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OBJECTIVE@#To explore whether a combination of drugs is needed when acupuncture is used to treat peripheral facial paralysis with normal result of facial nerve magnetic resonance examination.@*METHODS@#A total of 48 normal facial nerve magnetic resonance examination of peripheral facial paralysis patients were randomly divided into an acupuncture combined with drugs group and an acupuncture group, 24 cases in each group. Acupuncture combined with prednisone were applied in the acupuncture combined with drugs group, and simple acupuncture was given in the acupuncture group. The acupuncture treatment methods were the same. Acupuncture mainly applied at Yifeng (TE 17), Quanliao (SI 18), Taiyang (EX-HN 5), Sibai (ST 2), Jiache (ST 6), Dicang (ST 4) on the affected side, Hegu (LI 4, opposite side) for 30 min a day, once every other day. Electroacupuncture was added at Yifeng (TE 17) and Quanliao (SI 18), Jiache (ST 6) and Dicang (ST 4) on the affected side after the acute phase until it was cured. Prednisone was taken orally once a day, with an initial dose of 30 mg, decrease 10 mg every 3 days for 9 days. After 3 and 8 weeks of treatment, the effect was observed by Portmann score.@*RESULTS@#After 3 and 8 weeks of treatment, the cured rates were 50.0% (12/24) and 83.3% (20/24) in the acupuncture group, which were slightly lower than 58.3% (14/24) and 87.5% (21/24) in the acupuncture combined with drugs group，there was no significant difference between the two groups (both >0.05); the course of treatment in the acupuncture group was (31.2±17.0) d, slightly longer than (29.5±12.8) d in the acupuncture combined with drugs group , but there was no significant difference between the two groups (>0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#Simple acupuncture treatment on peripheral facial paralysis with normal result of facial nerve magnetic resonance examination can achieve the same effect of acupuncture combined with drugs, and avoid drug-related adverse reactions.
Subject(s)
Humans , Acupuncture Points , Acupuncture Therapy , Facial Nerve , Facial Paralysis , Therapeutics , Magnetic Resonance SpectroscopyABSTRACT
The aim of this study was to investigated the biological diversity, antibacterial activites and the plant growth-promoting traits of endophytic fungi of sandal (Santalum album), and to assess their potential in the development of antibacterial substances and rapid cultivation of sandal. The results of isolation and taxa analysis of endophytic fungi from sandal showed that 325 strains of endophytic fungi belonging to 16 genera of endophytic fungi were isolated from sandal (of which 86 from roots, 105 from stems and 134 from leaves). The isolation rate and colonization rate of endophytic fungi in different sandal parts showed the same pattern of change: leave>stems>roots. The diversity index of endophytic fungi in sandal roots was significantly higher than that of stems and leaves. The dominant endophytic fungi of sandal roots, stems and leaves showed significant differences. The dominant endophytic fungi of roots were Fusarium (50.00%) and Alternaria (10.47%), Alternaria (58.11%) and Acremonium (20.00%) for stems, and Pantoea (74.63%) for leaves. The antibacterial activity of 40 representative strains of sandal endophytic fungi were analyzed and the results showed that 90% of endophytic fungi exhibited inhibitory activity against at least one of the tested bacteria strains, and the strains with inhibitory activity to Escherichia coli, Enterobacter aerogenes, Shigella dysenteriae, Salmonella typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus, and Bacillus subtilis accounted for 45.0%, 30%, 47.5%, 55%, 72.5%, and 62.5%, respectively. The sandal fungal endophytes with plant growth-promoting characteristics were screened, and 5 strains of endophytic fungi with phosphorus-solubilizing activity, 8 strains of endophytic fungi producing IAA, and 4 strains of endophytic fungi producing siderophores were found. Among them, endophytic fungus Monilia sp TXRF45 clould produced IAA and siderophores, and also show phosphate-solubilizing activity. The results indicated that the endophytic fungi of Sandal were rich in species diversity and their distribution had a certain tissue specificity. Some strains showed good antibacterial activity and growth-promoting properties, which could potentially applicable for the development of antibacterial substances and rapid cultivation of sandal.
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Objective To analysis the effects on the growth of rats by repeated restraint in dermal exposure test. Methods SD rats in the restraint group was bound for 6 hours per day for 91 days according the way by dermal exposure, while SD rats in the control group didn't receive the treatment. Clinical signs, body weight and food consumption changes were observed for 91 days. When the study was terminated, hematology, clinical biochemistry, urinalyses, gross necropsy, and histopathology were carried out. Statistical methods such as the generalized estimating equation were used to compare the differences between two groups. Results The statistical results of generalized estimating equation showed that there was an interaction between the group and test time for male and female rats in body weight changes (P<0.05), and the body weight of male rats in the restraint group was lower than the control group (P<0.05) . Further analysis showed that for male rats there was significant difference between groups since the forth week (P<0.05), and the interaction was found between groups and test time (P<0.05) . For female rats, the interaction was found since the eighth week between the group and test time (P <0.05) .There was no significant differences in other parameters between two groups (P>0.05) . Conclusion Repeated restraint during dermal exposure affected the body weight gain of rats, and the sensitivity of male rats was higher than that of female rats.
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Objective To understand the developmental effects induced by CdSe /ZnS quantum dots(QDs)on zebrafish embryos.Methods Zebrafish embryos were exposed to 0,0.5,1,2,4,8 and 16 nmol/L of CdSe /ZnS QDs,and the typical toxicological indexes were recorded at five time points respectively (24 hours post fertilization (hpf),48 hpf, 72 hpf,96 hpf,120 hpf).Results The results showed that the median lethal concentration (LC50 )for zebrafish embryos after 120 hpf was 21.38 nmol/L(95% CI =17.21 -26.57).The frequency of spontaneous movement in 60 seconds after 24 hpf,the frequency of heart beat in 60 seconds after 48 hpf,the hatching rate and the mortality rate were obviously affected by CdSe /ZnS QDs.Several abnormalities and toxic symptoms caused by CdSe /ZnS QDs at 8 nmol/L and 16 nmol/L were observed including pericardial edema,liver atrophy,non -depleted yolk,intestinal abnormal development and muscle degeneration after 120 hpf.Conclusion High level of CdSe /ZnS QDs (more than 8 nmol/L)could induce toxic effects on zebrafish embryonic development.
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Aquilaria sinensis can generate agarwood, which is closely related with endophyte. Up to now, studies mainly focused on the effects of endophytic fungi on agarwood formation, but studies about endophytic bacteria are rarely reported. In our research, the T-RFs and Shannon index of endophytic bacteria in samples of agarwood increase. The number of distinctive T-RFs fragments of corresponding samples in the same group accounted for more than 60% the number of total T-RFs fragments. In samples of no-agarwood, the dominant bacterial population are Anoxybacillus, Clostridium, Candidatus endobugula, Lysinibacillus. In samples of agarwood, the dominant bacterial population are Clostridium, Lysinibacillus, Luteimonas, phytoplasma. Besides, there are. specific T-RFs fragment in samples of agarwood and no-agarwood respectively. When we perform cluster analysis, we found samples of agarwood highly gather together and samples of no-agarwood highly gather together. This means community of endophytic bacteria emerge significant and regular changes during agarwood formation, which may be result of agarwood production, or maybe it is important reason of agarwood production. In this paper, we obtain more comprehensive and accurate community of endophytic bacteria in Aquilaria sinensis and it's variation during agarwood formation using T-RFLP, which is first study of effects of endophytic bacteria on agarwood formation, and will help to exploit resource of endophytic bacteria more reasonably.
Subject(s)
Bacteria , Classification , Genetics , Biodiversity , Endophytes , Classification , Genetics , Thymelaeaceae , Microbiology , Wood , MicrobiologyABSTRACT
Objective To evaluate acute toxicity and genotoxicity of sapindus saponin and to provide toxicological basis for sapindus saponin ’s daily applications. Methods Acute oral toxicity test,mammalian erythocyte micronucleus test, bacterial reverse mutation test and in vitro mammalian chromosome aberration test were used to investigate the effect of the sapindus saponin on gene mutation and chromosome aberration in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Results The acute toxicity test showed that the LD50 of sapindus saponin was 4640 mg/kg for both male and female mice. Toxic symptoms were observed including salivation,mucus and other toxic manifestations. There was no significant difference between the each dose group and the negative control group in the results of mammalian erythocyte micronucleus test( P>0. 05). The results of bacterial reverse mutation test were also negative. In each dose group and strain with or without S9,the number of revertant colonies did not exceed 2 times than that of spontaneous revertant colonies( negative control). No dose-response relationship was observed. The vitro mammalian chromosome aberration test showed that the IC50 of sapindus saponin on CHL was 75 μg/ml,and the differences between each dose group and the negative control group were not statistically significant( P >0. 05 ). However,the positive control group differed from the negative control group in all tests( P <0. 01). Conclusion Under this experimental condition,sapindus saponin has no genotoxicity.
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Circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) derived from bone marrow are capable of endocrine, reendothelialization of injured blood vessels and neovascularization of ischemic lesions; besides, they also play a major role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. However, the number and functions of circulating EPCs are greatly declined in patients suffering from cardiovascular diseases. Functions of EPCs are associated with not only pathophysiological factors such as aging, hypertension, diabetes and hyperlipidemia, but also personal lifestyle such as exercise, body weight and smoking, which directly influence the development of cardiovascular diseases. In this review, we mainly focus on the relationship between EPCs and cardiovascular risk factors and the potential roles of EPC therapy for cardiovascular diseases.