Clinical application evaluation of clinical practice guideline on traditional Chinese medicine therapy alone or combined with antibiotics for uncomplicated lower urinary tract infection / 中国中药杂志

A questionnaire survey of 1 000 clinicians having experience in treating uncomplicated lower urinary tract infections from different levels of hospitals was conducted to mainly evaluate the applicability and effectiveness of clinical application of clinical practice guideline on traditional Chinese medicine therapy alone or combined with antibiotics for uncomplicated lower urinary tract infection(hereinafter referred to as Guideline). The research was conducted with the three-level quality control strictly throughout the process, and the data was real and reliable. The survey's results showed that: most clinicians considered that the Guideline had good clinical applicability. The availability and price of the recommended medicine were moderate. Traditional Chinese medicine had obvious features and advantages in treating lower urinary tract infection for it could reduce the usage of antibiotics and shorten the course of antibiotic application. In the recommendation section, clinicians proposed increasing medication guidance, updating the Guideline timely, as well as increasing treating methods and techniques, strengthen propaganda and promotion, and improve the use of evidence-based methods. In the evaluation of effectiveness, the majority of clinicians agreed that the definition in both traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and Western medicine and differential diagnosis in the Guideline were accurately described and the basic principle of treatment as well as the treating method of TCM were recommended appropriately. The TCM formulas and Chinese patent medicine had good effect. Some clinicians suggested refining the syndrome differentiation of stranguria. Some clinicians considered that the formulas and herbs recommended in Guideline didn't have obvious effect and some had doubts about the manipulation of fumigation and washing in the part of other methods recommended in Guideline. Moreover, specification and procedure of manipulation of fumigation and washing using herbs and the acupuncture included in characteristic TCM therapy treating uncomplicated lower urinary tract infection remained to be developed.

Nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase and its roles in cancer / 浙江大学学报·医学版

Nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (Nampt) is a rate-limiting enzyme for synthesis of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide in mammalian cells. Recent studies show that Nampt also works as a cytokine that exerts insulin-mimetic effects by binding to the insulin receptor, induces B-cell differentiation, inhibits neutrophil apoptosis, and affects immune and inflammatory functions. This review is focused on current knowledge regarding the structure and function of Nampt and its roles in carcinogenesis.

Effects of the water channel aquaporin 4 deficiency on bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis in mice / 浙江大学学报·医学版

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the effect of water channel aquaporin 4 (AQP4) on bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis in mice.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>In wild type and AQP4 gene knockout (AQP4-/-) mice, lung fibrosis was induced by injection of bleomycin (3 mg/kg) into the trachea and saline injection was used as a control. At d3, 7, 14, 28 after bleomycin-treatment, mice were randomly sacrificed in batch and the lung coefficient was determined. Serum levels of TGF-β1 and TNF-α were measured by ELISA and hydroxyproline contents in lung tissue were determined by Alkaline hydrolysis method. H-E staining and Masson's staining were performed to examine the pathological changes of lung tissues after bleomycin-treatment.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>On d14 after bleomycin-treatment, the lung coefficients in wild type mice and AQP4-/- mice were 1.9-fold (12.69 ± 6.05 vs 6.80 ± 0.82, q=4.204, P<0.05) and 2.3-fold (14.05 ± 5.82 vs 6.05± 0.58, q=5.172, P<0.01) of that in control, respectively, but no significant difference was found between wild type and AQP4-/- mice in the lung coefficient value (P>0.05). The hydroxyproline contents in the lung increased after bleomycin-treatment; on d28, the lung hydroxyproline contents in wild type and in AQP4-/- mice were 1.55-fold (0.85 ± 0.22 g/mg vs 0.55 ± 0.14 μg/mg, q=4.313, P<0.05) and 1.4-fold (0.84 ± 0.13 μg/mg vs 0.60 ± 0.14μg/mg, q=4.595，P<0.05) of that in control, respectively, but no significant difference was noticed between wild type and AQP4-/- mice in lung hydroxyproline contents. There was a tendency that serum TGF-β1 and TNF-α levels increased in bleomycin-treated mice, but no significant difference was found between wild type and AQP4-/- mice. AQP4-knockout showed no effects on pathological changes of lung tissues with H-E staining and Masson's staining in mice with bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>AQP4 might not be involved in bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis in mice.</p>

Analysis on chemical components from water extract of paeoniae radix alba by high performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-quadrupole-time of flight-mass spectrometry / 中国中药杂志

This experiment was performed to establish a qualitative analysis on chemical composition in water extract of Paeoniae Radix Alba by HPLC-ESI-Q-TOF-MS. The analysis was conducted on a C18 (Hanbon Lichrospher, 4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 microm) column with methanol-0.1% formic acid as the mobile phase for gradient elution; ESI ion source was used for mass spectra, and data were collected in both positive and negative modes. The results showed that eleven compounds from water extract of Paeoniae Radix Alba had been identified by analyzing positive and negative ion mass data including element composition and by comparing with data from literatures. Since efficient separation of HPLC and the high sensitive detection of MS was used, this experiment, it will provide evidences for elucidation of the effective substance in the water extract of Paeoniae Radix Alba.

PTEN tumor suppressor gene combined with doxycycline inhibites telomerase activity in human mucoepidermoid carcinoma cell line / 华西口腔医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effect of PTEN tumor suppressor gene combined with doxycycline on telomerase activity in human mucoepidermoid carcinoma cell line.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The wild-type PTEN tumor suppressor gene or empty vector was introduced into mucoepidermoid carcinoma cell line in vitro, then the cancer cells were treated with doxycycline. Cancer cell survival was determined by MTT assay. Telomerase activity was determined using telomerase repeat amplification protocol-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (TRAP-ELISA).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared to the control cells, cancer cells transfected with the wild-type PTEN gene showed growth inhibition and increased sensitivity to doxycycyline, and the ratio of augment of drug sensitivity was 1.65-4.75. The telomerase activity in cancer cells treared with PTEN gene transfection or doxycycline alone decreased, however, telomerase activity in combined group decreased more remarkably.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>PTEN gene in combination with doxycycline has significant inhibitory effect on telomerase activity in cancer cells.</p>

Purification of mutacin / 华西口腔医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To purify mutacin produced from isolated Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) strains in order to, contribute to molecular biological research of mutacin.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The antibacterial activity of 80 isolated strains was tested by the stab culture technique against Streptococcus oralis ATCC 10557. The mutacin produced by strain 1G, was initially purified by solid-phase extraction (SPE) after crude extraction by chloroform. And then the active substances were purified by twice reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). The purified target peptide (mutacin) was collected and freeze-dried for further study.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The greatest active strain of these S. mutans isolates, the strain 1G was obtained. Roughly 15 microg crude mutacin was extracted from 200 mL liquid medium of this strain 1G. The purified mutacin through SPE and twice RP-HPLC was obtained.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>It was much complex to separate and purify mutacin due to its small molecular mass, and extracting and purifying of mutacin may make an important contribution to the further research of mutacin.</p>

Study on the risk factors leading to irregularly anti-pulmonary tuberculosis drug taking in patients with smear positive / 中华流行病学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To describe the current situation and explore risk factors to irregularly antipulmonary tuberculosis(TB) drugs taking in smear positive TB patients.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Four out of the forty counties in Chongqing were randomly sampled according to the levels of social and economic development. Totally, 405 new patients with smear positive tuberculosis were systematically sampled and a household survey was carried out. A multiple logistic regression model was fitted to explore the risk factors to irregularly anti-TB drugs taking.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Of valid 401 cases, 50 (12.47%) did not take their drugs regularly and the top 3 reasons for irregular drugs taking were: (1) Adverse effects; (2)Economic hardship; (3) Stopped taking drugs when symptom disappeared. Results from multiple logistic regression analysis showed that factors as: self-perceived economical burden, awareness on TB before being infected and awareness on the fact that if anti-TB drugs can be stopped if the symptoms disappeared, were statistically significant to irregularly drugs taking.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Strengthening health education program and alleviation of economical burden might serve as two effective measures for regularly drugs taking among TB patients.</p>

Comparative study on quality of Flos Lonicerae between geo-authentic and non-authentic producing areas / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To compare the quality of Flos Lonicerae between different producing areas.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>ICP-AES, UV and HPLC were used to determine the contents of trace elements, chlorogenic acid, total flavonoids, five iridoid glucosides, hederagenin, and oleanolic acid. SAS software system was used to perform data and cluster analyses.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The results showed that the geo-authentic crude drug was lower in the contents of Cr and Pb but higher in the contents of chlorogenic acid, total flavonoids, five iridoid glucosides, hederagenin, and oleanolic acid than the non-authentic crude drug.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The geo-authentic crude drug of Flos Lonicerae is better in quality than the non-authentic crude drug based on the modern chemical analyses, which confirms the validity of traditional geo-based classification.</p>