Associations of residential greenness exposure and ambient air pollutants with newly-diagnosed drug-resistant tuberculosis cases.

Growing evidence has found the health protective effects of greenness exposure on tuberculosis (TB) and the impact of ambient air pollutants on TB drug-resistance. However, it remains unclear whether residential greenness is also beneficial to reduce TB drug-resistance, and whether air pollution modify the greenness-TB resistance relationship. We enrolled 5006 newly-diagnosed TB patients from Shandong, China, during 2014 to 2021. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) in 250 m and 500 m buffer around individuals' residential zone was used to assess greenness exposure. All patients were divided by quartiles of NDVI250-m and NDVI500-m (from low to high: Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4) respectively. Six logistic regression models (NDVI, NDVI + PM2.5/PM10/SO2/NO2/O3) were used to estimate the association of NDVI and TB drug-resistance when adjusting different air pollutants or not. All models were adjusted for age, gender, body mass index, complications, smoking, drinking, population density, nighttime light index, road density. Compared with participants in NDVI250-m Q1 and NDVI500-m Q1, other groups had lower rates of MDR-TB, PDR-TB, RFP-resistance, SM-resistance, RFP + SM resistance, INH + RFP + EMB + SM resistance. NDVI500-m reduced the risk of multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and the adjusted odds ratio (aOR, 95% confidence interval, CI) compared with NDVI500-m Q1 were 0.736 (0.547-0.991) in NDVI + PM10 model, 0.733 (0.544-0.986) in NDVI + PM2.5 model, 0.735(0.546-0.99) in NDVI + SO2 model, 0.736 (0.546-0.991) in NDVI + NO2 model, respectively, P < 0.05. NDVI500-m contributed to a decreased risk of streptomycin (SM)-resistance. The aOR of rifampicin (RFP) + SM resistance were 0.132 (NDVI250-m, Q4 vs Q1, 95% CI: 0.03-0.578), 0.199 (NDVI500-m, Q3 vs. Q1, 95% CI: 0.057-0.688) and 0.264 (NDVI500-m, Q4 vs. Q1, 95% CI: 0.087-0.799). The adjusted ORs (Q2 vs. Q1, 95% CI) of isoniazid (INH) + RFP + ethambutol (EMB) + SM resistance in 500 m buffer were 0.276 (0.119-0.639) in NDVI model, 0.279 (0.11-0.705) in NDVI + PM10 model, 0.281 (0.111-0.713) in NDVI + PM2.5 model, 0.279 (0.11-0.709) in NDVI + SO2 model, 0.296 (0.117-0.754) in NDVI + NO2 model, 0.294 (0.116-0.748) in NDVI + O3 model, respectively. The study showed, for the first time, that residential greenness exposure in 500 m buffer is beneficial for reducing newly-diagnosed DR-TB (including PDR-RB, MDR-TB, MR-TB), and ambient air pollutants may partially mediate this association.

Astragalus polysaccharide: a review of its immunomodulatory effect.

The Astragalus polysaccharide is an important bioactive component derived from the dry root of Astragalus membranaceus. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the research progress on the immunomodulatory effect of Astragalus polysaccharide and provide valuable reference information. We review the immunomodulatory effect of Astragalus polysaccharide on central and peripheral immune organs, including bone marrow, thymus, lymph nodes, spleen, and mucosal tissues. Furthermore, the immunomodulatory effect of Astragalus polysaccharide on a variety of immune cells is summarized. Studies have shown that Astragalus polysaccharide can promote the activities of macrophages, natural killer cells, dendritic cells, T lymphocytes, B lymphocytes and microglia and induce the expression of a variety of cytokines and chemokines. The immunomodulatory effect of Astragalus polysaccharide makes it promising for the treatment of many diseases, including cancer, infection, type 1 diabetes, asthma, and autoimmune disease. Among them, the anticancer effect is the most prominent. In short, Astragalus polysaccharide is a valuable immunomodulatory medicine, but further high-quality studies are warranted to corroborate its clinical efficacy.

Microbial Responses to the Reduction of Chemical Fertilizers in the Rhizosphere Soil of Flue-Cured Tobacco.

The overuse of chemical fertilizers has resulted in the degradation of the physicochemical properties and negative changes in the microbial profiles of agricultural soil. These changes have disequilibrated the balance in agricultural ecology, which has resulted in overloaded land with low fertility and planting obstacles. To protect the agricultural soil from the effects of unsustainable fertilization strategies, experiments of the reduction of nitrogen fertilization at 10, 20, and 30% were implemented. In this study, the bacterial responses to the reduction of nitrogen fertilizer were investigated. The bacterial communities of the fertilizer-reducing treatments (D10F, D20F, and D30F) were different from those of the control group (CK). The alpha diversity was significantly increased in D20F compared to that of the CK. The analysis of beta diversity revealed variation of the bacterial communities between fertilizer-reducing treatments and CK, when the clusters of D10F, D20F, and D30F were separated. Chemical fertilizers played dominant roles in changing the bacterial community of D20F. Meanwhile, pH, soil organic matter, and six enzymes (soil sucrase, catalase, polyphenol oxidase, urease, acid phosphatase, and nitrite reductase) were responsible for the variation of the bacterial communities in fertilizer-reducing treatments. Moreover, four of the top 20 genera (unidentified JG30-KF-AS9, JG30-KF-CM45, Streptomyces, and Elsterales) were considered as key bacteria, which contributed to the variation of bacterial communities between fertilizer-reducing treatments and CK. These findings provide a theoretical basis for a fertilizer-reducing strategy in sustainable agriculture, and potentially contribute to the utilization of agricultural resources through screening plant beneficial bacteria from native low-fertility soil.

Electrochemically enabled functionalization of indoles or anilines for the synthesis of hexafluoroisopropoxy indole and aniline derivatives.

An environmentally benign electrochemically enabled site-selective functionalization of indole or aniline derivatives with hexafluoroisopropanol in the presence of tetrabutyl ammonium hexafluorophosphate as the redox catalyst and electrolyte was demonstrated in this work. Under mild electro-oxidation conditions, a series of hexafluoroisopropoxy indole and aniline derivatives with pharmacological activity were obtained. This conversion does not need transition metals and oxidants, and has good functional group tolerance. The in vitro cytotoxicity of all compounds was evaluated by the MTT assay against four human cancer cell lines. The results revealed that hexafluoroisopropoxy indoles have good antitumor activity and compound 2i increased the intracellular levels of ROS and inhibited apoptosis in HeLa cells.

Inhibition of Smurf2 translation by miR-322/503 protects from ischemia-reperfusion injury by modulating EZH2/Akt/GSK3ß signaling.

Myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) is a common and lethal disease that threatens people's life worldwide. The underlying mechanisms are under intensive study and yet remain unclear. Here, we explored the function of miR-322/503 in myocardial I/R injury. We used isolated rat perfused heart as an in vivo model and H9c2 cells subjected with the oxygen and glucose deprivation followed by reperfusion as in vitro model to study myocardial I/R injury. 2,3,5-Triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining was used to measure the infarct size, and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP-mediated nick-end label (TUNEL) staining was used to examine apoptosis. Quantitative RT-PCR and Western blot were used to determine expression levels of miR-322/503, Smad ubiquitin regulatory factor 2 (Smurf2), enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2), p-Akt, and p-GSK3ß. Overexpression of miR-322/503 decreased infarct size, inhibited cell apoptosis, and promoted cell proliferation through upregualtion of p-Akt and p-GSK3ß. Thus the expression of miR-322/503 was reduced during I/R process. On the molecular level, miR-322/503 directly bound Smurf2 mRNA and suppressed its translation. Smurf2 ubiquitinated EZH2 and degraded EZH2, which could activate Akt/GSK3ß signaling. Our study demonstrates that miR-322/503 plays a beneficial role in myocardial I/R injury. By inhibition of Smurf2 translation, miR-322/503 induces EZH2 expression and activates Akt/GSK3ß pathway, thereby protecting cells from ischemia reperfusion injury.

Quality assessment of Penthorum chinense Pursh through multicomponent qualification and fingerprint, chemometric, and antihepatocarcinoma analyses.

An efficient method combined with fingerprint and chemometric analyses was developed to evaluate the quality of the traditional Chinese medicine plant Penthorum chinense Pursh. Nine samples were collected from different regions during different harvest periods, and 17 components in the form of extracts were simultaneously examined to assess quality by using high-performance liquid chromatography. The hepatoprotective effects of components were investigated by assessing the inhibition of SMMC-7721 cell growth. The results indicated that the quality control method was accurate, stable, and reliable, and the hierarchical heat-map cluster and the principle component analyses confirmed that the classification of all nine samples was consistent. Quercetin and ellagitannins including pinocembrin-7-O-[3''-O-galloyl-4'',6''-hexahydroxydiphenoyl]-ß-glucose (PGHG), thonningianin A, thonningianin B, and other flavonoids were abundant in the extracts, and significantly contributed to the hepatoprotective effects.

Protective Effect of Curcumin Against Oxidative Stress-Induced Injury in Rats with Parkinson's Disease Through the Wnt/ ß-Catenin Signaling Pathway.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The study aimed to investigate the protective effect of curcumin against oxidative stress-induced injury of Parkinson's disease (PD) through the Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway in rats. METHODS: The successfully established PD rat models and normal healthy rats were randomly assigned into the 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA), the curcumin (Cur) and the control groups. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the positive expression of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), dopamine transporter (DAT) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). Deutocerebrum primary cells were extracted and classified into the control, 6-OHDA, Cur (5, 10, 15 µmol/L), Dickkopf-1 (DKK-1) and Cur + DKK-1 groups. MTT assays, adhesion tests and TUNEL staining were used to assess cell viability, adhesion and apoptosis, respectively. Western blotting and qRT-PCR were used to examine the protein and mRNA expressions of Wnt3a and ß-catenin and the c-myc and cyclinD1 mRNA expressions. RESULTS: TH and DAT expressions in the Cur group were elevated and GFAP was reduced compared with the 6-OHDA group. Curcumin enhanced viability, survival and adhesion and attenuated apoptosis of deutocerebrum primary cells by activating the Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway. Higher Wnt3a and ß-catenin mRNA and protein expressions and c-myc and cyclinD1 mRNA expressions, enhanced superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) contents, decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) content and elevated mitochondrial membrane potential (∆ψm) were found in the 10 and 15 µmol/L Cur groups compared with the 6-OHDA group. However, opposite tendencies were found in the Cur + DKK-1 group compared to the 10 µmol/L Cur group. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that curcumin could protect against oxidative stress-induced injury in PD rats via the Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway.

Biotransformation and metabolic profile of anemoside B4 with rat small and large intestine microflora by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry.

Pulsatilla chinensis (Bunge) Regel is commonly used in Asia, and anemoside B4 (AB4) is its major saponin, with diverse pharmaceutical effects. Previous studies showed that intestinal flora plays an important role in the metabolism of herbs administered orally. In this study, the metabolic profile of AB4 with microflora in rat small and large intestines in vitro was investigated. Gut microflora was collected from different intestinal segments and anaerobically incubated with AB4 at 37°C for 24, 48, 72 and 96 h, respectively. A total of 10 metabolites were detected and identified by ultra- performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry, involving the products of oxygenation and deglycosylation reactions. Gut microflora in the large intestine generated more comprehensive metabolic pathways, which appears to be attributable to the wider range of bacterial types and numbers of bacteria. Human cancer cell lines SMMC-7721, Hela and MCF-7 were treated with metabolite pools by MTT assay, together with M6 as the greatest deglycosylation product. As a result, M6 exhibited a reduction in cell viability of SMMC-7721 with an IC50 value of 22.28 ± 1.26 µg/mL. The present study provided scientific evidence for AB4 metabolism in small and large intestines, which is helpful to reveal the active forms of AB4 in vivo.

Submucosal tunnelling endoscopic resection (STER) for the treatment of a case of huge esophageal tumor arising in the muscularis propria: a case report and review of literature.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Endoscopic Interventional Treatment is of little trauma and less complications in the treatment of esophageal tumor and leads to faster recovery and fewer days of hospitalization. This study was aimed to investigate the safety and efficacy of endoscopic interventional therapy for huge esophageal tumor arising in the muscularis propria. METHODS: The patient was treated by submucosal tunneling endoscopic resection (STER). RESULTS: The huge esophageal tumor was resected completely by STER technique, with little trauma and less complications. The size of the resected tumor was 5.5×3.5×3.0 cm. CONCLUSION: Submucosal tunneling endoscopic resection is a safe and efficient technique for treating Huge Esophageal Tumor originating from muscularis propria layer.

Ursodeoxycholic acid induces apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma xenografts in mice.

AIM: To evaluate the efficacy of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) as a chemotherapeutic agent for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: BALB/c nude mice were randomized into four groups 24 h before subcutaneous injection of hepatocarcinoma BEL7402 cells suspended in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) into the right flank. The control group (n = 10) was fed a standard diet while treatment groups (n = 10 each) were fed a standard daily diet supplemented with different concentrations of UDCA (30, 50 and 70 mg/kg per day) for 21 d. Tumor growth was measured once each week, and tumor volume (V) was calculated with the following equation: V = (L × W(2)) × 0.52, where L is the length and W is the width of the xenograft. After 21 d, mice were killed under ether anesthesia, and tumors were excised and weighed. Apoptosis was evaluated through detection of DNA fragmentation with gel electrophoresis and the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay. Western blot analysis was performed to determine the expression of apoptosis-related proteins BAX, BCL2, APAF1, cleaved caspase-9, and cleaved caspase-3. RESULTS: UDCA suppressed tumor growth relative to controls. The mean tumor volumes were the following: control, 1090 ± 89 mm(3); 30 mg/kg per day, 612 ± 46 mm(3); 50 mg/kg per day, 563 ± 38 mm(3); and 70 mg/kg per day, 221 ± 26 mm(3). Decreased tumor volumes reached statistical significance relative to control xenografts (30 mg/kg per day, P < 0.05; 50 mg/kg per day, P < 0.05; 70 mg/kg per day, P < 0.01). Increasing concentrations of UDCA led to increased DNA fragmentation observed on gel electrophoresis and in the TUNEL assay (control, 1.6% ± 0.3%; 30 mg/kg per day, 2.9% ± 0.5%; 50 mg/kg per day, 3.15% ± 0.7%, and 70 mg/kg per day, 4.86% ± 0.9%). Western blot analysis revealed increased expression of BAX, APAF1, cleaved-caspase-9 and cleaved-caspase-3 proteins, which induce apoptosis, but decreased expression of BCL2 protein, which is an inhibitor of apoptosis, following administration of UDCA. CONCLUSION: UDCA suppresses growth of BEL7402 hepatocellular carcinoma cells in vivo, in part through apoptosis induction, and is thus a candidate for therapeutic treatment of HCC.

Protective effect of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells on PC12 cells apoptosis mediated by TAG1.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to explore the protection effect of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) on PC12 cells apoptosis mediated by transient axonal glycoprotein 1 (TAG1). METHODS: PC12 cells were divided into control group, Aß25-35 group and BMSCs + Aß25-35 group. The effects of BMSCs on PC12 cells treated by Aß25-35 were detected using MTT, Hoechst 33258 and Annexin V-FITC/PI staining methods. The expression levels of TAG1, ß-amyloid precursor protein (APP), AICD and p53 were determined by RT-PCR and Western blotting methods. The expression levels of Bax and Bcl-2 were determined by Western blotting method. The activity of Caspase 3 was detected by spectrophotometric method. RESULTS: MTT results showed that cell activity decreased after the treatment of 20 µM Aß25-35 for 48 h (P<0.01) while it increased in BMSCs + Aß25-35 group (P<0.01). Hoechst 33258 and Annexin V-FITC/PI staining results showed that Aß25-35 could induce the apoptosis of PC12 cells while the apoptosis of PC12 cells was inhibited in BMSCs + Aß25-35 group. RT-PCR and Western blotting methods showed that 20 µM Aß25-35 could increase the expression levels of TAG1, APP, AICD and p53 (P<0.01) while they decreased in BMSCs + Aß25-35 group (P<0.01). 20 µM Aß25-35 could increase the expression levels of Bax and decrease the expression levels of Bcl-2 (P<0.01), while the expression levels of Bax decreased and the expression levels of Bcl-2 increase in BMSCs + Aß25-35 group (P<0.01). 20 µM Aß25-35 could enhance Caspase 3 activity while it decreased in BMSCs + Aß25-35 group (P<0.01). Conclusions BMSCs with Aß25-35 could inhibit the apoptosis of PC12 cells, which maybe related with TAG1/APP/AICD signal pathway.

The potential of human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells as a novel cellular therapy for multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a complex disease of neurological disability, affecting more than 300 out of every 1 million people in the world. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the therapeutic effects of human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cell (hUC-MSC) transplantation in MS patients. Twenty-three patients were enrolled in this study, and 13 of them were given hUC-MSC therapy at the same time as anti-inflammatory treatment, whereas the control patients received the anti-inflammatory treatment only. Treatment schedule included 1,000 mg/kg of methylprednisolone intravenously (IV) daily for 3 days and then 500 mg/kg for 2 days, followed by oral prednisone 1 mg/kg/day for 10 days. The dosage of prednisone was then reduced by 5 mg every 2 weeks until reaching a 5-mg/day maintenance dosage. Intravenous infusion of hUC-MSCs was applied three times in a 6-week period for each patient. The overall symptoms of the hUC-MSC-treated patients improved compared to patients in the control group. Both the EDSS scores and relapse occurrence were significantly lower than those of the control patients. Inflammatory cytokines were assessed, and the data demonstrated a shift from Th1 to Th2 immunity in hUC-MSC-treated patients. Our data demonstrated a high potential for hUC-MSC treatment of MS. This manuscript is published as part of the International Association of Neurorestoratology (IANR) special issue of Cell Transplantation.

Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells infected with adenovirus expressing HGF promote regeneration of damaged neuron cells in a Parkinson's disease model.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative movement disorder that is characterized by the progressive degeneration of the dopaminergic (DA) pathway. Mesenchymal stem cells derived from human umbilical cord (hUC-MSCs) have great potential for developing a therapeutic agent as such. HGF is a multifunctional mediator originally identified in hepatocytes and has recently been reported to possess various neuroprotective properties. This study was designed to investigate the protective effect of hUC-MSCs infected by an adenovirus carrying the HGF gene on the PD cell model induced by MPP+ on human bone marrow neuroblastoma cells. Our results provide evidence that the cultural supernatant from hUC-MSCs expressing HGF could promote regeneration of damaged PD cells at higher efficacy than the supernatant from hUC-MSCs alone. And intracellular free Ca(2+) obviously decreased after treatment with cultural supernatant from hUC-MSCs expressing HGF, while the expression of CaBP-D28k, an intracellular calcium binding protein, increased. Therefore our study clearly demonstrated that cultural supernatant of MSC overexpressing HGF was capable of eliciting regeneration of damaged PD model cells. This effect was probably achieved through the regulation of intracellular Ca(2+) levels by modulating of CaBP-D28k expression.

CT and enhanced CT in diagnosis of gastrointestinal neuroendocrine carcinomas.

OBJECTIVES: To enhance diagnosis of gastrointestinal neuroendocrine carcinomas using CT and contrast-enhanced CT images. METHODS: A total of 44 patients with gastrointestinal neuroendocrine carcinomas, as confirmed by clinical pathology and immunohistochemistry in the Sixth Affiliated People's Hospital of Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai China, were included in the study. CT and enhanced CT scanning were performed, and the resulting images were reviewed and analyzed. RESULTS: Twenty-seven males and 17 females were enrolled. Gastrointestinal involvement included the following: 5 cases located in the middle or inferior segment of the esophagus; 5 in the gastric cardia, 15 in the body of stomach, 6 located in the gastric antrum; 5 located in the Vater papilla of the duodenum; and 8 located in the colon. Among the 44 cases 80%-90% of the lesions had homogeneous density. Totally 81.8% (36/44) cases demonstrated homogeneous enhancement in arterial phases, most of the cases (n = 33) moderately or obviously enhanced. Only 17.2% (8/44) cases appeared as heterogeneous enhancement. And 86.4% cases (n = 38) were further enhanced in the venous phase. The CT images also revealed some of the metastases. Some liver metastasis cases have obvious homogeneous enhancement. CONCLUSIONS: CT and enhanced CT provide useful information regarding gastrointestinal neuroendocrine carcinomas' location, density, enhancement pattern, and some metastasis. These features are helpful to increase the diagnostic accuracy.

Enhanced CT and CT virtual endoscopy in diagnosis of heterotopic pancreas.

AIM: To improve the diagnosis of heterotopic pancreas by the use of contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) imaging and CT virtual endoscopy (CTVE). METHODS: A total of six patients with heterotopic pancreas, as confirmed by clinical pathology and immunohistochemistry in the Sixth Affiliated People's Hospital of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China, were included. Non-enhanced CT and enhanced CT scanning were performed, and the resulting images were reviewed and analyzed using three-dimensional post-processing software, including CTVE. RESULTS: Four males and two females were enrolled. Several heterotopic pancreas sites were involved; three occurred in the stomach, including the gastric antrum (n = 2) and lesser curvature (n = 1), and two were in the duodenal bulb. Only one case of heterotopic pancreas lesion occurred in the mesentery. Four cases had a solid yet soft tissue density that had a homogeneous pattern when viewed by enhanced CT. Additionally, their CT values were similar to that of the pancreas. The ducts of the heterotopic pancreas tissue, one of the characteristic CT features of heterotopic pancreas tissue, were detected in the CT images of two patients. CTVE images showed normal mucosa around the tissue, which is also an important indicator of a heterotopic pancreas. However, none of the CTVE images showed the typical signs of central dimpling or umbilication. CONCLUSION: CT, enhanced CT and CTVE techniques provide useful information about the location, growth pattern, vascularity, and condition of the gastrointestinal wall around heterotopic pancreatic tissue.

An unusual mature thyroid teratoma on CT and 99Tcm scintigraphy imaging in a child.

We report the imaging findings of a mature thyroid teratoma in a 5-year-old girl. Nuclear imaging showed a decrease in (99)Tcm uptake in the right lobe of the thyroid gland. CT scan showed a slightly lobulated soft-tissue mass without calcification, fat or cystic components. Histological analysis showed that the tumor was composed of mature neural tissue, cartilaginous, and epithelial elements. This case study provides new insights into the CT appearance of mature thyroid teratomas.

[Effects of modified longdan xiegan decoction on hyperandrogenism in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome of stagnant fire in Gan channel type].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the therapeutic effect of modified Longdan Xiegan Decoction (LXD) on hyperandrogenism in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (POS) of stagnant fire in Gan channel type. METHODS: Forty-eight patients were divided into two groups: the LXD group (25 cases) treated with LXI) for 3 months, and the Diane-35 group (23 cases) with Diane-35. Condition of menstruation, acne, hairiness were observed, basal body temperature (BBT) was measured, and the serum levels of luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), prolactin (PRL), free testosterone (FT), and androstenedione (A) were detected before and after 3 months' treatment. Meanwhile, adverse reaction was observed. RESULTS: After treatment, the condition of menstrual disorder, acne and single-phase BBT were improved significantly, and serum levels of LH, LH/FSH, FT and A decreased in both groups (P < 0.05), showed insignificant difference between them (P > 0.05). The PRL level dropped in the LXD group (P < 0.05), which significantly lower than that in the Diane-35 group (P < 0.05). There were 3 cases with adverse reaction of irregular colporrhagia and 5 cases with nausea and vomiting in the Diane-35 group, while no adverse reaction in the LXD group occurred. CONCLUSION: Modified LXD could significantly improve the condition in hyperandrogenism patients with POS of stagnant fire in Gan channel type.

A novel nickel(II) coordination polymer incorporating 1,4-phenylenediacetic acid and 1,10-phenanthroline.

The title nickel(II) coordination polymer, viz. poly[[bis(1,10-phenanthroline)tris(mu3-1,4-phenylenediacetato)trinickel(II)] dihydrate], {[Ni3(C10H8O4)3(C12H8N2)2].2H2O}(n), consists of linear trinuclear building blocks with two crystallographically unique Ni atoms. One Ni(II) atom and the geometric centre of one 1,4-phenylenediacetate ligand in the trinuclear unit both lie on inversion centres, while the other unique Ni(II) atom lies near the inversion centre, together with another 1,4-phenylenediacetate ligand. Each pair of adjacent trinuclear units is bridged by 1,4-phenylenediacetate ligands, forming two kinds of infinite chains along the a and b axes, respectively. These two kinds of chains crosslink to yield a two-dimensional network in the ab plane. The two-dimensional sheets further stack along the c axis via pi-pi stacking interactions and hydrogen bonds, forming a three-dimensional supramolecular structure.