Transcriptome analysis of developing zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryo following exposure to Gaudichaudione H reveals teratogenicity and cardiovascular defects caused by abnormal iron metabolism.

Gaudichaudione H (GH), a caged polyprenylated xanthone from Garcinia plants, showed anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory effects in vitro. However, the in vivo toxicity of this compound has never been reported. The present study was aimed to address the toxic effects of Gaudichaudione H using zebrafish embryos and larvae as an in vivo test model.

Amido surface-functionalized magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers for the efficient extraction of Sibiskoside from Sibiraea angustata.

A general method for efficient and selective extraction of a target compound from complex natural products remains elusive, despite decades of research. By introducing a functional amido group on the surface of dispersity-enhanced magnetic nanoparticles, a nanoparticle receptor to selectively recognize Sibiskoside (a monoterpene) from the aerial portion of Sibiraea angustata by hydrogen bond interaction was synthesized. The superparamagnetic FeO nanoparticles were successively modified with tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS), amino and amido functional groups, and 4-vinylbenzoic acid (VBZA) was used as the functional monomer.

[Application of flexible bronchoscopy in children with respiratory diseases].

Objective: To investigate the significance of flexible bronchoscopy in children with respiratory diseases.

Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed for the clinical data of 80 children who were hospitalized due to respiratory diseases (including severe pneumonia, Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia with atelectasis/lung consolidation/local emphysema, protracted pneumonia, coughing and wheezing of unknown cause, chronic cough of unknown cause, and laryngeal stridor) and who underwent flexible bronchoscopy/alveolar lavage.

Results: Bronchoscopy found that all the 80 children had endobronchial inflammation, among whom 28 children had severe airway obstruction by secretion.

[Chemical Constituents from Shoot of Phyllostachys edulis (II)].

Objective: To investigate the chemical constituents from the shoot of Phyllostachys edulis.

Methods: Normal-phase, reversed-phase silica gel, Sephadex LH-20 porous polymer gel column and HPLC chromatography were used for isolation. Spectroscopic methods (13C-NMR, 1H-NMR, DEPT and EI-MS) were used for identification.

[Chemical constituents from the aerial part of Sibiraea angustata].

Objective: To study the chemical constituents from the aerial part of Sibiraea angustata.

Methods: The constituents were isolated by various chromatographic techniques (HP-20 macroporous absorption resin, Sephadex LH-20 gel, RP-MPLC and PHPLC)and their structures were determined on the basis of physicochemical properties and their spectroscopic data,as well as literatures.

Results: Eleven compounds were separated and identified as p-methoxycinnamic acid(I), protocatechuic aldehyde(II), quercetin(III), isorhamnetin(IV), quercetin 3-O-beta-D-galactopyranoside (V),9-0-[beta-D-glucopyranoside]-3,4,5-trimethoxy cinnamyl alcohol(VI), syringaresinol-4'-O-beta-D-monoglucoside(VII), ntin(VIII), sibiraic acid(IX), sibiscolacton(X), methyl ferulic acid(XI).

Improvements in the intraluminal thread technique to induce focal cerebral ischaemia in rabbits.

Although the intraluminal thread technique has been used to induce focal cerebral ischaemia in rabbits, its success rate is not high. We, therefore, attempted to improve the stability and reproducibility of this method by using thread tips of appropriate diameter as determined from the anatomical characteristics of the carotid and cerebral arteries of New Zealand white rabbits. Following intraarterial injection of casting material, we tested threads of four different tip diameters to determine the optimal thread tip that could occlude the middle cerebral artery (MCA).