Value of High-Frequency Ultrasound in the Diagnosis of Pronator Teres Syndrome / 中国医学科学院学报

Objective To investigate the clinical value of high-frequency ultrasound in the diagnosis of pronator teres syndrome (PTS). Methods The high-frequency ultrasound was employed to examine and measure the median nerve of the pronator teres muscle in 30 patients with PTS and 30 healthy volunteers (control group).The long-axis diameter (LA),short-axis diameter (SA) and cross-sectional area (CSA) of the median nerve were measured.The receiver operating characteristic curve of the median nerve ultrasonic measurement results was established,and the area under the curve (AUC) was calculated.The diagnostic efficiency of each index for PTS was compared with the surgical results as a reference. Results The PTS group showed larger LA[(5.02±0.50) mm vs.(3.89±0.41) mm;t=4.38,P=0.013],SA[(2.55±0.46) mm vs.(1.70±0.41) mm;t=5.19,P=0.009],and CSA[(11.13±3.72) mm2 vs.(6.88±2.68) mm2;t=8.42,P=0.008] of the median nerve than the control group.The AUC of CSA,SA,and LA was 94.3% (95%CI=0.912-0.972,Z=3.586,P=0.001),77.7% (95%CI=0.734-0.815,Z=2.855, P=0.006),and 78.8% (95%CI=0.752-0.821,Z=3.091,P=0.004),respectively.With 8.63 mm2 as the cutoff value,the sensitivity and specificity of CSA in diagnosing PTS were 93.3% and 90.0%,respectively. Conclusion High-frequency ultrasound is a practical method for diagnosing PTS,and the CSA of median nerve has a high diagnostic value.

Inhibitory Activity of Plant Essential Oils against E. coli 1-Deoxy-d-xylulose-5-phosphate reductoisomerase.

The rate-limiting enzyme of the 2-methyl-d-erythritol-4-phosphate (MEP) terpenoid biosynthetic pathway, 1-deoxy-d-xylulose-5-phosphate reductoisomerase (DXR), provides the perfect target for screening new antibacterial substances. In this study, we tested the DXR inhibitory effect of 35 plant essential oils (EOs), which have long been recognized for their antimicrobial properties. The results show that the EOs of Zanbthoxylum bungeanum (ZB), Schizonepetae tenuifoliae (ST), Thymus quinquecostatus (TQ), Origanum vulgare (OV), and Eugenia caryophyllata (EC) displayed weak to medium inhibitory activity against DXR, with IC50 values of 78 µg/mL, 65 µg/mL, 59 µg/mL, 48 µg/mL, and 37 µg/mL, respectively. GC-MS analyses of the above oils and further DXR inhibitory activity tests of their major components revealed that eugenol (EC) and carvacrol (TQ and OV) possess medium inhibition against the protein (68.3% and 55.6%, respectively, at a concentration of 20 µg/mL), whereas thymol (ST, TQ, and OV), carveol (ZB), and linalool (ZB, ST, and OV) only exhibited weak inhibition against DXR, at 20 µg/mL (23%-26%). The results add more details to the antimicrobial mechanisms of plant EOs, which could be very helpful in the direction of the reasonable use of EOs in the food industry and in the control of phytopathogenic microbials.

Inhibition of green tea and the catechins against 1-deoxy-d-xylulose 5-phosphate reductoisomerase, the key enzyme of the MEP terpenoid biosynthetic pathway.

1-Deoxy-d-xylulose 5-phosphate reductoisomerase (DXR) is the first committed enzyme in the MEP terpenoid biosynthetic pathway and also a validated antimicrobial target. Green tea which is rich in polyphenolic components such as the catechins, possesses a plenty of pharmacological activities, in particular an antibacterial effect. To uncover the antibacterial mechanism of green tea and to seek new DXR inhibitors from natural sources, the DXR inhibitory activity of green tea and its main antimicrobial catechins were investigated in this study. The results show that the raw extract of green tea and its ethyl acetate fraction are able to suppress DXR activity explicitly. Further determination of the DXR inhibitory capacity of eight catechin compounds demonstrates that the most active compound is gallocatechin gallate that is able to inhibit around 50% activity of DXR at 25µM. Based on these data, the primary structure-activity relationship of the catechins against DXR is discussed. This study would be very helpful to elucidate the antimicrobial mechanism of green tea and the catechins and also would be very useful to direct the rational utilization of them as food additives.