Research of Angelica sinensis polysaccharide's protection against bone marrow and spleen injury of rats by X-ray radiation / 中国药理学通报

Aim To investigate the protective effects of Angelica sinensis polysaccharides on bone marrow and spleen injury in SD rats induced by X-ray radiation.Methods Forty male SD rats were randomly divided into blank group,model group,low dose group of Angelica polysaccharide (63.5 mg · kg-1),Angelica polysaccharide middle dose group (127 mg · kg-1),and Angelica polysaccharide high dose group (254 mg · kg-1).The medicine group was treated daily with different concentrations of Angelica polysaccharide 2 mL gavage once,blank group and model group with an equal amount of distilled water instead.After a continuous administration of 7 d,X-ray irradiation was performed on rats except the blank group,with continuous exposure of 2 d,and the total radiation was at a dose of 6 Gy,then 3 d post the last radiation,the rats were sacrificed after anesthesia by bloodletting.The general quality of life,bone marrow nucleated cells,blood routine,spleen index,serum interferon gamma (IFN-γ)and interleukin-4 (IL-4) contents in each group of rats were detected.Pathological changes of spleen were observed under microscope.Results Compared with the blank group,the quality of life,bone marrow nucleated cells of rats in the model group,the number of white blood cells,spleen index,INF-γ and IL-4 expression significantly decreased,but the number of erythrocytes and hemoglobin increased significantly,and the difference was statistically significant (P ＜ 0.05).HE staining showed the decrease in splenic corpuscle atrophy,germinal center,white pulp and red pulp structural disorder,and the number of lymphocytes.Compared with the model group,Angelica polysaccharide group's survival quality,bone marrow nucleated cell number,the number of white blood cell,spleen index,INF-γand IL-4 expression markedly increased,but the number of erythrocytes and hemoglobin decreased significantly,and the difference was statistically significant (P ＜ 0.05).HE staining showed that pathological injury of spleen was alleviated,spleen body was visible,germinal center,red pulp and white pulp boundaries were still visible,and the number of lymphocytes increased.Conclusions Angelica sinensis polysaccharide can protect the bone marrow and spleen of SD rats induced by radiation,and the mechanism may be achieved by reducing the damage to hematopoietic cells and immune cells in the bone marrow and spleen,and replenishing blood and body fluid body.

Distribution of pathogenic microorganisms and its relationship with clinical features in children with community-acquired pneumonia / 中国当代儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the distribution of pathogenic microorganisms in different genders, age groups and seasons in children with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and the relationship between the distribution of pathogenic microorganisms and clinical features.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 1,155 children with CAP were enrolled, among whom there were 670 boys and 485 girls, with a mean age of 3.1±2.8 years (range: one month to 14 years). Indirect immunofluorescence assay, particle agglutination test, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, colloidal gold method. and bacterial culture were applied to determine common respiratory pathogenic microorganisms in sputum, throat swabs, blood samples, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, and urine.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>A total of 758 specimens (65.63%) were tested positive by pathogen detection. The top three dominant pathogens were Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP, 43.64%), bacteria (15.12%), and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV, 9.26%), and the rate of mixed infection was 16.02%. The rates of MP infection between boys and girls with CAP were different (40.8% vs 47.6%; P<0.05). The MP detection rate was the highest in the age group of 6-14 years (77.4%) and the lowest in children younger than 1 year (11.2%), while the detection rates of bacteria and RSV were the highest in children younger than 1 year (21.2% and 17.2%, respectively). The MP detection rate was significantly higher in summer and autumn than in winter and spring, while the detection rates of bacteria and RSV in summer and autumn were significantly lower than those in winter and spring. Among children who were MP positive, fever, chills, cough, crackles were more likely to appear; children with RSV infection were more likely to have wheezes; children with bacterial infection were less likely to have cough. Serum levels of C-reactive protein and procalcitonin were associated with bacterial infection (OR=1.747 and 1.418, respectively; both P<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>MP plays a more and more important role in the pathogenic microorganisms of CAP in children. Prevalence and outbreaks of MP infection among children should be alerted in summer and autumn. There are differences in the detection rate of various pathogenic microorganisms in CAP children with various age groups. The clinical features of children with CAP caused by different pathogenic microorganisms are different.</p>

Epigallocatechin gallate attenuates the expression of regulated upon activation normal T cell expressed and secreted induced by lipopolysaccharide in human retinal endothelial cells / 生理学报

The present study was undertaken to determine the effect of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced production of inflammatory chemokine regulated upon activation normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES) in human retinal endothelial cells (HRECs) and to explore the underlying regulatory mechanism. HRECs were stimulated with LPS in the presence or absence of EGCG at various concentrations (100, 50, 25, 12.5, 6.25 μmol/L). The optimum concentration of drug was determined by a real-time cell-electronic sensing (RT-CES) system, and MTS chromatometry was used to detect the toxicity of LPS and EGCG on HRECs. RANTES production in the culture supernatant was measured by ELISA. The expression levels of Akt and phosphorylated Akt were examined by Western blot assay. The result showed that LPS markedly stimulated RANTES secretion from HRECs. EGCG treatment significantly suppressed LPS-induced RANTES secretion in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, EGCG exhibited a dose-dependent inhibitory effect on LPS-induced phosphorylation of Akt. Taken together, our data suggest that EGCG suppresses LPS-induced RANTES secretion, possibly via inhibiting Akt phosphorylation in HRECs.

Program optimization in the stage treatment of periarthritis of shoulder with acupuncture, moxibustion and positive functional exercise / 中国针灸

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To optimize the therapeutic programs for periarthritis of shoulder treated with acupuncture, moxibustion and kinetohterapy with orthogonal design method adopted.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The orthogonal design table of L8 (2(7)) hierarchical principle was used to randomly divide 192 patients of periarthritis of shoulder into 8 groups, 24 cases in each one. Separately, 4 factors and each different 2 levels were adopted in treatment, named acupuncture timing (factor A: A, acute stage, A2 adhesion stage), acupoint combination (factor B: B, local acupoints, B2 local acupoints and distal acupoints along meridians), filiform needling and warm needling therapy (factor C: C1 acupuncture with filiform needle, CZ acupuncture with filiform needle and warm needling therapy) and positive functional exercise (factor D: D1 without positive functional exercise, D2 with positive functional exercise). The treatment was given once a day, 10 treatments made one session and 2 sessions were required totally. The time points of observation were the point after 1 session of treatment and after 2 sessions of treatment. The short-form McGill pain questionnaire (MPQ) and shoulder joint motor disturbance score were adopted for evaluation.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>In the orthogonal design analysis, taking the hierarchical factors into consideration, the age was considered as the main factor in the evaluation of shoulder pain and shoulder motor disturbance (P<0.01), and the shoulder function grade apparently impacted pain evaluation and the efficacy on shoulder motor disturbance (P<0.01). The best combination of 4 factors and 2 levels were A1B1CzD2 and A2BC2D2. SAS statistical analysis showed that at acute stage and adhesion stage, CZ Dz , meaning acupuncture with fifiform needling and warm needling therapy combined with positive functional exercise, is the main factor of the improvements of shoulder motor function (P<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>For periarthritis of shoulder at acute stage, the combined therapy of acupuncture at local acupoints, warm needling and positive functional exercise is adopted. At chronic stage, the combined therapy of acupuncture at local acupoints and distal acupoints, acupuncture with filiform needle and warm needling and positive functional exercise is the best program. Additionally, in clinical treatment, the patients' age, sex, shoulder joint function and duration of treatment should be considered comprehensively for the impacts on the efficacy.</p>

Prevalence and clinical features of human metapneumovirus infection in hospitalized children with lower respiratory tract infection / 中国感染与化疗杂志

Objective To elucidate the prevalence and clinical characteristics of human metapneumovirus(hMPV)in hospital- ized children with respiratory infection.Methods A total of 452 hospitalized children with lower respiratory tract infection were observed from Aug 2004 to Jan 2005.Respiratory tract aspirates were collected from all patients within 48 hours after admis sion.The specimens were routinely tested for respiratory syncytial virus,influenza virus A and B,parainfluenza virus 1 to 3 and adenovirus by direct fluorescent assay(DFA).The 245 specimens negative by DFA were tested for hMPV by RT-PCR. PCR products of hMPV M gene from some patients were randomly selected for sequencing analysis.Results hMPV was identi- fied in 59(24.1%)of the 245 specimens tested,hMPV infection alone accounted for 13.1% of the infections in the 452 chil- dren under study,The prevalence of hMPV was higher than other respiratory viruses in winter.The mean age of hMPV-infec- ted children(n=59)was 27.7 months.There was no significant difference between age groups in terms of the prevalence of hMPV(P＞0.05).There were no statistically significant difference in demographics and clinical symptoms between hMPV in- fection and other common respiratory virus infection.Genotyping for the hMPV M gene from 23 Shanghai patients showed two distinct hMPV genotypes.Sequence analysis of these hMPV M genes showed 82.8%-100% homology to the registered se- quence in GenBank.There was no significant difference in clinical characteristics between the 2 genotypes.Conclusions hMPV plays an important pathogenic role in lower respiratory tract infection of children,hMPV prevailed in the winter of 2004.Clini- cally,hMPV infection can not be discriminated from the infection of other respiratory viruses.Clinical manifestation is similar between the two hMPV genotypes.

Relationship between Acute Exacerbation of Asthma and Respiratory Tract Infections in Children / 实用儿科临床杂志

Objective To explore the relationship between asthma exacerbation and respiratory tract infections of viruses,Mycoplasma pneumoniae(MP),Chlamydia pneumoniae(CP)in children.Methods Seven viruses including respiratory syncytial virus(RSV),adenovirus(AdV),influenza virus A(IFVA),influenza virus B(IFVB) and parainfluenza virus Ⅰ,Ⅱ,Ⅲ(PFVⅠ,Ⅱ,Ⅲ) from the nasopharyngeal aspirate of 74 patients with asthma were rapidly diagnosed by direct immunofluorescence assay,as well as the serum MP-IgM,CP-IgM were detected by the granule agglutinating method and indirect solid-phase enzyme immunoassay(EIA),respectively.Results Pathogens were detected in 29 out of 74 cases(39.2%) with asthma exacerbation.Of whom 14 cases(43.8%) were in infant and another 15 cases(18.8%) were in preschool and school children.RSV was the leading pathogen in infant,it was discovered in 6 cases(accounting for 18.8%).The se-cond pathogen was PFVⅢ which was discovered in 4 cases(12.5%).MP,AdV and CP accounted for 6.25%,3.1%,3.1%,respectively.But in preschool and school children,MP was the most common pathogen which were discovered in 9 cases(21.4%),the following pathogen was CP which was discovered in 3 cases(7.1%),PFVⅢ and RSV only accounted for 4.8%,2.4%,respectively.There was significant differences statistically between two groups in viral respiratory tract and atypical-microorganism infections rate(Pa