ABSTRACT
Tong （dredging） method in traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） emphasizes soothing the stagnated Qi， blood， and body fluid in zang-fu organs， meridians， and collaterals to remove pathogens， reinforce vital Qi， and balance Yin and Yang of the human body. Tong method can be adopted to disperse sweat pore， attack pathogenic Qi， harmonize Yin and Yang， as well as tonify deficiency， and resolve stagnation. It has been proved effective in treating coronary heart disease （CHD）， which falls into the category of "chest impediment and heart pain" in TCM， with the key pathogenesis lying in blood vessel obstruction. Therefore， dredging blood vessels is the primary therapeutic principle for CHD. Specifically， there are four aspects. The first is dispersing and dredging the sweat pore of the heart. If the sweat pore is occluded by pathogenic cold， which makes Yang-qi undissipated， Cinnamomi Ramulus， Piperis Longi Fructus， Alpiniae Officinarum Rhizoma， and Asari Radix et Rhizoma can be prescribed for warming and dredging heart Yang. If the Yang-qi of the heart and chest stagnated in the body， which hinders Qi and blood to nourish the myocardium， resulting in chest pain， Poria and Alismatis Rhizoma can be prescribed. For CHD due to atherosclerosis and inflammation， heat-clearing， toxin-removing， and inflammation-resisting Chinese medicinal herbs such as Coptidis Rhizoma and Rhei Radix et Rhizoma are recommended. The second is attacking and dredging the collaterals of the heart. Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma， Chuanxiong Rhizoma， Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma， etc. can be prescribed for blood stasis， Trichosanthis Fructus， Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus， Pinelliae Rhizoma， etc. for phlegm， and Aquilariae Lignum Resinatum， Euodiae Fructus， etc. for pathogenic cold. Since the chronic disease can affect collaterals， Moschus and Santali Albi Lignum can be added to promote blood circulation and remove the obstruction of collaterals of the heart. The third is harmonizing and dredging the mind. Cinnamomi Ramulus， Coptidis Rhizoma， Cinnamomi Cortex， etc. are selected for restoring the coordination between the heart and the kidney. According to the specific syndrome， the methods of nourishing the mind and calming the nerves through tranquilizing the mind， calming down the mind， and inducing resuscitation can be selected using such Chinese medicines as Ziziphi Spinosae Semen， Polygalae Radix， and Draconis Ossa. The fourth is tonifying and dredging the Qi and blood of the heart. The deficiency syndrome of CHD is divided into Qi deficiency and kidney deficiency. Invigorating Qi and strengthening the heart are the first essentials for the treatment of CHD. In Qi invigoration， Qi and blood must be strengthened simultaneously to strengthen the heart and clear the pulse. Hence， Bazhentang modified by Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma and Carthami Flos can be chosen. In kidney Qi tonifying， kidney and heart must be strengthened simultaneously， and the methods of tonifying kidney and activating blood can be used. Ginseng Radix et Rhizoma and Astragali Radix are considered as the first choice for tonifying heart Qi， and Epimedii Folium and Morindae Officinalis Radix for tonifying kidney Qi， which are added with Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma and Rehmanniae Radix Praeparata to obtain the kidney-tonifying and blood-activating prescription. It is suitable for treating CHD due to kidney deficiency and blood stasis. Simultaneous treatment of heart and kidney is more suitable for middle-aged and elderly patients and chronically ill patients. Tong method can be used in various clinical diseases as well as CHD.
ABSTRACT
Ischemic heart disease has became the world's most common deadly disease, and coronary heart disease(CHD) is the most common type of ischemic heart disease. The pathological mechanism of CHD has not been fully elucidated. In recent years, scientific studies have found that gut micro-biota are closely related to the occurrence and development of CHD, and CHD could be intervened by regulating gut micro-biota because of the correlation between CHD and intermediate metabolite of gut micro-biota. Current intervention strategies mainly include probiotics supplementation, reduction of TMAO and increase of SCFAs, which can achieve the effect of stabilizing plaques, and controlling blood pressure, blood lipids, blood glucose and obesity. Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) has the multi-component and multi-target effects, which is correlated to its role in the prevention and treatment of CHD. This paper summarizes the domestic and foreign researches on the effect of TCM in attenuating CHD and its main risk factors by regulating gut micro-biota. The article aims to explore the correlation between gut micro-biota and CHD, and propose three main intervention strategies. Furthermore, the research progress of TCM on CHD, hypertension, dyslipidemia, hyperglycemia and obesity is reviewed by the categories of Chinese medicine monomer and compound, in the hope to provide more theoretical basis for TCM therapy on CHD and guidance for further studies in this field.
Subject(s)
Humans , Coronary Disease/therapy , Gastrointestinal Microbiome , Medicine, Chinese Traditional , Risk FactorsABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE@#To explore whether Panax notoginseng saponins (PNS) exhibits heart protective effect in myocardial infarction (MI) rats and to identify the potential signaling pathways involved.@*METHODS@#MI rats induced by ligating the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery were assigned to sham coronary artery ligation or coronary artery ligation. Totally 36 Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into sham group (distilled water, n=9), MI group (distilled water, n=9), PNS group (PNS, 40 mg/kg daily, n=9) and fosinopril group (FIP, 1.2 mg/kg daily, n=9) according to a random number table. The left ventricular morphology and function were conducted by echocardiography. Histological alterations were evaluated by the stainings of HE and Masson. The serum levels of C reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) and the ratio of metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and tissue inhibitor of MMP-9 (TIMP-1) were determined by ELISA. The levels of activating transcription factor 3 (ATF3), mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 3 (MAP2K3), p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK), phosphorylation of p38 MAPK (p-p38 MAPK), transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β1), collagen I, nuclear factor kappa B p65 (NFκB p65), phosphorylation of NFκB p65 (p-NFκB p65), and phosphorylation of inhibitory kappa Bα (p-Iκ Bα) in hearts were measured by Western blot and immunohistochemical staining, respectively.@*RESULTS@#PNS improved cardiac function and fibrosis in MI rats (P<0.05). The serum levels of CRP, TNF-α, GDF-15 and the ratio of MMP9/TIMP1 were reversed by PNS in MI rats. The expressions of TGF-β1, collagen I, MAP2K3, p38 MAPK, p-p38 MAPK, NFκB p65, p-NFκB p65, and p-IκBα were down-regulated, while ATF3 increased with the treatment of PNS (P<0.05).@*CONCLUSIONS@#PNS may improve cardiac function and fibrosis in MI rats via regulating ATF3/MAP2K3/p38 MAPK and NFκB signaling pathways. These results suggest the potential of PNS in preventing the development of ventricular remodeling in MI rats.
ABSTRACT
For the characteristics of high stability， high conservation between species， and tissue specificity， circular RNA(circRNA) has been expected to become a new molecular biomarker for the clinical diagnosis， treatment and prognosis， and the potential target for targeted therapy. Study on the traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) syndrome includes not only the macro indexes collected by using four traditional methods of diagnosis， but also contains some micro information that can not be achieved by using the four traditional diagnosis methods. The questions such as how to deal with the relationship between the holistic concept of TCM and micro research， and how to solve the contradiction between the fuzziness of syndrome description and the accuracy of microscopic research， need to be considered before the micro research in TCM syndrome. circRNA as a new field of understanding human disease， may provide some ideas for the TCM syndrome research due to its characteristics. Overall， it is necessary to pay attention to explore the molecular level with same syndrome in different diseases and reveal the connotation and essence of syndromes by understanding of circRNA.
Subject(s)
Humans , Biomarkers , Biomedical Research , Medicine, Chinese Traditional , RNA , Genetics , SyndromeABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To assess the value of white matter fiber tractography based on magnetic resonance diffusion-tensor imaging (MR-DTI), a new noninvasive technique that helps estimate the structural connectivity of the brain, in understanding the anatomy of the white matter fiber tract.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Six consecutive volunteers received MR-DTI examination using a GE 1.5T Sign CV/I whole-body MR system and version 2.0 Functool software for image processing. The protocol included T1WI for localization and single-shot echo-planner diffusion tensor imaging of the entire brain in axial, sagittal, and /or coronal sections.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>White matter fiber tracts imaged by MR-DTI were consistent with known white matter fiber anatomy. The major fiber tracts were well observed in all the cases. The tracts visualized included the corpus callosum, anterior commissure, uncinate fasciculus superior and inferior longitudinal fascicules, inferior occipito-frontal fasciculus, internal capsule and corona radiate.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>A set of detailed white matter fiber anatomy maps of the normal brain is obtained by means of single-shot echo-planner diffusion tensor imaging at high resolution. This technique allows rapid visualization of the white matter tracts in vivo, and provides a new reliable means for studying fiber connectivity in the brain.</p>
Subject(s)
Adult , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Young Adult , Brain , Diffusion Tensor Imaging , Methods , Image Processing, Computer-Assisted , Imaging, Three-Dimensional , MethodsABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the quantitative relationship between white matter tract (WMT) variation resulting from cerebral tumors and shifting of the fractional anisotropy (FA) index in magnetic resonance (MR) diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Four female and 8 male patients aged from 21 to 62 years with brain malignancies (2 malignant lymphomas, 2 low-grade astrocytomas, and 8 high-grade cerebral gliomas) underwent conventional contrast-enhanced MR and DTI examinations before operation. Routine T(2)-weighted image, fractional anisotropic (FA) map, color-coded directional map, three-dimensional white matter tractography (WMT), and the FA index of bilateral internal capsule were obtained in every patient.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Fiber tractography derived from DTI was consistent with known white matter fiber anatomy. The DTI patterns in WMT altered by the tumor were categorized on the basis of FA1/FA2 ratio as follows: pattern 1, FA1/FA2> or =75% with normal or only slightly decreased FA; pattern 2, 50%< or =FA1/FA2<75% with WMT displacement; pattern 3, 25%< or =FA1/FA2/50% with WMT involvement; pattern 4, FA1/FA2<25% with WMT destruction.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>DTI allows for visualization of WMT and benefits surgical planning for patients with intrinsic brain tumor. There is a positive relationship between the bilateral FA ratio (FA1/FA2) variation and WMT alterations resulting from the tumor.</p>