Advances in research of heart organoid and its application in drug discovery / 药学学报

Cardiovascular diseases are fatal threats to human health and also important fields in drug discovery. Organoid is a miniature with the structure and function similar to the organ, which is formed by the self-updating and specific differentiation of stem cells during the in vitro culture. Considering its characteristics of human origin, physical features, self-assembling and genetic stability, heart organoid has attracted much attention in the study of cardiogenesis, cardiovascular diseases modeling and related drug research. Hence, this article will review the development of heart organoids and its construction strategies, highlighting its application and prospects in drug discovery.

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.

Study on the differences in chemical composition of Scutellaria baicalensis leaves from different origins in Shanxi Province based on plant metabolomics and targeted quantitative analysis / 药学学报

By integrating plant metabonomics and target quantitative analysis methods, this study systematically analyzed the differences of chemical constituents in Scutellaria baicalensis leaves from different producing areas in Shanxi, so as to provide theoretical basis for rational and effective utilization of Scutellaria baicalensis leaves. Based on the idea of plant metabonomics, the liquid quality of 53 batches of Scutellaria baicalensis leaves from 8 different producing areas in Shanxi was analyzed by UPLC-QTOF-MS, and the collected data were imported into SIMCA 14.1 software for multivariate statistical analysis to screen the different chemical constituents among different habitats in Shanxi. Meanwhile, a method for simultaneous determination of 7 flavonoids and 3 organic acids in Scutellaria baicalensis leaves was optimized and established to quantitatively analyze the differences of chemical components in Scutellaria baicalensis leaves from different producing areas in Shanxi. The results of plant metabonomics showed that there were differences in the chemical composition of Scutellaria baicalensis leaves in northern Shanxi (Datong, Xinzhou), Jinzhong (Yangquan, Luliang) and southern Shanxi (Changzhi, Yuncheng, Jincheng, Linfen): there were 14 significant differences in chemical composition between northern Shanxi and Jinzhong; there were 18 significant differences in chemical constituents between southern Shanxi and central Shanxi. There were 15 significant differences in chemical constituents between northern Shanxi and southern Shanxi. Among them, scutellarin and isocarthamidin-7-O-glucuronide were the common differences among the three regions, and the content of scutellarin was the highest in southern Shanxi and the lowest in northern Shanxi. The content of isocarthamidin-7-O-glucuronide was the highest in Jinzhong area and the lowest in northern Shanxi area. Quantitative analysis further confirmed that the average contents of apigenin, naringenin and citric acid were the highest in northern Shanxi, scutellarin, caffeic acid, apigenin-7-O-glucuronide, malic acid and wogonoside were the highest in southern Shanxi, and wogonoside and baicalin were the highest in central Shanxi. This study is of great significance to the quality control of Scutellaria baicalensis leaf resources, and provides theoretical basis for rational and effective utilization of Scutellaria baicalensis leaf resources.

A nested case-control study on the association of neonatal cord blood selenium, iron and copper with congenital heart disease / 中华预防医学杂志

Objective: To investigate the relationship between the levels of selenium, iron and copper in cord blood of neonates and the risk of congenital heart disease (CHD), and analyze their interaction effects. Methods: The subjects were obtained from the birth cohort in Lanzhou area established from 2010 to 2012. A baseline survey was conducted in the first trimester, and the follow-up was conducted in the second trimester, third trimester and 42 days after delivery. The umbilical vein blood was collected from newborns at delivery, and information on their birth outcomes was extracted from medical records. A nested case-control study was used to select 97 neonates with CHD newly diagnosed by echocardiography as the case group, and 194 neonates were selected as the control group by 1∶2 matching according to their mother's age, block and CHD onset time. Inductively coupled ion mass spectrometry was used to detect the concentrations of selenium, iron and copper in neonatal cord blood. The element exposure was categorized into three groups, the low, medium and high concentrations, according to the quartiles Q1 and Q3 of selenium, iron and copper concentrations in the control group. The association between cord blood selenium, iron and copper concentrations and CHD was analyzed by conditional logistic regression model using medium concentration as the reference standard. The association of their interactions with CHD was analyzed by a phase multiplication model. Results: The M (Q1, Q3) concentration of neonatal cord blood copper was 746.12 (467.48, 759.74) μg/L in the case group and 535.69 (425.21, 587.79) μg/L in the control group, with a statistically significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05). After adjustment for confounders, logistic regression models showed that the risk of CHD development was increased in neonates with either high copper in cord blood (OR=4.062, 95%CI: 2.013-8.199) or high copper combined with high iron (OR=3.226, 95%CI: 1.343-7.750). No correlation was observed between selenium and iron concentrations and the development of CHD in neonates. There was a multiplicative interaction between copper and iron in cord blood on the risk of developing CHD (OR=1.303, 95%CI: 1.056-1.608). Conclusion: There is a multiplicative interaction between iron and copper elements. The high copper and the high copper combined with high iron in umbilical cord blood are risk factors for neonatal CHD.

Exploring the mechanism of anti-hereditary Parkinson's disease of baicalein based on PINK1 RNAi Drosophila model / 药学学报

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of baicalein on a Drosophila model of hereditary Parkinson's disease caused by gene mutations and to preliminarily elucidate the mechanism of baicalein in delaying hereditary Parkinson's disease. In this paper, PTEN-induced putative kinase 1 (PINK1)-RNAi Parkinson's Drosophila were used as the model group and wild-type Drosophila w1118 were used as the control group. Different doses of baicalein and Madopa were administered to the model group to observe their effects on the life span, motor ability, the abnormal rate of wings, dopamine content and dopaminergic neurons of PINK1-RNAi Parkinson's Drosophila and their effects on mitochondrial dysfunction including adenosine triphosphate (ATP), mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) content. The results showed that the effective administration doses of baicalein were 0.8 mg·mL-1 for low concentration, 1.6 mg·mL-1 for medium concentration and 3.2 mg·mL-1 for high concentration, and the optimal administration dose of the positive drug Madopa was 0.1 μg·mL-1. Baicalein and Madopa could significantly improve the life span, exercise ability and reduce the abnormal rate of wings of PINK1-RNAi male Drosophila (P < 0.05), and low dose baicalein showed the best effect; baicalein could improve the loss of dopaminergic neurons, and the effects of low dose and high dose were the best, but Madopa showed no significant effect; baicalein and Madopa had no significant effect on dopamine content (P > 0.05). Baicalein and Madopa could increase the ATP content of PINK1-RNAi male Drosophila (P < 0.05), and low dose baicalein showed the best effect; middle dose baicalein could significantly increase the mtDNA content of PINK1-RNAi male Drosophila (P < 0.05), but Madopa had no significant effect; baicalein and Madopa had no significant effect on ROS content (P > 0.05).

Progress on targets and therapeutic drugs for pancreatic cancer / 药学学报

Pancreatic cancer is a highly malignant tumor with a poor prognosis. It is very hard to treat pancreatic cancers for their high heterogeneity, complex tumor microenvironment, and drug resistance. Currently, gemcitabine plus nab-paclitaxel, capecitabine and FOLFIRINOX are standard chemotherapy for resectable or advanced metastatic pancreatic cancer. Considering the limited efficacy and toxic side effects of chemotherapy, targeted and immune drugs have gradually attracted attention and made some progress. In this article, we systematically reviewed the chemotherapeutic drugs, targets and related targeted drugs, and immunotherapy drugs for pancreatic cancer.

Research progress in drugs targeting tumor associated macrophage / 药学学报

Tumor brings great threat to human public health. In recent years, incidence rate and mortality of tumor were rapidly increased in the world. Anti-tumor therapies have undergone the development of cytotoxic therapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy. Among them, tumor immunotherapy is rapidly developed and becomes an important anti-tumor therapy in recent years, although it also brings some related side effects. Tumor microenvironment (TME) is composed of immune cells, vascular vessels, fibroblasts, the extracellular matrix, etc. TME significantly affects the efficacy of immunotherapy. Macrophages in the TME are named as tumor associated macrophages (TAMs). Recently, increasing studies have shown that TAMs play an important role in the regulation of tumor immunity, especially in tumor immune surveillance and immune escape. Currently, more and more anti-tumor immunotherapy strategies targeting TAMs are at the development stage. Based on the important role of TAMs in the TME and their potential as therapeutic targets in tumor immunotherapy, we first reviewed the subtypes and functions of TAMs, as well as the roles of TAMs in tumors. Furthermore, we summarized the research progress on anti-tumor strategies targeting TAMs and the current status of drug targeting TAMs. The current review will provide new ideas and novel insights for tumor immunotherapy.

Effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy on breast invasive ductal carcinoma and changes of estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 and Ki67 in tissues / 中国综合临床

Objective:To observe the clinical effect on patients of invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast by neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and to analyze the changes of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2) and Ki67 in neoplasm.Methods:A total of 83 patients which were treated by neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast invasive ductal carcinoma diagnosed were selected in North China University of Science and Technology Affiliated Hopital from January 2014 to December 2020. There were 30 cases of Luminal type A, 31 cases of Luminal type B, 10 cases of HER-2 positive type and 12 cases of triple negative type. To observe the clinical effect of different molecular subtypes, detect the expression of Er, PR, HER-2 and Ki67 in pathological tissues before and after neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and conduct a retrospective case-control study. Comparison between the two groups use χ2 test, matched χ2 and accurate probability method. Results:Fifty-eight cases were clinically effective, the total effective rate was 69.8% (58/83), and 9 cases were pathological complete response (pCR), accounting for 10.8% (9/83). After neoadjuvant chemotherapy, the highest clinical efficacy was luminal type B in 26 cases, and the highest PCR was triple negative type in 3 cases. The pathological results showed that the expression of ER (6 cases of positive expression were increased, χ2=1.03, P=0.310), PR (8 cases of positive expression were increased, χ2=1.56, P=0.210) and HER-2 (2 cases of positive expression were decreased, χ2=0.10, P=0.748) was not different before and after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The expression of Ki67 was decreased in 25 cases (30.1%) after chemotherapy compared with 59 cases (71.1%) before chemotherapy (34 cases of positive expression were decreased, χ2=27.85, P<0.001). Five cases were added among Luminal type A after chemotherapy, all of which were transformed from Luminal type B, but the kappa value was 0.919 (>0.75), the consistency rate was 91.9%. The consistency was idea before and after chemotherapy. Five cases were added after Luminal type A chemotherapy, all of which were transformed from Luminal type B, but the kappa value was 0.919 ( P>0.75), and the consistency rate was 91.9%,The consistency before and after chemotherapy was good. After chemotherapy, HER-2 expression remained unchanged in 59 cases (clinically effective in 48 cases), up-regulated in 9 cases (clinically effective in 4 cases) and down regulated in 15 cases (clinically effective in 6 cases)( χ2=12.82, P=0.002). Ki67 expression remained unchanged in 35 cases (20 cases were clinically effective), up-regulated in 7 cases (2 cases were clinically effective) and down regulated in 41 cases (36 cases were clinically effective)( χ2=14.63, P=0.001). Conclusion:The clinical effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the treatment of breast invasive ductal carcinoma is ideal. The clinical effective rate of Luminal B type is the highest, and the pCR rate of triple negative type is the highest.And it can significantly reduce the expression of Ki67. The down-regulation of HER-2 and Ki67 is significant for clinical efficiency.

Research progress of cystine/glutamate antiporter as drug targets / 药学学报

Cystine/glutamate antiporter [system Xc(-)] is a sodium independent amino acid transporter, which is a heterodimer composed of light chain subunit xCT and heavy chain subunit 4F2hc (CD98) through covalent disulfide bond. System Xc(-) typically mediates cystine uptake and glutamate output, helps to maintain the balance of glutamate, cystine and cysteine inside and outside the cell, regulates the level of glutamate inside and outside the membrane and the synthesis of intracellular glutathione, thus affecting oxidative stress and glutamate neurotoxicity. This review expounds the structure and function of system Xc(-), analyzes the role of the transporter in physiology and pathology, discusses the role and mechanism in different diseases, and discusses the specific research progress of system Xc(-) as a drug target. This review summarizes the research status of system Xc(-) and provides theoretical guidance for further research on system Xc(-) and drug discovery.

Identification of multi-target anti-cancer agents from TCM formula by in silico prediction and in vitro validation / 中国天然药物

Cancer is a complex disease associated with multiple gene mutations and malignant phenotypes, and multi-target drugs provide a promising therapy idea for the treatment of cancer. Natural products with abundant chemical structure types and rich pharmacological characteristics could be ideal sources for screening multi-target antineoplastic drugs. In this paper, 50 tumor-related targets were collected by searching the Therapeutic Target Database and Thomson Reuters Integrity database, and a multi-target anti-cancer prediction system based on mt-QSAR models was constructed by using naïve Bayesian and recursive partitioning algorithm for the first time. Through the multi-target anti-cancer prediction system, some dominant fragments that act on multiple tumor-related targets were analyzed, which could be helpful in designing multi-target anti-cancer drugs. Anti-cancer traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and its natural products were collected to form a TCM formula-based natural products library, and the potential targets of the natural products in the library were predicted by multi-target anti-cancer prediction system. As a result, alkaloids, flavonoids and terpenoids were predicted to act on multiple tumor-related targets. The predicted targets of some representative compounds were verified according to literature review and most of the selected natural compounds were found to exert certain anti-cancer activity in vitro biological experiments. In conclusion, the multi-target anti-cancer prediction system is very effective and reliable, and it could be further used for elucidating the functional mechanism of anti-cancer TCM formula and screening for multi-target anti-cancer drugs. The anti-cancer natural compounds found in this paper will lay important information for further study.

Exosomal Delivery of Non-coding RNA Regulates Breast Bancer Drug Resistance / 肿瘤防治研究

Drug resistance is a major challenge in the treatment of breast cancer. Many causes and mechanisms lead to the occurrence of drug resistance in breast cancer. Exosomes and their contents (DNA, mRNA, protein, and non-coding RNA) are important mediators of intercellular communication and play a role in tumor progression, metastasis, and recurrence. Among them, non-coding RNA carried by exosomes plays a crucial role in limiting drug efficacy. This article reviews the latest research progress on the relationship between exosomal non-coding RNA and drug resistance of breast cancer at home and abroad.

The research advance on subtypes and relevant therapy of Parkinson's disease / 药学学报

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease with a high clinical heterogeneity. According to its motor symptoms, PD patients are divided into predominant tremor-dominant, postural instability and gait difficulty-dominant/akinetic-rigid and mixed subtypes. Different subtypes show different prognostic characteristics and different sensitivities to drugs. Therefore, the early classification of PD is of great significance for the treatment and prognosis of the disease. This paper reviews the clinical classification methods of different subtypes of PD, summarizes the latest biochemical markers and imaging features, and analyzed the differences in incidence, prognosis and pathological mechanism. The current clinical treatment drugs and methods have been preliminarily targeted for treatment based on PD classification, and there are many animal models of PD subtypes have been studied, providing new methods and strategies for mechanism research and preclinical pharmacodynamics evaluation of PD subtypes.

Relationship between pesticide exposure and lipid metabolism in population / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

Objective: To investigate the effect of pesticides and herbicides on lipid metabolism. Methods: In November 2020, Based on the data of the national health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES) (2011-2014) , select the population aged 20~65 who have demographic information, pesticide use and data of four lipid metabolism indicators [total cholesterol (TC) , triglyceride (TG) , high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC) ] (n=3039) . The subjects were divided into insecticide group (320 people) and non insecticide group (2719) according to the use of insecticides, and herbicide group (156 people) and non herbicide group according to the use of herbicides. Results: Among the 3039 subjects, the males and female were 1509 (49.7%) and 1530 (50.3%) respectively. The males age was (39.7±12.0) years and the females age was (40.2±12.0) years The concentration of HDLC in the NHANES (55.4±15.0) mg/dl was lower than that of (58.2±14.2) mg/dL in the non herbicide group (P<0.05) (b=-0.044, P<0.05) . The results showed that the use of herbicides was related to the decrease of HDLC and the increase of LDLC and LDLC/HDLC in female population (b=-0.050, 0.062, 0.067, all P<0.05) . Conclusion: Herbicide exposure can cause the change of lipid metabolism, and the effect on female population is more obvious.

Based on plasma metabonomics and network analysis to research the mechanisms of Chaigui granules for treating depression / 药学学报

The purpose of this study was to systematically analyze the antidepressant mechanism of Chaigui granules from the perspective of biological metabolic network by using integrated metabolomics and biological network analysis tools. The model of chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) depression rat was established, and LC-MS-based plasma metabolomics was used to identify the key metabolites and analyze metabolic pathways underlying the antidepressant effects of Chaigui Granules. The key metabolites regulated by Chaigui granules was integrated with biological network analysis tools to further focus on the key metabolic pathways and explore the potential targets of the antidepressant effect of Chaigui granules. The results showed that there were significant differences in the plasma levels of 20 metabolites in the model group compared with the control group (P < 0.05), Chaigui granules significantly regulated 12 metabolites including docosatrienoic acid, 3-hydroxybutyric acid, 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde, chenodeoxycholic acid, cholic acid, L-glutamine, glycocholic acid, linoleyl carnitine, L-tyrosine, N-acetylvaline, palmitoylcarnitine, arachidonic acid. Further network analysis of the key metabolites regulated by Chaigui granules indicated that plasma arachidonic acid metabolism might be the core pathway for the antidepressant effect of Chaigui granules, with 10 proteins were potential targets for the antidepressant effect of Chaigui granules, including CYP2B6, CYP2E1, CYP2C9, CYP2C8, PLA2G6, PTGS2, ALOX15B, PTGS1, ALOX12 and ALOX5. The animal experimental operations involved in this paper was followed the regulations of the Animal Ethics Committee of Shanxi University and passed the animal experimental ethical review (Approval No. SXULL2020028).

Puerarin reduces oxidative damage to vascular endothelial cells by improving mitochondrial respiratory function / 药学学报

This study investigated the effect of puerarin on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) injured with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). HUVEC were divided into three groups: a control group, a model group (H2O2 400 μmol·L-1) and a puerarin-treated group (3, 10, 30 and 100 μmol·L-1). HUVEC were cultured with varied concentration of puerarin for 2 h and treated with H2O2 for another 24 h. Cell proliferation was detected by a CCK-8 assay. The mitochondrial membrane potential was measured by a JC-1 fluorescent probe. A transwell chamber assay was adopted to observe cell migration ability. Mitochondrial respiratory function was measured in a two-chamber titration injection respirometer (Oxygraph-2k). The expression of interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-18 (IL-18) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) was detected by quantitative real-time PCR. The expression of pyroptosis-mediated proteins, including cleaved-cysteinyl aspartate-specific proteinase-1 (caspase-1), N-gasdermin D (N-GSDMD), NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) and purinergic ligand-gated ion channel 7 receptor (P2X7R) was detected by Western blot. The results show that 400 μmol·L-1 H2O2 treatment for 24 h causes obvious damage to HUVEC. Compared with the model group, puerarin protected against cellular injury in a dose-dependent manner, with the greatest effect at a dose of 30 and 100 μmol·L-1. Puerarin significantly decreased the mitochondrial membrane potential and improved mitochondrial function. Puerarin inhibited cell migration induced by H2O2, suppressed the expression of IL-1β, IL-18 and TNF-α, and down-regulated the pyroptosis-mediated protein. These changes are statistically significant (P < 0.05). These findings demonstrate that puerarin has a protective effect against H2O2-induced oxidative damage of HUVEC by inhibiting the migration of HUVEC cells. The mechanism may be related to improved mitochondrial respiratory function and inhibition of pyroptosis.

The mechanisms of type 2 diabetic skeletal muscle atrophy and the effects of commonly used hypoglycemic drugs: a review / 药学学报

Type 2 diabetes is a hypermetabolic disease characterized with disorders of glucose/lipid metabolism, absolute or relative lack of insulin, and can induce skeletal muscle atrophy. Hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, insulin resistance, and abnormal release of inflammatory factors can lead to abnormal signal transduction in skeletal muscle, thus make protein synthesis and degradation imbalance and eventually causing muscle atrophy. Under normal conditions, insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1)/insulin can activate phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (AKT). AKT not only increases protein synthesis through mammalian target protein of rapamycin (mTOR), but also phosphorylates forkhead box O (FoxO) transcription factor and then inhibits the transcription of several ubiquitin ligases (such as MAFbx/atrogin-1 and MuRF1), or autophagy related genes. The weakened IGF-1/PI3K/AKT pathway in type 2 diabetes is an important factor leading to skeletal muscle atrophy. Studies have shown that the commonly used anti-type 2 diabetic drugs have different effects in regulating the synthesis and degradation of skeletal muscle protein. Studies reported that drugs with effect of anti-diabetic muscle atrophy include thiazolidinediones, glucagon-like peptide analogs, glucose-sodium cotransporter 2 inhibitors, etc.; drugs that are still in controversial or even promote skeletal muscle atrophy include metformin, and some sulfonylurea or non-sulfonylurea insulin secretagogues. This article overviewed and analyzed the currently commonly used drugs for type 2 diabetes and summarized the related mechanisms, with the aim to provide references for the rational applications of drugs for type 2 diabetes.

Changes in the morphology and function of the meibomian glands in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and their effects on the function of tear film / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)

AIM: To investigate the changes of morphology and function of meibomian glands in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and its influence on the tear film. METHODS: A total of 52 patients(104 eyes)with type 2 diabetes mellitus who came to our hospital from January 2018 to January 2020 were selected. Then they were divided into non-diabetic retinopathy group(NDR group, 31 cases with 62 eyes)and diabetic retinopathy group(DR group, 21 cases with 42 eyes)according to the fundus changes. While 38 cases(76 eyes)of diabetic-free cataract patients who treated at the same time were selected as the control group. The differences of three groups were compared with the morphology and the scores of the function of lid edge and meibomian glands, the scores of fluorescence staining of cornea, break-up time(BUT)of tear film, lipid layer thickness(LLT), blink times(BT)and partial blink rate(PBR).RESULTS: The morphology and the scores of function of lid edge and meibomian glands, the scores of fluorescence staining of cornea were significantly higher than the control group, and the DR group was significantly higher than the NDR group(all P<0.05). The BUT in the DR group and NDR group was significantly lower than that in the control group, and the DR group was significantly lower than that in the NDR group(all P<0.05). There were differences in LLT, BT and PBR among the three groups(P<0.05). The LLT and BT in the DR group and NDR group were significantly lower than those in the control group, and PBR was significantly higher than that in control group(all P<0.05), but there was no significant difference between the DR group and the NDR group(all P>0.05). Type 2 diabetes mellitus patients with morphology abnormalities of meibomian gland have a higher incidence of abnormal tear film function.CONCLUSION: Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus are prone to shortening and loss of meibomian glands, which is easy to cause the dysfunction of the meibomian gland and decrease the stability of the tear film. While the patients with DR, the morphology abnormalities and dysfunction of the meibomian glands are more pronounced, and the stability of the tear film is worse.

Use of network pharmacology to analyze compound reserpine and triamterene tablets in the treatment of hypertension / 药学学报

Compound reserpine and triamterene tablets (CRTT), a compound antihypertensive drug developed by Chinese scientists, is still widely used in clinical practice. However, the mechanisms by which CRTT treats hypertension remain to be fully understood. This study used network pharmacology to analyze CRTT's antihypertensive mechanisms with in vitro experiments. The targets of the four chemical components of CRTT were collected from the Swiss Target Prediction database; 1 828 protein targets related to hypertension were collected from the Therapeutic Target Database (TTD) and Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) database. The CRTT-hypertension network model was constructed using a search tool for recurring instances of neighbouring genes (STRING). Gene ontology (GO) and pathway enrichment analysis of targets of interest was conducted with the Metascape database. In the in vitro study, human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) were treated with 1 μmol·L-1 angiotensin Ⅱ (AngⅡ) and CRTT was administered at concentrations of 0.01, 0.1, and 1 μmol·L-1. Changes in the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase/protein serine threonine kinase/endothelial nitric oxide synthase (PI3K/Akt/eNOS) pathway in HUVEC and the cyclic guanosine monophosphate/cGMP-dependent protein kinase (cGMP/PKG) pathway in VSMC were determined by Western blot. Network pharmacological analysis revealed that the antihypertensive effect of CRTT is closely associated with biological pathways such as vascular tone regulation, adrenergic receptor activation, protein kinase activity and signaling pathways such as the cGMP/PKG signaling pathway, vascular smooth muscle contraction, neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction, adrenergic signaling in cardiomyocytes and calcium signaling pathways. The in vitro study confirmed that CRTT increased the levels of phosphorylated phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (p-PI3K), phosphorylated protein serine threonine kinase (p-Akt), phosphorylated endothelial nitric oxide synthase (p-eNOS) in HUVEC and the levels of eNOS, phosphorylated vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein (p-VASP), and PKG in VSMC through multiple targets and pathways. These results suggest that the activation of PI3K/Akt/eNOS pathway and endothelial-dependent NO/cGMP signaling may be involved in the CRTT-mediated hypotensive effect.

Da Chaihutang Protects Liver Mitochondrial Function of Nutritionally Obese Rats via CREB/PGC-1α Pathway / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective:To observe the effects of Da Chaihutang on Cyclic adenosine monophosphate （cAMP）-response element binding protein （CREB）/peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator-1 alpha （PGC-1<italic>α</italic>） pathway in nutritionally obese rats and the protective mechanism on liver mitochondria. Method:A total of 120 8-week-old male SD rats were randomly divided into a control group （<italic>n</italic>=20） and an experimental group （<italic>n</italic>=100）. The rats in the control group were fed on a normal diet， while those in the experimental group were administered with a high-fat feed. Successfully modeled rats were randomly divided into a model group， a positive drug （metformin） group， and low-， medium- and high-dose Da Chaihutang groups （4.25， 8.5， and 17 g∙kg^-1， respectively）， with 20 rats in each group. After treatment with Da Chaihutang， the body weight， Lee's index， liver mitochondrial membrane potential and mitochondrial ultrastructure， PGC-1<italic>α </italic>expression and CREB phosphorylation of each group were measured and compared. Result:Compared with the control group， the model group showed increased body weight and Lee's index （<italic>P</italic><0.01）， whereas decreased mitochondrial membrane potential， PGC-1<italic>α</italic> expression， and CREB phosphorylation level （<italic>P</italic><0.01）. As compared with the model group， Da Chaihutang significantly reduced the body weight and Lee's index of obese rats （<italic>P</italic><0.05， <italic>P</italic><0.01）， enhanced liver mitochondrial membrane potential （<italic>P</italic><0.05， <italic>P</italic><0.01） to protect the integrity of mitochondrial structure， up-regulated PGC-1<italic>α</italic> expression and promoted CREB phosphorylation （<italic>P</italic><0.05， <italic>P</italic><0.01）. Conclusion:Da Chaihutang protects the structure and function of mitochondria and inhibits weight gain in obese rats by activating the CREB/PGC-1<italic>α</italic> pathway.

Research progress of circadian rhythm / 中国中药杂志

Circadian rhythm disorder is a common society issue caused by jet lag,shift work,sleep disruption and changes in food consumption. Light is the major factor affecting the circadian rhythm system. Disruption of the circadian rhythm system can cause damage to the body,leading to some diseases. Maintaining a normal circadian system is of great importance for good health. Ideal therapeutic effect can not only alleviate symptoms of the diseases,but also recovery the disturbed circadian rhythm to normal. The paper summarizes the modeling methods of animal circadian rhythm disorder,diseases of circadian rhythm abnormality,regulation of circadian clock genes and medicine which are related to circadian rhythm to diseases of circadian rhythm disorder.