effect of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) regulating excitability of the vagus nerve on dysphagia after stroke. Methods:From September, 2020 to February, 2021, 28 patients with dysphagia after stroke were randomly divided into control group (n = 14) and tDCS group (n = 14). Both groups accepted swallowing function training, and tDCS group received anodal tDCS over vagus nerve, while the control group received sham tDCS. They were assessed with modified Mann Assessment of Swallowing Ability (MMASA) and Australian Therapy Outcome Measures (AusTOMs)-swallowing scale before and after treatment. Results:The scores of MMASA (|t| > 5.593, P < 0.001) and AusTOMs swallowing scale (|Z| > 2.121, P < 0.05) increased in both groups after treatment, and were higher in tDCS group than in the control group (|t| = 2.439, |Z| = 2.079, P < 0.05). Conclusion:Anodal tDCS over vagus nerve may further release dysphagia after stroke.

BACKGROUND:Currently, there is no explicit evidence-based medicine evidence to prove the merits or demerits of absorbable materials in the treatment of fractures of the lateral humeral condyle in children. OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the clinical efficacies of open reduction with absorbable material versus open reduction with Kirschner wire fixation for lateral condylar fracture of the humerus in children.METHODS:WanFang, VIP, CNKI, CBMdisc, EMbase, PubMed were retrieved for controlled trials concerning open reduction with absorbable material versus open reduction with Kirschner wire fixation for treating lateral condylar fracture of the humerus in children. After data extraction and quality evaluations, RevMan 5.3 software was used for systematic review. Postoperative functional recovery of the elbow joint, average hospitalization expenses, adverse events, delayed union, postoperative infection, nerve injury and deformity of the elbow were compared in patients undergoing different treatments. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:A total of seven articles, involving 449 children with lateral condylar fracture of the humerus, were included for this Meta-analysis. Children in test group received open reduction with absorbable material, while those in control group were subjected to open reduction with Kirschner wire fixation. For treating lateral condylar fracture of the humerus in children, no significant inter-group difference existed in the aspects of postoperative functional recovery of the elbow joint [odds ratio (OR)=0.72, 95％ confidence interval (CI) (0.37, 1.41),P=0.34]; postoperative delayed union [OR=0.46, 95％CI(0.16, 1.30),P=0.14]; deformity of the elbow [OR=0.70, 95％CI (0.24, 2.10),P=0.53]. Less adverse events and postoperative infections were observed in the test group compared with the control group [OR=0.17, 95％CI (0.08, 0.38),P < 0.0001;OR=0.09, 95％CI (0.02, 0.38),P=0.001]. However, up to now, we knew of no comparable data concerning average hospitalization expenses and indicators for nerve injury between the two groups. To conclude, compared with Kirschner wire fixation, open reduction with absorbable material can achieve similar effects on lateral condylar fractures of the humerus, but has better effects to prevent adverse events and postoperative infection. Further investigation on large-scale, double-blind, high-quality randomized controlled trials is warranted for confirming our results.

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common presentations in general practice and,in most instances, occurs in a single episode and is easily treated with a course of anti-microbialtherapy. In the case of recurrent urinary tract infections, it is important to consider evaluation forany underlying causes. We report the case of a 32 year old female who had recurrent UTIs; this wasa case of recurrent UTI secondary to xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis from renal stones withresultant reno-colic fistula formation.