Comparative Study on Effects of Arnebia Euchroma (Royle) Johnst Granular and Decoction Forms on Medical AbortionwithMifepristone andMisoprostol

Objective To compare the effects of 2 dosage-forms (granular and decoction) of Arnebia euchroma (royle) Johnst (Arnebia EJ in short below) on medical abortion with that of mifepristone combined with misoprostol Methods Totally 648 women, who had pregnancy of 38-45 d and were willing to terminate pregnancy with mifepristone and misoprostol, were randomly divided into 3 groups, each of which was respectively given granular of Arnebia EJ, placebo granular, or decoction of Arnebia EJ besides mifepristone and misoprostol. The abortion results, bleeding duration, menstruation recovery and side-effects were observed. Results Neither complete abortion rates nor average bleeding durations of the granular group and the decoction group were significantly different (P>0.05). The complete abortion rate and bleeding duration of the two groups were respectively higher and shorter than those of the placebo group (P<0.05). However, the menstruation recov- ery was not significantly different among the three groups (P>0.05). The decoction of Arnebia EJ caused significantly more nausea and vomiting than the other groups (P<0.05). Conclusion The granular form did not have the odor of Arnebia EJ, and caused much less nausea and vomiting compared with the decoction form. The granular and decoc- tion forms were equally effective in improving the results of medical abortion. There- fore it is necessary to conduct further studies on the granular form of Arnebia EJ.

Isolation of Nanjing Local Strains of HHV-7 and Their Biological and Immunological Characteristics

To investigate the biological and immunological characteristics of the Nanjing local strains of HHV-7,four strains of herpesvirus were isolated from saliva specimens of one healthy individual and three children suffering from a kidney disease in Nanjing.The viruses were identified by transmission electron microscopy (EM),indirect immunofluorescence assay(IFA) with a specific monoclonal antibody;nested polymerase chain reaction,restriction mapping and DNA sequencing.The virus-infected cells showed the typical cytophathic effect(CPE) under microscopy and could be detected by IFA with the human herpesvirus-7(HHV-7) specific antibody.Under EM,herpesvirus-like and virions capsids could be found in their cytoplasm or nucleoplasm. HHV-7 DNA fragments amplified from infected cells by nested PCR were confirmed by restriction mapping and DNA sequencing.Similarly to DC strain,an known HHV-7 strain used in the present study as the positive control,the virus could be inactivated by ultraviolet irradiation for 10 min,heated at 45℃ for 30 min,pH<5 or>9 at 4℃ for 2 h and ether or chloroform for 10 h.The virus induced the production of TNF-α,IL-10 and IL-12p70 while inhibited IFN-γ secretion,increased the percentage of CD2^+ cells while decreased that of CD4^+ or CD45RA^+ cells.The results indicate that the viruses isolated in Nanjing are HHV-7,which has similar biological characteristic to the known HHV-7 strain,DC.Infection with HHV-7 in vitro could affect immune function of lymphocytes by disturbing cytokine production and CD antigen expression.Cellular & Molecular Immunology.2004;1(5):367-372.