Study on pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of Phytolacca acinosa Roxb.And its mechanism / 中国药理学通报

Aim To explore the diuretic effect, diuretic mechanism and pharmacokinetics of Phytolacca acinosa Roxb., and clarify its "quantity-time-effect" relationship.Methods Firstly, qualified rats were modeled by water load model, given different doses of Phytolacca acinosa Roxb.aqueous extract, then the diuretic effect was investigated.Secondly, Western blot was used to detect the protein expression of aquaporins AQP2, AQP4 and the angiotensin II receptors ATGR1, ATGR2, and renin in the RAAS system in kidney tissues.Thirdly, the established LC-MS/MS biological analysis method was used to detect the esculentoside A(EsA)content in the plasma, calculate the pharmacokinetic parameters and analyze the correlation between the blood concentration and the drug effect.Results The water load model was successfully established.Compared with the model group, hydrochlorothiazide had a significant diuretic effect(P<0.01).Low, medium and high dose groups of Phytolacca acinosa Roxb.all had obvious diuretic effects(P<0.01), EsA also had a significant diuretic effect(P<0.05).Phytolacca acinosa Roxb.aqueous extract and EsA significantly down-regulated the expression of AQP2, AQP4, ATGR1 and renin protein.The pharmacokinetic results showed that the Cmax and AUC0-t of EsA in the plasma of rats in the low, medium, and high dose groups of aqueous extract increased with the increase of the dose.Conclusions Phytolacca acinosa Roxb.had a diuretic effect, which is related to inhibiting the expression of aquaporins AQP2 and AQP4 and inhibiting the expression of angiotensin II type 1 receptor and renin, thereby inhibiting the reabsorption of renal tubules and collecting ducts.

Identification of differentially expressed genes in rats and preliminary analysis in regression of vascular calcification / 中国应用生理学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the differentially expressed genes in rat in the process of regression of vascular calcification by using the suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>24 SD male rats which aged 6 weeks and specific pathogen free grade were selected and randomly divided into 3 groups (n = 8): control group, calcification group and regression group respectively. Vascular calcification model (vitamin D3 plus nicotine, VDN) were made from rats in calcification group and regression group, and rats in control group were intragastric administered with normal saline and lavaged with peanut oil. Rats were bred for 8 weeks in calcification group and control group, while rats in regression group were fed for 16 weeks. All rats were killed to measure concentration of calcium in the arterial tissue and examine the pathological lesion changes. Subtractive hybridization among vascular cDNA sequences from calcification group and regression group were established. The cDNA fragments which expressed higher or lower in regression group than those in calcification group were isolated. Differentially expressed genes with cDNA fragment were inserted into PMD18-T plasmid vector and transformed competent DH-5alpha, cDNA libraries of differentially expressed gene between calcification group and regression group were then constructed. Recombinant vectors were analyzed by colony PCR, positive genes were randomly selected for sequencing and analyzed by BLAST. 4 genes were randomly selected for RT-PCR certification combined with semi-quantitative analysis of DNA bands.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>VDN model of rats were successfully constructed. Concentration of tissue calcium in calcification group (15.34 mg/g +/- 2.51 mg/g) was significantly increased compared to that in control group (5.20 mg/g +/- 0.75 mg/g, P < 0.001), while in comparison with calcification group (15.34 mg/g +/- 2.51 mg/g), calcium in regression group was relatively lower (12.73 mg/g +/- 1.89 mg/g, P < 0.05). 28 up-regulated genes and 22 down-regulated genes were gained through sequencing and BLAST analysis among positive clones. RT-PCR validation indicated that 4 genes such as prdx3 and Ank2 had increasedly expressed in regression group than those in calcification group, the average fold change was 1.7.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Rat vascular calcification tissue had characteristic of active regression. Genes in relation to pyrophosphoric acid synthesis, glutamate signal peptides, anti-oxidant and ant-apoptosis were up-regulated, at the same time many genes related to ossification and oxidation activity were down-regulated in the process of calcification regression. Increased expression of calcification suppressor genes accompanying decreased expression of calcification promoting genes might be the intrinsic mechanisms which initiated the active regression of calcified tissues.</p>

Prevalence of overactive bladder in a community-based male aging population / 中华外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the situation of overactive bladder (OAB) in a community-based male population.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Male participants over 50 years old were randomly selected from multiple communities in Beijing. The evaluation of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) including the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), quality of life (QOL) score, prostate volume and post voiding residue (PVR) by abdominal ultrasonography, and maximum flow rate (Qmax). Definition of OAB was determined as the score of item number 4 in IPSS ≥ 2.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Of 1656 male participants enrolled, a total of 1639 men met our study criteria. The mean age was (64 ± 10) years. The prevalence of OAB was 26.3% (431/1639), and was significantly related to age, IPSS, QOL score, prostate volume, PVR and Qmax (P < 0.01). The prevalence of OAB was closely associated with aging (P < 0.01) and the degree of LUTS (P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The prevalence of OAB increased with aging of the community-based male population. OAB would obviously affect the quality of life of the aging men.</p>