The safety of traditional Chinese medicine is affected by many factors, and the influence of exogenous harmful substances has been concerned and become a hot spot in recent years, especially heavy metals, pesticide residues and some other harmful substances. In order to explore the effects of non-soil and non-pesticide treatment on residues of these two harmful substances, the heavy metals and agricultural residues of Lilii Bulbus were detected, and the correlation of the data was analyzed. In this experiment, heavy metals and pesticide residues of Scrophulariae Radix were detected, and correlation analysis was conducted for their data. The mechanism of transport phase was interpreted with statistical moment similarity tool of total fingerprint by supramolecular chemistry theory. A large number of experimental data in this paper showed that heavy metals and pesticide contents in Lilii Bulbus basaltifolia had a positive correlation, which was closely related to supramolecular phenomena. Moreover, the similarity of fingerprints between Lilii Bulbus and Scrophulariae Radix suggested that Lilii Bulbus and Scrophulariae Radixa had a high selectivity in absorption of agricultural residues, which proved that the absorption of pesticides in Lilii Bulbus and Scrophulariae Radix from different habitats had the function of supramolecular imprinting template. It was considered that medicinal plant was a giant complex supramolecule with various levels of " imprinted template" . Heavy metals and agricultural residues were also involved in plant growth, forming an " imprinted template" for the formation of supramolecules between agricultural residues and heavy metals. After heavy metals and agricultural residues formed supramolecules, their liposolubility and permeability changed in varying degrees, and their transport in medicinal plants was promoted. Finally, the heavy metal supramolecules of pesticides were absorbed, distributed, aggregated and accumulated in plants. The purpose of the study was to reveal the mechanism of heavy metal and pesticide supramolecule transport, provide a new direction for the treatment of heavy metals and pesticide residues, and ensure the safety of traditional Chinese medicine.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the predictive value of cervical length（CL）changes in spontaneous preterm birth（SPTB）in twin pregnancies in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy.METHODS: A retrospective analysis was made of 166 cases of twin pregnant women who underwent transvaginal ultrasound to measure CL during the second trimester of pregnancy（20~25 weeks）and the third trimester of pregnancy（28~32 weeks）from January 2014 to December 2017 in the Third Hospital of Peking University and Tongzhou Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Beijing.Evaluate the predictive value of CL changes in SPTB before 32 and 34 weeks.The area under the receiver-operating characteristics（ROC）curve was compared by bootstrap method.Assessment of the value of CL in the third trimester of pregnancy and CL in the second trimester of pregnancy alone in predicting SPTB before 32 and 34 weeks.RESULTS: Of the 166 cases,90 were full-term delivery and 76 were premature delivery.The median CL of mid and late pregnancy was 34 mm and 29 mm respectively,and it was 35.5 mm and 31 mm,and in full-term delivery.32.5 mm and21 mm in premature delivery,respectively.There were significant differences among the three groups（All P<0.001）.According to whether the shortening of CL was more than 20%,they are divided into shortening group（CL shortening more than 20%,78 cases）and stabilizing group（no shortening of CL or shortening less than 20%,88 cases）.The preterm birth rate of shortening group was 2.22 times and 1.85 times higher than that of stabilizing group before 32 weeks and 34 weeks,but there was no significant difference.Of 40 cases with CL≤ 25 mm,there were 34 cases in shortening group,6 cases in stabilizing group.Excluding these twin pregnant women,the preterm birth rate in the shortening group increased by 7.58 times and 2.09 times than that in the stabilizing group before 32 weeks and 34 weeks.There was a significant difference in the preterm birth rate between the shortening group and the stabilizing group before 32 weeks（P=0.049）.The area under ROC curve of preterm birth predicted by CL in late pregnancy was increased compared with that in mid-pregnancy before 32 weeks and 34 weeks,but the difference was not statistically significant.CONCLUSION: In twin pregnancies,the CL shortening ≥ 20% at 28~32 weeks of gestation increases the risk of preterm birth before 32 weeks;with CL>25 mm and CL shortening≥ 20%,it can better predict preterm birth before 32 weeks.

The purpose of current study is to investigate the metabolic profile of a triptolide derivative (5R)-5-hydroxytriptolide in vitro. (5R)-5-Hydroxytriptolide was incubated with the hepatocytes of human, monkey, dog, rat or mouse, respectively. Compared with inactivated hepatocytes, four metabolites were identified in hepatocytes from all five species: oxidative ring-opening metabolite (M1), glutathione-conjugating metabolite (M2), and monooxidative combined with glutathione-conjugating metabolites (M3-1 and M3-2), respectively. In human or rat liver microsomes, seven metabolites of (5R)-5-hydroxytriptolide were found, dehydrogenated metabolite (M4) and monooxidative metabolites (M5-1–M5-6), respectively. Reference standards for the metabolites were obtained either through chemical semisynthesis or biotransformation through rat primary hepatocytes. The structures of five metabolites were confirmed, which were 12,13-epoxy ring-opening metabolite M1, 12-glutathione-conjugating metabolite M2, (16S)-, (2R)- and (19R)-monohydroxylated metabolites M5-1, M5-4, and M5-5, respectively. In vitro activity assay revealed that only (2R)-hydroxylated metabolite exhibited weak immunosuppressive activity with less than one-tenth the activity of its parent drug, and a significant decrease in toxicity was observed. It is suggested that (5R)-5-hydroxytriptolide might undergo metabolic inactivation and detoxification in vivo.

BackgroundLMNA-related muscular dystrophy can manifest in a wide variety of disorders, including Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy (EDMD), limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD), and LMNA-associated congenital muscular dystrophy (L-CMD). Muscle magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become a useful tool in the diagnostic workup of patients with muscle dystrophies. This study aimed to investigate whether there is a consistent pattern of MRI changes in patients with LMNA mutations in various muscle subtypes.

MethodsTwenty-two patients with LMNA-related muscular dystrophies were enrolled in this study. MRI of the thigh and/or calf muscles was performed in them. The muscle MRI features of the three subtypes were compared by the Mann-Whitney U-test. The relationship between the clinical and MRI findings was also investigated by Spearman's rank analyses.

ResultsThe present study included five EDMD, nine LGMD, and eight L-CMD patients. The thigh muscle MRI revealed that the fatty infiltration of the adductor magnus, semimembranosus, long and short heads of the biceps femoris, and vasti muscles, with relative sparing of the rectus femoris, was the predominant change observed in the EDMD, LGMD, and advanced-stage L-CMD phenotypes, although the involvement of the vasti muscles was not prominent in the early stage of L-CMD. At the level of the calf, six patients (one EDMD, four LGMD, and one L-CMD) also showed a similar pattern, in which the soleus and the medial and lateral gastrocnemius muscles were most frequently observed to have fatty infiltration. The fatty infiltration severity demonstrated higher scores associated with disease progression, with a corresponding rate of 1.483 + 0.075 × disease duration (X) (r = 0.444, P = 0.026). It was noteworthy that in six L-CMD patients with massive inflammatory cell infiltration in muscle pathology, no remarkable edema-like signals were observed in muscle MRI.

ConclusionsEDMD, LGMD and advanced-staged L-CMD subtypes showed similar pattern of muscle MRI changes, while early-staged L-CMD showed somewhat different changes. Muscle MRI of L-CMD with a muscular dystrophy pattern in MRI provided important clues for differentiating it from childhood inflammatory myopathy. The fatty infiltration score could be used as a reliable biomarker for outcome measure of disease progression.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; methods ; Male ; Muscular Dystrophies ; diagnostic imaging ; Muscular Dystrophies, Limb-Girdle ; diagnostic imaging ; Muscular Dystrophy, Emery-Dreifuss ; diagnostic imaging ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of Schistosoma japonicum cysteine protease inhibitor (rSjCystatin) for treatment of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced sepsis in mice.

METHODSAfter a week of adaptive feeding, 54 BALB/c mice were randomly divided into normal control group (group A), sepsis group (group B), and rSjCystatin intervention group (group C). The mice in group A received an intraperitoneal injection of PBS (100 µL), and those in groups B and C were injected with PBS (100 µL) containing LPS (10 mg/kg); the mice in group C were also intraperitoneally injected with 25 µg sjCystatin in 100 µL PBS 30 min after LPS injection. From each group, 10 mice were randomly selected 24 h after PBS or LPS injection for detecting serum levels of TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-10 using ELISA and the levels of ALT, AST, BUN, and Cr using automatic biochemical analyzer; the pathological changes in the liver, lung and kidney were observed with HE staining. The remaining 8 mice in each group were used for observing the changes in the general condition and the 72-h survival.

RESULTSThe 72-h survival rates of the mice was 100% in group A, 0 in group B, and 36% in group C, showing a significant difference among the 3 groups (P<0.05). Compared with those in group A, the mice in group B exhibited obvious liver, lung, and renal pathologies with increased levels of ALT, AST, BUN, Cr, IL-6, and TNF-α (P<0.05). Treatment with sjCystatin significantly lessened LPS-induced organ pathologies, lowered the levels of liver and renal functional indexes and the pro-inflammatory cytokines, and increased the serum level of IL-10 in the mice (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSjCystatin can produce a significant therapeutic effect on sepsis induced by LPS in mice.

Seasonal outbreaks of airsacculitis in China's poultry cause great economic losses annually. This study tried to unveil the potential role of Avian metapneumovirus (AMPV), Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale (ORT) and Chlamydia psittaci (CPS) in avian airsacculitis. A serological investigation of 673 breeder chickens and a case-controlled study of 430 birds were undertaken. Results showed that infection with AMPV, ORT, and CPS was highly associated with the disease. The correlation between AMPV and CPS were positively robust in both layers and broilers. Finally, we determined the co-infection with AMPV, ORT, and CPS was prevalent in the sampled poultry farms suffering from respiratory diseases and the outbreak of airsacculitis was closely related to simultaneous exposure to all three agents.
Air Sacs ; microbiology ; pathology ; Animals ; Antibodies, Bacterial ; blood ; Antibodies, Viral ; blood ; Case-Control Studies ; Chickens ; Chlamydia ; Chlamydia Infections ; microbiology ; pathology ; veterinary ; Coinfection ; Flavobacteriaceae Infections ; microbiology ; pathology ; veterinary ; Humans ; Metapneumovirus ; Ornithobacterium ; Paramyxoviridae Infections ; pathology ; veterinary ; virology ; Poultry Diseases ; microbiology ; pathology ; virology ; Respiratory Tract Diseases ; microbiology ; veterinary ; virology ; Seroepidemiologic Studies

Objective: To explore the importance and necessity that central sterile supply department (CSSD) carried out detection for insulating property of electrosurgical instrument so as to guarantee the safety of surgery for patients. Methods: 50 monopole instruments and 30 bipolar instruments were collected, and specific insulation tester was adopted to detect the insulation property of these instruments. Besides, the detection methods of electrosurgical instrument between home and abroad were compared so as to avoid and reduce the adverse events caused by the breakage of insulating layer of electrosurgical instrument. Results: The breakages of insulating layer of 5 monopole instruments and 2 bipolar instruments were found through detection and all of them were replaced. The same problem did not be found again after 2 months. The insulation tester was used to detect the insulation property of electrosurgical instruments could effectively found these instruments with damages of insulating layer. Conclusion:The damage of the insulation layer of the electrosurgical instruments may cause serious consequences and even threat safety of patients. Periodic detection for insulation property can effectively reduce and avoid the occurrence of same problems and guarantee the safety of patient. Therefore, it is very necessary measurement.