Antioxidant Mechanism of Xiaojin Pill () for Treatment of Peyronie's Disease in Rats Based on Matrix Metalloproteinases.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of Xiaojin Pill () in the treatment of Peyronie's disease (PD) in a rat model. METHODS: Twenty-four male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups with 6 in each: sham operation, PD model, vehicle control and Xiaojin Pill groups. The rats in the sham operation group received penile tunica albsginea (TA) injection with 50 µL vehicle, while the rats in the other 3 groups received 50 µL penile TA injection of 50 µg transforming growth factor (TGF)-ß1. Forty-two days after the injection, rats in the vehicle control and Xiaojin Pill groups received 0.5 mL water and Xiaojin Pill solution (107 mg/kg of body weight), respectively by gavage for 28 days, while those in the sham operation and PD model groups did not receive any intervention. After intervention, the expressions of matrix metalloproteinase 2/9 (MMP2/9), nitric oxidesynthase (NOS), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA) were measured. RESULTS: Rats in the PD model and vehicle control groups presented obvious fibrosis in corpus cavernosum (CC) and demonstrated a significantly increased expressions of MMP2 and MMP9 in the CC compared with the sham operation group (all P<0.01). In contrast, the expressions of MMP2 and MMP9 in the Xiaojin Pill group were significantly down-regulated (both P<0.01). In addition, the levels of NOS and MDA in CC were significantly increased while the activity of SOD was decreased in the PD model and vehicle control groups compared with the sham operation group (all P<0.01). After Xiaojin Pill treatment, the levels of MDA, NOS and SOD appeared to be corrected (all P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Xiaojin Pill could reduce fibrosis in the CC by decreasing the expressions of MMPs, NOS and MDA, and by increasing the activity of SOD. Therefore, Xiaojin Pill might be a therapeutic option for PD.

Controllable synthesis of zinc-substituted alpha- and beta-nickel hydroxide nanostructures and their collective intrinsic properties.

A new controllable homogeneous precipitation approach has been developed to synthesize zinc-substituted nickel hydroxide nanostructures with different Zn contents from a zinc nanostructured reactant. As typical layered double hydroxides (LDHs), zinc-substituted nickel hydroxide nanostructures can be formulated as NiZnx(Cl)y(OH)2(1+x)-y.z H2O (x=0.34-0.89, y=0-0.24, z=0-1.36). The structure and morphology of zinc-substituted nickel hydroxide nanostructures can be systematically controlled by adjustment of the zinc content. The effects of temperature and the amounts of ammonia and zinc nanostructured precursor on the reaction were systematically investigated. In our new method, although zinc-substituted alpha-and beta-nickel hydroxides have the typical 3D flowerlike architecture and stacks-of-pancakes nanostructures, respectively, their growth processes are different from those previously reported. A coordinative homogeneous precipitation mechanism is proposed to explain the formation process of zinc-substituted nickel hydroxide nanostructures. The zinc-substituted nickel hydroxide nanostructures exhibit some interesting intrinsic properties, and changing the zinc content can effectively tune their optical, magnetic, and electrical properties.

Genetic diversity of Paris polyphylla var. yunnanensis, a traditional Chinese medicinal herb, detected by ISSR markers.

Paris polyphylla Smith var. yunnanensis (Franch.) Hand.-Mazz. is an important Chinese medicinal herb. Because of overharvesting, the wild populations of this herb have greatly declined and become fragmentized. In this paper, ISSR markers were used to determine the genetic diversity and genetic structure of this variety represented by a total of 153 individuals from three natural populations and three cultivated populations. Fourteen primers produced a total of 251 bands, of which 227 were polymorphic (PPB=90.44%). For the natural populations, the results showed that genetic differentiation was mainly within populations (GST=0.1952), with low genetic diversity at the population level. At the population level, genetic diversity of the cultivated populations was relatively higher than that of the natural populations (PPB=57.24% vs. 53.38%, HE=0.153 vs. 0.151, HO=0.241 vs. 0.235). This pattern can be explained by the recent introduction and artificial selection of cultivars from comparatively wide areas of origin, and subsequent gene flow among populations in cultivation. Although the neighbour-joining cluster analysis seemed to suggest that there was conspicuous genetic differentiation between the natural and cultivated populations, the AMOVA showed that only 4.84% of the total variance existed between groups of natural and cultivated populations, while 67.51% of the variance occurred within populations. In the end, some suggestions for conservation of this important herb are proposed.

Hexamethylenetetramine directed synthesis and properties of a new family of alpha-nickel hydroxide organic-inorganic hybrid materials with high chemical stability.

A new family of organic-inorganic hybrid material of alpha-nickel hydroxide formulated as Ni(OH)2-x(An-)x/n-(C6H12N4)y.zH2O (A=Cl-, CH3COO-, SO4(2-), NO3-; x=0.05-0.18, y=0.09-0.11, z=0.36-0.43) with high stability and adjustable interlayer spacing ranging from 7.21 to 15.12 A has been successfully prepared by a simple hydrothermal method. The effects of various anions and hexamethylenetetramine (HMT) on the d values of alpha-nickel hydroxide have been systematically investigated. This family of hybrid materials is of such high stability that they can stand more than 40 days in 6 M KOH. The product with a formula Ni(OH)1.95(C6H12N4)0.11(Cl-)0.05(H2O)0.36 has a high surface area of about 299.26 m2/g and an average pore diameter of about 45.1 A. The coercivity (Hc) value is ca. 2000 Oe for the sample with a d spacing of 13.14 A. Moreover, the prepared alpha-Ni(OH)2 in our experiment is of high stability in strong alkali solution. Such high stability could be derived from strong chelating interactions between the Ni ions and HMT molecules with the interlayers. This high chemical stability could make this material more suitable for the applications.