Recent progress on anti-Candida natural products / 中国天然药物

Candida is an intractable life-threatening pathogen. Candida infection is extremely difficult to eradicate, and thus is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised individuals. Morevover, the rapid spread of drug-resistant fungi has led to significant decreases in the therapeutic effects of clinical drugs. New anti-Candida agents are urgently needed to solve the complicated medical problem. Natural products with intricate structures have attracted great attention of researchers who make every endeavor to discover leading compounds for antifungal agents. Their novel mechanisms and diverse modes of action expand the variety of fungistatic agents and reduce the emergence of drug resistance. In recent decades, considerable effort has been devoted to finding unique antifungal agents from nature and revealing their unusual mechanisms, which results in important progress on the development of new antifungals, such as the novel cell wall inhibitors YW3548 and SCY-078 which are being tested in clinical trials. This review will present a brief summary on the landscape of anti-Candida natural products within the last decade. We will also discuss in-depth the research progress on diverse natural fungistatic agents along with their novel mechanisms.

Development of new radial artery puncture and fixation device / 医疗卫生装备

Objective To develop a new radial artery puncture fixing device to conquer the deficiencies of traditional method. Methods The device was composed of an arm support,a hand support,a wrist part,an arm fixing belt,a palm fixing belt and a tourniquet.The arm support was concave-shaped,and was connected with the hand support with the wrist part.The wrist part had a raised block which was gifted with an inflatable bag.The balloon linked with an inflation balloon with an inflation tube.There was a valve between the inflation tube and balloon.The fixing belt had one end directly connected with the arm support, hand support and wrist part, and the other end linked with the other ends of the above components with Velcro. There was a compression hemostatic balloon at the internal surface of the tourniquet. Results The device behaved well in puncture time and success rate,and decreased the incidence rates of errhysis and hematoma after withdrawing the puncture needle while increased the satisfaction of medical staffs and patients. Conclusion The device gains advantages in simple structure,convenience,practicability and safety,and meets the desired requirements.[Chinese Medical Equipment Jour-nal,2018,39(5):44-46]

Development of disposable anticoagulant negative pressure syringe / 医疗卫生装备

Objective To develop a disposable negative pressure syringe to solve the problems in bone marrow aspiration. Methods The syringe was composed of an injector and a self-contained puncture needle.The injector consisted of a barrel,a plunger and a tip.The plunger had its front end placed in the barrel and connected with the tip.The tip clung to the inner wall and could slide along it,and the upper end of the cylinder was connected closely with a negative-pressure sealing cap.A negative-pressure cavity was formed between the sealing cap and the tip,and an anticoagulation layer existed at the cylinder inner wall in the cavity.The blood taking needle was made up of a bone puncture needle and a hub.Results The developed syringe gained stable negative pressure,low time and workload consumption during bone marrow aspiration when compared with the conventional tools. Conclusion The syringe increases the quality of bone marrow aspiration while decreases the workload of medical staffs,and thus is worthy promoting practically.

Rapid analysis on phenolic compounds in Rheum palmatum based on UPLC-Q-TOF/MSE combined with diagnostic ions filter / 中国中药杂志

Diagnostic ions filter method was used to rapidly detect and identify the phenolic compounds in Rheum palmatum based on ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF/MSE). The representative authentic standards of phenolic compounds, including gallic acid, (+)-catechin, (－)-epicatechin, (－)-epicatechin-3-O-gallate and procyanidin B2, were subjected to analysis by UPLC-Q-TOF/MSE system with negative ion mode. Fragmentation patterns of each standard were summarized based on assigned fragment ions. The prominent product ions were selected as diagnostic ions. Subsequently, diagnostic ions filter was employed to rapidly recognize analogous skeletons. Combined with retention time, accurate mass, characteristic fragments and previous literature data, the structures of the filtered compounds were identified or tentatively characterized. A total 63 phenolic compounds (36 phenolic acid derivatives, 8 flavonoid derivatives and 19 tennis derivatives) in R. palmatum were identified, including 6 potential new compounds. The method of diagnostic ions filter could rapidly detect and identify phenolic compounds in R. palmatum This study provides a method for rapid detection of phenolic compounds in R. palmatum and is expected to complete the material basis of rhubarb.

Activity and expression of aldehyde dehydrogenases in the ocular tissue of diabetic rats / 中华实验眼科杂志

Background Diabetic complication is associated with lipid peroxidation.Aldehyde dehydrogenases (ALDH) catalyze the irreversible oxidation of a variety of biological aldehydes,including lipid-derived aldehydes (LDAs),and thus protect organs and tissues from toxic LDAs.Understanding the activity of ALDH in different ocular tissues in diabetic subjects is very important for prevention and treatment of diabetic ocular complications.Objective This research aimed to investigate the activity and expression of ALDH in different ocular tissues in diabetic rats and to explore the mechanism of ALDH in diabetes-induced eye disease.Methods Twenty-eight healthy SPF male Sprague-Dawley(SD) rats weighted 170-180 g were randomly divided into the normal control group and diabetic group.The diabetic animal model was established by intraperitonial injection of 4％ streptozotocin at 65 mg/kg.Isometric citric acid buffer was injected in the rats of the normal control group.The rats were sacrificed in each group 2 and 4 months after the establishment of the diabetic models,and eyeballs were obtained for the preparation of corneal,lens and retinal homogenates.ALDH activity was detected using a multifunctional microplate reader SpectraMax M5,and ALDH content was measured by ELISA at the wavelength of 450 nm with the SpectraMax M5 ELISA reader.Results The blood glucose level in diabetic rats was significantly elevated at various time points compared with the normal control group(P=0.000),and body weights were evidently lower in the diabetic group than in the normal group (P =0.000).The activities of ALDH (A340) in corneal,lens and retinal tissues in the diabetic group were increased in comparison with the normal control group (F =396.601,P=0.000),and showed an enhancement with the lapsing of time (F =53.139,P =0.000).In addition,the highest level of ALDH was found in the cornea and the lowest level in the lens(F =6973.000,P=0.000).The expression level of ALDH in the corneal,lens and retinal homogenates was significantly higher in the diabetic group compared with the normal control group (F=312.985,P =0.000) and showed a considerable increase over the course (F =19.203,P=0.000).The highest expression level was seen in the cornea and the lowest was in the lens,with a significant difference among these three kinds of tissues (F =3243.000,P =0.000).Conclusions ALDH can protect ocular tissue from the damage of lipid peroxidation.Thess results suggest that ALDH plays a role in preventing diabetes-related ocular complications.

Endoscopic trans-ethmoid medial orbital wall decompression combined with intraconal fat decompression for Graves' ophthalmopathy / 中华耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To present a new mini-invasive surgery for compressive optic neuropathy (CON) in Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO) by adequately decompressing the orbital apex and correcting proptosis, and to analyze its results.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A retrospective chart was reviewed in 29 patients receiving orbital decompression for the treatment of CON secondary to GO from October 2006 to May 2011. All patients diagnosed CON were in stable and inactive phase of GO at least for 6 months. All patients received endoscopic transethmoid medial orbital wall decompression to reduce the compression on the orbital apex. In the meanwhile, an endoscopic transethmoid intraconal fat-removal orbital decompression was performed to remove parts of intraconal fat with a special aspiration/cutting instrument to further reduce the proptosis. All patients were followed up periodically.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>of improvement of visual acuity (VA), color vision, and amount of proptosis reduction and incidence of induced diplopia 9 months after surgery was recorded for analysis its feasibility.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Forty-five orbits of 29 patients were included in the study. At the 9 months review, 44 of 45 eyes (97.8%) improved their VA from -0.65±0.30 (x±s) preoperatively to -0.24±0.22, with a mean improvement of 0.55±0.17 (t=-13.012, P<0.001), 23 of 29 eyes (79.3%) had improved color vision (P<0.001), and the mean reduction in proptosis was (7.07±1.59) mm (range 4-11 mm). Postoperative symmetry to within 2 mm were achieved in all patients. Except 1 patient complaining of deterioration in diplopia following surgery, no patients presented new on-set diplopia postoperatively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The endoscopic transethmoid medial orbital wall decompression combined with the endoscopic transethmoid intraconal fat-removal orbital decompression is an effective treatment with minimal morbidity for both visional recovery and improvement of proptosis for CON in GO.</p>

Application of a new catheter to be determining cardiac output through cor sinistrum with thermodilution / 中国应用生理学杂志

<p><b>AIM</b>To introduce a new device and catheter to be determining cardiac output through cor sinistrum with thermodilution.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Own control was introduced in eight dogs. A pulmonary thermodilution catheter was used through the cor dextrum of the dogs; The new-design catheter was used through artery, and there were two situs to fix:its ahead in left atrium and the ahead near to aortic root. Determine cardiac output (CO) under four circumstances: controlled respiration, apnoea, in controlled hypotension, after controlled hypotension.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>There was no significant difference among the parameters (CO and cardiac index) of all circumstances. The CO determined by the pulmonary thermodilution catheter and those by the new-design catheter in two situs were positive correlation, and the gamma were 0.986, 0.989; likewise, the cardiac index (CI) was positive correlation, and the gamma were 0.983, 0.985. The CO and CI by the new-design catheter between two situs were positive, and the gamma were 0.992, 0.988.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The parameters by the new-design catheter and those by the pulmonary thermodilution catheter were concordant. In comparison with the pulmonary thermodilution catheter, the new-design catheter had simple device and could be easily operated.</p>