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Chinese herbal medicine has been used for thousands of years in China and other Asian countries to treat a variety of inflammatory diseases. The classic Chinese herbal formula, Huo Luo Xiao Ling Dan (活络效灵丹, HLXL) is commonly used in traditional Chinese herbal medicine for the treatment of joint pain and other symptoms of arthritis. The present study is an investigation of the effects of a modified HLXL extract on persistent hyperalgesia and edema in rats with peripheral inflammation. Inflammation was induced by injecting complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) into one hind paw. Four dosages of the extract were compared to a vehicle control. Each was administered intragastrally (i.g.) daily for seven days beginning one day before CFA. Hyperalgesia was assessed using a paw withdrawal latency (PWL) test and edema was determined by measuring paw thickness at pre-CFA and 2 hours, 24 hours, and 5 days post-CFA. Immunohistochemistry was performed 2 hours post-CFA to determine spinal Fos protein expression. Adverse effects of the extract were monitored by observing the animals closely for unusual behavioral changes. Compared to the control, HLXL at the two lower dosages (0.575 g/kg and 1.15 g/kg) were effective in the later stage (day 5) of inflammatory hyperalgesia and edema, while the two higher dosages (2.3 g/kg and 4.6 g/kg) alleviated early stage hind paw inflammation and hyperalgesia and facilitated recovery from paw edema and hyperalgesia during the late stage. HLXL at 2.30 g/kg significantly suppressed Fos expression in laminae I–II, III–IV and V–VI ipsilaterally and in III-IV contralaterally. No significant signs of toxicity or adverse effects were observed. The data suggest that HLXL dosage-dependently attenuates CFA-induced inflammation and hyperalgesia, at least in part by inhibiting noxious transmission at the dorsal horn of the spinal cord.

Objective: The present study was designed to investigate the effects of platelet rich plasma (PRP) and autograft-human PRP on bone healing in a rat model. Methods: A critical sized defect at least twice as long as the diameter of the diaphysis was made in 16 rats to create a non-union model. The defect was either supplied with hPRP, or autograft-hPRP (experimental groups) and autograft (positive control) or left empty (negative control). Radiographs of each forelimb was taken postoperatively on the 1st day and then at the 35th, and 56th days post-injury to evaluate bone formation, union and remodeling of the defect. The operated radiuses were removed on 56th post-operative day and were evaluated biomechanically, histopathologically and ultrastructurally by scanning electron microscopy. Results: There was significant difference ($p<$0.05) between the groups in union and cancellous bone so that the autograft, autograft-hPRP and hPRP groups were significantly ($p<$0.05) superior to the empty group and in cortical bone formation the autograft-PRP group was significantly ($p<$0.05) superior to the other three groups but there was no significant difference ($p>$0.05) between the groups in cortical bone marrow. Biomechanical evaluation did not show any significant differences. There was no significant difference ($p>$0.05) between the groups in radiological parameters at 35th and 56th post-operative days. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that autograft-hPRP is most effective and could promote bone regeneration in the critical sized defects in rat model.

The motion of the skeletal estimated from skin attached marker-based motion capture(MOCAP) systems is known to be affected by significant bias caused by anatomical landmarks mislocation but especially by soft tissue artifacts (such as skin deformation and sliding, inertial effects and muscle contraction). As a consequence, the error associated with this bias can propagate to joint kinematics and kinetics data, particularly in small rodents. The purpose of this study was to perform a segmental kinematic analysis of the rat hindlimb during locomotion, using both global optimization as well as segmental optimization methods. Eight rats were evaluated for natural overground walking and motion of the right hindlimb was captured with an optoeletronic system while the animals walked in the track. Three-dimensional (3D) biomechanical analyses were carried out and hip, knee and ankle joint angular displacements and velocities were calculated. Comparison between both methods demonstrated that the magnitude of the kinematic error due to skin movement increases in the segmental optimization when compared with the global optimization method. The kinematic results assessed with the global optimization method matches more closely to the joint angles and ranges of motion calculated from bone-derived kinematics, being the knee and hip joints with more significant differences.

Objective: To evaluate the hyperglycemic effects of Kursi Ziyabet (KZ) tablets on the rat models of diabetes mellitus.

Methods: In total, 58 male SD rats were assigned randomly to six groups. All except the normal group were transformed into experimental diabetes mellitus rat models by injecting streptozocin. The hyperglycemic effect and the mechanism of Ziyabet were evaluated by body weight, food and water intake, fasting blood sugar, and related parameters by measuring the oxidative stress-related factors and lipid metabolism indicator level by the corresponding kits using the rat experimental models.

Results: Compared with the model group, body weight markedly increased after 3–6 weeks of intragastric administration of Ziyabet tablets ($p<0.01$), while the water intake significantly decreased in the same period of time ($p<0.05$). Food intake and fasting blood sugar level also decreased with the high dosage of Ziyabet tablets ($p<0.05$). There is no significant difference in pancreas’ MDA content of the Ziyabet groups when compared to the model group ($p>0.05$), while significant increase in SOD level was observed in high-dosage KZ group ($p<0.05$). The blood serum insulin and free fatty acid level also decreased in the high-dosage KZ group compared with the model group ($p<0.05$).

Conclusion: We conclude that Ziyabet tablets demonstrated protective effects on the diabetic rat models.