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Curcumin, a polyphenolic compound from the plant Curcuma longa L., has shown a wide-spectrum of anti-inflammatory and antitumor activities. Despite the promising biological effects of curcumin, its poor solubility has restricted its use in the management of human ailments. To improve its water-solubility, curcumin succinate prodrugs were designed and synthesized and their aqueous solubility, stability, metabolism in rats and anti-inflammatory activity were evaluated (experiments had been approved by the ethics committee and carried out in accordance with the relevant guidelines and regulations; rats were provided by Beijing courtyard experimental animal center of Academy of Military Medical Sciences). The results showed that curcumin succinate prodrugs are very soluble in water and more stable than curcumin in water and in phosphate buffer solution. They released curcumin rapidly and quantitatively after intravenous administration. In phlogogen-induced paw edema in rats, curcumin succinate prodrugs showed anti-inflammatory activity as potent as dexamethasone.
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Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a relatively new technique that can measure the hemoglobin changes in brain tissue. Depending on the absorption for different wavelength, relative changes in the concentration of hemoglobin in brain can be measured, obtaining the hemodynamic characteristics of brain to understand the brain functional state in real-time. Compared with other neuroimaging techniques, it has some advantages and has been used in psychiatry rapidly. Schizophrenia is one of the most common mental disorders, researches on its pathogenesis have focused on collection of structural and functional alteration in brain. Existing techniques can provide only indirect evidence, while fNIRS can perform brain function monitoring in real-time. A number of studies have suggested that fNIRS signal could be used as a biomarker for schizophrenia identification and adjuvant diagnosis. This paper reviewed the research progress in the application of fNIRS in schizophrenia.
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The inclusion complex of isotretinoin was prepared by sealed-control temperature method and amylose was used as carrier. The formation of inclusion complex was confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction and DSC. The equation of enzymatically-controlled drug release was established by kinetic theory, and the release characteristic of drug was confirmed by using the kinetic equation. The results show that the drug release was attributed to first order reaction without alpha-amylase. However, with alpha-amylase, the drug release was an acceleration process by the effect of both dissociation and enzymatic hydrolysis simultaneously. The research indicates that drug release from the inclusion complex was modulated by the addition of alpha-amylase.
Subject(s)
Amylose , Chemistry , Calorimetry, Differential Scanning , Dermatologic Agents , Chemistry , Drug Carriers , Chemistry , Hydrolysis , Isotretinoin , Chemistry , Kinetics , Temperature , X-Ray Diffraction , alpha-Amylases , ChemistryABSTRACT
Objective To study the prevalence and risk factors for personality disorder (PD)outpatients attending in for psychiatric and psychological counseling in Shanghai. Methods 3075 subjects were sampled by systematic sampling method from outpatients in psycho-counseling clinics and psychiatric clinics in Shanghai Mental Health Center. Based on DSM- Ⅳ criteria, personality disorders were assessed by both questionnaires (personality diagnostic questionnaire, PDQ-4+) and interviews (structured clinical interview for DSM- Ⅳ Axis Ⅱ , SCID- Ⅱ ). Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the significant independent contributor to PD. Results 71.3% of the outpatients were found having pathological personality by using questionnaire of self rating PD scale. 982 outpatients (31.9%) met criteria for at least one personality disorder by using structured clinical interview. Younger age (OR= 1.8, 95% CI: 1.5-2.1 ), single or divorced (OR = 1.6, 95%CI:1.4-1.9), psychological counseling outpatients (OR=1.2, 95%CI: 1.1-1.3), mood and outpatients with neurosis disorders (OR = 1.7, 95%CI: 1.4-2.0) were more frequently assigned as personality disorders. Data from logistic regression analysis showed that patients of tender age, not nurtured and raised by their parents, with introvert characters were related risk factors of PD. Conclusion High prevalence rate of PD was found in this sample of Chinese outpatients, especially in thosepsychological counseling outpatients with mood or neurosis disorders. More attention should be paid to the recognition and intervention of PD in outpatients with mental disorders.
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<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Prior research about N400 has been mainly based on English stimuli, while the cognitive processing of Chinese characters is still unclear. The aim of the present study was to further investigate the semantic processing of Chinese idioms.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Event related potentials (ERP) component N400 was elicited by 38 pairs of matching (congruent) and mismatching (incongruent) ended Chinese idioms: ending words with same phoneme but different shape and meaning (sPdSdM), with similar shape but different phoneme and meaning (sSdPdM), with same meaning but different phoneme and shape (sMdPdS), and words with different phoneme, shape and meaning (dPdSdM) and recorded by Guangzhou Runjie WJ-1 ERP instruments. In 62 right-handed healthy adults (age 19 - 50 years), N400 amplitudes and latencies were compared between matching and mismatching conditions at Fz, Cz and Pz.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>N400 showed a midline distribution and could be elicited in electrodes Fz, Cz and Pz. The mean values of N400 latencies and amplitudes were obtained for matching and mismatching ending words in healthy adults. Significant differences were found in N400 latencies and amplitudes in matching and mismatching ending-words idioms in healthy adults (P < 0.05). Compared with matching ending-words idioms, N400 latencies were prolonged and the amplitudes were increased in mismatching ones. N400s elicited by different types of stimuli showed different latencies and amplitudes, and longest N400 latency and largest N400 amplitude were elicited by ending-words with dPdSdM. No gender difference was found of N400 latency and amplitude in this study (P > 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Compared with English stimuli, Chinese ideographic words could provide more flexible stimuli for N400 research in that the words have 3-dimension changes - phoneme, shape and meaning. Features of N400 elicited by matching and mismatching ending words in Chinese idioms are mainly determined by the meaning of the word. Some issues of N400 elicited by Chinese characters deserve further research.</p>