[Preliminary analysis on relationship between traditional efficacy of Chinese medicine and modern pharmacological action].

To find the relationship between traditional efficacy of Chinese medicine and modern pharmacological action by using data mining, and provide information and reference for further research and development for the pharmacology research of traditional Chinese medicine.The information of 547 kinds of traditional Chinese medicines, 335 kinds of Chinese medicine effects and 86 kinds of pharmacological actions were collected and processed in Clinical Guide to the Chinese Pharmacopoeia published in 2010; Access and Excel software were used to analyze the frequence and frequency of single effect, pharmacological action, and both. In addition, the relationship between efficacy and pharmacology was analyzed with the clearing heat and antibacterial effects as the example. The analysis results showed that 547 kinds of Chinese medicines involved 335 kinds of Chinese medicine effects and 86 kinds of pharmacological actions. Among them, the most frequent Chinese medicine effect was"clearing heat", whose frequence was 130 and the frequency was 0.24; the most frequent pharmacological action was "anti-inflammatory action" whose frequence was 191 and the frequency was 0.35. The most common efficacy-pharmacological action group was "clearing heat" and "anti-bacterial action", whose frequence was 75 and the frequency was 0.26. The couple of "purgation" and "cathartic effect" had the largest frequency of 0.30, but they just appeared together for 3 times. There were 52 kinds of pharmacological actions that occurred together with clearing heat, of which, the top 10 were anti-bacterial action, anti-inflammatory action, antineoplastic action, anti-hepatic injury action, immunoregulation action, antipyretic action, antiviralaction, hypoglycemic action, antioxidant action and analgesic action. There were 161 kinds of Chinese medicine effects that occurred together with anti-bacterial action, of which, the top 10 were clearing heat, detoxification, detumescence, analgesia, resolving dampness, pesticide, cooling blood, expelling wind, eliminating dampness and hemostasis. These results suggested that there was a certain relationship between traditional Chinese medicine effects and modern pharmacological actions.

Decreased STAT4 indicates poor prognosis and enhanced cell proliferation in hepatocellular carcinoma.

AIM: To investigate the role of signal transduction and activation of transcription 4 (STAT4) in the development and progression of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: Recent genetic investigations have identified that a genetic variant of STAT4 is associated with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related HCC. The level of STAT4 in 90 HCC patients was examined via Western blot and immunohistochemical analyses. The correlation between STAT4 expression and the clinicopathological characteristics of the patients was analyzed. The level of STAT4 expression in the HCC liver tissues was significantly lower than that in the non-HCC liver tissues and correlated with tumor size, histological grade of HCC and serum hepatitis B surface antigen level in HCC patients. The data were statistically analyzed using SPSS. Furthermore, siRNA oligos targeting STAT4 were employed to investigate the influence of STAT4 RNA interference on HCC cell physiology. Based on Cell Counting Kit-8 and flow cytometric assays, we found that depletion of STAT4 expression significantly enhanced the proliferation of L02 cells. RESULTS: STAT4 protein expression was significantly lower in HCC tissues than in normal liver tissues. Immunohistochemistry followed by statistical analysis revealed that the expression of STAT4 negatively correlated with Ki67 expression (r = 0.851; P < 0.05) and positively correlated with maximal tumor size (P < 0.05), HBV (P = 0.012) and histological grade (P < 0.05). Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed significant differences in the survival curves between HCC patients expressing low and high levels of STAT4 and Ki67 (P < 0.05). Based on a multivariate Cox proportional hazard model, STAT4 expression was an independent prognostic indicator for HCC patients who underwent curative resection. In vitro, following the release of L02 cell lines from serum starvation, the expression of STAT4 was downregulated, and transfection of L02 cells with siRNA targeting STAT4 inhibited cell proliferation. CONCLUSION: Our data indicate that STAT4 may inhibit HCC development by modulating HCC cell proliferation.

[A site index model for Larix principis-rupprechtii plantation in Saihanba, north China].

It is often difficult to estimate site indices for different types of plantation by using an ordinary site index model. The objective of this paper was to establish a site index model for plantations in varied site conditions, and assess the site qualities. In this study, a nonlinear mixed site index model was constructed based on data from the second class forest resources inventory and 173 temporary sample plots. The results showed that the main limiting factors for height growth of Larix principis-rupprechtii were elevation, slope, soil thickness and soil type. A linear regression model was constructed for the main constraining site factors and dominant tree height, with the coefficient of determination being 0.912, and the baseline age of Larix principis-rupprechtii determined as 20 years. The nonlinear mixed site index model parameters for the main site types were estimated (R2 > 0.85, the error between the predicted value and the actual value was in the range of -0.43 to 0.45, with an average root mean squared error (RMSE) in the range of 0.907 to 1.148). The estimation error between the predicted value and the actual value of dominant tree height for the main site types was in the confidence interval of [-0.95, 0.95]. The site quality of the high altitude-shady-sandy loam-medium soil layer was the highest and that of low altitude-sunny-sandy loam-medium soil layer was the lowest, while the other two sites were moderate.

Evaluation of recombinant endostatin in the treatment of atherosclerotic plaques and neovascularization in rabbits.

OBJECTIVE: Atherosclerotic plaques and neovascularization play an important role in the course of coronary atherosclerosis. This study evaluated the effect of recombinant endostatin on experimental atherosclerotic plaques and neovascularization in rabbits. METHODS: Eighteen healthy male rabbits were divided into three groups: control group, atherosclerotic model group, and recombinant endostatin treated group. The atherosclerotic model was established via a high-cholesterol diet after balloon catheter injury. The subject weights, serum total cholesterol, creatine kinase-myocardial band fraction (CKMB), and matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) were measured. Six weeks after treatment, the aortic roots were taken for pathological assay. The thickness ratio of the intima to media was measured by hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining, and the number of neovessels was measured by immunohistochemistry via monoclonal antibody CD31 staining. RESULTS: The weight, plasma total cholesterol, and CKMB were not significantly different between the atherosclerotic model group and the recombinant endostatin treated group, but much higher than those of the control group (P<0.05). The thickness ratio of the intima to media in the recombinant endostatin treated group was distinctly less than that in the atherosclerotic model group (P<0.05). The number of neovessels decreased dramatically (P<0.05) and the content of MMP-2 decreased slightly without statistical difference (P>0.05) in the recombinant endostatin treated group, compared to the atherosclerotic model group. CONCLUSIONS: Recombinant endostatin is able to inhibit the growth of neovascularization in the atherosclerotic plaque and the development of plaque.