Data Mining Study on Prescription Patterns of Different Dosage Forms of Chinese Herbal Medicines for Treating and Improving Immune-Inflammatory Indices in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis / 中国结合医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the prescription patterns of different dosage forms of Chinese herbal medicines (CHMs) for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and their effects on immune-inflammatory indices.@*METHODS@#Clinical data were collected from patients with RA in 4 hospitals (3 Class A comprehensive hospitals and 1 Class B comprehensive hospital) in Anhui Province, China, from August 2012 to June 2018 via the electronic medical record gathering system. Following extraction of prescription information, each prescribed herb was quantified and standardized according to the knowledge base to establish a database of RA treatment formulae. The medical records were divided into the granules group and decoction pieces group. Core herbs and their combination patterns were obtained from the two groups of cases using Liquorice software. Changes in immune-inflammatory and hepatic and renal function indices were compared between the two groups using SPSS 23.0 software. The Aprior module of SPSS Clementine 11.1 software was applied to analyse the correlation between CHMs and improvement in indices. Finally, the ORACLE 10 g tool was used to evaluate the random walk model of the immune-inflammatory indices between the two groups.@*RESULTS@#(1) We retrospectively analysed 35,898 prescriptions for 6,829 patients with RA who received CHM treatment. There were 3,816 patients in the granules group and 3,013 in the decoction pieces group. (2) The core herbs were Pi (Spleen)-strengthening and dampness-resolving drugs, blood-activating and stasis-resolving drugs, wind/dampness-dispelling drugs and heat-clearing and detoxifying drugs. (3) Both dosage forms could improve immune-inflammatory indices in RA patients, with similar efficacy and no influence on hepatic or renal function. (4) Herba Siegesbeckiae and Oldenlandia had a stronger association with immune-inflammatory indices in the two groups. (5) The immune-inflammatory indices showed obvious improvement after treatment with granules and decoction pieces of CHMs, and there were long range correlations between the comprehensive evaluation indices and interventions.@*CONCLUSIONS@#The principal CHM treatment methods for RA in four hospitals in Anhui Province are strengthening Pi and resolving dampness, activating blood and resolving stasis, dispelling wind/dampness and clearing heat. Granules and decoction pieces of CHMs have similar efficacy in improving immune-inflammatory indices in RA patients and could be used as treatment options for RA.

Observations on the Efficacy of Intermittent Liver-nourishing and Mind-regulating Acupuncture in Preventive Treatment of Migraine / 上海针灸杂志

Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of intermittent liver-nourishing and mind-regulating acupuncture in preventive treatment of migraine. Method One hundred and twenty migraine patients were randomly allocated to treatment and control groups, 60 cases each. The treatment group received intermittent liver-nourishing and mind-regulating acupuncture and the control group took flunarizine hydrochloride capsules orally. The migraine score, the visual analogue scale (VAS) score and the headache severity rating score were recorded in the subjects before treatment and at the end of treatment and the 4-week, 8-week, 12-week, 16-week and 20-week follow-ups. The Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) score and the Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) were recorded before and after treatment.Result After one course of treatment, the total efficacy rate was 98.3% in the treatment group and 89.5% in the control group; there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05). There was a statistically significant difference in the migraine score between before treatment and at the end of treatment in the two groups (P<0.05) and between the two groups at the same follow-ups (P<0.05). There was a statistically significant difference in the VAS score between before treatment and at the end of treatment in the two groups (P<0.05) and between the two groups at the same follow-ups (P<0.05). There were statistically significant differences in the SAS and SDS scores between before treatment and at the end of treatment in the two groups (P<0.05) and between the two groups after treatment (P<0.05).Conclusion Intermittent liver-nourishing and mind-regulating acupuncture has marked efficacy in preventive treatment of migraine. It can increase the total efficacy rate and reduce the number of relapses.

Therapeutic Observation of Heat-sensitive Moxibustion plus Point-toward-point Needling for Poststroke Strephenopodia / 上海针灸杂志

Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of heat-sensitive moxibustion plus point-toward-point needling in treating poststroke strephenopodia.Method Eighty patients with poststroke strephenopodia were randomized into a treatment group intervened by heat-sensitive moxibustion plus point-toward-point needling and a control group intervened by rehabilitation, 40 cases in each group. In addition to the basic treatment, the treatment group was given heat-sensitive moxibustion plus point-toward-point needling, and the control group was given rehabilitation treatment. Holden's Functional Ambulation Classification (FAC), Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) of the lower-limb motor function, and Tinetti Gait Assessment (TGA) were adopted for evaluation of the two groups, and the clinical efficacies were compared.ResultThe effective rate was 90.0% in the treatment group versus 77.5% in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05); after the treatment,there was a significant difference in comparing the Holden's FAC between the two groups (P<0.05); the FMA score changed significantly after the treatment in both groups (P<0.05), and there was a significant difference in comparing the FMA score between thetwo groups after the treatment (P<0.05); the TGA score changed significantly after the intervention in both groups (P<0.05), and there was a significant difference in comparing the TGA score between the two groups after the intervention (P<0.05).ConclusionHeat-sensitive moxibustion plus point-toward-point needling can produce a significant efficacy in treating poststroke strephenopodia, as it can enhance the effective rate and improve the lower-limb motor function.

Tranilast inhibits myocardial fibrosis in mice with viral myocarditis / 中国当代儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effect of tranilast on myocardial fibrosis in mice with viral myocarditis (VMC).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Male balb/c mice (n=72) were randomly divided into control, VMC and tranilast groups (n=24 each). In the VMC and tranilast groups, the mice were infected with Coxsackie virus B3 (CVB3) to prepare VMC model, while the control group was treated with Eagle's medium. After modeling, the tranilast group was administrated with tranilast [200 mg/(kg.d)] until the day before sampling. On days 7, 14 and 28 after CVB3 or Eagle's medium infection, heart specimens (n=8) were taken and examined after Toluidine blue staining and Nissl staining for counts of mast cells (MC), hematoxylin-eosin staining for myocardial pathological changes, and Masson staining for myocardial fibrosis. The expression of CTGF and type I collagen (Col I) in the myocardial tissue was measured by RT-PCR and Western blot. The correlations of CTGF mRNA expression with MC counts and Col I expression were analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The myocardial pathological changes and collagen volume fraction in the VMC group were significantly higher than in the control group at all three time points (P<0.05). Tranilast treatment significantly decreased the myocardial pathological changes and collagen volume fraction compared with the VMC group (P<0.05). The mRNA and protein expression of CTGF and Col I increased in the VMC group compared with the control group, and the increases were reduced with tranilast treatment (P<0.05). The number of MC was positively correlated to CTGF mRNA expression on the 7th day and 14th day (r=0.439, P=0.049) in the VMC group. There were positive correlations between the mRNA expression of Col I and CTGF on the 7th day and 14th day (r=0.646, P=0.007) and the 28th day (r=0.326, P=0.031).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Tranilast may inhibit the aggregation of MC and down-regulate the expression of CTGF, relieving myocardial fibrosis of mice with VMC.</p>

Clinical Observations on Skin Scraping plus Movable Cupping for the Treatment of Neck-shoulder Syndrome / 上海针灸杂志

Objective To investigate the efficacy of skin scraping plus movable cupping in treating neck-shoulder syndrome. Method One hundred and eighty patients with neck-shoulder syndrome were randomly allocated to treatment and control groups. The treatment group received skin scraping plus movable cupping and the control group, acupuncture. Result The total efficacy rate was 88.8% in the treatment group and 77.5% in the control group; there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05). Conclusion Skin scraping plus movable cupping has a good therapeutic effect on neck-shoulder syndrome.

Effect of tranilast on myocardial fibrosis in mice with viral myocarditis / 中国当代儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the role of tranilast in the pathogenesis of myocardiac fibrosis in viral myocarditis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Seventy-two BALB/C mice were randomly divided into control, model and intervention groups (n=24 each). Mice in the model and intervention groups were infected with Coxsackievirus B3 to induce viral myocarditis. The intervention group was given with tranilast (200 mg/kg) by gavage until sacrifice for sampling, while the other two groups were administered with the same volume of normal saline. Cardiac tissues were obtained from 8 mice on 7, 14 and 28 days after modeling. The mast cell number was observed by toluidine blue staining and thionine staining. The cardiac tissues were stained with hematoxylin and eosin as well as masson trichrome to observe the pathological changes in cardiac tissues. The mRNA and protein expression of osteopontin and transforming growth factor-β1 was measured by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry respectively.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>In the model group, the mRNA and protein expression of osteopontin reached the highest level on the 7th day, decreasing from the 14th day, and became to the least on the 28th day; while the expression of TGF-β1 increased from the 7th day, reaching a peak on the 14th day, and decreased slightly on the 28th day. The mRNA and protein expression of TGF-β1 and OPN was lower in the intervention group than the model group (P<0.05), but higher than the control group (P<0.05). The expression of OPN mRNA was positively correlated to the number of mast cells.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Tranilast can reduce myocardial fibrosis by decreasing the number of mast cells, inhibiting the expression of TGF-β1 and OPN.</p>

Alteration of Multiple Systems in Offspring After Prenatal Stress / 现代生物医学进展

This paper, from the aspects of neuroendocrine, emotion, learning etc, analyzed comprehensively the characteristics of the influence of prenatal stress (PS) on offspring, including intensity of PS, timing of exposure and individual differences. Despite the variety in methodology, most studies on it indicate that the prenatal stressful events lead to offspring's increased plasma glucocorticoid (GC) level, more depressed-related behaviors and impaired learning abilities. Although mechanism of prenatal stress is still unclear, most studies show that it is concerned with hypothalamio-pituitary-adneral (HPA) axis,dopaminergic (DA-ergic) system, neuropeptide Y (NPY)and serotoninergic (5-HT ergic) system. Moreover, further studies are proposed to pay more attention to the relationship and interaction of various related substances.

Alteration of Multiple Systems in Offspring After Prenatal Stress / 现代生物医学进展

This paper, from the aspects of neuroendocrine, emotion, learning etc, analyzed comprehensively the characteristics of the influence of prenatal stress (PS) on offspring, including intensity of PS, timing of exposure and individual differences. Despite the variety in methodology, most studies on it indicate that the prenatal stressful events lead to offspring's increased plasma glucocorticoid (GC) level, more depressed-related behaviors and impaired learning abilities. Although mechanism of prenatal stress is still unclear, most studies show that it is concerned with hypothalamio-pituitary-adneral (HPA) axis,dopaminergic (DA-ergic) system, neuropeptide Y (NPY)and serotoninergic (5-HT ergic) system. Moreover, further studies are proposed to pay more attention to the relationship and interaction of various related substances.

Blood supply features and interventional therapy of pedunculated hepatocellular carcinoma / 介入放射学杂志

Objective To evaluate the blood supply features and effectiveness of arterial chemoembolization for pedunculated hepatocellular carcinoma.Methods Angiography and chemoembolization via supplying blood arteries of tumor were performed in five patients with pedunculated hepatocellular carcinoma.Interventional procedure was carried out with tumor vascular infusion of 350 mg hot elemene emulsion and tumor embolization by cisplantin-lipidol emulsion(cisplantin 60-80 mg+lipidol 8-15 ml)and glutin.Results Ten interventional procedures(TACE)were undertaken in 5 patients.Angiography showed that tumor blood supply mainly coming from collateral circulation adjacent to the tumors,but partially from hepatic artery.Tumor sizes decreased from 30% to 50% in 5 cases,and AFP declined in 4 cases after the treatment. Conclusion Pedunculated hepatocellular carcinoma possessing different blood supply features from intrahepatocellular carcinomas.But transarterial ehemoembolization is still an effective method of choice for this treatment.

Study on Isolation of Clostridium butyricum from Pits Sludge and Its Characteristics / 微生物学通报

14 strains were isolated from pits sludge by anaerobic cultivation,two Clostridium butyricum strains were identified by physiological and biochemical experiments and the sequence analysis of 16S rDNA.The physiological characteristics and security of Clostridium butyricum B1 were studied,in vitro research indicated it was tolerant against low pH,bile concentration and antibiotics and has antagonism effects against pathogens.