American Ginseng Improves Glycemia in Individuals with Normal Glucose Tolerance: Effect of Dose and Time Escalation

Objective: We studied the effect of escalating the dose and administration time of American ginseng (AG, Panax quinquefolius L.) in nondiabetic individuals to achieve further improvements in glucose tolerance seen previously when 3g of AG was taken 40 minutes before a 25g glucose challenge.

Methods: Ten nondiabetic individuals (6M:4F; mean ± STD: age = 41 ± 13 years, BMI = 24.8 ± 3.5 kg/m², FBG = 4.5 ± 0.1mmolL^?1) on 12 separate occasions, randomly received 0 (placebo), 3, 6 or 9g of ground AG root at 40, 80, or 120 minutes before a 25g oral glucose challenge. Capillary blood glucose was measured prior to ingestion of AG or placebo capsules and at 0, 15, 30, 45, 60 and 90 minutes from start of challenge.

Results: Compared with the placebo, 3, 6 and 9g of AG reduced (p<0.05) postprandial incremental glucose at 30, 45 and 60 minutes; also, 3 and 9g of AG did so at 90 minutes. At 60 minutes, 9g of AG reduced incremental postprandial glucose relative to 3g of AG (p<0.05). All AG doses reduced (p<0.05) area under the incremental glucose curve (3g, 26.6%; 6g, 29.3%; 9g, 38.5%). AG taken at different times did not have an additional influence on postprandial glycemia.

Conclusions: In nondiabetic individuals, 3, 6 or 9g of AG taken 40, 80 or 120 minutes before a glucose challenge similarly improved glucose tolerance.     

Can we make sense of takotsubo cardiomyopathy? An update on pathogenesis, diagnosis and natural history

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TTC) is a form of reversible acute cardiac dysfunction of uncertain pathogenesis, which occurs predominantly in postmenopausal women, often with antecedent severe stress. Systolic dysfunction most commonly affects the apex of the left ventricle. There is considerable uncertainty regarding the pathogenesis of TTC and the optimal diagnostic methodology. Acute catecholamine release may play a component role, but the regional hypokinesis is associated with an acute inflammatory process, with resultant early release of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and N-terminal pro-BNP. As the diagnosis of TTC has largely been a process of exclusion, there has been considerable underdiagnosis. The combination of demographics, preceding history, ECG appearances and N-terminal pro-BNP elevation may provide the basis for improved early diagnosis. Complete recovery takes at least several months, with a risk of recurrent episodes. Efforts to delineate pathogenesis, expedite diagnosis and evaluate residual disability may assist in the development of appropriate treatment regimens.     

双(2,6-哌嗪二酮)类抗肿瘤药物的研究:2,3-二乙酰氧基-1,4-二(3′,5′-二酮-N4′-取代哌嗪甲基)苯的合成

Seventeen compounds having the structure of 2,3-diacetoxy-1,4-bis(3′,5′- dioxo-N⁴′-substituted piperazinyl methyl)benzene were designed and synthesized based on chelation hypothesis. Their antitumor activities on P388 cells,Hep cells and SGC 7901 cells in vitro were tested. Preliminary results showed that compound 4e has potent antitumor effect against P388 cells and.Hep cells in vitro.     

Use of the hypotensive drug guanfacine in the treatment of patients with hypertension

The hypotensive effect of guanfacin was evaluated in 39 essentially hypertensive patients aged 18 to 64 years and treated for 2 months. Their central, and peripheral hemodynamics, intracardiac kinetics and some humoral factors responsible for vascular tonicity control were also examined. The drug can be effective in patients with second- and third-stage essential hypertension, with a good hypotensive effect being obvious within 3-5 days of treatment (3 mg daily was the highest dose). In the course of treatment, general left-ventricular pump function returned to normal in 20 patients exhibiting a good hypotensive effect. Within 2 months of treatment, originally high plasma renin activity returned to normal, and the activity of angiotensin-converting enzyme declined.     

Surgical treatment of stomach ulcer

Operated on were 168 patients with gastric ulcer disease. The preference was given to Billroth-I gastric resection with the artificial sphincter formation at the site of anastomosis and proximal gastric resection with the antireflux gastroesophageal anastomosis creation. The introduction of the developed techniques of gastric resection permitted to improve considerably the long-term functional results of treatment.     

Molecular evidence that in situ-transduced fetal liver hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells give rise to medullary hematopoiesis in adult rats

We exploited the ability to transduce fetal liver hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells in situ with recombinant retrovirus, together with the ability to analyze proviral integration patterns into chromosomal DNA, to detect the cellular and organ fate of hematopoietic stem and progenitor-derived progeny in tissues and in the circulation of neonatal and adult rats. Two hundred seventeen fetuses were injected with retrovirus supernatant on day 16 of gestation, before the development of the bone marrow cavity. The progeny of 41 stem and progenitor cells from 97 liveborn rats were clonally identified. Pluripotent and lineage-restricted stem/progenitor clones derived from the fetal liver consistently gave rise to progeny in the marrow of newborn and adult rats. Patterns of differentiation of transduced stem and progenitor cells fell into distinct subsets. Blood cells derived from in situ transduced cells that originated in the fetal liver circulated throughout the life span of the adult animals. These data provide molecular evidence of the origin of medullary cavity hematopoiesis by cells derived from the fetal liver that were transduced in vivo, homed to the developing medullary cavity and proliferated in a normal medullary hematopoietic microenvironment.