The preventive effects of one herbal compound on activities of myosin adenosine triphosphatase of muscle fibers and muscle atrophy in tail-suspended rat / 中国应用生理学杂志

<p><b>AIM</b>To study the effect of radix-astragali compound(RC) on muscle atrophy in tail-suspended rats. Muscle weight, fiber type distribution, cross-sectional area (CSA), and activity of myosin adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) in rat soleus muscle were investigated.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The tail-suspended rats were subjected to a 14 days simulated weightlessness, during which period, RC or saltwater was given via intragastric instillation during tail suspension. The changes of soleus muscle weight were scaled by muscle-to-body weight ratio. The activities of myosin ATPase of muscle fibers were detected by method of Ca(2+) -ATPase.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>After a 14 days tail suspension it was found: in rats treated with RC, soleus muscle-to-body weight ratio rose by 33.33% (P < 0.01), both CSA of type I and II fiber drastically enhanced by(143.03%, P < 0.01; 83.25%, P < 0.01), the percentage of type I fiber significantly declined compared to the untreated rats.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>RC is able to effectively prevent muscle atrophy caused by tail suspension and restrain the increase in the myosin ATPase activities caused by simulated weightlessness.</p>

Comparative study on changes of digestive and absorptive functions in three different models of Pi-deficiency syndrome / 中国中西医结合杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To compare the changes of digestive and absorptive functions in three different models of Pi-deficiency syndrome (PDS).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Experimental mice were divided into four groups, the control group(CG), the rhubarb group (RG), the exhaustion group (EG) and the over-exertion group(OG). Criteria including general physical signs, D-xylose excretion rate, serum amylase activity, velocity of stomach emptying and enterokinesia, serum gastrin content and indexes of organs were determined before and after treatment.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Decrease of D-xylose excretion rate and increase of stomach emptying and enterokinesia velocity appeared in all the three PDS models. As compared with CG, changes of all indices in OG were significant, while the decreasing of spleen index and serum amylase activity in EG, and the changes of serum gastrin content and thymus index in RG were insignificantly different.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>All the changes in various criteria showed that PDS mice model established by over-exertion was superior to that established by frequently used methods as purging with rhubarb and exhausting by swimming.</p>