Objective To investigate the correlation between the characteristics of peritumoral edema and the aggressiveness of breast invasive ductal carcinoma in preoperative magnetic resonance imaging(MRI).Methods A total of 79 patients(79 lesions)who underwent radical mastectomy in the First Affiliated Hospital of Ningbo University from January 2020 to May 2021 and were pathologically diagnosed as invasive ductal carcinoma were included in invasive ductal carcinoma group,and 45 patients(49 lesions)with benign breast lesions were included in benign lesion group during the same period.The difference of peritumoral edema between two groups and the relationship between different pathological features of invasive ductal carcinoma and peritumoral edema were compared.Results The peritumoral edema in benign lesion group was significantly less severe than that in invasive ductal carcinoma group(χ2=25.330,P<0.05).The tumor size of invasive ductal carcinoma group was positively correlated with the degree of peritumoral edema(r=0.381,P<0.05).There were significant differences in molecular type,histological grade,T stage,lymph node metastasis and Ki-67 expression level among patients with different peritumoral edema grades(P<0.05).Ki-67 expression level and the number of lymph node metastasis were positively correlated with the degree of peritumoral edema(r=0.348,0.273,P<0.05).Conclusion The degree of peritumoral edema in MRI correlates with the aggressiveness of breast invasive ductal carcinoma and can be used as one of the tools to evaluate breast carcinoma.

Sjögren's syndrome （SS）， a disorder of immune system， is one of the dominant diseases treated by traditional Chinese medicine （TCM）. China Association of Chinese Medicine organized experts in the field of TCM and western medicine rheumatology and pharmacology to discuss the advantages and optimal regimens of TCM for the treatment of SS. The experts generally agreed on the low early diagnosis rate of SS and the lack of targeted therapeutic drugs. In addition， autoimmune abnormality is the key factor in the occurrence of SS and deficiency of both Qi and Yin is the core pathogenesis. SS has unique tongue manifestations， which is expected to allow for the early diagnosis and treatment with integrated traditional Chinese and western medicine. TCM has advantages in treating SS in terms of alleviating clinical symptoms and systemic involvement， individualized treatment， relieving sleep and mood disorders， preventing the occurrence in the early stage， and enhancing the effectiveness and reducing toxicity in the treatment by integrated TCM and western medicine. In general， TCM has advantages in different stages of SS. Internal and external use of TCM， acupuncture， and acupotome are all available options. The optimal regimens should be determined on the basis of pattern identification， stage of disease， and the advantages of TCM. Clinical characteristics and biomarkers of SS should be studied to classify patients， so as to design precision evidence-based TCM regimens for SS. On the basis of unique tongue manifestations of SS， models for early diagnosis and poor prognosis identification of SS should also be established to achieve early prevention and treatment and to improve the prognosis. In the future， we should vigorously carry out high-quality evidence-based medical research on the treatment of SS by TCM and integrated traditional Chinese and western medicine and develop relevant guidelines to optimize and standardize current diagnosis and treatment， thereby laying a basis for clarifying and explaining the advantages of TCM in treating SS.

Chinese medicine entered a significant period from foundation to maturity between Han and Tang dynasties when the Chinese traditional stomatology was a key stage. Sorting and analysis of existing literature and research outcomes have showed that current research on stomatology between Han and Tang dynasties focuses on oral physiology, pathology, diagnosis and treatment, and health care. It also involves stomatology history and explanation of termino-logies related to mouth and teeth recorded in medical books, use of simple methods, and thinking with citation and analysis of literature simply listed and reasoning preliminarily deducted. From the macro perspective, current research has not unveiled the whole picture of stomatology between the two dynasties and left a series of key issues unresolved. Thus, new methods should be developed and employed to carry out medical research on stomatology between Han and Tang dynasties given that is has a prosperous future.
Mouth ; Oral Medicine ; Cognition ; China ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional

Objective:To explore the mediating role of self-perceptions of aging between frailty and cognitive function in community-dwelling older adults.Methods:From February to July 2021, a total of 528 elderly people in Xinxiang community were investigated with the frailty phenotype, the brief self-perceptions ageing questionnaire and the Mini-mental state examination(MMSE) scale.According to the MMSE total score and education level, the subjects were divided into cognitive impairment group (illiteracy≤17, primary school≤20, junior high school and above≤24, n=74) and cognitive normal group( n=454). SPSS 25.0 software was used for common method deviation test, descriptive statistics and correlation analysis, while AMOS 24.0 software was used to build structural equation model and Bootstrap method was used for intermediary effect test. Results:(1)The prevalence of cognitive impairment among the elderly in the community was 14.1%. The differences between the cognitively normal group and cognitively impaired group were statistically significant in terms of age, education, number of chronic diseases suffered and depression ( χ2=59.21, 6.53, 9.84, 25.47, all P<0.05). The differences were statistically significant in terms of frailty( χ2=75.65, P<0.001) and self-perceptions of aging ( t=77.67, P<0.001). (2)Self-perceptions of aging in the cognitively impaired group (47.39±8.66) was higher than that in the cognitively normal group (38.22±8.24) ( t=77.67, P<0.001) .Frailty score in cognitively impaired group (2.00 (1.00, 3.00)) was higher than that in the cognitively normal group (0.00 (0.00, 1.00))( Z=-8.63, P<0.001) . (3)Frailty was negatively correlated with cognitive function ( r=-0.492, P<0.01), and positively correlated with self-perceptions of aging ( r=0.540, P<0.01). Self-perceptions of aging was negatively correlated with cognitive function ( r=-0.541, P<0.01) . After controlling the influencing factors such as age, education level, chronic diseases and depression, the correlation was still significant (all P<0.01) . (4) Self-perceptions of aging played a partially mediating role in the relationship between frailty and cognitive function, the mediating effect accounted for 58.5% of the total effect. Conclusion:Frailty and self-perceptions of aging have a significant impact on the cognitive function of the elderly in the community, and self-perceptions of aging plays a partial intermediary role between the frailty and cognitive function of the elderly in the community.

The brain pericyte is a unique and indispensable part of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), and contributes to several pathological processes in traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which pericytes are regulated in the damaged brain are largely unknown. Here, we show that the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) induces the appearance of CD11b⁺ pericytes after TBI. These CD11b⁺ pericyte subsets are characterized by increased permeability and pro-inflammatory profiles compared to CD11b^- pericytes. Moreover, histones from NETs by Dectin-1 facilitate CD11b induction in brain pericytes in PKC-c-Jun dependent manner, resulting in neuroinflammation and BBB dysfunction after TBI. These data indicate that neutrophil-NET-pericyte and histone-Dectin-1-CD11b are possible mechanisms for the activation and dysfunction of pericytes. Targeting NETs formation and Dectin-1 are promising means of treating TBI.
Blood-Brain Barrier/metabolism* ; Brain/pathology* ; Brain Injuries, Traumatic/metabolism* ; Extracellular Traps/metabolism* ; Histones ; Humans ; Lectins, C-Type ; Pericytes/pathology*

In this study, we explored the rationality of processing methods and mechanism of Aconiti Lateralis Radix (Fuzi) through comparing the chemical contents of diester alkaloids (DAs) and monoester alkaloids (MAs) in the raw material of Fuzi and its processed products. The results showed that the toxicity potency of MAs is at least lower than 1/64 to 1/180 of the toxicity potency of DAs. The contents of DAs in processed Fuzi decreased to 1/76.5 to 1/38.3 of the value of raw Fuzi. The contents of MAs in processed Fuzi significantly increased by 4.6 to 5.2 fold or basically the same as that of the raw Fuzi. The values of MAs/DAs of processed Fuzi were enhanced by 30 to 390 fold of the raw Fuzi. It was found that the contents of DAs were insignificantly different between "Wu dan fu pian" (steaming or stir-frying without Danba) and "Dan fu pian" (steaming or stir-frying with Danba). The result suggested that the abilities of "eliminating toxicity" of different processing methods were equivalent at all. In contrast, the contents of MAs contained in "Wu dan fu pian" were of 5.3 to 8.7 fold higher than the values in "Dan fu pian". This result suggested the processing method by steaming or stir-frying without Danba might have better effect for "conserving property" than the method processed with Danba stipulated by China Pharmacopoeia. We believe that the new processing method without Danba can be recommended in further application due to it offers a simple procedure and it will not introduce inorganic impurities in the products.

OBJECTIVETo probe into the influences of different granule sizes and to prepare procedures on rational clinical usage of rhubarb based on chemical equivalence.

METHODThe effects of particle size, extract solvent, extract time and repeat times, and pre-extract or pro-extract of rhubarb on the extract amounts of the anthraquinones (AQs) were compared.

RESULTThe different prepare procedures investigated in the paper revealed significant influence on the extract amounts of the AQs and those extracts were not chemical equivalent. Ethanol extracted more AQs than water did, when other conditions were same. When extracted with water, the rhubarb of piece size 0.8-1.2 cm could extract relatively high amount of AQs nearly equal to superfine grinded powders, and the former was cheap. The water extraction of AQs showed an increasing trend with the extraction time extended. And pro-extract manner with water could extract more AQs than pre-extract manner with a extraction time of 30, 60 min. The water extraction of AQs repeated two times exceeded half of the amount of totally six times. When extracted with ethanol, the rhubarb of fine powders could extract relatively high amount of AQs nearly equal to superfine grinded powders. And pre-extract manner with ethanol could extract more AQs than pro-extract manner. The ethanol extraction of AQs increased in 30 min and then increased slower. The ethanol extraction of AQs repeated two times exceeded 70% of the amount of totally six times. So, the optimal conditions for water extraction rhubarb were pro-extract, two times repeated and 30 min per time; and the optimal conditions for ethanol extract were pre-extract, two times repeated and 30 min per time.

CONCLUSIONThe different prepare procedures showed significant influence on the extraction of rhubarb AQs. There is great need to establish a good usage practice (GUP) for Chinese Materia Medica to maintain rational clinical usage.

The clinical ability of employees in laboratory medicine refers to their ability to give useful information and helps for clinical diagnosis and treatment.In laboratory medicine education,the cultivation of the undergraduates'clinical ability should be strengthened.Case teaching and clinical signs analysis is practical to the cultivation of clinical ability.In addition,we should carry out the reform of the teaching materials in order to adapt to the requirements of the clinical ability training. Improving the clinical ability should be the students' a lifelong career planning.

Through our pre-investigation and literature analysis, it was found that rhubarb could be categorized into two types, chrysophanol-type and rhein-type, based on the proportion of the two constituents in the total content of anthraquinones after acid hydrolysis. In this paper, the antimicrobial activities of chrysophanol-type and rhein-type rhubarbs against Staphylococcus aureus were compared with microcalorimetric analysis, in order to illustrate the bioactive differentiability between the two chemotypes. For the aim to display the distinction of chrysophanol and rhein percentage in total anthraquinones, the sampling volume was regulated to make the total anthraquinones equivalent, thus, the antimicrobial difference was only attributed to the difference of chemotypes. The results indicated that the antimicrobial difference between the two chemotypes was confirmable labeled at the biothermokinetic parameters of S. aureus growth affected by the rhubarb samples. The growth rate constant (k1) of the first exponential phase for the growth of S. aureus affected by the rhein-type rhubarb was significantly lower than that of chrysophanol-type (P<0.01), which suggested stronger antimicrobial activity of rhein-type rhubarb than that of chrysophanol-type. However, the antimicrobial activities of rhein-type rhubarbs were not positively correlated to the contents of rhein. It suggested that the antimicrobial activity of rhubarb might be related to some unknown components which were of same accumulating pattern of rhein. The findings in present study provided some experimental evidence on categorizing rhubarb into two chemotypes through the difference of antimicrobial activity on S. aureus by microcalorimetric analysis and, further, offered references to revision of the commercial specification of rhubarb from chemical view.

The differences of 34 rhubarb samples collected on the market and at producing area were investigated by chemical analysis on the contents of anthraquinones and chromatographic fingerprints, in order to assess the rationality of the commercial specification of rhubarb. The results indicated that the commercial specification of rhubarb was not correlated to the contents of anthraquinones as well as the price. The chromatographic fingerprints of rhubarb samples from different producing area were dissimilar, while the commercial specifications were difficult to be separated. Generally, the rhubarb samples produced in famous-region contained more anthraquinones. This demonstrated rationality on the traditional records of the famous-region of rhubarb from a chemical view. In this study, it was firstly reported that rhubarb could be categorized into two types, chrysophanol-type and rhein-type, based on the proportion of the two constituents in the total anthraquinones after acid hydrohysis. It was found that the rhubarb samples of rhein-type were mostly produced in famous-regions, such as Qinghai, Xizang, West Sichuan and Gansu. The literatures reported that rhein was superior to chrysophanol at many pharmacological effects and pharmacokinetic properties. Hence, we primarily considered that rhein-type rhubarb might be high-quality. These results were helpful to improve the commercial specification of rhubarb from a view of chemical information.
China ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; Quality Control ; Rheum ; chemistry