[Objective]To investigate the evolution process of the ancient Chinese term"fuju(?咀)"and to clarify the pruning processing methods of"fuju"in traditional Chinese medical formulas.[Methods]Through literature review,content analysis and comparative analysis,sorting out a large number of traditional Chinese medicine and pharmacy incunabula,dictionaries and agricultural books related to the term"fuju",analyzing the characteristics of formulas and medicinals,and comparing it with other works horizontally and vertically,a reasonable understanding of the development and operation methods of the term"fuju"is formed.[Results]The medical records from the Mawangdui Han Tombs mention the characters"父且",In Shuowen Jiezi,there was a character"咀"which was most similar to"?咀".The closest word to"?咀"was"哺咀".The methods of"?咀"were recorded in medical books such as Inner Canon of Huangdi,Treatise on Febrile Diseases,Handbook of Prescriptions for Emergency,Inner Chapter of Baopuzi,Variorum of the Classic of Materia Medica,Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Pieces of Gold for Emergencies during the Han and Tang Dynasties.TAO Hongjing clearly defined the operation of"fuju"as fine cutting.In a large number of prescriptions from the Song Dynasty,"?咀"was recorded.Classified Emergency Materia Medica explained"?咀"as"Taste the flavor".The rhyme books Guangyun and Jiyun both had explanations for"?咀".In the Jin and Yuan Dynasties,LI Gao and WANG Haogu believed that"?咀"transformed from"teeth-biting"to"knife-grinding",whose purpose was to make the liquid of the decoction clear,and it was mainly used for treating arthralgia syndrome and exterior syndrome.In the Qing Dynasty,Annotation on Shuowen Jiezi recorded that"?咀"was related to"哺咀",and Kangxi Dictionary recorded that the meaning of"?咀"included chewing,tasting the flavor,discussing and deliberating,etc.It was explained in pharmacological works as chewing or biting finely.[Conclusion]There is a lack of historical continuity from the use of"fuju(父且)"in the medical books of various Han dynasty tombs to the use of"fuju(?咀)"in the medical books passed down through generations.As for the"fuju"method of processing medicinal materials,in most cases recorded in ancient medical literature,the processing method adopted should not be chewing.The etymology and early usage of"fuju"are currently not clear enough and still require further exploration.

[Objective]To investigate the evolution process of the ancient Chinese term"fuju(?咀)"and to clarify the pruning processing methods of"fuju"in traditional Chinese medical formulas.[Methods]Through literature review,content analysis and comparative analysis,sorting out a large number of traditional Chinese medicine and pharmacy incunabula,dictionaries and agricultural books related to the term"fuju",analyzing the characteristics of formulas and medicinals,and comparing it with other works horizontally and vertically,a reasonable understanding of the development and operation methods of the term"fuju"is formed.[Results]The medical records from the Mawangdui Han Tombs mention the characters"父且",In Shuowen Jiezi,there was a character"咀"which was most similar to"?咀".The closest word to"?咀"was"哺咀".The methods of"?咀"were recorded in medical books such as Inner Canon of Huangdi,Treatise on Febrile Diseases,Handbook of Prescriptions for Emergency,Inner Chapter of Baopuzi,Variorum of the Classic of Materia Medica,Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Pieces of Gold for Emergencies during the Han and Tang Dynasties.TAO Hongjing clearly defined the operation of"fuju"as fine cutting.In a large number of prescriptions from the Song Dynasty,"?咀"was recorded.Classified Emergency Materia Medica explained"?咀"as"Taste the flavor".The rhyme books Guangyun and Jiyun both had explanations for"?咀".In the Jin and Yuan Dynasties,LI Gao and WANG Haogu believed that"?咀"transformed from"teeth-biting"to"knife-grinding",whose purpose was to make the liquid of the decoction clear,and it was mainly used for treating arthralgia syndrome and exterior syndrome.In the Qing Dynasty,Annotation on Shuowen Jiezi recorded that"?咀"was related to"哺咀",and Kangxi Dictionary recorded that the meaning of"?咀"included chewing,tasting the flavor,discussing and deliberating,etc.It was explained in pharmacological works as chewing or biting finely.[Conclusion]There is a lack of historical continuity from the use of"fuju(父且)"in the medical books of various Han dynasty tombs to the use of"fuju(?咀)"in the medical books passed down through generations.As for the"fuju"method of processing medicinal materials,in most cases recorded in ancient medical literature,the processing method adopted should not be chewing.The etymology and early usage of"fuju"are currently not clear enough and still require further exploration.

BACKGROUNDTo investigate the expressions of matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 1 (TIMP-1) and their correlation with metastasis and prognosis in human lung cancer.

METHODSImmunohistochemical S-P method was used to detect the expression of MMP-9 and TIMP-1 in 65 lung cancer tissues, 35 hyperplastic and dysplastic epithelium from patients with non-cancerous pulmonary diseases, and 30 normal epithelial tissues of the lung.

RESULTSThe positive expression rates of MMP-9 in normal tissue, hyperplastic or dysplastic epithelium, and lung cancer tissue were 16.7%(5/30), 42.9%(15/35) and 72.3%(47/65) respectively, whereas the positive rates of TIMP-1 expression in normal tissue, hyperplastic or dysplastic epithelium, and lung cancer tissue were 6.7%(2/30), 28.6%(10/35) and 50.8%(33/65) respectively. Significant differences of the expression rates of MMP-9 and TIMP-1 were found between lung cancer and normal groups, between lung cancer and hyperplasia groups, and between hyperplasia and normal groups (P < 0.05). Small cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma had higher MMP-9 expression than squamous cell carcinoma (P < 0.025). Expression rate of MMP-9 had negative relation with cell differentiation of lung cancer (P < 0.05), and positive relation with TNM stage (P < 0.025). Between the survival time < 2 years group and ≥2 years groups, both the expressions of MMP-9 and TIMP-1 had significant difference (P < 0.05 ). The expression of MMP-9 was closely related to metastasis of lung cancer (P < 0.005), but the expression of TIMP-1 was not related to metastasis.

CONCLUSIONSOverexpression of MMP-9 may appear in precancerous lesion and at the early stage of lung cancer. Activation of MMP-9 gene may be an important factor for oncogenesis of the lung. MMP-9 and TIMP-1 may play important roles in lung cancer invasion and metastasis, their overexpression could act as a reference to evaluate metastasis and unfavourable prognosis of lung cancer.