Research Progress on Chemical Constituents and Pharmacological Effects of Asari Radix et Rhizoma / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Asari Radix et Rhizoma （ARR） is a traditional Chinese medicine for relieving exterior syndrome， and its roots and stems contain rich chemical components， including volatile oils （terpenoids， aromatics and aliphatics）， lignans， flavonoids， etc. Clinically， it has been traditionally used for the treatment of diseases such as phlegm and cough， anemofrigid cold， rheumatic arthralgia due to its ability to spread cold. Modern pharmacological studies have shown that ARR played beneficial roles in analgesic， anti-inflammatory， antitussive， antiasthmatic， antiviral， antibacterial， sedative， antioxidative， and antidepressant responses， antihypertension， as well as tumor suppression. The current studies on the chemical composition of ARR mainly focused on volatile components， and little information is available for the occurrence and pharmacological effects of non-volatile components. In addition， there is a lack of clear classification of chemical components and the distribution of chemical components in medicinal parts and the origin of species. Therefore， in this study， the authors reviewed a large number of literature on the chemical compositions and pharmacological effects of ARR， and hoping to provide a reference for further pharmacological research and the new drug development of ARR.

Preliminary establishment of cytological examination and the normal reference values for hypertonic saline solution-induced sputum of healthy children in Guangzhou / 中华儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To establish the method of cytological examination and the normal reference values for hypertonic saline solution-induced sputum of healthy children (age range from 5 to 15 years) with physical examination in Guangzhou.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>A total of 352 children, 5 to 15 years old, were enrolled from primary school and middle school in Guangzhou from January to December, 2010. All subjects completed a standardized questionnaire on the presence of respiratory, allergic symptoms and family history, the medical history and the physical examination was performed by doctors, lung function (forced expiratory volume at 1 s in predicted normal, FEV(1)%) was determined. There were 266 healthy children (137 males, 129 females) who were selected and undergone hypertonic saline solution induction of sputum, and cytological examination was performed. Hypertonic saline (5%) was nebulized and inhaled for 15 - 30 min. No expectoration within 30 min was defined as failure, and the procedure was terminated. The part of opaque and higher density sputum samples was detected by cytology. The proportion of neutrophils, lymphocytes, eosinophils, macrophages and monocytes was calculated. This study was approved by the institutional Ethics Review Committee of First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical College. Informed consent was obtained from the legal guardians of all participants following a detailed description of the purpose and potential benefits of the study.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>There were 175 subjects' induced sputum specimens (175/266, 65.8%), non-qualified sputum samples were obtained from 16 of the subjects. The proportions of median (IQR) of lymphocytes were 0.012 (0.020), 95%CI were ranged from 0.015 to 0.022; neutrophils 0.207 (0.330), 95%CI 0.266 - 0.356 macrophages 0.761 (0.327), 95%CI 0.607 - 0.699; eosinophils 0.004 (0.019), 95%CI 0.013 - 0.022. There were no significant differences in proportions of cytological findings of female or male, different age groups and second-hand smoking or not (all P > 0.05). The incidence of adverse event was 4.40% (7/159).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The method and the preliminary data may be used for research, diagnosis and treatment of patients with chronic cough and airway inflammation.</p>

Effects of repeated esophageal acid infusion on airway resistance and airway reactivity in guinea pigs and the mechanism / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the effect of repeated esophageal acid infusion on specific airway resistance (sRaw) and airway reactivity in the guinea pigs and explore the mechanism.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>sRaw and airway reactivity were measured by double-chamber plethysmography in normal control group (group N), saline control group (group NS), and repeated acid irrigation group (group H). The initial measurement was used as the baseline sRaw and airway reactivity (1d1), and 2 h after the initial measurement, sRaw and airway reactivity were measured again (1d2). Similarly, such measurements were repeated on the 15th day for all the guinea pigs (15d1, 15d2) with a 2-h interval. The content of Substance P (SP) and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) in lung tissue, trachea, BALF and ganglion were detected by ELISA.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The percent change of sRaw, (15d2-1d1)/1d1 in group H was significantly higher than that in group N. The differences in the airway reactivity of the group N, group NS, and group H were not statistically significant. The SP content in the lung, trachea, ganglion and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) in group H was significantly higher than those in group N. The SP content in ganglion showed a significant positive correlation to that in the trachea. No significant differences were found in the VIP content in the lung, trachea, ganglion or BALF between the groups.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Repeated esophageal acid infusion increases the airway resistance, but not the airway reactivity in normal guinea pigs. SP may be involved in development of high sRaw through the esophageal-tracheobronchial reflex.</p>

Measurement of airway resistance and reactivity in guinea pigs using double-chamber plethysmography / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To establish a method for measurement of airway resistance (sRaw) and reactivity in guinea pigs.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Methacholine spray at gradient concentrations was given to guinea pigs. PC100 was defined as the concentration of methacholine when the sRaw doubled in the guinea pigs using a double-chamber plethysmograph. The time for the recovery of PC100 resistance to baseline levels was measured. The sRaw and PC100 were measured twice on days 1 and 15 (4 time points) in the guinea pigs before and after OVA challenge.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>PC100 in a normal guinea pig airway was shown to recover the baseline level within 1 h. Double-chamber plethysmographical measurement of the sRaw and PC100 in normal guinea pigs did not show significant differences between the time points [sRaw: 3.25-/+0.67, 3.33-/+0.58, 3.30-/+0.56, and 3.32-/+0.75 cm H2O.s; log2PC100: 8.48-/+0.94, 8.64-/+1.04, 8.56-/+0.67, and 8.64-/+0.60, respectively, P>0.05]. The sRaw and airway reactivity were significantly increased in guinea pigs challenged with OVA [sRaw: 7.08-/+1.82 vs 2.87-/+0.53 cmH2O.s, P<0.01; log2PC100: 6.64-/+1.26 vs 8.48-/+1.17, P<0.01].</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>A double-chamber plethysmography for measurement of sRaw and airway reactivity in guinea pig is established successfully.</p>

An epidemiologic study of cough in young college students in Guangzhou / 中华流行病学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the prevalence of cough and its risk factors in young college students in Guangzhou.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Using a questionnaire with uniform scheme, a cluster-randomized sampling survey was conducted among young college students in Guangzhou. Fluoroscopy of chest was performed in subjects with persisted cough longer than 8 weeks.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>There were 1087 cases with complete data from 1091 people including 648 males, 439 females with an average age of 21.16 years old. The total prevalence of cough was 10.9%. Difference in prevalence of cough between males and females showed no significance (10.3% vs. 11.9%, P > 0.05). There were also no significant differences between male and female in prevalence rates of acute cough (6.9% vs. 8.7%, P > 0.05) and chronic cough (3.4% vs. 3.2%, P > 0.05). Under chronic cough condition, cough was more likely to be the only or major symptom than under acute cough condition (77.8% vs. 44.6%, chi(2) = 11.166, P < 0.01). Nasal disease was an important risk factor to the development of chronic cough, which was found in 33.3% of the patients with chronic cough and when having chronic nasal diseases.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Cough seemed a common disorder in young college student in Guangzhou and there was no significant difference in prevalence between males and females. Nasal disease was an important risk factor to chronic cough.</p>

Diagnostic significance of differential cell count in induced sputum to chronic cough / 中华检验医学杂志

Objective To explore the diagnostic significance of differential cell count in induced sputum to chronic cough and assessment of airway inflammation.Methods The sputum of 335 chronic cough patients were induced.Differential cell counts were measured in these samples.The side effects were observed during the induced procedure.The final diagnosis was made based on clinical manifestation and examination findings including pulmonary function tests,provocation test,induced sputum cell differentials, etc.Results The cause of chronic cough was defined in 322 patients.The six most important causes of cough were typical asthma(TA,n=84),eosinophilic bronchitis (EB,n=62),atopic cough (AC,n= 42),cough variant asthma (CVA,n=40),gastroesophageal reflux cough(GERC,n=37),rhinitis and/ or paranasal sinusitis (PNDs,n=32),and others and indefinite cause (n=25,13).Percentage of eosinophils were significantly increased in the induced sputum of AC,EB,CVA,and GERC patients (0.005,0.052,0.059,0.234) compared with those in other causes and the healthy controls (0) (P