Humans ; Aged ; Lung Diseases ; Pneumonia/drug therapy* ; Adrenal Cortex Hormones/therapeutic use* ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive/drug therapy* ; Administration, Inhalation ; Community-Acquired Infections/drug therapy*

OBJECTIVE:To study the chemical constituents in the chloroform extract of Fructus Canarii. METHODS:The chloroform extract of Fructus Canarii was isolated and purified by MCI,Toyopearl HW-40F,reverse-phase C18,Sephadex LH-20 column. The structure of compounds was analyzed and identified by physicochemical properties and spectral data(mass spectrum, hydrogen spectrum and carbon spectrum). RESULTS:Eight compounds were isolated from chloroform extract of Fructus Canarii, namely Dihydrophaseicacid-3′-O-β-D-glucopyranoside(1),3,4-Dihydroxybenzoic acid(2),3-O-galloylquinic acid(3),Gallic acid (4), Ethyl gallate(5), Scopoletin(6), Dllagic acid-4-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside(7) and Isocorilagin(8). CONCLUSIONS:Compounds 1,2 and 7 were firstly obtained from Fructus Canarii. The study lays foundation for quality evaluation of Fructus Canarii.

Angiosteosis is associated with increased vascular stiffness and leads to clinical manifestations such as high blood pressure and heart failure,which increases the risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.Angiosteosis is considered to be ectopic deposits of calcium phosphate crystallization in the form of hydroxyapatite in cardiovascular tissue.However,the mechanism of angiosteosis is not yet clear.The pathophysiologic process of angiosteosis is similar to normal bone mineralization.Matrix vesicles (MV) play an important role in bone mineralization.Researches confirmed the existence of MV in the calcified arteries under the microscope.Angiosteosis is widely found in clinical diseases,so the studies of the mechanism of angiosteosis and the role of MV in angiosteosis are of great significance.

The HPLC fingerprint differences ofRadix Platycodonis from different origins were studied to provide references for their quality control and production. The total platycodins were purified by DB101 macroporous resin. HPLC-ELSD fingerprints of the total platycodins for 39 batches ofRadix Platycodonis samples from 9 provinces were performed on an Agilent HC-C8 column (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5μm) with gradient elution. The mobile phase was acetonitrile-0.5% acetic acid. The injection volume was 6μL. The flow rate was 0.5 mL·min-1. The temperature of drift tube was set at 90℃. And the gas flow (N2) was set at 1.2 mL·min-1. The results showed that there were large differences in the quality ofRadix Platycodonis from different origins with the common fingerprints of 6 batches of samples fromChifeng in Inner Mongolia as references. The quality ofRadix Platycodonis was closely related to the seeds, the ecological environment, the way of drying and storing and so on. It was concluded that it was important to strengthen the provenance base construction, standardization of the seeds, reasonable formulation of the regionalization, and standardization of the production processing for the cultivation and production ofRadix Platycodonis.

This study was aimed to compare the expectorant and antitussive actions ofPlatycodon grandilforum from different production areas in order to provide references for its cultivation and production. The antitussive activities ofP. grandilforum water extract from different areas were investigated through testing the cough times induced by ammonium hydroxide in mice. And the expectorant activities were studied by testing the amount of tracheal phenolsulfonphthalein excretion in mice. The results showed that the minimum effective dose ofP. grandiflorum fromChifeng of Inner Mongolia was 0.2 g·kg-1. Under this dosage,P. grandiflorum fromChifeng of Inner Mongolia can significantly reduce the cough frequency in mice (P < 0.01), and significantly prolong the cough incubation period in mice (P < 0.01).P. grandiflorum fromSichuan province,Shangzhou ofShaanxi province andChongqing can significantly decrease the cough frequency in mice (P < 0.05). P. grandiflorum from Sichuan province,Shangzhou ofShaanxi province andChifeng of Inner Mongolia can significantly increase the phenolsulfonphthalein excretion quantity in mice (P < 0.05). It was concluded thatP. grandilforum was effective for relieving cough and removing sputum. The effect ofP. grandilforum fromChifeng of Inner Mongolia was obviously stronger than that from other areas.

Objective To evaluate the body burden of Cadmium(Cd) in normal children from Shenyang city,and to analyze the effect of Cd on kidney.Furthermore,to investigate the influences of living factors on the level of Cd in children,so as to make recommendations for children's health.Methods The subjects was composed of 1 170 healthy children recruited from 0 to 17 years old by cluster random sampling method.They were divided into three groups(0-5 years old group,6-11 years old group,12-17 years old group).Questionnaires were used to obtain essential information about age,gender,weight,socioeconomic status,medication,and so on.Second morning urine samples were collected to make routine analyses,urinary Cd(Cdob),urine microalbumin(MALB) and α1-microglobulin(α1-MG).Results 1.A total of 1 070 children including 544 males and 526 females were enrolled.2.The concentration of Cdob increased with age,in agreement with the level of urinary Cd corrected by urine specific gravity (Cdsg).However,the level of Cd in urine corrected by urinary creatinine(Cdcr) presented the opposite status with the age increasing.3.Cdcr and urine MALB adjusted by urinary creatinin(MALBcr) revealed a positive correlation(rs =0.45,P ＜ 0.01).4.Preference values for Cdob and Cdsg,Cdcr respectively were:0-5 years old ＜0.56 μg/L,＜0.83 μg/L and ＜2.17 μg/g Cr;6-11 years old ＜0.65 μg/L,＜1.01 μg/L and ＜1.23 μg/g Cr;12-17 years old ＜0.74 μg/L,＜1.15 μg/L and ＜ 1.25 μg/g Cr.Conclusions There is an age-dependent cumulative increases in Cdob.Although renal damage was not found in this study,the uptake of Cd should be reduced as much as possible and it is necessary to strengthen the follow-up study of Cdob in body burden.

Syndrome, a very important concept in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), is the essence and characteristics of TCM theory. Progress of related studies on syndrome will drive the development of TCM. Therefore, clinical and basic researches on syndrome have focused on the hotspot of TCM. In recent 60 years, many scholars have discussed the concept, essence and the establishment of standardization of syndrome from different angles and layers. Although many results have been obtained, there is still a certain one sidedness and dispute. Therefore, looking for a new theoretical tool to reveal the scientific connotation of TCM syndrome is imperative. TCM syndrome and biological entropy belong to two different subject concepts, but can also reveal the physiological and pathological state in the changes of life body growth. This article discussed isomorphism of TCM syndrome and biological entropy from the concept, theoretical background and characteristics, with a purpose to provide certain guiding significance to study and promote standardized researches on TCM syndrome.

Objective To explore the related factors of anxiety and gloomy mentality people aged 60-80 years and investigate the effectiue methods to intervention.Methods A follow-up study was proportional and carried out in Xicheng district of Beijing.Multi-phase,stratified,unequal cluster sampling was adopted to investigate old people in 2011 with WHO-QOL,Memorial University of Newfoundl and Scale of Happiness,Social Support Rating Scale,Self-Rating Anxiety Scale and Self-rating Depression Scale.2342 old people were randomly divided into control group and trial group.The trial group received health education,community social support,lightening the psychological stress in face to face,psychology guiding and group discussion.The control group received general observation only.Results Among 2342 old people,126 (5.3％) obtained anxiety and 201(8.6％) had gloomy mentality.The anxiety in the elderly was significantly related to age,marriment,culture,job,family type,family relationship,housing,income,medical insurance,retirement type,reading,keeping pets,character,training,feeling adjusting,life quality,subjective well-being,social support,depression (all P ＜ 0.05).The depression in the elderly was significantly related to gender,marriment,culture,job,family type,family relationship,housing,income,medical insurance,retirement type,reading,watching plays,character,feeling adjusting,drinking,training,life quality,subjective well-being,social support,anxiety (all P＜0.05).Scores of two groups had no significant difference before intervention.The change in scores of anxiety and depression in the trial group was obviously lower than in control group (P＜0.05).Conclusions The anxiety and gloomy mentality are common in old people aged 60-80 years in Xicheng District,which independently associated with related factors such as life quality,subjective well-being,social support and so on.After 6 months of treatment,the scores of anxiety and depression in the trial group is obviously lower than in control group.

We screened differential expression bone-related microRNAs (miRNAs) in serum of patients with osteogenesis imperfect (OI). First, we selected the reference gene (s) fit for quantitative detection of serum miRNAs by using geNorm and several other programmes. Then real-time fluorescent quntitative PCR was used to detect the expression level of bone-related miRNAs gained by means of miRanda, Targetscan and Pictar softwares caculation and reading literature. Then, the results were analyzed with the matched t test. All 6 candidate reference genes had a stable expression level in serum of healthy controls and patients with different characters, and the optimal number of reference genes is 4 (miR-16, let-7a, snRNAU6, miR-92a) after Pairwise Variations analysis (V4/5 = 0.133 < 0.15). For validating the universality of expression stability, we detected the relative expression value of miR-16, let-7a, snRNAU6 and miR-92a in another 8 healthy controls and 16 patients with OI and the result revealed that the expression of 4 genes remained stable (M < 1.5). After measuring serum levels of more than 100 bone-related miRNAs in patients with real-time qPCR, 11 miRNAs showed differential expression, and bioinformatic analysis suggested these altered expressional mioRNAs had possibilities to participate in the process of OI. So the experiment indicated that there existed many differential expression bone-related miRNAs in serum of patients with OI, and these miRNAs had potentials to be promising biomarkers for serologic tests and diagnosis of OI.
Biomarkers ; blood ; Case-Control Studies ; Child ; Female ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Gene Expression Regulation ; Humans ; Male ; MicroRNAs ; blood ; genetics ; Osteogenesis Imperfecta ; blood ; genetics

Objective Carbonic anhydrase 1 (CA1) not only enhances the hydration reaction but also promotes the formation of CaCO3,which is an essential step for new bone formation in vitro.However,there is no direct evidence to demonstrate the involvement of CA1 in bio-mineralization in cells and tissues.This study is aimed to evaluate the important role of CA1 in bio-mineralization and ossification in cultured cells.Methods Calcification in Saos-2 cells was induced using osteogenic medium (OM) and the calcification was determined by Alizarin Red-S staining.The expressions of ossification protein marker Runt-related transcription factor-2 (Runx2),osterix (OSX),alkaline phosphatase (ALP),osteocalcin (OCN) and bone sialoprotein (BSP) were detected in the process of bone formation by real-time PCR.The expression of CA 1 in the calcified cells were measured using real-time PCR and Western blotting.We also detected calcification in Saos-2 cells in the presence of acetazolamide,an anti-carbonic anhydrase drug to CA1,to determine the role of CA1 in biomineralization in culture cells.T test analysis was used to compare the two groups,M-ANOVA of repeated measurs was conducted for different time point.Results Following the stimulation of OM,Saos-2 cells produced a great amount of calcium-rich deposits [0.68±0.03 vs 2.76±0.13,P＜0.01].Increased transcriptions of ossification protein markers were also detected in these stimulated Saos-2 cells,indicating that the OM launched the process of bone formation in the cells.CA1 had a significantly increased expression during this process [0.25±0.03 vs 0.94±0.06,P＜0.01].Following treatment with acetazolamide,the expression of CA1 evidently declined [1.09±0.05 vs 0.55±0.07,P＜0.05],and the mineralized nodule formation was declined [2.76±0.13 vs 2.19±0.07,P＜0.01].Conclusion These findings indicate that CA1 participates in the biomineralization and ossification,and may play an important roles in bone formation.