Quercetin protects cadmium-induced renal injuries in mice by inhibiting cell pyroptosis.

The toxic heavy metal cadmium (Cd) has a significant impact on kidney health. Documents manifested that non-toxic flavonoid quercetin can reduce Cd-induced kidney damage by reducing oxidative stress and inhibiting apoptosis, while the effect of quercetin on Cd-induced renal cell pyroptosis has not been elucidated. In this study, we established a model of Cd poisoning treated with quercetin both in vitro and in vivo. Results revealed that quercetin effectively reversed the decrease in Cd-induced cell viability. Furthermore, Cd increased blood urea nitrogen while reducing GPX and SOD levels, caused histopathological injuries in kidney with a significantly elevated cell pyroptosis characterized by enhanced levels of proteins representing assembly (NLRP3) and activation (pro IL-1ß, cleaved IL-1ß, and IL-18) of NLRP3 inflammasome as well as pyroptosis executor (pro caspase-1, cleaved caspase-1). However, quercetin administration alleviated kidney injuries above by decreasing cell pyroptosis. Overall, it suggests that kidney cells are susceptible to pyroptotic cell death due to Cd exposure; while quercetin exhibits protective effects through cell pyroptosis inhibition.

Differentiated environmental taxes and high-quality economic development in China: theory and evidence.

Environmental tax policy plays an important role in promoting economic efficiency, but it is unclear whether the taxation is well-designed and effective. The differentiated environmental tax and fee policy in China has come a long way in the past 20 years, along with the aim of high-quality economic development that focuses on the harmony of environment and productivity, so it is necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of the differentiated environmental tax and fee policy. This paper constructs a pollution and environmental tax model based on the new economic geography framework to simulate the effect of environmental tax and technological innovation in the eastern and western region on pollution, output, and productivity. Using China's provincial panel data from 2005 to 2020 with difference-in-difference method, empirical evidence shows that differentiated environmental tax and fee adjustments generally boost industrial high-quality development by the industrial sulfur dioxide emission deduction and green total factor productivity improvement. When the adjustment is more differentiated between treatment and control, the effect is greater and more significant. Additionally, high environmental tax standard in high SO2 emission provinces significantly contributes to high-quality development. Progressive adjustments in 2007, 2014, and 2018 lead to heterogeneous policy effect. Technological innovation plays a mediating effect between differentiated environmental tax and high-quality economic development. The results above provide theoretical analysis and empirical study of China's differentiated environmental taxes and high-quality economic development for policy making.

Early extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as bridge for central airway obstruction patients caused by neck and chest tumors to emergency surgery.

Central airway obstruction caused by neck and chest tumors is a very dangerous oncological emergency with high mortality. Unfortunately, there is few literature to discuss an effective way for this life-threating condition. Providing effective airway managements, adequate ventilation and emergency surgical interventions are very important. However, traditional airway managements and respiratory support has only limited effect. In our center, using extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) as a novel approach to manage patient with central airway obstruction caused by neck and chest tumors has been adopted. We aimed to show the feasibility: using early ECMO to manage difficult airway, provide oxygenation and support surgical procedure for patients with critical airway stenosis caused by neck and chest tumors. We designed a single-center, small sample size retrospective study based on real-world. We identified 3 patients with central airway obstruction caused by neck and chest tumors. ECMO was used to ensure adequate ventilation to emergency surgery. Control group cannot be established. Because traditional manner very likely led to death of such patients. Details of clinical characteristics, ECMO, surgery and survival outcomes were recorded. Acute dyspnea and cyanosis were the most frequent symptoms. All patients (3/3) showed descending arterial partial pressure of oxygen (PaO2). Computed tomography (CT) revealed severe central airway obstruction caused by neck and chest tumors in all cases (3/3). All patients (3/3) had definite difficult airway. All cases (3/3) received ECMO support and emergency surgical procedure. Venovenous ECMO was the common mode for all cases. 3 patients weaned off ECMO successfully without any ECMO-related complications. Mean duration of ECMO was 3 h (range: 1.5-4.5 h). Under ECMO support, difficult airway management and emergency surgical procedure were finished successfully for all cases (3/3). The mean ICU stay was 3.3 days (range: 1-7 days), and the mean general ward stay was 3.3 days (range: 2-4 days). Pathology demonstrated the tumor dignity for 3 patients including 2 malignant cases and 1 benign case. All patients (3/3) were discharged from hospital successfully. We showed that early ECMO initiation was a safe and feasible approach to manage difficult airway for patients with severe central airway obstruction caused by neck and chest tumors. Meanwhile, early ECMO initiation could ensure security for airway surgical procedure.

Citrobacter freundii induces sepsis with new-onset status seizure in an adult: A case report and literature review.

RATIONALE: Sepsis with brain abscess induced by Citrobacter freundii in adults has rarely been reported and is extremely pathogenic with a high mortality rate. Early diagnosis of the infection still remains challenging. PATIENT CONCERNS: A 27-year-old woman was transferred to our emergency department for fever, status seizure and refractory hypotension. Administration of midazolam, propofol and sodium valproate could not attenuate the seizure except for the addition of vecuronium. The blood white blood cell count was 42.91 (109/L) with 80% neutrophils, and procalcitonin was 22.46ng/mL. DIAGNOSES: Both deoxyribonucleic acid and ribonucleic acid of C freundii were detected in blood by metagenomic next-generation sequencing of pathogens,the diagnosis of septic shock and brain abscess caused by C freundii was highly suspected. INTERVENTIONS: On day 1, antibiotics of cefoperazone sodium and sulbactam sodium 6g/day, immunoglobulin, and hydrocortisone were used with suspected septic shock. Continuous renal replacement therapy was used to eliminate excessive lactate, ammonia, myohemoglobin and creatinine. On day 2, a brain computed tomography scan revealed multiple patchy slightly low densities in the brain, antibiotics were adjusted to meropenem intravenously 3g/day. OUTCOMES: On day 2, a brain computed tomography scan revealed multiple patchy slightly low densities in the brain, she died on day 3. LESSONS: Clinicians should consider the possibility of brain abscess when evaluating a patient with new-onset dizziness, fever, seizure, or other neurologic symptoms or signs, especially for patients whose mental status changes. metagenomic next generation sequencing and resistance genes could be considered when cerebrospinal fluid or blood results are negative and clinical manifestations are highly suspected of infection or when the treatment time is limited.

An electro-photo-sensitive synaptic transistor for edge neuromorphic visual systems.

The practical application of optoelectronic artificial synapses in neuromorphic visual systems is still hindered by their limited functionality, reliability and the challenge of mass production. Here, an electro-photo-sensitive synapse based on a highly reliable amorphous InGaZnO thin-film transistor is demonstrated. Not only does the synapse respond to electrical voltage spikes due to charge trapping/detrapping, but also the weight is modified directly by persistent photocurrent effects under UV-light stimulation. Representative forms of synaptic plasticity, including inhibitory and excitatory postsynaptic currents, frequency-dependent characteristics, short-term to long-term plasticity transitions, and summation effects, are successfully demonstrated. In particular, optoelectronic synergetic modulation leads to reconfigurable excitatory and inhibitory synaptic behaviors, which provides a promising way to achieve the homeostatic regulation of synaptic weights. Moreover, the analogue channel conductance with 100 states is used as the weight update rule to perform MNIST handwritten digit recognition, using system-level LeNet-5 convolutional neural network simulations. The network shows a high recognition accuracy of 95.99% and good tolerance to noisy input patterns. This study highlights the commercial potential of mature optoelectronic InGaZnO transistor technology in edge neuromorphic systems.

Reconfigurable logic in nanosecond Cu/GeTe/TiN filamentary memristors for energy-efficient in-memory computing.

Owing to the capability of integrating the information storage and computing in the same physical location, in-memory computing with memristors has become a research hotspot as a promising route for non von Neumann architecture. However, it is still a challenge to develop high performance devices as well as optimized logic methodologies to realize energy-efficient computing. Herein, filamentary Cu/GeTe/TiN memristor is reported to show satisfactory properties with nanosecond switching speed (<60 ns), low voltage operation (<2 V), high endurance (>104 cycles) and good retention (>104 s @85 °C). It is revealed that the charge carrier conduction mechanisms in high resistance and low resistance states are Schottky emission and hopping transport between the adjacent Cu clusters, respectively, based on the analysis of current-voltage behaviors and resistance-temperature characteristics. An intuitive picture is given to describe the dynamic processes of resistive switching. Moreover, based on the basic material implication (IMP) logic circuit, we proposed a reconfigurable logic method and experimentally implemented IMP, NOT, OR, and COPY logic functions. Design of a one-bit full adder with reduction in computational sequences and its validation in simulation further demonstrate the potential practical application. The results provide important progress towards understanding of resistive switching mechanism and realization of energy-efficient in-memory computing architecture.

Evaluation of a novel prognostic score based on thrombosis and inflammation in patients with sepsis: a retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Inflammation and thrombosis are involved in the development and progression of sepsis. A novel thrombo-inflammatory prognostic score (TIPS), based on both an inflammatory and a thrombus biomarker, was assessed for its ability to predict adverse outcomes of sepsis patients in the emergency department (ED). METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study of sepsis patients. TIPS (range: 0-2) was predictive of adverse outcomes. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate the associations between TIPS and 28-day adverse outcomes. The study end points were mortality, mechanical ventilation (MV), consciousness disorder (CD) and admission to the intensive care unit (AICU). RESULTS: In total, 821 sepsis patients were enrolled; 173 patients died within the 28-day follow-up period. Procalcitonin and D-dimer values were used to calculate TIPS because they had the best performance in the prediction of 28-day mortality by receiver operating characteristic curves. The 28-day mortality and the incidence of MV, CD and AICU were significantly higher in patients with higher TIPS. Multivariable logistic regression analysis indicated TIPS was an independent predictor of 28-day mortality, MV and AICU. TIPS performed better than other prognostic scores, including quick sequential organ failure assessment, Modified Early Warning Score and Mortality in Emergency Department Sepsis Score for predicting 28-day mortality, and similar to the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II, but inferior to sequential organ failure assessment. CONCLUSIONS: TIPS is useful for stratifying the risk of adverse clinical outcomes in sepsis patients shortly after admission to the ED.

Control of Synaptic Plasticity Learning of Ferroelectric Tunnel Memristor by Nanoscale Interface Engineering.

Brain-inspired computing is an emerging field, which intends to extend the capabilities of information technology beyond digital logic. The progress of the field relies on artificial synaptic devices as the building block for brainlike computing systems. Here, we report an electronic synapse based on a ferroelectric tunnel memristor, where its synaptic plasticity learning property can be controlled by nanoscale interface engineering. The effect of the interface engineering on the device performance was studied. Different memristor interfaces lead to an opposite virgin resistance state of the devices. More importantly, nanoscale interface engineering could tune the intrinsic band alignment of the ferroelectric/metal-semiconductor heterostructure over a large range of 1.28 eV, which eventually results in different memristive and spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) properties of the devices. Bidirectional and unidirectional gradual resistance modulation of the devices could therefore be controlled by tuning the band alignment. This study gives useful insights on tuning device functionalities through nanoscale interface engineering. The diverse STDP forms of the memristors with different interfaces may play different specific roles in various spike neural networks.

The Effect of Therapeutic Mild Hypothermia on Brain Microvascular Endothelial Cells During Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury.

BACKGROUND: To determine the cerebral protective effects of mild hypothermia (MH) on cerebral microcirculation. METHODS: We established ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury and MH treatment models with rat brain microvascular endothelial cells (RBMECs) in vitro and examined the apoptotic changes. The cultured RBMECs were randomly divided into the control group, I/R group, and MH group, which was further divided into two subgroups: intra-ischemia hypothermia (IIH) and post-ischemia hypothermia (PIH). Cell morphological changes were assessed using fluorescence microscopy. Apoptotic rates were obtained by flow cytometry. Expressions of caspase-3, Bax, and Bcl-2 were analyzed by Western blot. RESULTS: I/R injury in vitro induced apoptosis of RBMECs. The apoptotic rates in the control group, I/R group, and MH group were 0.13, 19.04, and 13.13%, respectively (P < 0.01). Compared with the I/R group, the MH group showed a significant decrease in the number of apoptotic cells, mainly in stage I apoptotic cells (P < 0.0083). The caspase-3 and Bax expressions were significantly enhanced (P < 0.05) in RBMECs after I/R injury, while substantial decreases in Bcl-2 expression were noted (P < 0.05). Following MH intervention, the increase in caspase-3 and Bax expression was suppressed (P < 0.05), while Bcl-2 expression significantly increased. The apoptotic rates or protein expressions between the two subgroups were not different significantly (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that MH could inhibit RBMEC apoptosis by preventing pro-apoptotic cells and early apoptotic cells from progressing to intermediate and advanced stages. This may be due to the effect of MH on I/R-induced apoptotic gene expression changes.

Customized binary and multi-level HfO2-x-based memristors tuned by oxidation conditions.

The memristor is a promising candidate for the next generation non-volatile memory, especially based on HfO2-x, given its compatibility with advanced CMOS technologies. Although various resistive transitions were reported independently, customized binary and multi-level memristors in unified HfO2-x material have not been studied. Here we report Pt/HfO2-x/Ti memristors with double memristive modes, forming-free and low operation voltage, which were tuned by oxidation conditions of HfO2-x films. As O/Hf ratios of HfO2-x films increase, the forming voltages, SET voltages, and Roff/Ron windows increase regularly while their resistive transitions undergo from gradually to sharply in I/V sweep. Two memristors with typical resistive transitions were studied to customize binary and multi-level memristive modes, respectively. For binary mode, high-speed switching with 103 pulses (10 ns) and retention test at 85 °C (>104 s) were achieved. For multi-level mode, the 12-levels stable resistance states were confirmed by ongoing multi-window switching (ranging from 10 ns to 1 µs and completing 10 cycles of each pulse). Our customized binary and multi-level HfO2-x-based memristors show high-speed switching, multi-level storage and excellent stability, which can be separately applied to logic computing and neuromorphic computing, further suitable for in-memory computing chip when deposition atmosphere may be fine-tuned.

Nonvolatile reconfigurable sequential logic in a HfO2 resistive random access memory array.

Resistive random access memory (RRAM) based reconfigurable logic provides a temporal programmable dimension to realize Boolean logic functions and is regarded as a promising route to build non-von Neumann computing architecture. In this work, a reconfigurable operation method is proposed to perform nonvolatile sequential logic in a HfO2-based RRAM array. Eight kinds of Boolean logic functions can be implemented within the same hardware fabrics. During the logic computing processes, the RRAM devices in an array are flexibly configured in a bipolar or complementary structure. The validity was demonstrated by experimentally implemented NAND and XOR logic functions and a theoretically designed 1-bit full adder. With the trade-off between temporal and spatial computing complexity, our method makes better use of limited computing resources, thus provides an attractive scheme for the construction of logic-in-memory systems.

Statins Have No Additional Benefit for Pulmonary Hypertension: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

OBJECTIVES: We performed a meta-analysis to explore the effects of adding statins to standard treatment on adult patients of pulmonary hypertension (PH). METHODS: A systematic search up to December, 2015 of Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane Database of Systematic reviews and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials was performed to identify randomized controlled trials with PH patients treated with statins. RESULTS: Five studies involving 425 patients were included into this meta-analysis. The results of our analysis showed that the statins can't significantly increase 6-minute walking distance (6MWD, mean difference [MD] = -0.33 [CI: -18.25 to 17.59]), decrease the BORG dyspnea score (MD = -0.72 [CI: -2.28 to 0.85]), the clinical worsening risk (11% in statins vs. 10.1% in controls, Risk ratio = 1.06 [CI: 0.61, 1.83]), or the systolic pulmonary arterial pressure (SPAP) (MD = -0.72 [CI: -2.28 to 0.85]). Subgroup analysis for PH due to COPD or non-COPD also showed no significance. CONCLUSIONS: Statins have no additional beneficial effect on standard therapy for PH, but the results from subgroup of PH due to COPD seem intriguing and further study with larger sample size and longer follow-up is suggested.

Realization of Functional Complete Stateful Boolean Logic in Memristive Crossbar.

Nonvolatile stateful logic computing in memristors is a promising paradigm with which to realize the unity of information storage and processing in the same physical location that has shown great feasibility for breaking the von Neumann bottleneck in traditional computing architecture. How to reduce the computational complexity of memristor-based logic functions is a matter of concern. Here, based on a general logic expression, we proposed a method to implement the arbitrary logic of complete 16 Boolean logic in two steps with one memristor in the crossbar architecture. A representative functional complete NAND logic is successfully experimentally demonstrated in the filamentary Ag-AgGeTe-Ta memristors to prove the validity of our method. We believe our work may promote the development of the revolutionary logic in memory architectures.

Adiponectin ameliorates the apoptotic effects of paraquat on alveolar type â ¡ cells via improvements in mitochondrial function.

Previous studies have demonstrated that excessive reactive oxygen/nitrogen species (ROS/RNS)­induced apoptosis is an important feature of the injury to the lung epithelium in paraquat (PQ) poisoning. However the precise mechanisms of PQ­induced dysfunction of the mitochondria, where ROS/RNS are predominantly produced, remain to be fully elucidated. Whether globular adiponectin (gAd), a potent molecule protective to mitochondria, regulates the mitochondrial function of alveolar type II cells to reduce PQ­induced ROS/RNS production remains to be investigated. The current study aimed to investigate the precise mechanisms of PQ poisoning in the mitochondria of alveolar type II cells, and to elucidate the role of gAd in protecting against PQ­induced lung epithelium injury. Therefore, lung epithelial injury was induced by PQ co­culture of alveolar type II A549 cells for 24 h. gAd was administrated to and removed from the injured cells in after 24 h. PQ was observed to reduce cell viability and increase apoptosis by ~1.5 fold in A549 cells. The oxidative/nitrative stress, resulting from ROS/RNS and disordered mitochondrial function were evidenced by increased O2­., NO production and reduced mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨ), adenosine 5'­triphosphate (ATP) content in PQ­poisoned A549 cells. gAd treatment significantly reversed the PQ­induced cell injury and mitochondrial dysfunction in A549 cells. The protective effects of gAd were partly abrogated by an adenosine 5'­monophosphate­activated protein kinase (AMPK) inhibitor, compound C. The results suggest that reduced ΔΨ and ATP content may result in PQ­induced mitochondrial dysfunction of the lung epithelium, which constitutes a novel mechanism for gAd exerting pulmonary protection against PQ poisoning via AMPK activation.

Adiponectin protects against paraquat-induced lung injury by attenuating oxidative/nitrative stress.

The specific mechanisms underlying paraquat (PQ)-induced lung injury remain unknown, which limits understanding of its cytotoxic potential. Although oxidative stress has been established as an important mechanism underlying PQ toxicity, multiple antioxidants have proven ineffective in attenuating the deleterious effects of PQ. Adiponectin, which shows anti-oxidative and antinitrative effects, may have the potential to reduce PQ-mediated injury. The present study determined the protective action of globular domain adiponectin (gAd) on PQ-induced lung injury, and attempted to elucidate the underlying mechanism or mechanisms of action. BALB/c mice were administered PQ, with and without 12 or 36 h of gAd pre-treatment. The pulmonary oxidative/nitrative status was assessed by measuring pulmonary O2•-, superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO) and 8-hydroxy-2-dydeoxy guanosine (8-OHdG) production, and blood 3-Nitrotyrosine (3-NT). At a dose of 20 mg/kg, PQ markedly increased O2•-, SOD, MDA, NO and 8-OHdG production 3 h post-administration, but did not significantly increase 3-NT levels until 12 h. gAd inhibited these changes in a dose-dependent manner, via transient activation of MDA, followed by attenuation of MDA formation from 6 h onwards. Histological analysis demonstrated that gAd decreased interstitial edema and inflammatory cell infiltration. These results suggest that gAd protects against PQ-induced lung injury by mitigating oxidative/nitrative stress. Furthermore, gAd may be a potential therapeutic agent for PQ-induced lung injury, and further pharmacological studies are therefore warranted.

CFP10 and ESAT6 aptamers as effective Mycobacterial antigen diagnostic reagents.

The development of effective Mycobacterial antigen diagnostic reagents remains a high priority. The 6-kDa early secreted antigenic target (ESAT6) and 10-kDa culture filtrate protein (CFP10) are secreted early by virulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb) and are not present in the non-virulent Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG). In this study, we used a Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment (SELEX) technique to screen for a functional ssDNA aptamer "antibody" that specifically bound to ESAT6-CFP10 (CE) protein. The selected single ssDNA aptamers (CE24 and CE15) demonstrated the highest specificity and binding affinity to CFP10 (CE24: Kd = 3.75 × 10(-7) M) and ESAT6 (CE15: Kd = 1.6 × 10(-7) M). We further detected CFP10 and ESAT6 proteins in serum samples from active pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) patients, extrapulmonary TB patients and healthy donors by using an enzyme-linked oligonucleotide assay (ELONA). The results showed that the sensitivity and specificity were 100% and 94.1% (using CE24 aptamer-based ELONA) and 89.6% and 94.1% (using CE15 aptamer-based ELONA), respectively. A good correlation was observed between aptamer-based ELONA and T-SPOT TB assay. Thus, our study suggests that CE24 and CE15 have potentially broad applications as early antigen diagnostic agents not only for active pulmonary TB, extrapulmonary TB, but also possibly for latent TB infection and TB with immune-deficiency.

[The effect of different methods of counting of rescue crew on the quality of cardiopulmonary resuscitation].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effective power of external chest compression and degree of exhaustion of rescue crew using different methods of counting, in order to establish a more appropriate and standard method of counting. METHODS: Forty-eight subjects who had received formal training in basic life support (BLS) and advanced life support (ALS) were recruited randomly from doctors and nurses working in the emergency departments. The methods of counting were randomly selected which was performed first, and then they performed continuous chest compressions for 3 minutes using two different methods of counting with 30 minutes apart on the manikin, which was used in the hospital for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training. The total number of compressions was recorded, and the number of those which were considered satisfactory, the peak heart rate of the performer and the time to reach peak heart were all recorded. Feeling of fatigue and discomfort was evaluated by self-reported survey results with the use of a visual analogue scale (VAS). RESULTS: The total number of compressions attempted, the effective power of external chest compression and the mean compression depth when rescuers counted form 1 to 10, which were repeated for 3 times, were greater than those when rescuers counted from 1 to 30 during 3 minutes of CPR [(202.40+/-6.52) times vs. (173.50+/-5.68) times, (67.48+/-2.00)% vs. (57.81+/-2.00)%, (4.45+/-0/.34) cm vs. (4.05+/0.21) cm, all P<0.01]. The VAS scores (22.15+/-3.09) was lower than that when rescuers counted them from 1 to 30 (31.10+/-4.09, P<0.01). The time to reach peak heart rate [(124.88+/-5.40) s] was longer than that when rescuers counted them from 1 to 30 [(106.15+/-6.80) s, P<0.01]. There was no difference in peak heart rate between two methods of counting. CONCLUSION: The effective power of external chest compression is greater when rescuers counted from 1 to 10 with repetition for 3 times than that when rescuers counted continuously from 1 to 30 during CPR. The method of counting from 1 to 10 with repetition for 3 times can save physical energy of rescue crew, so it can improve the quality of CPR to some extent.

[Pharmacokinetic characteristics of ferulic acid in patients with different syndromes of deficiency of spleen qi, stagnation of liver qi and spleen deficiency, and excess of stomach heat].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the nature of syndrome of traditional Chinese medicine by means of pharmacokinetic (PK) method. METHODS: Twenty-one healthy volunteers, 20 patients with syndrome of stagnation of liver qi and spleen deficiency, 22 patients with syndrome of deficiency of spleen qi and 19 patients with syndrome of excess of stomach heat were included and administered to take Jiawei Xiaoyaosan Recipe (JWXYSR). The serum PK parameters of ferulic acid (FA) were examined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. RESULTS: The absorption rate constant (alpha) and the elimination rate constant (beta) were both decreased while the apparent first-order absorption constant (K(a)) was enhanced significantly in the patients with syndrome of deficiency of spleen qi; the alpha, beta and Ka were all reduced in the patients with syndrome of stagnation of liver qi and spleen deficiency; the beta and K(a) were increased in the patients with syndrome of excess of stomach heat, as compared with the corresponding PK parameters in the healthy volunteers (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: The PK analysis of FA in the patients with syndrome of deficiency of spleen qi shows that the absorption rate is accelerated, and both the distribution and elimination rates are slowed down. The absorption, distribution and elimination rates of AF are all slowed down in the patients with syndrome of stagnation of liver-qi and spleen deficiency, while the absorption and elimination rates of AF are both accelerated in the patients with syndrome of excess of stomach heat. There are obvious differences in the PK characteristics among these three syndromes.