Effect of Electroacupuncture on Transcutaneous Oxygen Partial Pressure During Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in Healthy Individuals.

CONTEXT: The goal of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is to increase the oxygen (O2) supply to the body significantly. Because of the toxic side effects and complications of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2), the environmental pressure and treatment time must be restricted. The research team hypothesized that other therapies administered during HBOT could safely improve the value of the arterial oxygen partial pressure (PaO2) during HBOT and improve its therapeutic effect. OBJECTIVE: The study intended to investigate whether electroacupuncture (EA) while receiving HBOT had a greater effect for healthy individuals than HBOT or EA alone or EA combined with normobaric pure oxygen (pure O2). DESIGN: The research team designed a randomized, controlled trial. SETTING: The study was performed in the Department of Hyperbaric Medicine at the No. 401 Hospital of the People's Liberation Army in Qingdao, China. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 81 volunteers were recruited. After thorough physical examination and laboratory testing, 21 volunteers were excluded from the study. Participants included 60 healthy volunteers. INTERVENTION: Participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 groups of 15 participants each: (1) an HBOT group, (2) an EA group, (3) an EA During HBOT group, and (4) an EA Combined With Pure O2group. OUTCOME MEASURES: Because at the current technology level a blood gas analyzer cannot test PaO2during HBOT, transcutaneous oxygen partial pressure (PtcO2) of the participants was tested instead. Before, during, and after EA, variations in PtcO2were monitored in each group. RESULTS: For the EA During HBOT group, (1) the increase in PtcO2during EA was significantly greater than that observed for the other 3 groups (P > .05). CONCLUSIONS: The EA During HBOT method provided improvements in the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of HBOT, and the study's results partially demonstrated the accuracy of the research team's hypothesis that EA therapy applied during HBOT could safely improve the value of PtcO2(PaO2) during HBOT and produce a greater therapeutic effect.

Analysis of medicine consumption in peacekeeping level II hospitals.

BACKGROUND: The peacekeeping military units of contributing countries are unfamiliar with the conditions prevailing in foreign mission areas and therefore have difficulties with medical supplies storage. AIM: The aim of this study is to provide reasonable and practical guidance on the maintenance of medical supplies in the peacekeeping military units of contributing countries. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 1,972 prescriptions were received by the pharmacy in the peacekeeping level II hospital in the Republic of Sudan from February to July of 2009 including a total of 186 drug categories and 17,713 minimum packing units. Pairwise comparison was performed using the c2 test. When the total number of samples was smaller than 40, the Fisher's exact test was adopted for pairwise comparison. RESULTS: The majority of the consumed medicines mainly belonged to 6 categories, including specialty drugs, anti-microbial drugs, Chinese patent medicines, gastrointestinal drugs, central nervous system drugs, and drugs regulating fluids, electrolytes, and acid-base balance. Altogether, the drugs in the 6 categories accounted for 74% of all consumed medicines that were divided into a total of 20 categories. CONCLUSIONS: Medicine consumption in peacekeeping level II hospitals is unique, therefore the drugs used in military medical facilities should be prepared according to their actual needs in the area of peacekeeping operations.

Identification and expression analysis of three c-type lysozymes in Oreochromis aureus.

Lysozyme is an important molecule of innate immune system for the defense against bacterial infections. Three genes encoding chicken-type (c-type) lysozymes, C1-, C2-, C3-type, were obtained from tilapia Oreochromis aureus by RT-PCR and the RACE method. Catalytic and other conserved structure residues required for functionality were identified. The amino acid sequence identities between C1- and C2-type, C1- and C3-type, C2- and C3-type were 67.8%, 65.7% and 63.9%, respectively. Phylogenetic tree analyze indicated the three genes were firstly grouped to those of higher teleosteans, Pleuronectiformes and Tetraodontiformes fishes, and then clustered to those of lower teleosteans, Cypriniformes fishes. Bioinformatic analysis of mature peptide showed that the three genes possess typical sequence characteristics, secondary and tertiary structure of c-type lysozymes. The three tilapia c-type lysozymes mRNAs were mainly expressed in liver and muscle, and C1-type lysozyme also highly expressed in intestine. C1-type lysozyme mRNA was weakly expressed in stomach, C2- and C3-type mRNAs were weakly expressed in intestine. After bacterial challenge, up-regulation was obvious in kidney and spleen for C1-type lysozyme mRNA, while for C2- and C3-type lysozyme obvious increase were observed in stomach and liver, suggesting that C1-type lysozyme may mainly play roles in defense, while C2- and C3-type lysozyme mainly conduct digestive function against bacteria infection. All the three c-type recombinant lysozymes displayed lytic activity against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. These results indicated that three c-type lysozymes play important roles in the defense of O. aureus against bacteria infections.

A micro-potentiometric hemoglobin immunosensor based on electropolymerized polypyrrole-gold nanoparticles composite.

We report a novel micro-potentiometric hemoglobin (Hb) immunosensor based on electrochemically synthesized polypyrrole (PPy)-gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) composite. PPy-AuNPs film with AuNPs uniformly distributed in it was deposited on gold electrode surface by a simple and direct procedure, without the addition of any nanoparticles or reducing agent. And this generic method makes it possible to deposite different polymers on miniaturized electrodes. With the existence of AuNPs, the antibody immobilization onto the electrode surface was facilitated. Morphology study by field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) confirms the presence of AuNPs in PPy. Based on an ion-sensitive field-effect transistors (ISFETs) integrated chip, a micro-potentiometric immunosensor for Hb and hemoglobin-A1c (HbA1c) has been constructed. The sensor response was linear over the concentration range 60-180 microg/ml Hb and 4-18 microg/ml HbA1c. The Hb concentration in whole blood samples has also been analysed, with a linear dose-response behavior between 125 and 197 microg/ml and a sensitivity of 0.20 mV microg(-1)ml. The measuring ranges of the developed Hb and HbA1c immunosensors meet the clinical demand for measuring the HbA1c/Hb ratio of 5-20%. This sensor results in simple and rapid differential measurement of Hb and HbA1c, and has great potential to become an inexpensive and portable device for monitoring of diabetes.

(E)-3-Bromo-N'-(2-chloro-benzyl-idene)benzohydrazide.

The title compound, C(14)H(10)BrClN(2)O, was synthesized by the reaction of 2-chloro-benzaldehyde with an equimolar quantity of 3-bromo-benzohydrazide in methanol. The mol-ecule displays an E configuration about the C=N bond. The dihedral angle between the two benzene rings is 13.0 (2)°. In the crystal structure, mol-ecules are linked through inter-molecular N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming chains propagating along the c axis.

Solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry assay for the determination of pitavastatin in human plasma and urine for application to Phase I clinical pharmacokinetic studies.

A sensitive liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) method was developed and evaluated for the determination of pitavastatin in human plasma and urine. Samples were extracted using solid-phase extraction (SPE). The major benefit of the present method was the high sensitivity, with a lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) of 0.08 ng/mL. Pitavastatin and internal standard (IS, rosuvastatin) were separated on a C(18) column with a mobile phase consisted of methanol/water (75:25, v/v) with 0.05% formic acid. Drug and IS were detected by LC/MS/MS with positive electrospray ionization (ESI). Accuracy and precision for the assay were determined by calculating the intra- and inter-batch variation of quality control (QC) samples at three concentration levels, with relative standard deviations (R.S.D.s) of less than 15%. The developed method was successfully applied to determine pitavastatin in human plasma and urine, and was proved to be suitable for use in Phase I clinical pharmacokinetic study after oral administration of pitavastatin (1, 2 and 4 mg) in healthy Chinese volunteers.

(E)-3-Bromo-N'-(5-bromo-2-hydroxy-benzyl-idene)benzohydrazide.

The title compound, C(14)H(10)Br(2)N(2)O(2), was synthesized by the reaction of 5-bromo-salicylaldehyde with an equimolar quantity of 3-bromo-benzohydrazide in methanol. The dihedral angle between the two benzene rings is 10.5 (4)°. In the crystal structure, mol-ecules are linked through inter-molecular N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds to form chains parallel to the c axis, and an intra-molecular O-H⋯N inter-action also occurs.