Identification of quality markers of Qixuehe Capsules based on analytic hierarchy process and entropy weight methods / 中国中药杂志

Qixuehe Capsules is a compound Chinese patent medicine developed for treating the disorder of Qi and blood(a common etiology of gynecological disease), which has remarkable effects on smoothing liver and regulating Qi, activating blood circulation, and relieving pain. However, due to its complex prescriptions(15 herbs) and multiple effects, the quality control of Qixuehe Capsules has always been a bottleneck problem limiting its sustainable development. Therefore, this study adopted the traditional Chinese medicine Q-markers quantitative identification system established previously by our research group based on the combination of analytic hierarchy process and entropy weight methods. With the different effects of Qixuehe Capsules as the entry point, the comprehensive scores of chemical ingre-dients in Qixuehe Capsules under the items of effectiveness(smoothing liver and regulating qi, activating blood circulation, and relieving pain), testability and specificity were calculated and integrated, respectively. Subsequently, through the analysis of compatibility relationship of Qixuehe Capsules, 15 active ingredients with high comprehensive scores were found to be the top Q-mar-kers of Qixuehe Capsules, including ferulic acid, quercetin, caffeic acid, kaempferol, rutin, Z-ligustilide, senkyunolide Ⅰ, vanillic acid, protocatechuic acid, chlorogenic acid, rosmarinic acid, senkyunolide A, gallic acid, tetrahydropalmatine and eugenol. Collectively, this study not only provided scientific evidence for further research on the improvement and standardization of quality standards of Qixuehe Capsules but also provided methodological references for the quantitative identification of Q-markers of multi-effect traditional Chinese medicine formulae.

Quantity and function of T cell subsets in patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria / 中国实验血液学杂志

This study was purposed to investigate the immune state of T cells, the quantity and function of GPI(+) T cells and GPI(-) T cells in patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH). 22 cases of PNH and 18 normal controls were enrolled in this study. Their T lymphocyte subsets, Th lymphocyte subsets were assayed by flow cytometry with the monoclonal antibodies concerned. The proportion of GPI(+) T cells or GPI(-) T cells in CD3(+) T cells, CD4(+) T cells, CD8(+) T cells and the expressions of CD69 on these T cells were also respectively assayed. The results showed that the proportion of CD4(+) T cells in CD3(+) T cells in PNH [(47.7670 +/- 13.91139)%] was lower than that in controls [(54.9592 +/- 7.11678)%] (p < 0.05). CD8(+) T cells in CD3(+) T cells of PNH cases [(52.2767 +/- 13.90395)%] were higher than that of controls [(45.2418 +/- 6.75306)%] (p < 0.05). The ratio of CD4(+) T cells to CD8(+) T cells was reverse in PNH. Those were more significantly in PNH-AA (0.77763 +/- 0.409153) (p < 0.05). The proportion of Th1 cells in PNH [(16.9136 +/- 6.78899)%], especially in PNH-AA [(22.8000 +/- 5.45244)%], was significantly higher than that in controls [(4.4600 +/- 1.81879)%] (p < 0.05). The proportion of Th2 cells in PNH [(4.7582 +/- 1.98441)%] had no difference from controls [(3.7960 +/- 1.13810)%]. The number of GPI(-) T cells in CD8(+) T cells and CD4(+) T cells were (14.6797 +/- 11.96718)% and (3.9241 +/- 2.46263)% respectively. The expression of CD69 on GPI(+) T cells or GPI(-) T cells in PNH [CD8(+) GPI(+) T cells (17.67881 +/- 8.562493)%, CD8(+) GPI(-) T cells (15.86575 +/- 7.279743)%, CD4(+) GPI(+) T cells (4.65431 +/- 1.984378)%, CD4(+) GPI(-) T cells (4.93181 +/- 1.730001)%]was significantly higher than that in normal controls [CD8(+) GPI(+) T cells (4.68038 +/- 1.216645)%, CD4(+) GPI(-) T cells (1.77339 +/- 0.645259)%] (p < 0.05), but the expression of CD69 on GPI(+) T cells was not different from that on GPI(-) T cells in PNH. It is concluded that high function of cytoimmunity in PNH may be responsible for bone marrow failure but not relates to the existence of PNH clone in T cell population.

Burden of abnormal hematopoietic clone in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes / 中国医学科学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the role of the burden of abnormal hematopoietic clone in the development of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The ratio of the bone marrow cells with abnormal chromosomes to the total counted bone marrow cells was regarded as the index of MDS clone burden. The disease severity related parameters including white blood cell count, hemoglobin, platelet count, lactate dehydrogenase level, bone marrow blast, myeloid differentiation index, micromegakaryocyte, transfusion, interleukin-2, tumor necrosis factor (TNF), CD4+ and CD8+ T cells of MDS patients were assayed, and the correlations between those parameters and MDS clone burden were also analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The clone burden of MDS patients was 67.4% +/- 36.2%. MDS clone burden positively correlated with bone marrow blasts (r = 0.483, P < 0.05), negatively with hemoglobin level (r = -0.445, P < 0.05). The number of blasts, hemoglobin, and erythrocytes in high clone burden (> 50%) and low clone burden ( < or = 50%) groups were 7.78% +/- 5.51% and 3.45% +/- 3.34%, 56.06 +/- 14.28 g/L and 76.40 +/- 24.44 g/L, (1.82 +/- 0.48) x 10(12)/L and (2.32 +/- 0.66) x 10(12)/L, respectively (all P < 0.05). CD4+ T lymphocytes of MDS patients and normal controls were (0.274 +/- 0.719) x 10(9)/L and (0.455 +/- 0.206) x 10(9)/L, respectively (P < 0.05). CD8+ T lymphocytes of MDS patients and normal controls were (0.240 +/- 0.150) x 10(9)/L and (0.305 +/- 0.145) x 10(9)/L, respectively. The serum level of interleukin-2 of MDS patients (6.29 +/- 3.58 ng/mL) was significantly higher than normal control (3.11 +/- 1.40 ng/mL, P < 0.05). The serum level of TNF of MDS patients and normal control group were 2.42 +/- 1.79 ng/mL and 1.68 +/- 0.69 ng/mL, respectively. The ratio of CD4 to CD8 was higher in high clone burden MDS patients (1.90 +/- 0.52) than that in low clone burden patients (0.97 +/- 0.44, P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The quantitive clonal karyotype abnormalities and deficient T cell immunity are important parameters for evaluating MDS severity and predicting its progression.</p>