Biomedical subjects

Hong Yan

Publications and source records attributed to Hong Yan.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

PubMed2004

Effects of enteral supplementation with glutamine granules on intestinal mucosal barrier function in severe burned patients.

Glutamine is an important energy source in intestinal mucosa, the small intestine is the major organ of glutamine uptake and metabolism and plays an important role in the maintenance of whole body glutamine homeostasis. The purpose of this clinical study is to observe the protection effects of enteral supplement with glutamine granules on intestinal mucosal barrier function in severe burned patients. Forty-eight severe burn patients (total burn surface area 30-75%, full thickness burn area 20-85%) were randomly divided into two groups: burn control group (B group, 23 patients) and glutamine treated group (Gln group, 25 patients). Glutamine granules 0.5 g/kg were supplied orally for 14 days in Gln group, and the same dosage of placebo were given for 14 days in B group. The plasma level of glutamine, endotoxin and the activity of diamine oxidase (DAO), as well as intestinal mucosal permeability were determined. The results showed that the levels of plasma endotoxin, activity and urinary lactulose and mannitol (L/M) ratio in all patients were significant higher than that of normal control. After taking glutamine granules for 14 days, plasma glutamine concentration was significantly higher in Gln group than that in B group (607.86+/-147.25 microM/l versus 447.63 +/- 132.28 microM/l, P < 0.01). On the other hand, the levels of plasma DAO activity and urinary L/M ratio in Gln group were lower than those in B group. In addition, the wound healing was better and hospital stay days were reduced in the Gln group (46.59 +/- 12.98 days versus 55.68 +/- 17.36 days, P < 0.05). These results indicated that glutamine granules taken orally could abate the degree of intestine injury, lessen intestinal mucosal permeability, ameliorate wound healing and reduce hospital stay.

Administration, Oral↗

PubMed2004

Effect of a traditional Japanese herbal medicine, hochu-ekki-to (Bu-Zhong-Yi-Qi Tang), on immunity in elderly persons.

In general, the elderly show a significant age-related decline in their immune response, thus leading to an increased vulnerability to infections or to an increase in the occurrence of malignant tumors. In this study, we examined the effect of Hochu-ekki-to (HOT or TJ-41) on the immunological capacity of the elderly. A group of elderly patients complaining of general fatigue or weakness were orally administered 7.5 g of HOT everyday for at least 120 days (4 months), whereas another group of aged patients mainly complaining of a loss of appetite were daily given 7.5 g of Anchu-san (TJ-5) during the same period and served as a control group. From the immunological point of view, the total number of circulating leukocytes remained unchanged, during the observation period both in the HOT and Anchu-san groups, as well as the ratios between CD3(+) T and CD20(+) B cells and between CD4(+) T and CD8(+) T cells. In addition, no differences were observed in the expression of CD25 antigen, which represents an activated state of T cells. However, as verified on day 30 as well as on day 120 after the administration of HOT, the natural killer (NK) activity against K562 target cells was significantly enhanced, in comparison to the results on day 0 in the HOT group, as well as to that activity on days 0, 30 and 120 in the Anchu-san group. In addition, on days 30 and 120 in the HOT group, there was a significant increase in the serum IFN-gamma level, which is thought to be associated with the NK activity, whereas no significant changes in that level were observed in the Anchu-san group, during the study period. From these results, it may be concluded that the administration of HOT to elderly people may help them improve, at least to some degree, their immunological capacity.

Administration, Oral↗

PubMed2004

Abortion as a backup method for contraceptive failure in China.

Contraceptive failure rates for modern methods including sterilization are reported to be high in China, but little is known about the consequence of contraceptive failure and characteristics of women who decide to have an abortion if a contraceptive failure occurs. Using 6225 contraceptive failures from the 1988 Chinese Two-per-Thousand Fertility Survey, this study examines the resolution of contraceptive failure and assesses the impact of some women's sociodemographic characteristics on the decision to terminate contraceptive failure in abortion. This study has three important findings: (1) The abortion rate was 50.1%, 75.3% and 80.2% for IUD, condom and pill failures, respectively; (2) The abortion rates differed by contraceptive method and women's social and demographic characteristics. In particular, a woman with just one child was most likely to have the contraceptive failure aborted; (3) Some women experienced repeated abortions because of contraceptive failure. The results suggest that abortion was a backup method if contraception failed in China and the correlates of aborting an unwanted pregnancy reflect the strong impact of the Chinese family planning programme.

Abortion, Induced↗

PubMed2004

Cluster analysis of gene expression data based on self-splitting and merging competitive learning.

Cluster analysis of gene expression data from a cDNA microarray is useful for identifying biologically relevant groups of genes. However, finding the natural clusters in the data and estimating the correct number of clusters are still two largely unsolved problems. In this paper, we propose a new clustering framework that is able to address both these problems. By using the one-prototype-take-one-cluster (OPTOC) competitive learning paradigm, the proposed algorithm can find natural clusters in the input data, and the clustering solution is not sensitive to initialization. In order to estimate the number of distinct clusters in the data, we propose a cluster splitting and merging strategy. We have applied the new algorithm to simulated gene expression data for which the correct distribution of genes over clusters is known a priori. The results show that the proposed algorithm can find natural clusters and give the correct number of clusters. The algorithm has also been tested on real gene expression changes during yeast cell cycle, for which the fundamental patterns of gene expression and assignment of genes to clusters are well understood from numerous previous studies. Comparative studies with several clustering algorithms illustrate the effectiveness of our method.

Algorithms↗

PubMed2004

Convergence condition and efficient implementation of the fuzzy curve-tracing (FCT) algorithm.

The fuzzy curve-tracing (FCT) algorithm can be used to extract a smooth curve from unordered noisy data. In this paper, we analyze the convergence property of the algorithm based on the diagonal dominance requirement of the matrix used in the clustering procedure and prove that the algorithm is guaranteed to converge if the weighting coefficient for the smoothness constraint is chosen properly. Based on the convergence condition, we develop several methods for fast and reliable implementation of the algorithm. We show that the algorithm can be initialized with a user-defined curve in many cases, that a multiresolution clustering based approach and an image down-sampling scheme can be used to improve the algorithm stability and speed and that two types of traps can be removed to correct the mistakes in curve tracing. We demonstrate several advantages of our algorithm over the commonly used snake models for boundary detection and several methods for principle curve extraction.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

[Analysis on the prevalence of anemia among children under 3-year-old in 5 provinces in Western China].

OBJECTIVE: To understand the prevalence of anemia in children living in poor rural villages in western China and to find out related factors affecting hemoglobin level of children so as to search for proper intervention. METHODS: 3747 children under 3 years old and their families were studied using stratified random sampling in 40 counties in western China. Databases were set up, and data logically checked by Epi 6.0 software. All the data were input with duplication method and analyzed by SPSS 10.0 software. RESULTS: The prevalence of anemia of children under 3-year-old was 32.7% in 40 counties with significant difference among provinces with the highest in Guizhou province (43.5%). The lowest was in Ningxia and Qinghai provinces, which was 20%. The prevalence of anemia of children was relatively high in 6 and 18 months of age after birth, but declining when children grew older. Many factors were associated with children's anemia, viz. feeding pattern, age, diarrhea, family income, nationality, mother with anemia and drinking clean water etc. CONCLUSION: Interventions as popularizing knowledge of appropriate feeding, drinking clean water and decreasing the prevalence of common diseases including diarrhea would decrease the prevalence of anemia of local children.

Age Factors↗

PubMed2004

Nitrous oxide emission and reduction in a laboratory-incubated paddy soil response to pretreatment of water regime.

A laboratory incubation experiment was conducted to investigate nitrous oxide (N2O) emission and reduction in a paddy soil (Stagnic Anthrosol) response to the pretreatment of water regime. The paddy soil was maintained under either air-dried (sample D) or submerged (sample F) conditions for 110 d before the soil was adjusted into soil moisture of 20% , 40% , 60% , 80% and 100% water holding capacity (WH(-2)) respectively, and then incubated with or without 10% (v/v) acetylene for 138 h at 25 degrees C. At lower soil water content (< or = 60% WHC), N2O emission from the sample F was 2.29 times higher than that from the sample D (P < 0.01). While, N2O emission from the sample F was only 29 and 14 percent of that from the sample D at the soil moisture of 80% and 100% WHC, respectively (P < 0.01). The maximal N2O emissions observed at soil moisture of 80% WHC were about 24 and 186 times higher than the minima obtained at the soil moisture of 20% WHC for the sample F and D, respectively. But at the soil moisture of 80% and 100% WHC, N2O emission from the sample F with acetylene (F + ACE) was comparable to that of the sample D with acetylene (D + ACE). The results showed that the F sample produced N2O ability in denitrification was similar to the sample D, however, the sample F was in the better reduction of N2O to N, than the sample D even after the soil moisture was adjusted into the same level of 80% or 100% WHC. Therefore, the pretreatment of water regime influenced the strength and product composition of denitrification and N2O emission from the paddy soil.

Agriculture↗

PubMed2004

Induction of heme oxygenase-1 in human hepatocytes to protect them from ethanol-induced cytotoxicity.

UNLABELLED: We investigated the relationship between ethanol exposure and heme oxygenase (HO-1) in human hepatocytes in order to ascertain if induction of HO-1 can prevent ethanol induced cellular damage. METHODS: Dose-dependent (25-100 mmol/L) and time-dependent (0-24 h) ethanol exposure were used in the present study. HO-1 mRNA and protein expression were detected by PT-PCR and Western blot respectively. HO-1 activity was indicated by bilirubin and Fe2+ formation. Cytotoxicity was investigated by means of lactate dehydrogenate (LDH) and aspartate transaminase (AST) level in culture supernatants, as well as the intracellular formation of malondialdehyde (MDA), cellular glutathione (GSH) status and CYP 2E1 activity. RESULTS: We first demonstrated a dose-dependent response between ethanol exposure and HO-1 mRNA and protein expression in human hepatocytes. We further observed a time-dependent increase of HO-1 mRNA expression using 100 mmol/L ethanol starting 30 minutes after ethanol exposure, reaching its maximum between 3 h and 9 h. Being similar increased protein expression started to what had been demonstrated with the mRNA level, at 6 h after ethanol exposure, and kept continuous elevated over 18 h. In addition, we found that ethanol exposure to hepatocytes markedly increased HO-1 enzyme activity in a time-dependent manner measured as bilirubin and Fe2+ formation in human hepatocytes. Our results clearly showed that ethanol exposure caused a significant increase of LDH, AST, and MDA levels, while the antioxidant GSH was time-dependently reduced. Furthermore, we demonstrated that pre-administration of cobalt protoporphyrin (CoPP) induced HO-1 in human hepatocytes, and prevented an increase of MDA and a decrease of GSH. These effects could be partially reversed by zinc protoporphyrin (ZnPP), an antagonist of HO-1 induction. CONCLUSION: HO-1 expression in cells or organs could lead to new strategies for better prevention and treatment of ethanol-induced oxidative damage in human liver.

Aspartate Aminotransferases↗

PubMed2004

[The adverse reactions and treatment of fundus fluorescein angiography].

PURPOSE: To investigate the safety of fluorescein angiography and to evaluate the examination. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 8 344 patients who underwent fluorescein angiography in our hospital in the past four years. The rate of adverse events was calculated and the emergency management for severe cases was discussed. RESULTS: There were 693 cases (8.3%) of adverse events occurring in the patients. Many of them were mild or moderate ones, which were 664 cases in number and were 7.87% in rate. The other 29 cases (0.35%) were severe ones. No special treatment was needed for the mild or moderate adverse events, the symptoms can be relaxed by deep breathing or having a rest for a moment. The symptoms of the severe adverse events can be relieved through anti-hypersuscepibility treatments and no sequelae left. No case of death occurred. CONCLUSION: The adverse events could occur in fluorescein angiography examination. It suggests that we should pay attention to it and be aware of the system conditions of the patients. It is also important for us to grasp the indications and contraindications and to prepare for the emergent events. In summary, fluorescein angiography is generally a safe method for the examination of fundus disease.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

[Decreased chaperone activity of alpha-crystallin by carbamylation in vitro].

PURPOSE: To investigate the effort of carbamylation, an important post-translational modification of lens proteins, on chaperone activity of alpha-crystallin. METHODS: The alphaL-crystallin and betaL-crystallin were isolated from bovine lens. Carbamylation was performed by different concentrations of potassium [14C] cyanate to alphaL-crystallin at 37 degrees C for 7 days. The binding of cyanate to alphaL-crystallin was determined by measuring the radioactivity incorporated into trichloroacetic acid precipitable protein from potassium [14C] cyanate. In addition, alphaL-crystallin was incubated with unlabelled potassium cyanate (50 and 100 mmol.L(-1)) for 3 and 7 days at 37 degrees C and then its chaperone activity against heat-induced betaL-crystallin aggregation was assayed. Analysis of the carbamylated alphaL-crystallin was further performed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). RESULTS: The rate of binding (cyanate bound /mol of alphaL-crystallin) and the decreased chaperone activity of alphaL-crystallin induced by carbamylation in vitro were dose-dependent and time-dependent. The decreased chaperone activity corresponded with the higher binding of cyanate. After 7 days incubation with 100 mmol.L(-1), almost all chaperone activity was lost compared with a simultaneously incubation control sample. HPLC analysis revealed that aggregation of alphaL-crystallin by potassium cyanate has occurred after 3 days incubation in dose-dependent fashion. CONCLUSION: The alpha-crystallin can be modified in vitro by carbamylation through a high-molecular-weight aggregates formation. The loss of its chaperone activity may result from carbamylation-induced aggregation.

Acylation↗

PubMed2004

Gray characteristic analysis of microtubules in cardiac myocytes.

OBJECTIVE: To quantify the images of the microtubules in fetal rat cardiac myocytes under simulated microgravity by utilizing the characteristic parameters of image gray, and to study their morphological change. METHOD: Gray characteristic of the microtubules in fetal rat cardiac myocytes was quantified in both simulated microgravity and control conditions by variance, skewness, and kurtosis. RESULT: From feature analysis of 24 images, the characteristic parameters selected here were proved to be effective. Good result was obtained when discrimination between simulated microgravity group and control group was made by multivariate analysis with these parameters. The total false verdict rate even reached 16.7% when using multivariate analysis with these parameters. CONCLUSION: The morphology of the microtubules in cardiac myocytes cytoskeleton became diffused under simulated microgravity, and the quantitative analysis of gray parameters (variance, skewness, kurtosis) described the variation satisfactorily.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

Ruthenacarboranes from the reaction of nido-1,2-(CpRuH)2B3H7 with HC [triple bond] CCO2Me, Cp = eta5-C5Me5. Hydrometalation, alkyne incorporation, and functional group modification via cooperative metal-boron interactions within a metallaborane cluster framework.

Reaction of nido-1,2-(Cp*RuH)2B3H7, 1, and methyl acetylene monocarboxylate under kinetic control generates nido-1,2-(Cp*Ru)2(mu-C[[CO2Me]Me])B3H7 (a pair of geometric isomers, 3 and 5) and nido-1,2-(Cp*Ru)2(1,3-mu-C[[CH2CO2Me]H])B3H7, 4, which display the first examples of exo-cluster mu-alkylidene Ru-B bridges generated by hydrometalation of an alkyne on the cluster framework. Both 3 and 5, but not 4, rearrange into arachno-2,8-mu(C)-5-eta1(O)-Me[CO2Me]C-1,2-(Cp*Ru)2B3H7, 2, in which an unprecedented intramolecular coordination of the carbonyl oxygen atom of the alkyne substituent to a boron framework site opens the ruthenaborane skeleton. Compound 2, in turn, is an intermediate in the formation of the ruthenacarborane nido-1,2-(Cp*Ru)2-3-OH-4-OMe-5-Me-4,5-C2B2H5, 12, in which the carbonyl-oxygen double bond has been cleaved as its oxygen atom inserts into a B-H bond and the carbonyl carbon inserts into the metallaborane framework. In a parallel reaction pathway, nido-1,2-(Cp*Ru)2-5-CO2Me-4,5-C2B2H7, 6, nido-1,2-(Cp*Ru)2-4-B(OH)2-5-CO2Me-4,5-C2B2H6, 16, and nido-1,2-(Cp*Ru)2(mu-H)(mu-BH2)-3-(CH2)2CO2Me-CO2Me-4,5-C2B2H4 (a pair of geometric isomers, 7 and 14, which contain an unusual Ru-B borane bridge) are formed. On heating, 7 rearranges to yield nido-1,2-(Cp*Ru)2-3-(CH2)2CO2Me-4-BH2-5-CO2Me-4,5-C2B2H5, 13, whereas 14 converts to nido-1,2-(Cp*Ru)2-3-(CH2)2CO2Me-4-CO2Me-4,5-C2B2H6, 8. Under thermodynamic control, nido-1,2-(Cp*Ru)2-4,5-B[(CH2)2CO2Me]CO(MeO)[C(CH2)CO2Me]-4,5-C2B2H6, 11, is the major product accompanied by lesser amounts of 6 and 1,2-(Cp*Ru)2-4-OMe-5-Me-4,5-C2B2H6, 10. Compound 11 features a five-membered heterocycle containing a boron atom. The structure of 7, which is an intermediate in the formation of 11, provides the basis for an explanation of this complex condensation of three alkynes. A previously unrecognized role for an exo-cluster bridging borene generated from the metallaborane skeleton by addition of the alkyne is also a feature of this chemistry. Reinsertion or loss of this boron fragment accounts for much of the chemistry observed. NMR experiments reveal labile intermediates, and one has been sufficiently characterized to provide mechanistic insight on the early stages of the alkyne-metallaborane addition reaction. All isolated compounds have been spectroscopically characterized, and most have been structurally characterized in the solid state.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2003

Gamma III-crystallin is the primary target of glycation in the bovine lens incubated under physiological conditions.

Several mechanisms have been proposed for the way in which glucose and its metabolites cause cataract, retinopathy and other complications of diabetes, the most convincing being glycation. Glycation, the reaction of sugars with free amino groups of proteins, is one of a variety of non-enzymic post-translational modifications. The aim of the present study was to identify some of the most reactive proteins in the lens when incubated under physiological conditions. Fresh intact bovine lenses were incubated with [14C]glucose in a conventional tissue-culture medium with added antibiotics. After 3 and 6 days of incubation, the water-soluble proteins were separated by size-exclusion chromatography. Glycated proteins from the water-soluble fractions were separated by using a sugar affinity column (Affi-Gel 601). Then the radioactive fractions were identified on SDS/polyacrylamide gels. In addition, the whole bovine lenses were incubated with 10 mM fructose and glucose for 3 and 6 days. The glycated proteins from the water-soluble fractions in parallel with the radioactive fractions were separated by affinity chromatography, and were identified further by amino-acid sequencing. A progressive uptake of radioactive label showed that the majority of proteins incorporating both glucose and fructose were water-soluble fractions. Chromatography and SDS/polyacrylamide gel results showed that alpha- and gamma-crystallin and some proteins of a mean molecular mass of 36-37 kDa incorporated sugars early during incubation. After 6 days of incubation, more crystallins were glycated compared with 3 days, in particular beta-crystallin. Affinity-chromatography results indicated that proteins with subunit masses of 36 kDa and 20 kDa were possibly radiolabelled at an early stage. The purified glycated proteins following incubation with both glucose and fructose, which corresponded to 20 kDa and 36 kDa bands on SDS/polyacrylamide gels, were sequenced by Edman degradation. N-terminal sequences of both 20 kDa bands were Gly-Lys-Ile-Thr, characteristic of gamma-crystallins, but the N-termini of both 36 kDa bands were blocked. Further sequencing after digestion of 36 kDa bands with trypsin and running on HPLC revealed that the glucose sample gave the peptide sequences as Gly-Glu-Tyr-Pro-Asp-Tyr-Gln-Gln and Tyr-Glu-Leu-Pro-Asn-Tyr-Arg, which match with bovine gammaIIIb-crystallin. The peptide sequence Tyr-Glu-Leu-Pro-Asn-Tyr-Arg is only present in the published sequence of bovine gammaIIIb-crystallin and not in any other type of gamma-crystallin. The fructose sample gave the peptide sequences Ile-Thr-Phe-Tyr-Glu-Asp-Arg, Arg-Gly-Asp-Tyr-Pro-Asp-Tyr-Gln-Gln-Trp, Gln-Tyr-Leu-Leu-Arg and Val-Val-Asp-Leu-Tyr, which all matched with bovine gammaIIIa-crystallin. The sequence Val-Val-Asp-Leu-Tyr only appears in the sequence of bovine gammaIIIa-crystallin. gammaIII-Crystallin is the most susceptible lens protein to glycation. The primary target of glucose is gammaIIIb-crystallin, whereas that of fructose is gammaIIIa-crystallin. The early glycation of gammaIII-crystallin by glucose and fructose could result in structural alterations, leading to aggregation of crystallin and eventually cataract formation.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed2003

Classification of short human exons and introns based on statistical features.

The classification of human gene sequences into exons and introns is a difficult problem in DNA sequence analysis. In this paper, we define a set of features, called the simple Z (SZ) features, which is derived from the Z-curve features for the recognition of human exons and introns. The classification results show that SZ features, while fewer in numbers (three in total), can preserve the high recognition rate of the original nine Z-curve features. Since the size of SZ features is one-third of the Z-curve features, the dimensionality of the feature space is much smaller, and better recognition efficiency is achieved. If the stop codon feature is used together with the three SZ features, a recognition rate of up to 92% for short sequences of length <140 bp can be obtained.

Algorithms↗

PubMed2003

Amino acid substitutions in a long flexible sequence influence thermodynamics and internal dynamic properties of winged helix protein genesis and its DNA complex.

The hepatocyte nuclear factor (HNF)-3 homologous DNA binding domain is a highly conserved motif that contains a well-folded helix-turn-helix motif and two highly dynamic wings. Although the function and the properties of this motif have been intensively studied, the role of the internal wing (wing 1) is not well understood. In this study, amino acid substitutions were introduced into wing 1 of a conserved HNF-3 homologous protein, Genesis, and heteronuclear NMR, circular dichroism, DNA gel-shift assay, and fluorescent methods were employed to study and compare the properties of both wild-type and variant Genesis proteins. The data indicate that even though the substitutions are located on a dynamic wing outside the hydrophobic core sequences, they still globally influence biophysical properties of DNA-free Genesis and its DNA complex.

Amino Acid Substitution↗

PubMed2003

An adaptive spatial fuzzy clustering algorithm for 3-D MR image segmentation.

An adaptive spatial fuzzy c-means clustering algorithm is presented in this paper for the segmentation of three-dimensional (3-D) magnetic resonance (MR) images. The input images may be corrupted by noise and intensity nonuniformity (INU) artifact. The proposed algorithm takes into account the spatial continuity constraints by using a dissimilarity index that allows spatial interactions between image voxels. The local spatial continuity constraint reduces the noise effect and the classification ambiguity. The INU artifact is formulated as a multiplicative bias field affecting the true MR imaging signal. By modeling the log bias field as a stack of smoothing B-spline surfaces, with continuity enforced across slices, the computation of the 3-D bias field reduces to that of finding the B-spline coefficients, which can be obtained using a computationally efficient two-stage algorithm. The efficacy of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated by extensive segmentation experiments using both simulated and real MR images and by comparison with other published algorithms.

Algorithms↗

PubMed2003

The molecular chaperone, alpha-crystallin, protects against loss of antigenicity and activity of esterase caused by sugars, sugar phosphate and a steroid.

Previously we showed that glycation-induced inactivation and loss of antigenicity of enzymes occur simultaneously. Alpha-crystallin, a major structural protein of the mammalian lens, prevents the aggregation of other proteins and protects enzyme function against post-translational modification in vitro. However, it is not known whether alpha-crystallin can also protect against loss of antigenicity of enzymes. Esterase activity in the lens is decreased in senile cataract and diabetes. We investigated the loss of antigenicity of esterase caused by different insults and the ability of alpha-crystallin to protect. Inactivation of carboxylesterase by sugars, fructose 6-phosphate (F6P) and a steroid, prednisolone-21-hemisuccinate (P-21-H), was measured spectrophotometrically in the presence and absence of alpha-crystallin, while loss of antigenicity was monitored simultaneously using an immunoprecipitation method. The esterase was progressively inactivated by fructose, F6P, ribose, and P-21-H. Bovine alpha-crystallin fully protected against inactivation of esterase by all four compounds, and also protected against loss of antigenicity of the esterase by fructose, ribose and P-21-H at a molar ratio of 1:1. The results indicated that alpha-crystallin, under our experimental conditions, clearly exhibited the ability to prevent loss of antigenicity and inactivation of esterase. The protective effect of alpha-crystallin against loss of antigenicity indicates a novel aspect of its chaperoning function.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

[Clinical study and electron microscope observation of tapeworm scolices on 548 cases of taeniasis treated with Binlang Chengqi Decoction].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect and mechanism of Chinese herbs in the treatment of taeniasis. METHODS: Five hundred and forty-eight cases of taeniasis were treated with Binlang Chengqi Decoction (BLCQD). The tapeworm scolices of ten cases were observed by electron microscope (EM). RESULTS: Among the 548 cases, 521 cases were cured and 27 cases were improved. The total effective rate was 100%. Foam-like secretion in the sucker of the tapeworm scolices and erosion of the epithelium in the cervical part were observed by scanning electron microscope. Observed by transmission electron microscope, the cortex was seriously damaged. The microvilli were exfoliated. The cells in the muscle layer and parenchyma layer were injured in various degrees. The mitochondria were tumefied or caved. And the nerve cord was damaged. CONCLUSION: BLCQD can not only paralyze the tapeworm scolex, but also injury the cells of the tapeworm scolex.

Adolescent↗