朝医体质治疗法治疗太阳人少阳人前列腺炎的研究

目的:观察朝医体质治疗法治疗太阳人、少阳人前列腺炎的效果。方法:将316例太阳人、少阳人体质前列腺炎患者服用“前必治口服液Ⅰ号”、“前必治口服液Ⅱ号”1个月,检测治疗前后外周全血黏度、血浆黏度、纤维蛋白原、前列腺液白细胞(WBC)、红细胞(RBC)、脓球、EPS-ZnI、gAI、gG、IL-2、IL-6水平变化和症状改善情况。结果:前列腺炎患者主要症状有显著改善,血液流变学指标明显好转,前列腺液的白细胞(WBC)、EPS-ZnI、gAI、gG显著下降(P<0.01),IL-2、IL-6治疗后明显降低(P<0.01),IL-6无显著性差异(P>0.05)。结论:朝医体质治疗法治疗太阳人、少阳人前列腺炎疗效显著。     

血脂异常中医证候及与代谢综合征相关性的研究

通过对600例血脂异常患者中医证侯的研究,总结了血脂异常中医证候分布的规律,确认血脂异常患者的病机是以本虚为主,脾虚和肾虚是血脂异常发病的主要病理基础,痰浊和瘀血也是影响血脂异常中医证候的重要因素,建议在治疗时应以补脾益肾为主要治疗原则。并首次在血脂异常的辨证中提出了＂无证候可辨＂的概念。通过对血脂异常中医证候与代谢综合征（MS）相关性的研究发现血脂异常中医证候的产生与MS及其组分中的超重或肥胖及高血压密切相关,提出MS及其各组分的存在是引起血脂异常中医虚证的重要因素,阐明了应用辨证论治的方法在治疗血脂异常的同时可以改善MS,还可以提高患者的生活质量,因而优于单纯的降脂治疗。     

Cesarean delivery on maternal request in southeast China

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the incidence of overall cesarean delivery and cesarean delivery on maternal request in southeast China in the past decade. METHODS: We used data from a population-based maternal and child health surveillance system, which covers 21 cities and counties in two provinces in southeast China. We examined the rate of cesarean delivery and cesarean delivery on maternal request in 1.1 million singleton births from 1994 to early 2006. Cesarean delivery on maternal request was defined as a prelabor cesarean delivery for a singleton gestation without contraindications for vaginal delivery at 38 weeks of gestation or later. RESULTS: During the 13-year study period, the percentage of women who had high school or higher education increased from 13% to 46%. The overall cesarean rate increased from 22% in 1994 to 60% in 2003 and moderated to 56% in 2006. The corresponding rates of cesarean delivery on maternal request (per 100 all deliveries) were 0.8%, 22%, and 20%, respectively. The rates varied enormously among cities and counties. In some areas, cesarean delivery on maternal request accounted for half of all cesarean births. The patterns of rate change were diverse and uneven, and the pattern of risk factors changed substantially between 1994 and 2006. Nulliparity, higher education, older maternal age, having been delivered at provincial or county hospitals, and women's occupations were previously associated with rate of cesarean delivery on maternal request. The rate of cesarean delivery on maternal request no longer varies by age, hospital level, or occupation. CONCLUSION: The rate of cesarean delivery increased dramatically in southeast China in the past decade. Cesarean delivery on maternal request was the predominant contributor to the increase. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III.     

Citrinin dimers from the halotolerant fungus Penicillium citrinum B-57

In order to search for structurally novel and bioactive natural compounds from microorganisms, a halotolerant fungal strain, Penicillium citrinum B-57, which mainly produces citrinin derivatives, was isolated from sediments collected from the Jilantai salt field. From the ethyl acetate extract of P. citrinum B-57, two new citrinin dimers, pennicitrinone C ( 1) and penicitrinol B ( 2), and 11 known related compounds were isolated and identified by spectroscopic and chemical methods. These compounds showed antioxidative activity against DPPH radicals with IC 50 values ranging from 0.8 to 59 microM.     

Novel open-chain cytochalsins from the marine-derived fungus Spicaria elegans

Six novel open-chain cytochalasins (1-6) and one known [12]-cytochalasin (7) have been isolated from the fermentation broth of a marine-derived fungus, Spicaria elegans. Cytochalasins Z10-Z15 (1-6) are the first reported cytochalasins that contain an open chain to date. The structures of these new compounds were elucidated by spectroscopic methods. The cytotoxic effects on P388, A-549, HL-60, and BEL-7402 cell lines of all compounds were evaluated by the MTT method.     

Proteomic studies of early-stage and advanced ovarian cancer patients

ObjectivesThe objectives of this study were to evaluate the diagnostic value for ovarian cancer using proteomic pattern established by surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization (SELDI-TOF-MS) profiling of plasma proteins coupled with support vector machine (SVM) data analysis, and to investigate whether the proteomic pattern established by advanced ovarian cancer could be used for diagnosis of early-stage ovarian cancer patients.MethodsThe study included 44 ovarian cancer patients (11 early-stage and 33 advanced ovarian cancer patients) and 31 age-matched non-cancer controls. SELDI-TOF-MS coupled with SVM analysis was performed to establish a proteomic pattern to discriminate 33 advanced ovarian cancer patients from 31 non-cancer controls. A blind test, including 11 early-stage ovarian cancer cases, was performed to investigate whether proteomic pattern established by advanced ovarian cancer could be used for diagnosis of early-stage ovarian cancer patients.ResultsA seven-peak proteomic pattern was established which discriminated 33 advanced ovarian cancer patients from 31 non-cancer controls effectively. A sensitivity of 93.94% (31/33) and a specificity of 93.55% (29/31) were yielded from the proteomic pattern. Among the 7 protein peaks, 5 with mass charge ratio (m/z) 4099 Da, 5488 Da, 4144 Da, 4479 Da and 3940 Da were up-regulated, while 2 peaks, with m/z 13 783 Da and 8588 Da were down-regulated in the advanced ovarian cancer group compared with non-cancer control group. After blind test, 9 of 11 early-stage ovarian cancer patients were successfully diagnosed with the accuracy of 81.82% (9/11).ConclusionsThis study demonstrated that SELDI-TOF-MS coupled with SVM is effective in distinguishing protein expression between ovarian cancer and non-cancer plasma and it may be feasible to diagnose early-stage ovarian cancer using proteomic pattern established by advanced ovarian cancer. The gained and lost protein peaks in plasma may exist in both early-stage and advanced ovarian cancer plasma. Further studies should be performed using larger sample numbers.     

Decrease and dysfunction of endothelial progenitor cells in umbilical cord blood with maternal pre-eclampsia

BACKGROUND: The pre-eclampsia is characterized by placental defective angiogenesis and maternal vascular/endothelial dysfunction. Recently, the decrease and senescence of endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) has been observed in maternal circulation with pre-eclampsia. Given the essential involvement of EPC in neovascularization and reendothelialization, we investigate whether or not the depletion of EPC is existent in placental/fetal circulation with maternal pre-eclampsia. METHODS: Samples of venous cord blood were collected during the labor of preeclamptic mothers (n = 14) and normotensive controls (n = 10). Circulating EPC were enumerated as AC133+/KDR+ cells via fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis. Additionally, EPC were expanded in vitro and identified by DiI-acLDL uptake and lectin staining by direct fluorescent staining under a laser scanning confocal microscope. EPC proliferation, migration and vasculogenesis activities were determined by MTT, modified Boyden chamber assay and in vitro vasculogenensis assay. RESULT: The placental/fetal circulating EPC numbers were significantly decreased in the pre-eclampsia group compared with the control (median, 200; range, 100-440 cells/mL vs 390; 270-440 cells/mL, P < 0.001), and after in vitro cultivation the numbers of EPC also decreased in pre-eclampsia group (19.5; 5.0-32.0 vs 39.5; 31.2-52.0 EPC/x200 field; P < 0.001). Both circulating EPC and cultivated EPC were inversely correlated with cord blood level of soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFlt-1). In addition, the EPC from patients with pre-eclampsia were significantly impaired in their proliferation, migration and vasculogenesis capacities. CONCLUSION: The present study documented the decrease and dysfunction of placental/fetal circulating EPC in patients with pre-eclampsia. The alteration is probably associated with the increased sFlt-1 levels in the umbilical cord blood.     

Effect of dietary fatty acids on colon tumorigenesis induced by methyl nitrosourea in rats

To study the effect of dietary fatty acid on the colon tumorigenesis induced by methly nitrosourea in rats,male SD rats were fed five semi-synthetic diets composed of different proportions of beef tallow,soybean oil,alkana oil,corn oil and fish oil for 180 days.The experimental groups were injected with a solution of methyl nitrosourea in phosphate buffer intraperitoneally once a week for six weeks.The control groups were injected with phosphate buffer solution only.The incidence of colon cancer,the avergage volume of the tumors,proliferation cell nuclear antigen,cell kinetics,membrane lipid fluidity,alkaline phophatase activityes and the content of prostaglandin E2 in colon mucosa and the fatty acid of testis pad fat were measured at the end of the experiment.The results showed that the incidence of colon cancer and the average volume of tumors in animals fed with diets composed mainly of beef tallow,soybean oil were significantly higher than those that were fed fish oil.The most effective anticancer diet in our study contained saturated fatty acid,monounsaturated fatty acid and polyunsaturated fatty acid of fish oil in the proportion of 13.9%,16.4%and 68.8% respectively,Inhibition of colon tumorigensis appeared to be related to the regulation of membrane lipid fluidity,and a decrease in the proliferation of cell nuclear antigen in colon cells.In addition,a decrease was noted in the numer of cells in S phase and alkaline phosphatase activity,along with inhibition of arachidonic acid products and a corresponding decrease in the amount of prostaglandin E2.