The aim of this study was to elucidate the concise effects of a traditional herb pair, Curcumae rhizoma-Sparganii rhizoma (CRSR), on uterine leiomyoma (UL) by analyzing transcriptional profiling. The UL rat model was made by intramuscular injection of progesterone and gavage administration of diethylstilbestrol. From 11 weeks of the establishment of the model, rats of the UL+CRSR group were gavaged daily with CRSR (6.67 g/kg). The serum concentrations of progesterone (P) and estradiol (E2) were determined by radioimmunoassay, the uterine index was measured by caliper measurement, and the pathological status was observed by hematoxylin and eosin stain. Gene expression profiling was checked by NimbleGen Rat Gene Expression Microarrays. The results indicated that the uterine mass of UL+CRSR rats was significantly shrunk and serum P and E2 levels significantly reduced compared to UL animals and nearly to the level of normal rats. Results of microarrays displayed the extensive inhibition of CRSR upon the expression of proliferation and deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM)-related genes, and significantly regulated a wide range of metabolism disorders. Furthermore, CRSR extensively regulated key pathways of the UL process, such as MAPK, PPAR, Notch, and TGF-β/Smad. Regulation of the crucial pathways for the UL process and ECM metabolism may be the underlying mechanisms of CRSR treatment. Further studies will provide clear clues for effectively treating UL with CRSR.

ABSTRACT In this paper, the zinc carbonate hydroxide (Zn5(OH) 6(CO2)2, ZCHO) was prepared by a facile hydrothermal method assisted chitosan (CS). The as-prepared product was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermogravimetric analysis (TG). Results indicated that every micro-sized ZCHO particle had a multi-layered structure and was composed of many ZCHO nanoplates. The used CS played the role of the template in the formation of well multi-layered ZCHO particles. TG measurements had further indicated that the remained content of CS in the as-prepared ZCHO powders was about 8 Wt.%. The adsorption isotherm results showed that the ZCHO powders with CS exhibited massive removal of Cu2+ from aqueous solution at room temperature. The equilibrium adsorption was well described by the Freundlich isotherm model. Based on the above experimental results, the possible removal mechanism of Cu2+ by the multi-layered ZCHO was proposed.

Uterine leiomyomas (ULs) are benign monoclonal tumors that arise from the underlying myometrial tissue in the uterus. Effective therapies are still lacking because of poor understanding of the pathophysiology and epidemiology. Hence, it is urgent to establish efficient animal models to screen novel anti-UL therapies. In this study, for the first time, traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine were combined to establish an animal model of ULs in rats. In order to evaluate the function and value of the novel model, it was compared with other models. The long-term and short-term rat models for ULs were established using progesterone and diethylstilbestrol. Rats in Qi stagnation and blood stasis group were injected with epinephrine hydrochloride and received chronic unpredictable stress for two weeks. Rats in combining disease with syndrome group (CDWSG) received not only epinephrine hydrochloride injection and chronic unpredictable stress but also progesterone and diethylstilbestrol treatment. We analyzed differences in organ coefficient, uterus size, uterine pathology, concentrations of progesterone, estradiol, progesterone receptor, estrogen receptor, expression of desmin, α-smooth muscle actin, and vimentin among the five groups. The animal model of ULs was successfully constructed by loading the rats with estrogen and progesterone. The rat model of CDWSG was more stable than other groups and the method was the most efficient.

We report a case of drug-induced lupus (DIL) on a Chinese woman caused by methimazole (MMI). This report discusses DIL associated with MMI and briefly reviewed the literature concerning to anti-thyroid DIL.

OBJETIVO: Avaliar as diferenças de aberrações de frente de onda, em diferentes condições pupilares: sob cicloplegia, escotópica e fotópica. MÉTODOS: Um total de 174 olhos de 105 pacientes foram avaliados utilizando o sensor de frente de onda (WaveScan® 3.62) em diferentes condições pupilares: sob cicloplegia 8,58 ± 0,54 mm (6.4 mm-9.5 mm), escotópica 7,53 ± 0,69 mm (5,7 mm - 9,1 mm) e fotópica 6,08 ± 1,14 mm (4,1 mm - 8,8 mm). Diâmetro da pupila, coeficientes de Zernike, RMS ("Root Mean Square") das aberrações de alta ordem e as aberrações dominantes foram comparados entre as condições sob cicloplegia e escotópica, e entre as condições escotópica e fotópica. RESULTADOS: O diâmetro da pupila foi 7,53 ± 0.69 mm sob a condição escotópica e atingiu a exigência de cerca de 6,5 mm de zona óptica na cirurgia baseada em análise de frentes de ondas, evitando erros de medição consequentes à mudança de centroide pupilar provocada por midriáticos. A dilatação farmacológica da pupila induziu aumento dos coeficientes de Zernike Z3-3, Z4(0) e Z5-5. As aberrações de mais alta ordem (terceira, quarta, quinta e sexta ordem) e a aberração esférica aumentaram de forma estatisticamente significativa, em comparação com a condição escotópica (P<0,010). Quando a condição escotópica se mudou para a condição fotópica, os coeficientes de Zernike Z4(0), Z4², Z6-4, Z6-2, Z6² e todas as aberrações de alta ordem diminuíram de forma estatisticamente significativa (P<0,010), demonstrando que a miose acomodativa pode significativamente melhorar a visão sob a condição fotópica. Sob as três condições, a aberração coma vertical apareceu mais frequentemente dentro das aberrações dominantes, sem influência significativa da variação do tamanho da pupila, e a proporção de aberração esférica diminuiu com a diminuição do tamanho da pupila. CONCLUSÕES: As aberrações de frente de onda são significativamente diferentes sob cicloplegia, condições escotópica e fotópica. O uso do sensor de frentes de onda (VISX WaveScan) para medir as aberrações de frente de onda escotópicas é uma opção viável para a cirurgia refrativa baseada em análise de frentes de onda.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the differences of wavefront aberrations under cycloplegic, scotopic and photopic conditions. METHODS: A total of 174 eyes of 105 patients were measured using the wavefront sensor (WaveScan® 3.62) under different pupil conditions: cycloplegic 8.58 ± 0.54 mm (6.4 mm - 9.5 mm), scotopic 7.53 ± 0.69 mm (5.7 mm - 9.1 mm) and photopic 6.08 ± 1.14 mm (4.1 mm - 8.8 mm). The pupil diameter, standard Zernike coefficients, root mean square of higher-order aberrations and dominant aberrations were compared between cycloplegic and scotopic conditions, and between scotopic and photopic conditions. RESULTS: The pupil diameter was 7.53 ± 0.69 mm under the scotopic condition, which reached the requirement of about 6.5 mm optical zone design in the wavefront-guided surgery and prevented measurement error due to the pupil centroid shift caused by mydriatics. Pharmacological pupil dilation induced increase of standard Zernike coefficients Z3-3, Z4(0) and Z5-5. The higher-order aberrations, third-order aberration, fourth-order aberration, fifth-order aberration, sixth-order aberration, and spherical aberration increased statistically significantly, compared to the scotopic condition (P<0.010). When the scotopic condition shifted to the photopic condition, the standard Zernike coefficients Z4(0), Z4², Z6-4, Z6-2, Z6² decreased and all the higher-order aberrations decreased statistically significantly (P<0.010), demonstrating that accommodative miosis can significantly improve vision under the photopic condition. Under the three conditions, the vertical coma aberration appears the most frequently within the dominant aberrations without significant effect by pupil size variance, and the proportion of spherical aberrations decreased with the decrease of the pupil size. CONCLUSIONS: The wavefront aberrations are significantly different under cycloplegic, scotopic and photopic conditions. Using the wavefront sensor (VISX WaveScan) to measure scotopic wavefront aberrations is feasible for the wavefront-guided refractive surgery.

Being a biocompatible, biodegradable and bioactive material, chitosan in the form of membranes offers a great potential as a substrate in mineralization processes in vitro. In the present work, chitosan with (without) bovine serum albumin used as templates induced the formation of calcium carbonate. The unusual morphology of calcium carbonate was get from the chitosan /bovine serum albumin system. The CaCO3 crystals obtained in system were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectrography and powder X-ray diffractometry. The possible formation mechanism of CaCO3 was discussed.