Effects of Xuefu Zhuyu decoction on serum asymmetric dimethylarginine in atherosclerosis rabbits / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the effect of Xuefu Zhuyu decoction on serum asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) level of the atherosclerosis rabbits.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Twenty-four male rabbits were randomly divided into three groups: control group (n = 8) was fed with normal diet; the model group (n = 8) was fed with high fat/high cholesterol diet; and Xuefu Zhuyu decoction group (n = 8) was fed with high fat/high cholesterol diet and intragastric administrated with Xuefu Zhuyu decoction 7.10 g x kg(-1) x d(-1). Concentrations of serum total cholesterol (TC), total triglyceride (TG), low density lipoprotein (LDL), serum ADMA and serum nitric oxide (NO) were measured after eight weeks. Rabbits' aorta were made into the pathological section to observe the pathology changes degree and atherosclerotic plaqu mean gray value and plaque area were analyzed by OPTIMAS image analysis system.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>1) Compared with the aortic atherosclerotic plaqu mean gray value of Xuefu Zhuyu decoction group 175.56 +/- 12.30, those of the model group 198.91 +/- 5.08 were significant higher (P < 0.01). Significant difference were found between the the aortic atherosclerotic plaque area of the model group (4.80 +/- 0.83) mm2 and Xuefu Zhuyu decoction group (1.96 +/- 0.48) mm2 (P < 0.01). There were no atherosclerotic plaque in the control group rabbits' aorta. 2) The serum TC (23.42 +/- 7.80) mmol x L(-1), TG (2.37 +/- 0.42) mmol x L(-1) and LDL (17.24 +/- 8.29) mmol x L(-1) of the model group were higher than those of Xuefu Zhuyu decoction group (P < 0.01); Compared with control group, the serum TC (15.63 +/- 4.12) mmol x L(-1) and LDL (7.64 +/- 2.36) mmol x L(-1) of the Xuefu Zhuyu decoction group increased significantly, while there were no significant changes between serum TG of control group (1.11 +/- 0.26) mmol x L(-1) and serum TG of Xuefu Zhuyu decoction group (1.43 +/- 0.34) mmol x L(-1). The serum ADMA of the model group (1.57 +/- 0.17) micromol x L(-1) were higher than those of Xuefu Zhuyu decoction group (1.01 +/- 0.13) micromol x L(-1) (P < 0.01), while the serum NO of the model group (8.76 +/- 2.42) micromol x L(-1) were significantly lower than those of Xuefu Zhuyu decoction group (15.90 +/- 2.38) micromol x L(-1) (P < 0.01). There were no significant difference between the serum ADMA of the control group (0.93 +/- 0.11) micromol x L(-1) and Xuefu Zhuyu decoction group. Compared with Xuefu Zhuyu decoction group, the serum NO of the control group (17.88 +/- 3.34) micromol x L(-1) have no significant difference. 3) The serum ADMA of all rabbits negatively correlated to the serum NO (r = -0.773), (P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Xuefu Zhuyu decoction can decrease the serum ADMA level in atherosclerosis rabbits. The effect of Xuefu Zhuyu decoction on anti-atherosclerosis may be related to the decreased serum ADMA level.</p>

Changes in proportion of decidua and peripheral blood CD+4 CD+25 regulatory T cells in unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion patients / 中华妇产科杂志

Objective To study the changes in the percentage of CD+4 CD+25 regulatory T (Tr) cells in peripheral blood and deciduas in unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion (URSA) patients, normal non-pregnant and pregnant women respectively. Methods The percentage of CD+4 CD+25 Tr cells in deciduas and peripheral blood from 25 URSA patients, 22 normal non-pregnant (NNP) women, and 34 normal early pregnant (NP) women were measured by double-staining followed by flow cytometric analysis. Results (1) The percentage of CD+4 CDbright25 T cells in peripheral blood in both URSA and NP [ ( 1.55±0.77 ) %, (2. 65±1.10)%, respectively] women were increased significantly than that in NNP women [ (0. 39± 0.14)% P<0.05]. The percentage of CD+4 CDbright25 T cells in peripheral blood in URSA women was significantly lower than that in NP women (P<0.05 ). (2) The percentage of CD+4 CDbright25 T cells in decidua in URSA women was significantly lower than that in NP women [ ( 0. 59±0. 23 ) %, ( 1.24 ± 0. 55)%, respectively, P <0. 01 ]. There was no significant difference in the percentage of CD+4 CDdim25 T cells in decidua between URSA women and NP women [ (4. 23±1.52)%, (3.75±1.88)%, respectively, P>0.05]. (3) The proportion of CD+4 CDbright25/CD+4 cells in deeiduas was significantly higher than that in peripheral blood in NP women [(13. 10±10. 25 ) %, ( 5.59±2.62 ) %, respectively, P < 0. 05 ] . However, a significant difference in the proportion of CD+4 CDbright25/CD+4 between decidua and peripheral blood was not found in URSA patients [ (5. 16±2. 83 ) %, ( 4. 64±2. 07 ) %, respectively, P>0.05)].Conclusions The number of CD+4 CD+25 Tr cells is increased in normal pregnancy and decreased in URSA. Therefore, CD+4 CD+25 Tr cells may play an important role in maintaining maternal-fetal tolerance and may be involved in the pathogenesis of URSA.