A Comparative Study of Three Imaging Modalities for Size Selection of a Watchman Left Atrial Appendage Closure Device

Purpose@#To compare the results of computed tomography angiography (CTA), transesophageal echocardiography (TEE), and digital subtraction angiography (DSA) measurements and analyze their accuracy, correlation, and consistency in patients who have successfully undergone left atrial appendage closure (LAAC). @*Materials and Methods@#A total of 157 non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF) patients who underwent LAAC with Watchman devices were included in the study. The maximum diameter and depth of LAA were recorded using CTA, TEE, and DSA. Correlations and agreements were compared. @*Results@#The LAAC procedure was performed successfully in all patients using the Watchman device. There was no significant difference between DSA and TEE measurements of the diameter of the LAA ostium. LAA ostium diameter obtained by CTA, however, was greater than that from DSA and TEE. Correlations were good between LAA ostium diameter measured by TEE, CTA, and DSA and Watchman device size. DSA measurements and actual device size showed the widest limits of agreement, followed by TEE; CTA measurements showed the narrowest limits of agreement. For LAA depth measurements, mean CTA measurements were higher than those of TEE and DSA. There was no significant difference in depth measurements among the three imaging modalities. @*Conclusion@#CTA, TEE, and DSA measurements exhibited good correlations with Watchman device size. The ostium diameter and depth of the LAA measured by CTA were greater than those measured by TEE and DSA. The relevance and concordance of CTA measurements were the strongest.

Protective effects of carnosic acid against aging in a premature cellular senescence model and in a D-galactose induced mouse model / 药学学报

This study aimed to investigate the effect and possible mechanism of carnosic acid (CA) on delaying aging. The effects of CA on senescence-related β-galactosidase (SA-β-Gal) activity and expressions of p53, p21 and p16 were evaluated by an oxidative challenge induced premature 2BS cell senescence model. Meanwhile, the animal experiment was approved by the Ethics Committee of Zhejiang Hospital. Male C57 BL/6J mice were injected with 100 mg·kg-1·d-1 D-galactose (D-gal) for 8 weeks to establish an aging model in vivo, and CA at 5 and 10 mg·kg-1·d-1 were given ig administration at the same time. Morris water maze test was used to test the spatial memory ability. Then the serum and tissue samples were collected for the detections of malondialdehyde (MDA), total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) and advanced glycation end products (AGEs) as well as the protein expression of p53, p21 and p16 in hippocampus of brain. The results showed that H2O2 induced increment of SA-β-Gal activity (95%) was prevented by CA treatment (35%) and the enhanced protein expressions of p53, p21 and p16 in H2O2 exposed 2BS cells were alleviated by CA treatment, suggesting a potent protective role of CA against premature senescence induced by oxidative challenge. For in vivo study, D-gal induced declined spatial memory ability was partly reversed by CA administration. Besides, the serum and cerebral levels of MDA, IL-6, TNFα and AGEs were attenuated by CA treatment when compared to those in model mice. And the protein expressions of p53, p21 and p16 in mice hippocampus were suppressed by CA in D-gal treated mice. Taken together, our results showed that CA protects premature senescence induced by oxidative stress and D-gal, which is related to its antioxidative, antiinflammatory roles and inhibition on non-enzymatic glycosylation.

SIRT3:a potential target for CHF? / 中国药理学与毒理学杂志

Pathological cardiac hypertrophy is a maladaptive response in a variety of organic heart disease(OHD),which is characterized by mitochondrial dysfunction that results from disturbed energy metabolism. SIRT3, a mitochondria-localized sirtuin, regulates global mitochondrial lysine acetylation and preserves mitochondrial function. However, the mechanisms by which SIRT3 regulates cardiac hypertrophy remains to be further elucidated. In this study, we firstly demonstrated that expression of SIRT3 was decreased in AngiotensionⅡ(AngⅡ)-treated cardiomyocytes and in hearts of AngⅡ-induced cardiac hypertrophic mice. In addition, SIRT3 overexpression protected myocytes from hypertrophy, whereas SIRT3 silencing exacerbated Ang II-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy.In particular,SIRT3-KO mice exhibited significant cardiac hypertrophy. Mechanistically, we identified NMNAT3 (nicotinamide mononucleotide adenylyltransferase 3), the rate-limiting enzyme for mitochondrial NAD biosynthesis, as a new target and binding partner of SIRT3.Specifically,SIRT3 physically interacts with and deacety-lates NMNAT3,thereby enhancing the enzyme activity of NMNAT3 and contributing to SIRT3-mediated anti-hypertrophic effects.Moreover,NMNAT3 regulates the activity of SIRT3 via synthesis of mitochon-dria NAD.Taken together,these findings provide mechanistic insights into the negative regulatory role of SIRT3 in cardiac hypertrophy.Sirtuin 3(SIRT3),a mitochondrial deacetylase that may play an impor-tant role in regulating cardiac function and a potential target for CHF

Retraction notice to “Effect of phentolamine on myocardial extracellular matrix of cardiac remodeling in rats” (Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine (2014) 7(8) (645–649) (S1995764514601085) (10.1016/S1995-7645(14)60108-5))

This article has been retracted at the request of the journal Editorial Office. The authors have plagiarized part of a paper that had already appeared in Chinese Journal of Arteriosclerosis 2014, 4, 362–366. Article id: 1007-3949 (2014) 22-04-0362-05. One of the conditions of submission of a paper for publication is that authors declare explicitly that their work is original and has not appeared in a publication elsewhere. Re-use of any data should be appropriately cited. As such this article represents an abuse of the scientific publishing system. The scientific community takes a very strong view on this matter and apologies are offered to readers of the journal that this was not detected during the submission process.

Allopurinol preconditioning attenuates renal ischemia/reperfusion injury by inhibiting HMGB1 expression in a rat model

ABSTRACT PURPOSE: To investigate the potential effects of pretreatment with allopurinol on renal ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI) in a rat model. METHODS: Twenty four rats were subjected to right kidney uninephrectomy were randomly distributed into the following three groups (n=8): Group A (sham-operated group); Group B (ischemic group) with 30 min of renal ischemia after surgery; and Group C (allopurinol + ischemia group) pretreated with allopurinol at 50 mg/kg for 14 days. At 72 h after renal reperfusion, the kidney was harvested to assess inflammation and apoptosis. RESULTS: Pretreatment with allopurinol significantly improved renal functional and histological grade scores following I/R injury (p<0.05). Compared with Group B, the expression levels of caspase-3 and Bax were markedly reduced in Group C, meanwhile, whereas expression of bcl-2 was clearly increased (p<0.05). A newly described marker of inflammation, High Mobility Group Box 1(HMGB1), showed reduced expression in Group C (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Pretreatment with allopurinol had a protective effect on kidney ischemia/reperfusion injury, which might be related to the inhibition of HMGB1 expression.

Effects of constant low temperature on cold resistance of different strains Polygonatum odoratum / 中国中药杂志

In this paper, the five strains of Polygonatum odoratum were used as the experimental materials to test the supercooling point, freezing point, the degree of supercooling, the transition stage time, cooling time and water composition of the plant tissue. The cold resistance of P. odoratum was analyzed with the Gray Correlation Method. The results showed that the cold resistances of the five strains of P. odoratum were different, and the water content of plant tissue had some relevance with freezing point and supercooling point, whereas, it could not be measured when the moisture content was too low. The order of cold resistance of the five strains of P. odoratum was ZJCY, DYYZ, XYYZ, CYYZ and JZ I.

Benefit of network education to college students' knowledge about sexual and reproductive health in Ningbo city / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate how network education can improve college students' knowledge on sexual and reproductive health in Ningbo city.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>From December 2012 to June 2013, we conducted a questionnaire investigation among college students in Ningbo city about the effects of network education on their knowledge about sexual psychology, sexual physiology, sexual ethics, and reproductive health.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>A total of 7 362 college students accomplished the investigation, of whom 2 483 (42.1% males and 57.9% females) received network education, while the other 4 879 (24.1% males and 75.9% females) did not. Approximately 47.1% of the male and 28.0% of the female students acquired sexual and reproductive knowledge via network education. Reproductive health-related network education significantly enriched the students' knowledge about the reproductive system and sex, pubertal development, sexual physiology, conception and embryonic development, methods of contraception, sexual psychology, sexually transmitted diseases and their prevention, pregnancy care and eugenics, and environment- and occupation-related reproductive health (P < 0.01). It also remarkably improved their cognitive attitude towards reproductive health knowledge (P < 0.01). Those who received reproductive health-related network education showed a significantly higher rate of masturbation (P < 0.01) but markedly later time of the first masturbation (P < 0.01) than those who did not.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Network education can enhance the effect of reproductive health education among college students and improve their sexual experience and health.</p>

Effects of electro-acupuncture on neuronal apoptosis and associative function in rats with spinal cord injury / 中国骨伤

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the effect of electro-acupuncture to improve the bladder function after acute spinal cord injury in rats and its possible mechanism.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Sixty healthy adult male SD rats of SPF grade, with body weight of 220 to 250 g, one week after feeding adaptation, were randomly divided into sham operation group, model group, electro-acupuncture group, electro-acupuncture control group with 15 rats in each group. Sham operation group underwent no stimulation, and the moderate damage model of spinal cord injury were made in other three groups according to modified Allens method. The model group were not treated, electro-acupuncture group were treated with electro-acupuncture on Zhibianxue and Shuidaoxue, and electro-acupuncture control group were treated with electro-acupuncture on 0.5 inch next to Zhibianxue and Shuidaoxue. The frequency of 2/100 Hz, current of 1 mA, stimulation time of 15 min, once a day, left and right alternately stimulate every time, for a total of 7 times. The changes of residual urine volume and urine output in rats at the 1st and the 7th days after operation were observed. And 7 d later, the rats were sacrificed and the injured spinal cord were taken out to observe the apoptosis, and to detect the changes of Bcl-2, Bax, Bad content.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>After modeling,the rats of three groups showed different bladder dysfunction. In electro-acupuncture group and electro-acupuncture control group, the residual urine volume of the 7th day after operation was significant lower than the 1st day after operation (P < 0.001), and there was statistically significant difference on the 7th day after operation between two groups (P < 0.001). Compared with model group, the urine output of electro-acupuncture group and electro-acupuncture control group was significantly increased on the 7th day after operation, and there was sig- nificant difference between electro-acupuncture group and electro-acupuncture control group (P < 0.001). Electro-acupuncture can inhibit apoptosis of spinal cord neurons by TUNEL detection. Postoperative at 7 d, the rate of nerve cell apoptosis in electro -acupuncture group and electro-acupuncture control group was significant increased than model group (P < 0.01, P < 0.05), and there was significant difference between electro-acupuncture group and electro-acupuncture control group (P < 0.005). Compared with model group, the positive expression rate of Bax, Bad decreased (P < 0.01, P < 0.05), and Bcl-2 increased (P < 0.01) in electro-acupuncture group and electro-acupuncture control group,there was significant difference between electro-acupuncture group and electro-acupuncture control group (P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Electro-acupuncture can obviously promote the repair of acute spinal cord injury,its mechanism may be through increasing Bcl-2, inhibiting the expression of Bax, Bad, which inhibits the apoptosis of spinal cord neurons.</p>

RETRACTED: Effect of phentolamine on myocardial extracellular matrix of cardiac remodeling in rats

This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (https://www.elsevier.com/about/our-business/policies/article-withdrawal).This article has been retracted at the request of the journal Editorial Office.The authors have plagiarized part of a paper that had already appeared in Chinese Journal of Arteriosclerosis 2014, 4, 362–366. article id: 1007–3949 (2014) 22-04-0362-05. One of the conditions of submission of a paper for publication is that authors declare explicitly that their work is original and has not appeared in a publication elsewhere. Re-use of any data should be appropriately cited. As such this article represents an abuse of the scientific publishing system. The scientific community takes a very strong view on this matter and apologies are offered to readers of the journal that this was not detected during the submission process.

Antioxidant activity constituents from root of Rubus crataegifolius / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the antioxidant constituents from the root of Rubus crataegifolius.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The constituents isolation and purification from the root of R. crataegifolius was carried by reported column chromatography including silica gel, toyopearl, and their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectral compounds. DPPH method was used to evaluate the free radical scavenging activity of the isolated compounds.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Nine compounds were isolated from the root of R. crataegifolius, and their structures were identified as follow: euscaphic acid (1), kaempferol-3-O-beta-D-galactopyranoside (2), tormentic acid (3), 2alpha, 19alpha, 24-trihydroxyurs-12-ene-3-oxo-28-acid (4) , 2alpha-hydroxy-oleanolic acid (5), ursolic acid (6), daucosterol (7), beta-sitosterol (8) and polydatin (9). By experiment of antioxidant activity, the result showed compounds 2 and 9 revealed DPPH free radical scavenging rates were 95.60% and 75.23% at the concentration of 50 mg x L(-1).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Compounds 1-8 were isolated from this plant for the first time, and compounds 2 and 9 showed the significant antioxidant activity.</p>

NADPH oxidase inhibitor apocynin attenuates ischemia/reperfusion induced myocardial injury in rats / 中华心血管病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the role of NADPH oxidase inhibitor apocynin on ischemia/reperfusion (I/R)-induced myocardial injury.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Male SD rat hearts were divided into the normal control group; sham group; I/R group (1 h ischemia followed by 3 h reperfusion); I/R + apocynin group (50 mg/kg, administrated at 30 min before reperfusion) and I/R + vehicle group (same volume vehicle administrated at 30 min before reperfusion). At the end of reperfusion, myocardial infarct size, apoptosis, plasma CK activity, myocardial NOX activity, myocardial caspase-3 expression and activity, myocardial mRNA and protein expressions of vascular peroxidase 1 (VPO1) and NOX2 were measured.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Infarct size, ratio of cardiomyocyte apoptosis, mRNA and protein expression of VOP1 and NOX2, serum CK, myocardial NOX and caspase-3 activities in the I/R group were all significantly increased compared to those in the sham group (P < 0.01). Above parameters were similar between I/R + vehicle group and I/R group (all P > 0.05). Infarct size, ratio of cardiomyocyte apoptosis, myocardial mRNA and protein expression of VOP1 and NOX2, serum CK, myocardial NOX and caspase-3 activities were significantly lower in I/R + apocynin group compared to those in I/R group (all P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>NOX/VPO pathway plays an important role in mediating I/R-induced myocardial oxidative injury. NOX inhibition could reduce I/R-induced myocardial oxidative injury by attenuating myocardial apoptosis in this model.</p>

Effect of the chelator BPCBG on the decorporation of uranium in vivo and uranium-induced damage of human renal tubular epithelial cells in vitro / 药学学报

This study is to assess the efficacy of BPCBG on the decorporation of uranium (VI) and protecting human renal proximal tubular epithelial cells (HK-2) against uranium-induced damage. BPCBG at different doses was injected intramuscularly to male SD rats immediately after a single intraperitoneal injection of UO2(CH3COO)2. Twenty-four hours later uranium contents in urine, kidneys and femurs were measured by ICP-MS. After HK-2 cells were exposed to UO2(CH3COO)2 immediately or for 24 h followed by BPCBG treatment at different doses for another 24 or 48 h, the uranium contents in HK-2 cells were measured by ICP-MS, the cell survival was assayed by cell counting kit-8 assay, formation of micronuclei was determined by the cytokinesis-block (CB) micronucleus assay and the production of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) was detected by 2',7'-dichlorofluorescin diacetate (DCFH-DA) oxidation. DTPA-CaNa3 was used as control. It was found that BPCBG at dosages of 60, 120, and 600 micromol kg(-1) resulted in 37%-61% increase in 24 h-urinary uranium excretion, and significantly decreased the amount of uranium retention in kidney and bone to 41%-31% and 86%-42% of uranium-treated group, respectively. After HK-2 cells that had been pre-treated with UO2(CH3COO)2 for 24 h were treated with the chelators for another 24 h, 55%-60% of the intracellular uranium was removed by 10-250 micromol L(-1) of BPCBG. Treatment of uranium-treated HK-2 cells with BPCBG significantly enhanced the cell survival, decreased the formation of micronuclei and inhibited the production of intracellular ROS. Although DTPA-CaNa3 markedly reduced the uranium retention in kidney of rats and HK-2 cells, its efficacy of uranium removal from body was significantly lower than that of BPCBG and it could not protect uranium-induced cell damage. It can be concluded that BPCBG effectively decorporated the uranium from UO2(CH3COO)2-treated rats and HK-2 cells, which was better than DTPA-CaNa3. It could also scavenge the uranium-induced intracellular ROS and protect against the uranium-induced cell damage. BPCBG is worth further investigation.

The mechanism underlying the differentiation of human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells into myocardial cells induced by 5-azacytidine.

Objective: To investigate the molecular mechanism underlying the differentiation of human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hUCMSCs) into myocardial cells induced by 5-azacytidine (5-aza), and to explore the expression and significance of DLL4-Notch signaling in this process. Materials and Methods: hUCMSCs were isolated and purified from the umbilical cords of normal or cesarean term deliveries under sterile conditions. After treatment with 5-aza for 24 h, hUCMSCs was continued to culture, the expression of GATA4 and NKx2.5 at 4 weeks after induction, DLL4 and Notch1 mRNA at 1d, 3d, 5d, 7d after induction were detected. The expression of cardiac troponin I (cTnI) after 4 weeks was determined by immunocytochemistry. Results: hUCMSCs treated with 5-aza were stained positively for cTnI 4 weeks after induction. The expression of Notch1 and DLL4 mRNA in the 5-aza-induced group was stable and significantly higher than that in the control group (mean Ct value for the Notch1 gene: 0.51 ± 0.21 in the 5-aza-induced group vs. 7.85 ± 0.35 in the control group; mean Ct value for the DLL4 gene: 1.60 ± 0.49 in the 5-aza-induced group vs. 12.42 ± 0.73 in the control group). Similar results were observed for Nkx2.5 and GATA4 genes. The expressions of Nkx2.5 and GATA4 mRNA in the 5-aza group were 4.72 ± 0.58 and 3.76 ± 0.06 times higher than that in the control group, respectively, with statistical significance. Conclusions: hUCMSCs can be differentiated into myocardial cells by 5-aza induction in vitro. 5-Aza may affect this process by regulating the expression of GATA4 and Nkx2.5 genes. The DLL4-Notch signal pathway may be involved in this process.

Simultaneous determination of three active compounds in root barks of Dictamnus dasycarpus by RP-HPLC / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To develop a RP-HPLC method for simultaneous determination of three active compounds, dictamnine, obacunone and fraxinellone in root bark of Dictamnus dasycarpus and supply a reference for the establishment of the quality standard of D. dasycarpus.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>A Kromasil C18 column was used with methanol-water (60:40) as the mobile phase, at the flow rate of 1 mL x min(-1). 236 nm was selected as the detected wavelength.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The determined three compounds were well separated with a linear range of 0.0021-0.1060, 0.0201-0.9200 and 0.0102-1.020 g x L(-1), respectively. The recoveries of them were 100.5%, 99.2% and 100.2%, respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>This method is simple, rapid and accurate, particularly suitable for the quality control of D. dasycarpus.</p>

Total thyroidectomy: indications and complications / 中华耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the indications and complications of the total thyroidectomy in the management of thyroid cancer.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Fifty-one patients with thyroid cancer operated with total thyroidectomy in a period from April 2007 to June 2010, were retrospective analyzed. There were 48 cases of papillary adenocarcinoma, 1 follicular adenocarcinoma, and 2 medullary carcinoma as well, 2 cases with hyperthyroidism, 3 cases with remote metastasis. There were 17 males and 34 females who in their age ranged from 5 years old to 82 years old with a middle age of 50 years old. Among the 45 cases who were initial surgical management patients, there were 17 T1, 13 T2, 7 T3, 8 T4; and there were 31 N0, 11 N1a, 3 N1b, 2 M1. The recurrent laryngeal nerve and the parathyroid gland, and supper laryngeal nerve were exposed routinely. Lymph nodes in Level VI were dissected in all patients, and Level II-IV dissected in 25 patients. ¹³¹I were administrated in 8 patients.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Patients were followed up from 1 month to 36 months. There were no patients died and lost of follow up. The two years survival rate was 100.0% (15/15). Pathological examination showed that the multiple focal disease rate was 42.2% (19/45), the cervical lymph nodes metastases rate was 51.0% (26/51). There was no permanent paralysis of recurrent laryngeal nerve and outer branch of supper laryngeal nerve. The permanent hypoparathyroidism rate was 3.9% (2/51). One case with contralateral lymph node metastasis was reoperated and survived without disease. Two cases with remote metastasis were alive with steadied disease.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Under the skilled hand, total thyroidectomy is a safe procedure in the management of thyroid cancer. Totally exposing the parathyroid gland and laryngeal nerve is the key point to prevent the major complications.</p>

Evaluation of the pathogenicity of a field isolate of Marek's disease virus integrated with retroviral long terminal repeat sequence / 病毒学报

The pathogenicity of a field isolate of Marek's disease virus (MDV) named GXY2 integrated with retroviral long terminal repeat (LTR) sequence from a chicken with MD tumors was evaluated. Experimental chickens were divided into group A, B, C, D and E. The later four groups were vaccinated on one-day-old with CVI988/Rispens for group B and D, with HVT for group C and E, while group A was taken as no-vaccinated control. On 8-day-old, group A, B and C were challenged with GXY2 by intra-abdominal injection, group D and E were kept as un-challenged control. All the birds were raised routinely until 82 days post-challenge (PC), died birds during the experiment and the slaughtered birds at the end of the experiment were necropsied and examined for gross lesions of MD and further confirmed by a developed polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based differential diagnosis technique for avian neoplastic diseases. The results showed that time of onset of MD death of group A, B and C were PC 25, 77 and 29 days with the incidences of visible MD visceral tumors. On PC 82 days, tumor incidences and mortalities of group A, B and C were 72%, 34.8% and 50%, 84%, 21.7% and 20%, respectively. The vaccination protection of CVI988/Rispense and HVT were 51.67% and 30.56% respectively. Among all the visceral organs, heart had the highest tumor incidences (23.5%), and then followed by liver (14.7%) and gizzard (10.3%). The weight-gain of unvaccinated birds was significantly depressed and severe dystrophy of thymus and bursa of Fabricius were also found. The results of the study demonstrated that isolate GXY2 possessed the ability of causing acute tumors and overcoming the protection of the vaccinations of either CVI988/Rispense or HVT.

Clinical features of unexpected sudden death clustered in 7 families in Yunnan Province / 中华心血管病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the clinical features of unexpected sudden death (SUD) clustered in families in Yunnan province.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>This retrospective study analyzed the clinical features of SUD occurred between July to September 2005 in 7 families in Yunnan province.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>All 16 SUD patients shared common clinical features such as fatigue and repeated syncope and one group of SUD patients (n = 8 from 4 families) presented with the gastric intestinal tract manifestations including nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea with suspected dietary history and abnormal laboratory enzyme findings (GOT/GPT, CK/CKMB, LDH/LDH1 etc.). In SUD patients without gastric intestinal tract manifestations (n = 8 from 3 families), there were no clear symptoms before death and repeated ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation were recorded in one survivor. There was no clear evidence for the involvements of hereditary and infectious factors for observed SUD.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The reason for the unexpected sudden death clustered in 7 families in Yunnan remains unclear. Repeated syncope and fatigue served as the common clinical features in the presence or absence of gastric intestinal tract manifestations in all SUD cases. Further studies are needed to clarify the pathology and detailed clinical manifestations of SUD occurred in this area.</p>

Quantitative analysis of calycosin glycoside and formononetin in Radix astragali from different sources / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To establish the quantitative methods for calycosin glycoside and formononetin in Radix Astragali, and the samples from different sources were analyzed, in order to supply the basis for the quality control of Radix Astragali.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The content of calycosin glycoside and formononetin in 59 samples of Radix Astragali from eight with different provinces was analyzed by HPLC-DAD.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The contents of calycosin glycoside and formononetin in Radix Astragali from different sources, with different cultivating method or in different ages differed markedly, and the results showed that the quality of samples from Shannxi, Innermongolia and Shanxi were better than other sources, and the semi-wild samples were better than other cultiving samples, moreover the shorter age, the better quality.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>This simple, accurate and reproducible method could use to determine the contents of isoflavanoids in Radix Astragali.</p>

Study on processing method of Cistanche tubulosa / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To establish the processing method of Cistanche tubulosa decoction pieces.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The orthogonal test of four factors and three levels was used to optimize the main factors in the process of fresh C. tubulosa decoction pieces processing, including the thickness, temperature, and the time for inactivation of the enzyme in the plant. The result showed that the optimized condition was that fresh C. tubulosa was cut into 4 mm thickness, and heated at 70 degrees C for inactivation the enzyme in the plant for 6 min. Moreover, the optimized method was compared with the method of insolation and traditional dried method.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The content of echinacoside in the C. tubulosa decoction piece by the optimized method was 7.3 times of that dried by insolation, and 12.8 times of that by traditional dry method; the content of verbascoside was 6. 5 and 14. 9 times of that dried by insolation and by traditional dry method, respectively; the content of galactitol was 7.1 and 13.2 times of that dried by insolation and by traditional dry method, respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The quality of C. tubulosa decoction pieces could be improved by this method, and its crud drug could be saved, which would protect the source of the mild Herba Cistanche, and produced the better economic and ecological benefits.</p>

Age-related effects of estrogen on the expression of estrogen receptor alpha and beta mRNA in the ovariectomized monkey hypothalamus / 神经科学通报·英文版

In the present study, we reported distribution of ER alpha and ER beta mRNAs in the hypothalamus of young and old ovariectomized (OVX) rhesus macaques. The ER alpha were detected in all six major vestiblular nuclei which included arcuate nucleus (ARC) , paraventricularis nucleus (PVN) , periventricular nucleus (PeriV) , supraoptic nucleus (SON) , medial prioptic nucleus (MPN) and lateral hypothalamus area (LHA). However, the ER beta mRNA can also detected in those nuclei excerpt SON, but the signals of ER beta mRNA were weaker than those of ER alpha mRNA. We observed that the degree of expression of ERs mRNA were different in most nucleus of old and young monkeys. The ER alpha mRNAs were highly expressed in ARC and SON in young monkeys compared with old monkeys. Moderate amount of ERalpha mRNAs hybridization signals and weak signals were observed in LHA, and MPN both in young and old monkeys. In contrast, only lower level of ER alpha hybridization signal were observed in PVN and PeriV in young monkeys, and the signals of ER alpha were very low in those nucleus of old monkeys. In general, the expression of ER beta mRNA were weaker than that of ER alpha mRNA in above nucleus excerpt LHA. The relatively higher density of ER beta hybridization signals have been observed in the LHA in young monkey compared with old monkeys. Low amount of ER beta mRNA hybridization signals were observed in the ARC, PVN and MPN, and no age differences were seen in PVN and MPN of those monkeys. In PeriV, we observed some signals in young monkey and a few signals in old monkeys. It was different from the rodent in which we did not found ER beta hybridization signal in SON. This study showed that both of the two estrogen receptors not only had the same pattern of expression but also had many different patterns of expression. The different expression of ER alpha and ER beta mRNAs in the young and old monkey brain may imply diverse functions in different regions of the monkey brain.