The aim of this paper was to explore the effects of Frankincense and Myrrh essential oil on transdermal absorption in vitro of Chuanxiong, and to investigate the possible penetration mechanism of their essential oil from the perspective of skin blood perfusion changes. Transdermal tests were performed in vitro with excised mice skin by improved Franz diffusion cells. The cumulative penetration amounts of ferulic acid in Chuanxiong were determined by HPLC to investigate the effects of Frankincense and Myrrh essential oil on transdermal permeation properties of Chuanxiong. Simultaneously, the skin blood flows were determined by laser flow doppler. The results showed that the cumulative penetration amount of ferulic acid in Chuanxiong was (8.13±0.76) μg•cm⁻² in 24 h, and was (48.91±4.87), (57.80±2.86), (63.34±4.56), (54.17±4.40), (62.52±7.79) μg•cm⁻² respectively in Azone group, Frankincense essential oil group, Myrrh essential oil, frankincense and myrrh singly extracted essential oil mixture group, and frankincense and myrrh mixed extraction essential oil group. The enhancement ratios of each essential oil groups were 7.68, 8.26, 7.26, 8.28, which were slightly greater than 6.55 in Azone group. In addition, as compared with the conditions before treatment, there were significant differences and obvious increasing trend in blood flow of rats in Frankincense essential oil group, Myrrh essential oil group, frankincense and myrrh singly extracted essential oil mixture group, and frankincense and myrrh mixed extraction essential oil group when were dosed at 10, 20, 30, 10 min respectively, indicating that the skin blood flows were increased under the effects of Frankincense and Myrrh essential oil to a certain extent. Thus, Frankincense and Myrrh essential oil had certain effect on promoting permeability of Chuanxiong both before and after drug combination, and may promote the elimination of drugs from epidermis to dermal capillaries through increase of skin blood flow, thus enhancing the transdermal permeation amounts of drugs.

OBJECTIVETo explore the value of criminal fold priority separating (CFPS) in reduction of iatrogenic splenic injury in laparoscopic radical gastrectomy.

METHODSComplete videos of 270 patients undergoing laparoscopic radical gastrectomy in Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine were reviewed. Anatomic features of criminal fold (CF) were summarized. The relationship between CFPS and iatrogenic splenic injury was examined. CF was defined as the ligament between omentum and spleen. CFPS was defined as that CF was separated before the left half gastrocolic omentum was dissected. Splenic injury was further compared between CFPS group and non-CFPS group.

RESULTSCF occurred in 81.5% cases (220/270), presenting one bunch or multiple bunches. CF appeared most commonly in the lower pole of spleen (76.7%, 207/270), then in middle spleen (14.1%, 38/270) and upper pole (9.6%, 26/270). CFPS was performed in 20% cases (54/270) and 80% cases (216/270) were non-CFPS. The incidence of iatrogenic splenic injury was 11.1% (30/270), and this incidence of CFPS group was lower as compared to non-CFPS group (3.7%, 2/54 vs. 13.0%, 28/216), but the difference was not significant (P=0.07). Of 30 patients with splenic injury, 24(80%) were due to traction of CF and all were in non-CFPS group. Instrument injury occurred in 20% cases(6/30) and 2 were in CFPS group and 4 were in non-CFPS group. Most iatrogenic splenic injuries were successfully handled with electrocoagulation, adhesive and compression, except 2 patients underwent open splenectomy for serious splenic injury in non-CFPS group.

CONCLUSIONIn laparoscopic surgery for gastric cancer, iatrogenic splenic injury mostly results from improper traction of CF and CFPS can reduce the incidence of iatrogenic splenic injury.

OBJECTIVETraditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is regarded as an important treatment for gastric cancer patients, especially for those in advanced stage. To evaluate the effects of TCM treatment on gastric cancer patients, the authors performed a retrospective study to report the result of the integrated treatment of TCM with chemotherapy for stage IV non-surgical gastric cancer.

METHODSIn this study, 182 patients with stage IV and non-surgical gastric cancer were retrospectively analyzed to evaluate the effects of TCM integrated with chemotherapy. Among the 182 cases, 88 cases received integrated therapy consisting of TCM and chemotherapy, while 94 cases received chemotherapy alone. The overall survival and Karnofsky performance status (KPS) score were measured as the main outcome.

RESULTSThe median overall survival of the integrated therapy group and chemotherapy group were 16.9 and 10.5 months, respectively. The 1-, 3- and 5-year survival rates of integrated therapy group vs. chemotherapy group were 70% vs. 32%, 18% vs. 4%, and 11% vs. 0%, respectively. There was a significant difference between the two groups (χ= 42.244, P > 0.001). After six-month treatment, KPS scores of the integrated therapy group and the chemotherapy group were 75.00 ± 14.78 and 60.64 ± 21.39, respectively (P > 0.001). The Cox regression analysis showed that TCM treatment is a protective factor for patients' overall survival.

CONCLUSIONThis study demonstrated that TCM integrated with chemotherapy may prolong overall survival and improve survival rate and life quality of patients with stage IV non-surgical gastric cancer.

OBJECTIVETo better comprehend the molecular structure and physiological function of the housefly larval peritrophic matrix (PM), a mass spectrometry approach was used to investigate the PM protein composition.

METHODSThe PM was dissected from the midgut of the third instar larvae, and protein extracted from the PM was evaluated using SDS-PAGE. A 1D-PAGE lane containing all protein bands was cut from top to bottom, the proteins in-gel trypsinised and analysed via shotgun liquid chromatography- tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS).

RESULTSIn total, 374 proteins, with molecular weights varying from 8.225 kD to 996.065 kD and isoelectric points ranging from 3.83 to 11.24 were successfully identified, most identified proteins were mainly related to immunity, digestion, nutrient metabolism and PM structure. Furthermore, many of these proteins were functionally associated with pattern binding, polysaccharide binding, structural constituent of peritrophic membrane and chitin binding, according to Gene Ontology annotation.

CONCLUSIONThe PM protein composition, which provides a basis for further functional investigations of the identified proteins, will be useful for understanding the housefly larval gut immune system and may help to identify potential targets and exploit new bioinsecticides.

Animals ; Chitin ; metabolism ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; metabolism ; Houseflies ; metabolism ; Insect Proteins ; metabolism ; Larva ; metabolism ; Proteomics

Adult ; Anemia, Iron-Deficiency ; epidemiology ; prevention & control ; China ; epidemiology ; Cost-Benefit Analysis ; Female ; Food, Fortified ; Health Education ; methods ; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Health Promotion ; methods ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Outcome Assessment (Health Care) ; Pilot Projects ; Soy Foods ; Young Adult

In order to develop potent antidiabetic agents that have inhibitory effect to a-glucosidase, twelve β-acetamido ketone derivatives such as N-{[(substituted-4-oxo-thiochroman-3-yl)phenyl]-methyl}acetamide are designed and synthesized through one-pot Dakin-West reaction. Their chemical structures are confirmed by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, IR and HR-MS. In vitro α-glucosidase inhibition assays of compounds 4a-41 were carried out using glucose oxidase method. The result indicated that most of them possess inhibitory activity in vitro. Compound 4k showed the most potent inhibitory activity with 87.3% inhibition of α-glucosidase at the concentration of 5.39 mmol x L(-1). The structure-activity relationship of these β-acetamido ketone derivatives was discussed preliminarily. Moreover, the molecular docking method was used to study the interaction mode of compound 4k and α-glucosidase. Our results will be helpful for designing of α-glucosidase inhibitors in the future.
Acetamides ; Glycoside Hydrolase Inhibitors ; chemical synthesis ; pharmacology ; Hypoglycemic Agents ; chemical synthesis ; pharmacology ; Molecular Docking Simulation ; Structure-Activity Relationship ; alpha-Glucosidases ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo analyze the clinical and genetic features of a family with Parkinson's disease caused by expansion of CAG triplet repeat in the ATXN2 gene.

METHODSThe CAG/CAA repeat in the ATXN2 gene was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Sanger sequencing.

RESULTSMolecular testing has documented a pathological heterozygous expansion of the CAG repeat from 33 to 35 in 6 patients and other 8 family members. Two patients had pure CAG triplet repeat expansion in their ATXN2 gene, while others had CAA interruption.

CONCLUSIONExpanded CAG/CAA repeat in the ATXN2 gene is the causative mutation of the disease in this family.The 8 members with expanded CAG/CAA repeat may be asymptomatic patients. It is supposed that the number and configuration of the ATXN2 CAG/CAA repeat expansion may play an important role in the phenotypic variability of Parkinson's disease.

Aged ; Ataxin-2 ; genetics ; Base Sequence ; Family Health ; Female ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; genetics ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Parkinson Disease ; genetics ; pathology ; Pedigree ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; methods ; Trinucleotide Repeat Expansion ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effect of the platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB) on the phenotypic transformation of corpus cavernosum smooth muscle cells (CCSMC) in SD rats.

METHODSCCSMCs were primarily cultured in the modified tissue sticking medium and subjected to immunofluorescence assay. The cells were divided into a blank control and four PDGF-BB groups, the latter exposed to 5, 10, 20, and 40 ng/ml of PDGF-BB, respectively, for 24 hours, and the cells in the 20 ng/ml PDGF-BB group treated for 24, 48, and 72 hours. The the relative expressions of α-SMA, SMMHC, calponin, and OPN mRNA were determined by real-time fluorescence quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR).

RESULTSThe α-SMA positive rate of the CCSMCs was over 95%. Compared with the blank control group, the expression levels of α-SMA, SMMHC, and calponin mRNA were significantly decreased (P < 0.05) while that of OPN mRNA remarkably increased (P < 0.05) in the PDGF-BB groups. The 20 ng/ml PDGF-BB group also showed significantly downregulated expressions of α-SMA, SMMHC, and calponin mRNA (P < 0.05) and upregulated expression of OPN mRNA (P < 0.05) at 24, 48, and 72 hours.

CONCLUSIONPDGF-BB can induce the transformation of the phenotype of CCSMCs in SD rats from the contractile to the synthetic type.

Actins ; metabolism ; Animals ; Calcium-Binding Proteins ; metabolism ; Cell Culture Techniques ; Cells, Cultured ; Male ; Microfilament Proteins ; metabolism ; Muscle Contraction ; Myocytes, Smooth Muscle ; cytology ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Myosin Heavy Chains ; metabolism ; Penis ; cytology ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Phenotype ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-sis ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; RNA, Messenger ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Time Factors

In order to solve the adhesion and the softening problems of traditional Chinese medicine extract during spray drying, a new method of adding dehumidified air into spray drying process was proposed, and the storage stability conditions of extract powder could be predicted. Kouyanqing extract was taken as model drug to investigate on the wet air (RH = 70%) and dry air conditions of spray drying. Under the dry air condition, the influence of the spray drying result with different air compression ratio and the spray-dried powder properties (extract powder recovery rate, adhesion percentage, water content, angle of repose, compression ratio, particle size and distribution) with 100, 110, 120, 130, 140 °C inlet temperature were studied. The hygroscopic investigation and Tg value with different moisture content of ideal powder were determined. The water activity-equilibrium moisture content (aw-EMC) and the equilibrium moisture content-Tg (EMC-Tg) relationships were fitted by GAB equation and Gordon-Taylor model respectively, and the state diagram of kouyanqing powder was obtained to guide the rational storage conditions. The study found that in the condition of dry air, the extract powder water content decreased with the increase of air compression ratio and the spray drying effect with air compression ratio of 100% was the best performance; in the condition of wet air, the extract powder with high water content and low yield, and the value were 4.26% and 16.73 °C, while, in the dry air condition the values were 2.43% and 24.86 °C with the same other instru- ment parameters. From the analysis of kouyanqing powder state diagram, in order to keep the stability, the critical water content of 3.42% and the critical water content of 0.188. As the water decreased Tg value of extract powder is the major problem of causing adhesion and softening during spray drying, it is meaningful to aid dehumidified air during the process.
Drug Stability ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Humidity ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Plant Extracts ; chemistry ; Powders ; Temperature