Bupivacaine-fentanyl isobaric spinal anesthesia reduces the risk of ICU admission in elderly patients undergoing lower limb orthopedic surgery.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate if bupivacaine-fentanyl isobaric spinal anesthesia could reduce the risk of ICU admission compared with general anesthesia in elderly patients undergoing lower limb orthopedic surgery. METHODS: This study comprised a retrospective review of all lower limb orthopedic surgeries performed at our hospital between January 2013 and December 2019. According to anesthesia methods, patients were divided into the spinal anesthesia group (n = 1,728) and the general anesthesia group (n = 188). The primary outcome evaluated was the occurrence of ICU admission. Secondary outcomes included hemodynamic changes, postoperative complications, and mortality. RESULTS: Repeated measure analysis of variance indicated that the difference between the two groups in the systolic blood pressure (SBP) was not significant before anesthesia (T0), immediately after anesthesia (T1), and before leaving the operation room (T8) (P > 0.05), but significant (P < 0.01) from 5 min after anesthesia (T2) to after operation (T7). The proportions of ICU admission (6.4% vs. 23.8%, P < 0.01) and unplanned intubation (0.1% vs. 3.8%, P < 0.01) were significantly lower in the spinal anesthesia group compared with those in the general anesthesia group. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that after controlling for potential confounding factors, the odds of ICU admission for patients in the spinal anesthesia group was 0.240 times (95% CI 0.115-0.498; P < 0.01) than those in the general anesthesia group. CONCLUSIONS: Bupivacaine-fentanyl isobaric spinal anesthesia significantly reduced the risk of ICU admission and unplanned intubation, and provided better intraoperative hemodynamics in elderly patients undergoing lower limb orthopedic surgery. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study has been registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR2000033411).

Efficacy of dexmedetomidine combined with ropivacaine on postoperative analgesia and delirium in elderly patients with total knee arthroplasty.

This study aimed to investigate the impact of dexmedetomidine combined with ropivacaine on continuous femoral nerve block (CFNB) in postoperative analgesia and delirium in elderly patients with total knee arthroplasty (TKA). A total of 120 patients who undergone TKA were randomly assigned into group D + R (dexmedetomidine combined with ropivacaine) and group R (only ropivacaine), with 60 cases in each group. The pain scores at rest and exercise at 6 h, 12 h, 24 h, and 48 h postoperatively. The occurrence of delirium on Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3 postoperatively were measured, and the sleep quality was evaluated before surgery, the night of surgery, and 24 h postoperatively to observe the occurrence of postoperative complications. The Visual analogu scale (VAS) of group D + R at 12 h, 24 h, and 48 h postoperatively were lower than those of group R in both rest and exercise states. The incidence of postoperative delirium in group D + R was lower than that in group R on Day 1 and Day 2. Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) scores in group D + R were lower than those in group R. There was no significant difference in postoperative adverse reactions between the two groups. Dexmedetomidine combined with ropivacaine improves postoperative analgesia and sleep quality, and alleviates the occurrence of postoperative delirium in elderly patients with TKA.

Delirium in older patients given propofol or sevoflurane anaesthesia for major cancer surgery: a multicentre randomised trial.

BACKGROUND: Delirium is a common and disturbing postoperative complication that might be ameliorated by propofol-based anaesthesia. We therefore tested the primary hypothesis that there is less delirium after propofol-based than after sevoflurane-based anaesthesia within 7 days of major cancer surgery. METHODS: This multicentre randomised trial was conducted in 14 tertiary care hospitals in China. Patients aged 65-90 yr undergoing major cancer surgery were randomised to either propofol-based anaesthesia or to sevoflurane-based anaesthesia. The primary endpoint was the incidence of delirium within 7 postoperative days. RESULTS: A total of 1228 subjects were enrolled and randomised, with 1195 subjects included in the modified intention-to-treat analysis (mean age 71 yr; 422 [35%] women); one subject died before delirium assessment. Delirium occurred in 8.4% (50/597) of subjects given propofol-based anaesthesia vs 12.4% (74/597) of subjects given sevoflurane-based anaesthesia (relative risk 0.68 [95% confidence interval {CI}: 0.48-0.95]; P=0.023; adjusted relative risk 0.59 [95% CI: 0.39-0.90]; P=0.014). Delirium reduction mainly occurred on the first day after surgery, with a prevalence of 5.4% (32/597) with propofol anaesthesia vs 10.7% (64/597) with sevoflurane anaesthesia (relative risk 0.50 [95% CI: 0.33-0.75]; P=0.001). Secondary endpoints, including ICU admission, postoperative duration of hospitalisation, major complications within 30 days, cognitive function at 30 days and 3 yr, and safety outcomes, did not differ significantly between groups. CONCLUSIONS: Delirium was a third less common after propofol than sevoflurane anaesthesia in older patients having major cancer surgery. Clinicians might therefore reasonably select propofol-based anaesthesia in patients at high risk of postoperative delirium. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR-IPR-15006209) and ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02662257).

Long-term survival in older patients given propofol or sevoflurane anaesthesia for major cancer surgery: follow-up of a multicentre randomised trial.

BACKGROUND: Experimental evidence indicates that i.v. anaesthesia might reduce cancer recurrence compared with volatile anaesthesia, but clinical information is observational only. We therefore tested the primary hypothesis that propofol-based anaesthesia improves survival over 3 or more years after potentially curative major cancer surgery. METHODS: This was a long-term follow-up of a multicentre randomised trial in 14 tertiary hospitals in China. We enrolled 1228 patients aged 65-90 yr who were scheduled for major cancer surgery. They were randomised to either propofol-based i.v. anaesthesia or to sevoflurane-based inhalational anaesthesia. The primary endpoint was overall survival after surgery. Secondary endpoints included recurrence-free and event-free survival. RESULTS: Amongst subjects randomised, 1195 (mean age 72 yr; 773 [65%] male) were included in the modified intention-to-treat analysis. At the end of follow-up (median 43 months), there were 188 deaths amongst 598 patients (31%) assigned to propofol-based anaesthesia compared with 175 deaths amongst 597 patients (29%) assigned to sevoflurane-based anaesthesia; adjusted hazard ratio 1.02; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.83-1.26; P=0.834. Recurrence-free survival was 223/598 (37%) in patients given propofol anaesthesia vs 206/597 (35%) given sevoflurane anaesthesia; adjusted hazard ratio 1.07; 95% CI: 0.89-1.30; P=0.465. Event-free survival was 294/598 (49%) in patients given propofol anaesthesia vs 274/597 (46%) given sevoflurane anaesthesia; adjusted hazard ratio 1.09; 95% CI 0.93 to 1.29; P=0.298. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term survival after major cancer surgery was similar with i.v. and volatile anaesthesia. Propofol-based iv. anaesthesia should not be used for cancer surgery with the expectation that it will improve overall or cancer-specific survival. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATIONS: ChiCTR-IPR-15006209; NCT02660411.

TA-Unet: Integrating Triplet Attention Module for Drivable Road Region Segmentation.

Road segmentation has been one of the leading research areas in the realm of autonomous driving cars due to the possible benefits autonomous vehicles can offer. Significant reduction of crashes, greater independence for the people with disabilities, and reduced traffic congestion on the roads are some of the vivid examples of them. Considering the importance of self-driving cars, it is vital to develop models that can accurately segment drivable regions of roads. The recent advances in the area of deep learning have presented effective methods and techniques to tackle road segmentation tasks effectively. However, the results of most of them are not satisfactory for implementing them into practice. To tackle this issue, in this paper, we propose a novel model, dubbed as TA-Unet, that is able to produce quality drivable road region segmentation maps. The proposed model incorporates a triplet attention module into the encoding stage of the U-Net network to compute attention weights through the triplet branch structure. Additionally, to overcome the class-imbalance problem, we experiment on different loss functions, and confirm that using a mixed loss function leads to a boost in performance. To validate the performance and efficiency of the proposed method, we adopt the publicly available UAS dataset, and compare its results to the framework of the dataset and also to four state-of-the-art segmentation models. Extensive experiments demonstrate that the proposed TA-Unet outperforms baseline methods both in terms of pixel accuracy and mIoU, with 98.74% and 97.41%, respectively. Finally, the proposed method yields clearer segmentation maps on different sample sets compared to other baseline methods.

Heparin alleviates LPS-induced endothelial injury by regulating the TLR4/MyD88 signaling pathway.

Heparin is a commonly used in the clinic, however, Heparin's effect on endothelial injury remains unclear. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects and possible mechanisms of action underlying heparin treatment in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced endothelial injury in vitro. TNF-α, IL-1ß, IL-6 and IFN-γ levels were measured using ELISA. Cell proliferation was measured using a 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU) assay. The number of apoptotic cells and apoptotic rate were evaluated using TUNEL assays and flow cytometry, respectively. Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), myeloid differentiation primary response 88 (MyD88) and NF-κB (p65) gene expression was evaluated using reverse transcription-quantitative PCR, whilst TLR4, MyD88 and p-NF-κB (p65) protein expression was evaluated using western blot analysis. The levels of phosphorylated NF-κB in the nucleus were evaluated using cellular immunofluorescence. Compared with those in the normal control group, TNF-α, IL-1ß, IL-6 and IFN-γ levels were significantly increased in the LPS group (P<0.001). In addition, 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU)-positive cells were significantly increased and apoptosis was significantly decreased (P<0.001). TLR4, MyD88 and NF-κB (p65) expression was also significantly increased (P<0.001). Compared with those in the LPS group, following heparin treatment, TNF-α, IL-1ß, IL-6 and IFN-γ levels were significantly decreased (P<0.05), whilst the number of EdU-positive cells was significantly increased and the level of apoptosis was significantly decreased (P<0.05). TLR4, MyD88 and NF-κB (p65) expression was also significantly decreased by heparin in a dose-dependent manner (P<0.001). Small interfering RNA-TLR4 transfection exerted similar effects to those mediated by heparin in alleviating endothelial injury. In conclusion, heparin suppressed LPS-induced endothelial injury through the regulation of TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB (p65) signaling in vitro.

MicroRNA-216a-5p in lipopolysaccharide-induced endothelial injury.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs/miRs) are a type of non-coding RNA that are closely associated with disease development and treatment. The present study aimed to investigate the role of miR-216a-5p in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced endothelial injury in vitro. The EdU assay was performed to detect EdU-positive cells, while flow cytometric analysis was performed to detect apoptotic cells. Reverse transcription-quantitative PCR and western blot analyses were performed to detect the expression levels of miR-216a-5p, Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), MyD88 and nuclear factor (NF)-κB(p65) and phosphorylated (p)-NF-κB(p65). Furthermore, p-NF-κB(p65) nuclear expression level was detected via cellular immunofluorescence. The dual-luciferase reporter assay was performed to verify the association between miR-216a-5p and TLR4. The results demonstrated that the number of EdU-positive cells significantly decreased, the apoptotic rate significantly increased, and TLR4, MyD88 and NF-κB(p65) mRNA expression levels were significantly upregulated.TLR4, MyD88 and p-NF-κB(p65) protein expression levels were significantly upregulated and p-NF-κB(p65) nuclear concentration was significantly enhanced in the small interfering RNA-miR-216a-5p and LPS groups (P<0.001, respectively) compared with the negative control group. However, the addition of miR-216a-5p significantly increased the number of EdU-positive cells, significantly decreased the apoptotic rate and significantly downregulated the mRNA expression levels of TLR4, MyD88 and NF-κB(p65), as well as the protein expression levels of TLR4, MyD88 and p-NF-κB(p65). In addition, the p-NF-κB(p65) nuclear concentration was significantly decreased in the miR-216a-5p group (P<0.001, respectively) compared with the LPS group. Taken together, the results suggest that overexpression of miR-216a-5p suppresses the effects of LPS induced endothelial injury.

Effects on newborns of applying bupivacaine combined with different doses of fentanyl for cesarean section.

BACKGROUND: The choice of anesthesia for cesarean section is very important. AIM: To compare the effects of applying bupivacaine combined with different doses of fentanyl on newborns after cesarean section. METHODS: We randomly divided one hundred and twenty patients undergoing cesarean section into the following 4 groups: group B (bupivacaine group), group BF10 (bupivacaine combined with 10 µg fentanyl), group BF30 (bupivacaine combined with 30 µg fentanyl) and group BF50 (bupivacaine combined with 50 µg fentanyl). The heart rate, mean arterial pressure, block plane fixation time and sensory block time were recorded. Umbilical artery blood was then collected immediately after fetal delivery for blood gas analysis and qualitative detection of fentanyl. Additionally, data on the neonatal 1-min and 5-min Apgar scores, results of umbilical artery blood gas analysis and qualitative detection of fentanyl in umbilical artery blood were recorded. RESULTS: Although the mean arterial pressure decreased in all four groups at 3 min after anesthesia, the percentage of the decrease was less than 20% of the baseline. In addition, there were no significant differences in the 1-min or 5-min Apgar scores or the umbilical artery blood gas analysis among the four groups (P > 0.05). Moreover, the concentration of fentanyl in umbilical artery blood was qualitatively detected using an ELISA kit, and the results in the four groups were negative. CONCLUSION: Bupivacaine combined with fentanyl spinal anesthesia is effective in cesarean section.

The ERK/CREB/PTN/syndecan-3 pathway involves in heparin-mediated neuro-protection and neuro-regeneration against cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury following cardiac arrest.

BACKGROUND: Heparin, a commonly used anticoagulant, has been found to improve cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury (CIR-CA) following cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Here, we aimed to explore the role of pleiotrophin (PTN)/syndecan-3 pathway in heparin therapy for CIR-CA. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The CA-CPR model was constructed in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats, which were treated with low molecular weight heparin, and the neurological changes and brain histopathological changes were evaluated. For in-vitro experiments, the ischemic injury model of primary neurons was established by oxygen and glucose deprivation (OGD), and the neuron regeneration was detected via the Cell counting Kit-8 (CCK8) method, flow cytometry and microscopy. CREB antagonist (KG-501), ERK antagonist (PD98059) and si-PTN were used respectively to inhibit the expression of CREB, ERK and PTN in cells, so as to explore the role of heparin in regulating neuronal regeneration. RESULTS: Compared with the sham rats, the neurological deficits and cerebral edema of CA-CPR rats were significantly improved after heparin treatment. Heparin also attenuated OGD-mediated neuronal apoptosis and promoted neurite outgrowth in vitro. Moreover, heparin attenuated CA-CPR-mediated neuronal apoptosis and microglial neuroinflammation. In terms of the mechanism, heparin upregulated the expression of ERK, CREB, NF200, BDNF, NGF, PTN and syndecan-3 in the rat brains. Inhibition of ERK, CREB and interference with PTN expression notably weakened the heparin-mediated neuroprotective effects and restrained the expression of ERK/CREB and PTN/syndecan-3 pathway. CONCLUSION: Heparin attenuates the secondary brain injury induced by CA-CPR through regulating the ERK/CREB-mediated PTN/syndecan-3 pathway.

The Effect of Prophylactic Anticoagulation with Heparin on the Brain Cells of Sprague-Dawley Rats in a Cardiopulmonary-Cerebral Resuscitation Model.

After a cardiac arrest (CA) of 5 to 10 min, a marked activation of blood coagulation occurs and microthrombi are found in the cerebral vessels. These microcirculatory disturbances directly affect the outcome on cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects and potential mechanisms of prophylactic anticoagulation on rat brain cells after cerebral CPR. After setting up an asphyxial CA model, we monitored the basic parameters such as the vitals and survival rate of the rats and assessed the respective neurological deficit (ND) and histological damage (HD) scores of their brain tissues. We, furthermore, investigated the influence of heparin on the expressions of TNF-α, IL-1ß, CD40, NF-κB, and HIF-1α after asphyxial CA. The results showed that anticoagulation with heparin could obviously improve the outcome and prognosis of brain ischemia, including improvement of neurological function recovery and prevention of morphological and immunohistochemical injury on the brain, while significantly increasing the success rate of CPR. Treatment with heparin significantly inhibited the upregulation of CD40, NF-κB, and HIF-1α induced by asphyxial CA. Thrombolysis treatment may improve the outcome and prognosis of CPR, and future clinical studies need to evaluate the efficacy of early heparin therapy after CA.

Dexmedetomidine prevents desflurane-induced motor neuron death through NF-KappaB pathway.

Desflurane is one of the commonly used general anaesthetics. Recently, it was reported that desflurane caused neurotoxicity, raising concerns in clinical use. In this study, we found desflurane could affect viability and maturation in motor neurons. Dexmedetomidine, a α2-adrenergic receptor agonist, could attenuate the effect of desflurane on motor neurons. This process was mediated by NF-KappaB signalling. Interestingly, we also found that dexmedetomidine could recover the lesion in motor function and memory impaired by desflurane. Collectively, our results showed the neurotoxic effect of desflurane in motor neurons. More importantly, this process was alleviated by dexmedetomidine, potentially showing its application in protecting motor neuron from neurotoxic agents. Significance of the study: This work provides the evidence to support the protective role of dexmedetomidine in desflurane-induced motor neuron death. Since desflurane is a widely used anaesthetic in surgery and leads to neuron death, the neuroprotective effect of dexmedetomidine holds promising clinical application.

Investigation of the protective effect of heparin pre-treatment on cerebral ischaemia in gerbils.

Context: The interruption of cerebral blood circulation may cause stroke characterized by high neurological deficits (NDs) as a result of neuronal dysfunction or destruction. Heparin may exert a neuroprotective effect against cerebral ischaemia/reperfusion injury. Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the mechanism underlying the effects of heparin pre-treatment on cerebral injury in the gerbil. Materials and methods: A total of 80 healthy Mongolian gerbils were randomly divided into four groups to establish cerebral ischaemia model by bilateral carotid artery occlusion: control (no anaesthesia and surgery), sham (no occlusion), non-anticoagulation (occlusion), and anti-coagulation treatment groups (50 IU/100 g heparin pre-treated, occlusion). Gerbils were anesthetized with 40 mg/kg pentobarbital sodium through intraperitoneal injection before operation except for the control group. Then, the ND and histopathological damage (HD) scores were determined. The percentage of tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α- and interleukin (IL)-1ß-positive cells were calculated based on immunohistochemical results. The mRNA and protein levels of caspase-9, caspase-8, FasL, and calpain were evaluated with real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and western blotting, respectively. Results: Compared with non-anticoagulation group, heparin pre-treatment (50 IU/100 g) delayed the onset of dyspnoea (p < 0.05), and showed a significant decrease in ND (p < 0.01), mortality rate (p < 0.05), HD (p < 0.01) and percentage of positive cells for TNF-α, IL-1ß (p < 0.01) in cerebral ischaemia gerbils. Besides, the expression levels of caspase-9, caspase-8, FasL, and calpain were reduced after pre-treatment with 50 IU/100 g heparin. Discussion and conclusions: The damage caused to gerbil brain was reduced upon pre-treatment with heparin, possibly through the amelioration of neuronal cell apoptosis and expression of TNF-α and IL-1ß. These findings are expected to provide a new breakthrough in the study and treatment of cerebral ischaemia.

Antinociceptive effects of dezocine on complete Freund's adjuvant-induced inflammatory pain in rats.

Inflammatory pain is known to severely impact the life quality of patients. Notably, dezocine is widely used for the treatment of pain. Therefore, the current study aimed to examine the effects of dezocine on a complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA)-induced inflammatory pain model in rats and to investigate the possible underlying molecular mechanisms. Rats were randomly divided into three groups, including the control, CFA and dezocine+CFA groups, and then subcutaneously injected with 100 µl saline, subcutaneously injected with 100 µl CFA or pretreated with 1 ml dezocine (0.4 µg/kg) at 30 min before CFA injection in the plantar surface of right hind paw, respectively. The paw withdrawal threshold (PWT) and paw withdrawal latency (PWL) were measured with a dynamic plantar esthesiometer at 1 day before and 6 h after CFA injection. The ipsilateral lumbar spinal cords of all the rats were harvested for detecting the expression profiles of phosphorylated (p)-p65, p-extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (p-ERK1/2), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), interleukin (IL)-1ß and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α by western blot analysis and/or reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. In addition, prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) expression was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Compared with the control group, CFA-induced peripheral inflammation downregulated the PWT and PWL values of rats, which were significantly alleviated by dezocine treatment. Furthermore, the protein levels of p-p65, p-ERK1/2, COX-2, PGE2, IL-1ß and TNF-α were significantly upregulated following CFA injection, while they were suppressed by dezocine pretreatment. In conclusion, the analgesic effect of dezocine on inflammatory pain induced by CFA may be associated with the inhibition of the spinal ERK1/2-COX-2 pathway.

Impact of inhalational versus intravenous anaesthesia on early delirium and long-term survival in elderly patients after cancer surgery: study protocol of a multicentre, open-label, and randomised controlled trial.

INTRODUCTION: Elderly patients who have solid organ cancer often receive surgery. Some of them may develop delirium after surgery and delirium development is associated with worse outcomes. Furthermore, despite all of the advances in medical care, the long-term survival in cancer patients is far from optimal. Evidences suggest that choice of anaesthetics during surgery, that is, either inhalational or intravenous anaesthetics, may influence outcomes. However, the impact of general anaesthesia type on the occurrence of postoperative delirium is inconclusive. Although retrospective studies suggest that propofol-based intravenous anaesthesia was associated with longer survival after cancer surgery when compared with inhalational anaesthesia, prospective studies as such are still lacking. The purposes of this randomised controlled trial are to test the hypotheses that when compared with sevoflurane-based inhalational anaesthesia, propofol-based intravenous anaesthesia may reduce the incidence of early delirium and prolong long-term survival in elderly patients after major cancer surgery. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This is a multicentre, open-label, randomised controlled trial with two parallel arms. 1200 elderly patients (≥65 years but <90 years) who are scheduled to undergo major cancer surgery (with predicted duration ≥2 hours) are randomised to receive either sevoflurane-based inhalational anaesthesia or propofol-based intravenous anaesthesia. Other anaesthetics and supplemental drugs including sedatives, opioids and muscle relaxants are administered in both arms according to routine practice. The primary early outcome is the incidence of 7-day delirium after surgery and the primary long-term outcome is the duration of 3-year survival after surgery. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study protocol has been approved by the Clinical Research Ethics Committees of Peking University First Hospital (2015[869]) and all participating centres. The results of early and long-term outcomes will be analysed and reported separately. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ChiCTR-IPR-15006209; NCT02662257; NCT02660411.

[Protective effects of extract of Ginkgo biloba on vascular endothelial dysfunction induced by AGEs-BSA in vivo].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of extract of Ginkgo biloba (EGb) on vascular endothelial dysfunction induced by AGEs and to investigate the potential mechanisms. METHODS: Exogenous glycosylated bovine serum Albumin (AGEs-BSA) was prepared according to the methods of article. Vascular endothelial dysfunction was induced by tail vein injection of AGEs-BSA. The treatment group rats were given tail vein injections with AGEs-BSA followed by immediate intragastric of EGb (15,30 mg/kg/day, respectively) for 30 days. At the end of 30 days period, rats were anaesthetized with an intraperitoneal injection of sodium pentobarbital. Blood samples were collected from the carotid artery for biochemical assay of NO, MDA, SOD, DDAH, ADMA. The thoracic aorta was immediately isolated and cut into rings of 3 - 4 mm. Then ACh-induced EDR response and sodium SNP-induced endothelium-independent relaxation of aortic rings were examined. RESULTS: Results from in vivo experiments showed that the injection of AGEs-BSA significantly inhibited ACh-induced EDR response, but had no effect on SNP-induced endothelial-independent relaxation. The injection of AGEs-BSA decreased concentration of serum NO, activity of serum SOD and elevated serum MDA and ADMA level. Egb markedly attenuated AGEs-BSA induced inhibition of EDR response, increase of serum MDA and ADMA level, reduction of both NO level and activity of serum SOD.

[Study on pharmacodynamics of run chang tong bian granules].

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of Run Chang Tong Bian Granules (RCTBG) on stomach and intestine peristalsis in mice and rabbits. METHODS: We conducted the intestine peristalsis test and gastric emptying test to observe the purgative action of RCTBG and the effect on isolated intestine of rabbits. RESULTS: RCTBG could effectively expedite the advance speed of charcoal powder in the small intestine and improve the velocity of intestine. It could also reduce the residual rate of methyl orange in stomach and improve the velocity of gastric emptying. RCTBG could remarkably shorten the time of defecation, increase excrement quantity of mice, excite the isolated intestine of rabbits and increase its tension and contraction amplitude. CONCLUSION: RCTBG has remarkable effect on catharsis.