Forsch Komplementmed. 2009 Aug; 16(4): 251-5Déglon-Fischer A, Barth J, Ausfeld-Hafter BOBJECTIVE: This study investigated the current supply of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in Swiss primary care. Information was collected on physicians' qualifications in CAM, frequency of patients' demand for CAM, physicians' supply and temporal resources for CAM as well as physicians' referrals to CAM. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 750 (500 German-speaking and 250 French-speaking) randomly selected Swiss female and male primary care physicians were asked to complete a questionnaire (response rate 50.4%). Sociodemographic data on professional training, place of residence, and sex were used to calculate a weighting factor to correct the responders' data in the analysis accordingly. RESULTS: 14.2% of the physicians were qualified in at least one CAM discipline. Around 30% (95% confidence interval 25.4-34.6%) of the physicians were asked for CAM by their patients more than once a week. Homeopathy and phytotherapy were the most frequently offered therapies, followed by traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)/acupuncture. 62.5% (57.6-67.4%) of the physicians refer their patients to CAM. Most patients were referred to TCM/acupuncture. Of the 37.2% (32.6-42.4%) of the physicians who do not refer their patients to CAM, around 40% (35.1-44.9%) offer it themselves. CONCLUSION: About three quarters of the physicians offer CAM themselves or refer their patients to CAM treatments. CAM is very important in primary medical care in Switzerland. Clear regulations for CAM are required in order to ensure a high quality in care.

J Ethnopharmacol. 2009 Sep 4; Zhang R, Hu Y, Yuan J, Wu DPuerariae radix, as an edible plant, has been used for centuries in China to treat alcohol-related problems, including alcoholic liver disease (ALD). However, the mechanisms of Puerariae radix on the liver protective effect have not been fully explored. Because an increased intestinal permeability is a major factor for ALD, the present study investigates whether Puerariae radix extract (PRE) inhibits ALD through prevention of alterations in intestinal permeability. Here, we used an animal model of chronic alcohol-induced liver injury that is associated with increased intestinal permeability. Male Wistar rats were given increasing alcohol doses from 2g/kg/d to 8g/kg/d and alcohol plus PRE via intragastric feeding for 10 weeks. Chronic alcohol exposure caused an elevation in serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) as well as aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels and a decrease in superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, and hepatic damages including steatosis, inflammation, and necrosis, determined by serum enzymatic analysis and morphological analysis, respectively. The damage to small intestine induced by chronic alcohol treatment was examined by intestinal histological, immunohistochemical analysis, and permeability assays. Alcohol-induced hepatic pathological changes, elevations in ALT and AST, and a decrease in SOD activity were significantly inhibited in PRE treated animals. The inhibitory effect of PRE on alcohol-induced liver injury was associated with suppression of alcohol-induced the increase of intestinal permeability. The results showed that this beneficial effect of PRE on ALD could be partly explained by improving intestinal barrier dysfunction induced by alcohol.

J Med Biogr. 2009 Aug; 17(3): 144-8Breathnach CSJonathan Osborne was born in Dublin and educated in Trinity College Dublin, where he became Professor of Materia Medica. As physician to Sir Patrick Dun's and Mercer Hospitals he reported extensively on those patients who came under his care. In his native city he is remembered for the instruments he devised, for his studies on dropsies (particularly albuminuric nephritis), and for his therapeutic approach to epilepsy and neuralgia. It is his thorough analysis of a patient with conduction aphasia in 1833, however, which has stood the test of time.

J Org Chem. 2009 Aug 7; 74(15): 5656-9Ding X, Ye D, Liu F, Deng G, Liu G, Luo X, Jiang H, Liu HWe described a synthesis method by first using chlorotrimethylsilane as the activator to brominate the Ni(II) complex of the beta-alanine Schiff's base [beta-AlaNi(II)PABA] 1 and developed it to prepare beta-amino acids 5. The procedure involves a Suzuki coupling reaction between boric acids and the bromoenone 2, followed by hydrogenation and hydrolysis. This is the first report of the application of the Ni (II) complex [beta-AlaNi(II)PABA], which represents an attractive route to afford alpha-aryl-/heteroaryl-substituted beta-amino acids.

Forsch Komplementmed. 2009 Aug; 16(4): 256-61Milgrom LRThough homeopathy has been in successful and continuous use for well over 200 years, in the United Kingdom it is under growing pressure, from scientific detractors and sections of the media. As such, homeopathy's free National Health Service provision is threatened because it is derided as 'unproven', 'unscientific', and even 'deadly'. While refuting these and other detractions, this paper considers possible reasons for the current plight of homeopathy UK. Thus, the current attacks against homeopathy should be viewed more in the context of the globalised pharmaceutical industry which is itself in crisis, and a succession of UK governments seemingly supine in the face of legislation originating from the European Union.

Biomacromolecules. 2009 Aug 10; 10(8): 2175-82Gao Y, Zhang Z, Chen L, Gu W, Li YThe selective introduction of a trimethylammonium cationic group into the C-6 position of chitosan (Cs) was successfully performed by "click chemistry" for the first time, and the 6-N,N,N-trimethyltriazole-Cs (TCs) showed good solubility in water. TCs showed strong DNA binding ability and high protection of DNA against nuclease degradation assessed by gel electrophoresis assay. TCNs showed lower degree of flocculation than Cs/DNA self-assembled nanoparticles (CsNs) in the presence of medium containing serum within 60 min. The introduction of trimethyltriazole group led to significantly increased cellular uptake compared with unmodified Cs, which resulted in higher transfection efficiency in HEK 293 and MDA-MB-468 cells. TCs were noncytotoxic, and viability of cells exposure to TCNs for 24 h was over 80% even at 50 microg/mL of polymer. These results suggested that TCs could be an efficient and safe material for gene delivery.

Biol Pharm Bull. 2009 Sep; 32(9): 1533-7Sun X, Zhang X, Hu H, Lu Y, Chen J, Yasuda K, Wang HProliferation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) is central for the development of fibrosis during liver injury. Our aim in this study was to determine whether berberine could inhibit HSC proliferation in vitro and prevent experimental liver fibrosis in vivo. Activated rat hepatic stellate cells (CFSCs) were incubated with various concentrations (0-20 microg/ml) of berberine. After 48 h incubation, berberine significantly inhibited CFSC proliferation and induced cell cycle arrest in G1 phase. Real-time and Western blotting revealed that both p21 and p27 expression was markedly reduced by berberine. Berberine also decreased Akt phosphorylation and FoxO1 phosphorylation, which led to FoxO1 nuclear translocation. Berberine effectively prevented CCl(4)-induced liver fibrosis in mice, which was accompanied by a decrease in the number of activated HSCs. Thus, berberine was able to prevent liver fibrosis by inhibition of hepatic stellate cell proliferation.

Acta Pharmacol Sin. 2009 Sep; 30(9): 1359-68Zhou YB, Feng X, Wang LN, Du JQ, Zhou YY, Yu HP, Zang Y, Li JY, Li JAIM: To discover novel cell division cycle 25 (CDC25) B inhibitors and elucidate the mechanisms of inhibition in cancer cells. METHODS: Cell growth inhibition was detected by MTT assay, the cell cycle was analyzed by flow cytometry, and protein expression and phosphorylation was examined by Western blot analysis. RESULTS: LGH00031 inhibited CDC25B irreversibly in vitro in a dose-dependent manner, and impaired the proliferation of tumor cell lines. In synchronized HeLa cells, LGH00031 delayed the cell cycle progression at the G(2)/M phase. LGH00031 increased cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (CDK1) tyrosine 15 phosphorylation and cyclin B1 protein level. The activity of LGH00031 against CDC25B in vitro relied on the existence of 1,4-dithiothreitol (DTT) or dihydrolipoic acid and oxygen. The oxygen free radical scavenger catalase and superoxide dismutase reduced the inactivation of CDC25 by LGH00031, confirming that reactive oxygen species (ROS) mediate the inactivation process in vitro. LGH00031 accelerated cellular ROS production in a dose-dependent manner, and N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) markedly decreased the ROS production induced by LGH00031. Correspondingly, the LGH00031-induced decrease in cell viability and cell cycle arrest, cyclin B1 protein level, and phosphorylation of CDK1 tyrosine 15 were also rescued by NAC that decreased ROS production. CONCLUSION: The activity of LGH00031 at the molecular and cellular level is mediated by ROS.

J Chromatogr B Analyt Technol Biomed Life Sci. 2009 Aug 21; Zhan Y, Chen X, Zhao X, Zhong DLeuprolide is a synthetic nonapeptide that has two basic amino acids, arginine and histidine, in its structure. By selection of an appropriate analytical column and optimizing the mobile phase composition, an improved analytical method has been developed and validated to determine leuprolide concentrations in human serum. After methanol-induced protein precipitation of serum samples and Oasis((R)) HLB cartridge solid-phase extraction, leuprolide and an internal standard (alarelin) were analyzed on a C(18) column interfaced with a triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer with positive electrospray ionization. The mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile-water-propionic acid (20:80:0.05). The analyte and internal standard were both detected in the selective reaction monitoring mode. The method exhibited a linear range of 0.018-45.2ng/mL for leuprolide. The intra- and inter-assay precisions were 11.5% or less relative standard deviation (R.S.D.), and accuracy was within +/-2.8% relative error (RE). The lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) was identifiable and reproducible at 0.018ng/mL, with acceptable precision and accuracy. The validated LC-MS/MS method was tested to a clinical pharmacokinetic study of leuprolide after a single subcutaneous injection of 1mg leuprolide acetate in healthy male Chinese volunteers.

J Phys Chem A. 2009 Aug 27; Wang J, Gu J, Leszczynski JConjugated polymers (CPs) contain one pi-conjugated backbone and functional groups that could be ionized in high dielectric media. These materials combine the semiconducting and photon harvesting properties of electronically delocalized polymers with the charge-mediated behavior of polyelectrolytes. CPs can be used as highly responsive optical sensors for chemical and biological targets. The density functional theory (DFT) and the time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) approach were employed to simulate the absorption and emission spectra of poly[9,9'-bis(6''-N,N,N-trimethylammonium)hexyl]fluorene-co-alt-4,7-(2,1,3-benzothiadiazole) dibromide] (PFBT) in the present study. The influences on the spectra of the monomer unit F(BT)F due to stacking with the fluorene (F) and 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole (BT) units have been explored. The results suggest that stacking lowers the excitation and emission energy, facilitating detections of the polymers.