Three new isobenzofurans from the roots of Nicotiana Tabacum and their bioactivities.

Three new isobenzofurans (1-3), together with four known phenylpropanoids (4-7) were isolated from the roots of Nicotiana tabacum. Their structures were determined by means of HRESIMS and extensive 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic studies. Compounds 1-6 were tested for their anti-tobacco mosaic virus (anti-TMV) activities and cytotoxicity activities. The results showed that compounds 5 and 6 exhibited high anti-TMV activities with inhibition rates of 35.1 and 33.4%, respectively. The cytotoxicities of compounds 1-7 against five human tumor cell lines (NB4, A549, SHSY5Y, PC3 were also tested. Compounds 1-7 showed weak inhibitory activities against some tested human tumor cell lines with IC50 values in the range of 3.8-9.6 µM.

Study on diagnosis criteria of fire-heat syndrome based on receiver operating characteristic curve and principal component analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To establish the diagnostic quantitative criteria for fire-heat syndrome (FHS) of Chinese medicine (CM) based on the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and principal component analysis (PCA). METHODS: The symptoms and signs of FHS cases and healthy subjects from Guangzhou, Henan and Hunan of China were collected through questionnaire, and the diagnostic quantitative score tables were established for the three regions, respectively, with the method of maximum likelihood analysis. The homogeneity test was then performed on the diagnostic score tables for the three regions with ROC curve, and the diagnostic efficiency of diagnostic score tables for the three regions was compared with the prospective test and retrospective test. The method of PCA was adopted to obtain the analysis matrix for classifying the tapes of FHS. RESULTS: Twenty-seven elements of FHS were confirmed through Chi-square test, and the diagnostic score tables for the three regions were established with the method of maximum likelihood analysis on the basis of the collected case data. According to the ROC curve test, the areas under ROC curve of Guangzhou diagnostic score table assessment with candidates in Guangzhou, Henan and Hunan were 0.998, 0.961 and 0.956, respectively. It showed that the diagnostic efficiency of Guangzhou diagnostic score tables was the highest one. With the prospective test, the area under ROC of Guangzhou diagnostic score table was 0.949, and more than any other diagnostic score table. By PCA, FHS was classified into excess fire and deficiency fire, and then classified into syndrome of flaring up of Heart (Xin) fire, syndrome of Lung (Fei)-Stomach (Wei) excess fire, syndrome of deficiency of Liver (Gan)-yin and Kidney (Shen)-yin, and syndrome of deficiency of Lung-yin from the view of viscera. In the retrospective test, the consistency with clinicians' diagnosis was 69.4%, and in the prospective test, it was 70.1%. CONCLUSIONS: The Guangzhou diagnostic score table could be used as the recommended criteria for the diagnosis of FHS. The classification of FHS was basically in conformity with the clinical situation.

Quantization and diagnosis of Shanghuo (Heatiness) in Chinese medicine using a diagnostic scoring scheme and salivary biochemical parameters.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to establish a diagnostic scoring scheme for Shanghuo (Heatiness) and to evaluate whether Shanghuo is associated with biochemical parameters of salivary lysozyme (LYZ), salivary secreted immunoglobulin (S-IgA), salivary amylase (AMS), and saliva flow rate (SFR). METHODS: We collected 121 Shanghuo patients at the Affiliated Hospitals of Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Guangdong Province, 60 cases as a Shanghuo recovered group, and 60 healthy cases as a healthy control group. The diagnostic scoring scheme was established by probability theory and maximum likelihood discriminatory analysis on the basis of epidemiology with the design of self-controlled clinical trial. Subsequently, we used the same methods to collect 120 Shanghuo patients, 60 Shanghuo recovered cases, and 60 healthy cases in both Hunan Province and Henan Province. The levels of LYZ, S-IgA, AMS, and SFR were tested when the patients suffered from Shanghuo or recovered, respectively. RESULTS: The diagnostic score table for Shanghuo syndrome was established first. In the retrospective tests, the sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and positive likelihood ratio of the diagnostic score table were 98.9%, 93.5%, 97.5%, and 14.34%, respectively. In the prospective tests, the corresponding values were 94.9%, 85.7%, 91.7%, and 6.64%, respectively. Shanghuo was classified into three degrees based on the diagnostic scores, common Shanghuo: 63-120; serious Shanghuo: 121-150; very serious Shanghuo: >150. A negative correlation was found between Shanghuo and S-IgA (R = -0.428; P = 0.000). The level of S-IgA was also affected by seasonal and regional factors. No significant correlations were found between Shanghuo and the levels of LYZ, AMS, and SFR. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, Shanghuo could be diagnosed by the combination of the diagnostic score table and S-lgA level.

Determination of nickel with 2-(2-quinolylazo)-5-diethylaminoaniline as a chromogenic reagent.

A sensitive, selective and rapid method for the determination of nickel based on a rapid reaction of nickel(II) with 2-(2-quinolylazo)-5-diethylaminoaniline (QADEAA) has been developed. In the presence of pH = 6.0 ammonia-ammonium chloride buffer solution and sodium dodecyl sulfonate (SDS) medium, QADEAA reacts with nickel to form a violet complex having a molar ratio of 1:2 (nickel to QADEAA). The molar absorptivity of the complex is 1.38 x 10(5) l mol(-1) cm(-1) at 595 nm. Beer's law is obeyed in the range of 0.01-0.4 microg/ml. This method had been applied to the determination of nickel with good results.