Traditional use of Paris polyphylla and its active components / 中国中药杂志

This paper reviewed the traditional use of Paris polyphylla and its active components, aiming to provide reference for the development and utilization of this plant. It was found that P. polyphylla has been used as a medicinal plant by eight ethnic minorities. A total of 62 experiential effective recipes, including 29 simple recipes and 33 compound recipes, were analyzed for their indications, traditional processing methods, medicinal compatibilities, and administration doses. The top three in the eight ethnic minorities sorted by the quantity of folk recipes were the Yi nationality(18), Naxi nationality(13) and Bai nationality(12). P. polyphylla has been widely employed for the treatment of nine categories of diseases, especially the dermatologic diseases, trauma, and toxicosis currently. The collating of material basis for its traditional functions revealed 26 active components, among which 19 were steroidal saponins capable of resisting cancer, furuncles, carbuncles, abscesses, bacteria, inflammation and stopping bleeding. This study preliminarily proved the efficacy of P. polyphylla in treating cancer and respiratory system, digestive system, and genitourinary system diseases, which has provided clues for related basic research of P. polyphylla and development of new preparations.

The association between glucocorticoid receptor gene G1666T polymorphism and cerebral infarction in Chinese / 中华医学遗传学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To ascertain whether the human glucocorticoid receptor (GR) gene polymorphism is associated with cerebral infarction (CI) and essential hypertension (EH) in Chinese.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>This is a case-control study of Chinese DNA samples abstracted from 163 subjects. The samples were analysed by a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) to determine the intron 4 variant of human GR gene.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>By analysis of the samples from both sexes as a whole, no association was observed between the EH+CI group and control group, and between the CI group and control group. However, by analysis of the samples from the females, weak association was observed between the EH+CI group and control group, and between the CI group and control group; the frequency of allele G was 0.64 for the EH+CI group, 0.69 for CI group and 0.46 for control group.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The G allele may be a predisposing gene marker, GR gene intron 4 polymorphism contributes to the development of CI in females.</p>