The phase changes and quantity-quality transfer of 17 batches of Ostreae Concha(Ostrea rivularis) during the raw material-calcined decoction pieces-standard decoction process were analyzed. The content of calcium carbonate(CaCO_3), the main component, was determined by chemical titration, and the extract yield and transfer rate were calculated. The CaCO_3 content in the raw material, calcined decoction pieces, and standard decoction was 94.39%-98.80%, 95.03%-99.22%, and 84.58%-90.47%, respectively. The process of raw material to calcined decoction pieces showed the yield range of 96.85% to 98.55% and the CaCO_3 transfer rate range of 96.92% to 99.27%. The process of calcined decoction pieces to standard decoction showed the extract yield range of 2.86% to 5.48% and the CaCO_3 transfer rate range of 2.59% to 5.13%. The results of X-ray fluorescence(XRF) assay showed that the raw material, calcined decoction pieces, and standard decoction mainly contained Ca, Na, Mg, Si, Br, Cl, Al, Fe, Cr, Mn, and K. The chemometric results showed an increase in the relative content of Cr, Fe, and Si from raw material to calcined decoction pieces and an increase in the relative content of Mg, Al, Br, K, Cl, and Na from calcined decoction pieces to standard decoction. X-ray diffraction(XRD) was employed to establish XRD characteristic patterns of the raw material, calcined decoction pieces, and standard decoction. The XRD results showed that the main phase of all three was calcite, and no transformation of crystalline form or generation of new phase was observed. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR) was employed to establish the FTIR characteristic spectra of the raw material, calcined decoction pieces, and standard decoction. The FTIR results showed that the raw material had internal vibrations of O-H, C-H, C=O, C-O, and CO■ groups. Due to the loss of organic matter components after calcination, no information about the vibrations of C-H, C=O, and C-O groups was observed in the spectra of calcined decoction pieces and standard decoction. In summary, this study elucidated the quantity-quality transfer and phase changes in the raw material-calcined decoction pieces-standard decoction process by determining the CaCO_3 content, calculating the extract yield and transfer rate, and comparing the element changes, FTIR characteristic spectra, and XRD characteristic pattern. The results were reasonable and reliable, laying a foundation for the subsequent process research and quality control of the formula granules of calcined Ostreae Concha(O. rivularis Gould), and providing ideas and methods for the quality control of the whole process of raw material-decoction pieces-standard decoction-formula granules of Ostreae Concha and other testacean traditional Chinese medicine.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal/isolation & purification* ; Calcium Carbonate/analysis* ; Quality Control

A derivatizaton method combined with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry(GC-MS)was established for detection of isobutyl chloroformate(IBCF)residue in active pharmaceutical ingredient of agatroban.The extraction and derivatization reagents,derivatization time,qualitative and quantitative ions were selected and optimized,respectively.The possible mechanism of derivatization and characteristic fragment ions fragmentation were speculated.The agatroban samples were dissolved and extracted by methanol,and the residual IBCF was derived with methanol to generate methyl isobutyl carbonate(MIBCB).After 24 h static derivatization at room temperature,IBCF was completely transformed into MIBCB,which could be used to indirectly detect IBCF accurately.The results showed that the linearity of this method was good in the range of 25-500 ng/mL(R2=0.9999).The limit of detection(LOD,S/N=3)was 0.75 μg/g,and the limit of quantification(LOQ,S/N=10)was 2.50 μg/g.Good recoveries(95.2%-97.8%)and relative standard deviations(RSDs)less than 3.1%(n=6)were obtained from agatroban samples at three spiked levels of IBCF(2.50,25.00,50.00 μg/g),which showed good accuracy of this method.Good precision of detection results was obtained by different laboratory technicians at different times,the mean value of spiked sample solution(25.00 μg/g)was 24.28 μg/g,and the RSD was 2.1%(n=12).The durability was good,minor changes of detection conditions had little effect on the results.Under the original condition and conditions with initial column temperature±5℃,heating rate±2℃/min,column flow rate±0.1 mL/min,the IBCF content of spiked sample solution(25.00 μg/g)was detected,the mean value of detection results was 24.16 μg/g,and the RSD was 2.2%(n=7).Eight batches of agatroban samples from two manufacturers were detected using the established method,and the results showed that no IBCF residue was detected in any of these samples.The agatroban samples could be dissolved by methanol,and then the IBCF residue could be simultaneously extracted and derived with methanol as well.This detection method had the advantages of simple operation,high sensitivity,low matrix effect and accurate quantification,which provided a new effective method for detection of IBCF residue in agatroban.

To address the shortcomings of traditional hydrogels in terms of mechanical performance and environmental stability,a new conductive organogel based on polyvinyl alcohol(PVA)and polypyrrole(PPy)was prepared in this study.By introducing dimethyl sulfoxide(DMSO)as a solvent,the mechanical strength and durability of the gel were significantly improved.Various characterization techniques,including infrared spectroscopy,thermogravimetric analysis,and scanning electron microscopy were used to characterize this conductive organogel.The experimental results showed that the prepared organogel exhibited optimal performance at PVA concentration level of 8%(m/m),with an average pore size of 5.2 μm and a conductivity of 0.65 S/cm.As a wearable strain sensor,the PVA/PPy organogel demonstrated excellent sensitivity and responsiveness,capable of precisely detecting joint and muscle movements as well as subtle physiological signals such as pulse and vocal cord vibrations.Notably,the gel maintained stable sensing performance even after 48 h at room temperature,showing outstanding environmental adaptability and long-term use potential.This innovative material design provided robust technical support for smart healthcare,health monitoring,and human-machine interaction,showing broad application prospects.

Objective:To compare the efficacy and safety of drug-coated balloons (DCB) combined with bare metal stents (BMS) and BMS only for superficial femoral atherosclerosis obliterans.Methods:The clinical and follow-up data of 80 patients (82 limbs) who received combined treatment or BMS implantation at Cardiovascular Surgery Department of China Japan Friendship Hospital from Jan 2017 to Aug 2022 were retrospectively analyzed.Results:43 patients (43 limbs) were included in combined treatment group. 37 patients (39 limbs) were in BMS only. The average lesion length of combined group was longer than BMS group (19.54±7.04 cm vs. 16.25±6.43 cm, P=0.031). The primary patency rate of combined group at 36 months was not statistically different with BMS only group (56.9% vs. 38.5%, P=0.171). The subgroup analysis of superficial femoral artery TASC C/D (Trans-Atlantic Inter-Society Consensus) and CTO (chronic total occlusion) lesions indicated that efficacy of the combined group was superior to BMS only group. The patency rates of the combined group compared with the BMS group at 36 months were 57.6% vs. 23.8%, P=0.046, 60.2% vs. 31.4%, P=0.028, respectively. There was no significant difference in the FCD-TLR (free from clinical driven target lesion revascularization) between the two groups at 36 months (72.6% vs. 66.5%, P=0.706). There was no significant difference in major adverse events between the two groups ( P>0.05). Conclusion:Paclitaxel drug-coated balloon combined with bare metal stent is a safe and effective treatment for superficial femoral atherosclerosis obliterans, which is superior to bare metal stent, especially in TASC C/D and chronic total occlusive lesions.

BACKGROUND: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is an underdiagnosed genetic heart disease worldwide. The management and prognosis of obstructive HCM (HOCM) and non-obstructive HCM (HNCM) are quite different, but it also remains challenging to discriminate these two subtypes. HCM is characterized by dysmetabolism, and myocardial amino acid (AA) metabolism is robustly changed. The present study aimed to delineate plasma AA and derivatives profiles, and identify potential biomarkers for HCM. METHODS: Plasma samples from 166 participants, including 57 cases of HOCM, 52 cases of HNCM, and 57 normal controls (NCs), who first visited the International Cooperation Center for HCM, Xijing Hospital between December 2019 and September 2020, were collected and analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry based on targeted AA metabolomics. Three separate classification algorithms, including random forest, support vector machine, and logistic regression, were applied for the identification of specific AA and derivatives compositions for HCM and the development of screening models to discriminate HCM from NC as well as HOCM from HNCM. RESULTS: The univariate analysis showed that the serine, glycine, proline, citrulline, glutamine, cystine, creatinine, cysteine, choline, and aminoadipic acid levels in the HCM group were significantly different from those in the NC group. Four AAs and derivatives (Panel A; proline, glycine, cysteine, and choline) were screened out by multiple feature selection algorithms for discriminating HCM patients from NCs. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis in Panel A yielded an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.83 (0.75-0.91) in the training set and 0.79 (0.65-0.94) in the validation set. Moreover, among 10 AAs and derivatives (arginine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, proline, alanine, asparagine, creatine, tryptophan, ornithine, and choline) with statistical significance between HOCM and HNCM, 3 AAs (Panel B; arginine, proline, and ornithine) were selected to differentiate the two subgroups. The AUC values in the training and validation sets for Panel B were 0.83 (0.74-0.93) and 0.82 (0.66-0.98), respectively. CONCLUSIONS The plasma AA and derivatives profiles were distinct between the HCM and NC groups. Based on the differential profiles, the two established screening models have potential value in assisting HCM screening and identifying whether it is obstructive.
Humans ; Amino Acids ; Cysteine ; Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic/diagnosis* ; Biomarkers ; Proline ; Arginine ; Ornithine ; Glycine ; Choline

ObjectiveTo evaluate the clinical efficacy of TDP （specific electromagnetic wave） combined with Osteoking in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis of Qi stagnation and blood stasis type. MethodA total of 104 patients with knee osteoarthritis of Qi stagnation and blood stasis type， who received conservative therapy in The Third People's Hospital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region from July 2019 to December 2021， were randomized into the control group and study group with the random number table method， 52 cases in either group. The control group was treated with TDP， and the study group with TDP and Osteoking. The treatment lasted 1 week for both groups， with 1-month follow-up. Subjective indexes of visual analog scale （VAS） score and Western Ontario McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index （WOMAC） score， and objective indexes of visual tenderness index and visual knee range of motion were determined before and after treatment to evaluate the pain and functions of patients. Traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） syndrome score was calculated. The serum erythrocyte sedimentation rate （ESR） and high sensitivity C-reactive protein （hs-CRP） were detected before and after treatment， and the total clinical effective rate was calculated. ResultBefore treatment， the baseline information and all the scores of the two groups were comparable. After treatment， the VAS score， WOMAC score， tenderness index， knee range of motion， and TCM syndrome score were improved in both groups （P<0.01）. After the treatment， the VAS score and WOMAC score of the study group were lower than those of the control group （P<0.01） and the improvement of tenderness index in the study group was better than that in the control group （P<0.05）. The knee range of motion in the study group was better than that in the control group （P=0.061）. The TCM syndrome score of study group was lower than that of control group （P<0.01） after treatment. The post-treatment serum ESR and hs-CRP level in the two groups decreased significantly after treatment， and the study group were lower than those of the control group （P<0.01）. The total clinical effective rate of the study group was 90.4%（47/52）， as compared with the 53.8%（28/52） in the control group （P<0.05）. No obvious adverse events occurred during treatment in both groups. ConclusionThe clinical efficacy of TDP combined with Osteoking in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis of Qi stagnation and blood stasis type is remarkable， which can improve knee pain and functions， alleviate TCM syndrome， and reduce inflammatory indexes， with high safety.

Objective Based on the techniques of continual tissue slices, the human epididymis was rebuilt for understanding the anatomical and histological features of the epididymal ducts. Methods Continuous tissue slices of one human epididymis were performed and digital slice images were obtained through scanning with Leica-Aperio AT2; the pipe wall of epididymal duct was aligned in sequence with Photoshop CC 2018 software and VGStudio MAX V3.0 software was used for three-dimensional synthesis. Finally, the later modification was carried out with Materialise Magics V22.0 software. Another human epididymis was used for electron microscopy. The histological features of epididymal ducts were analysed by combining slices and three-dimensional reconstruction. Results A total of 4331 and 543 slices in transverse and sagittal section respectively were prepared with a thickness of 7 |ira. According to the three-dimensional structure, regional distribution of human epididymal duct could be found obviously and the caput, corpus and cauda of epididymis could be clearly divided into 7, 9 and 4 subregions respectively. There were tissue intervals among adjacent subregions and epididymal ducts were disordered within each subregion, but differences were existed in tubular diameter and epithelial structure, and adjacent subregions were connected by single epididymal duct in the corpus and cauda. Conclusion The human epididymal duct can be successfully reconstructed by continual tissue slices technique. The human epididymal duct has regional distribution in space obviously and there are differences between different subregions.

OBJECTIVE: A strain of Aspergillus niger (A. niger), capable of releasing bound phenolic acids from wheat bran, was isolated. This strain was identified by gene sequence identification. The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory capacity of ferulic acid released from wheat bran by this A. niger strain (FA-WB) were evaluated. METHODS: Molecular identification techniques based on PCR analysis of specific genomic sequences were conducted; antioxidant ability was examined using oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC), cellular antioxidant activity (CAA) assays, and erythrocyte hemolysis assays. RAW264.7 cells were used as a model to detect anti-inflammatory activity. RESULTS: The filamentous fungal isolate was identified to be A. niger. ORAC and CAA assay showed that FA-WB had better antioxidant activity than that of the ferulic acid standard. The erythrocyte hemolysis assay results suggested that FA-WB could attenuate AAPH-induced oxidative stress through inhibition of reactive oxy gen species (ROS) generation. FA-WB could significantly restore the AAPH-induced increase in intracellular antioxidant enzyme activities to normal levels as well as inhibit the intracellular malondialdehyde formation. TNF-a, IL-6, and NO levels indicated that FA-WB can inhibit the inflammation induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). CONCLUSION Ferulic acid released from wheat bran by a new strain of A. niger had good anti-inflammatory activity and better antioxidant ability than standard ferulic acid.
Animals ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents ; metabolism ; pharmacology ; Antioxidants ; metabolism ; pharmacology ; Aspergillus niger ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; metabolism ; Coumaric Acids ; metabolism ; pharmacology ; DNA, Fungal ; analysis ; Dietary Fiber ; microbiology ; Erythrocytes ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Fermentation ; Hep G2 Cells ; Humans ; Interleukin-6 ; metabolism ; Lipopolysaccharides ; pharmacology ; Mice ; RAW 264.7 Cells ; Sheep ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; metabolism

The purpose of this article is to evaluate the clinical effect of clinical practice guideline on traditional Chinese medicine therapy alone or combined with antibiotics for acute tonsillitis. The applicability and application of the Guideline were evaluated based on the clinicians by using the electronic questionnaire. Questionnaires about 538 on application evaluation and 502 questionnaires on applicability evaluation were completed from April 28 to July 9, 2018. The subjects in the questionnaires include the clinicians with junior title, intermediate title, and senior title that have used this Guideline. The descriptive statistical analysis of the collected questionnaire was carried out. In the applicability evaluation, according to the classification of professional titles, the application rate was highest in intermediate title clinicians (26.77%), followed by junior (23.98%) and deputy senior (19.33%) professional title clinicians. In the quality evaluation, the rationality of application scope (98.61%) and the terminology accuracy (98.81%) scores were higher, and the rationality of differentiation and classification (96.05%) was the lowest. The applicability evaluation suggested that clinicians believed this Guideline had high safety (98.42%), reasonable content (98.03%), significant effect (99.6%), reduced use of antibiotics in Western medicine (93.89%), and a high applicability ratio (96.44%). In the application evaluation, Department of lung disease showed the highest application rate (44.24%); rationality of the Guideline was more than 97% in treatment rules and prophylaxis except the syndrome differentiation (92.75%); a high ratio of clinicians believed the recommended scheme was good: curative effect 97.4%, safety 97.59%, and economy 93.87%. The study shows that the clinical practice guideline on traditional Chinese medicine therapy alone or combined with antibiotics for acute tonsillitis is of good quality, high clinical use and good effect. It can be used as a standardized treatment scheme for acute tonsillitis in traditional Chinese medicine. But there are some unsuitable contents and need to be further improved. The Guideline should strengthen the revision on differentiation of symptoms and signs as well as prophylaxis.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Practice Guidelines as Topic ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Syndrome ; Tonsillitis ; drug therapy

Metabolic disorders are classified clinically as a complex and varied group of diseases including metabolic syndrome, obesity, and diabetes mellitus. Fat toxicity, chronic inflammation, and oxidative stress, which may change cellular functions, are considered to play an essential role in the pathogenetic progress of metabolic disorders. Recent studies have found that cells secrete nanoscale vesicles containing proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, and membrane receptors, which mediate signal transduction and material transport to neighboring and distant cells. Exosomes, one type of such vesicles, are reported to participate in multiple pathological processes including tumor metastasis, atherosclerosis, chronic inflammation, and insulin resistance. Research on exosomes has focused mainly on the proteins they contain, but recently the function of exosome-associated microRNA has drawn a lot of attention. Exosome-associated microRNAs regulate the physiological function and pathological processes of metabolic disorders. They may also be useful as novel diagnostics and therapeutics given their special features of non-immunogenicity and quick extraction. In this paper, we summarize the structure, content, and functions of exosomes and the potential diagnostic and therapeutic applications of exosome-associated microRNAs in the treatment of metabolic disorders.
Adipose Tissue/metabolism* ; Animals ; Exosomes/physiology* ; Humans ; Metabolic Diseases/therapy* ; MicroRNAs/physiology* ; Tumor Microenvironment