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OBJECTIVE To investigate whether matrine exerts improvement effect on experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis （EAE） mice by regulating ferroptosis pathway. METHODS Totally 30 female C57BL/6 mice were randomly assigned into normal group， model group and matrine group， with 10 mice in each group. Model group and matrine group were given antigen emulsion containing inactivated Mycobacterium tuberculosis and MOG35-55 to induce EAE model. Matrine group was injected with Matrine injection （50 mg/kg） intraperitoneally since the 7th day after immunization； normal group and model group were given constant volume of normal saline intraperitoneally， once a day， since 18th day after immunization. The neurofunctional score of mice was recorded， and hematoxylin and eosin staining and Luxol fast blue staining were used to observe inflammatory cell infiltration and demyelination in spinal cord tissue. The quantitative reverse transcription PCR and Western blot assay were performed to determine the mRNA expressions of transferrin receptor 1 （TFR1）， nuclear receptor coactivator 4 （NCOA4） and hephaestin （Heph）， and the protein expressions of system Xc－ （xCT） and glutathione peroxidase 4 （GPx4）. RESULTS Compared with normal group， accumulative neurofunctional score was significantly increased in model group （P＜0.01）； inflammatory cell infiltration and demyelination were obvious in spinal cord tissue， and related scores were increased significantly （P＜0.01）. The mRNA expressions of TFR1 and NCOA4 in myelin tissue were up-regulated significantly， while the mRNA expression of Heph and the protein expressions of xCT and GPx4 were down-regulated significantly （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. Compared with model group， above indexes of matrine group were all improved significantly （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. CONCLUSIONS Matrine can improve EAE mice， the mechanism of which may be associated with regulating iron metabolism pathway and xCT/GPx4 pathway in ferroptosis.
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Objective To observe any short-term analgesic effect of using heat stimulation at acupoints for treating migraine headaches without aura.Methods Totally 120 migraine patients were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group,each of 60.Both groups was given 5mg of Sibelium orally each night for 4 weeks.The observation group additionally received heat and pain stimulation at the Feng Chi,Shuai Gu,Yang Ling Quan,Wai Guan,Tai Yang and Yin Tang acupoints.The heat was in 0.3 s pulses at 54.5° with an inter-pulse interval of 10 s.Each acupuncture point was stimulated 5 times in rotation for a total of 20 min daily for 4 weeks.The frequency of headache attacks,their duration,their intensity rated using a visual analogue scale (VAS),accompanying symptoms and responses to a migraine-specific quality of life questionnaire (MSQ) were recorded before and after the treatment.Results After the treatment there was significantly greater improvement in the observation group compared to the control group in terms of headache frequency,headache duration,VAS ratings,and accompanying symptoms.The observation group also improved significantly more in terms of the average limitation dysfunction score,dysfunction score and emotion score on the MSQ.Moreover,the total effectiveness rate of the observation group (95.0％) was significantly higher than that of the control group (80.0％).During the treatment,no adverse reactions were found in terms of heart rate or blood pressure,and no abnormal manifestations such as infection,redness or swelling were observed at the stimulation sites.Conclusion Heat and pain stimulation at acupoints has a significant short-term analgesic effect on migraine without aura.Such treatment is safe and reliable,with few side effects.It provides a new treatment method for migraine patients and is worthy of clinical promotion and application.
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Objective:To explore the expression of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)and its relationgship with the prognosis of breast cancer,and to provide evidence-based basis for the using of mTOR inhibitor in the treatment of breast cancer.Methods: A systemical literature search was conducted based on the following databases:PubMed,EMBbase,Cochrane Library,ISI Web of Science,and CNKI up to November 24,2015.The outcome measures were hazard ratio (HR)with 95% confidence interval (CI) for the association between the mTOR expression and the prognosis of patients with breast cancer.The primary end points including disease-free survival (DFS ), and overall survival (OS ). STATA 12.0 was used to conduct the statistical analysis. Results:A total of seven cohort studies,1 758 patients were included. The risk of recurrence and metastasis of the breast cancer patients with positive expression of mTOR was 2.05 times of the patients with negative expression of mTOR (HR= 2.05, 95% CI: 1.01 - 4.13,P = 0.003);the risk of death in the breast cancer patients with positive expression of mTOR was 2.63 times of the patients with negative expression of mTOR (HR = 2.63, 95%CI:1.45-4.80,P = 0.736).Conclusion:The positive expression of mTOR can significantly increase the recurrence,metastasis and death risk of the patients with breast cancer.