[The progress on post-exposure prophylaxis of tetanus immunological preparation in adults].

The tetanus has been eliminated in the pregnancy women and newborns in China. However, there is a gap for adult tetanus immunization, and the risk of tetanus infection cannot be ignored. In order to clearly understand the effect of the tetanus to human beings and the current use of tetanus immunological preparation for adult post-exposure prophylaxis, the incidence of the tetanus, the use status of tetanus immunological preparation and recommendations for post-exposure prophylaxis at home and abroad were reviewed and summarized, which may provide academic evidence for post-exposure prophylaxis procedures and use of tetanus immunological preparation.

A review of a potential and promising probiotic candidate-Akkermansia muciniphila.

Akkermansia muciniphila, a common colonizer in the intestinal mucus layer of humans, has gradually been considered as promising candidate for the next-generation probiotic, given its physiological benefits from animal and human studies. This article comprehensively reviewed A. muciniphila from the published peer-reviewed articles in the aspects of its role in the host physiology and commonly consumed food that can boost its abundance, which should provide useful and fundamental information for scientists and engineers and even ordinary consumers. Akkermansia muciniphila is not only a crucial biomarker that indicates the physiology of human beings but also has huge potential to become a probiotic given its physiological benefits in various clinical scenarios. Current barriers in terms of regulations, necessity for large-scale clinical experiments and production feasibility need to be resolved before A. muciniphila can be widely applied as the next-generation probiotic.

[An animal model for testing hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic drugs].

A new animal model of hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia was established by treating normal Kunming mice with alloxan (iv). After different time intervals, the levels of blood glucose (BG) and serum triglyceride (TG) were determined. Forty-eight h after alloxan administration, the BG increased significantly, and the level of serum triglyceride reached maximum. The levels of blood glucose, serum triglyceride, cholesterol (CHOL) and free fatty acid (FFA) for vehicle treated mice were about 3.1, 4.0, 1.1, and 1.7 times those of normal Kunming mice, respectively. To evaluate the new animal model, four drugs were used. Two of them were antihyperglycemic drugs, metformin and a Recipe of Chinese Herbs (RCH). The other two were antihyperlipidemic agents, clofibrate and fenofibrate. All drugs showed positive effects on this kind of alloxan-diabetic Kunming mice. It can be concluded that this kind of alloxan-treated Kunming mice is useful for testing hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic drugs.

[Clinical and experimental study on effect of jin-qi-jiang-tang-pian on qi-yin deficiency and hyperactivity of diabetes mellitus].

The purpose of this study was to verify the effect of Jin-Qi-Jiang-Tang-Pian (JQJTP) on fasting blood glucose (FBG), postcibal blood glucose (PBG), total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), acetylcholine esterase (AchE), insulin, RBC-superoxide dismutase (RBC-SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA). Efficacy was observed in 40 cases of diabetes mellitus, 20 cases administered with Yu-Quan Pian (YQP) were taken as control. Each group took drugs for two months. After treatment with Jin-Pi-Jiang-Tang-Pian, FBG, PBG, AchE were apparently dropped and RBC-SOD increased, as compared with patients of the YQP group (P < 0.05-0.01), and major symptoms of diabetes were improved. In experimental study, model rats suffering from diabetes induced by alloxan were observed, the rats' blood sugar level above 11.1 mmol/L were chosen for observation. These rats were divided into JQJTP group, YQP group and control group. It was found that JQJTP was able to lower blood sugar, TG and MDA (P < 0.05-0.001) significantly, with a increase of the SOD/MDA, as compared with those of patients of the control groups.

[Determination of berberine in biological specimen by high performance TLC and fluoro-densitometric method].

In this paper, a simple and specific high performance TLC and fluoro-densitometric method for separating and determining berberine in biological specimen was developed. Two hundred microliters of plasma or tissue homogenate mixed with 20 microliters of sodium lauryl sulfate (18%) and quinidine (300 ng, as internal standard) were extracted with 1 ml of chloroform. The developing solvent consisted of ethyl acetate-methyl acetate-methanol-water (5.4:4.6:1.2:1.0). The determination was carried out with a Shimadzu TLC-Scanner CS-910. Berberine spots were measured using an excitation wavelength of 350 nm and an emission wavelength of 550 nm, while using 350 nm and 450 nm for quinidine spots as the excitation and emission wavelength respectively. The average recoveries were 100.3% from plasma and 103.8% from tissue homogenate. The berberine levels in plasma and in tissues were compared in normal mice after oral administration of berberine (100 mg/kg) or the powder of Coptis chinensis (2 g/kg) containing the same amount of berberine. Simultaneously, the hypoglycemic effect of berberine and that of the powder of Coptis chinensis were measured in these mice. Results indicate that the concentrations of berberine in plasma and tissues given the powder of Coptis chinensis orally were higher than those given berberine and that the hypoglycemic effect of the powder was also stronger than that of berberine. Evidently, the changes of the blood glucose level and the level of berberine in plasma showed an opposite relationship.

The role of lateral migration in the formation of acetylcholine receptor clusters induced by basic polypeptide-coated latex beads.

During the formation of the neuromuscular junction, the nerve induces the clustering of acetylcholine receptors (AChR) in the postsynaptic membrane. This process can be mimicked by treating cultured Xenopus myotomal muscle cells with basic polypeptide-coated latex beads. Using this bead-muscle coculture system, we examined the role of lateral migration of AChRs in the formation of the clusters. First, we studied the contributions of the preexisting and newly inserted AChRs. After the cluster formation was triggered by the addition of the beads, preexisting receptors were immediately recruited to the bead-muscle contacts and they remained to be the dominant contributor during the first 24 hr. New AChRs, which were inserted after the addition of the beads, appeared at the clusters after a 4-hr delay and, thereafter, there was a steady increase in their contribution. After 24-48 hr, newly inserted AChRs could be detected at the bead-induced clusters to the same extent as the preexisting AChRs. During this period, new receptors were continuously inserted into the plasma membrane, but there was no evidence of a local insertion at sites of new cluster formation. Concanavalin A (Con A) at a concentration of 100 micrograms/ml caused a fivefold decrease in the fraction of mobile AChRs and a large decrease in their diffusion coefficient. Pretreatment of cells with Con A suppressed clustering of preexisting AChRs, but left intact the contribution of the mobile newly inserted AChRs. Succinyl Con A, the divalent derivative of Con A which affected the mobility to a much less extent than Con A, had little effect on the clustering process. These results show that the formation of AChR clusters in Xenopus is mediated by lateral migration of AChRs within the plasma membrane and are consistent with the diffusion-trap hypothesis, which depicts freely diffusing AChR aggregating at the bead-muscle contacts where they bind to other localized molecular specializations induced by the beads.

[The hypoglycemic effect of clausenacoumarine].

Clausenacoumarine is a compound isolated from the leaves of Clausena lansium (Lour.) Skeels which grows widely in South China. The studies show that clausenacoumarine can lower blood glucose level in normal mice and alloxan diabetic mice at 200 mg/kg.d for three days orally, and antagonize the elevation of blood glucose caused by injecting adrenaline in normal mice. No effect on blood lactic acid was observed.

Development of acetylcholinesterase induced by basic polypeptide-coated latex beads in cultured Xenopus muscle cells.

The formation of acetylcholine receptor (AChR) clusters can be induced by basic polypeptide-coated latex beads in cultured Xenopus muscle cells. Here we investigated the development of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) at the bead-induced AChR clusters. AChE activity began to appear at the clusters after 1 day of bead-muscle coculture and was present at all of the bead-induced clusters within 4-7 days. Electron microscopy revealed that AChE reaction products were discretely localized within the cleft and the membrane invaginations at the bead-muscle contacts. Thus, the beads can mimic the nerve in inducing a local accumulation of both the AChRs and AChE, suggesting that the development of both specializations can be effected by a common stimulus.