Effect of Gardenia extract ZG on the adsorption quantity of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1)

To observe the effect of Gardenia extract ZG on the adsorption quantity of herpes simplex virus type 1 （HSV-1） so as to explore the mechanism of its antiviral activity, fluorescein isothiocyanate （FITC） was used as the fluorescent probe to label viruses and heparin sodium was used as control. Meanwhile, the effect of Gardenia extract ZG on the adsorption quantity on the surface of Hep-2 cells was determined by flow cytometry. It was demonstrated that adsorption of HSV-1 on the surface of Hep-2 cells exhibited the character of saturation and specificity and heparin sodium could prevent attachment of viruses on these ceils. These results are in accord with those reported previously. It was also proved that the manner of drug-use prior to adsorption or simultaneous use of drug and adsorption was better than adsorption prior to drug-use, and the inhibition rates of the former and latter manner were 84.76% and 82.92% respectively. Three manners of drug-use with Gardenia extract ZG were all effective to reduce the adsorption quantity of viruses, especially the manner of simultaneous use of drug and adsorption with an adsorption inhibition rate of 68.46%. From the above observation, it is apparent that the mechanism of anti-viral activity of Gardenia extract ZG may be via several steps involved in the HSV-1 adsorption.

Effect of electroacupuncture on hepatic blood flow and lipid peroxidation in rats with sepsis

Objective To investigate protective effects of electroacupuncture on injury of lipid peroxidation-induced by liver ischemia in rats with sepsis.Methods Forty-eight male SD rats were subjected to sepsis by cecal ligation and puncture （CLP）,and were randomly divided into a sham operation group （group A）,a CLP model group （group B）,a CLP model plus electroacupuncture （EA） at Zúsānlǐ （足三里 ST 36） group （group C）,a CLP model plus electroacupuncture at a sham acupoint group （group D）,a CLP model with vagotomy group （group E） and a CLP model plus electroacupuncture group after vagotomy （group F）,with 8 rats in each group.CLP was performed after abdominal vagotomy in group E and group F.EA （2 mA,2/100 Hz） was applied at bilateral ＂Zúsānlǐ＂ （足三里 ST 36） in group C and group F,and at sham acupoints in group D,respectively,for 1 hour.The hepatic blood flow （HBF） was detected by a laser-doppler flowmetry at 6 hours after CLP.The activity of plasma alanine transarninase （ALT） was determined;contents of hepatic malondialdehyde （MDA）,activity of xanthine oxidase （XOD） and the rate of water content in the hepati tissue were assessed,respectively.Results Hepatic blood flow was （56.97±11.95） U in group C,which was significantly lower than （80.12± 19.57） U shown in group A,but higher than （42.61±10.97） U in group B,（44.53±9.23） U in group D,（30.05 ±4.46） U in group E and （30.46±6.38） U in group F （all P0.05） at 6 hours after CLP.Meanwhile,the levels of MDA,XOD,ALT and hepatic water content in group C were all significantly higher than those in group A,but lower than those in the other four groups （all P0.05）.The levels of MDA,XOD,ALT and hepatic water content in group E and group F were all significantly higher than those in group D （all P0.05）,while their hepatic blood flow were lower than that in group D （both P0.05）,and no significant differences were found in all the indices mentioned above between group E and group F （all P0.05）.Conclusion Electroacupuncture at ＂Zúsānlǐ＂ （足三里 ST 36） can improve hepatic ischemia,inhibit lipid peroxidation and alleviate hepatic edema and dysfunction in septic rats,which might be related with the completeness of vagus nerves.