Improvement of Culture Conditions and Plant Growth Regulators for In Vitro Callus Induction and Plant Regeneration in Pall.

Owing to its high ornamental, medicinal and horticultural values, herbaceous peony ( Pall.) has been widely used as a landscaping and economical plant around the world. However, the lack of an efficient and stable regeneration system in restricts its rapid propagation and large-scale production.

Re-Du-Ning injection ameliorates radiation-induced pneumonitis and fibrosis by inhibiting AIM2 inflammasome and epithelial-mesenchymal transition.

Background: Radiation-induced lung injury (RILI) is a common side effect in chest radiotherapy patients, and there is no good medicine to treat it. Re-Du-Ning (RDN) injection is a traditional Chinese medicine that is clinically used to treat upper respiratory tract infections and acute bronchitis. RDN has the advantage of high safety and mild side effects.

Treatment of urinary incontinence after total hysterectomy with acupuncture: A case report.

Rationale: Acupuncture is a significant feature of traditional Chinese medicine, which can dredge the channels, harmonize qi and blood, replenish deficiency and relieve excess, strengthen the body and remove pathogens to treat urinary incontinence after hysterectomy, and improve the quality of life, which is simple, convenient, inexpensive, and practical.

Patient Concerns: After a total hysterectomy, the catheter was retained every day, causing urinary incontinence and elderly urine wetness for 30 days.

Diagnoses: Postoperative urinary incontinence for 1 month; type 2 diabetes for 4 years.

Cycloastragenol ameliorates experimental heart damage in rats by promoting myocardial autophagy via inhibition of AKT1-RPS6KB1 signaling.

Cycloastragenol, a naturally occurring compound in Astragali Radix, has been demonstrated to possess various pharmacological actions including anti-aging, anti-inflammation, anti-fibrosis, antibacterial, liver and endothelium protection. However, whether cycloastragenol ameliorates heart failure remains unclear. Isoproterenol administration to rats triggered classic cardiac damage, as demonstrated by objective parameters of cardiac dysfunction.

Icariin attenuated oxidative stress induced-cardiac apoptosis by mitochondria protection and ERK activation.

Our previous study showed that Icariin (ICA) has anti-cardiac hypertrophy effect in rats with an unknown mechanism. In the present study, we aimed to clarify the cardiac protective effect and mechanism of ICA in vitro. H9C2 cardiac myocytes were incubated with HO to build up the oxidative stress injury model.

Icariin attenuates cardiac remodelling through down-regulating myocardial apoptosis and matrix metalloproteinase activity in rats with congestive heart failure.

Objectives: In this study, the anti-heart failure effect of icariin, a natural flavonol glycoside, and the underlying mechanisms were investigated.

Methods: Heart failure was induced by isoproterenol in male Sprague-Dawley rats. Matrix metalloproteinase activity was determined by gelatin zymography assay.

[Levels of homocysteine and polymorphisms of homocysteine metabolism-related enzymes in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and coronary heart disease].

Objective: To explore the significance of Hey, the gene polymorphisms of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677 T and cystathionine beta- synthase (CBS844) ins68 in type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) with coronary heart disease (CHD) in China. Methods We selected 70 patients with type 2 DM and CHD, 71 type 2 diabetes patients, and 85 controls in Han nationality from northern China. Hey levels were measured by fluorescence polarization immunoassay (FPIA) and the plasma folate and vitamin B12 levels by microparticle enzyme immunoassay (MEIA).

Ethanol extract from Epimedium brevicornum attenuates left ventricular dysfunction and cardiac remodeling through down-regulating matrix metalloproteinase-2 and -9 activity and myocardial apoptosis in rats with congestive heart failure.

Epimedium, a traditional Chinese herb, has been used for the remedy of coronary heart disease, impotence and osteoporosis in traditional oriental medicine. However, despite extensive pharmacological studies, the molecular mechanism of the anti-heart failure effect of epimedium is little known. In the present study, we investigated the pharmacological action mechanism of ethanol extract of epimedium (EPI-ext) on isoproterenol-induced congestive heart failure (CHF) in rats.

Apolipoprotein B gene 3'VNTR polymorphism: association with plasma lipids and coronary heart disease in Han Chinese.

Background: Studies that considered polymorphisms within the apolipoprotein B (APOB) gene as risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD) have reported conflicting results.

Methods: The phenotypic effects of the 3'VNTR polymorphism of the APOB gene on the susceptibility to CHD were investigated in 120 unrelated healthy individuals and 137 CHD patients. The internal structure of APOB gene 3'VNTR alleles was also analyzed by the methods of SspI restriction mapping and DNA sequencing of the allele fragments.

Aqueous extract of Yin-Chen-Hao decoction, a traditional Chinese prescription, exerts protective effects on concanavalin A-induced hepatitis in mice through inhibition of NF-kappaB.

In traditional oriental medicine, Yin-Chen-Hao decoction is used for the remedy of liver diseases such as hepatitis, fatty liver, hepatocirrhosis and jaundice. However, despite extensive pharmacological study, the molecular mechanism of the anti-inflammatory effect of Yin-Chen-Hao decoction is poorly understood. In this study, we have investigated the pharmacological action on the mechanism of concanavalin A-induced T cell-dependent hepatitis in mice.

Apolipoprotein A5 gene polymorphism -1131T-->C: association with plasma lipids and type 2 diabetes mellitus with coronary heart disease in Chinese.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) is associated with significant abnormalities of lipoprotein metabolism and coronary heart disease (CHD). The most commonly recognized lipid abnormality in type 2 DM is hypertriglyceridemia, which is known to be an independent risk factor for CHD in diabetics. The -1131T-->C polymorphism found in the newly identified apolipoprotein A5 ( APOA5 ) gene has been found to be associated with elevated plasma triglyceride (TG) concentrations in different racial groups.

Clinical study of qingluo tongbi granules in treating 63 patients with rheumatoid arthritis of the type of yin-deficiency and heat in collaterals.

The study is to observe the therapeutic effects of qingluo tongbi granules (QTG) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and the changes of immune indexes. In this series there are 63 patients with RA of the type of yin-deficiency and heat in collaterals treated with QTG as the treated group and 55 patients of the same type treated with Tripterygium glycosides as the control group. As a result, in the treated group, the curative rate is 9.

[Hyperhomocysteinemia and deep-vein thrombosis].

Objective: To study the relationship between plasma homocysteine (Hcy) level and deep-vein thrombosis (DVT), and analyze the interaction of Hcy, folate and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene polymorphism in patients with DVT.

Methods: Totally 69 patients with DVT and 111 healthy controls were included in our case-control study. We determined the MTHFR C677T genotypes by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP), measured the serum folate and vitamin B12 by radioimmunoassay (RIA), and measured the plasma homocysteine level by fluorescence polarization immunoassay (FPIA).

[Clinical evaluation of two kinds homogenous assays for determination of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol].

Objective: To evaluate the clinical efficacy of two kinds homogenous assays for direct determination of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) based on the principle of polyanion polymer/detergent (PPD method) and polyethylene glycol-modified enzyme (PEGME) method.

Methods: The two homogenous methods were compared with the precipitation method (PTA-Mg2+ method), their precision, accuracy, specificity and interference were also analyzed.

Results: Both homogenous HDL-C assays were precise, having a within-run CV < 3%, day-to-day CV < 3% and total CV < 4%.

[Study on serum inhibin concentrations in women during menopausal transition].

Objective: To investigate the changes of serum inhibin (Inh)-A, Inh-B concentrations during menopausal transition and the time relationship between changes of serum Inh-A, Inh-B and other reproductive hormone levels.

Methods: Serum Inh-A, Inh-B concentrations were measured by Serotec modified two-site enzyme immunoassay during different phases of normal menstrual cycle in 10 healthy reproductive women, any time of 10 postmenopausal women. So did the serum Inh-A on 5 - 9 days prior to next period (premenstrual phase) and Inh-B determinations on the 3rd day of menstrual cycle in 40 women of age 43 - 52 (menopausal transition group).