A randomized trial of Chinese medicine Lirukang Granule combined with psychological intervention for cyclomastopathy and menoxenia / 中国结合医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the influence of therapy with Chinese medicine Lirukang Granule (, LRKG) combined with psychological intervention on anxiety states and sex hormones in patients with cyclomastopathy and menoxenia.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 470 subjects were randomly assigned to three groups by the net-central randomization system, the treatment group (161 patients, treated with LRKG and psychological intervention), the Chinese medicine group (157 patients, treated with LRKG), and the psychological intervention group (152 patients, treated with psychological intervention). The dose of LRKG was 12 g three times per day; psychological intervention included establishing relations, cognitive intervention and psychological persuasion, 30-40 min per session, once a week. The therapy duration for all groups was three months. The efficacy was compared and anxiety state/State-Trait Anxiety Invertory (STAI) scoring was measured before and after treatment. The serum estradiol (E2), progesterone (P), prolactin (PRL) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) levels of 60 patients selected randomly from each group during the luteal phase were measured before and after treatment, and a group of 20 healthy women were evaluated for comparison. A follow-up was arranged for one year after treatment.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Thirty subjects were lost to follow-up. (1) Comparison of efficacy: the markedly effective rate and the total effective rate of the treatment group were 86.67% (131/150) and 98.00% (147/150), respectively; of the Chinese medicine group, 64.58% (93/144) and 90.27% (130/144), respectively; and of the psychological intervention group, 0% (0/146) and 3.42% (5/146), respectively. The markedly effective rate and the total effective rate in the treatment group were significantly higher than those in the Chinese medicine and psychological intervention groups (P < 0.05). (2) Comparison of STAI scoring: STAI scoring was decreased dramatically in the treatment group after treatment compared with that of the Chinese medicine group (P < 0.01), but there was no significant difference compared with the psychological intervention group. (3) Comparison of levels of sex hormones: E2, P, PRL and FSH of the three patient groups were disordered before treatment, and significantly different from healthy women (P < 0.01). After treatment, the levels of P and FSH of the treatment group were significantly increased (P < 0.01), E2 and PRL were significantly reduced, which were also significantly decreased compared with the psychological intervention groups (P < 0.01). (4) FOLLOW-UP: the markedly effective rate and the total effective rate of the treatment group remained higher than those of the other two groups after one year of treatment (P < 0.05). (5) Adverse reactions: no obvious adverse reactions were found among the three groups.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Therapy with Chinese medicine combined with psychological intervention was effective for short-term and long-term treatment of cyclomastopathy and menoxenia. The mechanism might be related to the regulation of sex hormones.</p>

Effect of phosphatase PHLPP1 gene transfer on the proliferation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the constituent expression of PH domain leucine-rich repeat protein phosphatase 1 (PHLPP1) in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and the effect of PHLPP1 gene transfer on the proliferation of the cells in vitro.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Cultured HUVECs were transfected with pcDNA3-GFP or pcDNA3HA-PHLPP1 via lipofectamine 2000. The cell proliferation ability was determined by cell counting and MTT colorimetric assay, and Western blotting was used to detect the protein expression of PHLPP1 in the cells.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>No PHLPP1 protein was detected in the non-transfected cells or pcDNA3-GFP-transfected cells. pcDNA3HA-PHLPP1 gene transfection significantly increased PHLPP1 expression in the HUVECs (P<0.01), but the cell proliferation status remained unchanged (P>0.05). The absorbance of the cells measured by MTT assay was 0.134-/+0.0152, 0133-/+0.014 and 0.137-/+0.016, with cell counts of (8.293-/+0.962)x10(5), (7.937-/+0.101)x10(5) and (8.127-/+0.112)x10(5), respectively, showing no significant differences between the 3 groups (P>0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Phosphatase PHLPP1 may not be the most important signal protein in the regulation of HUVEC proliferation.</p>

Effect of IGF-1 on PI3K/PTEN signal pathway in vascular smooth muscle cell / 中国应用生理学杂志

<p><b>AIM</b>To investigate the cellular signal transduction pathway of vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation stimulated by insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Rabbit aortic VSMCs was cultured in 3 groups. Cell proliferating ability was determined by measuring cell number and mitochondrial dehydrogenase (MD) activity (MTT assay). Wortmannin (WT), the specific inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), was used to evaluate indirectly the possible involvement of PI3K. Western blotting was used to detect the protein expression of phosphatase PTEN. Diphosphate action of PTEN on its specific substrate diC16PIP3 was measured by green reagent method.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>IGF-1 (100 microg/L) increased cell number and MD activity by 2.8-3.8 fold. WT markedly inhibited VSMC proliferation and completely abolished the above effects of IGF-1. IGF-1 inhibited PTEN activity in a concentration-(10-100 microg/L) and time--(3 min-24 h) dependent manner (P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>IGF-1 increases VSM proliferation by increasing PI3K activity and inhibiting PTEN activity.</p>

Effect of manshuailing oral liquid on left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in patients with heart disease of Xin-Shen Yang deficiency type / 中国中西医结合杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effect of Manshuailing Oral Liquid (MSL) on left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) in patients with heart disease.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Ninety patients with LVDD were randomly divided into the conventional treated group (Group A, treated by conventional treatment with western drugs of cardiotonic, diuretic, coronary dilator, etc.) and the Chinese drug treated group (Group B, treated by conventional treatment plus MSL 2 times a day, 100 ml each time), 45 in each group. After 4 months treatment, the total heart failure coefficient (HFC) and cardiac functions were re-determined.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>After treatment, in both groups, the HFC lowered significantly (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01), the left ventricular peak velocity of early diastolic rapid filling (Emas) quickened, the left atrial systolic peak velocity (Amas) slowed down and Emas/Amas (E/A) enhanced, the isovolumetric relaxation time shortened. However, comparison between the two groups showed significant difference (P < 0.05) in either item, Group B was superior to Group A (P < 0.05). In the 62 patients with mixed heart failure, i.e. both systolic and diastolic dysfunction of left ventricle, Group B was superior to Group A in increasing ejection fraction, cardiac output and thickening rate of left ventricular posterior wall (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>MSL could improve the heart function of patients with LVDD, and alleviate their clinical symptoms.</p>

A clinical study on manshuailing oral liquid in treating elder patients with congestive heart failure of type heart and kidney yang deficiency / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the clinical effect of manshuailing oral liquid on patients with congestive heart failure of type heart and kidney Yang deficiency.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>90 patients of heart failure were randomly divided into 2 groups. 45 cases in the routine treatment group (RT) received general therapy including diuretics and digitalis, and 45 cases in the Chinese herb medicine group (CH) were treated basically with the above medicine, with additional manshuailing oral liquid. The clinical effect was summarized 6 weeks after treatment.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Total effect rate was 82.2% and 62.2% in CH and RTgroup respectively. Compared with pretreatment, heart function including stroke volume (SV), stroke volume index (SVI), cardiac index (CI), shorten rate of left ventricular short axe (deltaD%), distance of inter-ventricular septal to mitral valve (EPSS) were all improved significantly in both groups (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01), and with even better effects in the CH group than the RT group (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01), except the SV.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Manshuailing oral liquid can alleviate clinical symptom, decreased EPSS, increase deltaD% and improve heart function.</p>

Effects of shenqifuxin oral liquid on the plasma kaliuretic peptide, the myocardial contractility and relaxation of left ventricle and the left ventricular remodeling in experimental rats with heart failure / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the effects of Shenqifuxin oral liquid(SQFXOL) on plasma kaliuretic peptide (KP), atrial natriuretic polypeptide(ANP), angiotension II (Ang II), endothelin(ET) and the left ventricular remodeling and the myocardial contractility and relaxation of left ventricle in experimental rats with heart failure(HF).</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The SD rat model with HF was produced by constricting abdominal aorta. Hemodynamic parameters including maximum rate of intraventricular pressure rise (+dp/dtmax), left ventricular systolic pressure(LVSP), maximum velocity of contractile element shortening(Vmax), maximum rate of intraventricular pressure down(-dp/dtmax) and left ventricular end diastolic pressure(LVEDP) were measured by the method of the catheterization. Plasma concentrations of KP, ANP, Ang II and ET were determined by radioimmunoassays. The effects of treatment were evaluated by observing and comparing the changes of heart morphological structure, collagen element, heart weight/body weight ratio (HW/BW), left intraventricular area(LVA) and myocardial nuclei number (MNN) per square area.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>In high dose SQFXOL group, the LVSP, -dp/dtmax and Vmax were increased, while LVEDP was decreased, and plasma concentrations of KP, Ang II and ET were decreased. In comparision with those in model group, the difference was significant(P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). Though the +dp/dtmax and the level of ANP were decreased, the difference was insignificant(all P > 0.05). The collagen tissues around myocardial cells were reduced. HW/BW and LVA were lower, and MNN per square area was higher significantly (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). The indices of +dp/dtmax in all of treatment groups and control group were not considerably different in comparison with those in model group. The levels of plasma ANP in middle dose group and low dose group were significantly lower than those in model group(all P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>SQFXOL can reduce the plasma concentrations of KP, Ang II, ET, and ANP, improve the myocardial contractility and relaxation of left ventricular and inhibitate left ventricular remodeling in rats with HF.</p>