Anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of Bi-yuan-ling granules / 华中科技大学学报（医学）（英德文版）

Bi-yuan-ling granule (BLG) is a traditional Chinese medicine compound composed mainly of baicalin and chlorogenic acid. It has been demonstrated to be clinically effective for various inflammatory diseases such as acute rhinitis, chronic rhinitis, atrophic rhinitis and allergic rhinitis. However, the underlying mechanisms of BLG against these diseases are not fully understood. This study aimed to explore the anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities of BLG, and examine its protective effects on mouse acute lung injury (ALI). The hot plate test and acetic acid-induced writhing assay in Kunming mice were adopted to evaluate the pain-relieving effects of BLG. The anti-inflammatory activities of BLG were determined by examining the effects of BLG on xylene-caused ear swelling in Kunming mice, the cotton pellet-induced granuloma in rats, carrageenan-induced hind paw edema and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute lung injury (ALI) in mice. The results showed that BLG at 15.5 mg/g could significantly relieve the pain by 82.5% (P<0.01) at 1 h after thermal stimulation and 91.2% (P<0.01) at 2 h after thermal stimulation. BLG at doses of 7.75 and 15.5 mg/g reduced the writhing count up to 33.3% (P<0.05) and 53.4% (P<0.01), respectively. Additionally, the xylene-induced edema in mice was markedly restrained by BLG at 7.75 mg/g (P<0.05) and 15.5 mg/g (P<0.01). BLG at 5.35 and 10.7 mg/g significantly reduced paw edema by 34.8% (P<0.05) and 37.9% (P<0.05) at 5 h after carrageenan injection. The granulomatous formation of the cotton pellet was profoundly suppressed by BLG at 2.68, 5.35 and 10.7 mg/g by 15.4%, 38.2% (P<0.01) and 58.9% (P<0.001), respectively. BLG also inhibited lung W/D ratio and the release of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) in ALI mice. In addition, the median lethal dose (LD50), median effective dose (ED50) and half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of BLG were found to be 42.7, 3.2 and 12.33 mg/g, respectively. All the findings suggest that BLG has significantly anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects and it may help reduce the damage of ALI.

Measurement and analysis of different serum PSA in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVES</b>To analyze the stability of different serum prostate-specific antigens (PSA) in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), and investigate their application value in the diagnosis of prostate disease.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>One hundred and five patients with BPH were divided into 3 groups by their total PSA (tPSA) level, 67 in group A (tPSA < 4 micrograms/L), 26 in group B (4 micrograms/L < or = tPSA < or = 10 micrograms/L) and 12 in group C (tPSA > 10 micrograms/L). These patients were also divided into another 3 groups by age, 18 in group a (< or = 55 years old), 33 in group b (from 56 to 69 years old) and 54 in group c (> or = 70 years old). tPSA, free PSA (fPSA) and complexed PSA (cPSA) were measured by magnetism-particulate-immuno-chemistry luminescence method, the ratios of cPSA/tPSA, fPSA/tPSA, fPSA/cPSA were calculated in 105 patients with BPH, and their stabilities were compared in different tPSA level and age groups.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The ratios of cPSA/tPSA, fPSA/tPSA and fPSA/cPSA were steadier than other PSAs in different tPSA level and age groups with BPH.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The ratios of cPSA/tPSA, fPSA/tPSA and fPSA/cPSA probably have more application value in the diagnosis of prostate disease.</p>

Diagnostic value of complexed prostate-specific antigen for prostate cancer / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To assess the clinical value of serum complexed prostate-specific antigen(cPSA) in the diagnosis of prostate cancer (PCa).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Serum samples were obtained from 110 men with untreated benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and 78 men with untreated PCa. The levels of cPSA, total PSA (tPSA) were determined by autoimmunochemistry luminescence method.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Both cPSA and cPSA/tPSA ratio were significantly different between patients with PCa and BPH (P < 0.005), especially, in men with tPSA values between 4.0-10.0 micrograms/L (the diagnostic gray zone). When cPSA/tPSA > or = 0.78 was taken as the cut-off value conjugated with tPSA < or = 10.0 micrograms/L, the sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value and positive predictive value were as high as 97.8%, 95.8%, 81.9% and 96.5%.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>With the introduction of cPSA and cPSA/tPSA ratio, early diagnosis of PCa by the assessment of tPSA has been made more sensitive and reliable, especially when the tPSA is within the diagnostic gray zone.</p>