Study on ameliorative effect of IDHP on excessive fat accumulation in hepatocytes / 中国药理学通报

Aim To explore whether isopropyl3-(3, 4-dihydroxyphenyl) -2-hydroxypropanoate (IDHP) could inhibit fat accumulation in liver cells by improving mitochondrial function, and alleviate the symptom of excessive fat accumulation in patients with NAFLD. Methods Cell steatosis model was established by inducing hepatocyte fat accumulation using palmitic acid and oleic acid (PA: OA molar ratio =1

Terpenoids from leaves of Chinese hawthorn / 中国中药杂志

Fifteen compounds were isolated from the 70% EtOH extract of leaves of Chinese hawthorn(Crataegus pinnatifida var. major) by various purification steps, and their structures were determined as 2α,3α,12β,19α,-tetrahydroxyursan-13β,28-olide(1),euscaphic acid(2), tormentic acid(3), ursolic acid(4), pomolic acid(5), corosolic acid(6), maslinic acid(7), linalyl rutinoside(8),(Z)-3-hexenyl β-D-glucoside(9),(3S, 6S)-cis-linalool-3,7-oxide-β-D-glucopyranoside(10), pisumionoside(11), icariside B6(12), byzantionoside B(13),(6R,7E,9R)-9-Hydroxy-4,7-megastigmadien-3-one 9-O-β-D-glucopyranoside(14) and(6S,7E,9R)-6,9-dihydroxy-4,7-megastigmadien-3-one 9-O-β-D-glucopyranoside(15) mainly based on the mass spectrum(MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR) spectroscopic techniques, of which compound 1 was a new pentacyclic triterpene, and compounds 2, 5, 6, 8, 10, 13 and 15 were isolated form this plant for the first time.

Polymorphisms in TYMS for Prediction of Capecitabine-Induced Hand-Foot Syndrome in Chinese Patients with Colorectal Cancer / Journal of the Korean Cancer Association, 대한암학회지

Purpose@#Capecitabine is an extensively used oral prodrug of 5-fluorouracil in treatment of colon cancer and is known to cause hand-foot syndrome (HFS). As the target enzyme for capecitabine, thymidylate synthase (TYMS) plays a key role for 5-fluorouracil metabolism and has been associated with some side effects caused by capecitabine. The aim of our study is to identify the possible genetic predictors of capecitabine-induced HFS (CAP-HFS) in Chinese colorectal cancer patients. @*Materials and Methods@#Whole exons of TYMS were sequenced for 288 extreme phenotype HFS patients, including 144 severe or early-onset (first 2 cycles) moderate HFS extreme cases and 144 extreme controls with no reported HFS. The associations between polymorphisms and CAP-HFS were analyzed using logistic regression under an additive model. @*Results@#We identified a novel risk mutation (c.1A>G, chr18:657743), was associated with severe HFS in an extreme case who was affected during the first cycle of treatment. Moreover, we identified three new variants, rs3786362, rs699517, rs2790, and two previously reported variants, 5’VNTR 2R/3R and 3′-untranslated region 6-bp ins-del, which were significantly associated with CAP-HFS (p < 0.05). In silico analysis revealed that the effect of these polymorphisms in the TYMS region on the development of HFS might not be restricted solely to the regulation of TYMS expression, but also the TYMS catalytic activity through the indirect effect on ENOSF1 expression. @*Conclusion@#This study identified new polymorphisms in TYMS gene significantly associated with CAP-HFS, which may serve as useful genetic predictors for CAP-HFS and help to elucidate the underlying mechanism of HFS.

A metabolite of Danshen formulae (IDHP) induces angiogenesis and protects rat brains against focal ischemia via CaMKKβ/AMPK(Thr172)/eNOS(Ser1177) signaling / 中国药理学与毒理学杂志

OBJECTIVE Only limited number of drugs are currently available for treating ischemic stroke. Therapeu?tic angiogenesis has recently emerged as one of the most promising therapies for cerebral ischemic injury. Isopropyl-β-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-α-hydroxypropanoate (IDHP) is a metabolite derived from the botanical formulation for Dantonic?. Here, we investigated the angiogenic efficacy of IDHP in cerebral ischemia. METHODS The in vivo effects of IDHP were evaluated in the C57BL/6 mouse Matrigel plug and rat transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO) models. Primary human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) and human brain microvascular endothelial cells (HBMEC) were used to explore the effects of IDHP on stimulating proliferation, migration and tube formation in vitro. ELISA and Western blotting were used to quantitate the release and expression of relevant target molecules and signaling path?ways. RESULTS IDHP reduced infarct volume and improved sensorimotor function in rats subjected to tMCAO by pro?moting angiogenesis, and promoted Matrigel neovascularization in mice. Moreover, IDHP produced a biphasic modula?tion on proliferation and migration both in HUVEC and HBMEC. It also induced tube formation in a 12-day HUVEC-HDF co-culture model and in Matrigel assays. IDHP-induced angiogenesis was accompanied by increased levels of p-AMPKα (Thr172) and p-eNOS (Ser1177) both in vitro and in vivo, and the decreased level of VEGF in rat brains on day 1 whereas enhanced level of VEGF on day 3 and 7 after tMCAO. Mechanistically, AMPK knockdown or pharmacologi?cally inhibiting AMPK and its upstream kinases (CaMKKβ) inhibited the eNOS phosphorylation induced by IDHP in HUVEC. Furthermore, selective eNOS inhibitor (L-NIO), selective CaMKKβ inhibitor (STO) and AMPKa inhibitor (Com?pound C) blocked the capillary-like tube formation in the co-culture model induced by IDHP (10 nmol · L-1). CONCLU?SION Collectively, these findings showed that IDHP protected rats from cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury by promot?ing angiogenesis via activating CaMKKβ/AMPK(Thr172)/eNOS(Ser1177) signaling, and suggest it to be a promising new drug candidate for the prevention and/or treatment of cerebral ischemia and other vascular occlusive diseases.

Comparative analysis of chemical constituents in hawthorn leaves from different sources / 药学学报

We identified and analyzed the components and chemical constituents of hawthorn leaves of Crataegus pinnatifida Bge. (wild) and C. pinnatifida Bge. var major N. E. Br (cultivated) by using ultra high-performance liquid chromatography and quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF/MSE) combined with UNIFI data analysis platform and multivariate statistics. Fifty-eight chemical compounds were identified, including organic acids, flavonoids, triterpenoic acids, monoterpenes and sesquiterpenoids; among them, terpenoid content was the most abundant. Principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) were used to identify the differential components of hawthorn leaves from two sources. The results show that there are differences in the chemical compositions of the two sources, including 24 flavonoids and terpenoids (including monoterpenoids, sesquiterpenoids and triterpenoid acids). The types of flavonoids (such as rutin, vitexin-2''-O-rhamnoside, isovitexin-2''-O-rhamnoside, hyperoside, quercetin-3-O-β-D-glucoside) and terpenoids (crataegolic acid, corosolic acid and ursolic acid) in C. pinnatifida were more varied than those found in C. pinnatifida Bge. var major N. E. Br, and their contents were relatively higher. This study provides a comprehensively analysis of the different chemical components of hawthorn leaves from two sources listed in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, and provides a basis for the selection of raw materials and the potential development and utilization of hawthorn leaves.

Polymorphisms in TYMS for Prediction of Capecitabine-Induced Hand-Foot Syndrome in Chinese Patients with Colorectal Cancer / Journal of the Korean Cancer Association, 대한암학회지

Purpose@#Capecitabine is an extensively used oral prodrug of 5-fluorouracil in treatment of colon cancer and is known to cause hand-foot syndrome (HFS). As the target enzyme for capecitabine, thymidylate synthase (TYMS) plays a key role for 5-fluorouracil metabolism and has been associated with some side effects caused by capecitabine. The aim of our study is to identify the possible genetic predictors of capecitabine-induced HFS (CAP-HFS) in Chinese colorectal cancer patients. @*Materials and Methods@#Whole exons of TYMS were sequenced for 288 extreme phenotype HFS patients, including 144 severe or early-onset (first 2 cycles) moderate HFS extreme cases and 144 extreme controls with no reported HFS. The associations between polymorphisms and CAP-HFS were analyzed using logistic regression under an additive model. @*Results@#We identified a novel risk mutation (c.1A>G, chr18:657743), was associated with severe HFS in an extreme case who was affected during the first cycle of treatment. Moreover, we identified three new variants, rs3786362, rs699517, rs2790, and two previously reported variants, 5’VNTR 2R/3R and 3′-untranslated region 6-bp ins-del, which were significantly associated with CAP-HFS (p < 0.05). In silico analysis revealed that the effect of these polymorphisms in the TYMS region on the development of HFS might not be restricted solely to the regulation of TYMS expression, but also the TYMS catalytic activity through the indirect effect on ENOSF1 expression. @*Conclusion@#This study identified new polymorphisms in TYMS gene significantly associated with CAP-HFS, which may serve as useful genetic predictors for CAP-HFS and help to elucidate the underlying mechanism of HFS.

Outcomes of 138 myelodysplastic syndrome patients with HLA-matched sibling donor allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation / 中华血液学杂志

Objective: To evaluate the outcomes of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) patients who received HLA-matched sibling donor allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (MSD-PBSCT) . Methods: The clinical data of 138 MDS patients received MSD-PBSCT from Sep. 2005 to Dec. 2017 were retrospectively analyzed, and the overall survival (OS) rate, disease-free survival (DFS) rate, relapse rate (RR) , non-relapse mortality (NRM) rate and the related risk factors were explored. Results: ①After a median follow-up of 1 050 (range 4 to 4 988) days, the 3-year OS and DFS rates were (66.6±4.1) % and (63.3±4.1) %, respectively. The 3-year cumulative incidence of RR and NRM rates were (13.9±0.1) % and (22.2±0.1) %, respectively. ②Univariate analysis showed that patients with grade Ⅲ-Ⅳ acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) or hematopoietic cell transplantation comorbidity index (HCT-CI) ≥2 points or patients in very high-risk group of the Revised International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS-R) had significantly decreased OS[ (42.9±13.2) %vs (72.9±4.2) %, χ(2)=8.620, P=0.003; (53.3±7.6) %vs (72.6±4.7) %, χ(2)=6.681, P=0.010; (53.8±6.8) %vs (76.6±6.2) %vs (73.3±7.7) %, χ(2)=6.337, P=0.042]. For MDS patients with excess blasts-2 (MDS-EB2) and acute myeloid leukemia patients derived from MDS (MDS-AML) , pre-transplant chemotherapy or hypomethylating agents (HMA) therapy could not improve the OS rate[ (60.4±7.8) %vs (59.2±9.6) %, χ(2)=0.042, P=0.838]. ③Multivariate analysis indicated that the HCT-CI was an independent risk factor for OS and DFS (P=0.012, HR=2.108, 95%CI 1.174-3.785; P=0.008, HR=2.128, 95%CI 1.219-3.712) . Conclusions: HCT-CI was better than the IPSS-R in predicting the outcomes after transplantation. The occurrence of grade Ⅲ-Ⅳ aGVHD is a poor prognostic factor for OS. For patients of MDS-EB2 and MDS-AML, immediate transplantation was recommended instead of receiving pre-transplant chemotherapy or HMA therapy.

Network Pharmacology of Polygalae Radix and Gastrodiae Rhizoma in Treating Epilepsy / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective:To construct a "drug-target-pathway" network of Polygalae Radix and Gastrodiae Rhizoma in treating epilepsy, in order to explore the "multi-component, multi-target, multi-pathway" mechanism of the two kinds of traditional Chinese medicines. Method:According to the reverse pharmacophore matching method, potential targets of Polygalae Radix and Gastrodiae Rhizoma were predicted. Biological information annotation databases were used to analyze the molecular function and biological process of the action targets. Cytoscape 3.2.1 software was used to construct the "ingredient-core, target-pathway" network of Polygalae Radix and Gastrodiae Rhizoma for the treatment of epilepsy. Result:The 14 major constituents from Polygalae Radix exhibited interactions with 105 potential targets, and the 12 compounds from Gastrodiae Rhizoma showed interactions with 109 potential targets, involving several cancer signaling pathways, neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction and mitogen-activated protein kinase(MAPK) biological process played roles in the treatment of epilepsy. Conclusion:According to the screening for the potential targets relating to epilepsy and the evidences obtaining from docking study, we demonstrated that constituents from Polygalae Radix and Gastrodiae Rhizoma could play an anticonvulsant role by mediating the levels of monoamine substances. The conclusion is close to literatures published online to a certain degree, suggesting the accuracy of the study on the effect of Polygalae Radix and Gastrodiae Rhizoma in treating epilepsy according to the network pharmacology.

Effect of MG132 on acute myeloid leukemia cell proliferation and apoptosis / 中国药理学通报

Aim: To investigate the effect of proteasome inhibitor MG132 on the proliferation and apoptosis of acute myeloid leukemia cells. Methods: qRT-PCR was used to detect the expression of ADRM1 mRNA in nine blood tumor cell lines. The expression of ADRM1 in HL60 cells was interfered by shRNA; HL60 cells before and after ADRM1 interfered were treated with different MG132 concentrations for 24 h; Then, the cell proliferation and viability were measured with CCK-8 by microplate reader. Meanwhile, the expressions of ADRM1 and UCH37 protein were detected by Western blot. Apoptosis of HL60 and NB4 cells treated with different MG132 concentrations was analyzed by flow cytometry. Results: ADRM1 mRNA was up-regulated in blood tumor cell lines. ADRM1 shRNA and scrambled shRNA HL60 cells were successfully constructed. Cell proliferation and viability were inhibited by AD-RM1 shRNA interference or decreased with the increase of MG132 concentration; meanwhile, ADRM1 and UCH37 protein expressions were down-regulated. The apoptosis of HL60 and NB4 cells increased with the increase of MG132 concentrations. The apoptotic effect of MG132 on HL60 cells was stronger than that of NB4 cells. Conclusions: ADRM1 mRNA is overexpressed in blood tumor cell lines; ADRM1 down-regulation induces UCH37 protein decrease and cell proliferation inhibition. MG132 induces AML cell apoptosis and restrains the proliferation and viability through down-regulating the expression of ADRM1 and UCH37 protein. The apoptotic effect of MG132 on different types of AML cells exists individual differences.

Effects of preexisting donor-specific HLA antibodies for graft failure in un-manipulated haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation / 中华血液学杂志

Objective: To investigate the effects of donor-specific HLA antibodies(DSA) for graft failure in un-manipulated haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation(haplo-HSCT) and the feasible treatment for DSA. Methods: HLA antibodies were examined using the Luminex-based single Ag assay for 92 patients who were going on haplo-SCT and the correlations of graft failure and DSA among the patients who had finished SCT were analyzed. Results: Of the total 92 patients who were going on haplo-HSCT, sixteen (17.4%) patients were HLA Ab-positive, including six (6.5%) patients with antibodies corresponding to donor HLA Ags (DSA-positive). Among the patients who had finished the haplo-HSCT with conventional myeloablative conditioning regimen, the engraftment rate was significantly higher in DSA (-) patients than that in DSA (+) patients [92.3% (24/26) vs 25.0%(1/4), χ2=8.433, P=0.004] and DSA was the only factor relevant with graft failure in multiple-factor analysis [OR=12.0(95% CI 1.39-103.5), P=0.024]. Strategies to decrease antibody levels were taken for 4 patients, two were their first transplantations, and the other two patients were their second haplo-HSCT. Three of the four patients were HLA-I-DSA positive and had gained donor engraftment by means of donor platelet transfusions to decreased the level of DSA, the fourth patient with both HLA-I and HLA-II DSA also gained engraftment with the treatments of TBI, rituximab and donor platelet transfusion. Conclusion: DSA is one of the key factors of graft failure in haplo-HSCT. Donors should be selected on the basis of an evaluation of HLA antibodies before transplantation. If haplo-HSCT from donors with DSA must be performed, then recipients should be treated for DSA to improve the chances of successful engraftment.

Efficacy and safety of tranexamic acid on reducing perioperative blood loss in patients with intertrochanteric fracture / 中国组织工程研究

BACKGROUND: Proximal femoral nail anti-rotation is widely used to treat various intertrochanteric fractures. Although its operation trauma is small, and the blood loss of perioperative period is still large. Tranexamic acid has been gradually used to reduce the bleeding of intertrochanteric fracture. The effectiveness and safety of reducing blood loss during perioperative period were not reported. OBJECTIVE: To explore the safety and efficacy of tranexamic acid on perioperative blood loss in patients with intertrochanteric fracture undergoing proximal femoral nail anti-rotation. METHODS: One hundred and eight patients with intertrochanteric fracture undergoing proximal femoral nail anti-rotation were selected from First Affiliated Hospital, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine between January 2015 and January 2017. Among all the subjects, 52 patients who received the operation before January 2016 served as the control group and 56 patients who received the operation after January 2016 were selected as the treatment group. Half an hour before operation, patients in the treatment group received 1 g tranexamic acid dissolved in 250 mL normal saline by intravenous dropping; patients in the control group just received 250 mL normal saline by intravenous dropping. The bleeding volume, blood transfusion volume, hemoglobin, hematocrit, coagulation index, D-dimer levels and complications were compared between the two groups. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) During perioperative period, actual blood loss, intraoperative blood loss, dominant blood loss, recessive blood loss, volume of drainage, blood transfusion volume and blood transfusion rate were lower in the treatment group than in the control group (P < 0.05). (2) There was no statistically significant difference in the hemoglobin and hematocrit between the two groups before operation (P > 0.05). The hemoglobin and hematocrit of the two groups gradually decreased after the operation, and there was a slight improvement in the fifth day after surgery. At postoperative 2 hours, 1, 3 and 5 days, the hemoglobin and hematocrit of the treatment group were higher than in the control group (P < 0.05). At preoperation and each time point postoperation, prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, and fibrinogen levels were not statistically significant between the two groups (P > 0.05). Postoperative D-dimer levels in the two groups were significantly higher than preoperation, and there was a return on the fifth day. There was no statistically significant difference between groups at preoperation and each time point of postoperation (P > 0.05). (3) The results suggest that the tranexamic acid can effectively reduce the dominant and recessive blood loss in patients with the intertrochanteric fracture, and it is safe and effective.

Application of computer-assisted surgery techniques in the management of zygomatic complex fractures / 中华创伤杂志(英文版)

Patients suffering from zygomatic complex fractures always present facial deformity and dysfunctions, and thereafter develop psychological and physiological problems. It is really hard to get an ideal prognosis for the zygomatic complex fractures because of the complicated anatomical structures. Computer-assisted surgery techniques, as the new emerging auxiliary methods, can optimize the surgical protocol, predict operation outcomes, and improve the accuracy and quality of the operation. Meanwhile the postoperative complications can be reduced effectively. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the application of computer-assisted surgery techniques in the management of zygomatic complex fractures.

Research progress on induced membrane technique for the treatment of segmental bone defect / 中国骨伤

Treatment of large bone defects caused by trauma, osteomyelitis, and tumors has been a major challenge in clinical. In the past, there have been many ways to repair and reconstruct the large bone defects. However, there is a long period of treatment, high technical requirement and complications such as ununion. After Masquelet reported the induced membrane technology in 2000, the technique was widely used in treatment of trauma, osteomyelitis, and large bone defects caused by tumors. It has been obtained good results. It has the advantages of short course, high healing rate, easy operation and easy to master. The induced membrane has unique structural characteristics and biological characteristics. There are many kinds of osteogenic factors that are included in the membrane, such as vascular endothelial growth factor, and morphogenetic protein-2, transforming growth factor-β1, etc. These osteogenic factors contribute to accelerate bone healing. With the development of induced membrane technology. The technology of Reamer Irrigator Aspirator technology, engineering tissue technology and internal fixation is used in clinic.It can provide bone source, promote bone defect reconstruction, improve long-term limb function and reduce complications.This paper retrospectively summarizes the experimental research and clinical progress of Masquelet technique in the treatment of large bone defects.

Chemical constituents, biological activities and quality control of plants from genus Pyrola / 中国中药杂志

Plants from the genus Pyrola are widely distributed in North Temperate zone. The quinones, phenol glycosides, terpenoids, flavonoids and volatile oil compounds have been identified from these plants. The in vivo and in vitro studies have shown that the genus Pyrola plants exhibit a wide range of pharmacological properties, including antioxidant, antitumor, antibacterial, anti-ischemia and anti-inflammatory activities. Based on analysis of the literature of the genus Pyrola plant, this review summarized the research on chemical constituents, pharmacology and quality control in recent years which can provide evidences for further investigation on the genus Pyrola plants.

Optimization of preparation procedures of tanshinone-ⅡA /β-cyclodextrin inclusion complex and dissolution study of tanshinone-ⅡA in vitro / 中国中药杂志

In this paper, tanshinone-ⅡA (Tan-IIA)/β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) inclusion complexes were prepared by saturated aqueous solution method. Based on the single factor experiment, Box-Benhnken design and response surface method were utilized to optimize the preparation procedures of tanshinone-ⅡA/β-cyclodextrin inclusion complexes. The ratio of β-CD to Tan-ⅡA, experimental temperature and time were defined as independent variables, while the yield of the inclusion complexes, encapsulation efficiency and the generalized "normalized value" were set as the response value. In addition, the inclusion complexes were characterized by infrared spectroscopy (IR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The results showed that optimum preparation conditions for Tan-ⅡA/β-CD inclusion complex were as follows: Tan-ⅡA/β-CD ratio of 1:7, the temperature of 48 ℃ and the time of 3 h. Under the optimized conditions, the encapsulation efficiency of Tan-ⅡA/β-CD inclusion complex was 84.75%. The Tan-IIA and β-CD inclusion complex can significantly improve the dissolution of Tan-ⅡA.

Gray relational analysis for the effect of nano-drug features on drug absorption / 药学学报

Gray relational analysis is employed to analyze the effects of nano-drug features on phagocytosis of macrophages, including zeta potential, shape factor and scale size of drug particle, the correlation among such factors and macrophage cell is calculated. The results showed that the internalization processe is affected significantly by the zeta potential of the drug in the process of phagocytosis of macrophages, followed by the impact particle shape, and the effect of particle scale behaves relatively small.

Plasma microRNA profiling in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients reveals miR-548q and miR-483-5p as potential biomarkers / 癌症

MicroRNAs (miRNAs), which play a role in tumorigenesis, may also serve as diagnostic or prognostic biomarkers. However, studies on human miRNA profiles in plasma from nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients are in their infancy. Here, we used microarrays to perform systematic profiling of human miRNAs in plasma from NPC patients. We subsequently used real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Q-PCR) to validate miRNAs with aberrant expression that could serve as potential biomarkers. By comparing the plasma miRNA profiles of 31 NPC patients and 19 controls, 39 of 887 human miRNAs were found to be aberrantly expressed. Considering the fold change and P value, miR-548q and miR-483-5p were validated in 132 samples from 82 NPC patients and 50 controls. Moreover, high expression of miR-548q and miR-483-5p was further found in 3 NPC cell lines and clinical biopsy tissues from 54 NPC patients and 22 controls. Our results revealed that miR-548q and miR-483-5p are potential biomarkers of NPC. Combining the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses of these 2 miRNAs, an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.737 with 67.1% sensitivity and 68.0% specificity were obtained, showing the preliminary diagnostic value of plasma miRNAs. Moreover, most NPC patients with a poor outcome exhibited high expression (> median) of miR-548q (70.6%) and miR-483-5p (64.7%) in tissue samples, indicating their prognostic value. The high expression levels of miR-548q and miR-483-5p in plasma, cell lines, and clinical tissues of NPC patients indicate that their roles in NPC should be explored in the future.

Centrifugation: an important pre-analytic procedure that influences plasma microRNA quantification during blood processing / 癌症

Circulating microRNAs are robustly present in plasma or serum and have become a research focus as biomarkers for tumor diagnosis and prognosis. Centrifugation is a necessary procedure for obtaining high-quality blood supernatant. Herein, we investigated one-step and two-step centrifugations, two centrifugal methods routinely used in microRNA study, to explore their effects on plasma microRNA quantification. The microRNAs obtained from one-step and two-step centrifugations were quantified by microarray and TaqMan-based real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Q-PCR). Dynamic light scattering was performed to explore the difference underlying the two centrifugal methods. The results from the microarray containing 1,347 microRNAs showed that the signal detection rate was greatly decreased in the plasma sample prepared by two-step centrifugation. More importantly, the microRNAs missing in this plasma sample could be recovered and detected in the precipitate generated from the second centrifugation. Consistent with the results from microarray, a marked decrease of three representative microRNAs in two-step centrifugal plasma was validated by Q-PCR. According to the size distribution of all nanoparticles in plasma, there were fewer nanoparticles with size >1,000 nm in two-step centrifugal plasma. Our experiments directly demonstrated that different centrifugation methods produced distinct quantities of plasma microRNAs. Thus, exosomes or protein complexes containing microRNAs may be involved in large nanoparticle formation and may be precipitated after two-step centrifugation. Our results remind us that sample processing methods should be first considered in conducting research.

Pharmacokinetic effect of Sappan Lignum on hydroxysafflor yellow A in Carthami Flos / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the pharmacokinetic effect of Sappan Lignum on hydroxysafflor yellow A (HSYA) in Carthami Flos.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Concentration of HSYA in rat plasma was detected by RP-HPLC after rats were orally administered with extracts of Carthami Flos or Carthami Flos combined with Sappan Lignum. Pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated by DAS 2.0 pharmacokinetic software.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>In vivo pharmacokinetic models of HSYA were two-compartment open models in both of the Carthami Flos group and the Carthami Flos combined with Sappan Lignum group. After compatibility, HSYA showed a significant lower in apparent volumes of distribution of t(1/2Ka), t(1/2alpha) and V1/F, with slight advance in T(max).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Sappan Lignum can accelerate absorption, distribution and metabolic process of HSYA in vivo and reduce its accumulation in vivo.</p>

Measurement and analysis on operating force from Chinese young males / 医用生物力学

Objective To establish the operating force database of Chinese young males and provide basis information for the design of operating force in working place. Methods Anthropometric parameters of 843 Chinese young males from northeast, north, northwest, southwest, southeast, central and south China were collected, including the back force, hand twisting force, arm forces in four exerting directions and with various elbow angles. The data were statistically analyzed and compared with related researches in China and abroad. ResultsFor arm forces in four exerting directions, the pushing force was greater than the pulling force, and the inward force was greater than the outward force. The pushing force was the largest and the outside outward force was the smallest. With the increase of the elbow angle, the pushing and pulling forces were increased significantly, while the inward and outward forces were decreased significantly. A significant correlation existed among the operating forces. There was significant correlation between the operating force and body weight, while weak correlation was found between the operating forces and anthropometric parameters. Operating forces of Chinese young males were relatively smaller than those of the Westerns. Conclusions By sampling on a national scale, the operating force database was established for Chinese young males. This study provides the basic data for the design of operating force in man-machine system and could be also used as reference for ergonomics researchers, occupational health workers and rehabilitation researchers.