Effect of Effective Components of Salvia Miltiorrhiza on TGF-β1 Induced Interstitial Transformation of Pulmonary Epithelial Cells / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective::To screen out the effective components of Salvia miltiorrhiza by establishing an in vitro model of pulmonary epithelial mesenchymal transformation. Method::Different concentrations of salvianolic acid A (10, 20, 40, 80, 160 μmol·L-1), salvianolic acid B (10, 20, 40, 80, 160 μmol·L-1), tanshinol (10, 20, 40, 80, 160 μmol·L-1), tanshinoneⅡA (10, 20, 40, 80, 160 μmol·L-1) and the blank group were applied to A549 cell, cell proliferation and cytotoxicity assay (MTS) were used to detect the proliferation effect of menthol on A549 cells.After screening the safe concentration of the active ingredients of salvia miltiorrhiza by MTS, cells were divided into blank group, model group, salvianolic acid A group, salvianolic acid B group, tanshinol group and tanshinoneⅡA.Then, the inhibitory effect of the active ingredients of salvia miltiorrhiza on the proliferation of A549 cells induced by TGF-β1 was detected by MTS. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method to detect salvia miltiorrhiza effective component of fiber protein(FN), collagen type I (COL-Ⅰ) expression. Based on the above results, the active components of salvia miltiorrhiza, which have best inhibition were screened out, and their effects on the expression of E-calcium-viscosity (E-Cad) protein were detected by Western blot. Result::Compared with blank group, salvianolic acid A 40 μmol·L-1, salvianolic acid B 160 μmol·L-1, tanshinol 160 μmol·L-1 had toxic effects on A549 cells (P<0.05). In the non-toxic concentration range, compared with the model group, salvianolic acid A 10, 20 μmol·L-1, salvianolic acid B 80 μmol·L-1 showed inhibition effect after 24 h culture (P<0.05). After 72 h culture, salvianolic acid A 5, 10, 20 μmol·L-1, salvianolic acid B 40, 80 μmol·L-1inhibition effect was very significant (P<0.01). ELISA results showed that with the blank group, model group cells the expression of FN and COL-Ⅰ increased significantly (P < 0.01). Compare with model group, salvianolic acid A 20 μmol·L-1, salvianolic acid B 80 μmol·L-1 inhibited FN and COL-Ⅰ(P<0.05). Western blot results showed that salicylic acid A and salicylic acid B had protective effects on E-Cad (P<0.01). Conclusion::Salvianolic acid A and salvianolic acid B have inhibitory effects on epithelial mesenchymal transformation by TGF-β1, which may be the main effective components of salvianolic acid in the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis.

Commonly Used Vomiting Animal Models / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Vomiting is a common clinical symptom. Long-term severe vomiting could seriously reduce the life quality of patients, so it is necessary to be intervened with antiemetic drugs. Traditional Chinese medicine has a long history in the treatment of vomiting with remarkable a curative effect. It has the advantages of multi-component, multi-target and multi-system synergistic antagonism. However, due to the active substance and unclear mechanism, it is urgent to adopt an internationally recognized vomiting model system to evaluate the antiemetic characteristics, elucidate the vomiting mechanism, and provide reference for better clinical application. Therefore, this paper systematically introduces several vomiting animal models that are widely used at home and abroad. According to the authors' own experimental experience, this paper focuses on the rat and mice pica models for reference of relevant researchers. Specifically, ferrets are an internationally recognized ideal vomiting animal model, and the golden standard for evaluating the effects of antiemetic drugs, suncus murinus is the smallest mammalian vomiting model. Rodents have no vomiting reflexes, but studies have shown that its pica behavior is equivalent to the vomiting behavior of other species. Because the easy availability and operation, the model has been promoted and applied in mainland China. Guizhou mini-pig model is a self-developed medium-sized mammalian vomiting model with a similar anatomical structure and vomiting characteristics to human, and worthy of popularization and application. In conclusion, different vomiting models have their own characteristics that need to be optimized according to the purpose of experiments and samples.

Mechanism of Dichroa Alkali Salt Inducing Vomiting Based on Pica in Mice / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective: To study the possible mechanism of dichroa alkali salt (DAS) in inducing vomiting. Method: Mice pica model was used to observe the antagonistic effect of the three different kinds of antiemetic drugs[dopamine receptor antagonist metoclopramide, 5-hydroxytryptamine 3 (5-HT3) receptor antagonist ondansetron and neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist aprepitant] on body mass, food intake, kaolin consumption, diarrhea and death induced by DAS to preliminarily clarify the possible pathogenic pathway of DAS. Then, the expression of 5-HT and substance P(SP) in ileum and medulla of mice induced by DAS alone at different time points was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to confirm whether DAS could affect the changes of these two neurotransmitters. Result: After treatment with ondansetron and aprepitant, DAS-induced reduction in food intake of mice was significantly improved on the 4th day after continuous administration and on the 1st day after drug administration (Prd day after administration, DAS-induced body mass loss of mice was significantly improved (PConclusion: The mice pica model can be used to effectively characterize DAS-induced vomiting. DAS-induced pica in mice may be associated with the increase of 5-HT and SP in ileum and medulla. Ondansetron and aprepitant can effectively antagonize DAS-induced pica in mice.

Investigation of Physicochemical Properties and Determination Methods of Liposomal Entrapment Efficiency of Dichroa Alkali Hydrochloride / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective: To study on the physical and chemical properties of dichroa alkali hydrochloride and to establish a method for the determination of entrapment efficiency of dichroa alkali hydrochloride liposomes. Method: HPLC was used to determine the content of dichroa alkali hydrochloride with mobile phase of acetonitrile-water-triethylamine-glacial acetic acid(9:91:0.35:0.75) and detection wavelength at 265 nm.The oil-water partition coefficient of this compound in different pH range was measured by shake flask method.The stability of the dichroa alkali hydrochloride in phosphate buffer solution with different pH after sterilization at 125℃ for 30 min was investigated.Ammonium sulfate gradient method was used to prepare dichroa alkali hydrochloride liposomes.The microcolumn was prepared by dextran gel and cation exchange resin,respectively.Then the free drug and liposome were separated by centrifugation,the drug content was measured,and the encapsulation efficiency was calculated.The t-test was performed using SPSS 20.0 software,the differences between these two methods were compared. Result: In the pH 6-9,the oil-water partition coefficient of dichroa alkali hydrochloride increased with increasing of pH,which was between 0.016 and 1.44;the recovery rate of dichroa alkali hydrochloride after sterilization was 37.16%-57.91%.Between the dextran gel microcolumn centrifugation and the cation exchange resin microcolumn centrifugation,there was no significant difference in the entrapment efficiency of the liposomes. Conclusion: Dichroa alkali hydrochloride is suitable for preparation of liposomes.However,its stability is not ideal,so the experimental temperature should be strictly controlled in the preparation process.Dextran gel microcolumn centrifugation and cation exchange resin microcolumn centrifugation can be used to determine the entrapment efficiency of dichroa alkali hydrochloride liposomes,and the cation exchange resin microcolumn centrifugation is suggested after comparison.

Protective Effect of Renshen Sinitang and Its Active Ingredients on Myocardial Cell Injury Induced by Pentobarbital Sodium / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective: To explore the protective effect and mechanisms of Renshen Sinitang and its active ingredients on cardiomyocyte injury induced by pentobarbital sodium. Method: H9C2 cells were sub-cultured with ginsenoside Rb2 0.01, 0.1, 1 μmol ·L-1, Re 0.01, 0.1, 1 μmol·L-1, isoliquiritigenin 20, 40, 80 μmol·L-1, glycyrrhetinic acid 10, 20, 40 μmol·L-1, Renshen Sinitang, 10, 100, 400 mg·L-1, for 4 h. After treatment with 0.1% of sodium pentobarbital for 30 min, cell viability, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), lipid peroxide malondialdehyde (MDA), Na+-K+-adenosine triphosphate(ATP) ase, Ca2+-ATPase activity, and real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Real-time PCR) were used to detect the expressions of peroxisome proliferative activated receptor-1α (PGC-1α), B-cell lymphoma-2 associated X protein(Bax) and cysteine aspartate-specific protease-3(Caspase-3) mRNA. Result: Renshen Sinitang and its active ingredients have a protective effect on heart failure cell model. Compared with the normal group, the cell survival rate of the model group decreased significantly, while the LDH and MDA contents increased significantly, and the Na+-K+-ATPase activity increased. Ca2+-ATPase activity was significantly decreased, PGC-1α mRNA expression was down-regulated, Bax and Caspase-3 mRNA expressions indicates the modeling(P+-K+-ATPase activity, increased Ca2+-ATPase activity, up-regulated PGC-1α mRNA expression, and inhibited Bax and Caspase-3 mRNA expression (PPConclusion: Renshen Sinitang and its active ingredients have a significant protective effect on heart failure cell model, and its mechanisms of action are related to anti-oxidation, improvement of mitochondrial energy metabolism and inhibition of mitochondrial apoptosis pathway.

Association between Lipoprotein (a) Levels and Metabolic Syndrome in a Middle-aged and Elderly Chinese Cohort / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

OBJECTIVE@#The association between lipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)] levels and metabolic syndrome (MetS) remains uncertain, especially in the Asian population. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the association between Lp(a) levels and MetS in a middle-aged and elderly Chinese cohort.@*METHODS@#A cross-sectional study of 10,336 Chinese adults aged 40 years or older was conducted in Jiading District, Shanghai, China. Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the association between serum Lp(a) levels and MetS.@*RESULTS@#In the overall population, 37.5% of participants had MetS. Compared with individuals in the lowest quartile of serum Lp(a) levels, those in the highest quartile had a lower prevalence of MetS (30.9% vs. 46.9%, P for trend < 0.0001). Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that compared with participants in the bottom quartile of serum Lp(a) levels, those in the top quartile had decreased odds ratio (OR) for prevalent MetS [multivariate-adjusted OR 0.45 (95% confidence interval 0.39-0.51); P < 0.0001]. Additionally, Lp(a) level was conversely associated with the risk of central obesity, high fasting glucose, high triglycerides, and low HDL cholesterol, but not with hypertension. Stratified analyses suggested that increasing levels of Lp(a) was associated with decreased risk of MetS in all the subgroups.@*CONCLUSION@#Serum Lp(a) level was inversely associated with the risk of prevalent MetS in a middle-aged and elderly Chinese cohort.

Transcriptome analysis reveals candidate genes involved in flavonoid biosynthesis in Ziziphora bungeana / 中国中药杂志

Ziziphora bungeana is a kind of medicinal plants belongs to Labiatae,and it also a kind of geoherbs in Xinjiang. The main active ingredient linarin has a higher content in inflorescence than in other parts. In this study,high-throughput sequencing technology was used to reveal the transcriptome of the inflorescence of Z. bungeana,77 366 unigenes were acquired,of which 56 375 unigenes were annotated based on search of the database and classification. Through the analysis of metabolic pathways,sixty unigenes were probably encoding some enzymes involved in the flavonoid biosynthesis pathways. The contents of linarin in different parts were determined and the key genes were verified by qRT-PCR. The discovery provides the research basis for further analysis of the enzyme genes involved in the biosynthesis of the major flavonoid components in Z. bungeana.

Association between Coronary Atherosclerotic Plaque Composition and Cardiovascular Disease Risk / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

OBJECTIVE@#The objective of this study is to determine whether coronary atherosclerotic plaque composition is associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in Chinese adults.@*METHODS@#We performed a cross-sectional analysis in 549 subjects without previous diagnosis or clinical symptoms of CVD in a community cohort of middle-aged Chinese adults. The participants underwent coronary computed tomography (CT) angiography for the evaluation of the presence and composition of coronary plaques. CVD risk was evaluated by the Framingham risk score (FRS) and the 10-year atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk score.@*RESULTS@#Among the 549 participants, 267 (48.6%) had no coronary plaques, 201 (36.6%) had noncalcified coronary plaques, and 81 (14.8%) had calcified or mixed coronary plaques. The measures of CVD risk including FRS and ASCVD risk score and the likelihood of having elevated FRS significantly increased across the groups of participants without coronary plaques, with noncalcified coronary plaques, and with calcified or mixed coronary plaques. However, only calcified or mixed coronary plaques were significantly associated with an elevated ASCVD risk score [odds ratio (OR) 2.41; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.09-5.32] compared with no coronary plaques, whereas no significant association was found for noncalcified coronary plaques and elevated ASCVD risk score (OR 1.25; 95% CI 0.71-2.21) after multivariable adjustment.@*CONCLUSION@#Calcified or mixed coronary plaques might be more associated with an elevated likelihood of having CVD than noncalcified coronary plaques.

Advance in toxic and pathogenic mechanisms of bacterial hemolysins / 中国人兽共患病学报

Many bacterial pathogens can produce hemolysins to lyse erythrocytes,but recent studies revealed that bacterial hemolysins could cause injury and death of many nucleated cells and platelets.According to the difference of molecular structure,cell-binding manner and membrane pore-forming mechanism,most of bacterial hemolysins are classified into the toxins belonging to either repeats in toxin family (RTX) or cholesterol-dependent cytolysin family (CDC).Bacterial hemolysins play important pathogenic roles during infection of bacteria through membrane damage,cell lysis or disruption,ion disequilibriumassociated pathological changes,cell apoptosis or cell necroptosis as well as through TLR2/4-mediated NF-κB,p38MAPK,JNK signaling pathways and NLRs-mediated NLRP3 inflammasomes to cause powerful inflammatory reaction and inflammatory tissue injury.

Serum Uric Acid is Associated with the Predicted Risk of Prevalent Cardiovascular Disease in a Community-dwelling Population without Diabetes / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

OBJECTIVE@#To examine the association between serum uric acid levels and cardiovascular disease risk among individuals without diabetes.@*METHODS@#We investigated the association between serum uric acid levels and the risk of prevalent cardiometabolic diseases, 10-year Framingham risk for coronary heart disease, and 10-year risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases (ASCVD) among 8,252 participants aged ⪖ 40 years without diabetes from Jiading district, Shanghai, China.@*RESULTS@#Body mass index, waist circumference, blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin, blood pressure, and serum lipids increased progressively across the sex-specific quartiles of uric acid (all P trend < 0.05). Compared with individuals in the lowest quartile, those in the higher quartiles had a significantly higher prevalence of obesity, hypertension, and dyslipidemia (all P trend < 0.05). A fully adjusted logistic regression analysis revealed that individuals in the highest quartile had an increased risk of predicted cardiovascular disease compared with those in the lowest quartile of uric acid. The multivariate adjusted odds ratios (ORs) [95% confidence intervals (CIs)] for the highest quartiles for high Framingham risk were 3.00 (2.00-4.50) in men and 2.95 (1.08-8.43) in women. The multivariate adjusted ORs (95% CIs) for the highest quartile for high ASCVD risk were 1.93 (1.17-3.17) in men and 4.53 (2.57-7.98) in women.@*CONCLUSION@#Serum uric acid level is associated with an increased risk of prevalent obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, 10-year Framingham risk for coronary heart disease, and 10-year risk for ASCVD among Chinese adults without diabetes.

Changes in amino acid profiling in spontaneously hypertensive rats and regulatory effect of extract from Coreopsis tinctoria / 中国中药杂志

To compare the amino acid metabolic profiling in urine of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and normal Wistar rats, and investigate the regulatory effect of extract from Coreopsis tinctoria on blood pressure and amino acid metabolic profiling in SHR. Right aged SHR and Wistar rats were housed to fit the new environment for 2 weeks. After that, their systolic pressure(SBP), diastolic pressure(DBP) were measured and urine was collected. Amino acids profiles for SHR and Wistar rats were acquired by using AQC precolumn derivatization HPLC-fluorescence method, and then partial least squares discriminant analysis(PLS-DA) was applied to facilitate differentiation and determine metabolic differences between collected samples from two groups of rats. Consequently, 40 SHR were randomly divided into 5 groups: model group, high, middle, low dosage groups of C. tinctoria extract (3.2, 1.6,0.8 g•kg⁻¹), and captopril group (4 mg•kg⁻¹). They were treated for 4 weeks by ig administration, and then their urine samples were collected to determine the amino acid metabolic profiling in various groups. After treatment for 4 weeks, as compared with Wistar group, serine, alanine, tyrosine, and cystine in the amino acid metabolic profiling were significantly increased in SHR group. As compared with SHR model group, threonine and methionine were decreased significantly in captopril group (P<0.01); amino acid metabolism was changed to different degrees in high, middle, and low dosage groups of C. tinctoria extract, and the threonine in low dose group was significantly decreased (P<0.01); serine and threonine were decreased (P<0.05), and valine, methionine and lysine were significantly decreased (P<0.01) in middle dose group; threonine, valine, methionine and lysine were significantly decreased in large dose group (P<0.01). The results showed that middle and high doses of extract from C. tinctoria could significantly improve disturbance of amino acid metabolism, help to further clarify the drug property research of C. tinctoria, and provide data support for amino acid metabolic pathway abnormalities in hypertension patients.

Allicin improves cardiac function by protecting against apoptosis in rat model of myocardial infarction / 中国结合医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the effects of allicin on cardiac function and underlying mechanism in rat model of myocardial infarction (MI).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Ninety-four Wistar rats were randomly assigned to 6 groups (n=14-16 per group): sham control group [underwent thoracotomy without left anterior descending (LAD) occlusion and only received an injection of the same amount of citrate buffer], MI control group (subjected to LAD occlusion and only received an injection of same amount of citrate buffer), positive control group (subjected to LAD occlusion and received an injection of diltiazem hydrochloride at the dose of 1.5 mg/kg), and MI + allicin groups (subjected to LAD occlusion and received an injection of allicin at the doses of 1.2, 1.8, and 3.6 mg/kg). All of the drugs were administered intraperitoneally daily for 21 days. The infarct area was measured by myocardial staining. Hematoxylin-eosin staining was used to observe the pathological changes. Cardiac function parameters were assessed by echocardiography. The myocardial apoptotic index was estimated by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling staining. The expression of Bax and Bcl-2 were detected by quantificational real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blot.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Treatment with allicin could attenuate the myocardial infarct area (P<0.05) and relieve the changes of the myocardium. The left ventricular anterior wall diastolic and systolic thicknesses were increased in the allicin-treated groups (P<0.05), while there was no signifificant difference in the left ventricular posterior wall diastolic and systolic thickness (P>0.05). The left ventricular internal diameter in systole, ejection fraction, fractional shortening, and stroke volume were dramatically elevated in allicin-treated rats (P<0.05). Allicin dose-dependently reduced creatine kinase and lactate dehydrogenase levels (P<0.05). The myocardial apoptotic index was also markedly lowered, and Bax expression was signifificantly decreased, whereas Bcl-2 expression exhibited an opposite trend in allicin-treated rats (P<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Allicin appears to exert a cardioprotective effect that may be linked to blocking Bcl-2/Bax signaling pathway-denpendent apoptosis, further improving cardiac function.</p>

Effect of protein intervention on amino acid metabolism spectrum of Qi and Yin deficiency type 2 diabetic rats / 中国中药杂志

To study the effect of plant protein and animal protein on amino acid metabolism spectrum of Qi and Yin deficiency type 2 diabetic rats. 110 male SD rats were randomly divided into blank group (n=10), diabetic model group (n=20), disease-symptoms group (n=80). The rats of blank group received ordinary feeding, while other groups were fed with high sugar and fat diets. During the whole process of feeding, rats of disease-symptoms group were given with Qingpi-Fuzi (15.75 g•kg⁻¹) once a day through oral administration. Five weeks later, the rats were given with a low dose of STZ (40 mg•kg⁻¹) by intraperitoneal injection to establish experimental diabetic models. Then the models were randomly divided into disease-symptoms group 1 (Qi and Yin deficiency diabetic group, 15.75 g•kg⁻¹), disease-symptoms group 2 (plant protein group, 0.5 g•kg⁻¹), disease-symptoms group 3 (animal protein group, 0.5 g•kg⁻¹), disease-symptoms group 4 (berberine group, 0.1 g•kg⁻¹). The drugs were given for 4 weeks by gavage administration. After 4 weeks of protein intervention, the abdominal aortic blood was collected and serum was isolated to analyze its free amino acid by using AQC pre-column derivatization HPLC and fluorescence detector. Four weeks after the protein intervention, plant protein, animal protein and berberine had no obvious effect on body weight and blood sugar in type 2 diabetic rats. As compared with animal protein group, histidine and proline（P<0.01）, serine, glycine, threonine, alanine, tyrosine, valine, methionine, bright+isoleucine, phenylalanine and lysine（P<0.05）changed a lot in rats serum of plant protein group.The results showed that gavage administration of protein would produce effects on amino acid metabolism of Qi and Yin deficiency type 2 diabetic SD rats. Symbolic differential compounds could be found through metabonomics technology, providing experimental basis for early warning of type 2 diabetes and diagnosis of Qi and Yin deficiency syndrome.

Effect of allicin on myocardial fibrosis after myocardial infarction in rats and its relationship with TGFβ/Smads signal transduction / 中国中药杂志

Allicin is the internationally accepted active substance of garlic, and has cardiovascular protective effect. This research was designed to investigate the effect of allicin on myocardial fibrosis after myocardial infarction and explore the relationship between the effect and TGFβ1/Smads signaling pathway. The rat myocardial infarction model were made by ligating the left anterior desending coronary artery. The drugs were administered intraperitoneally 24 h after the operation. After 21 days, the rats were sacrificed and myocardial collagen fibres were observed by Masson staining. The protein expression of Ⅰ, Ⅲ collagen and TGFβ1, Smad3, Smad7 in the myocardium was measured by the immunohistochemistry. The results showed that myocardial fibrosis was serious and the expression of Ⅰ, Ⅲ collagen was increased in model group. After treatment with allicin, the myocardial fibrosis could be relieved markedly, and the expression of collagen was down-regulated. Meanwhile, TGFβ1 and Smad3 in heart tissue could be down-regulated and Smad7 could be up-regulated in allicin groups. So allicin may exhibit anti-myocardial fibrosis effect on rats, and the mechanism of this is related to TGFβ/Smads signal transduction.

Efficacy of combination antiviral therapy following childbirth in pregnant HBV carriers receiving telbivudine for prevention of mother-to-child transmission / 中华肝脏病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the clinical efficacy of combination therapy with peg-IFNalpha and adefovir (CPIA) in women who were hepatfis B virus (HBV) carriers and had just given birth and received telbivudine (LdT) during pregnancy for prevention of mother-to-child transmission.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>One-hundred-and-fifty third trimester-pregnant women who were HBV carriers with highly-viremic were treated with LdT until time of birth. After delivery, those women with alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level exceeding two times the upper limit of normal and HBV DNA level that had decreased more than 31 gIU/mL or hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) titer that had decreased more than 50% were switched to CPIA for 96 weeks.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Following delivery, 45 of the women were switched to the CPIA treatment, of which 91.1% (41/45) achieved virological response, 55.6% (25/45) achieved HBeAg clearance or seroconversion, and 26.7% (12/45) achieved hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) clearance or seroconversion.The immediate post-delivery (and pre-CPIA) levels of HBeAg and HBV DNA were negatively associated with HBeAg clearance. Ninety-eight of the total study participants stopped the LdT treatment and there were no cases of significant deterioration of liver function.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Pregnant women who are HBV carriers and receive LdT for protection against mother-to-child transmission, and who show significant ALT elevation and decreased HBeAg titer and/or reduced HBV DNA after delivery, may be good candidates for the CPIA therapy following delivery.</p>

Clinical features of childhood hemophagocytic syndrome and its association with human parvovirus B19 infection / 中国当代儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the association of childhood hemophagocytic syndrome (HPS) with human parvovirus B19 (HPVB19) infection, and to analyze the clinical features of this disease.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>ELISA and quantitative real-time PCR were used to detect HPVB19-IgM, HPVB19-IgG and HPVB19-DNA in 65 children with HPS (HPS group) and 65 healthy children (control group). The HPS group was divided into HPVB19-infected (n=14) and non-infected (n=51) groups according to the detection results of HPVB19-DNA. The clinical data of two groups were compared.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The positive rate of HPVB19-IgM in the HPS group (26%, 17/65) was significantly higher than that in the control group (9%, 6/65) (P=0.011), and there was no significant difference in the positive rate of HPVB19-IgG between the HPS (38%, 25/65) and control groups (29%, 19/65) (P=0.266). The infection rate of HPVB19 in the HPS group (22%, 14/65) was significantly higher than that in the control group (3%, 2/65) (P=0.001). Compared with the non-infected group, the HPVB19-infected group had significantly lower platelet count and hemoglobin level on admission, significantly more severe liver function damage, a significantly earlier onset time, and a significantly longer course of disease (P<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The pathogenesis of HPS may be associated with HPVBl9 infection. HPVBl9-infected children with HPS have more acute onset, more severe clinical manifestations, and a longer disease duration.</p>

Compatibility research of Yiqi Fumai injection with clinical combination based on isothermal titration calorimetry / 中国中药杂志

To reveal the characterization of interaction between Chinese and western medicinal injections, isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) was applied to evaluating the interaction of Yiqi Fumai injection (YQFM, as mode drug) with epinephrine hydrochloride injection (YS) and 5% glucose injection (5% GS). The diversification of Gibbs free energy (ΔG), enthalpy (ΔH), and entropy (ΔS) were determined to judge the reaction types of colliquefaction procedures of different injections. Meanwhile, the fingerprints of YQFM before and after combined with the various injections were compared to validate the results. This work demonstrated that during the titration procedure of YQFM and YS, [ΔH] > T [ΔS] , that was to say the reaction was enthalpy-driving. And the reactive profile indicated that a great deal of heat gave out during the procedure. Obviously, chemical reactions happened and the internal component changed. On the other side, the reaction of YQFM combined with 5% GS was entropy-driving, because [ΔH] < T [ΔS]. The reactive profile showed there was only a little heat released. So non-chemical reactions happened and the major ingredients did not change. ITC could be applied to the evaluation on compatibility of other kinds of Chinese and western medicinal injection combination.

Dynamic monitoring of the cytotoxic effects of protoberberine alkaloids from Rhizoma Coptidis on HepG2 cells using the xCELLigence system / 中国天然药物

AIM@#To investigate the cytotoxic effects of the six protoberberine alkaloids (PAs) from Rhizoma Coptidis on HepG2 cells.@*METHOD@#A systematic screening was conducted to investigate the dynamic response of HepG2 cells to the PAs using the impedance-based xCELLigence system. Cisplatin was selected as the positive control. The real time, concentration-response curves and the 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC50) were acquired to evaluate the anticancer activity of the PAs.@*RESULTS@#All of the six PAs inhibited cell growth and induce death in HepG2 cells in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. The IC50 values of cisplatin, berberine, columbamine, coptisine, epiberberine, jatrorrhizine, and palmatine were 5.13, 42.33, 226.54, 36.90, 302.72, 383.54, and 456.96 μg·mL(-1), respectively. The results obtained using the xCELLigence system corresponded well with those of the conventional methods.@*CONCLUSION@#The xCELLigence system is a reliable and efficient tool for real-time screening of the cytotoxic effect of compounds in cell-based in vitro assays. Coptisine and berberine, with methylenedioxy group at C2 and C3 on the phenyl ring showed stronger effect.than the other four PAs. However, compared with cisplatin, the six PAs didn't show obvious cytotoxic effect on HepG2 cells. These results provided some useful data for the evaluation of the anticancer compounds, and the clinical application of traditional Chinese medicine.

A novel method for testing sterility of injections based on biothermodynamics / 药学学报

This study aims at trying to establish a novel method of sterility test for injections based on biothermodynamics, in order to overcome the deficiencies of routine sterility tests such as long detecting cycle, low sensitivity and prone to misjudgments. A biothermodynamics method was adopted to rapidly detect the microorganism contamination of injections by monitoring the heat metabolism during the growth of microbe. The growth rate equal to or greater than zero and the heat power difference of P(i) and P(0) with three folds higher than the noise of baseline were chosen as indexes to study the heat change rule of microbe. In this way, the effectiveness of the new method to detect strains required by conventional sterility test or in injection samples was also investigated. Results showed that the Gram-positive bacteria, Gram-negative bacteria and fungi demanded by sterility testing methodology could be detected by biothermodynamics method within 10 hours, with the sensitivity lower than 100 CFU x mL(-1). Meanwhile, this method was successfully applied to the sterility test of Compound Yinchen injection (FFYC), Shuanghuanglian powder injection (SHL) and Compound Triamcinolone injection (TAND) which were sterilized with different degrees. Therefore, the biothermodynamics method, with advantages of fast detection and high sensitivity, could be a complementary solution for conventional sterility tests.

A method of screening the antitumor lead compounds based on the dynamic bio-response profile of cells / 药学学报

The study is to report the establishment of a method of screening the antitumor compounds based on the dynamic bio-response profile of cells to make up for the shortages of conventional end-point tests such as tedious operation and low sensitivity. Based on the principle of electric impedance of cells, the real-time cell electronic sensing (RT-CES) system was used to monitor the effect of epirubicin (EPI), cisplatinum (DDP) and carboplatin (CBP) on the growth of HepG2 cells, with the cell index (CI), half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) and detachment curve as evaluation indexes. Meanwhile, cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) and microscopy were applied for verification. The results showed that CI curve could sensitively real-time profile the inhibitory effect of model drugs on HepG2 cells. The IC50 of EPI, DDP and CBP were 0.53 +/- 0.04, 9.79 +/- 0.26 and 597.00 +/- 3.79 microg x mL(-1), respectively. What's more, the significant differences of detachment curves of the three drugs indicated that their functional mechanisms might be different, this is consistent with the literature. The RT-CES system with non-invasive, label-free and real-time characteristics could be used to monitor the bio-response profile of the three drugs to HepG2 cells, allowing to qualitatively and quantitatively distinguish the antitumor activities of the three drugs, and could be a complementary method for the present screening of antitumor compounds.