Effect of Gancao Fuzi Decoction on osteoarthritis and proteomics of articular cartilage in rats / 中国中药杂志

The rat osteoarthritis model was replicated by injection of sodium iodoacetate into the knee joint cavity, and the effects of Gancao Fuzi Decoction on rat osteoarthritis and the proteome of articular cartilage were investigated. Sixty SD rats weighing 230-250 g were randomly divided into normal group, model group, glucosamine sulfate group, and Gancao Fuzi Decoction high, medium and low dose groups. Osteoarthritis model was induced by intra-articular injection of sodium iodoacetate(3 mg on each leg) in all groups except the normal group. After modeling, each administration group was given intragastric administration for 1 month. During the administration period, joint pain test and joint width measurement were performed every week to observe the autonomous behavior of rats. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) method was used to detect the contents of tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α), interleukin-1β(IL-1β), matrix metalloproteinase-3(MMP-3), and matrix metalloproteinase tissue inhibitor(TIMP-1) in rat joint lavage fluid. Hematoxylin-eosin(HE) staining was used to observe bone and joint morphology. Nano-LC-LTQ-Orbitrap system was used to detect arti-cular cartilage proteins. The results showed that, compared with the model group, Gancao Fuzi Decoction could significantly improve joint pain and joint swelling in osteoarthritis rats, significantly reduce the contents of TNF-α, IL-1β and MMP-3 in the joint cavity la-vage fluid, increase the content of TIMP-1, and relieve inflammatory diseases such as enlarged joint space, rough cartilage edge, different thickness of cartilage layer, and disordered arrangement of chondrocytes. After comparing the proteins between the groups, 273 differential proteins were screened out. KEGG analysis found that the above differential proteins involved 43 signaling pathways such as systemic lupus erythematosus, among which 11 signaling pathways were related to osteoarthritis. The above results indicated that Gancao Fuzi Decoction had a preventive effect on osteoarthritis, and its mechanism of action may be accomplished by regulating the protein expression of osteoarthritis-related signal pathways.

Effect of Erxian Decoction on Cardiac Electrophysiology in Peri-menopausal Rats / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective: To explore the effect and mechanism of Erxian decoction on peri-menopausal cardiac electrophysiology in rats. Method: Female sprague-dawley rats were randomly divided into six groups:sham operation group, model group, estradiol valerate group, and low, medium and high-dose Erxian decoction groups. Except the sham operation group, the rats in the other groups were completely removed from the ovarian replication peri-menopausal rat model. At the same time, estradiol valerate group (8×10-4 g·kg -1·d-1), low-dose Erxian decoction group (4 g·kg-1·d-1), middle-dose Erxian decoction group (8 g·kg-1·d-1) and high-dose Erxian decoction group (12 g·kg-1·d-1), sham operation group and model group were given the same amount of normal saline. The administration was given once a day for 80 consecutive days. The electrocardiogram of rats was recorded by biosignal detector connected to lead Ⅱ electrode. The content of estradiol (E2) in rat serum was detected by enzyme-linked immuno sorbent assay (ELISA). The pathological changes of rat uterus were observed by hematoxylin-eosin. The expression of the estrogen alpha receptor (ERα) protein was detected by Western blot method in myocardial tissue of rat. Result: Compared with the sham operation group, the amplitudes of P wave, R wave and T wave in the electrocardiogram of the model group were significantly decreased (P2 level was significantly lower (Pα receptor protein in myocardial tissue was significantly decreased (P2 level (Pα receptor protein (PConclusion: Erxian decoction can improve cardiac electrophysiological changes in peri-menopausal rats, and its mechanism may be related to the increase of estrogen activity and estrogen receptor expression in rats.

Effect of Erxian Decoction on cyclophosphamide-induced oligospermia in mice / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>Objective</b>To study the effect of Erxian Decoction (EXD) on oligospermia (OS) induced by cyclophosphamide in mice.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Eighty 6-week-old male Kunming mice were randomly divided into five groups of equal number, normal control, OS model control, and low-, medium- and high-dose EXD, the former two groups treated intragastrically with normal saline and the latter three with EXD at 3, 6 and 12 g per kg of the body weight qd for 30 days. From the 21st day of administration, the mice of the normal control group were injected intraperitoneally with saline and those of the other four groups with cyclophosphamide at 80 mg per kg of the body weight qd for 5 consecutive days. At 24 hours after the last gavage, the bilateral epididymides of the mice were collected and sperm suspension prepared for determination of the sperm count and motility, and the bilateral testes were harvested for histomorphological observation and measurement of the concentrations of superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MAD) and glutathione (GSH) in the testis tissue.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with the normal controls, the mice of the OS model control group showed significant decreases in epididymal sperm concentration (［9.31 ± 1.32］ vs ［3.32 ± 1.13］×107/ml, P <0.01) and motility (［44.75 ± 8.12］% vs ［25.95 ± 11.41］， P<0.01) and the concentrations of SOD (［37.27 ± 0.99］ vs ［14.23 ± 1.99］ U/mg prot, P <0.01) and GSH (［101.55 ± 8.74］ vs ［58.77 ± 8.93］ μmol/L, P <0.01) but an obvious increase in the MDA level (［2.21 ± 0.65］ vs ［2.61 ± 0.15］ nmol/mg prot, P <0.05) in the testis tissue. In comparison with the OS model controls, the mice treated with low-, medium- and high-dose EXD exhibited significantly increased epididymal sperm concentration (［8.34 ± 2.59］, ［8.59 ± 1.10］ and ［8.41 ± 1.47］×107/ml) (P <0.01) and motility (［36.04 ± 12.33］%, ［38.87 ± 13.13］% and ［41.90 ± 8.09］%) (P <0.01) and concentrations of SOD (［22.99 ± 1.11］, ［20.82 ± 1.81］ and ［21.33 ± 1.66］ U/mg prot) (P <0.01) and GSH (［104.74 ± 2.47］, ［98.61 ± 12.98］ and ［108.89 ± 5.85］ μmol/L) (P <0.01) but decreased level of MDA (P <0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Erxian Decoction can improve cyclophosphamide-induced reduction of sperm concentration and motility, which might be associated with its abilities of resisting oxidation and reducing oxidative stress injury.</p>

Hippocampus proteomics for effect of Er-xian decoction on ovariectomy induced-learning and memory disabilities in rats / 中国中药杂志

To investigate the effect of Er-xian decoction on ovariectomy induced-learning and memory disability in rats based on the differences in hippocampus proteomic expression, the female rats were ovariectomized for perimenopausal status and then randomly divided into 3 groups, namely sham group, control group and Er-xian decoction group. The rats in sham group and control group were given normal saline by gavage everyday, the rats in Er-xian decoction group were given 12 g·kg⁻¹ of Er-xian decoction by gavage once a day. After treatment for 90 day, all of the animals were tested by Morris water maze, and all of the samples were collected for testing. The hippocampus proteins were detected by Nano-LC-LTQ-Orbitrap system, and identified by Protein Discovery software. The intensity of differential proteins were quantitated by SIEVE software，and the biological functions of protein were analyzed by DIVAD database. The results showed that Er-xian decoction could significantly improve the abilities of learning and memory. Compared with control group， 216 differential proteins with a consistent variation trend with the sham group were found in the Er-xian decoction group. And they mainly concentrated in calcium signaling pathway, Rab3A and Rab14 were key genes with the highest functional classification enrichment score in the gene group. Er-xian decoction could significantly improve the abilities of learning and memory in perimenopausal model rats. The invention effect of Er-xian decoction may be correlated with the calcium signaling pathway and Ras-related protein Rab-3A, and Ras-related protein Rab-14.

Effect of Er-xian decoction on femur proteomics in ovariectomized osteoporosis rats / 中国中药杂志

This experiment was mainly aimed to investigate the effect of Er-xian decoction on osteoporosis and the femur proteomics in ovariectomized rats with osteoporosis. The female SD rats were randomly divided into sham operation group, model group, Alendronate group (1 mg•kg⁻¹), Er-xian decoction group (in dose of 8 g•kg⁻¹) according to their weight. The rats in sham operation group and model group were gavaged with normal saline; the rats in Alendronate group were gavaged with the Alendronate at the dose of 1 mg•kg⁻¹ and the rats in Er-xian decoction group were gavaged with Er-xian decoction at the dose of 8 g•kg⁻¹, once a day for continuous 90 days. Then the femoral bone mineral density (BMD) was detected. The femoral bone proteins were detected by NanoLC-LTQ-Orbitrap system, identified by Protein Discovery software, and the intensity of differentially expressed proteins were quantitated by SIEVE software. The results showed that Er-xian decoction could significantly improve femoral BMD in ovariectomized rats. As compared with model group, 41 differentially expressed proteins whose variation trend was consistent with the sham operation group, were found in Er-xian decoction group, mainly including biological oxidation related protein, signal transduction pathway related protein, proteins involved in aliphatic acid metabolism, cytoskeleton related protein, proteins involved in energy metabolism, and proteins involved in glucose metabolism etc. The osteoporosis could be prevented and cured by Er-xian decoction. The differentially expressed proteins such as carbonic anhydrase 2 and integrin β1 may be the action targets for Er-xian decoction.