Network Meta-analysis of efficacy of Chinese patent medicine in treatment of inflammatory response in diabetic nephropathy / 中国中药杂志

This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of various Chinese patent medicines in the treatment of inflammatory response in diabetic nephropathy(DN) based on network Meta-analysis. Randomized controlled trial(RCT) of oral Chinese patent medicines for improving inflammatory response in patients with DN was retrieved from CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, SinoMed, PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMbase, Web of Science, and other databases from database inception to October 2022. All investigators independently screened the literature, extracted data, and evaluated the quality. Stata 16.0 software and RevMan 5.4.1 were used to analyze the data of the literature that met the quality standards. Finally, 53 RCTs were included, involving 6 Chinese patent medicines. The total sample size was 4 891 cases, including 2 449 cases in the test group and 2 442 cases in the control group. The network Meta-analysis showed that(1) in terms of reducing TNF-α, the top 3 optimal interventions according to the surface under the cumulative ranking curve(SUCRA) were Shenshuaining Capsules/Granules/Tablets + conventional western medicine, Jinshuibao Capsules + conventional western medicine, and Niaoduqing Granules + conventional western medicine.(2) In terms of reducing hs-CRP, the top 3 optimal interventions according to SUCRA were Bailing Capsules + conventional western medicine, Tripterygium Glycosides Tablets + conventional western medicine, and Shenshuaining Capsules/Granules/Tablets + conventional western medicine.(3) In terms of reducing IL-6, the top 3 optimal interventions according to SUCRA were Bailing Capsules + conventional western medicine, Tripterygium Glycosides Tablets + conventional western medicine, and Jinshuibao Capsules + conventional western medicine.(4) In terms of reducing UAER, the top 3 optimal interventions according to SUCRA were Shenshuaining Capsules/Granules/Tablets + conventional western medicine, Huangkui Capsules + conventional western medicine, and Jinshuibao Capsules + conventional western medicine.(5) In terms of reducing Scr, the top 3 optimal interventions according to SUCRA were Jinshuibao Capsules + conventional western medicine, Niaoduqing Granules + conventional wes-tern medicine, and Tripterygium Glycosides Tablets + conventional western medicine.(6) In terms of reducing BUN, the first 3 optimal interventions according to SUCRA were Niaoduqing Granules + conventional western medicine, Tripterygium Glycosides Tablets + conventional western medicine, and Huangkui Capsules + conventional western medicine.(7) In terms of improving the clinical total effective rate, the first 3 optimal interventions according to SUCRA were Jinshuibao Capsules + conventional western medicine, Niaoduqing Granu-les + conventional western medicine, and Huangkui Capsules + conventional western medicine. The results showed that the combination of western medicine and Chinese patent medicine could reduce the expression of serum inflammatory factors TNF-α, hs-CRP, and IL-6 and inhibit the inflammatory response. The combination of western medicine and Chinese patent medicine was superior to western medicine alone in reducing Scr, BUN, and UAER, and improving the total effective rate of treatment. Due to the limitation of the quantity and quality of literature included, the above conclusions need to be validated by more high-quality studies.

Inhibition connexin 43 by mimetic peptide Gap27 mediates protective effects on 6-hydroxydopamine induced Parkinson's disease mouse model / 北京大学学报(医学版)

OBJECTIVE@#To explore whether the using of mimetic peptide Gap27, a selective inhibitor of connexin 43 (Cx43), could block the death of dopamine neurons and influence the expression of Cx43 in 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-induced Parkinson's disease mouse models.@*METHODS@#Eighteen C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into control group, 6-OHDA group and 6-OHDA+Gap27 group, with 6 mice in each group. Bilateral substantia nigra stereotactic injection was performed. The control group was injected with ascorbate solution, 6-OHDA group was injected with 6-OHDA solution, and 6-OHDA+Gap27 group was injected with 6-OHDA and Gap27 mixed solution. Immuno-histochemical staining was used to detect the number of dopamine neurons, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to detect the expression of Cx43 messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA), immuno-fluorescence staining was used to detect the distribution of Cx43 protein, the contents of Cx43 protein and Cx43 phosphorylation at serine 368 (Cx43-ps368) in mouse midbrain were detected by Western blot.@*RESULTS@#After injection of 6-OHDA, numerous dopamine neurons in substantia nigra died as Cx43 content increased, Cx43-ps368 content decreased. Mixing Gap27 while injecting 6-OHDA could reduce the number of death dopamine neurons and weaken the changes of Cx43 and Cx43-ps368 content caused by 6-OHDA. The number of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunoreactive positive neurons in 6-OHDA group decreased to 27.7% ± 0.02% of the control group (P < 0.01); The number of TH immunoreactive positive neurons in 6-OHDA+Gap27 group was (1.64±0.16) times higher than that in 6-OHDA group (P < 0.05); The content of total Cx43 protein in 6-OHDA group was (1.44±0.07) times higher than that in 6-OHDA+Gap27 group (P < 0.05) while (1.68±0.07) times higher than that in control group (P < 0.01). In 6-OHDA group, the content of Cx43-ps368 protein and its proportion in total Cx43 protein were significantly lower than that in 6-OHDA+Gap27 group (P < 0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#In 6-OHDA mouse models, mimetic peptide Gap27 played a protective role in reducing the damage to substantia nigra dopamine neurons, which was induced by 6-OHDA. The overexpression of Cx43 protein might have neurotoxicity to dopamine neuron. Meanwhile, decreasing Cx43 protein level and keeping Cx43-ps368 protein level may be the protective mechanisms of Gap27.

William Petty，founder of political arithmetic / 中华疾病控制杂志

@#William Petty ( 1623－1687) was a great 17th－century economist，statistician and one of the founders of the Ｒoyal Society． He put forward the concept of " political arithmetic" and used the method of " number，weight and measurement" to calculate and analyze the population and economic data of a country． His statistical methods laid the foundation for the development of statistics．

Effect of benzo(a)pyrene on dopaminergic neurons and α-synuclein in brain and its mechanism involved / 北京大学学报(医学版)

OBJECTIVE@#To analyze the effect of benzopyrene on the decrease of dopaminergic neurons, and the increase and aggregation of α-synuclein, which are the pathological features of Parkinson's disease, and to explore its possible mechanisms.@*METHODS@#Eight-month-old transgenic mice with human SNCA gene were randomly divided into a BaP-exposed group and a control group. BaP and solvent corn oil were injected intraperitoneally to BaP-exposed group and control group respectively, once a day for 60 days. The motor dysfunction of mice was tested by rotarod test. The effects of BaP on the decrease of dopaminergic neurons and increase and aggregation of α-synuclein were observed by immunohistochemistry and Western blot experiments respectively, and the expression of related mRNA was detected by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Twenty genes were tested in the study, mainly related to neurotransmitter transporter (2 genes), neurotransmitter receptor function (10 genes), cellular autophagy (5 genes), and α-synuclein aggregation and degradation (3 genes).@*RESULTS@#After BaP exposure, the movement time of the mice in the rotarod test was significantly reduced (P<0.05). The substantia nigra dopami-nergic neurons in the mice were significantly reduced, which was 62% of the control group (P<0.05), and the expression of α-synuclein in the midbrain increased, which was 1.36 times that of the control group (P<0.05). After BaP exposure, mRNA expressions of 14 genes in the midbrain of the mice were significantly down-regulated (P<0.05). Alpha-synuclein degradation and cell autophagy (5 genes), neuron transporters (2 genes), and neurotransmitter receptor functions (5 genes) were involved. The expression of one gene, Synphilin-1, was significantly up-regulated (P<0.01), which was related to α-synuclein aggregation.@*CONCLUSION@#BaP exposure not only inhibited function of neurotransmitter receptor and dopamine transporter, but also interfered cell autophagy, thereby hindering the degradation of α-synuclein, which could lead to decrease of dopaminergic neurons in substantia nigra and increase and aggregation of α-synuclein in midbrain, as the significant pathology of Parkinson's disease. Therefore, BaP exposure may increase the risk of Parkinson's disease.

Daniel Bernoulli, the brick-picker of epidemiology / 中华疾病控制杂志

Daniel Bernoulli (1700-1782) was a famous physicist and mathematician in the 18th century. He made a compelling statistical case for smallpox vaccination. He made important contributions to the knowledge of probability theory and calculus, and was the first person to put forward the question of statistical hypothesis test. At the same time, he applied probability theory to practical problems such as the ratio of male to female births. In the development of epidemiology and biostatistics, he seems to be a brick picker, moving indispensable cornerstone.

Effects of benzo(a)pyrene on expressions of insulin-degrading enzyme and neprilysin in neuroglia cells / 北京大学学报(医学版)

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate effects of benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) on expressions of insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE) and neprilysin (NEP) which have the ability to degrade β-amyloid (Aβ) in neuroglia cells.@*METHODS@#Primary mix-neuroglia cells were cultured from newborn SD rats. After exposure to BaP, Aβ1-42 oligomer or Aβ1-42 fiber individually or jointly for 24 h, the cell survival rate was measured by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8). Afterwards, the primary mix-neuroglia cells were divided randomly into six groups: Control group, BaP group (2.00 μmol/L), Aβ1-42 oligomer group (20.00 mg/L), BaP plus Aβ1-42 oligomer group, Aβ1-42 fiber group (20.00 mg/L) and BaP plus Aβ1-42 fiber group, of which BaP was pretreated for 12 h followed by cotreatment with different aggregated Aβ1-42. The expressions of IDE and NEP were measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) for mRNA level and Western blotting for protein level.@*RESULTS@#The cell survival rate showed no significant differences after treatment with BaP (≤20.00 μmol/L), Aβ1-42 oligomer (20.00, 40.00 mg/L), Aβ1-42 fiber (20.00, 40.00 mg/L) or cotreatment with BaP and Aβ1-42 oligomer or BaP and Aβ1-42 fiber. Compared with the control group, expressions of IDE and NEP in BaP-treated alone group had no obvious change; however, exposure to Aβ1-42 oligomer alone significantly increased the mRNA and protein level of IDE (P<0.05), and the BaP pretreatment could significantly inhibit the up-regulated expressions of IDE by Aβ1-42 oligomer (P<0.05); on the other hand, exposure either to Aβ1-42 fiber alone or under the BaP pretreatment did not change the mRNA and protein level of IDE and NEP obviously.@*CONCLUSION@#On the premise of no significant change of cell survival rate, BaP pretreatment inhibited the up-regulated expressions of IDE in primary mixed neuroglia cells under cotreatment with Aβ oligomer, indicating that BaP may disturb degradation of Aβ oligomer and cause deposition of β-amyloid and further induce cognitive decline and acceleration of Alzheimer.