The preventive effect and mechanism of Dayuanyin in hypoxic pulmonary hypertension through NF-κB signaling pathway / 药学学报

Dayuanyin (DYY) has been shown to reduce lung inflammation in both coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and lung injury. This experiment was designed to investigate the efficacy and mechanism of action of DYY against hypoxic pulmonary hypertension (HPH) and to evaluate the effect of DYY on the protection of lung function. Animal welfare and experimental procedures are approved and in accordance with the provision of the Animal Ethics Committee of the Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Science. Male C57/BL6J mice were randomly divided into 4 groups: control group, model group, DYY group (800 mg·kg-1), and positive control sildenafil group (100 mg·kg-1). The animals were given control solvents or drugs by gavage three days in advance. On day 4, the animals in the model group, DYY group and sildenafil group were kept in a hypoxic chamber containing 10% ± 0.5% oxygen, and the animals in the control group were kept in a normal environment, and the control solvent or drugs continued to be given continuously for 14 days. The right ventricular systolic pressure, right ventricular hypertrophy index, organ indices and other metrics were measured in the experimental endpoints. Meantime, the expression levels of the inflammatory factors in mice lung tissues were measured. The potential therapeutic targets of DYY on pulmonary hypertension were predicted using network pharmacology, the expression of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway-related proteins were measured by Western blot assay. It was found that DYY significantly reduced the right ventricular systolic pressure, attenuated lung injury and decreased the expression of inflammatory factors in mice. It can also inhibit hypoxia-induced activation of NF-κB signaling pathway. DYY has a protective effect on lung function, as demonstrated by DYY has good efficacy in HPH, and preventive administration can slow down the disease progression, and its mechanism may be related to inhibit the activation of NF-κB and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) by DYY.

Research progress on mechanisms and therapeutic drugs of hypoxic pulmonary hypertension / 中国药理学通报

Hypoxic pulmonary hypertension ( HPH) is a complex mechanism of HPH is complex, and it has a high mortality rate cardiopulmonary disease eaused by hypoxia.The pathological of disability.Clinically the diug of treatment for HPH is unspe-cialized, mainly relying on traditional vasomotor dnrgs, inclu¬ding prostaglandin 12 receptor agonists, endothelin receptor an¬tagonists and phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors, but their efficacy cannot be achieved.To meet the clinical need, it is of great sig¬nificance to develop targeted anti-HPH dnigs.To provide ideas for the discovery of HPH treatment drugs, the pathophysiological mechanism of HPH and the current status of dmg development are reviewed in the paper.

Effects of CACNA1H gene knockout on autistic-like behaviors and the morphology of hippocampal neurons in mice / 北京大学学报(医学版)

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the effects of CACNA1H gene knockout (KO) on autistic-like behaviors and the morphology of hippocampal neurons in mice.@*METHODS@#In the study, 25 CACNA1H KO mice of 3-4 weeks old and C57BL/6 background were recruited as the experimental group, and 26 wild type (WT) mice of the same age and background were recruited as the control group. Three-chamber test and open field test were used to observe the social interaction, anxiety, and repetitive behaviors in mice. After that, their brain weight and size were measured, and the number of hippocampal neurons were observed by Nissl staining. Furthermore, the CACNA1H heterozygote mice were interbred with Thy1-GFP-O mice to generate CACNA1H-/--Thy1+(KO-GFP) and CACNA1H+/+-Thy1+ (WT-GFP) mice. The density and maturity of dendritic spines of hippocampal neurons were observed.@*RESULTS@#In the sociability test session of the three-chamber test, the KO mice spent more time in the chamber of the stranger mice than in the object one (F1, 14=95.086, P < 0.05; Post-Hoc: P < 0.05), without any significant difference for the explored preference index between the two groups (t=1.044, P>0.05). However, in the social novelty recognition test session, no difference was observed between the time of the KO mice spend in the chamber of new stranger mice and the stranger one (F1, 14=18.062, P < 0.05; Post-Hoc: P>0.05), and the explored preference index of the KO mice was less than that of the control group (t=2.390, P < 0.05). In the open field test, the KO mice spent less time in the center of the open field apparatus than the control group (t=2.503, P < 0.05), but the self-grooming time was significantly increased compared with the control group (t=-2.299, P < 0.05). Morphological results showed that the brain weight/body weight ratio (t=0.356, P>0.05) and brain size (t=-0.660, P>0.05) of the KO mice were not significantly different from those of the control group, but the number of neurons were significantly reduced in hippocampal dentate gyrus compared with the control group (t=2.323, P < 0.05). Moreover, the density of dendritic spine of dentate gyrus neurons in the KO-GFP mice was significantly increased compared with the control group (t=-2.374, P < 0.05), without any significant difference in spine maturity (t=-1.935, P>0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#CACNA1H KO mice represent autistic-like behavior, which may be related to the decrease in the number of neurons and the increase in the density of dendritic spine in the dentate gyrus.

Treatment of acute cholestatic hepatitis by Compound Yindan Decoction: a clinical observation / 中国中西医结合杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the clinical efficacy of comprehensive Western medical treatment plus Compound Yindan Decoction (CYD) in treatment of acute cholestatic hepatitis (ACH).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Using randomized controlled study, 60 ACH patients in line with inclusive criteria were randomly assigned to the treatment group (treated by comprehensive Western medical treatment plus CYD) and the control group (treated by comprehensive Western medical treatment alone), 30 in each group. Scores for symptoms and levels of liver functions [total bilirubin (TBIL), direct bilirubin (DBIL), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), total biliary acid (TBA)] were observed before and after treatment.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with before treatment in the same group, total scores for symptoms decreased in the treatment group and the control group at the end of the 1st and the 4th week after treatment (all P < 0.05). Compared with the control group, total scores for symptoms decreased in the treatment group at the end of the 1st week (P < 0.05). Compared with before treatment, serum levels of TBIL, DBIL, ALP, GGT, and TBA all decreased in the two groups at the end of the 4th week after treat- ment (P < 0.01). Compared with the control group, serum levels of TBIL, DBIL, ALP, GGT, and TBA all decreased in the treatment group at the end of the 1st and the 2nd week after treatment (P < 0.05). Compared with the control group, the average time for TBIL and DBIL decreasing to the level less than five times the normal value was significantly shorter in the treatment group (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>CYD could significantly improve clinical symptoms of ACH patients, decrease serum levels of TBIL and DBIL, reduce serum levels of ALP, GGT, and TBA, obviously improve cholestasis, and promote the recovery.</p>

Application of three-dimensional contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography in renal artery angiography / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To increase the probability of successful renal artery angiography with a three-dimensional contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (3D CE-MRA).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>3D CE-MRA was performed in 33 patients with hypertension. To calculate the scan delay time, a testing contrast agent bolus of 2 ml was injected for single sagittal slice real-time scanning, followed by oblique coronal 3D Fast TOF SPGRE. With maximum intensity projection, a set of images was acquired.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Exact scan delay time was obtained in all the cases from which clear images were acquired with the exception of two cases in which failure of breath-holding occurred during the scanning.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>This examination enhances the performance by adopting elliptical-centric k-space recording for data acquisition for the center in k-space at the beginning of acquisition, and utilizing preceding testing bolus injection and signal intensity/time curve for determining the scan delay time, using slice selection and multiview image reconstruction.</p>

The potential role of nuclear matrix attachment regions (MARs) in regulation of gene expression / 生物工程学报

Gene transfer technology is being used to enhance agronomic performance or improve quality traits in a wide variety of crop species. However, it is sometimes severely handicapped by difficulty in obtaining material in which transgene expression is predictable and stable over many generations. Because integration seemed to occur randomly in the plant genome, it was thought that some transgenes would be integrated in a relatively uncondensed, transcriptionally active chromatin environment, while others in a condensed, transcriptionally inert chromatin structure. Nuclear matrix attachment regions (MARs) are defined as DNA sequences that bind preferentially to the proteins of the nuclear matrix. They typically are localized at the borders of gene domains, implicating them in the formation of individual loops of higher order chromatin structure and transcription regulation. When MARs are positioned on either side of a transgene their presence usually results in higher and more stable espression in transgenic plants, most likely by minimizing gene silencing. In this review, we focus mainly on novel findings and our observations concerning the function of MARs in transcription regulation. Our objective is not only to summarize the current data and present several possible models to explain MAR effects on the transcription regulation, but also to point out some open questions involving the utilization of MARs in constructing high efficient expression vectors.