CiteSpace knowledge map of gut microbiota research involving traditional Chinese medicine in recent twenty years / 中国中药杂志

We employed bibliometrics to comprehensively study the hotspots and frontiers of gut microbiota research involving traditional Chinese medicine(TCM), aiming to provide new ideas for the subsequent research in this field. The studies of gut microbiota with TCM published from January 1, 2002 to December 31, 2021 were retrieved from CNKI, Wanfang, VIP and Web of Science(WoS). After data screening and cleaning, CiteSpace 5.8.R3 was used to visualize and analyze the authors, journals, and keywords. A total of 1 119 Chinese articles and 815 English articles were included in the study. The period of 2019-2021 witnessed the surge in the number of articles published in this field, being the peak research period. TAN Zhou-jin and DUAN Jin-ao were the authors publishing the most articles in Chinese and English, respectively. The two authors ranked top in both Chinese and English articles, playing a central role in this research field. The top five Chinese and English journals in this field had a large influence in the international research field. High-frequency keywords and keyword clustering showed that the research hotspots in this field were concentrated in four areas: trial and clinical research on the regulation of gut microbiota in disease treatment by TCM, metabolic transformation of Chinese medicines by gut microbiota, and the effect of TCM added to feed on the gut microbiota and growth performance of animals. The study of gut microbiota structure in patients with different TCM syndromes, as well as that of TCM combined with probiotics/flora transplantation in the treatment of diseases, can provide new ideas for clinical diagnosis and traditional drug treatment of diseases and has great research space and research value in the future.

Kinetics of MDSC in Patients Treated Steroids-Ruxolitinib as the First Line Therapy for aGVHD / 中国实验血液学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To analyze the kinetic characteristics of lymphocyte subsets and myeloid-derived suppressor cell (MDSC) in patients who newly diagnosed intermediate- to high-risk aGVHD and treated with steroids-ruxolitinib as the first line therapy from a single-arm, open clinical trial (NCT04061876).@*METHODS@#We prospectively observed the efficacy of 23 patients having intermediate- to high-risk aGVHD and treated with steroids-ruxolitinib as the first line therapy. The kinetic characteristics of lymphocyte subsets and MDSC were monitored, and then we compared them in steroids-ruxolitinib group (n=23), free-aGVHD group (n=20) and steroids group (n=23).@*RESULTS@#Of the 23 patients, the CR rate was 78.26% (18/23) on day 28 after first-line treatment with steroids-ruxolitinib. On day 28 after treatment, patients had lower level of CD4+CD29+ T cells (P=0.08) than that of pre-treatment, whereas levels of other lymphocyte subsets in this study were higher than that of pre-treatment; CD4+CD29+ T cells in CR patients decreased, compared with refractory aGVHD patients. On day 28 of treatment, CD8+CD28- T cells (P=0.03) significantly increased in patients with aGVHD than that in patients without aGVHD, so did CD8+CD28- T / CD8+CD28+ T cell ratio (P=0.03). Compared with patients without aGVHD, patients with aGVHD had lower level of G-MDSC, especially on day 14 after allo-HSCT (P=0.04). Compared with pre-treatment, M-MDSC was higher in CR patients on day 3 and 7 post-treatment (P3=0.01, P7=0.03), e-MDSC was higher on day 28 post-treatment (P=0.01). Moreover, compared with CR patients, M-MDSC was lower in refractory aGVHD patients on day 3 post-treatment (P=0.01) and e-MDSC was lower on day 28 post-treatment (P=0.01). Compared with steroids group, MDSC in steroids-ruxolitinib group was higher, with the most significant difference in M-MDSC (P3=0.0351; P7=0.0142; P14=0.0369).@*CONCLUSION@#We found that patients newly diagnosed intermediate- to high-risk aGVHD receiving first-line therapy with steroids-ruxolitinib achieved high response rate. Moreover, the novel first-line therapy has a small impact on the immune reconstitution of patients after allo-HSCT. Elevated MDSC might predict a better response in aGVHD patients receiving this novel first-line therapy. M-MDSC responded earlier to steroids-ruxolitinib than e-MDSC, G-MDSC.

Characteristics of N6-methyladenosine modification patterns in t(8;21) acute myeloid leukemia / 南方医科大学学报

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the relationship between AML1-ETO (AE) fusion gene and intracellular N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification pattern in t(8;21) acute myeloid leukemia (AML).@*METHODS@#RNA m6A sequencing was performed in SKNO-1 and AE knockdown SKNO-1 (SKNO-1 siAE) cells using RNA-protein co-immunoprecipitation and high-throughput sequencing (methylated RNA immunoprecipitation sequencing, MeRIP-Seq) to analyze the changes in m6A modification of the entire transcriptome. Transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) was performed using high-throughput sequencing. The differentially modified mRNAs were further functionally annotated by Gene Ontology (GO) analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis. The changes in m6A-related enzyme expressions were detected using real-time PCR.@*RESULTS@#A total of 26 441 genes were identified in AE knockdown AML cells and AE-expressing cells, containing 72 036 m6A peaks. AE knockdown caused a reduction of the number of intracellular m6A peaks from 37 042 to 34 994, among which 1278 m6A peaks were significantly elevated and 1225 were significantly decreased; 1316 genes with newly emerged m6A modification were detected and 1830 genes lost m6A modification after AE knockdown. The differential peaks were mainly enriched in pathways involving cancer and human T-lymphocytic leukemia virus I. RNA-seq results showed that 2483 genes were up-regulated and 3913 genes were down-regulated after AE knockdown. The combined analysis of MeRIP-Seq and RNA-Seq results revealed relatively high expression levels of m6A-modified genes as compared with the genes without m6A modification (SKNO-1: 0.6116±1.263 vs 2.010±1.655, P < 0.0001; SKNO-1 siAE: 0.5528±1.257 vs 2.067±1.686, P < 0.0001). The m6A modified genes located in the 3'UTR or 5 'UTR had significantly higher expression levels than those located in exonic regions (SKNO-1: 2.177± 1.633 vs 1.333 ± 1.470 vs 2.449 ± 1.651, P < 0.0001; SKNO-1 siAE: 2.304 ± 1.671 vs 1.336 ± 1.522 vs 2.394 ± 1.649, P < 0.05). Analysis of RNA-seq data identified 3 m6A-related enzymes that showed significantly elevated mRNA expression after AE knockdown, namely WTAP, METTL14, and ALKBH5 (P < 0.05), but the results of real-time PCR showed that the expressions of WTAP and ALKBH5 were significantly increased while the expression of METTL14 was lowered after AE knockdown (P < 0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#AE knockdown results in differential expressions of m6A-associated enzymes, suggesting that the AE fusion gene regulates the expression of one or more m6A-associated enzymes to control cellular methylation levels.

Genome-wide analysis of hippocampal transfer RNA-derived small RNAs identifies new potential therapeutic targets of Bushen Tiansui formula against Alzheimer's disease / 中西医结合学报

OBJECTIVE@#Bushen Tiansui formula (BSTSF), a traditional Chinese medicine prescription, has been widely used to treat Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the mechanisms underlying its effects remain largely unknown. In this study, a rat AD model was used to study the effects of BSTSF on cognitive performance and expression of transfer RNA-derived small RNAs (tsRNAs) in the hippocampus, to determine whether treatment of AD with BSTSF could regulate the expression of tsRNAs, a novel small non-coding RNA.@*METHODS@#To generate a validated AD model, oligomeric amyloid-β@*RESULTS@#The learning and memory deficits of Aβ@*CONCLUSION@#This study identified a previously uncharacterized mechanism underlying the effects of BSTSF in alleviating the learning and memory deficits in Aβ

Cupping treatment combined with antibiotics for bacterial pneumonia in children: a randomized controlled trial / 中国针灸

OBJECTIVE@#To compare the clinical efficacy of cupping treatment combined with antibiotics and antibiotics alone for bacterial pneumonia in children.@*METHODS@#A total of 72 children with bacterial pneumonia were randomly divided into an observation group (36 cases, 1 case dropped off) and a control group (36 cases). The children in the control group were treated with intravenous drip of cefodizine sodium [80 mg/(kg•d)] for 7 days. Based on the treatment of the control group, the children in the observation group were treated with cupping treatment on the bladder meridian of the back on the first day and the fourth day of antibiotic treatment; each cupping treatment was given for 5-10 min; the treatment of observation group was given for 7 days. The days for complete fever reduction, TCM syndrome scores and Canadian acute respiratory illness flu scale (CARIFS) scores before and after treatment were observed, and the clinical efficacy was evaluated.@*RESULTS@#The days for complete fever reduction in the observation group were shorter than that in the control group (@*CONCLUSION@#Cupping treatment combined with antibiotics has similar efficacy with antibiotics alone for bacterial pneumonia in children, but shows better effect in shortening the duration of fever and improving pulmonary symptoms.

Study on changes of voice characteristics after adenotonsillectomy or adenoidectomy in children / 中华耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

Objective: To study voice changes in children after adenotonsillectomy or adenoidectomy and the relationship with the vocal tract structure. Methods: Fifty patients were recruited in this study prospectively, aged from 4 to 12 years old with the median age of 6. They were underwent adenotonsillectomy or adenoidectomy in Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University from July 2019 to August 2020. In the cases, there are 31 males and 19 females. Thirty-six patients underwent adenotonsillectomy and 14 patients underwent adenoidectomy alone. Twenty-two children (13 males, 9 females) with Ⅰ degree of bilateral tonsils without adenoid hypertrophy and no snoring were selected as normal controls. Adenoid and tonsil sizes were evaluated. Subjective changes of voice were recorded after surgery. Moreover, voice data including fundamental frequency(F0), jitter, shimmer, noise to harmonic ratio(NHR), maximum phonation time(MPT), formant frequencies(F1-F5) and bandwidths(B1-B5) of vowel/a/and/i/were analyzed before, 3 days and 1 month after surgery respectively.SPSS 23.0 was used for statistical analysis. Results: Thirty-six patients(72.0%,36/50) complained of postoperative voice changes. The incidence was inversely correlated with age. In children aged 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12, the incidence was 83.3%(25/30), 63.6%(7/11) and 44.4%(4/9) respectively. Voice changes appeared more common in children underwent adenotonsillectomy(77.8%,28/36) than in those underwent adenoidectomy alone(57.1%,8/14), but there was no statistical difference. After operation, for vowel/a/, MPT(Z=2.18,P=0.041) and F2(t=2.13,P=0.040) increased, B2(Z=2.04,P=0.041) and B4(Z=2.00,P=0.046) decreased. For vowel/i/, F2(t=2.035,P=0.050) and F4(t=4.44,P=0.0001) increased, B2(Z=2.36,P=0.019) decreased. Other acoustic parameters were not significantly different from those before surgery. The F2(r=-0.392, P =0.032) of vowel/a/and F2(r=-0.279, P=0.048) and F4 (r=-0.401, P =0.028) of vowel/i/after adenotonsillectomy were significantly higher than those of adenoidectomy alone. Half of patients with postopertive voice changes can recover spontaneously 1 month after surgery. Conclusions: Voice changes in children underwent adenotonsillectomy or adenoidectomy might be related to their changes in formants and bandwidths. The effect of adenotonsillectomy on voice was more significant compared with that of adenoidectomy alone. The acoustic parameters did not change significantly after surgery except MPT.

Myocardial Substrate Metabolic Remodeling in Heart Failure / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Myocardial substrate metabolism is severely impaired after heart failure, and the selection and utilization of substrates, such as glucose and fatty acids, are remodeled, resulting in insufficient myocardial productivity, cardiac dysfunction and progressive left ventricular remodeling. It is believed traditionally that the heart changes from fatty acid metabolism to glucose metabolism during heart failure, which however is contradictory with some findings in recent years. No consistent conclusion can be drawn from studies on the changes of myocardial energy substrate metabolism and its regulatory mechanism after heart failure. Metabolic treatment for heart failure has developed slowly. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the reasons for heterogeneity of these conclusions for defining the metabolic patterns of heart failure substrates and developing metabolically targeted drugs. This review summarizes the metabolic patterns and regulatory mechanisms of normal myocardium under physiological conditions, focuses on the elaboration and comparison of myocardial substrates metabolic abnormalities in heart failure induced by ischemic heart disease, pressure load, volume load and dilated cardiomyopathy in such aspects as etiology, severity, duration of heart failure, species studied, animal models and metabolic detection methods, and makes a preliminary analysis on the consistency and differences of relevant conclusions in various studies, and discusses the future trend of metabolic treatment, with the aim to summarize the rules and molecular mechanism of glucose metabolism and fatty acid metabolism after heart failure and provide clues for the research of metabolic targeted therapy.

Detection and application value of varicella-zoster virus in saliva of patients with herpes zoster / 医学研究生学报

ObjectiveTo assess the clinical application value of saliva samples from patients with herpes zosterzoster.MethodsSaliva and serum samples of 55 patients with herpes zoster were collected. Patients were split into mild and moderate group and serious group based on the clinical score table. Paid a follow-up visit for the occurrence of PHN three months after the lesion healed. Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR was used to detect varicella-zoster virus load in saliva and serum, and then observed and verified by transmission electron microscope.ResultsThe positive rates of VZV DNA in saliva and blood samples were 87% and 85% respectively. Transmission electron microscopy showed virus pellets in saliva of patients. The VZV DNA load in saliva in serious group (5.79±2.94) copies/mLwas overtopped than that in mild to moderate group (3.06±2.59) copies/mL (t=3.58, P=0.00). Compared the viral loads in saliva of PHN group(5.82±3.12) copies/mL and non-PHN group (3.84±2.96) copies/mL, t=1.54, P=0.13.ConclusionThe positive rate of VZV DNA in saliva of herpes zoster patients is high, the load is related to clinical symptoms. So saliva can be used for the diagnosis of HZ and assessing the patients′ condition.

Molecular mechanisms of insulin resistance and interventional effects of Chinese herbal medicine / 中国中药杂志

It is considered that insulin resistance(IR)and its signaling pathway disorder are one of pathogenesis that causes insulin target-organs/issues lesions and their slow progression. The clinical diagnosis index of IR is the homeostatic model of insulin resistance(HOMA-IR)based on fasting blood-glucose and fasting serum insulin. Furthermore, the emerging IR biomarkers including adiponectin may be the references for clinical diagnosis. The influence factors of IR are obesity, chronic microinflammation and a lack of exercise. The major signaling pathways of IR include insulin receptor substrate 1(IRS1)/phosphatidylinositiol-3-kinase(PI3 K)/serine-threonine kinase(Akt)pathway, mitogen-activated protein kinase(MAPK)pathway and Smad3 pathway. In clinics, insulin sensibility and IR could be increased and improved via promoting insulin secretion and enhancing insulin signaling activation. At present, insulin sensitizers treating IR not only have the classic thiazolidinediones and its ramifications but also have the newly discovered metformin and vitamin D. In addition, it is reported that some extracts from single Chinese herbal medicine(CHM)and Chinese herbal compound prescription such as total flavone from the flowers of Abelmoschl manihot, berberine, astragalus polysaccharides and Huang-qi decoction also have the beneficial effects in ameliorating IR. In the field of chronic kidney disease, targeting a common insulin target-organs/issues lesion, the early renal damage in diabetic mellitus, the intervention studies regarding to regulating podocyte IR signaling pathways by CHM will be one of the significant directions in the future.

Advances in animal models of acute pancreatitis / 解放军医学杂志

[Abstract] Acute pancreatitis (AP) is one of the most common acute abdominal diseases, with many characteristics such as acute onset, rapid progression, many complications, and high mortality. AP seriously threatens human's life and health. The overall mortality rate of AP is 5%, among them severe acute pancreatitis is the most serious and its mortality rate is as high as 17%-20%. Up to now, the pathogenesis of AP has not been fully elucidated, therefore, the establishment of an appropriate animal model of AP is of great significance for studying etiology and pathogenesis of AP and exploring effective treatment measures for AP. The preparation methods of AP animal models divided into two categories: invasive and non-invasive or in vivo and in vitro. The classification of pancreatitis has not been discussed. This article will review the general situation of animal models of acute biliary pancreatitis, hypertriglyceridemia induced acute pancreatitis and alcoholic acute pancreatitis.

Discussion on Professor WU Liang-cun's Experience in Treating Primary Hepatic Carcinoma with Enriching Water to Nourish Wood Method / 中国中医药信息杂志

Professor WU Liang-cun is good at the treatment of primary hepatic carcinoma. He views that the main pathogenesis of primary hepatic carcinoma is liver and kidney deficiency. Therefore, treatment should be based on enriching water to nourish wood, with soothing the liver and regulating qi, clearing the gallbladder and removing dampness, promoting blood circulation for removing blood stasis, detoxicating and resolving masses.

Pathomechanism and treatment of gut microbiota dysbiosis in chronic kidney disease and interventional effects of Chinese herbal medicine / 中国中药杂志

The gut microbiota dysbiosis is one of the risk factors in the progression from the advanced chronic kidney disease（CKD）to uremia, characterized by the reduction of probiotics and the increase of opportunistic pathogens including urease-related microbes, endotoxin-related microbes and toxin-related microbes, which can produce uremic toxins. According to the core point of "the gut-kidney axis" theory and "the chronic kidney disease-colonic axis" concept, the gut microbiota dysbiosis aggravates renal damage by accumulating uremic toxins and inducing the systemic micro-inflammation. The preliminary clinical trials and animal experiments show that the probiotics biologicals from Lactobacillus acidophilus or Bifidobacterium, and the prebiotics including inulin and galactooligosaccharides, as well as lubiprostone and activated carbon adsorbents can be used for improving dysfunction of CKD patients with the gut microbiota dysbiosis via reducing uremic toxins and inhibiting the systemic micro-inflammation. But not only that, it is reported that, to some extent, a number of the single Chinese herbal medicine（CHM）, the CHM prescriptions and the CHM extracts（emodin, etc.）with oral or enema administration can also regulate the gut microbiota dysbiosis, protect the intestinal epithelial barrier, reduce uremic toxins accumulation and delay CKD progression. Thereinto, Dahuang Gancao Decoction（the concentrated granule TJ-84）, a classical CHM prescription of rhubarb, can ameliorate uremic toxins accumulation in the animal models with renal failure probably through targeting the gut-kidney axis triggered from gut microbiota, but not targeting the kidney. Based on these results, the interventional studies targeting the gut microbiota-related pathological factors such as tight junction proteins, helper T cells and regulatory T cells in the intestinal tract of the advanced CKD patients will become one of the key development directions in the future.

Pathogenesis and treatment of insulin resistance in chronic kidney disease and interventional effects of Chinese herbal medicine / 中国中药杂志

The kidney is the target organ of insulin with abundant insulin receptors. Thereinto,the renal intrinsic cells including glomerular podocytes,endothelial cells,mesangial cells,renal tubular epitheliums and collecting duct epithelial cells are all highly sensitive to insulin as the effector cells. Furthermore,the structural and functional abnormalities of these cells are closely related to insulin and its receptors activity. It is reported that the chronic kidney disease（CKD）patients have systemic or renal insulin resistance（IR）. IR is not only the pathogenic factor of CKD but also one of the mechanisms of CKD progression. The pathogenic factors of IR in the CKD patients include the systemic factors and the local factors in muscles and fat cells. The pathogenesis of IR is related to glomeruli,proximal tubules,collecting ducts and corresponding renal intrinsic cells such as podocytes,mesangial cells,renal tubular epitheliums and collecting duct epithelial cells. IR-related signaling pathways include insulin receptor substrate（IRS）/phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase（PI3K）/serine threonine kinase（Akt）pathway,adenosine monophosphate activated protein kinase（AMPK）pathway,glucose transporter4（GLUT4）pathway,nuclear factor（NF）-κB pathway and mitogen activated protein kinase（MAPK）pathway. Among them,IRS1/PI3K/Akt2 is the main signaling pathway of IR in podocytes of glomeruli, thus intervening its activity can improve podocyte injury. In clinic,some classical oral hypoglycemic agents and diuretic including metformin,rosiglitazone,glibenclamide,thiazolidinedione and spironolactone,as well as some extracts from Chinese herbal medicines including astragalus polysaccharides,quercetin,puerarin,emodin,berberine,curcumin and geniposide can both affect insulin and its receptor activity,and regulate IR-related signaling pathways,thereby ameliorating IR and CKD progression. Overall,the pharmacological studies based on IR-related signaling pathways in the renal intrinsic cells of CKD will become one of the developmental directions in the future.

Characterization of the brain gray matter in amnestic mild cognitive impairmentby diffusion tensor imaging / 医学研究生学报

Objective Amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD)used to be evaluated by an-alyzing the characteristics of the brain gray matter via diffuse tensor imaging (DTI).This study was to characterize the damage to the mi-crostructural integrity of the brain gray matter in aMCI and AD patients using the mean diffusivity ( MD) of DTI and to investigateits transformation rules. Methods This retrospective study included 30 cases ofaMCI, 30 cases of AD, and another 30 normal controls. We measured the MD values of the whole brain gray matter , established the MD network of the water molecules in the gray matter , char-acterized the small-world network, and performed correlation analysis by neuropsychological assessment . Results Compared with the normal controls, the MDnetworks of the aMCI and AD groupsexhibited abnormal small world characteristics , namely, a higher clustering coefficient and a longer path , which reflected the damage to themicrostructure of the gray matter , and theaverage connectivity in the aMCI patients was lowerthan that in thenormal controls but higher than that in the AD group ( P<0.05) .The MD values of the gray matter were negatively correlated with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale scores in the 11 hub regions of the brain , including the bilateral hippo-campus and the limbic system ( P<0.05) . Conclusion The diffusion feature of the water molecules in the brain gray matter of the aMCIpatient may help to detect early ADand reflect the damage to the brain microstructure in patients with neurodegenerative diseases .

Effects and mechanisms of UCG ameliorating renal interstitial fibrosis by regulating TGF-β1/SnoN/Smads signaling pathway in renal failure rats / 中国中药杂志

This study was aimed to demonstrate preliminarily the effects and mechanisms of uremic clearance granule (UCG) ameliorating renal interstitial fibrosis (RIF) by regulating transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1/SnoN/Smads signaling pathway in vivo. Fifteen rats were randomly divided into 3 groups：the normal group,the model group and the UCG group. The rats with renal failure were induced by intragastric administration of adenine and unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO). After modeling,the rats in the UCG group and in the other groups were intervened by intragastric administration of UCG and distilled water respectively during 3 weeks. The body weight and 24 h urinary protein excretion (Upro) in all rats were tested after drug administration. All rats were killed after drug administration for 3 weeks,blood and kidneys were collected and weighted,kidney appearance and renal morphological characteristics were observed. In addition,serum biochemical indices and the protein expressions of TGF-β1,SnoN,phosphorylated Smad2/3 (p-Smad2/3) and Smad7 in the kidney were evaluated respectively. The results indicated that,after the intervention of UCG,the general state of health,kidney appearance,serum creatinine (Scr),blood urea nitrogen (BUN),uric acid (UA),albumin (Alb),Upro and renal morphological change in model rats were improved in different degrees,respectively. Moreover,UCG down-regulated the protein expressions of TGF-β1 and p-Smad2/3,and up-regulated the protein expressions of SnoN and Smad7 in the kidney. In conclusion,UCG reduces extracellular matrix (ECM) synthesis and delays the progression of renal failure via possibly multi-targeting at regulating TGF-β1/SnoN/Smads signaling pathway in vivo.

Pathomechanisms of podocyte injury in diabetic nephropathy and interventional effects of Chinese herbal medicine / 中国中药杂志

Podocyte injury is closely related to proteinuria in the progress of diabetic nephropathy(DN). The pathological characters of podocyte injury mainly refer to the change of podocyte form and function, including foot process effacement, reduction of podocyte number and density, podocyte apoptosis, podocyte epithelial-mesenchymal transdifferentiation(EMT)and podocyte hypertrophy. These pathological damages are controlled by multiple signaling pathways in the kidney, such as mammalian target of rapamycin(mTOR)/autophagy pathway, transforming growth factor(TGF)-β1 pathway and Notch pathway. For podocyte injuries induced by high glucose or in murine models of DN, some Chinese herbal medicine(CHM)extracts, such as multiglycoside of Tripterygium wilfordii(GTW), triptolide(TP), astragaloside IV(AS-IV), astragalus polysaccharide(APS)and Panax notoginseng saponins(PNS), have the protective effects in vivo or in vitro. The preliminary studies in China showed that GTW improves podocyte injury in the DN model rats probably through regulating the activity of mTORC1 signaling pathway in the kidney. Therefore, it is the developmental direction for the further study to clarify the interventional effects of CHM based on podocyte injury-related signaling pathway in DN.

Effects and mechanisms of Shenkang injection promoting extracellular matrix degradation via regulating ERK1/2/MMPs signaling pathway in renal failure rats / 中国中药杂志

This study aimed to clarify preliminarily the effects and mechanisms of Shenkang injection (SKI) promoting extracellular matrix(ECM)degradation via regulating extracellular-signal regulated protein kinase(ERK)1/2/matrix metalloproteinases(MMPs)signaling pathway in renal failure rats. Twenty rats were randomly divided into 4 groups：the Sham group,the Model group,the SKI group and the Enalapril maleate(EM)group. The model rats with renal failure were induced by intragastric administration of adenine and unilateral ureteral obstruction(UUO). After modeling, the rats in SKI group and EM group were intervened by intraperitoneal injection of SKI or intragastric administration of the EM suspension,while the rats in Sham group and Model group were administrated with distilled water respectively for 3 weeks. The 24 h urinary protein excretion(Upro)and urinary N-acety1-β-D-glucosaminidase(UNAG)in all rats were tested after drug administration. All rats were sacrificed after drug administration for 3 weeks,blood and kidney were collected,renal morphological characteristics were observed. Furthermore,serum biochemical indices and the protein expressions of collagen type IV(CIV),MMP-2,MMP-9,tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase(TIMP)-1,ERK1/2 and phosphorylated-ERK1/2(p-ERK1/2)in the kidney were evaluated respectively. The results indicated that,after the intervention of SKI,serum creatinine(Scr),blood urea nitrogen(BUN),uric acid(UA),albumin(Alb),Upro,UNAG and renal morphological change in model rats were improved at different levels,respectively. Moreover,these actions were similar to EM. In addition to these,SKI adjusted the protein expressions of MMP-2,MMP-9 and TIMP-1,and down-regulated the protein expressions of p-ERK1/2 in the kidney. Moreover,these actions were different from EM. In conclusion,SKI promotes ECM degradation and delays the progression of renal failure possibly through regulating ERK1/2 signaling pathway activation in the kidney and intervening MMPs/TIMP-1 expressions in vivo.

Regulative mechanisms of mammalian target of rapamycin signaling pathway in glomerular hypertrophy in diabetic nephropathy and interventional effects of Chinese herbal medicine / 中国中药杂志

Glomerular hypertrophy is the main pathological characteristic in the early stage of diabetic nephropathy (DN), and its regulatory mechanism is closely related to mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway activity. mTOR includes mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) and mTOR complex 2(mTORC2), in which, the upstream pathway of mTORC1 is phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/serine-threonine kinase(Akt)/adenosine monophosphate activated protein kinase(AMPK), and the representative signaling molecules in the downstream pathway of mTORC1 are 4E-binding proteins(4EBP) and phosphoprotein 70 S6Kinase(p70S6K). Some Chinese herbal extracts could improve cell proliferation via intervening the expressions of the key molecules in the upstream or downstream of PIK/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway in vivo. As for glomerular mesangial cells(MC) and podocyte, mTOR plays an important role in regulating glomerular inherent cells, including adjusting cell cycle, energy metabolism and matrix protein synthesis. Rapamycin, the inhibitor of mTOR, could suppress glomerular inherent cell hypertrophy, cell proliferation, glomerular basement membrane (GBM) thickening and mesangial matrix deposition in model rats with DN. Some Chinese herbal extracts could alleviate glomerular lesions by intervening mTOR signaling pathway activity in renal tissue of DN animal models or in renal inherent cells in vivo and in vitro.

Determination of gamma-aminobutyric acid in aerial part of Panax notoginseng by HPLC / 中国中药杂志

The content of gamma-aminobutyric acid in the aerial part of Panax notoginseng in different productive area was determined by using high performance liquid chromatography. HPLC analysis was made on a C18 (4.6 mm x 250 mm,5 microm) with acetonitrile and water containing 4.1 g x L(-1) sodium acetate as mobile phase. The detection wavelength was 254 nm. The HPLC method showed good linearity within the range of 0.01 - 1.03 g x L(-1). The average recovery of GABA in the stems and leaves of P. notoginseng and the flowers of P. notoginseng was 101.7% (RSD 1.1%, n = 3) and 97.3% (RSD 0.38%, n = 3), respectively. The contents of GABA in the samples of different productive areas were not significant different, and the average contents of GABA in the stems and leaves of P. notoginseng and the flowers of P. notoginseng were 0.49% and 0.53%. This method was simple and reliable, and it was suitable for the determination of gamma-aminobutyric acid in the aerial part of P. notoginseng.

The quality of life among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in Kunming / 中华预防医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the quality of life among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) and analyze the influencing factors in Kunming.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A cross-sectional survey was conducted from March to April in year 2011, and 247 PLWHA were selected by convenience sampling from Yunnan CDC, Yunnan and Kunming infectious disease hospitals. General questionnaires, the simplified Chinese edition of medical outcomes study-HIV health survey (MOS-HIV, including 11 dimensions) and Social Support Scale were used. t test and multivariable linear regression model were used to analyze the results.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>For the subjects investigated, the age was (39.8 +/- 11.9) years old, the median (quartile) value of symptoms related to HIV infection was 1(2). As to the scores of quality of life measured by MOS-HIV, physical summary score was 47.4 +/- 11.2, mental summary score was 43.6 +/- 9.7; for the scores of 11 dimensions of the MOS-HIV,that were general health (42.9 +/- 19.9), physical function (79.4 +/- 24.9), role function (59.8 +/- 48.2), social function (67.0 +/- 33.6), cognitive function (71.0 +/- 25.4), pain (81.3 +/- 26.2), mental health (62.0 +/- 22.3), vitality (49.3 +/- 23.8), health distress (74.4 +/- 21.0), quality of life (51.8 +/- 21.1), health transition (49.0 +/- 29.8). The total score of social support was 28.6 +/- 7.6, of which the score of subjective social support was 17.2 +/- 6.3, the score of the objective social support was 5.9 +/- 2.2; the score of the utilization of social support was 5.5 +/- 1.9. Multivariable linear regression analysis showed that the more the symptoms related to HIV infection, the lower the physical summary scores (standardized coefficients b' = -0.22), the general health (b' = - 0.31), the physical function (b' = -0.16), the role function (b' = -0.23), the pain (b' = -0.21), the mental health (b' = -0.22), the vitality (b' = -0.22) and the health distress scores (b' = - 0.24) (all P values < 0.05); the older the age, the lower the physical summary scores (b' = - 0.16), the mental summary scores (b' = - 0.16), the physical function (b' = -0.26), the vitality (b' = -0.26) and the quality of life scores (b' = -0.17) (all P values < 0.05); the higher the score of the subjective social support,the higher the physical summary scores (b' = 0.26), the mental summary scores (b' = 0.22), the general health (b' = 0.27), the social function (b' = 0.26), the mental health (b' = 0.15) and the quality of life scores (b' = 0.22) (all P values < 0.05); the higher the score of the utilization of social support, the higher the physical function (b' = 0.16) and the health transition scores (b' = 0.31) (all P values < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>PLWHA in Kunming have relatively lower scores of quality of life. A large number of symptoms during infection, older age and lower score of subjective social support were the hazard factors of quality of life in PLWHA.</p>