Fractional extraction and structural characterization of glycogen particles from the whole cultivated caterpillar fungus Ophiocordyceps sinensis.

Ophiocordyceps sinensis (syn. Cordyceps sinensis) is a valuable medicinal fungus in traditional Chinese medicine, and one or more polysaccharides are the key constituents with important medical effects. Glycogen as a functional polysaccharide is widely identified in eukaryotes including fungi. However, there is no definitive report of glycogen presence in O. sinensis. In this study, we carefully fractionated polysaccharides from cultivated caterpillar fungus O. sinensis, which were then characterized via methods for glycogen analysis. According to the results, 1.03 ± 0.43 % of polysaccharides were quantified via amyloglucosidase digestion in the whole cultivated caterpillar fungus, which had a typical spherical shape under transmission electron microscope with an average peak radius of 37.63 ± 0.57 nm via size exclusion chromatography and an average chain length of 12.47 ± 0.94 degree of polymerization via fluorophore-assisted capillary electrophoresis. Taken together, this study confirmed that the polysaccharides extracted form O. sinensis were mostly glycogen.

[Differential proteins in the prostate fluid with abnormal lecithin bodies and immunologic mechanism of chronic prostatitis patients].

OBJECTIVE: To study the protein changes in the prostate fluid with abnormal lecithin bodies, and explore their relationship with the pathogenesis of chronic prostatitis. METHODS: Using the tandem mass tag (TMT) technology, we identified differential proteins in the prostate fluid with abnormal lecithin bodies in normal males and analyzed their biological functions by GO functional annotation and KEGG pathways. RESULTS: Totally, 377 differential proteins were identified, 238 up-regulated and the other 139 down-regulated, and 8 of the top 20 significant differential proteins were related to inflammation and immune regulation. In the top 30 of the 1 011 items enriched by GO annotation, 5 were related to immune function and 3 to inflammatory response, and of the 251 KEGG pathways, 9 were involved in inflammation and immune regulation. CONCLUSIONS: Changes in lecithin bodies lead to proteomic changes in the prostatic fluid, which is closely related to protein- and pathway-associated inflammatory response and immune disorders, as well as to the immunologic mechanism of chronic prostatitis patients, and therefore can be used as an indicator of chronic prostatitis.

[Prostatic artery embolization for high-risk patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia: A clinical effect observation].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the clinical effect of prostatic artery embolization (PAE) in the treatment of high-risk patients with BPH. METHODS: Nine high-risk patients with BPH underwent PAE in the Third Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University from January 2016 to June 2018. We followed up the patients and obtained their IPSS, quality of life score (QOL), postvoid residual urine volume (PVR), maximum urinary flow rate (Qmax), prostate volume (PV), hours of undisturbed sleep (HUS), Self-Rating Anxiety Scale score (SAS) and incidence of postoperative complications before and at 6, 12 and 24 months or longer after surgery, followed by comparative analysis of the parameters. RESULTS: Compared with baseline, IPSS, QOL, PVR, Qmax, PV, HUS and SAS were all significantly improved in the patients at 6, 12 and ≥24 months after PAE (P < 0.05). Only 1 case complained of mild numbness in the buttocks, which was gradually relieved after acupuncture therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Prostatic artery embolization is definitely effective for the treatment of high-risk patients with BPH with the bladder volume ≥200 ml, with few postoperative complications, and can be used as an effective therapeutic supplementary for improving the urination symptoms of the patients.

Modeling of diagnosis for metabolic syndrome by integrating symptoms into physiochemical indexes.

BACKGROUND: Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a major global health concern comprising a cluster of co-occurring conditions that increase the risk of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. MS is usually diagnosed using a combination of physiochemical indexes (such as BMI, abdominal circumference and blood pressure) but largely ignores clinical symptoms when investigating prevention and treatment of the disease. Exploring predictors of MS using multiple diagnostic indicators may improve early diagnosis and treatment of MS. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) attaches importance to the etiology of disease symptoms and indications using four diagnostic methods, which have long been used to treat metabolic disease. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to develop predictive indicators for MS using both physiochemical indexes and TCM methods. METHODS: Clinical information (including both physiochemical and TCM indexes) was obtained from a cohort of 586 individuals across 4 hospitals in China, comprising 136 healthy controls and 450 MS cases. Using this cohort, we compared three classic machine learning methods: decision tree (DT), support vector machine (SVM) and random forest (RF) towards MS diagnosis using physiochemical and TCM indexes, with the best model selected by comparing the accuracy, specificity and sensitivity of the three models. In parallel, the best proportional partition of the training data to the test data was confirmed by observing the changes in evaluation indexes using each model. Next, three subsets containing different categories of variables (including both TCM and physicochemical indexes combined - termed the "fused indexes", only physicochemical indexes, and TCM indexes only) were compared and analyzed using the best performing model and optimum training to test data proportion. Next, the best subset was selected through comprehensive comparative analysis, and then the important prediction variables were selected according to their weight. RESULTS: When comparing the three models, we found that the RF model had the highest average accuracy (average 0.942, 95%CI [0.925, 0.958]) and sensitivity (average 0.993, 95%CI [0.990, 0.996]). Besides, when the training set accounted for 80% of the cohort data, the specificity got the best value and the accuracy and sensitivity were also very high in RF model. In view of the performance of the three different subsets, the prediction accuracy and sensitivity of models analyzing the fused indexes and only physicochemical indexes remained at a high level. Further, the mean value of specificity of the model using fused indexes was 0.916, which was significantly higher than the model with only physicochemical indexes (average 0.822) and the model with only TCM indexes (average 0.403). Based on the RF model and data allocation ratio (8:2), we further extracted the top 20 most significant variables from the fused indexes, which included 14 physicochemical indexes and 6 TCM indexes including wiry pulse, chest tightness, spontaneous perspiration, greasy tongue coating etc. CONCLUSION: Compared with SVM and DT models, the RF model showed the best performance, especially when the ratio of the training set to test set is 8:2. Compared with single predictive indexes, the model constructed by combining physiochemical indexes with TCM indexes (i.e. the fused indexes) exhibited better predictive ability. In addition to common physicochemical indexes, some TCM indexes, such as wiry pulse, chest tightness, spontaneous perspiration, greasy tongue coating, can also improve diagnosis of MS.

An UHPLC-MS/MS method for simultaneous determination of quercetin 3-O-rutinoside, kaempferol 3-O-rutinoside, isorhamnetin 3-O-rutinoside, bilobalide and ligustrazine in rat plasma, and its application to pharmacokinetic study of Xingxiong injection.

The present study was designed to develop and validate a rapid, sensitive, and reliable ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) method for the simultaneous determination of five major active constituents in the traditional Chinese medicinal preparation Xingxiong injection (XXI) in rat plasma, including quercetin 3-O-rutinoside (QCR), kaempferol 3-O-rutinoside (KFR), isorhamnetin 3-O-rutinoside (ISR), bilobalide (BB), and ligustrazine (LGT). The plasma samples were pretreated by protein precipitation with acetonitrile. The chromatographic separation was achieved on a Waters Symmetry C18 analytical column (2.1 mm × 100 mm, 3.5 µm) with a mobile phase of 0.1% aqueous formic acid (A)-acetonitrile (B). Quantitation of the five bioactive constituents was achieved. Naringin was used as the internal standard (IS). All the calibration curves showed good linearity (r > 0.996) over the concentration range, with the lowest limit of quantification (LLOQ) between 2-18 ng·mL-1. The intra- and inter-day accuracy and precision of the analytes were both within acceptable limits. Moreover, satisfactory extraction recoveries (90.92%-104.03%) were obtained by protein precipitation. The validated method was successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study of XXI in rats after intravenous administration at three doses. The pharmacokinetic parameters of the five compounds varied in a dose-dependent manner within the tested dosage range. The present study was the first report of pharmacokinetic study for XXI.

[Effect of Simiao Yong'an Decoction on the Expression of Wnt/p-catenin Signaling Pathway in Diabetic Ulcer Model Rats].

Objective To observe the changes of the Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway in diabetic ulcer (DU) model rats and to study the effect of Simiao Yong'an Decoction (SYD) on it. Methods Totally 51 female Wistar rats were divided into the normal control group (n =17) and the diabetes mellitus (DM) group (n =34) according to random digit table. Rats in the normal control group were fed with common forage. Those in the DM group were prepared for DM model by high fat high glucose forage +intrap- eritoneal injection of low-dose Streptozotocin (STZ). Successfully modeled rats were then randomly divided into the DU group and the DU-SYD group, 15 in each group. Fifteen rats were randomly selected from the normal control group, and then divided into the ulcer control group (CU). Rats in the DU-SYD group were administered with SYD by gastrogavage. Rats in the CU group and the DU group were administered with normal saline by gastrogavage. The conditions of wound healing were observed, histomorphological changes of the wound tissues were observed by HE staining at day 3, 7, and 14, respectively. Protein and mRNA expressions of p-catenin, GSK-3ß, and Rspo-3 in wound tissues were detected by ELISA and RT-PCR. Results The wound healing rate was sequenced from high to low as Group CU, Group DU- SYD, Group DU at day 3, 7, and 14, respectively (P <0. 05). Compared with CU group, protein contents and mRNA expressions of ß-catenin and Rspo-3 in wound tissues decreased, protein contents and mR- NA expressions of GSK-3ß increased in the DU group at day 3, 7, and 14, respectively (P <0. 05). Compared with the DU group, protein contents and mRNA expressions of ß-catenin in wound tissues increased, protein contents and mRNA expressions of GSK-3ß decreased in the DU-SYD group at day 3, 7, and 14, respectively (P<0. 05). There was no significant difference in protein contents or mRNA ex- pressions of Rspo-3 between the DU group and the DU-SYD group (P >0. 05). Conclusions Down-regulation of Wnt/ß-catenin pathway might result in difficult healing of UC. SYD could promote the healing of DU possibly by regulating Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway.

Effect of iodinated contrast media on renal function evaluated with dynamic three-dimensional MR renography.

PURPOSE: To assess the hemodynamic effect of iodinated contrast media (CM) on glomerular filtration rate (GFR) by using dynamic three-dimensional magnetic resonance (MR) renography in a rabbit model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was approved by the university animal care and use committee. Twelve healthy male New Zealand rabbits (body mass range, 2.5-3.0 kg) were included. Two of them were sacrificed before MR examination to obtain renal histologic samples as controls. The other ten rabbits completed 4-minute dynamic contrast material-enhanced MR imaging 24 hours before and 20 minutes after intravenous injection of iopamidol (370 mg of iodine per milliliter) at a dose of 6 mL per kilogram of body weight. Blood volume (V(B)), GFR, and tubule volume (V(E)) of the renal cortex were determined with a two-compartment kinetic model. Maximum upslope (K(m)), peak concentration (P(c)), and initial 60-second area under the curve (IAUC) of the whole kidney renogram curve were measured with semiquantitative analysis. The self-control data were compared by using the Student paired t test. RESULTS: Iopamidol significantly decreased cortical V(B) (mean, 42.53% ± 10.16 [standard deviation] before CM administration vs 27.23% ± 16.13 after CM administration; P < .01), V(E) (mean, 22.40% ± 11.69 before CM administration vs 11.51% ± 6.58 after CM administration; P < .01), and GFR (mean, 31.92 mL/100 g per minute ± 12.52 before CM administration vs 21.48 mL/100 g per minute ± 10.02 after CM administration; P < .01). Results of whole-kidney renogram analysis showed a decrease in K(m), P(c), and IAUC caused by iopamidol administration. CONCLUSION: High-dose iopamidol resulted in a marked decrease in renal function, which could be detected at dynamic three-dimensional MR renography.

Inguinal hernia repair with tension-free hernioplasty under local anesthesia.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the use of local anesthesia in tension-free hernioplasty in a local hospital. METHODS: The study took place at Beijing Chaoyang Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing, China during the period from January 2007 to May 2008. All 110 patients who had undergone inguinal hernia repair with mesh under local anesthesia were included in the study. To increase the homogeneity of the sample, we excluded umbilical hernia repairs, parastomal hernia repairs, non-elective procedures, procedures not involving mesh, and repairs performed concurrently with another surgical procedure. We performed a retrospective review of all 110 patients' data. RESULTS: The average operating time was 45 minutes (30-70 minutes), and the average hospital stay was 3-4 days. There was no postoperative mortality in this study. No surgical site infection occurred. Two patients (18%) that suffered from a moderate scrotal hematoma had recovered after extract injection therapy was applied. The duration of incisional pain was 2-3 days, and no patient required post-operative analgesia. During the follow-up, no recurrence occurred. CONCLUSION: The use of local anesthesia in inguinal hernia repair with tension-free hernioplasty is a safe and effective alternative for inpatient treatment.