[A Japanese classic book on materia medica Ben Cao Quan]

Ben Cao Quan is an ancient classic book on materia medica compiled by Goku Yoshida, a Japanese scholar in the Edo period (1603-1867). A total of 568 materia medica in 53 categories in Ben Cao Quan came from Ben Cao Gang Mu compiled by Li Shizhen in the Ming Dynasty. These materia medica were introduced with some of his own interpretations of Goku Yoshida. The main characteristics of Ben Cao Quan reflected as follows. It attached importance to the comparison of translation from Chinese into Japanese and selected those materia medica commonly used in Japan, in particular, from 'spicific explanation' (Ji Jie) and 'smell' (Qi Wei) in Ben Cao Gang Mu.It focused on application and integrated local practice, and interpreted the personal insights of Goku Yoshida.Goku Yoshida's personal understanding and perception of these material medica were shown in terms of their origin and quality, analysis of their properties and collection, interpretation of their identification and selection, their local names, their Japanese names, and review of the changes when these materia medica were introduced into Japan.The purpose of Ban Cao Quan was to attempt to help Japanese identify materia medica and distinguish quality and interpret materia medica with Japanese characteristics. The book is valuable literature for the research of the impact of Ben Cao Gang Mu on the development of materia medica in Japan.

[The illustrations in the works of traditional Chinese medicine in the period of the Republic of China: indicating the integrated thinking of Chinese and western medicine]

Some works of traditional Chinese medicine in the period of the Republic of China were influenced by the integrated thinking of Chinese and Western medicine to some extent. This was reflected in the illustrations in the works of the time. A total of 1,932 illustrations or diagrams found in sixteen institution's book collections in China illustrated the integration of medical thinking. The illustrations and diagrams were classified into eleven categories. The categories were theoretical illustration, medical charts, viscera diagrams, disease diagrams, acupoint diagrams, apparatus diagrams, human body diagrams, fetal birth charts, drug diagrams, figure pictures, and experimental diagrams. It was found that these illustrations or diagrams had their own characteristics at the time and greatly influenced anatomy. However, the author has argued that most of the influence was on the surface.

Development of microsatellite loci for Taxus wallichiana var. wallichiana (Taxaceae) and cross-amplification in Taxaceae

Nine polymorphic microsatellite loci were isolated and characterized in Taxus wallichiana var. wallichiana, an endangered species in China. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 2 to 20. Observed and expected heterozygosities varied from 0.0260 to 0.5325 and 0.3603 to 0.9231, respectively. Positive cross-amplification of the 9 loci was observed in 2 other varieties of T. wallichiana and 4 other Taxaceae species. These loci will be of value for studying population genetic structures and for genetic resource conservation in T. wallichiana and other Taxus species.

Expression ofCDV-1RGene in Mouse Epididymis as Revealed byin SituHybridization

We have previously studied mouse Cdv (carnitine deficiency-associated gene expressed in ventricle)-1 related gene Cdv-1IR and its human counterpart CDV-1R, and revealed that mouse Cdv-1R was predominantly expressed in testis by multiple tissue northern analysis. To further localize the Cdv-1R mRNA in mouse testis and epididymis tissue, in situ hybridization study was reported in this article. In the adult mice, the Cdv-1R expression was intensively found in the epithelial cells of the caput and corpus epididymis, whereas it was moderately detected in the initial segment, and weakly in the cauda epididymis. In the seminiferous tubles of the testis, no obvious hybridization signals were observed above the background level. This Cdv-1R region-specific expression pattern in the epididimis suggests Cdv-1R may play an important role in sperm maturation. Moreover, considering the Cdv-1R has a similar expression distribution in epididymis to the OCTN2, it would appear that Cdv-1R might be involved in the carnitine pathway in the epididimis.

Expression of estrogen receptor (ER) -alpha and -beta transcripts in the neonatal and adult rat cerebral cortex, cerebellum, and olfactory bulb

In the present study expression of estrogen receptor subtype -alpha (ERalpha) and -beta (ERbeta) in the cerebral cortex, cerebellum, and olfactory bulb was investigated and compared between neonatal (1 to approximately 3-days-old) and adult (250 to approximately 350 g) rats, using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). No ERalpha transcripts were detectable in the adult cerebellum and olfactory bulb, whereas very weak expression of ERalpha was present in the adult cerebral cortex. No significant difference in ERbeta transcripts was detectable between the neonatal and adult rats. While transcripts for both ER subtypes were co-expressed in these brain areas of neonatal rats, although ERalpha expression was significantly weaker than ERbeta. Even in the cerebral cortex known to contain both ER subtypes in adult rats, ERalpha transcripts in neonatal rats were much higher than in adult. These observations provide evidence for the existence of different expression patterns of ERalpha/ERbeta transcripts in these three brain areas between the neonatal and adult rats, suggesting that each ER subtype may play a distinct role in the regulation of differentiation, development, and functions of the brain by estrogen.

[Clinical and experimental study for allergic rhinitis with treatment of biminkang mixture]

OBJECTIVE

To observe the efficacy of Biminkang in treating allergic rhinitis.

METHODS

One hundred and sixty-four cases of allergic rhinitis were treated with the Chinese medicine Biminkang mixture mainly consisted of the Kazak folk herb Artemisia rupestis L. and in 52 cases of allergic rhinitis were treated as the control with the patent medicine Biyankang.

RESULTS

The total effective rates in both groups are 93.9% and 69.2% respectively. After stopping the medications, the recurrence rates were 46.8% and 87.1%. Biminkang was better than Biyankang in short or long term of effectiveness (P < 0.01). Pharmacological study demonstrated Biminkang played a significant role of resisting histamine, inhibiting allergic reaction I and stabilizing cell membrane of mastocyte.

CONCLUSION

Biminkang mixture is an effective drug in treating allergic rhinitis.