Synthesis and HK-2 Cellular Uptake of Low Molecular Weight Chitosan Glycyrrhizin Conjugate / 中国药学杂志

OBJECTIVE: To prepare conjugate of low molecular weight chitosan(LMWC) with glycyrrhizin (GL) and investigate its cellular uptake by proximal tubular epithelial cells (HK-2). METHODS: Glycyrrhizin-LMWC (GL-LMWC) conjugate was synthesized by the reaction between the amino group of LMWC and the active ester group of GL. Drug release was studied in phosphate buffer (pH 4.0) containing papain. The uptake of the conjugate by HK-2 cells and its intracellular distribution was studied with laser confocal microscopy. RESULTS: The chemical structure of GL-LMWC conjugate was confirmed by IR and H-NMR. The GL grafting rate was determined to be 29.3%. The drug liberation from the conjugates was significantly accelerated in the presence of papain, which confirmed the capability of the conjugate to degrade in lysosomes. The conjugate could be internalized by HK-2 cells. CONCLUSION: The GL-LMWC conjugate with well-defined structure is successfully synthesized and exhibitts high cellular uptake efficiency. The conjugate has the potential to retaing GL in the kidney for a prolonged duration and to sustain its release locally for better efficacy.

Phytochemical progress made in investigations of Angelica sinensis (Oliv.) Diels / 中国天然药物

The phytochemical progress on Angelica sinensis (Oliv.) Diels over the past decades is summarized. Since 1970s, 165 chemical constituents, including phthalides, phenylpropanoids, terpenoids and essential oils, aromatic compounds, alkaloids, alkynes, sterols, fatty acids, and polysaccharides have been isolated or detected from the various parts of the title plant.

Analysis of tongue figure features in 990 cases of sexually transmitted and intravenous drug use spread HIV infected population in Xinjiang / 中国中西医结合杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the tongue manifestation features of sexually transmitted and intravenous drug use spread HIV infected population in Xinjiang.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Recruited were 990 HIV infected subjects in Xinjiang from May 2011 to March 2012, who were assigned to the intravenous drug use spread HIV infected (498 cases) and the sexually transmitted (492 cases). By using tongue figure shoot combined with analyses of experts, tongue manifestations were analyzed and compared between the sexually transmitted and the intravenous drug use spread from four aspects, i.e., the tongue color, the tongue shape, the fur color, and the fur property.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with the sexually transmitted population, red tongue, fissured tongue, yellow fur, thick fur, eroded fur, deficiency of fur fluid were more often seen, showing statistical difference (P < 0.05). Compared with the intravenous drug use spread population, pale tongue, white fur, and thin fur were more often seen, showing statistical difference (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The tongue manifestations of the intravenous drug use spread HIV population reflected inner exuberance of evil toxin and heat impairing qi and yin. Compared with the intravenous drug use spread population, the attack of HIV infection was more hiding in the sexually transmitted population, with milder internal injury. Their Wei-qi was not damaged and no obvious change occurred in the tongue figure.</p>

Study on the regional features of Chinese medicine etiology and pathogenesis of AIDS / 中国中西医结合杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To analyze the differences in the Chinese medicine (CM) etiology and pathogenesis of AIDS.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A cross-sectional investigation study of AIDS patients and non-infected people was carried out in Henan, Guangdong and Xinjiang provinces respectively by questionnaire of clinical epidemiology and analyzed with frequencies of symptoms and signs combined with syndrome factors. The distribution differences of syndrome factors in the 3 provinces were compared.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Totally 321 cases were investigated in the 3 provinces. As for the syndrome factors of AIDS, qi deficiency, blood deficiency, yin deficiency, yang deficiency, dampness evil, phlegm, qi stagnation, essence deficiency, and so on were dominated in the 3 provinces, but with their own features. For example, the scores of dampness evil were higher in Guangdong Province. Yin deficiency was dominated in Xinjiang Province. The scores of Henan Province were generally higher. As for the location of syndrome factors, Shen, Fei, Pi, and Gan were dominated in the 3 provinces. The score of Pi was the highest in Guangdong Province, while the score of Shen was the highest in Henan and Xinjiang provinces.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>AIDS has regional features in the nature and the syndrome factors of location in different provinces. It is necessary to take into consideration the regional factors when analyzing the pathogenesis of AIDS.</p>