[Identification of Cordyceps cicadae and Tolypocladium dujiaolongae based on ITS sequences and chemical pattern recognition method].

Based on ITS sequences, the molecular identification of Cordyceps cicadae and Tolypocladium dujiaolongae was carried out, and high-performance liquid chromatography(HPLC) fingerprint combined with chemical pattern recognition method was established to differentiate C. cicadae from its adulterant T. dujiaolongae. The genomic DNA from 10 batches of C. cicadae and five batches of T. dujiaolongae was extracted, and ITS sequences were amplified by PCR and sequenced. The stable differential sites of these two species were compared and the phylogenetic tree was constructed via MEGA 7.0. HPLC was used to establish the fingerprints of C. cicadae and T. dujiaolongae, and similarity evaluation, cluster analysis(CA), principal component analysis(PCA), and partial least squares discriminant analysis(PLS-DA) were applied to investigate the chemical pattern recognition. The result showed that the sources of these two species were different, and there were 115 stable differential sites in ITS sequences of C. cicadae and T. dujiao-longae. The phylogenetic tree could distinguish them effectively. HPLC fingerprints of 18 batches of C. cicadae and 5 batches of T. dujiaolongae were established. The results of CA, PCA, and PLS-DA were consistent, which could distinguish them well, indicating that there were great differences in chemical components between C. cicadae and T. dujiaolongae. The results of PLS-DA showed that six components such as uridine, guanosine, adenosine, and N~6-(2-hydroxyethyl) adenosine were the main differential markers of the two species. ITS sequences and HPLC fingerprint combined with the chemical pattern recognition method can serve as the identification and differentiation methods for C. cicadae and T. dujiaolongae.

Nitroglycerin ameliorates liver injury and regulates adaptive immunity in mice.

This study aimed to assess the protective effect of nitroglycerin, a commonly used drug in cardiovascular diseases, on mice with acute liver injury induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4 ). The mice were randomly divided into three groups: control, CCl4 , and CCl4 + nitroglycerin. They were killed at 0, 6, 12, 24, and 48 h after treatment. Blood and liver tissue samples were collected for analysis. Analysis of the amounts of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT)/aspartate aminotransferase (AST), hepatic glutathione (GSH), and malondialdehyde (MDA) showed that nitroglycerin protected against CCl4 -induced acute liver injury. Liver histological analysis provided further evidence of the protective effect of nitroglycerin. Furthermore, we found that nitroglycerin suppressed the increase of T helper 17 (Th17) cells in CCl4 -induced acute liver injury mice. The results indicate that nitroglycerin is a potential candidate for hepatic disease.

Clinical observation on the treatment of post-cesarean hypogalactia by auricular points sticking-pressing.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of auricular points sticking-pressing (APSP) in treating post-cesarean hypogalactia (PCH). METHODS: A randomized, controlled, single-blinded clinical trial on 116 patients with PCH was carried out. They were equally assigned to the treatment group and the control group. The treatment group received APSP, with the pellets pressed for 4 times daily, while the control group was only asked to do lactation to meet infant demand. The therapeutic efficacy and the changes in scores of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome, volume of milk secretion, supplementary feeding and serum level of prolactin (PRL) in the two groups were estimated and compared after the patients had been treated for 5 days. RESULTS: The cured and markedly effective rate in the treatment group was 89.7%, which was significantly higher than that in the control group (27.6%, P<0.05), 95% CI (0.1543, 0.2527). The improvement of TCM syndrome, elevation of milking volume, decrease of the supplementary feeding and increase of PRL level revealed in the treatment group were all superior to those in the control group, showing statistical significance (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: APSP shows an apparent efficacy in treating PCH and is worthy of application in clinical practice.

Catalytic amidation of natural and synthetic polyol esters with sulfonamides.

Triacylglycerides are naturally abundant and renewable feedstock for biofuels and chemicals. In this report, these seemingly stable compounds are shown to be reactive toward a variety of sulfonamides under Lewis acid catalysis. In these reactions, alkyl C(sp3)-O bonds are cleaved and C-N bonds constructed, providing functionalized value-added products directly from renewables. Mechanistic and scope study demonstrate that the origin of the reactivity could be the synergy of Lewis acid catalysis and neighboring group participation by the 2- or 3-acyloxy or acylamido group with respect to the reactive site. Since poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), a widely available consumer polyester, also contains 1,2-diol diester group as the repeating unit in the main chain, this chemistry can also be applied to efficient depolymerization of PET.

[Expression of receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand in keratocystic odontogenic tumor before and after decompression].

PURPOSE: To investigate the expression of receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand (RANKL) in keratocystic odontogenic tumor (KCOT) before and after decompression. METHODS: Twenty two pairs of paraffin-embeded tissue specimens of KCOT were collected and subjected to immunohistochemical analysis of RANKL.The data were analyzed with SPSS17.0 software package for paired t test. RESULTS: RANKL positive cells were observed in the preoperative KCOT epithelium. The expression of RANKL was down-regulated after decompression(P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Decrease of RANKL expression after decompression may facilitate the lining epithelium of KCOT transforming to normal oral mucosal epithelium.

[Common infantile scrotum or testicle disease diagnosed by high frequency ultrasonoscopy].

OBJECTIVE: To diagnose and distinguish the swell in the infantile scrotum or testicle by the high frequency ultrasonoscopy so as to find the acoustic imaging characters and clinical application value. METHODS: With the high frequency linear-array probe used, the multi-section and two-side contrast scanning checks were conducted on 46 cases of the infantile scrotum or testicle swell and position with abnormal physical signs. The structures of scrotum, testicle, epididymis and spermatic cord as well as the positions, sizes, forms and interior echoes were observed. When it was necessary, the position should be changed, bladder filled up and the groin and two sides of bladder scanned. RESULTS: A total of 45 cases of infantile scrotum or testicle disease were diagnosed by ultrasound, which accorded with the clinical behavior and operation result while 1 case of one-side cryptorchid was not found. CONCLUSION: It is quick and accurate to diagnose the infantile scrotum or testicle disease by high frequency ultrasonoscopy.

T helper cell dysregulation with hepatitis B and rebalance with glucocorticoids.

AIM: To investigate T helper 17/regulatory T cell alterations in early severe hepatitis B and the effect of glucocorticoids. METHODS: The study included 20 patients in the early stage of severe hepatitis B (SHB) and 11 healthy controls. All patients had elevated T helper 17 (Th17) levels, decreased regulatory T (Treg) cell levels, and significant Th17/Treg ratios. RESULTS: After glucocorticoid treatment, 16 patients showed improvement with significant decreases in Th17 levels, increases in Treg, and rebalanced Th17/Treg ratios. The four patients who showed no improvement had increases in both Th17 and Treg levels and an even higher Th17/Treg ratio than before. CONCLUSION: Glucocorticoid treatment can rectify Th17/Treg dysregulation in patients with SHB.

Establishment of a new quantitative detection approach to adefovir-resistant HBV and its clinical application.

AIM: To establish the more feasible and sensitive assessment approach to the detection of adefovir (ADV) resistance-associated hepatitis B virus (HBV) quasispecies. METHODS: Based on the characteristics of rtA181V/T and rtN236T mutations, a new approach based on real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was established for the detection of ADV-resistant HBV quasispecies, total HBV DNA, rtA181 and rtN236 mutations in blood samples from 32 chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients with unsatisfactory curative effect on ADV and compared with routine HBV DNA sequencing. RESULTS: Both the sensitivity and specificity of this new detection approach to ADV-resistant HBV quasispecies were 100%, which were much higher than those of direct HBV DNA sequencing. The approach was able to detect 0.1% of mutated strains in a total plasmid population. Among the 32 clinical patients, single rtA181 and rtN236T mutation and double rtA181T and rtN236T mutations were detected in 20 and 8, respectively, while ADV-resistant mutations in 6 (including, rtA181V/T mutation alone in 5 patients) and no associated mutations in 26. CONCLUSION: This new approach is more feasible and efficient to detect ADV-resistant mutants of HBV and ADV-resistant mutations before and during ADV treatment with a specificity of 100% and a sensitivity of 100%.

[Investigation of the spatial variability of nitrogen and phosphorus in purple soils in Jiangjing City, Sichuan, China].

In this paper, the spatial distribution pattern of the total nitrogen, available nitrogen, available phosphorus and total phosphorus in surface purple soil (0-20 cm) with a city region were analyzed by applying geostatistics combined with GIS. The spatial distribution pattern of the four soil nutrient parameters were quantitatively described with semivariogram and the soil nutrient content distribution pattern was constructed by using Ordinary Kriging and lognormal Kriging optimal interpolation. The results indicated that total nitrogen, available nitrogen showed a normal distribution, the others with a lognormal distribution; the analyst of semivariogram indicated that the total nitrogen showed the pure nugget effect with the nugget of 0.2, others were correlated in a given spatial range (50 m) with mild spatial relativity, the nugget-to-sill ratio was from 25% to 75%. Preliminary analysis was made for the spatial variability of the soil nutrients by using the group map of the soil nutrients with Ordinary Kriging. These results could be useful for further application in precision fertilization and for evaluation of non point polluting of agricultural lands.