HPTLC Fingerprints of Total Saponins of Aralia elata Leaves / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective: To establish high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) fingerprint of the total saponins from Aralia elata leaves, and compare the difference of components in A. elata leaves from different harvest time and different regions.Method: High efficiency silica gel G thin sheet (20 cm×20 cm) was used,with chloroform-methanol-ethyl acetate-water (9.5:10:20:0.5:5) as developing system,ethanol solution of 10% concentrated sulfuric acid as chromogenic reagent,heating at 100℃ in constant-temperature air dry oven until clear spots. The fluorescence HPTLC chromatogram fingerprints were obtained under 365 nm ultraviolet light. Speckle patterns were obtained by software processing and the common pattern was established for similarity analysis and cluster analysis.Result: The HPTLC fingerprints with good separation and clear spots were obtained and the common pattern of fingerprints was established. The common pattern was composed of 10 common speckled peaks,4 of which were identified for components. The results showed that samples in early August to mid September from different regions had good similarity. 11 samples of different batches were clustered into one class.Conclusion: The HPTLC method is simple, fast and reliable, and can be used for the identification and quality evaluation of medicinal materials of A. elata leaves. The A. elata leaves collected in August conform to the quality standard, so they can be used as medicinal materials.

Chronic neck pain of cervical spondylosis treated with acupuncture and moxibustion in terms of the heart and kidney theory: a randomized controlled trial / 中国针灸

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the clinical efficacy of acupuncture and moxibustion on chronic neck pain of cervical spondylosis in terms of the heart and kidney theory.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>One hundred and eleven cases were randomized into a heart-kidney acupuncture group (55 cases) and a conventional acupuncture group (56 cases). In the heart-kidney acupuncture group, acupuncture was applied to Bailao (EX-HN 15), Shenmen (HT 7) and Wangu (SI 4). Afterwards, the direct moxibustion was applied to Dazhui (GV 14), Xinshu (BL 15) and Shenshu (BL 23). After moxibustion, the intradermal needling therapy was provided at Bailao (EX-HN 15), Xinshu (BL 15) and Shenshu (BL 23). In the conventional acupuncture group, acupuncture was applied to Bailao (EX-HN 15) and Zhongzhu (TE 3) at first. Afterwards, the direct moxibustion was done at Dazhui (GV 14), Bailao (EX-HN 15) and Jianzhongshu (SI 15). After moxibustion, the interdermal needling therapy was provided at Bailao (EX-HN 15) and Jianzhongshu (SI 15). The northwick park pain questionnaire (NPQ) was adopted as the main efficacy index for the evaluation.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>After the intervention and during the follow-up visit period, NPQ scores were all reduced remarkably as compared with those before the intervention for the patients in two groups (all P < 0.001), but the differences were not statistically significant in groups (all P > 0.05). By the age stratification analysis for the patients in two groups, the program in terms of the heart and kidney theory achieved the superior efficacy for the patients over 45 years old as compared with those in the conventional acupuncture group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). By the stratification analysis of the sick duration, the program in terms of the heart and kidney theory achieved the superior efficacy for the patients with over 7 years sick duration as compared with those in the conventional acupuncture group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The acupuncture and moxibustion therapeutic program in terms of the heart and kidney theory achieves the superior efficacy on chronic pain of cervical spondylosis for the patients over 45 years old and with over 7 years sick duration. It is one of the optimized programs for the treatment of this disease.</p>

Radiofrequency thermocoagulation rhizotomy for recurrent trigeminal neuralgia after microvascular decompression / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Microvascular decompression (MVD) is a well accepted surgical treatment strategy for trigeminal neuralgia (TN) with satisfying long-term outcome. However, considerable recurrent patients need more effective management. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of radiofrequency thermocoagulation rhizotomy (RTR) on patients with recurrent TN after MVD.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Totally 62 cases of recurrent TN after MVD undergoing RTR from January 2000 to January 2010 were retrospectively evaluated. Based on surgical procedures undertaken, these 62 cases were classified into two subgroups: group A consisted of 23 cases that underwent traditional RTR by free-hand; group B consisted of 39 cases that underwent RTR under the guidance of virtual reality imaging technique or neuronavigation system. The patients in group A were followed up for 14 to 70 months (mean, 40 ± 4), and those in group B were followed up for 13 to 65 months (mean, 46 ± 7). Kaplan-Meier analyses of the pain-free survival curves were used for the censored survival data, and the log-rank test was used to compare survival curves of the two groups.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>All patients in both groups A and B attained immediate pain relief after RTR. Both groups attained good pain relief rate within the first two years of follow-up: 92.3%, 84.6% and 82.6%, 69.6% respectively (P > 0.05). After 2 years, the virtual reality or neuronavigation assisted RTR group (group B) demonstrated higher pain relief rates of 82.5%, 76.2% and 68.8% at 3, 4 and 5 years after operation respectively, while those in group A was 57.2%, 49.6%, and 36.4% (P < 0.05). Low levels of minor complications were recorded, while neither mortalities nor significant morbidity was documented.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>RTR was effective in alleviating the pain of TN cases suffering from unsuccessful MVD management. With the help of virtual reality imaging technique or neuronavigation system, the patients could attain better long-term pain relief.</p>

Quantitative analysis of synaptic vesicle release and readily releasable pool size in hippocampal neurons / 生理学报

In central nervous system only a limited number of vesicles exist in the presynaptic terminals. The size and fusion modes of the vesicles were particularly important because of their potential impact on neuronal communications. Efficient methods were needed to analyze the recycling kinetics of synaptic vesicle and the size of readily releasable pool (RRP). In this study, fluorescent dyes with different affinity for membranes (FM1-43 with high affinity and FM2-10 with low affinity) were used to stain the functional synaptic vesicles of cultured hippocampal neurons and the kinetics of vesicle recycling was measured. The results showed that the destaining proportion was larger for FM2-10 than that for FM1-43 during the first trial, while it was greater for FM1-43 than FM2-10 during the second and third trials (first round, 93.0%+/-5.9% versus 57.9%+/-3.5% for FM2-10 and FM1-43, respectively, P<0.0001; second round, 1.4%+/-3.8% versus 24.0%+/-2.3%, P<0.0001; third round, 2.3%+/-1.6% versus 8.6%+/-1.5%, P=0.005). The results indicated that rapid endocytosis existed not only in the first round but also occurred when the vesicles were reused. Moreover, Both high-frequency stimuli and hypertonic sucrose stimuli were used to estimate the RRP sizes in the mix cultured hippocampal inhibitory neurons at 13-14 days in vitro (DIV). We found that the RRP size estimated by hypertonic sucrose stimuli [(200+/-23.0) pC] was much larger than that estimated by high-frequency stimuli [(51.1+/-10.5) pC]. One possible reason for the discrepancies in RRP estimates is that in mix cultured conditions, one neuron may receive inputs from several neurons and hypertonic sucrose stimuli will cause RRP of all those neurons release, while using dual patch recording, only the connection between two neurons was analyzed. Thus, to exclude out the impacts of inputs numbers on RRP sizes, it is more reasonable to use high-frequency stimuli to estimate the RRP size in mix cultured neurons.

Live imaging and quantitative analysis of dendritic development of cultured rat hippocampal neurons / 浙江大学学报·医学版

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To measure mobility of dendritic filopodia, complexity of dendritic arborization using method of live imaging in cultured rat hippocampal neurons and to analyze their morphological characters quantitatively.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Vectors expressing Green Fluorescent Protein- Fibrous Actin (GFP-F-Actin) and F-GFP were co-transfected into cultured rat hippocampal neurons at 5 d in vitro (DIV 5). Neurons expressing GFP were photographed and analyzed with Metamorph software.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Dendritic filopodia was observed to move actively from DIV 7 to DIV 9. The mean density of filopodia was (10.78 +/-3.78)/100 microm, (10.68 +/-2.96)/100 microm and (9.99 +/-3.67)/100 microm (P >0.05), and there were (30.18 +/-14.03)% to (87.36 +/-20.88)% filopodia were mobile (P <0.001). During DIV 7-DIV 14, the total length of dendritic branches grew from (410.74 +/-185.98) microm to (1238.21 +/-418.32)microm (P <0.001) and the number of dendritic branches increased from 18.93 +/-7.23 to 33.60 +/-10.46 (P<0.001). The density of spine was (37.17 +/-6.46)/100 microm at DIV 14.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The combination of live imaging with quantitative analysis is a useful method to study dendritic morphological development in vitro, including indicators of dendritic filopodia, dendritic arborization and spines.</p>

Neuronavigator-guided percutaneous radiofrequency thermocoagulation in the treatment of intractable trigeminal neuralgia / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Percutaneous radiofrequency thermocoagulation of the trigeminal ganglion (PRTTG) is regarded as the first choice for most patients with trigeminal neuralgia (TN) because of its safety and feasibility. However, neuronavigator-guided PRTTG has been seldom reported. The purpose of this study was to assess the safety and efficacy of neuronavigator-guided PRTTG for the treatment of intractable TN.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Between January 2000 and December 2004, 54 patients with intractable TN were enrolled into this study and were randomly divided into two groups. The patients in navigation group (n = 26) underwent PRTTG with frameless neuronavigation, and those in control group (n = 28) received PRTTG without neuronavigation. Three months after the operation, the efficacy, side effects, and complications of the surgery were recorded. The patients in the control group were followed up for 10 to 54 months (mean, 34 +/- 5), and those in the navigation group were followed up for 13 to 58 months (mean, 36 +/- 7). Kaplan-Meier analyses of the pain-free survival curves were used for the censored survival data, and the log-rank test was used to compare survival curves of the two groups.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The immediate complete pain-relief rate of the navigation group was 100%, whereas it was 95% in the control. The proportion of sustained pain-relief rates at 12, 24 and 36 months after the procedure were 85%, 77%, and 62% in the navigation group, and 54%, 40%, and 35% in the control. Recurrences in the control group were more common than that in the navigation group. Annual recurrence rate in the first and second years were 15% and 23% in the navigation group, and 46%, 60% in the control group. No side-effect and complication was noted in the navigation group except minimal facial hypesthesia.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Neuronavigator-guided PRTTG is a safe and promising method for treatment of intractable TN with better short- and long-term outcomes and lower complication rate than PRTTG without neuronavigation.</p>

Synergic effects of synthesis arecoline in combination with snail-killing drugs niclosamide / 中华预防医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To prove that synthetic Are combination with snail-killing drug Nic can increase the effects of snail-killing remarkably.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>In indoor immersing experimentation, the experiments were divided into 4 groups, 30 snails in each group, to observe the rate of opening operculum, the rate of climbing adhesion and the rate of death at 3, 6 and 24 hours respectively. In field experimentation, we intermixed 0.1 mg/L Are with 0.2 mg/L Nic as sample as contrasted with 2 mg/L Nic and non-drug group. Immersing method (we chose three slots each size were 10 m x 2 m x 1 m.) and insufflation method (we chose three patch of bottomlands each area were 10 m x 5 m.) were used to kill snails separately and the death rate of fish, at the same time was observed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>In the room, as we added 0.1 mg/L Are to the solution of 0.1 mg/L and 0.2 mg/L Nic separately, the opening operculum rate for 6 hours was increased from 20% and 12% to 100% and 95%, the climbing adhesion rate for 6 hours decreased from 17% and 53% to 3% and 5%, the death rate for 24 hours increased from 25% and 40% to 90% and 100%. In the field, the snails death rate in sample group and in contrastive group applied with immersing method and insufflation method for 72 hours were 95.9%, 93.3% and 100%, 95.8%; only one small fish (2 cm long) died in sample group, and all fishes died in Nic group, and all fish were alive in non-drug group.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>It proved that synthetic Are combination with snail-killing drug Nic might decrease Nic dosage and toxicity and increase the effects of snail-killing.</p>

Effects of pentylenetetrazol at subconvulsant and convulsant dose on NMDA receptor subunits in rats / 浙江大学学报·医学版

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the expression of N-methyl-D-asparate (NMDA) receptor subunit proteins after administration of different doses of pentylenetetrazol (PTZ).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>After ip injection of a subconvulsant (35 mg/kg) and convulsant (50 mg/kg) dose of PTZ, the rats were decapitated at different time points. The levels of cortical NR1 NR2A and NR2B subunit proteins were detected by immunoblotting.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>35 mg/kg PTZ and 50 mg/kg PTZ elicited different behavioral changes (P<0.001). The NR2A subunit in the cortex significantly increased 1 h after PTZ injection (P<0.05). For the 50 mg/kg group, both the NR2A and NR2B subunits proteins increased at 1 h in the cortex and then decreased; the protein levels returned to normal after 48 h. However, NR1 subunit had no changes.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The NR2 subunit is involved in PTZ-induced seizure.</p>

Correlation between basic expression level of NMDA receptor NR1 subunit protein in hippocampus and learning ability in rats / 浙江大学学报·医学版

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the relationship between basic expression level of NMDA receptor NR1 subunit protein in hippocampus and learning ability of rats.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Using a novel-object recognition model and Morris water maze,the novel-object recognition ability and spatial memory of SD rats were ranked, and grouped as the high (top 20 %) and the low (bottom 20%), respectively. NR1 subunit protein levels in hippocampus were measured by quantitative immunoblotting with NR1 subunit specific antibody.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The level of NR1 subunit protein in hippocampus in the high novel-object recognition ability group was 60% (P<0.01), higher than that in the low one, and in the high spatial memory group it was 45.4 % (P<0.05), higher than that in the low one, respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The basic expression level of NR1 subunit protein in hippocampus is related to novel-object recognition ability and spatial memory of rats.</p>