Protective mechanism of Yinchenzhufu decoction against cholestatic liver injury induced by lithic acid based on network pharmacology / 药学学报

Yinchenzhufu decoction (YCZFD) is a classic formula for treating Yin Huang syndrome, which can improve liver injury caused by cholestasis. However, the mechanism of action of YCZFD still remains unclear. This article used network pharmacology, molecular docking, animal experiments, and molecular biology methods to explore the mechanism of YCZFD in treating liver injury caused by cholestasis. A mouse model of acute cholestasis induced by lithocholic acid was used to investigate the effects of YCZFD on liver injury. The experimental procedures described in this paper were reviewed and approved by the Ethical Committee at the Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (approval NO. PZSHUTCM190823002). The results showed that YCZFD could reduce the levels of blood biochemical indicators and improve hepatocyte damage of cholestatic mice. Then, multiple databases were used to predict the corresponding targets of YCZFD active components on cholestatic liver injury. An intersection target protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks based on String database and Cytoscape software was used to demonstrate the possible core targets of YCZFD against cholestatic liver injury. The results indicated that core targets of YCZFD include tumor necrosis factor, interleukin-1β, non-receptor tyrosine kinase Src, interleukin-6, etc. GO (gene ontology) and KEGG (kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes) enrichment analysis indicated that YCZFD may regulate the tumor necrosis factor signaling pathway, nuclear factor-κB signaling pathway, bile secretion, and other related factors to ameliorate the cholestatic liver injury. AutoDockTools software was used to perform molecular docking verification on the core targets and components of YCZFD. To verify the results of network pharmacology, UPLC-MS/MS method was used to determine the effect of YCZFD on levels of bile acid profiles in mouse liver tissues. It was found that treatment with YCZFD significantly reduced the content of free bile acids, taurine bound bile acids, and total bile acids in the liver tissues of cholestatic mice. Then, results from real time PCR and Western blot also found that YCZFD can upregulate the expression of hepatic nuclear receptor farnesoid X receptor, metabolizing enzyme (UDP glucuronidase transferase 1a1), and efflux transporters (bile salt export pump, multidrug resistance-associated protein 2, multidrug resistance-associated protein 3, etc) in cholestasis mice, promote bile acid metabolism and excretion, and improve bile acid homeostasis. Moreover, YCZFD can also inhibit pyroptosis and inflammation by regulating NOD-like receptors 3 pathway, thereby inhibiting cholestatic liver injury.

The application of diminished criminal responsibility rating scale to mental retardation offenders / 法医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the application of Diminished Criminal Responsibility Rating Scale (DCRRS) to mental retardation offenders.@*METHODS@#The DCRRS was used to 121 cases of mental retardation offenders who were divided into three groups according to the degree of their diminished criminal responsibility.@*RESULTS@#There were significant differences in rating score among the three groups (mild group 22.12+/-4.69, moderate group 25.50+/-5.48, major group 27.59+/-5.69), and 17 items had good correlation with the total score of the scale with the correlation coefficient from 0.289 to 0.665. Six factors were extracted by the factor analysis, and 69.392% variation could be explained.@*CONCLUSION@#The DCRRS has rational items, its total score could show the difference among the three degree diminished criminal responsibility of mental retardation offenders.

Advanced investigation of testamentary capacity of the mentally disordered / 法医学杂志

Testamentary capacity is one of the civil competences, it means that a natural person enjoys the capacity or qualification to establish testament and deal with his property. Recently, the cases of testamentary capacity assessment of the mentally disordered are increasing. This article firstly introduces the concepts of the testament as well as the testamentary capacity, and then summarizes the assessment standard of the testamentary capacity, by using the Banks v. Goodfellow case as a basis to make the standard criteria including: the understanding of the nature of a will and codicil, the knowledge of the general extent of one's assets, the knowledge of the natural object of one's bounty, the understanding of the impact of the distribution of the assets of the estate, and the absence of a delusion specifically affecting the distribution of the estate. The impact factors of the testamentary capacity, including dementia, mood disorder, schizophrenia, alcohol, drug, and undue influence, etc., are summarized. Lastly, the related assessment tools such as the Mini-Mental State Examination, the Clock-Drawing Test, and the Testament Definition Scale are introduced briefly.

Civil competence assessment of the mental disorders involved in compensation of personal injury / 法医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To seek and ascertain indicators that can be used in the civil competence assessment of the mental disorders involved in compensation of personal injury.@*METHODS@#A retrospective study was made on the data related to the interviewee's mental status assessed by forensic experts during the period from 2003 to 2005 in Institute of Forensic Science, Ministry of Justice, P.R.China. The 6 indicators, including awareness of situation, factual understanding of issues, appreciation of likely consequences, rational manipulation of information, functioning in one's own environment, and communication of choice, were graded and statistically analyzed using SPSS 11.5 software.@*RESULTS@#The 6 indicators correlated well with the assessment of forensic experts ,with the related coefficient between 0.632 and 0.876, and the inter-related coefficient among the 6 indicators between 0.575 and 0.911.@*CONCLUSION@#The 6 indicators could be used for the civil competence assessment and may also be taken as the basis for further standardization and quantification of civil competence.

Influencing factors of psychopath's civil litigation / 法医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the influencing factors of schizophrenic patient's capability in civil litigation, and to establish the base of quantitative study about execution of civil litigation.@*METHODS@#To study questionnaires completed from patients with and without civil litigation capabilities and to determine the influencing factors from medical and forensic aspects.@*RESULTS@#One hundred patients were admitted to the study and were divided into two groups based on capability in civil litigation. There were significant differences in psychiatric and legal aspects between the groups.@*CONCLUSION@#Capability of schizophrenic patients in perusing civil litigation had been impaired or even complete lost.

The application of diminished criminal responsibility rating scale to schizophrenia offenders / 法医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the feasibility of Diminished Criminal Responsibility Rating Scale(DCRRS) to schizophrenia offenders.@*METHODS@#The DCRRS were used respectively to 325 cases of schizophrenia offender which were divided into three groups according to the degree of criminal responsibility.@*RESULTS@#There were significant differences in rating score among three groups (mild group 21.16 +/- 4.17, moderate group 25.87 +/- 5.43, major group 29.35 +/- 4.60), and all items have good correlation with the total score of the scale. 6 factors were extracted by the factor analysis, and their cumulative squared loadings is 68.485%.@*CONCLUSION@#The diminished criminal responsibility in schizophrenia offenders could be divided into three grades.

Identification of limited capacity for duties in schizophrenia: review of 31 cases / 法医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To study general rule existed in identification of limited capacity for duties in schizophrenia and put forward some recommendations to the related issues.@*METHODS@#The data of 31 cases were analyzed based on essential items in identification of limited capacity for duties in Schizophrenia in order to obtain the contribution rate of major variables.@*RESULTS@#It showed that the contribution rate of from variable 1 to variable 6 was 18.785%, 15.549%, 14.023%, 10.347%, 9.437% and 7.923% respectively, in which the variable 1 reflecting patient's recognition of dangerous act was the most important of all variables.@*CONCLUSION@#The limited capacity for duties in Schizophrenia could be divided into three grades.