Overview on the modern development of fire needling device: from tradition to innovation / 中国针灸

The appropriate needle device is crucial for obtaining the curative effect of fire needling therapy. The article introduces the material specification, clinical operation, indications, characteristics and advantages of the contemporary traditional fire needling devices (e.g. He's fire needle and Shi 's fire needle) and the contemporary new-type ones (e.g. fire needling with filiform needle and micro-needle); and determines the innovations of modern fire needling. It is anticipated that the needle specifications, production process and operation standard of fire needling devices should be further unified so as to provide the references for the selection of fire needling devices in treatment based on clinical syndrome differentiation and expand the clinical application of fire needling therapy.

Effect of fire needling on mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis and related serum inflammatory cytokines / 中国针灸

OBJECTIVE@#To compare the clinical effect of fire needling and filiform needling for mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis (KOA) and observe the influence on related serum inflammatory sytokines.@*METHODS@#A total of 60 patients with mild to moderate KOA were randomly divided into an observation group (30 cases, 4 cases dropped off) and a control group (30 cases, 4 cases dropped off). Both groups were given basic health management, and the acupoints of the two groups were Liangqiu (ST 34), Xuehai (SP 10), Neixiyan (EX-LE 4), Dubi (ST 35), Yanglingquan (GB 34) and @*RESULTS@#At each time point of treatment and follow-up, the pain, stiffness, difficulty of daily activities scores and WOMAC total scores of the two groups were lower than those before treatment (@*CONCLUSION@#Fire needling can improve the pain, stiffness and joint dysfunction of patients with mild to moderate KOA, and increase serum MMP-3 and IL-1α levels. Its short and long term clinical effects are better than filiform needling.

Primary Study on Chronic Myeloid Leukemia in NCG Mice from Qinba Mushroom / 中国实验血液学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#The present study was to evaluate the anti-tumor effects of acidic RNA protein complex (FA-2-b-β) extracted from the wild edible Qinba mushroom in inducing of apoptosis and immunoregulation of tumor cell.@*METHODS@#Cell proliferation inducing rate of FA-2-b-β to K562 cell was measured using CCK-8. Apoptosis rate was detected by using flow cytometry. Chronic myeloid leukemia model was developed by tail vein injection/subcutaneous inoculation of K562 cells in NCG mice. The tumor burden of mice was observed. The general condition of the mice was monitored twice daily. The peripherivcal full blood counts of mice was tested daily. RT-qPCR and Western blot was FA-2-b-β performed to determine involvement of apoptotic-related gene and protenin, Immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry was used to detected the expression of CD3, CD4 and CD8.@*RESULTS@#The proliferation and apoptosis of K562 cell could be inhibitied and induced by FA-2-b-β, there was 100% successful in the tumor formation in vivo, after treated by drug for 21 days there were significantly increased peripheral leucocytes, but decreased hemoglobin of mice treated by FA-2-b-β as compared with those in control group. The CD3, CD4 and CD8 showed positive in mice, and the propotation was imbalance, but it showed reserved after treated by FA-2-b-β.@*CONCLUSION@#FA-2-b-β is strong anti-leukemia effect in vitro and in vivo, suggesting the traditional Chinese medicine maybe contribute to the anti-cancer and immunoregulation research.

Theoretical and Clinical Evidences of Dispelling Wind and Eliminating Dampness Therapy for Allergic Rhinitis / 中国实验方剂学杂志

The pathological mechanism of allergic rhinitis (AR) involves hierarchically acute and chronic reactions among antigens, immunocytes, immunoglobulins and inflammatory factors. AR, which is characterized by heterogeneity, reacts differently to the current treatment on diverse individuals. Some patients receive unsatisfying clinical outcomes after the treatment. Chinese herbal medicine has become a frequent option to treat AR because it can improve clinical symptoms with excellent safety. The description of Biqiu in ancient Chinese medical literatures is very similar to the clinical manifestation of AR. The major pathogeneses of Biqiu included infection of wind-cold pathogens, deficiency and cold in the lung, and evil depression into heat and wind. Therefore, in modern traditional Chinese medicine （TCM）, Biqiu is considered as an integration of AR, allergic sinusitis and vasomotor rhinitis. According to the pathogenesis and clinical manifestations of Biqiu (including AR), this disease belongs to wind disease in TCM. But modern TCM focuses on deficiency of internal organs and ignores wind evil in syndrome differentiation, contrary to the fact that wind medicine is always used in treating AR. This even leads to an abnormal phenomenon that clinical studies attach little importance to syndrome differentiation. In this paper, we started from the phenomenon that wind medicine is always used in TCM for AR, considering TCM literatures and the study results of modern therapy for wind diseases, and put forward the ideas as follows: AR belongs to exogenous wind disease in TCM, and wind pathogen is the major pathogen, in clinical syndrome differentiation, we should attach more importance to wind evil, and dispelling wind and eliminating dampness is the key to treatment. Meanwhile, based on the fact that most of the classical prescriptions with good effectiveness for AR originated from Treatise on Febrile Disease, mainly including the wind medicines for treating exogenous diseases, it can be inferred that the wind-dispelling and itch-arresting effects of wind medicines are helpful to alleviate or block the allergic reaction of nasal mucus and achieve the goal of relieving itching and sneezing, and the wind-dispelling and dampness-eliminating effects are helpful to alleviate the edema of nasal mucus and achieve the goal of relieving running nose and nasal obstruction. In modern researches, it is also found that classical prescriptions which take wind medicine as a principle component and wind medicine used in AR treatment have good anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic and immune function adjusting effects. This indicates that dispelling wind and eliminating dampness and the wind medicine treatment under its instruction not only correspond to TCM theory, but also have modern science evidences.

Biosynthesis, Characterization and Biological Activities of Silver Nanoparticles from Pogostemon cablin Benth. Methanolic Leaf Extract.

This study reports the biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using methanolic leaf extract of Pogostemon cablin Benth. (Patchouli) as a reducing agent, and their potent biological (antibacterial, antioxidant and anticancer) activities. The P. cablin extract when exposed to silver nitrate reduced silver ions to form crystalline AgNPs within 1 h of incubation at room-temperature. UV-visible spectra showed a sharp surface plasmon resonance (SPR) at around 430 nm for the biosynthesized AgNPs and the XRD pattern indicated the crystalline planes of the face centered cubic silver. The FE-SEM analysis revealed the occurrence of predominant spherical shaped AgNPs with a huge disparity in their particle size distribution with an average size of 25 nm, while, the FTIR data confirmed the bio-reduction and capping of AgNPs by several phytocompounds present in the methanolic leaf extract. AgNPs effectively inhibited the growth of all the tested human pathogenic bacterial strains (Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli), while, the methanolic leaf extract failed to inhibit the growth of S. aureus and P. aeruginosa. AgNPs showed the highest free radical scavenging activity (79.0 ± 0.76%) compared to methanolic leaf extract (68.3 ± 0.68%) at 100 µg/ml. Further, the cytotoxicity study using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) confirmed that AgNPs successfully inhibited the human colon adenocarcinoma cell line (HT-29) in a dose dependent manner. At higher concentrations (500 µg/ml), only 4% of cells survived after 72 hrs of exposure with IC50 value of 120 µg/ml. Thus, these findings offer a new source of biomolecules with diverse biological activities.

Application Status and Research Progress of External Traditional Chinese Medicine Ointment for Rheumatism Treatment / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Due to the definite curative effect,stable drug properties and low incidence of adverse reactions,the external traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) ointment for rheumatism treatment has attracted more and more attention from scholars at home and abroad.Based on the external TCM ointment for the treatment of rheumatism approved by China Food and Drug Administration(CFDA),this paper would comb and analyze their dosage forms,varieties,specifications,etc.On the other hand,this article summarizes the application of the new formulation technology,prescription research,study on the forming process,pharmacodynamics and safety research,etc.The problems existing in this area were pointed out,such as lack of new preparations;less research on the penetration material basis,the penetration enhancing mechanism,and the penetration enhancing law;the selection of detection indicators of quality control standards is not comprehensive enough;qualitative and quantitative studies of pharmacokinetics are relatively scarce and so on.Meanwhile,proper measures and suggestions are put forward.Not only the formulation classification and specification description of external TCM ointment should be standardized,but also new dosage forms such as intelligentized,controlled release and targeted preparations of Chinese medicine should be actively introduced;the study of transdermal activity of transdermal enhancer itself should be strengthened,and investigating the correlation between the transdermal absorption of the agent itself and promoting transdermal absorption;the biological effect index or indicators that combine chemical and biological effects should be used,and learning from the latest research achievements of multidimensional spectroscopy of Chinese herbal medicine,thereby establishing scientific detection indicators and quality control methods that conform to modern transdermal concept.

Primary Mechanisms of CD34CD38--KG1a Leukemia Stem Cells Apoptosis Induced by FA-2-b-β Extracted from Qinba Selenium- Mushroo / 中国实验血液学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the apoptosis of CD34CD38-KG1a leukemia stem cells induced by Qinba selenium-mushroom extract(FA-2-b-β), and its related mechanism.@*METHODS@#CD34CD38--KG1a cells were isolated from KG1a cell line by magnetic activated cell sorting. The proliferation ability of KG1a stem cells treatd by various concentration of FA-2-b-β(1.2-2.4 mg/ml) in vitro for 24 and 48 hours were tested by cell counting Kit-8(CCK8). Flow cytometry was used to detect the apoptosis rate of KG1a stem cells in each group after treated by FA-2-b-β in vitro. Expression of BAX,BCL-2,Casepase-3 and Cyclin D1 protein were detected by Western blot.@*RESULTS@#The proportion of CD34CD38--KG1a stem cells was (95.35±2.63）% after immunomagnetic isolation. The proliferation of KG1a stem cells was inhibited significantly by FA-2-b-β, which shows a time- and dose-dependent manner (24 h,r=0.943; 48 h,r=0.976). Flow cytometry shows that with the increasing of drug concentration, the apoptosis was also increased, when KG1a stem cells was treated by FA-2-b-β for 24 h. Western blot indicated that the expression of apoptosis-related protein BAX and Casepase-3 were up-regulated, the expression of BCL-2 and Cyclin D1 were down-regulated.@*CONCLUSION@#FA-2-b-β can regulate proliferation and apoptosis KG1a stem cells, the involved mechanism may be related with the activation of mitochondrial-mediated apoptotic pathway.

Clinical features of long segmental myelopathy caused by nitrous oxide / 北京大学学报(医学版)

OBJECTIVE@#To analyze the clinical and imaging characteristics of the neurological damage caused by nitrous oxide (N2O).@*METHODS@#In the study, 10 patients in the Department of Neurology of China-Japan Friendship Hospital from October 2015 to February 2018 were retrospectively analyzed for the demographic data, the history of inhaled N2O, clinical features, blood examination, electrophysiological examination, spinal magnetic resonance imaging and therapeutic efficacy profiles.@*RESULTS@#The male-to-female ratio was 4:6 and it presented with an age-of-onset 17-26 years [the average age: (20.80±3.12) years]. The time from inhaled N2O to onset was 1 month to 1 year [the average time: (6.95±4.19) months]. Paralysis in all the patients and numbness in 9 patients were the main clinical features, while positive Lhermitte's sign in 3 patients, urinary and defecation disturbance in 4 patients were also found. Blood examination indicated anemia in 2 patients, giant cell anemia in 1 case and small cell hypochromic anemia in 1 case. 3 cases had been treated with vitamin B12 in an external hospital, and the other 7 cases had abnormal increase in homocysteine levels. Electrophysiological examinations showed sensory and motor nerve involvement in 9 patients, and motor nerve involvement in 1 patient. The severity of lower extremity lesion was significantly heavier than that of upper extremity. Spinal magnetic resonance imagings showed that long segmental lesions were present in the cervical spinal cord of all the patients, 3 cases with long segmental lesions of the thoracic cord and 2 cases with spinal cord swelling. In 6 cases, the horizontal axis had an "inverted V-type" T2 high signal, 1 case was classified as "crescent", and 3 cases were "eight-shaped". The symptoms in these 10 cases were alleviated in varying degrees after stopping the inhalation of nitrous oxide, actively supplementing high doses of vitamin B12 and doing early rehabilitation exercises.@*CONCLUSION@#Myelopathy with nitrous oxide presents as paralysis and numbness in limb extremities. In imaging, cervical spinal cord damage is common, accompanied by thoracic spinal cord damage. The horizontal axis is more common in the "inverted V-type". Treatment with high doses of vitamin B12 is effective.

Treatment for Post-polio Syndrome (review) / 中国康复理论与实践

There is no specific treatment for post-polio syndrome. The common applied therapies include mediciation, exercise, cogni-tive behavioural therapy, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, Traditional Chinese Medicine, assistive technology, psychological and social factors adjustment, interdisciplinary comprehensive rehabilitation, and so on.

Application of immunoassay in fast quality evaluation of traditional Chinese medicine / 中国中药杂志

The quality evaluation of traditional Chinese medicine can be divided into two aspects, effectiveness and safety. The existing methods for evaluating the quality of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) are mostly based on the testing instruments, which can not meet the practical needs of simple, rapid and on-site in production and life. Immunoassay, characterized by simple, rapid, sensitive, specific, low-cost and high-throughput, is widely used in the fields of clinical diagnosis, environmental pollution monitoring, food safety testing, and other fields. In recent years, immunoassay technology has been gradually applied in the field of quality control of TCM, involving quantitative detection of effective components of TCM, detection of harmful substances in TCM, and detection of exogenous pollutants in TCM. This paper summarizes the principle of the wide application of ELISA and colloidal gold immunostrip technology and its application in quality evaluation of TCM, this technique has a good application prospect in the field of rapid detection of the quality of TCM. In this paper, the principles of the widely used ELISA and colloidal gold immune test strip technology as well as their application in quality evaluation of TCM were reviewed, and the results showed that this technique had a good application prospect in the field of rapid detection of the quality of TCM.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy and comprehensive orthopedic treatment for incomplete traumatic spinal cord injury on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau: study protocol for an open-label randomized controlled clinical trial / 中国组织工程研究

BACKGROUND: Apoptosis secondary to ischemia and hypoxia is the main cause of spinal cord dysfunction. Because of the decrease in atmospheric pressure, patients living on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are in a hypoxic environment, which is very unfavorable for the recovery of spinal cord injury. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy can improve the postoperative function of patients with incomplete spinal cord injury, and its effect is better on the plateau than at normal altitudes.OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on traumatic spinal cord injury in patients living on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau.METHODS: This prospective, open-label, randomized controlled clinical trial was performed at the Department of Spine Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Qinghai University, China. In total, 164 patients with incomplete traumatic spinal cord injury were equally and randomly assigned to a control group and a hyperbaric oxygen therapy group. Patients in the control group were treated with pedicle screw fixation and decompressive laminectomy. In addition to the surgical treatment performed in the control group, patients in the hyperbaric oxygen group underwent hyperbaric oxygen therapy at 0.2 MPa once a day for four treatment courses. Ten treatment sessions constituted one course, and each course was separated by a 5- to 7-day rest interval. The primary outcome was the modified Barthel index to assess activities of daily living. The secondary outcomes were the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) impairment scale grade, sensory score, and motor score. The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Affiliated Hospital of Qinghai University, China (Approval number: QHC011K). Written informed consent was provided by a relative or legal representative of each patient after they had indicated that they fully understood the treatment plan. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The partial results demonstrated that after four treatment courses (55-61 days), the modified Barthel index and ASIA tactile, pain, and motor scores were higher in the hyperbaric oxygen group than in the control group. The ASIA grades were significantly different between the hyperbaric oxygen group and control group. The proportion of patients with ASIA grades D and E was higher in the hyperbaric oxygen group than in the control group. In this trial, we aim to determine the efficacy of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on the treatment of incomplete traumatic spinal cord injury in patients living on the plateau and to provide clinical evidence for treating incomplete traumatic spinal cord injury in these patients.

Jinmaitong alleviates the diabetic peripheral neuropathy by inducing autophagy / 中国结合医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the deregulation of autophagy in diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) and investigate whether Jinmaitong ( JMT) alleviates DPN by inducing autophagy.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>DPN models were established by streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats and Schwann cells (SCs) cultured in high glucose medium. The pathological morphology was observed by the improved Bielschowsky's nerve fiber axonal staining and the Luxol fast blue-neutral red myelin staining. The ultrastructure was observed by the transmission electron microscopy. Beclin1 level was detected by immunohistochemistry and Western blot. The proliferation of cultured SCs was detected by methylthiazolyldiphenyl-tetrazolium bromide.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Diabetic peripheral nerve tissues demonstrated pathological morphology and reduced autophagic structure, accompanied with down-regulation of Beclin1. JMT apparently alleviated the pathological morphology change and increased the autophagy [in vivo, Beclin1 integral optical density (IOD) value of the control group 86.6±17.7, DM 43.9±8.8, JMT 73.3 ±17.8, P<0.01 or P<0.05, in vitro Beclin1 IOD value of the glucose group 0.47±0.25 vs the control group 0.88±0.29, P<0.05]. Consequently, inhibition of autophagy by 3-methyladenine resulted in a time- and concentration-dependent decrease of the proliferation of SCs (P<0.05, P<0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Down-regulation of autophagy in SCs might contribute to the pathogenesis of DPN. JMT alleviates diabetic peripheral nerve injury at least in part by inducing autophagy.</p>

Phenolic compounds from Rhododendron phaeochrysum var. agglutinatum / 中国中药杂志

Eight phenolic compounds were isolated from Rhododendron phaeochrysum var. agglutinatum and their sructures were identified as phaeochrysin (1), (2R)-4-(3',4'-dihydroxyphenyl) -2-butanol (2), (-) -rhododendrol (3), rhododendrin (4), (+) -isolariciresinol (5), (-) -lyoniresinol (6), lyoniresinol-9'-O-β-D-xylopyranoside (7), and dihydrodehydrodiconiferyl-3a-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside (8). Compound 1 is new, and compounds 2, 5-8 were isolated from this plant for the first time.

Electrocardiographic Characteristics of Myocardial Infarction Evolution in Rats and ;Intervention of Chinese Herbs with Replenishing Qi and Activating Blood / 中国中医药信息杂志

Objective To determine the electrocardiographic (ECG) characteristics of myocardial infarction (MI) evolution in rats and the intervention effect of Chinese herbs, and to provide basis for the establishment of the criteria for ECG diagnosis and assessment of drug therapeutic effects of rats MI. Methods Totally 140 male SD rats were randomly divided into sham operation group, model group, replenishing qi group, activating blood group, replenishing qi and activating blood (1∶2) and (2∶1) group as well as Tongxinluo group, each group with 20 rats. The rat MI model was established by ligating the left anterior descending coronary artery. The treatment groups were administrered with corresponding drugs by gavage from the first day after operation. The sham operation group and model group were given the same volume of distilled water. The 12-lead ECGs were recorded before, immediately after, 1st and 2nd week after operation respectively. The voltage value of ST segment deviation, the time limit of QRS complex and the number of animals with pathologic Q wave were evaluated for statistical analysis. Results Model group showed the elevation of ST segment, significantly prolonged time limit of QRS complex (P0.05). Thus, we proposed the criterion for the ECG diagnosis of rats MI as well as the criterion for the ECG assessment of drug therapeutic effects of rats MI. Conclusion ECG can overall and sensitively evaluate the evolution and drug therapeutic effects of MI in rats, thus providing a relatively objective and available assessment method for the experimental studies of myocardial ischemic diseases.

Effect of serum containing Jinmaitong Capsule on rats' Schwann cell apoptosis induced by high glucose concentration / 中国结合医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the effect of serum containing Jinmaitong Capsule (JMT) on apoptosis of Schwann cells (SCs) that are cultured in high glucose at the cellular and molecular levels.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>SCs were cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (control group), high glucose (50 mmol/L) medium supplemented with 20% rat serum (HG group), and 50 mmol/L glucose medium supplemented with serum containing JMT (JMT group). SC apoptosis was detected using a terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling kit. The expression of Bcl-2 and the caspase-3 p20 subunit in SCs were detected by realtime fluorogenic quantitative polymerase chain reaction and confocal laser scanning microscopy, respectively.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>No apoptosis was detected in SCs that were cultured in the control group. The percentage of apoptosis of SCs cultured in the HG group was much higher than that in the control group. The apoptosis of SCs in the JMT group was lower than that in the HG group. Fluorescence intensity of Bcl-2 and the expression of Bcl-2 mRNA in SCs that were cultured in the HG group were much lower than those in the control group and much higher than those in the JMT group (P<0.01). The fluorescence intensity of caspase-3 p20 and the expression of caspase-3 p20 mRNA in SCs that were cultured in the HG group were much higher than those in the control group (P<0.01), and they were remarkably lower in the JMT group (P<0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>JMT effectively prevents SC apoptosis that is induced by high glucose. This effect may be because of increased expression of Bcl-2 mRNA and protein and decreased expression of caspase-3 p20 mRNA and protein.</p>

Effects of Jinmaitong capsule on oxidative stress and cell apoptosis of dorsal root ganglion in diabetic rats / 中国医学科学院学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the effects of Jinmaitong capsule on oxidative stress and cell apoptosis of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) in rats with diabetic peripheral neuropathy.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Sixty male SD rats were randomly divided into normal group and model groups. The diabetic rat models were established using Streptozotocin (STZ) method (60 mg/kg of intraperitoneal injection), and then randomly divided Jinmaitong low, middle, and high-dose groups and vitamin C group. All the experimental rats were sacrificed at 16-week and then the DRG was isolated. The morphological changes of DRG were observed using the Nissl's staining, and the NADPH oxidase subunit p22-phox, Cyt C, Bcl-2, and Caspase-3 of DRG in rats were detected by immunohistochemistry and quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR). Cell apoptosis was detected by TUNEL.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with the model group, the expressions of NADPH oxidase subunit p22-phox protein, Cyt expression of C protein, Caspase-3 protein, and mRNA cell apoptosis rate in each treatment group significantly decreased whereas the expressions of Bcl-2 mRNA and protein significantly increased (P<0.05 or P<0.01). The Jinmaitong high-dose group had the best effect and was significantly different from that of the vitamin C group (P<0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Jinmaitong capsule can prevent the nerve injury in rats with diabetic peripheral neuropathy by inhibiting oxidative stress and decreasing the apoptosis. The high-dose Jinmaitong capsule has the best effect and is superior to vitamin C.</p>

Effects of Jinmaitong Capsule () on ciliary neurotrophic factor in sciatic nerves of diabetes mellitus rats / 中国结合医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the effects of the Chinese medicine Jinmaitong Capsule (, JMT) on the pathomorphology of sciatic nerves, ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), and the mRNA expressions of CNTF in rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus (STZ-DM).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The animal model was established by one time intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin. The rats were simply divided by random into 5 groups including model group, low-dose JMT group (JL), medium-dose JMT group (JM), high-dose JMT group (JH) and neurotropin group. For each of the above 5 groups, a group of 10 normal Wistar rats matched in body weight, age and gender were set as normal group. Intragastric administrations were started after the animal model established. The JL group were administered with five times the JMT dose recommended for a human adult; the JM group were administered with ten times the JMT dose recommended for a human adult; the JH group were administered with twenty times the JMT dose recommended for a human adult. The neurotropin group was administered with ten times the neurotropin dose recommended for a human adult. All rats were given intragastric administration for 16 weeks and then killed. In the 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th week, body weight and blood glucose level were detected before and after the intervention. The morphologic changes of the sciatic nerves were observed by optical microscope and transmission electron microscope. The CNTFmRNA expressions were detected by real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain protein, and the CNTF protein expressions were detected by immunohistochemical method.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The blood glucose levels of the STZ-DM rats were much higher than normal group (P<0.01), and there was no apparent difference between any treatment groups and the model group (P>0.05). Before and after the intervention in the 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th week, there were no significant differences in the body weight among all the groups (P>0.05). The sciatic nerves of STZ-DM rats might have pathomorphological changes in axons, myelin sheaths, and interstitium. The levels of CNTF and CNTF-mRNA expressions in the STZ-DM rats were both significantly decreased (P<0.01). The sciatic nerves of STZ-DM rats might have pathomorphological changes in axons, myelin sheaths, and interstitium.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>JMT could improve the pathomorphology of sciatic nerves by increasing CNTF's and CNTF-mRNA expressions in sciatic nerve tissues, and promote the repair and regeneration of damaged nerve fibers.</p>

Tea polyphenols inhibits the proliferation of prostate cancer DU145 cells / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effect of tea polyphenols on the proliferation of human prostate cancer cells and its possible mechanism.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>We cultured androgen-independent prostate cancer DU145 cells in the medium with different concentrations (50, 100, 250 and 500 microg/ml) of tea polyphenols, and those in the normal medium as the control. After 48 hours of culture, we detected the survival rate of the cells by MTT assay and determined the expression of survivin by Western blot and quantitative RT-PCR.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>At 48 hours, the survival rates of the prostate cancer DU145 cells were 0.97 +/- 0.12, 0.71 +/- 0.07, 0.20 +/- 0.03 and 0.08 +/- 0.01 in the 50, 100, 250 and 500 microg/ml tea polyphenols treatment groups, all significantly reduced as compared with the control group (P < 0.01) except that of the 50 microg/ml group (P = 0.42). Furthermore, the survival rate continued to decrease with the prolonging of time, dropping below 5% at 96 hours except in the 50 microg/ml group. The grey values of the survivin expression in the 100, 250 and 500 microg/ml tea polyphenols groups were 13 425 +/- 34, 2 017 +/- 24 and 1 274 +/- 22, respectively, at 48 hours, significantly lower than 15 075 +/- 48 in the control group (P < 0.01). Moreover, the content of survivin mRNA at 48 hours was markedly lower in the 50, 100, 250 and 500 microg/ml treatment groups (0.74 +/- 0.03, 0.64 +/- 0.02, 0.52 +/- 0.01 and 0.21 +/- 0.02) than in the control (P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Tea polyphenols can inhibit the proliferation of human prostate cancer DU145 cells, which may be associated with the decreased expression of the survivin gene.</p>

Change of Capillary Pericapillary Cells in Rats with Myocardial Infarction and Effect of Supplementing Qi and Activating Blood Circulation Herbs / 中国中医药信息杂志

Objective To observe the change of capillary pericapillary cells in rats with myocardial infarction and the influence of supplementing qi and activating blood circulation herbs, and explore its mechanism of improving myocardial perfusion. Methods The rat model was established by ligaturing the left anterior descending coronary artery. On the base of ECG evaluation, successfully modeled rats were randomly divided into the model group, group treated with supplementing qi and activating blood circulation Chinese medicine (activating blood and supplementing qi group), group treated with Perindopril (Perindopril group), group treated with Tongxinluo Capsules (Tongxinluo group). The sham-operation group was taken as the control. There were totally 5 groups. The model group and the sham-operation group were treated with normal saline. The changes of myocardial capillary density (MCD) and number of pericapillary cells on the 7th, 28th day after medicinal administration were observed. Results On the 7th and 28th day, the MCD decreased significantly and the number of capillary pericapillary cells increased significantly in the model group compared with the sham-operation group (P<0.01). The MCD increased significantly in the activating blood and supplementing qi group, Perindopril group and Tongxinluo group compared with the model group (P<0.01). The number of pericapillary cells decreased significantly in the activating blood and supplementing qi group, Perindopril group and Tongxinluo group compared with the model group (P<0.01). Conclusion The supplementing qi and activating blood circulation herbs can improve regional myocardial blood supply by decreasing the number of pericytes and promoting regeneration of capillary.

Effect of jinmaitong capsule on inducible nitric oxide synthase and nitrotyrosine in diabetic rats / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the effect of Jinmaitong capsule (JMT), a compound traditional Chinese medicine, on expressions of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and nitro tyrosine (NT) protein in streptozocin-induced diabetic (STZ-DM) rats.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Intraperitoneal injection of streptozocin in rats to establish a model. STZ-DM rats were randomly divided into the model control group (distilled water), the small-dose JMT group (JMT at dose of 0.45 g x kg(-1) x d(-1)), the medium-dose JMT group (JMT at dose of 0.88 g x kg(-1) x d(-1)), the large-dose JMT group (JMT at dose of 1.75 g x kg(-1) x d(-1)) and Vitamin C group (VC at dose of 0.05 g x kg(-1) x d(-1)). Ten normal rats with matching weight and age were selected as the normal control group (distilled water). After intragastric administration for 16 weeks, the expressions of iNOS and NT in sciatic nerve were detected by the immunohistochemistry method.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The expression levels of iNOS and NT protein in diabetic rats were higher than those in normal rats (P<0.05, P<0.01). Compared with the model group, the levels of iNOS and NT protein in JMT and VC groups were significantly decreased (P<0.05, P<0.01). Particularly, the medium-dose JMT group showed a better effect than the VC group (P<0.05, P<0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>JMT could down-regulate the expressions of iNOS and NT protein of sciatic nerve in diabetic rats.</p>