The measurement of critical quality attributes of Tongren niuhuang qingxin pills based on MIF-HEMT biosensor technology / 药学学报

There is still a serious challenge of the measurement of critical quality attributes (CQAs) related to clinical efficacy for Chinese materia medica manufacturing. To overcome this challenge, an integrated strategy of biosensor and ultra-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) was proposed using Tongren niuhuang qingxin pills as a trial. Firstly, an original biosensor was created using a semiconductor chip material high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) as the transducer and the macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) as the identification element. By this MIF-HEMT biosensor, the efficacy on stoke of different components from Tongren niuhuang qingxin pills was measured. It was clear that all three components of Tongren niuhuang qingxin pills had strong therapeutic effects on stroke, especially the section A, the KD of which reached to 8.722×10-10 g·mL-1. Furthermore, MIF-HEMT biosensor integrated UPLC-MS/MS was introduced to identify the efficacy CQAs of different components of Tongren niuhuang qingxin pills. As a result, 19 potential CQAs, such as albiforin, paeoniflorin, and prim-O-glucosylcimifugin, were measured as the efficacy CQAs of Tongren niuhuang qingxin pills on stroke treatment by MIF. These results provided vital measurement techniques and methodological guidance for the CQAs study of Tongren niuhuang qingxin pills intervention in MIF-induced stroke treatment. This also provided an essential guideline for the efficient utilization and quality control measurement of high-quality classical recipes.

Identification of taste critical quality attribute and formulation optimization of Xiaoer Qingrening Granules based on electronic tongue and human senses / 药学学报

This study primarily concentrated on scientific problems of poor taste caused by unclear critical quality attributes of oral preparations manufactured by Chinese materia medica, successfully established an identification method for taste critical quality attribute and a taste improvement method combining electronic tongue with human senses, and determined the optimal taste formula, to improve patients' oral medication compliance. The study received ethical approval from the Review Committee of the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. The results showed that the proportion of bitterness of Xiaoer Qingrening Granule was 61.8%, and its bitterness grade was 3.70, it was determined that bitterness is the critical quality attribute that caused the poor taste of Xiaoer Qingrening Granule. Additionally, the optimal taste formula per milliliter of Xiaoer Qingrening sugar-free intermediate was determined with allowable daily intake, solubility, and sweetness as the limiting conditions, which was 40 mg hydroxypropyl β-cyclodextrin, 180 mg trehalose, and 1.5 mg acesulfame potassium. Compared with the Xiaoer Qingrening Granule, the sensory evaluation score of the optimal taste formula was increased by 37.5 points. In conclusion, this study achieved the taste improvement of Xiaoer Qingrening Granule and formed a set of taste improvement strategies including the identification of taste critical quality attribute, the selection of the type and dosage of corrigent, and the optimization of taste formula, which provided a thought reference for the taste improvement of other oral preparations and a new perspective for quality control of intelligent manufacturing of traditional Chinese medicines.

Clinicopathological features of very well-differentiated adenocarcinoma of the stomach / 中华病理学杂志

Objective: To investigate the clinicopathological features of very well-differentiated adenocarcinoma (VWDA) of the stomach. Methods: The clinicopathological data of 12 cases of VWDA of the stomach were collected retrospectively at the People's Liberation Army Joint Logistics Support Force 989 Hospital (formerly 152 Hospital), Pingdingshan, China, from January 2013 to May 2021. The histological characteristics and immunophenotypes were observed and analyzed with review of current literature. Results: There were 8 males and 4 females with a median age of 63 years (range 47 to 80 years). The tumor involved in the upper part of the stomach in 6 cases, the middle part in 2 cases, and the lower part in 4 cases. The median diameter of the tumors was 17 mm (range 5-65 mm). The tumor cells were similar to absorbent cells, Paneth cells, foveolar epithelial cells, and goblet cells. The cells were arranged in a single layer, and the nuclei were slightly enlarged and located at the base. The nuclei were fusiform to slightly irregular, with loss of nuclear polarity. Early tubular VWDA was found in 9 cases, and the tumor glands were similar to intestinal metaplasia. In two cases the tumors infiltrated into the submucosa. The lesions in the mucosa and submucosa showed the glands with cystic expansion, bending, branching, spiky and abortive growth pattern. One case of early papillary tubular VWDA was confined to the mucosal layer and composed of foveolar-type epithelial cells. There were two cases of advanced papillary tubular VWDA, which consisted of foveolar-type epithelial, pyloric glands, or mucinous neck cells and were associated with intra-lymphatic cancer embolus and lymph node metastases. Background mucosal atrophy and intestinal metaplasia were observed in all cases. Immunohistochemical staining showed intestinal type VWDA in 1 case, mixed gastrointestinal type VWDA in 9 cases, and gastric type VWDA in 2 cases. The Ki-67 proliferation index of 8 cases limited to the mucosa was 40%-70%, 2 cases of infiltration into the submucosa and 2 cases of advanced carcinoma was 10%-25%. All the tumors showed a wild type of p53 protein expression pattern and negative HER2. Adenocarcinoma or high-grade dysplasia was diagnosed on preoperative biopsy in 5 cases, and chronic atrophic gastritis with intestinal metaplasia in 7 cases. The median follow-up time was 28 months (range 12-72 months). No recurrence was found in the 10 patients with early cancer. Of the two patients with advanced carcinoma, one patient had lung metastases and the other died. Conclusions: Gastric VWDA is a rare low-grade malignancy with structural features of highly differentiated adenocarcinoma and extremely low cytological atypia. The diagnostic value of structural abnormality is significantly greater than cytological atypia. The invasive growth of irregular glands in the deep mucosa and submucosa is reliable evidence for diagnosis. The diagnosis of intramucosal VWDA is challenging and very difficult in some biopsy specimens.

Critical quality attribute assessment of big brand traditional Chinese medicine: quality control method of Huangjing Zanyu Capsules based on chemical properties of characteristic components / 中国中药杂志

The chemical properties of characteristic components are significant to the manufacturing quality control of big brand traditional Chinese medicine. In this study, the Huangjing Zanyu Capsules were used as the research carrier to determine the content of five characteristic components including icraiin, emodin, schisandrin A, 2,3,5,4'-tetrahydroxystilbene-2-O-β-D-glucoside, and osthole simultaneously by high-performance liquid chromatography(HPLC). The results showed that the chemical properties of five cha-racteristic components had a good linear relationship(r>0.999 9) within the quantitative range; the relative standard deviations(RSD) was 0.11%-2.0% and 0.25%-2.8% respectively for intra-day and inter-day precision; the RSD of repeatability was 1.8%-2.6%; the RSD of stability within 48 hours was 0.19%-2.8%, and the average recovery rate was 95.52%-100.1%, all meeting the requirements of pharmaceutical quantitative analysis. Additionally, the interval estimation method was used to directly reflect the distribution of samples with abnormal chemical properties of characteristic components, and the results showed ten samples were detected beyound the 95% control line of confidence level. Multivariate statistical process control(MSPC) method was used to monitor the abnormal samples of Huangjing Zanyu Capsules collectively, and the results showed that two samples were beyond the 95% control line of Hotelling's T~2 and three samples beyond the 95% control line of squared prediction error(SPE), indicating consistent quality control of Huangjing Zanyu Capsules. In conclusion, the proposed method is not only accurate and efficient but also a compensation for the traditional single-component quality control method, providing a scientific basis for the quality control in manufacturing process of Huangjing Zanyu Capsules. Furthermore, it could also serve as a reference method for the quality control in manufacturing big brand traditional Chinese medicine.

Critical quality attribute assessment of big brand traditional Chinese medicine: modular identification of Tongren Niuhuang Qingxin Pills based on efficacy with chemical properties / 中国中药杂志

Identification of critical quality attribute(CQA) is crucial in quality control of Tongren Niuhuang Qingxin Pills(TRNHQXP). In this study, 661 active components in TRNHQXP were selected by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry(LC-MS) and network pharmacology based on reported data and TCMSP, BATMAN-TCM, and TCMID databases, as well as mass spectrometry data, and 1 413 targets of the active components were obtained through SwissTargetPrediction. The 152 potential targets obtained from the intersection of predicted targets with 456 stroke targets underwent functional enrichment analysis by Metascape. The 27 Chinese medicinals in TRNHQXP were divided into four sets according to efficacies. Thirty-seven key targets in the blood-activating and stasis-resolving set and 41 in the tonifying set were screened out. On the basis of these potential key targets, 137 potential key CQA of TRNHQXP for stroke were reversely predicted. This study revealed the possible mechanism of TRNHQXP in treating stroke and established a modular identification method for the potential CQA of big brand traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) based on efficacies and chemical properties. Consequently, the CQA of TRNHQXP were identified by this method, which has provided a reference for the following experimental studies of CQA.

Critical quality attribute assessment of big brand traditional Chinese medicine: quality control of Tongren Niuhuang Qingxin Pills in texture and sensory attributes / 中国中药杂志

Texture sensory attributes are the key items in quality control of Chinese medicinal honeyed pills. The purpose of this study is to develop a quality control method for assessing the texture sensory attributes of Chinese medicinal honeyed pills based on real-world Tongren Niuhuang Qingxin pilular masses and finished products. First, parameters of texture profile analysis(TPA) were optimized through single factor and central composite design(CCD) experiments to establish a detection method for texture sensory attri-butes of Tongren Niuhuang Qingxin Pills. The results showed that the established detection method was stable and reliable, with the optimal parameters set up as follows: deformation percentage of 70%, detection speed at 30 mm·min~(-1), and interval time of 15 s. Furthermore, 540 data points yielded form six texture sensory attributes of pills from 30 batches were subjected to multivariate statistical process control(MSPC) with Hotelling T~2 and squared prediction error(SPE) control charts to establish the quality control method of Tongren Niuhuang Qingxin Pills. This study is expected to provide a reference for improving the quality control system of Chinese medicinal honeyed pills.

Critical quality attribute assessment of big brand traditional Chinese medicine: study on NIR field detection method of chemical properties of moisture in Tongren Niuhuang Qingxin Pills / 中国中药杂志

For the field detection problems of critical quality attribute(CQA) of moisture content in traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) manufacturing process, big brand TCM Tongren Niuhuang Qingxin Pills were used as the carrier, to establish a moisture content NIR field detection model with or without cellophane in real world production with use of near infrared(NIR) spectroscopy combined with stoichiometry. With the moisture content determined by drying method as reference value, the partial least square method(PLS) was used to analyze the correlation between the spectrum and the moisture reference value. Then the spectral pretreatment methods were screened and optimized to further improve the accuracy and stability of the model. The results showed that the best quantitative model was developed by the spectral data pretreatment of standard normal variate(SNV) with the latent variable factor number of 2 and 7 of Tongren Niuhuang Qingxin Pills with or without cellophane samples. The prediction coefficient of determination(R_(pre)~2) and standard deviation of prediction(RMSEP) of the model with cellophane samples were 0.765 7 and 0.157 2%; R_(pre)~2 and RMSEP of the model without cellophane samples were 0.772 2 and 0.207 8%. The NIR quantitative models of moisture content of Tongren Niuhuang Qingxin Pills with and without cellophane both showed good predictive performance to realize the rapid, accurate and non-destructive quantitative analysis of moisture content in such pills, and provide a method for the field quality control of the critical chemical attributes of moisture in the manufacturing of big brand TCM.

Critical quality attribute assessment of big brand traditional Chinese medicine: visualization of blending process for rare medicines in Tongren Niuhuang Qingxin Pills based on spatial distribution uniformity / 中国中药杂志

The spatial distribution uniformity of valuable medicines is the critical quality attribute in the process control of Tongren Niuhuang Qingxin Pills. With the real world sample of the mixed end-point powder of Tongren Niuhuang Qingxin Pills as the research object, hyperspectral imaging technology was used to collect a total of 32 400 data points with a size of 180 pix×180 pix. Spectral angle matching(SAM), classical least squares and mixed tuned matched filtering(MTMF) were used to identify the spatial distribution of rare medicines. MTMF model showed higher identification accuracy, therefore the spatial distribution of the blended intermediates was identified based on the MTMF model. The histogram method was also used to evaluate the spatial distribution uniformity of rare medicines. The results showed that the standard deviation was 4.78, 6.5, 3.48, 1.96, and 3.00 respectively for artificial bezoar, artificial musk, Borneol, Antelope horn and Buffalo horn; the variance was 22.8, 42.3, 12.1, 3.82, and 9.00, and the skewness was 1.26, 1.71, 0.06,-0.86, and 1.04, respectively. The final results showed that the most even blending was achieved in concentrated powder of Borneol, Antelope horn and Buffalo horn, followed by artificial bezoar, and last artificial musk. A visualization method was established for quality attributes of distribution uniformity in blending process of Tongren Niuhuang Qingxin Pills. It could provide evidences of quality control methods in the mixing process of big brand traditional Chinese medicine.

Research progress on chemical constituents and pharmacological activities of Lycium ruthenicum / 中草药

Lycium ruthenicum is a kind of medicinal and edible plant with excellent health-care effect, which is a unique medicinal plant in the desert region of northwest China. Phytochemical investigations have identified that the fruit of this herb contains a variety of bioactive ingredients, including anthocyanins, flavonoids, alkaloids, and polysaccharides, as well as of fatty acids, amino acids, and some trace elements (such as manganese, selenium, and zinc, etc). Modern pharmacological researches have demonstrated that both the extract of L. ruthenicum and its constituents exhibit a wide range of pharmacological activities, such as anti-oxidation, anti-fatigue, hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic activity, cardiovascular and liver protection, as well as immune-regulatory activity. The chemical constituents of L. ruthenicum and their pharmacological effects are systematically summarized in this paper, and all information presented here may strongly facilitate further investigations on the pharmacological activities of this herb and the development and applications of the related products of this herb.

Vitamin D nutritional status and related factors in primary and secondary school students in Yinchuan / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To understand the vitamin D nutritional status and associated factors of children and adolescents aged 6-18 in Yinchuan, so as to provide theoretical basis for improving the vitamin D malnutrition status of children and adolescents.@*Methods@#Using stratified cluster sampling method, 1 615 children and adolescents from 36 classes in 2 primary schools, junior high schools and high schools were randomly selected from Yinchuan, Ningxia. Venous blood sampling,physical examinations and questionnaires were conducted.@*Results@#The vitamin D deficiency rate and appropriate rate for students were 66.9% and 33.1%, respectively. There was a statistically significant difference in vitamin D deficiency among different age groups(χ2=25.65, P<0.05). The 6-year-old group had the highest(79.2%), followed by the 13-year-old group (76.6%), and the 12-year-old group (75.3%). The results of binary Logistic regression showed that the factors influencing the vitamin D nutritional status of children and adolescents included age(OR=0.95), daily outdoor exercise time(OR=0.49), exclusive breastfeeding (OR=0.63) and mother’s education(OR=0.73, 0.43). The decision tree QUEST and Logistic regression combination model results show that the key factors affecting vitamin D nutrition status include daily outdoor exercise time, age, mother’s education, BMI, and interaction between outdoor exercise time and age, interaction between outdoor exercise time and mother’s education, interaction between age and mother’s education, interaction between exclusive breastfeeding and BMI.@*Conclusion@#The detection rate of vitamin D deficiency in children and adolescents aged 6-18 in Yinchuan is high, factors associated with vitamin D nutritional status includes daily outdoor exercise time, age, mother’s education, BMI, and interaction between outdoor exercise time and age, interaction between outdoor exercise time and mother’s education, interaction between age and mother’s education, interaction between exclusive breastfeeding and BMI.

Recent advances on pancreatic lipase inhibitors from Chinese herbs / 药学学报

Obesity is an important cause of a panel of metabolic diseases, such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia, arteriosclerosis, type 2 diabetes and various cancers. Discovery of anti-obesity agents has always been a hot spot in the field of new drug research and development. Pancreatic lipase (PL, also named triacylglycerol acyl hydrolase), a key enzyme responsible for the hydrolysis of 50%-70% dietary fats in the gastrointestinal system, which has been recognized as a crucial target for the prevention and treatment of obesity. PL inhibitors can reduce the decomposition and absorption of dietary fat in the digestive organs by decreasing the hydrolytic activity of this key enzyme, which can alleviate the symptoms of metabolic diseases such as obesity and hyperlipidemia. Although a potent PL inhibitor (orlistat) has been marketed, it may trigger gastrointestinal side effects after long-term use. Therefore, it is necessary to develop more new PL inhibitors with strong inhibition potency and safety. In recent years, a large number of studies have found that some Chinese herbal extracts and their constituents can regulate lipid metabolism and treat obesity via inhibiting PL. In this paper, the research progress in the field pancreatic lipase inhibitors, as well as the extracts of Chinese herbs and their constituents with pancreatic lipase inhibitory effects were summarized. Meanwhile, the PL inhibition activities and inhibitory mechanisms of herbal constitutes were also summarized systematically. In addition, the authors also highlight the challenges in this field and the future research directions. All information and knowledge presented in this review will be very helpful for the medicinal chemists to find more potent PL inhibitors from herbs or to develop next generation anti-obesity drugs, as well as helpful for the prevention and treatment of obesity and other related metabolic diseases using herba medicines or related products.

Research progress in application and mechanism of Schisandrae Chinensis Fructus for prevention and treatment of liver diseases / 中国中药杂志

Schisandra is the mature fruit of Schisandra chinensis(known as "north Schisandra") or S. shenanthera(known as "south Schisandra"). S. chinensis contains a variety of lignans, volatile oils, polysaccharides, organic acids and other chemical constituents; among them, lignans are recognized as the characteristic active components. Clinical studies have found that Schisandra and Schisandra-related products have a better effect in the prevention and treatment of viral hepatitis, drug-induced liver injury, liver cirrhosis, liver failure and other liver diseases. Modern pharmacological studies have demonstrated that Schisandra has a variety of pharmacological activities, such as anti-inflammation, antioxidation, anticancer, regulation of nuclear receptor, antivirus, regulation of cytochrome P450 enzyme, inhibition of liver cell apoptosis and promotion of liver regeneration. This paper reviews the studies about the applications and mechanism of Schisandra in the prevention and treatment of liver diseases, in the expectation of providing guidance for the development of hepatoprotective drugs from Schisandra and the clinical applications of Schisandra-related products.

Panax Notoginseng Flower Extracted by Methanol on Platelet Function in Healthy Human in Vitro / 中山大学学报(医学科学版)

@#【Objective】To evaluate the effects of methanol extract of Panax Notoginseng flower（PNFM）on platelet function in healthy human.【Methods】Platelet rich plasma were separated from venous blood of healthy volunteers and incubated with different concentrations（0，100，300 and 500 μg/mL）of PNFM for 20 min. After using ADP as agonist， granule-secretion were tested by CD62P expression and ATP release；integrin-αIIbβ3 activation was examined by PAC-1； Test platelet aggregation by turbidimetry ；Immunofluorescence examine platelet spreading on fibrinogen ；Changes in cytoplasmic calcium was studied using Fluo 3-AM，calcium ionophore. 【Results】After using ADP as agonist ，PNFM significantly inhibited platelet aggregation，compared to the control group（72.00±6.08），the 500μg/mL group decreased to 35.67±3.78（P<0.01）；Compared to the control group（30.05±6.48），PNFM reduced the CD62P expression on platelet surface，the 500 μg/mL group decreased to 2.66±0.90（P<0.001）；PNFM inhibited the expression of PAC-1 as a marker of the integrin- αIIbβ3 comformation，compared to the control group（33.37 ± 8.12），the 500 μg/mL group decreased to 11.89±6.12（P<0.01）；Compared to the control group（1.93±0.47），all dose groups attenuated platelet ATP release，the 500 μg/mL group decreased to 35.67±3.78（P<0.01）；Results demonstrated that 500 μg/mL PNFM markedly decreases the surface area of the spreading platelets（89.57±17.34 to 25.12±3.52，P<0.001），and all doses were affected；The Ca2 + mobilization was also reduced by all PNFM doses，compared to the control group（183.87 ± 11.59），the 500 μg/mL group was decreased to 71.25±5.33（P<0.001）.【Conclusions】PNFM attenuated platelet activation，spreading，and aggregation； Our results provided new ideas for prevention and treatment of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

Effect of astilbin on cerebral monoamine mediators dopamine and 5-hydroxytryptamine in depression mice / 新乡医学院学报

Objective To evaluate the anti-depression effect of astilbin on mice with depressive disorder and to explore its mechanism of action.Methods Seventy-two male mice (C57BL/6J type) were randomly divided into control group,model group,low,middle,high dose of astilbin group and imipramine(IMI) group,with 12 mice in each group.The mice in the control group were adopted in a normal way.The rats in the model group,low,middle,high dose of astilbin group and IMI group were adopted in chronic unexpected mild stress (CUMS) to establish depression model,and the stress was continuously kept for three weeks and daily medicine with physiological saline,10,20,40 mg · kg-1 astilbin and 10 astilbin imipramine were provided in the way of intraperitoneal injection.Examination for behavioural changes of animals was implemented via tail suspension test,forced swimming test,sucrose preference test,open field test.High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was adopted to examine the level of dopamine (DA) and 5-hydroxytryptamine(5-HT)in prefrontal cortex.Results There was no significant difference in the number of horizontal movement and vertical movement among the control group,model group,IMI group and low,middle,high dose of astilbin group(P ＞ 0.05).Compared with the control group,the dead time of tail suspension test and forced swimming test in the model group was longer (P ＜ 0.05),and sugar preference,DA and 5-HT in prefrontal cortex decreased dramatically (P ＜ 0.05).Compared with the model group,the dead time of tail suspension test and forced swimming test in the low,middle,high dose of astilbin group was shorter (P ＜ 0.05),and sugar preference and DA level in prefrontal cortex increased dramatically (P ＜ 0.05).The 5-HT level in prefrontal cortex in the middle,high dose of astilbin group and IMI group was higher than that in the model group (P ＜ 0.05),but there was no significant difference in the 5-HT level in prefrontal cortex between low dose of astilbin group and model group (P ＞ 0.05).There was no significant difference in the dead time of tail suspension test and forced swimming test and sugar preference among the control group,IMI group and low,middle,high dose of astilbin group (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion Astilbin works excellently in anti-depression,and the major mechanism may involve in up-regulating the level of DA and 5-HT in prefrontal cortex.

Comparison of Serum Adiponectin in Smoke-induced Pulmonary Emphysema Rats Fed Different Diets / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Smoking and body mass index (BMI) are the key risk factors for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Adiponectin with both anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory properties is a vital modulator of inflammatory processes, which is expressed in epithelial cells in the airway in COPD-emphysema. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of adiponectin on tobacco smoke-induced emphysema in rats, which were fed different diets.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Seventy-six adult (6-8 weeks old) male Sprague-Dawley rats (average weight 220 ± 20 g) were exposed to smoke or smoke-free room atmosphere and fed different diets (regular, high-fat, or low-fat diets) for 6 months. The rats were randomly divided into six groups. They are nonsmoke-exposed regular diet (n = 10), nonsmoke-exposed high-fat diet (n = 14), nonsmoke-exposed low-fat diet (n = 14), smoke-exposed regular diet (n = 10), smoke-exposed high-fat diet (n = 14), and smoke-exposed low-fat diet groups (n = 14). A full 2 3 factorial design was used to evaluate the effect of independent variables on smoke exposure and different rearing methods. Serum adiponectin and inflammatory cytokines were measured by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Serum adiponectin levels in rats fed low-fat and regular diets exposed to smoke exposure were remarkably higher than that of rats exposed to room air while serum adiponectin levels of fat-rich diet rats exposed to tobacco smoke were lower than that of rats exposed to room air. Compared with regular diet or low-fat diet group, serum adiponectin levels in high-fat diet rats exposed to tobacco smoke were lower (t = 6.932, 11.026; all P < 0.001). BMI was inversely correlated with serum adiponectin levels (r = -0.751, P = 0.012). Serum interleukin 6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and 4-hydroxy 2-nonenal (HNE) levels in rats exposed to low-fat or fat-rich diets were remarkably higher than that of rats exposed to normal diets (IL-6, t = 4.196, 3.480; P < 0.01, P = 0.001; TNF-α, t = 4.286, 3.521; P < 0.01, P = 0.001; 4-HNE, t = 4.298, 4.316; all P < 0.001). In nonhigh-fat diet rats exposed to tobacco smoke, serum adiponectin levels correlated positively with serum IL-6, TNF-α, and 4-HNE, bronchoalveolar lavage cell count, and mean linear intercept. In contrast, in high-fat diet rats, serum adiponectin levels correlated inversely with these parameters.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>In smoke-induced emphysema and fat-rich diet rat model, serum adiponectin level was decreased, and the anti-inflammatory effect was attenuated. By contrast, nonhigh-fat diet elevated serum adiponectin and enhanced the role of pro-inflammatory.</p>

Myocardial protection of cardioplegic solution with Salvia miltiorrhizae in extracorporeal circulation of coronary artery bypass graft / 中国中西医结合杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the myocardial protection of cardioplegic solution with Salvia miltiorrhizae (SM) in extracorporeal circulation of coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) and to investigate the mechanisms of SM.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>30 patients who received CABG under extracorporeal circulation were randomly assigned to two groups, the observation group (15 cases) and the control group (15 cases). Patients in the observation group received the cardioplegic solution with SM and those in the control group received the cardioplegic solution without SM. The indices such as serum SOD activities, MDA contents, LDH, CK-MB, cTnl levels, the rate of heart reskip, activated coagulation time (ACT), the time of assisted respiration, and the days of in-hospital after operation were observed in the two groups pre-operation, post-operation, 6 h and 24 h post-operation, respectively.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>When compared with the control group, MDA contents, LDH, CK-MB, cTnl levels were lower, SOD activities (all P<0.05) and heart re-skip rate (P>0.05) higher in the observation group. There was no statistical significance in the time of assisted respiration, the days of in-hospital, or ACT in the two groups (P>0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The application of cardioplegic solution with SM in extracorporeal circulation of CABG showed obvious myocardial protection. It had better effects than the cardioplegic solution with no SM.</p>

Expression of LOX and MMP-2 in gastric cancer tissue and the effects of LOX and MMP-2 on tumor invasion and metastasis / 中华肿瘤杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To compare the expressions of lysyl oxidase (LOX) and matrix metalloproteinases-2 (MMP-2) in gastric cancer and pericancerous tissues, in gastric cancers with and without lymph node metastasis, and to analyze the effects of LOX and MMP-2 on tumor invasion and metastasis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Gastric cancer and pericancerous tissues were collected from 46 patients who underwent surgery. Levels of LOX and MMP-2 mRNA were detected by RT-PCR. Protein abundance of LOX and MMP-2 was examined using Western blot.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Expressions of LOX and MMP-2 mRNA, and protein in 46 gastric cancers were significantly higher than that in 46 pericancerous tissues. In gastric cancer with lymph node metastasis, the levels of LOX and MMP-2 mRNA and protein were higher than those in gastric cancers without lymph node metastasis (P < 0.05). In the groups of gastric cancer with lymph node metastasis, expression of LOX was positively correlated with MMP-2 protein expression (P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Expressions of LOX and MMP-2 in gastric cancer tissues are significantly higher than that in pericancerous tissues. The expressions of LOX and MMP-2 in gastric cancer with lymph node metastasis are higher than that in gastric cancer without lymph node metastasis. Expressions of LOX and MMP-2 are positively correlated. The results suggest that LOX and MMP-2 may promote the growth and metastasis of gastric cancer.</p>

Clinical features and changes of 5-hydroxytryptamine in children with vasovagal syncope / 中华儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate clinical features of childhood vasovagal syncope (VVS) and the possible relationship between changes of plasma and platelet 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) and childhood VVS.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Forty-one children who were diagnosed as VVS because of positive head-up tilt test (HUTT) in Capital Institute of Pediatrics were enrolled as HUT-positive group, while 36 healthy children as control group. Clinical features of all children were analyzed, and blood samples of all children were obtained. Plasma and platelet 5-HT was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).</p><p><b>RESULT</b>(1) The mean age of 41 VVS children was (10.5 +/- 1.8) years, and there were more girls than boys with the boys to girls ratio of 1:1.4. (2) Presyncopal symptoms occurred in 33 patients (80.4%), among whom dizziness had a high rate: 78.8%. (3) Commonly, there were some provocation factors before syncope, among which long-time standing was the most common one with the rate of 91.7%. (4) The mean time of positive response in BHUT and SNHUT were (20.6 +/- 8.6) minutes and (5.0 +/- 2.2) minutes, respectively. Duration of syncope was shorter than 5 minutes. (5) HUTT positive response included vasodepressor type with the rate of 61.0%, cardioinhibitory type with 14.6%, and mixed type with 24.4%. (6) There were no significant differences in baseline heart rate, systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure between VVS children and healthy children. And it was the same among different types of VVS children. (7) There were no significant differences in plasma 5-HT between VVS group of baseline or HUTT-positive and control group [(27.51 +/- 1.32) microg/L vs.(27.28 +/- 2.48)microg/L, t = 0.518, P = 0.606; (27.51 +/- 1.32) microg/L vs.(28.05 +/- 1.40) microg/L, t = 2.044, P = 0.167]. There were no significant differences in platelet 5-HT concentration between VVS group of baseline and control group [(82.30 +/- 6.06) 10(9) ng/L vs. (79.88 +/- 5.79) 10(9) ng/L, t = 1.788, P = 0.780].(8) HUTT-positive platelet 5-HT concentration of VVS children was significantly higher than baseline value [(97.90 +/- 6.59) 10(9) ng/L vs. (82.30 +/- 6.06) 10(9) ng/L, t = 11.26, P = 0.00].</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>There were no significant changes in plasma 5-HT in children with VVS during baseline, syncope or pre-syncope, which suggests that plasma 5-HT might not be valuable for the prediction of syncope trigger. However, platelet 5-HT of VVS children was obviously higher during syncope and presyncope, which suggests that central serotonergic system might be involved in the pathogenesis of VVS.</p>

Global gene expression profiling of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma by laser capture microdissection and complementary DNA microarrays / 中华耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To examine the gene expression profile of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) by combination of laser capture microdissection (LCM) and microarray and to identify genetic changes in disease pathogenesis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The study analysed 8 matched pairs of specimens of glottic carcinoma of larynx and histologically normal epithelium tissues adjacent to the carcinoma preserved in the RNA later reagent. A genome-wide transcriptome analysis was performed by probing 16 cDNA microarrays with fluorescent-labeled amplified RNA derived from laser capture microdissected cells. Real-time quantitative (RT-PCR) of tissue microarray was used to validate the reliability of cDNA microarrays.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Significant analysis of microarray (SAM) software and hierarchical cluster analysis of the expressed genes showed that 2351 genes was significantly expressed respectively according to different analysis method (false discover rate = 0.63%). A selected set of MMP12, KRT16, RARB, PRB1 genes was identified to be consistent with array data by RT-PCR.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The analysis of gene ontology and pathway distributions futher highlighted genes that may be critically important to laryngeal carcinogenesis. The results strongly suggest that this new approach may facilitate the identification of clinical molecular markers of disease and novel potential therapeutic targets for LSCC.</p>

Study on the Production of Ergosterol Using Corn Straw Hydrolyzates Fermentation / 中国生物工程杂志

The ergosterols were produced from corn straw hydrolysates fermented by ergosterol yeast,which was obtained from protoplast electrofusion.The effects on the yield of ergosterol were studied in the condition of shaker,such as initial sugar concentration,nitrogen source,pH value and fermentation time.The technical conditions were optimized according to the DPS center-united experimental design principles and the method of response surface analysis with four factors and three levels.The results indicated that the four factors had significant correlation to ergosterol accumulation.The biomass and the ergosterol content could be up to 8.67g/L and 2.37% respectively after cultivated for 32h under optimal technical condition.The structure of ergosterol crystal was characterized by UV,IR and SEM.A new approach of biomass source application was presented.